So this whole griffin thing is now officially an international cop soap opera now. Who knew that being a princess would come with such drama and intrigue? Princess Celestia has scanned the photograph for evidence of any tampering whatsoever and she has found none. This is officially a legitimate photograph.
And I'm not really sure what we're supposed to do now.
So this definitely shows that Fromme has a big part in all of this. Whether that proves that Aepnet has been telling the truth throughout all of this is another matter entirely. He could still have been working with Fromme to get all of this going. We're really going to have to treat this whole thing with the utmost care and delicacy, or else this is all going to go to pot.
So there we were, all four of us sitting around a table and staring at that photograph, trying to think of any idea that would help us sort this whole mess out. It was Celestia who took a deep breath and broke the silence.
"Well, I think that this calls for detaining Duke Fromme at the very least." She glanced up at me. "Given their aversion to your power, I'd say that it would be best if Luna or myself headed the arrest."
I nodded. "Sounds good. They're still here, right?"
"Indeed they are," Celestia confirmed. "They wanted to stay here to try to keep negotiating, either for the terms of war or for the terms of Aepent's release. It will not be difficult to arrest Duke Fromme, particularly with this evidence."
"They won't like it," I grumbled darkly. "You know the other two are going to see this as proof that we're trying to overthrow their entire monarchy. They'll accuse us of plotting to go after all of them next."
"Hence the delicacy of the issue," Celestia agreed.
"Our vote is to determine Aepnet's guilt based on this evidence," Luna said, tapping the photograph with a hoof. "Should he be found innocent, then he can arrest Duke Fromme. They will be forced to bow to his authority."
"Particularly if it's backed up by us," I mused. "I mean, if they framed him and this is a coup attempt, then there is nothing stopping them from putting Griffonia through a civil war and doing it that way unless they thought that we'd get involved on Aepnet's side."
"Sound reasoning," Celestia said with a nod. "Do you have any ideas about how best to ascertain Aepnet's innocence?"
Did I ever. A sly smile crossed my face and I chuckled mischievously. "Do I ever. We obviously can't ask Aepnet if he's had anything to do with it because he'll just say ‘no’ no matter what the truth is, but I think there's somebody else we can get the truth out of. Somebody else who I'm hoping doesn't know we have this photo."
* * * *
A few hours later saw me back at the prison in the interrogation room I had talked to Aepnet in, waiting for my next guest to interrogate. If this worked out like I hoped it did, war would be avoided and all of this would be laid to rest. We could move on and not have to mobilize armies to go fight the griffins in a bloody world war.
Man, I really hoped that this worked out the way that I wanted it to.
The door to the interrogation room opened, and in walked none other than Sinosis. He had chains around his forelegs and hind legs, and his claws were wrapped in tape to prevent him from using them. To complete the picture, he was wearing a jacket to secure his wings. Oh, and a really nasty scowl. That too. I doubt that he was pleased with his treatment. Well, that can't be avoided, I suppose.
Sinosis sat on the seat opposite me, his scowl not leaving his face. He folded his talons and twisted his mouth into a snarl. "You here ta gloat, Antares? You here to lord it over me that you've won, or are you here to torture information out of me? You gonna use your magic to read my mind to get everything that you want?"
I chuckled and shook my head. "No, no, Sinosis. Nothing so gauche as that. Yes, this is an interrogation, but I would like to continue our quid pro quo from earlier. You know, the more information you give me the lesser your punishment? Unless, of course, you don't want that." I shrug. "Makes little difference to me."
Sinosis' snarl faded slightly, and he raised an eyebrow. I could tell he was interested, which is quite good for me. "I'm listening," he growled.
"Good." I cleared my throat and connected my forehooves on the table. "Now, then, we were discussing Aepnet when last we met, yes? We obviously found documents in your fort sent by him, but what can you tell me about any other contact the two of you had?"
"Ah, well, what's there to tell, really?" Sinosis gave his own shrug. "He'd come to the fort under the cover of darkness, always with bodyguards, but always in disguise in case some of the lower ranked members of my band noticed him coming and going. He never really said much; just handed the documents to us and left."
I raised my eyebrow and tilted my head. "So Aepnet came to your fort in disguise and didn't say much. You sure it was him?"
Sinosis nodded. "Yeah, quite sure. He always took off his hood when we were in the privacy of my quarters."
I snorted and crossed my forelegs. "Wow, he sounds like a real idiot if he didn't send a delegation. I mean, why the heck would the freaking emperor of all griffinkind come straight into a raider fort to basically set up an act of war?"
"That was my doing," Sinosis admitted. "He tried a delegation once, but I sent 'em right back, saying that I didn't believe them for a moment. 'Course, once he came personally with orders I was, eheh, a little more inclined to buy into what he was saying."
"Makes sense." Alright, time to play my trump card. Or trump photograph, as it were. "So, it was just Aepnet. The delegations never included like, say, the dukes, or anything like that?"
Sinosis shook his head. "Nope. Never saw no dukes. It was just Aepnet and his griffins that dealt with us."
"Okay, okay..." I ignited my horn and the photograph flew out from between my feathers. I unfolded it and placed it down on the table right where he could see it. "Then how do you explain this?"
Boom.
It had the complete desired effect. Sinosis went dead silent, his jaw dropped and his eyes wide as he was confronted with irrefutable evidence that I had ever so gently laid a trap and he had gleefully marched right into it. I allowed him to take as much time as he needed to re-boot his brain after seeing the photo. I mean, now that Celestia and Luna were watching the dukes, there was no real rush. I could spare a few minutes to watch Sinosis flounder. Gotta say, after being beaten, tied up and muzzled by this joker, this was kind of nice.
It was a full five minutes before Sinosis could respond. He could only sit there, staring open-mouthed at the photograph while trying to figure out where it had all gone wrong for him. Well, being a raider with troops willing to throw you under the bus to save their own skin going up against goddesses was a good start.
"You..." Sinosis' voice cracked and he blinked once. "You forged that. That's a fake pony lie!"
"Indeed?" I chuckled and flipped the photograph so that I could look at it. "Well, that wouldn't explain your shock, Mr. Sinosis, nor the fact that we got it from one of your own men. Which one I'm not at liberty to say, of course, but this is griffin, not pony. So..." I grinned and flipped the photograph back to him. "You wanna tell me what really happened? It'll be easier for everyone if you do, I assure you."
He was caught in his lie and he knew it full well. There was not a darned thing that he could do to deny it, and he knew it full well. If I had to guess, he knew the exact thing that was going on when the photograph was taken. It was another minute or so before he managed to say anything.
"It was all Fromme. It was him the entire time. That bit I said about a delegation coming first but me sending them back so he came personally? That part was true, but it was Fromme, not Aepnet who was behind it." Sinosis' slowly looked down to the ground, completely unable to meet my gaze. "Fromme was behind everything from the start."
"Alrighty, then." I took a deep breath and cracked my neck. I'd have to corroborate this with some of the other griffin prisoners, but if they all said the same thing then we had to figure out what to do with Aepnet. He would not be happy. I mean, I'm sure he'd be happy to get his crown back and get out of prison and all that, but he would not be happy that he was arrested in the first place, regardless of the fact that there was very strong evidence against him.
We could figure that out soon. I signaled to the guards. "Get him out of here. I'm finished with him."
Sinosis' snapped his head back up, his glare having returned full force. "I gave you what you wanted, Antares! I gave you all of the information that you wanted, now let me go!"
I snorted and crossed my forelegs. "Plea bargains aren't worthy of complete absolution, Sinosis. I'll speak with the other princesses about your sentence, but at the end of the day you still led a raid on our border towns knowingly with the help of the Griffonian government for the sake of a coup. Heck, we may just give you over to Aepnet, who I don't see being very appreciative of everything you've done to him and his family."
Sinosis' jaw dropped, and he stared at me in total shock. No doubt he thought he had just been tricked for a second time. After a few moments his eyes narrowed, and with a snarl he lunged at me. Now, there wasn't much he could do, what with me being an alicorn and him being secured the way he was, but assault on royalty is an assault on royalty, and three different horns, including mine, lit up to restrain him. He snarled at me and began thrashing in mid-air, completely unable to do anything else.
"You'll be sorry, Antares! You'll be sorry you ever crossed me! I'll have your head for the abuses I've suffered!"
I shook my head sadly. "No, I don't think so, buddy." I waved my hoof. "Get him back to his cell, and get me the next prisoner to interview."
* * * *
Sinosis' threats aside, everything went beautifully. It was common knowledge that we had arrested Aepnet for being behind the whole thing, so I led with that. Everybody who didn't flat out admit that it was a lie was fooled by my photograph trap and admitted the truth soon after.
Overall, we had pretty definitive evidence that Aepnet was not behind it, something that put us in an highly awkward position. He had spent a few days in one of our prisons, and he was not going to be happy about that.
After I had all of the information I needed, it was time to talk to Aepnet. I requested the warden's office again. I doubted he'd be receptive to the interrogation room again, and I needed him to be as happy as possible if we were going to come out of this whole thing peacefully.
After a few minutes of waiting, Aepnet was brought in, still just as disheveled as when I had seen him the last time. My stomach clenched up and I had to bite my tongue to refrain from grimacing. This could go very poorly if I didn't play my cards right.
Aepnet sat down on the chair opposite me and crossed his forelegs, a hint of a glare on his face, as usual. "Well, have you come to sentence me, Antares? You come to tell me that my daughter was assassinated and Fromme or Byck or Zangara took the throne in a bloody coup while I was gone? You come to tell me that I'll be here for the rest of my considerably shortened life?"
I shook my head and raised a hoof to calm him down. "No. Quite the opposite, actually. I've come to tell you that we've made a terrible mistake, though I think you can see how we might have made it."
Aepnet's eyes widened and he leaned forward in his chair, slamming his claws on the desk. "What did you say?! What are you talking about, Antares? Are you saying that you admit that I had nothing to do with any of this, that I'm innocent as I claimed?"
It was painful to do so, but I slowly nodded. "Yes. What's more is that we discovered who was really behind it." I produced the photograph and slid it across the desk so that he could get a good look at it. "Fromme. Fromme was behind everything the whole time."
Aepnet stared blankly at the photograph for the longest time, not moving an inch. It was nerve wracking, to say the least. I mean, since he was innocent we did have to let him out, and if he was sufficiently mad then he could just want war anyway, and after what we did to him, Saddle Arabia might not want to get involved, but his minotaur allies certainly would.
Finally Aepnet blinked once and put a single talon on the photograph. He quietly exhaled and closed his eyes. "Antares, I want out of here, and I want to deal with Fromme and Sinosis personally. After everything that's happened, well, I'd rather not have war if it's all the same to you. I didn't reign for thirty-six years because I went to war with everybody who slighted me and..." He sighed. "As much as it pains me to admit it, I do recognize that there was significant evidence against me."
"You might want to have a talk with your butler about him burning down the fort," I said with a touch of humor in my voice. Now that it seemed we weren't going to war I could find little things to laugh at again. "Unless he was working with Fromme."
"It's possible," Aepnet muttered, "but yes, I know that I did not order him to burn down that fort. It does point to him being a double agent. Pity. He was such an asset to me."
I nodded and took a deep breath. "Well, Aepnet, or should I say Emperor Aepnet as I'm sure your daughter will give you your throne back, how about we go and arrest Herr Fromme, hmm? The other three princesses are watching over him, so he's not going anywhere."
For the first time since his arrest, a trace of Aepnet's usual smug grin appeared on his face. He stood up from his seat and cracked his neck.
"Let's get him."
* * * *
A few hours later there I was with the other princesses, waiting for the dukes to show up. I had to refrain from rubbing my hooves together and giggling like a Bond villain. All things considered, this worked out pretty well for us. I mean, we found the real culprit, none of our ponies were seriously hurt, and we're not going to war. That last one especially had me in good spirits. Nobody wants to go to war, though I did have my suspicions of how much that applied to Duke Fromme.
After discussing our basic plan, the doors to the throne room opened, and the dukes walked in, their smug smiles on their faces and their beaks in the air as per usual. No doubt they thought that we were going to sentence Aepnet and give them what they wanted to avoid war, which would mean bad things for Kathyrine.
However, I think she would be much safer from now on without the threat of war hanging overhead. At least, that was the hope. I personally wanted Aepnet to treat his daughter a little better now that they both had this scare.
The dukes stopped in front of Celestia and Luna's thrones and bowed low to everypony but me. Duke Fromme advanced a little further than each of them and was the one to speak.
"Gracious princesses of Equestria, we hope that our nations can find a way to peacefully resolve this issue. Since all of us are here I am confident that we can come to an agreement that benefits both of our nations, can we not?"
Celestia smiled serenely down at him, but I could see the glint in her eye that showed that she was just as eager to spring this trap as I was. "Indeed, Fromme, and I would say that we have certainly come up with a solution that I think benefits both of our nations to the fullest extent."
"I'm glad to hear it," Fromme said with a smile, though I could see that it didn't quite reach his eyes. He didn't miss that Celestia didn't call him by his title. "What is this plan of yours?"
"It's quite simple, really." Celestia motioned to the guards who were positioned all around the hall, and they moved in to circle around the dukes. "You're going to be arrested."
The jaws of all three dukes dropped, and I could see a vein bulging in Fromme's neck as he tried to register what Celestia had just said. He began sputtering out a few incomprehensible words before the other dukes regained their senses.
"So this is how it will be, Celestia?!" Zangara snarled. "Did Antares put you up to this? She seems to be quite fond of arresting Griffonian government officials when she has no power to do so! Now you draw us in here under the pretense of a truce and arrest us?!"
"I didn't say that I was arresting all of you," Celestia replied evenly. "I said that Fromme was the one who was going to be arrested."
The other two dukes' mouths dropped in surprise, and they each took a step back from Fromme, who by this point looked like he was about to have a brain aneurism. He let out a loud squawk of indignation and slammed a fist on the floor. "Now we see the true nature of the Equestrian government! You are overstepping your bounds by arresting me! You have no such authority!"
"You're right," I said quietly. A smirk crossed my face and I ignited my horn, opening up the double doors that led to the throne room. "But you know who does? Him."
The dukes all turned to see who had walked in, and I can only imagine what was going through their minds when they saw Aepnet standing there, his smug smile out in full force, with a group of griffin guards behind him. He walked up to Fromme, produced the photograph, and nearly shoved it in Fromme's face.
"I think this says all it needs to, Fromme, but we all have the testimonies of many raiders who say that I was never actually in that fort at any time. You were. The evidence against you is, as they say, overwhelming."
Fromme stared at the photograph in sheer horror, knowing full well that he was caught. He let out a tiny whimper and took a step back, pointing at the other two dukes. "They had a claw in it too! It was all of us! They are just as guilty as me!"
"Lies!" Zangara snarled. "You dare dishonor us by claiming this nonsense?!"
"If we were involved in this plot, what evidence do you have, Fromme?" Byck said evenly. "I for one find any testimonies by your griffins insufficient evidence as they would say whatever you wanted them to say whether we were guilty or not."
"You... TRAITORS!" Fromme screeched. "It was all your idea! I was just a pawn, Emperor Aepnet; you have to believe me!"
"No, Fromme, I don't," Aepnet said coolly. He motioned to his guards who advanced on Fromme. He squawked and spread his wings as though to escape, but the guards were on him in an instant, tying his wings to his sides and chaining his forelegs. "You are clearly guilty of attempting to overthrow me, and I think we both know what the sentence for that is, Fromme."
"I wasn't behind it, I swear!" Fromme screeched as he was carried out of the throne room. "It was all Byck and Zangara! It was all them!"
The double doors slammed shut, and Fromme's cries faded away as he was carried off to a police wagon we had provided to Aepnet. I glanced over at the two remaining dukes who were glancing uneasily at each other. If they didn't have at least a little to do with this whole thing I'd eat my horn, but there wasn't really anything we could do to prove it right now, and Aepnet had requested that he be allowed to handle the rest of it. Needless to say, we were more than happy to let him.
Aepnet slowly sighed and looked over at the two dukes. "Well, now. I think that we can all go home. I have a throne that my daughter has been keeping safe for me. We don't need to go to war with Equestria, it seems."
"Er..." Zangara blinked once and slowly nodded. "Yes. War wouldn't benefit our nations. I for one look forward to going back to our glorious homeland."
"And I as well," Byck said quietly. "Let us see the back of this place."
Aepnet nodded then turned to the four of us. He bowed low, and we returned it. "I thank you for your help. Without you I could never have discovered the true culprit, nor been able to keep my daughter safe."
"We were glad to do it, Aepnet." Celestia's smile faded and was replaced with a slight frown. "Though I trust we shall not have an incident of this nature again?"
Aepnet visibly shuddered and shook his head. "Paradise forbid that happen, your majesty. I pray for peace between our nations." Aepnet bowed once again to us. "Goodbye."
With that, the griffins were gone. They filed out of the throne room and went to go slither back to the horrid land from whence they came. I personally was glad to be done with all of this. I mean, we still had to negotiate the transfer of the prisoners we had, but that was a minor detail, all things considered. I took a deep breath and rubbed my temples.
"Well, that's that then, isn't it?"
Celestia nodded and stood up off of her throne, stretching her enormous wings to ease some of the tension in them. "Yes, I believe so, TD. I'm quite glad to see the back of this situation, I must admit. I hope for all of our sakes that it is done with."
"No kidding," I grumbled. I turned my head to the throne room doors. "No freaking kidding."
* * * *
Well, could that have gone a touch better? I suppose, but in the end I learned everything that I needed to and achieved my goals, so I believe that it was a successful endeavor. All of the loose ends have been tied up as far as I'm aware. Was it the best plan? Well, not to boast, but I think that it was pretty close.
I leaned back in my reclining chair, something that I missed the most during my time in that wretched pony prison, and nibbled on a chunk of beef. One must keep up his strength, after all. I heard a knock on my door and I nodded to the guard watching it. He opened it up and my butler William walked in. I smirked at him and sat up.
"Good evening, William." I looked over at the guard. "Leave us." The guard saluted me and exited my room, closing the door behind him. I sighed contentedly and leaned back in my chair again. "I think it went well in the end, don't you, William?"
William's smirk was evident as he nodded. "Indeed it did, your majesty. It was riskier than I would have liked for you, but I think you played them all brilliantly."
I chuckled and nodded. "Yes, I did, didn't I? That new pony princess, Antares, I think she was the best piece in the plan. So good that I think I can't even call her a pawn as that would diminish her role." I waved my claw lazily. "Maybe a rook or a mage, or something like that. She's strong, but not so strong that she cannot be manipulated under the right circumstances."
"Circumstances that you pulled off wonderfully, my lord." William walked over to another chair and sat down on it. "Though the role of triple agent was a difficult one, I must admit."
"Bah, try languishing in a pony prison for a few days then talk to me about difficult. Fromme was completely willing to believe that you'd switch sides. He never suspected you for a moment."
"He did have a few griffins willing to switch side of his own though, didn't he?" William said, his grin widening. "Enough to put the idea into his head that he should hire raiders to sack a pony town then frame you for it."
"As if I'd ever be so stupid as to put my royal seal on something that I sent to that kind of scum," I spat. "Fromme should have known better."
William shrugged. "It worked. The ponies bought it long enough that Fromme became overconfident. Long enough for our griffins inside Sinosis' camp to get the evidence of Fromme's treachery together." William's smile slowly faded, and he turned his head to look out the window at the setting sun. "Though I do have one issue. What about the other dukes? They were behind it as well, were they not?"
"Of that I have no doubt." I shrugged. "Fromme will hang tomorrow and Byck and Zangara will understand who has the power. They will not be so foolish as to risk their position when they see what I do to Fromme and his clan."
"Kathyrine did a remarkably fine job under pressure once the shock wore off," William observed. "You raised her well."
"Of course I did." I looked over to my desk where a picture of Kathyrine as a chick of no more than five rested and smiled fondly at it. "I have always said that she will make a wonderful empress, and I think this proves it." I closed my eyes and sighed contentedly. "At the end of the day, though, I'm confident that my position is secure." I gave a single chuckle. "Though Antares is still an unknown on the whole. We need to keep an eye on her, I think."