Love Will Guide Us Safely Through
Author’s Note: MissKoi doesn't own MLP or the story and media that this fanfic is based on, for they belong to their respective owners and creators. The only character that is gender swapped for the sake of this story is Fluttershy/Esther. For the sake of this story, male Fluttershy aka Butterscotch, shall be called Eliezer in this story. The rest of the pony characters, such as Discord, Trixie, Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Maud Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Celestia, the Narrator, etc, remain the same gender they were in the original “The Mare Who Became Queen” and in the original canon.
A line of formally dressed male waiters along one side of the wall of the feast hall, with a line of royal guards along the other side of the feast hall, watched King Xerxes and the massive group of beautifully dressed mares sitting at an extremely and almost impossibly long dining room table. Our chaotic king was sitting at the head of this crazy horizontally wide table.
Among the multiplitude of beautiful, skinny, jeweled handled, golden candles on the dining room table, one candle stood out from the rest because of the small purple flame that suddenly lit on it’s tip. A tiny stream of purple smoke slowly floated from the flame and it gradually took the form of a pony. Soon, this pony form in the smoke started to look familiar, especially the vibrant pink eyes that began to pop out. It was the Narrator; and, she turned her face to the audience and smiled.
Then she narrated to us in a whisper, “The next night, Xerxes arranged a glorious feast for all of his candidates. He spared no expense on their dresses and jewels, for after all, they were in the presence of royalty. Each mare was placed on the dining table, and rotated from one chair to the next every two minutes or so. Give or take. The reason why was because of the King's very….very...very...very short attention span. If any mare impressed him, he would make her queen...as you already know.”
The Narrator winked at the audience before continuing properly with her narration, “But so far, no mare has even come close to that. Meanwhile, our hero, Eliezer, was dressed in his best suit and tie. On the request of his dear cousin and due to the fact that there were barely any willing volunteers, Eliezer decided to be a waiter for this grand event. However, that didn’t mean that there wasn’t great fear and regret in him at this very moment.”
Her pointed hoof soon lead the audience’s attention towards the buttercream coat, long pink maned, pegasus stallion waiter along the line of royal waiters. The Narrator was true in her observation of Eliezer: he was nervous, terrified, and deeply regretful of his decision tonight. However, Eliezer was also strangely observant of the entire affair playing out before him. He couldn’t keep his eyes away from the table and the mares that kept flying out of their seat one by one as they sat close to the ruthless creature that was King Xerxes.
Meanwhile, the mare currently sitting next to King Xerxes at the head of table was a grey coat earth pony with flat purple hair that matched her bland personality. In fact, you could say that she was as dull as a stack of rocks. So, it came no shock to him when she bluntly stated...with a lifeless expression on her face, "I like rocks."
He rolled his eyes and plainly mumbled "You don't say."
"Any kind of rock really."
"Yes well, unfortunately for you my dear, you do not rock. So bye-bye!"
King Xerxes pulled down the tall lever to the side of his chair. This activated the spring in the grey earth pony's chair. His majesty sent the expressionless mare across the room, and yet, she didn't seemed to mind it. Instead, she showed signs of accepting it.
"Tsoori!"
The pink belly dancer pony exclaimed as she raced to catch the grey earth pony.
When the poofy haired pony caught the calm mare, she proclaimed in a worrisome tone, "Are you alright?! C'mon sis, speak to me! Please tell me that you're not dead!"
"Don’t worry sis, I’m still alive. And still kicking. I’ve been through worse break-ups than this, believe me.”
In the meantime, King Xerxes's patience was wearing thin. His claw was squished against his forehead, and he kept grinding his teeth to no end. He snarled at his advisor; standing helplessly next to him, "Please, tell me that she was the last one."
Hamana desperately tried to smile and soothe her furious King, "N-Not to worry sire, she was the...thirtieth one."
Xerxes barked out "There's still more!"
Hamana ducked her head down to his feet and hid her head underneath her hooves. Xerxes could see his pathetic confidant quivering in fear. He felt pity for her and groaned, "Bring on the next one."
However, among the line of almost emotionless looking waiters along the palace walls in the room, Eliezer was still keeping watch on King Xerxes’s behavior and on how he was treating this innocent mares from the corner of his eye. The shy pegasus tried to look professional and emotionless in order to not draw any attention from His Royal Majesty and his court, but it couldn’t be helped. Eliezer could feel how much he was standing out right now as he plainly stared at the chaotic dinner party going on. Eliezer was the kind of pony where his fear ruled over his actions and his expression. He was a stallion that wore his heart on his sleeve, much to his dismay.
So far, this King Xerxes was acting just as ruthless as he was foretold to be. He was cruel in his rejections, and merciless in his words. The mares in this didn’t deserve this fate; they didn’t deserve the blunt force of his frustration. Eliezer felt so sorry for all the ladies in the room. In his mind, they didn’t deserve to be possibly forced into a marriage that they may or may not agree to. But, based on the King’s reputation within the kingdom, most likely no mare in this room wanted to be his queen. Eliezer could only imagine what they were going through.
Every so often, the shy pegasus would sneak a peek of Xerxes at the head of the table. Despite his unusual appearance, he didn't look like a monster to Eliezer. He found his looks to be rather...interesting. Quirky even. The only truly terrifying feature about him was his un-amused scowl. It was full of cold judgment and skeptical criticism. He did, however, find it strange that the King's unique looks didn't frighten him away. It made the pegasus rather...curious of draconequus. Especially of the King’s scowl. Was it because of his love for animals that made him feel this way? Eliezer couldn’t tell.
The stallion could see as clear as day that King Xerxes was not having fun at his own soiree. Eliezer had a feeling on why that might be because he could sympathize the King in a way. While he has never forced any mare to be his bride or to be his, Eliezer has been on several blind dates that he never wanted to take part in. Keshet meant well when setting him up on these dates. After all, she only wanted her best friend to be happy since she had never seen him with a girlfriend. And there was a good reason for that. All the mares that Eliezer met on his blind dates were wonderfully nice and pretty, but...Eliezer wasn’t interested in them. And he never will be.
For he was a stallion that could only love another stallion.
While it may have been King’s law that brought His Majesty into this situation, Eliezer could tell that Xerxes didn’t want to go through all this. His Royal Highness was not interested in any of the mares presented to him because they were not chaotic enough for his taste. King Xerxes, in Eliezer’s eyes, didn’t want to marry another pony again.In Eliezer’s mind, it looked like His Majesty was going through this because it was expected him to do so. Not because, he wanted another queen by his side.
Eliezer deeply understood what it meant to go through the motions of it all. He knew what it meant to follow what was to be expected.
He had never told Keshet the real reason why no mare has ever caught his eye. In fact, he has never told any pony of his true nature except for his dear cousin Moriyah. Well, it was more like his cousin found out this secret on her own. Being the natural detective she was. But there was a good reason why Eliezer had to keep such a thing a secret. The reason why was because long before the reign of King Xerxes, in the Scripture of Moses the Bearded, it was written that a romantic love between two stallions was considered a sin. And if any pony was caught with such sin, death or banishment to that pony was an option.
Even though preaching the word of Celestia was now strictly forbidden by King Xerxes, the citizens of Saddle Arabia were still able to secretly hold on to some beliefs. And those beliefs pertained to the fact that such stallions like Eliezer were considered sinful creatures. Which was why the shy pegasus was so surprised, at the time, that, despite knowing his horrible secret, Moriyah was deeply understanding and compassionate about the matter. Sure, she was awestruck at first about the whole thing. But, in the end, Moriyah was able to accept her cousin for who he is simply because she loves him above all else. Especially, after both he and Moriyah have lost so much to the hands of King Xerxes. Despite her loyalty to the Gospel of her beloved Sun Goddess, Moriyah has claimed to Eliezer that she will always be loyal to him and Eliezer is deeply grateful to have a pony like Moriyah in his life.
But still, despite having the love and support of his cousin, Eliezer still couldn’t confess to Keshet or any pony of his secret because of the fear of immediate persecution. Despite his cousin’s secret but constant devotion to Celestia, Eliezer had a hard time believing that she was real. Eliezer wasn’t sure whether he should hate her, love her, deny her, believe her, or feel indifferent to her all together. How can he love something that has inspired such hateful words towards stallions like him? How can he believe in a sun goddess that calls his very existence a sin? However, how can he hate something that his cousin loves? How can he deny the existence of a goddess that gives his dear Moriyah hope? How can he deny his cousin hope in a time like this? To Eliezer, the simplest way to describe his relationship to the almighty Sun Goddess is...complicated.
Needless to say, Eliezer, in that moment staring upon the King’s face, was scare, curious, and sympathetic towards him. Ponies weren't kidding when they said that his palace was a madhouse.
Eliezer need a break. Now preferably. And luckily his chance came when it seemed like King Xerxes was taking a short break from the ten to fifteen mares he had dismissed within the last thirty minutes or so. Eliezer had lost all sense of time since he arrived at the palace, and had lost track of how many mares that the King disregarded after the first fifty of them. Eliezer had remembered seeing a small restroom in the hallway for the servants, so he figured he can freshen himself up there and pretend to go to the bathroom for awhile. When he caught a glimpse of King Xerxes resting his forehead on the palms of his claws in frustration, Eliezer began to awkwardly but quietly backed away from the line of waiters he was apart of him. He gradually went towards the front entrance, taking great head with each step. When Eliezer felt like he was clear of view from any pony important, he quickly bolted out of there and trotted towards the small servant restroom.
Meanwhile, King Xerxes slowly lifted his head away from the table and began to drag himself away from the dinner. This caused Hamana to exclaimed, “Your Highness! Where you going?”
This sluggishly stopped Xerxes in his tracks and he replied in a groan, “Just...just give me a minute, will ya? It’ll only be for a moment.”
“But Your Majest-!”
Before she could even finishing her protest, King Xerxes magically poofed himself out of the dining room.
Meanwhile, once Eliezer found himself in the safety of a bathroom stall he lock himself into for the moment, the shy pegasus allowed himself to actually relax and breathe. However, this brief of moment of peace didn’t last long. Eliezer jumped when he heard something magically poof and appear in the bathroom. Luckily, the sound came from outside his stall. He climbed onto the top of the toilet so that way this magical stranger couldn’t see his hooves.
While staying quiet, Eliezer heard the stranger groan, “When is this night ever going to end?”
Eliezer instantly recognized that voice. It was the King! The King was in the bathroom! But-But why?! Eliezer became overwhelmed in the King’s presence and his mind began to swirl with questions surrounding the strange curiosity as to why he was here. The quiet pegasus wanted answers, but dared not to. He was the kind of stallion that couldn’t be brave enough to tell somepony if they stepped on his hoof by accident, let alone talk to the King. He held in his breath, and small beads of sweat began to stream down his face and his neck.
While remaining firm on top of the toilet, Eliezer leans forward to the best of his ability and peaks through the small, skinny gap that lie between the left side of the stall and the stall’s door. His eyes widened when he witnessed the full height of King Xerxes, standing around in a restroom that was close to being too small for him. Luckily, the King was leaning forward on the restroom sink counters. Despite Xerxes’s head being hung low, Eliezer was still able to see just a glimpse of how tired and frustrated His Royal Highness looked. For just a brief second, Eliezer could have sworn that this mighty king of Saddle Arabia looked...depressed.
And,...Eliezer could help but feel a twinge of sadness in his heart for King Xerxes in that moment.
However, this scene of quiet observation from afar did not last long because Eliezer accidentally shifted in his seat on top of the toilet seat and this shift created a short, quick, echoing squeak. This squeak made Xerxes’s ears and head perk up, and he commanded, “Who’s there?”
Eliezer frozen immediately at the sound of his booming command, rapidly placing both of his hooves over his mouth.
“I know you’re in here! Reveal yourself, you coward!”
He’s right, I’m such a coward! Eliezer panicked inside his mind, trying to find a way to either escape or find a decent excuse to explain why he was being an accidental creeper. However, Eliezer still felt like his fear was justified. Not only did he take a break that he didn’t really need to do, but he was in the presence of a creature that can only tolerate the presence of Hamana, his cousin Moriyah, and his royal guard. And that’s it. His chances of surviving after uttering one word to this guy, especially in the mood he is in now, are slim. Very, very slim.
Welp, that’s it, Eliezer accepted in his fate in his mind, I’m going to die.
Eliezer knew that he kept hiding, it would only make the situation worse for him in the long run. So, despite his terror, despite the fact he couldn’t even process how to speak in that moment, Eliezer decided to open his mouth and say, “El-Eliezer, Y-Your Majesty.”
“Eliezer? Eliezer who?”
He didn’t scold me, Eliezer mused to himself in shock, he didn’t eliminate me where I stood. But...but why?
“Oh, um, just Eliezer. Your Highness. I’m, um, a waiter for the event tonight. A volunteer waiter.”
“And when you’re not a waiter?”
“When I’m not a waiter, I’m just a peasant, Your Majesty. Just one subject among the thousands in your kingdom.”
“Then, how did you get this temporary position?”
“M-My cousin, Captain Moriyah Sparkle, let me know there were some...openings.”
“Oh really? Is that so?” King Xerxes replied in a devilishly amused tone, “No surprise there.”
“O-Oh, and why is that? Your Majesty?”
“Come out here, and I’ll tell ya.”
“O-Okay,” Eliezer replied hesitantly as he carefully sat up from the toilet seat and cautiously approached the stall door. He took a silent but deep breath in before unlocking the lock and revealing himself cowardly to the powerful chaotic king himself. He was surprised to see the King leaning his back on the restroom sink counters and smirking at him.
“Well, well, well,” King Xerxes remarked, “finally. A face to the voice. And I must say…”
Suddenly, he brought his face quickly towards Eliezer’s eye level, making his head just a few inches away from the shy pegasus’s face. As expected, the pony jumped a little at his sudden appearance. But, the pony didn’t tremble. That wasn’t the only surprised Xerxes in this moment. What Xerxes didn’t expect was the fact that this pegasus was looking at him straight in the eye. In his eyes, he saw fear and shock of course; but, he also saw it seemed to be careful observation, curiosity, sincere and natural gentleness, and a hint of bravery. A bravery that this stallion was not even aware of. But that couldn’t be...not to King Xerxes at least. All ponies were the same to him. Weak, spineless, and pathetic. There’s no way that any of them could have the slightest desire to be brave, even if they wanted to. Their cowardice was clear to him from the moment they gave up their own faith in order for their kingdom to live.
But,...this stallion, on the other claw,...seemed different.
But King Xerxes rebutted this thought away by saying aloud, “You either have the face of a disguised assassin or the face of a cowardly assassin caught right in the middle of the act.”
“Assassin?!” Eliezer exclaimed in terror, “Oh no no, Your Majesty! I’m not an assassin! I’m just a no pony with nothing to his name! I’m...I’m…!”
But soon, Eliezer’s rambling got interrupted by Xerxes’s sudden burst of laughter. The King couldn’t hold it in any longer, he was just cracking up at the poor stallion’s panic.
Eliezer cocked his head to the side in confusion and asked, “Um, am I...missing something? I mean, aren’t you going to…? You know,...”
“Oh chaos no!” Xerxes admitted in breaks between his laughter, “It was a joke my dear boy! Trust me, I know that you’re not assassin.”
“I mean,...” Then, the draconequus opened his lion paw to Eliezer and revealed a sudden but quick bright poof of glittery magic, “no magic,...”
After the poof of magic disappeared in his paw, Xerxes then magically conjured up a floating and sharp looking assassin’s knife-like sword, “No weapons,...”
Soon after the sword disappear, in his lion paw, he magically made an iPhone appear and floating heavenly in the air, “No sleek means to communicate with the outside world.”
After the magically and highly advanced looking iPhone disappeared from his lion paw, Xerxes then concluded with a laugh, “Either you were innocent or the worst assassin in the world, ha ha!”
There was a moment silence between the two gents. King Xerxes waited for some kind of giggle or sound or a insincere comment from the stallion, but instead, Eliezer remain quiet and tried to look at the draconequus straight in the eye politely without being awkward about it. Unfortunately for Eliezer, he did not succeed in this regard. King Xerxes could tell that this pony wore his heart on his sleeve, and he couldn’t lie even if he tried. This was the first time that Xerxes had encountered such a creature, and it had him deeply intrigued.
To break the silence, King Xerxes asked genuinely, “Not funny in the slightest, huh?”
“If I’m being honest, no. Not really.” Eliezer answered politely but honestly, shaking his head “no”.
A small smirk broke on King Xerxes’s face, a smirk that he couldn’t, “Fair enough, but I must say, this is the first time that somepony was being straight with me when answering that question. So, kudos.”
“Um, thank you?”
Eliezer was soon taken back when the King removed his crown and placed it on the sink counter. Then, the King turned away from him, turned on the water in one of the sinks, and started to splash some water in his face. While His Royal Chaoticness was freshing himself, Eliezer’s mind began on two very specific questions: One, why King Xerxes wasn’t surprised by the lack of willing volunteers for this important and royal occasion? Two, why His Majesty retreated to the safety of the servants’ bathroom?
While subtle as it may be, Eliezer could tell in King Xerxes’s eyes and face that there was something bothering him. But, he didn’t know what. If King Xerxes truly wanted to blow off the entire matchmaking event all together, he would have poofed himself to the safety of his own room.
The shy, buttercream pegasus gulped before summoning all his courage to ask, “Um, Your Majesty? If this isn’t too much to ask, b-but may I ask you something? Or rather, two somethings actually?”
“Hmm-mhm.” The King mumbled, answering Eliezer’s request without much thought to it as he turned the water off and reached for the towel not too far from his reach.
As Xerxes began to dry off his face, Eliezer questioned shyly, “Okay, um, first...why were you not surprised by the lack of willing volunteers to be your waiters for the dinner tonight?”
When Xerxes finished drying his face and poofing the wet towel out of existence, he replied casually but trollishly, “Ha! Isn’t it obvious?”
“N-No, not really. At least, not to me.”
“Well, that’s because you’re too polite for your own good. It’s simple really. Tyrancial king. Job openings by that king that require close proximity to His Devilishly Handsome Royal Highness. Serving meals to mares who don’t want to be in the palace in the first place. It doesn’t take a genius to do the math, dear boy.”
“So, is that why you retreated to this bathroom then? Because you felt like no pony wanted you around?” Eliezer uttered in such a soft, compassionate, emphatic voice.
Xerxes froze immediately. Xerxes froze at Eliezer’s true and honest answer, and unconsciously let this answer ring and echo deep within himself. The draconequus stared off into his own reflection in the bathroom mirror, not really look at himself in that moment. Just getting lost at the thought of somepony reading him easily like an opened book instantly. He questioned how it possibly be. There was no way that this stallion could be a mind reader of some kind. No, he would have sensed that kind of power awhile ago. Xerxes also made a mental note to himself to magically scan the entire kingdom later for mind readers that could possibly undermine his authority. However, the main point being that as much as he hated to admit, even in his own mind, that there was a tiny and pathetic part of himself that strangely cared about ponies actually enjoying his presence. But he didn’t know why he cared. And this feelings has only grown as he rules over the citizens of this desert kingdom.
Meanwhile, Eliezer started to panicked as he saw Xerxes’s shocked, unreadable expression in the mirror. He began to regret every word he uttered to His Majesty. He had to fix it. Somehow, he had to fix this. So, he then uttered in a scared and hesitant, “Um, Your Highness? I-Is everything alright?”
“Huh?” was all that Xerxes could say in response to Eliezer’s question.
He shook his head and quickly yet desperately regained his composure. Then, he turned to Eliezer with a fake smile and replied, “Why, of course I am! How could I not be?! I’m the King for chaos’s sake! I don’t need any pony! Nope, no siree! Especially not their attention! Nope, especially not their attention! Who’s insecure and pathetic?! I know I’m not!”
After King Xerxes uttered that statement, he forced himself to smile longer and wider than he need to. The strain of smile was so hard for him that his left eye began to twitch like a mad pony.
Eliezer then comforted the mad king with, “I’m not saying you’re insecure, Your Majesty. You’re still a very confident creature. Probably the most confident creature I’ve ever met. But, even the most confident creatures can care about what others have to say. Even just a little. But then again…”
Then Eliezer downcasted his eyes to his hooves and reflected softly aloud, “I wouldn’t know. I’m not the most confident pony around. I’m quite the opposite. If there’s anyone around here that’s being insecure, that would be me...Your Majesty. I...I care too much about what other ponies think of me.”
“Pfft! Please.” King Xerxes dismissed, pushing air through his lips, “what do you got to hide there, Sherlock? You looks like a normal pony to me. And I do mean normal. Like beyond normal. I dare say you’re downright boring, that’s how normal you are.”
“Sometimes...you don’t have to look different in order to be different. Sometimes,ponies can judge you on the smallest of things like if you act strangely...or if you think strangely...from everypony else.”
King Xerxes raised up his right eyebrow curiously at the stallion standing before him, his interest in this pony growing slowly but surely with each passing minute. However, in order to hide his interest from Eliezer, he snapped his fingers and transformed his royal attire into something out-of-the-blue and new.
Eliezer perked up his head at the sound of King Xerxes snapping his fingers, and when he looked up, his eyes widened at the gawking sight in front. The royal draconequus had a huge, blonde, Dolly-Parton like wig on top of his head; having the tips of his antlers just barely peaking at the top of the wig. But the wig was only there as an accent to main, all bright pink, modern, teenage girl looking outfit he was sporting. He even went through the effort to put on glittery, purple eyeshadow on and sparkling pink lip gloss.
Eliezer had no words, just simply, no words for this scene displayed to him.
“Okay, girl, like,” King Xerxes remarked in the most annoying, nasally, drool, nonchalant, modern teenage girl voice that he could conjure up, “you are like totally, you know, hiding something. Soooo, like, spiillll it! Like give me the 411 and well, whatever, you know.”
Oh dear, Eliezer silently panicked to himself in his mind, me and my big mouth. What should I do?
“I, um,...”
But before, Eliezer could make some kind of excuse for himself and for his deep dark secret, he was suddenly pulled into Xerxes’s chest and held tight by the grip of his lion arm and his eagle claw. With a quiet snap of his fingers, Xerxes made his over the top teenage mare outfit disappear, and his royal attire returned. Even his crown returned on top of his head. When he snapped his fingers, he also activated a disappearance spell that made both his body and Eliezer’s body invisible. Because of this, Xerxes couldn’t see Eliezer and Eliezer in return couldn’t see Xerxes. Eliezer could only feel the warmth radiated from Xerxes’s chest, the smooth silk texture of his royal robe on his cheek, and he could only hear the King’s heartbeat. Hearing the King’s heartbeat made Eliezer’s face flush bright red.
Meanwhile, in the midst of the silence of the bathroom, King Xerxes and Eliezer heard a familiar voice in the hallway. It was the royal adviser herself, trying to efficiently but quickly find the King before any mares try to escape from the royal dining hall.
“Oh Your Majesty!” Hamana tried to calmly call out, but deep down, every fiber of her being was trembling with fear, “Your Majesty! King Xerxes! It’s your most loyal visor, Hamana! Not to rush you m’lord, but there are plenty of eligible and non-boring mares awaiting your glorious presence in the dining room!”
Then, she whispered to herself in panic, “Oh, please don’t tell me that he’s preparing the Chamber of Perpetual Tickling for my arrival.”
The thought of this punishment made Hamana to desperately call out, “YOUR MAJESTY! YOUR ROYAL CHAOTICNESS!”
Hamana continued to call out King Xerxes’s name as she went down the long hallway. The draconequus listened carefully to her cries, let them softly fade and echo out. Once he felt like she was gone from the hallway and went on to another part of the palace, Xerxes smiled and snapped his fingers, which reversed the disappearance spell he placed on himself and Eliezer.
King Xerxes then lightly chuckled, while still holding Eliezer close to his chest without even really realizing it, “Ha ha, sorry about that. But, let’s just say that I wasn’t ready to be dragged back to the boring soiree against my will by Hamana. Ha ha!”
But when Xerxes looked down at Eliezer in his arms, he found himself completely awestruck and captivated. An obvious but strangely beautiful blush completely covered the pegasus’s face; the blush even traveled and covered his ears. Despite looking down and trying to have his fairly long mane cover his eyes, Xerxes could still see them and he wished he could see more of them. Unlike before, his eyes were glistening and shining. The depths of his bright teal eyes were breathtaking. Was this because the blush on his face enhanced his features like his eyes? It was hard to say. All that Xerxes knew was that no pony had ever blush this way around him before. He had never met anything in the natural world that captivated his attention more than his own beautifully chaotic creations. The King was trying to figure out what was happening to him. Did he truly create such a reaction in a pony like this?
Eventually, Xerxes remembered himself. He quickly but awkwardly placed Eliezer back on the ground, and looked away with a blush on his long face.
There was a moment of silence between the two before King Xerxes interrupted it by clearing his throat. Then, he began to slowly ramble, trying to speak clearly with his current confused mind set, “Anyway,...soooooo, listen. How about...we make a deal?”
“A deal?” Eliezer asked, bringing his gaze back to King Xerxes.
“I-It’s simple, really. I first admit something, then you admit something. Do we gotta a deal?”
Despite his better judgement, despite his terror of what will come, despite his own insecurity and shame within himself, he went against it and uttered simply, “D-Deal.”
SNAP! POOF!
Before Eliezer knew it, he was sitting in tall and heavily padded chair wearing a very silly grey wig on top of his head, a grey mustache on top of his upper lip, a green knitted sweater vest with a complimentary plaid collar shirt underneath, and a smoking pipe blowing out pink bubbles in his mouth. The bathroom was transformed into a very hunter green and brown looking office space, filled to the brim with shelves of books, a fireplace, and a wide horizontal window to the outside world. In front of Eliezer, there was King Xerxes laying out on a long, beautiful crafted, padded couch. This couch used to belong to Queen Vashti and it was referred as her fainting couch.
The King groaned as he explained with great disdain for himself, “What I have to admit, and I hate saying this aloud...I mean it, I really hate saying this aloud,...but, you weren’t completely wrong about why I came to this bathroom. I don’t know why but,...I feel weird being in a room where clearly no pony wants to be around me.”
“You shouldn’t feel weird about feeling that way. No pony wants to be around somepony that doesn’t like them. We should be around ponies who like us, like us for who we are. That kind of acceptance can be very assuring.”
“But that’s just it!” King Xerxes then boldly stood up on the couch and proclaimed to the pegasus dressed like a therapist, “I don’t need their acceptance! I don’t need their approval! I don’t even need their dismissal of me! And you know why?! Because I don’t care what they think of me!”
Then, the draconequus fell back to the couch; allowing himself to sink back into the seat once more. He let out a frustrated sigh as he fell. Once he felt comfortable again, Xerxes explained, “Their opinions are naturally inferior to my own opinion because, not only are ponies just naturally inferior in any way, but the only creature who knows me on this Earth is me.”
“Well Your Majesty, if you don’t me mind remarking in this way, but maybe the problem is not whether you care about other ponies’ opinions or not.”
This causes Xerxes sit straight up like a vertical line and turn a confused look towards Eliezer, “It’s not?”
While trying to hide his little smile and the bubbling chuckle in his throat, Eliezer explained “I think your problem that...you don’t understand why you can’t make any friends despite how much, deep down, you do want friends. Even just one.”
“WHAT?! THAT’S-THAT’S RIDICULOUS! ME, KING XERXES?! THE LORD OF CHAOS AND DESTRUCTION! THE MIGHTY CONQUEROR OF THIS LAND! WANTS FRIENDS?! HA! THE DAY THAT HAPPENS IS WHEN PIGS DON’T FLY AND THEY WALK ON THE GROUND LIKE BARBARIANS!”
Just then, as if on cue, a pink pig dressed as a male barbarian warrior started walking around on its hind legs. He walked in between Xerxes and Eliezer, holding casually a large battle axe in its tiny little hooves. The cute pig kept oinking to himself as he proceeded to walk to the other side of the office space.
When the pig was out of vision, King Xerxes turned back to Eliezer and pouted, “My point still stands.”
“What’s wrong with wanting friends, Your Highness?” Eliezer asked sincerely.
“Because it makes me looks like a pathetic, useless, lonely sack of potatoes.”
“P-Potatoes? Actually, never mind. Your Majesty, a pony, er I mean, a draconequus doesn’t need to be lonely in order to need friends. It’s nice to have friends around because, well, it’s nice to have sompony to talk. It’s kinda like...hmm let’s see...oh, I know! It’s kinda like what we’re doing right now! I’m being your friend by allowing you to talk to me, by listening to you, and then you doing the same for me.
In an awestruck tone, Xerxes asked simply with his eyes wide and glued upon Eliezer, “You’re...you’re my friend?”
“If it’s alright by you, Your Majesty, I would love to be your friend.”
King Xerxes became speechless as he stared more into Eliezer’s shy but kind and smiling face, witnessing how bright his teal eyes were when he smiled. Heat returned to Xerxes’s cheeks and his heart began to pound against his chest.
However, this moment didn’t last long as Xerxes quickly changed the mood of the room with a snap of his fingers. With his magic, he made Eliezer sit on the fainting couch while he got to sit in the big main therapist chair. Eliezer was back in the suit and tie that he was wearing earlier, while the King was dressed up in the plaid collar shirt, sweater vest, moustache and wig that Eliezer was just wearing just seconds ago.
“So, tellz ve,” the chaotic lord remarked in an over-the-top, stereotypical German accent, “now that this scrundel has spilled its stuffing, now iz time that you do the same. Yah?”
Oh, right, Eliezer realized inside his mind, the deal.
Then, Eliezer began to struggle, while blushing furiously throughout, “Well, um, you see...oh, how do I explain it?”
“Letz start at the beginning part, thatz always a good place, yah?” King Xerxes continued with his fake German accent shtick, doodling “notes” all over his writing pad placed on his lap.
“Okay then,” Eliezer uttered with dread, taking a deep cleansing breath before explaining hesitantly, “well, remember when I said that...you don’t have to look different in order to be different, but rather...you can be different if you act or think differently? Well, I’m one those who...thinks differently from everypony else.”
“Hmm, interesting. Very interesting. And what are theze strange and different thoughts thatz you have in your head?”
Eliezer brought his front hooves to his chest, pushing them hard and tight against his pounding and nervous heart, “They’re...they’re sinful thoughts. Forbidden thoughts. Inappropriate thoughts. I...I guess what I’m saying is...no matter how hard I try to be like very pony else...no matter how much I wish I could just do what is expected of me...no matter how much I force myself to like mares romantically…”
Then, Eliezer’s voice broke out softly when he said, “I can’t…”
Eliezer began to sob softly into his front hooves, trying desperately to hide his sadness from the all powerful king of Saddle Arabia. He hadn’t felt this vulnerable and open since he confessed to Moriyah. And that was his family. Now, he is practically confessing to a stranger, to a creature he barely knows. Sure, this creature is his king. But, he has never spoken to the king since today. Eliezer waited. Waited for some kind of response or sound from the draconequus sitting in front of him. Just anything to distract him from his own internal shame.
That break finally came when King Xerxes warmly chuckled and remarked in his normal voice, instead of his fake German accent, “Oh, is that all? Ha ha, no offense my dear, but I was honestly expecting something truly unsettling like you murdering a pony.”
“Huh?”
Eliezer sat straight up in shock on the couch, turning his tear stained face towards King Xerxes. This took the great king by surprise as he took in such emotion, shock, relief, and hope in this stallion’s face. He had never seen any pony look at him in this way, and it made his heart pound yet drop at the same time.
“You mean,” Eliezer finally said, his voice cracking still a little from his tears, “it doesn’t bother you that I...that I can only love another stallion? That...I could never love a mare?”
King Xerxes shook his head before responding quite casually but happily, “Of course not! I’m the Lord of Chaos! I’ve created far ‘stranger’ concepts than what you just described to me. Besides, I’ve been all over before I settled myself here in Saddle Arabia. During my travels, I’ve met all kinds of ponies. Stallions loving stallions, mares loving mares, and even ponies that can love both mares and stallions. I’ve met ponies that went from mare to stallion, or from stallion to mare, and even some who were born as neither gender.”
“R-Really?”
“Though, I do admit, when I did met those kinds of ponies in question, they were in hiding. So, I can kinda see where you coming from. But still, the problem still lies in pony perspective, not from ponies like you. I assure you.”
“It’s...it’s not my fault?”
“Pfft! Hello, any pony in there?! Of course it’s not your fault.”
Then with a confident smirk, he announced proudly, “Regardless, that didn’t stop yours truly from mixing it up every now and then.”
With a quick poof of his magic, Eliezer’s eyes widened when he saw the King’s face transformed into something more feminine and female looking. High lovely cheekbones, long eyelashes, and sharp yet feminine eyes. He even changed his hair to match this new look, he gave himself long, wavy, white hair. Which contrasts heavily from his usual hair-do. King Xerxes had even removed his long, white, goat beard.
He even had a female voice to go with his new look, “When I got bored, sometimes I made myself female for just a few centuries before switching into something a bit more…”
POOF! Before Eliezer’s gaze, the King’s face transformed into something he had never seen before. Instead of having long, wavy, white hair, the King had a short, white, bowl hair cut with bangs that almost completely covered his furry eyebrows. He still kept the strong, female looking cheekbones from his previous look, but he kept his strong, usual, masculine chin. It was like his face obtained the feminine qualities of his female face and the usual masculine qualities of his male face. And when combining these things, he had made a face that was entirely new. A face almost beyond the definition of one gender.
And his new voice reflected the qualities that existed in his new face, “Androgynous…”
The new face quickly vanished as soon as it came, and his normal masculine face and voice returned. And with a smile, Xerxes simply explained as if it was fact that everyone knows by heart, “I guess what I’m trying to say is, gender and sexuality is a spectrum my dear. A spectrum that, unfortunately, not every pony understands yet. Which why I don’t have a problem with such a matter, and neither should you.”
Eliezer couldn’t believe it. He couldn’t believe what he had just heard. King Xerxes, the creature that every pony feared...the tyrant that took everything from everypony...the being with a heart as hard as stone...just accepted him for who he is without judgement. Sure, Moriyah accepted Eliezer for who he was; but, it took her a moment to get over her shock in order for this to occur. Here, King Xerxes didn’t blink an eyelash at such a secret. He accepted it as truth and gave the shy pegasus a kind smile for it.
Overwhelmed by the King’s kindness, Eliezer smiled at the draconequus and gave him a big and tight hug around Xerxes’s long neck with tears streaming down his face. “T-Thank you…” was all that Eliezer could say in that moment.
At first, King Xerxes didn’t hug Eliezer back. He was taken back by the fact that there was a pony so willingly to hug him and touch him like this. No pony or any creature has ever done such a thing, no one was brave enough to dare. Yet, here is this stallion...this meek, vulnerable, emotional, but indescribably kind...without a second thought so willingly to show such affection.
Without even thinking, his arms moved on their own and he wrapped around Eliezer. He blushed, let his heart pound against his chest, and allowing his chin to rest lightly on the pegasus’s shoulder. As Xerxes clinged closer to Eliezer, he knew that he didn’t want to let go. He didn’t know why he suddenly had the desire to never let this stallion go, he just knew that he didn’t want this moment to end. He didn’t want to let this warm feeling go, this warm yet strangely comforting feeling that had no name. He wanted this embrace to last for as long as it could last.
King Xerxes couldn’t let this wonderful stallion slip through his fingers. Therefore, the only thing he could do was this, “I have decided.”
“Hmm?”
But King Xerxes didn’t give Eliezer any time to properly for what was going to what happen next. He cradled the surprised, wide eyed stallion into a bridal style position before snapping his talons and transporting themselves out of the bathroom.
His chaotic magic took them back to the royal dining hall, where every mare was still sitting at the long dining table with bored and dull looks on their faces and the royal guard and waiters lined up against the walls of the room emotionless. Specifically, Xerxes transported themselves to be on top of the dining hall table. Meanwhile, Hamana was passed out on the floor near the dining hall table, completely exhausted from running everywhere in the palace just looking for His Royal Chaoticness.
However, every pony perked up and jumped when they suddenly saw King Xerxes and Eliezer appear in the room. But, they were not prepare for what their dear king had to say.
His Royal Majesty proudly announced with a big smile on his face, “Ladies and, well, mostly ladies! I am here to proudly announce my decision! Eliezer, my dear Eliezer, shall be my new queen!”
“WHAT?!” Every pony claimed in horror.
“W-What?!” Eliezer squeaked, just thinking of how he possibly got himself messed up in a disaster far bigger than any pony could possibly dream of.
Author's Note
Author's Note: Phew! This one took me awhile, let me tell you:o Because this one took me awhile to complete in my spare time, the other stories I have planned for Fluttercord Week (if you're going to follow me through this journey at least) will be significantly shorter than this one. And for that I deeply apologize in advance. Hopefully you guys enjoy this one, whether you're into my story "The Mare Who Became Queen" or not:) This one shot was a first for me because it was my first LGBTQ fanfic for the MLP fandom, yay for me^^! About time, right?;) Lol! Hopefully I was able to do the LGBTQ community with this fanfic:) I'm surprised that in the Fluttercord community that we don't get fanfics or art or anything like that focusing on Butterscotch x Discord. I mean, we have Butterscotch x Eris, Eris x Fluttershy, so why not Butterscotch x Discord? Anyway, just let you guys know that if you guys really really like this story/one shot, then I would happily make this AU a full story here on Fimfiction:)I hope you guys want this to be a full story because I am fascinated to explore a LGBTQ character in a biblical setting since it is a concept that doesn't get to explore very often. And it is perfectly understandable why that it never gets explored because of well, the passages of the Bible that are against the LGBTQ community unfortunately :( Let me know if there are any other AUs that I could explore in or to the "The Mare Who Became Queen" universe:) Also let me know if there were details in this fanfic that were not done properly in respect to the LGBTQ community, the last thing I want to do is insult anyone and make them feel like they were not represented properly. I want everyone to have a voice in this world <3 Because of this, I am willing to fix anything in this story:) I am also planning on writing another one shot for "The Mare Who Became Queen", but this time, it will take place in the canon universe of it:) That's all that I can say about it;) This one shot was inspired the third chapter in "The Mare Who Became Queen" and the script for Episode 2 of my audio drama "The Mare Who Became Queen", but it was also inspired by my conversation with my good friend NeonCandies about "The Mare Who Became Queen":) They're one of the artists for the audio drama "The Mare Who Became Queen", and I'm dedicating this fanfic to them:) Show them some love on their DeviantArt and Tumblr:
http://spaceyjelly.tumblr.com/
