A Maretonia Tyranny

“My queen?”

I heard a small voice call my from the outside of my bedroom. It was a filly’s voice. “You may enter,” I said, as nicely as possible. A cute unicorn mare entered.

“How can I help you?” I asked.

“Um, you see, Jameil, in school they're teaching us… Offensive magic. Ponies are saying that it’s going to be used to… Um, kill ponies? Rebels?” She said sheepishly. “I was just wondering if it was true.”

“Listen, this is a tough subject. You see, sometimes bad ponies come to try and stop the peace in this country. They want to take over as kings or queens because they want power. I can't let them disturb anything. It could be very bad for my subjects. If they ever managed to get into the castle, the results could be bad. I need ponies that can protect the peace. Those ponies are ponies like you. It is very sad for me when you have to kill some pony, but in my heart, I know that it's the right thing to do. Do you understand?” I explain. It was a lie, but if she told her friends that they would be destined to be murderers, they could refuse. They had to think that it was for a good cause.

“Um, I'm not vey good at Magic.” She added.

“Do most fillies your age have their cutie marks?” I inquired.

“Yes. I just don't seem to be any good at this, and….”

“How about this. Some ponies can not get a cutie mark in magic, no matter how hard they practice. Maybe I should move you to the silver rank to see if you are good at being a cook, or a waitress, or something like that.” I offered. Her face instantly lit up and she nods. “Okay. Run along now, go see the head she's after dinner. You can talk to her about training.” I finished. She thanked me and ran off.

"Ja-Jameil!" A guard pony runs up to me. Panting, he finishes. "It's done."

He brings me to the bunkers I had made the blueprints for. He shows me the different rooms for the pegusi and unicorns, females and males. The dining halls, the training courses, everything needed for the ponies to live without seeing anything else. I send a Pegasus to inspect the tunnels to be sure that there was no blockage. I inspect the schoolhouses for the unicorn fillies. I have it all set up perfectly. The unicorns would be trained rigorously until they had at least enough magical ability to preform a teleportation spell. Distance was not important, as long as they could get anywhere in the building instantaneously. I would do the same with the pegusi until they could fight very well, fly very well, and have very good agility. Everything had gone according to plan.

A century went by. Some rebellions happened, usually small gatherings, but for the most part is was peaceful. Poverty spread throughout the kingdom except for some parts that had wealth. The capital city where my palace was located was the only place that was really wealthy. Other countries were unable to get into Maretonia, as it was protected by a force field so Nopony could get in or out. My army grew every day, and eventually I had tens of thousands of Rubies and Sapphires.

One day, a young unicorn colt, 11 or so, knocked on the palace doors. The guards refused to let him in, until I butted in to ask him what he wanted. To him, I acted sweet and caring, as it could help me get him a bit more comfortable. "Um, hello, your majesty. My name is Icy Peak. I've been looking for a job for quite some time now, and..." He says, obviously terrified of my reaction.

"Well, of course. If you can prove yourself, I'm sure we can find a place for you in the staff." I say sweetly, trying to sound as nice as possible.

"Well, um, yes, but I was thinking that, um, maybe I could be your... Apprentice?" He chokes out quietly.

"Well, I don't have one of those, do I?" I say quietly to myself, but loud enough do he can hear. "I guess I could show you around the building. Give you a chance to prove yourself... " I say. I am nearly positive it's an attempt to get on the inside to overthrow me, but I've created a strong defense to counter any attack any pony would throw at me. "Okay, I've decided to let you train with me. Come." I tell him, walking towards the dining hall.

I give him a tour of the palace, and at 7:30 he asks me. "Um, excuse me, but it's dinner time." He informs me.

"Oh! How could I have forgotten? Come with me." I tell him, and lead him to his room. He stepped inside the beautiful bedroom. With a dresser made of rich mahogany, walls made from Quartz Crystal tinted blue, a king sized bed sitting right next to a single long window, this was definitely one of the better rooms in the castle. He looks at it with a stunned look on his face. After examining it, he asks me.

"It's beautiful, but why do I need this?"

"This is where you'll be sleeping." I tell him, and a look of fear creeps across his face.

"What do you mean?" He asks numbly.

"Well, I can't quite trust you yet with our secrets. I can't just let you go spilling everything to everypony in sight, now can I? You won't be going back home. You are supplied with everything you need and more here. Of course, if you're not okay with this arrangement, I can do a quick memory spell and send you home. Your choice." I tell him. He sighs.

After a long pause, he finally decides. "Fine. I'll stay with you."

3 years go by. Peak blends in perfectly to the atmosphere of the palace. Soon enough, every member of the staff knows him, and he was one of the most well liked ponies throughout the staff. He never disobeys and he gets rather comfortable in my presence. He made many friends. He was an obedient, young, innocent pony. He at least acted like he had no clue what plans he was helping execute. He was always at my side. I had no need for an apprentice, but i needed to get on the inside of the resistance and the easiest way was to use their attempt on doing that to me.

One day, I finally decide to test him. "Peak!" I call. He is always at close range and so I never have to call very loudly to have him come to me.

"Yes, Jameil?" He asks.

"I've decided to let you go home to see your family. They know where you've been, but they miss you and I think they'd feel better if you were the one to tell them about your experience here." I tell him, and I see joy plastered across his face.

"Thank you so much! I've been so worried about never seeing them again, and.... When can I leave and when do you expect me back, your majesty?" He replies, unable to keep a straight face.

"You can go at noon and be back by 7:00."

"And will any pony be following me?" He asks.

"No, I trust you enough to not tell any pony about what we've been doing here." I tell him.

"Thank you. This means so much to me-"

"Don't mention it." I interrupt. "You may be dismissed." I tell him. He rushes to his room.

I watch him leave at noon exactly. When he's at a safe distance, Azi asks. "Do you really trust him this much?"

"Not at all. I've already got 10 pegusi and 15 unicorns following him. I told them to send a unicorn straight to me any time they find something related to a resistance or a change in behavior."

"What does a change in behavior have to do with anything?" Azi inquires.

"Well, of course I've been casting spells on him. Changing the way he thinks. Messing with his head. I usually disguise the spell using levitation. Slowly, over the course of these 2 years, I've completely changed his morals. I can't let him go back the way he came. I have to mess with his family. Expand the size of the resistance so I can get rid of as many rebels as I can in this one. If there aren't many rebels left after I destroy this "resistance" of theirs, they can't build a very big army, now can they?" I tell her. "I'd rather get rid of them all at once," I finished.

"And the resistance?" She asks.

"If I can find the place it's stationed, it makes it that much easier to destroy their plans."

"What if he tells them everything he knows?" She adds. "Even better. Every bit of information I've given him has been perfectly fabricated to mess up anything he's supporting. The code to the gates I told him will open them, but it will send me an immediate alert. He doesn't know about the thousands of extra guard ponies I gave hidden in the castle, and all information he thinks he knows about this place is wrong."

Thirty minutes later, a unicorn that I had ordered to watch Ice Peak. He told me what he knew. "He was talking to his family about the resistance. They said it would be free for everypony, until he interjected. He said it would be free for all but the poor, and everyone was appalled. Especially his younger sister. After she asked him what he was thinking, and not leaving him alone, she jumped on his leg. He kicked her off, and she ran off crying." He explained.

"Excellent. You may go." I told him happily. This was perfect. A flood of ponies kept coming until one in particular came and told me something useful.

"Peak went to a basement. Using a camoflause spell, a couple ponies found a base for the resistance. There are computers, maps, all kinds of things." She told me. Instead of sending her back, I told her to go prepare a cell for peak for when he got back. She obediently went and did it as I clapped my hooves together gleefully.