I smiled as Fang and I put ornaments on the tree in the living room of our apartment. It was only about three weeks before Hearth’s Warming and only three days before that was the Lunar Solstice Gala where I planned on proposing to Fang. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a silver gryphoness as Elizabeth entered the room smoking a cigarette. We had set her up in the guest room of our apartment and told her to make herself at home. Due to this, she only really only wore her uniform when she actually needed to. That morning she was in a sky blue sweater she’d found in a shop a few days before. “You boys ready for the trip to the Gryphon Kingdom next week?” she asked as she plopped down on the couch.
“Absolutely! It’ll be nice to get out of this stuffy old place,” I replied as I put another ornament on the tree.
“Well for me, it’ll be nice to visit home,” she replied as she put her cigarette out in the ashtray that was on the end-table. The door to the room opened and a butler stuck his head in.
“Captain Hamilton, your brother Albert is on the phone for you,” he said to her before stepping back out and shutting the door. She quickly grabbed the phone and answered it.
“Bertie?!” she chirped as she held the phone up to her ear. “It’s so good to hear your voice again! How are you?” Fang and I stopped and watched her, smirking at the happy gryphoness. “Oh I’m fine. Just relaxing in the palace.” She looked up at us and smiled as she continued her conversation. “I have met them, yes. They’re actually letting me stay in their guest room. Yes, really.” Elizabeth giggled as she looked back over at us. “Let me ask them.” She held the phone away and covered it with her talons. “Would you two mind if I put my brother on the speaker? He wants to say hi.”
“Absolutely, go right ahead!” Fang told her with a smile. She pushed a button and held it as she set the receiver down.
“Alright Bertie, you’re on the speaker! Go ahead and say hello!” she announced and a moment later the voice of a young male gryphon came through the speaker.
“H-h-hello!” he called out happily to Fang and I.
“Hi!” Fang and I called back to him with smiles on our face. “How’re you?” Fang asked as he trotted around the couch to sit down next to Elizabeth.
“I-I-I’m very well, s-s-sir!” Albert replied, his smile obvious in his tone.
“No need for formalities, Bertie. Just call them Fang and Swing,” Elizabeth told him with a smile.
“O-okay, Lizzy,” he answered before going back to us. “S-so are you t-two husbands?”
“Not yet,” Fang chuckled as he answered the young gryphon.
“Awww,” Albert said with disappointment as shouting was heard in the background. “Uh oh, Papa’s looking for me. T-talk to you l-later Lizzy! Love you! Bye Fang! B-bye Swing!” The speaker on the phone clicked as the line went dead.
“Well that was nice,” she said as she stood up, smiling.
“I never knew you had siblings,” I commented as I watched her. “Now that I’m thinking about it, you haven’t really told us very much about yourself.”
“Yeah, about that. It’s a bit hard to explain,” she replied as she rubbed the back of her neck.
“Liz, we’re a couple of commoners who are now next in line for Luna’s throne. We know all about how hard it is to explain things,” I told her with a smirk. “Now come on and sit. Tell us about yourself.” She looked at the couch for a moment, and reluctantly came over and sat down between Fang and I.
“Well, I grew up in the countryside near Griffinstone. My parents weren’t around very much. They were always too busy with their jobs so I grew up mostly knowing my nannies. When I was around seven, my parents had my brother Edward who’s a stuck up little brat. Then a year later my sister Mary was born. Then when I was ten, they had my brother Albert. As I got older I became almost like a surrogate mother for my siblings, especially Bertie. He got picked on a lot as a chick, mostly by Edward. And he’s got a bit of a stutter which only gave Edward ammo.” She seemed to be getting rather angry just thinking about her brother Edward. “And then of course there are my parents, George and Margaret. Papa is always too caught up in his work to care about his children and mother is constantly at his side helping him so I hardly really know either of them. I simply know that when Papa dies, I’m next in line for the business.”
“Wow. So you’re basically like a mother already for your siblings and you’re only twenty one?” I asked her, Elizabeth only nodding in response.
“But enough about me, let’s focus on next week. We’ve got to get you two caught up on gryphon customs and etiquette.” She stood up and looked down at us. “Now, what do you two know about the Gryphon Kingdom?” Fang and I exchanged glances that seemed to tell Elizabeth all she needed to know. “Ugh. Okay, let’s start with some basic things. First off, all doors you come across will be closed. This is commonly just seen as a privacy thing, as it’s customary to visit at a pre-arranged time. Gryphons are very territorial and we don’t like when you enter what we view as our area without invitation,” she told us, with us simply nodding in understanding. “Also, all hats are to be off indoors. Only royal guards may be permitted to wear their uniform helmets inside. Next, introductions. The handshake is the common form of greeting someone and you want to make it nice and firm. Strength is highly regarded amongst gryphons and a weak handshake will be seen as a sign of weakness. Though for you two it should be more appropriately addressed as a hoofshake.”
“Is there any sort of phrase we should use when greeting them?” Fang asked as Elizabeth paced back and forth.
“You always want to use ‘how do you do?’ when greeting them. If they say this to you, simply say it back. And avoid prolonged eye contact when you meet gryphons. It’s basically the same reason they tell you not to make eye contact with wolves. It’s seen as a challenge.” At this point I began to think maybe Fang and I should’ve been taking notes. There just seemed to be so much. “Now, because this is a state visit, you will be meeting the king and queen. There are some strict dos and don’ts of meeting the monarch. You must bow to them individually when greeting them, and then you will be permitted to shake their hand but only if they offer it. Touching the king and queen are number one on the don’ts list. When meeting the king for the first time in any situation, address him as ‘Your Majesty’ and then you’ll be able to use ‘sir’ afterwards. With the queen, address her as ‘Your Royal Highness’. Always introduce yourselves to the reigning monarch first.” We nodded again as she stopped and looked at us as if to see that we were understanding. “Now, the royal family, particularly the monarch’s children, should be addressed as ‘Your Royal Highness’ if they are the heir to the throne and simply ‘Your Highness’ if they’re not next in the line of assentation. And be sure to follow the king’s lead. Don’t speak unless spoken to, don’t sit until he sits, and don’t eat until he begins eating. When the king is finished eating, you must stop as well. Even if you’re not done eating.”
“So basically, we’re fucked because we’re not going to remember all of this,” I deadpanned as I looked at her.
“Far from it! I’ll be there to help steer you in the right direction. You forget, I come from the Gryphon Kingdom Royal Guard, I’ve got personal experience in this,” the gryphoness told us with a smile. “Don’t you sweat any of it! Now, we’ll start on the history of the Gryphon Kingdom!”
I slowly trotted down the corridor of the airship, my hooves sinking into the plush, red carpet. The medals on my uniform clinked together as I walked along, it being the only noise besides the low hum of the engines. My uniform was a midnight blue with a black stand-up collar and epaulets. All along the uniform was silver trim with wide silver buttons running down my chest. A black leather belt with a silver buckle constricted my barrel and it felt like a boa constrictor was slowly trying to squeeze me to death, though it was more of a slight annoyance than painful. Two sashes, a silver one and a gold one with a white stripe down the middle were draped around me, giving me more a royal appearance than just a chest ribbon would. The sound of someone coming up the hallway behind me made me stop and turn to look. Elizabeth was approaching me in her full ceremonial dress uniform with a slightly nervous look on her face. “What’s up, Liz? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” I remarked as we began walking together down the hallway.
“Oh, it’s nothing really. Just, I remembered that you guys might have a surprise waiting for you when we land in a few minutes,” she replied, making me look over at her with slight concern.
“What kind of surprise?” I asked, afraid of what might happen.
“Well, I neglected to mention--“
“Attention!” The speakers on the ship burst to life as the captain began an announcement, interrupting Elizabeth. “We will be landing in five minutes! Everypony report to your stations!”
“Well, I guess we probably ought to get over to our spot, shouldn’t we?” I asked, with the gryphoness nodding in agreement. We began heading in the direction of the way we came, heading for the deck where we would depart the airship. Once up on deck, we found the crew who weren’t essential for landing to be lining the railings in their white ceremonial uniforms. I stepped up to where the gate in the railing was, with Fang taking his spot to my right and Elizabeth to my left. Below us, the city of Griffinstone was abuzz as the airship descended. I could barely believe this was the same place Lady Rainbow Dash described. From how she had told the stories, it was a small town hardly larger than Ponyville and in a dilapidated shape. But now it seemed it was a bustling and vibrant city that was about half the size of Canterlot. As we got lower I could make out the smaller details of the city like the train tracks that now led to a grand station near the city center. From across the city, bell towers began ringing to announce our arrival as the ship finally settled gently onto the landing pad. The gate was opened and a ramp pushed up to the side for us to descend.
“When we start descending, they’ll announce you and your full title to the public,” Elizabeth whispered as we stood there for one final second. I took my first step forward and onto the ramp, with Fang and Elizabeth waiting to be slightly behind me.
“Presenting their Royal Highnesses, Swing Rhythm and White Fang, Crown Princes of the Night! And Her Royal Highness, Crown Princess Elizabeth of the Gryphon Kingdom!” The announcer called out for the public, the crowd cheering for us, particularly Elizabeth. The second part of what he’d said hit me like a sledgehammer to the chest. Elizabeth, a princess? There was no way. She showed far from princess like behavior around us and the others in the palace in Canterlot. After all, she was the current champion of the palace belching competition. And now here she was, in full uniform returning to the land she’d rule. I just couldn’t wrap my head around it. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Elizabeth glancing over at me and just over the roaring cheers of the crowd; I could hear her say something.
“I’m sorry,” she told me as we reached the bottom of the ramp. A large brown gryphon in a black naval admiral’s uniform stood waiting for us and to his left stood a silver gryphoness around Elizabeth’s height. She was in a light blue dress with a blue sunhat. We all three bowed to the king before rising to greet him.
“It is a pleasure to meet you Your Majesty.” I told him, getting a nod from the older gryphon.
“It is a pleasure to welcome you to my kingdom,” he replied, his deep voice sounding gravelly and almost sickly. I stepped aside so that Fang could make his introduction to the king as I greeted the queen.
“Your Royal Highness,” I said as I bowed to her, the gryphoness staring back at me with cold eyes as she gave a forced smile. I could understand why Elizabeth didn’t seem so thrilled about her parents. King George seemed to be a very traditional king, keeping things in order. Everything in the area of the arrival site appeared as though it had been planned months in advance. Then there was Queen Margaret. Just from her forced smile for the cameras I could tell she didn’t like our presence there. And I could take a good guess as to why she didn’t like us. I knew Elizabeth wrote to her brother Albert and it was likely her mother had read these letters as well. I also knew she described her very un-princess like behavior around us which her mother would see as unfit behavior for the next monarch. Elizabeth was far more relaxed than her parents who we were now following along the red carpet towards a waiting carriage. The ornate, gilded carriage looked to be at least a century old and it was obvious it wasn’t going to be a smooth ride.
“When we enter the carriage, you two and I will sit on the right side while they sit on the left,” Elizabeth whispered to us as she walked alongside us. “The carriage itself is two hundred and twelve years old and was commissioned by King Grover the Sixth.”
“He was the first king after the fall of King Guto, right?” I asked, making sure I actually remembered something from her history lessons. She nodded that I was right as we finally reached the carriage. The king and queen entered first, followed by Elizabeth, myself, and then Fang. A gryphon guard shut the door and the carriage began its slow trek through the streets of Griffinstone. If this really was the place that the elements had gone to, it had certainly thrived since their arrival. We all waved at the gryphons lining the streets as we traveled towards the castle.
“I do hope your trip here went well,” Queen Margaret said as she looked over to Elizabeth.
“Wonderful actually. I only regretted leaving behind a place where I didn’t have everyone bowing to me and kissing my paws,” She replied with a cold tone, making the queen glare at her.
“Please, will you two be civil with one another?” King George calmly quipped at them, making them silently go back to waving at the crowds. I could tell the smiles on everyone’s faces were forced. After another hour of traveling the streets of Griffinstone, we finally were headed for the palace just outside the city. The carriage ride was about as comfortable as the old one I’d had to endure many times in Canterlot. You’d think for a carriage platted in gold, they’d make them more comfortable. When we finally reached the palace, we were ushered inside and shown to our rooms. The royal family had provided us with an apartment in the palace for the duration of our stay with two bedrooms, a living room, and a large bathroom. Fang and I made ourselves at home as we unloaded our luggage. A knock at the door got our attention and we saw Elizabeth pop her head in with a smile before fully entering the room.
“I hope you don’t mind the apartment they gave you. My mother wanted to give you two a much smaller one,” she seemed to be slightly nervous as this was the first time we’d been alone with her since discovering her actual identity.
“Liz, why didn’t you tell us who you are before now?” I asked her as I removed my uniform jacket and hung it up in the closet.
“Because, I didn’t want you two to treat me like I’m something special. I’m just a regular gryphon who happened to be born to a royal family. I never asked to be royalty. It was nice, just being able to be treated like a regular gryphon for once and not have someone bowing to me every five seconds,” she replied as she plopped down on the floor. “Somedays I really just wish I hadn’t been born at all. It’d save me the trouble of all this.” Fang slowly walked over and put a sympathetic hoof on her shoulder.
“Trust me, we have days where we just want to be normal again too. I think all royals deal with it at some point,” he told her with a small smile. “But remember, as long as we’re here, this apartment is a royal free zone. Only regular ponies and gryphons allowed so your title stays at the door. Same with the palace in Canterlot. You’re always welcome to visit us.”
“And we’ll get the best bat pony and gryphon chefs to cook you up a few steaks too,” I told her with a smile though my stomach internally wretched at the idea of the cooking meat. “Now, what’s next on the agenda?” I asked as I sat down next to her.
“Well,” She sat up and looked between the two of us with a small smile, “I actually came here so you could meet someone.” The gryphoness stood up and gently opened the door and beckoned to someone standing just out of sight against the wall by the door. A young gryphon with a grey coat and light gold feathers entered the room behind Elizabeth with a nervous yet excited smile on his beak. “This is Bertie. Bertie, meet Swing and Fang.”
“It’s a p-p-pleasure to…meet y-you,” the young gryphon told us with a smile. He started to bow to us but was stopped by Elizabeth.
“They’ve asked us not to bow to them when in their quarters, Bertie. Here they wish to be just regular ponies,” he perked up and smiled again as I sat down on the couch in the sitting room.
“I hope you don’t mind, Liz; but my prosthetic is absolutely killing me.” I removed the fake leg and set it against the couch, looking down at the white cloth I’d placed on the stump for a bit of padding which would blend in with my coat. On the cloth was a red spot from a blister that’d formed a couple days before and had finally burst that morning. “Fang, hun, can you bring me a bowl of hot water and the first aid kit in my bag?” He nodded as Elizabeth headed for the bathroom.
“I’ll bring you the water, Swing,” she called out as she disappeared into the bathroom. From the common-room, Bertie came into the sitting room and sat down next to me as I removed the cloth, hissing as I did so.
“So Bertie,” I gently placed the cloth back on my leg until Liz could return with the water “I hear you’re a rather big fan of Fang and I.” I looked over at him to see that he was looking at my leg.
“Y-yes, sir,” he replied which made me raise a hoof to stop him.
“Please, none of that ’sir’ stuff. Just call me Swing,” I told him with a smile as Elizabeth entered with a bowl of hot, soapy water. She set it down on the coffee table with a rag for me. I dipped the rag in the water and peeled back the bloody rag, tossing it in the water to soak. Rubbing the area to clean it up, I looked over to Albert. “So, Bertie, if I may ask, what got you interested in Fang and I?”
“Well I-I have a bit of a s-s-stammer a-and the fact that…y-you’re next in line to be k-king of the night and y-you’re an amputee. I-if you can be…king while m-missing a leg, then I-I can handle b-being a p-p-prince with a s-stammer,” Albert explained, making me smile to myself.
“Albert, I must say that you’re wise beyond your years. Most eleven year olds aren’t smart enough to think of things like that.” I told him as I dried where the blister had been and placed a bandage over it. “One thing I’ve learned in the last year and a half, never let anything stop you from doing what you love and doing what you need to. Your stutter doesn’t define you just like my leg doesn’t define me. One would typically consider things like that a weakness but for us, it’s a strength. It’s something for us to overcome. And if we can do that, then by Celestia we can do anything.” I slipped the now clean rag back over my stump and slid the prosthetic on. “So, what’s next for tonight?”
We all sat around the large dinner table in the private dining room of the palace. It was a semi-informal affair, though I still wore a suit with a pin showing my status as a child of the night. To my right sat Fang in a suit with his own pin like mine while to my left sat Elizabeth who wore her sky blue sweater. At the head of the table sat King George who I noticed seemed to be looking rather worn out, though I just assumed it was from overworking himself. To his right and Elizabeth’s left sat Queen Margaret who was sharing half bitter glances with Liz. Across from us sat the other royal children. At the start of dinner we were finally introduced to Edward and Mary, Edward seeming the brat Elizabeth had described while Mary seemed to be a pleasant and polite child like Albert. “So, Elizabeth, how have you enjoyed your time in Equestria?” King George asked as he took a bit of his steak. Thankfully the kitchen had given Fang and I vegetarian dinners instead of the steaks that the royal family were eating.
“It’s been lovely. In fact, I must say that the royal gardens in Canterlot make ours look like a wilted flower bed. And the royal library is over twice the size of ours. I spent a good fourteen hours there one day just reading in there. If it wasn’t for Fang coming and finding me, I likely would’ve been there all night,” she said as she cut off a piece of meat. Her father nodded with a smile.
“You always were a reader. You get that from your mother, you know,” he said with a small laugh; the queen taking a bite of her food. The look on her face seemed to show that she didn’t care for the comparison to her daughter. “Oh, lighten up Margaret! Just because you two don’t get along-“ He stopped as he began coughing violently, a guard rushed over and Margaret standing up quickly as they stood him up. They ushered the king out of the room, much to the confusion of us and Liz.
“What’s wrong with papa?” She asked as she looked over to her siblings.
“If you were actually here you might know!” Edward snapped at her as he took another bite of his dinner. “If you must know, the doctor said it’s likely a mixture of tuberculosis and tumors in the lungs.” The young gryphon told her coldly. She quickly stood up and Fang and I followed after her as she stormed out of the room.
“Liz. Liz!” I grabbed her arm and turned her to face me. “You need to calm down. Look, getting upset about it will only make a bad situation worse so before you continue with anything, I need you to take some deep breaths.” She did as she was told and looked at me again with tears in her eyes. Fang and I quickly embraced her in a hug, the young gryphoness immediately breaking down. While she sobbed into our shoulders, Fang and I looked at each other in worry. Elizabeth was still fairly young. There was no way she could be monarch by herself without help. Thankfully, we would be there for her, even at a distance. “It’s gonna be okay, Lizzy. We’re here for you.” I whispered as I rubbed her back with a hoof. “Whatever happens, we’ll always be here for you.”
We sat silently in the apartment that they’d given us as the grandfather clock in the corner of the room ticked away, the time already reading half past eleven. We’d gone to see the king a couple hours before and he was far from in a good state. He’d become unconscious not long after he’d been put in bed and the doctors that came and went through the hallways seemed to be more and more un-optimistic about his recovery. I’d stood and spoke with one for a few moments while Fang comforted Elizabeth. He stated that the king had refused surgery to remove the cancerous lung months before as it’d slow his work progress and in doing so, sealed his own fate. The cancer had spread to the other lung and with his health deteriorating; he’d contracted tuberculosis which only made a bad situation worse. I thanked him for his update and returned inside to find Liz and Fang sitting together on the couch, watching the small black and white television in the corner. While the screen was small, the T.V. itself was massive. As I looked at it, an image of the Gryphon Kingdom flag with a portrait of King George in the middle appeared with the anthem, signaling the end of the broadcasting day. As the sound of Long Live the King filled the quiet room, I looked at Elizabeth who’d seemed to have slowly pulled herself together.
“What did the doctor in the hall say?” she asked as she turned to look at me.
“I fear it is not my place to speak on their behalf to you, Liz. They did say though that they believe his cancer is from his smoking habits,” I explained as I stood next to the couch. She nodded silently before standing up and pulling her pack of cigarettes from her sweater pocket. We watched as she opened the doors to the balcony, the cold December air hitting us and chilling us to the bone, and chucked her cigarettes as far as she could. The gryphoness stood and watched them sail out of sight before reentering the room and shutting the doors. “I swear, with you two as my witnesses, that I will never smoke another cigarette till the day I die.” A light knock at the door made us all look over to see the queen, a doctor, as well as a few gryphons in suits standing there. They all silently entered and gathered around, Fang and I standing up as we realized that it clearly must be important. In the distance, bells could be heard starting to ring throughout the city of Griffinstone.
“I’m afraid the king has passed away. You are now the queen, your majesty,” one of the gryphons stated bluntly. “We need a regal name to announce to the public in the morning papers and all the foreign offices.”
“Well, let’s not make things complicated. I’m Princess Elizabeth. It’s simplest to keep my name as it is,” she stated as she looked around at all of us.
“Very well. Long live Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth!” He declared.
“Long live the queen!” We all chanted as we bowed to her. Looking up from my position, I could see Elizabeth looking down at Fang and I. And I’d never seen her look so scared before.