“Ambassador, I’m given to understand that griffons prefer to be blunt in their dealings, so allow me to speak plainly: your terms are unreasonable.”

Celestia fought down the urge to smile at her sister’s declaration. Hearing the strength in Luna’s voice, unbroken despite all of the tribulations she’d been through since returning from the moon, filled the elder alicorn with pride. Having the courage to face her own mistakes – be it Nightmare Moon, her attempts to become a goddess, or, most recently, the Tantabus that she’d made to punish herself for her follies – had seemingly made Luna even stronger.

It was almost enough to make Celestia forget that Luna was no longer an alicorn.

Almost.

But there would be time to reflect on her sister’s incredible resilience later. For now, there were matters of state at hoof, ones that required her full attention.

“I’m afraid I must agree with my sister, Ambassador Gibson.” Replacing her teacup on its saucer, Celestia gave their guest an expression that was firm but earnest, having perfected her outward mien centuries ago. “A fifty percent markup on all of Equestria’s exports is simply not feasible.”

The griffon sitting across from them – a middle-aged griffon with a balding pate, though that might have been because how his avian half was that of a buzzard, matching how his rear was that of a lynx – gave a slight smile of his own, the corners of his beak turning up in a way that was somewhere between apologetic and indulgent.

“I understand that this might seem abrupt, but – as the representative of the newly-crowned King Gideon I – I’d like to remind you that Equestria has been using our homeland as a highway to the countries beyond for centuries now, all without paying Griffonstone so much as a single bit. While the rate we’re proposing might seem high to you, our king is of the opinion that it’s simply collecting payments that are long overdue.”

“Your king,” huffed Luna, “has been in power for less than a month! To demand such an exorbitant sum from his primary trading partner-”

“Trading?” echoed Gibson. “Is that what you call it? Because to our king, it looks as though Equestria has taken advantage of the griffons for quite some time now, with wealthy merchants shipping luxury goods through our lands while we scratched and scrimped just to survive.”

“With all due respect, Ambassador, that characterization strikes me as being rather unfair,” insisted Celestia. “While there are exporters who ship their products directly to other countries, Griffonstone has always been one of Equestria’s largest markets for outgoing products, making up nearly a third of all outbound goods and sundries.”

“Many of which,” added Luna brusquely, “go to griffon traders who take them to other countries, reselling them for a considerable markup.”

“Which has made individual griffons quite wealthy,” admitted Gibson. “But those who’ve enriched themselves tend to spend most of their time abroad, returning only periodically to purchase more Equestrian goods before heading eastward again, leaving Griffonstone impoverished.”

“A situation that will only grow worse if you impose such heavy trading fees on Equestrian merchants,” noted Celestia. “Ambassador, demanding that our exporters pay you half the value of their goods before they’ve had a chance to sell anything will only make them bypass Griffonstone completely, resulting in your people being that much poorer. Surely King Gideon understands this?”

Gibson gave another smile that was somewhere between mocking and conciliatory. “Our king has indeed anticipated that many – indeed, likely most – pony merchants would balk at this development. However, King Gideon is confident that they’ll eventually come to accept this new arrangement. Indeed, he’s certain that they will...he’s quite the reformer, you know.”

“Finding the griffons’ lost idol of kingship is an impressive accomplishment,” acknowledged Luna, though the flat tone in her voice made her statement sound less than complimentary. “But antagonizing his largest neighbor immediately after his coronation is hardly the mark of a reformer.”

“May I ask why King Gideon thinks that Equestria’s exporters will accept this new arrangement?” asked Celestia, raising a brow. “I know many of their corporate leaders personally, and I can say with confidence that none of them would find what your king is proposing palatable.”

“As I said, our king thinks they will,” smiled Gibson. “If for no other reason than because we intend to give them no choice in the matter.”

Celestia’s eyes narrowed at that. “I beg your pardon?”

“Was that a threat, Ambassador?” Glowering, Luna straightened up and canted her head back. Had she still been an alicorn, Celestia knew that Luna would have flared her wings out, cutting an intimidating figure. As it was, she still exuded a powerful presence, staring daggers at the griffon sitting on the other side of the tea table.

“Your king’s proposal is nothing short of highway robbery,” continued the younger alicorn. “But if it’s the intentions of this Gideon upstart to commit literal theft against Equestria’s citizens as they travel through his nation-”

“I can assure you, Your Highness, King Gideon intends nothing of the sort!”

Holding up his foreclaws in a placating gesture, Gibson gave a disarming chuckle. “Please make no mistake, our king has no designs of violence towards Equestria or its ponies. Quite the opposite, the entire reason he sent me here is to make sure that the relationship between our two countries remains fruitful and prosperous, albeit more equitable.”

“And I speak for my sister when I say that we appreciate King Gideon’s desire to preserve the peace between our two nations,” interjected Celestia, falling back onto old habits. “But you must realize that peace will become strained if your king attempts to force the surcharge that he’s demanding.”

“To say nothing of how exactly he intends to leave our ponies with ‘no choice’ but to go along with his outrageous demands,” added Luna. “If he doesn’t intend violence, then what exactly is that supposed to mean?”

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Celestia had to force down another smile. Although she’d been the sole monarch of Equestria for a thousand years, it was easy to resume the role of the gentle touch to her sister’s more heavy-hoofed approach to diplomacy. Back in the days before Nightmare Moon, they’d accomplished many things that way.

It felt good to be able to do this with Luna again.

But Celestia’s good mood shattered when Gibson spoke next.

“I mean that if this proposal is rejected, then King Gideon is prepared to tear up all of the transcontinental rail lines in Griffonstone.”

It was only because she had a millennium of practice that Celestia didn’t drop her teacup, her eyes going wide in shock.

Luna was equally beside herself. “Are you-, no, is the fool you’ve crowned king completely mad?! The transcontinental line is the only permanent link between our two continents! The bridge between Equestria and every other nation beyond Griffonstone!”

“Which is why King Gideon is certain you’ll find our proposal, painful as it may be, to ultimately be in Equestria’s best interests,” replied Gibson. “Because turning it down means losing access to foreign markets altogether.”

“Ambassador, with all due respect, King Gideon has not thought this idea through.” Leaning forward, Celestia ignored the array of treats spread out on the table between herself and Gibson, giving the griffon a hard stare. “Equestria trades with almost every nation east of Griffonstone. Tearing up the railway tracks will effectively cut off those countries’ ability to engage in commerce with us, adversely affecting their economies. You’ll turn the entire continent against you.”

But rather than being properly apprehensive about what his new monarch had sent him to propose, Gibson simply gave that mixed smile of his again, somehow managing to appear both sorry and bemused at the same time. “Our king is confident in the Black Wings’ ability to handle any sort of foreign aggression-”

“The Black Wings?” echoed Luna, frowning.

“Our new police force,” clarified Gibson. “They’re still building up their ranks, but they’ve had several early successes against local air pirate groups.”

“Which will be of little use when the Abyssinians or the Saddle Arabians mobilize armies to restore access to Equestria’s exports,” pointed out Celestia.

Gibson shrugged. “Possibly, but even if those nations – or any of the others east of us – are prepared to go to war to receive Equestrian exports, it will take them time to field their armies. I wonder how much time Equestria will have?”

Luna scowled. “Meaning what, exactly?”

“That, if I may be so bold, refusing this arrangement will place you both in a position far more precarious than my king’s.”

A sinking feeling filled Celestia’s stomach then. “Ambassador, I’m not sure what news has reached Griffonstone-”

“News that your country has suffered several unnatural disasters recently,” interrupted Gibson. “News that your entire western coastline is now on the verge of open rebellion. News that quite a few of the well-established Equestrian households are very upset over how your Crystal Empire treated them at a recent gathering of dignitaries. And, please forgive me if this is being rude-”

He gestured to Luna then.

“The news of how even alicorns can fall from their lofty perch.”

Celestia closed her eyes then, taking a deep breath as she fought to keep from incinerating Gibson where he sat. That, and she couldn’t bear to behold what his words had done to Luna, not wanting to see the confidence that her sister had fought so hard to recover being so callously wiped away by the flunky of some would-be king she’d never heard of before his representative had arrived that morning.

But that didn’t stop her from hearing Luna’s sharp intake of breath.

“To put it plainly, my dear princesses, the total cessation of all of Equestria’s exports would harm your standing with your own people far more than it would hurt my king’s standing abroad,” continued Gibson, and this time that mixed smile of his was audible in his voice.

“You’re in no position to refuse this demand,” he continued, “and given the unacceptable manner in which your nation has flaunted its wealth while mine has struggled with penury, King Gideon has no intention of letting this opportunity pass. Besides, it’s not as though this arrangement is made out of greed on King Gideon’s part. He intends to put the money raised this way into public works, building new aqueducts, repairing roads, constructing temples-”

Celestia abruptly stood up. “Thank you, Ambassador.”

She had the pleasure of seeing Gibson’s smile falter for the first time, the griffon blinking as he slowly rose from his seat. “Your Highness, I do hope you understand the gravity-”

“Thank you,” she repeated, picking up a small bell and ringing it. “We’ll speak again tomorrow. My steward will show you out.”

Gibson opened his beak, only to close it with a snap as the door opened, admitting the elderly unicorn who – having learned to read the elder princess’s intentions at a glance after so many years as her steward – immediately stood aside and gestured to the doorway he’d just come through. “This way, sir.”

“Of course,” replied Gibson, giving a bow to Celestia first, and then Luna. “Your Highnesses.”

“Ambassador,” answered Celestia with a small nod.

“Ambassador,” mumbled Luna, also bobbing her head.

Nothing else was said until Gibson had left, the steward closing the door behind him.

Silently counting to ten to make sure Gibson was out of earshot, Celestia braced herself inwardly before looking at her sister. “Luna-”

“It’s alright, sister.”

Sitting back in her chair, Luna gave her a smile that was small, but honest. “I’m alright. This is why I went public about what happened to me, remember? To let everyone know that I’m not ashamed.”

Again, Celestia had to hold back a rush of pride, trying to stop herself from tearing up at how incredibly strong her sister was.

The sight made Luna chuckle, her horn lighting up as she cut a slice of cake and laid it on a plate before levitating it over to Celestia. “Now, eat something before you start crying and embarrass us both.”

Celestia couldn’t help it, a laugh escaping her lips as reached up with her wings to rub her eyes, taking the plate in her telekinesis. “I can’t hide anything from you, can I?”

“No, but I do enjoy teasing you when you try,” snickered Luna.

But the moment of mirth passed quickly enough, Gibson’s words still hanging in the air.

“Do we have any sort of leverage we can use?” asked Luna after a few seconds had passed. “Maybe if we said that we were going to invest more heavily in airship construction as an alternate means of transporting cargo?”

Celestia took a bite of her cake, taking a moment to savor it before answering. “That might work...”

“But?”

“But I suspect he’s aware of how uneconomical long-distance aerial shipping is. Even if his king’s so-called ‘Black Wings’ have cut down on piracy – and he isn’t planning on imposing travel fees on air traffic as well – most airships can only hold a few train car’s worth of goods, and the fueling costs are exorbitant, especially if they have to bypass Griffonstone altogether, which means carrying more fuel and less goods in their holds.”

“What about putting pressure on this king of theirs through a proxy? If we sent missives to the other nations that would be affected by this, we could work with them...”

Celestia nodded, passively listening as Luna outlined several ideas for how to try and deal with King Gideon’s outrageous demand. They weren’t bad ideas, but Celestia had been ruling for a thousand years while Luna had been sealed inside the moon, and could see problems with each of her sister’s plans, gently bringing each point up as she slowly munched on her cake.

Nor was that the only skill she’d picked up over her millennium of being Equestria’s sole princess.

Despite what she’d said to Luna, Celestia could hide things from her sister, which was why Luna had no idea just how badly Gibson’s last statement – before Celestia had ended their meeting – had rattled her.

Temples.

King Gideon wanted to build temples.

By itself, it didn’t necessarily mean anything. Daring Do raided old temples all the time, according to what Twilight said about her books. And even old ruins like Ponhenge were supposed to be the remains of ancient temples. It was entirely possible that King Gideon just wanted to build something honoring the previous kings of Griffonstone, making his rule seem that much more legitimate in the eyes of his people.

But Celestia couldn’t bring herself to believe that.

Temples were, ultimately, houses of worship.

And worship was something that mortals gave to gods.

Lex Legis had brought the worship of his foul goddess, the Night Mare, from Everglow to Equestria. Cadance had done the same for the far more benevolent goddess of love, Lashtada. And even Twilight had mentioned encountering that world’s goddess of magic, Luminace.

But if the ponies of Everglow had their own gods, was there any reason why its griffons couldn’t?

And Celestia knew quite well that Everglow had griffons.

After all, she’d had Willow hire one to assassinate Lex.

Of course, that assassin – a hen named Dark Streak – had died in the attempt, burning to death in the same fire that had killed Lex, not to mention a poor mare in his retinue by the name of Thermal Draft.

Except...

A new griffon king suddenly appearing out of nowhere after centuries. His wanting to build temples. A squadron of police named the Black Wings.

None of it was conclusive; if anything, it was more likely that she was seeing patterns where there were none.

But her instincts said otherwise.

Dark Streak survived. She’s the one behind this.

“Celestia...?”

“Hm? Oh, forgive me, Luna. I was just thinking...perhaps we should try to bargain with Gibson.”

“Bargain?” Luna looked repulsed by the idea. “And allow this effrontery to stand?”

“We may not have a choice. While I do think that tearing up the railway tracks would ultimately be Griffonstone’s undoing, it would hurt Equestria – and many other nations – a great deal in the meantime. If we can get King Gideon to agree to a smaller surcharge, we can avoid a worst-case scenario, and then work on further reductions down the line.”

A dissatisfied expression crossed Luna’s face at that. “I don’t care for that plan, Celestia. It reeks of surrender.”

“It’s a tactical consideration,” countered Celestia, finishing the last of her cake. “A short-term loss to avoid catastrophe until we can recover the initiative and recoup long-term gains.”

“And do you think the shipping magnates in charge of Equestria’s exports will be satisfied with that explanation?”

Celestia managed a rueful smile. “Probably not. I suppose I can expect to be vilified in the press for a while longer now.”

Luna managed a smile at that. “We both can, sister. Even if I’m not fond of this idea of yours, I’ll be standing right beside you when you announce it.”

“Thank you, Luna. You don’t know how much that means to me.”

“I think I have an idea.”

Smiling, Celestia pulled her sister into a hug, leaning down...

...and pressing her lips against the smaller mare’s.

A soft whimper came from the pony then, trying to move her face away, but the motion was weak and listless. Tracing her hoof along the mare’s chin, she kept her face turned upwards as she slowly worked her lips open, slipping her tongue into her mouth a moment later.

Then Chrysalis began to feed.

And in her grasp, Sonata shuddered and moaned.

The sound made a delighted laugh rise up in Chrysalis’ throat, though that might have been due to the euphoric effects of the mare’s love. Normally, Chrysalis didn’t bother “drinking from the tap” with captured ponies, content to allow their love to be harvested remotely via the capture pods, feeding on the choicest morsels at her leisure. Even then, few ponies produced love of notable quality, let alone in significant amounts.

But this mare – this “Siren” pony – was different.

She produced love, the most incredible, intoxicating love, in huge quantities!

And best of all, she was part of a set!

That thought was enough to make Chrysalis glance upward, breaking her kiss with Sonata as she looked at the pod on the ceiling that held the mare’s sister.

Aria.

Normally, the anesthetic qualities of the pod were enough to keep most ponies sedated, but a few managed to fight their way to brief moments of lucidity. Aria was having one of those now, her eyes fluttering open as they looked down – bleary and exhausted – at where the changeling queen was feeding on her sister. Inside the transparent walls of her cage, Chrysalis saw the other Siren’s mouth open.

The sight made her snicker, knowing that they couldn’t use their song-magic when their lungs were filled with oxygenated goo.

But that will only last so long once they’re outside, Chrysalis knew, sighing as she felt Sonata’s twitching start to grow stronger, fighting to take a breath.

But she couldn’t so much as hum a note as Chrysalis locked lips with her again, drawing deep on the feelings the mare had for that stallion she’d lost; the one everyone had been talking about recently, Lex Legis.

The love Sonata felt for him surpassed what Shining Armor had felt for Cadance, and Chrysalis practically purred as she drank it in.

But sadly, all good things needed to come to an end, and Chrysalis sighed, enjoying the pleasant high she got as she broke the kiss and flew Sonata back up to the ceiling, pressing her back inside the empty pod next to her sister.

Licking her lips, she didn’t hesitate to pull Aria from her prison, wrapping her legs around the pigtailed mare as she began draining her love as well.

The taste made her eyes roll back in her head.

Soon...very soon...

Although the love that these two mares generated was incredible, even they could only produce so much at a time. Once drained, they needed to be allowed to rest and let their stores replenish. It didn’t take very long – they recovered far faster than most ponies – but Chrysalis still found the wait interminable.

But it couldn’t be helped.

This time, she’d make sure to store up so much high-quality love that nopony would be able to stop her. Not Celestia, not Twilight, not Cadance and Shining Armor. Nopony.

This time, everything would go her way.

It’s a shame that Lex Legis stallion is dead, cackled the queen to herself as she placed Aria back in her pod before returning to her throne, settling down to digest her meal.

I’d really like to thank him for giving me everything I needed to finally conquer Equestria!

Author's Note

Repercussions continue to rebound across Equestria, and beyond, as the griffons and the changelings are shown to be making plans of their own!

Is Celestia right about the new griffon king trying to bring Everglow’s griffon gods to Griffonstone? What will Chrysalis do once she’s drained enough love from Sonata and Aria?