With nothing more to do, we rounded up the prisoners and made a five hour trip back to Baltimare to put them inside one of the Baltimare prisons. Since our society was relatively peaceful there was room, but just barely since the closest prison was fairly small. I had to call upon the reserves of my guard and some of the other two branches to become impromptu prison guards for the time being, and that made things all kinds of complicated.
We all know how much I love complicated.
Aepnet and Sinosis were given private cells away from the main group of prisoners. We didn't want them rallying them to any sort of prison breakout. That would be all we needed, wouldn't it?
Once the prisoners were secure, it was back to the war room in Canterlot. I left Lieutenant Rapids to hold court in my stead until everything got settled, which hopefully wouldn't be too long. I wasn't too sure, though. A somber mood had fallen over the nation in the three days since the arrest of the emperor of all of Griffonia. War was in the air.
And so there we were. All four princesses and captains in a now slightly cramped war room. We did not think about the conditions, however. We were all trying to wrap our heads around what the coming months, maybe years, would look like.
"The dukes want to meet with us," Celestia said, kicking off the meeting officially. "They're calling themselves emissaries from Empress Kathyrine the Fifth, but I have no such illusions. They'd come even if Empress Kathyrine told them no. They're maneuvering to make Kathyrine either a puppet ruler for one of them, or they'll try to oust her entirely."
"Which would mean death for her, right?" I guessed.
"Generally that's how their society switches power at that level."
"So why doesn't she just abdicate?" I grimaced and looked over at the large map of the world on the wall, focusing specifically on Griffonia. "Seriously, she could just come here and hide, right? Especially if she's under constant threat of assassination."
"If Aepnet is found innocent then she can return the throne to him, something that I think she is hoping for."
"But something quite unlikely with the evidence that we have obtained," Luna muttered. "We must discuss what shall be done with Aepnet if and when he is discovered to be guilty for the crimes against our nation."
"Sinosis too," Cadance pointed out. "He is just as guilty as Aepnet is."
"I know we don't have the death penalty, but does that mean we just keep the Griffonian emperor in our prison forever?" I fluttered my wings nervously when I think of what that would mean for Kathyrine, provided she survives long enough to make our judgment. "What about releasing him? If we release him in ten years or twenty, or whatever, then he's going to want a war."
"But how avoidable is war to begin with?" Luna questioned. "Should we begin preparing armies now?"
"I do not know," Celestia said quietly. "I think that we need to meet with the dukes first. I have no illusions as to who has the power in Griffonia now that Aepnet is no longer in charge, and it is not Empress Kathyrine. I'd say she has no more sway than a servant in the castle."
"I think you're right," I said with a nod. "You saw how that guard was leading her around. She couldn't have told him no if she wanted to."
"Indeed." Celestia sighed and began rubbing her temples in a way that reminded me of somebody that I know really, really well. "So what do you propose? I'm open to any ideas."
"We propose that the dukes be met with before any war plans are drawn up," said Luna, "but we should keep the idea in mind; prepare for it in the event that the dukes declare war so that we are not caught completely off guard."
Celestia nodded. "Very well. That seems like a sound strategy."
"Should we ask Saddle Arabia for help?" Cadance asked. "Sultan Mesud promised to come to our aide if we ever got involved in a war, right?"
"Indeed," Celestia confirmed. "Should we get involved with Griffonia, Mesud would ready his armies for war on our side."
Er...
Hmm...
I didn't like that.
Sure it was good to have allies in war, but in a planet as small as this one with as few countries as this...
"So, quick question," I said, raising my hoof. "We have an alliance with Saddle Arabia wherein they would come to our aid in the event that we go to war, and I assume that the Crystal Empire would fight on our side too, right?"
Cadance nodded. "We don't have a strong military as of yet, but we'd start building one if we had to."
"Right. So, here's a big question." I walked over to the map and tapped on the large blue spot labeled "Minotaur Lands." "Does Griffonia have any such treaties with the minotaurs?"
A slight frown crossed Celestia's face, but she tilted her head in a slight nod. "Yes. They have a few treaties with a few of the larger clans."
"Yeah. Yeah..." I facehooved. "Yeah, see... if we go to war and all of these treaties are called upon, then that's the Equestrians, the Crystalites, the minotaurs, the Griffonans, and the Saddle Arabians all fighting in this thing. That's called a world war." I put my hoof down and flattened my ears, my stomach twisting itself into a million knots. "On my world we had two world wars that between military and civilian deaths led to about a hundred and ten million deaths. Yes, I said million." Everyone in the room gasped, their eyes wide. I hadn't really told anybody the scale of what my species could do to each other, so this was a bit of a shock to them. But I wasn't done.
"The world wars have resulted in tons more smaller, but still quite deadly wars in other areas. So overall I'd say that the world wars have been a result of somewhere close to two hundred million deaths! It's been over a century in my world since the wars, and we still haven't stopped feeling the effects, so..." I tapped the map with my hoof. "Do we really want to go to war?"
"Of course not, TD!" Luna said, slamming her hoof on the table. "But the stakes are now made plain to thee! Should we not prevent war then we may be pulled into the longest, most destructive war in our planet's history."
"And I assure you that if every almost civilization is involved then it will be." I took a deep breath and walked back over to my spot at the table. "So how are we going to stop this? If Aepnet gets out of prison at any point then he's going to want war. The dukes currently may want war. Do we just give them whatever the heck they want to prevent that?"
"We do not like the idea," Luna muttered, "but diplomacy must be a key factor going forwards. TD is quite right. War would benefit no one."
Our meeting was interrupted by a knock on the door of the war room. Shining Armor stood up and opened the door, revealing one of Celestia's guards who saluted all of us. "Princesses. Captains. We have a most urgent issue. All three Griffonian dukes have arrived at the castle and they are demanding to speak with Princess Antares."
"Alone?" Celestia asked.
The guard nodded. "Yes. They told me that they are open to speaking with you after they speak with Princess Antares first. They will leave if you do not find these terms acceptable."
I groaned and glanced over at the calendar hanging on the wall.
Yep. Monday.
* * * *
"Do not underestimate them, TD. They will try to manipulate you into doing their bidding, but you must not forget that your ultimate goal is to prevent war and get us into the room as soon as possible. They will try to cheat you and lie to you, so do not trust them for a moment."
Celestia escorted me down the hallway towards her throne room where the dukes were meeting me. So yeah, all I had to do was be politically savvy enough to prevent a world war. Should be easy enough for a dishwasher and elementary teacher with almost no history in politics or grasp of their culture. If they were an Earth culture, particularly a European power, I might have had a better grasp of it because I grew up learning about those things. Here, though? They could have had all kinds of customs and mannerisms that I had no idea about, and with the rate that Celestia was rushing me down the hallway, I didn't have time to learn.
"Your goals are the protection of Kathyrine and the avoidance of war. They will do everything in their power to make sure you are over your head."
"I'm already over my head," I groaned. "I have no experience in this kind of thing!"
"I know, TD. I know that you are unsure of what to do, but you cannot let them know that. Walk into that room with your head held high and confidence in your steps. They will sense any weakness in you if you show it to them."
We reached the throne room and Celestia and I stopped right in front of it. She gave me a comforting smile and put a hoof on my shoulder. "You will have four of your guards in there with you, including Captain Blaze. They will not try to harm you. Try to be in control as much as possible. Go into the room, walk past them without acknowledging them in any way, then sit on my throne. It will show them who is in control."
Wow. Even now I still can't believe that she let me do that. It makes sense considering that we needed to show them that as long as they were in Equestria I was the one in charge, but it was still quite a drastic measure. We needed drastic measures right now, though.
"It is time, Antares." Celestia pulled me in close and gave me a warm hug. "Good luck. You'll do fine. We will join you in there soon."
And then she was gone. She walked away to go to a side chamber where the other princesses were, leaving me with just two of my guards on either side of me. I took a deep breath and stood in front of the double doors that led to the throne room. Somehow they had become more massive and imposing, like a dragon was waiting on the other side and I had to go kill it with my teeth.
Still, there was no sense taking all day with it. I took a deep breath to center myself, ignited my horn, and opened the doors. They were there as promised. Three griffons dressed in regal outfits flanked by two guards in thick dark gray armor and wielding sharp spears and wing blades. They all turned in my direction when I entered the throne room, but none of them bowed. I closed the door behind me and tilted my head up ever so slightly and walked towards Celestia's throne. As I passed the dukes they began speaking to me, but as per Celestia's instructions I ignored them. I walked up to her throne, which was flanked by Captain Blaze and Sergeant Stones, and sat down on it, much to the surprise of the dukes. They put their heads together and muttered something that I couldn't quite hear, but based on the expression of the duke that I could see, they weren't quite sure of how to deal with this perceived power play.
Finally turned their attention back to me and all three bowed low to the ground. "Princess Antares," said the one in the middle. "My name is Duke Zangara. To my right is Duke Byck and to my left is Duke Fromme."
I inclined my head in a slight bow. "A pleasure to meet you, gentlemen."
"Indeed," said Fromme. "We find ourselves honored to finally meet the Scorpion Princess. Your exploits in capturing those beastly raiders are known to us."
Scorpion Princess? Well that one was new. And admittedly kind of cool. I assumed that it referred to my cutie mark and not the fact that my tail had a hidden, venomous stinger. Though if I was going to be called the Scorpion Princess, I might have had to consider looking into it.
"I'm glad that we can respect each other. It will make our negotiations simpler, and we all want that, yes?"
Duke Fromme nodded. "Indeed, Antares. We do have much to discuss, don't we."
Antares. Not Princess Antares. I noticed the distinction, as did everybody else in the room. My guards tensed up, but they didn't do anything about it. It was an intentional insult, but I was not going to rise to the bait.
But that left me wondering what I was supposed to do, then? Was I supposed to insult him right back and let him know that I could play that game too, or was I supposed to let it go? I couldn't think about it too long because then they'd know that I was weak, despite my initial display of dominance. If they were trying to get me to insult them then they could be looking for an excuse to walk out and start a war.
I settled for a single nod. "Yes we do. You came to me, so I assume you have something to say."
"Yes," Byck said. "We've been wondering what gives you the right to arrest our glorious emperor like you have."
"Er..." I raised my eyebrow and tilted my head. "Have you not been updated with current events? Have you not spoken with Empress Kathyrine about it? Aepnet was the one who ordered the 'beastly raiders' to sack the two border towns. Surely you know that."
"Yes, we have heard." Fromme took a step towards me, causing my guard to flinch forwards. "What was them ore pressing issue on our minds, however, was why you felt that our emperor was under your jurisdiction, or why you felt that you had the power to go into our glorious country at all."
My eyes narrowed and my wings involuntarily spread out to their full length, something that I had learned was a bit of the pegasus instinct in me coming out to make myself look larger and more imposing. I was really, really hoping that it was working.
"I went into that forest because those raiders sacked the town and stole over a hundred of my subjects!" I slammed my hoof on the throne so hard that a ringing sound echoed throughout the throne room. "You would do the exact same thing in the event that some pony raiders took even twenty griffins!"
"Indeed we would, but..." Zangara glanced at each of his fellow dukes in turn and a small smirk crossed his face. "You see, Antares, we would not object if Celestia or Luna or even that love princess came into the forest to retrieve the prisoners, particularly not with your admittedly effective methods..."
"But there is an issue there," Fromme continued. "They have legitimacy."
"Legitimacy?" A confused look flashed across my face for a moment. I hoped that it was brief enough that they did not notice, but a sinking feeling told me that they caught on. "I fail to see what their right to rule has to do with anything."
"I thought not," Zangara said with a light, condescending chuckle. "You see, Antares, Celestia is tied to the sun and Luna is tied to the moon. On top of that, they are the descendants of rulers, so they have claim to the Equestrian throne as diarchs. Cadance was the rightful heiress to the throne of the Crystal Empire, so her blood is royal as well. You, however..."
"Have no such claims," Byck finished.
"You were not even born in this land, correct?" Fromme guessed. "Or even a pony?"
Zangara snorted and his faint smirk widened slightly. "Or female."
My right front hoof twitched, but I held my steadily rising temper in check. They were just trying to provoke me. If I didn't let them then they wouldn't achieve whatever it was that they were setting out to do. I took a few seconds to center myself before responding.
"Gentlemen. My claim to the throne comes from the Elements of Harmony: the most powerful known objects in the world. It is through their power that I ascended to become a goddess of ponykind. That is where my legitimacy comes from."
"Oh, so being blasted by magical gems is all it takes to sit upon an Equestrian throne?" Zangara scoffed and rolled his eyes. "I have never heard of something so ridiculous. You would most certainly be the first to have that happen. Supreme executive power derives from a legitimate claim such as royal blood or having the crown taken or given to you, not some farcical light show by some pretty gems that give you a few feathers!"
Captain Blaze's mouth twisted into a snarl, and I knew that he ever so dearly wanted to retort by shoving Zangara's hat up his rear, but he knew enough to hold his tongue. Good thing too, as that would have blown everything. Of course, I was vocally mad enough for the both of us.
"I wasn't aware that Griffonia had any say in who the Equestrians chose to take the throne!" I snarled. "Our country's political structure is not your business!"
"Oh? But then why is our leadership your business?" Fromme said with a smug smile. "You say that we should not judge on the matter, but yet you have arrested our own emperor and have taken a marked interest in our glorious Kathyrine. You have directly removed an emperor from power who has ruled our nation for thirty six years!"
"He ordered an attack on two of our border towns!"
"And you have proof of this?" Byck said quietly.
I nodded and folded my wings back to my sides. "Yes. We have proof of this. Documents and testimonies."
"I see." Byck quietly sighed and shook his head. "What assurances do we have that they are real? That they are not pony lies?"
"Should you like to examine the documents you may do so under the supervision of Princess Celestia, Princess Luna and myself."
"Under the...?" Zangara began sputtering some nonsense words that I couldn't make out before slamming his fist on the ground. "Antares that is completely unacceptable! The documents in question must be transported back to Griffonia to ensure their authenticity! Looking at them while Celestia and Luna watch us from behind to make sure that we don't get too close a look isn't going to convince us of anything!"
"It'll stop you from tampering with them!" I retorted. "If we give you the documents then what assurances do we have that you wouldn't 'lose' them or destroy them in any way?"
"How dare you!" Fromme roared, flaring out his own wings. "How dare you accuse us of something so dishonorable! The very implication that we would do something so... outrageous is of the highest insult!"
"Those documents are the prime evidence against Aepnet, and they show that he ordered the raids. Would you allow such documents out of your sight in our position?" I crossed my forelegs and glared at them. "Of course you wouldn't. You'd keep them in a safe under guard. You don't just lend the evidence to people. That's just stupid."
"That is our emperor that you have arrested, Antares!" Fromme scoffed and pointed a claw at me. "I cannot believe the nerve of you Equestrians! First you have a pretender take an army into our country, then you arrest our emperor on trumped up charges and false accusations based on crafted evidence! Those are acts of war!"
"Why in the world would we want war?!" I snapped. "The whole point of this meeting was so that we could avoid it, right? We don't want war any more than you do!"
"Then you shouldn't have usurped our emperor, Antares!" Fromme harrumphed and raised his beak into the air. "Though as far as you are concerned it does not matter. Griffonia does not recognize your legitimacy to the Equestrian throne, thus we have no more reason to deal with you in all of this than we would with a common farmer."
With that, he turned around and began walking out of the throne room without so much as giving me a courtesy bow or giving me any respectful goodbye in the least. The other dukes were quick to follow suit, which was more than fine by me. I hope the door hit one of them in the rear on the way out so hard that he had a bruise that meant that he couldn't sit down for a week.
With the throne room empty of stupid griffins, I was left with my thoughts. My really, really pissed off thoughts. I expected them to hit low, but not recognizing my right to rule based on where I had come from? I didn't expect that, and I don't think that Celestia did either.
My thoughts were cut off when Captain Blaze walked up beside me, shaking his head like he couldn't believe what had just happened.
"So, let me get this straight, Princess Antares." I glanced down at him with a frown. "You punched Princess Celestia, a benevolent ruler who has always tried to do what is best for you and her subjects, in the face not once, but three times, but you didn't raise a hoof against them?"
I smirked and chuckled quietly. "Captain Blaze, my most valued of soldiers, my time will come." I looked back to the door that those stupid griffins had just walked out of. "Yes. My time will come."