//------------------------------// // Griffon Ambassador // Story: Excelsior // by GJT_Productions //------------------------------// "Good evening, Captain." "I wish it was a good evening, Shining." "What's wrong, sir?" "Sit down. I'll explain." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor sat in front of Captain of the Guard Gibraltar's desk, concern creasing his face. Gibraltar himself wearily sat behind the desk, telekinetically levitating a few papers off it and looking them over for a moment. "Want you to have a look at this." Gibraltar says, letting go of one of the papers in such a way it faced Shining as it floated back down to the desk. On the top was an abstract shape that resembled a griffon, and just below the shape was the words "Official Dispatch". "A dispatch from the griffons?" Shining asks. Contact with the griffon kingdom across the great sea east of Equestria was sparse, and usually not on good terms. A general distrust between Equestrians and griffons existed, in particular with the pegasi members of the Equestrian kingdom. The particular hatred for pegasi stemmed from before the founding of Equestria, as pegasi and griffons regularly clashed in great battles both of ground and air, with the pegasi ultimately driving the griffons off the continent on which the kingdom of Equestria now sat. Strong traditions of militarism on both sides did nothing to improve matters at all, and the prejudice had become strongly ingrained over the years. "Their ambassador is on the way. The dispatch is only a little ahead of him." Gibraltar says with exasperation. Shining understood the Captain's attitude. Historically, griffon ambassadors generally only showed up in Equestria to demand things and cause trouble - it was not really "diplomacy" and their pride would not allow any real diplomacy. Even Celestia sometimes lost her regal patience with them. About the only thing that kept the the griffons from constantly warring on Equestria was the fact that a very big ocean separated the two sides. "Do we have any idea what they want, sir?" Shining asks. "No, but I have a sneaking suspicion what they are looking for. Aten and I will find out in the morning, that's when he's supposed to show up." Gibraltar answers. "I would recommend pulling in extra security while his party is here." "I understand, sir." "You have experience with griffons yourself, Lieutenant Captain?" "Let's see... the former ambassador to the griffons taught at Academy... had to pull a double guarding both Princess Cadance and Twily last time they were here... there was also the crazy asylum seeker." "Ah yes, those happen on occasion in the historical record. We have the policy of burden of proof that they aren't spies or saboteurs or something like that, usually they don't have it. The default answer to such requests is 'no' for that reason." "Yes, sir. I will review the policies about griffons tonight." "That would be a good idea. I'm heading out now, got a long day tomorrow. See you in the morning, Shining." "Good night, Captain. Good luck too!" "Thank you, we'll need it tomorrow." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LATE THE FOLLOWING MORNING... "HONOR GUARD POSITION!" Captain Gibraltar barks out, his voice echoing through the throne room. On the command, the rows of armored stallions immediately stand at attention, facing each other across the carpet leading to Princess Celestia on her throne. Gleaming pikes point straight upward, them and the guard armor the stallions wear polished to a brilliant shine. The flank guards Celestia had currently, as was the policy for these cases, were Captain Gibraltar on her right and Lieutenant Captain Aten on her left. Captain Gibraltar wore his deep brown ceremonial armor with a red star on the front - essentially, a recolored version of the standard armor that he had opted to use instead of custom-built designs some of his predecessors (and his eventual successor, Shining Armor) had used. Lieutenant Captain Aten wore a red colored armor with a black lightning bolt in place of the star on the front - supposedly based on the armor of Commander Hurricane, one of the pegasi founders of Equestria. Aten also had his wings open and fitted on the leading edge with spike-decorated armored strips. In fact, wherever Aten could get away with putting spikes on his armor, he did - again, supposedly based on armor worn by the pre-Equestrian pegasi tribes. All those spikes and Aten's fierce glare gave Captain Gibraltar uncomfortable reminders of the illustrations of old pegasi warriors in books - possibly not by coincidence. Gibraltar once made the mistake of looking in Aten's office when the pegasus wasn't there, and was mortified by all the "replica weapons" and paintings and sculptures glorifying the old pegasi tribes - he later called it "one of the scariest offices he had seen in his life"! All this had long ago convinced Gibraltar something was wrong in the head with Aten. Aten spent almost all of his non-work time either in his office, supposedly doing paperwork, or reading books in his quarters - he consistently refused any and all invitations to have a hard apple cider or two with some of the other senior officers, and when he actually did show up at a bar he usually was in no mood to socialize. It was also rumored he would become very unpleasant, if not outright hostile, after a few mugs of cider. There was also the fact that he did not have a wife or even a steady marefriend despite being around 30 years old and having such a notable title in the Royal Guard - again, rumors ran around that he claimed he was "saving himself for Princess Cadance", always good to tell for a laugh because Cadance had long ago made it clear she wanted nothing to do with him. Finally, there was the record for troublemaking, culminating in Aten heading the "affirmative action for pegasi" faction within the officer corps of the Canterlot Royal Guard. Gibraltar had tried in vain for years to get Aten discharged or transferred, but the requests never made it past Celestia's desk. Because Celestia - for reasons that would not become clear for a very long time - refused to approve anything that would change the situation, Gibraltar and everypony else in the Royal Guard would have to deal with Aten and his problems for the foreseeable future. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A great roar that resounded like a trumpet blast came from outside the hall - the sound indicating the griffon ambassador had arrived. The doors are flung open to reveal the ambassador and his rectangle of four guards around him, that then begin stepping down the carpet with a certain swagger and smoothness that seemed to be known by all griffons. Gibraltar was amazed how much armor and weaponry a griffon could wear - armor covering virtually every part of the body, claw and talon blade extensions, beak-attached blade, spiked armor strips on the lead edge of the outstretched wings, blades attached to tails, there even seemed to be little blades among the feathers of the wings! And of course, these griffon warriors had to be quite strong to carry all that extra weight - some even could fly with all that armor on! Even the hardiest earth pony could be unnerved by their appearance, and only Aten and Princess Celestia seemed completely undeterred by the display. Celestia had all the experience before in her hundreds of years in living, of course, and Aten seemed to get by on pure determination. Out of the corner of his eye, Gibraltar could see Aten's ferocity change into a subtle snarling, and there was a worry Aten would do something stupid once the griffon ambassador approached. Fortunately, Aten kept his place as the griffon ambassador, armor clanking and clinking as he walked, stopped at the bottom of the steps leading up to Celestia's throne and simply glared up at the sun princess - demanding him to bow would've been a waste of time. "For what business do you come across the sea, ambassador?" Celestia proclaims as she returns the ambassador's glare. "We present demands for compensation." the ambassador answers in a very deep, growling voice. "Compensation?" Celestia asks, an eyebrow going up. "The scroll will provide the details. Slave!" the ambassador exclaims, calling the last words back behind him. To the surprise of all the Equestrians witnessing, another griffon starts slowly entering through the throne room doors. He is unarmored, heavily burdened with baggage, and his wings droop limply - possibly completely useless. Every step he makes seems to be a painful struggle for him, considering the slowness of his movements and the contortions his face is making as he walks. "Faster, slave! We don't have all day!" the ambassador yells back to the other griffon, who tries to speed up, mostly unsuccessfully. This kind of treatment, particularly for what griffons called "defectives" (unable to fly or run fast or lift heavy weights), was not unprecedented, but actually bringing the slave into the throne room was something new, and Captain Gibraltar lets his military stoicism slip into a puzzlement. Gibraltar had to wonder what the point of all this was as the slave slowly worked his way to beside where the ambassador was, and pulled out a scroll from among his burdensome baggage. The slave slowly climbs the stairs, straining and groaning the whole way, and drops the scroll near the throne before trying to back down the stairs, only to slip and tumble his way back down instead. When he lands, some of the baggage strewn around him, he starts getting a verbal barrage of screeching and roaring from the ambassador in the native griffon language, much of which would not be appropriate to be translated or reproduced here. Gibraltar looks over at Lieutenant Captain Aten, who seems eager to intervene. When Aten looks back, Gibraltar shakes his head - this is something he's determined Celestia herself ought to handle if she decided to intervene. Celestia does nothing but stare down stoically as the ambassador rages - it wasn't anything she hadn't seen before. The rest of the guard, following previously given orders, do not intervene either, although those closest to the ambassador shift their pikes to point across the carpet to prevent the angry griffon from getting too close for comfort. Finally, with the ambassador's wrath exhausted, the slave leaves with his burdens as quickly as he can (i.e. not very quickly at all). Only then does Celestia telekinetically pick up the scroll and open it to read. As she reads, an eyebrow goes up but she does nothing else. "I will consider your request for compensation. You will be summoned when the decision is made." Celestia states bluntly. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THAT AFTERNOON... "What is all this about?!" the griffon ambassador exclaims, him being settled into the guest quarters now interrupted by a call from one of his guards. "Don't know, Ambassador. He just wants to see you." the griffon guard replies with a shrug. "Who is it?" "Wouldn't say. Can't tell under the cloak either." "... I'll meet him outside. Good thing I still have the basic armor on..." the ambassador mutters as he rousts himself and pads out the door. When he gets outside, he is surprised to find a figure completely covered in a cloak, and his legs having material in the same color as the cloak tied around them - if it wasn't for the white unicorn horn sticking through a hole in the cloak, the ambassador would have no idea whether he was looking at a griffon or Equestrian. "Who are you and what do you want?" the ambassador bluntly asks. "My name is Agent Snake. I am leader of the Agents of Chaos." the cloaked figure begins speaking. "Surely you know, Ambassador, that the Equestrian princess is not going to give you one bit of what you demand?" "I don't expect any different from those pigs, but what is your point?" the ambassador snarls out. "I know of a way to compel the Equestrians to empty their treasury to you. But I need your cooperation to make it work, Ambassador." Agent Snake replies. A thoughtful look crossed the ambassador's face - surely he knew these were much better terms than anything the Equestrians would offer him, so why should he say no? If this disguised figure was untrustworthy, the ambassador could always have him run through later. "You have my attention. Go on." the ambassador finally states. "Not out here. It would mean my death if we were caught here. Let us adjourn to someplace more... private." Snake states. "Very well. But you had better be trustworthy, unicorn, or you'll live to see your horn broken before your neck is!" the ambassador warns, not an idle threat since there were historical records of such things happening to any unicorn unlucky enough to end up dead at the claws and talons of a griffon. "Don't you worry, Ambassador. We have nothing to gain by stabbing you in the back. Now, shall we?" Agent Snake asks, pointing toward the room where the ambassador's party was staying while in Canterlot. "Yes, we shall." the ambassador answers, his eyes glinting in the prospect of having an ally within the Equestrians and at last being able to humiliate them into giving up a large share of their treasure...