New Friends and New Enemies

Chapter 7 Diplomatic Onslaught
As always thank you to Admiral Kline for editing my story!

Zecora's treatments had managed to succeed where normal healing magic was useless. Markus had begun to recover faster. Potions and oils had done more to help him then anything else. There was little more to do for the last few days then eat, sleep, and heal. Another week had passed before he was strong enough to sit up. Thanks to the skills of Rarity's taloring, she was able to make him a shirt of sorts and some other clothes for when he was finally able to get up around so he wouldn't walk around unclothed.

He watched as the unicorn who had snuck into his room was marched into his room through the door this time. Beside him were his aunts Celestia and Luna. He could see in the doorway what he could identify as gryphons now. Both piebaled with golden hind quarters, a number of others were behind him. The unicorn had a blonde mane as Celestia looked fairly upset and firm in this.

The prince approached Markus as he said clearly with some hesitation and disdain at the idea of being made to do this. But he finally managed to speak the words.

"I.... apologize." was all he said as Celestia gave a clearing of her throat before he continued. "I offer my deepest applogises for sneaking into your room."

"When I was expressedly forbidden from entering. I apologise for speaking such cold words, and making you fear for your life." The two locked eyes at each other as it was clear that Blueblood was humiliated for being forced to apologise, more so when he had eyes of so many on him. After a few moments, when they thought Markus would not reject nor accept.

"Apology.... accepted Prince Blueblood." After the apology was accepted Blueblood stood there as if expecting one in return for the injury to his pride and his neck. When none was forth coming Celestia spoke.

"Very good nephew. You may leave."

Blueblood had kept his head up nice and high attempting to salvage what little pride he had left from this ordeal and he calmly walked out of the room to attend the extra studies that his aunts had given him. After he had left Celestia and Luna almost visibly relaxed. Despite being bed ridden, Markus had been anything but bored. He'd been learning, and learning alot about this world.

By now he was aware of his entire situation that Queen Chrysalis had been stiring up trouble. When asked about his opinion of it by Celestia, his only response was, "Now you see why first contact has to be handled with great care." The entire castle was a buzz with diplomats, and representitives from almost every single race in the land. From the gryphons, to the crystal ponies, The buffalo, dragons, and deer. Almost every sentient race in Equestria had sent advisers, diplomats, and ambassadors. A few races had chosen to not send anyone, rather they took a more militant approach.

The Minotaurs were one group that seemed to be more at arms then the rest. Hopefully things could be worked out to avoid conflict. The dragons were another that had wanted action over words. But despite their strength it was doubtful they would risk a full scale conflict with the pony principality. The fact that to the entire land that humans were not unknown in myth and legend had also been made clear.

"I think the best course of action would be to attend the meeting of these delagates so any questions and fears can be allayed. But after I get cleaned up to at least make a decent impression."

"I thought you said you were not trained in dipolmacy?"

"I'm not. Not really. We all receive a degree of diplomacy training in the Star Exploration Corps." Looking over at the Gryphon Ambassador, Markus decided it was time to explain. "In my world's own mythology, We have out own legends, myths. Those myth's include, Alicorns, Pegasus, and unicorns. Even gryphons are counted among creatures of legend."

Despite the pain he felt going through his aching body, he forced himself to sit up turning so his legs were off the side of the bed. His coughing was almost hard enough to make the doctors think he would bring blood up. "Now... If you will excuse me. I would like to get cleaned up and dressed so I can at least be... presentible for the diplomatic assembly."

"You need to rest some more." The unicorn mare doctor said approaching.

A sharp look to the Mare made her back step as he said. "There is an entire castle full of diplomats, tensions are so high I can feel it and my people are not sensitive to such. If this situation is not resolved, it could lead to violence."

Looking to Celestia, Luna, as well as the Gryphon ambassador. "My people have a saying. What you don't understand, you fear. What you fear, you hate. And what you hate, you destroy. Reguardless of what happens to me, it is important that we disarm and calm this situation down before it erupts into a firestorm. This whole situation, regardless of the fact my arrival was accidental, is my fault."

Realizing that neither Luna nor Celestia could disuade him Celestia said, "Very well, but if the doctors feel you have had enough stress, I will order them to return you to your room for further rest." She said it in a tone that hinted she would not be argued with.

"As you wish your highness."

Having managed to get cleaned up and dressed with only a little help from the doctors, Rarity had prepared for him a number of outfits, most of which had been measured for him. He was wearing some simple blue trousers with a blue over robe, sparing him the pain of putting a shirt on, with a belt made of leather. When Markus had questioned the use of leather the doctor had told him that the pony race were strict vegetarians and as a general cultural tradition did not harm animals unless it was vital. But, they were more then willing to trade for such goods from other cultures that did hunt and kill for survival.

Markus did his best to push past the pain of walking under his own strength to avoid seeming weak. Still the male unicorn doctor, whose name was Doc, had helped him to the door and remained beside him while Markus carefully took his arm off the unicorn for support and stood tall and proud as he could despite the pain. "If I say you need to get back to bed, not even Celestia would argue with me."

He opened the door to the main audience chamber. On the inside he held his surprise at seeing a number of races that he considered mythological. Apart from the gryphons, unicorns, pegasi, and the three alicorns he could see dragons, minotaurs, deer, buffalo, and a phoenix.

He could see the two piebald gryphons. The male ambassador, the one with the eye-patch battle-scars, would stand very close to eye level to Markus and his roughly six foot even height. Both were wearing what appeared to be a gold and silver halter. The male's collar had a large black gem. The female's had no such gem but there were a number of smaller gems around her halter. The halter of the larger male had a large black gem in the middle if it with a number of gems of all shapes and colors around it.

Both were wearing what appeared to be white leather tops similar to what he would consider a shirt, which made the fact they wore no pants strike him as a bit odd. Their front legs as he expected were more like eagle talons with what looked like white leather gauntlets on them. On top of those gauntlets he could see what appeared to be gold plates with various glyphs. They both looked at Markus with amber eyes and he could see both caution and interest in their predatory gaze.

'Yeeeup. I think someone left the door to the Twilight Zone open.' he thought. He didn't dare voice the thought as he had to be as polite and curt as possible. As a number of those assembled, he listened to some low comments about myth and legends but nothing seemed to be threatening so far. A chair had been prepared for him and he moved carefully to sit down. The Doctor remained beside him and Markus also noted a couple of guards near his location.

It was Celestia who had chosen to speak first. "I wanted to thank you for being willing to help us resolve the situation that Chrysalis has caused."

Markus nodded his head as a way to bow to Celestia. Before he could respond he heard a deep throated growl from a very large red dragon that was taking up part of the audience chamber. The dragon bared his teeth and Markus could feel the tension rise some. He took note of the unicorn guards, including the guard captain Shining Armor, seeming to anticipate a possible attack. Smoke flowed from the dragon's nose before he settled down.

Out of the corner of his eye he had noticed Celesta, Luna, and Twilight Sparkle with a glow around their horns. As things settled down, the gryphon ambassador Lord Brazen Silverclaw spoke first of the delegates. "I do wish to point out my own physician has confirmed that the rumors of the Princesses Celestia and Luna being controlled by Mister.... Ordain is a lie."
The gryphon's physician came forward to address them. Unlike the ambassador and his daughter, he wore a normal white outfit which lacked the ornate decorations like the halter that the ambassador and his daughter shared. He resembled a falcon more than an eagle, his head feathers were a dusty brown with flecks of white and yellow on his feathers.

"Indeed. Through my own examination I can confirm that he had neither the strength nor the magical affinity to even attempt such a feat. So the rumors of Celestia and Luna being controlled are just that. Lies and rumors perpetuated by the Darkwoods Changeling hive, most likely as Celestia said in an act of revenge against Markus Ordain."

The bare chested minotaur representative snorted as he said, "That still doesn't explain why in all out history a human, a creature known only in myth and lore, is real. No evidence or remains have ever been found, discounting the creation myth around the Blades of the Elements which could have been created by other races rather than humans."

Clearing his throat Markus chose speak. "In my people's mythology and lore we have dragons, minotaurs, unicorns, pegasi, alicorns and no evidence of their existance was ever recorded. Yet after many thousands of years, legends of such creatures persist."

"Indeed," said Ambassador Silverclaw. "Evidently there is some form of connection between our world... and Earth. The only question is in what ways?"

"Questions that are better answered by scholars and researchers, not some test pilot but I will do the best I can," Markus spoke. Despite his composure he was in pain, but did his best to avoid showing it.

"Perhaps we should start with your myths of humans. I would honestly like to hear them, and..." Markus was interrupted by the dragon who spoke in a very dark tone...

"What I want to know is when more of your kind are showing up. Our legends have humans killing us, stealing our hordes."

"Gold has little value beyond...decorative purpose for my people. At one time it was valued but not any more," Markus said as the dragon issued a menacing growl. "Besides, there has never been any confirmed dragon found in all the recorded history of my world, although there were once creatures long dead before my race appeared that no doubt served as inspiration for such beings."

"You claim that we are myths to you. How do we know you are not lying to us?" the dragon challenged.

The pain made Markus short tempered as he said rather bluntly, "I frankly don't give a damn what you choose to or not to believe."

The dragon's eyes narrowed as the great creature approached Markus, bringing his nose right into Markus' face. The tension rose a few notches as he used the dragon's biology against him. Unable to see below his own snout Markus had raised his right arm, bringing his fist just under the jaw of the dragon to one side of his throat. The dragon's head was almost as long as Markus' arm was.

"You best ease up out of my face before something bad happens to you." At that point he pressed his hand to the throat of the dragon. "Slight twitch is all it takes to cause those blades to snap out. They are as sharp as an obsidian edge. They will go through your hide like a hot knife through butter."

"You would not survive my attack human."

"You will not survive mine. Shall we die together this day?"

At that point the Equestrian Solar Guard lead by Shining Armor appeared. "Ambassador, we will not tolerate violence in this chamber or at these proceedings." Their spears held in a magical aura. "Please... return to your place or you will be ejected from these proceedings... by force if I must."

The red dragon snarled as he backed down, pulling away. The dragon was not as massive as Markus had thought dragons were, perhaps maybe forty or fifty feet from nose to tail and the wings folded on his back might have been as long if not longer. The scales were red as blood, the eyes like molten pools of lava. The eye's black slit was very reptilian.

The dragon moved back to where he had been and settled down. It was then that the unicorn doctor spoke. "If all you are going to do is throw accusations and threaten Mister Ordain, I will insist my charge return to his chambers to rest and finish recovering," the doctor said in a very firm tone.

Celestia and Luna cleared their throats. Luna spoke very firmly."I agree. Mister Ordain has put himself in considerable discomfort to help answer questions. He has come here to allay fears and panic caused by a known enemy of every race on Equestria."

Celestia continued where he sister left off. "If the assembled here are going to throw accusations, threats, and insinuations instead of asking questions and learning the truth, then I will insist that our guest return to his chambers and rest and recover. All of our cultures have myths and legends of humans. Ponies are no exception. A number of those are fairly dark, such as humans cutting off the horns of unicorns, and capturing pegasi for beasts of burden. I have lived for many thousands of years. I have firsthand experience on seeing how stories based in fact have become twisted and embellished over many hundreds of years of retelling I am sure that there is some basis in fact for those stories. But I am also sure that time has taken its toll on the accuracy of those legends. We are here to learn what might be the basis for all those legends."

At that point it seemed that there was some murmuring between delegates. Finally they seemed to settle down as Markus allowed the princesses to speak. When it was clear that there were no objections Markus coughed a couple of times as he cover his mouth with his hand. "I will start by addressing the dragon ambassador first. As I said there has never been any recorded evidence that dragons ever existed on my race's homeword Earth but there were at one time creatures that were... dragon like." Lifting his hand he said "If you will draw the curtains and darken the room I can show you."

With some amusement the ambassadors watched as the guards at Celestia's acknowledgment drew the curtains and began to darken the room. Markus using his wrist computer brought up the information. It was Twilight who asked "What is that if I may ask.?"

"It's a computer. Think of it as a device that can store and retrieve information as well as run all sorts of tests, such as seeing if something that you want to eat is poisonous to you." He hit the last few buttons he needed and then brought up a small projector, with then shone a conical light that went over the middle of the table showing a hologram, "These are creatures that existed many millions of years ago and are believed to be the source of most legends of dragons.”

The hologram, which measured some four feet when projected in the air showed the image of the skeleton of a Tyrannosaurs Rex.

http://www.dinosaur-world.com/tyrannosaurs/images/tyrannosaurus_rex_skeleton.gif

As the image rotated Twilight said. "Dinosaurs!" The comment caught Markus off guard as there was a general consensus of agreement. Twilight spoke and said, "Sorry. Dinosaur means..."

Cutting her off, Markus finished her sentence. "Terrible Lizard." The comment had actually shocked her as Markus continued. "I am starting to get the impression that there may have been some sort of ancient link between Earth and Equestria, one that no longer exists but allowed humans and inhabitants from this world to interact and cross. Such gateways are very rare but they have been known to occur. These remains are believed for the most part to hold the basis in human culture for the legends of dragons." Markus was once more caught off guard by a fit of coughing.

The dragon narrowed his eyes and look unsatisfied but it was the Gryphon ambassador who asked "This is technology?"

"Yes. Perhaps you would care to share some of your own myths of humans."

"Indeed I would. I had thought of telling you the story with some ancient depictions, but I wonder if there is something similar in your legends. So let us show you the pictures. Lights please.” The ambassador reach under the table and pulled out a roll of paper which held a drawing of a human chained to an object with what looked like a gryphon eating from his chest. While it was simply black masses with white outline he was able to recall the style of the picture as being something he had seen while in a museum on Earth.

"Prometheus. Computer, access the story of Prometheus and Greek mythology."

The computer made a few beeping sounds and a voice began to play,

"Prometheus was the wisest Titan. His name means "forethought" and he was able to foretell the future. He was the son of Iapetus. When Zeus revolted against Cronus, Prometheus deserted the other Titans and fought on Zeus' side.”

“By some accounts he and his brother Epimetheus were delegated by Zeus to create man. In all accounts, Prometheus is known as the protector and benefactor of man. He gave mankind a number of gifts including fire. He also tricked Zeus into allowing man to keep the best part of the animals sacrificed to the gods and to give the gods the worst parts.”

“For this Zeus punished Prometheus by having him chained to a rock with an eagle tearing at his liver. He was to be left there for all eternity or until he agreed to disclose to Zeus which of Zeus' children would try to replace him. He was eventually rescued by Hercules without giving in to Zeus."

The information the computer recited seemed to surprise the gryphon ambassador and his daughter as Markus continued.

"Now there a few variations of the myth, one of which I heard involved gryphons being the ones to eat out his liver. As far as Gryphon's themselves, computer recall information on gryphon mythology."

"The griffin, griffon, or gryphon is a legendary creature with the body, tail, and back legs of a lion; the head and wings of an eagle; and an eagle's talons as its front feet. As the lion was traditionally considered the king of the beasts and the eagle was the king of the birds, the griffin was thought to be an especially powerful and majestic creature. The griffin was also thought of as king of the creatures. Griffins are known for guarding treasure and priceless possessions. Adrienne Mayor, a classical folklorist, proposes that the griffin was an ancient misconception derived from the fossilized remains of the Protoceratops found in gold mines in the Altai mountains of Scythia, in present day southeastern Kazakhstan, or in Mongolia. In antiquity it was a symbol of divine power and a guardian of the divine. Some have suggested that the word Griffin is cognate with Cherub."

"Gold mines. Protoceratops?"

"Protoceratops is a dinosaur. It's face is very similar to that of an eagles face, but they are quadrupedal like you sir. There are some legends that account for the gryphons and gold. Some legends say they are attracted to the metal, others calm that gryphon eggs cannot hatch unless in a nest lined with gold."

The gryphon ambassador looked very thoughtful as he lifted his right talon to rub his chin. "It was said that humans would train us to kill and consume their enemies and steal our eggs and train our chicks to guard their gold."

"Well, that might be partially true on both counts..."

Despite attempting to continue Markus had a hard coughing fit and as he covered his mouth spots of blood came up to cover his hand, shocking most of the delegates in the room. It was at that point the doctor stepped in.

"Okay, that is enough for today. We need to get you back to your room for rest." the doctor said with a note of finality.

Moving through the caverns a lone figure wearing a black cloak moved slowly. Her hooves clipped and clopped as she slowly approached a summoning circle. Inside the center of the circle was a mass of crystals, the various shards placed into a pentagram with the center area empty. A large circle and various archaic symbols surrounded the enclosed pentagram. The unicorn lowered her mouth to her pouch and pulled out a large black crystal.

Taking great care to not step on any of the white marks, she placed the black gem in the middle and then began to move back. With one spark of magic the unicorn lit the black candles all over the cavern, illuminating the black crystals that filled the crystal cavern. The crystals glowed with a sickly purple light deep inside.

The black gem that was placed in the center began to contract and then expand exactly like a beating heart. An inky black smoke began to rise from the black gem as two disembodied red eyes opened from the blackness. They shone with pure hatred and malice, gazing at the lone figure as if the very look might kill the trespasser.

In a soft voice the unicorn said, "Hello father. Your plan is working to perfection. I have relocated the Alicorn Amulet. It will be perfect for your plan."

The eyes shivered with twisted pleasure as they anticipated the things to come.