The room was deathly quiet as the members of Umbra's council fell into a shocked silence. The only audible noise was the flickering of the torch sconces that lined the walls, casting illuminating light that reflected off the polished, black-marble floor. The winds howled outside, even nature itself seeming shocked and horrified by what the dark queen had said.

"I... I beg your pardon, Your Majesty?" the head advisor, Vorreim, asked in a dry, terrified tone.

"Did I stutter?" Umbra asked in a snarling tone, her magma-red eyes flaring up in annoyance, a snarl curling her lip up and bearing her ivory-white fangs. "I said I want you to gather our spies and send them looking for a worthy candidate."

"Y-Yes, I understood you, b-but..." he said, his forehead pressed against the floor as he spoke to his ruler. "Why?"

"Why?" Umbra asked, leaning forward with a menacing glare. "Did you just ask me to justify myself? To someone like you?"

"N-No, Your Highness!" he exclaimed, rocketing up to a standing position, clapping his hands together in a praying gesture and bowing his head multiple times. "Your wisdom is above all those gathered here put together, but I would be honoured if you were to at least inform us lesser beings on the machinations of your god-like mind!"

Umbra leaned back, crossing her legs over, leaning on her armrest, and staring down at the pitiful excuse for a stallion with pure distaste. She hated him. She hated all of them. They were nothing but emasculated geldings pretending to be stallions, afraid to so much as look at her when addressing her and falling apart like a house of cards in a tornado should she so much as furrow her brow. Though while she despised having to even associate with the likes of them, she'd be a fool to deny that they were useful.

They were eyes and ears in places she couldn't get hers. She'd cherry-picked all of them from the best academies in the world, selecting the highest-level graduates in any field she needed to assist her in running the kingdom. Vorreim was a choice she'd made after ruling for about twenty years, and he'd served her well. He was worthless when it came to inspiring respect from those gathered around him, being more than known as a stallion that would lick the dirt of a thousand fields off her boots if she asked him to.

"Fine," she spat, rolling her eyes and sitting up straight for a moment. "My reign is immortal, it is unending. This is a fact that has been set in stone since the day it began. But arrogance and carelessness are the first signs of a blind monarch. This is why I have gone to such lengths to ensure that any rebellions, coups, or even meeting rooms where plots of a more... rebellious nature have been stamped out before they've had a chance to catch fire properly."

"Y-Yes, Your Greatness, you've done a great job at stamping down the vermin," Vorreim nodded, his shit-eating grin only symptomatic of a stallion that spent as much time brown-nosing as he did.

Putting her personal dislike of her adviser aside for the moment, she continued her speech in a loud and clear manner.

"These choices have been made to make sure that not only is there no current threat of the public rebelling against me, but also to prevent the seeds of rebellion being sown again," she said, standing up and walking down to those gathered. "These plans are not just for today, but to secure tomorrow. This is why, after much deliberation, I have come to the conclusion that now is the best time for me to produce an heir to this throne. Now, I am more than aware that, should everything continue as it has, this child will be nothing more than a back-up plan for an actuality that will almost definitely never occur."

She stopped on the ball of her foot as she walked, turning around with a finger held aloft in the air as she continued.

"But while I am sure that my power is great enough to stand against whatever threats I may face," she said. "I am not stupid enough to believe that I am immune to dumb luck or simple errors of judgement. One can plan to seize control of a crown down to the smallest, most minute detail, but one cannot plan for a sneeze causing you to trip down a staircase, nor can one plan for a drunken misstep on a high bridge that sends you tumbling to your death. I am confident that I can stop any head-on threat, but Lady Luck may have her way with me eventually, and this is why I need to secure my bloodline to this throne."

The room went silent for a long moment, Umbra's large, booming voice fading away into nothing once her speech was done. There was a rustle of her chainmail and a clink of her armour as she turned around to look at the room before her. Her eye twitched briefly in annoyance as she saw none of them making a move to begin their search, but then realised that they wouldn't dare move a muscle without her allowing it.

"Go, all of you," she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "And don't return to me until you've found someone worthy of me."

"Yes, Your Excellency!" a chorus of voices came, soon followed by the shuffling of feet and the opening of doors as they all cleared out of the throne room.

Umbra remained where she was for a long moment, her mind awash with thoughts and fears of parenthood. The concept of childbirth did not frighten her. Magic and a removal from the stomach would make sure she never had to experience labour or any of the usual complications a birthing mother did. What worried her more was that carrying a child in her womb for eleven months would greatly impact her training. A child was a rather sensitive thing when developing, so she'd without doubt have to cut most of her heavy spar and weight training and settle for basic cardio exercises.

She rolled her shoulders, feeling the small-yet-toned muscle of her shoulders and back flex as she did so, an annoyed growl falling through her fangs as she began to resent parenthood immediately. Almost a whole year without any serious exercise would make it as if she'd never started training to begin with. She'd end up being rake thin, out of shape, and struggle harder than ever to get her strength back.

She shook her head, trying to chase away the negative thoughts and focus on why she wanted a child in the first place: security. The loss of weight and strength would be more than worth it once she was cradling her successor in her arms. She'd obviously need to take an even longer break from training to perform motherly duties for the child. She couldn't bear the thought of handing her child away to some nun with a magical milk formula. The child would need to be fed by her breast and raised by her own hand, lest she run the risk of some sappy old mare soiling her child's mind with soft, wittering feelings.

She took her leave from the throne room, heading back to her private sector of the castle where none but permitted guards were allowed to enter. Those that stood outside the door did not speak to her; they weren't allowed to. Their obsidian black plate armour was polished to a sheen, and the spears they clutched in their strong hands were designed to be deadly and efficient. They opened the large set of double doors for her, receiving a thankful nod from her as she walked past them, and heading off to her room.

Once inside the warm, cosy confines of her bed chambers, she stripped out of her armour. She placed each piece of the enchanted steel plate on a velvet mannequin, designed to be soft so as to not scuff the armour itself. Once removing her boots, she was left in a soft, velvet undergarment that covered her from neck to toe. Deciding that she couldn't be bothered to fuss with the back straps, buttons, and intertwined silk strings used to fasten certain sections, she merely grabbed hold of the neck of the clothing and tore it downwards.

It shredded with a loud tearing sound, releasing the tightness of the outfit that had flattened her large breasts against her chest for the entirety of the day. She sucked in a large, fulfilling breath, feeling her chest finally expand out to its full width for once, no longer compressed and confined by her armour or her clothing. She pulled her chair out from under her desk, sitting in the large, expensive object and placing her feet up on her the piece of oak furniture in front of her.

She ran a hand through her thick, black hair, staring up at the ceiling as an entire day's worth of political nonsense ran through her head. Award ceremonies, citizen requests, parade preparations, meetings with stand-in rulers for parts of the world she had no interest in moving herself to. Her stress was through the roof today and she was not looking forward to the mood swings she'd experience during eleven months of pregnancies. She almost began to regret her choice at this point. She thought of cravings, morning sickness, and all the other rubbish she'd need to deal with.

She was distracted from her thoughts when a knock came at the door. She bid whoever it was entry, getting out of her chair and seeing a familiar, multi-shaded occupant of the castle walk through the door.

"Cadance," Umbra said in a neutral tone. "Can I help you?"

The pink Alicorn bowed her head in a respectful manner, greeting the dark queen with a warm smile and a kind tone.

"Yes, Your Majesty," she said. "I was wondering if I'd be able to schedule a few days leave with you?"

"For what?" Umbra asked, crossing her arms under her breasts.

"There's a carnival coming to the city this coming month, a three-day affair that is said to have games and shows that I think I'd really enjoy," she said in an excited tone, her hands joined just below her waist and an eager glint in her gorgeous eyes. "A few of the girls mentioned it to me, but they were too afraid to ask you, so I offered to do it. So... can we all go? Please?"

Umbra leaned against her desk, looking Cadance up and down for a long moment, before a brief smile spread onto her face. Cadance was always the most pleasant of the three Alicorn to deal with, mostly because she didn't need to pushed as much as the others to be broken. Luna had put up a fight for well over eighty years before Umbra had managed to whittle her down enough to swear fealty, magically aided of course, and Celestia had still refused to this very day. The eldest Alicorn spent all of her days blindfolded in a dungeon, hooked up to magic-siphoning equipment.

"Have you completed the rest of your work for this week?" Umbra asked, wanting to make sure Cadance wasn't just asking to shirk her duties.

"Of course, Your Majesty," she said. "I've cleaned up the tax offices records and organised them into a much more efficient system and also made sure that a few of the other girls in the offices know how to sort and reorder them if they get out of whack again... so... can we go?"

"If you've done all you said you have, and after I've checked it myself, I don't see a reason as to why you can't enjoy yourself for a few days," she said with a nod.

Cadance squealed in an excited manner, rushing over to Umbra and giving her a big, affectionate hug. Unlike the other two, Cadance had still kept a sense of joy in her existence. Luna was nothing more than a dreary shell of submissive anger, and Celestia never uttered a single word, even during her torture sessions. Cadance could still laugh and smile, but Umbra was more than positive that she did this as a way of staving off the pain she felt. Her husband was dead, her sister in law had sacrificed herself in vain to stop her, and everything she knew about her life before Umbra's returned was long dead.

Umbra chuckled quietly, snaking a hand around Cadance's backside and under her dress, squeezing the pink Alicorn's large, fuzzy rear.

"Ooh..." Cadance giggled, looking at Umbra with a cheeky glint in her eye. "Aren't you too tired tonight?"

"Surprisingly, no," Umbra smirked, giving the other mare a peck on the mouth. "I'm just in the mood for a..."

Umbra trailed off as her hand reached something on Cadance's backside that she didn't appreciate.

"Is... is something wrong?" the Alicorn asked.

She squeaked in surprise as Umbra spun her around, lifting up her dress and exposing her bare backside, only to see a large, serrated cut that had just began to scab over across Cadance's cutie mark. Umbra's eyes flared up in anger, turning Cadance around again and looking at her in the eyes.

"You haven't had a punishment authorised," she snarled in a menacing manner. "Who did that?"

"N-Nobody!" Cadance exclaimed, clearly lying. "I did it to myself when I was brushing my tail... I slipped with a metal comb and-"

"-just so happened to cut your cutie mark open with Captain Serra's favourite knife, right?" Umbra asked, cutting straight through Cadance's attempt to lie to her.

The Alicorn's pink eyes dropped from Umbra's gaze instantly, unable to come up with any kind of excuse.

"I've told her time and time again. I don't mind sharing my toys, but don't you dare damage them," Umbra growled, dragging a glowing finger over Cadance's cutie mark, causing the injury to heal quickly before getting dressed in basic attire.

"Where are you going?" Cadance asked in a worried manner.

"Going to relieve Captain Serra of her duties and responsibilities," Umbra said, looking at Cadance with fiery eyes. "She's no longer going to have to serve me when she's dead and doesn't have to worry about feeding her family anymore."

Cadance bit her lip in a scared fashion, wanting to ask Umbra to stop and not to hurt her... but the fear of what might happen if she stepped out of line when Umbra was in that bad of a mood kept her tongue tied and her lips sealed. Instead, she merely hung her head, squeezed her eyes shut, and exhaled slowly.

"Carnival..." she whispered to herself, forcing a smile as a single tear ran down her cheek. "Going to be so much fun..."

Next Chapter: Chapter 2: The Queen's Collector Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 16 Minutes