Prince Blueblood: Master Ambassador

by Doug Graves

11 Kombat

"Well, I suppose as an ambassador you have already done a remarkable job. I myself wouldn't have thought I would be standing here again. At least, without the homes outside remaining unbroken." He chuckles, the white griffon rising to his full height, towering several heads above Lunaris. "I suppose I should introduce myself, though you likely have guessed already. My name is Ganis, of the Golden Aerie." He turns towards Lunaris, a slight bow.

Lunaris stops sifting through his packs at the silence that follows, turning back to the arena. "Oh, should I say something?" He quickly takes a few steps forward, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Ganis; you know me as Ambador, or Lunaris Blueblood of Equestria." Lunaris nods, withdrawing back to his pack, pulling out a brush and starting to clean off his dirty coat.

Ganis nods in return, looking back over the assembled griffons. "In the past, griffons did not need the Equestrians as allies. We did not need them as trade partners. We had a long and storied history! Unmatched in the air, no pegasus was our equal! On the ground, no yak could stand against us! Our warriors were feared, the threat of our marauders enough for our opponents to cower in their holes!"

A cheer comes, and not only from the armor wearing griffons.

Ganis walks to the side of the arena, returning with a large tan and brown tome. "Griffons were known as crafters! Our spears were desired by many, and feared by more! Griffonstone itself towers above every other, even Canterlot to the west! We look down on every other race!"

A snicker choruses through the griffons, many heads nodding along before a lone cheer pierces the crowd.

"Thank you, son," Ganis laughs, pointing a talon at the griffon that had been next to him. Ganis turns back, looking across the crowd. "We have a storied past!" he says, twirling the book in the air. "The Kings of Griffonstone knew the strength of a united people! All griffons, working towards a common goal. And this pony, through the guise of making things easier, and more accessible, is going to destroy all of that!"

Ganis raises the brochure in his other talon, "Look at the contents of this brochure; what this pony is trying to sell. A house! And all you need to do is collect enough bits, and this house will be provided for you!" He flips through a couple pages, "Farming equipment! Perhaps even clothing!" He laughs at the last, many of the griffons joining in.

Ganis paces back and forth a few times, "I remember a time when a griffon took pride in his home! When he could look at every branch, every rock and say, 'I know where that rock used to be. And I carried it here, to provide for my flock!" He throws the brochure to the ground, a talon stomping on it as he shouts, "And the clothes! Any color under the sun, available for your pleasure and comfort!" Jeers rise from the crowd, not a single griffon wearing anything but armor.

"The color purple used to mean something! With this, everygriffon would have their purples, deserved or not! A purple ribbon on your spear means something! It shows honor! Devotion! Mastery! When you see some griffon with a metal spear, you know they are an expert with it! If you see a purple cloth, they are a master tailor! But, by replacing this show of mastery with a single objective that has nothing to do with the item in question? You will destroy all of this!" He holds the book back into the air, "These Griffons of Greatness, they knew that gold was the product of a productive life. Not the object! And any griffon that confuses the two is undeserving of the name."

Ganis shakes his head, a mournful tone, "If you go through with this, these Great Griffons, who became Kings? Do not allow them to become Bygones of History, their lessons forgotten! The greatest of Griffons, they became kings because they had the strength! And the conviction! And the determination to do everything in their power to make Griffons great! And you will replace this with a system that panders to the masses. And you doom yourselves if you think that listening to this pony will save any of you."

Ganis stops, pointing a talon at the assembled crowd before stopping at Lunaris. The unicorn has brushed the dirt off his coat, his mane tied back tight against his neck. His canvas bag is again strapped to his side, as well as a number of brochures and a thin book.

Lunaris steps forward, walking along the outer edge of the arena as Ganis returns to his seat. Lunaris distributes the brochures to various griffons, the thin master book levitating to Gregory. He motions to the book, "That contains the order forms and whatnot, should you agree to this." Lunaris walks back around, stopping at one of the metal clad griffons. "If I may?" he asks, motioning towards the metal tipped spear. The griffon looks around at his fellows, a short laugh that the pony is asking something of him. "Perhaps," Lunaris says, levitating Gilded Graze, "you can keep this as collateral." The griffon shrugs, taking the rapier and offering up the spear. His talons pick at the golden hilt while Lunaris takes the spear, walking to the center of the arena.

Lunaris calls to the assembled griffons, "Who are your enemies?" He paces back a few times, slowly twirling the spear in the air with his magic. "What do you struggle against? Is it an invading horde? Is there a nearby nation, one that you would like to conquer?" Lunaris transfers the spear to his hoof and scrapes the ground, drawing a square with a triangle on top. "Or do you find yourself struggling against nature? Trying to eek out a living from the stone, the nearby forest?"

Lunaris points the spear towards Gregory, a long, slow swing as he focuses on each griffon in turn. He says, "It makes sense to field an army, perhaps; or a militia, if you have your enemies. But every bit, every piece of metal spent on excess fighting could instead be spent on improving your lives. Better food, better houses! Think of all of the parts in your life that are lacking. How many different aspects? Five? Fifty? An uncountably high number?"

Lunaris shakes his head, inspecting the wooden shaft of the spear, then the metal head. "It is impressive to achieve mastery, such that one can craft a spear of this quality!" Lunaris twirls the spear around, jabbing the head into the ground before pulling it back out. "But it is an impossibility to achieve mastery in every aspect of life that is worth living!" He walks back to the metal-clad griffon, trading the spear for his rapier. He inspects the hilt, smirking at the lack of damage.

"But, the truth is that one does not have to have mastered a profession to enjoy the benefits of that mastery. It would take years of dedication to the craft of blacksmithing to forge the blade of your spear, or the steel of my rapiers. And years more to perfect the enchantments inlaid in each." Lunaris rapidly spins his rapier, his blade dancing through the air, "But! I didn't have to! I can devote myself to learning to wield a blade, ignorant of the methods of its construction! I am a better swordsmare for it, and I challenge anypony, I'm sorry, anygriffon here to contest that!"

Lunaris stares first at Ganis, the griffon returning a smug expression. Lunaris' gaze wanders to the right, then the left, finally settling on the white griffon standing next to Ganis, a hint of rage beginning to boil in his eyes. Lunaris continues, "And this is true of every aspect of life! Those areas where you can borrow against another griffon's, or another pony's, expertise, that is another aspect of your own that you can dedicate to achieving wizardry in your chosen profession! Something beyond mastery! And we Equestrians, we wish to better ourselves through your expertise, and hope that you can do that same through ours."

Lunaris stops in the center of the arena next to the bag of bits, a bow to Ganis, then to Gregory. "Thank you all for your time and consideration. I know that we will become the best of friends, should you give us the chance."

Gregory slightly moves forward, "Are there any other considerations before we vote?"

The arena is silent as the griffon next to Ganis moves forward into the arena. He fans out his wings, the blades between his feathers glinting in the sun. His metal spear, larger than most, twirls above his head before coming to rest pointing at Lunaris.

Ganis hesitantly says, "Son?"

A talon swings back, silencing any further objections. He shouts, "Lunaris, you are here to destroy Griffons!" His spear beats against the ground, punctuating each line, "Their culture! Their identity! Their life!" The spear comes back up, a salute to the griffons behind him before he turns back to Lunaris, "Therefore, I, Gannison, challenge you, Lunaris, to a duel! But not to first feather! To the Death!"

Comments

[WARGAMES]

GANNISSON THE IDIOT
Such An Idiot
Henceforth any idiotic thing done by someone will be known as Pullin' a Gannisson

[The Great Derpsby]

Don't know what to make of this story yet.

Blueblood's not very... Blueblood-ish? He doesn't even go by the name most of the time. There's a danger of ending up with an OC in all but name (or even IN name in this case!) writing characters like that. Sure, Blueblood had very little characterisation in the show proper, so there's more "free space", so to speak...