Diplomactic Differences (Patreon)

 The ground trembled as the two great dragons slowly advanced on Celestia and Luna’s position in my Equestria dreamscape, when the two behemoths reached the stone monolith they paused and waited. In unison the two sisters slowly nodded their heads, upon receiving this signal the two dragons presumed walking toward them.

  When they got within a hundred feet of the princesses the dragons stopped. After a couple seconds the smaller of the two dragons addressed the sisters in a surprisingly, smooth feminine voice.

  “Hail Celestia Princess of Sun, Co-ruler of Equestria! Hail Luna Princess of the Moon, Co-ruler of Equestria! I, Bent Horn, Head of the Council of Dragons have come to settle matters of state between our two realms!” Celestia replied.

  “Hail Bent Horn! Rightful Head of the Council of Dragons!  I Celestia, Co-ruler of Equestria welcome you to our realm.” Then Luna spoke.    “Hail Bent Horn! Rightful Head of the Council of Dragons!  I Luna, Co-ruler of Equestria welcome you to our realm.” The dialogue was carefully scripted and followed an ancient formula that had been agreed upon by all parties centuries ago.

   
   This little scripted play went on for several more minutes until the prerequisites of formality and protocol had been properly addressed. Then the conversation settled down to a more natural tempo. Celestia looked at the other dragon present.

  “Black Horns! I see you still loyally serve Bent Horn as her Flame and Claws.” Flame and Claws is a title similar to Queen’s Champion amongst the dragons. Celestia eyed the mountain of a dragon. “And is it just my imagination or have you grown even bigger since I last saw you?”

   
  Unspoken at that moment was one of Black Horns other titles, Blotter of the Sun. For this reason there had always been a slight rivalry between Celestia and this particular dragon. 

  
  Black Horns looked down on at the two ponies. His red-orange eyes glowed brighter. In a voice like a rockslide he spoke.

  “Celestia, I see you are still in good health. Luna you have returned to resume your office again. Good! Very good!”

  Bent Horn spoke again. “We have come here today finalize the remaining matters of reparations to your kingdom as result of the most recent conflict between our realms, and to seek assurance of safe passage of our subjects during the upcoming migration to our ancestral breeding grounds. Through the griffins we have received your list of conditions and as the Head of the Council I do not contest your demands.”

  Around Bent Horn’s neck was a stout satchel of hide, scales and heavy bronze plates. With her right paw she reached into it and withdrew what would be a tiny bundle for a dragon of her size, in reality it was about the size of twin mattress.  The bundle was wrapped in rough leather of an unknown origin. Dangling the parcel from one her claws Bent Horn slowly extended her right arm toward Celestia.

  “Here are the documents defining the timetables and means by which the demanded funds and territories will be transferred into Equestria’s possession. All the appropriate seals and spells have set upon them as you insisted Celestia.”

  Celestia’s horn glowed and the parcel levitated until it floated about a two feet in front of her. With her levitation magic she quickly removed the straps and reviewed the documents that had been written on huge sheets of stiff parchment. As her eyes scanned the paperwork Celestia spoke.

  “Bent Horn, Luna and I wish to begin reconstruction work at Fort Shield this summer however our efforts at the moment are being held up by….”

   “You’ll find our agreement for the specific transfer of gold related to its repair on document number twelve in the fourth paragraph.” Said Bent Horn interrupting Celestia.

  Celestia peered over the edge of a hovering parchment. “Actually that was not our immediate issue. What is causing the most delays at the moment is the fact your kin have not retrieved the body of Stone Spine which still encumbers my work crews with its decomposing presence. We’d like that addressed promptly.”

   
  “If I had my way Stone Spine’s worthless carcass could stay on the side of that mountain until the end of time!” Growled the Head of the Council Dragons. Celestia glared at Bent Horn.

  “I want it removed within the next two weeks. Understood?”

   
  “Sure you don’t at least want his worthless skull for some ornament over the main gate entrance?” Asked Bent Horn. “It would definitely give the new fortress a more exciting appearance.”

  “Bent, Horn.”  Said Celestia slowly in a stern voice. “Remove it immediately. I do not wish to discuss topic any further.”

  “Fine, fine.” Said Bent Horn while dismissively waving a paw. “I’ll send some drakes out to retrieve it as punishment duty. However we’ll need to coordinate thing so it doesn’t cause any alarm at the site when a couple dozen young drakes show up to haul off his worthless bones.  I’ll have them dumping the carcass on our side border that way his remains can serve as reminder to future generations of young drakes about the foolishness of chasing fantasies and the folly of pursuing poorly planned foreign policy.”

   Bent Horn paused and thoughtfully tapped her chin with a front claw.  “I guess I could at least use his worthless skull as a spittoon. Or maybe Black Horns can gnaw on it during council meetings to remind the other members not to question my authority. “

   
  Black Horns rumbled as if he approved of this use.

  Celestia and Luna stared at each then looked back at the two dragons. “So your dominance as head of the council is still being contested?” Asked Celestia quizzically.

  Bent Horn rolled her eyes a little and sighed dramatically. “Celestia, one’s dominance is always being contested when you are the head of the council. Yes, there are still a few on the council who foolishly supported Flame Hide. But now they’ve shown their true allegiance it’ll be much easier for my loyal supporters and I to ‘deal’ with them. I knew that certain members of the council like The Mountain would remain loyal to my faction but other members of the council were unknown until tested.”

  “So The Mountain  is still on the council.” Said Celestia. “The Mountain was an ancient dragon who was so massive that he looked like a mountain.”

  “Yes he is.” Replied Bent Horn. “However he has grown so gigantic that he can no longer fit easily into the council chamber, therefore he votes by ballot on key issues of the council. Besides in the last couple centuries he’s developed some unfortunate and uncontrollable traits.  He breaks wind like a hurricane now and the fumes he emits have rendered the lands around his territory devoid of life.”

   
  Bent Horn suddenly got a wistful look in her eyes. “However if I could some how get him into the council chamber with several of my enemies he’d make quick work of them in one vast cloud of noxious fumes!”

  Celestia decided at that both her and Luna had heard more than enough about the use of genocidal flatulence and decided to steer the conservation back toward more official topics.

  “I will admit Bent Horn that Luna and I were rather surprised when we heard that you had been usurped from your position as the head of the council, and yet you’ve survived the ordeal and have returned to power in a rather quick and graceful fashion.” Said the Princess of the Sun. “If I may ask how was Flame Hide able to mount such a successful campaign against you if your position was so strong?”

  The bronze-green dragon looked down at the two princesses and grinned. “Well I knew that a power struggle was looming on the horizon. So instead of letting my enemies strengthen their position until they could deal me a lethal blow. I instead orchestrated a series of perceived miscues on my part that made it appear I was losing control of the council. My enemies then foolishly tripped over themselves in a rush to have me removed as the head of the council.”

   
  “I even had my allies appear to question my competency and reluctantly go along with my opponents campaign. However they insisted that I still be allowed to retain a position on the council. So I was supposedly toppled from the post I had held for over a thousand years.”

   
  “Now it was Flame Hide’s chance to reign as the Head of the Council of Dragons and show his leadership skills, which of course he was sorely lacking, so I began slipping him, useful hints and helpful tidbits that he might find constructive and useful. And since he was utterly out of his league he latched on to them like a starving drake.”

  Bent Horn chuckled. “About this time rumors started swirling about ponies crossing border into our lands. I hinted to Flame Hide that he might appear indecisive and others on the council might question their votes unless he showed them that he could make bold decisions. Of course I knew how that worthless lizard would interpret my advice. Flame Hide couldn’t carry a meaningful conversation in a bucket so his first response to most things is to lash out first and worry about the cost later. Well in the blink of the eye he had himself an army of dragons and drakes grinding their teeth at what they perceived wrongs carried out by the ponies. Old legends, and tales were dug up and told again as if they offered some prophecy to the future.”

  “In the end it took very little to convince the brainless fool to start the war.” Purred the bronze-green dragon. “Of course the worthless toad had convinced himself that this was his chosen destiny. However unfortunately for him I had already decided what his destiny was to be. I manipulated and played him like a puppet and then I sent him to meet you two on that mountainside last winter.”

   
  Bent Horn’s eyes gleamed with malicious glee. “And of course you two know how that little play ended don’t you!”

 To be continued.