Diplomacy 8

>If Lord Aegis would have been in his prime, and not so weak from blood loss, he would have no doubt snapped the Empress's neck
>It would have also been infinitely harder to stop him from rampaging
>Every single one of the Northerners had said such to you after you all had pulled your lord off of the taur
>They also said that if he had been in better condition he might have even pulled her head clean off!
>Thank goodness that didn't happen...
>Your lord was scary enough as is...
 >After you had pulled lord Aegis from the Empress, who seemed a lot more excited to be choked than a person should be, your lord had passed out
>Berserk or not, there was only so much a Northerner could take before he just… stopped
>While it had been very scary to watch him just go limp in Ser Lero’s arms, this allowed the knights to tie your lord up with their belts and carry him back to your room, away from the chaos that he had sown
>"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, are you alright Empress Helga? Do you need anything? What are you even doing here? Are your guards alright? Can you breathe okay? Oh my goodness, you're neck is going to BRUISE!"
>Ser Therin, Lord Aegis's second in command, had decided to stay with the princesses and minotaurs
>Since the old knight wanted you to "learn something," as he said, you were forced to stay as well
>And you had to say that you would have probably preferred going back to the room
>While the Empress looked as happy as could be sitting on the floor as Princess Twilight looked her over, her guards weren't nearly as enthusiastic
>The anger on their faces made you uncomfortable, and the way they were clenching their swords made you wish that more than one knight had stayed behind
>You had a feeling that if the Empress didn't look as happy as she was those guards would have rushed you
>A shiver ran up your spine at the thought
>Knight-in-training or no, each of those minotaurs were twice your size


>And you only had your dagger to defend yourself
>AND there was a BUNCH of them...
>"Are you well, little lord?"
>You jumped, your head whipping around
>There, standing right next to you, was the pony that had been in your dreams last night
>Princess Luna
>Your stomach tightened at the sight of her, but even so you bent a knee
"H-Hello, your highness."
>You tried to bow your head as well, only for a blue wing to slide under your chin and lift it back up
>"Please, there's no need for that, child," Princess Luna said, tapping your cheek with the tip of your wing. "Please rise."
>You could feel Ser Therin's disapproving glare on the back of your head as you rose
>You managed to mostly ignore it, looking the princess over
"You're taller than you were in my..."
>You looked over at Ser Therin
>You… probably should keep your mouth shut about what happened last night…
>If Lord Aegis was upset now, you could only imagine how mad he’d get if he found out the princess had been in your dreams...
>Princess Luna smiled
>"Most ponies feel less threatened if I don't tower over them," she said, leaning toward your ear and whispering so Ser Therin couldn’t hear. "Shrinking myself in the waking world might be no small feat, but it is very easy in the realm of dreams."
"Oh... that's neat."
>Princess Luna smiled
>"I just heard what had happened from my sister," she said. "Is your lord well?"
"Some of the other knights said that he'd be fine," you replied. "All he needs is a little bit of sleep."
>"Good, and what of you child? How are you faring?"
>You?
>What would be wrong with you?
>You weren’t the one that got shot today
"I'm fine, your highness."
>To your surprise, the princess didn't look very convinced


>"Are you sure? Your hands seem to say otherwise."
>...
>What?
>Looking down at your hands, you saw that they were indeed shaking
>And not only them either; your entire body seemed to be shaking
"Oh..." you mumbled
>You jumped again when you felt a big, rough hand slapping onto your shoulder
>"The boy's fine," Ser Therin said, his voice gruff. "He's just a little shaky from all of the day's excitement. Just like the rest of us."
>Princess Luna's eyes flicked up to the wiry Southerner
>"As you have every right to be," she said, bowing her head. "You've come to Equestria at our behest and not only have you been attacked, but your lord has been injured."
>"He has," Ser Therin said, his eyes drifting over to the empress. “‘And I’m sure he wouldn’t appreciate you whispering in his squire’s ear as if you were plotting something.
>Princess Luna bowed her head a little lower
>"I'm sure that my sister has already apologized for the actions of those fools that wish to disrupt this kingdom's harmony, but I'd like to apologize for what has happened today. And if you take offense to me speaking with young Anon I apologize for that as well."
>Ser Therin, giving you another disapproving look that promised a good cuff to the ear when you were back in your room, nodded
>"I'll give my lord your message."
>"Please do that. I'd also be eternally grateful if you were to send along my prayers and my desire to help the lord in any way that I can."
>"I'll be sure to tell him, your highness. You have my word.”
>"I'm fine, I'm fine. You don't need to keep poking at me with that horn of yours!"
>You looked over to see the Empress making her way to her hooves with the help of her guards
>Princess Twilight, who was chewing on her lip, was trying her hardest to make the minotaur sit back down
>"Please, Empress, rest for a few more minutes. The spell needs longer to--"
>"I'm not some namby-pamby bull, Princess. I'll be fine," the Empress said, giving the alicorn's head a pat


>Princess Twilight drew away from the taur’s hand, her nose scrunching up
>The Empress paid her no mind, turning toward you and Ser Therin and smiling
>Ser Therin placed a hand on the hilt of his sword as, with a happy murmur, the Empress skipped over to the two of you
>"You wouldn't happen to be Ser Therin would you? Lord Aegis's old bandit flag bearer?" she asked, her tone very undignified and not at all like any noble that you had ever heard speak
>Ser Therin's eyes narrowed
>"Yes I am."
>A high pitched, excited sound escaped the Empress's throat
>Both you and Ser Therin jumped at the noise
>For such a giant woman, you didn’t think she’d be able to make a noise like that...
>"Ohmygosh! I've heard SO much about you! Like at the battle of River's Bend where you--"
>The Empress was about to reach out and touch Ser Therin, and probably lose a hand for her troubles
>Fortunately for her, a golden aura surrounded her, picking her up into the air and floating her away from the knight
>"Helga, if I could have a moment of your time please," Princess Celestia said, her tone icy
>Gone was the princess's smile and her mother-like kindness
>She looked upset
>Her purple eyes were narrowed, and you could see her rolling her jaw
>She didn't seem all that scary to you--lord Aegis looked scarier when you didn't get him enough ale in the morning--but if you would have looked at the minotaurs you'd have thought they'd just seen a demon
>The guards took a few hasty steps backward, all of the anger draining from their faces
>The Empress herself paled, the joy on her face turning into something very close to fear as Princess Celestia put her down right in front of her
>"Helga, I would very much like to know why you've come to my kingdom unannounced," the princess said. "It would be very beneficial for you if you would tell the truth as well, since I have had a very... TRYING day and not in the mood for any nonsense."
>The Empress swallowed dryly
>"W-Well, I heard that the great Lord Aegis was coming to Canterlot so I'd t-thought I'd come and see him," she said as her tail curled around her leg


>"And why would you do that?" Celestia asked, an edge creeping into her voice
>The Empress flinched
>"I've heard a-a bunch of stories about the bull, from my aunts and a f-few of the older retainers," she said, looking down at the floor. "And I wanted to meet him because I, um, well... I think he's really cool."
>Princess Celestia raised an eyebrow
>"Cool?"
>"Of course!" the Empress said, a flash of excitement making its way across her face as she looked back up at Princess Celestia. "Have you ever read anything about the human-minotaur wars? That bull spent five years hiding out in the forest attacking supply lines, and no matter how many soldiers my mom sent after him he'd always slip away!"
>The Empress smiled, squirming in place
>"He also managed to capture Biglhorn and Dilgifal from right under our noses! No one's been able to do that since those castles were built and he managed to do it with only twenty men! And, and, and because he flanked my mom while she was trying to destroy King Drfaul's army almost eighty thousand minotaurs were routed!"
>She bit her knuckle
>"He's got to be the coolest bull in the whole wide world! How COULDN'T I try to see him! Half of the heifers in Labyrinthia want to meet him! And now, after all of these years of trying I meet him in the flesh and OhmygoshIcan'tbelievethis!"
>The Empress made another excited noise, much to the embarrassment of her guards and the confusion of Princess Celestia
>Princess Luna, however, laughed
>"I don't believe that the mighty Empress was the one to order the attempt on the lord's life, sister mine," she said, brushing past you and walking over toward her sister
>The Empress stopped her squealing and squirming
>"Attempt? What attempt?"
> "Not a few hours ago somepony shot lord Aegis with a crossbow," Princess Twilight said, ruffling her feathers.
>You could see the gears turning in the Empress's head as she processed just what the alicorn had said


>"WHAT?! Who the buck did it?!" she demanded, her face twisting in rage. "I'll tear their arms off! I'll rip off their coats and dump them in a pool of lemon juice! I'll... I'll...!"
>The Empress took a few deep breaths, opening and closing her hands
>"I'll do something VERY bad to them!"
>"As we speak I have my guard combing the city," Princess Celestia said
>Gone was the anger from her face, and the tension had left her body
>She looked relieved, almost happy
>"I promise you that we'll have this would-be assassin captured by nightfall."
>"That's not good enough," the Empress growled, turning toward her guards. "Holly, Hazel, take fifty girls and have them search the streets. If they find anyone with a bucking crossbow or looking even a LITTLE shady bring 'em here."
>She looked over to you, her anger turning to worry
>"Is lord Aegis alright? Does he need anything? I have a pretty great healer in my entourage if he needs one. Or some coffee maybe? I’d be happy to go out myself and get him something!"
>You looked up at Ser Therin to await the knight's answer
>To your shock, the knight was pale and his body tensed
>Looking down at his hand, you saw that he was clenching his sword hilt very, very hard
>"You have fifty heifers running around here?" he said
>The Empress blinked
>"No, I have about a hundred, why?"
>Ser Therin covered his mouth with a hand
>"Oh gods above, protect us..."