//------------------------------// // CH 78.1 Griffon Diplomacy: Ancient and Bloody Traditions // Story: Twilight's Nightmare // by Nightsclaw //------------------------------// As her Queen had wanted, so thus it has been made so. Elytron's smile of anticipation did not reach her face. That would be breaking character, after all. Everything was finely ready. The crowds had assembled. The griffons had gathered into three clumps. The largest group was very much the wait-and-see crowd, those without the resolve or investment to make a choice. The rest were evenly split between the two sides. The stage was set, and all that was needed were the actors to take their places. Elytron, in her guise of Emerald Shade, held the appearance of utter serenity. As with all well-trained infiltrators, her own internal emotions were allowed no bearing on the ones she displayed externally. Out of good habit, she burnt some of her reserves to radiate calm confidence with just a dash of the pride of a duty well done. Just because she had changed mistresses did not mean she could be lax. Not that even another changeling would be able to taste her emotions currently, not with the tension so thick in the air that you could almost drown in it. The crowd’s emotions hung in the air like a near-opaque miasma. Pride, arrogance, hope, fear, gratitude, bloodlust and even a few notes of love. They were more than thick enough that even some of the non-changelings might be able to taste them. It would be years before their lingering echoes would leave the dead stone they had started to seep inside of. Gilda and one of the Red King’s soldier caste circled the room. Talons scared the floor to make the boundaries of the duel. The sound of talons on stone was definitely not a masterful performance, but it still held many’s attention. Each step they took was like the movement of a hand on a clock, tick-tock, and there was one less moment before the main attraction began. Elytron took one last look around the throne room. Praetorians Candice, Rainbow and Gilda were at attention, ready and vigilant. Princess Little Star and her own Praetorians-in-training assembled likewise. Reverence and revulsion wafted off Flame Dancer in equal measure as she stood to one side. A saddle-mounted flag bearing Queen Celestia’s Sun left no doubts as to where her loyalty lay. A  pair of mercenaries flanked her. A simple alteration of contract had them happily acting as her guards. Flame Dancer’s group took up their place near the middle of the unaligned griffons. A clear statement of her neutrality. Compared to the neat tabards or simple lavender sashes all that supported Twilight wore, the Red King’s swarm looked rag-tag, and as more and more of them noticed the new adornments, they shifted and fidgeted. More than one glance at their own lack of heraldry. Hints of shame and embarrassment managed to win through the potent churning mix of emotions. Almost time. As soon as the circle was complete, Candice nodded to two of the mercenaries. They left the room, only to come back quickly, each now bearing a standard of a lavender field and Twilight’s mark as its device. One broke left and the other right. In an approximation of symmetry, they took station to either side of the door Queen Twilight was due to enter from. It was a small thing, a simple instruction followed, but it made all the difference to all that saw it. Whether pony or griffon, it did not matter, two strips of fabric caused so much. Each of Twilight Sparkle’s supporters lifted their heads and stood taller. Unity and pride wafted off them, smothering their fear. The Red King’s beak clicked closed as he glared at the banners arrayed before him. Envy and determination spilled from him. He stalked forward, unwilling to accept a perceived challenge unmet. His mere presence was an almost tangible aura of intent that dragged most eyes to him. Before them all, the Red King displayed his namesake wings as if posing for a photoshoot. His armour, rings and painted feathers proclaimed his wealth for all to see. His emotions blazed bright, the spice of lust blended with the copper of murderous intent. His self-infatuated love was so potent it once would have been a sweet siren call to her, so irresistible it would draw her in. Now… it was so bland and disgusting it almost turned her stomach. My Queen, you have spoiled me… Just the memory of intoxicating potency, the power and how delicious Twilight's emotions were was enough to cleanse her palette and have her almost drooling. He played the part of the peacock, and his display riled up his followers. A stark contrast to the calm professionalism of Twilight's hive. Primitive as it was, it still worked. It still cheered and inspired his bloodthirsty birds. The minutes rolled past, and with each one, the King’s irritation grew, and the limits of his repartee started to show, and only seconds remained. With only twenty seconds remaining, the sound of hooves approached. Ears and eyes turned to the entrance. With only ten seconds left, a figure stepped into the room. The Red King was now completely ignored as all gazes focused on Twilight as she stood silhouetted in the doorway. Her from bare of any decorations, as unadorned as she was the day she was born. Still, despite that, her elegant motions as her walk glided her over the ground spoke more than any of the Red King’s finery. “I thought you had flown off in fright,” The Red Kind said with bravado. The taste of his emotions almost matched. The irritation of being upstaged ate at him, little by little. Twilight advanced into the room, her movements smooth and graceful, her eyes locked on his. “This is one of your kind’s most sacred of traditions, and that is what you chose your first words to be? Do not belittle this moment, King Red Wing.” The King nodded, hiding his bitterness behind formalised words. "You have proven your bravery, Princess Twilight. May you die with honour." “We thank you, but we regret to inform you we will shall be doing our utmost to allow you to die for your honour.” “The time is now. Say your final goodbyes, and let us be about this.” Twilight nodded and moved to a position just outside of the ring. "King Red Wing, the self-proclaimed. As per the treaty between our nations. We find ourselves bound to honour your traditions." The Red King’s talons flexed. "That insult would be enough to cause this duel on its own." "We are well aware of that. What is your saying? Might as well be hung for a sheep instead of a lamb?" Twilight smiled. "We have no reason not to speak both the truth and our mind to the fullest." She inhaled deeply and restrained the Royal Canterlot voice down to a just-about-non-ear-rupturing volume. "We declare you a coward and an opportunist. You are no proud griffon warrior, nay you be but a vulture playing the part of a thug." She finished levelling her hoof at him as if it were a weapon. "How dare you?" The Red King’s outrage wafted off him like a visible heat wave. Elytron would not have been surprised if even non-changelings could see it. "How dare we?" Despite Twilight's scornful tone, only playful amusement and somber acceptance radiated from her. "Quite easily. Either we will be dead and all our worries gone, or more likely, you will be, and this duel will prove our words true." “I will use your horn to hold my spirits and your coat to warm my bed.” “Then shall we see whose threads of fate will be cut?” Twilight asked, an amused glint in her eyes contrasted dramatically with her now diplomatic tone. One of the griffons behind the Red King spoke up. “How do we know she won't use her horn?” Their question was taken up by others around them. “Is our word not good enough?” Twilight sighed. “For those used to treachery and banditry, it seems not.” She slowly lifted her hoof to her horn. “So be it then.” Twilight’s eyes fixed on the Red King’s. Then she let the emotional floodgates open. Like last time, the brilliance of an Alicorn’s emotions at full force was breathtaking. Unlike last time, it was not the intoxicating cocktail that sustained her. This time, the raw strength of her emotions where wielded like a magical cannon. Anger, hate, and the cool fires of premeditated vengeance slammed into Elytron’s senses. Again and again, they struck, even aimed at another, they hit her mind like hammer blows. Unconsciousness pressed in. It promised an end to the pain, it sunk its claws deep, and it was all she could do to stay standing. She grit her teeth. The lances of pain as they creaked were the only thing that held her in that moment. The emotional assault meant she did not see what happened next, but she heard it. She felt the crowd's horror, their revulsion, concern and panic as it took over the room. Other than the pounding in her head, the world was silent until a sound broke it. It started as a creek, then a snap like a thick branch breaking mixed with a crunch like an earthpony stomping rocks. A wet tearing sound joined it, and then the scent of fresh blood and ozone snuffed out the musky scents of too many griffons packed in too tightly. Her stomach roiled and churned. “Come, see if I will be your Prize to claim.” A voice dripping with malicious glee said. Elytron knew that voice. It was her Queen's. With that realisation, the sound of Twilight’s voice became another anchor, another thing she used to drag herself back to rational thought. I will not be this weak. She snarled in her own head. In the hive, weakness was death. She might not be in the hive anymore, but she was not just going to lie down and die. Her own self-contempt battered its way past the pain. Holding it back long enough for her to act. Elytron burned more of her Queen's love, enough to feed tens if not hundreds of changelings for weeks spent in seconds. It surged through her system like lightning. A feeling of power like she had never felt before pulsed through her body with each beat of her heart. I am Elytron. I am Emerald Shade. I am the Twilight Seneschal. The thoughts resonated and crackled with power. They exploded through her mind like the Royal Canterlot voice that blasted the maelstrom of foreign emotions out. Elytron stood straight as newfound strength stilled her trembling limbs. Her eyes started to function again. She snapped to full clarity in an instant. It took a fraction of a second to take it all in. If it were not for the blood that poured from Twilight's now hornless head, Elytron could have been forgiven for believing time had stopped, for nothing else dared move. The blood-soaked into her coat and trialled down the sides of her head to drip to the stone floor. It only took a moment to spot what had happened. Twilight’s hoof still gripped the side of her horn. Said horn that happened to be buried halfway into the solid stone floor, its core still sparking with magenta magic. Most of the ponies looked like they could not make their minds up whether to succumb to nausea, faint or rush over to aid Twilight. A lot of the griffons took it worse. Still, the brutality, the insanity of Twilight’s act gave them pause. It froze them in place long enough for her to confidently stalk towards the circle. She was the true predator here, and her emotions screamed it for all that could hear. This was to be Twilight's stage, and exaltation shot through her emotions. Each near-silent hoof fall sounded in the room like thunder. With each one, the crowd thawed. With each step, the murmuring started.   “Her horn?” “How.” “Oh, my Celestia.” “She's mad.” “Why?” “I'm going to be sick.” The Red King stepped into the circle at the same moment as Twilight. The room fell to utter silence again as breaths were held. The Red King kept his glare aimed, but even though his body showed not the slightest hint of fear, his emotions told another story. Doubt and even a little insidious whisper of fear played around the edges of the complex cocktail of conflicting responses that danced within his heart. Twilight just stood tall, regal and magnificent as any true royal should. There was not a hint of pain or discomfort in her perfect posture. Elytron could just imagine his thoughts. The doubt, the worry, the wondering just what he had gotten himself into fighting this clearly insane mare. An impressive statement of resolve, My Queen. If she continued her path of self-mutilation, perhaps ripping a wing off next, she might win by rendering her opponent unable to fight without even needing to lay a hoof on him. Oh, the griffons would never live such a thing down in a thousand years. Elytron thought, keeping a rather Chrysalis-like evil laugh hidden deep inside. Twilight was in full control. Twilight had this, so there was no need other than to observe history in the making to watch Twilight. There were other things that needed to be done. Now more settled in herself, Elytron focused on her assigned tasks. Her eyes first checked the young princess and her Praetorians-in-training. They were grim yet resolved. Princess Little Star’s and Praetorian Meteor Crash’s words, whatever they were, dropped the group's emotions below anything Elytron could sense past the background mess. A mess that she would have to deal with. Elytron let herself sigh. The things I do for you, my Queen. She breathed in as she nibbled at select bits of her Queen’s allies' emotions. Revulsion, disgust, fear, panic and many other negative ones became her feast. The foul mix burned on the way down, twisted her insides and made her feel like she was about to die, but it was her duty to her Queen Twilight. Her Queen that was loyal to her and that cared for her as more than a tool. Twilight would never kill her simply for her best not being good enough.   Her body knew what it was doing. She concentrated on keeping her breathing natural, in and out at a normal pony rhythm. She fell back on her training. A little trick all infiltrators learned to fit in with a crowd, to become part of it. Find the one thing that unites them. She did her best to ignore most of what she sensed, latching on to only one thread. One type of emotion she let herself savour was the focus on the fight to come. Suddenly, little else mattered but the two that circled like hunting cats. Both had their wings spread. “This is a most ancient and blooded tradition. Today, honour will be satisfied, bloodlust sated and a legacy started,” Twilight started before her voice gained a half-crazed and joyous edge. “I never would have thought I would get to live through an authentic historic experience like this.” Twilight bowed her head respectfully and schooled her voice. "For this opportunity, you have our thanks." That little seed of fear built. It vibrated and needed a way out. With an almost audible snap, it broke free, and the King acted first. He pivoted his body and pounced. His powerful legs and wings surged and propelled him forward, talon points first. Twilight pushed herself up and to the side, a hasty dodge smoothly morphing into a dancer's pirouette. “It has been so long since I danced… Thank you, I won’t ever forget this.” Her words matched the sincerity in her heart, not that the Red King could sense that. The King screeched his avian war cry. He reared up as he advanced, his talons ripped through the air in a furious flurry of swipes. His rage burned brightly. Its spice blasted through every other emotion in the room. Twilight moved, twisted and danced around the strikes. She allowed each to come close enough that their passage caressed her coat. Her tranquil emotions contrasted completely with his razor-focused killing intent. Hints of pain seeped into his furry as he pushed himself faster and faster. “Fight me!” He snarled. “Rainbow, give me a beat,” Twilight said as calmly as if she was drinking tea. A serene cat-like smile graced her muzzle. Rainbow did not hesitate. She stomped her hooves. Stomp. Stomp, stomp, crash. Thunder boomed from her wings on the same four-beat as in her duel with the Lunar Alicorn. It was not long before the mercenaries picked up the rhythm. Even some of the griffons joined in after a few iterations. More and more of the focus pressed in on the fight. It was as if the whole of reality held its breath. The sounds of the dueler’s motions. The clacks of claw on stone, the clop of hooves. Wings beating the air. With expert motions, Twilight controlled it all, guiding her dance partner to the rhythm she set. She baited his attacks and forced him to defend. Raw skill turned this duel to the death into a dance. It was then she started to sing. A haunting yet fast-paced tune. It blended the motions with Rainbow’s beat. Alien words thrummed through the ponies’ emotions and reverberated through the throne room. It was not Equestrian nor any other tongue Elytron knew. But that did not matter. Somehow, she understood. The song told of honour's cost, a warrior's duty and the remembrance both deserved. It talked of unity and her pledge to always defend those that were hers. The hearts of the ponies, and even the griffons loyal to Twilight, stirred and unbidden, added their own voices and their own harmony to the song. "Such unity." A tear rolled down Elytron’s face. It was beautiful. It was everything the hive link should have been, everything it could have always been. The fight, no, the ritual dance, moved on. Twilight pushed him. She taught, and he learned. She drove him to heights even he himself did not know he could reach. Time and time again, her hooves or wings brushed against him. Time and time again, his talons failed to find her by the smallest of margins. With each miss, his anger, his passion flared higher, burned brighter. He never yielded, and in those moments, he had never felt so alive before. He was a griffon being everything a griffon was meant to be. But, as with all mortals that burn the brightest, that flame flickered and dimmed. Little by little, his motions slowed. His breaths became ragged, and his emotions started to blur into each other, yet he never gave up. Disappointment seeped out from Twilight. There was a flash of sadness that was crushed by a resolve as frozen as glacial ice. She bowed her head in respect as she ducked under a sluggish swipe and then spun away from him. She met his eyes with a little mocking smile on her face, just as it twitched into a smirk. Then she closed her eyes. The Red King roared, his fatigue forgotten. He lunged and twisted, and at the last moment, his feint got his talons close enough to caress her throat and leave a thin line of blood through her dark coat. His emotions surged. 'I can win', they practically screamed as he put everything he had left into his next attack. It left him open, too open, as he drove his talons forward with his whole body. Stomp. One Twilight’s hoof slammed into his forehead. The impact rocked him back as if hit by an ursa major. He backpedalled, but it was too little, too late. She surged after him. Two Stomp. Crack. On the beat, a pair of lavender wings cleaved down through the air and slammed into his open sides. Three Stomp. Twilight turned, and in a snap motion, her tail lashed his face like it was steel. His head rocked sideways, denying him any chance to see what lay beneath it as she planted her hooves. Four Boom! A titanic impact rocked the throne room. The room fell to a heavy silence. The Red King was no longer next to Twilight. He was no longer even in the duelling circle. Twilight stood alone, still as a statue. One rear leg aloft and fully extended, post kick, as she looked over her own withers to sight along it. Her three grounded hooves were surrounded by cracked stone from just how hard she had gripped. All eyes followed the line of Twilight's leg past the hoof and to the throne. A throne that the Red King had shattered. His beak opened and closed, but his chest did not move. He had already taken his last breath. Twilight dusted her hooves off and slowly stalked over to the King. Each hoof step shook each of her detractors, if not the room, as if it was an earthquake. “You have fought well, former King Red Wing. Leave this world without regrets.”   His eyes locked on to her. He would have been trembling in fear if his body could still move. The once proud King now tasted like nothing more than the mouse looking upon the cat. ‘No, no, no!’ his eyes said. ‘Yes, yes, yes’, Twilight’s warm smile said back. With the softest of touches, she rested a hoof over the indent in his shattered chest. “Ssshh, it's alright. You have nothing to fear, the endless skies await you. Your strength, your legacy, will live on in me.” She leaned closer. It almost looked like she was going to nuzzle him. "I will make this as quick as I can,“ she whispered in his ear. One rear hoof stomped on his thigh, anchoring him in place. With medical care, she gripped either side of his chest with her front hooves. She pulled. His beak opened in a silent scream. Crack. She opened his chest as if it was a frozen door. The ice sealing it shut shattered with brute force. Without hesitation, she lowered her muzzle. Flesh ripped, and when her head rose, his dripping heart was held in her jaws.   With a flick of her head, the removed organ flew into the air, only to be caught in her mouth again. She peered down at his broken and ruined remains. Cold eyes watched as the last fleeting embers of life faded from his. Yet somehow, his fear, his pain still danced completely fresh in Elytron's senses. "These are not the right teeth for this," Twilight mumbled as she persevered and devoured the whole of the liberated organ. With the last of it gone, the lingering remnant of the King’s emotions vanished like a light being turned off. Twilight’s tongue slowly licked her lips in a very unpony like manner. Only Elytron’s continued efforts kept the horror, fear and disgust from turning the ponies against Twilight. Burning even more power, she pushed pride, safety and trust for Twilight out. So much so that any changelings would drown in it. She imperiously looked down her bloody muzzle at the former King's entourage. "By the right of conquest and your blood oaths, your lives are mine," she growled. "Shall your lives enrich my blade or your service our flock?" Almost as one, they all bowed, the tips of their beaks pressed to the ground, their eyes averted. Twilight snorted. “Remember your choice. Your death will be far worse than the ‘mercy’ Red Wing received.” She flared her wings. “My Griffons, My ponies, all who follow me. Know that this territory is mine. Woe to any that seek to take it from me.”   Little Star walked towards her mother, flanked by her Praetorians. They moved in step, as polished as any Royal Guard she had ever seen. On the way, her magic retrieved Twilight’s horn. The magenta glow of Little Star’s magic might have well been a cushion and the severed horn a crown. Twilight turned for the first time to face her allies. “My followers, my companions, my friends. Be at ease. We have prevailed. We are safe. Mind not the blood and the savagery that ancient traditions demanded. We are victorious.” Like a dam had ruptured, the projected emotions suddenly found perches. They were no longer needed to hold back a panic, now the mood of the crowd surged, and hooves were stomped and voices raised, a powerful cheer erupted. As Little Star got nearer, the crowd silenced. This moment was important, and they all knew it. This moment would be one that set the path of history. “Thank you, my Little Star,” Twilight said, lowering her head. As her daughter placed her horn back where it belonged, a shock wave of magenta magic exploded out. As it raced along every surface it touched, it gained a lavender-shaded crystal-shine to it. A collective gasp went up from the crowd. The newly pledged griffons were staring, stupefied at their own armour. It was not the same shape as it had been. Prominently displayed on it was a great tree set upon the background of a very recognisable star. The pledged Griffons bowed deeply as the others tried to bring the castle down with the volume of their cheers and the thunder of their hooves. Masterfully done, my Queen. Elytron mentally purred.