Coxa and Cricket each gave me a nod. With Thorax overseeing the transition back to Manehattan from the city’s side and Lacewing touring Canterlot’s surface with some acquaintances she made in Locksdale, the four of us would be our species’ representatives for the remainder of the negotiations. Which, by my count, was two more days. Tomorrow, we would finish wrapping up negotiations with agreements on further military integration, cultural and technological trade, and the creation of the war plans to finally conquer the Fourth Hive.
‘They need me to get past the Fourth Hive’s anti-magical field. They don’t even know about the Mithril Throne; that detail never came to light, despite Division-P’s torture. Say what you want about the individual changeling’s desire to survive and willingness to backstab each other, but when it comes to the survival of the Hive Eternal, there is no more glorious death than to die saving it.’
Celestia, Luna, and Cadence sat opposite of me. Normally, Celestia would be at the head of the table, and myself sitting by her left side with Luna and Cadence across from me. Today, the tribunal of Princesses of Equestria sat as one.
‘They need me.’
Today, we conclude the matter of Count Double Dealings.
‘Surely they won’t be so stupid as to find me guilty?’
I was less and less sure of my position as today’s meeting encroached.
“Let this meeting be commenced,” Celestia announced to the stenographers present. “The matter of today’s topic is of utmost importance: the death of Count Double Dealings, as well as other pervasive activities committed by King Phasma and the changelings of the Fifth Hive. As per already agreed-upon articles of this Confederacy, the production, transportation, and sale of alcohol, a substance currently banned within Equestria, is void by diplomatic immunity. King Phasma, let us start with the death of Count Double Dealings. Please describe every encounter you had with him.”
I cleared my throat, “Contact with Count Double Dealings was made through a subordinate of mine, Froghopper. I do not know how or what the specifics were, only that Froghopper had arranged a meeting for the purpose of selling alcohol to Count Double Dealings. So, Froghopper and I went to this meeting. We expected him to betray us at some point, you ponies have very apt names, but we didn’t expect it to happen within ten seconds of us meeting. When we arrived, Froghopper and I were directed to the Count, who was hosting the meeting in an open-air restaurant in Manehattan.
“When I tried to begin the discussion by talking about the potential deal, Count Double Dealings made it clear immediately that there would be no deal, and that he wanted to take everything I owned in Manehattan by force. He ordered a number of agents to go with Froghopper to confiscate everything we owned. I ordered Froghopper to replace the ponies sent with him, and to bring back reinforcements.
“When the changelings returned, the criminals having been stunned and podded, the Count then ordered his cronies to dismember me. Despite following all of his instructions without protest, he decided to remove a leg. So I gave the order, and the ambush was sprung. All of the ponies present, all having been under his command, were taken down. The Count I dealt with personally, by skewering him through the neck. Then I…” I coughed, “I made him give me all of his assets during his final moments. Manehattan’s guards came to check on the noise, but turned out to be on his payroll, too, so they just kinda… left. That was that.”
Cadence voiced the first question, “From testimonies recovered from the freed ponies, the only ponies who were verifiably not under the Count’s control were the staff of the restaurant. Is there a reason why you podded them too, rather than try to come to a more peaceful solution?”
I rolled my eyes, “A single witness to my survival leaking the info to the Royal Guard would have been lethal to both myself and my Hive. Daybreaker didn’t know about my survival at the time.”
“Would you say that your life was in danger?” Celestia asked.
“The Count ordered my dismemberment, which had I been a normal changeling or pony, I would most certainly have bled to death.”
“But did you feel threatened?”
“Of course I did!”
“So these ponies had approached you with the intent of fulfilling his orders?”
“What kind of– yes. There were several ponies present at the table itself that would have enacted his orders, if given the chance.”
Celestia nodded, “Thank you for the clarification.”
“Could you not have overpowered them with less than lethal means?” Cadence pressed.
‘Spare that piece of…?’
I started to say something, but I couldn’t come up with a solid enough reason. The truth was, I absolutely could have spared him. I just didn’t feel like there were enough reasons to. Killing him was…
“Why did you decide to use lethal means?” Luna asked.
“He threatened me.”
“You’ve been threatened plenty of times before–”
“And everyone who’s threatened me is dead,” I cut Luna off. “Daybreaker, Double Dealings, Eucharis, The Prophet, and more.”
‘.... Maybe that’s a bad stance to take. I should change my position on the issue.’
I cleared my throat, “I’ve died once. I have no intention of ever letting that happen again.”
“This specific record will be available for public view sooner rather than later,” Celestia reminded me, pointing out that I am mentioning my reincarnation.
“I intend on making my past clear as soon as possible.”
“So your experience with death influenced your decision to kill the Count?” Luna asked.
“Yes, of course it did,” I found myself saying again. “That bastard…”
“Did the Count remind you of your murderer?” Cadence asked.
I blinked in surprise before remembering I did yell at Cadence a while back, and she probably had pieced it together from that. Still, it was an impressive connection from my perspective.
‘Celestia must be training her protégés well.’
“... Yes,” I admitted, shifting uncomfortably in my seat.
“How?” Celestia asked this time.
“... I complied with all of his demands. I did everything I was supposed to, in order to avoid bloodshed. Still, he... they… tried to take away everything. I can’t lose this life. I just, I can’t.” I muttered.
“We motion for a break,” Coxa said abruptly.
I frowned, “What?”
“We’ve only just begun,” Celestia said.
Coxa gave me an unreadable look, “We motion for a break.”
“I’m fine,” I dismissed him.
“Phasma, you–”
“I’m fine. We’ve only just begun, as Celestia said. I’m not a coward who can’t face the consequences of their own actions, or shrinks at the sight of things not turning out perfectly. We’re continuing.”
“... Very well, Your Majesty,” he said.
“Next question.”
Celestia raised a hoof and projected a silence bubble around the three Princesses.
“Can she do that?” Coxa whispered.
“I guess so,” I whispered back.
“Are you actually doing well, Phasma?”
“I said I’m fine.”
“If I said I shit gold, would you believe me?”
I snorted, “What does that have to do with anything?”
“I’m saying this is opening a lot of old wounds, and there’s no way in hell you’re doing okay. I sure as shit wouldn’t be.”
The silence bubble vanished.
“Due to the presence of external factors,” Celestia announced, “we will move the investigation along. Next up, we will quickly discuss the usage of mind control spells by King Phasma. Would you list the incidents where mind control was used by you, King Phasma?”
‘Lying is far worse than telling the truth. If I come clean, ponies will eventually accept what I did. If I lie, I’ll only be pouring gasoline on the fire when the truth gets out.’
“Two incidents,” I replied. “The Count in his final moments to make sure I got everything from him, and before that, against a Division-P Inquisitor as a non-lethal method of stopping her from reporting my survival to Daybreaker.”
Celestia nodded, “We’ll note that usage against the Count, but would you please go over the interaction with the Inquisitor?”
“I was living in the town of Hooferville following my near-death at Canterlot. I was saved from the brink of death by the ponies there, and was given an opportunity to work with the guard. So, the former Prince of Dread spent his days yelling at ponies to stop loitering, filing paperwork, and otherwise wasting taxpayer bits. You know, standard guard stuff. Then came the rats.”
“The rats?” Celestia asked.
“The rats. Hooferville sat at the edge of the notorious Blackthorn Forest. Scaled rats the size of a pony with a penchant for eating anything they can fit into their maw attacked the town. The swarm was in the hundreds, so it was all hooves on deck. I was stationed at the front gate and was one of the unicorns shielding the town against their advance. I held up long enough for reinforcements to arrive, and together we all routed the swarm. The fact that I had held up a shield against so many attackers attracted a lot of attention, namely the Inquisition. Kinda hard for a unicorn to hold up a shield against an entire army. Captain Shining Armor can tell you all about how he’s the only non-alicorn or royal alive that can accomplish that, I’m sure.
“The Inquisitor brought with her a prisoner. Seeing another changeling in irons…. It was everything that I feared would happen to changelings. Since she was asking questions that I couldn’t possibly even come up with convincing lies for, I freed the prisoner by using mind control on the Inquisitor. That covered up our tracks long enough to be nothing but distant memories by the time Division-P began combing through the town. That was that, really.”
“You’ve never mentioned a prisoner,” Luna said.
“I… forgot about him up till now. Not that I forgot his existence, his skills have been crucial to the Fifth Hive’s success in acquiring land and buildings, but the fact that I freed him is something that slipped my mind. There was an Inquisitor who would reveal my survival to Daybreaker, so I had to silence her.”
“Could you have stunned and foalnapped this pony like you have others?” Cadence asked.
“No. Not only would her immediate disappearance put Division-P on our trail sooner than we could deal with, but the changeling’s prisoner collar was only removable by the Inquisitor. Without her, I feared that the changeling would be killed by the collar. He was told that the collar was explosive, and had relayed that to me.”
The Princesses shared a look.
“Have you or the Fifth Hive used any other harmful spells or committed harm against any other pony?” Celestia asked.
“I don’t think so,” I said, looking to Coxa for confirmation.
“The battles with Division-P,” he offered.
“Ah, right. Eventually, Division-P discovered the Fifth Hive, and were attacking us out in the open. We retaliated, and went on the offensive. There were deaths on both sides.”
“Yes, we have the full comprehensive reports on those battles from our side,” Celestia said. “Would you provide any information you have on those?”
“We didn’t keep any details,” Coxa explained.
“... I understand. Thank you for your cooperation.”
“Wait, we’re done already?” I asked.
“We have been reviewing what facts we already had for some time now. If you’ll excuse us, we will need to go over what you’ve provided us today. All we needed was your side of the story.”
Suddenly, I remembered a certain white unicorn constantly griping about a single filly being hurt while a city was burning.
“There’s one more thing,” I announced. “During the Invasion of Canterlot, I used a foal as a hostage to coerce Captain Shining Armor into surrendering. The foal was slightly hurt, but was otherwise fine. I mention this because I know the Captain would raise hell if I didn’t.”
Cadence leaned over and whispered into Luna’s ear, who passed the information along to Celestia.
“Of course,” she muttered. “Well, thank you for being completely honest during this investigation. Your complete cooperation will be noted and kept in mind. If you’d kindly give us an hour, we will contact you when we are ready to conclude this matter.”
“That went well,” Cricket remarked.
“It did?” Coxa asked.
I gazed down into a fountain’s pool of water, looking at my reflection. We had decided to visit the castle’s extensive gardens, and found a particularly secluded spot to hang out in. There was a pair of ponies already here, but they had made themselves scarce the moment they saw changelings arrive.
“It went well,” Cricket said. “Judging from what scant emotions they offered, they seemed more than sympathetic to His Majesty’s cause. I am certain that they will give us a favorable outcome. In the event that they don’t, we can simply ignore them.”
I sighed, “The Fifth Hive needs this. The Hive Eternal needs this. Stable peace with the Equestrians will forever solve the food supply issue that has plagued our kind since time immemorial. Though we could come back and try to negotiate another peace later, this is our best shot.”
“The Fifth Hive and the Hive Eternal might not survive without you,” Cricket said. “In fact, if the Equestrians do something drastic, odds are the changelings won’t accept this peace.”
I grunted, “They’d accept it if I told them to.”
“Not if you are imprisoned, or worse.”
“What?”
“.... Cricket’s right,” Coxa agreed. “You highly undervalue your own importance. You’re more than just a king to them. You're the king. There was already a sort of reverence for you in the Lodges, and in the Fifth Hive that’s only been intensified.”
“The changelings would have secured a peace without me. Besides, Thorax was the one who really made all of this possible,” I waved Coxa off, still looking into the water.
“Maybe,” Cricket said, “but we didn’t. You are the one bringing us peace. You were the one who planned the war. You were the one who has worked the hardest to bring an end to the catastrophes that have plagued our species from the day you were hatched.”
“You were the one to save a single drone,” Coxa added. “Back in the Third Hive, you saved a drone that was doomed to die. Sure, there was a pony that you saved too, but you don’t even know the drone’s name. He was nothing to you, and you put everything on the line to save him. Even despite your fears of death, which are more or less common knowledge amongst the Fifth Hive, you went back to save him. He wasn’t important to the Hive Eternal, which means your effort cemented you as a…. Well, I suppose the more radical changelings would call you a Saint.”
I stared at Coxa.
“... What?” I repeated.
“A single changeling is utterly worthless compared to a King,” Cricket explained for him. “You risking everything despite your own personal faults for a single drone is simply… your banner. A single meaningful icon of everything you stand for. The changelings of the Fifth Hive hate that you risked your life for a single drone, but we all love you more for it. That is to say, we’ll never let you do that again, but the fact that you did do it… it means more than you can understand. For all our lives, we’ve been nothing compared to Queen Chrysalis, who would sentence us to death for merely inconveniencing her. You are about as far away from that extreme as possible, so of course every single drone looks up to you.”
“Oh,” I said. “I, uh… oh… Thanks. You’re, uh, very good at these speeches, Cricket.”
She had given me a similar speech once before, when I was about to address the newcomers to the Fifth Hive. That was right before I went off to deal with the Count, in fact.
“Just reminding you of your place in the Hive,” Cricket smiled. “Besides, I’d prefer you to have your moments of weakness and doubt before shit hits the fan, not during.”
“Yeah, so get it through your head,” Coxa said. “We won’t accept your sacrifice. Not now, not ever. So take your sacrificial-selflessness and bury it deep down, beneath your desire to survive! That desire has kept you alive, and has kept all of us alive and successful by extension.”
“I’ll try–”
“That means no more touching ancient artifacts that are probably haunted!”
“You’re worse than Chrysalis!” I screeched.
When the ponies’ messenger sent for us, we returned back to the negotiation room.
As we all took our seats again, the Princesses were looking at me with… pity. It was a flavor of sadness that I didn’t care for.
‘Okay, that’s a total lie. Pity is delicious, and I love it. So long as they don’t lose respect for me, they can pity me all they want.’
“King Phasma, we have reached our… conclusion,” Celestia said slowly.
“Uh huh, go for it,” I said.
Celestia cleared her throat, “As leaders of nations, we cannot put each other on trial. That would imply one nation is inferior to another. However, given our unique position, you have accepted that we must all be judged as equals, and must cooperate on a level that is unprecedented for our positions. Princess Cadence, Princess Luna, and myself have reviewed the facts made available to us.
“You arrived on Equus immediately after being murdered callously. You were put to the task of preparing for a war by an overbearing Queen, and given no time to recover from the psychologically scarring events that brought you here. You were put on a pedestal and expected to be loyal, only to discover that what you were being loyal to was a murderer and butcher of your own family. Then, pressured into helping your new species survive, you did all you could to further that goal. At times, you went too far. Sparkling Water the filly, Count Double Dealings, and so on.”
‘Right, that’s what their names were. Guess they knew everything, and just wanted to see if I would be completely honest, and to hear my side.’
Luna spoke next, “Despite the constant pressure put on you, and the amount of bodily harm you suffered, you have done good deeds. It is important to remember that you selflessly protected the town of Hooferville, going so far as to deal with the origin of the threat that nearly overran the town. You have tried to deescalate situations from bloodshed where you could. This is all besides your efforts to aid the changelings, a people you were completely separate from up till a year ago. We have heard testimonies from the changelings and ponies you have interacted with, from Agent, strike the following name from the official record, Daring Do, to your close friends. Such testimonies are not part of any judicial process normally, but this is far from normal.”
Cadence said her piece, “King Phasmatodea of the Fifth Hive. We three have reviewed your actions and your character. The death of Count Double Dealings was an unacceptable escalation of force to lethal means. The usage of mind control on Inquisitor Cogent Flourish was a necessary action to save the life of one of your citizens. The capture of all ponies who knew of your survival was a necessary step to protect yourself. Your fights against Division-P were part of your conflict against the now officially-disbanded agency, and were found to be within acceptable limits in terms of morality.”
Finally, Celestia read off their conclusions, “We cannot allow you to remain in Equestria permanently in your current state, King Phasma. Your propensity for lethality presents countless dangers and concerns. However, you have shown nothing but complete honesty, a desire for a peaceful resolution, and for cooperation between our kingdoms. Given your desire to uphold Harmony’s values, the pressures put upon you, and the need to resolve the conflict between the Principality of Equestria and the Fourth Hive, we are prepared to offer you a deal. In exchange for amnesty for your crimes, you must attend Crown-mandated sessions with a licensed therapist, and must prove a desire to improve and become comfortable with your new level of power. You must correct your behaviour, and never let something like this ever happen again. Which, as an immortal, means more than you currently can understand.
“All four of us have at our hooves the ability to level mountains and crush civilizations. However, unlike us three, you have had only a single year to get used to this fact, and worse yet, you were put under the greatest stresses, possession by Nightmares not included. So it is of utmost importance that you learn your limits, and how to survive before reaching them. You cannot be allowed to operate with such callousness, even if it is born out a of fear for your own life.”
“Do you need time to consider the offer?” Luna asked.
‘They’re demanding I go to therapy, something Luna was going to drag me off to anyways? Sounds like I’ve been Operation Paperclip’ed!’
“No,” I said. “I accept.”
The Princesses rose, and I followed suit. Coxa and Cricket rose too, following their King.
“Then we conclude this matter,” Celestia declared.
Is it intended to be two different changelings?
11052739
I caught one of those errors, but it seems a second made it past
Would you like to know more?
Something interesting I found.
In tarot, an upside down judgement card means, as follows:
Reversed Judgement Meaning
The reversed Judgement card can mean that you doubt and judge yourself too harshly. This could be causing you to miss opportunities that were awaiting you. The lost momentum causes you to fall behind in your plans, which can make it difficult to move forward. This means that you should not be cautious, but you should be moving forward with pride and confidence.
Another reading of the Judgement reversal card can be a push to take time out of your busy routine to reflect upon your life to this point, and what you have learned so far. You are most likely not giving yourself the time or space to fully think about the matter and learn the lessons you need to to be able to progress with awareness. You could also be too critical of your past actions, so you are not giving yourself the forgiveness to move forward. The mistakes that we have made in the past are learning tools, so they help us move though life. Focusing too hard on these mistakes can cause us to trip and fall.
Preety cools stuff.
Nice. Also fun chapter title
At least they (presumably) don;t carry weapons, like the ones in Vermintide.
The upside of Equestrian Realpolitik is that you can count on the political backroom deals being made with a goal that most people would actually solidly agree with, instead of just being a bunch of assholes trying to be on top of the throne.
speaking of which i wonder how Chrysalis is doing.
What the hell... I see things... Behind the mirror lays the truth! The cake is a lie. But the adventure was never more true.
Let's venture together.
Judges: Why did you kill Count Double Dealing?
Phasmatodea: He wanted to murder me. By letting his followers rip me apart body part by bodypart.
I was a Pegasus in disguise, that makes 4 legs, 2 wings. In total six limps before i would bleed out in agony.
Not knowing i was a Changeling.
Fully intending to have killed a pony. Just a day in his job. He was eating in all peace a good meal. After all, when one is about to watch a fellow Pony getting ripped apart alive, what is there more important than to eat while hearing them scream and his victim telling him to stop this madness.
Judge: Why don't you magicly blasted him?
Phasmatodea: I was a Pegasus. Couldn't use there for magic. Since Daybreaker would dance on my doorstep if i reveal myself i killed him with what a had.
My wings and a metal pike that was used serving food he orders, to eat it while watching me get killed in the most sick way any mind could think of to kill his fellow Pony.
Judges: I'm in shock that this is not just a singel case, but also that it was so regular that he would eat a full meal while doing so.
Since this was clearly self defense, in again one of the most sickening cases i ever hear... I declare you Innocent in the charge of murder.
I hope this will not happen to any pony or non pony ever again. We will be judging the ponys next that where ordered and more than willing to follow this absolutly inpony behavior.
The court makes a 1 hour break until the next case starts.
Just gotta say, I loved seeing a Reverse Tarot card as the title of this chapter.
You don't normally post chapters this late, not that I'm complaining mind you.
Daring Do got redacted and no mention of what happened to Agent Sweetie Drops, but other than that nearly everything he did post-invasion was put on record. Time will tell if his candor about his past will come back to bite him.
I can't wait to see the various reactions once the Fifth and the ponies learn what the Fourth did to honour the 'fallen' Phasma.
I'm guessing Cricket will be taking Tarsus's place in the founding members now, so to speak. I mean, this is an old wound at this point, but his betrayal wasn't unexpected. Tarsus wasn't there for all the eye-opening revelations. As much as it's assured that Phasma is probably holding a grudge against him and will maul his carapace till at least it's webbed with cracks if not outright killing him, I can't help feeling he getting a bad draw. This isn't some grand betrayal where we can feel vindicated by offing the traitor who traded the heroes for some irresistible temptation or deal. Tarsus just didn't know better, and if any of the others had drawn the infiltrator lottery, or if even 2 or 3 of them had, it would have gone the same way.
you can't really promise not murder especially if yer immortal and theres a conflict going on
11052759
To be honest you do raise a good point, Phasma could've pushed back a bit harder when it comes to killing Double Dealings if he'd have phrased the events to show just how disharmonious? Not sure if that's the best word for it but still. Just to show how blatantly cruel and arguably evil Double Dealings was
11052745
Possible the most 'wow that deep' moment you get me with your 'Would you like to know more'
11052750
It's quite deep. The royals sure don't let show that rhe trial was'nt one. The sure did good.
Nice
11052753
When will his Hooferville friends join him as first personal pony guards i wonder... Or Luna's~♡
11052754
I fully agree. We humans are so mutch inferior in leadership
Chrysalis is probably killing Phasmatodea loyalist by throwing them against waves of enemy underhive threats, while grooming her newest lover Pharanx
11052762
It fits on so many levels... I wonder what my would tell me?
Double Dealings familie:
Phasmatodea lied! It was a chestwound that get pushed so hard it come out of his body! That lie alone need the death sentance
What was the name of the Foal? Diamond Tiara.
'The Fimfiction community 9/10': Understandable.
Noone can blaim you for that. We are surprised, you didn't do worse ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
'CMC in the background:
Nice (σ ͜ʖσ)/)'(\( ͡° V ͡°)/)'(\(° ͜ʖ °)
If there is a small print in the contract that states if he fails this Phasma will lose power as a king and Changelings will be integrated to Equestria ,throw it back at her face
That made me chuckle
If you don't get it look at my name
Phas: "Hey! Luna may be OLD, but I'm pretty sure she's not Haunted! So I'mma touch her as much as I want, so there!"
For a moment I couldn't tell what language the chapter name was in, but then I realized the text had just been flipped around...
11052801
Don't you ever get tired of commenting "Celestia bad" on every chapter?
11052812
Not haunted, anymore.
Because I think Nightmare Moon counts as being haunted ;)
11052763
He did fall. More than ones.
Impressive is that he pulls himself up.
By teeth if need be!
11052766
To true. Phasmatodea didn't spend one minute of very visual explaining that could have made him not act...
But what happend is the past. Its the present that forges the future ♡
11052773
You'r argument》》(^.~)/)'(\(^-^)《《 My reaction to it.
Nightmare stalkers count!
Literally genoside planed!
11052780
Yep. Phasmatodea should really be smart about it.
He chose 'the emotional torture' instead...
11052801
You know... Sometimes i agree, sometimes i disagree strongly.
For the exception of this comment i fully agree.
Keep it up man 👍
Well I'm looking forward to the next stage of this staged courtroom play, I can already see the smoke from the dumsterfire.
Wonder if any changeling can see the pattern of the immortal game, that we got a peak at in the previous chapter? Like this part was a build up to the knews they won't take kindly.
I swear if he will march there with Equestrian army he is a moron and I don't know what he expects to happen.
The only way to do it logically is with only a changeling army,essentially without giving Chrysalis any ammunition to make it so that Phasma is Equestrian puppet/servant/pet
Maybe bring Celestia in her small form, maybe even in fake chains to make it clear she isn't controlling him
Also with Luna by Phasma side,maybe even in Nightmare Moon disguise
Whatever,just to make it clear that Equestrians didn't defeat them,etc
11052820
Uuuu... SHOTS FIRED!
Hate boners are a legit things. Just like Crocodile tears and being of the opinion that politics are not rotten to the core, preferences would be for anyone good that isn't a politician him/herself...
11052812
Nice one! I would give you a cookie for it but... Pinkie could'nt resis eating it
11052828
Clever! I give you a hug for that one but... My arms don't reach that far
11052813
I see... A fellow mirror walker... Welcome to the right side of the left mirror of the middle bedroom inside the house of mirrors...
11052832
Holy Shiiit... That is so ludacris... I would actually think that brilliant. Nice one 👍
11052832
That's a really cunning idea, challenge Chrysalis for rulership of the changeling race whilst having two alicorns pretending to be your servants. Potentially if Phasma goes in decked out in that changeling armour he got from the ruins of the third hive it'd be beneficial to him to really show how much he's achieved
11052837
uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
KKSlider should totaly do that
And to show the Equestrias that he is the bigger Ling (in moral not just statue) tell her to leave Equestria and start a Hive on her own alone in Griffonstone.
If she get that done, will he accept trade for love portions in the future if he gets a massiv overflow from cooperation one day...
He take away her swarm, hivestructure, moral highground, pride, powerbase and worst of all...
Had pity for her as failed ruler.
To become a better Ling and one day become best Bugwai evaaaAAA
♡♡♡♡♡
♡♡♡♡♡
♡♡♡♡♡
♡♡♡♡♡
11052841
Honestly the problem with that is as long as she's alive, she's a challenge to his rule and legitimacy. So he's pretty much gotta kill her to maintain rule over the changeling race as a whole, because Chrysalis isn't even aware or really able to stop and handle the nightmare threat like Phasma can
11052837
Also, I have an idea if the changeling's army wouldn't be that big enough to be impressive, even if it would be equal to the 4th hive
If he already will have Nightmare Moon and slave Celestia(it's a Star Wars joke, you know, Slave Leia) by his side, why not use that?
He could get Therestals to join him to make his army bigger
The same with ponies
But with them, they should change armor to be more changeling like, blue, green color, etc. So they could play along with that Phasma is their king.
Therestals armor should be already different enough from Equestrians to convince them
11052846
The metal bikini might be a hard sell to Celestia, but the whole plan could probably work pretty well. Challenging Chrysalis' legitimacy and showing the drones of the fourth hive the new way forward under Phasma's leadership
11052844
I disagree. Ever war needs needs its sacrefice. If Chrysalis can't become best Bugwaifu, than she can become best suicide attack squad leader vs the Nightmare stalkers king when the time comes...
Chrysalis has to gain a lot from following his rules. Food, allys, knownlege and most important? She can chill in the sun while Phasmatodea is drowning in paperwork.
Operation Paperclip is a go! Clever, I hadn't thought about pushing the already planned therapy as a punishment.
Now to see how Equestria at large reacts to this. The Count's family isn't going to like this, but that's to be expected. The wider Equestria on the other hand might look at Phasma's actions in defending the village and re-evaluate him based on that. Assuming the whole "tried to conquer Equestria" doesn't keep dangling over his head.
yep i think we all kind of saw this coming.
so were to from here?
there is nothing like starting a hole new civilization from nothing and at the same time stomping out the rot from the old one.
11052851
At this point, it will be easy for the Crown and the changelings to find out and expose all the dirt on Double D.
A guy who casually decides to maim a business rival surely has a lot of skeletons in his closet, even literal ones. Hard for the public to feel sympathy for such a criminal.
11052850
Would Chrysalis' ego allow that though?
She's sacrificed every child she had for her benefit.
She's an ultimate egotistical tyrant, who I don't think would want to survive in a world where she isn't the absolute authority over the hive eternal.
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on a personal note, the count got what was coming to him, on a legal note, it was too far to kill him when he was already taken out of the fight. aside from that tid bit, i loved this chapter and look forward to more!
Nice chapter and that went as well as expected. Also yeah a lot of the fourth hive will jump ship when they learn of his survival.
11052832
We all know you just want to see Celestia in chains (and preferably bloodied and bruised, for realism of course) but that's a genuinely intriguing plan.
11052860
I think Chrysalis is capable of accepting Phasma as a ruler out of sheer spite. She could do little to nothing dead or exiled, while inside the Hive she would be capable of endlessly annoying Phasma. Actually, just the satisfaction of denying Phasma her death might be enough for some characterizations of Chrysalis.
11052851
I think there's a few ponies (read nobles) who will not be happy. Chances are they will join under the banner of an amoral criminal's grieving mother.
11052880
Nah I had this plan written in comment way back when Celestia become Daybreaker and Phasma was planning with Luna what to do.
So I wrote ths way before Celestias talking and planning behind Phasma's back become grating and irritating.
But thanks for reminding me that, now I cant wait how humiliating it will be for her XD
11052753
Skaven do not exist, no-no!
11052860
Hard to tell... But we don't actually now if she would perhaps enjoy having less weight on her Carapace.
She wants to rule the world alongside him, did she ever stated she only accept being on top? Her own son archiving Changeling supperiority by letting pony belive they taimed them? Sounds like a reversed tactic thinking she could deal with...
11052878
That didn't die fighting in the underhive...
11052873
Phasmatodea did everpony a service. That guy was a cockroach in pony form. One good deed don't nearly outway the rivers of blood and bloom of rot under his hooves...
11052880
I fully agree on both. Especially since she could chill her Carapace with cool drinks in the sun of Canterlot while her son:
- Rebuild the population
- Rebuild the Changeling military and economical wealth
- Creates allies for the Changeling race
- Let over decades forget her own mistakes and instead buikds up a reputation of being the supportive mother she could'nt when they were pressed for time ♡
Become Phasmatodea living Nightmare by earning Celestias forgiveness and become Cadance counterpart to the Princess of
FoodLove.The Queen of Lust
Love to see it
11052832
Perhaps (if it survived) Phasma can even use Daybreaker’s old armor as some sort of banner to show that he could defeat her where Chrysalis could not. I absolutely love this idea!
11052937
Considering what Chrysalis did to all of her other offspring, I really don't think she's handle not being in command well in the slightest
11052967
Unless she told the truth. She had the weight of her races survivel on her Carapace! Now that the pressure can be passed on. She might turn not literally 180 after being able to relax after centuries of mind crushing pressure.
She is free to:
- Relax
- Find love
- Raise a Grub, not for the Hives sake but her own satisfaction
- See the world for ones
- Have time to study! Non Changeling knownlege of construction
of weapon and armor, magic that would make her amighty warriorteacher , socialmanipulationinteractions and reactions, properpolitical assasinationNegotiation tactics.And after a millenia of preperations...
Learn that it's way more fun to chill in the sun than drowning in paperwork and listen to other pesants taking ones personal time away to ask pointless things.
11052900
Well... Not in that corner of the multiverse.
11052978
Potentially she could manage that, ultimately it's all up to KKSlider how she'll handle Phama's rebellion coming back to haunt her
Wishful thinking but I want to see a reunion of the Hooferville ponies and king Phasma