As the rulers of the three kingdoms settled down after the showy entrance, Twilight ran the Queen of Goblins through a recap of events. As she closed her explanation the Queen looked at the map and nodded.
"Always encroaching and getting more. Griffons see something this small as a chance and take it. Curious though. Does anyone actually KNOW why the fish left the Griffon side? I am sure you each thought on it." She spoke with a tone of mild amusement. As she spoke she took her hand and laid it on the paper and with the other removed the Axe of Negotiation and put it head down behind her. The paper was repaired of damage and looked brand new. Twilight's eyes grew and she suddenly blurted out excitedly.
"I did not know the goblins had magic, all the research I found stated them to simply be a great craftrace, your grace. After this would you mind discussing your arcane arts?" The other alicorns shook their heads in unison with the same thought, "Only Twilight." The Griffon King however looked unnerved.
"I was also unaware. That would make two races with magic." He said hostilely. The queen laughed and leaned back.
"What a nice segue from the question at hand your majesty," She spoke with an air of grace until the last two words, they held a venom warning him against further insinuations. "As for my race's magic it is very limited. Unlike pony magic not everyone is given magic and it can only be used for the crafting or repairing of objects. The most gifted among my kind can repair entire cities like Canterlot in a matter of hours from complete destruction. But currently we have only one able to do such and our magic is severely taxing. If used unrestrained it can begin to leech our life force from us. So do not see us as some new threat from just this. My kind proved its strength long ago. As to answer Twilight I would be delighted. Maybe your deep connection to the heart of magic and it connections to the races can help us. Now focus. Fish on pony side. Why?" He eloquence left her at the end of her speech. It appeared as if making herself talk with more fluff was aggravating and a bit draining as she let out a huff and moved her mouth a bit from the obviously underused actions of speaking without being blunt. Celestia was the first to speak.
"Equestria has already sent several unicorns as well as my sister to verify no spells have been cast. The griffons have stopped fishing operations in an attempt to bring the fish back but to no avail. As far as any of us can tell it is a matter of the fish getting smart." She said all of this in a very matter of fact tone. The queen guffawed.
"Immortal Goddesses of Sun and Moon and the King of Flying Predator's understand a fish? Asking the sun to understand a Diamond Dog that is. Lots years the fish not learn then never learn. Curious though about being that has been small and weak, Twilight please state some theories." She smiled turning to Twilight. Twilight looked flustered and looked at the Princesses and Griffon King gulping.
"Well I do not think I would know more than," The queen slammed her hand on the table shaking her head before staring at Twilight in a very fierce manner. Twilight recoiled slightly and Celestia had stood to better level a glare at the Queen that the royal adamantly ignored. Twilight gulped and nodded, She had closed her eyes and pictured a lecture hall. She had decided to see it as a presentation of a scholarly study and used that tone. "Alright then. Well on my studies of fish, the only reasons for such a migration is either a lack of food from overpopulation, which with the regular fishing from the Griffons is highly unlikely. Or the presence of a new predator. Since the Griffons have been in the area for a long time it seems unlikely they are the cause. So if I had to make a hypothesis on what has been presented barring the possibility of spellcraft, increased intelligence of the fish, and lack of food for the fish. I would state that a new predator has entered the lake and made its home on the Griffon side driving away or possibly eating all the fish on the Griffon side." When she finished she opened her eyes and all the rulers except for the Queen looked a bit confused. The thought had not occurred to them. The queen, however, was smiling a very pointed and sharp, both literal and metaphorically, smile.
"Precisely. Fish lived in lake before Ponies and Griffons. Fish lived in lake with them. Fish will live in lake after them. So worse predator to blame." She coughed a bit before talking with eloquence again. "It is simply the case of a view point unobserved. Have some divers from the Griffon Kingdom look for this." She pulled a book out of her robes and landed it on the table with a thump opening it to a bookmarked page. Inside was a picture of something that looked like a cross between a shark, monkey, and kelp. "Its called a Merfolk. There was a colony that we were trying to incorporate into the Underground Union. However after finding them only a few months ago their entire civilization vanished. We have been quite worried expecting some kind of unknown threat but then word reaches us of the problem between Ponies and Griffons. I came to see if a theory I had was true. I believe it to be so." The Griffon king looked at the picture and groaned.
"It would seem I owe my hunting general a very heartfelt apology. He came to me saying his men were afraid to fish because they were seeing lake monsters. I had him thrown in the dungeon for telling tales of fancy." Luna suddenly bristled.
"You mean to tell me that Equestria was accused of sabotage, repeatedly, and yet you had knowledge of these creatures?" The king sat up and puffed himself out.
"I would hardly call half vague accounts from weary and very disturbed griffons knowledge. When the fish started getting sparse many were claiming a curse had befallen the lake. If stories of monsters in the lake got out I would not have been able to control the chaos. DO NOT lecture me Princess!" Luna looked ready to retort, loudly, before Celestia interrupted with a question.
"Why not simply bring us the information instead of all this extravagance your majesty?" She directed to the Queen. She had yet to hear her name. Name's were rarely given from Goblins, usually only a title was enough for them. But Celestia had resolved not to assume or rely on old prejudices again as she waited for a reply. The queen smiled again. A wholly unsettling event for all to witness.
"How better to remind old allegiances of debt's owed than reminding them of old treatises? I have things I wish to discuss with the Griffon and Pony kingdoms. And I needed to remind you both that we still existed. I am well aware how my ambassador's are treated. With little to no actual care in the messages they bring or the questions they ask. Given basic hospitality and not even greeted by your own ambassador's but by servants or in a few cases a hotel manager." The last part was leveled at the King who looked down and muttered something about lack of personnel. "That ends. I have come here because petitions for land on the surface have gone unanswered. Petitions for mining in the Griffon mountains have been stalled with excuses and a plea for aid by the Thestrals was ignored until Princess Luna was reinstated as Princess of the Night. The Underground Union has decided it is time to step into the politics of your land. As you may rule the top part but I need to remind you that your share is a lot smaller than ours in terms of land. Now that the current proceedings have concluded I gave my word to have conversation with Twilight on my race. I will see you all tomorrow morn but tonight business is done. Twilight lead to Library. I also hope you do not mind if I stop with all this fluffy talk. It is pointless and taxing." Twilight immediately stood and led the Queen out the room changing her dialect to match the simplicity and curtness of the Goblin's. The Princesses and King sat staring at the Queen as she left with Twilight. The weight of the implications leveled at them becoming apparent. This time it was the King who spoke.
"It would seem our prejudices got the better of us Princesses. I for one will see it end. The goblins are many things, chief among them being noble warriors. Many in my kingdom even tell the tales of the goblin-griffon war seeing them as a stain. Unable to see how such beings could fight us and win. But I read the books and the tales. I read the first hand accounts of their cleverness and tactics. And yet I too fell to the prejudice. Today opened my eyes. And from the look of you Princess Celestia even an immortal such as yourself can be shown how little they know." He left abruptly after his monologue as Celestia and Luna sat in the room. Luna was staring at the picture unable to understand how the idea of a new predator never occurred to her while Celestia was meditating on how oblivious she had become concerning the goblins. When she first learned of them she was hyper vigilant fearing a threat to her little ponies. But the continued years of peace and little contact had made her forget that they were not to be taken lightly. She had taken the peace for granted and was seeing that come to bite her in the flank. Tomorrow was going to be interesting.