//------------------------------// // Serpentine Intrigue // Story: The Great Slave King // by TalonMach5 //------------------------------// The burning eyes of the hunter pierced through the shadows provided by the foliage of the Everfree forest. He could smell his quarry now; his vicious maw was salivating at the prospect of finally being able to redeem his failure. The tiny thing was nearly alone and defenseless now. Being the last one to climb up on the palanquin, it would be easy to charge forward and snatch it. The hunter tightened his muscles, preparing to charge out of the thicket and grabbing his prey before any would know what had happened. Leaning forward the mighty beast, as black as any pup’s nightmare prepared to rush forward. Before he could move, a large and terrible paw knocked him aside into a nearby tree. He hit the trunk with bone shattering force, breaking several of the larger branches before falling to the packed earth below. “Second,” a voice said as terrible as the rending earth. “What did I tell you?” Second looked up as his assailant. The creature was twice as large as himself, and even more fearsome. “Our prey is not to be harmed as long as it has Celestia’s protection,” Second replied. “But Scourge…” In a furious rage Scourge used his massive jaws to grab a hold of Second’s neck, violently shaking his head back and forth. Second whimpered in pain as Scourge administered his punishment for openly challenging his authority. Scourge, satisfied that his point had been made, dropped the bleeding Two to the ground and walked away. “We are to watch for now,” the Huntsdog growled, licking the blood from his muzzle. “Remember that Second, the next time you decide to take initiative. The Slave King is not as forgiving as I.” Through ragged breathes, Second coughed out his answer, “Ye… yes Scourge,” he meekly replied. Scourge resumed his position hidden by the foliage, watching as their quarry met up with that insufferable fop Yipyap. ***** Arch Duke Fifi le Yipyap sat on his satin cushion, appraising these strange envoys of Celestia. He had honestly expected to be dealing with her regent Prince Blueblood, instead. Before the end of the world, he had had many dealings with the prince. Their relationship dealt mainly with the very lucrative pony slave trade. For a cut of the profits, Blueblood had helped him move ponies from all over Equestria into the Diamond Vale. If only he was dealing with him now, that would have made his job that much easier. Instead to his chagrin, not only was he dealing with an assortment of rabble, he had the last Gem Biter within his paws and couldn’t touch him. “Celestia, how very shrewd of you,” the arch duke thought bitterly. Taking a lengthy drag from his hookah pipe, Yipyap slowly exhaled forming several perfect smoke rings. While listening to the lengthy and ultimately meaningless pleasantries he growled in boredom. When he heard that he was dealing with the pony that had embarrassed Scourge, he internally laughed with glee. Looking towards the thicket where he knew Scourge was watching, Yipyap sneered. The Huntsdog was nothing but a brute, knowing nothing of the complexities of intrigue. A plan was already forming in his mind, how to extract the pup away from Celestia’s hooves. Surely the Slave King would reward him for such a feat. The arch duke knew that any Celestia would send, couldn’t possibly be simpletons. He needed to learn as much about his opponents as possible. Remembering Scourge’s report, he knew that the one called Clover was an accomplished magician. Perhaps enticing the pony’s greed for knowledge would be the best course of action. “Those unicorn mage’s desires for moldy old tomes are almost as great as a dragon’s love for gems,” he thought to himself. Spying the sigil of the Lawgiver on the minotaur’s coat of arms, he grimaced. “Ugh,” he sighed in disgust. Lackeys of Triton were always so annoying to deal with, they were nigh impossible to corrupt. “Perhaps playing to the knight’s pride would be the way to go,” the arch duke thought to himself. “Those buffoons were always hungry for the glory of the quest.” The seapony was an interesting one. Although not yet a knight, he carried himself as one. Looking into his green eyes, the arch duke saw devotion for his master. “Ah ha!” Yipyap exulted. “The page should be easy enough to corrupt; I simply need to ply towards his devotion to his master’s well-being.” The griffin was a strange case. Griffins normally valued loyalty to ones friends above all else, and under normal circumstances he would have been the weak point of his entire plot. But his nose told him all he needed to know in order to gain an advantage. The mare’s scent was all over him. “Love, what a fool’s treasure,” the arch duke thought with a sneer. “I simply need to control his mare, and the griffin will be my willing pawn. All too easy...” Looking at the pink unicorn, Yipyap saw a pony with an iron will. Thinking back to the last pony he knew like that, he remembered Little Bleu the cause of his ruin. Although a unicorn, the Slave King considered her his daughter. If the Slave King ever found out the liberties he took from her by exercising his rights as master, he would most likely be burning in the pit. Although he couldn’t avenge himself upon Little Bleu, he could take his frustrations out on the mare. “Yes,” the arch duke thought wickedly, “I shall have a taste of you, and then destroy you!” The dragon would be even easier to control. Gems, lots of gems. Dragons were so predictable in their greed for wealth. They would willingly betray even their own mates, as long as their hoards grew. “Perhaps,” Yipyap thought, “the Slave King will enjoy his new pet, once I have him in chains.” Looking down at the last Gem Biter, the arch duke felt a momentary twinge of guilt. Although they were clan mates, those ties were broken when he had become the Slave King’s property. Steeling his resolve, he made his choice and vowed to destroy the pup if it was the last thing he did. “Young pup,” the arch duke thought sadly, “although fate cruelly decreed you should die, your death will save your fellow diamond dogs.” His appraisal of these seven miscreants completed, the arch duke took another lengthy drag of his hookah while waiting for the pleasantries to conclude. Placing the pipe aside, Yipyap looked up at Clover and stroked his mustache. “So, what does Celestia wish to discuss with the Great Slave King?” he asked, his smile a veneer for his true intentions. Sir Stouthorn gently nudged Clover with his leg. “That’s your queue lad,” he muttered under his breathe. Clover gulped and nodded slowly. Gingerly stepping forward, he looked into the arch duke’s blue eyes. “Your Grace,” he said nervously, “Princess Celestia asks that you explain your purpose here in the Everfree forest, your final destination, and your intentions towards her realm.” Arch Duke Yipyap nodded appreciatively, “Please advise the princess,” he said, “that the great Slave King has grown weary of his cloistered living. He only desires a normalization of the deteriorated relations between our two great nations.” Shaw scoffed, “If that’s so,” he accused, “then why is your boss slowly starving all of Equestria?” The arch duke growled at the insinuation. “Some friendly advice griffin,” he replied with a sneer, “be careful putting your beak where it doesn’t belong. Or you may find more trouble than you can handle.” “Why you …” Shaw shouted, before having his beak magically closed by Showboat. “Griffin, it seems your mare has more sense than you do,” the arch duke taunted him. “My Grace,” Clover said, “my apologies for Shaw’s outburst. But he does bring up a valid point. If the Slave King truly wished for peace, ending the famine would be an excellent first step.” “Ambassador Clover, I apologize for any inconveniences the famine may have brought you,” the arch duke apologized. “However, the feuding between the Prime Elements has become rather heated as of late. Until some sort of deescalation occurs, my master can’t possibly end the famine. Hopefully, this diplomatic gesture will show the princess that the Slave King desires nothing but peace.” “Funny,” accused Shaw, “despite their feud, Lady Zephyr still manages to send the rains.” “And Lord Triton still tends to his seas,” Sir Stouthorn said. “Lord Ouroboros fights the winter as well,” Slick added. “I can’t speak for the other Prime Elements,” the arch duke replied, “but I assure you, that the Slave King is sincere in his desire to end this feud. Hopefully, Princess Celestia will see my master’s sincerity and agree to help broker an acceptable peace.” “Perhaps, this is a discussion best left between His Grace and the princesses?” Seafoam said, trying his best to diplomatically tell everypony to shut the Hades up. The arch duke took a long drag from his hookah, and exhaled several more smoke rings. “Quite right,” he agreed, “Clover, perhaps you and the rest of your entourage would care to accompany us the rest of the journey to Londwhinium? I’m sure that you and the rest of your delightful companions would help me pass the time during the remainder of this tedious journey through the Everfree.” Clover shook his head. “I’m sorry Your Grace,” he apologized. “Our mission was to find out your intentions. Now that we have your assurances that you are on a mission of peace, we need to advise the princesses to prepare for your arrival.” “Truly a pity,” Yipyap said disappointedly. “Perhaps we can spend more time together once I’ve reached the palace.” “Perhaps, if the time allows,” Clover agreed, getting up to disembark from the palanquin. One by one, each of them left the golden palanquin. The last to leave was Shanks. The pup looked up at the arch duke and growled briefly before following his friends. As the party left the procession of diamond dogs, they finally were able to relax. “Not bad lad,” Sir Stouthorn said, giving Clover a congratulatory slap on the shoulder. “See, you are a natural diplomat.” Clover shot a dirty look towards Shaw. “I can’t believe you Shaw!” he said angrily. “You just can’t go insulting other ponies like that, especially when they have a hundred diamond dogs at the ready.” “Shaw I can’t believe you darling,” Showboat added, “with a wave of his paw, the arch duke could’ve had us for dinner.” “Oh please,” Shaw said dismissively, “blustering is always expected during these types of preliminary negotiations. Hitting them right between the eyes will give you leverage, especially when they are trying to sell you a load of manure.” “Ordinarily I would say Shaw was acting poorly,” Sir Stouthorn said, while helping hitch Shaw to the chariot, “but the arch duke’s insistence on wanting peace is nothing but a deception.” Looking down at Shanks, Clover nudged the pup with his muzzle. “Hey Shanks,” he said, “you seem rather quiet. I’d expect you to have some insight regarding the arch duke.” Shanks scratched his ear and yawned, before lying down in the chariot. “Me don’t like him mister Clover,” he said. “He smells like the bad dogs, he serves the not-Darkpaw.” “You mean the Slave King?” Clover asked, as the chariot lurched into the air. “Aroo,” Shanks whined when he heard the name. “The not-Darkpaw ended the world, maybe he end this world too.” ***** The arch duke watched the chariot take off into the night sky. Taking one last drag from his hookah, he placed the pipe down and disembarked from the palanquin. Walking towards the bushes where he knew Scourge and his hellhounds were watching, he shook the bush a few times. A large hound exited from the thicket and stared at the arch duke with its burning eyes. “Yipyap,” it growled, “why have you not resumed moving?” “Fourth, bring your master,” the arch duke said dismissively. “I have no time to deal with the likes of you.” Fourth growled and bared his fangs. “Watch your tongue whelp!” he said in anger. “Either fetch your master, or get out of my way,” the arch duke commanded. “I haven’t the time to deal with a mere insubordinate.” The heavy footpads of a much larger hound interrupted their argument. “What’s the meaning of this?” Scourge demanded. “Yipyap thinks he’s our better,” Fourth responded with a sneer. “Trying to command me!” Without warning, Scourge set upon the smaller doomhound with his mighty jaws. With a shriek and whimper, Fourth begged for his life through ragged breathes. “Please stop Scourge.” “Challenge the Slave King’s authority again,” Scourge said with a low growl, “and you won’t live to make the same mistake twice.” “But why…” Fourth asked, in shock over being attacked. “Yipyap was placed here by the Slave King himself,” Scourge said, his voice as terrible as the rending earth. “Any insult against his servants, is a slight against the Slave King.” Turning his head towards Arch Duke Yipyap, Scourge growled low. “Remember your place slave,” he said, “Why isn’t the procession moving yet?” The arch duke narrowed his eyes at Scourge. “We need to advise the Slave King of a new development,” he said. Scourge studied the arch duke carefully, his burning eyes searching for any sign of disloyalty. “Follow me,” the huntsdog said. Walking a short distance away from the procession, Scourge used his claws to form a circle in the earth. Placing the sigils at their correct places, he howled an echoing melody. Moments later, the form of the Slave King appeared inside the large earthen circle. “What do you require my Huntsdog?” the Slave King asked. “Arch duke Yipyap felt it prudent to advise you of new information,” Scourge replied. The Slave King’s burning gaze fell upon the arch duke. “Report,” he said impatiently. “The last Gem Biter was within our grasp, master,” Yipyap nervously said. “Why did you not grab the pup?” The Slave King replied his voice as cold as the grave. “He has Celestia’s protection,” the arch duke explained, “she made him an ambassador. Should we grab him openly; any further attempts at diplomacy would be lost.” The Slave King looked thoughtfully at the arch duke for a moment, “You did well arch duke,” he said, his iron crown shielding all but his terrifying eyes from view. “Perhaps, Nightmare will lose her favorite toy after all.” “Oh thank you my king,” the arch duke replied in gratitude. “Celestia thinks she has frustrated my plans,” the Slave King growled, “but she has just delivered the last Gem Biter to me on a silver platter.” “But how?” Fifi le Yipyap asked. The corners of the Slave King’s mouth twisted into a cruel smile. “Arch duke, Scourge this is how I want you to proceed…” he said. ***** Once their chariot had landed, Clover and his friends were met by Princess Luna’s night guard. “Follow me,” one of them said, leading them into the palace. After a few minutes of walking the guard had lead them back to the same meeting room as before. After everypony took their seats, Shaw helped himself to some of the doughnuts that had been placed on the large table in the middle of the room. “Easiest job I ever had,” Shaw said in between bites of doughnut. “Somehow, I don’t think this task is quite done yet,” Seafoam replied, handing out doughnuts to everypony in the room, “we still have to advise the Princesses about what happened.” Clover absentmindedly ate his doughnut while he thought about what Shanks had said earlier, ‘maybe he end this world too’. “Clover, why so glum lad?” Sir Stouthorn said, his mouth carved into a wide grin. “Eat and celebrate the successful completion of the quest with me!” “I can’t help but feel ominous about the meeting we had with the arch duke,” Clover replied. “Let tomorrow’s worries take care of themselves,” Sir Stouthorn said. “We’ve successfully completed a quest for both a goddess and a princess simultaneously. Additionally, we may have indirectly aided negotiations that will put an end to the famine. Certainly a quest worthy of being immortalized into song, don’t you think.” “Perchance only the first verse,” a feminine voice said. Everypony turned around and saw that Princess Luna had entered the room. “We take it that they don’t bare us enmity?” the princess said. “So the arch duke says,” Shaw scoffed. “The only thing he offered was a whole heap of lies.” “Does anypony else share Shaw’s assessment?” Luna asked. Showboat nodded in agreement, “Although Shaw has a brusque way about him,” she said, “I got exactly the same feeling from the arch duke. He was anything but sincere in his desire for peace.” “Although I believe that their diplomatic overtures are genuine,” Sir Stouthorn explained, “I don’t think peace is their primary objective. The arch duke mentioned the feud between the Prime Elements having become rather heated. I believe that you have something the Slave King wants, and the only reason they are bothering with niceties is to get it from you.” Luna considered everypony’s opinions. “Clover, what about thee?” she asked. “What dost thou thinketh about thine meeting with the arch duke?” “The Slave King the arch duke mentioned frightens me,” Clover said, “and Shanks said something about him destroying our world like he destroyed his.” “He mayst be referring to the destruction of the Diamond Vale,” Princess Luna said. “Well done everypony, each of thee hast performed thine tasks resplendently. Go and enjoy thy rest this night, on the morrow we shalt discuss this matter in greater detail with our sister. Mine guard shall direct thee to thy quarters for thy rest bed.” Wearily each of the companions exited the room, eager to finally be able to rest in a proper bed. Before Clover left the room he looked up at Princess Luna. “Have you made a decision regarding whether we can go to the Diamond Vale?” he asked. “We have,” Luna responded, “we have decided that sending an expedition to the ruins of the Diamond Vale to be premature at this juncture. Once we know what the Slave King proffers us through diplomacy we shalt know better.” Seeing the disappointment in Clover’s eyes, Luna smiled. “My little pony, trouble not thine heart with this matter,” she said tenderly. “Rest now and sojourn to the realm of dreams. We shall discover soon enough, if the Slave King truly desires peace or if his intent is one of malice.” Clover nodded once and wearily walked out the door, he sleepily followed the nightguard to his quarters. He was so tired, that he didn’t even bat an eye when he saw both Showboat and Shaw giving each other knowing smiles as they headed toward the same room. Entering his room, he found Shanks already fast asleep at the foot of the bed. Wearily, he climbed into the bed, and pulled the covers around himself and the small pup. As Clover’s heavy lids closed, he welcomed his dreams as he drifted off to sleep. ***** Clover’s eyes shot open, he was in a familiar looking cave. Looking up he saw a large owl hooting high overhead. When the owl saw him, it dropped from its perch and flew deeper into the darkness of the cave. Clover filled his horn with magic to illuminate his surroundings, all around him the roughhewn walls of the cave seemed to stretch out forever. Deciding to follow after the owl, Clover slowly walked into the darkness. Walking deeper into dark cavern, Clover was surprised that the rough walls soon gave way to smooth hoof carved walls, and the floor appeared to be of polished stone. As he moved forward, the sounds of his hoof falls reverberated throughout the cavern. Eventually, the tunnel opened up into a much larger room. In the middle of the room was a large fire pit, the fire inside burned brightly but gave off no smoke. Looking to either side of him, Clover saw bookshelves as far as the eye could see, filled with neatly placed tomes of all kinds. Listening to the quiet of this library, he noticed that whole room had a kind of rhythm to it. Almost like a heartbeat or the breathing of a sleeping dreamer. Abandoning the books for now, Clover approached the fire burning in the middle of the room. The flickering flames reflecting in his eyes seemed to have an almost hypnotic quality to them. Right before he drifted off to sleep, a familiar voice woke him from his stupor. “Dreaming within a dream?” a gentle voice playfully asked. “What an intriguing concept.” Clover nearly jumped out of his skin, as he looked around to see who had spoken. “Fear not little pony,” the voice said, as its owner slithered into view, “it’s just me the winding one.” “Jormungandr,” Clover said in relief, “how did you enter my dreams?” “All the domains intersect with my own,” Jormungandr explained, looking towards an owl perched above him, “Strix, you’ve been a most magnanimous host.” “Who, who, who,” Strix hooted several times. Jormungandr rolled his grey eyes and stuck out his forked tongue. “I swear Strix,” he said, “you never get tired of that old joke do you?” “Not in the slightest,” Strix replied. “It’s not that I’m unhappy to see you Jormungandr,” Clover said, “but what did you want?” “A pony that cuts right to the chase,” the winding one said, “I like that. Well to get straight to the point, your whole group needs to be present when the arch duke begins his negotiations.” “I’m not an official of the government,” Clover protested, “why would they allow me into the meeting?” “Who, who indeed,” Strix said, “you still have your badges of office from the princesses; use them to get inside the meeting.” “Yes,” Jormungandr agreed, “I’m sure that little minx Showboat should have some ideas on how to be present during the negotiations. But one caveat, neither Luna nor Celestia can know you’re in attendance.” “Why’s that so important?” Clover asked in confusion. “Only because it is,” Jormungandr replied with half closed eyes. Strix laughed from his perch. “Who, who, who. Clover there’s no point in questioning these things,” he said, “It’s best for everyfeather concerned, to just go along.” “Okay I got it,” Clover replied, “We need to sneak in and crash the sensitive diplomatic negotiations between the princesses and the Slave King’s envoy.” “Who, who, Jormungandr,” Strix hooted, “and you said you were worried about him. He didn’t even need to be told phase two.” “What!” Clover said in alarm. “Never you mind little pony,” Strix replied, as he flew away. “Jormungandr,” Clover asked, “if this is so important, why not just tell Princess Celestia or Luna about the matter?” “Little pony,” Jormungandr said, flicking the air with his forked tongue, “sometimes in order to win the game, the pieces can’t know they’re being moved.” “But Princess Celestia controls the Sun, she could never be anypony’s pawn!” Clover shouted in protest. “Little pony,” Jormungandr said with a tiny laugh, “everything under heaven, from the tiniest grain of sand to even the greatest power are but pawns to fate’s whimsy.” Hearing Jormungandr’s claim made Clover’s head reel, “I just have a hard time accepting that,” he said. With a knowing smile Jormungandr slithered over towards Clover. When he was directly over top of him, he placed his head near his left ear. “Young Clover, we shall speak again,” the massive serpent whispered, his voice echoing through Clover’s head. “Give Celestia my regards when next you see her.” Clover began panicking as darkness began overwhelming him. Struggling to fight against the choking shadows, he wrestled with them until he hit the ground. “Oww, my flanks,” Clover moaned, rubbing his backside with his hooves. Looking up, he realized he was back in his quarters tangled up in his sheets. Looking up at the bed he had fallen down from, he saw Shanks looking at him with a playful smile. “Mister Clover good morning,” he barked, before jumping on the unicorn and licking his muzzle. “How was your sleep, any good dreams?” “Shanks,” Clover said, using his magic to pry the affectionate pup off of him, “you wouldn’t believe it if told you.” He was interrupted by a gentle knock on the door. “Hey, Clover,” Seafoam said from the other side of the door, “Time to get up, we have to meet with both princesses in twenty minutes.” “Shanks,” he said to the pup, “I can tell today’s going to be a long day.” Shanks didn’t reply, but waited patiently by the door. “Okay here goes nothing,” Clover said, opening the door to head towards breakfast.