History Lessons

by dungeonguy88

Lesson Two: Know Where you Stand

Some fifteen hundred years ago...

The Grand Castle.

A castle that, it would be argued, is so luxurious and awe inspiring it has no need for a more proper name. This, being on the presumption that no other castle could be so worthy of be called 'grand' as this one.

Princess Platinum was quite sure that it took many a night and day, before her ancestors could come up with all that. Entire songs and great speeches were no doubt built up around that idea just for the sake of letting everyone pat themselves on the back for coming up with the name. And it was an impressive edifice, there could be no mistake about that. Sadly, it just seemed to play into the entirely incorrect views the non-unicorns held about them, that they were all a bunch of self-congratulatory, aristocratic snobs. All the sadder, because Princess Platinum always thought it was a rather lazy name.

One could have just called it The Really, Exceptionally Big and Shiny Castle and gotten the same effect.

Looking at the imposing structure now, she wasn't even sure she wanted to complete her journey back to her home...

...though that was more due to the fact that her father, King Bullion, was in all likelihood quite furious with her.

Not that she was afraid of her father. As the heir apparent, Princess Platinum had long had it instilled into her that it was by Divine Right that she would one day lead the unicorns as their Queen. And as such, she was beyond such things such as doubting her course or quailing at the thought of a terrible scolding. She was meant to rule and not even her King-Father could deny that or expect her to quake in his presence, as so many other ponies did.

So, she most certainly was not worried about what was waiting for her in the Grand Castle. She had made her choice, and her Right to Rule provided her all the validation she needed. She wasn't going to grovel before her father with her ears pinned back, like some child.

Nope, she was just...taking her time, in this last stretch of her trip. Moving at the leisurely, unhurried pace of true royalty.

Princess Platinum had to remind herself that she was standing perfectly still, on the side of the road, staring at the castle in the distance. She also had to take a moment to force her ears to swivel back upright.

Steeling herself once more, she took to the same easy trot she always used when she knew others would be watching.

It gave her more time to think. And to take in the scenery. The worryingly-chilly scenery.

Where it could be seen, dry grass clung to the ground, as lifeless as it was unappetizing. Even with the sun out, the day remained overcast, lending a touch of gray to everything that could be seen. Which seemed rather fitting, given the chilly breezes that still swept across the lands, and up under Princess Platinum's cape.

The occasional snow flurries weren't unheard of in Spring. Early Spring, that is. It wasn't terribly worrisome having a long Winter, those happened all the time, with the warm weather and daily showers being delayed by a few weeks. But, by now, they should be slipping into the beginnings of Summer and yet the days actually seemed to be getting colder.

And no matter what anypony did, they could not seem to chase away this Winter.

It was becoming very worrisome. So much so, that the smallfolk were beginning to lose their calm. They could only be placated so often before even they realized that something was wrong. It didn't help that more than one nation had sent delegations accusing the unicorns of being behind this, with some ill-thought out magic or some such thing. Though, quite a few more accusations had been leveled towards the Pegasi, under the notion that they were the ones most responsible for things like the weather. So, that was nice.

Earth Ponies were blaming the Unicorns, Unicorns were blaming the Pegasi, Pegasi were blaming the Griffons and the Griffons were blaming Ponies-in-general. There were surely, at least, a dozen more missives from other less important nations that were looking for answers. Some thought to blame the Changelings, but no one could come up with a good reason for why they would bother to do something like this. Others still spoke of dark magic being in the works, but even those claims failed to find any proof.

Some few thought to cast the blame towards the dragons. But nopony wanted to volunteer to go accuse a giant, fire-breathing, flying serpent with scales stronger than armor and a surly attitude of doing anything. So, that was quickly dropped as a possibility.

Sorting through all the accusations eventually lead to the terrifying realization that everyone was out of targets to blame, and still no one knew what was causing this problem. It seemed to be effecting everyone without regard for borders or allegiances.

Some thought to turn towards the alicorns, Celestia and Luna, but even they could not be found. Nor had Clover been able to make contact with her master, the famous Star Swirl the Bearded. Yet another couple of things to add to the growing list of worrying circumstances.

Soon, what few diplomatic ties the various nations had with one another had been cut, as each country closed ranks, each deciding to look after its own.

At this rate, if something didn't change, they were going to be looking at a crisis...

...and Princess Platinum was likely going to be chewed out by her father, for trying to do something about it.

“Who goes there?!” A shrill voice called from above, rather rudely shaking the mare from her thoughts. Turning her attention upwards, she looked up to the watchtower positioned alongside the path that lead to her home. More particularly, the guardspony atop the tower that was squinting down at her.

“You there! Declare who you are, before you go any farther!” The mare in the tower again called down, eliciting the raising of one of Princess Platinum's very elegantly maintained eyebrows. She made a point of glancing down upon herself, running her eyes down her pastel-purple coat to her platinum horseshoes. A single gesture of her hoof brought further attention to her pale mane, and lent a light flourish to the eminently recognizable trimmed and bejeweled cape.

How many ponies walked around while wearing a crown anyway?

If there was anypony that couldn't recognize her on sight, she had yet to meet them.

And still had not, if the embarrassed sputtering could be heard from atop the small guardtower was any indication “Your Highness?! I-I am just terribly sorry for how I addressed you! I did not recogni- I mean, I was clearly out of turn.”

Princess Platinum's violet eyes gave a visible roll at this reaction. One which the guardpony wisely did not comment upon. Again, with nothing more than a look, she made her point quite clear for the fretting guardspony.

Abruptly snapping her mouth shut, upon noticing the expression on the Princess' face, the watchmare gave a very snappy salute “Your Royal Highness certainly has leave to continue on her way.”

Princess Platinum resisted the urge to give another roll of her eyes, and instead settled for a heavy sigh “...Very good, then.”

A scant few steps down the path, the princess was beginning to let her thoughts wander again, when the bellowing sound of a trumpet carved it's way straight into the center of her head. Only narrowly resisting the urge to jump out of her skin, she quickly turned an irate glare towards the guardtower's occupant.

She could quite easily hear the gulping sound the guardsmare made, as she lowered the trumpet from her lips. Visibly quailing under Princess Platinum's gaze, the mare quickly hid the trumpet from sight “T-to...announce your return, Y-your Highness.”

Her annoyance was only mildly placated, when the guardsmare ducked down behind the parapets of the tower when she intensified her glare.

Platinum gave another shake of her head, before continuing down the cobbled path.

She didn't bother letting her mind ponder any truly important issues, quite sure that somepony would come along to rudely interrupt their course.

'Or maybe not so rudely, after all...'

There were some few that knew how to approach her. One such stallion was approaching her right now, with another four armored unicorns at his back.

“Well, well, is that you, Sir Valiant? Coming out to greet your princess after her long journey?” Princess Platinum called out, as the distance closed between the two of them.

Ever Valiant, a Captain of the famously skilled Silver Knights and a noble ward that has served in King Bullion's house since foalhood, and someone that she had been pleased to know for years.

“Indeed so, Your Highness.” The stallion, Ever Valiant, replied not missing the beat that so many others would when being addressed by royalty. Which was only fitting given how long she had known him “It seems only fitting that we be allowed to play some small part in your adventure. Even if it's just to deliver you to your father.”

If one were to look, they could see the stallion struggling to keep a smile from creeping onto his face. Princess Platinum made no efforts to hide her own pleasure. No one was really allowed to second-guess her feelings or expressions anyway, so she didn't bother concealing her gladness at the stallion's presence.

While he and his fellow armsponies stopped an appropriate distance from their princess, she didn't slow her pace, even as they moved to salute her “How dull, that my father has the lot of you playing fetch. Especially, when there are so many more important things to do.”

The Princess made a point of stopping only a scant distance from the unicorn knight, a wholly inappropriate distance most would say. Again, the stallion was unfazed and, if anything, seemed a bit amused himself “Important things, Your Highness? Like perhaps going off to this little meeting of yours, against your King-Father's expressed orders? I'm sure my ponies could have found the time for something like that.”

“Oh? Well, I'll have to keep that in mind, the next time I decide to flout my father's orders.” She replied, in an entirely nonchalant manner. With a shake of her head, a few loose strands of her mane wisped across his face, even as she brushed past him “It would have been nice to spend some time in good company, during my little...flouting.”

“If her Highness desires a flouting...” He easily replied, a small smile crossing his lips.

---

“Hold on a moment, Chrysalis.”

“What is it? I thought you wanted to hear this story?”

“I do. It's just...was Princess Platinum-”

“Yes.”

“You didn't let me-”

“Yes, she was flirting with Ever Valiant. Something I would have clarified upon a little farther in the story, if you had given me the chance.”

“But, who is this Ever Valiant? I've never heard of him be-...”

“...”

“So, I guess you were going to cover that a little bit later too?”

“What a wonderful idea, Twilight Sparkle. Are you sure you haven't heard this story before? Do you perhaps want to tell the story yourself?”

“But, I like the way you tell it, Miss Chrysalis.”

“I'm sorry Hard Note, but if Princess Twilight Sparkle wants to-”

“Okay, Chrysalis! I'm sorry I interrupted...Please continue.”

“Another wonderful idea, Twilight. I think I just might.”

---

Turning to follow at her side, Ever Valiant spared only a brief glance for the armored mare sending the rather unpleasant look towards the Princess. Getting her attention, he managed to preempt anything out-of-turn that the mare might say about the Princess' attitude.

It would do more to get her in trouble than the Princess, anyway.

Soon enough, they were quickly closing the distance between themselves and the maingates to the Grand Castle, with Ever Valiant at her side and his four knights following in formation a few steps behind.

“So...may I ask how this little outing of yours went, Your Highness?” Valiant asked his princess, again in a manner that some would find far too familiar.

“...About as well as you could expect.” The royal mare replied, her tone quickly shifting from playful to irritable.

“That badly?”

“Worse, I dare say.”

“...Anything we're going to be going to war over?” Valiant asked, only half-joking.

“I'm sure that would please the Pegasi. But, no, if anything they're barely even acknowledging that we exist. As per usual.” Princess Platinum explained, with a wave of her hoof. Noticing the inquiring look coming from the stallion at her side, she gave out a sigh before elaborating “I suppose I should be pleased that the Pegasi City-States even deigned to send a representative, even if the one they sent was an insufferable jackass.”

“Better one, than none.” The knight sagely noted.

“Only barely. The pegasi aren't taking this seriously, sending some jumped-up commander, that I'm sure they were only too happy to send away for a few days. Worse, he seemed to realize that he barely amounted to a courtesy anyway, and was quite ready to bellyache about it. Vocally.”

Ever Valiant wisely chose not to comment on his Princess' own bellyaching.

“So, we cannot count upon the Pegasi in this, then. What of the others?”

Princess Platinum shook her head and made a disgusted sound before answering “I may not have gotten along with this Hurricane fellow, but I can't even begin to guess how things went with Puddinghead.”

“As eccentric as we've been lead to believe?”

“The mare went on for twenty minutes commenting on the natures of boxes and chimneys, before the Pegasi representative stormed off. The chancellor was still rambling on when I decided to take my leave.”

“Huh...makes one wonder how this mare managed to get elected of all things.” Valiant noted.

“I'm not. If anything, Chancellor Puddinghead is perfectly indicative of what should be expected when Earth Ponies get to pick their own leader.” Princess Platinum continued to grouse, even as she glared at the approaching gatehouse.

“Did you, at least, get a few moments to speak with whoever the Griffons-” The knight began.

“The Griffons didn't even send anyone!” The royal unicorn snapped.

“What?”

“Not even a missive, explaining their absence!”

That actually gave Ever Valiant more pause than any of the other news of this meeting. Anyone who actually knew anything about those that lead the Pegasi and Earth ponies couldn't have been surprised by the outcome. But, the Unicorn Kingdom and the Griffons had long been on, more or less, good terms. Similar notions about honor and the Right to Rule had served as a fair foundation for diplomacy between the two groups. They had often found themselves as military allies, or at least partners, against the war-like Pegasi, with the Unicorns paying handsomely for the Griffons to supplement the Kingdom's elite forces.

Whether the Griffons were choosing not to attend this conference or simply unable, it was very troubling.

“Of all the times to do such a thing, I cannot believe that they think now is the appropriate time for such things.” Princess Platinum continued to rant, perhaps not yet recognizing the possibility that their most likely of allies might not have been absent by choice.

Valiant ended up shaking his own head over this “I suppose it's just as well. If the conference went as poorly as you say, I can't imagine their attending could have helped things, Your Highness.”

“Oh, you think so, do you?”

It took a moment for the stallion to realize that he had just made himself a target for his princess' ire. He quietly cursed his loose tongue, before trying to play damage control “...I'm quite sure I don't know what to think, Your Highness.”

“Do you honestly think the Pegasi would have been so ready to snub, if they had known that the Griffons were going to be in attendance? Hm?”

Ever Valiant gave a helpless shrug, knowing the only option was to let her run her course.

“No. The moment they caught wind of it, they would have been scrambling to send someone that could actually make some important decisions. Not some whiny peon, looking for a fight.”

“I suppose, it would have been a good thing for them to take the conference seriously.” The stallion conceded.

“Oh, a very good thing, indeed. Even better would be the worry it would stir among the Pegasi and Earth ponies, seeing that our two nations had come to the table.”

“How would that-”

“We almost certainly could have come to an accord with the Griffons, at least. And do you think the others would sit back idly, while we did so? No. The Pegasi, in their militant paranoia, would have reached out to the Earth ponies and, appropriately enough, taken care of approximately half of the work we would need to make this all work. Their little coalition would meet our own, and everyone could begin to take this seriously. Each side would be negotiating with the power and respect needed to keep the other from dismissing the issue. But, no, we've all decided that we don't need to even talk with one another...That is what our shiftless Griffon friends have cost us...” Princess Platinum finally finished, almost out of breath due to her frustrated rant.

A few moments of silence reigned over the group, with the guards at their backs knowing better than to say anything and Valiant knowing to give his Princess' a few moment to compose herself.

They all came to a halt at the gates, which quickly began creaking open, just as soon as the party was spotted.

“So...it's a shame the Griffons couldn't attend.” Ever Valiant noted, in a nonchalant manner.

Princess Platinum suddenly let out a, very un-princess-like, snort of laughter at that “Indeed.”

“Rather rude of them, when you lay it out like that. Sounds like they may have just doomed us all.” The stallion teased a bit more.

Again, she couldn't help but chuckle at that “I shall be expecting quite the impressive excuse for perhaps causing the end of the world. A written apology, at the very least.”

Pleased to have gotten the Princess out of her funk, Ever Valiant quickly followed at her side as they entered into the castle's bailey.

A bit more accepting of her failure now, Princess Platinum quickly reclaimed her usual poise “So, it seems my little endeavor has turned out to be quite the utter disaster. I can only hope things have gone better here?”

Valiant visibly considered the question for a moment, before shrugging “An utter disaster? No, I wouldn't say so. There was a bit of panic the night you slipped out of the castle, but it wasn't a disaster.”

“Small victories.” Platinum remarked.

“There was, however, some small concern when King Bullion threatened to have Clover's head removed.” The knight calmly informed.

“What?!” The princess rather loudly blurted out, coming to an abrupt stop in the middle of the courtyard.

“Your Father was rather quick to blame her for your disappearing into the night.” Valiant sadly informed.

“He hasn't done anything to her though, right?!” The princess quickly demanded.

“Other than scaring her out of her wits, no. Thank goodness for that.”

Platinum had to rise a hoof to her forehead, in an attempt to rub away the conflicting emotions over this news. She didn't entirely succeed, as she quickly stomped that same hoof down “The entire point of leaving on my own was to make sure Father couldn't do that sort of thing to anypony!”

There was a sudden intake of breath from just behind them, but Ever Valiant quickly silenced his subordinate with a stern glance, that went unnoticed by Princess Platinum.

He quickly turned his attention back towards the distressed mare at his side “I'm afraid as King, there are a great many things that he could do, Your Highness.”

“Urrghh! I am aware of that! But he can't just go blaming others for what I do!”

“It is no secret that you hold counsel with Clover, that you give an ear to what she has to say. And, unfortunately, our Court Mage has been a bit more vocal than is proper for her recently acquired station.”

“Vocal? That mare could barely raise her voice against her own shadow. It took me a month just to get her to speak plainly with me, so what is this claim that she is suddenly being so forward?” Princess Platinum asked, skeptical of the stallion's words.

“It's-...it's all relative, Your Highness. Regardless, everypony has heard of her supposed visions and everypony has heard that you are taking them seriously.” The stallion continued on, even as he took to the front restarting their trek through the courtyard.

“Taking Star Swirl the Bearded's own student seriously is now seen as scandalous? Well, I certainly-...Moon Above! Please tell me that he hasn't heard that his beloved student was almost executed!” Princess Platinum suddenly demanded, in a near panic at the thought.

“Well, the castle is still standing...” The Knight-Captain pointedly observed. It may have been a bit of an overstatement of what would happen if Star Swirl the Bearded unleashed his wrath upon them, but not by that much. Turning back to the mare at his side, Valiant finished what he was saying “As far as I know, Star Swirl the Bearded knows no more of our circumstances than we of his.”

The princess gave an immense sigh of relief at that, before closing her eyes and muttering to herself “Small victories...Small victories...”

“Though, it might not be a bad thing if we could find him. To speak with him about this...unseasonable weather.” The stallion added.

“Oh, yes. Right after we tell him about how-”

“His Majesty managed to rein in his temper quickly enough. Reason started to reassert itself when questions were raised about his call to search for a head-sized box. As you say...small victories.”

“A head-sized box? Why-...Oh. He was going to send-...oh.”

“Your Father was quite certain, that poor Clover had manipulated or ensorcelled you into following, what he referred to as, a suicidal course. There was quite the undercurrent of concern, hiding just below his abundant anger.”

Princess Platinum had returned to massaging her brow, desperate to work the building stress away before she got a headache.

“And you want me to go find Star Swirl? Letting him know how closely his own apprentice came to being rendered travel-sized?” She demanded incredulously.

“Perhaps the Alicorn sisters then?” Valiant offered with a shrug.

Princess Platinum only shook her head at that. By all accounts, both Celestia and Luna had fallen completely out of contact with pretty much everyone. They could have fallen off of the face of the planet, for all that anyone knew.

“Just...just tell me that Father hasn't been too rash in his actions. He hasn't actually hurt Clover, has he?” Platinum eventually requested.

“No, one of the servants found the note you left behind. That, along with an airtight alibi for Clover, managed to convince him to show some restraint. Clover's been confined to her tower for now, but otherwise remains healthy.” Ever Valiant explained. After a few moments of consideration, he nodded towards his Princess again “Mayhap I should have opened with the part where Clover is unharmed.”

“Yes, mayhap.”

“In any event, your Father-”

“Is going to have to wait for a little bit longer for me. You say Clover is in the tower, yes?” Princess Platinum cut in. Smoothing out her mantle, she soon turned towards the keep ready to go seek out her mage friend “Before anything else, I should check upon her. I'm quite sure that she-”

While Ever Valiant patiently nodded at the Princess' decree, one of his guardponies moved to intercept the princess. A few moments later, Princess Platinum was blinking in confusion, as an armored mare set herself in her planned path “And just what is this?”

Knowing well enough what was about to happen between these two, the Knight-Captain quickly put his mind to defusing the situation. He was just a shade too late, as his subordinate took the opportunity to speak up.

“Your 'visit' with the Court Mage is going to have to wait. His Majesty gave explicit orders for you to present yourself to him the very moment you arrived...Your Highness.” The slightly younger mare told the Princess in as stern a manner as she could muster.

Princess Platinum spared a pointed glance for Ever Valiant, before turning her attention back to the armored mare blocking her path. Tilting her head for a moment, the Royal mare seemed to be pondering over something “And, am I to take it that it falls to you to escort me unto my Father's presence. The very moment I arrive?”

“That is correct.” The mare stated without hesitation.

Ever Valiant resisted the urge to sigh, even as he lamented his choice of subordinates for the Princess' escort.

“Well, I suppose you can't very well let yourself fail in carrying out my Father's orders, now can you?” The Princess asked, in an overly saccharine tone.

“Yes, Your-” The mare began again.

“Though that does present a bit of a problem for you, now doesn't it?” Platinum interrupted, with a faux-thoughtful look that gave the other mare some pause.

“I don't-”

“It's a rather impossible task for you to fulfill at this point, wouldn't you agree? Given that I arrived more than a few moments ago, and yet here I am. Very much not in my Father's presence.” The royal mare observed.

“That is-”

“Why, it's almost as if my Father's realizes that this order couldn't possibly be fulfilled to it's very letter, as he worded it. That he understands that I shall need to take some time to ready myself for such an appointment. That I might need time to make myself presentable after my long journey or that he might be unavailable himself.”

The mare visibly winced, as the Princess continued on with her lambasting. Forcing herself to standup a bit straighter, the mare unfortunately failed to notice the look her Captain was sending her way. The one that very much urged her to drop the issue “Your Highness. I understand perfectly well that His Majesty was not speaking entirely literally.”

“Oh?”

“But, by that same token, he too would understand that what you wish to do is nothing more than a showing of petty insolence-”

Ever Valiant facehoofed.

“-that he would surely not allow to be tolerated, even for the sake of another. Now, please-”

“Petty insolence, you say? I assure you, my dear, my insolence is anything but petty.” The Princess noted with a chuckle.

The mare couldn't help but be taken aback by the flippancy of that remark, before trying to turn towards her Captain for support. Support that took the form of a stallion sternly shaking his head.

She scowled at that, before gritting her teeth.

“Your Highness...I apologize if I was a bit abrupt. However, you cannot-”

“I'm sorry, but are you sure that you're the one that gets to dictate what I can or cannot do? I must say, I cannot be sure myself, as I'm not quite sure I recognize you.” Platinum observed with an upraised eyebrow.

Her own scowl unabated, the mare again tried to take control of the situation “Rightful though your guilt may be for Lady Clover's predicament-”

“Ah, now I recall. You're Graceful Chivalry's daughter, are you not? I can see it in the jawline, so he must surely be your father, yes?” The Princess said.

The mare fell silent at that, staring down at her own hooves, only now grasping the situation she had blithely galloped into.

“...Yes, Your Highness.” The mare glumly replied.

“I thought so. I really should have recognized you sooner, but I do meet so many ponies. You'll understand, if I need to be reminded of your name, yes?”

The other mare didn't respond.

Ever Valiant shook his head at this, quite ready to intercede, even if it meant gaining the Princess' wrath “Your Highness, I'm sure that Clover has already heard of your arrival, and-”

“One moment, Captain Valiant. I should know the names of those that have been tasked with guarding my life.” Platinum stalled the stallion's words with a wave of her hoof, before turning back with a smile for the mare in front of her “So, tell me my lady, what is your name again?”

After a few moments, the mare muttered something unintelligible. The Princess did not spare her and merely tilted her head, as if to ask the other mare to speak up.

“...FitzChivalry.”

“There. Now, was that so hard?”

“Your Highness.” The Knight-Captain spoke up more strongly this time, earning her attention more fully. The Princess seemed briefly testy about this, though this did not last long after meeting Valiant's own gaze. Several tense seconds passed between the two of them, during which the Princess' own stern expression softened and gave way to a small amount of shame.

Glancing towards the mare, FitzChivalry, Platinum gave a small shake of her head, before focusing back upon her stallion “Let my Father know that I will be along shortly. I have some small business to attend to.”

“Yes, Your Highness.” Ever Valiant quietly affirmed.

Stepping around FitzChivalry, the Princess paused for a moment before speaking “Again, my apologies for not recognizing you, my dear. It's rather unforgivable of me, given how much I've heard of you from Valiant and your own Honorable Father. Do take care...”

“Yes, Your Highness.” FitzChivalry replied, even as she avoided looking towards the Princess.

Princess Platinum briefly seemed tempted to say something more, but instead began an easy trot towards the keep.

An uncomfortable silence quickly overtook the small group of guardsponies, one that was only interrupted by the occasional fidgeting of the other three ponies there. With a look and a quick movement of his head he dismissed the other three, a directive that they were quick to follow.

Turning back towards FitzChivalry, Ever Valiant breathed in deeply, before letting it go over the course of several seconds “Well, I-”

The mare quickly snapped to attention “Sir, I'd like to apologize for my actions. And...for embarrassing you. I am ready and willing to accept any punishments you feel appropriate.”

“...Including the one for interrupting a superior officer?” Valiant wryly asked, swiftly earning a chagrined look from the mare. He held up a hoof, to forestall any further attempts to apologize from her “It's fine, Chiv. Frankly, I think letting our lovely Princess have her way with you is more than punishment enough, at this point.”

“I-I didn't mean for it to get so-” She began again.

“Like I said, it's fine. I should have kept a tighter hold of things anyway.”

She nodded at that, accepting his leniency for the moment “...Sir? Permission to speak freely?”

Ever Valiant rolled his eyes at this, before shaking his head “Nope. 'Fraid not.”

Chiv's jaw dropped a bit at this, in surprise, but she managed to swallow down what she wanted to say.

The stallion smiled at that “Look, it's pretty obvious you don't particularly like our Princess very much.”

“Uhm...”

“You shouldn't be too surprised to find you're not the only one, Chiv. I mean, I'm rather fond of her, but...”

Unsure how to go from there, FitzChivalry settled for rubbing the back of her helmet with her hoof “...Is that so, sir?”

“You're low enough in rank that you haven't been asked to attend any sort of higher social functions.” Valiant began, politely diverting from the real reason she wouldn't be welcome at such events “At those things, you end up surrounded by way worse than her, all of them sniffing about for any sort of weakness that they can use on one another.”

Chiv could only tilt her head at that, not entirely surprised by what's she was hearing “I suppose, I understand...”

“Don't think that you do. King Bullion's not as secure as he sometimes acts with his position, and there's lots of others sporting blood as blue as his own, all looking for a chance to call themselves King or Queen.” Ever Valiant began an easy trot, evidently expecting the mare to follow him as he continued to explain “And, as his only heir, the Princess has a lot of Unicorns trying to pick her apart for any weaknesses. This sometimes means that she ends up getting really defensive, really quickly. And for her, getting defensive usually means getting offensive. As you just found out.”

“...Why are you telling me this, sir?”

“You put yourself in her way and she overreacted. Want you to know why.”

Chiv gave the stallion a look that made it clear that she was expecting more of an answer.

He tilted his head back towards her “She is going to be your Queen one day, despite there being others vying for the position. I don't want you clinging to this and souring things for when the day comes. She realizes well enough that she went over-the-line.”

“Am I to expect some sort of apology then?” Chiv asked with clear skepticism.

“No more than what you just got, I'm afraid.”

Again, the mare sent him a look that was full of doubt.

Valiant shrugged at this “Royalty doesn't apologize. Not directly, at least. So...here I am.”

“So, you're apologizing for her now?”

“Eh, His Majesty has a bunch of ponies that are always apologizing for him too. They're called diplomats. Anyway, that's enough of that.” The stallion declared before coming to a stop. It took a moment for Chiv to note that they were standing by the practice yard.

“Sir?”

“You've got a lot of nervous energy in you that you need to work off, I think. This tends to help, Chiv. Plus, we've got the whole Silver Knights reputation to uphold, so it looks good when we put in the extra training.” Valiant explained, while pointedly gesturing towards the other ponies working in the courtyard. Turning towards the keep, Valiant set off at a quick pace “Once I've spoken with His Majesty, I'll come back down and help you out.”

“Thank you, sir!” Chiv called back, noticeably excited at the offer. After a few moments hesitation, she held up a hoof “And, uh-...sir?”

“What's that?” Valiant called back with a glance.

“...Do you really speak of me to others?”

The stallion chuckled at that, briefly leaving the mare feeling embarrassed “Chiv, the Silver Knights are supposed to be the best-of-the-best. Of course, I talk about the mare that's actually trying to live up to that claim. Now get back to it.”

“Yes, sir!”

---

Clover was trying very hard not to fret.

She didn't think of herself as an overly fretful pony. Her master had certainly never instilled any fretful tendencies when teaching her; very little tolerance for useless fretting, he would say. Clover was quite probably one of the foremost experts on magic in the Kingdom, and thus should be quite above fretting.

She was certainly a capable magician, after all. Would her teacher really have kicked her out if she wasn't ready? When Star Swirl the Bearded told you that you were ready to take care of yourself, well...that was quite a compliment from him. And all Clover had to do to become Court Mage was present herself before King Bullion's court. And just like that, she was given a tower, books, supplies, and...basically told to mind her business until she was called upon.

Still, she was a very capable magician, she reminded herself.

Clover was trying very hard not to fret.

She didn't think the two armed guards by the door were trying nearly as hard as she was not to fret, and they seemed perfectly calm.

The magical mare swallowed down anxiously, as she turned another page in “Weather Magic: Whether your Withers can Weather the Weather” a highly informative tome...whose author may have sported an overfondness for wordplay. And, in addition to being pertinent to their current crisis, it was proving quite helpful in distracting her from certain recent events.

Sparing another glance for the two very stern ponies by the door leading from her not-terribly-drafty tower, Clover found her hoof anxiously rubbing her neck once more. Not too long ago, two very similarly armored and severe ponies were roughly dragging her out of her bed in the middle of night, and tossing her in front of the terrifyingly angry King Bullion.

They didn't even let her change out of her sleeping gown before delivering her to the King. This lead to the unfortunate circumstance of her lying on the floor with a silky, clover-covered night gown wrapped around her hooves, whilst looking up to the pony that could, at any moment, order her head chopped off.

It had been a very stressful night.

Things were not helped by her utter confusion and bewilderment at the situation she had been tossed into. Confusion which only incensed King Bullion further, which in turn had left the poor mage all the more bewildered and unable to answer the stallion's accusations. Most of which centered around Princess Platinum's sudden, unannounced departure from the castle, and whether or not Clover was to blame for it.

It was only after she had been dismissed from the King's presence that she had been given the opportunity to get herself out of her sleepwear and her head on straight that she had been able to sort her thoughts. It was only then that she recalled the Princess speaking of an idea to address the blizzard crisis a few days before. An idea based on Clover's own counsel, that they would need to work with the other tribes rather than against to solve the problem.

Unfortunately, by the time she had put things together herself, King Bullion had rather decisively ordered her to be kept to her tower until the Princess' return. He apparently had no need for Clover's own insight into his daughter's disappearance, having found some manner of note explaining things.

As such, she was rather hopeful that Princess Platinum's return would be swift. There was no telling when the King's temper could take another turn for the worse, and there was little doubt that she remained in his sights. And, despite her visions and dreams telling her otherwise, she was rather worried that something might have happened to the Princess.

Clover couldn't imagine anyone daring to accost her, but even so, Princess Platinum was traveling without any manner of armed escort, in a time where the roads weren't entirely safe for lone travelers. There was no telling what could happen to the Princess on such a journey.

She didn't care to entertain the possibility of the one pony, apart from her teacher, that took her visions and advice seriously not...returning. The fact that the Princess was one of the only ponies in the castle to extend a hoof in welcoming her didn't help keep her from worrying. The Princess had been rather kind to her and when she wanted to she could exude this utterly magnetic charisma and confidence, that Clover rather envied...

'...she's also rather pretty.'

Clover immediately stuck her nose as deeply as she could into her book, in an effort to keep herself from 'fretting' anymore about the Princess.

So, she was rather startled when the doors to her tower were abruptly thrown open. As were the two guardponies stationed by them, who very quickly coated the handles of their weapons in the glow of their respective magics...

...and who then very quickly dismissed the aforementioned glows, upon recognizing their Princess.

“Your Highness!” Both Clover and the two guards all called out as one.

“Ah, there you are, Clover.” Princess Platinum said, as if she hadn't just returned after disappearing into the night against her King-Father's wishes. The Princess soon turned to the two guards to her sides now, giving each a curt nod before addressing them “You two are dismissed.”

There was only brief moment of shared hesitation between the two of them, that ended after they shared a glance with one another. A moment later they both nodded “Yes, Your Highness.”

Just as they were about to close the doors behind them, Platinum held up a hoof as if a thought had just occurred to her “Ah, just a moment...”

Both paused at their Princess' word and watched, along with Clover, as she undid her finely-trimmed cape and set it over a table. A moment later, she was using her magic to undo the harness that housed the two sheathed long-knives along the sides of her barrel. She soon used her own magic to levitate the weapons over to the two guardsponies “Please, do me the kindness of having these returned to the armory.”

There were another couple of hesitant nods from the two guards, that ended with one of them taking the weapons in his own magic, before leading his companion out the doors.

As they closed behind them, Princess Platinum began shifting about, as if shaking away any lingering discomfort caused by the harness “Ah, that is so much better...”

“You stole weapons out of the armory?” Clover worriedly asked, as she quickly trotted over.

“Borrowed, dear. Valiant gave me a set of my own a couple of years ago, but those really are too nice to actually use if the need arises, so...” Princess Platinum explained as easily as if she had just swiped an extra blanket from the cupboard.

“U-use them? You didn't have to, did you? At the meeting?” Clover asked, suddenly latching onto a worrisome possibility.

“I was sorely tempted...” Princess Platinum sourly noted. Letting loose a quiet sigh, the royal mare let her calm facade slip a bit before focusing on Clover “...I'm afraid things did not go as well as you could have hoped, Clover.”

“How do you mean?” The magician quietly asked. Prophetic visions or no, things could go wrong in the most unexpected of ways. Sometimes this was even moreso when it involved such predictions, especially if they were poorly interpreted, and she was not so sure she trusted her own insight into such matters.

“We'll get to that in a moment, Clover. But first...how are you doing?” Princess Platinum asked with clear concern for the other mare.

Clover briefly ducked her head at the attention being sent her way, briefly reminded of why she thought so well of the Princess “I-...I'm alright.”

The royal mare gave a patently skeptical look at that answer, that left Clover squirming “Your Father was admittedly...scary.”

Platinum frowned at that “Yes, I heard about the, uhm...box.”

Clover again found herself rubbing her neck, as if to assure herself that she wasn't going to have her head lopped off. She was shaken from ruminating on that for too long, when her Princess started speaking again.

“Believe me, I am going to be having words with him about this matter; threatening to have somepony executed of all things. Just because I went on a little trip without his permission.” Princess Platinum noted with a huff. Stomping her hoof a couple of times, she marched across the room over towards the unlit fireplace “I mean, it certainly wasn't as if it was your idea for me to sneak off into the night.”

“I didn't even know.”

“Precisely, which was exactly the point of me doing so...where's the firewood?” The Princess asked with an upraised eyebrow, noting the distinct lack of dry timber in the room.

“I ran out the other day, I'm afraid...It was rather chilly last night, and they haven't brought anymore up and, uhm, I'm still not allowed to go down and-”

“Now that is just petty. Know that I shall see to it that someone is sent up with a fresh supply, just as soon as I leave.”

“Thank you, Your Highness. I really appreciate that, but...about the summit?” Clover reminded, all too ready to focus upon the crisis, instead of her last few days in the castle.

“Yes, yes, of course, dear. I just wanted to be sure that you-...you didn't suffer too much on my account.” Princess Platinum hedged.

Looking on, Clover eventually managed to draw up her reserves and give the Princess a comforting, if awkward, smile.

Seeing this, Princess Platinum eventually gave her own uncomfortable smile “Well, good...”

“I'll manage, Your Highness. I was taught by Star Swirl the Bearded himself, if you recall. And he could be kind of scary too.” Clover again assured her.

“Right...Well, then onto the matter at hoof, I suppose.”

“Yes, Your Highness. How did the meeting go? Did you manage to get through to the other nations?” Clover hopefully asked.

“I'm afraid not, Clover.” Princess Platinum admitted.

“What? But, my visions-”

“I am not calling your powers into question, Clover. But, unfortunately, the other nations did not see fit to take this matter as seriously as needed.”

“But, how badly could it have gone?” Clover asked, both perplexed and worried.

“...Let us just say, that the meeting could not have been hurt by my bearing cold-steel against the other delegates. Now that I think about it, this Commander Hurricane might have actually approved of such barbarism.”

“What?!” The young magician blurted out.

“I might have even found some common ground with him against Puddinghead, if I did so. That's hindsight for you...”

Author's Note:

So, here's this update. I'm sure I'll have plenty of questions come in about my portrayal of the characters and the world itself. I actually plan on Twilight giving voice to quite a few such questions at the beginning of the next chapter, but I'm still all too happy to offer up some answers now.

Funnily enough, I had most of this written before viewing the latest MLP:FiM episode pertaining to Griffons. Amazingly, most of my headcanon stood up fairly well to the new canon lore.

For those curious, for Princess Platinum's appearance I'm drawing on this work:

The artist also has some pics of the other founders that I'm also rather taken with. If you want a good idea of what I'm imagining while writing them, you should take a look.

As always, the next couple of days will see some edits and typo corrections. Naturally if you spot any, I'd appreciate being told.

Any questions and criticisms are more than welcome, and I hope everyone enjoys this update.

EDIT: Here is a proper link to the artist whose depiction of Equestria's Founders I was so taken with: http://emkay-mlp.deviantart.com/art/Princess-Platinum-Interpretation-359920402

Comments

[D48]

Well, that was fun as usual, although I do not really have all that much to say on the chapter itself. That said, it would be nice to have a link to the author's profile in the author's note so we can look up the rest of the art ourselves.

Also, on an unrelated note, how much of Hero Antagonist hinges on the little details of the episode and how much of it is just what we already know about Trixie and the broad strokes of the episode? I am thinking I am probably not going to bother watching it based on what I have heard so I do not care about spoilers, but I would like to read that story so long as it is possible to understand it without knowing all the details of the episode.

[GoG ToXiC]

So far I find your depiction of history to be one of the most interesting I've encountered, which is made all the sweeter by the fact that it's being told by an absolutely perfectly written Chrysalis. Also, Hard Note's youthful naivette is the perfect contrast for her and makes the dynanic between him and Chryssy incredibly enjoyable to read. That's not to mention the entertainment value of him stymying Twilight with child logic.

Keep up the great work!

[dungeonguy88]

6011968 I'll be sure to add a link to the artist's collection on DeviantArt; I think they go by Emkay, and they have some interesting pics for all of the Founders.

And as far as I can tell you don't really need to know anything in particular about the recent episodes to enjoy Hero Antagonist. Anything relevant I intend on making apparent in the story itself. Some will be more obvious than others for those that have watched it, but it should hold up well enough on it's own.

6012488 I'm glad you're enjoying things so far. I really wanted to put a unique spin on Equestria's history, while properly drawing upon the source material so one could...connect the two. If you're curious about any details about things, I'd be happy to share them. The next chapter will involve Twilight stopping things to answer some pertinent questions, including some that I think might be raised for the readers. But, it's nothing I wouldn't be willing to share at this point.

[D48]

6012619 Cool, I'll check out those pictures and read the story after I take care of some other stuff.

[Razzy]

Typical ponies, blaming other races for their own shortcomings.

Interesting take on the history of the setting.