//------------------------------// // 9. Honour // Story: The Name of Our Mistakes // by ObabScribbler //------------------------------// Celestia sat across from King Sanguine, though her every hair stood on end at being in his presence. She was flanked on either side by four of her personal guards – two pegasi and two unicorns. Equally, King Sanguine was flanked by four of the most powerful griffins she had ever seen. He obviously sensed her unease, though she was sure none showed in her face or bearing. She would never get used to how it looked when creatures with beaks smiled. Given that King Sanguine’s head was covered in deep red feathers, the exact colour and shade of freshly spilled blood, it lent his features a somewhat demonic appearance. “I apologise, Princess, if thou art afeared of my presence,” he drawled. “Fear is not among the emotions in my breast, good sir,” Celestia replied. Her eyes flicked once to the door. Where was Luna? They were to have greeted the Gryphonan party together. King Sanguine’s eagle-sharp eyes noted the movement of her eyes and interpreted it correctly. “Pray tell, wherefore hath the beauteous Princess Luna forsaken our company? I was given to understand that I should converse with both sisters at this congress.” “She shall attend us shortly,” Celestia said, sound more confident than she felt. “She is wont to distraction, as are many young mares.” “Ah, yes,” King Sanguine nodded. “Mayhap her eye is caught by a well turned claw – or, should I say, hoof.” He laughed uproariously, as though he had just made the best joke in the history of the world. His guards laughed too, though unnervingly they did not blink once and kept their gazes fixed on Celestia throughout. “Princess Celestia,” King Sanguine said abruptly, snapping from jollity to severity in a heartbeat. “Perhaps the import of this meeting hath not been made clear to thee and thy sister. My subjects art mine concern, as art thine to thee. Life in Gryphona is hard, Princess, and I cannot always halt those who are desperate from invading bordering lands in search of food to give their families.” Gryphona’s southern border ended at the Mystic Mountains, on the other side of which Equestria’s began. Celestia understood completely what he was saying. If they did not set down some ground rules in this treaty between their nations, he may not declare war, but neither would he stop raiding parties from crossing the mountains and dragging innocent ponies away to be eaten. “Equestria is not as prosperous as one might assume, good sir,” she replied easily. “My citizens also understand the necessity of feeding their families. I am sure we may come to some agreement that doth suit both our needs with nary a thought to the crossing of borders.” King Sanguine settled back, resting his beak on his fist. He waved his other claws as if what she had to say was of little interest, though his eyes remained sharp and alert. Celestia nodded to the ponies waiting in the corner. The pair hurried forward and unrolled a large scroll covered in her own hoofwriting. She had worked long and hard on it, spending her restless nights working out finer details while Luna went out on her endless, fruitless search for the Elements of Harmony. When Celestia had sent word to Gryphona that she wished to meet with King Sanguine about a treaty between their nations, he had agreed so quickly that she began to suspect he had some part in the Elements’ disappearance. Yet she could not broach the subject for fear of offending him and starting a war Equestria could ill afford. Everything seemed stacked in the king’s favour – if a war happened, his griffins were all hardened warriors. Gryphonan society required that all fledglings completed a year of service in the king’s army and many decided to remain there after their conscription was done. There was no farming industry in Gryphona, though they did keep large tracts of land on which they bred animals for food. Their entire culture engendered citizens who not only knew how to fight, hunt and kill, but openly enjoyed it and saw nothing wrong with adding ponies to their list of prey. Equestria’s armies could not compete with that. If Sanguine started a war, he would win it. Maybe Celestia and Luna would defeat him in the end, but they would lose too many ponies for it to be anything other than a defeat. No, the way to proceed was with politics, not warfare. Yet that, too, seemed designed to favour the king. Both he and Celestia knew of his military might. If he did not like anything she had put into the treaty, he could simply refuse to sign it. When she and Luna had faced him before wearing the Elements of Harmony and beaten back his forces, Celestia had sensed that Sanguine was honourable in his own way, but before she could use that to hold him to his word, she must first trade off with him so that Equestria did not suffer under the weight of peace with the griffins. King Sanguine looked at the treaty. He had been staring at it for only a few minutes when the door opened and Luna entered, Celestia was at first pleased, then annoyed, then dismayed at her sister’s appearance. Luna looked bedraggled and haggard, her silver shoes streaked with mud and dozens of twigs and leaves in her mane and tail. Though she walked primly to her place, it was also obvious that she was limping. “Ah,” breathed King Sanguine. “Thou hast finally elected to grace us with thy presences, Princess Luna. We consider ourselves honoured.” The last word was infused with such disdainful malice that Celestia wanted to kick him so hard his beak shattered. Instead, she held still while Luna responded. “We apologise for our lack of punctuality, good sir. Please be assured that it was not our design to keep thee waiting. Although,” she added, glancing at the scroll, “it would appear that this is not the case.” “Time waiteth upon no griffin,” Sanguine yawned. “Nor any pony who doth force time to wait for her.” “Wise words, good sir,” Luna replied, nodding like he had just bestowed the greatest pearl of wisdom imaginable. “I shall take them unto my heart: time doth wait for no pony. A salient lesson indeed.” King Sanguine tipped his head, as if he wasn’t sure whether she was mocking him. When Luna kept her face neutral he shrugged and went back to reviewing the treaty. Celestia shot Luna a disapproving look. Luna kept her own gaze averted, watching the king. Celestia wondered what could possibly have made her so late that she didn’t even have time to clean herself up before meeting with the most important dignitary they had ever accommodated. Grimly, she thought that it had better be a very, very good explanation after this was all over.