Age of the Alicorns: Chaos Rising

by AleximusPrime

7. News of the North

CHAPTER 7: News of the North

“The general said WHAT?!” bellowed the king upon hearing the bad news.

“Yeah, I dunno what went wrong, Your Majesty, but that guy really wasn’t as good as you described him.” Percy told the king while standing behind the saddened princesses.

“Why did he have to be so mean?” Penny asked angrily. “I mean Celestia and Luna did great in there and were reasonable and nice and all. Why couldn’t he just listen to them?!”

“I can’t believe what I’m hearing.” the queen said turning to her husband in disbelief. “Leogle would never speak so harshly, especially not to children!”

“Honestly father, I don’t know why he said the things he said about you…” Celestia said with her head hung and a tear forming in her eye while Luna stood next to her trying to comfort her. “I tried everything I could and he wouldn’t listen. I’ve failed you…”

“No Celestia…” the king said putting his hoof under her chin. “You did exactly what you were supposed to; things just didn’t go as planned. Though I cannot say that I could have ever seen this coming, Leogle doesn’t seem approachable for the time being. If I knew how he would have treated the two of you, I would never have sent you.”

“Father, does this mean we will have to find another way to take our exam?” Luna asked.

“Unfortunately yes, Luna. I’m sorry things didn’t work out for this assignment, but we can’t pass you if the outcome wasn’t promising enough.” The king turned away to look out at the sun on the west horizon while speaking. “You girls let me handle Leogle. Meanwhile, I promise you I will find another diplomatic assignment for you in place of today’s.”

The sun began to set and the king’s horn glowed with bright yellow magic.

“Oh, I’m sorry father. I forgot about the sun…” Celestia said, wiping her tears away.

“It’s alright, Celestia.” he told her. “Today’s events could break your concentration and you’ve had a rough day as it is. I’ll set the sun for tonight.”

“Would you girls like some supper?” the queen asked her daughters.

“No thanks, mother.” Celestia said. “I’m not very hungry right now.”

“Me neither.” Luna added. “Not even for some of that delicious royal pudding.”

“Alright, then you should at least go get some rest. Your father’s right. Today was rough for both of you and a good night’s rest may be just what you need.”

“You’re right, mother…” Celestia said drying her face completely and trying to be as positive as she could. “We’ll both try better next time.”

“Good night, Percy. Good night, Penny.” Luna waved to the dragons while she and her sister walked up the steps leading to the royal chambers to get ready for bed.

“Good night, girls.” the dragons said in unison.

“Well, I’m still mad about what happened too, Queen Chernalia…” Penny said to the queen, “…but I still wouldn’t mind a little snack before bedtime.”

“Alright, Penny. The king and I will meet you in the dining room in just a few moments.” The queen said laughing a little.

“Have fun, sis.” Percy said to Penny. “Meanwhile, I gotta go report to the council. They sure are gonna love what I have to say…” he said sarcastically while flying away.

Queen Chernalia smiled as Penny walked by her and then her face turned again to sorrow. The sun had just finished setting behind the western mountains and the queen joined her husband as they both entered the dining hall.

“Chernalia, I’m very worried about what happened today with Leogle.” he said skeptically. “I think there is something gravely wrong with him.”

“I’m worried too, my king…” she replied. “…especially for the well being of the economy now that we’ve lost all our ties with the griffons.”

“I feel bad about involving the girls in this, but we need to try and handle the issue with the griffons ourselves from now on. And then, of course, there’s the replacement exam. I just hope they haven’t lost hope over today’s results…”

Solmidas continued to speak with his queen as they entered the dining room. Today was supposed to be a good day for the whole royal family, but now the king and queen found themselves eating without their daughters to join them and without any good news of the negotiations. The king was still very dumbfounded and worried and couldn’t get Leogle off his mind. But worse, he feared how this would affect his daughters in the future.

Later in the main courts, Percy stood tall reading a scroll he had just written describing the events of the failed negotiations to the senate. The senators and council members who had gathered were eager to hear good news but they were instead met with very grave news that nopony had expected.

“Senators of the royal courts of Equestria, I, Perseus the dragon, am here as a witness of the negotiations with General Leogle of the griffon province and bring you the news of said negotiations.” He paused a little knowing that the reaction would not be pleasant. “I…… regret to inform you all that they have failed…”

The senators faces all turned to confusion and murmuring could be heard amongst all the members of court. Their heads turned to and fro as if asking questions. Percy continued.

“General Leogle says that he wishes to form his own government with the griffons now and has broken off all diplomatic unities from the Equestrian government completely. He has expressed anger with the King, claiming that he has callously used them as disposable pawns in the battles to protect Everfree, and favored its pony citizens over griffons. He believes him to be ‘incompetent’, and wishes to never again speak to him on diplomatic affairs. As of today, we’ve lost the griffon province as an ally.”

“Hold on a minute!” said an elderly voice from the crowd of senators seated to Percy’s right.

The voice came from Senator Gale Winds; an alicorn who was one of the oldest council members. He had also stood by the king for many years and appeared to be very offended with how Leogle was ‘angered’ with the king.

“All of us in this room know Leogle enough to know he would never say such a thing.” continued Gale Winds. “And he knows he can trust our king. What gives him the right to accuse Solmidas of such preposterous acts?”

“Well Senator Gale Winds…” Percy said rolling the scroll up. “I trust all of you in here but he is definitely not how any of you described or remembered him.”

“Oh hogwash and hay-bales!” said another voice coming from Senator Figgy Pudding a stout alicorn who donned a mustache and a monocle. “Forgive me, young dragon, but do you honestly expect us to believe that Leogle has just all of a sudden changed his mind about the pony race and sees us as his enemy now?”

“Well, um…”

“AHEM!”

The nearby clearing of the throat came from Accord who was seated close enough to Percy to get up and walk over to stand next to his scaly teenage friend.

“Senator Figgy Pudding, we all know how honest of a dragon he is. Now tell us Perseus: what exactly was the general like while you were there?” Accord asked Percy trying to get the other senators to understand him better.

“Uh……well, pretty aggressive for starters…” Percy replied. “Like I said, the total opposite of how everyone else described him.”

“And you say he thinks the King is ‘incompetent’ and he wants nothing more to do with this government or any of us ponies of Everfree?”

“Yeah, he said something about the King using the griffons so that they can die during the battles that have taken place up in the griffon province. You know, like when the griffons protect from any invasions from the north and stuff.”

“Well we all know that isn’t true.” Senator Gale Winds said with discontent. “How is it the general cannot see that as well?”

“We’re not saying that we don’t believe you, Perseus…” said the female senator, Silver Breeze, “…but it is very unlikely that the general would do something like this. We have all known him for years and it is very hard to digest such information about a griffon we’ve all admired in the past.” Other senators nodded and murmured in agreement with her.

“I have to agree that it is unlikely…” Accord added, “Though we’ve trusted Percy with the task of reporting on diplomatic affairs outside of these walls, I doubt he would fabricate any of it.”

“What about the princesses?” Senator Silver Breeze continued. “Is it true that he treated them so harshly while they tried to persuade him?”

“Yeah, he was pretty rude to them.” Percy said looking down. “He kept referring to them as ‘mere children’ and doesn’t think they understand what’s going on. I think he kinda surprised them with the part about the griffons risking their lives to protect us. Luna didn’t even know about that since she’s too young to know. Though I didn’t think he’d even bring that up. But yeah, he was really harsh with them. Kept raising his voice and he even ordered the guards to escort us with their spears pointing right at us like we’re criminals or something.”

Senator Gale Winds sighed and shook his head back and forth heavy in thought.

“I’m sorry if we sound like we don’t trust you, young Perseus, but I’ve spoken to that griffon before.” he said looking at Perseus and Accord standing in the middle of the court room. “I just find it so disturbing that he would turn against us in this manner. It baffles me so much…”

“I’m sorry all of you had to hear this.” Percy said looking across the room at the other senators. “I was expecting to come back telling you all that we’ve resolved the issue and we have the general back on our side and all but I’m just as disappointed as you are. Let’s hope we can get this fixed soon.”

“Well Perseus, I think you’ve seen quite enough action for one day.” Accord said putting his hoof on the dragon’s shoulder. “You should go get some rest. The senate will take it from here.”

Percy bowed his head to Accord and then to the rest of the senators and walked off to the sound of them all murmuring more as they all got ready to go to their quarters to get some rest as well. Percy was met by Starswirl who was standing in the doorway also looking very disappointed.

“Oh, Starswirl, hey… You heard, right?” Percy asked him.

“I heard enough.” Starswirl answered. “The king and queen told one of the royal chefs and I overheard some conversation about the general and that the negotiations failed. I walked in just a few minutes ago and heard most of what you read from the scroll.”

“Yeah, quite a failure if you’d ask me.” Percy said rubbing his arm nervously.

“Did the girls do what they needed to though?”

“Oh well yeah, definitely, of course they did!” Percy said with a bit of enthusiasm. “I just meant the mission was a failure, not the girls. They did everything you and the instructors and their parents told them to. If it were up to me, I would have passed them but sadly we didn’t convince General Leogle so that’s why it was a failure.”

“Well then that’s all that matters. Where are the girls right now?”

“In bed. They were too upset to eat so they just hit the hay.”

“I see. Well you go get some rest, Percy. I’ll see if I can talk to them later.”

“Good night, Starswirl.” Percy said walking by the wizard unicorn while yawning.

Starswirl had a very apprehensive look on his face. He knew what had happened with Leogle was indeed bad news but he was more concerned for the girls right now. Thinking quickly he summoned a nearby servant.

“Quick Serve, fetch me some tea. I need it for the princesses.” He told the servant.

“Right away, Master Starswirl.” Quick Serve said obediently.

Up in the royal tower at the tallest point of the castle, Celestia could not get to sleep. She had General Leogle and the negations still on her mind. Luna wasn’t too happy with the negotiations either though she was doing her best to be positive about it. It was just Celestia she was worried about. The door in the middle of the partition of their bedrooms was opened and Celestia had her biggest candle lit and was sitting up in bed pondering. Luna got up and walked over to see her sister and try to comfort her.

“Tia? Why are you not asleep?” asked Luna standing in the doorway.

“Was I keeping you awake Luna?” Celestia said suddenly realizing it might have been her candle. “Because I can blow that candle out if you want me to.”

“No no no, I’m fine. I’m just concerned about you.” Luna said climbing up onto Celestia’s bed to join her.

“Well I think it’s no secret I’m still really distraught about the negotiations…”

Luna put her hoof on Celestia’s.

“I’m not happy about it either, Tia, but it was just our first assignment you know. I’m sure we’ll do fine with all the other ones we have ahead of us.” she said giving Celestia as much encouragement as she could.

“I’m sure we will Luna…” Celestia said trying her best to smile, “but what happened today just really has me down and I can’t get the thought of it out of my head…”

“Is that why the king set the sun this evening?” said the voice of Starswirl walking in through the doorway carrying a tray with two cups of tea.

“Oh, Starswirl!” Celestia said surprised. “I’m sorry, Luna and I were just talking and it looks like we forgot to shut the door.”

“It’s alright, young princess, it’s alright. You’re not the only one who can’t get to sleep quite so early these days.” Starswirl said using his magic to levitate a nearby pillow next to the bed for him to sit on.

“Is this tea for us?” Luna said staring hungrily at the cups.

“If you insist, little princess of the night.” Starswirl chuckled. “I heard you both went to bed early without any dinner which would imply you were both sleeping, but……well the three of us know that’s not the case. So I thought a little tea may do you some good.”

Celestia smiled a little bit finding comfort in Starswirl’s kindness like usual but the thought of the negotiations came back to her and she wondered if Starswirl knew about that.

“Starswirl, about the negotiations…” she started to say before taking her first sip of tea. “Well……they didn’t exactly-“

“I know, Celestia.” Starswirl said. “I heard Percy giving the news to the senators.”

“You did?” Celestia asked with her years perking up.

“What did they say?” Luna asked.

“Well they were surprised to hear it just as much as I was.” said Starswirl looking off to the side. He then turned back to the girls. “Did I ever tell you I met the general back when he was a very young cadet serving in the griffon army?”

“I don’t believe so…” Celestia responded.

“Well he was a very respectful young griffon back then. I remember how loyal he behaved not only to his people but to the king as well. So you can imagine how hard it was to hear about what he said to you girls during the negotiations.”

Celestia and Luna had finished taking sips of their tea and looked at each other puzzled over what they heard. How could General Leogle have gone from being so respectful and kind to being defiant and cruel?

“I was expecting him to be just how you described him, Starswirl.” Luna said looking down.

“As was I.” Celestia added. “Starswirl, do you know what’s gotten into him?”

“Sadly I don’t.” Starswirl responded disappointingly.

“Then why would he do such a thing?” Luna asked.

“I don’t know Luna, I don’t know…”

Starswirl then turned back to the girls and tried to change the subject before they would worry too much about the general.

“But let’s not worry about the general anymore. What matters most is that you girls did what you were supposed to and Percy told me you both deserved a passing grade if it weren’t for Leogle’s actions.”

“You really think so?” Luna said smiling.

“Most definitely. That means you should have no difficulty with the next test if you are to go on a diplomatic assignment again. Though, it wouldn’t hurt to study and practice a bit more. After all, you’ll have some time while your father plans for the next assignment.”

Celestia thought about what Starswirl said and could see he was right. Leogle may have not made her first diplomatic assignment enjoyable but she didn’t need to worry about him anymore. Her parents would handle the issue with the griffons and she and Luna would more likely get an easier assignment. Besides, she and Luna still knew their diplomacy enough and used it properly so they wouldn’t need to worry about it just because they failed the first one. With a smile on her face, she turned back to Starswirl.

“You’re right, Starswirl.” she said. “I’m sure we’ll be fine for the rest of these diplomacy lessons and tests. Right Luna?”

Luna yawned before answering her sister.

“Right, Tia…”

“Hehe, come on you silly filly. Let’s get you to bed before you sleep in past breakfast again tomorrow morning.” Celestia giggled.

Luna hopped off the bed and walked back into her bedroom.

“Good night Tia. And thanks Starswirl.” she said.

“Rest well, little one.” Starswirl called back to Luna. “Well Celestia, I best leave you to get some rest as well. You and Luna have much ahead of you tomorrow.”

“Thanks Starswirl.” Celestia replied putting her empty cup back on Starswirl’s tray as he got up to leave.

“I’ll see the both of you in tomorrow’s lesson.”

Starswirl started walking out the door that would lead to the stairwell to return to his own living quarters until Celestia called back to him.

“Oh, and Starswirl…”

“Yes, Princess?”

“That thing that General Leogle said about how he and his griffons have defended Equestria and how they’ve lost many in battle while doing it……is it true?”

Starswirl paused for a minute. Celestia had already been told that Leogle has guarded Equestria for years. Though he feared Leogle may have stretched the truth. Even so, he couldn’t tell a lie to Celestia. Luna may have been too young to be in discussions about war and bloodshed, but her older sister needed to know these things if she were to become a great leader one day.

“It’s true, Celestia. The griffons have guarded the land and there have been battles up there against several tribes seeking to claim Equestria in the past…” Starswirl responded.

“But obviously Father would never intend to use the griffons so that they can die and the ponies can live…”

“No. Your father is not capable of such cruelty.”

“I see.”

“I think that so many years of battle may have hardened Leogle’s heart. Perhaps that explains why he has grown so aggravated with your father.”

“Then why did father choose Leogle to be the general of the griffon army?”

Starswirl turned around to face Celestia once more.

“Because Leogle chose to follow your father first.”

They exchanged smiles and Starswirl walked down the stairs closing the door behind him.

Celestia turned herself around and pulled her blanket over herself. She had feared she would have a hard time getting to sleep after what had happened that day but the meeting with Starswirl changed things and she felt much better now. With a smile on her face, she shut her eyes and fell asleep.

TO BE CONTINUED…

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