Rijekograd Chancellery, River Republic,
Chancellor River Swirl has received the news that the long-waited delegation from Aquileia has just arrived in the building. Deciding to personally welcome them, she, and her staff, including the Security Director Arclight, started to walk towards the receiving chamber, as they were talking about what to be done amongst them.
Chancellor asks her secretary:
“How long they’ve been here? I hope we didn’t make them wait too much.”
Secretary:
“Not at all ma'am, they are here for less than an hour.”
Chancellor:
“Very well. And Mr. Arclight, you have taken the necessary security measures for the meeting I hope.”
Arclight:
“Of course, Chancellor. I and others were working day and night to make sure that no information will be leaked out of this conversation in particular. You discuss anything with them without any concerns.”
Chancellor:
“Excellent, and do we know who is heading the delegation? I’d like to refer to them by that person’s name.”
Arclight:
“They didn’t state it, but I think that isn’t going to be necessary.”
Chancellor:
“Perhaps. What is important now is that we can finally start negotiating with other Gryphon Nations. And this will be a nice start. After all, they need us the same way we need them.”
Arclight:
“For?”
Chancellor:
“For harmony. In an age where everyone has a gun pointed at each other’s head over petty territorial concerns, everyone, no matter the race, needs to cooperate for the sake of what little peace is left in this world. Besides, irredentism is a far greater concern for the griffons. Especially those such as Hellquill…”
Arclight:
“Then I hope this meeting will result in a productive agreement, my Chancellor…”
Chancellor:
“Let us hope, but as long as we have people like you, Director, I’m certain that we won’t even need to hope.”
Arclight smiles:
“Thank you, Chancellor…”
Chancellor smiles back:
“Ah no need to thank me. Thank yourself.”
They arrive in front of the door. As the guards are about to open the door, Chancellor turns to her staff:
“Remember to smile, it is more important than you’d think.”
The guards open the door, as the visitors turn their attention to the newly arrived Chancellor. The group enters the room. The Chancellor joyfully proclaims:
“Salut mes amis! J'espère que vous avez fait un bon voyage! “
Among the Aquilian diplomats, a voice rises:
“How nice of you to use Aquilian to greet us, but that won’t be necessary.”
The griffon stands out and continues:
“So, shall we start?”
Chancellor was kind of surprised by the overtly calm attitude of the griffon. After a while, River Swirl realizes that something is off with him, and ends up staring at him strangely. The griff asks:
“Is there something wrong Mrs. Chancellor?”
River Swirl gets her mind together:
“Oh, no, no, not at all. It’s just… I think I have mistaken you, sir, with someone else for a moment.”
The griff stares at the Chancellor puzzled, after a moment, he smiles:
“No worries Mrs. Chancellor, you haven’t mistaken me with anyone. I am exactly who you thought I was.”
A bit surprised, the Chancellor River Swirl couldn’t help but chuckle nervously:
“No offense, but I don’t think you realize who I had in my mind.”
The griff calmly responds:
“Oh no, *Frau* Chancellor, I AM indeed Wingfried von Katerinburg.”
Wingfried points at the Blue Aquilian Uniform on him:
“It would be natural for you to not recognize me with this on me.”
Wingfried chuckles to himself.
Chancellor Swirl, not sure if she has been the target of an untimely joke here, looks around the room nervously to see how the others are reacting to this bizarre scenery. Nobody in the room, including her own servants, was treating this as a joke. Everyone was frozen in their places, as if they were paralyzed, and showed no emotion as if their souls were drained out.
It was not long before she realized something was really wrong here. She turns to her Security Director, Arclight:
“Arclight, are you seeing what I am seeing right now?”
Arclight too was staring at her with a blank face, and after a while his face becomes remorseful. He looks down and gloomily answers:
“I am sorry Chancellor… Only if there was another way.”
Swirl gets even more nervous:
“W- What do you mean “other way”? What is going on here?! I demand answers!”
Wingfried:
“Come on now, Frau Chancellor, the poor pony is already under much pressure. There’s no need to push him any further.”
River Swirl turns to Wingfried, filled with fury:
“Enough! Who really are you?”
Wingfried points to others:
“If you don’t believe me, why don’t you ask them instead?”
Swirl suddenly realizes that something is off with the griffons, and after a while, the vision becomes… *blurrier*.
Their appearances start to “distort” as if their faces were melting away. Realizing what is truly up with them, she screams:
“CHANGELINGS?!”
Wingfried:
“Ah great! So, you know what they are like. This will make it easier for you to swallow.”
River Swirl looks around the room in desperation, only to see that nobody else in the room was who she thought was, except for one of them:
“Arclight?”
Arclight tries not to stare at her directly out of shame. Chancellor:
“Arclight! Speak to me! Who are these? What is happening?!”
Arclight:
“…They came here overnight; we had no chance to resist. We- I- had to negotiate with them… I am truly sorry Chancellor… But we lost.”
Chancellor:
“We… WHAT?”
Chancellor Swirl turns to Wingfried:
“You… you are not real. You can’t be here! Impossible!”
Wingfried looks annoyed:
“Come on now Chancellor. I am standing in front of you for two minutes and you are still in the stage of denial? …Let’s speed this up then…”
Wingfried turns to the changelings:
“Hold her.”
Some of the changelings storm on the Chancellor, as she screams in confusion:
“STAY AWAY! STAY AWAY FROM ME!!! GUARDS! GUARDS!”
Wingfried ignores the screams:
“Calm down Frau Chancellor, no one is going to hurt you. Not yet at least.”
She gets her mind together, and stares at Wingfried with the eyes of hatred:
“You… I get it… Chrysalis… She sent you, hasn’t she? She is using you!”
Wingfried doesn’t break his attitude and again ignores her, and responds:
“Let us continue our *conversation* in your office, shall we Frau Chancellor?”
Chancellor:
“…I’d rather die.”
Wingfried:
“…And I am not asking.”
Wingfried makes a hand gesture towards the changelings as he proclaims:
“Everyone, get moving”
Among the moving crowd, Chancellor turns to Director Arclight and asks him remorsefully:
“Arclight… do something… please.”
Arclight avoids eye contact and tries to act as if he was not interested. Wingfried, right before exiting the room, calls him out:
“Herr Arclight! You stay!”
Arclight quietly answers:
“As you order… my Führer.”
River Swirl refused to believe what she just heard and couldn’t find an answer to give. She only stared at him sorrowfully, disappointed.
Everybody, except for Arclight, quits the room. As he is left behind, all alone.
As they walk towards her office, River Swirl looks around the corridors, to see if there are any signs of her aides and guards. In the end, she was disappointed by not seeing any.
As they arrive in her office, the changelings finally let her go. Although she tried to get away from them as fast as possible, she realized that none of them were actually in a hurry, except for her. She looks around the office, with everyone else acting so calm, for a moment she questioned herself if or not she was the one overreacting here. But eventually, she gathers her thoughts again and concentrates her eyes on the blue griffon claiming to be Katerinburg again.
Wingfried casually asks:
“I hope you have calmed down, Chancellor?”
River Swirl looks at him frustrated; she protests by refusing to answer.
Wingfried again ignores her attitude and proclaims:
“How wonderful. Everyone, please leave Chancellor Swirl and me alone.”
The changelings quit the room in order, and less than a minute later, only Wingfried and River were remaining in the room, and without any exchange, the room was dead silent.
River eventually calls Wingfried out:
“You… what do you want? What could you possibly want?!”
After a moment of staring, Wingfried laughs to himself:
“Ah, this “barge right in” thing never gets old. Gets them every single time.”
He continues:
“But now Chancellor, asking out of curiosity, what do you think is happening right now in front of you? Take your time and feel free to answer as you please…”
River thinks to herself for a second and replies:
“Queen Chrysalis… she is behind this, isn’t she? I knew an alliance between you and her would be inevitable, but I never thought you’d be willing to turn yourself into a pawn this easily, Katerinburg. Even if you really are him…”
Wingfried:
“Me? A pawn? I would understand why you would think of it that way. But don’t you think, why would she even bother sending me to a mission such as this? When she could’ve sent… well, anyone else?”
River:
“How would I know??”
Wingfried:
“Exactly. There are things you are not aware of. The things you are not ready to learn… or perhaps, never should learn.”
River:
“What do you mean? What could there possibly be else?”
Wingfried:
“Things you simply cannot understand.”
Katerinburg gets closer and speaks in a cold voice:
“I am here for a *deal* Chancellor. A *deal* where you play a key role.”
Confused and overwhelmed, River speaks out:
“You… You are not Katerinburg! The real Katerinburg cannot stand working with a pony!”
Wingfried:
“Ah, clever as always… See, there are factors that you are not aware of, as I have mentioned. But I can guarantee you that the mortal piece of flesh in front of you is indeed of Katerinburg’s.”
River couldn’t help but look at him disturbed:
“W- What kind of a psychopath even constructs a sentence like that?! Just tell me that you are Katerinburg!”
Wingfried:
“That would be the case by the reasoning level of your mind. But I must assert; I am no longer just Katerinburg… I am a part of something much greater now.”
River looks at him even more distressed and irritated:
“Stop talking in riddles and circles! …I knew you were half-insane but… did Chrysalis pick you from an Asylum? Or are you just messing with me?”
Wingfried laughs:
“You truly excel in a sense of humor, Chancellor.”
River:
“Go back to your Chrysalis if you want true humor… She surely must have a better one if she is mad enough to hire you.”
Wingfried laughs again:
“How brilliant, I’ll admit. …Now, I can proudly admit that a pact between Queen Chrysalis and I exists…”
Wingfried suddenly gets serious and talks in a deep voice, it was obvious he was not happy:
“…But I am NOT the subordinate one.”
A bit intimidated, River decides not to push on this any further. She asks in concern, struggling to keep her calm attitude:
“…What kind of a deal?”
Without answering, Wingfried walks up to River’s office table, and pulls up a roll of papers out of his pocket, placing them on the table. He then makes a hand gesture to the Chancellor, telling her to take a look at the papers.
River hesitantly approaches the table without getting too close to Wingfried, and she stares at the papers on the table. The headings of the papers both confused and concerned her:
“Budget Relocation on Public Health…”
“Riverlands Universal Health Program…”
“Financial Integration…”
And the last one truly hit her hard:
“Agreement of Renewal of Trade with Central Griffonia…”
She immediately turns to Wingfried:
“You want us to trade with you?!-”
Wingfried interrupts:
“Continue reading.”
Irritated and not having any choice, River continues to look at the paper, her eyes widen as she reads more of it:
“You can’t be serious… This must be a joke…”
She turns to Wingfried again:
“You want the ENTIRE Riverlands to trade with you?!”
Wingfried calmly responds:
“Yes. And you are going to help me with that, by signing that paper.”
River was even more baffled, not sure how to react:
“I don’t know what I was expecting, but it surely wasn’t this… Maybe something more… vile? Something like demanding us to disarm ourselves.”
Wingfried:
“I only ask for what I need, and what can I receive.”
River:
“Let me get this straight; …I mean… public health budget? Riverlands economics? Trade? Why would you even need any of this? You know you really didn’t need to take me hostage for this right?”
Wingfried:
“You will do what you are told. Period.”
River:
“Or what? Are you going to force me to do so? Why? Some of these aren’t even bad ideas.”
She looks down at the papers again:
“All these years… all I wanted to do was to reconcile with you, try to cooperate. And here you are asking for a trade agreement with the ponies. I should be hopping around from joy from looking at this paper. But I can’t… Because I am being taken hostage in my own office, and don’t know where my staff is, also my Security Director is referring to you as “my Führer”.”
She looks back at Wingfried again:
“There’s more to this right? Something malevolent…”
Wingfried doesn’t answer, he continues to stare at her with cold eyes. She looks down again:
“Okay, I get it… “Things you cannot understand”.”
Wingfried:
“Exactly.”
River Swirl:
“Then… what was supposed to happen? I sign these papers and then act as nothing had occurred?”
Wingfried:
“Not exactly.”
The Chancellor Swirl gets confused:
“What do you mean “not exactly”? What could I possibly give more to you?”
Katerinburg looks around the room, and without making eye contact, he replies:
“The thing is Frau Chancellor… There is a new… “management” now.”
River Swirl:
“What?! You are taking over my country?!”
Wingfried:
“No, Chancellor… I am taking over YOU.”
Wide eyes and blank face, she mutters:
“What…”
Wingfried:
“There is much more to be done, Frau Chancellor… The Riverlands needs to be under our control through extraordinary ways, until… until we can send our troops in to restore the order…”
River Swirl was horrified, and more notably, raged:
“You… You! -I get it now! You want to weaken the Riverlands while strengthening Hellquill! So, you can invade this place with ease! -I knew there was more to this!”
Wingfried doesn’t break his attitude:
“That is a very gross oversimplification of things…”
River:
“But it is true! Isn’t it?! Why don’t you just kill me right now and replace me with one of your changeling slaves?”
Wingfried:
“You are highly overestimating the capacity of the changelings.”
River:
“I don’t care! There’s no way(!) I am going to work with you, or for you! I’d rather die!”
Wingfried doesn’t answer, he continues staring at her with soulless eyes. River Swirl continues yelling at him, full of hatred:
“Or what? Are you going to torture me? Blackmail me? Threaten the ones I care about in case I don’t comply? Do you think I care?! …Or what? Tell me “Mr. Much Greater”, OR WHAT?!- “
Wingfried simply raises his claw and puts his finger on Swirl’s forehead.
Without even having a chance to react, Swirl is no longer herself.
Darkness rises.
She falls to do floor, unconscious, but still somehow awake.
She feels that she is losing her eyesight, and even though she still hasn’t lost it fully yet, she still can’t comprehend the *thing* in front of her.
She screams, but she couldn’t hear it. She thought she lost her hearing, but she still was able to hear the surrounding *winds*. No, something else is missing.
She “screams” quietly:
“MY MOUTH, MY EYES! WHERE ARE- THEY? WHAT- HAPPENED TO- THEM? WHO- IS-… -HERE?”
She loses her mind.
And although she was standing still in her place, she felt as if she was being dragged across countless distances while being choked to death. Lost. Fearful of the unknown, and uncertain of what was about to come.
She runs around helplessly, throwing silent screams, being pressured by forces she could not understand. She could feel the internal bleeding overflowing her body. Organs, and bones crushing, reason fading away… As pain becomes unbearable, she starts crying and starts tearing blood.
She hears a distant voice:
“Congratulations, Chancellor…”
The voice comes closer:
“Only a few would be this repellent as you… You have stood loyal to your morals unlike any… While this action would’ve been considered “heroic” if it was known to outsiders, sadly for you, nobody will know of your heroism, and nobody will remember you for standing up against that griffon on that fateful day. Those who you care about will eventually despise you and label you as a traitor, your name will be an insult among those who survive and manage to keep their minds together. The morals and ideals you strife for will never pay off, as you gave your life for them, and they will spit on you for “betraying”. This is your future, this is inevitable. Don’t run away from it, as it would be always ahead of you, no matter how faster you run, and no matter where you run to. This is your fate, and soon will be your faith.”
River, however, still could not comprehend what was going on, and only “screamed” helplessly:
“STOP! I BEG YOU TO STOP! STOP THE PAIN, I BEG YOU! STOP IT I BEG YOU!”
The voice was uncaring, it continued while ignoring her:
“What remains of your vocal system screams for my mercy, as it would be natural for a mortal like you, since no one, no matter how resilient they might be, would melt away instantly by my wrath. There is always a point where the pain of the mortal body overcomes the reasoning of the immortal soul, but this doesn’t mean the said reasoning would just fade away… Deep down, you still have doubts and questions, and despite the protests of your tongue, they just don’t fade away… Who am I? Why am I doing this to you? What else await you? …Questions, questions, questions… They never end… They cannot end…”
River continues to “scream” and cry:
“I WANT NOTHING FROM YOU, PLEASE, JUST STOP THIS! PLEASE!”
Voice:
“Poor little thing… your body forces you to lie… How do I know this? BECAUSE I CAN SEE THROUGH YOUR SOUL.”
River continues to cry in confusion and fear:
“WHAT… WHAT IS THIS? I DON’T… UNDERSTAND… PLEASE, STOP!”
And the Voice continues to ignore, and talks as if it was talking with somebody else:
“You wonder; what happened to Katerinburg? That foolish griff, self-defiling idiot… What happened to him? As this creature… who claimed to be him, is certainly not him, what happened to Katerinburg? Is he dead, and replaced by a flesh puppet? …This actually depends on what you mean by *alive*…”
In desperation, River screams again:
“OKAY! I GET IT! I’LL LISTEN TO YOU! BUT PLEASE, JUST CEASE THE PAIN, STOP IT!”
The Voice continues its irritating attitude:
“…And what about Chrysalis? Does she too share a fate similar to those of Katerinburg? Stuck between life and death? What happened to her? Questions… questions… questions…”
River continues screaming:
“I DON’T WANT TO KNOW! I DON’T CARE! I DON’T CARE! I DON’T UNDERSTAND ANY OF THIS! JUST STOP!”
And Voice ignores yet again:
“We have to be honest… her foolishness had surpassed even those of Katerinburg, and therefore, she was no challenge for us… She is now under our management… She thought her ambitions too had paid off… and she still thinks so… she believes that she just had broken a deal that would be fruitful for her country… While in reality, she will end up in a situation even worse than those of yours… Only if she knew that morality and ideals alone never pay off, and these said morals and ideals will always drain the said individual of any capacity and energy, and simply throw it away like some half-eaten fruit… Only if she knew… Only if she knew…”
River finally comes to a realization:
“I GET IT! I GET IT NOW! I WILL OBEY! I WILL FOLLOW YOU! I WILL FOLLOW YOU TO THE END! I WILL FORSAKE EVERYTHING I THOUGHT I CARED ABOUT! ONLY YOU ARE WORTHY! I’LL FOLLOW ONLY YOU! ONLY YOU CAN HELP ME! ONLY YOU CAN SAVE ME! YOU ARE MY LORD! HELP ME!”
Voice:
“As always… the reason is victorious…”
River Swirl’s pain ceases almost instantly, and her body immediately fixes itself out of nowhere. Her sight and hearing are now restored, as her mouth is also in its place again. She feels relieved unlike at any other point in her life. And after the shock wear off, she found herself surrounded by fog, and in front of her, a surreal-looking being resembling a griffin skull was silently looking over her. Although she felt thankful, she was not sure how to feel about the situation she was in.
The same voice as before continues:
“To be with me means safety and harmony… To be against me means foolery and irrationality… You, Chancellor River Swirl of the River Republic, have chosen well… And your rationality, will pay off, as I’ll always be there for you…”
Rightfully confused, River looks at the being in front of her and asks:
“…What are you?”
The entity proclaims:
“We are Maar. We are everything; the past, the present, and the future… We outlive everything and everyone… Our goals are beyond the comprehension of any individual or ideology… We are the meta in its prime… You might’ve known us as simply as the “Gryphon God of Death” …Which is nonsense, of course, we are beyond being a character in superstitious mythology of a certain race on a certain world, while in reality, our greatness is beyond the comprehension of any mortal mind… We have conquered infinite worlds in infinite realities under infinite names, and now… the time has come to your world to be purged of falsehood…”
River looks at Maar with confusion and fear:
“W- What falsehood?”
Afraid of how Maar might react, she adds to the sentence out of fear:
“…My lord?”
Maar was amused by her submission, as he was proud of what he had done with her:
“The life you were chasing after, was doomed to result in a defeat. The idea you called “harmony” was a degenerated form of lunacy and submission to weakness… I have come to your world, to free you from all these petty “gods” that preached those fallacies… Such as your dear Celestia… You’ve let your guard down, and let your reason be darkened over by her ignorant clouds…”
Swirl still disagreed with Maar, but the idea of speaking out against him alone was so horrifying for her that she decided to simply submit to him and kneel:
“I am so sorry, my lord… I am so sorry…”
Maar speaks out:
“Rise, River Swirl… I shall no longer hurt you in any way… For that I am merciful… I know deep down you disagree with me, but this is not your fault, as you have been away from the light of my reason for too long, the corruption within you runs deep…”
River hesitantly stands up again and asks:
“What do you want? …My lord?”
Maar:
“I want you to know, that the things that are going to happen in this world, will be nothing like the way they appear at first. Forget everything you know about this world because you are now reborn with the world you live in… My changelings will be near to help you get through this process, and I’ll be always watching for you… Don’t worry, you’ll be safe as long as you are with me.”
Not sure how to answer, Swirl ends up staring at Maar blankly, but thankfully for her, she won’t need to. As Maar continues:
“Now, go, listen to that blue corpse…”
Swirl didn’t get what Maar meant, but before even knowing it, she found herself in her office again, with Katerinburg in front of her.
After a long and awkward stare between two blank faces, Katerinburg smiles and salutes the Chancellor:
“I must thank you for this successful meeting, Frau Chancellor. But sadly, I must leave now.”
Still haven’t recovered from the shock, Swirl just stares at him as he leaves.
Just before exiting, Wingfried calls her out:
“I am now certain that you now know what to do, Chancellor.”
He smiles and quits.
Now alone, Swirl thinks to herself for a moment, trying to comprehend the thing she just went through.
She should’ve felt guilt and embarrassment, but since all of her emotions were now dominated by fear, she realized that she was no longer capable of fair reasoning.
