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TD the Alicorn Princess

by BronyWriter

Chapter 23: Interrogations and Confessions

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First Aepnet pulls this crap, then the dukes treat me like I don't have any right to sit on an Equestrian throne. I mean, yeah, I wasn't the most orthodox of choices obviously, that would be Twilight, but the Elements of Harmony blasted me and I had made the vow that I would serve and protect these ponies as best as I could. If that didn't give me the right to rule in a country like this then I don't know what did!

Okay, being born an alicorn, or even a pony, with monarch parents would have done it, but my point still stands. I'm an equestrian princess, and that's not going to change because some stupid dukes who can't see past their own gains tell me that I'm not royal. There have been plenty of people born in small town Colorado who have gone on to become royalty! I just... don't remember any of them off the top of my head, that's all.

With the dukes gone, I stomped to the side room where the other three princesses were waiting with a rather impressive grimace on my face. I couldn't imagine that they were going to be any happier about this whole thing than I was once they heard.

When I entered the room all three princesses were at a small table and talking quietly to each other. They looked up when I walked in and immediately noticed my mood. They shot to their hooves and rushed over to me.

"How did it go, Antares?" Luna asked. "We gather not well."

I growled quietly and ground my hoof into the ground. "If I thought that Aepnet was a rotten, condescending loon, then those three are him times ten! They started off vaguely respectful, but then they followed it up by claiming that I had no right to go into Griffonia to get our subjects back, or to arrest Aepnet."

"We had every right to do so!" Luna cried, stomping her hoof on the ground. "They sacked the town and enslaved our ponies! That gives us every right!"

"Oh they didn't say that we didn't have the right. They said that I didn't have the right. As in me specifically."

The fire went out of Luna's eyes, and she replaced her angry expression with a frown. She tilted her head. "We fail to note the distinction, Antares. Thou art just as much a princess as we."

"Not according to those bird faces," I grumbled. I ground my teeth together and walked over to my spot at the table to make myself a little more comfortable. "They're refusing to recognize my legitimacy because I was not born in Equestria, as a pony, and I don't have any ancestors with claims to the throne either. As they see it, you guys just let a commoner create an army and invade their lands to capture their emperor."

"Ah..." Celestia slowly exhaled and closed her eyes halfway. "Ah, so that is their game. I admit that I was foolish to not consider the idea..."

"What?" Now Cadance tilted her head. "What are they up to?"

Celestia gave a single nod then opened her eyes completely again. "TD, I think that for your first time you did very well against them. I think that their rejection of your legitimacy means two things. The first one being that they knew that they couldn't easily push you around, so having found what information they were looking for, they left."

"So they knew that I wasn't going to roll over for them so they chose my non-royal birth as a starting point." I sighed and put my head in my hooves. "Charming. Absolutely wonderful. I'm glad that they didn't think that I was something of a pushover. Who knows how that would have gone."

"We shall deal with that in due time, TD," Celestia said, putting a comforting hoof on my shoulder. "What else did they say?"

I snorted and a slight smirk crossed my face. "I think this one is what made them realize that I wasn't going to just roll over for them: they demanded to take the evidence we have against Aepnet back to Griffonia, presumably so that they could just destroy it or alter it in some way so as to 'prove' that we were the ones who set him up."

The coconut sound of all three other princesses facehooving secretly delighted me, as my favorite cartoonist would put it. All riiight! I don't know how the griffin nobles thought that I could be so stupid either, but the proof was in the pudding, as it were.

"Yeah, I wasn't quite open to the idea, as you would imagine. It was pretty stupid of them to ask."

Celestia gave a slow, pained sigh and shook her head. "Indeed. Such has always been the way of the Griffonian nobility, I'm afraid. Were Aepnet in their position he would likely try the same thing. They're a very cutthroat bunch."

"I noticed that."

"Indeed." Celestia paused for a moment as if deep in thought then nodded once and began walking towards the door. "The dukes will want to meet with us. Even if they don't, I would like to meet with them before they leave. We have one or two things to discuss."

Luna and Cadance nodded in agreement and began following Celestia out of the room. Before they could leave, I called out.

"Er... Cadance? Can I ask you something really quick?"

Cadance looked at me quizzically for a moment before nodding and walking back over to me. When she was close enough, I leaned in to whisper to her. "If at all possible, can you send some of your Blade Wings to Griffonia to watch over Kathyrine? I don't trust those dukes, and if she's gone then there is going to be even more trouble than there already is. If not, I understand, but I'd like to make sure that Kathyrine is safe."

Cadance nodded. "Of course, TD. I can get a few Blade Wings over in a few hours. They're good enough that she'll never know that they're around."

I gave Cadance a small salute. "'Preciate it."

"If you could, TD," Celestia said, "I would like you to go to the prison to speak with Aepnet or Sinosis about the events. See if you cannot garner some more evidence about what is going on. Barring that, speak with one of the lower raiders. Some second in command that might be more open to protecting himself by selling out his fellows."

I stood up and nodded. "I can do that. I have court covered for now anyway, so I have time to do whatever we need to get done."

"Then please hurry, TD." Celestia stepped aside and shepherded Luna and Cadance out of the room. "Time is most certainly of the essence here."

* * * *

The flight to the prison was a short one for somepony with my wing span, and I made it in a few short hours. I spent the flight thinking over in my head what I needed to say to any of the griffins that I wanted to interrogate for more information. Sinosis seemed to be the kind of griffin that would only respond to the specific kind of carrots that he wanted, and Aepnet would likely just repeatedly tell me that I had no right in arresting him and that he'd declare war the moment that he got out of prison. That left one of the lesser griffins as the best targets. On the other hoof, though, they would likely know a lot less information. Still, they could let something slip that somebody wanted hidden.

It was times like this that I did wish that I knew a lie detector spell. Or was even well versed enough in body language that I could tell when somebody was lying to me. Sure sometimes it's pretty easy, but I doubt that even Sinosis could get away with lying straight to Celestia's face.

I landed just outside the prison and was greeted with salutes by everybody who saw me. I nodded back to them and walked towards the entrance, which was immediately opened to me. I wasn't more than a dozen steps in before I was met by a stocky blue earth pony wearing a cheap suit and flanked by two unicorn prison guards. All three of them bowed low to me.

"Princess Antares, it is an honor to have you here at my facility," said the earth pony. "I am Warden Lockup, and I am here to help you in whatever way you desire."

"I appreciate that," I said with a nod in his direction. "I'm here because I need to speak with some of the griffin prisoners who I incarcerated here recently."

"Ah yes..." Warden Lockup took a hoofkerchief out of his front pocket and wiped his brow. "Nasty business, that. Not every day that I come in to work and find that we have not only a Griffonian warlord and his army, but the Griffonian emperor himself in our care. Most distressing, I must admit. The warlord, Sinosis, I believe his name is, is certainly a nasty fellow. Tried to put out a few eyes with those claws of his."

I grimaced at that. I had no illusions that Sinosis would behave completely, but trying to blind prison guards was something that I didn't like hearing about him doing. No matter. He was locked up now and that was where he needed to be right now.

"Okay..." I gave a single nod then turned my attention to the warden again. "I would like to speak to the former Griffonian emperor." If nothing else I'd like to let him know that his daughter's okay.

Warden Lockup nodded and bowed again. "Of course, Princess Antares. Just give me a few minutes. I'll have one of my guards escort you to Interrogation Room A where you can speak with him as long as you desire."

With one final bow, the warden ordered one of his guards to escort me to the interrogation room in question. It was a fairly short walk from the front entrance, but we did have to pass through two locked doors that required ID before we got there. Being that I was on par with Celestia and Luna in terms of security clearance, I could have gotten through without the guard escorting me.

We reached the room and I discovered that it looked pretty much like every single interrogation room that one would see in the movies or on TV. Bare walls, a presumably two way mirror, a single white table and two chairs. I elect to remain standing as the chairs are far too small for me as a human, let alone an alicorn.

I don't have to wait more than a minute before the door opened and Aepnet walked in. He was unrestricted, but he looked quite a bit different without any royal garments. On top of that, he was much more haggard. His eyes were bloodshot, his feathers were in need of a good preening, and he looked like he hasn't slept well in quite a while. He walked over to the chair opposite me and sat down without so much as a greeting.

"Your daughter is safe."

That sparked a little life in his eyes. He fixed his gaze on me. "And what, praytell, is your definition of safe, Antares? Do you have her locked in some tower? Is she guarded by a full regiment of ponies day in and day out? Have Fromme, Byck, and Zangara suddenly disappeared off the face of the planet?" Aepnet gave a chuckle that sounded almost like he's gargling gravel. It held no trace of humor. "Please. Do tell me what 'safe' means in this instance."

"It means that she is being covertly watched so that she is not disturbed but can be protected in the event that an attempt on her life is made." My eyes narrowed into a glare and I took a step towards Aepnet. "It means that an attack on Kathyrine will be seen as an attack on me. It means that she is supported through this time, a time that, if you don't mind me saying so, you brought upon her."

"I did no such thing!" Aepnet snarled, slamming his claw on the table. "I'm innocent, Antares! The evidence is forged!"

"The evidence like your most trusted servant admitting that it was your orders that the fort be burned?" I scoffed and shook my head. "Be honest with me, Aepnet. Look at all of the evidence that we have against you. If you were in my position and the only evidence in my defense was that I promised you that I didn't do it, what would you say?"

That shut him up. He settled for merely glaring at me. He knew that I was right, though. The evidence against him was quite overwhelming. He was in deep and he knew it.

"I do not want to talk to you anymore, Antares. I will speak no further."

I shrugged with my wings. "Fine." I nodded to the guard who nudged Aepnet to stand up. "Just know that we potentially have a world war on our hooves here. We don't want it any more than you do."

Aepnet didn't respond as he was led out. Truth be told I didn't really expect him to be cooperative. He was an emperor who was in some pony jail. I can't imagine that he thought that we were being very fair to him, even if he was guilty, and all of the evidence that we had right now said that he was.

After a few more moments the guard returned. "Do you want to see another prisoner, Princess Antares?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I want you to let me pick him out, though. If you could lead me to the prison cells, I would appreciate that."

The guard bowed low. "Of course. Right this way."

I followed the guard out of the room and towards the cells. As before we had to pass through several checkpoints, each with several guards who bowed low to me. After a few minutes we reached the cells.

There were two griffins to each cell as we passed by, most of whom looked up at me when I walked past their cells. A majority of them glared at me, but a few shrank back in fear. It was those that I was after. I turned to the guard escorting me. "Where are you keeping the higher ranked griffins? I'm talking the ones a peg or two below Sinosis?"

"Right near the end of the block, Princess," the guard replied, motioning with his head and a forehoof.

I followed him to the end of the row where a pair of griffins were lying on the cots in the cells. They both sat up when they saw me standing there. The one on the top bunk narrowed his eyes and flared his wings. He leaped off of the bed and grabbed the bars, his expression twisting into a snarl.

"You've come to laugh at us, pretty pony princess? You've come to lord over us poor, defenseless griffins?" He reached through the bars and pointed a claw at me. "You'll be sorry, Antares. You'll be sorry when we get out of here! You'll all be sorry!"

"A truly eloquent and original speech." I scoffed and rolled my eyes. "You spend all night coming up with it?"

"You dare speak to me in such a manner?!"

"Uh-huh."

He wasn't worth it. He wasn't what I was after. Now his cellmate? Yeah, that was another matter entirely. He had backed into a corner and was looking at me with pure, unadulterated fear in his eyes. It looked as though he expected me to obliterate him where he stood.

Perfect.

I turned my head to the cell guard and pointed at the shivering griffin. "Him. He's the one I want."

The griffin's eyes widened and he let out a loud, piercing shriek. He began running back and forth between the walls of his cell while his cellmate stood in front of him, yelling something at me that was drowned out by the cries of his cellmate. The commotion drew a half dozen more guards to the scene, all of whom began subduing the two griffins. The rest of the griffins, seeing how we were acting with the two in the cell, went absolutely berserk, and the cell block exploded into chaos with most of the prisoners shouting at me and the prison guards.

It was not going well, needless to say.

I escorted the guard who had been leading me out of the room to somewhere a little quieter. We could still hear the noise of the riot, but I could at least hear myself talk.

"Okay, here's what I need you to do: I need you to get me two comfortable chairs and some real food. I assume the warden's office is a little more comfortable than the interrogation rooms?" The guard nodded and I returned it. "Good. Then I want what I asked for in there in twenty minutes. Bring the prisoner there. That's where I want to talk to him."

The guard frowned and uneasily scratched the back of his neck. "Er... Princess Antares, that is most irregular. I'm going to have to clear it with Warden Lockup first."

"Well then do it. When you do, tell him that it's a direct order from the highest authority in the land who is doing her very best to prevent what could be the most destructive war in the history of the planet by offering a carrot instead of a stick." My eyes narrowed slightly and I leaned in closer to the guard. "Capice?"

"O-of course, Princess Antares!" The guard was quick to salute me. "I will have what you requested brought to the warden's office at once!"

"Kind of you."

* * * *

Twenty minutes later, I was sitting in the warden's chair with the warden sitting behind me and five guards behind the prisoner, who was sitting across from me in a plush armchair. On the desk was a plate of fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as half of a vanilla cake. The griffin was staring at the food, a hungry look in his eyes. I made a note to ask about what these guys were getting fed when all of this was over.

I cleared my throat and the griffin looked up at me. I smiled comfortingly at him and lit my horn, levitating a goblet and pitcher of water. I poured the water into the goblet and set it next to the griffin. "Please do help yourself to the food. You must be hungry for something with a little more flavor."

The griffin's claws immediately shot out and snatched a handful of apple slices that he shoved into his mouth. Before he had even finished chewing he had pulled the plate of cake over to him and took a chunk out of it the size of his fist. Seeing how ravenously he ate gave me a little pause, and I turned my head to the warden.

"What the heck are you feeding these guys and how often? He's acting like he's never had food before."

The warden flattened his ears and tugged at his collar. "Er... well, we don't exactly have funding to give them five course meals, Princess Antares. We tend to have oatmeal for breakfast and potato and cabbage soup for lunch and dinner. There are some fruits and such for sides so that they have a more balanced diet, of course."

"Ea' fine here," The griffin said through a mouthful of cake. He chewed the rest and swallowed before taking a long drink from his goblet. "Just with my lifestyle, these aren't the kinds of things that I get to eat."

"Ah, that makes sense." My smile returned. "Then please feel free to eat as much as you'd like."

The griffin vigorously nodded and shoved a few pineapple slices into his mouth. I allowed him to continue eating for a few more moments before gently clearing my throat. I hated to do this. I've read books, I've seen movies and know how all of this works. I don't want to be the bad guy to him, but I'm trying to prevent a world war here.

"So... I'm afraid that we do have to talk a little business. I can imagine that you figured that."

The griffin froze with an apple slice halfway to his mouth, his eye briefly twitching. He stayed completely still for a few moments before slowly lowering the food and looking up at me. "Yeah. I kind of guessed that all of this wasn't free."

I raised my hooves defensively. "Oh don't think that I'm so cruel a leader as that. I'm not going to abuse you if you give me nothing. It's just..." I sigh and rub my temples. "Look, I'm trying to prevent a war between our countries, okay? Heck, if a war starts then a lot of other countries that have nothing to do with this are going to get pulled into this, resulting in what I think is going to be one of the most brutal and destructive wars that this planet has ever seen. And if you'll pardon me for saying so, I don't see how you have a chance if you're up against three goddesses."

For the first time since the griffin came in, a small smirk crossed his face. He popped a raspberry into his mouth and crossed his forelegs. "You really think that there aren't plans in case we halfta go to war against you? We have weapons that can hurt you." He shrugged and impaled a blueberry on one of his claws. "Er... well not my group specifically, but from what I understand the Griffonian army does."

Hmm... that's... troubling news. Celestia mentioned after my ascension that I was immune to normal weapons, normal implying that there were weapons of a higher level that could hurt me. The idea that the griffons, a nation we were possibly about to go to war with, had such weapons was more than a little unsettling. As a ruler, I'd likely have to take the field if it did come to war, or at least one of us would. Equestria losing a princess would be a huge freaking deal for the entire planet. That might be a line of questioning worth looking into.

"So..." I cleared my throat. "When you say that the griffons have such weapons, what do you mean?"

The griffon shrugged. "Dunno. Never seen any myself. Just know that they're Nightmare Weapons, that's all."

"Nightmare Weapons?"

"Yeah, from the Lunar War?" The griffin raised an eyebrow when he noticed that I didn't get it. "You know, the weapons that Nightmare Moon developed a few years into the fighting so that she could kill Celestia and win the war? She made a fair few of them. Most of them were destroyed after Celestia won, but every now and again one pops up. Rumor has it Emperor Aepnet has a few."

Well, ah, Celestia and Luna would have to be told about that. Maybe they could use some diplomacy to make sure that they got rid of all of them. Heck or even just sabotage, because having weapons that can kill the ponies that raise the sun and the moon aren't something that I'd be comfortable with.

Noticing my unease, the griffin picked up a strawberry and took off the top with a shrug. "Like I said, though, just rumors."

"Right. Rumors." I decided to file that away for now. More evidence against Aepnet was needed right now. If he did have them then Kathyrine would definitely turn them over. "So, I have a very important question for you: did Aepnet ever directly come into your fortress to hire you to sack those border towns, or was there always a buffer between the two of you?"

"Aepnet never came into our fortress."

Okay, that complicates things a little bit, but that doesn't completely exonerate him, of course. "So he always sent an emissary to do the negotiations for you?"

The griffin let out a quiet sigh and pushed the mostly empty plates away. He spread one wing and reached into it, producing a single scrap of what looked like paper from his feathers. He placed it on the table and slid it over to me. "Took that with a small, no-flash camera in case I needed it. It seems that I do."

Frowning, I picked up the paper in my magic and unfolded it. It was a photograph of the inside of Sinosis' quarters, as expected, but it was who was in the photograph that caused my jaw to nearly hit the floor. I shot straight to my hooves and flipped the photograph around, nearly shoving it in the griffin's face.

"Is this real?!" I pushed it closer to him. "Is this real?! Did you forge this in any way?!"

"On my life and the life of my ancestors I did not forge that photograph," the griffin said with the utmost calm. "I'm not a magical being, Princess Antares. That photograph is as real as you or I, and details real events. I assure you: it's exactly what you think."

Oh my gosh. Oh mygoshohmygoshohmygosh.

I think I need to be back in Canterlot right this very instant.

I began running towards the door of the warden's office while the baffled guards looked amongst themselves, doubtlessly wondering what the heck the photo was. I screeched to a halt and pointed at the griffin. "Let him keep eating as long as he wants. Move him to an individual cell and give him access to books and such. He may have just prevented a war. If you don't do as I ask I'll find out and fire all of you."

I didn't even give them a chance to respond. I began running towards the exit as fast as my legs would carry me. I was slowed down briefly by the checkpoints, but I was out of the prison in record time. I made sure to put the strongest protection spell I knew on the photo. Admittedly that wasn't a very strong protection spell, but it would keep it from being damaged by things like weather and the like.

As soon as I was out of the prison and free of the anti-teleportation spells that were placed over it, I ignited my horn and began teleport hopping towards Canterlot. It was far faster than flying, but it did take a little more out of me. It was a fair trade-off, though. The other princesses needed to see this, and they needed to see it days ago.

Within twenty minutes I found myself outside of Canterlot Castle. I ran inside, a little more slowly than I had run out of the prison as I was developing a headache from my magic use, and made a beeline straight for the throne room. I burst inside and was elated to see that Celestia, Luna, and Cadance were all inside. Celestia, who was on her throne, shot to her hooves when she saw me run in.

"TD? What's wrong? Did you discover something at the prison?"

"Y... yeah, I d..." I took several deep breaths to get rid of the burning feeling in my lungs and produced the photograph from my mane. Pinkie Pie was right. It's a good place to store things. "Found... more evidence that... changes everything."

I held out the photograph and Celestia took it in her magic. She gasped the instant that she saw it and ran over to me. "TD, where did you get this?!"

"One of Sinosis'... second-in-command's," I wheezed. I took another deep breath and finally felt myself beginning to center. "He had a hidden camera and snapped that picture in case he needed it to save his skin."

"We think he has done that," Luna muttered as she stared at the photograph with Cadance.

"No kidding," I agreed. "When the griffin in question showed me the picture he said that it was exactly what I thought it was. I never thought I'd see a picture of Sinosis meeting with Duke Fromme."

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