Mission to the Griffon Kingdom

by Rakoon1

The Tale of Arimaspi

Author's Note:

You can still vote in who you think the mysterious griffon is: Ulysses or Quentin. The link is: http://www.poll-maker.com/poll572924x6B6B4575-24.

Shining Armor and Gael took the pegasus who tried to assassinate King Guto to the dungeons and put him in a cell, chaining him so he couldn't escape, then waiting that he recovered consciousness.

So the pegasus began to wake up and, when he did, and repairing where he was, he asked:

"Where am I? And why am I chained and in a dungeon cell?"

"Because you tried to kill King Guto" Gael replied.

"What?!" the pegasus asked, not wanting to believe. "No, that's impossible!"

"We saw you shooting at him" Gael said. "You tried to kill the king of the griffons... twice. Fortunately, we prevented that from happening."

"No, it can't be” the pegasus said. "I cannot have done that. I couldn't!"

Shining watched the pegasus and noticed that the shock and the awe seemed to be genuine. Nopony would be able to pretend so well. In addition, Shining could notice a certain confusion on him that he knew it was not caused by Gael’s punch. He put a hoof on Gael’s shoulder, as if asking to let him run the interrogation and the griffon consented. Shining advanced to the pegasus and asked him:

"What's your name?"

"Felix" he replied.

"Well, Felix, I'm Shining Armor, Captain of Canterlot Royal Guard" Shining Armor said. "I'm in Griffonstone to ensure that the alliance between ponies and griffons is not threated. Let me explain the situation you're in. King Guto has just been victim of an attempted regicide and we saw that this attempt was performed by you. So, I have to ask you, and I hope you are honest with me: why did you do such a thing?"

"But I didn’t do that, believe me" Felix said. "At least, I don't remember doing it."

"What do you mean?" Gael asked.

"I don't know!" Felix exclaimed. "I just remember being flying towards Equestria, using the eastern border. Then something caught me and, after that, the only thing I remember is waking up here."

That story Felix was telling was very unlikely, but the way he told it and his facial expressions seemed to say the opposite.

"What do you think?" Gael asked to Shining.

"Honestly, I don't know" he said. "The story itself seems too far-fetched to be true, but the way he's telling it suggests otherwise."

"So how do we know if he's telling the truth?" Gael asked.

Shining also was asking to himself the same thing. There had to be a way to resolve that situation. It was then that he remembered something he had learned at the Royal Guard Academy. It was a spell that he learned and it was meant for interrogation. It was quite complex and very few were the guards who could do it, but Shining was one of the only ones of his class to be able to master it. Despite having passed some time since the last time he used it, his magic was stronger and could work.

"I have an idea" he said. "There's a spell that I learned in the academy that can tell us if he's telling the truth or not."

"Seriously?" Gael asked.

"It's a mind-reading spell" Shining said. “It will allow me to look in his mind facts that can prove what he said."

"Wait, you want to get inside of my head?" Felix asked, afraid.

"Take it easy, in this spell, the will of the one whose mind will be verified may or may not interfere with the spell" Shining said. "If you want to resist, my perception will be hampered. You can use this to hide personal information, but if you try to hide information about the attempted regicide, then this will prove your guilt."

Felix pondered for a few seconds and then consented with the head. Shining so focused and charged his magic, proceeding with the execution of the spell. Shining closed his eyes, while he casted the spell, and then he opened his eyes.

He was now watching everything from Felix’s perspective. He could see him flying. In the distance, on the right side of him, Shining could see Griffonstone. Until now, Felix’s story appeared to be true. He was really flying in the direction of Equestria. It was then that a force pushed him against the ground and a figure pinned him, turning him against itself. Arimaspi’s face appeared in front of him and then he saw his eye glows with a red glow. After this time, Shining found himself waking up in the same cell where he was and contemplating his own body and Gael.

The young Unicorn ceased the spell and returned to his own mind. When he did, a sudden weakness and confusion gripped him, causing him to wobble a bit. Those were the temporary side effects of the spell. Fortunately, Gael supported him and, when Shining regained the control, he told to his griffon friend:

"Thanks, Gael."

"So what did you see?" Gael asked.

"From what I saw, he's telling the truth" Shining said.

"See?" Felix asked. "I am innocent."

"Maybe, but until we find out the whole truth, we must keep you confined to this cell" Shining said.

"But..." Felix started.

"Sorry, but we have no choice" Shining said. "The crime you are being charged for is too big. But don't worry, I promise that we will find out who's behind this and we will exonerate you."

After that, Felix beckoned, believing in Shining’s promise. Then, Shining and Gael came out of his cell and closed it, going then to the exit of the dungeons.

"Shining, what exactly did you see in his mind?" Gael asked.

"Honestly, I don't know" he replied. "Something got Felix and hypnotized him. However, I could not identify it. It was something I had never seen."

"So how can we know who is behind the conspiracy against King Guto?" Gael asked.

"We might be able to find information about this creature" Shining said.

And then the two headed to the library. The library of the castle of Griffonstone was almost as big as the one in the castle of Canterlot. While advancing through the library, the two guards found Princess Greta picking up a book on a shelf. Seeing them, she said, while getting down and landing:

"I'm surprised to see you here. I thought you were interrogating that pegasus who tried to kill my uncle. By the way, I heard that you saved him. So, I have to thank you."

"We only did our duty, right, Gael?" Shining said, turning to his griffon friend.

He then noticed that Gael was too busy looking at Greta. Shining then gave him a nudge to get his attention and then Gael replied:

"Yes, of course."

"There's no need to be modest" Greta said. "It took a lot of courage to risk your lives in this way."

Listening the princess praising him like that, Gael blushed and scratched his neck in a embarrassed way. In order to get him out of that awkward moment before the griffon he loved, Shining told Greta:

"I'm sorry, Princess Greta, but I'd like to ask you a favor."

"Sure, just ask" she said.

Shining then explained the situation to her and then she said:

"I understand. So you want to find something that helps you identify this creature that made that pegasus trying to kill my uncle."

"Exactly" Shining said.

"Well, then I guess I can help you" she said. "The library is my favorite place in the castle. I've read almost every book here. So, how was this creature?"

"It looked like a goat and had only one eye" Shining described. "Do you know any creature like that?"

Greta thought for a while and then she said:

"Of course, it can only be him!"

"Who?" Shining and Gael asked at the same time.

"It’s a character that appears in our history books" Greta replied while stirred to go pick up a book that was at a particular shelf.

When she landed with the book she went to the nearest table and Shining and Gael followed her. Once they got there, Greta landed the book and opened it, revealing an image that described the griffons sitting on piles of gold. She then told:

"Before the foundation of Griffonstone, we, giffons, were known as being as greedy as dragons. But that all changed when King Grover, the ancestor of my family, created the Idol of Boreas."

Greta changed the page, showing the image of King Grover holding the Boreas, which was a a golden statuette in the shape of a wing with a griffon-talon-shaped base with a sphere in the center, and with the other griffons bowing before him.

"Legends say that the idol was made from the dust of golden sunsets, blown across the mountains by the north winds. It was said that this idol had the power of uniting civilizations. In possession of someone like King Grover, it could create stability and harmony to those who were divided. But, in possession of someone with impure intentions, the idol could control all the griffons and make them abide by the will of its owner."

"Who would have thought a simple statuette was so powerful?" Shining asked.

"My uncle, as well as many kings and queens before him, preferred to leave the Idol of Boreas stored in our vaults, as its power was no longer needed as our people was already united" Greta said. "But it continues to be the symbol of our kingdom and a holy treasure."

"But this part of the story is known to everyone" Gael said. "And it didn’t say nothing about the creature that Shining saw in Felix’s mind."

"Maybe the next image will be enlightening" Greta said.

She turned the page and then the image of Arimaspi appeared. Seeing it, Shining said:

"That's him! He's the one I saw in Felix's mind."

"This is Arimaspi" Greta said. "He and his brother, Cyclops, were one-eyed beasts that had ravaged everything around them. After Cyclops have been captured by a group of powerful ponies and locked away in Tartarus, Arimaspi tried to find a way to free him. After King Grover have created the Boreas to unite his race, Arimaspi tried to take the idol to control the griffons and so break into Tartarus to free his brother. But King Grover was able to stop him. Since then Arimaspi spent centuries trying to take the Idol of Boreas, often resorting to his hypnotic abilities, but generations of kings and queens have always managed to stop him until he simply stopped trying."

"But it seems that he decided to try again" Gael said.

"Shining Armor, are you sure it was Arimaspi who you saw?" Greta asked.

"Absolutely" Shining said.

"So this is terrible" Greta said. "If that's true and Arimaspi returned to take the Idol of Boreas, that means..."

"That the attempted theft of the idol for one of my guards was his work" Shining said.

"And as he failed, he decided to kill King Guto" Gael said.

"Yes, but why would he want to kill the king?" Shining asked.

"Well, if my uncle died, I would succeed him and, as part of the coronation, the Idol of Boreas is taken out of the safe so that the new king or queen can pay homage through it to our previous rulers" Greta explained. "It would be the perfect opportunity."

"Maybe, but I think there's something else behind it all" Shining said.

In the meeting place between Arimaspi and the mysterious griffon, the former told his new plan.

"What do you think?" Arimaspi asked.

"It's too daring and risky" the mysterious griffon said.

"I know, and that's why it's a good plan" Arimaspi replied. "Nobody will wait for an attack like that. And once you have the Idol of Boreas, you can control the griffons and incite a war against the ponies."

"But I thought you wanted to the idol" the mysterious griffon said. "Now you want me to keep it?"

"I just need it to use the capabilities of the griffons to break into Tartarus and free my brother" Arimaspi said. "I don't care what happens then to that golden trinket. And if you want to rule the griffons and start a war against ponies, you’ll need the Idol of Boreas."

"But does that thing really work?" the griffon asked. "I thought it was just a legend and that you just wanted the idol for the gold."

"All the legends have a real basis" Arimaspi said. "That idol was created by King Grover with the help of the supreme entity of good to unite the griffons that until then were more interested in shiny things. I have tried for centuries to take it, but I failed every time. But now, I'm closer to get what I always wanted: the freedom of my brother."

"You must really love this brother of yours to spend so much time behind a statue" the griffon said. "All right, let's finish this. The sooner we take control of Griffonstone and start a war between griffons and ponies, the sooner our alliance ends."