//------------------------------// // Chapter 11 // Story: Lessons for a Benevolent Tyrant // by Hustlin Tom //------------------------------// After the events of the Princess’ last lesson, Starswirl had not wanted to schedule another with her until she felt ready. Princess Celestia did accomplish all she set out to change; the Solar Cultists were dismissed with a meager pension from the crown budget, and worship of or even the mention of Sol Invicta was discouraged. Prisons that had been full of chronic heretics were emptied, and they also received some compensation for their loss of time. The Solar Empire was officially changed back to the nation of Equestria, and Celestia restored herself to the position of Princess rather than Empress. Charities with royal backing were institutionalized, and those that donated to the effort were allowed a tax break. Military support and supply was sent to the city of Cloudsdale under a detachment of the Royal Guard, where they were met with welcomed thanks from both the locals and Gawaine’s New Blood faction. The tide was beginning to turn against Ailsa’s VI Old Bloods as the summer wore into fall, and food became scarce for the griffons that supported her, just as Starswirl had predicted. The implementation and announcement of these changes via Royal Edict took several weeks to reach all the regions of Equestria. The general populace was surprised by this chain of unprecedented rapid political change; to what end was the Princess aimed? What purpose was hidden within her actions? The public waited in anticipation of what she meant to do, with some amount of anxiousness and fear. It was near mid-September when something seemingly unthinkable occurred. It was time for the seasonal Dragon Migration, when the great brood would rise up from their summer homes in the northeastern regions and fly as one group toward their molten hovels in the volcanic plains of the southwest. One of the families in the brood, though, had come up with a clever plan. The three conspiring dragons would not travel all the way south with their brethren, but would instead lie in wait for several days. After the other dragons had left, they would seize a cave for themselves, travel back to their northeastern home, take as many of the other dragon’s jewels as the brood had left behind, and hole up in their cave, dividing the spoils as appropriate. It was spoken of far and wide that Canterlot’s roofs and walls were inlayed with gold (which wasn’t entirely inaccurate) and that deep in the caves beneath it there was room for fifty full grown dragons and their hoard of precious gems. The promise of both good shelter and an easy catch of jewels was enough to lure the three dragons to Canterlot. They didn’t believe the stories of the ruler of Equestria who shone like the sun; after all, they were old lizard’s tales, and what truth is there in those? Princess Celestia never slept; at least, not anymore. The most any mortal being can go without any sleep is about two weeks before sleep deprived hallucinations, heart arrhythmia, and death ensue. The Princess hadn’t slept in over three hundred years. Almost one hundred and ten thousand days of continuous consciousness provided her a wonderful opportunity to get caught up on any light reading that she desired. She had read at least half of the books in the Royal Canterlot Library, from books full of nursery rhythms to eldritch tomes full of forgotten arcane knowledge. She never truly bothered with the Equestrian History section, though; she had lived through the vast majority of it personally. It was two in the morning, and she was studying minotaur history and customs in her private chambers. Though Starswirl had not spoken to her in many weeks, she had a distinct feeling he would be pleased if she would release the minotaurs to return to the city of Labyrinth. She had shuddered at the depraved practice of slavery propagated by the Diamond Dog Empire, yet she held two hundred minotaurs as indentured servants. From what she had heard of them, some had assimilated to the new culture of Canterlot rather quickly; taking jobs on the side of their duties to earn extra coin, or they had become involved with the theatric side of Canterlot, where they could practice their skills in oratory. Other minotaurs retained their minimalistic lifestyle of a warrior on call; serving when needed, but otherwise disconnected from the pony culture. She would have just released them from her servitude, but there was a massive cultural boundary in the way. When a minotaur is beaten in combat and lives, they are demanded by ancestral law to serve their opponent until they can challenge their master and defeat them in combat, or by completing a task of great value to their master, at which time the master is then bound to release the subservient minotaur. Releasing the minotaurs outright without cause would be a deep insult on her part, as it would insinuate that they were ‘worthless stock’, unfit to do anything of value. Surely there had to be something that they could do that would be noteworthy to both of them? A guttural roar interrupted her thoughts, which was followed by an answering roar. A third roar filled her ears as the room shook slightly. Princess Celestia hurriedly shut her book and blew open the doors leading out to her solar balcony with her magic. Violet, vibrant blue, and green fire roared down out of the sky onto the homes of Canterlot’s citizens. The Princess ran out to her balcony and looked up; across the moon flew several serpentine shapes with wings. Dragons. Oh, just marvelous! The sentinels had already called down to the barracks of the Royal Guard to come to battle. The unicorn members of the Canterlot Fire Brigade were coming out in full force, dampening out the magical fires spawned by the trifecta of flying lizards. Canterlot was a city of beauty, and was made of marble, gold, and white plastered clay. While none of the buildings would burn or catch each other on fire, if the dragons weren’t stopped in time, each house would become like a furnace, and the citizens of Canterlot would broil to death from the heat of convection. The Princess teleported down into the barracks she had sectioned off for the minotaurs use. She stood in the main hall from which her voice could be heard on all sides, “To arms! To arms! I summon you all! TAKE UP ARMS!” The doors to the barracks burst open, minotaurs poured out on every side to surround her in the large chamber. A force of two hundred strong bulls encircled her, and they humbly bowed to their knees, “What service can we provide you, Mistress of the Sun?” “Canterlot is under attack by dragons. If we do not act with haste, the entirety of the city’s inhabitants will be roasted alive. Fight for me, drive away or kill the enemy, and I will release you from my service. Are your orders clear?” Each of the minotaurs eyes glinted; the promise of worthy opponents and freedom? It was a day to rejoice and glory in the battle soon to be joined! “We understand and obey!” Those that had plated armor, helmets, shields, or swords went to retrieve their gear. Some took up the standard pike of the Royal Guard as their weapon of choice, while others took up their fishing spears, serrated claws, or even chains as their instrument of war. They all ran past the Princess to the way outside, bellowing their warcries to the starry skies. The Princess ran out the door, flapping her wings to take to the air as she cleared the doorway. She left the ground and looked about for the saurian interlopers that dared try to hurt the ponies of her city. As she looked up, her vision was blinded by violet, dancing flames. One of the dragons engulfed her in a stream of its fiery breath, the vaporous arcane fire billowing over her body. The Princess’ regalia melted off of her body under the magically produced inferno, dripping onto the brick street below. The dragon was pleased with its work; the tales about the pony princess were not what they were cracked up to be! The fire covering the white alicorn died quickly though, as Princess Celestia’s body failed to burn under the influence of her opponent’s magic. The Princess’ face grew stern as her eyes began to glow with white ether, “And I really liked those sets of shoes too.” The dragon was utterly confused by this impossible occurrence, when it felt a sharp, stabbing pain in its wings. The minotaurs had managed to bury several hooks into the giant lizard’s wings, and began to try and pull it towards the ground. The dragon roared furiously as it resisted, and it tried to gain altitude so that its would-be hunters would lose their footing and fall to the ground. The Princess’ horn lit up with a golden aura, and gigantic chains of solid light appeared from the ether. The dragon tried to breathe fire on the coils of magic surrounding it, but its efforts had no effect on the constricting bonds. The dragon rapidly fell to the street when its wings were completely bound up. The colossal mass of the flying serpent hitting the ground caused several nearby houses’ foundations to crack, and several minotaurs were bounced off of their hooves by the massive beast’s fall. Binding up the first dragon’s mouth with identical chains, the Princess yelled out “Finish him!” before turning and flying to intercept the next dragon. Fifty minotaurs ran through the streets below her to assist in the felling of the second beast, while the others quickly set to work killing the first. The second dragon was skulking around the residential district, tearing the roofs off of the houses to try and find any delicious rubies or emeralds by threatening the lives of the citizens, who were all too willing to give up their jewels in exchange for their continued existence. The dragon was going to join its sister who was already wreaking havoc in the palace, where there had to be all manner of delicious precious stones, when golden chains snapped around its maw. The great beast reared up, twisting its neck this way and that to try and see what was holding it captive. The Princess pulled her entrapping chains taut, and they began to bind the flying lizard’s wings before it could even take flight. The minotaurs swarmed the fallen dragon and began to savagely attack its exposed belly with all of their assorted armaments. One last dragon now, Princess Celestia thought to herself. She turned to follow the scorched and desolate path of the final dragon, which led farther into one of the many castle courtyards.