//------------------------------// // Chapter 17 - Side Trip // Story: The Traveling Tutor and the Royal Exam // by Georg //------------------------------// The Traveling Tutor and the Royal Exam Side Trip The lunch had been wonderful, the conversation intriguing, and their visit to the little village of Toenail something that Twilight was going to remember for the rest of her life, no two ways about it. It was a little bit weird to discover distant relatives in distant places, but then again lately she had been receiving all kinds of mail from seventeenth cousins four times removed, most of whom claimed to need a few thousand bits to complete one project or another. Mayor Gladiolus was definitely a breath of fresh air in that regard. Pictures of possible distant relatives and discussions on the possibility that the Crystal Empire refugees had eventually settled the valley filled the conversational cracks during the quiet lunch, giving Twilight a strange sense of leaving home as the pegasus driven carriage ascended from the village en route to the mountaintop castle. She exchanged a few lighthearted sisterly jabs with Cadence about how all these new relatives were hers now too, and that if the Crystal Empire library had a genealogy section that could link their family trees, she was going to call her ‘Great-great-great-great-grandma Cadence.’ It brought up discussions about the fuzzy leftovers of the memory spell still hanging over the city, which was turning out to be more of a memory disruption spell that had most likely wiped out any possibility of finding out who Cadence’s real parents were. The thought drew a wet blanket over the distraction she was looking for as the grim fortress drew closer, made up for when Cadence nuzzled Twilight and declared that she was more than happy to ‘borrow’ Twilight Velvet and Night Light for that purpose whenever she needed parental pampering or cookies. It was a rather uncomfortable ride through the updrafts and downdrafts around the Misty Mountain aerie, and Twilight’s queasy stomach was overjoyed when the chariot finally touched down on the flat and somewhat windswept roof of the stone fortress. She had expected Emperor Ripping Claw to be there, but only three griffons sat patiently while the carriage came to a halt and Papercut staggered out of the back to be noisily sick out of eyesight. Gilda and Sunny sat with the patient immobility of raptors awaiting prey, positioned slightly in front of a third male griffon who looked as if he had just bitten into a persimmon. There was a definite sheen of golden eyes in his narrow gaze, a clue that he was one of the griffon royalty but not enough of a clue for Twilight to guess a name. Still, his impressive size and the faint grey iridescence across his feathered crest made it fairly probable that he was a close relative to Emperor Ripping Claw, perhaps the son that Sunny had referred to earlier. “Good afternoon, Princess Twilight Sparkle. Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.” Gilda stood with back straight and perfect grace, her niece a mirror image of her stance as the two princesses and their retinue stepped out of the chariot. The third griffon remained almost frozen and motionless, as if he did not wish to acknowledge the existence of any ponies. “Good afternoon, Princess Gilda. Princess Sunny.” As a pony princess in a griffon aerie, Cadence and the rest of the ponies bowed to one knee as a sign of respect. “We have come on a formal mission, to beg permission from your Wingmaster to permit Princess Sun Shines on the Misty Mountains at Dawn Through Early Morning Hazy Skies to participate in the wedding of Princess Twilight Sparkle von Twinkle of Ponyville, Bearer of the Element of Magic, Mistress of the Silver Diadem and Defender of the Realm, to Lord Green Grass, scion of the House Chrysanthemum, and Teacher of Kings.” “Where’s Greenie?” piped up Sunny, cocking her head and looking at the empty carriage. “I thought he would be able to catch up by now.” * ♥ * Green Grass peeked over the edge of the overturned table and regarded the fairly large glowing hole in the Crystal Castle wall, still mostly obscured by a haze of glittering dust that cast rainbows in the reflected sunlight. The smoldering remnants of the focus rune that he had taped to the wall earlier floated down in small glowing bits, one of which blew back over the table and landed on Shining Armor’s nose. “That’s very… impressive, Aggie.” The little pale blue unicorn remained standing stock-still in the middle of the corridor, a spiraling wisp of smoke rising from her horn and her eyes as big as saucers. The rest of her friends began to peek around the corner of the corridor as Green Grass got down on his knees and peered out the new ragged window in the castle. “Looks like you missed Spike’s statue, but the grounds crew is going to have a pothole to fill out in the garden today. Why don’t you take a short break and get a cookie while we get one of your other friends to try projecting their magic. Only a little higher, and in this direction. I think there are fewer things to break outside the castle over there.” “Greenie,” said Shining Armor with the somewhat distracted voice of somepony remembering what it was like to grow up with Twilight Sparkle. “Let’s try to have most of the castle still standing when my wife comes back.” * ♥ * “He’s unavoidably detained,” said Twilight. “Affairs of state and such things. Where’s the Wingmaster?” “Sleeping,” chirped Sunny. “The minute they got to your quarters, they dropped off like anvils. They snore,” she added, making a quite realistic sound of pony snoring as an example. “And who is your companion, Princess Sunny?” asked Cadence with a pointed glance at the impassive male griffon. “That’s Sky,” she scoffed. “He’s dumb.” “Now, Sunny. I know you’ve been taught better than that,” chided Cadence. Turning to the impassive male griffon, she smiled a very warm and loving smile. “Hello, my name is Princess Cadence of Equestria. I know two forms of Equestrian sign language but none of the Griffon varieties. Perhaps Princess Sunny could translate for—” “I can talk,” snapped the irate griffon with a fluff of his off-white ruff. “If I need to.” Gilda cleared her throat and took a deep breath. “Allow me to introduce Prince Turbulent Skies Churned To A Violent Storm Upon Our Enemies, Son of Emperor Ripping Claw, Scion of the Heavenly Empire, Bearer of The Emperor’s Cup. Sky, this is Princess Mi Amore Cadenza of the Crystal Empire, Keeper of the Crystal Heart, Mate of Shining Armor the Protector, and Princess Twilight Sparkle von Twinkle of Ponyville, Bearer of the Element of Magic, Mistress of the Silver Diadem and Defender of the Realm, Mate to Lord Green Grass, Teacher of Kings.” “Charmed,” rumbled the young griffon, sounding anything but. “Since Lumpy is sleeping in,” said Sunny with a conspiratorial glance up at her aunt, “why don’t we all take Cadence and Twilight on a tour. We could show her the hanging gardens, the council chambers, the—” “I’m out of here,” snapped Sky, turning to leave and extending his broad white wings with a brisk snap. “I’ve done everything my father has requested.” “Ahem.” Gilda cocked her head slightly to one side and regarded the handsome griffon prince with a frown. There was a significant pause, along with a certain amount of uncomfortable twitches that traveled up and down his firm pale flanks before the prince added, “With the permission of the Acting Wingmaster, that is.” “Granted,” said Gilda. “Please return to your father and ask if later this afternoon would be acceptable for the ceremony.” “As you command, Acting Wingmaster,” growled the griffon as he rose into the air in a flurry of feathers and shot away at an impressive velocity. They all watched him fly away until with a inverted flip, he vanished down below the edge of the castle walls. “Dibs,” said Rainbow Dash with a grin. “Dash!” Gilda thwapped her prismatic friend over the head with an extended wingtip. “He hates ponies.” “I can win him over with my charm and fantastic flying,” she replied. “He’s single, right?” The two of them squabbled in a friendly fashion throughout the tour, although it seemed as if Rainbow Dash was less interested in the handsome griffon and more interested in using the topic to twig her friend for not ‘putting the moves on that handsome hunk, spreading some feathers and waving her tail.’ Despite her recent studying, Twilight Sparkle still did not have a handle on the diversity of pony mating rituals, let alone griffons, but as they flew and trotted through the castle with Sunny on Cadence’s back to point out interesting features, she could understand the tendency that Green Grass’ parents and Princess Celestia had to meddle. After all, Sky was a handsome hunk of griffon and there was an itching tendency to pair him off with Rainbow just for comparison purposes, although she stopped short of trying to figure out what their foals would look like. Technicolor hippogriffs, probably. Fast technicolor hippogriffs. The tour ended with them landing at the diplomatic quarters of the aerie where Rarity and Sunny’s father, Ambassador Sharp Edge, were comparing notes about possible improvements that the relatively gloomy suite of rooms needed, while Fluttershy was enjoying the breathtaking view out of the broad balcony large enough to park two chariots on. “Twilight, it’s so beautiful here.” Fluttershy pointed out at the mountain peaks that trailed off to the east. “There are eagles and hawks all taking advantage of the updrafts, and I even thought I saw a condor a few minutes ago.” “That’s Old Buzzy,” said Gilda. “Disgusting thing, but he’s part of the mountains. He’s supposed to stay out of our hunting territory, but I guess the emperor’s zeppelin got him curious.” “So glad you’ve returned, darling.” Rarity scurried out of the diplomatic quarters, a vigorously sweeping broom clutched in her magic sweeping ahead of her. “Ambassador Sharp Edge said the servants cleaned the embassy for your visit, but I insisted on making one last sweep through the rooms.” A small pile of dust about the size of a baby mouse continued its broom-driven path across the spacious balcony while Rarity followed along. “Just let me get this taken care of before I even try to tackle that.” One pristine white hoof pointed at a rather circular section of the wide balcony floor that was covered with a scattering of loose dirt and windblown leaves, looking much different than the rest of the clean paving stones. The four princesses, two griffon and two alicorn, had skirted the untidy circle on their way into the open area in front of the suite door, but Twilight Sparkle frowned as she looked back at the unexplained anomaly. “It seems a somewhat strange bit of litter to have in front of the Equestrian Ambassadorial residence,” said Twilight, even as her mind made a rather gruesome connection. “Oh.” She swallowed, trying to imagine the scene as it had been two hundred years ago, when her great somethingth grandmother had been an ambassadorial aide to Amber Stone. The griffon aerie had been filled to overflowing at that time, and rebellious tercels had attempted to descend into the fertile valleys in order to kill and conquer the peaceful ponies. They had attacked the ambassador, slain most of the Royal Guard contingent, and been held off by a single Nocturne Night Guard and her ancestor, standing in the center of that blood-soaked circle as one griffon after another descended from the sky with murder on their minds. She could almost hear their screams and feel the blood under her hooves from— “Princess Twilight?” Once Twilight regained her ability to think, she was rather puzzled that Gilda’s face was upside-down, but after she lost her grip on the ceiling of the entryway and crashed back to the ground, reality crashed back in on her, along with bruises. It didn’t help that both Gilda and Rainbow were chortling at her even as they helped her to stand up, but the littlest griffon was not amused. “Don’t laugh at Princess Twilight,” she snapped. “Her ancestor almost died here.” “It is an interesting tale,” said Ambassador Sharp Edge, his blue eyes glinting in the reflected sunlight from outside. “My daughter has been revising it as of late, from a book that I suspect has seen your mate’s hoofprints upon it. Would you like to hear the story?” No, oh please no more stories of blood-drenched griffons and dead bodies… After an astonishingly short time of looking into Sunny’s pleading golden gaze, Twilight swallowed a lump and said, “Yes?” Once the little griffon had gotten her audience arranged, she struck the same heads-up wings-spread pose she had at the cemetery, silhouetted by the sun in the background. Twilight was afraid Sunny would bring that same frighteningly serious voice that had spread across the cemetery in a powerful alto that had brought tremors up her spine, but instead she spoke quietly, almost fearfully A long time ago, two centuries past, there was a dark and mysterious pony who visited our aerie. His eyes were like royal gold, and his wings were as a dragon, strong and powerful. Many other proud ponies traveled with him, on an ambassadorial mission from the Sun Queen, Celestia, to bring tribute and gifts to our Wingmaster as he deserved. War between our kind was in the wind, as the griffons desired the riches the ponies possessed. In their impatient greed, the sons of the Wingmaster rebelled and attacked the pony ambassador as the sun set, slaying her guards through treachery and driving the survivors back to a small room in their fortress. While the ambassador tried to send a message to the Sun Queen, the dark pony and his friend fought off the rebellious tercels. There was no honor for griffons in the fight, no pride to be had in their attack. The ambassador was a friend who had shared meat and salt with the Wingmaster, but they did not care. Cowards and thieves, they struck the dark pony and his friend. While the world turned to darkness, they struck from the shadows throughout the night, seeking to slay those who only had wished for peace. The dark pony and his friend fought with honor, slaying the rebels and throwing their bodies into the woods to rot as they deserved, but there were many, many griffons, and only two ponies. In the end, the rebellious tercels struck the dark pony down, smothering him with their blood and shattered bodies in piles so deep the stones of their battlefield are still stained to this day. The Wingmaster watched from afar and wept as his children betrayed the honor of the aerie, but when he approached to pay his respects to the noble warriors whom they had murdered, he discovered that the dark pony’s sacrifice was not in vain. Under the bodies of his children in the place of death, was life. One pony survived, saved from destruction by the death of the dark pony. When morning dawned, the Wingmaster and the pony sat together on the mountain peak, looking down into the valley as his remaining children swept forth to fight the forces of the Princess of the Sun. Tears of sorrow fell as they watched, each grieving over their own losses at first, then together over all of the senseless deaths, both Griffon and Pony. The rebellious tercels were all slain, and nothing lay between the defenseless eggs and chicks of the aerie and the victorious ponies. No griffon knows for certain what happened next. Some say that Princess Celestia caused the mists to surround the mountaintop for three days, protecting the helpless griffons. Some say that the Great Dragon who lives in our mountain emerged from his sleep to— “Wait a minute,” interrupted Twilight, jumping to her hooves. “There really is a dragon in the mountain?” Sunny blinked a few times before responding, sounding slightly irritated that her story had been interrupted. “A Great Dragon. He has slept for many centuries in our mountain, even before the founding of the aerie.” “Princess Sunny,” started Twilight with a desperate attempt not to shout. “Dragons are fiercely territorial!” “Where’s my Spikie-Wikie?!” gasped Rarity. * ♥ * “They could have at least put a path up here,” grumbled Spike as he crawled over a boulder, the tantalizing scent of emeralds growing stronger as he climbed. “It would be a nice place for a lair, though, when I finally grow my wings. You can see the whole valley from up here.” He paused to scrabble up to the last ledge and sat down with a thump to rest. “You should see the sunrises.” Dragons tend to be smarter than they realize, particularly in the way they react to unexplained stimuli. Spike had fallen down many times since he started assisting Twilight with her research, most often from the top of relatively tall bookcases, but if he had jumped when the deep voice rumbled behind him, most probably he would not have stopped rolling down the mountain until he entered the village of Toenail. Although when he looked up, that tumble was starting to look better every second. Most books describing dragons used the word ‘like’ far too often for Spike’s literary comfort: teeth like scimitars, eyes like blazing fire, claws like spears, etc… Upon closer examination of the huge face that loomed over him, the word ‘like’ was starting to sound really good, only with the word ‘gigantic’ after it for accuracy. Even its nostrils were large enough to fit a full-grown pony inside, and the golden eyes, though they were droopy and sagged from being woken up, seemed to burn a hole straight through Spike, reflect off the rock he was sitting on, and burn a hole right back through the other way. It lowered its head to rest on the rock, keeping one eye towards its miniscule counterpart, and yawned, showing an expanse of teeth that would have kept every dentist in Canterlot employed for life, as well as a few construction engineers. That huge golden eye canted downwards to look at Spike and the voice rumbled again. “What brings you upon my mountain, little one?” It took a few false starts for Spike to respond, but eventually he stammered out, “H-hungry for emeralds. P-princess T-twilight and her friends c-came up here to ask P-princess Sunny to be at her wedding, and I ate the last of them this morning.” There was a rumbling much like an earthquake and the huge head shifted slightly as a massive claw with emeralds dripping off it swung down near Spike. A somewhat small pile of emeralds was doled out and the claw withdrew. “Children. Always hungry. What is your name, little one?” “Spike, sir!” His voice was slightly muffled from the number of gemstones stuffed in his cheeks, but after swallowing, Spike added, “And thank you. These are delicious.” “Spike,” mused the dragon. “A respectable name. I approve. Far more polite than ordinary dragons, too.” The gigantic claw returned, depositing a considerably larger pile of emeralds and miscellaneous gemstones before withdrawing. “Tell me, what do you know of these new princesses?” * ♥ * “It’s no good,” panted Rainbow Dash as she landed on a cloud next to Twilight and Fluttershy. “It’s a mountain for pony’s sake. It’s huge. He could be anywhere!” “My poor Spikey-Wikey,” moaned Rarity from her position on Rainbow Dash’s back, holding one hoof across her forehead even though the other three maintained a rather tight grip on her flying friend. “It’s been simply hours since he vanished. I knew we should have packed more gemstones. He’s a young and growing dragon, after all.” “He pigs out on every gem he can get his little claws on, you mean.” Rainbow cringed under the four powerful pony glares she suddenly attracted. “Don’t tell me it’s not true, Twilight. You told us he managed to sniff out your engagement ring weeks before Greenie got up the stones to give it to you. He’s like some draconic bloodhound lately.” “There are nibble marks all over his room back at the castle,” added Cadence. “It’s a growing spurt,” sniffed Rarity. “He needs his nutrition.” “Have you been sneaking him gemstones again, Rarity? You know I’ve got him on a very scientific diet. Admittedly my sample size is fairly small, but… this isn’t getting us any closer to finding him!” Twilight blinked in astonishment. “Finding him! That’s it! Rarity, do you think you can still cast your gem-finding spell while Rainbow carries you?” “But, Twilight,” interrupted Fluttershy softly. “I thought Spike didn’t have any gemstones.” “No, but the other dragon does. Gilda didn’t know where his lair was, but if we can find it with a spell, we can get there first and catch Spike before he does something rash.” * ♥ * “...so anyway, Princess Celestia sent five more tickets and all of us were able to go to the Gala.” Spike popped another amethyst into his mouth and chewed. “Sometimes I think she does things like that intentionally.” “Yes, she was known to be quite the rascal when she was young,” rumbled the dragon. “I’m so glad to hear she has been reunited with her sister. Between the two of them, no whoopie cushion is safe.” The ground shook as the dragon shifted slightly in order to look up into the sky. Spike followed his glance and sat down half of an nibbled rhodochrosite. “Guess they found me.” The words seemed to just drop out of his mouth like stones, but Spike quickly perked up and asked, “Would you like to meet my friends?” “Briefly.” Another gigantic yawn formed, quickly cut off at the sound of a piercing shriek of “Spikey!” from a nearby occupied cloud. “I need to get back to my nap.” It took considerable waving and gesturing from the little dragon to get both princesses and the rest of the ponies standing on the narrow ledge, but Spike was persistent. Once they were arranged, he pointed as he introduced his friends. “Princess Cadence, Princess Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Rainbow Dash—” “Hiya.” “—and Fluttershy. I would like you all to meet my friend…” Spike hesitated. “I’m afraid I didn’t get your name, sir.” “Names have power,” rumbled the immense dragon. “You may simply call me Dragon. My apologies, Your Highnesses, for not attending your weddings.” “That’s…” trailed off Cadence, obviously considering the unexpected guests who had made their appearance at her wedding. “I think…” trailed off Twilight Sparkle, obviously attempting a size estimate of the huge dragon to compare it to her seating chart, and coming up with a result that looked much like ‘Only one guest, the groom would be catatonic, and the wedding party might be a little cramped.’ “Oh, my,” said Rarity, her eyes glittering with ideas as she looked between Spike and his much, much larger, and considerably older relative. “Your young friend is quite the conversationalist,” rumbled Dragon. “You simply must bring him by in a few centuries so that I may see how he grows.” “Um. Yes. Of course.” Twilight Sparkle blinked a few times in the sunlight and reminded herself to mark it on her calendar. At least I don’t have to check for an open date that far ahead on my schedule. After another impressive yawn, Dragon shifted slightly and a sound much like an industrial earthmover filtered down to the wide-eyed ponies. “Since I am unable to attend your mating ceremonies, please allow me to express my regrets in a more tangible fashion.” One huge eye closed briefly in what could only have been a wink, and he continued, “I’m setting such a bad example for your young drake, but I cannot resist such lovely ladies. In particular, for the beautiful Princess Cadence…” A steam shovel sized claw emerged with a glittering pink necklace draped over the tip of one talon, swooping gently down to dangle in front of Cadence. “Diamonds are supposed to be a mare’s best friend, but I’ve always been partial to a few pink pearls on a lovely lady. These are from an area north of Cavellia, by the little town of Reduit. Quite old.” Cadence was speechless, gently levitating the string of pearls over in front of her eyes and holding them as if she were afraid to put them on. After swallowing once, she whispered, “How did you know?” That same talon, anchored by enough draconic muscle to rip any one of Canterlot’s walls completely in half, ever so delicately brushed up against Cadence’s cheek and lifted her chin with the slightest of nudges. “We dragons appreciate beauty in all of its forms. That necklace has been buried in my lair for so long that it deserves to be shown to the world in the most dramatic fashion possible. You may have it, provided that you promise to show it off as often as possible, and to never reveal who you received it from. If asked, merely tell them it was from a very old admirer.” There was a faint squeak of romantic admiration from Rarity, despite having both forehooves stuffed over her mouth. “And for Equestria’s newest princess librarian…” The claw swept down with what appeared to be a toy book between two talons, which Twilight levitated out when it was presented to her, seeming much larger in context once she had brought it closer. “When unicorns first gained their magic, they learned their first spells from a wise old creature who knew everything in the world, and what he didn’t know, he could find in one of his books.” “The Moochick?” gasped Twilight, opening the book and flipping through the pages carefully. “But he was just a myth, like the… Oh, wait. He was real. Well, there’s the… No, she’s real too. Hey!” Twilight Sparkle frowned and pointed at a page. “If he’s a wise creature who knew everything in the world, why are all the spells in here so simple?” There was an exceedingly long pause as everypony (and dragons) looked at Twilight until realization dawned. “Oh. First magic. Simple spells.” That immense claw reached out and delicately brushed back Twilight’s distraught mane, gently tucking a few loose strands behind one ear before patting her gently on the head. “An understandable mistake. Your friend speaks very highly of you, Princess Twilight Sparkle. I look forward to seeing you both in a few centuries. But first, one last gift.” After rummaging around inside the cave, this time the claw swept down with glacial slowness, a tiny fleck of crimson at the end of one talon. It moved across the group of ponies in one slow motion before gliding to a halt in front of Rarity. Nestled at the end of the claw was a single long-stemmed orchid with green leaves and blushing delicate petals intact, or at least it looked that way at first glance. A longer look revealed that the dewy glistening of tiny water droplets on the leaves were in fact miniscule glass beads, and that the entire orchid was the end product of some master glassblower’s unmatched skill, a sculpture of petals and leaves that not only matched but surpassed nature’s own creation. A faint breeze drifted across their mountain ledge, and the leaves of the glass creation trembled as it passed, bending in such a natural way that for a moment, Twilight expected it to turn and face the descending sun. The afternoon light reflected softly off the petals in a cascade of reds and pinks that shimmered and flowed in a way that a natural flower could only aspire to reach for a moment before expiring, and Twilight could have sworn she smelled the soft perfume of its bloom as it passed. “Go on. Take it,” rumbled Dragon. “Oh, I couldn’t,” gasped Rarity, taking a very small step backwards in respect for the sharp drop-off behind her. “It’s positively exquisite. It must be priceless.” “It is nothing but sand and a few flecks of paint. The beauty without comes from the skill of the artist and the passion he placed within. Your friend says your artistic skills and wisdom are beyond compare, and it pleases this old drake to give this gem to a true artist who understands what labor goes into its creation. Think of it as a gift, from Spike to Rarity, as a symbol to show that true beauty comes from within. Please.” “Thank you. Thank you oh so much.” Rarity’s soft blue magical field picked up the glass flower and she took a step forward, gently laying a tender kiss on the gigantic talon. “I shall treasure it always.” With a rather subdued yawn, Dragon began to withdraw from the upper ledge and back into his cave. “You’re welcome, all. I wish I could stay up and chat, but I’m so tired. Goodnight, lovely ladies. And goodnight, Spike. Take good care of your precious flower.” The ground rumbled once as a huge stone sealed the cave entrance and the mountain side was quiet again except for the chirping of birds and one small dragon trying to gather up his small pile of remaining gems. “Well, that was fun, wasn’t it, Twilight? I suppose we should get back to Ponyville now that you’ve done what you needed to do around here, right?” Spike grinned weakly, a few gems that he was unable to carry falling to the ground. “I am so grounded, aren’t I?” “You think so?” Twilight Sparkle scowled, made slightly more difficult by the way she had to move the Moochick’s book to one side in order to apply the full effect of her scowl on the little dragon.