The Grim and Dark Past (2)

The Crystal Empire reminded her much of her home.

‘Queen’ Velvet of Olenia was glancing through the tiny window of her chariot, blinking and observing as the Ponies all around were clearly enjoying the day. It was a rather peaceful sight, and one that mirrored to some extent the Equestrian Diarchy in many of its major cities.

Yet, one thing instantly caught her attention and she was quick to ask about it at the advisor that she was given by the local municipality.

“That’s that wheeled vehicle?”

“Oh, that?” Steel Rock asked briefly as he aimed his hoof at the peculiar non-train vehicle. “That’s a Jackalope Truck. It’s one of the recent acquisitions we made after we allowed Fillydelphia Motors to establish a branch of their company in Ponytown. It’s a vehicle akin to a train but doesn’t require tracks to properly work.”

“And how does that work?”

This new question seemed to surprise and embarrass the advisor. “I-I am no technician, your highness, but from my understanding they use a small engine that works similar to a train. But instead of coal like in trains, or petrol oil as in most engines around the world, we have managed to find a way to use crystals to satisfy this burden.”

Velvet nodded slowly at this. “But how would that work? Do you melt the crystals and then use it as fuel?”

“It’s a bit simpler than that. I think rods are installed within specific slots, and, once depleted, they are changed with new ones.”

“What about the old ones?” The Queen pressed, ignoring the uneasy look on her guard’s face as it felt a bit obvious those new ones were to be mined. And the memory of mining crystals wasn’t exactly one the locals were fond about due to the extensive past of forced labor under King Sombra.

“They are charged up and sold anew,” Steel Rock assured, smiling at this detail. “You see, your highness, the King has established the ‘Crystal Energy Recharge Program’, or CERP, as a way to keep the nation independent from a potential need for carbon fuels to sustain its energy consumption. Not only does it provide more workplaces for Unicorns in the magical recharge effort, but it helps lessening the worries of pollution.”

Velvet nodded, yet she didn’t speak any further on the topic despite her curiosity over pollution. She remembered her father dabbling into this hurdle when industrialization started to manifest within Olenia, but she never had much of a chance to expand on this.

Equestria was far more secretive on their own issues. Not the fault of the princesses, but the local rich Ponies that didn’t want to show how awkwardly dysfunctional some parts of the Pony society were.

After venturing further into the capital, Velvet’s attention was once more claimed by a novelty.

“Are those factories?”

The reason why the young Deer was surprised by the sight wasn’t much by the impressive size of those buildings. But by something that really felt off to see happening in a factory. There were children seemingly studying within one of the building’s wings.

“That would be the case. And, from the looks of it, that is one of the Hoplite’s establishments. Hoplite is a company devoted to developing and experimenting on Tanks. They are originally from Snowybury but have resettled within the outskirts of the capital following the Edict of Industrial Redistribution which allowed new industries to relocate in better-suited areas to permit their growth. In return for this cheap relocation, they are classified as ‘Crystal Certified’ and thus open to accept the ‘Ponies Act’ program passed by Minister Arctic Lilly.”

“That’s the former leader of the Red Crystal Workers’ Party, correct? The former Communist rally in the Empire.”

She had heard that something weird had happened with the Crystal Communists, but she wasn’t sure how putting them in charge of part of the government was meant to fix things.

“Indeed, Minister Lilly was the main leader of the party, but was willing to accept the dissolution of the party in return to establish the core tenets of her mandate within the party: the establishment of welfare, the rational socialization of the land, and the introduction of a robust full equality clause to guarantee rights to all species.”

Since the King was not a Pony or a Griffin or just anything that this world had the chance to find, it made sense that he would find this idea reasonable. Yet, she was surprised by how well it was being implemented and-

“What about the children?”

“Oh, those students are part of the special program ‘Learn for your Job’. It is an initiative also captained by Minister Lilly and endorsed by businessgriff Erich von Talonitz. The main goal is to allow young students to invest one or two hours of their free time each day after school to learn the basics of the workplace in the factory. It’s a voluntary program and it allows the youth to be prepared to be accepted within the world of factories once they have graduated from school.”

The talk about the workplace expanded also to include the state-funded lunch breaks, the lenient shifts to allow numerous workers to be at work at once without expending too many hours of their day and… and it was a little heaven. The jump between Equestria and the Crystal Empire was evident, and then it was time to eat.

Steel Rock hadn’t lied when he said this place was the best in the continent, the praise repeated by Velvet as she tried the wonderfully-crafted salad she was offered at a relatively affordable price.

“Twin Wings is a recent institution, it had settled in Crystal City just a week ago after being scouted by the government for a ‘national expansion’ for its ‘National Fast Food Program’. The gist is that Twin Wings has baffled government’s officials for its speedy deliveries while preserving genuine quality and homeliness in their final products.”

Velvet nodded in agreement at those words, confirming the judgment of these critics. And as she looked more around, enjoying the lovely display of happy Ponies and Griffins and Changelings by their own tables, she also noticed the peculiar site of a construction happening just around the corner.

Differently from other constructions, this one had twice the size of the other smaller buildings for foundation, yet the real detail that had her fully intrigued by the sight of a white-feathered Griffin giving orders to some Changeling workers. Her staring didn’t go unnoticed by her guide, who turned and realized who was the source of Velvet’s interest.

“That’s Erich von Talonitz, he has been hired by Queen Apocrita to create a small skyscraper to act as her hive’s nest.”

“Do the Changelings need a tall nest?”

“I believe the Queen is mostly endeared by the pictures she saw of Manehattan and wishes to mimic some of those to match her greatness,” Steel Rock assumed. “The King has been quite cordial towards her kin, so she has decided to settle the hive to be located in a ‘familiar environment’ to all species rather than replicate the designs known to Changelingkind.”

Velvet nodded softly, this time distractedly thinking if that was going to be possible back home. A skyscraper for the government's purposes… that was going to be expensive. But, perhaps, in the eventuality of trade with Equestria and by hiring experts from the Crystal Empire, that may be a feasible opportunity.

At this point, it was fair for the young Queen to wonder and hope.

None of those thoughts were, after all, going to change much with what she had planned to say and do with her meeting with King John on the next day.

—------d-d-d-d—------

Recent times have been particularly hectic.

Between the migration from the Changeling Lands, the arrival of new industries in the country, and various bills that were passed to neutralize radical communists and keep around those few sane socialists as part of the government’s reform, my opportunity to catch sleep had gotten extremely rare.

Not much because any of those demanded me to be always awake, but due to how strenuous it was in the long run, it felt like five hours of sleep was no longer cutting it for me.

To make it worse, I found out that now I had a bug problem. A big fat-assed bug problem at that.

“Why?” I asked the mass of darkness resting on my chest.

“I am hungry,” Apocrita smoothly replied. “And bottled love doesn't feel right. It doesn’t feel… personal.”

“I can put you up with Cadenza. I am sure she would love to give you another way to-”

“You and I know this game can be cheated upon by either of us,” Apocrita interjected smugly. “Unless, of course, you want this to turn into a shameless scandal or two~.”

I glared at the ceiling and thought of something I could do to stop her from rubbing on me. Like, it wasn’t even the ‘draining’ process that worried me. I wasn’t feeling much of it as Apocrita was purposely doing it slowly to not be a bother. The care didn’t extend to her blatant effort to ‘rub herself against me’.

It was slow enough I barely noticed it, but as I started to feel my lower body heat up and perceive a slight shift between the groin area from the Changeling Queen, I was given a clue on what she was trying to do. And this was cumbersome enough I refused to even address it.

And while some would easily just say ‘yeet her off the bed’ and fuck with the consequences, the legal troubles and the mental gymnastics of tackling the various papework to ‘solve’ any slight would be just a pain.

It was indeed a game. A game of patience. One where the Changeling Queen wanted to draw an amendment in our bargain to see herself elevated as partner, maybe consort, and secure greater autonomy for herself and her many children. Some biologically hers, others tagging along among the migrants.

As much as I found this flattering, the modality of approach had me both perplexed and worried of what she would do if I was to give in. And one I was on the verge of losing if not for a loose thought getting the best of me.

One of those intrusive thoughts I never considered feasible now was giving me hope.

I felt the Changeling Queen tense up as I laid a hand onto her hair and ears, feeling her twitch in response to having her head caressed without a warning. Confusion manifested in a quizzical look, and I looked down to her with a flat look.

“Can you also purr?”

Apocrita frowned at the request, but reluctantly started to vibrate. Any worry of arousal-inducing troubles vanished as I turned my fat-assed bug problem into a more wholesome feline fat-assed problem.

It made it easier to relax, to find comfort in that awkward positioning as my sleep-deprived brain could now ‘mistake’ Apocrita for a pet to vent my stress through the dopamine-boosting action.

It didn’t take long for today’s round of the game to come to a closure, with me as the winning champion over the sexually-needy Changeling Queen that wanted to do the naughty in this wonderfully clean bed.

Despite the clear victory on my side, Apocrita had no issues in accepting defeat. Mostly because she admitted perceiving three times the amount of love I would usually have at this late hour now getting to her magical belly.

Two birds killed with a stone, or two monarchs going to sleep in the same being as human and cat-bug. And while no one questioned this anymore, I couldn’t help but realize this genial idea had sparked another issue to be perplexed about.

“Cinnamon, why are you wearing a cat-ears headband and have a tail straddled from your waist?”

The maid appeared nervous and then- “...N-Nyah?”

I have quite the determined maid, don’t I?

Author's Note

AN

Next time, Cinnamon dares… and wins something! Also, Velvet unconsciously triggers a ‘situation’: her Daddy Issues vs John’s Paternal Tendencies.

So, let’s get talking. Why did this story get so little attention when I have updated others with even lesser reading appreciation. In truth, I have to come out clean and say that I felt a bit ‘embarrassed’ about writing about non-anthro characters.

Mind you, I have nothing against it, but I would find it quite tedious to get my mindset and attention span set to write stuff right. So, I thought that taking a break would work well for me.

Turns out that it took a little less than a year to get my brainlet back in control. And I have to say- I am now more ‘degenerate’! Ah, this is… not exactly me telling I am 100% mentally into this, but I am more at ease with it.

Alas, I have also started another story set in Equestria at War, ‘Après moi, le birb déluge!’ is John as the MC but waking up in Aquileia to be part of a certain Bisexual Napoleon Birb’s bi-harem. Vivienne just has her ways, so does John as he ends up with a following of fellow ‘world leaders’. So, that’s another one to keep in mind and…

Biggest news is left to last: I am currently on the path to write a book. I have two chapters ready in Italian (my native language) and I have part 1 of 4 of the third chapter already written. It’s a Slice of Life story with some drama and hurt/comfort sprinkled here and there. While it may not sound original, the way it’s presented and established through the characters is through a rather unique detail: ‘there is no villain, but misunderstandings and pain’.

I’ll give more about it once I am half-way done with it, so either at chapter 10 or chapter 15.