After a while, my fur begins to stand on end. Something is going to happen, I can feel it. 

I tell Anethia to go back to her section of the Council. I wasn't for the whole idea of her being with me in the first place, just because it dangerous, but now I really don't want her to get hurt or die because of me.

Most others are here, including Etoile, Moonshadow, Lord Westchoice, Baron, and many more.

I secure the Crown on my head. Master Nova and the two others are disguised as representatives for the nation of talking horses.

I don't care if I have to die, I am not allowing Catastrophe to take the Crown.

And then I get an idea.

A brilliant, useful, and gross idea that will never have Catastrophe guessing.

My ears turn back, and I notice Master Nova silently stamp a hoof. I politely excuse myself from the room and walk to Master Nova, asking her if we could talk in private. She walks with me to the restroom area, where she looks around before morphing back into a wolf.

"Can you change the form of anything, including this Crown?"

She looks at me. "Yes."

I take a small branch made out of tiny vines that resemble the shape of a crown. "Could you turn this into a crown that resembles the Crown? And maybe give it a radiance so if Catastrophe saw it, he would think it was the Crown?"

She nods, a bit confused, and turns it into the same form and shape as the Crown on my head.

I nod thankfully and switch the crowns, now holding the Crown in my hands.

"Can you turn this into a pebble?"

"Mina, I don't understand," Master Nova responds. "And it'll take a lot of magic to turn it into something that small."

"Please, Nova," I say, a hint of fear in my voice. "The entire fate of Kyngdom may depend on it."

I'm not scared of Catastrophe. I've never been scared of him or anything else in my life. But the thing that I may be scared about is letting Kyngdom down.

Sensing a bit of this, she looks at me and nods slowly, taking a deep breath as I can see some visible purple light swirling around the Crown. Then, with a blink of the eye, it drops to my feet in the shape of a small pebble.

I smile. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. But why did I have t-"

Without warning, I reach down and pick it up, then popping it in my mouth.

"Queen Mina!"

I wince. "Just Mina." 

"Mina!" she exclaims.  

~~~

Back in my seat, the Council meeting progresses as normal.

But I know what's going to happen. And although I may not be able to physically beat Catastrophe, I can sure outsmart him.  

Connie stood in her long, midnight blue dress. It was beautiful, with gold trim and gold threading up the center. Tiny stars dotted around the scooped neckline. Her long hair was tucked up in a loose twist at the nape of her neck, where a gold pin held it in place. As the finishing touch, Aviance had tucked a thin gold chain ending in a locket around her neck. The locket was closed tight, but on the outside, the symbol of the Homo avians was engraved. She felt tall and regal, listening to speeches and performances by Nobyls and representatives.

Out of the corner of her eye, she detected movement. She turned her head ever so slightly and caught Mina following one of the talking horse representatives away to the bathroom area. It didn't seem as though anyone else had noticed.

Wait. Hadn't Master Nova disguised herself as a talking horse? What were they up to now? Before she had time to process, Mina slipped back to her seat. The crown on her head looked different; it had a radiance. She must have switched out crowns, or something strange. Connie quickly and quietly made her way over to Mina.

"What's going on?" She whispered.

"I'm not sure I should tell you."

"Please, Mina. You can trust me now, I promise. I just need to know so that when the time comes, I can help."

Mina swallowed. 

"Fine." She looked around; they were surrounded by wildly clapping representatives for the nations of unicorns, Jaguar anthros, and wolves. A classical violin performance by a few Nobyls had just ended. The meeting would be starting soon.

"No one's listening," Connie urged. "I can feel something off about the air, the dynamic; I don't know what, but I promise telling me will help protect the crown."

With a sigh, Mina quickly explained how she had swapped the crowns and how Catastrophe was no doubt going to crash the party.

"I knew something terrible was going to happen tonight." Connie grimaced. "Can you think of a single time the Resistance has attended a gathering where nothing happened?" Mina shook her head.

"Nope." She sighed.

Unbeknownst to either, a small wisp of dark wind had whispered in through the back window. A bouquet of flowers sitting on the sill wilted and crumbled to black ash.  Catastrophe was on the way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author note:

Sorry if that was charrie controlling in any way. Is it okay that Connie knows? I assumed it was. 

I take a deep breath and walk into the council. My ears are layed back, and I force them up, trying to stand up tall despite my nervousness. Why am I nervous? I shouldn't be. I think to myself. Then again, it is my first meeting, and what if Catastrophe is here and sees the crown? I glance around the room, taking it in. I see many crowns, and any one of them could be the one. I pad down the aisle, my long guardian cape trailing behind me. I felt regal in the long black cape, which clasped at the neck with a golden Power of Howl emblem. I was here to represent wolves, and canines in general. I heard whispers from the crowd, and I knew they were speaking of me. It seemed I had become a sort of legend in Kyngdom, such an upgrade from when I first...I didn't want to think about my parents' death. I finally came to the council ring and took a seat. I saw Connie, representing the Homo Avians, Mina, representing Upright Cats, and many others. I caught Mina's eye. Something wasn't right. And I had a feeling it had to do with the crown.  

The masses of well-dressed Kyngdomites swirl before me. The hole by which I am looking at the crowd is small, but large enough to keep my eye on the Crown.

At first the rest of the Resistance had debated on whether or not to take a guard force to the meeting. After a lot of debating they decided to do it, and I was made the leader of the force.

We were all hidden in inconspicious places around the castle. I was in the walls, and some others were hiding in trash bins. It was uncomfortable to say the least, but I was willing to do it.

Mina left the ballroom with one of the talking horse representatives, but came back in after a few minutes. She looked tense, but the Crown still sat on her head. She moved around the room greeting other species and being diplomatic, generally fufilling her role as representative.

My ear-piece suddenly comes to life and I hear one of the guards voices on the other end.

"Commander, the ceiling has begun to catch fire. Flames on the west end, the source unknown."

I scowl. We should have expected something like this to happen.

"Alert Guard Bravo Alpha. Notify Mina immediately and investigate the source of the fire. Remain calm," I say, my voice tense. 

I cut the connection as flames appear on the west end of the roof. They were black, and gave off profuse amounts of smoke. The guests began to notice them and some screamed.

I frantically looked around for Mina and saw her rush towards the small concealed exit. Cursing, I began to extract myself from my hiding place. 

I rush for the exit and shove it open, as many guests begin to scramble out, along with other representatives until all that's left is the original Resistance army and a couple others. 

"Do we have eyes?" I ask Sprocket.

"We do," she replies. "The fire is spreading, and some report a figure in the distance."

I nod, and looks towards the horse representatives that morph into the three wolves.

Some gasp, but others are too shocked.

Master Nova looks towards Moonshadow and nods.

Of course, they are kin.

Then I feel a tingling sensation in my mouth and Master Nova nods and telepathically says to me, "Twelve more hours and it will wear off. You have half a day, but be wise, it will go by faster than thought." 

I nod slightly and look towards everyone. "Take stations, grab a weapon. A dark force is coming."

As Mina yells orders to the guards around us, I retreat back into my mind. My eyes close, and I scout the surrounding area for any thoughts.

The ballroom is a cacophony of panic, but I blow past that and move out into the night. All I can detect are the faint whisperings of animals and insects.

Then my mind hit a barrier so strong it almost shattered my conscience. It rolled and tumbled towards us like a tidal wave, bringing darkness and death.

I return back to my self with a gasp. I have an aching headache, and my limbs felt like jelly.

"Oh yeah," I said. "It's Catastrophe alright."

Mina nods and starts to direct our force into ranks. I switch to aether gun and take charge of one of the small groups.

The majority of all of the guests are gone, all fleeing to their various modes of travel. We wait, and I can see Mina's hair stand on end.

We just had to wait for Catastrophe.