Geralt stood utterly motionless in the center of the room, hands loose at his sides, eyes fixed on Celestia with a carefully neutral expression. He did not blink, did not visibly breathe, but instead faded into the background.
Though he was surrounded by guards, Geralt knew that even the best-trained guardsmen – guardsponies, in this case? – could not maintain vigilance over an utterly stationary target for long. His reflexes were practically screaming at him to act, to disarm and subdue the potential threats around him, but he held them in check.
And so the witcher was like a coiled spring of aggression, with all of the outward malice of a piece of furniture, when he noticed a slight hitch of breath from the otherwise stately, unflappable diarch of Equestria. She sat on her throne, reading the report of his 'misconduct', with what he knew was practiced neutrality. He saw her steady herself, and braced himself for a serious fight if the apparent grace of the kingdom turned out not to extend to its ruler; it would not be the first time Geralt had encountered such a thing.
-
Celestia was straining not to laugh, to keep her composure, as she read down the report. The fact that the human whom it concerned was standing in the center of the room, as still as a statue – not even his breathing was visible, he was good at this – and no more apparently concerned than one would be if waiting for a pot of water to boil, just made the entire thing even funnier.
Celestia closed her eyes, cleared her throat, and took a deep breath, trying to steady herself. She worried she might just laugh if she opened her mouth too soon.
"Ahem. Geralt of Rivia, correct?"
The man nodded, but otherwise remained silent. Celestia raised an eyebrow at this, slightly taken aback, but deduced he might be uncomfortable under the circumstances. She decided to try to lighten the mood somewhat.
"I gather you're a traveler and a warrior, by trade?"
Another stoic nod. Celestia suppressed the urge to sigh, and pressed on, gesturing out to him and noting the intensity of his gaze as his eyes tracked her hoof.
"I understand if you are uncomfortable, given the circumstances. One accustomed to the road would naturally chafe at being brought into a stuffy court, and I do apologize if my summons caused you distress."
At this, the guard who had reported Geralt – one Rock Solid – and had him brought in under armed escort, who had until then been wearing a self-satisfied smirk, glanced in alarm at Celestia.
Oh, she would be having words with him later.
The man, meanwhile, gave an almost imperceptible shrug. When he spoke, Celestia was alarmed to note how much it sounded like a growl from a predator. "It's not my first time, Your Majesty."
Celestia chaffed slightly at the unexpectedly formal address, but decided – as she often did with such shows of decorum – that correcting it would just be seen as a further exertion of authority.
She also picked up on the faintest hint of disdain that the man had when saying the title, indicating he was no more impressed by royal titles than by the contents of royal chamberpots.
This is off to a poor start.
Regardless, the princess pressed on, as protocol demanded. "Let's take the report in chronological order. It states you started a brawl in Appleloosa. Is that accurate?"
The man shrugged again. "It is accurate enough."
Celestia bristled slightly at that response, and this time she let it show, sighing slightly and giving the slightest eyeroll; the others in the court would almost certainly not notice it, but she knew this man would.
"Please, Geralt, tell me what actually happened."
Geralt was still a few seconds more, finally blinking, and then spoke in a softer tone than before. "A fight had broken out. I was still tired from slaying a royal gryphon not far from the town. I decided to put a stop to it before the ruffians ruined my evening, and when I told them to knock it off, one of them hurled furniture at me."
Celestia nodded, inferring the rest, and glanced back at the report when Rock Solid stepped forward slightly.
"With all due respect, your majesty, he's omitting that he broke one of the so-called ruffians' wings, and he gave the other one a serious head injury!"
Celestia moved her gaze, very slowly, deliberately slowly, from the parchment held in front of her to Rock, who quailed slightly in realizing his faux pas.
"I am aware, Rock. It is detailed in the report. And frankly, given that this man slays monsters for a living, I think that shows remarkable restraint on his part; when a pair of untrained bar flies attack a veteran warrior twice their size, injuries are inevitable. And no permanent damage was done, which I can only assume was deliberate on his part."
Celestia caught the faintest hint of a smirk as it flashed across Geralt's face.
Gotcha. This one must be as relieved as I am whenever he runs into someone with a firm grasp of reality.
Rock took a step back and shakily added, "But, he just admitted to slaying a gryphon! A royal one, no less! We had not even heard of this crime, he just volunteered it!"
Celestia shook her head at that, and at the same time the man let out an audible sigh. Both had had their fill of nonsense today.
"The creature he slew was not a gryphon from our world, Rock. Though they share the name and some similarities in..." Celestia trailed off and waved a hoof dismissively, "configuration, that is where the similarities end. Gryphons in his world, I gather, are monsters; non-intelligent and extremely violent, is that right, Geralt?"
Geralt nodded, and to Celestia's surprise, volunteered further information. "Some monsters are majestic in their own way, but gryphons are an exception; they tend to focus their attacks on quadrupeds, such as cattle or equines—" at this, Rock visibly paled slightly "—but they won't hesitate to attack isolated travelers of any species if the mood takes them. They're huge."
The man became visibly more animated, leaning forward slightly and pointing around the room.
"At full wingspan and on their rear legs, an adult would reach three quarters of the way to the ceiling in this chamber, or more, and their wingtips would very nearly be able to hit both windows at once." His voice became darker, and Celestia noted with no small amusement that he was directing more of his attention to Rock than her. "They swoop in from the sky, carrying their prey off screaming and struggling, as they prefer to tear them apart still-living."
Rock Solid blanched somewhat, stiffening in his armor and frowning deeply. He muttered a simple, "Oh." and struggled to keep his composure.
Celestia, for her part, was already familiar with these disturbing details in broad strokes, but found the man's description interesting if only because of the underlying disdain with which he said it; it was clear he'd seen the horrors these creatures could inflict first-hand.
The brutality he exhibited in taking its head is a little more understandable, now.
Celestia cleared her throat. "The other matter brought to my attention was that you had deliberately delayed in responding to my summons; evidently, the guards found you in a bar?"
Geralt nodded brusquely at that. "As I attempted to tell your over-eager guard, there," he gestured dismissively at Rock Solid, "I was restocking my alchemical supplies after a difficult fight."
Celestia frowned a bit in thought. "I was under the impression you had restocked quite thoroughly in Appleloosa; the sheer volume of moonshine you ordered was noted by the sheriff in his report. Why delay any purchases until reaching Canterlot?"
Geralt sighed, this time more wearily than aggressively. "The damage you see to my jacket and armor was not from the gryphon." He gestured at the ragged garments on his upper body before continuing, "This was done by a vampire that assaulted me on my way here."
Celestia's eyes widened considerably. "The black-haired, human-looking higher vampire wearing the jacket with flower symbols on it? You encountered him?"
And survived?
It was the man's turn to widen his eyes and seem taken aback. "I take it you encountered him before – and you are surprisingly well-versed in vampires, Princess. Yes, I slew him before arriving here, but I was seriously wounded in the process, and used up some significant supplies both in the battle and afterwards."
Celestia leaned forward, fixing the man with an intense gaze. She knew she needed to confirm this as clearly as possible.
"Did you take a trophy from him as well?"
The witcher shook his head, raising a halting hand.
"Impossible, I'm afraid, aside from a scrap of his jacket; higher vampires regenerate if killed improperly, and their entire body withers to ash if eliminated." For his part, the witcher did show Celestia a scrap of the jacket. Celestia nodded and leaned back, relieved despite the brutal nature of it.
So he really did kill him, somehow.
"He attacked Canterlot; at the time, we had no idea what he was, and had invited him into the city. It was Twilight who decided to magically scan him to differentiate him from you, thinking he was a normal human; instead, she realized his real nature, and when confronted on the topic he became quite talkative. He had the ability to warp the minds of his victims, and apparently intended on subjugating Equestria as livestock. He assaulted us when we made it clear we would resist him."
Geralt's disgust at that statement shown through any attempt at stoicism he was still making; utter contempt, plain and simple, in an almost snarling expression. "They attempted something similar with humanity, long ago. Even among higher vampires, such individuals are considered contemptible monsters."
Celestia's expression became pained, and she shook her head sadly. "Are all higher vampires violent, predatory monsters, then?"
The man's expression softened somewhat, though there was still an edge of steel to it. "No. No intelligent race is pure evil; it's always a choice."
Celestia breathed a sigh of relief at that. "That is good to hear. The idea of an individual being entirely robbed of free will, of a choice between right and wrong, by their species of origin is..."
Horrible didn't seem to sum it up, and so Celestia floundered for a second for the right phrase. Geralt simply nodded.
"I share the sentiment."
The two shared a moment of quiet, watching each other and considering, before Geralt pressed a query.
"How did you drive the vampire off in the first place? They're significant threats."
At this, the guards in the room became visibly more uncomfortable. Celestia restrained any snickering at their expense and focused on Geralt.
"I fought him while Twilight restrained the guards he had already brainwashed and got ponies to safety. The whole situation gave the ponies of Canterlot quite a fright; the two of us fought in the skies above the castle here until he withdrew. We actually only just got the roof repaired," she gestured at the section that still hadn't been painted over, and the man merely nodded without looking, "from where he chased me once he saw me go airborne and assumed his bat form. I'd initially tried holding back, but it soon became obvious that nothing but extreme force even registered for him."
"Mhm. They're tough bastards, all right; even with silver and poison they don't fall easily."
Celestia nodded, shuddering slightly at the memories of that day. Several times those horrible talons had nearly found her in the skies, and if not for her teleportation skills she was certain tragedy would have descended on Equestria. That prompted her to take a closer look at the ragged hole in the man's garb.
"I managed to narrowly avoid his attacks until Twilight was free to assist me, and we drove him off together; it seems you were not as lucky."
Geralt nodded grimly. "He ambushed me. I managed to avoid his first attacks and got the upper hand, but the speed of his transformation took me completely off-guard. I've seen other higher vampires transform, but never in the blink of an eye like that. If not for my mutations, I'd be dead."
Celestia's eyes widened a bit. "So he really hit you with those awful claws?"
"Mhm."
Celestia tried to imagine the incredible regenerative ability – not to mention unflinching, unyielding pain tolerance and willpower – it would take for someone to survive such an injury and still prevail in combat, and winced at the agony the man must have become accustomed to in order to reach such a state.
"I see. I am deeply sorry you had to go through that; if we'd managed to contain him before..."
The man held up a hand placatingly. "It's my job, Princess. I appreciate the concern, but I'm alright."
The reports made him sound irritable and ill-tempered, but I can tell he's sincere.
Celestia nodded and drew herself up. "You were summoned here for a specific purpose, and I believe this has done nothing but re-affirm that. Geralt, on my authority as a Princess of Equestria, and by the recommendation of Princess Twilight Sparkle, with the consent of Princesses Mi Amore Cadenza and Luna, I hereby bestow on you the rank of knight-errant in the land of Equestria."
The entire room was silent for a few moments as everyone registered what Celestia had said. Geralt stared at her for a few seconds before he reached up to rub his forehead and mumbled, though smiling despite himself, "Here we go again."