Victorian Equestria: The Corps of Discovery

by Sky Sprinter

Undaunted Courage

This text is translated to English after its appearance in the Unicorn Novel, "The Discovery of Disharmony," by Sunny Day. A version in Equestrian is available at www.canterlottimes.com. Any issues with the translation must be taken to the archivist's office.

Authenticity remains debated among Unicorn scholars.

Friday, September 20th, 1805

I, John Mayor, member of this Corps of Discovery, write that today was just as burdening as every other day for the past year. According to the injun princess, we have reached a location proper for resting. She seemed a bit nervous since we came across the last tribe of natives but I will chalk that up to some strange Indian woman's feeling. Perhaps I should be a little bit more sensitive to her ways, considering she had certainly saved our collective behinds before. I guess I'll have the rest of the journey to make peace with it.

- John Mayor

Once John put the journal down he looked up to the sky to see a figure flying in the air. He originally dismissed it as a bird until he saw the "Injun Princess," as was his nickname for the native woman who accompanied the party, look at the same object with fear in her eyes. It was getting late however and the team had just stopped so he doubted that she'd get anyone to move by herself.

It was only a short amount of time later that he looked up at the sky and noticed a bunch of black shapes in the sky. He rubbed his eyes thinking that it was a trick of the mind but the figures were still there and seemed to be moving at a fast speed, TOWARDS THEM!

"G-get down, get out of sight!" He heard the Indian woman yell out to the men before, all too quickly the figures were upon them and John saw that they resembled a creature from Greek myth, the Griffon.

"Intruders, state your purpose in this land!" He heard the largest of the creatures yell out, surprisingly in English. This Griffon was adorned in magnificent plated armor that resembled that of the Spanish conquistadors, albeit fitted for the Griffon body.

It took quite a few moments before any of John's fellow adventurers could even manage to speak. It was eventually the Indian Princess who spoke in some form of language made of clicks and coos, among other various sounds unknown to the civilized tongue.

"I see. I had thought that your kind had been pushed far away from our boundaries eons ago. I guess your kind have forgotten the old stories then," the Griffon said, again in perfect English, with authority before looking at the sky, "It seems like the time has come at last..."

John was still bewildered. "What was that?" he heard Merryweather Lewis ask the woman. Griffons had never been known to be in American Indian legends as far as he knew so the fact that she could be speaking to them was incredible.

"An old tongue from an old tale, mostly forgotten but once known by all the peoples of the land, they spoke of a race of warrior birds changed by the Earth Goddess to a form better suited to fight both on land and in the air. They were fierce and they drove the people of the land away from their homes. Some versions of the tale also placed four-legged creatures, similar to your horses, but with the ability to control the Earth. Some flew, and others used a form of magic," she replied.

Magic? Is she mad? John thought before remembering that a flock of actual Griffons were living and breathing in front of him. Honestly, magic was the least of his problems if these birds were hostile.

"Fledgling!" The gigantic griffon yelled to a member of his flock before an incredibly smaller Griffon, definitely younger by many years, stood next to the behemoth.

"Y-yes, Wing Commander?" The smaller griffon, probably the size of a young, adult male human, asked with a nervous tone.

"I want you and Corporal Grutur to fly back to camp and get word out to Lord Guff," The Wing Commander ordered.

"Y-yes Wing Commander!" The Fledgling replied before flying off with Corporal Grutur following shortly afterward.

Up to this point the men of the Corps of Discovery were either dumbfounded or downright terrified, but this ended after the two Griffons took off and one of the men aimed his flintlock rifle at the leaving pair.

CRACK

The sound of the gun going off was followed by the sound of a Griffon swooping in and the crack of bone. By the time John had realized what had happened, he felt a sharp pain on the side of his head followed by blackness.

The last thing he heard before blacking out was the Wing Commander ordering, "Gaffr, check on the Corporal and the Fledgling! Make sure they tell Lord Guff that we have the situation under control!"