Chapter 9

Chapter 9 – War's looming clouds

The large round dome building that Matt and the group have walked to is adjacent to the castle grounds and is decorated just like the castle with elegantly carved stone walls and white spotless marble floors. The only difference between the two buildings other than being almost windowless is the fact that other than just the unicorn banner that the young kid has seen there are two other banners, one with a pony head atop two sprawled out blue wings; and the other banner with four pictures of the sun, and various stages of food growing in dirt.

Chatter in this round dome stone building is almost ear pounding as the group continues down the tight hallways with motionless and emotion ridden guards of the three tribes.

Matt swings his head around these almost statue standing stallions and mares as he tries to stay close to Princess Platinum in front of him.

The short walk down the hallway seems to come to an end as the center of the room starts to come into view. The white mare stops herself as she turns around to Matt and Luna, "You two should wait here until the babble is over."

She gives an almost playful smile as she rolls her hoof almost unamused, "You know those Pegasus are going to be rather angry with me not showing up yesterday, its best if we wait."

"Wait?..." Before Luna's voice can leave her mouth the mare has walked into the room.

The dark coated mare squints her eyes a little confused but Matt's gaze on her face is cut short as the sound of trumpets come from the circular main room.

"All hail Princess Platinum!"

Matt walks closer to the opening of the hallway as he pokes his head into the room to watch the scene in the room, Luna walks up beside him as she points her ears to the table in the middle of the room. Above the circular room there are hundreds of multi-colored ponies, pegasus, unicorn and earth ponies silently pinning their eyes to the table below.

"Sorry for the delay everypony." Princess Platinum's voice has taken on a proper royal tone as she takes a seat at the far end of the long table. She causally floats her crown off of her head as it's placed to the stone table under the pink magic with ease.

A blue pegasus stallion wearing a gold and black armor with gold and white streaked mane, on the opposite side of the table blows at the comment as he bangs his hoof to the table. The stallion's voice is a raspy older sounding deep tone as he talks,"You expect that to clear the air you left us with?" He straightens his posture in the chair as he lowers his tone, "Princess Platinum you not arriving here yesterday has left a fog in my mind that I doubt simple words can clear."

The white mare seems unfazed to his words as she nods her head, "I understand your struggle Commander Hurricane."

Her gaze shifts to the earth stallion sitting in the middle of the table as she talks, "What say you Chancellor Pudding Cup?"

The caramel colored stallion with light brown mane fiddling with scrolls looks up from the piled paper mess as his shaky voice calls back, "N-no Princess the earth ponies are not bothered."

Hurricane gives a light chuckle as his wings flar out, "Of course the other land dweller sides with you."

Platinum again does not let the comment penetrate her gaze as she shifts back to the stallion's laugh, "Well it seems that two of our three are ok with yesterday. Shall we continue with today's agenda?"

"You mean yesterday's agenda?"

The mare cocks a slight smile as she talks, "Yes well, what was the first thing." Her horn glows a faint pink as one of the scrolls is captured and floated over to her, "Ah lets see."

She looks over the paper as she rolls it up quickly, "I'm sorry but we can not deal with this problem right now."

The earth pony stammers out as the scroll is placed onto the table, "B-but Princess Platinum, this sickness seems to be taking hold in most earth pony tow...-"

His voice is cut off as she speaks up, "Do not worry about this sickness we have Equestria's finest looking into it...Now the next item..."

Matt's listening in on the room fades a little as he passes a comment lowly, "Is that what we were talking about yesterday?"

He brings his eyes to Luna as he waits for an answer, but her eyes are pinned to the room and it takes her a moment to answer but she eventually turns her head to Matt, "Yes, I believe it is."

Matt looks back to the room as he talks back in a whisper, "What is this place?"

"This is where the three tribes try to collaborate on working out what's best for Equestria."

The young kid gives a slight laugh as he listen back to the room.

Commander Hurricane’s sarcastic tone has not changed any as another scroll is rolled past Platinum’s eyes and read aloud, "...All Unicorns in the area of Fillydelphia must abide by Earth pony laws."

The blue stallion gives a chuckle as he looks to the caramel stallion, "No unicorn ruler would allow their kind to be ruled by another."

Princess Platinum gives a slight scoff at his comment as her royal voice changes to a sweet tone as she looks back to the earth pony, "Why, I find this fair, after all you and your kind founded this city."

"Thank you." The earth stallion nods his head as the scroll is carried off by a long robed unicorn off to the side of the room.

The ponies that sit above the room all start to mutter something but the tone doesn't sound unhappy or unruly.

"Next order." The white mare's horn glows a faint pink as another paper is floated over to her, she clears her throat as she reads the letter out loud, "All pegasus living in the Vanhoover must follow the rain schedule and not over water."

The blue pegasus still holds a surprised face to the unicorn's words earlier as he pauses for a moment. But his voice quickly comes back to him as he talks, "No, the weather is the sky and this is our domain."

The crowd of ponies around the room start to mutter a little louder as Princess Platinum squints her eyes to the stallion, "No?"

"Yes, our way of life must be permitted to in the ways we see fit."

Princess Platinum rolls the scroll up as she passes it back to the earth stallion, her voice no longer has the same royal tone as a comment slips from her mouth, "Well it seems that you are still going to be difficult."

"What was that?" The pegasus's voice picks up a little as he quickly springs into another comment, "I for one was not the pony who made us wait yesterday."

With a scoff the white mare's voice takes a turn into a bossy almost yell as she speaks up, "Do not hold one thing over my head when you refuse to work problems out."

Commander Hurricane’s voice is again quick and fast as he talks, "A pegasus does not wait to tend to a tornado! They tend to it when the problem arises."

The earth stallion starts to slump his head down to the table as the two's voices raise further with Platinum’s voice over head, "That does not make any sense?"

The stallion's voice is holding on the height as he barrels down again on the mare, "Of course your mind is to hazed to understand true wisdom."

"Oh? And yours is not? You will not even give rain rights to the earth ponies, the ponies that produce your food mind you." The white mare has taken her stand from the table as her high pitched voice calls back.

Before the stallion or mare can make another comment Luna trots herself into the room with a bellowing voice, "Enough!"

The three ponies look to the alicorn as she continues, "We find this very concerning that nopony is truly willing to do anything for the other." She swings her sharp eyes around as her large wings hold flared out beside her, "Dost thou need a reminder of what happened in the old land because of this bickery ?"

The Pegasus speaks up in a lower voice as he stands from the table, "With all do respect Luna, why do you allow monsters into the night?"

Luna is taken back by the comment as she blinks her eyes to him silently.

His voice trails through the room that has been put into a silent gasp from his comment to the larger moon ruler, "...Why do you allow this when your sister does not?"

Her voice is loud but cracky as she talks, "W-we do not?"

Hurricane’s next comment is fast as he looks around the room, "And now that my eyes have laid onto you I ask, where is Celestia? Has she become cumbersome with unicorn duties as well?"
Luna speaks back up as her voice strikes back to his, "Our sister is surely tending to a matter in the land"

A slight muttering of concern rounds the rafters above the room as her words echo through the dome building.

"So she has left us?" The stallion takes his black and gold helmet off of the table with his hoof as his voice lowers.

Princess Platinum looks around the room at the on looking ponies unsure faces for a moment before her eyes drift to the young black haired kid still hiding in the shadow of the hallway, "Oh Commander Hurricane would you like to see why I was late yesterday?"

The stallion holds the helmet from his head as he brings his eyes to the mare.

"I believe you will see that nopony is conspiring against you once you lay your eyes on this." Her horn glows a faint pink as Matt's grey shirt starts to be tugged into the room.

The young kid stumbles forward into the on looking animals as her grasp leaves his shirt. Matt has never been one for crowds and the large eyes that stare at him from around the room scare him a little as he mindlessly waves his hand around in a low voice, "hello?"

Commander Hurricane looks over Matt as his mouth stops its jabber.

The white mare trots over to the stage frightened young kid as she talks, "This is Matt, he is a Prince from the land of Earth."

The earth stallion sitting at the table perks his ears as the name passes by him, "Y-you are not of this land M-hat?"

He shakes his head as he stutters out a few words still a little unwilling to speak at all to the large eyed ponies watching his every move, "No, i'm not."

Platinum speaks up for his shakiness as her royal tone comes back, "As Princess of the Unicorns..." She pauses her voice as she looks to the two other leaders looking at her, "...And as a member of this new land of Equestria I for one welcome Matt to our new land, with open hooves and warm hearts."

She turns herself to Matt as she bows her head a little to him. He doesn't know how to react to all of the ponies around him but the moment of uncertainty is broken as the ponies around the top of the room give a cheering.

The dark haired kid looks around the room a bit surprised at the sudden change of tone. As the cheering of the ponies round the room a little more Commander Hurricane’s face softens a little as he looks over the strange creature in front of him.

But before he can bring his voice out Platinum brings hers to the room, "Is this a good enough reason Commander Hurricane?"

The stallion's silence starts to simmer down the ponies around him as he pauses for a moment before talking in a low voice, "...You have brought a strange Prince from another land and welcomed it into yours?"

Platinum nods her head as she puffs out her chest proudly, "Equestria was founded on the idea of tolerance, I intend to hold this idea."

The stallion nods his head slightly as he talks, "I may have mis-judge the unicorns..."

Luna who has stood speechless now blinks her eyes almost screaming with surprise. As the pegasus ambassador talks further, "I will take this news back to the capital...I will return tomorrow with a reaction for you."

The white mare nods her head respectfully as Commander Hurricane walks past them towards the hallway.

Her voice comes back to her as she looks around the room, "Today's session is over everypony!" As her voice resonates throughout the room she trots herself over to Matt as she talks to him in a low voice, "Follow me Matt."

He follows after her as she dips into the hallway.

The mare gives a giddy giggle as she talks, "I can not belive that worked!" Her voice prompts the dark blue mare to trot over to where she and Matt stand as Luna's voice starts up, "Yes, why would you want to do this Princess Platinum? I do not see how this makes things with the pegasus any better?"

"Don't see?!" Her voice is showered in a shrill cry as she speaks up, "Why Luna, surely you understand that if the pegasus do not honor the Equestria peace treaty then this is a clear sign that something must be done."

Luna's eyes widen as she nods her head a little, "Why yes...This does make sense...but our sister will n...-"

Platinum rolls her hoof to her as her voice cuts into Luna's, "You can talk to your sister correct? Surely you see what." She looks to Matt as she pauses, "...WE did here today yes?"

The tall dark mare nods her head slowly as she talks, "Yes but..."

"I knew you would understand, could you give me a moment alone with Prince Matt?" Platinum gives a smile as she waits for Luna to answer back.

"I suppose..." She trots back out of the hallway as the White mare looks to Matt.

"I knew you were something special." Her smile is a little wider as she bows her head to him, "Thank you Sir Matt for arriving at such a important time in our land."

The young kid shakes his head as he holds onto the lie he's created for himself, "No problem...I uh, deal with this stuff all the time." He give a light shifty chuckle as he shrugs.

"My you are the noble Prince aren't you?"

Matt gives another simple laugh to her comment, to him all he did was walk out into a room and stutter a little. But her tone is making it feel a lot bigger than just that simple of a task. He stops his chuckle as he speak up, "H-have you guys found my brother yet?"

She shakes her head as she talks in a low voice, "No bu...-" Her horn glows a faint pink as her voice stops, her eyes drift upwards as she smiles and adjust her voice, "But I believe you have nothing to worry about. Now I have to go, you will be ok while I am away yes?"

Matt blinks at her words for a moment as he stutters, "Y-ya I guess."

She nods her head as she turns back down the hallway, "I shall not be long Sir Matt."

The white mare walks down the hall with her hooves giving an echoey clap to the marble floor beneath her. Matt watches her leave before turning back to Luna's voice behind him.

"Matt, would you mind a question or two?" The dark mare gives him a smile as she talks again in a low soft voice, "I would greatly appreciate knowing more about you when I cover with my sister."

He gives a slight chuckle as he talks, "I don't think I have anything else today."

Luna walks in front of him as she trots herself down the hall, "Good, than follow me and explain your world."

Matt bites at his bottom lip a little as he follows behind her trying to remember everything he told Princess Platinum the other day, "Y-ya why not."

End of chapter 9