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What I Am

by Knight Breeze

Chapter 14: Chapter XIV

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Chapter XIV

“Why did they want to kill the Demon?”

Queen Titania’s gaze swept over the young changelings, their small eyes wide as they snuggled closer to the very confused-looking promethean. His reaction was understandable; he had been so enthralled by the Queen’s tale that he hadn’t even glanced towards the little ones when they had crept in to listen. He probably would have continued to not notice had little Shell kept quiet.

She smiled at them, the sight of her children bringing her joy despite the danger of their current circumstances. “They told us that a person they called the Oracle sent them.” The promethean’s eyes snapped back up at her words, just in time to see the Queen’s magic weave itself to show a tall promethean, wreathed in power and smoke, whose eyes seemed to blaze with a holy light. Behind her was another, wrapped in chains, clearly in agony. “They said that a spirit called Gaea had been crying out to the Oracle, seeking her help, as well as the help of her people. The Oracle told them that The Demon was stealing her, to what end, they did not know. Only that they needed to stop him before he finished.”

“Gaea…” the promethean muttered to himself, but did not otherwise interrupt.

“In her wisdom, the Oracle summoned the greatest of the Demigods to her side. Many were called, but so few heeded her words,” the queen said, shaking her head sadly. “Those that did come were given great gifts; weapons and armor, blessed by a spirit that the prometheans called the Titan Themis. But none of these gifts were as great, or as mighty, as the very Throne of Themis that they carried through that gate.” The magic changed again, showing the prometheans as they came through the portal. In the vanguard were four of their mightiest, bearing on their backs a huge throne.

The promethean and the little ones all gasped in recognition, as they should have, for the chair was none other than the one that sat in Titania’s throne room.

As soon as the magic showed the throne entering the hive, the chaos caused by the Demon calmed. The walls of the hive changed from pudding to stone again, and the hapless changelings under the Demon’s thrall fell to the ground in pain and confusion. One tried to get up, only to be stopped by a booted foot to its throat, and a sword at its side. “The Oracle had not informed her warriors of the Demon’s tyranny, only that an end must be brought to him. When they first stepped through that gate, they assumed us soldiers of the Enemy, not realizing until almost too late that that was not the case.”

Before the soldier created by the queen’s magic killed the small changeling under his boot, someone grabbed the sword, staying the promethean’s hand. The promethean that stopped the soldier stood head and shoulders above the rest, looking more like a bear than a promethean. In his hand was a mighty spear, and on his helmet was a large, colorful plume. With that one hand he not only stopped the killing blow, but forced the other soldier off the still confused changeling, his mouth giving out orders in a loud, barking voice.

Or at least, that’s the impression the magic was giving. The facsimile’s words were actually only quiet murmurs, echoey and indistinct, to give the impression that the speaker was very far away; or, rather, that the speaker lived a very long time ago.

“His name was Markos, and he led the Demigods who were sent to destroy the Demon,” Titania said as Markos began directing his troops. They ran every which way, setting up camp, securing the area, but more importantly, they began helping the changelings. “Though we did not share a language, nor did we possess the marvel that is the translation spell at the time, he instantly recognized us as innocent, and set his men to help us, rather than kill us.”

“What happen to them?” the promethean in front of her asked, his eyes never leaving the magic for an instant.

“Markos was very wise, and felt that to charge the Demon without knowing anything about it was folly.” The magic shifted again, showing the soldiers conversing with the changelings, helping them rebuild their hive, and even playing with them. “They stayed with us for a time, teaching us a portion of their language, so that they might have a better understanding of what they faced. But once we were able to communicate all that we knew of the enemy, they sallied forth from the hive, fully intent on ending the evil one.”

The promethean’s head cocked to the side, a question clearly written there. “If this creature have power like say, how they hope bring it down?”

Titania bowed her head, then turned away, the magic around her shifting to reveal the warriors charging into battle. “Their weapons were blessed by the Spirit of Themis. While I do not know who that is, or what god she was, her effects were palpable. Her gift… protected the warriors, kept them from insanity, and stopped the Demon’s magic from affecting them. To a much lesser extent, it had the same power as the throne, but with one major difference.”

“What wath that?” Little Shell asked, his face filled with equal parts wonder and horror as he removed the hoof from his mouth.

“It did not stop the Demon’s magic from affecting the world around them.” Titania’s magic collected in front of her, then split off to each of the coffins, forming a promethean over each one. One was drowning in a sea of gelatin, while another was shown sweating to death in a desert, while yet another was buried as custard rained from the sky. Each scene was different from the last, each horrifying in its own way. “The Demon was quick to notice this, and took advantage of it: some he buried under a mountain of custard until they suffocated. Others, he flooded out with pudding, while still more he trapped in mazes, forcing them to wander until they died of thirst. He did not seem to want to kill them at first. He would taunt them, tell them that all they needed to do to survive was to take off their armor, but none of them took the demon's offer. Fifty strong left this hive to fight the Demon, none returned to tell the tale.”

The promethean rose to his feet, then gestured towards the coffins. “Then how they get here? And how demon defeated? Also, why not take throne with, if so powerful? They could need that!”

Titania smiled sadly, then let her magic gather back in front of her, changing to show the changelings and the prometheans making preparations. “The prometheans did not take everything with them. They left spare weapons and armor, each an artifact blessed with the power of Themis. There were not many, but there were enough to arm a few of my people. When Markos’ soldiers left, Queen Titania the First armed her own soldiers with these weapons, to join the battle and bring the Demon to his knees.” The magic changed again to show the carnage, as well a small group of changelings overlooking it. “Her soldiers were quick to understand that even if they had brought the throne with them, it was a fool’s errand to try and stop the Demon. So they instead watched, and waited, and collected the bodies of the fallen as they each made their sacrifice.”

“Yes, but why leave throne behind?” the promethean asked, clearly frustrated. “Even if not do anything, they still He Who Knows. They still would get any edge that they can!”

Titania just smiled at that, then let her magic change to the next part of the story. It showed Markos again, and he seemed to be talking to the old changeling queen. “Before he left, Markos gave Queen Titania the First some important instructions. He told us to protect the throne, but more importantly, to protect the portal.” All the magic she had released gathered itself until it turned into a single object: a mirror. It was beautifully crafted, framed in purple in the shape of a horseshoe, and topped with a silhouette of a pony. “Markos thought he would fail, but he did not leave without a contingency. He told us that the portal would open itself every thirty moons, according to his moon. He promised that if the Oracle could summon more heroes, she would send them.”

The promethean looked around pointedly at the coffins, then back to the Queen. “I take it that never happen.”

She lowered her head in sorrow. “My people stood guard over the mirror for a very long time. We would venture forth out of our hive for food from time to time, but until the Demon’s reign was brought to an end, we were essentially prisoners inside our own home.” She frowned, her magic changing into more changelings standing in front of the portal, which they quickly entered. “Once, Queen Titania the Second sent forth an expedition through the mirror, intent on finding out what happened to her allies. Those that returned spoke of a place where the power of magic was rapidly waning. Where the very sun left horrible disfigurements on those who braved its light for too long. The survivors of the expedition... did not last long.”

The promethean’s face turned down into a frown as he watched the little mini changelings come back through the portal, then die from exposure. The children around him all gasped in terror, but the alien seemed more worried than terrified. “I… not think that right. Our sun should be normal…” he whispered to himself.

Queen Titania chose to ignore him in favor of not losing the momentum of her story. “As time went on, we fell into despair, until one day, the mirror disappeared entirely.”

The promethean looked like he was about to cry at those words. “You mean that the only way home is-”

“Do not misunderstand me,” Titania said with a wave of her hoof, instantly filling the alien with hope again. The magic changed, showing a shadowy figure approaching the mirror. “The portal wasn’t destroyed, but stolen, as were several pieces of armor left by the prometheans. We had grown lax in our vigil, and thought that no help would ever come from your world.”

Little Shell removed a hoof from his mouth for a little bit. “Who took the portal, Mommy?”

“We do not know who took the portal, sweetie,” Queen Titania said with a smile, both answering the question, and rephrasing it for the promethean in the room. “We do know what happened soon after, however. Once the portal was gone, we thought all was lost. We assumed that the Demon’s reign would continue uncontested for eternity.” Her magic twisted itself once again, showing the Demon on his rampage, laughing maniacally to the heavens as it created hell on earth. It stopped, however, when two glowing figures appeared in front of it, crowned in glory, and wielding the Elements of Harmony.

The Demon didn’t even seem perturbed. Instead, it was laughing at what seemed to it to be a foolhardy endeavor.

The two alicorns were not amused in the slightest, though, and as the energies of Harmony began to swirl around the two, their countenances only became more serious.

“We were not there when it happened, but Celestia and Luna were. Many cycles after the portal was stolen, they appeared, as if from nowhere, and cast down the Demon with naught but a flick of their horns.” A rainbow shot out of the two regal alicorns, striking the Demon and imprisoning it in stone, still laughing as if the universe had told the greatest joke of all time.

“...Just how old are Sun, Moon?” the promethean muttered under his breath.

“Far older than their mortal coils would indicate, but that is beside the point,” Queen Titania said as the magic shattered, turning the whole room to mist. The younglings around the Promethean ‘ooh’ed’ and ‘ahh’ed’ as they realized that their mother had reached a portion of the tale they had never heard before. “The new alicorn princesses brought peace and freedom to the land, allowing us changelings to leave our prison and walk among them once again. My story would end there, had it not been the appearance of a strange unicorn bearing the face of one who had died long before the Demon’s reign.”

Out of the mist stepped a unicorn wearing a hat and cloak covered in bells, while on his back rested a large set of saddlebags. He approached a group of changelings who also appeared from the mist, quickly taking off the pack and presenting it to them, their worried faces only becoming confused as they accepted his gift.

“He came asking for our forgiveness, saying that it was he who stole the promethean armor and the Mirror of Gaea. He came to return in part what he had took, but he was unable to return the mirror. It was-” Titania started to explain, but stopped short as one of her sons rushed in, out of breath and clearly distressed. “What is it, Aeropus?”

“My Queen,” he said, trying to gulp down air as he cut a ragged salute. “We have spotted a large group of thestral soldiers protecting a chariot headed this way.”

Fear suddenly gripped the Queen’s heart, her eyes darting to the confused looking Promethean. This is too soon! I haven't even begun to win him over to our side!

Regardless of how prepared she was, though, she was out of time. “I will go to meet them.” She turned back to the promethean, an apology in her eyes. “I am sorry, I cannot ask you to speak for us without having heard my full tale, Promethean. I would ask you to stay here while I try to speak with the Princess of the Moon.” She started to move past him and the younglings that surrounded him, her hooves feeling as heavy as her heart as she moved closer to her doom. “I will attempt to plead with her, and to get her to see that she has an assassin in her-”

“I will go.”

Titania stopped in her tracks, her eyes looking at the promethean in pure amazement. “You what?

“I will go. And don't call 'Promethean,’ please,” the alien said as he straightened his somewhat shredded shirt. “My name is Defender of People. At least, that what friends here call me.” The wounded promethean swept past the stunned-looking children and stood in front of the queen, his face an inscrutable mask. “I not quite believe you when say you not enemy of pony, but you at least not deserve death. At least, they do not deserve death,” he said as he waved towards the children behind him.

Little Shell pulled his hoof out of his mouth, hope in his small eyes as he looked up at the imposing promethean. “You mean that-”

“I mean that I talk, nothing more. I not have power over Moon, but I think she will listen,” Defender told the little one with a smile. He then looked back up, his eyes searching for the queen’s. “Besides, your mother not finish story. I love to hear end.”

Queen Titania started to bow to the promethean, but stopped when something occurred to her. Her eyes darted to Defender, then to Shell, then back to Defender again. Did he just…

The promethean raised an eyebrow curiously at her. “What?”

The Queen just shook her head, then finished her bow. “Nothing… just, thank you. Thank you so much.”

“No thank yet, we not out of forest still,” he said as he moved towards the doorway. “Besides, something tell this is only beginning…”

* * *

“Sir, we’ve found a second entrance.”

Shining Armor looked up at the unicorn lieutenant, her salute sharp as she and her partner slowly faded into view. “Good work, Shadowheart. Where is it?”

“It’s to the north, a small cabin sitting roughly right on top of the falls.”

Shining Armor smiled at that, then signaled the rest of his troops to form up around him. “Okay, colts, we got our way in. Remember that our objective is the ~human.~ Don’t get bogged down with any unnecessary fighting, and keep your eyes open for anypony else the 'lings might have ponynapped. Let's move!”

The small, elite force of fifteen quickly crept forward, Shadowheart’s horn glowing as she cast a muffling spell upon the party. Shining’s troops all had an almost… eager quality about them as they made their way towards the Changeling stronghold, but he could hardly blame them. After all, they were about to get a little payback for the disgrace that these dirty shapeshifters had given them.

This wasn't a full-scale assault, though. As much as Shining Armor wanted to pay them back for crashing his wedding in full, he was enough of a professional to know when to be discrete.

There was plenty of time for revenge later.

The troop stopped once they reached the hut, their sharp eyes studying every minute aspect, especially the ‘completely normal’ pony sitting on the porch, whittling at a block of wood with the knife in his magic. “Are you certain this is the place?” Shining whispered to Shadowheart.

“I’m certain, My Prince. That hut could barely accommodate a single pony, yet I saw twenty enter, and never leave.”

Shining nodded, but did not say anything; he was too busy thinking about how to go about this. They managed to get pretty close without the changeling at the door noticing. It would be a simple matter to send Shadowheart to incapacitate it, but something about this didn’t seem right. “This is too easy. Shadowheart, I want you to get behind the changeling, but don’t take him out. Be ready to if he tries to call out for help, but don’t do anything until then. I’ll give you twenty seconds to get into position.”

“What’s your plan, Armor?” Captain Breeze asked as the lieutenant disappeared from view.

Shining Armor gave the captain a wry smile and a wink. “I’m going to try and talk with it. At the very least, we’ll need a guide once we get inside. We have no idea what we’re dealing with.”

Captain Breeze gave his prince a grim nod, then waved the rest of the ponies down. “We’ll wait for your order then, Armor.”

Shining Armor quietly counted under his breath, giving Shadowheart enough time to get into place. Once he was certain she was ready, he took a bold step out of the bushes and towards the unsuspecting 'pony’.

At that exact moment, several things happened at once. Years later, after Shining Armor had had time to sit and think about everything, and had heard every side of the story imaginable, he would still claim that he had no clue what had happened.

The instant the Changeling on the porch saw the prince, he dropped his disguise. Shining Armor immediately noticed that this one was different from the ones that attacked Canterlot, but that didn't matter to him. At least, he didn't think it mattered until the Changeling, instead of attacking or calling out for help, fell into a low, low bow. “We surrender!” he called out as he groveled in front of Shining Armor.

If that was the only thing that had happened, the prince would have easily been able to cope. But sadly for him, it was not.

At the exact moment Shining Armor stepped out into the clearing, another troop of solar guards stepped out from the forest exactly opposite from where Shining Armor and his troops had been hiding. While this group looked just as surprised to see the prince as the prince was to see them, they were far more numerous than the little troop that Shining had brought with him. The apparent leader was a stallion that Shining recognized, though Shining Armor was positive that it wasn't him.

After all, Shining Armor was pretty certain that there was only one Shining Armor.

The two stallions just stood there for a long moment, staring at each other from across the way, all while the Changeling at the real Shining's hooves glanced back and forth between the two of them.

Finally, the phony scratched the back of his head with his hoof, a look of embarrassment on his face. “Well, this is awkward…”

Then all hell broke loose.

Author's Notes:

Hey, guys! It's here!

So, I figured I'd put this on top, because it's rather important to understanding some discrepancies between this story and the show. This is an AU, so the Equestria Girls' mirror works differently than the one in the show.

For starters, it doesn't turn you into a pony/human.

Second: humans on the other side are normally colored.

Third: No pony/human dopplegangers.

Fourth: Sunset Shimmer isn't a thing.

Anyway, there are a few other things that you've probably spotted by now, but those are the big ones in understanding how the mirror works. As for all the questions that Queen Titania's story raises, well, you'll have to keep reading to find out!

Next Chapter: Chapter XV Estimated time remaining: 11 Hours, 35 Minutes
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