1 - It ended at Glitterstone Mine
“I still don’t understand why you are agreeing to this meeting,” huffed Orchid, turning away from the window. Standing a little under 6 feet, not counting the horn, the glossy black humanoid still had an awkwardness to her movements that belied the grace she was capable of. The changeling queen attempted to fold her arms over her ample chest a couple of times before brushing back her purple hair and trying to simply lean against the wall. At which point she crumpled one of her butterfly wings. Taking a moment to get her body under control she put on her best ‘I meant to do that’ face, “And I don’t like the idea of you negotiating with the Princess of Love.”
In short, it would have been an adorable display under less dire circumstances. That Orchid became ridiculously cute when she pouted didn’t help any. Also not helping was the pair of snorts that answered it. One came from Rufus, who was standing off to one side of the desk. The gray and black Diamond Dog was currently tallying reports from the miners on the gem and metal veins they had found. Rufus only cared about what his pack needed and what I needed from his pack. With any luck the dogs could be supplied primarily from the old mine shafts, leaving the perishable supplies for my pony and minotaur forces. If he had any further comments on Orchid’s complaining, thankfully, he didn’t share. The room's other occupant however…
“Why? Afraid she’s going to tell him about all the ponies that actually care for him?” sniped Hopeful Dawn, the source of the second snort. The brown unicorn mare was leaning over her forehooves, ears directed forward and was staring daggers at the source of her ire. She had never gotten along with Orchid and, recently, had become outright catty. Fortunately, she had completed her report on our supply situation and exact numbers of forces we had before looking to cause trouble. I decided to pursue the report for a moment as an excuse to ignore both females.
Forces? At final count we number 1200. 700 dogs, 200 ponies and 150 minotaurs with over 100 foals and 50 calfs. Dogs are mostly miners, while the others are all families. Supplies enough to last a few weeks, though, depending on the dogs. I glanced up from my fruitless arranging of troops on a map. First to check if Rufus was done, then out the window, across the snowy field to the bright summer day where the Equestrian forces had stuck camp. Over 5000 golden armored troops, all four known Alicorns and dozens of magical dodads and an impenetrable magical shield. And my back still hurts from that skirmish with the royal sisters. Spine? Meet Pine, I mentally commented, while debating how to defuse the coming catfight. I was in no mood to listen to another.
“While I appreciate the vote of confidence, it took both of us to tag team Luna. And well once Celestia joined in, we’d have been captured if your drones hadn’t been able to direct the dogs to us. They’ve been after our heads for most of this and if now they’ve decided to talk. I’m actually curious what they have to say, and don’t worry Orchid, you’ll be with me the whole time.” Both females spun around to face me at that proclamation; Dawn with her ears pinned down, eyes narrowed, and a small frown while Orchid somehow managed to pale a few shades.
“But but but... the wedding... we invaded... and and you want to put me in front of her? That was her wedding that we almost destroyed,” accused Orchid. I hadn’t forgotten and she wasn’t going to like the rest of this plan either.
“You’ll also be her primary escort while she is on the grounds. If they are going to put a queen forward, I have to as well.” That sent Orchid to the floor as she adjusted her stride and promptly got her feet tangled in her green dress and purple tail.
“Hear that? He’s finally offering you up as a sacrifice.” Came a childish taunt from the left.
“Look, I figure the two of you will neutralize each other or at the least you can prevent her from messing with our troops here. Beyond that, if she’s as good as people keep claiming, she should be able to understand that you aren’t Chrysalis and that your kind now has a new direction.” I shot a mild glare over to Dawn, but she merely stuck her tongue out at me. Turning back, I walked around the table and took Orchid’s hand to help her back onto her feet.
“You are risking my life on the hope that she will be forgiving and open minded.” There was actual fear in that tone. Her yellow eyes unfocused for a moment as she passed the plan out to the hive and listened to the feedback. When she focused back on me, I could tell I needed to provide more for her to play along.
Leading her back to the table, I called Rufus and Hopeful Dawn over to look at the map and our chances.
Rufus rubbed his chin with his huge rough paw, “Dis not looking good.”
The mare looked at the map worriedly, “They outnumber us by that much? What do we do?!”
Orchid merely gave a whimper.
“We are, put simply, doomed if they attack. The only thing we can do is make it as costly as possible. Or, if we can get the shield down, we can get out, but yes they have more than triple our forces and all four princesses on the field. I don’t like using you as bait, Orchid, but if this meeting is just a trap, I’d rather spring it early and go down in battle instead of hiding in here till we starve. Anyways, you won’t be leaving our controlled zone so the danger should be minimal.” It was enough for her, but only just. If anything went off script with the peace talks, she would probably bolt. I really wish I knew what I had to done to warrant this level of response. It felt entirely disproportionate.
The intense cold of my frost spell was the main thing keeping the Equestrian ponies back but that was only buying us time. When Celestia finally decided to go for it, I would not be keeping the temperature down. Some of the magical things also blocked and negated changeling shapeshifts, so we weren’t able to get any active spies into the force either. They knew exactly what we had and what to expect.
After the ambush yesterday, we had holed up in the central buildings of this old mining complex. Connecting the buildings to the mine itself was simple for the Diamond Dogs and at least gave us a vantage point to coordinate from. One snowstorm and a night of fortifying had given us some breathing room, but with no supplies incoming and little hope of escape, things were not going to go well.
Then this morning, a pony had walked up under a white banner and requested peace talks. Well it had been more like “Her Imperial Highness Princess Mi Amore Cadenza has seen fit to grace your unworthy selves with her presence ...blah blah blah….and feels this situation can be resolved through diplomatic means”. I wasn’t sure about how to take it, but Orchid, Rufus, and Dawn had all viewed it as legit if a bit strangely worded.
It had taken some finagling but we more or less set up a meeting for a few hours later. Which, at the current time, was about an hour ago. It seemed there was some dissent on the Equestrian side as Candydance or whatever was currently in talks with the other alicorns and some military ponies… meaning a shouting match that had lasted well over an hour by this point. Eventually, Princess Pink Pink Pink seemed to win out and marched her way over to our gate.
“Well, that’s your cue. And get a tea party set up in that field with her facing the building.” With one last look, Orchid was on her way while a number of drones received the mental orders and carried a small table, chairs, pillows, and tea cups to the designated area. With that sorted, I reached up and grabbed the Alicorn Amulet hanging around my neck. Exerting some focus, I altered the frost spell to no longer include the small tea party. If one is hosting an honored guest, one must provide appropriately.
Despite her acting, I could tell Orchid was tense as she approached the wooden gate that separated the interior of the complex from the outer wall. Once the gate opened, Cadance took a seemingly involuntary step back upon seeing the bipedal queen while the guards who had been following her froze for a moment rushing forward with weapons drawn, but a sharp word stopped them. My little queen self-consciously adjusted her braid before greeting the pink pony princess and inviting her forward. One last argument between Princess Heart-ass and her guards ensued and then the two queens were moving together.
I’d planned on giving the two roughly an hour to get settled with each other, but after they finally started talking… well it didn’t look like they were going to finish anytime soon. Interestingly, Orchid chose to lead Cadance past the nursery before leading her to the tea party. I’d given them a full extra hour after they reached the tea setup and they were still going at it. From this range and being a poor reader of pony expressions, I didn’t have lot to work with as far as to how Cadance was taking things. Orchid’s body language, while still uneasy, was no longer tense and rigid. I took that as a decent sign. Not as decent was the platoon of soldiers that followed from just outside the wall and seemed ready to launch an assault every time Cadance stepped out of sight.
Helmet, armor, Water Shard, drones on tea duty, dogs with emergency tunnels. Let’s do this. Affixing my cape and giving my spear a twirl, I stepped out into the sunlight. The conversation stopped quickly and both turned to watch as I marched through the snow. As I reached the table, Cadance stood and addressed me directly.
She spoke in a formal, rehearsed tone. “Lord Legate, I am Princess Cadance of the Crystal Empire, and an envoy from Equestria. I am hoping that the current stalemate can be resolved without the need for bloodshed on either side. Are you amenable to trying to bring this fiasco to a close with me?”
“I am,” I said, taking my seat and gesturing for her to return to hers. “I will admit I am not sure how to take this, as my history with Equestria has been one of unprovoked attacks against me and my person.”
Interesting she called this a fiasco. But state the situation plainly and see what she knows or is willing to share. I thought to myself.
“I assure you that whatever wrongs you feel you have suffered were not maliciously inflicted and were only in response to…” Cadance trailed off as I removed my helmet. Without the tinted glass to hide my face, I got the usual reaction. A focused stare followed by confusion then by acceptance. At least she didn’t ask if I was a minotaur. I was able to tell when she saw the truly relevant feature though, the horseshoe shaped scar on the right side of my face. A scar that was lined with stars and crescent moons.
“I’d have thought Luna’s bragging would have reached you if you were to act as a negotiator,” I smirked at her. If they were going to send someone uninformed of their behavior, well I had my own priorities. Protecting the good names of anyone else involved in this whole situation was not one of them.
“Ehhhehhh. How about you give me your version of the events leading to today? I think there have been far too many assumptions getting to this point,” Cadance replied uncertainly.
Huh, was my first coherent thought. Did they really send her in here not knowing anything or has she decided what they told her doesn’t mesh? This was going to be a long tale.
“Well, my story starts many years ago when my parents got rather frisky one evening...” I started in on an old classic of missing the point. ‘Does this dress make my butt look big?’ ‘So what were you doing out last night?’ No, princess, I’m not going to hang myself for you... Wonder how long she’ll let me carry on like this? If she wanted specifics of something relevant, she could ask. I wasn’t going to sit here and help her fish for info however.
“Okay, stop.” The Princess of Love rolled her eyes before taking a breath and trying again. “Officially, we learned you existed eight months ago when Princess Luna followed the nightmares of several hundred ponies to Cyrex’s mountain. Where you thwarted her attempt to rescue said ponies.” She continued before I can interject. “Look, our military ponies don’t have a very high opinion of you. ‘An uncontrolled thug on a rampage through our fair nation.’ But I don’t care what those blow hards have to say. You clearly have intelligence and skill or you would not have been beating us at every turn.
“So why don’t you tell me how we actually got into this mess? What happened to put you and Luna at violent odds? What happened in that mountain? Before any of that, what is your name?”
“Friends call me Chad. You call me Silver Legate. For the rest of your questions, we’re going to have to go back a few days before Luna attacked….”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Collaborator, they call me.
Swing (chink). Dig (thunk). Swing (chink).Again.
Swing (chink). Dig (thunk). Swing (chink).Again.
Swing (chink). Dig (thunk). Swing (chink).Again.
Overhand, from the side
Swing the pick till we die
Break the rocks
Free the gems
Silver, they call me.
Swing (chink). Dig (thunk). Swing (chink).Again.
Swing (chink). Dig (thunk). Swing (chink).Again.
Swing (chink). Dig (thunk). Swing (chink).Again.
Mine the ores
Melt them down
Pull the riches from the ground
Enrich the dragon pound by pound
Dragon’s Tail, they call me.
Swing (chink). Dig (thunk). Swing (chink).Again.
Swing (chink). Dig (thunk). Swing (chink).Again.
Swing (chink). Dig (thunk). Swing (chink).Again.
Overhead, from the side
Imagine it was dragonhide
The Dragon’s Tail keeps us here
Mining for our lives.
Swing (chink). Dig (thunk). Swing (chink).Again.
It was the mindlessness of it more than anything else that got to me. Swinging a pick in time with the chant, waiting for the shift to end. At least it was shift with an end instead of work till collapse.
Finally, the horn was blown. Picks stopped swinging. Loose rock was added to carts. Carts were pushed along their tracks for the last time. Heaving a sigh, I carried my pick over to the rack, only to notice the ore cart had been left for me to haul. I took a moment to stare at the cursed thing. Loaded with iron ore and fitted with a hitch that didn’t fit my build, it promised at least another 20 minutes of hard, back breaking work. And I had been on a pony team today. The flighty things weren’t willing to challenge me directly, but passive-aggressive? They were all over that.
No help for it then. Putting myself in the hitch as best I could, I began to pull.
By the time I got the cart to the drop and unloaded, the meal was well under way. I headed for the bath. I didn’t eat with the others. Safer that way. Weekly bathing was mandatory and more often was allowed. I was one of the few who bathed daily.
It was another of the features I’d convinced Cyrex to add. It was almost funny, really. The big evil dragon was more or less one of those idiot kids right out of school with an MBA convinced the best way to help the company was to cut the pay of everyone actually doing the work. Fortunately his greed both overrode his pride, and was tempered by patience. It meant if I could show positive returns on a feature or request, it would be implemented. Limited shifts, sick days, proper meals, and most importantly bathing.
I entered the bath house hoping that he wasn’t there wanting to run some new ‘bright idea’ past me. His bright ideas at the best were terrible. ‘How bout we feed everyone a carnivorous diet? We should go back to using revolters as food.’I couldn’t keep the disgust off my face at the various remembered conversations. And the implications many of them came with.
I threw my loincloth over the pile of clothes to be laundered and turned to the heated tub. I focused on my amulet for a moment and ended the frost spell that helped keep me cool during the work hours, I wanted the heat. The hot water felt wonderful after a full 10 hours swinging a pick and I allowed myself to slowly sink into the warmth. Just floating there, no work, letting stress and fatigue seep out and float away. I couldn’t just stay there forever, though. There were still things to do.
Directing my will into the amulet had taken some getting used to but by this point I was as capable as any unicorn. I slowly sank to the bottom of the tub and began to freeze the entire thing. Soon a layer of ice inches thick covered the surface. Hidden from view I opened a hidden panel on the side and swam through a channel that run under the closest wall. I froze the water as I went to keep the illusion I was still in the tub. At the end of the channel was another pool that I swam to the surface of.
Surfacing in this natural cave was always a bit dramatic, as I tended to be low on air. A few breaths and a stroke or two and I was climbing out of the water into the dimly lit cave. A towel held in brown magic was floated over to me by the ever helpful Hopeful Dawn. As I dried off, she also took a moment to lay out a proper set of clothes for me, the ones I always wore when attending these clandestine meetings. When I got to be me instead of the object everyone hated.
“Everyone, now is our chance to kill him!” chirped a voice I deeply regretted ever learning.
The griffon came diving at me with little more warning than that shout, but it was all I needed. Spawning my spear in my hands, I did my best impression of a Louisville Slugger and sent the living mass of claws and beak into the wall. A quick inspection of the now dazed bird revealed exactly who I didn’t want it to be.
Geralt.
“My name is Chad. You will use it here.” I said it calmly, which was difficult. Seriously, these moronic bird brains couldn’t figure out a plan if you spelled it out for them. Waiting for the opportune moment, going for a mass attack, not having everyone be half dead and starved just did not compute. If you weren’t doing a full out rebellion at all times, you were a traitor.
I mean, I could respect not giving in, not bowing to fear, not giving up; but this inability get a freaking clue had cost me several times, and almost derailed the current plan to kill Cyrex. What is he doing here? I swear I said no outsiders.
I looked across my fellow conspirators as I dressed, all standing around the table we had scrounged from somewhere: Hopeful Dawn, princess of the ponies; Steely Grasp and his mentor Ol’ Ironsides, Lords of the minotaurs; Duke, Rufus, and Fido alphas of the Diamond Dogs; Gertrude the one random hen I had thought was willing to listen to reason; and now seemingly Geralt, the self-titled emperor of the Griffons.
Considering I’d been debating assassinating him myself, this was not going to be fun.
“Gertrude.” All the menace.
“...uh… He caught on to the meeting and demanded to be part of the plan.” Translation, I am incapable of keeping my beak shut and started bragging to gain status.
“How dare you ignore me, Silver! And all of you, this is our chance. If we get him then Cyrex will know that we will not quietly allow him rule.” I ignored the rest of the squawking. Everyone else here was capable of understanding the situation. Just because I was ‘in charge’ of the mine itself didn’t mean I favored Cyrex. Honestly, I probably hated him more than most did. I let him rant till it became clear Gertrude wasn’t going to shut him up, then froze his beak shut. A gesture to Dawn had the griffon floating back to the table where he was dropped next to the hen.
I walked over to my usual place between Dawn and Ironsides. My two closest confidants and friends down here. Dawn had been willing to trust me from the get go, I was never quite sure on why. But she liked to talk about some idyllic country called Equestria, and since I seemed lost she had offered to help present me to something call Princess Celestia. Which might be a way home, if it really was some kind of all powerful sun god. Ironsides had been far more recalcitrant even though he had come to me. He had forced me to prove my intentions and willingness to listen. Daily meditation, specific challenges, weeks of just observing me whenever he could eventually led to his decision to offer me trust. Later I would learn just how pivotal he was to the minotaurs; I would never of gotten their support without him.
“Alright, Dawn, I believe you have something for us?” Time to get the meeting started since we were on a bit of a time crunch. Cyrex liked to look me up from time to time. Fortunately, he wouldn’t bother trying to get through the ice in the bath tub. Unfortunately, he would wait for me to come out.
Lighting up her horn again, Dawn brought a scroll out from her pack and laid it out. A light spell to help those of who couldn’t see in the dark was also cast.
“It seems the next outbound shipment of gems goes with a caravan in three days.” You could hear the smile in that line.
That is what we had been waiting for. The caravans necessitated bringing a lot of slaves up to haul the goods. And that meant a lot of angry beings ready to launch an attack from close range.
“That’s it, then. Duke, we’ll need the soldiers. All of them. Dawn, I want unicorns brought up as well. Gert..alt. Griffons will be joining me and the minotaurs on the main attack.” Time to lay it out as simply as possible or the birds would end up staring stupidly and then declaring my death again. “The plan goes like this: I will engage Cyrex with Griffons flanking. The goal is not to beat him one on one but rather force him onto the ground or into a wall. Once that happens, we just need to hold him there till the dogs can dig to his location. And then through him.” It was a simple plan.
“As promised. We’s will gets soldiers as hauler instead of females. You sure Cyrex no notice?” Came Duke’s full bodied baritone. Getting the dogs on board had been difficult, but not overly challenging. This mountain had been their home from before Cyrex took over, and they were more than interested in reclaiming their mountain. It had taken time and following their culture to earn their trust. The improvements in living quality that I had gotten in also helped bring everyone around.
“Certain.”
“I assume you want the unicorns for counter spelling. I’ll get the best ones up and ready.” Dawn, ever hopeful and ever on board. The only times she raised complaints was when I overlooked something. Considering she had grown up in here, her parents had made sure she was educated.
The two minotaurs looked at the scroll, glanced to me then Steely Grasp spoke up, “There is no food being delivered on this shipment. And the supplies won’t last another month.” The young lord brought himself up to full stature before giving me a half bow. “When you begin, we shall be there to ensure success. You have earned that much at least.”
And that just leaves them, I sneered as turned to the griffons and released Geralt’s beak.
“I propose we just kill the Dragon’s Tail here and now! Without him Cyrex won’t be able to do the trade. Can’t you all see how he is leading you to your dooms?! Once he gets all of you killed, Cyrex will reward him amazingly.” The sheer smugness in that tone was infuriating. It was however, rather amusing to watch his conviction slowly drain away as none of the others took his side or even acknowledged his outburst. “Have you all been so thoroughly deceived? He is the betrayer. He is the one helping the dragon keep up.” And slowly the tone changed to almost panic. “Well no matter. I will lead the griffons to the death of the Silver and the salvation of all your races after you are all dead. We will have no part in your purge, Silver.” With that, Geralt took wing, heading off, with Gertrude following close behind.
So long as that means you stay out of the way, fine.
I glanced over to Ironsides, “Make sure those birds don’t cause us grief.”
Turning back the table, I found Dawn rubbing her face… cheek… muzzle… whatever against my hand.
“You knew they weren’t likely to help, even before Gertrude gave it away. Geralt would never bow to someone he sees as competition, and the rest are too cowed by this point to tell him off. But enough about them. We also have something else for you,” with that Dawn returned to her original spot, and pulled a large sack from shadows that clanked and chinked before dumping the contents out.
A patchwork suit of armor made of silver. The design was fairly crude but we had to work with what we had. Since my main advantages were flexibility and reach, the armor had been designed to accommodate that. The under suit was fabric with chainmail at the joints. The armor plates that went over the chest and back were hollow with ceramic tiles inside. On the legs and arms, solid bars of silver a quarter inch thick. Combine all of that with defensive ice magic and it really could make the difference. The helmet was a special piece. Solid silver with a tinted glass faceplate. With it on, my face was invisible while not inhibiting my ability to see. It probably wouldn’t last more than one battle but that should be all I needed. I couldn’t resist the smile that grew across my face.
I looked up to the others, “For Freedom!”
“FOR FREEDOM!” they responded.
Three days, and then we are free.
Author's Note
And here we have where Chad wants to start the story. Hope everyone is having fun trying to figure out how we get from here to there and hanks for reading. Please like, fav, and comment.
