Victorian Equestria: The Education of Princess Celestia

by Sky Sprinter

The Griffon Mission

The Great Griffon City of Seaddle: July 16th, 1808 AD/1708 C.a.L.

"Princess, I assure you that no two-leggers have set foot upon this realm since the ancient past." King Griff said. He sounded miffed that Celestia would accuse him of such a heinous thing like lying to her.

"King Griff, you know that I take these accusations seriously, and I will not be trifled with. But, I will give you the benefit of the doubt and I wish to be given access to the island in question to conduct my own investigation," Celestia smirked.

"Now Princess, I give you my word that all you'd find on the islands in my harbor will be merchant's buildings. Homes to the various guilds that I allow to gather in my city," King Griff smiled.

"I didn't want to bring this up," Celestia sighed, "But you have forced my hoof." Celestia then had a scroll appear which she then unrolled and read, "Article 8, Section 1, Clause 1 of the Equestrian Recognition of King Griff's Ascension to the Throne of Griffonstone states: Should the Griffon Lord prove to be unfaithful or be found otherwise untrustworthy, to the Princess of the Equestrian Realm Celestia, or Luna, then the Princess may rescind this document of recognition and all other treatises therein."

"The 'No Liars Clause' if I'm not mistaken?" King Griff asked with trepidation.

"Indeed," Celestia smirked, "I always make sure to include this clause in every agreement and treaty I make with any Griffon leader, whether they be Kings, Mayors, Counts, or Dukes. Now, due to this clause, I have the unilateral right to rescind all Equestrian recognition of your claim to the Throne of Griffonstone, as well as all trade treaties and even the Sovereign Authority of the Throne of Griffonstone, effectively reducing your realm's status to whatever I wish, whether it be a collection of city-states under my protection, or even uniting the Throne of Griffonstone with that of the Crown of Equestria."

Gasps were heard around the room as the enormity of what Celestia had said became clearer with every passing second. Celestia knew that actually triggering the "No Liars Clause" would likely lead to war and suffering for both the Griffons and her ponies, but she had to hope that King Griff didn't call her bluff.

"Y-you would not dare try to invoke such pain upon our realms," King Gruff stuttered.

"I dare because I must, but if you were to tell me the truth of these goings on, then I can reconsider everything I just said, and we can get back to ruling our realms," Celestia said holding onto her hope that King Gruff would take the hit to his prestige over the specter of war.

King Griff took a while to come to his decision, between his own thoughts and speaking with his advisers, but eventually he did make a decision. He sighed and then said, "Alright, I know that any war I wage against Equestria would only end in slaughter and the loss of my throne."

Celestia smiled and said, "I am glad we have come to an agreement, Griffon Lord."

---

As Celestia and King Griff flew to the island in question, one of the largest in the harbor and directly west of the city's center, Celestia wondered if she had made the right decision. If Griff had called her bluff, would she have backed down? What if she carried out her threat? These questions ate at her mind as they reached the southern end of the island and she saw the building Rainbow Dash had described to her.

"Fort Mayor, named for our first ambassador from the two-leggers," King Griff said dejectedly.

"The architecture reminds me a bit of Canterlot's, albeit fewer bright colors," Celestia remarked.

"The two-leggers say that this style of architecture was chosen for their embassy to show us Griffons the architecture of the greatest two-legger empire, that of a city named Rome," King Griff said.

When they got close enough to see the humans, Celestia saw that there was still work going on in the fields surrounding the building. King Griff told her that they were building servant's quarters and walls. When she looked closer, Celestia saw that the darker skinned humans were working while a few of the fairer skinned humans watched over them. She thought nothing of it but there was a nagging feeling she had.

When they reached the front of the building, a human in clothing similar to that of the nobility of Canterlot exited the building. His expression fit that of a politician's until he saw Celestia, which caused his expression to change to one of surprise.

"Ambassador Richard Gillmore, I sense you have some questions regarding my guest here?" King Griff sighed.

"A winged Unicorn," Richard said awed, "It was crazy enough that Griffons actually existed, but winged Unicorns?"

"Alicorn is the proper term, good-sir," Celestia said. Luckily the innate magic of all the Equestrian races (including Griffons) allowed instant translations from other languages. Accents still existed but that was only due to the closeness of the various races, meanwhile this human's English sounded like Standard Canterlot Equestrian to Celestia while Celestia sounded like New Yorker English to the human.

"Ah yes Alicorn, I apologize," Richard replied thinking of the possibilities of other mythical creatures actually existing.

After King Griff moved the conversation to the Ambassador's office, Celestia and Richard continued to rattle on about governance, politics, and about each other's species.

"So you rule over a federation of Unicorns, Pegasi, and normal horses?" Richard asked at one point, which caused Celestia to tell him the story of Hearth's Warming Eve and then of Discord's and her reign. In turn, Richard told Celestia of the history of the United States and of the current world stage. It was when the talk came to American and European government that Celestia had the germ of an idea that would years later be quoted as "The Turn of Equestria's Destiny."

Once the discussion had ended, Celestia immediately asked for some maps of the world, including more detailed maps of the United States and Europe, and asked Richard if he could help her get some letters to the US and the other governments of Europe. It took only a moment to pen the letters which Richard said he would send back to Washington DC using the sky carriages to ensure the letters reach Washington within the week and Europe within the next couple of months.

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

You should really like to the previous story. Which one of your stories is the previous one, anyway?

[Sky Sprinter]

8553721
Victorian Equestria: The Corps of Discovery is the previous one. I've added a link to that one in the description of this one as per your suggestion.