Chapter 36
Turns out, it’s true what they say. All good delaying tactics must come to an end. Just like that party, the now more tolerable flight soon started to descend towards its final target. That being the capital city of the minotaur’s.
Both sisters checked themselves over and immediately seemed to appear much more like their stately selves. Me on the other shoe, I just sat there while Luna inspected me for anything apparently unbecoming of royalty. An action that was quite irrelevant, seeing as I’m not even a noble.
After only a brief inspection, Luna reached over with a hoof and gave my back a slight rub using a white tissue. Once whatever imperfection she’d found was rubbed away, Loony looked at the now slightly redder tissue, tossed it aside with a cringe, before reverting to a smile when she looked back in my direction. “Ah, now thou look as charming as always,” she said while tapping my metallic side. In the same motion as the tap, she waved a hoof through my mist, which she’d been a little surrounded by for the full journey. “But pardon Us when we say this, but thy mist may need, hmm, toning down a little. Not that we do not enjoy thy protective presence, We just believe it may spook Our hosts.”
Suppose the carriage could be considered a little harder to look around than normal, due to the high concentration of my mist surrounding its occupants. It didn’t go above the knee, but there was clearly more than anyone should have to tolerate. A sad side effect of my recent large meal, one consisting of minotaur magic and a few juicy swords. Hopefully none of those bulls miss that magic.
“I see your point.” Taking a moment to pointlessly glance around at my ghostly self, spread throughout the princesses’ personal space, in order to show my understanding, before I set about retracting it as far as possible. Pulling the majority of the fog back within my much thicker armoured casing, while compressing the rest into a smaller space around me. This resulted in the mist becoming so dense, it was impossible to make out anything behind my form. It was kinda nice relaxing like that, but oh well. It’s for the best anyway, I’d never relax like that in front of anyone else. They might blast me or something. “How’s that?”
“You look appropriately none threatening,” Celestia piped up, before her sister could reply. Her magenta eyes finally drifting from the earlier discarded tissue. “Sister, have you thoroughly read the King’s letter, this time?” The final two words were said a little louder than seemed necessary to me.
“Of course We have, this is an important occasion that We are all well prepared for,” Loony replied with an eye roll, before looking at me to confirm her words. Clearly, she thought I was ready to face the music, which, if anyone had paid attention, I’ve never been for a single day in my physical life.
The sudden familiar thump of wooden wheels on stone, halted my negative response replacing it with a slight jump. Wait, we’ve made our final approach? Oh, why do I always get so distracted?
Looking out of her window, Luna half smiled at the sight, before saying, “well now, ‘tis time for Us to face the music. Do not worry my Eclipse, We will handle most of the talking. The laws of Taurus will not trouble thee.” Something tells me that isn’t going to be true.
With what Loony believed was a comforting statement complete, her hoof moved over to the carriage’s door handle, but before she could pull it open, I decided to lightly grasp her hoof in my shoe, causing her to questioningly tilt her head at me. “This is just like earlier today, isn’t it? There’s going to be thousands of them out there.” The only real difference to last time, was the fact our allies would be even further away. Not to mention, the minotaurs probably had more of a reason to dislike us now… which wasn’t my fault.
The sound of the other door opening, brought my attention back to the Sunny pegacorn. She looked at me with a smile of her own and said, “not quite the same, you have me this time.” That’s a fact that’s immensely comforting to be honest. Celestia clearly knows how to deal with these situations from her previous dealings, I think. Her smile lessened slightly as she continued to say, “and yes, I will handle most of the talking.” Her form then gracefully excited the carriage on her side. The sound of her hooves landing upon stone soon followed, as she turned to regard whatever was waiting for us.
My best friend seemed to stare at her sister’s form irritably, even as she turned so all we could see was Celestia’s large sun blocking the opening. With Celestia now out in the open and dealing with likely a torrent of minotaur stares, I decided to voice the exact same desire I had before my little outburst. “Erm Loony, do you think you can wear me this time? Please.” It may have sounded a little pleading, but the idea of sending my friends out there in such a vulnerable state really didn’t fit well. Especially when I could provide some much-needed protection. I really don’t mind being their armour in the slightest. In fact, I really want to insist.
A light sigh escaped the navy pegacorn as her ears folded back. “Thou art aware that We would usually love to,” Luna began, before clearing her throat, “nevertheless… the minotaurs have explicitly stated their desire for thine attendance.” She smiled a little nervously at that declaration and even gulped a little as I tilted my helmet.
“Wearing me means I’m with you, right?” I fired back. Attempting to use logic, while trying to ignore my friend’s apparent nervousness at my statement. Maybe she’s still a little freaked out that I forced her to wear me before? She did say how if anyone else had pulled her regalia off she’d have hoof slapped them. My mist did wilt slightly at my guilty thought, but I continued to resolutely gaze at my friend. This is something we aren’t negotiating.
“Thy words are true, but We believe thy presence will have a much greater impact if thou were carried by thine own four shoes,” Luna said kindly. “We have a small fear that they will consider thou lesser if thy role consists only of being armour rather than Our beloved advisor.” She gave me a light tap with a wing in what she probably thought was a reassuring gesture, before making an attempt to push open the door once again. I say attempt, because as she pushed, my shoe never budged from the door, preventing it from moving an inch. Seeing this, the currently stuck pegacorn gave an understanding look straight into my eye holes. “Eclipse, We really need to join Our sister, she is alone out there.”
“We can go out there in a minute.” From the way Celestia’s sunny rear was still blocking the light from the actual sun, she was clearly fine. While she was making a logical argument, not risking her own fur would make way more sense to me. I may be ready to jump on her at a moment notice, but that small delay could let an arrow through. That would be more than enough to… to do something terrible. “You can go out when you’re dressed.”
That earned me a light sigh. “If We wear thee, their king will not see Our face, ‘it will likely be perceived negatively. We are trying to appease individuals who are already offended,” the pegacorn informed me as her gaze steadily lowered. “Art thou truly not going to allow Us to leave this carriage?” A small part of me felt really wrong about this. She is the princess, which means everyone’s supposed to do what she wants. I’m actually a little surprised she hasn’t just ordered me to let her out.
“I’m sticking by what I said,” I reiterated in the hopes to get my point across. “It isn’t safe out there, and I-I don’t know what I’d do if they hurt you. Please Loony.” As I spoke those final words, I couldn’t help letting my own gaze fall from the pegacorn.
The conversation lapsed into silence at that point. A silence that would have lasted forever if a certain Sun princess hadn’t grown in patient and stopped pointing her rear at us. “Really Eclipse? You could solve this issue by giving her part of your present early.” The words flowed out of Celestia so casually, as if it was obvious.
Her statement actually caused me to look back up at my captive. A captive who actually appeared visibly touched by my actions, right before becoming curiously excited by the prospect of an unexpected gift. “Thou hast prepared a gift for us? If it will ease thine worries, We will gladly accept post haste. Although, We may not have time to enjoy it to the fullest.”
Shooting a look back to Celestia for assistance sadly revealed the side of her head, as she gave some distant unseen individual an apologetic look. Oh great, I have no idea what she’s talking about and I’m making her look terrible. The only gift I had was the mini-Loony plushie and that’s back home. Or maybe that mirror? Luna’s sort of sneakily pinched it already though. Wait, that plushie was a mini me the last time Celestia saw it. Sunny really is a genius! Or, I’m just that dense, which should be hard to be being partially ethereal.
With a solution found, I leaned back from the door, only holding it closed with some stray mist, before saying, “I’ve been working on a few things for you.” As I spoke, the dense mist within my chest started to take form as rapidly as it could materialise. “It’ll just take a second, then we can go out.”
I could see Loony eyeing the, what she perceived to be, unblocked door, before she settled patiently into the seat next to me. Part of me expected her to be agitated at yet another further delay, but instead I received her rapt attention. Her eyes had some sort of magical twinkle in them and she appeared to be trying to lean towards me in anticipation. She didn’t say anything though, instead choosing to remain where she was. Hopefully, the wait would be worth it. Mainly for the sake of this diplomatic meeting, which I was still botching.
It didn’t take long, by my standards, for my newly thought of gift to be created. The only difficult part about it, was making it somehow better than what Loony already had. Being a princess, what she already has is probably pretty good. Anyways, the additional stylings and patterns were what took the majority of my time.
“Okay, here it is.” I said as my helmet lifted to form an opening.
Loony actually started to rub her hooves together at the sight. An act which halted when I brought forth my gift. Instead, her mouth fell open ever so slightly as she gazed at the first items. It widened even more when yet more were revealed. In the end, eleven separate gifts floated between the two of us.
“Eclipse, thou hast created us a new outfit?” She uttered as she looked between each separate piece. A hoof came forward and gripped one floating shoe allowing her to look it over. Four of the newly created items were a full set of horse shoes. The material’s texture matched the navy pegacorn’s original set, but was coloured silver instead. What’s more, even though they were metallic, they were also flexible for increased comfort. They sort of had to be as I’d designed them to cover her ankle as well.
Her head tilted to the next item she usually wore, a new chest piece. As Loony enjoyed a darker chest piece, this one matched the colour of my own metal, but had a bright shining silver moon surrounded by almost twinkling stars. The main difference between this design and Loony’s original that I cared about, was once again the extended coverage. Hopefully to ensure no heart shots could happen.
I was about to ask her if she was going to get dressed or not, when she started to remove her usual regalia of her own accord. “Thou must have been working on such things for weeks. Thy efforts are most divine,” she longingly said as she gazed at the new crown I’d created. This one larger and needing to be slotted over her horn to be worn properly. Apart from that, it was much the same aside from some extra mass to allow a helmet to form in short notice. With my mist for brains, it seemed like the perfect outfit to wear. Aesthetically, something diplomatic, while functionally armour at short notice.
It didn’t take long for her to don the parts she was familiar with, as she only slowed down to briefly review each piece. What did give her pause were the five remaining components. Four of which were basically shin protectors disguised as bracelets, while the final was an armoured skirt. From how carefully she put on the bracelets, she clearly liked them, but the skirt seemed to cause some confusion. Probably because ponies don’t seem to cover their rears for some reason.
With a quick look to me with a grateful smile, she decided to finally wear the last piece of my mini self. An act that was promptly followed by a warm hug. “Thy gifts are most welcome Eclipse, now-“ she said as her hoof opened the carriages door, this time unimpeded, “-let Us join my sister. We have kept the minotaurs waiting long enough.”
The navy alicorn actually hesitated after the door started to swing open, likely half expecting me to come up with some other reason to prevent her exit. Rather disappointingly, I couldn’t think of any further points we hadn’t already covered, so I had no further cause to halt her movements. Really wish I knew what she was walking us into, other than the obvious bad time.
“Eclipse, art thou coming?” Luna inquired the moment her four hooves had met the stone floor of the outside world.
“Yeah, hang on,” I said while practically half a shoe out of the carriage. Give me a little time, I can’t just appear out there. Especially when there’s an alicorn in the way. Suppose she can see my nervousness, but what’s the point in waiting? The moment she stepped out, she’d brought half of me with her into enemy territory. Besides, part of me is still in Canterlot. The only one who can be killed here is Loony… and her sister.
The moment she made room for me, my metallic form joined her out in the open, where our only shelter’s door suddenly slammed shut thanks to a blue aura. Luna only seemed too pleased with herself for the act, which allowed our thestral escort to more rapidly begin pulling our safe haven away into the sky.
I didn’t actually watch them take off mind. The noise alone was enough to signal their abandonment of their princesses, while my eye holes took in the oppressive sights of the minotaur’s home. Well, probably the home of a particularly important one, seeing as the average bull probably doesn’t live in a marble fortress. Same as all royalty I suppose.
The surrounding ornate marble columns did leave me a little surprised. I was expecting to see something a little more savage to be honest. Their architecture was actually quite nice to behold, that probably means they don’t entirely focus on military ideals. Then again, where the columns met the roof, the clear military ideals shone through, as positioned directly above each was a familiar loaded ballista. They weren’t angled down towards us thank goodness, but that could probably change in a matter of seconds if something went wrong.
Those thoughts kicked me into high gear, causing me to hurry after my friends, who’d already begun walking forward, through the large exposing courtyard. My shoes loudly tinging on the stone floor as my helmet twisted to look at every possible threat. Between the ballistas, there was almost an unbroken line of minotaurs, each with a crossbow slung over their shoulder. Below the roof, standing between the columns were yet more minotaurs in the familiar armour of the earlier faced soldiers.
As my form caught up to the two advancing princesses, I took a moment to try and steady my nerves, practically falling into auto pilot as my shoe steps mimicked those of my friends. Okay, this is fine, you’ve done this before in Griffonia. Those griffons had way bigger glows to them as well. This is just going to be just like that. Yeah, deep breaths… man, I wish I had lungs.
Our continuing forever journey along the provided short path, led us between some extra shiny minotaurs, who were likely there for show. Again, similar to when we approached the Griffonian capital. There was one major difference however that made me want to press closer to Loony’s side. That being the clear anger within each of the bull’s eyes as the three of us passed by.
Clearly, these people held some animosity towards us. A few of them even had the slightest tremble to their hands as we passed close by. Probably due to the desire to draw their weapons and get some unwarranted revenge. The trembling seemed to actually increase when I looked directly at those individuals. It was in the act of inspecting these soldiers, that something else became apparent. None of them were staring at the serene princesses. They were all clearly staring at me, despite the half-hearted attempts to hide it. Well, I’d prefer it if they’d attack me instead. Huh, what a strange thought. I guess it makes sense, seeing as If they attack me instead, my friends would have a chance to do something, while most of the minotaurs’ efforts would be wasted.
My accompanying marchers, didn’t seem to notice the tense atmosphere that closed in on all sides. The two of them just walked as gracefully as when we approached the Griffonian Emperor. Well, Luna was quite a bit more graceful this time, seeing as she was in charge of her own legs, but still… It felt kind of impressive for them to entirely ignore the blatant threat to our wellbeing, in favour of keeping up a strong appearance. They both clearly had their sights on their target, unlike me. To be honest, I really should be paying attention to the task at shoe as well.
With that, I finally turned my helmet towards our destination, luckily right as we began ascending a short staircase of marble. Could’ve tripped there and embarrassed everyone. Atop said staircase, was another trio of individuals. Two of these with familiar fancy armour and a third I’d yet to lay red glowing orbs upon. The duo wasn’t just familiar because of their armour, they also bore similar magical swords to the ones during our little skirmish. So similar in fact, that they were now quite dim. Seems they haven’t had a recharge yet. Even so, their presence had me move ever so slightly closer to my favourite pegacorn, while I debated upon which one had managed to harm me. Hopefully, they weren’t going to show the hard feelings they likely bore.
The third member of their group stood out as even more fancily dressed than his guards. Wearing golden plated armour over his chest and legs, while a fancy crown adorned his head. Clearly, he was the apparently important bull who’d started this whole show. Weird that he didn’t show up for the duel, but then again, his magic is somewhat familiar.
Almost the moment we crested the short staircase, my accompanying ponies both stopped side by side and ornately bowed. In Celestia’s case she bowed her head, raised one foreleg and spread her wings politely. For Loony, she did much the same, however there was some clear discomfort for her as she forced her likely aching left wing to full extension.
Poor pony, wish there was something I could do about that, my regalia self doesn’t touch her wings. Poor pony even more, when my metallic form was only halted by walking straight into her right extended wing. This prompted Loony to tilt her head in my direction with gritted teeth. All I could do was blank faced stare back at her in apology. She really didn’t need me ruining her other wing. At least that soft blue feathered appendage didn’t buckle. Those fluffy things are way stronger than they look.
Ignoring our very well organised display of respect, the largest, most ornately armoured minotaur stepped towards us. “Ah, Princess Celestia, I was hoping to meet with you. Things should progress smoothly now.”
Standing back to her full regal height, Celestia regarded the minotaur with a polite smile, before saying, “it is always good to see you King Iron Hide.” Seriously? Aren’t we almost at war with this guy? Suppose Sunny did say something about allies before. Ignorant of my thoughts, Celestia then gently gestured to her sister with a wing, who’d already recovered from my blunder. “I would like to introduce you to my sister, Princess Luna.”
At the introduction Luna gave her own regal smile. “King Iron Hide, We are honoured thou would invite Us to thy home.” That’s another thing, why do all the foreign leaders seem to outrank ours? I get that it’s probably a cultural thing, but it doesn’t seem fair.
The taller bull seemed to curiously regard the navy pegacorn for a moment, before replying, “it would seem we’ve already been introduced.” Really, when? Was he watching Loony’s duel with that behemoth? Did he actually orchestrate it in the first place?
Whatever the case, my pegacorn’s smile seemed to lessen at the statement. “Yes, We are sorry about how Our ways parted so suddenly.” Ah, she probably met him after beating his champion.
In response to Luna’s remorseful reply, the opposing King held out a hand prompting Luna to tilt her head, before raising her foreleg in response. The minotaur then leant forward and grasped my vulnerable friend at the knee in a harsh gesture, right above my gifted bracelet. One she was apparently prepared for, as she gripped his elbow with her hoof. The sudden aggressiveness of the two’s peculiar hand shake, almost had me react. Due to the prime position of the bracelet, it would have been all too easy to form a blade and sever the bull’s hand. A single thought provided just enough hesitation, to prevent even the slightest whiff of mist lashing out. Don’t ruin the peace… again.
That and the respectful gaze he was levelling Loony’s way helped. “There’s no need to be sorry about that, you actually showed some of that backbone Celestia keeps saying Equestria has.”
A light blush formed upon my pegacorn’s navy face, as the two’s respective limbs released. “Oh, We enjoyed thy display of honour as well. ‘Twas a breath of fresh air from the usual bureaucracy.” One thing me and Loony will never agree on. I quite like the quiet of our usual boring days. Maybe I could find her an interesting book sometime?
Part of me started to think the king’s temperament was boding well for us, right up until his gaze fell upon me. “It’s a shame the night’s followers haven’t proven themselves to be similarly courteous.” Wow, the mood soured so fast. I’m standing here as requested and I haven’t removed any of your limbs. What more can I do that’s courteous?
Before I could think of something relevant to dissuade the piercing gaze, Celestia cleared her throat as a white wing protruded into my vision. “Seeing as you are already well acquainted with my sister, let me introduce her most trusted advisor. Eclipse, as requested.” In the corner of my mist, I could see the alabaster’s eyes steadily moving between me and the still staring bull.
“I may not be, but my soldiers certainly are,” Iron Hide replied, without turning away from me. He was quite clearly taking the chance to inspect the weird metal thing standing before him. To be honest, I couldn’t quite blame him. Even if he was clearly levelling accusations my way. Who wouldn’t inspect what they see as the source of their troubles?
With the unbroken attention the King was providing, I finally built up the courage to say something in my defence. “There was, erm, a little… miscommunication. Heh.”
My brave stuttering caused one of Iron’s eyebrows to raise slightly, as his bull head leaned ever so slightly closer to me. “Sooo, it’s true. A sentient weapon.” His words would’ve made me wince if it were possible. Instead, I just set my centre of gravity away from his protrusion into my personal space. Well, what felt like my personal space from how we were stood quite far apart.
“Beg thy pardon, but Eclipse is not a weapon of Equestria. He is in fact, like any other of Our honourable citizens,” Luna said with the veiled defensiveness I felt.
Those words finally broke the bull from his leering, causing him to scratch his chin in thought, before his eyes targeted my pegacorn. “I see, honourable you say. Hmm, well, we will see if honour is something that truly matters to… him in due time. We’ve made every preparation to correct your construct’s earlier mistake.” That hesitation at him, really has me worried.
As, in Luna’s mind, her words seemed to be getting us somewhere, she continued to happily explain, “oh yes, Eclipse would never intentionally break thy traditions. He was sadly under the impression thou had plotted for Our assassination.” This jerk forced her to go alone to somewhere surrounded by armed and angry bulls. Then, when she was isolated, had her fight a giant monster. How is that supposed to be construed? It definitely doesn’t pass for honourable in my book.
An almost inaudible growl escaped Iron as Luna’s words concluded. His eyes began to narrow ever so slightly, as they once again regarded me. “Thinking of us like a dishonourable bug?” Hey, Skitter’s not dishonourable… I think. Wait, does this guy see the changelings as his enemy? Oh, it probably won’t turn out well if he figures out they helped rout his troops.
Before I could confirm his suspicions, Luna swallowed and continued to say, “We have had significant dealings with certain individuals thou would consider to be dishonourable in the past.” She then gestured to both me and Celestia with her wings. “Ones we have had to face together.” Loony then left a gap in her speech, as she refolded her feathery appendages. Oh, does she want me to speak up? Erm… hmm, I can’t really say it was the changeling’s fault for my reasonable paranoia. They’re supposed to be our allies.
Saving me from dropping our newest allies in it, Celestia took the opportunity to say, “yes, we believe this situation may have appeared all too similar to a previous traumatic experience. An experience our metallic friend here had to deal with all on their own. This combined with the general aggressive air, led Eclipse to assume the worst.” That gap was probably intentionally left for her anyway. Celestia did say she wanted to do most of the talking, and that analysis sounds about right to be honest.
An audible sigh escaped the king at the princess’s explanation. With a brief shake of his head, highlighting some disappointment, he turned back to Luna. “You really need to work out all the kinks before you deploy your fancy toys.” Ouch, I’m not one of Luna’s toys. Granted, I like to think my presence provides some measure of entertainment, but still.
From the way Luna ground her teeth, she agreed with the sentiment. Still, she didn’t outwardly appear that angry until she started to say, “King Iron Hide, with respect, thy assessment is-.”
A sudden nudge from a white feathery appendage caused the night Princess to interrupt herself with a grunt, before she turned to the culprit. Said culprit ignored the stare levelled in her direction before saying, “rest assured, I will be taking every appropriate measure to ensure such a gross misunderstanding is not repeated by any of our loyal subjects.” It’s quite impressive how Sunny can withstand such a glare without even blinking. Probably due to thousands of years of exposure, but still.
The hostile king seemed to agree whole heartedly with Celestia’s statement. A little too much to be honest. “It seems there isn’t any time to waste. Let’s skip the pleasantries and set about rectifying this situation,” he said to Celestia, causing her regal smile to drop, before he turned to one of his flanking guards. “Golden, ensure Eclipse is well prepared for its trial.” I knew it. I knew they’d want some sort of punishment.
Off to his right, the guard in question placed a hand upon his chest and gave a light tip of his head. “As you command.” His voice sounded strong but more importantly, familiar. Probably due to the fact it was the same voice as the first fancy guard I’d drained. It’s not my fault I couldn’t tell who he was straight away. It’s sometimes still quite hard to tell ponies who share the same fur colour apart without the voice and I’m around them all the time. Hope he doesn’t hold a grudge.
The moment he acknowledged his command, Golden went to step towards me, but was interrupted by Celestia, who was clearly trying to highlight her uncertainty about the situation. “Would it not be prudent to work on the disputed land claim? That is a major route cause for this event and it could be high time we sorted it.”
Clearly having already made up his mind, Iron begrudgingly said, “everyone already knows how that’ll go. Besides, you now have the additional costs of the collateral damage to cover.”
“Perhaps we do,” Sunny lukewarmly admitted while tapping a hoof to her chin. Clearly not defeated, she continued on to say, “however, a trial so soon after such a major altercation might exacerbate the situation. Do you not think it best to wait a day or two for cooler heads to prevail?”
Seeing as this conversation was likely to go in circles all day, I decided to step in to hopefully help solve the situation. “Don’t worry Princess, I can face up to my actions,” I attempted to say to my friend reassuringly, causing her to almost face hoof. It seems like the right thing to do and besides, with both Sunny and Loony as my lawyers it’ll be fine. If not, it’ll prevent us angering these bulls any further. Besides, what does it matter if only half of me ends up in jail? That’s a pretty good scapegoat.
From the almost face hoof, it was pretty clear Celestia didn’t agree with my analysis of the situation. Instead of becoming irritated with my statement, she looked to me with a kind smile and said, “I know you want to make this right. But I believe it is in everyone’s best interests not to cause you any further stress.” Pretty sure she didn’t mean it, but that sounded a little condescending. Hmm, maybe I deserve that for potentially ruining the immortal rulers plans.
Seeing as Sunny clearly didn’t want anything getting in the way of her diplomatic mission, I chose not to argue against her point. Instead, Loony did. “If Eclipse believes he is ready to prove his honour in a trial, then We shall support his decision.” She sounded so confident when she spoke, clearly believing I had some shred of honour within. A shame really, Sunny’s really broken my faith in the idea. Maybe I shouldn’t have put my shoe in it?
All that came out of my helmet was a slightly pathetic, “erm,” at the misplaced faith. It turns out, it’s really difficult to change your side of an argument when your friend’s trying her best to help you.
Clearly seeing the younger sibling’s argument as confirmation, King Iron clapped his hands together. “Excellent, princesses, if you’ll follow me. You will be given a perfect view of the proceedings,” he happily blathered, before gesturing with a hand for the two mares to follow him up a different set of stairs.
“Erm, are we not all staying together?” I asked with only a slight hint of the nervousness I could have experienced. Honestly, if Luna hadn’t been made to wear half of me, this would basically be an exact repeat of last time. Still, separating might mean Celestia won’t be able to act as a lawyer. She’s really needed to make sure the blame isn’t only placed upon me. Without her help, I may as well just shout guilty at the top of my mist and be done with it.
While Celestia clearly attempted to hide the fact she was begrudgingly following Iron Hide, Luna decided to wait in order to reassure me. “Thou need not worry; we will be there to witness thy achievement.” She then leaned in a little closer and said, “thou need to learn to trust Us. We will be fine in king Iron Hides care. So will thou. Celestia would not call him a friend otherwise.”
Her words may as well have sailed straight through my armour’s openings and fell out the other side, because I’d never trust someone so openly hostile as far as I could throw them. Not that he seemed easy to throw mind. For the briefest of moments, my mist went to move towards my friend, before logic pervaded. Logic and the fact that I could easily grip onto her with her chest piece. Just play it cool, we aren’t actually separating, I’ll be there the whole time. Well, lets just make sure I’m there.
“Erm Luna, could you please keep your new regalia on for this?” That request might have sounded a little pleading, but that was fine. Hopefully she likes the idea that I care. It didn’t matter anyway. It was purely academic really. From my previous experience in Griffonia, she’d never allow herself to be seen naked at a diplomatic function like this. No need to worry at all… nope.
In response, Luna lightly placed a hoof against her own chest piece and blushed lightly. “Thou need not worry, We love it so much, We may never go back to Our original set.” She followed up by giving herself a cursory glance over before tapping me with a wing. The action prompted me to give her the lightest of squeezes with my regalia self in order to provide a stealthy hug. Something that caused her eyes to narrow weirdly at me like in the dream realm, before she turned back towards the waiting pair. One very worried alabaster pegacorn, and one smirking minotaur. Not before hitting me in the helmet with her ethereal tail mind you.
As the three steadily moved away, followed by one of the fancy guards, I couldn’t help standing in place watching them. Simultaneously, I made sure to pay attention to everything that happened from my Loony’s own set of eyes. Eyes, which annoyingly didn’t seem to be paying that much attention to their surroundings.
The staring lasted such a long time, and took so much of my focus, that it was only broken when something lightly tapped my pauldron. Thus, causing my helmet to jerk in its direction. What I saw was the waiting minotaur assigned to guide me where ever that king wanted me to go. From the sudden motion of my statue like form, he’d clearly darted his hands back and had them both raised in a placating manner. “Okay… Eclipse, follow me,” the guard… Golden said in a calmer tone than how he looked.
“Right right,” was my lame response, as I took one last look at the three disappearing through a door at the staircase’s top. “I’m coming.”
The bull made a light grumbling sound at that, before setting off parallel to where my ponies went, taking a route that rather irritatingly went down instead of up.
Walking alongside my escort was a strange experience, not too long ago the two of us had been in the fight of our lives. Now, now we were quietly walking down some stairs, through narrower and narrower corridors. The entire time, the only sound being the tinking of my four shoes coinciding with the bull’s own two. Occasionally, we had to stop due to a guarded metal door, which opened swiftly enough when the guard’s saw who we were. Well, who my escort was. The sight of me caused numerous double takes and many of the bulls seemed to almost ready themselves for an attack. What was quite clear about where we were going, was that it was very secure and isolated. Suppose it makes sense to isolate the metal mist monster. Welp, they haven’t done the best job of that.
Seeing as the walk was quite quiet, apart from the periodic stops, it gave me ample opportunity to spy, ahem, watch over the princesses’ own journey. Theirs was quite a lot nicer than mine. Where I was clearly descending into some dark hole. They were ascending into a very nicely lit area with numerous wide-open windows. Good ways for them to escape, hopefully.
Another thing, was that there was somehow quite a genial conversation going on. Not between Celestia and Luna, but between Luna and Iron. “Thy home is still as impressive as ‘twas the last time We visited,” she casually complimented, while her eyes wondered over numerous features of the marble corridor.
A compliment that the king gladly accepted with a pride filled smile. “Over a thousand years ago? I’m glad we’re doing our ancestors proud.”
“Of that We are certain. Thy current traditions appear to still mirror what they once were. We wish Equestria had gone down a similar path,” Loony admitted with a small hint of jealousy. Really? Sticking with the old means progress is stagnating… right?
Seeming to agree with my sentiment, Celestia voiced her opinion. “While traditions are a good foundation for a civilization, it is still important to change with the times in order to improve.”
“Exactly, our people have strived to keep our ancestral culture strong, while also integrating the new. It makes for a much stronger nation,” the bull unexpectedly agreed with Sunny. Suppose, by integrating the new, he probably means new weapons into their armoury. I haven’t really seen anything else of their culture other than the war related stuff.
“We suppose,” Luna relented before gaining a grin. “Still, We revelled in our honour duel, and will hope for another when time allows.” Really wish she’d told me about that, then this whole situation could’ve been avoided.
While the king grinned back, Celestia only let out a light grumble. Clearly, she was a fan of how modern Equestria did things. That being the lack of violence in day-to-day life.
Before anything further could be said, my main form lightly colliding with one of the many gates brought my attention back to my own travels. At the collision I stopped to look at the barrier, before turning to my escort.
“You’ve got a hard helmet,” he said a little matter of factly, as he reviewed the gate. A slight indentation in the iron had clearly formed in the shape of my helmet.
Ignoring the looks this gate’s guard was giving me, I shrugged my metallic wings. “Sorry, I’m a little distracted.”
“Fair enough,” Golden replied, while gesturing for the now damaged gate to be opened. The two of us returned to our walk into what was probably going to be a dungeon. Nothing but silence continuing between us. Maybe I should be taking a leaf out of the princesses’ book and extend an olive branch of my own?
Seeing this as my own chance to potentially assist with the bridge mending, I started trying my best to connect with the bull in a friendly manner. There was only really one obvious path I could think of to do that. “So, you’re looking better.” Pointing out the fact I remembered him from earlier today. He was the only bull to try and reason with me, so he probably deserves a little leeway. Only a little though.
At hearing my statement, the armoured bull shrugged lightly. “Once our medics recharged my magic, there wasn’t any lasting injuries.” His voice sounded a little grumbly as he spoke. Probably due to the fact I reminded him of his earlier defeat.
In the hopes of steering the conversation down a friendly path, I said, “I’m glad no one was hurt,” while wishing a smile was on my face plate. That was completely true. Even if we’d gotten into a fight, I’d hate to think I’d actually killed anyone who didn’t deserve it. Hopefully, that’s something that’ll never happen.
“When ‘you’ invaded our land?” he said in a questioning tone, while emphasizing the you.
“I never…” came out of my mist in a defensive tone, before being followed by a heavy sigh. “Yeah, sorry about that.” Clearly, that’s how they see the narrative, and for all intents and purposes, that’s true. They just don’t see the reason why I did it.
After a few more steps down the sunlightless corridor, the bull stopped and turned to me. “Some of my comrades are still in the infirmary.” His words bit into me a little like ice. Or more accurately, excessive sunlight. Wonder if the sun in summer will cause me some issues? It is brighter and… not important.
“I genuinely tried not to,” came out a little more pathetically than my previous statements, while my mist drooped. If I wanted it to happen, all the bulls that came into contact with me would have died. It’s much easier to take every drop of magic then to stop the moment they fall unconscious. That doesn’t require me to pay anywhere near as much attention, and eating more magic is just so good.
“uhuh. So, you think a solid block of metal, colliding with somebulls skull hard enough to knock them out isn’t going to leave a mark?” he criticised, clearly thinking me to either be lying, or a stupid automaton. Rather than replying, I simply looked ahead, goading Golden to continue. “Not to mention my brother you stabbed. He would have been present to greet your rulers if you hadn’t.” That guy was most probably trying to kill me though.
Rather than point that out, I swallowed my lack of pride in the name of diplomacy, and nervously asked something that I didn’t really want the answer to. “There isn’t any… lasting injuries… right?”
“One brave soldier will take some time to recover, by and large for the eight deep cuts you gave him. Not to mention the fall from a great height. Thankfully, our apothecaries believe he’ll make a full recovery.” Huh, who did I slice up, and how? I didn’t wield a sword or anything. Clearly not listening to my internal cogs turning, Golden continued to say, “the remainder are all sleeping off a severe case of magical exhaustion. Something that should be impossible for a regular minotaur.” Well, that parts a relief. The changelings I drained in combat, all recovered after a good few hours. That was with me giving Skitter some magic to share out though… hmm.
Once he’d finished, for some reason, it took a large amount of effort for me to look him in the eyes. An effort that was probably wasted due to my lack of them. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. That’s why I volunteered for the trial.” Diplomacy is hard work; wish I didn’t have to be in the lime light.
Other than a slight nod, no other response came before Golden started to continue his march towards my doom. Somehow, the tiny action made the atmosphere feel a lot less oppressive. It’s a shame I didn’t just surrender when he gave me the chance. Then none of this would have happened. The only downside to that would have been the lack of magical snacking, but hurting less people would have been better… probably. Saying that, this would probably never have happened if Loony had given me an inkling of what was coming. Even the slightest, I’m going to have an honour duel, would have sufficed. Not even Shining knew what she was doing, honestly. He just chose to follow orders blindly.
Not liking my current train of thought, I instead chose to focus upon my slightly less stifling surroundings. The atmosphere hadn’t just improved due to Golden’s lukewarm attitude, but because of the clearly improving décor of the corridor. There were plenty ornamental suits of armour lined up in impressive stances. Each of them carrying a very fancy, but sadly non-magical, weapon. We passed so many different designs that at one point, I couldn’t help but break the lapsed silence with a comment, mostly to myself. “These are interesting decorations.”
The bull eyed me for a second, before saying, “of course. This hall was designed to aspire to the greatness of each champion who passes through.”
“Champions?” I asked inquisitively. Really sure this was supposed to lead to a dungeon. Why would Taurus’s champions be sent down here?
“Yes, you count as one of Equestria’s, right?” Golden said in more of a statement than a question.
Champion? That doesn’t sound like me. “I’m just an advisor to Princess Luna. I’ve gotten quite good with quills.” Well, the one quill Loony plucked for me. It’s still kept safely within my helmet for when a quick note is required.
For some reason, that gained me a laugh. “Ha, with shoes like those?” he punctuated his statement by lightly kicking one of my fore shoes. It made quite a metallic clatter but not much else.
“Erm, yeah?” was all I could think to say.
With a brief shake of his head, he little more respectfully said, “maybe you’re alright.” Clearly, he thought my reply was a joke. That makes sense. A metal monster like me, probably doesn’t look capable of anything good. Well, I’ll show them when a cake needs baking. I can take the tray out of the oven no problem. Well, if there was a recipe book it’d probably be fine to actually bake as well. Wonder if Luna would like it if I baked? Celestia definitely would.
Rather than mentioning the first thing I did today, it seemed better to ask, “So… what do you do then?” He seemed quite important, due to the fancy armour, maybe he was a captain like Shining or something.
Pretty surprisingly, he shrugged and evenly said, “the same,” as if it was perfectly reasonable.
“Seriously?” I said a little incredulously. He’s wearing way better armour than any other minotaur, how can he just be an advisor? Maybe a captain is an advisor?
“What? You think because I was present during the battle, I’m not one of the King’s advisors?” He sounded A little smug when he said that.
“Oh, erm, sorry I just thought… erm. You look well trained.” I’m accusing him of judging a book by its cover and here’s me doing the exact same thing. Suppose it’s easy to judge by appearances. Hmm, maybe making myself less like armour would make me more palatable. That’s sort of why these bulls all look so aggressive. Maybe trying to be a dress with armour underneath would do? Luna would probably like that.
The bull seemed to be pleased with my observation, but pretended to be humble. “All those in service to the king have to be. Just as in Equestria. You understand that?” Huh, the only real training anyone’s given me, was when Luna taught me how to fly. Even then, I’m not as good as a regular pegasus.
Rather than point out my complete incompetence to a potential enemy of my friends, I said, “yeah, the princesses like to keep us on our shoes.” Technically true, as Luna has me follow her around quite a bit to help deal with all the paperwork and stuff. Really should have some training to deal with that come to think of it, never mind the military manoeuvres.
Golden shook his head at my response, and muttered under his breath, “on their shoes.” Probably due to the fact that I’m the only one who only has shoes. Well, that isn’t true. Many of the guards wear shoes, not to mention some of the maids and even the princesses. His steps then stopped as he gestured to one final gate that barred our way. This one had the tell-tale beams of sunlight that meant it led back to the outside world. “This is the place.”
“The place where my trial’s going to happen?” The words left my helmet with a hint of trepidation, but I managed to suppress any other visible signs of fear. Well, anything he’d probably notice anyway. Not having muscles has some perks.
A swift nod highlighted his reply, “yes, this is where many have had their honour reasserted. It will ensure that everything is put back how it should be.”
“Erm, okay then. I did say I’d take any punishment to save Loo.. Princess Luna.” The words came out with a conviction that seemed to wash my fears even further away. When the gate swung open, my shoes almost automatically caried me through.
Following closely behind me, the large guard simply said, “as any loyal guard should.”
Stepping out into the area, I was met with an almost blinding light somehow feeling brighter than the usual sun. It would normally have been enough to give me pause, but a lot was riding on this, so I braved the perilous brightness and proceeded into what appeared to be a strangely open space, completely alien to the cramped corridors. What was even weirder was the floor. It wasn’t smooth stone anymore. It was much more abrasive on my shoes and felt like many tiny particulates. Doing my own version of a squint, as I wandered through the open space, it turned out the floor was entirely made out of sand without a single expensive looking stone slab to be seen.
My guiding bull didn’t seem to care about the change and continued forward at my side. That was right up until we reached the centre where his two hoofs abruptly stopped, prompting my four shoes to mirror the action. With my sight still adjusting to the overly harshness of the sun, I started to observe the surrounding area. I could see no chairs or tables, and there was a definite breeze in the air. “Erm, this doesn’t look like a place for a trial?” I said as more of a question than a statement.
I’m sure that earned me an eyebrow raise from my escort, more from what he said than from making out his face. “Where else would one take place?” From how fancy everything looked up to this point, it seemed likely we’d end up in some sort of expensive court room, not some weirdly placed sandy area.
At this point, my eyes had started to adjust to an acceptable level, allowing me to see the distanct high walls that were surrounding the sandy area we found ourselves in. Atop these walls were what appeared to be numerous seats that could be, and were, sitting an uncountable number of minotaurs. All of them looking down at the two of us. It really reminded me of some sort of ancient colosseum.
That thought had my helmet darting to take in my surroundings a little more thoroughly. Random scattered weapons, large gates on all sides and a crowd to watch. All I could think to do was nudge the sand with a shoe in protest, before letting my mist sag in disappointment. “Oh bugga.” Another thing I wish Luna had explained to me.