Chapter 8
Two of your kind
The crowed entered Princess Luna's room through the double-door entrance and took formation in front of Soul. A group, five ponies wide and six deep, bowed in front of the steadfast stallion. At the top of the battalion was Blaze, proudly presenting his chest. “They are all former proud members of the Nightmare Legion. I brought them the word of your return and all of them were willing to follow me to see you with their own eyes.”
The chorus of thirty stallions and mares raised from the floor and pounded their left hoof to their chest. The metal sound of their armour was so familiar for Soul. They saluted afterwards, and all of them raised their voice at the same time. “We are the soldiers of the Nightmare Legion! We serve under the prideful rule of the Night! Our lives belong to our Mistress and Princess; Luna! We shall do as our saviour and master Soul command! Nothing will stop us from fulfilling our duty! Long live the saviour! Long live the Night!”
Soul gasped while so many soldiers evinced their loyalty towards the Princess and himself. “So many of you are still willing to fight alongside with me after all this misery and loss? I can't say how proud I'm of every single one of you but I don't want to risk your lives either. I gave you freedom, and I won't take it away from you again.”
Each of the soldiers of them began to smile warmly. The young Blaze pointed to a curtain at the end of the room with his hoof. It parted Princess Luna's chamber from a small balcony inside the castle itself. Soul eyed him for a brief moment suspiciously but couldn't find any reason to distrust his little friend. He went through the curtain and looked from far above inside the marvellous throne hall of Canterlot Castle.
In amazement he watched hundreds of ponies saluting in his direction. They proudly greeted him the same way their friends had done before. They pounded at their chests and praised him and the eternal Princess of the Night. Soul was almost touched to tears when his eyes scanned the crowd to make out some familiar faces. Many of them had fought alongside with him during the war against the dragons, and most of them even fought the sun under his command, but there was one single pony that didn't matched the picture. Amongst them were pegasi, unicorns and bat ponies in their old Nightmare Legion armour, but she was just standing there with her white and grey top-hat, watching him. None of the others around her seemed to notice the grey mare. Through the stunning sound of his shouting soldiers he couldn't hear what the mare was speaking, but he could clearly see her lips pronouncing four words.
You. Belong. To. Me!
Soul gulped at the sight of her threatening words. Applejack had stuck her head through the curtain to catch a glimpse of the scene below. The unease in Soul's face was obvious for Applejack sharp eyes, but before she could ask him, Applejack felt a huge iron-shod hoof at her back. While she turned around to face the worried looking Princess, Soul held a speech for his loyal soldiers and friends. “My dear friends, I'm glad that so many of you survived the glorious fight against the madness. Even though I gave you absolute freedom, every single one of you decided to stick to our beloved Princess. Your loyalty and readiness give me reason to proclaim my pride towards any of you, but these are different times than a thousand years before. This is the century of peace and harmony. There should be no need for an offensive army that we are used to having. All of you will agree that we have first to get rid of the upcoming griffon threat. In the past, we would just attack them and wipe every single hint of their existence from history, but this time will be different, we have to find a peaceful solution and save many lives through values like kindness, generosity, loyalty, laughter, honesty and friendship. Since there is always the possibility of a failure of the negations, I want all of you to be prepared in case of a war. They know practically nothing about the unrivalled power of the Nightmare Legion, but for now, celebrate the reunion of the Legion! Hail Luna!”
The crowd began to cheer and jars of beer and other drinks randomly levitated through the room. “Hail Luna! Hail Luna!”
Cheering along with them, Soul clapped his hooves and slowly turned around, leaving his soldiers alone. From the corner of his eye, he observed the grey mare in the crowd until he vanished again behind the curtain.
When the curtain slipped over his face and offered his eyes the sight into the room, he had to learn that the thirty soldiers had already left. Princess Luna, Applejack and Blaze faced him with a more than worried expression in their faces. “We have to speak about the griffon matter.”
Soul nodded understandingly and settled down on a cushion in in front of the already seated Princess. She flapped her wings a single time to adjust them to the sitting position and cleared her throat gently. “This was truly an honest speech, but I doubt that you would let them go into battle in the end. Am I right?”
The stallion simply grinned at his Princess, she didn’t ever get tired of proving her supremacy in every thinkable tendency. “Then you are already agreeing with me that we have to stop an upcoming war first. This is good. If it comes to a battle, the griffons wouldn’t stand a chance, the offensive power of the Nightmare Legion is beyond everything in this world right now. Even if I don't interfere personally, they would conquer the Griffon Kingdom within a month. But when the situation occurs, I will go alone and fight the entire kingdom. They won't even last a week.”
The Princess of the Night gulped by Soul's obvious self-confidence. She knew that Soul wasn't joking. In his prime, the stallion fought against seemingly invincible enemies and defeated them with ease. Nothing could stop him even death seemed to be inferior to him and the little demonstration of his power minutes before even confirmed her thoughts. “When it comes to a fight, you are still the cold and calculating stallion you used to be. I guess we can consider ourselves lucky that you are fighting on our side, but this isn't the time to dwell in memories of what is long in the past. How do you intend to go through the negotiations?”
This familiar childish grin crept back into his face. Even know in the face of plague and death he still laughed. “The griffon race has an aggressive nature, but they aren't dumb. They should have already heard that the Nightmare Legion had returned, and even if they are foolish enough to believe that there is a slight chance of winning, they don't know about my return yet. I plan to relay the negotiations on my reputation. As soon as the ambassador enters the room, he will see me and immediately recognize me. Either he will cancel the meeting and proclaim that the peace between Equestria and his kingdom will last and we win. Or he will push further and make threats against us. Which would lead me to the conclusion that somepony else is pulling the strings behind the scene.”
Blaze wasn't sitting far from the Princess and Soul. He never actually got the honour of being allowed to listen to a official discussion about some kind of politics. His eyes beamed with joy while the smart mare and the calculating stallion thought about different reasons for the sudden change of mind of the Griffon Kingdom. Princess Luna tipped her chin and the wrinkles on her forehead grew. “I guess you already have some ponies in mind for the job as puppeteer?”
Soul snorted quietly, only barely audible, but it was certainly a remainder of the anger before. “Twilight isn't powerful enough to enslave or corrupt an entire kingdom. Only Discord might be powerful enough to do such a chaotic act. Of course, there is always the chance of another pony, completely unknown to us, but what are the odds of that?”
The little stallion leaned over to Applejack and whispered carefully into her ear. “Hey, don't you think it is simply brilliant how Princess Luna and Soul are judging the situation? They are planning everything to the last tiny detail. With these two nothing is impossible!”
Applejack briefly stroked the mane of the naïve little pony and shot him a warm, worried smile. “Ah know ya admire Soul quite alot, but always keep in mind that the day will come when he has to do unrighteous things to protect the residents of Equestria.”
Blaze's euphoria was gone, bashfully he turned his gaze against the floor. From above, Applejack could see his watery eyes. “I know... sometimes when he thought I was already asleep or not around, I listened to conversations he had with some of his guard in front of my door. Many times they talked about executions and torture. I'm well aware of the hard part of his job, but that was necessary I suppose. You heard him yourself, he wants a peaceful solution.”
He blinked a single tear out of his eyes and flashed Applejack another smile. “Everything will be just fine, but isn't there another thing we should worry about?”
Applejack looked at the vigilant little stallion and scratched her head underneath her hat. “And what would that be?”
Blaze pointed his hoof to the most distant corner of the room where Fluttershy was silently weeping into her long, pink, wavy mane. She was still shivering, her terrified gaze was proof enough that she wouldn’t recover soon. Applejack slowly walked over to her friend, trying not to startle her unnecessarily. “What is wrong, sugarcube? Ah'm sorry if the pain was too much for ya. Ah will make sure that Soul will apologize to ya.”
Fluttershy's eyes slowly wandered upwards to meet Applejack's. They were still shaking in horror and were bloodshot from the pain and weeping. “The pain was mild and short… it was nothing compared to the magic that flew through my mind. I couldn't do anything against his strength. He was reading every single one of my thoughts and memories. Nothing was safe in front of his examining gaze. The sad, the happy, the proud and the embarrassing moments of my life, even the memories I've forgotten a long time ago were like an open book to him. He is aware of my entire life, he remembers even more then I.”
Pure anger poured through Applejack's veins. Let alone the fact that Soul had hurt Fluttershy, he even molested her and messed with her mind. “This idiot! How can he abuse ya like that? He simply could have waited until ya relaxed a lil' bit!”
Fluttershy was slightly shaking her head in denial, only barely hard enough for Applejack to notice. The lips of the timid mare were twitching uncontrollably. “There is nothing special about me. He knows every secret of me, but that doesn't really matter to me. He won't tell anypony, I'm pretty sure of that. What terrifies me the most was that I could see into a part of his mind as well. There was so much pain and loss. Every single feeling raced through my mind like I experienced them for myself. I only dared to look inside of his memories for a few seconds but what I saw was enough. Not that I ever planned it to… but I will never question him.”
Applejack didn't really know what to say. She was just staring at her for a moment. The steps of a heavy stallion were audible next to her. Soul walked passed Applejack and carefully leaned down to Fluttershy's eye-level. The mare cringed in fear in front of the black stallion, but the calming and caring smile of the stallion let her relax a little bit. Soul leaned further down and stroked her cheek gently while he quietly whispered something into her ear.
From behind his back, Applejack caught a glimpse of the expression in Fluttershy's eyes. They expanded from little dots to the size of dishes before she took a deep breath, and the colour slowly returned into her face. She decided simply to nod quietly when Soul withdrew from her. She grabbed his hoof and rose from the floor.
Fluttershy walked silently over to Blaze and took him into her arms. She gently stroked his mane. The young stallion didn't moan or complain, but he was visibly uncomfortable with the situation.
Applejack eyed Soul suspiciously as he made himself comfortable in the cushion he had laid in before. He rolled with his eyes when the door opened for another time, but this time the pony inside the door frame looked seriously concerned. Princess Luna rose from her seat and walked a few steps towards the guard. “Why are you interrupting us?”
The guard gulped a single time and wiped the sweat from his forehead. “We got word from the ambassador of the Griffon Kingdom.”
This seemed to be the first good message of this wicked day. It felt like the weight of the world had fallen from Princess Luna's back.”Good, when will he arrive? I really hope this griffon doesn't take too much time.”
The increasing flow of sweat was brilliantly visible with the torrent that poured from under his helmet down to the floor. “I don't know how I should explain, but how about right now?”
A big dark, almost black claw grabbed the tail of the guard and dragged him out of the room. The grey-feathered griffon stepped into the room and eyed the Princess with a kind of sassy and tempting gaze. “I heard that you sought for an audience, Princess of the darkness.”
The griffon clipped his cape off and threw it carelessly above Applejack. Princess Luna inspected the ambassador carefully. His physical appearance was impressing. The majority of his feathers were coloured in a mix of grey shades. The feathers around his head and neck were tinted in a hue of white, but they seemed to have lost their shine. The colour of his beak matched his claws perfectly. Princess Luna immediately noticed the dangerous shine in his eyes. He was lacking the calm and calculating expression of a diplomat. His green eyes were the ones of a warrior, of a being that had taken many lives. The Princess looked around the room, he was alone. The griffon came without reinforcements. “Applejack, Fluttershy and Blaze. Please give the ambassador some room and leave us alone. Only Soul and I will remain here and take on the negotiations. Ambassador of the Griffon Kingdom, please state your name.”
Applejack laid her hoof around Fluttershy and led her along with Blaze out of the room after she had thrown the cape on Princess Luna's bed. The farmer looked back a last time before she closed the door behind her. The griffon grinned as much as his beak allowed him and stared at the Princess of the Night and Soul. “My name is Gium. I'm a proud servant under the crown of King Absalon and his son, Prince Arkyn. It is very kind of you to give us some privacy. This way we can discuss the conditions of your surrender alone.”
Soul's eyes began to twitch, his suspicion was immediately confirmed, but he had to be sure before he turned the tables. “My name is Soul Tearer, I'm Princess Luna's adviser in this matter. I don't want to seem rude, Gium, but how exactly did surrender come into your mind? I can't remember mentioning it somewhere in the past.”
The griffon still flashed them his cocky grin, even the mentioning of Soul's name didn't bother him. “Of course you did! You wanted a peaceful solution, and here is the only possible way of reaching it; surrender!”
Soul snickered, but Princess Luna quickly stepped in to hinder the situation. “I'm terribly sorry for this misunderstanding. We want a peaceful solution for both sides. Sadly, I have to rate your offer as a threat against Equestria. Is your so-called King aware of the fact that he had not only to oppose the Royal Guard, but even the Nightmare Legion of a thousand years ago under the command of their original Captain Soul Tearer.”
Gium broke out into a hideous laughter. His eyes narrowed and his muscles seemed to tense up. “Oh we are so afraid of your puny armies. Our technology is superior to everything that your land could provide. There is nothing you can do to defend your subjects against us. Your only choice is to surrender and hope that we will spare their lives. The griffon race is superior, we will conquer country after country. Our populace is thirsty for war and blood.”
It was the definiteness in Gium's voice that brought Soul on a glorious idea. “You made me wonder, Gium. Why exactly do you choose Equestria as your first target? If you look closely on the countries around the Griffon Kingdom, then Equestria is the strongest possible enemy. Most of these countries don't even have a real army. They only got a few farmers with torches and poorly crafted weapons. A war against Equestria would cause many losses on your side, it would be possible that other countries will use that advantage and attack the Griffon Kingdom while weakened. So why would your King suggest such an obviously bad plan?”
The greyed griffon began to stutter. He had carefully listened to Soul's speech and was visibly irritated by the flawless logic the unicorn could provide. Every single word that came out of his mouth made perfect sense, in contrast to the cleverness of the conquering intentions of his own country. Luckily the others couldn't see him sweating beneath his feathers. “Well, isn't it obvious? We want to prove our strength so that the other countries will surrender without a fight. We will conquer the world by devastating Equestria!”
Princess Luna could clearly see what Soul was trying to do. Through the help of his merciless logic, he tried to bring Gium to betray himself. She had to cover her laughter underneath the emotionless mask of royalty her sister had worn so many times during her reign. Every word that Gium had spoken was obviously a lie. They will be soon the victors of these negotiations. At least she thought so.
“Then we will surrender.”
The Princess's eyes shrank together when the words of her very own Captain sounded through her mind. Her head turned and her gaze locked upon the seemingly more then relaxed stallion in sheer disbelief. He acted like nothing was wrong at all, but the Soul that she knew would never give in or surrender, especially so easily. Soul smiled at the ambassador in a chilling and collected way. It almost began to scare the Princess. What happened to him? “The Princess and I will discuss the conditions of our surrender. I propose a second meeting at the border of the Griffon Kingdom to clear the last details. “
Gium's laughter hurt in Princess Luna's ears. Should she do anything against the downfall of her kingdom or would that blow Soul's plan, if he has one. The griffon licked over his beak and let it shine. “Excellent! I will speak to the guards around the border to grant you access. I will prepare everything for the meeting immediately. Don't let me wait too long. I will wait for you, otherwise we will siege Equestria and leave not a single pony alive. No one messes with the Griffon Kingdom!”
Soul firmly bowed down to Gium and showed him his most sympathetic smile. “As you please, Gium. I hope the creator will grant you a pleasant journey back to your motherland.”
Rage boiled inside the Princess of the Night. She struggled to contain her anger, but the ambassador seemed to be too distracted from his easy victory. She followed Soul's lead and bowed down to the greyed griffon. His laughter was intolerable, but he was only a few steps away from the door. He grabbed his cape and slung it around his shoulders. His dark claws ripped the door open. Nothing could bring Soul into unease, only the last words of the griffon made him wonder. “Luckily, we have two of your kind, black colt.”
The doors slammed shut and the Princess immediately gave in into her pure anger. “How dare you surrender like that? At least we could capture him to buy us some time! I hope that you won't betray my trust towards you. I beg you... please! Please tell me you do have a plan?”
Insanity seemed to have taken hold of Soul's mind. He opposed the anger of his Princess with a soft but grimdark laughter. His bold and distinctive grin crept into his face. The grin of absolute victory. Princess Luna had seen it so many times before. Soul always left the following battle as winner, he was never one to fail. “How could I ever do something that reckless without a plan of victory? A capture of the ambassador would be fatal. If he vanished it would certainly attract attention. This surrender will give us some time. While the soldiers will celebrate, I will travel to the Griffon Kingdom. After this conversation, I'm more than fond of a little manipulation. I will bring the puppeteer down and calm the griffon race before the situation escalates completely. In the worst-case, I will simply burn them down.”
The Princess gulped and nodded faintly, the speed of her breathing increased. Was it really uncertainty that was taking hold of her mind. “But what about his last words? Two of your kind? What does this mean?”
Soul's gaze turned towards the balcony on the outside of the castle. It stuck firmly to the ground, where a long shadow of a top-hat wearing pegasus mare fall into the room. Slowly withdrawing from the scene. “I don't know.”