//------------------------------// // Dawn of a New Era // Story: Perseverance of the Ancients // by The Bourgeoisie Bear //------------------------------// The griffin pounded his fist upon the now cracking marble floor in Celestia’s throne room. “Coward!” he roared to the princess. “Have I not respected your claims upon your vast territories? Have I not respected the lives of your puny ponies? Have I not ceased all raiding upon your land since the day I took charge? Is there no understanding between you and me?” He snorted, hot fumes escaped his lungs as he did so. The subtle signs that Celestia was growing tired of somepony, or in this case somegriffin were beginning to reveal itself to those who knew her best. She was still holding herself with grace and humility, yet her eyes betrayed her by drifting ever so slightly away, in an intense desire to be anywhere but here. It had taken a long fruitless day of deteriorating diplomacy to get her to this stage. Celesita's attention was regained, once again, by another fit the warlord was throwing. Despite all of this Celestia could not yield, she held firm in her apparent resolution as she looked down at the desperate griffin. As Twilight witnessed all of this, she found herself in awe of her mentor's composure, for this wasn’t a regular day in royal court, as she would later find out. Twilight's mind was silent as she absorbed the experience of the co-rulers. Twilight gulped, not quite accustomed to the circus ride of royal court duty. The situation seemed to be spiraling out of control making her even more nervous, even though she had yet to speak even a single word in court, ever. If the meetings had been more structured she was sure she could've made a speech to wow them, but this seemed too chaotic, with a touch of violence. The only thing keeping her together was being by Celestia's side. Standing on either side of the throne were other two princesses, Luna and Twilight. Twilight could see Luna glaring at the uncompromising griffin, she held no interest in hiding her dissatisfaction. A cold feeling was emanating from the Princess of the Night. When Celestia opened her mouth to speak she was cut off. “After all of this, after everything, all you can tell me is ‘we cannot join your war at this time?’ ” he quoted as he stared at Celestia, eyes narrowed in disgust, “right when I need you the most, you do this to me?” Without blinking Celestia stared right back at him. “We simply cannot afford to be dragged into another one of your wars, we cannot afford to waste any military or economic power to arm, train and field an Equestrian army over something that is not vital. We...” - She shook her head. - “... no longer posses the coin for such a long, drawn out war with the current economy.” The response seemed to only make the warlord angrier. “Not Vital!?” he spat back. “The humans are on the brink of wiping my entire species off the face of the earth! And you worry about coin?!” The chest of the griffin broadened at his involuntary muscular reflex causing his leather armor to expand to its maximum capacity. This was not mere peasant armor, but a thick prison to hold the steel plates in place that were sandwiched between the two layers of tanned hide. The warlord's skyward pointed feathers added to the unpredictable, untrustworthy, and inexperienced look in his eyes. Without hesitation Luna responded, “But you attacked them first, obviously for land and to get your talons on the human slave trade. The humans are the one’s fighting a defensive war not you.” Twilight recognized the look she was giving him, she had spent a long time with Luna during her last couple of weeks of 'diplomatic training' as Celestia had called it. The look the dark princess gave was: Try me. He snorted. Apparently the griffin was too stupid to realize the situation he was in, or simply he didn't see why Luna's opinions would matter. “Who cares? They’re mindless animals, no more intelligent than a mere fox.” Twilight licked her lips, readying herself to speak in royal court for the first time in her life since she became a princess. 'But should I speak now?' Twilight asked herself. She feared she would interrupt one of the far more knowledgeable alicorns; after all, Twilight never saw herself on the same level as one of the co-rulers. But her mind flashed forward, where she would slump towards the Royal Quarters to her bed, where she'll once again set herself up on top of and tell herself next time I'm serving in royal court duty I'll speak up, yet knowing deep down inside that tomorrow she'll be just as silent as the day before. Celestia would cheer her up and then the endless cycle of procrastination and self doubt would begin anew. 'No.' she determined this time will be different. She shifted uncomfortably, her crown almost began to tilt as she moved. “Umm, actually...” All the others turned to her as she spoke, even the griffin’s anger faded at the surprise of the broken silence that the new princess was unleashing. She choked up, but quickly recovered. “... the intelligence of human beings is up for debate in the scientific community, however, there seems to be a large disparity in intelligence between their adult population.” She paused, expected a response. None came. 'Okay, I guess I’ll continue this lecture,' she mused to herself. “Now let’s consider the slaves in the marketplace of Canterlot, I suppose anypony could see that they are one step above being feral, their teeth are rotted, their skin is patchy, they are usually blind or deaf and they get sick and die in droves even with advanced medical and magical treatment.” She paused again; their looks were going to drive her insane, to have so many important members listening to her every word was sobering. “Now remember, almost every male sold into slavery is castrated by their fellow humans before being sold to the frontier ponies, whom have managed to form some sort of primitive communication with the tribes I might add, but I digress. My point is this, being sold into slavery is never the highlight in one’s life. Whenever you see a human slave remember there was either a stronger or more intelligent human who put him there. I would imagine that there are much smarter and stronger humans who managed to survive, breed, and not have their testacels chopped off and sold to ponies, griffins, or minotaurs,” She smiled meekly. The griffin warlord looked away from the stained glass window he had been looking at while Twilight was speaking, he then shifted them to Celestia. “That reminds me,” he said brushing Twilight off, something that Twilight wouldn't realize until much later, “I once again must voice my protest in you banning the sale of all humans captured by the civilized races.” He scratched his beak. “I believe it was Slave Code: Four C line twenty-two.” Twilight was looking down helplessly, she felt struck, but at least she had some self-pride now. She felt Celestia looking at her for a moment before addressing the warlord. “Only humans should be allowed to sell other humans into slavery, any other system would encourage war,” repeated Celestia. “Though I don't agree with such cut throat behavior, I won't stop them. It’s just their way.” The warlord chuckled. “Oh please. This soft spot you have for such a primitive species is ill-deserved. Why not join the war and take your fair share of human slaves, surely that would fix your, uhhh, what, recession? Yes your recession would be fixed by the influx of slaves and your ponies would have a source of cheap labor.” He gave her a devilish grin, Twilight figured it was from his insatiable desire to take from the weak and grow rich at the expense of others. “No.” Celestia paused for emphases. The griffin grew mad once again. “We shall focus on a more honest way of making money. I have plans already in action to turn things around for Equestria. And I just might add that the Griffin Kingdom should stop attacking nations it cannot defeat on its own. Dragging the diamond dog tribes into a losing war is bad enough.” The warlord’s right eye drooped, he then went into a mad frenzy. “WHAT IN TARTAUS DO YOU MEAN LOSING WAR!? GRIFFIN LOSING TO MERE HUMANS? IT'S NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN WHILE I’M IN CHARGE! IT’S HARDLY EVEN A FAIR FIGHT!” Luna was in a - having none of it - kind of mood today, she was growing impatient with the near powerless ruler before her. His entire army was on the run, and his supplies were dwindling. The griffin, as a species, had once owned the world, but it seems that legacy was coming to a complete and deadly stop. “Pray tell, if you are winning the war then why must you petition Equestria to join?” The griffin began to scream so loudly and so quickly that they couldn’t completely understand what he was saying. But amongst the rambling they could make out curse words and some sort of threat upon all pony kind if he were to win the war without them. Celestia looked over to Shining Armor who had been standing by the entire time on the edge of his hooves, ready to give the warlord what he had coming if the co-rulers so desired it. Catching the meaning of the look Shining walked up behind the griffin with a strong unicorn on each side of him. The Warlord's shoulders shrunk. “W-what is this?” he stuttered out in a less confident manner than before. “The Griffin Kingdom will not stand for this!” “Did you forget,” said Celestia reasserting her authority in her palace, “or must I remind you, that a mere six years ago you were a nobody.” Her next words came out clearly and slowly. “It was I that put you into power. I made you. I am your potter, and you are my clay.” Celestia regained some of her gentle nature in the quite seconds that followed the sobering metaphor she laid out. “Tell me, have I wronged you? Are you justified in threatening me? If I am, I wish to know so that I may ask forgiveness from you.” Twilight was caught off guard by the skillful verbal blow, causing her to lean away from Celestia. She wasn't scared of her mentor, but rather surprised. After the griffin's stupefied expression left his face, he hung his head low, defeated. “I... no. You have not wronged me.” he curled his talon into a fist. “But... I... need your help.” He looked away, grimacing. “I've received... strange battle reports... some humans are using odd weapons that kill at a distance, and they target generals.” Celestia nodded. “Fear not their might, I will not abandon you. I will attempt to work out a peace deal between your kind and the huma-.” The Warlord's fist came crashing down on the marble floor again, cutting Celestia off mid-sentence. “I DON'T WANT PEACE! I WANT THEIR HEADS ON A PIKE! THEY MADE A FOOL OUT OF ME! MY OWN ARMY IS BEGINNING TO...” His eyes grew even more angry. “You're with me or against me Celestia, I'm not leaving until I get a blatant answer.” “Like I keep telling you,” began Celestia, “I will be there with you when the peace-” “No!” All progress deteriorated once again. Twilight's heart went out to Celestia for enduring this ignoramus. “And I tire of going around in circles and I REFUSE to go on a third round!” He stared at Celestia, who did not respond. “Then allow me,” began Luna, “and I swear to thee that I shall not repeat myself. For you are correct in that this has gone for far too long.” The warlord readjusted himself, the 'shall not' part wasn't said in a particularly friendly manner. “You will stand down your army. And peace tal-” “Unacceptable!” he roared, except this time he froze before his talon hit the marble again. When Twilight turned to Luna she realized why, her barely contained fury was leaking out. Her piercing eyes dug into the griffin. “Shining,” spoke Luna with a fake reservedness in her voice, the captain moved closer to the griffin, “throw him out of Canterlot.” Twilight noticed the Princess of the Night literally bit down on her tongue behind her closed mouth. Shining nodded as three auras surrounded the humiliated creature and lifted him and escorted him out the door. The griffin couldn't even conjure up the mental fortitude to look up at Luna. Wide-eyed Twilight watched her brother leave the throne room. “Sister dear?” Luna exhaled. “I’m fine.” The bitterness in her voice was gone but the heat remained. “We'll have to reason with him at some other time. After a few weeks he'll come around I'm sure. Once the war gets even worse for him.” Twilight noted that Luna seemed to be justifying her actions to the rest of them, explaining why she did what she did. Although Celestia showed no sign of annoyance or disagreement at any time during the forced removal. The Princess of the Night looked around before she continued speaking. It was then that Twilight realized that the princesses, herself included, were alone. “What are we going to do when the humans win the war? The griffin warlords were bad enemies, and even worse allies, but these humans could prove to be even worse. At this rate I don’t even think that the coalition could last five years against such a bold, relentless force.” Celestia reclined in her throne. Twilight was beginning to see the gravity of the situation, a united griffin and diamond dog army was losing to a new, yet ancient race. “Hmm, I must admit, I don’t know as much about humans as I would like,” admitted Twilight. “No pony really does. They’re a mystery. Although, I do know that recent test confirmed that they predate ponies, and I know that that their DNA shows signs of heavy genetic mutations.” Luna walked around the throne to get a better look at Twilight. “I’m not sure I understand, what could even cause such a mutation?” “I have absolutely no idea. Well actually...” Twilight paused. Bringing her hoof up to her lip. Thinking. “... it would have to be something worldwide, because every human has it, some sort of natural magical disaster that happened long ago, some sort of meteor?” She spoke her last sentence as though it was a question. “I’m not sure honestly, there are only theories.” Celestia had been staring upward at the elegant paneled ceiling, running an idea through her head for some time. “Twilight.” The mare quickly grew attentive at hearing her past mentor call her name. “I want you to study these humans as much as you possibly can. I wish to avoid war at all cost with these creatures. We’re going to have to attempt to learn their ways if we wish to be diplomatic.” Her brow furrowed in a serious expression as Twilight nodded. “I’ll do my best Princess Celestia.” A smile stretched across Celestia’s face from the formal address. “I’ll find every scholarly book I can find on them and learn as much as I can about them. My friend Applejack even has four humans that have lived over nine years on her farm, which is rare for such a sickly species.” “It's only Celestia to you Twilight.” The inexperienced princess lowered herself and gave a blush. 'Old habits die hard,' Twilight told herself. “And I’m glad to hear of your enthusiasm,” complemented Celestia, “but allow me to help you further in your research. Let’s see, you’ll need an assistant to help you, one with experience and knowledge of humans and you’ll need the highest quality human slave of your own to study, only the smartest human will give any useful results. Assuming that human slaves are actuality sub-par free tribal humans like you implied.” “Hmmm,” mumbled Luna. “Well, what about Octavo? He’s here in the castle, I spoke with him last night when he arrived from the frontier. He’s picking up some books on human devolution from our library and then he was planning to go to his homeland of Broncovy for a couple of weeks.” Celestia repeated the name over and over again as she looked up. Searching, yet her eyes were not fixed on anything of importance, her eyes not looking for something physical. “Ah yes. I remember him, he went to my College here in Canterlot, majored in Anthropology, in the study abroad program, if I remember correctly. He should more than qualify.” She turned to Twilight. “Would you mind him as an assistant?” She chuckled, considering what Spike would think of this new revelation. “Octavo?” asked Twilight. “The stallion who got the highest score in my political science courses?” Immediately a memory popped in her head of the always studious stallion who always looked out for others. “I would love to work with him, everypony always got along with-” She stopped herself. “Oh never mind, I'm thinking of Actovo...” A silent moment filled the room. “Umm... I think I may have met Octavo in the hallway once or twice... I don't really know anything about him though... huh... yeah he was the transfer student... I wouldn't... mind him.” Twilight didn't know how to save her failed assessment, and it showed. “You there, guard,” called Luna, who had ignored the ending part of Twilight's comments on the stallion. The guard stepped forward. “Yes your highness.” “Bring Octavo here at once, he’s staying here in the suite.” He bowed and then trotted out the door. “As for the human,” began Luna, “I know that the best humans are always taken to Canterlot to be sold off.” She looked away for a moment. “I hope that you two can find a good human test subject, if you can’t I could always lend you my human Twilight.” Both Twilight and Celestia gave her a surprised look. “I didn’t even know you had a human. Where do you even keep him?” asked Celestia. “When I know that a dignitary from court plans to wake me up during the day-time I have him guard my bed chambers. They don’t seem to understand my sleeping schedule for some reason, despite me being the Princess of the Night.” A scowl flashed through her facial expression. “And my Lunar Guards can’t restrict access from high court members to me --it’s against the feudal contract,” She sighed. “But, my human doesn’t know that. When they see a two headed human guarding the door wielding a giant club I gave him to play with --they generally make a hasty retreat.” Twilight and Celestia both giggled at this, Luna looked away in slight embarrassment as she let the two have their fun. “You’ll have to introduce me to him one day Luna, but I’m sure Twilight and I can find a more genetically stable specimen to examine, the addition of an extra head seems to be another mutation.” She turned to her past student. “Wouldn’t you say Twilight?” The scholar brought her hoof to her mouth once again. “I would have to agree, it seems unlikely that that is normal, this is the first time I’ve ever heard of a two-headed human.” Luna shrugged. “Works for me, I would miss him greatly if I had to part from Double. He really is adorable... in a two-headed, broad shoulder, muscular, primitive sort of way.” She had a blush on her cheek as she looked away. Several questions entered the scholar’s mind, but they would all be left unasked. Shining along with several other ponies entered the throne room. “Princesses, I was told that you wished to see Octavo.” “That is correct Shining.” The Captain stepped aside allowing Octavo to walk forward from the two parallel lines of guards on both sides of him. Twilight couldn’t help but realized how relaxed he was, as if he was taking a stroll through a garden. Even she felt uncomfortable having the same stallions just guard her, much worse escort her to the throne room. He stood erect, his demeanor seemed to have a calming effect on all present. Celestia smiled. “How are you Octavo? I hope the frontier is treating you well.” Her protege couldn’t help but note that the monarch was speaking so familiarly to the stallion despite having a difficult time remembering his name several minute ago. He let out a laugh. “As well as the frontier can treat a pony your highness.” He stood there not sure what to do before he continued speaking with a slight rough accent. “Your highness, what might I owe this lovely visit to?” The stallion’s coat was a stainless steel color. His mane was a sapphire blue, it was curly and somewhat ruffled, not to the point of being gruffy, but it was not well-kept. His light-blue eyes dancing from detail to detail, watching every twitch, every sign of body language, yet he kept a calm demeanor. Twilight noticed that he actually forgot to bow. The co-rulers didn't seem to acknowledged it though, he did seem a bit confused after all. Although Shining was looking at him a bit distastefully, he didn't appear to know what to think of him. “I understand that you have a train ride in the morning to get to your homeland,” said Celestia attempting to show that she understood that she was interrupting his plans, “however, Equestria and I have need of your help.” “I see,” he responded, his smile gone. He pushed up his glasses. “I would imagine that this has something to do with the humans and my expertise with them.” Celestia nodded. “That is correct, we wish to know more about them: What are they capable of; how dangerous they are; what sort of weapons do they have access to; and how many of them exist. The more we know about them the better.” The monarch waited for a response, but he was looking away. Deep in thought. So Celestia moved the conversation along. “We can speak of pay and perks now if you wish.” The gray-white pony took this time to shake a hoof. “I don’t care about money, just send me whatever bits you think is fair for my work.” Twilight could have sworn she saw regret cross his features as he began a round of excessive reflection. “I was generous with my knowledge before and that led to the griffins attempting to take advantage of the humans. I vowed to myself to never make that same mistake twice, but because I know that you are a just ruler, and because I trust in your judgment I will readily join you without question. I am sure that it is for the good of us all. I am confident in that.” Twilight had watched in surprise as a genuinely flattered expression took over her mentor’s prepared smiling mask. The ruler had always taught her the meaning of right and wrong and instilled such values in her early on. She had always noticed a sort of kinship that the good shared with each other and she believed this to be the case now. As he had seemed more concerned with others than his own benefit. “Why thank you kind stallion,” replied Celestia with a warm smile. “It is always good to hear that my subjects, and even those beyond the Empire of Equestria think well of our rule. I believe you will be an excellent addition to the research team.” Octavo nodded, and seemed to prepare to speak, but Celestia spoke first. “I have put Princess Twilight in charge of the research team, ask her for any specific question you may have.” She turned to Twilight. “I will give you full authority on this project, feel free to hire anypony that seems qualified to help you, simply send me the bill if you need absolutely anything.” Twilight nodded, although a bit less firmly this time, due to the nervousness of having her brother watch her perform her new duties as princess, but she did not let this uneasiness destroy her. “I won’t let you down Celestia.” She smiled back at her protege. “I know you won’t. I trust you.”