The Royal Wedding

by Diamond Sparkle

Chapter One-The Alliance

Ambassador Clavipes turned to his staff, many of which were clearly worried at the prospect of entering the Kingdom of Griffona as themselves, unprotected by any disguise. "Listen to me, as long as you don't do or say anything really stupid then you have nothing to fear from the griffins. We are not spies today but a formal diplomatic mission, and the griffins have a strong sense of honour and respect diplomats. If one attacked one of you, he or she would get into deep trouble. That being said, do as you would be done by. Remember, you are formally representing the Hive and her Majesty, and her Majesty will be very angry with us if we end up persona non grata and our mission is ruined because of bad behaviour from any of you." With a buzz of wings, they left the Hive through the main gate and after a couple of hours flew over the border of the Kingdom. Eagle eyes saw them quickly from down below and a squadron was scrambled to intercept them, but they soon calmed down when they saw who it was as this had been arranged in advance, and merely escorted them to Three Circles, the Griffin capital city.

First was a city wall tall enough and thick enough to keep any creatures that could not fly out unless the gate guards kept them in. At every few paces there was a large crossbow more then capable of shooting anything less then a dragon out of the sky, manned by a griffin guard. The first circle was little better then a shanty town of the teeming poor, a warren of twisted streets and alleys barely wide enough for two griffins to pass side by side, filled with badly made housing with roofs of corrugated iron. This part of the city was well known for it's violence and high crime rate, a place where law enforcement was weak. However, given that most griffins were pretty good at defending themselves with beak and talon, that in itself kept crime to some sort of manageable level. After that was a second city wall much like the first, to protect the griffins of the middle class from what they thought of as the lower orders. Lower-class griffins were only allowed to fly over with proof of employment or enough money to go on a spending spree, except in a time of dire emergency that threatened the entire griffin nation.

Here the houses and shops were well made and law enforcement was far stricter. In the slums violence was more or less winked at unless it escalated to riots or political opposition; here there were enough guards to crack down hard on it. Duels were allowed but they had to be organized in advance, and the changeling noticed at least one empty gallows as a warning that serious offences would not be tolerated. The griffins here took much better care of themselves and it showed.
After flying over a third wall, this one to keep the middle classes and the griffin nobility and royalty apart, they passed the mansions and the luxury shops of the nobles. Unlike the other two classes, the nobility often wore clothes of the finest silk, along with golden signet rings and amulets for both genders to show off their wealth. At the centre of it all was the Royal Palace, covered in fine white marble, where King Arkon of the Griffin Kingdom and his High Council waited for them. Griffin guards saluted and allowed them into the inner sanctum. "State your purpose, Ambassador," said the king, looking down his long beak at Ambassador Clavipes and his diplomatic staff.

"Your Majesty, we have been sent here by our Queen to ask for an alliance with your Kingdom, and as part of the alliance we want Princess Gilda to be given away in marriage, so that her love may strengthen our Hive. In exchange; we offer information. We have changelings who have infiltrated the Equestrian armed forces and the Royal Court itself, changelings that have spent decades rising through the ranks and know almost all of Equestria's secrets, and we're willing to share everything with you."

Princess Gilda was standing by her father, a royal ring on one talon, a necklace of fine gold around her throat, and as it was a formal occasion, her royal coronet of silver with it's one ruby and two sapphires upon her neck. She had been staring in disgust at the Changelings with disgust from the start, and when she heard their plans to have her marry their Queen, she let out a deep hiss of rage, flexed her lion claws and hackles rose up on her furry back.

"It's tempting, but what do you want to do with my daughter? You imprison other races in cocoons, and drain them of their love, or so it is rumoured. I won't have that happen to her. I love her, she is part of my family."

"She will be given guards, royal servants, as much griffin food as she can eat, and will be treated as Changeling royalty. And will reside in the royal quarters within our Hive."

When he said this Gilda could no longer restrain her anger. "Father, you are not going to agree to this, and give me to an overgrown insect, are you?"

"Be quiet, daughter. I have the interests of the Kingdom to think of. Yes, yes, you may have her and I will personally schedule a State Visit to your Hive to see her married off."

With a soft flutter of feathers Gilda's wings came out in a wingboner, but not one of arousal but of pure rage. But she gave a deep sigh. "Yes, Father, I will do what you say, although I'm not happy about it. When is the wedding to be?"

"In a week's time, it'll take that long to get it organized."

How could he do this to me, his own daughter? Gilda wondered, and stared at the mosaic floor in deep despair. An arranged marridge is one thing, but to marry me off to a love sucking bug is another. What can I and a Changeling Queen possibly have in common? And anyway, I'm straight. Most griffins are.

Comments

[bahatumay]

That was... quick.

[Diamond Sparkle]

2969624 There is more to come of course.

[bahatumay]

2970269
Maybe I should have said "your pacing was way fast". This chapter could easily have been twice as long.

[Wade]

Not... sure, but I'll stick around to see where this is going. Seems to be moving along extremely fast. Still, Princess Gilda, given away to a Changeling. I like the premise enough to see where it's going.

[Diamond Sparkle]

2970285 I get good ideas but then hurry them.

[Jaye_Ventus]

That gryphon transformation image... Celestial damn it, I have not seen that in ages!

[Fome]

3111814
I don't think I've seen it before myself; but it's certainly distracting in how clearly not Gilda or otherwise related to the story description it is.