The Blue Paradigm 4 - (MLP (EAW AU), Blueblood!SI)
When I was very young, my Auntie Tia decided that 'lil cute Bluey' deserved a friend from beyond the 'lake'. And by lake, she meant the ocean leading to Griffonia.
To say that the relations between Equestria and the Griffonian Empire were mild at best would be an oversimplification of the maze-like complexities of the Empire- one united, the 'Empire' was now akin to the Holy Roman Empire, with slices of older and 'newer' politics that clashed over the wartorn continent.
The revolution that had created Stalliongrad had been far worse in the Empire as Grover V ascended to a rebellion coming from Cloudbury, led by Alexander Kemerskai, that wrecked the 'Old Order' and tried to install a new one. Sadly for the republican revolutionaries, Grover V was blessed by a brilliance in the matters of warfare. He consolidated his power through the Herzland Nobles and the Archonate (the clergy), and soon had the knights put down the rebellion one state at the time.
It wasn't a perfect clean-up, not when the war could go on so far as to guarantee the safety of the Herzland... but that didn't mean that the core lands of the Empire were spared by the horrors of the revolution. While some may think that pro-democratic leaders may be less inclined to commit war crimes against unharmed civilians, some verified accounts of purges against the griffonfolk in what has been wrapped up as the 'Pink Terror' (called as such as Harmony as a political ideology uses a shade of pink as its rallying symbol) called into question the sanity of those monsters.
One such case I was very familiar with, both through meta-knowledge and... personal relations. The individual I was soon caring for as a 'foreign childhood friend' was the young princess of the Katerin Principality, Diellza von Katerinburg. Truth be told, there are 'two' Diellzas that are known to those familiar with her story.
A young and innocent little griffon that lived up to expectations of a caring princess... up until she was 6. When the revolution broke in the peaceful Principality, the small royal guard group was overwhelmed by revolutionary militias. And, in a rather ironic turn of events, most of those people didn't want to subvert the royalists since the fief was ruled fairly.
That being said, most of the leading revolutionaries were bandits. Griffons uncaring of the plight of the 'people', and those that truly cared for a few things: power, control, and... satisfying their urges. Albeit raping was not a common practice among these pricks, that didn't mean this limited their range of violence. Rumors of cannibalism were frequent when it comes to the Revolutionary Year for Katerin, but no one had proof if the Katerin Royal Family was subjected to this.
Nonetheless, a year was enough to break the lone survivor of that nightmarish experience: Diellza was seven when she was made Ruling Princess after being liberated by Grover V. She was heavily indebted to the Emperor as he saw him as a 'kind soul'. I remember hearing her speak so softly and so sanely of him when we first met.
And the day I met Diellza, I was surprised by two things: first, Diellza wasn't outright deranged. Tired, stressed, annoyed and moody. The last bit was already displaying cruelty against those she perceived as 'naggers'. And I admit that I was about to shit bricks the first time we interacted.
She was clearly not impressed by me at first glance, almost tempted to have me 'face off her guards' to see how good my magic was. A bit bratty in that context... and it gave me the idea to treat her as the child she was. She was two years younger than me, and 9 when we first met, so I used this opportunity to play the role of 'older sibling'.
Much to my surprise... it worked wonderfully.
Well, it wasn't perfect. Far from it.
Diellza retained that sense of anger within her at any minor error made by servants and guards, but the griffonlady listened to my advices as soon as our friendship blossomed through the years. A proper government appointed by her rather than an unconventional and dangerous 'Katerintreue' regency council ready to kill her, and a helping therapy proposed by the 'Priest-Minister' Heinrich Duskfeather.
Duskfeather was left-leaning. Not outright a communist, but a socialist-sympathizer nonetheless. He was quite surprised when I managed to convince Diellza to confess to the old bird, but he seemed overall understanding of her situation to the point of 'offering his services to the principality'.
Somehow that confession and ensuing conversation had appeased Diellza so much that she ordered him 'Priest Minister' to rule over the governance until she was old enough to be more 'understanding' of others.
That has been years ago, and Duskfeather did a fine job as an effective leader of the country. Reforms were passed after the Regency Council was removed from sight. They were imprisoned as criminal investigations revealed the extent of their 'treason' to the kingdom of Diellza.
Some were imprisoned to life, others were outright executed and... Katerin breathed a fresh air of change as the old bird in charge started to shape the country in a more pious nation while also tackling the banditry issues. Those with lesser crimes were granted mercy, but those with extensive records were hanged.
Taxes were lowered, regulations shifted into a more freer economy, and Katerin became something of a role model for the country as a whole. Diellza soon saw her popularity skyrocket, and while she had been nervous to wander out of her castle without proper companionship, she always enjoyed the way her subjects 'thanked her for her actions'.
It was a bit toxic to some extent. Diellza hardly had any clue of the extent of the changes, and she clearly knew not that Duskfeather had been chipping away at the autocratic power she yielded out of fear of another dangerous ruler to take over after her death.
Nonetheless, that didn't mean that Diellza was stupid. Or that she didn't have her clique keeping tab of the matters of the state. And she had been told of the 'grave news'.
Grover V's death was a true national tragedy. Not only was this going to spark a civil war of sort due to the antics of nobility and the Archons playing against each other to take over the little heir, Grover VI, as a figurehead, but it also threw some of the griffonfolks in a loop.
And as I reached Katerin after a few teleportations stop by Manehattan, New Mareland, and Flowena, I could tell that the entire country was in a state of mourning. Yet none of those displays (somber but still contained) matched the full 'bleak' outlook of the royal palace. I had never seen so much black around. Black clothes, black armors, black flags, and black veils over the portraits of Grover V.
When I got inside the palace, I was greeted at once by a tired-looking Duskfeather. While the old griffon had already looking one claw away from the grave, governance had made him appear to be far older than he was. He greeted me politely and-
"I truly don't know where Diellza is. She is in the palace but... I am unsure where she may be at the moment."
I picked up the worry in his voice, but also a sense of restraint as the princess was still within this walls.
"I'll look for her. Keep up the good work, Heinrich."
"You too, Herr Blueblood."
After this little interaction, I was off to look for Diellza. Despite its size, many of those rooms had been sealed away at the order of the princess herself. Old living rooms, old dance rooms, the old... throne room. This last place was quite the odd location for Diellza to hide into, the pains of that room still echoing as I remembered from our last meeting, but I had gut feeling that it was there where she was holing herself up to.
And I found her.
Diellza was sitting on her late father's throne, her regalia on but no clothes. While nudity wasn't as frowned upon as it would be among humans, Griffons held it to a higher regard as they tended to stand upright and bipedal far more than most quadrupeds. Also, Diellza was a princess, so clothes were part of the etiquette when moving out of her 'privy room'.
She didn't seem to care or mind as her body of red and black feathers stood out to its fullest as she sat on the side, her green-eyed glare aimed at the one item that (ironically so) had turned into her punching bag. Glitterhoof was the name of a unicorn skull that his cousin from the Longsword Order had sent her as a birthday gift and... Diellza hated it.
She had taken it as a 'slight' against me, and she had kept it around as a way to out her anger at the idiocy of those in her family that 'had turned their backs to her'. But today... it was different. Her vicious whispers, which I caught only the intense wrath within her voice as she uttered those, were far more extreme. Deranged even.
I had a hint of fear that this may be that 'one bad day' that could snap someone as unstable as Diellza but... she broke away from her brief decline with a single loud sob.
Tears were rolling down her cheeks, and then the anger turned in bitter quietness which ultimately concluded with a loud crack.
She had lifted the unicorn skull, then slamming it to the ground in front of the throne. The skull broke and splintered, with Diellza
"B-Bloodie. Is that you?"
I will never get over that unpleasant nickname...
"Yes."
"...A-Are you?"
"You're not crazy, Delly. I got here as soon as I got the news."
Her shoulders stiffened and... she flung herself out of the throne and towards me. A single strong flap of her wing saw her propelled towards me. I used magic to slow down her pace, and while that avoided me getting yeeted with her upon impact, I couldn't do much as I felt the bird's claws unconsciously sinking onto my skin. My white fur was soon stained with some blood, but I had magic already cleaning up as I had been quite accustomed to her clumsy disregard of her own 'sharp body'.
At this stage, there was no apology, the princess busy sobbing as she confirmed I wasn't an hallucination.
"I-I saw them. Mom, Dad- they were here."
"Hm."
"I-I shouldn't be here but-"
"You needed this," I guessed, closing my eyes as I wrapped my hooves around her frame. "I know."
She twitched, then nuzzled her head against my shoulder. "B-Bloody?"
"Hm?"
"W-Will you stay for the night?"
"I already told my Aunties I will. Also, I would like to take you to his funeral."
I felt a nod from Diellza through the hug and... I had to carry her around to her room. The griffon ultimately noticed that she had sunk her claws into my flesh, pulling those out and raining 'sorry's through the walk. I merely nodded and just decided to cuddle up with her.
She sighed, then finally allowed her tired mind to fall unconscious. The snoring princess was still a tight hugger during her slumber, and I had a bit to explain to the maids that found us in that 'awkward position'. Not much due to our known familiarity to each other and...
The fact that Diellza had forwarded the idea of a marriage a few times. We hardly dated and we hanged out as platonically as possible but... the girl loved me, just not in the normal sense of the word. And while that didn't appear too worrisome until now...
I was soon going to hear some interesting news once the grieving was over- and Diellza would plan how to preserve Grover V's legacy the best.
AN
Monsoc Katerin Principality Path is now claimed! The 'Mad Princess' will soon make the news way more than usual.
Next time... Blueblood finishes the last reforms for 1007 and he meets Princess Twilight after so long.