//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: Bad News // Story: Talons of the Storm // by Storm Talon //------------------------------// Celestia's mouth hung half-open, one eye twitching a she blushed slightly. What had he called her? At the sight of Celestia's expression, Talon's ears fell flat, his eyes wide. He cringed and shrunk in on himself, eyeing the door. “Sorry!” Celestia took a moment to collect herself, trying to ignore Discord's continued laughter in the background. Still wearing a look of righteous indignation, Celestia addressed the quivering mass before her. “Why did you call me that?” “D-Discord say S-s-sun Butt. See s-sun. Not you?” With a sigh, Celestia turned to Discord. “It appears you are a terrible influence. I'll discuss this with you later.” Turning back to Talon, her eyes softened. “Discord has referred to me as such before. However, I am not fond of the name, so I would ask that you refrain from using it. You need not worry, however; no matter how angry I may become, I would not resort to violence unless there were no other recourse” Talon glanced over toward Fluttershy. She nodded to him reassuringly, and he gulped slowly. “O-okay.” As Talon made his way over to where Fluttershy was now talking to Cadence, he was stopped short by Applejack. “Well hey there! I hear you're friends with my sis Apple Bloom?” “Uh... yes?” “Well my name's Applejack. It's nice to meet ya!” Applejack quickly extended her hoof towards him. He flinched at first, but then remembered that ponies used hoofshakes to say hello. He extended his claw and grasped her hoof tentatively. He immediately felt himself rise up off of the ground and bounce around as Applejack' enthusiastic hoofshake met with little resistance. “AAAAaaaAAAaaaAAAaaaAAAaaah!” As the hoofshake ended, Talon flopped down onto the floor, feeling dizzy and disoriented. “Ehm...” Applejack glanced around to see who else had seen his strange reaction. “You, uh, might need to work on your hoofshake.” Apple Bloom, meanwhile, rushed over to Talon, helping him up. “Ohmigosh, are ya alright?” Talon stood slowly, his legs spread out underneath him, and shook his head. “Good?” Sweetie Belle and Spike ambled over as the adult ponies filtered out of the room to go to the meeting. “Why are you so worried, Apple Bloom?” wondered Spike. “He'll be fine.” “Ooooh, maybe she has a crush on him!” giggled Sweetie Belle. Apple Bloom felt herself blush as Talon looked between them, confused. “I do not! I was just worried, is all.” Apple Bloom shifted her gaze to the side. “'Sides, my sis was the one who got him all mixed up.” “Suuuuuuure.” Sweetie Belle smirked at Apple Bloom while Spike rolled his eyes at their antics. “Well, what about you and that one colt, Button something or other?” Apple Bloom accused. It was now Sweetie's turn to feel the heat in her cheeks. “I don't have a crush on Button!” yelped Sweetie. “Besides, at least I know him. We just met Talon yesterday!” “All you ever do with Button is play games! 'Sides, he-” “Uhh...” Talon interrupted. “What is 'crush'?” Both fillies silently blushed at that, while Spike just snickered behind a claw. “Well,” Spike explained, “A crush is when you really, really li-” Spike was cut off as both fillies covered his mouth while Talon looked on in puzzlement. “Aaaanyway,” Apple Bloom said, desperate to change the subject. “What was up with Princess Celestia? I've never seen her that mad, except at bad guys.” Talon looked down, scuffing a paw over the crystal floor of the castle. “Uh... Talon ask Celestia is Sun Butt.” At the looks of shock the others had, he continued. “Discord say sun butt! Talon not know bad!” “Oh, that explains it. She doesn't like Discord much.” Spike shrugged. “Maybe that's why she doesn't like that name?” “Well how would you like it if somepony called ya 'pointy lizard'?” asked Apple Bloom. “Yeah, I guess I can see your point. I certainly wouldn't call you guys 'Apple Butt' or 'Music Butt'.” Apple Bloom turned to Talon as Sweetie and Spike argued about how he could even suggest her butt was musical. “Princess Celestia really is pretty nice, you know. You should give her another chance.” “Okay...” Apple Bloom looked to see that he was staring at the floor again. “Hey, look at me,” she instructed as she lifted his chin up. “I promise ya she won't hold no misunderstanding against ya.” “What is promise?” “It's when ya tell somepony that they can trust what you're saying, and they won't go back on it.” She stared him straight in the eyes. “Ya trust me, right?” Apple Bloom kept her gaze leveled at Talon. “U-uh, yes, Talon t-trust Apple Bloom.” “Aaaaaaw,” cooed Sweetie as Spike pretended to gag. “You two are just so cute together!” Apple Bloom suddenly backed away a few steps as she blushed furiously. “We're not together, Sweetie!” Talon simply looked between the others in confusion. “Yep,” thought Emerald Cut as Day break smiled at the foals' antics. “Most awkward guard post ever.” After the meeting and subsequent dinner, the princesses saw the others off. Talon hesitated at the door before rushing over and nuzzling Luna's leg as he said goodbye. He glanced over toward Celestia as well before lowering his gaze to the floor. “It's alright, Talon, I understand if I've upset you.” Celestia glanced over to Luna. “In fact, it's nice to see somepony so affectionate toward my sister.” Talon glanced up at her for a moment, then shuffled his paws. Suddenly, he rushed over and hugged her leg. “Not bad!” As Talon dashed to catch up with the others, Celestia heard Luna giggling at her side. “I don't think I've seen you so flustered in quite some time, sister. Perhaps you should yell at more foals.” Celestia huffed and turned away. “He's not a pony, so technically, he isn't a foal.” Luna just laughed harder as Twilight and Cadence returned from seeing off the others. Gunnar Flew beside his courier and guards, eager to meet with the princesses. He had heard from the weekly messenger that sentiments against Equestria were rising. He hoped that he could negotiate terms to bring back to the embassy that would allay some of those feelings, but he had the feeling it wouldn't be very easy. While he knew the ponies could help deal with international criminals, those were few and far between. Most of the average griffons were more concerned with either avoiding the ponies or outright trying to take advantage of them. Many of them didn't even consider that the ponies themselves were more than capable of retaliation. His mother had been on the receiving end of that, and she hadn't even done anything to them. How much worse would things get if they outright antagonized Equestria? As Ponyville came into view, his sharp eyes picked out a group of ponies leaving the local princess's castle. Likely they were locals with some problem or other. It would at least explain why these ponies had brought foals with them. As he descended to the roof's landing area, the princesses came out to greet him. They looked rather amused, except for Celestia herself, who seemed flustered, if that was even possible with her. Luna chuckled behind her hoof. “Dearest sister, I have not seen you lose your composure like that in quite some time.” Gunnar covered his chest with a closed claw, the traditional greeting given to griffon royalty. “Your highnesses, I hate to ruin your cheerful moods, but I bring unfortunate news.” “I admit, your highnesses, that we may already be too late. Griffonia's messengers take some time to arrive here.” Gunnar looked around the table. “Even in their most recent missive, our King's advisers have made ludicrous requests for concessions in our foreign relations. I fear they may have let our recent acquiring of the high Kingship go to their heads.” “This is indeed grave news, ambassador.” Celestia looked to her fellow princesses with sadness. “While we desire peace between our people, we cannot accept these... demands. To do so would doom or cripple our little ponies' livelihoods, if not outright endangering them.” “Sister,” Luna began, “perhaps there are other ways we could show our goodwill to the griffons? If we started a cultural exchange, they may be able to become more familiar with our subjects.” “No, that won't work.” Gunnar looked sadly toward his claws resting on the tablecloth. “Most griffons would see such a move as either attempts to subvert our own culture, or as a handout. There is a reason griffons are often known for stubbornness and pride.” “Perhaps Gunnar could help us to work out a solution?” Twilight suggested. “He would have a better idea of what would or wouldn't work to placate the Griffonians.” Celestia nodded. “An excellent suggestion, Twilight. Would you be willing to help us, Ambassador Gunnar? We would need to set up another meeting to provide us with more time to do so, but you would be free to stay here in Ponyville until we come up with some sort of solution.” “That would probably be best, your highness.” Gunnar bobbed his head before he continued. “I will do what I can to help.” “In that case, let us meet here tomorrow after lunch.” Show Stealer huffed in annoyance as the guard brought him yet another substandard meal. “I shouldn't be here,” he thought. “They're just dumb animals.” Frustration flowed through him as he looked at his food with distaste. “If they want me to eat this slop, the least they could do is take of the magic suppressor so I could eat properly.” Sighing, he forced himself to eat the bread that had been provided. He refused to make the effort he would need to eat the soup without his magic. He wasn't quite that hungry yet, and would not make a fool of himself for these self-righteous ponies. He only had a few more days before the trial, so he could wait. As he leveled a sullen stare at the dull brown soup, he heard a shout followed by a loud thump. Warily, he looked down the hallway of the jailhouse. He couldn't see into the other room, of course, but that didn't stop him from pressing his face to the bars of his cell in an attempt to glimpse what was happening. “You'll hurt yourself if you try too hard, you know.” Show jumped at the sibilant voice that came from the hall. He hadn't seen or heard the approach of the cloaked figure at all. He watched tensely as the hood was pulled back to reveal the grinning face of a light tan griffin. “What do you want?” Show hissed at the newcomer. “Now, now, is that any way to address your emancipator?” Show perked up instantly and the griffin chuckled. “Yes, I thought that might change your tune.” “Why would you free me? What do you want?” “So you are capable of being perceptive. Good.” The mystery griffon turned a key in the cell door, allowing Show Stealer to step out into the hall. “You have a few minutes before the guards awaken. I simply want you to go to Ponyville.” “What's the catch?” asked Show as he gathered his belongings from the other room. “Well, the princesses are in Ponyville at the moment. I want you to cause as many problems for them as you can.” “Are you crazy? Why would I draw attention to myself like that?” The griffon grinned again, a murderous glint in her eyes. “Well, if you don't want to, an assassination of a politically charged prisoner will serve a similar purpose.” Her grin seemed to grow even larger as she stared at Show. “Where would I find somepony who fit that description?” “Alright, I'll do it! Yeesh.” “Good. Now get going, pony.” As they passed the bridge over the stream, Fluttershy turned to Talon. “So, did you have a good time today?” “Uh, yes, good.” “Well, that's good.” Fluttershy opened the door and followed Talon inside. “I know there were a few unpleasant things that happened today, but I'm glad you didn't let them ruin the day for you.” Fluttershy paused by the base of the stairs. “ I still need to feed the animals tonight, Talon, but you should get to bed early. Tomorrow we're going to Twilight's for breakfast, and then she wants to set up some lessons and things with you.” Talon heard the sounds of the animals running around downstairs as he settled into his basket nest. The sun was just setting, and the last dregs of light filtered in through the window. The light combined with anticipation made him restless, trying to find some way to sit comfortably without disturbing his wing as he drifted off. Talon was woken just as the sun was peeking up above the horizon as Fluttershy nudged him. “Hey Talon, it's time to get ready and go to Twilight's.” After quickly helping him clean up, Fluttershy walked him through town to Twilight's Castle. Talon froze up in the marketplace, however, so Fluttershy turned to see what he was looking at. The market had barely started to set up this early, only a few vendors trying to woo the early crowd with their wares. Talon's gaze was locked an a yellow unicorn trailing a set of luggage in a glow the same shade of green as his mane. “No.” Fluttershy barely heard Talon's whisper. “Not Show.” Talon huddled up to Fluttershy's foreleg as they slowly continued on their way to the castle. “No, no, no...” Talon repeated to himself as if trying to make it true by sheer force of will. “It's okay, Talon. Show Stealer is in jail in Canterlot. We can even ask if Princess Celestia can check and make sure he's still there. Would that help?” Talon nodded as they approached the door, keeping his head down as Fluttershy knocked. “Hey, guys, come on in. I made Pancakes!” Spike smiled as he beckoned them in. Talon smiled back at him weakly as they entered. “What pancakes?”