Whimsyshire

Tea Treaty

Bannuk came to a halt in front of the horde of Diamond Dogs and four ponies. The dogs took in their deity in his full glory, some of the females even swooning. Celestia raised her eyebrow wondering what the Barbarian could have done to earn such high esteem from the normally savage and simple minded dogs who normally cared only for gems and to flaunt their own brute force. Then she realized, she did not wish to know what he could have done to them. She had a distinct feeling it had to do with the unholy scream she had heard reports of echoing across the land from earlier in the morning.

"It fits you well Bannuk, as to why you haven't used it until now eludes me. Would have saved us a lot of trouble when the prime evil was slain." Said a smirking Witch Doctor looking to the faces of awe around her.

"Prime evil?" Celestia said warily, not wanting to know what these strange beings considered to be evil.

Ignoring the sun princesses' question, Bannuk replied to Ayida, "I had not yet earned the right to wear this yet. Despite the thousands of demons we slaughtered, none of them would bow to my strength. Only when a foe does this can I honor Worusk's memory of valor. The dogs here have given me the great honor of allowing me to wear his legacy."

The Barbarian turned his gaze to address Rover, seeing him as the leader of the dogs. Rover shrunk slightly at first under the powerful gaze from behind the ancient black helmet.

"You have paid me great honor, and for this I thank you. If your people ever find themselves in times of need, call upon my might." Bannuk said to Rover, causing the dog to break into a smile. For his people now had their own god to protect them. The Ponies had the sister gods, the Changelings had their queen god, and the Griffons had their sky god to protect them, but the dogs always had to fend off invasions with their sheer numbers. This had given little to no room to take back any land that was lost however, because these 'god champions' of their people would devastate any who encroached on their lands. Now though, the Diamond Dogs had their own god, a god of death.

"Thank you great one, we will begin erecting a statue to your honor. And with your protection, we may finally build above ground, without fear of invasion!" The other dogs cheered as Rover finished his speech. Celestia and Luna's eyes widened at this as they realized what the dogs were going on about. They knew all too well about the Diamond Dogs being bullied by the Griffons who were protected by their champion from retaliation, but they had let it happen because of the natural ability for war the dogs had. They should have been nearly wiped out with the way the Griffons had bullied them, but their numbers and savagery in combat had allowed them to carve out a living under the ground.

Rover then handed a blank flag to the Barbarian, who returned a quizzical look. Rover merely gave a reassuring smile as he brought forward another item, a smaller one.

"You are our leader now, we will not make you make decisions unless you deem it necessary, but this marks you as our champion. We will follow any command you give us, and we only ask that you protect us if the need arises." Rover said handing Bannuk an amulet of pure black diamond, mined from the deepest tunnel the dogs had dug, so far down, they thought to be close to Tartarus.

"So basically, you want me to be your god?" Bannuk asked, catching on to what the dogs were getting at. As rover nodded to this, Bannuk looked over to Ayida who shrugged in return. Technically, this is what the old warrior had sought when he went on the journey with her. Bannuk wanted honor enough to wear the immortal king's armor, never could he have dreamed he would have the chance to actually lead a people as Worusk had. Bannuk took the amulet and put it on.

"I will be your king, your lands are mine now. And if any dare encroach on my lands, then they shall face me on the battlefield. I will stride the land as a god, and I will crush all who oppose me." The dogs went wild at this speech, and the princesses could only watch in mute horror. It would seem their coming here did end up turning into a diplomatic affair, they had treaties to write.

"We will begin construction of your town immediately great one!" Rover said enthusiastically.

"Good, by the way, I still haven't gotten your name." Bannuk returned to Rover.

"My name is Rover, I was the alpha of this pack." Rover said with a tinge of pride in his voice.

"This pack? there are others of your kind scattered about?" asked the Barbarian.

"Yes, they are scattered about the mountains to the east, and the plains to the south." Rover replied with a questioning look in his eye.

"Send word to them, if they want protection, send emissaries. My kind fell because we were separated. Only when Worusk united the clans did we have a truly unstoppable force." Bannuk commanded.

The dogs liked the idea of a united people. Finally they were on their way to becoming an actual nation, instead of just small packs who held treaties with their neighbors for protection. Rover then whistled, signalling the other Diamond Dogs to go about collecting materials for construction. Something then donned on Rover.

"Great one, what of your companion?" Rover said, wondering if they might have a fight for power. This as not unheard of in the Diamond Dog packs, two strong ones fighting to the death for the spot of alpha.

"Don't worry about me." Ayida called out, foreseeing what the dog had worried about, "He can play king, I am but a humble Witch Doctor. Thrones, crowns, and glory don't interest me. Only the spirits hold my desire."

Hearing what the Witch Doctor had said Celestia gained a certain level of respect if not greater fear for her, for there was great honor and power in the conviction of somepony that was motivated by religious views alone. Twilight then began to stir on Celestia's back, bringing the solar princess back to her senses.

"I do believe we have some discussing to do, treaties to write, and my little ponies to assure" Celestia said looking at the fainted mare on her back.

"Ah, my apologies." Bannuk said, as it registered how young Twilight might be. She had seemed a little innocent when he had first met with her, but he didn't figure she would be so susceptible to the sight of blood.

"You better be sorry." Said Shining Armor who had remained silent, keeping to himself for a while now.

Bannuk shot him a glare, and took a step towards the captain of the day guard. Seeing how short of a fuse the men were on, Luna stepped in to intervene, lest the testosterone get the better of the situation.

"Perhaps we should get to the treaties, maybe over some tea we could discuss them?" Luna said with a smile.

Bannuk nodded to Rover, signalling him to join his pack mates. As the Diamond Dog scurried off, Bannuk turned towards Ponyville and slung the mace onto his back. Ayida walked to his side and whispered to him.

"You need to cut back a little old one, I think the excitement of your honor is getting your blood boiling too fast." Ayida whispered, a stern look on her face.

The Barbarian sighed in defeat, seeing she was right. Her clarity of thought had always proved useful when they fought the demons before, and eh had learned to trust her views when she gave them. Bannuk took off his helmet, and the glow seemed to stop emitting from his armor. He looked back towards the ponies and nodded, before walking towards Ponyville, no longer causing the ground to shake under his feet with the full armor set not donned.

Fluttershy stretched out and yawned where she lay. She could hear talking in the room, this startled her. Where was she? how had she gotten here? Who was talking? Fluttershy was too afraid to open her eyes lest she let whoever was there know she was awake.

"More tea princess?" Asked a young sounding male voice. Fluttershy placed it as Spike, she was at the library.

"Yes, thank you Spike" Said a regal tone, Celestia thought Fluttershy. What was she doing here?

"Could I have another cup too?" Asked another familiar regal voice. Luna is here too? Fluttershy started to worry, why were both princesses here? Was she hurt, and did the princesses get worried and come to see her? Fluttershy quickly did a double check of how she felt, no she felt fine.

"I will have more too if that is alright" Came a deep, resounding voice. This made Fluttershy freeze, memory flooded back to her. The giant that was with Ayida, the blood... Fluttershy 'eeped' as she screwed her eyes tightly closed, not wanting to open them to the sight of more blood.

"Oh, Fluttershy are you awake?" Came the sound of Twilight voice.

Fluttershy opened one eye to look for her friend. She found the face of Twilight smiling at her, she then looked around and noticed her other friends were around the room too. Applejack was talking with Rainbow who was poking a hoof at a large hammer that leaned against the wall. Pinkie was stuffing her face with an assortment of pastries that she had no doubt brought herself form Sugarcube Corner. Rarity was talking to Ayida, gesturing at the Witch Doctors apparel with disgust and most likely offering to make her new clothes. Fluttershy's eyes then landed on Spike who was filling a rather large tea cup, that was looking rather tiny in the Barbarians giant mitts. The Barbarian then thanked the small dragon and sipped from the cup.

Fluttershy's face became blank, she did not know whether to giggle at the sight or cower at the figure. She glanced over at Twilight who only shrugged at the odd sight herself.

"So that should be a good place to start with a treaty, but I must demand that you return my sister's unit of guards before we sign." Celestia said, putting the final touches on an official looking document with a levitated quill.

"Ah, right. Them..." Bannuk sighed.

Shining armor walked into the library then, a distraught look on his face.

"I found them, they are in the jail house. I don't think that place has ever been so full. Also, the jailer said the big guy here snapped the key in half inside the lock." Shining said in defeat.

"Umm, couldn't you just use magic to turn the key still inside there?" Asked Twilight.

"Unfortunately not Twiley, prison bars are enchanted to repel magic." Shining explained to his sister.

Luna was shooting Bannuk a very hostile glare. She did not like the fact that the Barbarian had bested an entire unit of her guards, and she hated the fact they he had the gall to throw them in jail. The daggers Luna was staring were not lost on Bannuk, who merely smiled as he stood up and headed towards the library's door.

"And where do you think you are going?" Luna said, a hint of anger in her voice.

"I'm going to let them out, no reason for them to be in there now that I have a treaty saying they can't up and attack me for nothing anymore." Bannuk returned with a smirk.

Luna stuttered trying to come up with a response, but she knew that her guards had no actual right to attack him in the first place, other than seeing a possible threat. Instead she settled with letting out an angry grunt.

"How are you going to let them out? those bars are magic proof, and are made of solid Fillydelphia industrial steel." Shining explained to the Barbarian.

Bannuk only smiled and left, heading for the prison. The girls and Luna followed him as he left. Shining looked back to Celestia, wanting to go, but also not wanting to leave the princess alone with the last of the creatures. He could smell the darkness in her power, even form where he stood from her across the room. This more than a little set him off, because he did not have a very proficient ability to sense magic, he couldn't even sense Celestia's unless she was actively channeling it, and only up close.

"You can follow your sister Shining, I'll be fine." Celestia said with a warm smile. At this, Shining took off to catch up with her sister.

As Shining left, Ayida stood up and walked over towards Celestia. Taking a seat across from her where Bannuk previously sat, she picked up the cup of tea he had been sipping from and gulped it down.

Celestia's eyes narrowed as she realized what the gesture the Witch Doctor had made meant.

"So that is how it is then?" Celestia said with a monotone voice.

Ayida leaned back in her char and smiled. She tilted her head as if to listen to something, then turned her attention back to Celestia.

"No, I was still thirsty, and the little dragon seems to have sneaked off after the white Unicorn." Ayida said with a playful smile.

Celestia grew less tense and tilted her head to the side.

"I thought it would be funny to see your reaction if you thought I was in charge. Bannuk may get a little hot blooded at times, but he is still old and wise. Plus, I don't do well with large scale decision making. The Witch Doctors of my people are spiritual advisers, not leaders." Explained Ayida.

Celestia regained her warm demeanor at hearing this. She smiled as she levitated the pot of tea from the kitchen into the living room where they sat, and poured some more tea for them.

"So how is Bannuk going to release my sister's guard?" Asked Celestia making small talk.

On cue the sound of metal screeching and snapping could be heard across Ponyville. Many ponies gritted their teeth at the offensive sound, and more then a couple ducked under stalls suspecting mischief from the infamous Cuty Mark Crusaders.

"He didn't..." Celestia said wide eyed.

"He did" Ayida said casually sipping her tea.

Celestia coughed as she regained her composure. She would never get used to the raw physical power the Barbarian had. What put her off just as much though, was the latent energy the Witch Doctor had swirling around her. Even back when she was fighting the Changelings, she had barely used a fraction of her power. Celestia briefly considered it a good thing the Diamond Dogs had put the two strangers in a political position, so that treaties could be signed with them before enemies were made.

"So, you mentioned a... 'Prime evil' was it?" Celestia inquired.

Ayida's eyes grew cold as she thought back.

"Yes, the prime evil... There were three prime evils to start with, and four lesser evils. Bannuk was part of a group of seven champions that fought them twenty years ago. Him and his old companions slew two of the lesser evils, and then the three prime evils. They didn't stay gone however. The two final lesser evils led an army of demons against all of mankind recently. There were five of us champions, and we slaughtered thousands of demons. Finally we killed the two lesser evils, and bound their souls within a powerful stone. Little did we know we would be betrayed. The prime evil Diablo, the lord of terror was resurrected by one of his agents, a woman we trusted. Diablo now also had the souls of the other six evils inside of him, granting him their power. Diablo became the sum of all evil, the prime evil." Ayida explained

Celestia's face grew pale, five champions stood against an army of demons, and fought the very embodiment of evil itself. Not only that, but Bannuk had done it twice in his lifetime? No wonder why Ayida was happy to allow him to lead.

"By the way, Bannuk will not be able to sign this." Ayida said, picking up the treaty.

"Why is that?" Celestia asked with a concerned look on her face.

"Barbarians are nomads, and though Bannuk has lived a long time, few of his kind learn how to read, especially not the warriors. Bannuk is illiterate..." Explained Ayida.

A gasp could be heard from the entrance to the library, there stood with a look of utter horror on her face, Twilight Sparkle.

"I-Illiterate?!" Twilight sputtered out, then promptly fainted.