Two and a half years later, the guns remained silent.
Dark storm clouds crowded above Talon Point. Figures darted in and out of the clouds, causing blinding flashes of lightning to strike a building not too far away from the elevators. Each spear of power from the heavens struck any number of lightning rods. From those rods, thick copper cables snaked into a new foundry. The cables snaked along the walls into devices, leveling the amount of power going onto the smelters.
Twilight and Silver Vien stood and watched as the workers below worked tirelessly. The smell of molten metal and pony sweat wrinkled their noses. Standing around the married couple were an assortment of other ponies, aristocrats and commoner tycoons alike. The oppressive heat from the foundry was made more tolerable by the wind from outside. One familiar face that Twilight was especially keen to impress was Mister Steel, the one she sold her first boiler to. Although she had not had many dealings with him for years, he was her first step into Lunarian business.
The foundry was small by Lunarian standards, but it was ultimately a prototype to produce what was being carried up to Twilight on the wings of a pegasus. The worker presented a metal bar to which she claimed and turned to present it to the crowd. “And there you have it, fillies and gentlecolts. A bar of aluminum that costs less than a bar of gold.” She handed it over to the closest investor. “Please, examine it at your leisure. I assure you, bar for bar a full scale foundry using the Sparkle method can lower the price to below that of silver by weight.”
A round of interested murmurs chimed in as the investors found the luster and other properties to their liking, giving Silver the courage to add his weight. “The chemical side of the processing has already been included into the pricing.”
A unicorn noble felt the bar with his shaking magic. “The purity is impressive indeed, However, I do have to worry. You’ve already made it plain you wish to make aluminum as cheap as steel, if not more so. Why should I invest in this when I’m doing just fine with steel alone? The costs of creating a foundry for the sole purpose of cheapening my own product is bad business.”
“Something I’m sure many thought of steel when true industrialized foundries came to be.” Twilight and Silver had practiced this very question and answered with memorized grace. Of the two, Twilight was truly in her element now. Invention was only half the battle, you still needed to get others to use it. “For one, so long as you plan for the price to drop, you can distribute your early high profits more sensibly. Aluminum may be treated like a precious metal, but we must all plan for it to be as much of a foundational element in industries like steel and steam is today.
“Secondly, our need for steel has bloated beyond our ability to manufacture it.” She looked around, seeing the wheels turning in everyone’s eyes. “I’m sure all of you are fighting tooth and hoof for control over the iron mines we have left. From my experiments so far, aluminum has a fair amount of overlapping uses with steel, but there are an untold number of applications aluminum has that steel simply falls short on. We have not discovered these uses because of how expensive it is. This is not like an early adoption of some new gadget, but a ground floor opening to a new age of metallurgy!”
Seeing Twilight so animated almost made Silver forget his cue. He stepped in and stood side by side with his wife and spoke with practiced confidence, even if he had to pretend everyone was dressed like clowns to keep his jitters under control. “For every one pound of aluminum used in cookware, construction, farming, carriages, or new applications we don’t even know yet is one pound of steel that can be directed to ships, guns, nails, and engines. The ore for aluminum is plentiful here on the peninsula.” He flared his wings, and grabbed their hearts and loosened their purses with every word. “If we open aluminum foundries in the proper scale, not only will the cries for jobs lessen, but the Throne will recognize our contribution to the recovery of the nation.”
The unicorn surrendered the bar over to Mister Steel who inspected the item, testing the weight and feel in his hoof. He never had an interest in the metal before, as it had been the domain of jewelers. Giving a noncommittal hum, he gave it over to another person. “Mister Silver Vein, Lady Twilight Sparkle, this is certainly impressive, but you know full well I am not in the business of cookware, carriages, or…” He glanced at her armored wings. “Personal devices.” Can you give me something large-scale that only aluminum can do? Because otherwise, my slips are best served elsewhere.”
Flashing a brilliant smile, Twilight dipped her head. “I thought you’d never ask.” She clapped her hooves. “Everypony, I ask that you join me for a walk.”
Leading the group outside and swinging around to the far end of the foundry, they came upon a covered walkway that led further away from the manor. As they pressed on, Twilight glanced away from the mountains and out to the expansive wheatfields beyond. Summer was upon them, and the golden grains swayed gently in the wind. In the skies between here and Tranquility, multiple cloud districts had arisen, enabling the hundreds of thousands of refugee fliers to claim some manner of shelter. The cloud homes were already falling into disrepair and were breaking apart as most ponies lacked the skills to maintain them and tended to leave for other settlements as soon as they could manage. The search for work, food, and scattered families kept the tent cities surrounding the capital smaller than it could have been.
Once the investors were far enough that the crack of lightning wasn’t causing anyone’s ears to reflexively flatten, they came upon a large object covered in a pale drape. It was a sizable thing, with a figure moving around inside. Applejack heard the approaching hoofsteps and emerged from under the cover.
Breaking into a cold sweat, Twilight gave a short word to the investors before approaching her engineer. “Something wrong?”
Keeping her voice down, Applejack wiped some oil off her brow. “No, no, just makin’ sure the wires are good, and that battery is as stable as it’s going to be without your personal touch.”
“Then a touch I will go.” Twilight couldn't relax just yet, and turned to the crowd while Applejack stepped back. “Everypony, I wish to present my personal project made possible by the Clipped Wing Institute.” She, Silver, and Applejack grabbed the tarp and pulled it away to reveal a machine. It looked like an uncovered carriage with folded bird wings. A squat curved piece of glass sat in front of four seats. An engine sat in the back with a wooden double bladed propeller. The whole thing was polished aluminum.
The propeller got a chuckle out of a few of the investors. “Lady Twilight,” a pegasus stallion guffawed, “if you mean to cool your passengers, your fan is pointed the wrong way.”
“I assure you, sir, there will be plenty of wind for myself and others.” Twilight climbed into the front left seat and both mares started spinning a crank. Wires pulled taut, and extended the bird wings out, causing some of the more inquisitive investors to step away. Locking them in place, Twilight spread her own wings. “Now, who would like to volunteer to fly with me?”
While some openly laughed at the prospect of the contraption actually flying, Mister Steel was not so quick to jump to ridicule. “Your armor is impressive, Lady Twilight, but if this carriage is actually meant to fly, how are you able to personally power something so large?”
Pushing the half-door open, Twilight gestured to the thinly padded seat. “Come with me, and I’ll tell you all about it. The rest of you will have to wait until we come back down.” Snorting at the challenge, Steel was not a stallion adverse to risk. Still wanting to be impressed, he climbed aboard. “Anypony else?” Twilight said to the other flightless investors.
“Well I either get a chance to fly outside of a chariot, or I never have to listen to the wife again, either way, I’m game,” a unicorn stallion joked as he joined Steel in the two back seats. Once inside, he poked and pulled on the metal skin of the machine, testing its fee and strength.
With Applejack sitting beside her and monitoring the battery, Twilight pulled a lever, causing pegacorn magic to flow all through the machine, and collect within the wings which started to hum far louder than hers ever did.
The aluminum carriage developed faint but noticeable blue lines across the wings. Even though they had been half expecting it, Steel and the unicorn were surprised to feel the machine lift off into a low shaking hover. The engine offered a high pitched choking cough as Twilight urged it to start. Much to her annoyance, the coughing continued and the propeller only jittered a single revolution.
Applejack leaned back to the passengers. The unicorn was gabbing on about pegasus-less flight while Steel was more interested in the engine itself. “Mister Steel, it'd be mighty kind ah ya ta give the propeller a right good spin.”
Already interested by the small engine clearly not being steam driven, Steel played along. “Like so?” He twisted around and got a good hold of the propeller and pushed it hard and hastily pulled himself back.
The engine coughed some more, but the propeller came to life and started buzzing hard enough to answer for him. He held his top hat on tight for fear of it flying into the propeller. It proved sluggish, but sure enough the flying machine puttered along at a lazy pace. Twilight orbited the landing site before giving Applejack the controls so she could talk to the two investors. “As you can see, sirs, the lifting power of pegacorn magic is far stronger than it looks. Not only that, but thanks to the battery, somepony such as I does not need to control it, or even need to be present at all times. So long as the battery is charged, anypony can fly.” As the pair asked a few questions, Twilight was glad that none of them thought to ask just how long the battery actually lasted. After a bit, she used a wing to tap Applejack, a signal to come in for a landing. She didn’t want the short lived battery to cause problems.
“The engine isn’t powered by magic though,” the unicorn stated as he sniffed the air. “It’s far too small to be steam driven. Is it burning… gasoline?!”
“Right in one. I’d expect nothing less than the chairpony of Chief Fuels.” Twilight’s inwardly grinned when the flattery made him slick his mane back and feel smug. “It’s the Tassel engine. I can’t claim to have built it, but the inventor got quite tickled by what I’m using it for when I took the old gentlecolt for a fly.”
The machine thudded onto the grass, nearly making Twilight bite her tongue. She leveled a dangerous eye at her co-pilot who grinned sheepishly. To keep the investors happy, she ignored it as the stallions climbed out. Twilight did the same while Applejack cranked the wings back in. The rest of the investors gathered back together. “This is just a sample of what aluminum can offer. I have no doubt you or those that work for you can find plenty more uses for it.”
Steel fell into quiet contemplation as the other investors presented questions or voiced their thoughts. He let the others speak and slowly leave, watching to see who invested into what if they did at all. Eventually, the group had walked back to the carriage rotunda. Meetings were planned and the promise of slips exchanging hooves were over by the time Steel had Twilight to himself.
Realizing ahead of time the shipwright wanted to speak privately, Twilight leaned into her husband’s ear. “Why don’t you tell my sister the good news?” After he departed, she gestured Steel towards the elevators.
“To think I got to sit in the invention that will revolutionize the world.” Steel watched Twilight chuckle in a depreciative manner. “You laugh, but bringing flight to the flightless? Surely you of all ponies knows how that feels.”
Giving a waning smile, Twilight reached her private elevator and waved a wing for him to join her. “I am a child of the sky that had to fight her way to the clouds. Unicorns and earth ponies… I’m sure many are stricken by jealousy of our winged brethren, but if Miss Applejack is any indication; I had to promise her a sizable raise to get her to help test fly the machine.”
Lightly stomping the ground while laughing a bit too hard, Steel felt increasing vertigo as the ground pulled away from him, and worked to not look down again. He had been too distracted and low to the ground in the flying machine to notice before. “I can sympathize. Even so, I doubt two things: one, that your demonstrator there is the best you have. Second, that you know just how much extra business that flying machine will give me.”
“The machine itself?” Twilight arched an inquisitive eyebrow at him.
“Oh don’t play coy with me now,” Steel playfully warned. “You don’t last as long as I do in the industry to not know where the wind is blowing.”
A gentle tug on the corner of her lips manifested. Rainbow Dash, remind me to buy you and the company a few kegs of the good stuff. “I don’t presume to know much about ships, but if you wish to brainstorm, we can gather our best thinkers together for food and drinks, lock ourselves into a conference room and not leave until we change the world.”
Blinking at the thought, Steel hummed with growing yet managed excitement. “Never tried that before. If that’s how you’ve been running things, then let’s have a go at it say… next week?”
A short time later, Applejack was close to a full on gallop with an excited grin plastered on her face. She turned a corner at the edge of her farm and ran through a rather busy road. The immediate lands close to Talon Point and Tranquility were a haven for refugees and crime alike. Twilight and Pinkie Pie had been quick to gather up the readily available construction crews looking for work before they turned to more desperate means to survive, but there were always more mouths than jobs. New barns, homes and other farm essentials had been slapped together alongside rickety boarding houses and soup kitchens. Yet the majority of the lands around the mountain were cultivated into rows upon rows of crops.
Today, the Ninety Second was on patrol, repelling thieves at bayonet point when necessary, yet the same story played out as there were always more desperate ponies than soldiers. The fields around her were not the perfect lines they started out as. Jagged and full of holes from being eaten early, some patches of crops were so badly mauled they had to be fully replanted.
Applejack weaved in between the other travelers and carriages for over a mile until she arrived at an intersection splitting the grain silos and farmhouses. A gathering hall close to the intersection was abuzz with song and merriment, acting as a beacon to all.
Stopping to catch her breath, Applejack made sure her trusty sailor’s cap was still on straight before marching inside. A couple of fresh soldiers were acting as bouncers, but even they knew Applejack on sight and let her through without a fuss.
Within was a massive festival. Food was not plentiful, as even here, everyone needed their ration cards, but today every farmer, construction worker, or any others employed by the estate got triple the day’s rations.
A folk band was playing up a ditty that made the sailor itch to join the crowded dance floor. Laughter and cheer filled the air, and at the center of it all was Pinkie Pie herself. The pink noble was on stage dancing right alongside all those around her.
If she’s still dancing and ponies aren’t goin’ nuts, then Ah made it. Applejack wound her way to the punch bowl which was the only thing a ration card was not needed for. She almost made it to the collection of mugs when she got tackled from above.
“There you are, AJ,” cackled Rainbow Dash as she gave a bear hug. “Share a drink with me!”
Growling and shoving the tipsy officer off of her, Applejack swiped a mug and waved it at her friend in a chastising manner. “Dashy, consarned it, ya shouldn’t be drinkin’ like this in public. Gives the air corps a bad eye.”
Rainbow blew a raspberry and swatted playfully at the sailor. “Says the one who drinks me under the table half the time.”
“One I’m retired and two I wasn’t ever an officer,” Applejack retorted while dipping her mug in the punch. “And three you get too huggy when you drink.”
“The studs don’t think it’s a bad thing.” Rainbow polished off her beverage and frowned when Applejack forcibly poured her punch into the thestral’s mug, unhelpfully lacking in alcohol. “This however,” she shook her mug at Applejack as she refilled her drink. “Is a bad thing.”
Tasting the punch, the sailor was glad to find it was apple based. “Granny always could brew a fine virgin cider. Try it.”
Rainbow obliged and sipped it. “I’m sure it’d be great on patrol but for a party?!” Her face wrinkled while she fished out a small flask from her mane, only for an orange hoof to stop her from above.
“Ma’am, sorry Ma’am, but I’m under orders to not let you drink that, Ma’am!”
Applejack looked above her friend to find a barely out of fillyhood pegasus mare restraining Rainbow's hoof until she released the flask with a gruff snort. Amusement shot through Applejack and she chugged the cider as the purple maned soldier landed and stood at attention, awaiting reprimand. “Who’s this?”
“My replacement ‘lieutenant’ after Blue Beam got promoted out.” Rainbow eyed the tense junior officer with a firm glare. “Cadet Scootaloo, what do you think you’re doing? I’m your superior officer, now let go or I’ll clap you in irons.”
“Ma’am, I am under orders to stop you from drinking, Ma’am!” The diminutive pegasus looked like she was on the verge of a panic attack.
“If that’s the case, Cadet, why didn’t you stop me earlier like I told you to?”
“I - I…” Scootaloo locked up, waiting to be berated or be given punitive exercise.
Applejack took pity on her and was about to say something when Rainbow beat her to it. “Nevermind, we’ll talk about it later. Now disappear. Go enjoy the rest of the celebration,” she added in the hopes that the young mare wouldn’t spend the whole time fretting over some worse form of punishment.
Snapping a salute so hard her hoof nearly banged her brow. “Ma’am, yes - Ah - thank you Ma’am!” Turning about, the cadet fled in a hurry.
Wiping foam off her lips, Applejack watched her go. “So that’s Scootaloo? Applebloom told me she made a new cadet friend of all things. Ah thought she had been conned see’n how the academy is on the other side a’ Tranq.”
Drinking the cider, Rainbow Dash resigned herself to not advancing beyond a buzz. “She’s the real deal. With the army getting bloated by new recruits they’re throwing some cadets at captains all over the place.”
“Oh that’s mean,” Applejack grumped playfully. “Tossin’ the poor kid your direction? No wonder she’s shak’in like a bent turbine rotor.”
“The transfer papers says she requested me personally,” Rainbow drank her virgin cider, slowly warming up to it.
Rolling her eyes, Applejack scooped up more cider for herself. “Let me guess, it’s ‘cause you never get tired of bragging how you sucker punched Celestia herself, and now you have’ta foalsit some poor cadet.”
“Foalsit is right, if she can’t stop me from getting drunk, how’s she going to get the boys to listen to her? Doesn’t matter if they’re battle scarred or bigger than she is, if she’s in the right then she’s gotta maintain control.” Rainbow sighed heavily while grabbing some carrots. “Or at least the illusion of control. You know how crazy things can get when the bullets start flying. You have orders saying one thing and another thing could be happening. She’s got to get a head for adapting to chaos.”
Hemming and hawing, Applejack opted for some grilled chicken and a loaf of mixed vegetables. “Can’t argue there.” She handed over her ration card to the server who punched it before returning it. “When we were chasing’ slaver ships, we had ta be careful not to shoot the hull. Plus when it was clear our boarding party was going ta win… ponies do all sorts a’ things to escape the noose or cutlass.”
With the mood between them sinking fast, Applejack tugged on the first thing she could think of to change topics. “Anyway, Applebloom said Scoots was a noble too. I thought she was daft for believing it, but I’m sure you’re going to tell me that’s true too.”
Rainbow pulled Applejack along to get in line for food. “She was orphaned by the siege of Ruby Falls, and she opted to go to the officer academy to keep her noble title.”
“Oh…”.m The sailor felt her mood grazing the locker.
Rainbow’s follow up never came after the band stopped playing and she heard Pinkie Pie calling for attention. The curly haired mare was holding a cone to project herself. “Fillies and gentlecolts, it has been a long few years hasn’t it? So many of you came to these shores with nothing but your fur. But look at you now! We’ve not only built an incredible community, but each of you standing here tonight has rebuilt yourselves. We grew enough food for not just ourselves, but to feed half of Tranquility on your own!”
She paused, giving the party goers time to stomp their hooves in celebration. “I’m sure many of you remember the greater significance of that. When all of you signed indentured contracts with Sparkle Industrial, that was one of the early exit clauses. I tell you now what I told you in the beginning. We wanted ponies who could follow the Paths of Harmony. Honest work, generosity with your neighbors, kindness to the starving, laughter to keep your chin up, loyalty to throne and country, and friendship is the glue holding it all together.
“Each of you who were invited tonight have done this not just to my satisfaction, but to that of our community.” More applause and cheering erupted, with Applejack and Rainbow joining in with equal enthusiasm. Pinkie continued when the noise died down. “The second exit clause, one I’m sure none of you believed would be admitted to,” Pinkie went on to meet eyes with a few in the listeners. “Was that my estate would need to recoup its expenses to fund the growth of this grand venture. After all, building a town isn’t cheap. But I am proud to say that tonight we have!”
Confused yet tentatively excited murmurings grew rapidly. Pinkie let them talk for just a bit before taking the floor again. “You heard right. As of this very moment, our books are in the black, which means each and every one of your contracts is hereby completed!”
Cheering and stomping hooves burst to life with wild abandon. Hats were thrown into the air, laughter and tearful hugs were followed by Pinkie throwing a hoof into the air. “Come by the counting house starting tomorrow night at eight to sign the releases!” Lauding celebration rang out as Pinkie bowed and left the stage, allowing the band to resume.
Well damn, now I wish I could drink to celebrate. Rainbow scarfed down some beans. “I didn’t think this would happen for like a decade.”
“The investors…” Applejack muttered. A worried frown fell over her. I hope this plays out like you planned, boss. That money’s supposed to maintain your research group.
Far to the east, beyond the expansive Grey Plains and the mountain aviaries of the Griffon kingdoms laid the triple union of the Sphinxes, Hippogriffs, and Kirin.
A brittle peace held for now, but no one believed it would last. Grand Patriarch Summer Flame of the Kirin, Queen Novos of the Hippogriffs, and First Citizen Saleena of the Sphinx Trade League were all sitting together above a grand arena. A chariot race with camels was going on, and crowds of all three nations cheered for their favorites.
Drink and food was plentiful and the crowd shouted in wild abandon any time racers tried to club each other when chariots collided. Dust clogged the air, adding to the suspense when a fight entered a cloud and a victor emerged.
Saleena had pulled her lounge seat close to the railing so she could watch closely, her tail swaying wildly with each thrill. Summer Flame was more reserved, but was silently hoping for his racer to win, and cursed any time misfortune struck. Novos was the most dignified of them all. She cared little for sport, and favored quiet contemplation and poetry. She was largely only present as a show of solidarity and to keep the Union together.
So it was that when a bodyguard knocked on the wall to call for their attention, that Novos was more than happy for the interruption. She turned to find the guard was escorting a familiar griffon jane. “Ah, Princess Gilda, please, join us.”
The other leaders turned to the griffon, disappointed that matters of state just walked through the door. Griffons were uncommon in Union lands, save for times of war. To the Union, they were an empire in name only, and were largely considered peerless mercenaries above all else. Gilda held herself with shaky confidence that she masked well with bravado. The pistol and bladed wings she was known for were present, but her armor wasn’t. The jane was not known to travel so lightly. “Honored allies, I bear grim tidings from the west.”
“Can this not wait until after the race?” Saleena pouted, barely spending the time to glance at the griffon before returning her eyes to the track. “It has been too long since I have seen one, and I’ll be damned if I lose to you, Summer!”
Not wanting to entirely dismiss the mercenary princess, Summer Flame angled himself so he could see both the race and the griffon. “Now now, you already know you’ve lost. Why not save yourself the heartache and pay heed?”
Suddenly wishing boredom was her chief concern once more, Novos felt the most gratitude to the griffon and her father since he rescued three of her cities from sieges that would have been their doom. “The west you say? Is there another warlord of yours going rogue?”
“I only wish that was the case… Lunaria’s eyes have moved east once again. I am here on behalf of my father to rally your support as promised.”
Being drawn into another war less than a decade after their last one held no supporters. Saleena’s attention was nonetheless pulled off the race, concern narrowed her eyes and her previous joy vanished completely. “In what way? Speak plainly.”
Gilda tried to keep her rehearsed talking points together. “Word has it that Lunaria lost vast territory in its latest war with Equestria. The little else our spies have gleaned is that hundreds of thousands if not millions of ponies have arrived at the Lunarian peninsula. If that doesn’t end up as one massive army I’ll toss my gold into Mount Incendious.”
With Saleena’s lands being the most exposed to the Union’s rival, the Emerald Horde, she above her peers was riddled with terror at the news. “Have the ponies made any moves yet? Troop build ups or the like?”
“That’s where it gets… clouded,” Gilda was sluggish to admit. Ponies tend to kill our spies on sight; we’ve lost dozens in the past year alone. All that’s gotten back to us is that they appear to be more interested in greatly expanding their farmland.” Having been coached on how disarming that could sound, Gilda was hasty to add her next bit of news. “The reason I’m calling for aid today though is that Lunarian missionaries have entered our aviaries and are trying to convert our people to some new religion.” Gilda watched each leader’s faces closely. “My father and I are of the same mind. This is just an insultingly obvious spy mission prelude to a war sure to come.”
“A new religion?” Summer Flame tilted his head. He was keenly fascinated by all matters of faith, and how each one could evoke aggression. The Nirik within him took pleasure in bringing out the flame of others. “I heard whispers that the alicorn sisters had returned. Perhaps you’re mistaken and a reformation has occurred instead.”
“It does not matter if the faith is new or reformed,” Novos declared, derailing Summer’s attempt to provoke Gilda. “Have these missionaries actually done anything egregious? Is the religion violent?”
“I can’t not speak much of whatever lies they’re spewing. Whatever they’re preaching doesn’t matter because it’s all just a big lie to get spies inside.” Gilda’s initial momentum accelerated as she found her stride. “Village chiefs claim the missionaries are going to every aviary they can find, and a number of warlords are already asking father for permission to kill or expel them. One group was not far from Griffonstone when we got word and I left for here.”
Saleena scowled and crossed her forelegs. “That’s all? If these ponies were as dogmatically devoted to that alicorn goddess as we were led to believe, why missionaries? Surely they don’t expect you to worship her too?”
“Do they at least look and act the part of missionaries?” Novos asked, presuming Gilda would at least know that much.
“What does it matter?” The young griffon tried to reason, feeling she was on shaky ground. “Ponies are not interested in honoring ancestors, spiritual balance, or saving souls, but ending them and taking our lands.”
“So you don’t know for sure,” Summer Flame stated flatly, worming doubt into her assertions.
“Well… no but you have to agree it is entirely too suspect of them,” Gilda shot back, trying to hold onto the alarm she was trying to ring. “Our pact of union still stands. We defended you against the Centauri, you must aid us against the ponies!”
“And aid you we will. If you’re attacked first,” Saleena stated firmly. “You know damned well our pact is defensive since your father wanted no part of the counter offensive we were hoping for against the Centauri.”
“I must agree,” Summer Flame chimed in, trying to keep favor with Saleena. “You must also know the Emerald Horde won’t be licking their wounds for much longer. None of us can afford a distraction in the west when they return.”
“Distraction?!” Gilda cried with anger. “My people have earned more than that!”
“Indeed you have.” Novos left her chair and spoke more diplomatically. “But you must see that the timing could be better. Still,” Novos raised a claw to ward off an argument. “If scouting is their true goal right now perhaps there is still time to prevent a conflict we can ill afford. Summer Flame, Saleena, we should open official relations with Lunaria. If we can explain our position and offer Empress Luna enough incentive to not attack the empire, will that suffice?”
The need for revenge in Gilda’s heart ached to be satisfied, but her people came first, and a tribute payment is what she understood most. “… Aye. Provided they remove these blatant spies from our lands. All it would take is for someone to lose their patience and kill one of these so-called missionaries and it could be used as a call to war.”
Further east laid the vast territory of the Emerald Horde, home to six species, all led by the Centauri. Within the occupied port city of Fespar the emerald king lorded over a map table in his private chambers.
It showed the entirety of his domain which stretched for half a continent and the lands to his west. He was young for a king, but was reputed to be firm of mind and body. His black fur and mane was cropped close, and his armored hooves made his steps heavy and strong. He was thin and lithe for his kind, yet he was respected enough that none of his brothers and sisters wished to wage open civil war against him after their father died at the end of the last war.
Fueled by the ambitions of his father, King Kateno was going to conquer the Union. “Thirty years they held my father back. Thirty years and your people have played a key role in our defeats, Grunhilda.” He looked up to a lightly armored griffon.
“A contract is a contract is a contract. Pay us well, and my warlord will be more than happy to rally to your flag.” Grunhilda was a bitter old bird who earned her scars, and she spoke with a raspy voice that belied her lethality with a blade.
Kateno rolled his shoulder as a multitude of matters warred for his attention. “Would that not cause your emperor to crush him for disloyalty?”
“It would not be the first time we’ve crossed blades with our own. Before you came, the Union countries bought our services for their petty wars.”
“And yet you refused to be bought off,” Kateno replied with a sly grin. “Mercenaries who honor their agreements above coin is not what the legends of your kind’s greed would have me believe. I am glad to see such rumors were just that: rumors.”
“I imagine your father wasn’t so happy,” Grunhilda said with a smirk, testing the young king’s temper.
Katenos smirked in amusement. “He was a fool to believe the Union all fought the same way. How many can your master promise?”
Moving on to business, Grunhilda’s mood chilled. “Five thousand, though you know full well each of us is worth five of yours, and ten of any alliance soldier.”
Humming in thought, the centaur pulled back from the map. “We faced a force of a hundred thousand griffons on top of the alliance army. Your paltry five would be a waste of gold. I have it on good authority that your emperor is on retainer to the alliance.”
“That is a problem,” the mercenary admitted. “It’s an old treaty the emperor signed with the alliance the last time the Lunarians went on a land grab. Should his lands be attacked again, the alliance rallies to their aid in exchange for a cheap price in fighting you.” The griffon became agitated having to bring them up at all.
Rubbing his chin, the emperor returned to his throne and was lost in thought for a bit. “I have had little dealings with those… ponies I believed you called them?”
“Yes. They remind me a lot of you, but you’re easier on the eyes.”
Kateno was amused at the empty flattery, and decided calling her on it wasn't worth it. Grunhilda is my only trusted informant on the alliance and beyond. If I am to take these lands, I need to cement her allegiance. Such a goal had to wait for now. “What can you tell me of them? I know little outside of their occasional merchant ships having quality yet seemingly identical items. From what I understand, these merchants care for little beyond our gold, silver, and spices.”
“Ponies are a militant species, that is for sure. They war constantly with their equally warlike western pony neighbor Equestria. When they aren’t busy fighting each other, the Lunarians come after our lands. They completely crushed the lands our people used to have beyond the western sea, and then followed us here. It irks me to admit this, but we’ve never won a war against them. We’ve carried the day on numerous battles and skirmishes, but never the war.”
Arching a bemused eyebrow at Grunhilda, the king leaned forward, his hands clasped. “How long has it been since you last warred with them?”
“A full war?” Tapping her beak, Grunhilda idly paced a bit. “Sixty odd years give or take. The previous emperor tried to retake our old lands and got killed for the trouble. So his successor largely pulled back and cut all contact with ponykind so they couldn’t use some random insult to justify a war.”
“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were directing that warning to me.” Kateno ignored the old jane’s nervous fidgeting. “Your emperor fears them that much?”
“His policy of 'let sleeping ponies lie' has garnered him acclaim for a reason.”
Humming in contemplative delight, the king leaned back, imaging what battling such a feared foe would be like. “War can not be all they know,” Kateno stated with true interest. “I have seen their craftsmanship. My own artisans wish to limit trade out of fear for their survival. That alone would just be a curiosity. But I have seen a Lunarian merchant ship in person, and its black iron hull would surely make it immune to attack save for magic. I know not why it seemed to smoke as if there was a bonfire under her deck, only that the crew was unbothered by it, and refused to explain it. I will give them credit for healthy paranoia. If there is one thing my people understand, it is that steel and blood is how a nation imposes its will. Adopting the armor and weapons your people use taxes our steel to its limits, and I have taken great pains to solve that. But an iron ship?!” Kateno grabbed his personalized rifle admiring the barrel and firing assembly. “To produce enough steel that your civilian merchants can armor their ships in such a manner… The Centauri need such power.” He put the rifle back down and rounded on Grunhilda. “I will not commit the same mistake my father did by shunning such wonders.”
Shaking her head, Grunhilda was left with little to work with. “Outside of their merchants, I can not speak of Lunarian steel or their ships. There are few who can except themselves. I only know they are half decent warriors, but make up for that with strategy, guile, and they know firearms better than anyone else because they invented the damned things. If you see an exposed Lunarian column marching on open ground it is a trap. If you see a wagon train, leave it alone, I almost lost a leg learning that one. and even then I was barely old enough to hold a sword when I last fought a pony. And you can forget about challenging them at sea, my people abandoned such fantasies ages ago. A fire burns within ponies, and it is safer to stick your claw into burning oil than to draw the ire of Tranquility. Unless you’re Equestria.”
“I am forced to agree. If they know firearms better than your people do…” Kateno still ached from the two bullets that had to be removed from his lower body. “The ponies clearly have no love for Griffons. But what of the Union? What few merchants I have spoken to seemed to care little that we Centauri have subsumed the greater part of the Sphinx homelands.”
“That would be partially our doing.” Grunhilda gestured to a wine bottle, to which Kateno nodded his permission. “She poured herself a glass and wetted her throat. “The past few emperors have poisoned the well against the ponies in the Union’s eyes. The Union trades and remains cordial to pony visitors, but shies away from doing anything more. The less Lunaria pays attention to them, the less reason they have to covet Union lands.”
“Such a tragedy for them that they were too focused on blinding the west.” The king fell into a contemplative silence for a spell, broken only by occasional drinks. “…If I conquered the Union, would the ponies come for me?”
She went silent and thought it over for nearly a minute. “I doubt it. As far as I know, the ponies barely know the true extent of the Union, let alone care about its fate. Although I don’t know if that is simple indifference or that their claws have not yet tried to reach that far east thanks to constantly battling Equestria. So long as you or your successors never try to go past the Trianthian Mountains of my homeland, they probably won’t even bring the Emerald Horde up in their hallowed halls.”
That was not something directly appealing to the young king, but he could feel the eyes of his people upon him, and he needed a glorious conquest to appease them. Death mattered little to his people, so long as it advanced the nation. “Grunhilda, is it possible to use the ponies to remove your emperor from the board?”
“Use them?” Her tail swished back and forth as tantalizing ideas pulled on her primordial hunting instincts. “That is a dangerous game, your highness. Ponies are best left to their own devices.”
“So long as my hand in the provocation never becomes known, then it should be comparatively easy to generate good will between The Horde and Lunaria. Once the Union is mine, I can focus elsewhere and leave them be.”
Grunhilda was still left nervous about it as it would be her people that would face an angered Lunaria, and ponies were not known to discriminate between the warlords. However, gaining Kateno’s trust was her assignment, and being alone with him in his private chambers spoke volumes. To lie now would undermine everything. “In that case, provoking Lunaria is a trivial matter. Our two peoples have bad blood between us. All the ponies need is an excuse.”
A humorless grin crossed his face. “Then provoke them as best you can. I have many mountains in my domain, proper lands for your kind to roost. If you aid me in removing your emperor from the Union’s armies, so that I may succeed where my father failed, your warlord can have his choice of mountain homes and your people will hold a privileged position in my armies.”
Grunhilda’s eyes dilated and her claws dug a little into the stone floor. Her warlord wanted to curry favor with the Centauri, believing they would win the next war, but to be granted such a gift for what should prove to be very little effort? There was only one possible answer she could give. “I will need to return home in person. Something like this can not be trusted by messenger alone.”
Satisfied with her response, the king stood up and removed a brass pin from his jerkin. It was twin arrows in a cross and raised fist behind it all framed in a circle. “If he agrees, give him this. It matters not if we win the next war. So long as your warlord serves me honorably as my air commander, the Griffon people who follow him will be full citizens of my domain.”
Grunhilda claimed the symbol with care. “I will leave immediately.” Grinning at the thought of new mountains to call home, she was that much more motivated to sprint back to her master. “Have your spies watch the Union’s armies. You will know of our success when they are drawn to the west, or when I return with news that they have abandoned the emperor to his fate. May the sun always shine on the Emerald Horde.”