Excelsior

by GJT_Productions

Check and Mate

"You getting all this down, Lieutenant?"

"As fast as I can, sir."

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Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor had never before heard the volcanic fury of Celestia's old "Royal Canterlot Voice", and hoped never to hear it any closer than he was to it right then. Even through a wall he could feel the magically-generated rumblings which others had mistaken for an earthquake - more than once he had to confirm to panicking staff that yes, they knew about the shaking and no, the castle was not going to fall down on top of them.

The recent second attempt at abduction of Princess Luna had led the moon princess to demand to immediately address the entire griffon diplomatic party. With both the ambassador himself and two of his guards crippled by broken bones, they had to be moved on stretchers by medical staff to the designated meeting place. Once the entire party had been assembled, the griffon ambassador was browbeaten into confessing his cooperation with the Agents of Chaos to further their own ends. Condemned by his own words, the ambassador had little choice but to accept the sentence given to him by Luna - unilateral revocation of his status as ambassador to the Equestrian kingdom. That meant he had 24 hours to leave Canterlot and start the return trip to his own realms - if he did not leave in that timeframe, then he probably would've been arrested and executed as a result of his actions.

Princess Luna then ordered Captain of the Guard Gibraltar and Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor to divide the conspirators into two different groups. The griffons would be taken to Celestia by Shining Armor to given a haranguing for their crimes as "we currently lack the means to do it properly ourselves". The actual haranguing would take place in Celestia's resting chamber, with Shining Armor guarding the door in and a night-shift unicorn Lieutenant recording the event for posterity. The two pegasi guards involved in the conspiracy were taken by Captain Gibraltar and given a summary demotion from Guard Upper Class to Guard Lower Class, eventually to be sent away from Canterlot into the field never to return. At the same time, the former griffon slave - the expulsion of the ambassador effectively released him from servitude - suddenly collapsed into unconsciousness and was rushed to medical care.

Despite the annoyance of being suddenly awakened in the middle of the night, Princess Celestia proved most willing to give a proper verbal lashing to the helpless griffons once situation had been explained to her - Shining himself suspected that this was something she had wanted to do ever since the party had arrived in Canterlot. The "Royal Canterlot Voice" was something Celestia had rarely used ever since she stopped being the "unapproachable" ruler of centuries past, but against old enemies of Equestria she was certainly willing to use it now.

As both Shining Armor and his younger sister later experienced firsthoof, Luna's "Royal Canterlot Voice" was like a thunderstorm, with mighty wind and lightning to accompany it. Celestia's version was like an erupting volcano, the ground around rumbling and shaking and the words paired with blasts of magically generated fire. Some old illustrations depicted Celestia as actually breathing fire like a dragon while using the voice, although it was generally believed to be a metaphorical representation and not literal fire-breathing. Both versions did their intended job, but were as different as the sisters themselves were.

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A faint smoking smell filled the air as Celestia went on and on about the sins the griffons had committed against Equestria in its long history - even Celestia's memory wasn't perfect, but she had the help of written records and her "magical security cam". Shining held not even an ounce of sympathy for the griffons currently getting blasted in such a manner. As far as he was concerned, they were getting what they deserved.

Finally, the booming, rumbling voice ceases and the doors to the resting chamber open, quickly followed by a very noticeable rise in temperature and an increase in the smoking smell. Several items in the room show signs of being scorched by fire. Princess Celestia steps with her full regality toward the door and out past Shining and his subordinate, leaving the lesser guards to take away the the petrified and singed griffons as well as make sure there weren't any smouldering fires left over.

"I'm amazed the sprinkler system didn't go off, sir." the unicorn Lieutenant states as he stares in slack-jawed amazement at the scene in the resting chamber.

"We had it turned off before she started, Lieutenant." Shining Armor explains with an amused look on his face.

"I have to ask though, sir, is it really true that Her Majesty can breathe fire like a dragon? I mean, I've seen the historical illustrations..." the Lieutenant asks.

"Let me tell you a story, Lieutenant." Shining Armor begins to explain with a wistful smile. "Shortly after my younger sister started learning magic from the Princess, she somehow managed to completely burn her throat, tongue and mouth. Couldn't speak or eat properly for a week. When she recovered enough to explain what happened, she said that she burned herself from a spell that, and I quote, 'I will never ever ever use again!'. Now, with that information in consideration, what do you think the answer to your question is?"

The sufficiently impressed expression on the Lieutenant's face seemed to indicate Shining had made his point sufficiently. Shining himself looks down in the direction Celestia had went and just lets out a chuckle - he loved his job right then and there...

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THE FOLLOWING MORNING...

"I'll take your final report, Captain." Princess Celestia said as she sat on her throne, Captain Gibraltar bowing before her.

In the background was the griffon diplomatic party attempting to leave as quickly as they could considering most of the party was bedridden. There was no small amount of amusement to be had, particularly for pegasi, as the griffons were hauled around on stretchers for all to see. This public humiliation would mark the end of the ambassador's career as well as apparently cutting off any chance of Gilda, who was a witness of the laughing mockery, attempting to reconcile with Rainbow Dash - the old relationship was dead and would stay dead, collateral damage of the griffons' scheming.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Captain Gibraltar states. "According to the best available information we have, the griffon ambassador conspired with Agent Snake, leader of the Agents of Chaos, in a second attempt to abduct Princess Luna. Espionage items were either stolen from our stores or smuggled into the kingdom for that purpose, and the Quartermaster put out of the way to hide that fact. With the two afternoon shift guards to Luna's suite being part of the subversive Agents of Chaos, it was only the defector's warning that allowed us to thwart the extortion scheme."

The Captain of the Guard could see the frustration again crossing Celestia's face. Somehow this enemy knew exactly what to do to override security measures - the only conclusion she could think of was that their leader was some high-ranking member of her guard. But without more hard information, she only had speculation to go on.

"And what of the Quartermaster? He has been AWOL for at least 24 hours." Celestia asks.

"We only got an answer to that question a few hours ago." Captain Gibraltar answers. "Two of our guards patrolling the city were approached by sanitation workers that claimed that they noticed a stallion's hoof in a dumpster. When the stinky business of extraction was completed, the guards were able to identify the victim as Quartermaster Tallymark. The medical staff is still trying to determine exact cause of death, but he was obviously taken by surprise. His horn was also cut off before he was tossed in the dumpster. I'm having a Lieutenant take inventory of the stores now to account for everything, but I'll need Raven to help him out."

"Of course, Captain. Raven is well suited to the business of inventory work. Raven?" Princess Celestia calls to her aide, who along with Kibitz is currently supervising the departure of the ambassador's party. Like Kibitz, Raven held a warrant that allows her to order the junior members of the Guard around, mostly for the purpose of expediting security clearance for what Celestia needs done for the day.

"Yes, Your Majesty?" Raven says as she turns back to look to the sun princess, a checklist and quill pen being telekinetically held in mid-air. Kibitz, standing beside her, also turns to face Celestia.

"Leave your checklist with Kibitz. The Captain has need of your skills elsewhere. Kibitz can finish the work himself." Princess Celestia orders.

"I can?" Kibitz asks with surprise just before the checklist and quill pen Raven had were tossed into his face, prompting much fumbling on Kibitz's part and amused chuckles from both Celestia and the guard captain. Kibitz gives an angry glare in Raven's direction as he adjusts his spectacles and attempts to pick up where Raven left off.

Raven approaches the Captain and is ordered to assist in the inventory, but as she leaves she almost collides with a guard rushing into the throne room. The Captain, not surprisingly, asks what the urgency is for.

"The defector's condition is worsening. If something isn't done soon, we'll lose him." the guard explains.

"He hasn't responded to any of the treatments?" Captain Gibraltar asks of the guard.

"No sir."

"Then bring him in here. We have one last option to save his life."

"Yes sir."

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The griffon defector is sped with all haste to the throne room, looking even more pitiful than before on a medical stretcher. Meanwhile, the Captain briefs Princess Celestia about the griffon defector: "Claims he has no proper name, all he's ever known is 'slave' or 'defective' or things like that. Exhibits stunting and injury consistent with long-term abuse. Interestingly, he was not born with crippled wings - when the medical staff took an x-ray of him to try to figure out what was going on, we found his wings had been deliberately broken and not allowed to heal properly multiple times in the past, rendering them completely useless in the process."

"What has happened to him now?" Princess Celestia asks.

"Poisoned in some way. We haven't been able to identify what the poison is though. All the treatments that have been tried only seem to slow its progress." the captain answers, his tone as frank as possible.

"Then the 'Way of the Phoenix' it is?"

"Probably is the only way to save his life, yes. But he's still..."

"I know, Captain. But to let him die when he has been pushed away by his own race, when he is so willing to serve us instead of them, would reflect poorly on all of us Equestrians. I am not just doing this to reward him with a new, better life, Captain. I am doing it to prove the lies the griffons tell to be exactly that: lies."

"But will Philomena cooperate, Your Majesty?"

"She is nearing the end of her current life cycle, Captain. A few feathers plucked off is not going to be unduly upsetting to her, trust me."

"Very well then, I will tell the medical staff to bring him into wherever you want to perform the ritual."

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A minute or two later, the medical staff come hurrying into the throne room, the former griffon slave limp on the stretcher. He seems to waver in and out of consciousness as all the events unfold around him. It was hard for an Equestrian to pity any griffon, but Celestia did so now for the scarred and dirty little thing on the stretcher. For the first time she could clearly see the matted dirt-brown fur and feathers as well as count the ribs of his ribcage. Red eyes dimly pleaded either for salvation or the eternal release of death - Celestia could not tell which.

The thought of a mercifully releasing this tortured soul from his agonized, degrading existence passed through Celestia's mind as she looked down at the griffon on the stretcher. But no, she wanted the griffon to make that choice - it was not right for her to make it for him. Not when he had done no wrong against her or her kingdom.

"Do you want to live?" the sun princess asks as she looks down at the griffon. He just nods slowly, lacking the energy to do anything else.

"Then I can give you new life. The Way of the Phoenix will do that for you." Celestia continues with a smile on her face just before looking back at Captain Gibraltar.

"Have them take the griffon to my chambers. As soon as they clear out, lock the doors and post guard, the process must not be disturbed once begun." Celestia tells her Guard Captain.

"You heard the princess!" the Captain speaks to the medical staff, and again they begin rushing the stretcher with the griffon on it toward the specified destination, Celestia following closely behind. Once Celestia is out of the room, one of the guards posted at the throne asks of the guard captain what "the Way of the Phoenix" is.

"Ah, that is a great mystery only Celestia knows the answer to." Captain Gibraltar answers. "Nopony beside her knows exactly how the ceremony works, but it does involve phoenix feathers and is rumored to be able to bring the dead back to life. Celestia has said very little about the ritual, and she has never taught it to anypony else, not even Twilight Sparkle. All we have is rumors as anyone that's been through the ritual is bound by royal decree to never give details about what's happened to them - most of them probably don't even know the details due to their condition when they go through it. Sometimes it also doesn't work - Celestia will come out and say the ritual failed or something like that."

"That seems rather odd, sir." the throne guard comments.

"Must be a very exacting process, guard, if I had to guess. Won't always work, but Celestia must be willing to try in order to extend the victory we've gotten. That'll show the griffons who are the savage ones in this conflict!" Gibraltar states, looking out the throne room door with fierce determination...

Comments

[Iron Comet]

I think the poor Griffon is a trap, one that will literally blow up in Celestia's face. Snake would use the Griffons in a false attempt to kidnap Luna for a greater prize. He's just that sneaky.

[SWEETOLEBOB18]

The recent second attempt at abduction of Princess Luna had lead (led) the moon princess to demand to immediately address the entire griffon diplomatic party. With both the ambassador himself and two of his guards crippled by broken bones, they had to be moved on stretchers by medical staff to the designated meeting place. Once the entire party had been assembled, the griffon ambassador was browbeaten into confessing his cooperation with the Agents of Chaos to further their own ends. Condemned by his own words, the ambassador had little choice but to accept the sentence given to him by Luna - unilateral revocation of his status as ambassador to the Equestrian kingdom. That meant he had 24 hours to leave Canterlot and start the return trip to his own realms - if he did not leave in that timeframe, then he probably would've been arrested and executed as a result of his actions.

led DEFINITION past and past participle of lead.