Chapter 19: Blood of Honor
Starlight Glimmer stared down in horror as the coliseum floor exploded into activity. The smoke from a single gunshot still lingered in the air, obscuring the mob that was taking place below.
She’d been worried enough for Velar’s fate as he began a duel without real weapons or flight against an enemy that was far larger and stronger than himself. But the not-prince hadn’t even seemed to hear her objections, or notice his mother’s terrified eyes.
Then the slave he’d volunteered to save had shot him in the back. With a rifle that wasn’t supposed to work.
Velar’s bodyguards had moved so quickly that the traitorous slave hadn’t had time for a second shot. Even as he worked the action with a claw, the first of many fletched shafts sunk into his face. The minotaur backed away in horror, dropping his weapons and cowering from the assault within.
“Get Zoya,” she heard the emperor shout to one of his guards, even as the stadium dissolved into chaos. “Looked like that shot went into his chest. Unity grant it didn’t hit him in the heart.”
Over a dozen guards surrounded the box—where had they come from so quickly? Two of them seemed specifically assigned to protect her, though they also didn’t let her get close to the royal family. Starlight’s screams were lost in the chaos.
The crowd below had broken into outright brawling. Valor slaves attacked Vengeance, and noble birds were starting to join in. Starlight didn’t hear anymore gunshots though—nor did she see any more sign of firearms.
It doesn’t work, it’s just a training rifle. Velar had been wrong—and that might have cost him his life.
Starlight Glimmer could’ve teleported away—maybe she should have. At such a time of turmoil, it was possible and likely that a diplomat like herself would be targeted. But she couldn’t bring herself to leave, not when she didn’t know if Velar would be okay.
“You need to get back to the pony quarter,” said the burly guard protecting her, as they made their way out of the stadium and hurried through the city. There was a stretcher up ahead, protected by more of the royal guards. “It might not be safe. We don’t know if this attempt is isolated or part of something bigger.”
“I’m not leaving,” Starlight argued, shoving him with her magic until they were back in the line going towards the palace. “Velar might need help!”
“We have doctors,” argued the gruff bird, glaring her down. She’d never seen a beak quite so pointed. “There’s nothing you can do.”
“Really?” Her horn glowed, as half a dozen spells ran through her mind. “I don’t think you know who I am. I don’t think you have any idea what I can do!” She was practically screaming now, as incensed as so many of the townspeople. It sounded like an out-and-out riot had finally started, and the stands were being torn to pieces. “What if not having pony magic around is the reason he dies? Maybe turning away one of Equestria’s most powerful spellcasters isn’t a great plan! Celestia knows I wouldn’t have stood there and let my prince get shot!”
Probably harsher words than any guard deserved, but she wasn’t exactly in the mood for being tactful.
A few more tense seconds of standoff, and the guards stopped trying to take her away to the pony quarter. She joined them the rest of the way to the castle, where a zebra was already waiting with an entourage to receive the stretcher. Starlight smelled incense as they led her away, and she tried to follow.
The emperor stopped her. “Starlight Glimmer—I am sorry you had to be here during such a tumultuous time. But I don’t think we will be able to continue with the day’s affairs. It might be best if you kept a low profile in the city for a few days. It would make the watch’s job much easier.”
“Is Velar going to live?” she asked, voice shaking. Probably she should’ve been worried about the greater political implications, like pulling every pony out of the city immediately following an assassination attempt like this.
But she didn’t care—she didn’t care about respecting the emperor, didn’t care about anything. Except what it had been like to watch a griffon shouting about the dishonor of an uneven match gunned down by the one he’d been trying to help.
“This is obviously Vengeance’s doing,” Guinevere was saying to someone wearing armor, just ahead of them. “Make sure Santiago isn’t permitted to leave the city until our investigation is complete. It was one of his birds.”
The emperor didn’t fill her head with empty words, as she had half expected. “I do not know, ambassador. My son is tough and determined. I have seen him endure many things. It’s possible he will survive. The old magic can preserve many who might otherwise fall. But ultimately, the cost of preserving one life that should be lost is another. I know my son… he would never consent for that price to be paid, even if it were the life of a willing friend. Even if it were a slave… he would refuse. Without a life to give in exchange, there is only so much Zoya can do.”
The emperor turned away from her, walking down the hall into the palace. “If you have faith in your polytheistic pony gods, perhaps you should pray to them for help. Velar can use all the divine aid he can gain.”
The emperor left her there. Guards barred her from entering the throne room, and she could tell from their belligerent expressions she would not be bullying her way past them. She could teleport, of course, but that wouldn’t exactly endear her to anyone. Or help Velar.
I should probably be packing. The Stalwart Stratus will be here tomorrow, and I’ll be on it. She had a feeling a lot of birds were going to hate her soon—taking away their weather magic and magical farming on the very day after such a tragedy. But it wasn’t her decision to make. Except in as much as she had been responsible for causing it in the first place.
Instead of going back to pack the last of her things, Starlight Glimmer followed the griffon doctors. She followed them past a few guards, all the way to the medical area in the back of the palace. There she finally encountered Anthony of Velar’s personal guard. And Starlight Glimmer knew she would be going no further.
“Sorry,” he said, without malice. Griffons didn’t sweat, but this one still looked ragged. He leaned on a war staff with his whole body shaking, tail smacking against the tile beneath him. “You can’t interfere. The doctors need their concentration.”
She didn’t argue with him, but she didn’t give up either. Starlight sat down directly across from him, maybe a few feet away. “You never could’ve seen that coming,” she muttered, voice low. “Velar was telling me about training rifles. He didn’t think they were dangerous.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Anthony said, still lacking anger. “That’s why the noble and great birds have bodyguards.” He turned his head towards the window, looking out over the city. Distant shouting still rang out from far away, though at least it wasn’t burning down. Somewhere as dry as this, that was a fire that would not be easy to extinguish. “Velar was the best house Valor ever had. Emperor Gaius… I’ve been watching his son since his first molting. I always knew… knew that one day he would take the throne, and finally the suffering of our empire would be over. He would be the one to solve all the problems that no emperor before him had the courage to fight.”
Anthony shook his head, smacking the wall with his staff. “I think I got swept up in Velar’s optimism. His… naivete. His Accipio would be too wonderful to live in. Unity could never allow it—our lives would be too easy, and we wouldn’t grow strong. So they take away the great ones. If he dies… Velar won’t be the first great bird of his generation to fall. It’s poetry that a bird of house Purity would be the one to pull the trigger. That’s vengeance for you, eh?” He laughed, a spiteful, bitter sound.
“You killed the one responsible,” Starlight said, lowering her voice a little. She could hardly comprehend the words she was speaking here—death was almost never a possible punishment in Equestria. Even the most terrible criminals had been locked away, or frozen in stone, or something similar. Actually killing someone? But that was how griffons did things. “Doesn’t that make it better? Isn’t that why you kill people?”
Anthony laughed again. “We kill murderers because it is honorable, not because it makes a difference. If Velar dies, Accipio will still suffer. Gaius is too honorable to have a secret flock of bastards lining up.”
“Does he have any daughters?”
Anthony shook his head. He didn’t get to say anything else, as the door immediately banged open.
It was a zebra, shrunken with age and weighed down with disappointment. She shook her head slowly. “Anthony,” she said, ignoring Starlight completely. “Go to the emperor. Tell him the bullet penetrated the stomach and the intestine. It will certainly become infected and kill him. The heir refuses the use of my magic. He must be convinced, or…”
“Aye,” Anthony said, taking off and flying away through the hallway on swift wings.
“You,” the zebra said. Starlight Glimmer realized she recognized her now, though she hadn’t while she’d been overwhelmed and confused with the weight of Velar’s impending death. This was Zoya, something like a court wizard to the empire. Starlight could smell the acrid, almost rotting smell of necromancy on the air around her. Blood magic was a forbidden, terrible art. “The equestrian is here to judge us, yes? To cast disdainful glances at those who use the tools nature has given them.”
Blood magic’s powers were incredible enough that Starlight herself had studied a little—but ultimately rejected them even at her worst. The cost of every spell was simply too high. But she wasn’t here to lecture. If Velar did use the old magic, she probably wouldn’t say a word.
There was no use lying to herself.
“I’m here to help,” she said. And she didn’t hesitate—not long enough for the zebra to interrupt her, as she clearly wanted to do. “No, I know you know your magic better than anyone. I hear you’re the best in the world. But if the prince… if the heir to house Virtue won’t use it, you don’t just have to give up. There’s another kind of magic available.” She lit up her horn for a second, mostly for effect. “Mine.”
“Inferior magic,” Zoya muttered, waving a hoof. “Ineffective. If he were not so defiant in his refusal to accept my help, he would already be healed.”
“You’re probably right,” Starlight said, though she wasn’t actually sure. “But he won’t. And my magic won’t cost anyone but me. He doesn’t have to agree to anything.”
Zoya finally seemed to look at her. The disdain gradually faded from her eyes. “Don’t think I do not know you, ambassador. You are Starlight Glimmer. The spirits whisper to me that you have gone beyond time. They say you can bend the minds of others, and twist their fates. Medical magic is something else. I do not think one such as you would know it.”
“I know first aid,” she argued. “But you’re right, I don’t. But I don’t have to be his doctor. There’s a spell… fairly difficult, but not for me. Stasis. I could freeze the moment he’s in right now, then summon experts in medical magic from Equestria. If it took them a week to get here, it would make no difference—time would not pass for Velar.” And I know it won’t take a week, because the flagship will get here tomorrow. There’s probably a royal surgeon waiting in the medical bay right now.
Zoya’s thoughtful expression deepened. “That is… an inferior option. You unicorns are proud of your abilities, but they are feeble things compared to those who are willing to pay for their spells. But… if the emperor cannot convince him… we would be fools to refuse an inferior option when the alternative is waiting for him to die.”
Already the emperor and his wife were coming down the hall, expressions twisted. “You must convince them to allow it,” Zoya finally said. “I will accept your help if it is our last resort. But I do not have the ability to make such decisions.”
“I’ll ask them,” Starlight said, though she already felt better. She knew the emperor well enough by now—or at least she thought she did. Gaius was a proud bird, but not an irrational kind of pride. He would not refuse the help Velar desperately needed when it was offered at his moment of need.
Starlight swallowed, preparing herself to make the case. It was time to save an idiot.
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Blood magic, eh?... Would like to see what it could do in this verse...
My oh my, that Zebra thinks she knows so much.
Any magic that requires the sacrifice of anyone is magic of the inferior type type even if its more powerful. Any spells that has that kind of steep price is horrifically inefficient.
If STARLIGHT of all people studied blood magic and refused it as too drastic, ain't no way miss zebra is gonna convince me it's a good idea. The show has made it clear that there are dark and corruptive types of magic in the world - just look at Sombra. And since Zoya is still here and SHE'S the "healer" who uses types of magic that can require one life for another, my guess is that she isn't normally the one who pays the cost. Generally a bad sign. Hopefully if Starlight can help Velar, it will improve relations between Equestria and at LEAST House Valor. But booooy are there gonna be bills to pay after this little fiasco. Somebody was a bad bird, and no political loopholes are going to explain this one away.
So just...I mean, fuck that zebra doctor outright, because holy shit lady, fuck off.
Gods, the stomach and the intestines, yeah that's a death sentence right there without a major medical intervention, and even then it's like 50/50 in real life.
Vengeance shall pay, I think. And oddly, I think, vengeance on Vengeance shall be sweet.
Oh irony of ironies when she who calls the skills of other inferior calls those she mocks on their pride.
Equestrian medicine is known to heal broken bones, which usually take weeks to heal, in a matter of days. A proper Equestrian medical expert could mean a lot more than Zoya seem to think they can.
That said, looks like Starlight overlooked the greater concern of a working gun in her panic. Can't blame her, but that might have repercussions down the line.
8806753
Don't forget the fact that they purposely found a loophole in their dealings with Equestria to screw Equestria over. There's still that tidbit.
Sigh. I want to feel sorry for Velar, and I'm not gonna pretend I saw him being shot coming, but it seems like he's just one of those characters that were born to die. His super naive beliefs, while being in the upper echelons of a slaver society also don't endear him to me very much. It also seems likely that this will serve to drive a wedge between Starlight and Equestria, because why the hell would the crown send help to this dude amidst these griffin inststigated tensions? Anyway, nice chapter.
8806766
Oh yeah, that's not gonna help one little bit. But at least House Valor can say honestly that they weren't behind the gun smuggling - it'd be pretty hard to convince Starlight that the Emperor would risk his own son AND his people. Honestly, with how completely oblivious Velar was to Starlight being upset by finding out that loophole, that might even be able to be chalked up to sheer cultural dissonance - he honestly didn't seem to see anything wrong with what they did. That doesn't mean it WASN'T wrong, but that MIGHT mean it is able to be rectified. This gun incident, on the other hand, was definitely blatant disobedience to the truce treaty agreed upon by all.
8806854
Well, the overall ignorance of the male population versus the intellect of the female population of Accipio plays into it as well, and it poisons both sides. The females of Accipio have been shown to pretty much unanimously be arrogant, full of themselves, and completely sure that they know everything, and everything they do is better by default. Just the same, the males are in positions of power, but avoid scholarly pursuits simply because they are male and it isn't their place. I'd be shocked if Velar could ever truly understand just how much they had screwed up.
"Our magic requires massive amounts of extra resources and most likely several slave corpses, whereas your magic literally only draws on your own internal power and different ponies can pool their resources to lift the strain, and only one of the two of us managed to hold back at least two apocalypses and at least three war-hungry nations for untold millennia. Clearly we are superior!"
When one society probably has to slaughter an entire village to bend the sun to their will and the other just has to politely ask the one with the biggest battery pack, there is no longer a question of superiority.
8806874
"But-but, if you don't have to sacrifice for that kind of power, how are you becoming stronger?!"
The thinking of arrogant, ignorant fools.
8806874
8806889
Or maybe Zoya is deeply aware, even better than the gryphons, of the inherent advantages of unicorn magic("damned spoiled brats with inborn wands!"), plus being able to mystically sense Starlight's power ("accursed overpowered pony!").
What is she supposed to do? openly admitting GlimGlam and and her team can do a better job than herself to a lower cost? Zoya may be a privileged slave close to the Emperor, but in the end she is but a slave. Her position is maintained mostly thanks to her talent as scholar of the arcane arts, so she clearly perceives Starlight as a dangerous rival.
8806923
The way she speaks and presents herself is one of a professional in her field, but the way she outright insults Starlight Glimmer and pretty much every unicorn in existence displays both ingrained bigotry and ignorance. A medical professional doesn't look at a capable helping hand and let their pride get in the way of saving an individual's life. She is making it clear that the only reason she'll use 'inferior magic' is if she's ordered to.
8806923
I believe the correct thing to do here is to not let her ego get in the way of saving the life of the griffon whose death could be blamed on her incompetence. If you're going to play the 'she's speaking that way for fear of her life' card, you have to factor in what she should actually be afraid of saying.
And the single worst thing an indentured servant can say to the person who decides whether they live or die is "I cannot do what you are asking me to". Because in that situation, nothing is holding them back from shooting you in the back of the head and moving on to the next slave.
8806988
She is clearly confident in her ability to save Velar...if only his patient were less squeamish about blood sacrifices.
I´m not saying Zoya is not being dismisive or selfish (she clearly is), just explaining her motives. For a slave respected by her unique abilities, to risk becoming superfluous by an intruder is an unwanted situation.
I wouldn't know about that. If two spells can achieve the same end result -- in this case saving a life, and I do not see a good reason to doubt that Equestrian magic would be able to save velar -- and the only visible difference is that one requires someone to die and the other doesn't, I think I know which one I would call more efficient.
Plus, a spell meant to save a life whose working requires a life to end strikes me as... dubious, I think, on a moral level, even if the sacrifice consents. This is a matter where I do agree with Velar.
8806753
You raise a very good point. If the price of healing magic is a life, any doctor who wants to practice medicine on more than one crucial case must perforce not pay the price themselves. That does cast Zoya's moral claims in a poor light, although she could very well reason that the price is one the zebra medical tradition pays as a collective whole.
8807038
But you're missing the obvious fact that a few days' delay is a higher price than killing someone.
8807070
A few days' delay when time is literally frozen for the guy in critical condition? Oooh yeah, hell of a price there. It's like having to see the temperature slowly rise and worrying about your ice cream, but the entire bucket is safe in the fridge.
Also... seriously? A few days is a higher price than a life?
More than likely Zoya's dismissal of Starlight is a matter of trust (or lack thereof) rather than of arrogance. Remember that little chit chat Zoya and Velar had about pony teams helping with the harvest, and beyond her lack of belief in their abilities the potential price that would be demanded if such services were so freely offered?
8807038
8806988
8806889
8806874
8807126
Seems to me like Zoya is also projecting pretty hard. She starts off by accusing Starlight of looking down on her before Starlight even had a chance to say anything.
8806813
Because that's what ponies do. If they think they have a shot at helping, they will.
GAH! ANOTHER WEEK JUST TO SEE HOW THIS COULD TURN OUT!
m.popkey.co/a075c8/QldxQ.gif
8807070
... I may be missing something here, but how in the world killing someone preferable to a few days' wait?
8807150
That's a good observation, and one I hand't considered.
8807097
8807261
My earlier post was meant to be wrong, exaggerated by the fact that I tacked on "obviously" which makes no sense even if someone wanted to go down that road; thus it was meant to be seen as a joke. Edited to include a face that hopefully clarifies.
8807275
Ah. That makes much more sense. I knew I was missing something.
Whelp, this has provided the perfect shitshow.
I'm 90% sure that Celestia's intent is to pull out all Equestrians, and refuse all aid to the griffons until the pony slaves are released. Starlight is known to Zoya as being able to influence minds, and Velar is refusing Magic treatment by anyone other than Equestrians.
It will look like the assassination was the work of Equestria as part of a plot to get the slaves, especially with the pullout and delivery of demands being done the day after the assassination attempt.
8807150
I mean, I agree with you, but even ponies probably won't help someone who is actively seeking to harm or subvert them. I haven't watched the show in a season or two at this point (still love the FF!), but most villains off the top of my head were shown compassion after being defeated or otherwise ending their aggression. Aside from Starlight, whose Batman-level planning required Twilight to roll a natural 20 on her persuasion to get her to stand down, of course. The griffins at this point are not presenting themselves in such a way that invites assistance. Given their nigh constant sense of superiority shown thus far, one has to wonder if they would see such assistance at this time as confirmation of equestrian weakness. Or maybe that's just me.
8807454
All those points you mentioned are important. Yes, ponies could face hostility, and they may look weak to the Griffons, but on the other hand, if you were to ask Starlight if she considers Velar a friend, she might actually say 'yes'. Then it's Equestria's diplomat to New Accipio asking the princesses to help her friend.
And Friendship is Magic.
8807509
Mmm... maybe so. But in this verse, slavery is apparently a thing. And friendship didn't prevent ponies or other non-griffin races from being enslaved. Or harvested for food, if veal is what some of us think it is.
8806752
That may be the case in this story, but that is not universally true throughout fiction. There are many works of fiction in which the magical power of blood is extremely efficient, often to the point of being the reason why people do it despite a taboo.
8807275
Oh shit. My sincerest apologies on that.
In my defense, people have unironically said dumber stuff in that exact pattern of speech on this very fic.
As others have noted, this may not turn out well politically, but still, good for Starlight.
8807832
There's an author who likes to write alternate history World War II books. Not like "how could it have gone differently?" but like "in a completely different world, how could it have gone completely the same?" (e.g. Pittsburgh = Stalingrad) The relevant part is that he did one in a fantasy world where blood magic was behind both the Holocaust and the Manhattan Project. I didn't read it, but my recollection of the synopsis is that the magic A-bomb sacrificed three people: three generations of mother and daughter. In the second case, extremely efficient.
Hey, if nothing else, a time stop spell sounds good. Interesting that this Voya knows exactly who Starlight is and what she has done in her life.
8808568
Voya is probably the Royal Physician, and therefor, probably knows all about Starlight because she, a) may have to treat Starlight for a medical emergency, being a guest of The Crown, and a high level diplomat, and b) she might have to treat a griffin for injuries/malodies caused by or connected to Starlight.
8806813
I can't find too much anger in my heart for a slave who kills his masters' prince.
So they snuck a banned firearm into the tournament to assassinate the heir to the empire...and he just so happened to volunteer to fight to help the assassin?
That seems incredibly contrived.
8806752
8806874
I think the point to be drawn here is that Zoya, as a slave - even a very high ranking one - isn't really able to see herself as an appreciable cost.
First victory then vengeance. We got ourselves a cute lil predicament don't we.
As much as I detest the murder turkeys, letting him die would do no good atm.