Act I: The Beginning of the Fall
Act I: The Beginning of the Fall
Rubbing his hooves gently on her face, he lets out a sigh and smirks a bit whilst staring into her dark purple eyes. The royal attire was something of a ceremony, Effervescence was the last hope for the Ve legacy in the Badlands, and putting on the matriarch for their kingdom was a very special moment for her father. “My lovely daughter, finally becoming something of use.” Ve sighed out, still grinning at her beautiful wardrobe for the evening, “You are such a stunning young mare, you know?” The rhetorical question lingered in Ef’s mind as she polished off the last bit of Canterlot wine.
Her father made sure her attire was top-notch; her red robe stretching all the way to her back hooves, golden buttons rolling down the feathery white edges of her dress, and the pink under shirt that showed brightly through the neck of the clothing. The pink mane, put up in a bun, was enriched with shiny beads running through the length of the hair and her bright pink coat combed to near-perfection.
“You know, father, I do not wish to be pranced about outside as your Queen. You have already destroyed this city enough.” She replied to his vagrant outburst of uncomfortable affection. Although Ef would like that her father to be proud of her, she knew that being a Queen was not in her power - at least not in this kingdom. The ponies that gathered in the courtyard for this evening’s crowning of royalty were not there to celebrate, they were there to relinquish the rights of the rulers. “Father, you do realize that if we do not fortify our walls, this entire place is going to be dest-” Ef was suddenly stopped by her father.
“No!” He answered to her pleas, a stern tone rushing an echo through the dressing room of their palace, “You know that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and the entire ceremony outside was made to crown you Queen - do you not care? Do you not understand what it took for me to get this for you?”
He was cut-off as well, seemed to be rather a coincidence that the conversation held was the exact scenario that had happened. A guards pony of particular stature trotted into the doors of the Dressing Room, giving Ve a somewhat cautionary glance of trouble. He began to speak with a muffled and stuttered tone; shaking, he trotted in place as he spoke, it must have been serious.
“Sir, this is something of utmost importance.” The guards pony was completely under the influence of fear, but he continued to keep his royal standing and ask before speaking of concerns, although it killed him to do as such. As Ve replied with a solemn acceptance, he began to immediately talk without skipping a beat, “Sir, your majesty, we have many armed citizens out rummaging the courtyard with violence and anger. It seems to be a, well, it seems to be a riot of large proportion.”
Ve looked over to Effervescence, holding up his hoof and giving her a sign that he would be right back. He seemed to be calm, of course, he always was, Ef thought to herself - he really was never one to show his true feelings. He trotted out with the guards pony, leaving her behind and nearly slamming the brown double doors behind them. Ef picked up a bottle of Canterlot wine and began to sip.
“The fall of the kingdom has come, your highness.” She said aloud, throwing the bottle all over in the air as to mock the royalty of her very castle. Clearly tipsy, Ef walks over to the seat and lays her flank on the cushion. As she slowly sipped the liquid from the bottle, she realized that there were still ponies in the castle that she had feelings for; family, friends, animals - a feeling of guilt flowed through her core; she was condemning her feelings for the downfall of her legacy because of how her father treated her. She thought selfishly and, even though it got her through most years of her life, she wanted to change. She unsheathed her cutlass from her royal satchel and opened up the double doors to the corridor leading out into the courtyard.
The cluttering of swords tapering together from all angles, the screams of ponies being slashed down, and the civilians on each faction's side that were being thrown around like rag-dolls was the only thing that could be heard whilst she ran through the corridor. Ef approached the castle beginnings, opened the door and stared out in the courtyard - she was met with a blood-spilled battleground of outraged citizens and her legacy's defense.
Her father stood, to the left, wielding a scimitar and cutlass - slicing through armed civilians. Dodging right, Ve slammed his two swords through the head of the pony and ducked under a slice coming from the partner, gently grazing the side of his neck with the blade. As he was hit, he stumbled back a moment - the pain was almost excusable, but the cut was completely lethal.
Slamming his hoof to the ground, he threw his armed hoof back to gain momentum and began to trot quickly at the enemy - as he approached, he rolled to the side and his enemy's sword stabbed into the ground from the miss; taking the chance, Ve throws a punch and knocks him down, then pulling his sword up and lowering it into the enemy's chest.
The blood did not pour out of the enemy at first, but as his sword was ejected from his cavity, the enemy was met with pints of his own liquids exiting his body and drenching the ground beneath. "Ef, come into battle!" He cried out as he swung his sword into the head of another enemy.
She ran into the fray, with her cutlass in hoof, walking to the right side of the courtyard - opposite her father. Although she was against what her father had done to this city, she had no other option than to fight against the opposing militia - too many things were at stake; family, friends, and the ability to possibly turn around her kingdom for the lighter side.
Diving into battle, she slammed the cutlass into an enemy pony's stomach - forcing him to the ground. Leaning back, she slipped past a lunge from a pony coming from her backside, spinning around behind and slitting his throat - rendering him dead on slash. In the immediate area, there had been no pony else for a while and, as she trotted to the battle just meters away, she stabbed the pony she had incapacitated with a quick prod of the neck.
She heard the bells cheering behind her, screaming about the attack and causing more and more ponies to be erratic. She looked past her Castle fence, looking at the desert surrounding the Castle - every pony came to a stand-still, watching to see if there were any more attacks.
With the general consensus being that there were no more survivors, every-pony began to sheathe their swords and begin to converse about the battle that had taken place - until one pony was clipped. He fell to the ground; an arrow sticking from his neck and the blood running down the right half of his body. He gagged on his defeat and, as he was laid down, every-pony looked to the desert ahead from which the arrow had came.
The beautiful blue sky turned to faint black as the arrows began to fly down and pierce most everyone. The guards ponies fled, trying to get back to the castle doors, but were only met with the head-splitting pain of an arrow to the skull. Bodies collapsed to the ground and, to make things worse, a slew of enemies approached from the north wielding clubs and slings - the entire operation of their courtyard was quickly suppressed.
Effervescence ran behind the fountain through the gut-wrenching horror of their defeat, and it acted as a totem for catching arrows instead of piercing her. Friends and family next to her being pelted with rocks, clubs, and staffs; her guards being sliced open and left on the ground; and her own father getting decapitated on the fore-ground of her courtyard. Anger was a prominent feeling inside; switching her emotions to rage, she unsheathed her cutlass and switched from the fountain to the middle-ground and charged towards the enemy, Her eyes were boiling with intensity, but she was met with the same fate as the others; a smash to the skull with a club, leaving her incapacitated.
