28 An interesting explanation
“Princess Celestia, are you really implying that you forgot to inform your entire delegation of the importance of duels between Royals and commoners, no offense recruit Wing.” King Gustav asks the snow-white alicorn, not even trying to hide how upset he is about her failure.
“No, she didn’t tell us anything about that.” Princess Cadence answers in her stead, knowing that her aunt currently isn't being held in the highest regard by the ruling couple. “Or anything at all about duels. I would definitely remember something like that. Now, could you please explain to us what she obviously forgot?”
“Not here.” The King replies defensively before addressing the Guards. “You lot go back to your exercises,” shifting his attention now towards the remaining Griffons, “while you go back and enjoy the feast.”
He waits until only he, his wife, and us ponies are present. “Would you please follow me into the parlor? I think it would be the best place to discuss the consequences of what just happened.”
Our group begins to march off, but when Queen Gertrude notices that this includes Princess Celestia, she raises her voice for the first time since we left the dining hall earlier. “Not you! Tell the servants to bring our food into the Parlor, before you join the other nobles. Also, I think sergeant Grimfeather has something for you.” At first Princess Celestia looks upset with the Queen's decision, but her ears perk up the moment sergeant Grimfeather’s name is mentioned. Without any further protest Princess Celestia, accompanied by Rumble, follows the other group back to the dining hall, while our group walks in the opposite direction.
It takes almost ten minutes for us to reach the Parlor, where servants are almost done rearranging the furniture. Several recliners, as well as a coffee table had been moved aside and there is now a large round table in the middle of the room. Much to my surprise, their aren't regular chairs, like you find in most of the noble houses, but a set of different colored bean bags are arranged around the table.
“I thought that a more comfortable seating arrangement would be better to discuss such a sensitive topic. After all, I do not expect this matter to be solved quickly.” King Gustav explains to us and I bet he only took a detour so that the servants could prepare this room.
However, I soon notice one more important thing that is different from the dining hall we were in earlier. While there everyone could sit where he desired, here there are nameplates at every seat. I walk clockwise around the table in search of my seat, passing by Queen Gertrude, Mama D’s seat and King Gustav’s.
I can barely hide a chuckle when I realize that Mama D won’t be too happy about this, but at least this isn’t my seat. Dad’s place is right next to the King’s and once more a pony has to sit between two Royal’s since Princess Cadence is directly next to him. So this leaves only two places left and after a short look at the remaining nameplates, I realize that I didn't need to take a full turn around the table, and could have just walked counterclockwise as I found my name prominently displayed between mommy and Queen Gertrude.
It takes a moment for everyone to take their place, and after a slight pause, Queen Gertrude surprisingly raises her voice. "It actually is pretty simple. The reason why we separated from the others is that I think it will be easier to come up with a solution to this problem in a quieter setting than the dining hall."
Everyone nods in agreement, however when she is about to continue, servants enter the room so that everyone can order the main course. There are two options, one being a vegetarian dish and the other a meat dish.
The vegetarian option would be the carrot lasagne accompanied by a small mixed salad, while the other option is a breaded salmon filet with potato salad and remoulade.
That King Gustav and Queen Gertrude choose the fish is no surprise, but when I choose this as well, everyone in the room looks at me in disbelief. “Yes, I am sure about this,” I reply annoyed when the servant wanted me to confirm my order.
“Ha, I already like you more than that hypocritical Princess of yours. Not only are you already a decent fighter, but it also looks like you, unlike most ponies, have very little to no problems with eating meat.” King Georg exclaims excitedly.
“Also, I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a very clever brain hidden under your mane and I would be very happy to call you my daughter in law.” He continues to praise me, causing me to blush in response. For the first time in a very long time, I am actually glad that Rumble isn’t around.
I see you wonder why I consider Princess Celestia to be a hypocrite. She would never really eat meat of any kind if she could avoid it somehow.” King Gustav continues now much colder, after I confirmed my order once more, and the others told the servant that, unlike me, they prefer the vegetarian dish. Also, if you exclude dad, I doubt that anypony noticed how King Gustav just praised me.
“What do you mean by this,” I ask confused since I clearly had seen Princess Celestia eating meat earlier. Curious how he will explain this, I wait for his answer.
“Since you sat so much further away from her, I understand that you doubt my words. Even I would have trouble spotting the small, but important details from the distance between you and her.”
“For example, she made sure to eat the meat and the salad separately. While you could see her swallowing the salad, the same wasn’t the case with the fried turkey.”
“In the last few years servants always found meat in the potted plants or other places where it shouldn't be, so we assume that she just used her magic to teleport it out of her mouth. And since she always uses her magic to handle the silverware, this makes it easy to hide the preparation for a teleportation spell.”
“But wouldn’t it take a lot of fine control to even attempt something like that?” I ask once more, highly doubting that this is even possible. Besides, the few times I saw Twilight teleporting, there was always a popping sound when she vanished.
“True, but Celestia had over 1000 years to practice this.” He counters with ease. Now, the more I think about it, I remember that I have also seen Celestia teleport before, but unlike with Twilight, there was never any sound when she teleported.
Still, there is one more thing that could prove him wrong. “What about the goulash soup earlier, how could she possibly have avoided that?”
“You do remember that she took a restroom break, directly after she was done with it?” He replies smugly, only leaving me the option to admit defeat before he continues. “I actually planned to confront her this year about that matter, but with the unique situation we find ourselves in, I thought it was not a very good idea.”
“As interesting as that is, could we please return to the matter at hoof? How a duel resulted in Wingy becoming the betrothed of Prince Georg?” Princess Cadence asks slightly annoyed. If she is annoyed that we have to discuss this at all or the news that her aunt cheated on the whole meat-eating thing is something I can only guess. Probably the former, since she loves to ship ponies, and I am pretty certain that her plans to ship me with somepony else are now ruined.
“Of course Princess Mi Amore Cadenza,” he replies as calmly as possible, but still managing to make his annoyance known before he turns his attention to his wife. “Do you want to explain it or shall I do it?”
“I'll take care of it Gustav,” Queen Gertrude replies after a few moments before she takes a long look around the table, her face resting on everyponies for a few moments. “Before I explain the details, you should know a bit of the background.” She tells us after making sure that she has everyponies undivided attention.
“Let’s begin with why it will be hard to find a solution that everyone will be happy with. 653 years ago, right after the last war between our nations, Princess Celestia agreed that all ponies in our Kingdom, regardless of visitor or permanent citizen, is accountable by our laws. ALL of our laws and that includes dueling.”
She pauses for a moment to drink of her whine, that had recently been brought by another servant, giving everypony time to let this information sink in. “Around 950 years ago dueling became a major problem for us, true it had always been a part of our culture but back then it was simply used as an excuse to kill others. This placed our populace in serious danger, it was obvious that the rules had to be tightened, but that wasn't all they did. Much to the shock of many griffons back then, the rules had been changed into laws, and breaking them would have harsh consequences."
“The first law that was agreed on without any voting against it, was that duels are only legal if it's a matter of honor. This includes serious crimes in which the victim or one of the victims relatives demanded retribution. Accusations that were proven to be incorrect or major insults of one's family are the two other cases in which someone could demand a duel.”
“And with Prince Georg calling me and Dashie whorse earlier, the third reason was accountable. But if I understood you correctly, shouldn’t Wingy have to demand a duel in the first place?” Mommy asks in return, voicing what is already going through my mind.
“True, but she did this by hitting Prince Georg, and from that point, there was no way back.” The queen answers calmly before addings a few more important details. “Would she had ignored him instead, the duel could have been avoided entirely and she would have made clear that she saw him as unworthy.”
“That’s unfortunate,” mommy replies while giving me a look that makes it clear that I have to learn better control of my temper. On the other hoof, if Mama D or dad would have been close and noticed Prince Georg's words, I doubt that they would have reacted differently.
“Okay, we have learned so far why the duel was unavoidable and that the rules are actually laws. So what exactly are those laws saying?” I ask curiously by now doubting that there is an actual way out of this marriage.
“If you don’t mind, I would like to skip most of the actual duel rules, except one, and go directly to the part that deals with the consequences, possible rewards, and the punishment should you refuse to accept said rewards.” Queen Gertrude asks us, while the main course is served to which everyone present agrees.
However, the queen doesn’t reply immediately, instead, she waits a bit, probably using this time to think about how she could explain it best. What she says next is something that causes everypony to gasp in shock since no one expected those rules to be so harsh.“Duels that are demanded by someone wanting retribution for a serious crime, can only be won by killing your opponent, but luckily this doesn’t apply here.”
There is a short pause in which she focuses on her food, allowing everypony to comprehend this information before Princess Cadence speaks up once more. “If that doesn’t apply here, why mention it at all?”
“If I understood you correctly, Princess Celestia informed you of our customs on your trip here correct?” She asks in return what everypony confirms before she continues. “And she admitted earlier that she forgot something important, correct?” She asks once more, getting the same response from everypony. “Then I am just making sure you never end up in a similar situation like now, having to face unexpected consequences, only because you haven’t been aware of the law in question.”
“Now, shall we move on to the next point, or do you have any further questions at the moment?” Queen Gertrude asks once she is finished with her short explanation,having easily convinced everypony of her good points. Even if those are details that are currently unimportant, they could lead to serious problems in the future, if you aren’t careful.
“Good, the next one is about the different classes of duels and their rewards.” She continues a few moments later when nopony voiced their disagreement. “There are six to be exact and while I will only give a short summary for three of them, I will go into a more detailed explanation of the others.”
“With all due respect Queen Gertrude, but why don’t you go into full detail of all those six classes. I for my part am very curious about this.”
“I am not surprised that this question comes from you lieutenant Mango, but there are exactly two reasons for this. One of them being that only those two are important right now, while the other is simply the amount of time it would take.” She pauses for a moment and is about to continue when she sees dad’s frown, making her change her plan a bit. “But if you want, I can explain the four other classes we ignore for now later to you and everyone interested.” Now satisfied with the answer he received, he relaxes slightly and gestures for the queen to continue.
“The first three of the classes we are only skimming are: duels between two commoners, duels between commoners and nobles, and duels between two nobles. In all three classes, a notary and a pair of Guards have to be present all the time. Since the possible rewards will be set by the participants itself, those can range from a simple apology, should that be seen as necessary, up to everything the loser owns, which can include all owned property, money, and noble titles as well.”
Many ponies gasp in shock at this, except me, since I get a great idea and can’t hold back my laughter for long. This results in everypony looking at me in bewilderment. “We must convince Princess Celestia to establish these laws in Equestria as well!”
“Are you mad? After all the problems they caused us today you want to bring those laws to Equestria. Give me just one reason why this could possibly be a good idea.” Cadence yells, clearly upset about my proposal.
“Just think of it, this would allow us to clean the nobility of such idiots like Jet Set and Upper Crust. As arrogant as they are, there is no doubt that they would go for less than the highest possible reward and lose everything.”
“I like how you think Wingy.” Cadence replies after a moment of consideration, seeing the benefits such changes could bring. “But how do you even know those two?”
“I ran into those fools at the Grand Galloping Gala, a while after the talk with Princess Celestia regarding the cake incident.” I tell her, remembering the unfortunate encounter, which I really would have preferred to avoid.
“That is one of the reasons why every attempt to change the laws regarding dueling is considered treason. The other and more important one is that the constant changes of noble families reduce the chance for inbreeding significantly since most nobles tend to marry their social equals.” King Gustav explains, speaking up for the first time in a while.
“That actually makes a lot of sense.” Princess Cadence replies much to my surprise, only a few moments ago she had been vehemently against that practice, only to turn into a supporter of these laws in record time. “You just have to take a look at a few of the noble families in Equestria and you see how inbreeding is becoming a problem.”
“This is all interesting, but can we please go back to the important part? Why is my daughter the betrothed of Prince Georg now?” Mama D asks annoyed by the fact that everything takes so long, just as desperate for answers as I am.
“I was coming to that miss Dash,” Queen Gertrude replies, not bothered in the slightest by mama D’s outburst. “But there is one more simple thing I have to address first.” She adds, earning a groan from mama D in reply.
“In these three classes it is possible, that should it come to multiple duels between the same two participants, the winner can still gain something. However, the same isn’t the case for duels that involve members of the Royal family. Here the challenger has only one chance to gain something, even if it should come to multiple duels.”
“Also note that should someone that challenges members of the Royal family lose his duel, there won’t be any consequences for him.”
“If someone that isn’t part of the Royal family itself, challenges a married member of the Royal family and wins, he will earn 100.000 Bits. If the challenger isn’t already part of the nobility, he will also earn a minor title and a house befitting to his new status.” Shocked gasps are heard from everypony, except Princess Cadence, about what could possibly be won.
“In those four classes I just informed you about, it doesn’t matter if the duelists are our own subjects or from a nation that agreed to respect our laws. However, if it involves unmarried members of the Royal family it’s much different. Since challenging an unmarried member of the Royal family, it can be considered nothing other than a marriage proposal.”
The moment the Queen finishes her sentence, multiple gasps are heard in the room. The only one not shocked by this, other than King Gustav, is me, since I already assumed something like that when she implied the difference between married and unmarried members of the royal family and I wonder how screwed I am, or if there is a way out of this marriage for me at all.
Once more, the queen waits for everyone to let this information sink in before she comes to the part that interests me the most. “If one of our own subjects actually manages to defeat an unmarried member of the Royal family and tries to back out of the marriage, it is considered treason and will be treated as such. Luckily, this never happened before.”
“However, if the victorious challenger is from a different nation and tries to back down from the wedding, regardless of their social status there, it is nothing short than a declaration of war.”
Nope, there is definitely no wait out of this marriage for me. “Cadence, can you try to figure out a way how I can still be together with Rumble after the wedding? I am going to go and catch some fresh air?” I don’t even bother to wait for her to reply, when I get up and make my way to the closest door, wanting nothing more than to get out of the room as fast as possible.
Meanwhile in a different part of the Castle:
“I heard you wanted to talk alone with me Sergeant Grimfeather.” The white alicorn asks the female griffon shortly after she entered a sparsely furnished room, standing in front of a large chest.
“It isn’t the talk that is so important but the present my father wanted to have delivered to you.” The female griffon replies, placing one of her talons on the large chest, implying that this is what she is talking about.
“May I?” The alicorn asks with a curious expression on her face, wondering what could possibly be in the chest. As the Griffon steps aside, she uses her magic to open the case and gasps in surprise at the sight of the horned red head resting in there. Still, she can’t help it when a satisfied smile spreads across her face. “Tell your father that he should stop by in Canterlot in three weeks, then we can make everything official.”
“Then I’ll return to the feast, thanks for your time Princess.”
“No, it is I who has to thank you Lady Grimfeather, after all, your family did a great service for Equestria.” The white alicorn replies genuinely happy, before returning to the dining room alongside the heir to a new noble family.
I am currently lying atop the highest tower of the castle, looking at the stars, thinking about what could have been if sunbutt hadn’t screwed up, when I hear someone land behind me. Curious about who this could be, I turn my head around only to look right into the face of someone I really don’t want to see right now, Prince Georg.
“You know this is actually my spot for when I need to clear my mind.” He says from behind me, barely a few moments after I turned my attention back on the night sky.
“And why should I care about that?”I reply annoyed, not really in the mood to talk with him, or with anyone at all if I am honest with myself. I just wanted to have a bit of quiet, but that this couldn’t last shouldn’t really surprise me after how this evening has gone.
However, he doesn’t choose to reply and instead just walks forward and lays down next to me. Several minutes pass in silence while I continue to look at the stars until I can’t bear the silence anymore. “Did you plan all this?”
“What do you mean?”
I turn my head around, surprised about what I just heard, but when I look into his face, I only see confusion written all over it. “You know, making me mad so that I would challenge you and become your bride?”
“WHAT? TARTARUS NO!!!” He screams, obviously shocked by what I just said. “At first I only wanted to know the story behind your earring. After that I wanted you to admit to your lies, but only when I saw you in your armor, I realized that those weren’t lies at all.” He admits with a sigh, lacking the confidence he had shown almost the entire time I had to spend with him today.
“And what made you think that I told you lies in the first place?” I asked him, now with mixed feelings. While on one hoof I am curious for his explanation, on the other hoof I can only wonder why he sounds so depressed right now.
“Normally, everyone I have to spend time with was a boaster, told stories that made no sense or exaggerated their ability greatly only to get my attention. Most of the time, they backed down after a while and admitted their lies. Those that didn’t, were mostly ones that bragged about their fighting skills but made a sudden withdrawal when I tried to lure them into a duel.”
“And you expected me to back down as well?” I continue for him, not having suspected something like that to be the reason for how he behaved earlier.
“Yeah, and while it was an interesting break from the routine, I actually wish I hadn’t started it in the first place. Just how am I going to explain this to Gabi?”
“Gabi?” I ask surprised while moving closer a bit, never having thought about how Prince Georg feels about what happened, and now I kind of feel bad for being so self-centered.
“Yes, Gabi. To say we are close would be an understatement.” He replies dreamily, giving me an idea of just how close they are, or how close they used to be. Depending on how this Gabi will react to this news.
I lay there for a bit thinking about everything that happened today and am about to take off for a late-night flight when he speaks up. “Can I ask you something?” I motion for him to continue, but what comes next is not exactly what I expected him to ask.
“Is it true that Princess Celestia failed to educate you about dueling and the consequences before you arrived?”
“Yes, but I doubt that I would have reacted differently if I had known the consequences beforehoof. “I reply only to add a few moments later, “Anyway, I am off now,” before I take off into the sky, hoping that a late-night flight would help me to clear my head. Sadly, it shouldn’t.
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this was an awesome chapter, i love me some good worldbuilding
and well yes wingy is apperntly screwed xD
10510527
Glad you liked it. Hope you continue think so once they are back home.
10510527
Pfft, make an marriage contract, get them married and get them divorced some time later - the rules where abided - everthing cleared
10510946
There is no such thing as a divorce.
10511007
... Herding ...?
10511061
I second that. And it was fine langth, Silent Wing.
10511086
10511061
Maybe, maybe not. The only thing that is for certain, is that I won't give you any spoilers.
great new chapter!!
10511007
Why is that?
10510946
thats a very good idea^^
10511007
oh come on, i just told foobar it was a good idea xD
Why is it all the good stories are still being written or went dead last year. Well accept the one finished 2 weeks ago I have been watching for 2 years.
Good story so far. Griffin honor stuff is always fun when writters get it right. May be different rules by each writter but if fleshed out before writing about it. Fun things happen.
10512289
Can't really say that I have an explanation for this, but at least I can tell you that I won't abondon this story. There are quite a few more things planned for this story, maybe even a sequeal.
Good word. I would have used racist watermelon but that works too.
What about the rules of rematches?
Then why didn’t you forfeit...Oh wait.
The mail carrier?
Meh, they each marry the other's partner but live in different houses in different countries. Marriages of convenience especially under the given circumstances could be sort of "ignored" by all relevant parties.
Lets go to war
Than just dont attend to any battles and all will be fine
Imagen there is a war... But nobody cares to show up
Prince of the Griffon empire, hes a Dick that just elevated from unreasonable prick to a reasonable prickish dick...
10511007
Until death may part em... Kill be Prince than ressurect him and death itself has divorce em
10511061
Marriage in name only and ignore all idiot protesting. Win-win i guess? Politic stability and two individuals happy the are only married in name / titel
10511107
Hes right. No fun in spoilers.
10511549
Good question ! Especially at situation like that
10512292
Sweet. . . Any ... hints what your plans are? Rough possibel thing are not really spoilers
10516433
Exacly. Just kill everyone that protest and the nobels eventually learn to shut up for there own good.
Time for Silent Wing to pull a Kain on destiny