Chapters "Jami! Come! Arenith is here!" Exclaims my mother, Dutchess of Maretonia, prompting me to come downstairs to the currently empty ballroom. Arenith was the phoenix that the king and queen of Saddle Arabia used to send letters to other countries. I wondered what the message was as I came down from my room on the 4th floor of our enormous palace. I found my mother and father and ran towards them, anxious to find out what it was the fiery bird was bringing.
"Come, Come! It's not every day we get mail from them, it must be important!" states my father. He's right. The rulers of Saddle Arabia didn't send mail too often, as they normally kept to themselves. We open the letter carefully, and see that it is an invitation to the royal wedding of Prince Amir, the Prince of Saddle Arabia, and Aminah, soon to be his princess. It stated that the wedding was to be on March 14.
"This is very exciting, don't you think? Let's write back that we wouldn't miss it for the world-"
"Wait! Isn't my choir performance on March 14th?" I interrupt. My mother immediately realizes that I was right, but her decision doesn't waver.
"Oh, no! Jameil, I'm so very sorry, I didn't realize! I'm very sorry, but we have to go! Missing a royal wedding is a big deal, especially for Saddle Arabia. They keep to themselves, so it is imperative that we take whatever chance we get to talk to them." I hear the words, believe them, and understand them. But they hurt. They hurt a lot. But I should be used to it by now. This was the fourth time this has happened, and each time they would promise to make the next important event. But they never did.
As expected, they missed my next recital. Then my 10th birthday party. But I still didn't give up on them. I cherished every moment that I did get to spend time with them. Though it wasn't much, my favorite part of the day was eating dinner with them and laughing with them. Their royal business was more important than walking me to school, and dinner was all that it allowed. I still looked up to them, no matter what, and loved them with all my heart. At least until I was a teenager.
"Jami! We have a meeting with the Princesses of Equestria! Azi will take care of you while we're gone," My mother cried up the steps. At this point, Azi, my personal caretaker, was more of a mother than my real one was.
"You didn't tell me you were going anywhere. It's Mother's Day!" I told her. I couldn't have her leave for too long. I had bought an extremely extravagant and thoughtful Mother's Day gift. The price wasn't a problem. But I had thought this one out so much. I bought a reservation at a beautiful restaurant for the three of us, and the reservation was at five. If we missed this, it would be so long before I could spent quality time with them. "When are you getting back?" I asked nervously.
"9:30. Azi has got you some food in the grand hall. It can be heated up whenever you want it." My heart shattered.
"Um, a-any chance you can be back be, f-five?" I choked out, holding back my tears.
"No. The meeting might even run long. But you've been home alone plenty of times. You'll be fine. Bye!" She says, not the least bit sorry. If only she knew.
As I waited for her to come home, my sadness turned into rage. Of course they would be doing something on the one day kids are supposed to be with their mothers. Why would they spent time with me? I was probably just a liability. I probably only still existed so that the Duke and Duchess of Maretonia could be parents. To make them look good. They probably didn't even love me in the least bit! Azi came to me too tell me I should eat dinner. I wasn't hungry.
Hours pass. My parents finally come home at 10:15, and I had been waiting on the living room couch for them with the passes for the restaurant. "Jamiel! We're back!" My father yelled. I didn't answer. "Jami! Where are you?" My mother cried. "Sorry we're late, the princesses were held up, and so we had a late start."
"4 months."
"Huh?" My father asked me.
"4 months I have been planning for this day." I said coldly.
"What do you mean?" My mother inquired.
"SEE FOR YOURSELF!" I screamed, using my magic to throw the passes at them. They fell to the floor. My parents pick them up with curiosity, and as they read their ears went down. They look so sorry. But I didn't believe their faces. On the passes they saw everything. The date of the reservation, when it was made, the restaurant, everything. They try to tell me that they're sorry, but by the time they look up, I'm already gone.
I spend the night bouncing back and forth between thinking of how horrible my parents were and crying. My parents knocked on the door a couple times, but I put a magical lock on it so they couldn't get in. They eventually gave up. By morning, I decided to occupy myself by teaching myself powerful magic. They'd get a chance to talk to me eventually, and teleportation would be great for getting out of it. I was only able to find the right book before they came to tell me to come eat breakfast. I refuse. Outside my door I hear them saying that if I still hadn't come down by lunchtime, they would come in to talk to me.
Lunch passes. I'm hungry, but I didn't care as long as I didn't have to see them. It had been 24 hours since I'd last eaten. As promised, my parents knock on my door once again. After 10 minutes of pleading, bribing, and even threatening my father finally breaks down the door.
"Jameil, why didn't you open the door??" My father yelled, angrily.
"Same reason I put the locks on. Because I don't want to talk to you." I say, slowly getting angrier. I face away from them so they can't see tears starting to form in my eyes.
"Jami, I hope you know there was nothing we could do to be back. We would have gone if we could have." My mother says, sympathetically.
"How about postponing it?"
"This wasn't something we could move-"
"Oh yeah? I've read up on the princesses of Equestria. They are the most kindhearted, understanding, beautiful princesses this world has ever seen!" I interrupt, angrily.
"Jami, you don't understand-"
"OF COURSE I UNDERSTAND! I UNDERSTAND THAT ALL I AM IS AN ACCESSORY TO YOU!" I shout. The sorry looks on their faces show that they know they won't be able to change my mind. They exit my room, my mother crying. 3 minutes later, Azi brings lunch into my room. I eat it without a word.
I spend the next few weeks learning magic, skipping school, and changing my look. I got a haircut to show my new personality, and I pick up magic rather quickly. Alicorns have high magical ability, so I can preform multiple teleportations consecutively by now. Slowly but surely, the color of my magic darkened. I wouldn't know why for quite a while. I had just started other types of spells when Azi burst into my room, with tears in her eyes.
"What is it?" I say, annoyed. At that point, I showed a total lack of compassion.
"Princess! It's just horrible, just terrible! Your parents... There's been a terrible accident!" Only then do I look up from my book. "Your mother and father.... They're... They're dead." Azi is very distressed. I show a look of not sadness, but surprise.
"They... They are... Dead?" I ask. Azi nods. "The Duke and Duchess of Maretonia. They are dead. But I... I am the heir to the throne, right?" I ask Azi, knowing full well the answer.
"Jameil! How could you say such a thing? You may be the new Queen, but that gives you no right to be disrespectful!" Azi yells, horrified.
"No, you're wrong. This gives me the right to do anything! I am the new queen!" I state. Azi looks terrified.
"I knew you disliked them after what happened, but this..." She says, barely whispering.
"They don't deserve my love."
"Maretonia! I have some surprising news for you. Your duke and duchess have perished in a terrible accident. As the heir to the throne, I will be your new ruler!" I announce to a large crowd of ponies. "As your new leader, I have taken it upon myself to make a few... Rule changes. I am going to write them and have them issued to all the towns and cities of Maretonia, but you will know what they are by the end of today. That is all." I finish. Ponies look terrified and confused. I hadn't given them much information, and the speech had ended rather abruptly. But there wasn't much for me to say.
"AZI!" I shout, as she rushes to my feet. As I could take care of myself and no longer needed supervision, Azi had been promoted to my assistant.
"Yes, Jameil?" She asks.
"I'd like these sent to the mayors of every city and town in Maretonia." I say, as I hand her a list. As she reads over the list of changes, she looks concerned.
"Jameil, these changes are a bit... Extreme. Taking the firstborn of every family in an effort to triple the armed forces and guard isn't really necessary. We got along fine before with the size we have now, and many of these rules could cause disharmony all throughout Maretonia and also cause ponies to rebel."
"And your point is?" I say impatiently.
"My point is that many of the things on this list are very bad ideas and I refuse to publish them." She argues defiantly. I shoot her an icy glare, and then smile.
"GUARDS!" I shout. Two guards rush immediately to my side. "Bring her to the dungeon. No cell mate." I order. They grab her and walk her out of the room, with her struggling and kicking.
As I eat dinner later that day, a guard comes to my side. "Should I go feed the prisoners now?" He asks, as I nod.
He is nearly out the door when I add, "Oh, but don't give anything to Azi. If she asks, just ignore her." He nods and walks out the door.
The same orders are given the next day. On the morning of the third day, I order someone to bring her out. She is brought to me in my throne room. Her mane is a tangled mess and she has fresh tear tracks running down her face. She looks tired. "J-Jameil, I-I am s-s-so sorry for disobeying you. I-I promise it won't happen again," she stammers.
"What are you going to do with these changes I've issued?" I ask, making sure that two days of starvation was enough to change her mind about disagreeing with me.
"P-publish them." She choked out.
"Wrong. It's already been done. You will approve of them, and you will set up these rankings I have written for the castle gaurd and staff." I order.
"R-right away, your majesty."
"Good. Breakfast is waiting for you in the dining hall." I tell her.
"Th-thank you." She says, and rushes to the dining hall.
I had created a ranking system in the staff. Bronze being the lowest level, consisting of the guards stationed at the gates, to gold for the higher ups like Azi. I would be diamond, and there were a couple ponies responsible for order in the palace that were called emeralds. They could issue small orders to their subordinates but never overrule a decision made by me. The two other ranks were copper and silver, silver being the main staff like butlers and chefs and copper being the royal guard stationed indoors. Each pony was given a bracelet to symbolize their ranks, and ranks also determine the quality of their food and possessions.
"AZI!" I shout. It was a few weeks after. By now, the color of my magic was completely black, but this never bothered me. The darker it got, the stronger it seemed to get. I started just ignoring it. I had just finished writing blueprints for a renovation in the castle.
"Yes?" She asks.
"Give these to the builder ponies. Tell them I want it done within 3 years." I say. She quickly glances over them.
"What's it for?" She asks.
"I'm creating a defense system ensuring that nothing can get to me." I inform her.
"How will these help?" She asks.
"Well, one's an underground bunker for a secret army of pegusi, who will create a new rank, sapphire, and tunnels so they can hide above the roof of any room in the palace. I will be able to call on any number of them to hide above any or every room for a surprise attack at any time, for an instant win. The other is an underground bunker for a secret army of unicorns, who will create a new rank called ruby, and will all be specially trained for magic. Especially the blank flanks, until they finally do get a cutie mark in magic. If they can't, they'll go to the silver rank and become chefs or maids or whatever they CAN get a cutie mark in. They will all be able to teleport, and so be able to get wherever I need them in the building whenever I want. It's a fail safe system for whoever could get past the guards at the gates." I told her. She looked scared because she knew that this can only mean that I would be in power for a long time, as a system this powerful would be nearly impossible to get through.
"Yes, right away..." She said sheepishly as she ran away with the blueprints. I sighed in content.
"Hey!" I shout. I got the attention of one of the more respected emeralds. "Bring me all the fillies without cutie marks in military training. I need to see them in the ballroom." I tell him. He immediately teleports away, and within a minute, an emerald that had been on break took his place. I waited in the ballroom.
Once I was informed that everypony was there, I started. "Hello. Today a very large project has been started. A project that will involve all of you. In 3 years, it will be done. But in 3 years, quite a lot of you will be getting your cutie marks, right? I need that cutie mark to allow you to do magic for unicorns and flight for pegusi. A lot of you you being taught baking isn't going to help the plan, now is it? You see, I'm enrolling all of you in an academy to teach you magic. But that academy will be finished being built in 3 years. That is a problem. Every time one of you gets a cutie mark in something I don't need, we lose a soldier. So I have created an alternative that will work as long as we need it. Schedules will be made, classes will be done, you will all have an education. More information on this program will be given to you soon. All questions will be answered later. That is all." Some ponies look, scared, others exited, some even mad. But they all know the gist, ant that was all I needed. They are ushered out of the room.
"My queen! You need to see this!" An emerald pony comes rushing to my side. He rushes me to the surveillance cameras and points to the one showing outside of the castle. It shows about 100 ponies banging on the gates, about half carrying signs protesting my rule.
"If we use our real Ruby and Sapphire guard, they could know it exists. We still need to keep that a secret." He tells me.
"You don't think I know that?" I say sternly. "Get all of our guards on the inside of the castle. There should be about 230. Leave one in the dungeons, 1outside my throne room, and 3 for my bedroom. That should be enough." I tell him calmly. He nods and teleports out.
I watch the scene through my throne room window. Pegasus guards held the rebels down while unicorns put on full hoof cuffs on them. That tied their hooves together and held their backs in position. Then a separate team of unicorns levitated them by their tails and one by one led them into the castle, for them to, I can only assume, be carried into the dungeon. When a guard alerts me that everypony that was rioting had been put into the dungeon, I leave.
I went to the dungeon to talk to the rebels. “Oh, how nice of you to join us! Too bad all the good rooms are taken.” I told them with a smirk.
“You're never… Ever going to… Win…” One of the ponies says, panting. “I just did.” I replied.
“Ponies will eventually stop rioting and rebelling.” I said.
“Are you sure about that? Ponies will never stop resisting! You WILL fail one day!” A Pegasus stallion retorted.
“Have you ever considered this? There won't be enough to resist. About 60 percent are too terrified to be any help in the resistance, 10 percent are on my side, 5 percent are either depressed or suicidals, and 10 percent have too much to lose and wouldn't risk their lives to be part of some kind of resistance. The other 5 percent are ponies like you. Eventually, that 5 percent will be gone. And don't forget that my armies are double the size of whatever you put together. You can't win!” I explain. Half if the ponies get more and more terrified with every word I speak, and some get madder. “So I would like you to choose your fate. Electrocution, burning, starvation, or dissection?” I finish.
“None! I will never succumb to you!” He shouts with his eyes full of determination.
“Burning it is. You know, that’s one of my personal favorites. It has a lot of symbolism behind it. When striking two rocks together to see which is stronger, sometimes you will create a spark. In the right environment, that spark will become a flame. That flame can be easily put out with water, or if you blow on it. But when that flame gets bigger, both of those things will just make the flame bigger and hotter. Then, you need a fire extinguisher or something of the sort. I guess I let the flame get too big, and what I was doing was just fanning the flame. But now, it looks like I have to fight fire with fire.” I explain, and then use a spell to set a small fire on the tip of his tail. He panics and tries to put it out before I tell him. “The spell I just used sets a fire that can only be put out by a certain other spell.” The fire creeps up his tail and eventually reached his body. He screamed in pain as others hid their eyes, screamed along with him, or just cried. When the fire reached his rib cage, I cast as spell to pause it. “Are you willing to obey my every command?” I ask him.
“Yes! Yes! Anything! Please get it off!” He says, crying and screaming.
“It's too late.” I started the flame again and watched as he soon became nothing but a pile of bloody ashes.
“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.