CRISIS: Equestria - Divergence, Book 3

by GanonFLCL

Chapter Twenty-Five: Reason

Over the past year of ruling Equestria, Twilight had come to realize that she was not at all fond of the politics of the noble court. Nobles and aristocrats and foreign diplomats had a habit of treating politics like a game of sorts with its own rules and regulations and where strategy and planning were key aspects, but where one had many tools at their disposal to play the game any way they wanted.

Twilight wasn't fond of the game herself; the way she saw it, the game was unnecessary.

But of course she was a new player on the field who was still learning the rules and accepted strategies, and most of all she was still learning just how deep and engaging it could be if one played it correctly. Engaging with the southern pony nobles thus far had been mostly the same as what she'd been accustomed to back home, albeit with a little more personal stakes inserted into the noble house rivalries and allegiances than her own courts seemed to have, as far as she knew.

And then she met the Zeb'ra'den noble court, and everything that Twilight had learned thus far seemed to just fall out the window. The zebras played by the same rules but interpreted them differently, and there was a thin veneer of barely-constrained bitterness behind their every decision; the zebras of the frozen south did not like the ponies of the rest of the continent, and vice versa, with the exception of House Snow.

This was why Twilight and her group had not stepped in to begin negotiations whatsoever with King Zeratite and his full court in over twenty-four hours and had been relegated to retelling the story over and over again to lords that were clearly just trying to make sure that they all had the same information, or otherwise hoping to catch Twilight's party in a lie. Blackburn had ensured that most of them only spoke with herself, Gray, or Twilight whenever possible.

Ambassador Zultan was the only member of their party that had been allowed in to speak with the king himself at all—not even Queen Blackburn had been permitted an audience!—and that did not bode well for making this journey any quicker or easier.

It was on the afternoon of the following day—a full day and a half after they'd arrived—before a summons was sent out to bring in the foreign diplomats, and His Majesty's court requested members based on their importance and where they were from:

The royalty of Hope's Point was permitted to come, and Blackburn finagled her way into allowed Rarity to join them, though only Gadget was present as far as bodyguards went; Lorekeeper Gilderoy was present as the only representative of Aeropolis; Ambassador Gray Skies was the representative of New Pandemonium City; then there was the Chronomancer Winter Glow; and lastly, of course, was Princess Twilight Sparkle of "Otherworld" as they were calling it.

Zultan… was not present. Twilight did not like that one bit. Sir Zircon was, but he had not come as part of their party, which Twilight also did not like one bit. She trusted Zircon, though, and not just because he was a friend of Applejack's, but because he seemed an honorable sort. She supposed that this was just how tradition played with things.

The diplomats met with the zebra court in the royal throne room, as was proper when His Majesty King Zaratite was involved. The throne room in Zeb'ra'den's royal palace made a mockery of any room that attempted to look more appropriately regal, and Twilight was used to seeing a royal throne room every day.

The walls were decorated with stunningly well-crafted weapons befitting the zebras' warrior-religion culture: swords crafted with jewel-encrusted hilts, axes with silvery blades, a great lance with a spearhead made of a perfectly-crafted emerald, and so on. Under each one was the name of a former king, obviously the one who carried that particular weapon into battle. There were an awful lot of Zaratites, some Zincanes, and even a Zeolitic.

The rest of the walls were decorated with either the Zeb'ra'den national emblem, or with emblems representing the other gods and goddesses of the zebra pantheon—which did indeed include Harmonia and Nihila—or with another symbol that Twilight knew now was the insignia of the current royal family.

All of the warriors and clerics in the room wore armor and robes respectively that were colored the same brown with emerald green accents as the royal family's coat of arms. Warriors stood in formation on the left of the aisle leading up to the throne, while clerics stood on the right. The ones closest to the throne were the king's most loyal advisors on military and religious matters; those below them were lords and ladies of the court in their respective fields.

Zultan had graciously presented Twilight with information beforehand, and Blackburn had filled in some details as well; it never did one any good to go into a political discussion blind.

The king's war advisor was Warlord Ziggurat, and he was the biggest zebra in the room by far with a beard to match, styled in such a way that it twisted around his shoulders to avoid dragging along the floor. He was missing an eye, and in its place was an emerald cut to fit into the socket. Being the biggest zebra in the room meant a lot, actually, as this made him taller than even Gray Skies, Twilight, and Gilderoy, who were otherwise the tallest creatures present.

The king's religious and magical advisor, Archsage Zucchetto, was a much more average specimen. His robes were decorated with emeralds and his hood had been replaced by a tall, straight hat decorated with vines made of silk. Beside him was a chair with a trio of thick books upon it, some of the thickest books Twilight had ever seen. She couldn't help herself from staring, but managed to reign herself in and keep her jaw closed.

King Zaratite himself sat on a throne decorated with furs and antlers—spoils from frostwolves, from Twilight's understanding—and a gold-studded longbow. He was slouched just to the side with his chin upon his hoof, looking positively content though somewhat tired. His mane and tail were styled neatly but kept very, very long; Twilight was struck with the thought that perhaps the king never cut his mane and tail at all.

Twilight did notice that the representative of House Snow wasn't present, and Zultan hadn't provided her with much information about whoever that was supposed to be. She had no idea why, but it seemed odd to her; maybe the representative didn't get to partake in these affairs?

Everyone who had just entered the room was instructed to bow, as was only appropriate when greeting a king in his throne room; Twilight didn't even need to be told, she just did it automatically.

Formal court introductions got underway, much as they had been done at the feast the night that they'd all arrived, only it was Ziggurat delivering the introductions, doing so in meter and rhyme as this was a formal speech. He punctuated each new name by thumping his massive warhammer against the floor and sending a small quake throughout the room in the process.

Thankfully the list only included the visiting diplomats; there was no point where Ziggurat rattled off titles for the king and his court.

Twilight did notice one discrepancy though: the zebras referred to Lockwood as "Prince-Consort", not "King", which he didn't seem to mind at all. Twilight was surprised that Blackburn did not voice any opposition to that, nor did Rarity, though she supposed it wouldn't be a good idea to do that right now. Was it not an insult to call him by an improper title?

The process took nearly twenty minutes to Twilight's mild annoyance since she had to stay bowed the entire time. The zebras were very thorough and deliberate, but it felt like they were purposefully taking their time.

This was followed by a small prayer to the zebra goddess Dryklur from Zucchetto, which was thankfully just two lines, one of which made Twilight particularly happy:

"All rise, that I may deliver a prayer to our goddess Dryklur. O, great Huntress, pray, bless us with thy plentiful gifts, which art pure."

Short, simple, to the point, and it let everyone stand up, so Zucchetto was Twilight's favorite zebra in the room now.

Once the prayer was complete, the entire room seemed to relax just a little, and everyone could stand at ease, at least as much at ease as they could considering the fate of the world depending on them negotiating through this situation efficiently and effectively.

Warlord Ziggurat spoke next: "Before these negotiations may yet proceed, a member of our court hath requested permission to aireth a grievance." He nodded into the row of clerics. "Lord Zopo, steppeth forward and maketh thy voice heard."

One of the clerics, a thinner zebra stallion with a wiry mane and goatee, took a step out of the line of clerics and cleared his throat, then pointed towards… Rarity? "I hath taken offense to this one wearing a coveted unity trinket. 'Tis one of our most honored traditions in Zeb'ra'den, a tradition for zebras, not for pony lords and ladies. 'Tis an insult!"

There was a clamor of agreement from most of the zebras present; from what Twilight could see, only Zircon, Ziggurat, and the king himself weren't voicing discontent, though Ziggurat was at least doing so with his good eye.

Blackburn stepped forward to reply. "As you are no doubt aware, Lord Zopo, I am not from the southern continent, but from Hope's Point in the north. We are not beholden to your antiquated belief that we cannot share in our cultures."

"Insulteth not our customs—"

"And besides that, many zebras have left Zeb'ra'den to live in my city, and they share their beliefs, their knowledge, and their culture with us freely. We are a melting pot of the world that freely adopts aspects of all of our citizens, no matter who they are, or where they're from."

"Regardless, the unity trinket is—"

"It's just jewelry, My Lord," Rarity interjected, stepping forward beside Blackburn.

There was another clamor of disapproval from the zebra court.

Lord Zopo sputtered and glared at Rarity. "Thou wouldst dare insult one of our most honored traditions?" He looked at Blackburn. "And thou wouldst allow thy… consort to speaketh in thy place?" Twilight could just hear him not address Consort with the proper capitalization that the title supposedly deserved.

Blackburn was about to speak, but Rarity beat her to it. "By your own traditions, as Queen Blackburn's Consort, I am entitled to much the same benefits as her husband. Would you refuse to hear his words if he wanted to speak? No, I think not. Besides, I am not speaking for my queen, but for myself; your accusation is directed at me more than it is at her.

"I was given this bracelet as a gift," she continued. "It is a symbol of the relationship that I am a part of. But that's all it is, nothing more. I treasure the love and companionship that I receive from my queen and her husband, and nothing you say can change that. If you wish for me to remove it because you find it distasteful, then I will gladly cast it aside, but that will not change what we three have together."

"'Tis more than just a symbol!" Zopo snapped. "'Tis a binding—"

"A binding contract, yes, just like any marriage would be. Would you oppose a zebra marrying a pony? I suppose you would, unless they were from House Snow, wouldn't you? But there is no law or rule or even tradition that forbids it, is there?" Rarity snorted and shook her head. "No, you just think that you can cow me into submission by acting like you're in charge.

"But you are not in charge of the southern nobles' laws and traditions, My Lord Zopo, nor are you in charge of Hope's Point's laws and traditions. You have no authority to tell Her Majesty that she cannot take me as her Consort and provide me with all that comes with it. That is her choice to make, not yours, not anyone's. I would no sooner tell your king what he's allowed to do."

Zopo made to retort again, but then King Zaratite himself let out a gruff grunt, followed by "Enough!" This effectively cowed Zopo into shutting up and turning to look at his king, confused and a little frightened.

King Zaratite then turned to Rarity, his lips curling in a little grin. "'Tis true then, fair maiden? Hast thou been claimed by Her Majesty Queen Blackburn as a Consort?"

Rarity paused, looking at Lockwood briefly—he smiled at her—then nodded. "There is a bit more to it than that, but yes, as she is the ruling authority of Hope's Point, then she is the one who has 'claimed' me as a Consort."

Zaratite paused for a moment, his eyes drifting down Rarity's figure briefly, then darting to Blackburn, then Lockwood, then back to Rarity. He then let out a loud laugh and focused his attention on Blackburn.

"Ha! Thy new Consort hath a flame in her that rivals many a fearsome zebra mare, Queen Blackburn. Thou art lucky to hath staked thy claim early, lest others taketh the opportunity. I know some in this very room wouldst relish the opportunity to court such a treasure."

Blackburn smirked, but didn't say anything. The look and the wink she gave to Rarity though made Twilight feel as though… had they known this was going to happen? Had they planned this out?

Zaratite then turned to Rarity. "As for thee, Lady Rarity, where didst thou learneth so much of zebra culture that thou couldst speak with such confidence and fire?"

"A dear friend of mine, Zyra, was once a Priestess of Layk here in Zeb'ra'den," Rarity explained. "I have spoken much with her about her homeland; she has shared many wonderful tales about your culture, and I have taken them to heart. She was particularly forthcoming with knowledge about the unity trinket."

"A Priestess of Layk? Hmm." Zaratite chuckled and nodded. "Aye, they art highly respected in our society, and much reverence is given to the Sisterhood. If thou hast befriended one of their number and learned of our culture from thy friendship, then thou wouldst know how serious this conversation hath been."

"I do."

"Then this court shalt recognize thy status as Lady-Consort to Queen Blackburn, Lady Rarity. This matter hath been settled!"

Warlord Ziggurat acknowledged the king's words by thumping his hammer on the floor. Lord Zopo, his agenda thoroughly crushed, trudged back into the formation without a world, looking very much like a young colt who'd been thoroughly scolded by a teacher.

Ziggurat spoke next: "There art no further grievances which needeth addressing My Liege." He punctuated this with his hammer again, one, two, three times. "His Majesty shalt now addresseth the foreign delegation. All shalt stay silent unless asked otherwise, under penalty of expulsion."

King Zaratite remained slouched in his throne, his chin resting upon one hoof, as he looked out on the "foreign delegation", his eyes drifting to and fro as if studying each and every one of them. That he didn't seem to speak right away, and that his gaze transfixed on Gilderoy and Twilight a bit longer than the others, did nothing for Twilight's nerves; she still didn't know why Ambassador Zultan wasn't here, and his absence troubled her since he was supposed to be their advisor.

"A tale hath been brought to mine attention, a tale so tall it may well maketh the Beacon appear as an ant if placed side by side," the king started, using his hoof to demonstrate. "Were it not Ambassador Zultan who didst bring these details to me, mayhap I wouldst just consider the tale a silly fabrication, the ramblings of some drunkard desperate for attention.

"He didst come before me yesterday to speaketh on thy behalf, o delegates. He didst spin the tale as he understood it best, and once he didst finish, still didst I find it little more than the drunken ravings of a lunatic. I thought at first that Zultan hadst perhaps been enthralled by some unicorn's spell, or seduced by some pony mare's tail. 'Twas the only sensible reaction."

The king rose from his throne and walked down the short set of stairs leading up to it, Ziggurat by his side. "But then our Archsage Zucchetto didst worketh his magic, and he didst confirm that the Ambassador's tale was true when he didst come to speaketh to me in person." He laughed. "'Nay,' I said. 'Surely 'tis the work of a spell upon his mind, to maketh him believe such outlandish fiction.'

"His first claim! That the tales we hath been told of the fall of the gryphons possessed a degree of exaggeration. Now, naturally that I cannot deny, for there standeth a gryphon right before mine own eyes."

Zaratite stepped right before Gilderoy and eyed the Lorekeeper closely. "At the feast, I didst see him sample our cuisine, I watched him eat and drink at my table, I heard him speak. 'Twould seem that that part of the tale ringeth true, for no illusion can faketh such things."

The king then laughed and walked a line in front of the other delegates, giving them each another look-over from close up. "But if one part of Zultan's tale be true, 'tis not necessarily the case that the rest might be.

"His tale didst claim that he witnessed the great Lord Silvertongue himself appear before him, that he didst hear him speak as a spirit. He doth believeth this to be true, but 'tis impossible; Lord Silvertongue perished in the north, a result of injuries sustained in combat. 'Tis the story that hath been accepted by all here in the south; to claim otherwise requireth proof."

Zaratite stopped walking and looked amongst the delegates. "So? Prove this claim to me. Canst any of thee bringeth Lord Silvertongue here that I might speaketh with him?" He looked at Rarity. "Wouldst thou do so, Lady Rarity?" He looked at Winter. "Or thee, Chronomancer Winter?" He looked at Twilight. "Or thee, Princess Twilight? Canst thou summon the spirit of Lord Silvertongue here?"

Twilight gulped and shook her head. "No. We cannot. That's something only his Warden can do, and she… isn't here. And even if she was, she wouldn't be able to summon him here in the south; the Beacon makes that impossible."

He nodded. "Ah, 'tis true, the Beacon doth protect all of the southern lands from harm, it doth protect them from Darkness and evil. Art thou so certain that this apparition that thou didst see was truly him? Hmm? Not some falsehood conjured up as part of a scheme of Nihila's, looking to raise an army once again to conquer the world?"

"We're sure that it was really him, Your Majesty."

"Aye, Zultan's tale didst claim that thou didst meet him in the flesh seven years ago. But again, thou hast no proof of this." He gestured towards Archsage Zucchetto. "Were I to even demand that thou submit to the Archsage's magic, to determine the truth of thy claim, wouldst it not be possible that thou dost think that what thou art saying is true, when it is in fact a deception upon thee?"

Twilight let out a breath; showing that she could follow the king's logic would help show that she understood just how ridiculous it sounded. "That would naturally follow, yes. Truth-detection magic doesn't actually detect truth, it detects whether the subject themselves believe that what they are claiming is a lie or not."

"So! Then thou hast no proof of the claim that Lord Silvertongue has requested of thee the task of 'deactivating' the sacred Beacon, which we in Zeb'ra'den hath sworn an oath to protect on the blood of our ancestors, on the honor of our people."

Zaratite snorted and returned to walking the line; Twilight was immensely disappointed that the king's perfectly sound logic was preventing them from solving a problem that just sounded so unbelievable. She could respect him, even admire him for his intellect and wisdom, but blast it all if she didn't wish he was a teensy bit more trusting.

"Next, thou didst claim to hath come into contact with a being who doth call itself 'Pandemonia'. This creature claimeth to be the sister of Harmonia, to be a goddess of the south from ages past where there art no written records to point to as evidence. This creature claimeth that Nihila didst usurp her power and didst use it to terrorize our world for thousands of years." Zaratite made a show to look amongst the delegation. "Hark, where art thou, Pandemonia?"

Twilight carefully gauged the king for a moment to make sure that she wasn't speaking out of turn and that he was expecting an answer. "She cannot travel south either, Your Majesty, because of—"

"Because of the sacred Beacon, aye, the same Beacon that thou hath claimed must be depowered so that thou canst complete thy work." Zaratite laughed and shook his head. "'Tis surely a jape at this point, but 'tis not all. Thou hast made another claim as well, one which bodes ill for us all.

"Our world is ending, is thy claim," he continued. "Our world shalt breathe its last in hardly more than a fortnight from now. Ah, but thou hast brought a solution! Another world where our people might yet retreat to escape the impending doom. Another world! One which two of thee hath claimed to be from," he said, looking to Rarity and Twilight. "'Tis a convenient tale.

"Another world, thou hast claimed, much like ours and yet not so much. Another world, thou hast claimed, where we might be safe and free from the threat of evil and Darkness forever more. Another world, thou hast claimed, where we shalt be welcomed with open hooves and open hearts." He laughed again and looked right at Twilight. "Where is thy proof, Princess?"

"We… don't have any," Twilight sighed. "Nothing that you would believe, anyway. A spell could be easily dismissed as a fabrication, tales are meaningless on their own, and our only physical evidence is ourselves."

"Aye, then thou canst see where the problem lies?" Zaratite scoffed and looked amongst the group again. "Thou asketh of me to allow thee access to the sacred Beacon, not to observe it, not because thou needest to be within its presence, but to render it mundane, to remove its magic, to eliminate its purpose. Thou asketh of me to allow thee to undo our sworn duty, which I and mine ancestors before me hath upheld 'til our dying breaths.

"Queen Blackburn, wouldst thou allow these fanciful claims to convince thee to remove thy fabled shield from around thy city on such flimsy pretenses?"

"No," Blackburn said simply.

"Indeed! Then why art thou asking of me to commit a similar act? Dost thou not thinketh my sacred duty to be as critical to the safety of my people, of all the south, as thy city's barrier? All on the claims of a creature that thou dost not know if true, on tales of the reappearance of an ancient hero, all without proof?"

"I would never ask you to do this if I didn't believe in these actions myself, King Zaratite. I have met with Pandemonia, and she sleeps in a private room within my palace, I have had servants deliver food and drinks to her, and I have seen her walk my halls at all hours of the day. I have met with Lord Silvertongue and spoken with him on more than one occasion, and I am friends with some of his daughters."

"Pah! This other claim of 'daughters', it doth reek of sentimentality, of an attempt to tug at heartstrings and prey upon my sympathies as a father." He looked at Gray. "Thou calimest that thou art the daughter of Lord Silvertongue, and yet I expect that thou dost not hath proof of such a claim either?"

Gray, eyes narrowed, let out a little grunt. "No. What proof would I even be able to offer you even if I could? A DNA test wouldn't help 'cause I'm adopted; I can't tell you anything about him 'cause you won't believe me; I can't bring him here to tell you himself. Asking me is just wasting everyone's time. Get on with it already."

Warlord Ziggurat stepped forward with a fire in his eyes. "Hold thy tongue, whelp. Thou shalt not speaketh to His Majesty in such a way."

"Or what, you're gonna throw me out?" Gray snorted. "Go on then, try me. Put your bits where your mouth is."

Twilight could feel her heart actually stop for a moment; was Gray trying to screw this up?

Ziggurat took a step forward, but Zaratite stopped him with an outstretched hoof. "If thou hast something to say, Ambassador, then say it. I can see in thine eyes that thou art chomping at the bit to speaketh thy mind. What holds thee back? Speak."

"I said what I wanted to say already: you're just wasting everyone's time," Gray snorted, not even remotely backing down despite the huge Ziggurat looming over her. "All this talk about needing proof is a bunch of bullshit and you know it. You're doing this on purpose; you don't believe us, you never will believe us, and nothing's gonna change that.

"But I know how your people work, Your Majesty. You all value one thing: strength. Strength of body, strength of mind, strength of will; only the strong survive here in the frozen south, right?" Gray smirked. "So how about instead of standing around talking like a bunch of gossiping hens, you let the warriors do the talking?"

Zaratite eyed her for a moment, tilting his head slightly to try and get a better read, then nodded. "'Tis rare for anyone, even our fellow zebras, to invoketh such things. What wouldst thou suggest?"

"Simple: you pit your best fighter against our best fighter, which is me. No weapons, no magic. Just two warriors in a ring with only their hooves and wits. Winner takes all: if I win, you suck up your pride and let us do what we need to do. If I lose, then feel free to turn us away. Fate of the world's on you in that case, but hey, at least you'll die knowing you stuck to your guns."

"Ha! Thou art a bold one, Ambassador Gray Skies." He looked at the others. "But 'tis not thy decision to make on thine own. What sayeth thy comrades? Wouldst they agree to this?"

"Fuck no!" Winter blurted, shaking her head. "Gray, we can't let the whole fuckin' world rely on whether or not you're the toughest bitch in the fuckin' room!"

"I have confidence in her," said Blackburn with a firm nod.

"Me too," agreed Lockwood.

"I'm with Winter," said Twilight. "We can't just put the fate of the entire world on a single little moment like this. We need to figure something else out, talk things through, negotiate."

Rarity sighed and shook her head. "Darling, the fate of the world always comes down to little moments like this, doesn't it? Think of all the times back home where everything was on the line in one final battle against the forces of evil, hmm? Only just a year or so ago was the Battle of the Bell; everything came down to that one moment."

"I know that, Rarity, but we didn't have a choice—"

"And how often do we get to choose our battles? Not very often, I'd say. I think that Gray knows what she's doing; I have faith in her."

Lorekeeper Gilderoy cleared his throat and chuckled. "My vote doesn't actually matter in this case, does it? Even were I to vote against it, the votes are already in favor of this 'combat trial' of sorts." He nodded at Gray. "But I do have confidence that our northern ambassador knows what she's capable of."

"So be it!" Zaratie exclaimed, raising a hoof into the air. "In accordance with our laws, I shalt accept this challenge and put forth a champion to faceth thee in combat. No weapons, no magic." He tilted his head towards her wings. "No flying. Just thy hooves and thy wits."

"Sure, whatever floats your cloud," Gray said, removing her jacket and wrapping it around her midsection so that she couldn't move her wings.

Twilight was immediately more nervous than she'd already been. Before, she'd been concerned with how Gray was going to make subtle use of her gravity manipulation powers, which she activated with motions of her wings, without anyone noticing. Now she couldn't use them at all. And Gray wasn't even bothered!

King Zaratite then turned towards the other zebras behind him. "Comrades! Who here wouldst stand as champion today? Who here hath the nerve to fight Ambassador Gray?"

Twilight was surprised, shocked even, that Zircon was the first to step forward. "Hark! As champion, I will serve. There art no others here with nerve."

Zaratite laughed and shook his head. "Nay, dear nephew, thou shalt not champion this cause. Thou art too close with them and wouldst be given pause. Nay, I cannot trust thee to fight with all thy heart."

Warlord Ziggurat grunted to get the king's attention. "Then chooseth me, My Liege, and I shalt rip this mare apart."

Zaratite turned and nodded to Ziggurat, then to Gray. "There, thou hast an opponent, Ambassador. We shalt begin the trial immediately."

"Fine by me," Gray grunted. "This jackass has been looking at me funny for the past five minutes, so I'm gonna enjoy kicking his ass."

Ziggurat did not respond to her taunt whatsoever. Gray swept past the warlord, who immediately began the process of doffing his armor, which would otherwise give him an unfair advantage. Seeing him in just his under armor didn't help matters; the stallion could very well have been made of pure muscle alone.

Twilight watched as the other zebras quickly and without hesitation situated themselves into a large circle that surrounded Gray and Ziggurat, His Majesty watching from on high in his throne. The other delegates were forced to stand outside the circle and thus, obviously, forbidden from interfering. Even Zircon was forced to stand outside the circle; he had probably given himself away by volunteering first, but Twilight appreciated that he'd tried.

"Comrades! Guests! 'Tis a Challenge of Strength that we art now privy to witness," King Zaratite called out for all to hear. "These two combatants shalt now do battle with naught more than their hooves and wits to aid them. The winner shalt be the one who still stands when their opponent stands no more. There art no rounds; there art no time limits. Both combatants shalt remain within the circle or forfeit. Combatants! Dost thou understandeth these rules?"

"Aye," was Ziggurat's simple response.

"Yup," was Gray's equally simple response.

"Then thou may begin… now."

Twilight had never seen two ponies really get into an out-and-out brawl before, not with her own two eyes at least. She'd seen little scuffles here and there, play-fighting mostly or just a couple of ponies getting into a fight because of a dumb argument. She'd heard about worse ones here and there, too, and she knew that in ages past it wasn't an uncommon thing.

But to see Gray, a friend, a comrade, somepony who was darn close to family, locked in combat with a huge zebra that was very much not holding back was not a pleasant thing to watch. Twilight nervously bit her hoof the entire time; she could barely even watch at some points where it looked like the two were actually out to kill each other.

This wasn't like the movies at all, where two fighters would trade blows and banter and just keep walking it off after. This was brutality.

Gray was tough, and strong, but she was still smaller than Ziggurat by a noticeable amount, and he was not as slow as a creature his size should have been. Blows that Gray would likely have shrugged off from a smaller pony knocked her about quite a bit, but Gray gave as good as she got.

The fighting proceeded for several agonizing minutes, and the two combatants steadily showed the wear and tear of being involved in such a ferocious, barbaric entanglement.

Ziggurat chipped a tooth when Gray managed to slam him face-first into the floor earlier; he paid her back not long after with a strike to her nose, which was now bleeding and probably broken.

Gray earned a black eye early on, but returned the favor later on by knocking out Ziggurat's emerald replacement eye with a well-placed haymaker.

Within minutes, the two were bloodied and bruised to the extent that Twilight was afraid that neither one of them would walk away from this.

The climax of the fight came when Ziggurat managed to knock Gray sliding to the floor after several minutes of back-and-forth beating on one another. When he leapt after her, she rolled away to avoid the slam and barely managed to scramble to her hooves before he was almost on her again.

She swerved just underneath him; he landed just on her other side. She turned and kicked as hard as she could; he was off-balance and stumbled, stumbled, just barely regaining his balance before running into one of the zebras on the edge of the ring.

And then Gray slammed into his side so hard that he smashed right into said zebra—Twilight noted that it was Lord Zopo—and the two zebras tumbled together out of the ring in a tangled mess of limbs.

The throne room was silent for a moment.

Then Winter leapt into the air, pumping her hoof. "Fuck yes! I knew she could do it! Yeeeaaah!"

The zebras cleared the circle, with some of them going over to tend to Ziggurat and Zopo, so that the delegates could move to Gray, who staggered towards them, clearly having trouble with walking.

"Oh my goodness, Gray, darling, you're hurt," Rarity said, using her magic to quickly undo the jacket around Gray's waist so that she could breathe and move properly.

"You always state the obvious, Rares?" Gray chuckled, her words more than a little jumbled. She winced and held her side as she did so. "Augh… yeah… that's a broken rib I think…"

Blackburn and Lockwood were quick to lend themselves to help Gray with walking, while Twilight used some rudimentary healing magic to help stop Gray's nose from bleeding. There happened to be a bench near the entrance to the throne room, and that was where the two set Gray down to sit and rest.

"Wait until Havoc hears about this," Lockwood said with a smile. "She's gonna be jealous."

"Yeah. She would be," Gray chuckled again, still clutching her ribs.

"We need to get her to a healer or something," Twilight said as she looked over the myriad bruises, scrapes, and other injuries. "I can use healing magic to patch her up but I don't even know what's injured. It's not as simple as 'poof' and she's all better."

"Allow me," said Zircon from behind the group. "I shalt ensure that Ambassador Gray Skies is tended to by the best healers in Zeb'ra'den. They art miracle workers."

Twilight nodded. "Thank you, Zircon. We appreciate that."

Gray grunted and gave the zebra knight a smile. "Heh… yeah, I think I would've rather fought you, actually."

"Aye, I think that wouldst hath been the best solution for all involved," Zircon said, looking over at Ziggurat who was still trying to get to his hooves. He turned back to Gray and, by himself, helped her up so that they could leave. "Hup!"

As they exited the room, Twilight heard Gray ask Zircon, "Say, after seeing that, who d'ya think would win in a fight: me, or Applejack? Be straight with me now."

He laughed. "Oh, Ambassador, I shouldst think that even I lack the courage to answer that question."

Once they were gone, Twilight turned to approach the throne, as did the others, but she did so with more purpose in her steps and she had the longer gait, so she got there first. "Your Majesty! The combat is done, so do we have an accord?"

Zaratite gave Twilight a little smile. "Thy companion hath proven herself mighty indeed. Warlord Ziggurat is counted amongst our best warriors, and though the fight was hard won, it was won." He nodded. "'Twas our agreement that shouldst Ambassador Gray Skies win, I wouldst taketh that as proof not of thy claims, but of thy resolve. As such, an accord hath been forged."

Twilight let out a breath of relief. "Thank you, Your Majesty."

"Nay, there is no need to thanketh me. 'Tis a matter of law; thou wouldst not thank the moons for rising every night, for 'tis the law of nature." He clasped his hooves together. "So, I shalt moveth forward under the assumption that thy tales hath been true. As such, I must ask what the next moves shalt be?"

Gilderoy stepped forward. "The remaining delegates will be returning north to Hope's Point from Newhaven after we depart from Zeb'ra'den, Your Majesty. I will go with them as far as Newhaven, where I myself shall visit the Elysian Islands to procure the tools I will need to deactivate the Beacon at a specified time. I will return to and then remain here in Zeb'ra'den until that time."

Zaratite nodded. "Then I shalt ensure that thou hast finer guest rooms, Lorekeeper, if thou art to remaineth here for an extended period. If there art any resources that Zeb'ra'den might offer in these endeavors, thou must only asketh for them, and they shalt be procured."

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Gilderoy replied. "Other than that, there is little that any of your people will need to do. You would only need to warn them of the deactivation process, as it might cause a stir. The magic will not damage anything or anyone, but visually it might be disturbing or distressing."

"Very well." Zaratite turned to Blackburn. "Queen Blackburn, I regret that I cannot provideth thee with further assistance apart from means of travel and supplies. Until the Beacon hath been deactivated, my people are sworn to protect it, and so long as Zeb'ra'den standeth strong, our oath dost not allow us to bring war elsewhere."

Blackburn sighed and nodded. "I didn't have high hopes for anything more, but thank you anyway, King Zaratite."

"Hmm. Though, 'tis my understanding that my nephew, Sir Zircon, hath decided to venture north with thee. He hath spoken to me on this, as he doth claim thy tales to be true. Seeing the resolve in thine eyes, all of thee, tells me that mayhaps I shouldst keep an open mind on these matters."

"Zircon's coming north with us?" Twilight asked, looking at Blackburn.

"He asked me if I would allow him to come along, and I told him to ask permission from his king," Blackburn said with a shrug. "If he wants to help with the coming dangers, I'll be glad to have him along."

"Aye, 'twould be a boon to thee, as he is the finest swordfighter in all of Equestria," said Zaratite with a grin.

Twilight let out a breath, then nodded to Zaratite. "We appreciate all of your hospitality thus far, Your Majesty. I know that our story seems outlandish and strange and hard to believe, but I assure you that it's real. I wish that we could prove that it was without putting ponies and zebras in danger. Hopefully, once we succeed, you'll see that we were telling the truth."

"'Tis only a possibility if thou dost succeed in thy plans, Princess Twilight, so I shouldst hope that thou dost not fail." He stood from his throne, stepped down the stairs, and offered Twilight his hoof. "May the gods watch over thee and thy comrades in the coming trials."

Twilight took his hoof in hers. "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Comments

[RoboRed]

Hot damn, Rarity gave back way more than she took there. Good job.
Y'know, knowing Blackburn, a bit of me wonders if she planned out for something like that specifically happening well in advance...

Twilight was immensely disappointed that the king's perfectly sound logic was preventing them from solving a problem that just sounded so unbelievable. She could respect him, even admire him for his intellect and wisdom, but blast it all if she didn't wish he was a teensy bit more trusting.

King Zaratite has got quite the head on his shoulders. Clearly, he's the head honcho for a reason.

"But I know how your people work, Your Majesty. You all value one thing: strength. Strength of body, strength of mind, strength of will; only the strong survive here in the frozen south, right?" Gray smirked. "So how about instead of standing around talking like a bunch of gossiping hens, you let the warriors do the talking?"

When the trial by combat was thrown down, I was half expecting it to be Applejack vs Zircon when the latter first stepped forwards. Still, Gray getting the chance to kick ass was pretty cool.

And then Gray slammed into his side so hard that he smashed right into said zebra—Twilight noted that it was Lord Zopo.

Hah, get one-two punched ya' loser.