//------------------------------// // Chapter 29: Hostage // Story: The Last Migration // by Starscribe //------------------------------// Not-Prince Velar knew when he wasn’t wanted. He could sense it in the hospital staff, in the constant eyes he felt whenever her went down the hall for lunch. The guards he could feel shadowing him all the while, though they tried to keep their presence discrete. Maybe that would’ve fooled ponies, who wandered through life half-blind and deaf at every moment. But Velar had been trained for war—he could sense an assassin even if they were an owl flying on the other side of a wall. He saw less of Starlight Glimmer than he would’ve liked in the next few weeks. Mostly he saw doctors—unicorns and earth ponies, who would sprawl him out on some cot somewhere and pour over his injury with spells or cleaning supplies or potions. The whole process was infuriating, but at least his fears about the incompetence of males for medical tests proved unfounded. Nor were Zoya’s fears about his wound becoming septic and inevitably rotting him from the inside coming true. Velar had counted himself dead. Many of the well-wishes from slaves and good birds in Accipio alike had expressed parting words. They weren’t wishing for him to get better, but praying he would be protected and find peace in Unity. But Velar had beaten them all. Or… maybe not him. The ponies had proven that there was some worth to an inferior magic after all. For a yellow-bellied coward like me, who wouldn’t take the life of a slave. And when the ponies whispered about him, when they thought he couldn’t hear, they spoke of it like it was a virtue. I’m willing to order birds to their death every day on the battlefield, but I will not accept a life to power the spell needed to save my life. What’s wrong with me? What was wrong with Accipio, that someone had managed to smuggle a working firearm into the tournament grounds? Vengeance, obviously. But could any bird prove it? The ponies did not make it easy for Velar to stay sane while he healed. For entertainment Canterlot’s hospital had only an expansive library of books he didn’t know how to read, and an attractive garden he wasn’t allowed to visit for fear he might try and escape. Starlight Glimmer gave him updates—though what she said was frightening and there were always long pauses between her visits. “Withdrawal from griffon lands are complete,” she announced one week. “All the birds are out of Equestria,” was news the next week. Then she came with questions. “Velar, do you…” She looked flustered that day, more so than usual. Her mane was haphazard, and she didn’t smell like she’d bathed in her usual perfumes. Or at all. “Something’s… Did you know anything about a temple in Griffonstone?” He shook his head. “I’m certain that it isn’t anything to do with my father’s house. We tried to negotiate with those birds, but… they lacked any sort of authority to negotiate with. That city is a disaster, Starlight. Those birds are in pitiful shape.” “Not anymore.” She sat across from him, in one of the comfortable chairs. Much more comfortable than the medical wing of the Stalwart Stratus. Velar was back to wearing the typical white tunics a bird of his station ought to wear, even though his fur and feathers were only just starting to grow back where they’d been cut away. He still looked and felt emaciated, and a pony diet wasn’t helping. It was a struggle even to get fish up here, let alone the red meat that would’ve really set him on the path of recovery. “There’s a whole temple up there. We noticed a few ships going back and forth before communications ended. Thought they were doing city repairs. Turns out they were building a fortress.” Starlight Glimmer held up a sketch for him, though she didn’t pass it over. Velar no longer loafed uselessly in his hospital bed, but sat in one of the other visiting chairs. He still felt like a prisoner—and knew that he was. But like all ponies, Starlight Glimmer underestimated just how good he could see. Even across the room he could take in every detail of the image at a glance. He could see the fortified walls going up, the places that would hold cannons, the forges. “That is… expansive.” “They didn’t touch the old city,” Starlight Glimmer muttered, sounding betrayed. But she often spoke that way when birds were involved. “Griffonstone griffons won’t let our inspectors in to see what they did. Work crews are gone… but there are still some experts there, from what we know. And half of Griffonstone seems to go there to work now. Doing… Celestia only knows.” Celestia might not know, but Velar did. Those huge cylinders and the smokestacks that went with them were Bessemer converters. Maybe they’re just making farm equipment. Or pipes for new buildings. Because that was how you made your farm tools. You didn’t open an obvious factory in your city, you flew in secret experts a country away where you thought no one would look. “You’re thinking something,” Starlight said, folding the drawing into her saddlebags. Her face got stern. “What do you know?” Velar ignored the question. “Do you know which house these experts came from? Maybe… we’re all proud. Maybe you saw a flag?” Starlight nodded, removing another sketch. This one had color. Velar didn’t even need to get a good look at the sigil underneath to know who it came from. The greens were obvious. “House Vengeance. Obviously. Because anything that goes wrong these days is their fault. Of course they’d be the ones to try something like this. I wonder how they got in with the locals…” “Nopony knows,” Starlight said. “Princess Celestia thinks this could be dangerous. She was hoping you might be able to tell us more about it.” “If I do, will you send me home?” He rose from his seat, stretching. “Don’t try and say I’m not healthy enough. We both know that hasn’t been true for days now. I wouldn’t have to fly the whole way—my father would happily reimburse you for a charter or something. Unity knows you’d just have to say my name, and he’d have the flagship here to pick me up.” Starlight Glimmer rose too, shifting uncomfortably on her hooves. He’d been right, she had been about to use his health to keep him trapped here. But he was wise to her tricks. “Not yet,” she eventually said. “Princess Celestia is hoping that having you here might…” “Might make my family more cooperative,” he finished for her. “Because I’m a hostage. An ancient, successful technique. Except that my father understands the future of all Accipio is at stake.” His eyes narrowed, the closest to anger he dared with the pony. “Gaius is a good bird, more honorable than any emperor before him. How many other emperors do you think would let their only son choose to die to uphold their own sense of honor?” He didn’t give her a chance to think. He already knew the answer. “Not one. You can use me as a hostage—maybe you can negotiate for the trade of some pony prisoners or something. But it won’t work for getting Emperor Gaius to compromise on policy. He knows that I would rather die than see the birds of Accipio hurt. He will give me that opportunity without hesitation if it comes to that.” Starlight Glimmer met his gaze for a long moment. But she was still prey—ultimately, she was the one to look away first, stomping one hoof in frustration. “You… dumb birds… are insufferable!” she practically screamed. Almost as bold as a male griffon. Almost. “We gave you land! We’re the ones keeping the climate from going crazy! We’re the reason you have anything to eat! Don’t you think you owe us a little cooperation in return? Giving back the ponies you enslaved.” “No.” He kept his voice flat, without her anger. “The ponies our great-great-great grandparents enslaved. Ponies that have been part of Accipian families for centuries since. Ponies that probably don’t even want to go back to Equestria. You know what this demand will sound like to my father?” This too was ill-advised. Like informing the ponies what Vengeance was really up to, his own side would be better off the worse that ponies knew what was going on. But he couldn’t stop himself. “I’ll tell you. It will sound like Princess Celestia is trying to consciously unravel our social order. She’s trying to dissolve and conquer Accipio the way she did to house Endurance. She made them give up their slaves too, you know. That’s where Equestrian minotaurs come from. Most of your zebras too.” “I… I know that…” Starlight muttered, though much of her anger had faded into simple curiosity. “Why would your father think that, anyway? Most of your slaves aren’t ponies, you said so. Why would it sound like we wanted to unravel your whole civilization?” “Because societies need tradition,” Velar said. He gave a silent prayer of thanks to his mother then, who had made sure that his civic training had not been ignored. He was slated to be the emperor one day, after all. She intended for him to be a good one. Not that it seemed likely to happen soon. He couldn’t take the office before he found a mate—or while his father was alive—or while he was a hostage to the ponies in their hospital. He cleared his throat. “Look, it’s like this. Most everyone started as slaves to someone else a long time ago. Over time, birds earn their freedom, one way or another. Takes ages of work, saving up and fighting. Not to mention that lots of slaves have whole families they want to free, not just themselves. So they end up as freemen, and they realize that it’s not the best place to be. They save up for a few more years, working as hard as they can, until them or their great grandkids can afford citizenship.” “That sounds… barbaric,” Starlight Glimmer muttered. The word sounded strange to Velar, alien when it was applied to his own kind. It was like a bird covered in mud complaining that he was too dirty. But he ignored it—understanding was more important. “Well, imagine your whole society was built this way. Almost everyone used to be a slave once, or has lots of friends who were. They worked tirelessly to escape. Now imagine what happens if we freed 40,000 slaves.” He didn’t wait, didn’t give her the chance to think. Based on their conversations so far, she wouldn’t discover the correct answer. “That would enrage those who spent years and years of hard labor while other slaves drunk or gambled their wages away. And for those who are still slaves, minotaurs and zebras and other creatures who we wouldn’t be forced to free… they’d know that we could be pressured into releasing slaves. Maybe they’d rise up in revolt. There hasn’t been a zebra rebellion in my lifetime… but minotaurs have been trying every few years.” “I…” Starlight Glimmer had been silenced. She tried to argue, but no coherent words came out. Maybe she was trying to think of ways around it. Eventually she seemed to settle on: “So maybe you should let them all go, not just the ponies. Make everypony a… freeman?” He met her gaze. “If we did that, would Equestria let the ponies continue to live with us? Or would you force them into your territory?” Starlight didn’t answer. It was all the confirmation he needed. “Accipian society would not survive that transformation. Those who are free fought hard for that—they would be furious that others were being given what they had earned. Those above them, the citizens of power—they’d be even more furious. Not only that we were stealing their property, but that there was simply not enough gold in all Accipio to pay a whole world of freeman. That kind of coin just doesn’t exist.” Velar stepped right up to her, meeting Starlight’s eyes with his own. He hoped she would see the sincerity there. “If my father tried to obey Celestia’s orders, the other great houses would revolt the same day. Either they would challenge him for the throne, one by one until some bird beat him… or they’d just raise their armies and try to topple us. And when they finished with house Virtue, they’d come for Equestria.” Starlight Glimmer retreated from his gaze. She glanced back at the door, then down at him. “I… I don’t think we’ve thought about it that way.” “No, you wouldn’t have.” He sighed. “Could you think of letting me out of this cage? You still owe me a trip around Canterlot, if I recall. I’ll give you my word of honor not to try and flee. But if you keep me trapped here, I’m going to lose my mind.” “Your… perspective has been helpful,” Starlight Glimmer eventually said. “I’ll ask. My word doesn’t carry the weight it used to. I kinda made a fool of myself by letting you keep your pony slaves this long.” “Didn’t seem like that to me,” Velar answered. “If you’d tried to force the language into the treaty, we would’ve refused it. It would’ve been a war. At least so far, not one pony or bird has died. Maybe we can keep it that way. Somehow.” “Somehow,” Starlight agreed. “I hope so.” She left without another word, leaving Velar alone with his thoughts.