King Itzcoatl was sitting on his throne with no crown or wealth. His throne was merely of stone and the only object that glimmered by reflecting the light of the torches was the ring on his right hoof and the golden container attached to his waist. A guard walked in and bowed to him. The heat of the torches made anyone who entered feel a strong presence that seemingly came from the king elevated above them.
"Rise, guard Caxi." he bellowed. "What is your message?"
"Ahuizotl...is rebuilding his army."
"What?!? He does not honor our independence?" the king stood up. He wasn't particularly big or strong, but anyone could be intimidating by standing on the throne with such a fiery atmosphere behind them.
"Sir he made such promises when he was on the verge of defeat," reminded the guard as the king recalled their lucky victory of rebelling against Ahuizotl while a mare named Daring Do along with some friends of hers defeated much of his army and stole some of his power to save the world from his overlordship. "He still regards us as rightfully conquered slaves."
"We were a nation for centuries before he took us into his domains for half a millenia, we are a nation again!"
"But sir in the time we have been gone any nation that recognized us had to accept Ahuizotl's control. No one yet recognizes us." the guard said, being politically talented. His knowledge in these matters is why he is held so highly by Itzcoatl. "We need consulates, to reestablish our own economy through trade, and possibly military aid."
"We have spices, silk, and precious gems to trade. As for consulates...we would need to visit the many nations near us..." Itzcoatl pondered, "The more nations to recognize us the better our chances of being aided in case Ahuizotl attacks."
"Shall I prepare for a convoy to make trips to each nation sir? Our spies have told us we have at least three months, we should be able to get--"
"No." the king proclaims, "It's an old royal tradition that the king must be trained in diplomatic customs himself and the only way to do that is to go on the journey myself."
"But sir! Alone? And you need to search for a queen if we want the royal bloodline to--"
"I am aware Caxi. But our kingdom's well-being comes first. I will pack what I need and head off tomorrow morning. Please inform the servants to prepare the finest silks, spices, and jewels for me to take so I can present gifts to the other sovereigns." He knows that such gifts would be crucial for some nations to even bother to listen.
"Yes sir." Caxi bowed and walked out. The king sat there, almost sulking. So much was at stake and everything rested upon him. He would have to go far. There were several places he had in mind: The Crystal Empire, The Feline Empire, Equestria, the Familian Empire, Saddle Arabia...those alone are practically two months of travel on foot. But he must prove himself and make himself known for the good of everyone in Teoxaca.
Author's Note
The characters are based off of Aztec names like Ahuizotl so note that when you read their names, the x is pronounced like a "sh" in shoe.
Itzcoatl left in the morning and was off. He had his goods which he pulled himself in a cart along with his golden container at his waist. The container was carved with the royal seal of his kingdom. Inside it was the ashes of his father, who died in the slave revolt. Being descended from the Teoxacan kings before Ahuizotl took over gave him respected status among the slaves and it made Itzcoatl a natural choice for their first king as a newly-independent kingdom. He carried his ashes partly for respect and partly for luck. He didn't dare put them in the cart in case a bumpy road should knock them open and the wind takes what's left of his father away never to be seen again. Finally, he had the royal knife, also passed down with the title of King of Teoxaca. The crown was melted down so it along with his father's ashes were the sole royal attire he had besides the clothes on his back.
He was strong enough to pull his cart with ease and with his knife he could defend himself if he really needed to, but truth be told he was tired of fighting and the prospects of Ahuizotl coming back with a bigger army not only frightened him but annoyed him. Couldn't war just end and his nation live peacefully? His optimistic heart said yes while the history of the world said no. Even the Feline Empire, a supposed utopia, and Equestria, a nation built on friendship, had to deal with the occasional armed conflict.
The jungle faded into the background behind him as a massive crystal tower was in sight. He had arrived at the Crystal Empire and several crystal ponies noticed him and his cart. His presence might seem unusual to them as he had ear piercings and a nose piercing. In addition he had long patterns of tattoos of bluish-black ink along his front legs. His shirt hid even more complex tattoo designs on his chest that few have actually seen in person. But the ponies after a quick glance went on with their business. Crystal guards were at the center of the town around the palace and a few noticed him but gave him no mind.
"Pardon me sir, I am King Itzcoatl of the newly liberated Kingdom of Teoxaca. I have come with gifts for the Crystal Emperor and a wish for an audience with him."
"The EMPRESS Cadance will be back shortly and you can ask her directly--king of Teoxaca? Where's that?"
"Within the jungles. We broke free from Ahuizotl's control--"
"Did you say Ahuizotl?" a mare's voice called. Itzcoatl turned around to affirm but then saw the golden head piece indicating her status. He bowed to her.
"You must be the Empress. I am Itzcoatl, king of the newly independent Kingdom of Teoxaca and I would like to request an audience with you so we can possibly establish trade, consulates, and request for possible aid." Cadance had a look of being unsure on how to take such a request in so suddenly, but she nodded.
"Sure, an audience would be no problem. My guards can guard your cart while we head inside." she warmly answered. Itzcoatl bows again.
"The carts are full of gifts for you to show proof of what we can trade." He grabs a container of spices and hands it to her. She smelled it and warmly smiles. Itzcoatl wasn't used to such warm smiles given to him. Being a slave for Ahuizotl was not only demeaning but he was treated as something worth less than an equine. To him, simple looks of weirded-out curiosity would seem like compliments compared to what he had received all of his life.
"Thank you, this is a wonderful gift, my husband Shining loves a spicy meal and many ponies here do. Follow me to the throne room and I can hear everything you need to say." Itzcoatl smiled back as he followed her inside. She was polite for an empress and his optimism seemed to be shining within him at such an easy attainment of her attention. The guards stand at the cart protecting it and he entered the massive palace. The throne room was bright but not of fire. The brightness came from so many reflections of the crystals aligning the walls, floor, and ceiling.
"So, you mentioned Ahuizotl?" the Empress brought the conversation and his thoughts back to their original discussion.
"Oh! Yes, my nation was taken over by him centuries ago and we just recently regained our independence. He enslaved us so we don't have much besides our resources to trade. As you can see I don't even have a crown to my title yet. We were only able to break away because a pony named Daring Do and her friends defeated him and we took advantage of the confusion." He remembers that despite the weakened Ahuizotl, the slave uprising was brutal. They had little more than gardening tools. None of them knew magic and using such simple everyday tools to be forced to slaughter their former masters or at least force them to surrender. But few of them actually surrendered and most refused and got killed or fled with Ahuizotl to their own capital heartland. The exodus to Teoxaca after such a long diaspora was chaotic as well as some straggling slave owners tried to hunt them down like bandits.
Cadance smiled: "I remember that, my sister in law was one of her friends who went with her. So now you need a consulate for your nation?"
Itzcoatl nodded: "Yes, we wish to be recognized as a nation."
"I see no problem with that at all! And trade will be easy to established since we have paths to your country. We can have a pony sent there to our new consulate within a week." Itzcoatl bowed in gratitude. He didn't think this would be so easy.
"Also your highness...we need help in other ways..." he said more solemnly, "Ahuizotl, as you know, isn't dead...so now he plans to raise an army to at least subdue us again..." Cadance's smile left, but with what emotion was replaced, Itzcoatl couldn't say. "We also humbly request for military aid if you could give it to us...he plans to attack us in three months and I fear we cannot prepare for it..."
"I'm sorry, but despite the Empire part of our name, we really don't have much of an army..." Cadance apologetically informs the king, "We have guards and I have a forcefield my magic can make to protect us but we don't have any offensive capabilities like Equestria..." Itzcoatl frowned but bowed. He figured there would be something that would be in his way from complete success. Despite being an optimist he sometimes got suspicious with good fortune. Ironically enough this helped him keep good fortune by simply being prepared for not everything going his way, royalty or not.
"Your agreements for a consulate and trade is good enough. I have many more places to travel."
"If you're travelling to Equestria I could happily arrange an audience with the three princesses there. That sister-in-law is one of them and the others are aunts of mine." Itzcoatl smiled brightly at that. "I could have a dragon send a message right away so they can be prepared for your arrival." She has a guard send a message to a dragon. She writes a letter to the three Equestrian princesses and then has a dragon blow fire on it. Itzcoatl was taken aback.
"What little dragons my people faced were violent creatures whose fire only destroyed..." he let out with a voice of awe and slight fear. Cadance could see the looks of someone who just witnessed some sort of miracle.
"Some dragons are friendly if raised from birth," she said as the dragon left, "There was a baby dragon who helped save the entire empire. And that same dragon like my own was trained to use his fire for magical purposes like sending a letter. A dragon has more potential than destruction." Itzcoatl took such words as nonsense at first but upon deeper thinking thought that anything was possible as his people had been kept ignorant of the outside world for centuries. This was a measure to prevent an uprising, which didn't matter in the end.
"Thank you very much for all of your help." Itzcoatl said as Cadance bows back at him. Their meeting ended and as he left the palace his cart was still there. He instinctively checked his waist for his father's ashes and found them still there. Cadance was kind enough to give him and his cart an escorted ride to Canterlot. As he rode, he remembered Cadance mentioning that Equestria had an army. Perhaps he could receive aid from there.