News of Discords defeat had reached the ears of King Grover some time ago. It was only a small matter of time before the Princesses turned their attention back to that of the Griffon Kingdom. There was a rising animosity growing between the two kingdoms. King sought to avoid a war at all costs. This little excursion he was on would prove to be most productive. If he could seek out this idol, he could keep his worst fears from coing true.
It would also give me something to use at the bargaining table, he thought to himself. He knew that Princess Celestia could be a shrewd negotiator when she needed to be. She was also an alicorn not to be crossed. She was one of the few creatures around that had garnered both respect and fear from those around her.
He had heard that her and her sister Luna were growing distant as of late. He also hoped that no creature on Equus would bore Luna's wrath. During one of the few border skirmishes he had born witness to, he had personally seen her wipe out an entire battalion of Griffon soldiers.
One moment they were there, the next moment there was nothing left of them but a smoking crater. he swore he never wanted to witness anything like that ever again.
There's always something mystifying about the past, especially lost history. It felt like something straight out of a Daring Do novel in Twilight's eyes. But this was an adventure that the explorer would miss out on. Dash could always fill her in when they got back though. A few alterations here and there and something like this would be perfect for one her chapters. When she thought about it though, it had struck her odd that Daring and Rainbow looked nearly identical. As if they could have been ... related?
That was a thought to ponder for another time though.
Over a thousand years ago, near the Griffon Kingdom.
No pony in Equestria had ever gazed upon its likeness, nor knew of its true power. But a non-pony would soon stumble upon a sacred artifact left over from a time long past. What secrets would this creature glean from it?
None that knew of its true purpose now lived to pass that knowledge on to those that would have the courage to seek it out. Or that in the future two ponies would rediscover it, only to lose to the bottom of the Abyssal Caverns.
The creature in question was a Griffon. His name was Grover the second, King of the Griffon Empire. And he sought out this artifact to restore the faith of his comrades. As he rounded the corner of the basin, he came at last to a large Granite door. On the other side of the room would be the artifact he had sought out. The door was in a bad state of erosion. He knew if he brought his full weight to bear on it, the door would most likely cave under the pressure.
The Idol or Boreas sat on its pedestal, the light seeping through the cracks of the underground chamber bouncing off of its perch. The idol had been crafted by a long dead civilization, lost and forgotten to the passage of time. The door to the chamber had broken and started to crumble with age, but still remained in its position. The door had been crafted out of solid granite, but the ravages of time were a greater foe to it then even the best tomb robber could have been.
The idol stayed there forgotten by history until the day king Grover had stumbled upon that tomb. The door had finally succumbed to the pressure that he wrought against it until the door fell to the chamber floor in large granite chunks. He realized that with this idol, he could restore the glory and honor to his kingdom that had been lost as of late.
It had been known through out history that the Griffon Kingdom was as greedy as the Dragons that lived in the wastes of Equestria. They had been rumored to always hoard their gold and other items that they collected through out their long years of life. Grover wanted to be the first of his kind to give his fellow griffons something else to strive for.
Something that would have a long-lasting meaning, if not to them, then at least to the other Kingdoms that dotted the lands to Equestria.