Queen Androconia (Changeling)

[Queen_Androconia]

Name: Androconia
Species:
Changeling
Gender: Female
Age: 16
Occupation: Queen of the
Changelings?
Virtue: Varies
Special Talent: Leadership
Minor
Talent: Charismatic
Other: (Honestly as a queen she would be good
at a lot of things but I don't want her to be over the top, so she
can only have one virtue at a time.)

-= Appearance =-
Height:
About as tall as the average stallion
Eye color: Green
Coat
color: Black
Mane/Tailcolor: Blue

-= Personality=-
Androconia is surprisingly balanced, while her youth means her decisions are a bit rash, the loss of almost everything has made her cautious, timid, and often displays her lack of lack of experience. Sadly she more often then not second guesses herself and hesitates, becoming scared of making the wrong decision, despite her ability to lead. While she allows her generals to make most of the important choices they still seek her leadership.

Her natural charisma more often then not allows her to mask here feelings being it physically or mentally, but for the same reason she can think fast she also lack proper control of her emotions often letting them slip to those around her. She fears these slips are the cause of the wide spread empathy sickness, which mean the steady decay of her hive is her own fault.

-= History =-
Royalty is a tricky thing: it's been extremely difficult to be considered royalty in any other way, excluding by wed or by blood. Even heroes are often just left as heroes, whether or not they've done more for a kingdom then the king/queen has. Thankfully, that's not the case here. Androconia, the current Queen of the Changelings, is the first and only daughter of Crysalis. It wasn't intentional, it was forced, something that haunts her more often then not in her dark dreams.

Her youth started as any royalty would have it; overly comfortable bed, a gentle yet tolerant caretaker, lavishly fed, and a large palace (which she for some reason hated). But that all changed. As her mother became busier, she appeared to resent young Androconia, or so she thought. The princess ran under the assumption that she was being ignored, neglected by her mother. It wasn't until she learned the truth, that poor Androconia realized why her meals were less lavish, her caretaker increasingly more impatient, and her mother’s realm increasingly smaller. What she thought was neglect turned out to be something far worse: defeat.

It had seemed like such a simple morning, until the ceiling of the palace dining room caved in, and fully armed griffon troops stood imperiously in Crysalis’ hall. An illusion of tranquility lasted several moments, until one of the soldiers launched at a nearby servant with rending blade and claw. Utter chaos flooded the room, and the leader decided to attempt to make Androconia a dead member of royalty. Polearm lunging swiftly, the gray-feathered griffon was nearly at Androconia before his form was encased in a sickly-green glow. Thrust to the floor by Crysalis’ potent magic, the gray griffon was pinned. The two acts had left her daze; and when she recovered, it was just in time to watch her mother furiously move Androconia into the nearby pantry, and seal it with a discarded blade placed in the handles.

Minutes that felt like hours passed; Androconia sat inside the dark pantry. The sounds of battle echoed around outside her wooden prison. Blades clashing, bones and carapace breaking; grunts, shouting, and the cries of the dying. Even Androconia couldn’t help but let out a small scream as the blade of a weapon plunged through the door of the pantry missing her neck; barely. As the sound of battle died, the silence of its aftermath was broken. With the screech of forged metal on wood, the blade embedded in the door of the pantry was removed. When the door opened, her eyes met her mothers, and never before had she been so happy to see her. The relief, unfortunately, didn’t last long, as one of the surviving changeling guards let out a shout of incoming. It was then Chrysalis knew her daughter couldn’t stay.

With nothing more then a handful of guards at any one time, the group managed to make their way half-way across the “mostly” subterranean castle. It was here Androconia would find just how bad things were…

The dining room fight wasn’t just a failed assassination attempt; it was part of a full invasion. The barracks had been the first to go; changeling and griffon bodies littered the bloodstained sleeping area. Even the hallways, which looked normal enough, were deceptive, concealing their stains of blood and occasional dead body until the group was right upon it. Eventually the hallways gave way to one of the many small bridges that lead from the core of the castle. It gave a clear view of the other wings of the castle and a large overhead view of some of the massive city.

It was here she would remember forever; a place that was burned into her mind as if she’d been branded by it with the hottest of irons. In front of her was a large court yard, once a garden for several of The Grand Hive’s exotic plants; now it served as a blood stained battle field. The clashing of polearm and blade between those that served her and those that only served a foreign power rung in her ears. Just as her panic began to rise, her thoughts were interrupted by a nearby guard. Her eyes beheld a glaive handle bathed in green swaying in her vision. The princess looked over to the guard as he gestured for her to take it; when she did it shook in her weak magic grip before her mother spoke. “Princess Androconia, it is here you will put your training to test, it is here you will learn to truly fight as a noble Princess. There is nowhere to run
anymore, it’s either fight protecting this…” She motioned with a hoof to the large view of the courtyard and the city that was strung along the walls, ceiling, and floor of the large underground
system. “…or die trying.” Androconia gulped at the words, and held the weapon in the position she had been taught.

Following her mother head first into the already chaotic combat, Androconia’s first opponent almost immediately greeted her with the swing of a large axe at her neck. If not for the quick drop she performed, her head would’ve rolled along the hewn cavern floor. What met her eyes
was a wounded griffon, three times her size and clearly strong enough to swing around the large blood stained axe that he held with casual ease. His feathers were deep gray and his eyes a cold, merciless blue. His next swing was for her side, a slow, potentially crippling
blow if it hit.  

Androconia’s training kicked, her wings hummed, and with a quiet kick she pulled her legs to her body as the blade swung below her now airborne form. Using magic to tilt the glaive to come down upon his claw; it was obvious from his casual dodge he had clearly seen this maneuver before. He let his claws release the large weapon, moving the limb just enough to dodge the blade. He gave a sneer and caught the axe easily in his other claw, handle first, and swung back almost faster then she could react. To counter it she clamped her wings to her body, allowing herself to descend to the floor. What she couldn’t move was the glaive in time. The axe hit the handle, making the dull end smash her underside, which lifted her further into the air; it wasn’t until his body weight came down upon her as she descended that she let out a cry of pain. The griffon’s free claw crushed her into the stone pathway that was used to make the walkways of the gardens.

Her breathing shallow she turned her gaze up to look her enemy who was smiling down at her and lifting the axe over his. She looked forward and did the only thing she could think of… Something stupid. She wrapped one of the griffon’s legs in magic and shoved as hard as she could. To her amazement the leg went surprisingly easy putting the griffon off balance causing him to fall on the side in which she had shoved. The large axe had still come down, but next to her. It cut the pole of the glaive in half, but it didn’t matter; she lifted the half weapon and slammed it into the recovering griffon’s neck, the reduced weight increasing her speed, allowing it to easily gash the front his neck. She watched his eyes go wide, as he pulled away from the princess, and his claws holding the wound until heplummeted upon one of his teammates, which in turn caused their death too.

She picked the half weapon up and turned to her mother who was doing far better. The green flame from her magic easily kept them at bay, while she levitated two griffon swords
around her matching the soldiers she was fighting in skill. She watched in awe as her mother lifted several fallen weapons and shoved them pointy end first into a separate griffon guard she wasn’t fighting. She then gained an edge on the one front of head and with a swing of the weapon he fell. The second now dealing with two swords followed shortly.

Androconia's awe was interrupted by her second opponent slipping into her vision, the griffon swinging a sword for her head which she clumsily dove under. She noted the two consistencies for the day, her thoughts interrupted, followed by potential decapitations. In response to his slash she brought her weapon up, vainly hoping to end the confrontation quickly. The short, tan, griffon had other ideas, as he parried her blade away and performed a skillful riposte, aiming to embed the blade in her chest. She dodged it, but it left a deep wound that trailed from her chest down her right shoulder, towards her hindquarters. He strafed left to get a swing at her side, but a "surprise" flower pot collided with his face. Though his facial expression changed upon the
view of several floating flowerpots of various size. His look of determination changed to that of confused fear as the flower pots flew at him, and he rose his wing just in time to stop the barrage of dirt and flimsy materials. He peeked around the edge feathers of his wing, looking for the would-be offenders, only to see that the culprits had vanished. He turned back to Androconia, who was standing there with a cocky grin, waiting for his move.

Taking a step forward, and raising his sword once again, the griffon was greeted by a pot of unusual size smashing into his beak. He shook the clumps of dirt from his face and, in a moment of confusion, chose to pull away from the princess and her vicious flower pots. With a squawk, he felt his flank touch the tip of a very sharp object. Swinging his bulk around, blade in claw, he prepared to fight the offender. Only... there was nobody there. Again. With a look of crazed rage, the griffon's eye twitched as he turned and charged to attack the princess (who was clearly making fun of him) only to run head first into another pot. Uncaring, he swung his blade wildly to cut through another pot which had appeared in-between him and the Androconia. He pushed through it seeing that she was open, his fury pushing him past the next three pots that hit him; ready to cut her down like wheat to a scythe. He was only stopped as two collided with his head, one on each side. His body kept moving with the momentum his next step clearly being well off balance before he hit the ground. As the griffon raised his head, he saw that the slender changeling was smiling, before the last pot dropped upon his head and his vision faded to black.

She couldn't help but smile at her victory, it had been extremely easy and most of all, fun. Though her mood was rapidly dampened by the battle around her, with the dead and dying surrounding her. She moved over two fallen changeling soldiers, heading towards her mother. As Androconia trotted, something heavy impacted her side sending and sent her sprawling. The pain was immense as she landed on the ground, her sideways vision locking onto her third opponent. Another big griffon, also tan, and swinging around a war hammer as he hovered over the surface of the battlefield. He rested it upon his shoulder as he pointed a talon at her. In turn she struggled to stand, picking up a nearby glaive in her magic. He smiled like the predator he was, and flew to her with all the speed he could muster. The metal of the hammer collided with the shaft of the glaive as Androconia lifted it to defend herself, sending it flying away before he doubled back. The second swing of his hammer would have crushed her had she not jumped forward, the massive war hammer smashing the stone of the ground where she previously stood.

A green aura enveloped around several flower pots, and Androconia sent them flying at the griffon who lifted a shielded claw to protect his face. His response was quick; swinging
at the ground to send chunks of heavy stone at her.

"How am I supposed to fight him, no one trained me for this?!" Androconia thought desperately.

She lifted any nearby weapons with her magic: anything sharp or even remotely lethal, and flung them at the griffon in rapid succession. At that point, he swerved and dodged the dangerous objects, taking a small detour before he dove and swung at the ground again, the hammer "just"
missing her again; but the impact of the stone chunks knocked her over making her drop the weapons. She laid there, panting as she could hear him making a pass at her again. Her eyes closed... she no longer had the strength to try and fight something like him. Scrunching her eyes up at the inevitable pain, she prepared for her death. The ground shook from the impact of hammer on chitin, a spattering of warm blood falling against her face and the crunching sound of shattering carapace.

She rolled over and opened her eyes to see her mother. Crysalis was standing over Androconia, the hammer embedded deep in her shoulder. The green ichor that made up a changeling's blood leaking down onto her. The griffon wielding the hammer stared for a second in disbelief, and flew up, lifting the queen from her daughter before tilting the massive weapon. She watched as he pushed the body of her mother from the weapon with a hind leg then gave a small shake of his head, chuckling.

"Looks like Karl's luck has finally turned today."

She flinched from the griffon's words and watched numbly as her mother hit the ground with a sickening crack. Androconia stood shakily before she hobbled over to the body. She was relieved to see her mother still alive but the relief was fleeting as Crysalis’ blood began to pool below her. She would’ve wept right there if not for her mothers words. The tenet in which she lives by, the very power of her will.

“Live. If not for yourself. Then do it for me... Queen Androconia."

Androconia could only shake on weak hooves as her mother made those words with her last breath. The clinking sound of armour heralded the griffon's approach, and it was clear he didn’t care; she likely wouldn’t either in a few minutes. She turned, tears in her eyes as the hammer swung in lethal arc. With a flash of light, the griffon was halted as his hammer hit the princess’ crash shield. Quickly dissipating in a burst of green flames which spiraled in a sickly green  glow around the two. Her next tear never hit the ground before she grabbed the hammer and
pulled harder then she’d ever pulled before, jerking it from the griffons grip before flipping it around deftly and swinging it, crushing the soldier's ribs. The griffon was flung backwards, and his flight became wild and erratic before he hit the ground. Eyes open wide, the griffon rolled desperately as the hammer collided and embedded in the ground where he once was. Androconia walked to him, tears replaced by complete and utter hate. He coughed blood, and attempted to draw his sword to defend himself in an ironic turn of events. He almost succeeded until his left wing was gripped and pulled to his right, causing him to roll on his belly. It was only when several other swords plummeted through his wing in a bloody mess did he realize he was stuck in the changeling's merciless hooves.

The next few moment were nothing more then a red blur in Androconia’s vision. The faint sound of screams, pain, and begging all but faint memories before the calm blackness crept into her eyes, and muted her thoughts. When she awoke it was upon the back of one of her loyal generals. He and several of the guards had fought a way through the crowd and were now trying to move Androconia to one of the secret escape hatches. She spoke the first thing upon her mind, the forefront of her grief breaking through the flimsy wall that was
her self-control.

"Mother..."

The black haunted the edge of her vision, and she welcomed it with greedy
desire. All faded to her own, tear filled dreams.

The walk through the tunnels seemed long and uneventful. As Androconia laid upon the generals back, replaying the horrific events of the battle in her mind, she began to fall victim to the depths of despair. Her training had been useless, the griffons knew changeling blade-work inside and out. If she hadn’t had improved as much as she had before the fight, there wouldn’t be any royalty left. She held the image of her mothers eye in her mind, replayed her last words in her head, when the group came to an abrupt stop.

They were a small distance off from what was a large Equestrian city. She slid down off the generals back, letting out a barely audible grunt. Her legs felt weak, her body hurt, and for the first time in her life she was lost. Her mother was gone and there was no one to lead the changelings.

“M’lady, what are your orders?” Her gaze turned to the changeling, the general that had carried her there. Behind him was a small collection, some wounded, most weary and worn; yet there they stood. Roughly forty individuals, all gathered around her standing in exhausted loyalty, and awaiting her orders.

“My orders…” The words slipped from her muzzle, filled with confusion and disbelief. Sixteen years was far to young to be a queen, far too inexperienced to be a ruler, “I’m no leader, how can you…” She paused as a few more changelings came in from behind the tunnel they were standing outside of, a few drones and caretakers escorted by Stryders. “I’m… I’m not a leader.. I killed our leader, my mother.”

Yet the general just stood there, un-moving. “M’lady, It was the griffon who welded the hammer, it was your mothers choice to take the impact.” He spoke calmly, seemingly all confidence, his wear and tear hidden beneath his experience. “And if she died, then why do you still stand. Did you not listen to her words, M'lady?”

Androconia stood silently, unable to move as she watched the changelings form into semi organized positions around her. “You must live and lead or your mother’s death was for
nothing.” He spoke calmly before levitating off the scuffed up purple helmet, the green glow surrounding it bright. Moving it forward, he let his magic fade, dropping it onto the rocky ground. “If you give up, so do I.” Androconia blinked, watching the general; for the first time this day, he showed emotion, sorrow, fear, and hopelessness. The mood seemed to rapidly spread amongst the survivors, once it was clear they were defeated. What else could they do? What actions could they take?

“There’s an outpost in Manehatten... If we get there we should be able to rebuild…” She spoke quietly before lifting her head. She was barely taller then half of them, but could see the eyes lift to look at her. “I… I’m not my mother, I may not even be a good leader.” She paused; her gaze falling upon the helmet before she floated the discarded armour up. “…But I’ll damn well try… we have to live, not for ourselves, but for those who have fallen before us. If not for ourselves, then for those that are to come in the following years. We… we need to vanish, let them believe we have fallen, and when they turn their back to us…” She went silent as she crushed the helmet in her magical grip, a sudden fire burning in her chest, far greater then anything she’d ever felt. She gave what she hoped was a determined glare to the crowd around her and saw a renewed vigor in their eyes, their heads had lifted. She could see her own fire reflected in theirs, and hope swelled in her chest faintly. They needed a leader, and she was the last option.

“When they turn their back to us…”

She looked to the city, her eyes glowing with sickly green fire.

"They will burn."

[Steel Strike]

Accepted. (Too much reading )