Quashed

With the chairs properly arranged, everyone sat down to eat. Steelhorn, being the leader, was given a seat next to Celestia, at her left hand. It was a place of respect for a visiting diplomat to be placed close to the princess. This time however, the being who held the most power in the room were not the royals in the fancy dresses and chairs, but the warlord sitting next to them, with only his own shaggy fur and weapon belts to cover himself.

"Let us not waste any more time," Celestia said, picking up her fork. "Please, enjoy your meal. It is the finest Equestria has to offer."

Steelhorn looked over his meal. It seemed to be an open faced sandwich, a toasted spinach and egg on potato bread, with a cheese-covered noodle bake as a side dish. Everything seemed to be in order, but something felt off. He couldn't place it, but he definitely noticed the change in Celestia's mood. He held up his hand, commanding his men to hold.

Celestia looked up from her plate. "Is there something not in order, Chief Steelhorn?" she asked, batting her eyelashes innocently.

"Something is quite wrong, princess, and I think you are well aware of what it is."

Celestia put down her fork. "Whatever do you mean? The meal seems perfectly safe to me."

Steelhorn scowled. He knew something was wrong with the meal, but he couldn't place it. "Are you enjoying your meal, princess?"

Celestia took a bite. "Very much so."

"Good," Steelhorn smiled. He picked up Luna's plate, and switched it with his own. "At you've so enjoyed your meal, I insist that your younger sister join you in its consumption."

Luna glanced around uneasily, but calmed down as she felt the reassuring hand of Celestia on her shoulder. Picking up her fork and knife, Luna cut off a corner of the sandwich, letting the runny yolk of the egg dribble onto the plate. lifting it up to her mouth, she took a bite, and after chewing for a bit, swallowed hard the small bite.

"You see?" smiled Celestia. "There is nothing wrong with your meal. Please, dig in."

Sitting next to Luna, Hardtusk had grabbed his fork to inspect it closely. He was the first to discover what was wrong with the meal. Reaching around Luna's back, he grabbed her left wrist, causing her to drop her own fork. It clattered to the floor.

"Oh, dear," Hardtusk said condescendingly. "It seems as though you've dropped your fork, Princess Luna."

Luna shivered. She'd felt the strength in his hands. She knew that he was capable of causing her great harm. She would have to play along. "We suppose we have. Quite an embarrassment, to be sure."

"Never fear, my dear princess," smiled Hardtusk. "I insist you use mine." He held out his fork for Luna to take.

"NO!" shouted Celestia. Realizing her outburst, she calmed down. "I mean, no, we wouldn't want to trouble our guests with hunger. Please, keep your fork, we'll have a clean one brought from the kitchens."

Steelhorn picked up his own fork and inspected it. Hardtusk was correct. The forks had a light dusting of a white granular powder that could be rubbed off. A quick sniff told him everything else he needed to know. "Now, that certainly seems a good idea, Celestia. In fact, I'd say we all need clean silverware. After all, that servant that was setting the table forgot to mention that she dusted our cutlery with a hazardous chemical substance."

"I'm sure I have no idea what you mean," Celestia chuckled. The dirt still on her forehead was beginning to clump together, revealing that she'd begun to sweat.

"Oh no?" asked Steelhorn, standing up. He marched over to the door, throwing it open, much to the shock of the guards outside. "Tell me, one of you, what smell comes to mind when you sniff this fork?"

Two of the guards came forward, sniffing at the fork as directed. "Something really bitter," said the first, his nose crinkling at the odour.

"Kind of like an almond? But not quite," added the second, taking a step back.

Steelhorn folded his arms behind his back. "What you are smelling is a chemical compound known as cyanide. It is highly poisonous, and was just found on a multitude of forks surrounding Princess Celestia's table. As security consultant to the Princess I demand to know which of the guards have been assigned to make sure no one tries to poison the princesses through their meals."

The guards exchanged terrified glances. "Nopony is assigned to guard those, sir. In hindsight, it does seem to be a rather foolish design flaw..."

"Foolish, indeed," confirmed Steelhorn. "A new meal is to be prepared, this time under the supervision of two royal guards and one of my men. Scrimshaw, to be precise. In the meantime, send a contingent of guards to ensure that Celestia's bathroom is safe and secure. While her new meal is being prepared, she is in need of a bath and some clean garments to wear. When you're sure the room is safe, I want two guards at least posted outside the bathroom until the princesses exit. Nopony enters without being checked for weapons or chemicals. While she is bathing, check her bedchambers and post guards there, as well. When the new meal is ready, she will eat in there. I want no more risk to her life, are we understood?"

The guards saluted. In unison, they shouted, "Yes sir!" then rushed off to do as he'd commanded. With a smile, Steelhorn closed the door and returned to his chair.

"My, my, my... What a joy it is to have company for dinner," he chuckled, turning to the head of the table. "Would you not agree, Celestia?"

Celestia looked away. She had been found out. This was a shameful failure.

"Of course, that servant mare you had in here before is going to hang for this. What a reward for all of her dedicated service. How long would you say she's had this position, hm? Years? Perhaps just months?"

Celestia scowled at Steelhorn. "That's enough. She's innocent, she didn't even know she was handling poisoned silverware. I had some other servant do it. Let her go."

"I don't enjoy this manner of game, Celestia," chided Steelhorn. "She will be brought under suspicion no matter what I do at this point. If you tell me who really did dust our silverware, I will make sure she's let off with a warning. And of course, there's still the matter of how I will need to bring down a punishment for you for this little stunt."

Celestia swallowed hard. She'd expected them all to die, but they'd slipped through. She didn't want to think about what sort of fate awaited her in the near future. It was time for plan B.