The Price of Amber

by De Writer

Chapter 1

She laid out the perfect oval stones, glowing yellow in the light from the window. They rested on black velvet that was placed on the table top to prevent any possible scratch on the lovely stones. Each one was a smooth, highly polished cabochon cut piece of clear amber with a perfectly centered captive insect.

Her delicate magic of midnight blue, shot through with stars from the deepest night, lifted each stone and held it up to be examined then reverently set it back to its place.

She sat back, the deepest blue of her fur and mane contrasting with the blue enamel on white gold of the crown with its crescent moon of white gold that sat her forehead, sharing space with the long straight midnight colored horn.

Speaking to the pegasus before her, Princess Luna said, “These are so perfect, Dawn Fire. They are the color of my Sister's sunlight. They will become a necklace to be a present for her. You shall have your price without a quibble.

“There remain two things that I wish to know. Can you obtain one more like to these but somewhat larger? It would be the centerpiece to this Royal Gift.

“The other you may tell me or not as you see fit. I am curious about what YOU paid for these.”

The somewhat off orange pegasus thought for a moment and replied, “If I could get back into Prance, I could get the remaining stone easily. With the present political situation, that could be difficult.”

He chuckled, “As for what they cost, it was one of the heaviest prices that I have ever paid! I was up at Tailswitch Fair in County Corbiestep. A visiting Prance merchant showed me a stone like these but would not sell it to me.

“I did find out that he was not alone in being a glutton for those Rom Ka'chek pastries! I bought a small chest from one of the Rom at the fair and loaded it up with Ka'cheks in a variety of flavors! I flew through the Corbiestep Pass into Prance and tracked down the source of the Amber Stones. I traded the whole lot, chest and all, for those!

“Staying out of snacks that good was just about the hardest thing that I ever did!”

The dark Princess chuckled as she nodded her head in acknowledgment. “Thank you for those kind words, Dawn Fire. I do remember selling them to you! I wondered then what you wanted with the whole chest of them.”

The orange pegasus would have stumbled if he was moving. “Um, that was YOU? I mean, I have heard that you and your sister do spend time with some of the Rom. I would never have guessed that the mare that I bought those Ka'check snacks from was you, Princess.”

Quietly, Princess Luna agreed, “Such was and remains Our intent. When among Our Royal Family, the band of Marchhare, We try to remain as incognito as possible. Being a Princess in Canterlot is more confining than being in a jail. Among the Rom, We have some precious moments of freedom.”

Soberly, Dawn Fire nodded in his turn. “I see. I have noticed, just in trying to get this interview, the many levels of stuffed shirt nobles that I had to go through. They isolate you?”

Luna agreed in a sad voice, “They do worse than that. They isolate Us from the populace and try to insinuate themselves into Our graces for business, personal or family gain. It is a rare noble who truly considers the good of the Realm before their personal gain.”

After sober consideration, Dawn Fire agreed, “I can understand how that could easily be.

“Regarding the issue of getting into Prance, have you any suggestions? I confess that I cannot see any way clear, what with how tightly they have sealed the border.”

Princess Luna smiled as she asked, “As far north in Prance as you were, were you by chance anywhere near the Weird Wood? If so, I do know of a possible route.”

Dawn Fire considered thouhgtfully, “Yes . . . technically where I need to go to get the stone is IN the Weird Wood. I must also deal with a small village just to the south of the Weird Wood. The artisans who cut and polish the amber to turn it from yellow lumps to stones like these live there.”

Princess Luna thought quietly for a while. She broke the silence with, “I do have reason to believe that the so called bandit raids on our Prance frontier will soon abate. While this gift to my sister will be lovely, it is not urgent.

“Do you abide here in Canterlot Castle as My guest for the nonce. When all is safe, you will be given free rail passage to the County of Corbiestep. Also, you will be given a chest of Ka'chek pastries, many of which will be apricot filled, which I know to be a favorite flavor among customers of Mine from Prance.

“The current Countess Protem of Corbiestep, Arianne, will be instructed to give you any assistance that you shall require.

“For the present, until it be a fortuitous time to set out on your errand, take this pass. It will allow you into any non classified parts of the castle and give you admission to any of the parties or court functions. You may find the next few Courts to be of particular interest.”

Luna grinned and some trace of the Nightmare showed in her suddenly razor sharp, shark like fangs! With a cheer that did not seem forced at all, she added, “I am very sure that the Ambassador of Prance and his retinue will find it interesting!”

Dawn Fire perked up and replied, “It sounds like Court might be fun at that!”

The Herald at the door to the Thrones Room door directed Dawn Fire, “Over to the right. There is a stair up to the gallery.” With candor, he added, “It actually has the best view of the proceedings, but the nobles all want to be closer to the Thrones.”

Thanking him, Dawn Fire went up the stairs. The Herald was right. The balcony had an excellent view.

It was an impressive sight as the Princesses entered, leading a procession of Ambassadors followed by the high nobles of the realm. The Princesses mounted their thrones and the assorted Ambassadors, Dukes, Earls, Counts and Barons all took their places to either side of the deep bluish red Royal Purple carpet runner leading to the Thrones of Equestria.

The Herald read from a scroll, “Hear these, the Words of the Joint Princesses of Equestria, Celestia and Luna!

“There are certain problems occurring along Our present border with the nation of Prance. About six months ago, Prance attempted an invasion of Our land of Equestria by a Hearthwarming attack through Corbiestep pass in the County of Corbiestep. The first wave of that attack was by pegassi, dropping incendiary devices which did much damage, destroying the castle of Corbiestep and killing the Countess and all but one of the Count's family.

“The Count himself was on holiday at Sleighbell, and missed the strike and any chance to direct the defense. His young daughter Arianne took over the defense of the County with the very reduced equipment and troops that survived the aerial strike. Her tactics and strategy successfully stopped the vastly superior force attacking her County.

“For his negligence and other crimes revealed by the attack, Corbiestep has been removed from the County and awaits trial.

“Arianne, Acting Countess of Corbiestep, please come forward for your Investiture.”

The pony who stepped forward up the carpet was a young unicorn, barely out of fillyhood. Her blue mane and tail had been expertly coiffed in a flattering fashion and she wore State Robes of soft green over her yellow fur, revealed where her flanks were bared by the robes to show her cutie mark, a bursting flame crossed by spear and sword.

She knelt before the Thrones of Equestria. Princess Luna stepped toward her from her throne to the left of the Empty Throne of the Queen and Celestia came from her throne to the right of the Empty Throne.

Celestia spoke first. “Do you, Arianne, accept from Our hooves and horns, this Pectoral of County, to become the true Countess of Corbiestep? To rule your subjects with Justice tempered with mercy? To lead them with wisdom and care whether in time of peace or war? To serve and save them in times of plenty and times of want or disaster?”

Arianne spoke firmly, “I do swear that I will do all in my power to fulfill all the duties of my County.”

Dawn Fire watched as the ceremony went on, each Office that Arianne took was accompanied by a chain about her neck and each Duty by a badge placed on a sash.

Finally, each Princess took a large sword of beautifully worked Damascus steel, mounted with priceless gems and laid them lightly upon Arianne's shoulders. “Arise before Us, your undoubted Princesses Royal, as Arianne, Countess Corbiestep.”

Arianne arose and looked up to her Princesses. “Your highnesses, a boon I beg of you, regarding the current state of my County.”

Royal voices blended as they replied, “Speak then, Corbiestep, and we will consider your request.”

Dawn Fire could have sworn that Princess Luna glanced up to him in the gallery and winked. For sure, she was smiling.

“Since the failed invasion attempt, both my County's borders and the borderlands of Prance have been plagued by bands of bandits, some of the bands are quite large.

“They flee to our side of the border if pursued by the military of Prance and if my troops pursue, they flee the other way. I have been assured by the local representative of Prance that their troops are doing all that they can to contain the menace. He asserts that some of the larger bandit raider groups have even overrun and looted military units of theirs.

“Based upon the fact that my troops have caught several large raider bands and reduced them, I do believe that the official of Prance is telling me the truth. The bands that we have caught on our side of the border have had captured military equipment and uniforms.

“I wish to have public discourse with the Ambassador himself regarding cooperation in dealing with the bandits.”

Princess Celestia nodded her Royal head and called out, “Will the Ambassador of Prance please come before the Thrones of Equestria?”

The Ambassador was a large, imposing pony. He was decked in robes and sashes. He wore many chains of Office and had a multitude of badges of Duty.

He paused and gave the Thrones a courtly bow. Without bothering to bow to Arianne, he asked in a haughty voice, “What would you have of me? My nation's forces have withdrawn from your County of Corbistep.”

She returned his discourtesy by staring from his hooves to the tops of his ears before replying, “I was unaware that your forces withdrew. Bluntly, Sir, I drove them back in a total rout. The forces that I led captured 426 of your troops, and thirty mage mortars with 176 rounds of ammunition. We looted and burned all three staging camps and, had the matter been in my hooves, I would have taken a sixty kilometer bite out of the plains that you advanced over. You may thank my Princesses that I withdrew to the proper boundaries of the County of Corbistep.

“Originally, it was my plan to hold that part of your nation hostage upon the payment of reparations for the destruction of Corbistep Castle, the garrison barracks, the armory and the dead, including my own mother along with both of my brothers.

“Since then, I have spoken at length with my Princesses and your local military and civil leaders. They have revealed the problem that I spoke of earlier about bandit bands equipped with stolen gear and uniforms. It has been stated by your ponies that they need substantial financial aid to put down the bandits on your side of the Sunset Mountains.

“Captured loot from the campaign, subject to the orders of my Princesses, is mine to use or distribute as needed. I have during the last month, reduced TWO more substantial bandit bands dressed in stolen uniforms and equipage well inside Corbistep, in fact fully out of the mountains. They had what were clearly stolen monies that I did keep and bring to my Princesses.”

Smiling grimly, she signaled. Two husky ponies brought in heavy chests on wheeled dollies. They were painted Prance Military Gray with serial numbers that identified not only their Prance Military Chancery origin, but also the destined units of the army. They were still locked and bore unbroken seals.

The Ambassador could barely contain his rage at seeing them. It got worse in mere moments. Arianne produced a chisel and a striking mallet from under her robes of State and smiling angelically, broke the hasps and locks. Opened, the chests contained payment bags filled with golden Prance Farthings and accounting records.

The Ambassador demanded, “These must be returned to Prance at once!”

Arianne looked sideways at him and asked in seeming innocence, “How then does Prance have any claim upon these? They were captured, as I explained, deep inside my County of Corbiestep. If they were the loot of bandits, they are incontestably mine.

“If they were with the units that are shown on the chests, Prance has invaded County Corbiestep and the Kingdom of Equestria. I have destroyed these two brigades and captured, besides these chests, a great deal of military hardware belonging to a hostile nation. In that instance, Sir, we are at war again and the loot remains incontestably mine.

“So, only one question remains, Sir. Answer me plainly in simple words. Are we at war?”