The princesses and the queen had already left for breakfast. Celestia wanted to talk to Discord before he left and made sure that they would have ample time to talk to him. However, while Chocolate Velvet was curious about all those things they were likely to talk about he had just received a letter and he had a feeling he was not going to like what he was going to read.
He didn’t really think that his presence was necessary, and not that he didn’t like to be involved, but his head took some more time to reorient itself after last night. He supposed that with age came resilience. Even in that regard.
The result of staying behind was that he was left alone when one of Cadance’s handmaidens… Hoofmaidens? One of her ponies that worked in the Bordello arrived with a letter for him. He wasn’t entirely sure how did they know to send it to the Crystal Empire and not to the palace in Canterlot but that wasn’t important right then.
It was a letter from the Equestrian Chivalric Society informing him that as an aspiring knight he ought to perform great deeds of honor and might, which was almost the exact of opposite of what he had been doing these past days. So, it didn’t really surprise him that much that he got a letter like that from them.
What surprised him was that they had the guts to tell him that his fellowship could be revoked because of that. He had to wonder what went on in the head of some pampered up idiotic noble sitting his haunches in Canterlot that complained about ponies going on and killing monsters to protect the population that they were not being ‘knightly enough’.
He simply sat in the corridor by their room’s door, staring angrily at the letter he held with his telekinesis, trying to process its content when Thorax approached him. “Hi, Chocolate. Uh… Can you talk?”
“Hey, Thorax. Sure.” He smiled and folded the letter before stuffing it inside his peytral and then smiled at the changeling, as friendly as he could to the nice changeling king. Unlike Chrysalis, he liked the always nice guy. “What’s up?”
“I uh…” He rubbed his legs together while staring to the side. “It’s about Chrysalis. I think I need to talk to somepony about her… And well... We’re both guys and I guess my best friend is Spike, but we have ‘being married to important mares’ in common.”
“Yeah…” The alicorn mused. “I guess we do. And I suppose Cadance isn’t available… Well, I’m not sure I can be of much help, but I’ll do my best!”
“It’s alright!” The king smiled back at him and them Chocolate pointed down the corridor fot the changeling to walk with him. The alicorn believed that proximity sometimes called for some distance, and it seemed that was exactly what Thorax needed to talk about Chrysalis. He also thought it would be better to not stick to a place, rather walk around a bit not to draw too much attention.
Therefore, they walked together down the stone-walled corridor. It had windows every few paces and a long beautiful red rug that made the two somewhat conscious about simply stepping on the thing. Thorax simply wasn’t used to this sort of luxury and Chocolate paid attention to his new friend. There were also pedestals with beautiful vases or amphorae, all with tasteful love-related themes. Whatever it was that they could see in this corridor, it had a beautiful style. There were also elegant paintings of ponies or some other creature. From the arched ceiling beautiful candelabra provided illumination by means of magical crystals. It all attested to Cadance’s good taste in decoration.
It amazed the brown alicorn that Cadance managed to make that place so titillating but without becoming tacky. Talk about talent.
Outside the snowfall seemed to have picked up and one could barely see beyond the glass and the snow that accumulated on the metal framing. Even more so than before. Inside the temperature was comfortable and the howling from the wind was barely noticeable.
They kept in silence for a while until after a few paces Thorax finally spoke again. “So, I guess I need some advice in dealing with Chrysalis’… Let’s call it nastiness.”
“I bet you do.” Chocolate chuckled in good humor and the other laughed reservedly.
“Well, you remember how nice she was last night. And then how mean she was this morning. It makes me angry that she can completely ignore that she’s hurt you once, and then hurt you again after she’s been so nice. Once she even apologized.”
“And when she does this sort of thing she did when we woke up. I really don’t know how to deal with it.” The ‘stag beetle-pony’ wasn’t complaining, rather his tone indicated more frustration at his inability to deal with his partner. It was a shame Cadance wasn’t available, and they were what each had at the moment. “She’s just so mean and angry all the time with some small moments of niceness.”
“I think that she’s convinced that she needs to do this to get what she wants, Thorax. She just lets her guard down once in a while.” The alicorn looked at him. “I mean… Celestia thinks so. And she also thinks that Chrysalis will benefit from a loving and caring partner such as yourself. She wasn’t that bad at night when she was legitimately having fun playing evil queen. Anyway, the fact that she acts nice when she lets her guard down makes Celestia think that she is good inside and does want to come out but thinks she can’t afford it.”
“Yeah…” Thorax agreed, staring down sheepishly. “I suppose. It’s not very often, though.”
“Celestia told me that Chrysalis suffered a lot in her life, Thorax. The sort of things that makes one hard and callous.” He stepped a little closer in their walk. “Not that I think that you need to suffer because she did... But it seems to me that you want to help. Patience will go a long way with her, I believe. And showing her that she can be nice and still get nice things.”
He paused for a second. “As long as you aren’t getting yourself hurt because of her. I agree with Celestia that you can help her, but I certainly don’t think that you must sacrifice yourself because of her. I feel like I can’t stress this enough.”
“I want to help her, Velvet… I know she’s nicer inside. She’s let me see that side of hers sometimes. I think that maybe I could afford to be more romantic and that could bring her out more often.” Thorax added after a small pause.
“Really?” The other stared forward, thinking for a second. “I don’t think that you should violate yourself because of her… I mean… She needs to do her part too and you shouldn’t go too much out of your comfort zone for her.”
“Oh… I like her.” His cheeks reddened a little. “I’m just not sure how to show it to her.”
“I think you’re already doing a great job, Thorax.” The alicorn grinned at him. “But if you feel like you want to make a gesture, I believe Cadance would be able to help you, if you’re willing to let this whole mess blow away. I mean, it’s not like you’re in a particular hurry, right?”
Thorax grinned friendly. “Yeah. But… Your cutie mark is a heart shaped box of bonbons. You’re kinda good with romantic things too, aren’t you? Romance is kind of a knight thing too, isn’t it?”
The alicorn stopped and blinked a few times, causing the other to stop too and look at him. “Huh. I suppose you’re right.”
Thorax grinned some more. “How do you get romantic with Luna and Celestia?”
Chocolate put his leg on his chin and thought with a hum. “Well… They are sophisticated, but they put heartfelt feelings over grand gestures. I imagine that if we are aiming at Chrysalis’ real heart inside the shell, that ought to help. Okay… I know something you can try. Dressing up all gentlestalion-like and treating her like a lady. It works wonders with Celestia and Luna.”
“I never really tried that. I was afraid she’d make fun of me.” Thorax grinned excitedly. “But I can try! It’s not like she’s gonna divorce me or anything if she doesn’t like it. Right?”
“Awesome!” The alicorn put a wing over his back, closing in conspiratorially. “So, next time you’re gonna be alone with her, you should… I don’t know… Do you changelings polish your carapace or something when you want to look sophisticated? It just dawned on me that Chrysalis is the only one of you that has a mane!”
“We don’t really do this sort of things because we’re not really used to this sort of things amongst ourselves…” Thorax explained while his eyes drifted down. “I mean, changelings usually turned into other creatures to... Uh… Flirt. We always did it to other species, it was always some sort of manipulation.”
“Thorax!” Chocolate took a step back and his wings flared. “This is awesome!”
“It is?” One of his eyebrows rose.
“Yes! You get to brave the unknown! To create the traditions!”
“Oh!” Thorax grinned too. “You’re right!”
“You just have to catch Chrysalis’ fancy! Now that may be hard, but we’ll work this out and when this whole mess is done with, I’m sure Cadance will help!”
“Great! But what do I do now?”
“We’re going to try some ornaments. Celestia loves my golden mane fishnet.” Then he paused for a second and his ears perked up with a smile. “I just had a great idea. She’s gonna love it!”
***
In the restaurant a few of the tables had been set aside and put together to welcome the Princesses and the Queen. The other patrons remained respectfully a table away because they seemed to be talking about something important with Lord Discord. Except for the maids and waiters that worked in the Bordello’s restaurant. Their table was well stuffed for a breakfast of royalty with all sorts of tasty fruits, juices and sweets.
Breakfast had extended way into the morning, but their attentions were on the photographs spread on top of the table, not on the food. One of them showed a city from afar. It covered a mountain and its base with a big fortification at the top and itself surrounded by black stone walls that connected tall hills at each corner. The sky was a heavy mass of dark gray clouds.
“This is Griffindell.” Celestia held the photo for Discord to see clearly. “The capital for Snow Mountains Hold. The mountain is ‘The Roost’ and the four hills are called ‘Sentinels’. At the top you can see Griffinsky, The Lion’s fortress. Though the entire city is fortified. Its population is composed of six-hundred and fifty thousand griffons. Most of them local griffons and some that decided to join them from surrounding cities, and some other cities in the Confederation. Mostly Griffonstone, Manehattan and Fillydelphia.”
“Why?” He wore a pair of star-shaped glasses and took notes with a small notebook and a wobbly spiral pencil. “Why are they going there?”
“Because they are stupid.” The changeling queen grumbled but was ignored.
“Well, that is what you are going there to find out.” Luna grinned.
“No. Discord is going there because he can reach out to those griffons without them immediately closing up.” The white princess shook her head.
“Yes.” Luna agreed, rolling her eyes. “But still, information would be good.”
“I understand.” He nodded winking at her. “I’m not going there to spy. I’m going there to make friends. But If I learn some stuff that is a good thing.”
“Yes!” Luna giggled happily.
“There is something fundamentally messed up in a world where you sent the Spirit of Chaos to spy on the griffons and not the changeling infiltrators.” Chrysalis mumbled.
Discord pointed casually at the queen. “She actually has a point. Can’t changelings just go in and figure this stuff out? I mean… I know I’m not going to actively spy on then… But…”
“They’ll identify any changeling in disguise, Discord.” Celestia shook her head. “Just because they don’t have horns, it doesn’t mean that they don’t control their own kind of magic.”
“And that is one of the things you’re not going in there to spy on.” Luna added and Celestia sighed.
“Yeah…” Chrysalis’ sarcasm practically dripped off her teeth. “The ‘not really magical kind of magic’.”
The others ignored her and her salty mood while Celestia explained further. “Griffon magic is very similar to pegasus magic, Discord. Such as The Lion’s spoken magic and there are some anecdotical evidence that they have learned some sort of enchanting magic, that may be a form of the same magic. They are clearly doing something we don’t understand because Luna has trouble peering into their dreams. Be very careful with what you say or do in there, though. They can become distrustful very easily and they are naturally reclusive. Your job is to help us understand their position. The most important reason you are going is that they opened up to you. Don’t ruin that… It’s a friendship. Understand?”
“Yes ma’am!” He saluted and caused the princesses to giggle. They had been at this for hours, talking to him about all they knew of these griffons and griffons in general. She was proud at Discord’s ability to maintain his focus and his interest in the griffons. Nothing like a little attention to make anyone agreeable.
“Good. Now, look at this one.” Celestia showed him another photograph. A nice view of a stone mansion with a beautiful flowered garden by its side and surrounded by black stone walls. The focus of the photograph was a pair of griffons. The male was big, with a powerful and fit body covered in a blackish-brown fur and whose head was covered in white feathers topped by a discreet golden diadem with a single ruby.
“He is Gilad. Also known as Lord Ironfeathers. And also, as The Lion. With him is his mate, Lady Gwendolen.” Almost as big as he was, her figure was more elegant, even if she still looked physically powerful and her coat was a snowy white with black dots in her hindlegs. Her head was white too, but her feathers followed a distinctive pattern with black and white that made her look like she wore a black cowl over her head. Discord looked agreeably at her. She had black on her beak, on her forelegs and wings in a way that made it seem like she wore a cape or something.
“She looks… Odd.” He twisted his head upside down, staring at the photograph. “In a good way.”
“She is a dimwitted cute face The Lion keeps next to him. Probably has some ‘desirable talent’…” Chrysalis sneered. “That and the griffons like her… for some reason.”
“Griffons say she is the most beautiful griffoness in existence. But you know how these things go.” Celestia rolled her eyes. “The photograph may not do her much justice. Anyway, she and Gilad have a single son, whose we know very little about thanks to their isolationist nature. No more than that he is their son and a few irrelevant details.”
“We also know little of the city nowadays, other than that it is the mustering point for The Lion’s army and other than that it is a city as any other. A very militarized city, and the fortress at the top is yet unconquered with nigh impregnable defenses that the griffons boast as being the only fortress of the old world where an alicorn never set hoof.”
“Please…” Chrysalis rolled her eyes. “If it was up to me, I would go there and tap dance all over the place just because of that.”
“And that is why you don’t have any friends.” The white princess stared at her, but then turned back to Discord again. “This is not a problem, Discord. I don’t care if I can’t ever ‘tap-dance’ on Griffinsky. I will gladly stay out of there for all eternity if that means we can coexist in peace and harmony. That is why I want you to be open about your motivations to be there. They have to trust you and through you, see that they can trust me.”
“You are being naïve, Celestia.” The queen was rather bored. “Whatever Discord says, they’ll assume that he is there to spy for you.”
“I can’t do anything about it, Chrysalis. All I can do is be honest with them. In time this will earn their respect and their trust. And that is why, Discord, you will tell them that you are there because I asked you to cultivate a friendship with them. You will be our mutual friend, a bridge between us.”
“I understand, Celestia. I’ll do my best.”
“I know you will.” She smiled confidently at him. It was a smile Discord didn’t see often and felt some of pride at earning it. “Now. There is one last thing you must know. The griffons there don’t speak Common Equestrian, or even the modern Griffonese. They speak an archaic form of the modern language and I don’t have a clue why. One historian that visited Griffindel years ago mentioned that they see this language as sacred and not to be taught to others. I imagine it has something to do with the spoken magic that Gilad can use. Do you think this will be a problem?”
“Not at all!” He waved dismissively. “I can deal with that.”
“You should also know that our Justiciars, over the years, have found them to be very resistant to opening up to cultural exchange propositions. Two years ago, Twilight introduced a law project with the idea of facilitating and promoting language tutoring to the children as soon as they were old enough. Preferably as they learned the local languages of their cultures.”
“That failed in Snow Mountains hold.” Celestia’s head shook. “Their ‘Loremasters’, what passes for teachers in there treated it as an attack on their sovereignty. If anything, this should let you understand how important their language is to them. Well, there were other things, but they are not entirely relevant now and it might be better if you learned them by yourself. Simply understand that they put a lot of pride in their culture.”
“So…” The queen grinned maliciously. “Did your old friend Grigor use the same language?”
“Chrysalis! Don’t mention that in public!” She looked around, but no one seemed to be paying attention, much less have heard.
“We can’t say for sure it was the same language.” Luna said reservedly. “To be entirely honest, the griffons could be lying about The Lion’s use of that kind of magic and it could be an entirely different language. That would be a good reason for them to keep it so secret. But it was real in the past. And what worries Celestia so much is that if The Lion knows the language enough to teach himself and the other griffons, something very significant from that period must have survived.”
“The Lion has exquisitely played a very hidden game. He definitively knew what he was doing and hid it from us, while using whatever it is that he has to lure other griffons in.” Celestia admonished them with her serious tone.
“So, it may be the case that there is nothing to fear and that prick is bluffing?”
“I don’t think that this is a bluff, Chrysalis.” Celestia sounded very worried. “He clearly has something that is convincing griffons to join him. And I doubt it’s simply their advocacy for hunting rights and vapid griffon pride.”
“This whole thing sounds tricky.” Discord frowned at the scribbles he called notes. “Maybe it would be a better idea to let Twilight get to him and sort this out.”
Then it was Celestia who frowned. “Twilight and Cadance will want to present whatever they find at the Hall of Friendship, and now that you’ve told them about Naminé they’ll tell The Lion things that are going to turn the whole affair on its head, and then he’ll feel completely justified in pressing for separation and will cause a war.”
He crossed his arms and pouted. “Maybe you should disclose the truth, then. Since you’re the only one who knows what caused this mess to begin with.”
“I think I deserve to know… Since it seems that I have suffered because of it.” Chrysalis put her hoof on her chest, all self-pity. “How about a bet? If Twilight can figure out that Luna is the goddess from the legend, she must apologize to all of Equestria.”
“How dare you, Chrysalis?” Luna managed the most accusatory and at the same time blank stare at the queen that present company had ever seen. “With Cadance that didn’t interest you in the least.”
“Then I was talking to a confused filly Luna.” The queen grinned nonchalantly at her. “Now I am talking to the mares themselves. Besides… I’m your friend…”
“How cute.” Discord grinned. “What difference would that make?”
“Stop it. You will not bother Luna with this, Chysalis.” Celestia chastised both in a low voice. “The Goddess never existed outside the ponies’ imaginations and ‘the truth’ belongs in oblivion. It will cause a rupture and all that has been done to fix it, by ponies much braver than you, will be undone. None of you were there to help. None of you went through what I and Luna suffered because of that, much less understand the situation at the time.”
“I better go…” Discord said after a few seconds of angry uncomfortable silence. “This conversation isn’t fun.”
Then he vanished with a snap of his fingers, a flash and a bang.
Left behind the three mares remained in silence until Chrysalis rubbed the side of the table with her hooves. “I apologize… I suppose I’m in enough trouble because of my Praetorians…”
One of Luna’s eyebrows rose. “What are you up to?”
“I’m trying to say I admit I was wrong in bringing up again that issue about the goddess!” She growled. “It doesn’t matter anymore. Even if there was a cure, we changed so much we’re something completely different.”
“Don’t worry, Chrysalis. Luna is an adult. She can deal with it. After breakfast we should see your children, though.” Celestia grinned smugly. “Since she is trying to shirk her duties in Canterlot, Luna has volunteered to probe their minds in their sleep.”
“Well, this is more important than another speech about The Lion…” Luna defended herself vehemently.
“I’m not worried, Celestia.” Chrysalis said calmly. “What is worrying me is that Chocolate Velvet and Thorax still haven’t showed up yet.”
“Oh. They’re probably talking about stallion things.” She giggled.
***
The Magic of Friendship flew as fast as her magical engines would take her through a cloudy sky. The Captain had put her on a downwards flight towards a cluster of white cottony clouds high above the still green corn fields that surround the small city of Hay Bale. Non-pegasus ponies hid in the underdeck and the pegasus crewponies tied themselves to the main mast. Her sails were furled, and the wind whizzed past its solid crystalized metal structure.
Behind her a Royal Guard frigate dived and her own magical engines roared trying to keep up with the princess’ faster and more maneuverable airship. Its own golden-clad pegasus crewponies had tied themselves to it too and held on to their posts against the wind and they looked right in place next to the airship’s golden hull.
One of them, a dark gray pegasus with an off-white mane his helmet turned into a crest held on to a tight rope with one leg while the other pointed onward and his voice rose above the wind. “Keep us above them and line’er up to shoot! We’re not going home without our quarry and they must slow down eventually! Be ready to heave guards! The Mare will pay a sumptuous dinner to the crew that captures the little princesses!”
The ‘Little Princess’’ airship gained some distance on them, but they would be well under the ballistae’s effective range when they would be forced to slow their descent. So very typical for a non-military captain to allow his vessel to be outmaneuvered like that. Not too long now and Frigate Captain Wild Tango would have the honor of informing Her Royal Highness that her wayward princesses were captured. But not before he gave himself a stern lecturing to them. The strong wind made his smile larger than it should be, and then some when he realized he could ask for another assignment after this was done. A place in the frontlines when the war finally started would be nice to accumulate glory and heaps of gold.
In the Princess’ ship crewponies shouted directions to their captain and made sure, once more, that everything was tied down for the impending maneuver. In the middle of all that the two adult alicorn princesses aboard the airship held to the outer side of the railing and screamed when the airship trespassed a small cloud flying so fast Twilight was sure she would become a hole in the ground when it was all over.
“I hate you, Rainbow Dash!” The other princess shrieked holding on to the railing with her legs as though her life depended on it. It probably did, anyways and the small icicles that grabbed at her didn’t even bother her at that point.
Both of them wore their enchanted barding and Cadance’s robes flailed about in the wind as though it not only had a life of its own but was also intent on dragging her along in the wind.
The pegasus in question was next to them and had an enormous grin on her face while her mane also flailed madly, and she shouted at them over the roaring wind. “Almost there!”
Rainbow too wore her very special magical barding. A very light white steel barding with leggings that let her hooves exposed, each with a pistol strapped to it. Her element of Loyalty jewel adjusted neatly to her gorjet. Her wings were also exposed, and sharp articulated folding blades covered their leading edges, with the cutting edges folded in while not in use.
“We’re going to need a new bearer for Loyalty if this doesn’t work!” Twilight screamed back at her.
“It’s cool!” Rainbow reassured her over the wind. “We train for this all the time in the Wonderbolts!”
“We are not Wonderbolts!” They shrieked again and Twilight was going to tell her how much she hated that plan but her pegasus friend shoved them from the inner side of the railing.
“Now! Go!” She grinned more than she should while the two let go and screamed when they were caught in the wind and the cloud they had just reached. A large and wet cloud big enough to engulf the entire airship when it rushed past the cloud.
Twilight held on to Cadance’s leg and they tumbled about inside the cloud. Soon the pursuing airship roared past them and the turbulence it caused made their flight even more erratic. Though calling it flight was a particularly bad misnomer. In reality they fell through the cloud in the most ungainly way possible. And they also screamed all the way until they popped out of the cloud’s underside. Cadance twisted and twirled and regained control of her flight, hovering just under the cloud with scared bulging eyes and some frost stuck to her mane.
“Whew…” She said to herself, looking around to regain her bearings.
Twilight plummeted past her with a shrill screech and in a mess of flailing robes, wings and legs. At the sight her sister in law screamed and fired up her horn, grabbing Twilight by the rim of her robe and hanging the other princess in the air by her belly.
“Are you okay, Twilight?!”
“I am going to murder Rainbow Dash…” She shed a few frost sheets when she wiggled for a while.
The pegasus in question screamed past them with wings folded back and a spinning flourish towards the ground.
“What are the odds that she’ll die because of that?” Twilight grumbled.
“Well, it worked!” The other giggled. “The Royal Guard’s airship went on after your airship. I just hope that Starlight can keep up.”
“She’ll be fine. She’s very powerful.” Twilight freed herself and adjusted her robes. “We should hurry though.”
“Princesses?” The two alicorns squealed and turned to see a confused cyan and salmon pegasus mare hovering next to them. She wore a cute blue vest with golden rimming and a cloud and sun broch. “Are you hurt? Did you fall from the airships? That was some dangerous flying!”
“Oh!” Twilight recognized the vest. “You’re with the Haybale weather team!”
“Yes!” The mare beamed. “Can I help?”
“Oh! Ah…” Twilight chuckled nervously at the pegasus. “We’re fine!”
Cadance chuckled too. “Don’t mind us.”
“But you’re princesses…” The pegasus frowned. “And you’re wearing some serious barding.”
The two stared at each other’s robes and shinny barding with their colors. Cadance also had her metallic crystal bow on her back, and her quiver in the place of a saddlebag. Both looked ready for a fight rather than a friendly visit to a small rural town. Not to mention Twilight’s sword and magical staff.
“Yes. But… Uh…” Cadance’s eyes shifted away from the mare.
“We’re here to inspect the… Bar.” Twilight quickly concluded while the three mares hovered next to each other.
“Really?” The pegasus perked up her ears. “That’s a thing princesses do”?
“Totally.” Cadance added with all the certainty she could muster and nodded and grinned as friendly as she could. “So, could you point us to ‘The Barn’?”
“Oh! It’s that big building with the white roof!” She pointed with a hoof at a large barn smack in the middle of the small town. There really was no other place it could be, but at least the pony believed them. They were new in town, after all.
“Thanks!” Twilight grinned. “Uh… Keep up the good work!”
“Thank you, princess! Do you need anything else?”
“No. We’re set.” Cadance grinned at her a little too much. “Come on, Twilight. Sunburst is waiting for us.”
They left the pony spouting another polite thing at them and waving while they flapped their wings slowly to lose altitude and moved towards the structure and the waiting pegasus by the entrance.
“Well, that was awkward.” Twilight grunted.
“Maybe we shouldn’t have come with our barding and weapons? They draw a lot of attention.”
“No, I think it was a good idea to bring them. We’re likely to meet some sort of opposition and it would be very unlikely that we could have walked in here without drawing attention anyways. I bet we’re going to end up fighting our way back to the airship and having them will be a huge help. Besides, Shining wouldn’t ever let us go without them.”
“You’re probably right.” Cadance acquiesced with a sigh and they kept silent until they landed next to the establishment’s large double red doors.
“What took you guys so long? Down is the easiest way!” Rainbow complained and pointed at the ground with a hoof.
“Calm down, Rainbow.” Twilight gestured patience at her. “These ponies can’t suspect we’re doing anything out of the ordinary here. If anypony asks, tell them you’re escorting us while we visit the Barn.”
“Lame.”
“Well, that is the story we’re going with!”
The Barn was a good name for an actual barn with red-painted wood walls and white roof that was converted into a bar and restaurant. It was a cozy place with a ‘farm atmosphere’ that would be right at home at Ponyville. It even had a few decorative hay bales and farming equipment here and there.
While they walked inside, it occurred to Twilight that Hay Bale was an important place as it produced much of the food that fed the south part of Equestria Heartland. It was a small town, but it supported large farms and a small army of farmers. She smiled at the thought of how important these ponies were.
Not to mention that Twilight`s curiosity was piqued to the extreme. Most of the things that decorated the place were different from the typical farming equipment she`d usually see at Applejack`s farm. Her head moved in every which way and her eyes absorbed every single detail in distilled inquisitiveness.
Rainbow Dash tried to look intimidating with flared wings and a mean expression she was used to seeing bad ponies wear in the books she used to read.
Cadance wondered if she could buy something to eat that wasn’t related to apples.
Regardless, almost every single pair of eyes turned to them and Twilight smiled awkwardly when she noticed. Cadance waved for a second, a little more in control. “Don’t mind us. We’re just looking for a friend.”
Rainbow said nothing and simply tried to look menacing.
Thankfully it didn’t take long for ponies to go back to minding their own businesses after understanding the princesses were busy with something and wanted to be left on their own. And whatever Rainbow Dash was doing. Regardless, the princesses appreciated it: much nicer and easier to deal with the simpler folk than the nobility on their own towns and on Canterlot.
Thus, the trio walked calmly with muffled hoofsteps on the straw flooring as conversations resumed around them. The bartender, a fit white and red earth pony mare with a green handkerchief around her neck simply stared at them and nodded politely when they stared back. Soon, they found Sunburst, Miss Goodread and an elderly female griffon with green soft eyes and shades of gray in her fur and feathers and also wearing a pair of small reading glasses. The three sat at a corner table, near the back of the barn.
“Ah! Princesses! Rainbow Dash!” The unicorn stallion waved and happily beckoned them over to their table with some glasses of orange juice and prench fries. The two princesses didn’t take long to sit themselves with them when they noticed that Sunburst looked awkwardly at them. “Why are you dressed like that? I mean… I know the situation is weird, but this… Uh…”
Rainbow Dash sitting behind them and staring menacingly at the ponies nearby didn’t help the awkwardness.
“Shinning Armor insisted…” Cadance sat by the table next to Twilight who looked just as much annoyed as her sister in law was, but they stared each at the other and softened. “He was probably right that the likelihood of us being attacked by the Royal Guard or by local guards until the end of the day is pretty high.”
“Oh my…” The griffon lady seemed worried. “Are you in danger right now?”
“Not right now.” Twilight tried to calm her. “Our airship is leading our pursuers astray while we talk and will return for us later in the day. We have until then to talk.”
“Well then. I brought you something but left it at the cottage Mister Sunburst has rented for us. We need to talk first.” The griffon nodded professionally and kept a reserved tone in their corner of The Barn. “Princesses, Mister Sunburst and Miss Goodread have told me that you have uncovered evidence of one Emperor Grigor. Who supposedly ruled the Holy Griffon Empire before King Grover unified and griffon kingdoms into the present Griffon Kingdom. Is that right?”
“Correct!” Twilight grinned at the promise this meeting showed right off the gate.
“Unfortunately, I must tell you that he is believed to be a mythological figure.” She said and Twilight deflated. Cadance simply frowned and the others listened. “He and the Griffon Patriarchs were a myth King Grover had to fight in order to unify the griffons and their different cultures after he set out to form the unified kingdom. This isn’t typically discussed outside griffon historians as it is a very shameful moment of our history and he is simply not known by mainstream historians. Not only the fact that we had some very distasteful beliefs that needed to be suppressed, but also that there was a separatist movement that argued King Grover betrayed an ideal our race was supposed to follow. They used this Grigor as a set piece of what a griffon ought to be as a descendant of the Griffon Patriarchs.”
“But the letter…” Twilight whined.
“They told me about it.” Gerdie nodded softly. “Letters can be forged, princess. Even if they are very old. They are also a common form of fiction from that time. Writers would mention that they went someplace, or that they saw something that was a common idea. Or that they talked to someone important or even made up conversations between important people. Sometimes, they’d make up characters that traveled and talked to important creatures.”
“That is… Ugh!” The princess grumbled. “Why would somepony do this? Or… A griffon? Didn’t they care about historicity or facts? Where they just making things up?”
“Well, it wasn’t history, per se…” Goodread offered. “They were likely aware they were reading a story when they read those. Not real facts. That would explain why it is so hard to find anything about this Emperor Grigor.”
“I understand!” Twilight argued back. “Like our legends. Fictional stories that have a moral directive. Like the whole Hearthwarming Tale. But we believed that was true! So, maybe the griffons did something similar?”
“Hearthwarming is taught all over the world as the real story, Princess. This story of Emperor Grigor wasn’t, and today it is nigh unknown.” Gerdie shrugged. “They probably thought that this gave some sort of credence to their stories. Or maybe it was something usual and that writers simply liked doing. There are books about Princesses Celestia and Luna that follow this idea. Today, griffons wouldn’t even like these stories, because we put our very real and savage past behind us. Even if it wasn’t as bad as anything Grigor might have done, he would still be a reminder of a blackened past we hate. Our reality does inform our tales and myths, after all.”
“No. No, that can’t be right.” Cadance shook her head. “The Changeling Queen claimed to have lived as his contemporary. And Princess Celestia is upset we are delving into this whole story. For a different reason, but she supposedly interacted with him too.”
“Yes!” Twilight’s ears perked up. “Not to mention that Discord didn’t exactly say it, but he confirmed that something happened at his time. And, also, Princess Luna confirmed that they helped the griffons change history!”
Those words had a strange effect on the old griffon lady. She frowned and the life seemed to drain from her eyes. Her paws trembled a little as she grabbed the side of the table. “My goodness… Princesses, are you sure?”
They stared at each other before Twilight nodded at the griffon and worried for her. “Miss Gerdie… Are you feeling unwell?”
Sunburst served her a glass of orange juice from the bottle in their table and she took a sip, then smiled thankfully. “If the story about Emperor Grigor is true. Just to be sure. What did the Changeling Queen tell you about him?”
“That he was a real jerk?” Cadance offered with some curiosity. “And that he united the small griffon kingdoms.”
“She told us that some of the griffons hated him, and they asked Princess Celestia for help. Also, about this speaking magic of the griffons. She spoke of the whole thing as though it was very real.”
“Hum…” The little griffon lady hesitated quietly thumping her fingers on the border of the table. “We can’t talk about this here. If Emperor Grigor was real… Well… Hum… There are some very scary things you should know.”
“It’s alright, Miss Gerdie.” Cadance reassured her and touched her paw with a hoof, along with a friendly smile. “I think we’ve been dealing with scary things ever since we set out on our little adventure.”
“Still…” The griffon didn’t seem very convinced. “I’d prefer if we talked about it in private, and I must show you what I brought. If your letter is real, then the ones I brought might be too. And worse… The whole myth, not only the existence of Emperor Grigor.”
The ponies exchanged looks before Sunburst rose his hoof. “Okay. I rented a small house for a couple of days with the excuse that I was here researching the soil. It should give us the privacy we need. It`s detached from the town, but close enough and Miss Gerdie left her things there.”
***
A flash and a bang announced Discord’s arrival. It was a snowfield with barely a distinctive characteristic in all directions, but the visibility was awful anyways. A strong blizzard castigated the place and everywhere the only colors were shades of white sounding as though the world was about to end in the roaring wind. He blinked and magicked his map into existence, staring at it with some confusion while it flayed in his hands.
“Huh… This map seems to be somewhat inaccurate.” He shrugged. “Oh well…
He teleported again, but didn`t seem to have moved more than a few meters. And again, with similar results. After a few attempts he still found himself in a similar place. In fact, he couldn’t see much of a difference, but that could be due to the terrain being pretty much the same and surrounded by the same snowstorm.
He turned around. “What?”
He could see the spot where his feet had disturbed the snow a few paces behind. “This is unexpected.”
He focused on his own magic and forced his way through space again several times only to end up in the same place he was before. Finally, he put his hands on his hip and frowned at no one in particular. “What is going on?”
With a renewed effort he inhaled deeply, clenched his fists and strained his magic, disappearing in a flash with a bang and reappearing in the same place he already was. He crossed his arms. “Okay. Something is most definitively not right here!”
After grumbling and frowning some more, he put his hand on his face and sighed. A little calmer, his eyes squinted, and his nostrils flared while he sniffed the air. Chaos was weird in that place. The problem wasn’t his ability to teleport but magic in the surrounding region. For some reason he was failing to ‘connect’ with it in order to teleport away. He taped his chin… Celestia did mention Luna was having some trouble peering into their dreams. Maybe those things were related?
“Naughty griffons have been doing something weird…” The question was how they were even doing it. Maybe this whole griffon magic thing was real, but that didn’t really surprise him. Everything was magical in the world. The question was understanding it. Though figuring out how to circumvent it first was more important right at the moment. And he had no idea how to do it.
“Well, this is embarrassing.” He snapped his fingers a few times with colorful sparks, testing his ability to perform magic and it seemed to work, he simply couldn’t teleport and confirmed the problem was the area, not him.
He calmed himself some more and listened. His ears moved to one side and the other. Being around ponies he was used to listening to some sort of chiming melody when magic was active in the area, but this time he heard a voice. A ghostly and penetrating, disconcerting whisper that stung his ears and rose every hair in his back. It quite literally made him wobble like gelatin.
The wind bit deeper and colder and he wrapped himself in his arms (several loops). “Oooooh boy…”
In an instant it was over, and the normal cold wind of the blizzard remained.
It took him a few seconds to reorient himself and close his jaw back in place. Celestia had once cast a spell over the Elements of Harmony to keep him from messing with them and it was one of the uncanniest things he had ever felt in present times. This thing he had just experienced came to a close second.
Shaking the weirdness out of him, he focused again. He felt the magic whirling past him in a fast-moving mist of raw magical energy forged into a teleportation disruption spell that literally made decoupling space and time impossible. It was exceptionally complex in nature and it sparked with power like lightning crisscrossing an endless cloud.
And there was that whisper. Like a breeze hidden under the howl of the wind, like the citric aftertaste that follows a cupful of Solar Sangreal from the Royal Winery. Eerily echoing the words that gave form to the spell in a language completely alien to Discord.
It was disconcerting, but at least he knew what it was. Unfortunately, he was no closer than he was before to probing into the spell and allow himself through.
He grumbled again. He really didn’t want to walk, or something, but it seemed as though he didn’t have a choice. So, his shoulders slumped, and he sighed profoundly with a groan and set on to walk.
The chilly wind bothered him somewhat with its howling. It reminded him of some of the monsters that used to live in the old world. Well, timberwolves were known to howl too and they still existed. He supposed the problem really was boredom. But he kept from focusing on the spell that surrounded him. It made him uncomfortable.
The problem was that he wasn’t very used to walking and it was a bit of a bore. Or a lot, really. He couldn’t understand how normal creatures simply walked! Even with the blizzard, all that featureless white all around him was draining him of his will to simply move a step at a time.
It then took him some time, but he realized something important. His boredom was part of the spell that permeated the area. It was very subtle and masterfully woven into the spell. Now that was a defensive spell Discord could respect. He had better reevaluate his opinions on these griffons. They were clearly more than brutes, he realized, the more he thought about them. And this one, capable of casting such a spell… Discord wanted to meet them.
That was what the ponies called ‘strategic level spell’ and they required unreasonable focus and power, not to mention knowledge of the workings of the Chaos in Magic. The only ponies Discord knew that could do something of the sort by themselves would be Celestia, Luna and Cadance. Queen Chrysalis, too. Twilight and her friends if they had the time and the Elements of Harmony. Or the Crystal Heart.
Thinking of that dampened his excitement. Memories from long ago surfaced and the expressions of the ponies he had hurt around those things floated before him. Would he ever rid himself of that shame? He doubted.
He shouldn’t allow that to drag him down, though. He did his best. He changed. He was helping now. Celestia was happy with him. The ponies liked him, and he had an opportunity to help deal with the big bad problem of the hour.
Finally, he giggled with a happy expression, more and more interested in meeting these griffons. That put an extra giddiness in his walk and silenced the spell that surrounded him.
His mind didn’t take long before it began to wander as he walked, though. He thought of Twilight and Cadance and their quest. He hoped they wouldn’t get themselves hurt in the process. Not only because of the griffons, but because of the things they were likely to discover.
Things were kind of crazy back when.
Not that things weren’t always crazy in this world of theirs… But they were crazy in a bad way.
Regardless, he walked and after a few hours of hiking in the snow he was glad his magic at least still worked to keep him from sinking in the cold white, and also fortunately, the storm subsided. He could even see a tree line marking the boundaries of a forest and, to the other side, the gentle slope of a snow covered mountain. Very few vegetation besides the trees, but Celestia’s sun still shined above in-between the clouds. He stopped for a second and let its warm light caress his face.
Ponies didn`t pay that thing enough respect. They didn’t understand it and the one that did preferred that it remained just a big ball of fire in the sky.
His eyes closed softly. It was only a few seconds when he noticed another living thing approaching. It was a young griffon with a dark-gray head and light-gray body covered in a light metallic armor staring dumbly at Discord as he came out of the tree line. He had one of those muskets on his back, with an added pointy thing under its… Point. Attached to the woodwork of the weapon. His blue eyes conveyed his shock and his raised forepaw made it almost comical.
“The Lord of Chaos!” He blurted not long before another griffon approached staring at him and then at Discord.
The other was bigger and older, wearing a similar armored vest, but his was heavier and adorned with animal pelts and feathers. On his back he had a big sword and a bow with a richly adorned quiver filled with green feathered arrows. Discord hadn’t seen one such weapon in a long time. Both griffons were very similar-looking, except for the elder’s eyes that were steel-gray and somehow seemed… Less naïve. Discord had trouble explaining to himself the feeling those eyes conveyed other than they simply seemed to have seen much more.
Finally, there was also a little griffon child, no more than six years old, all steely gray with blue eyes and wearing a light gray coat over her tiny form. She also carried on her back a pair of slain white bunnies with red marks where the arrows had fatally wounded them, tied with a leather strap around her neck. She stared at him with huge and curious eyes while she and the other young let the other take the lead, approaching Discord respectfully until he nodded and spoke. “Lord of Chaos.”
“Uh. Hello.” It was awkward. Discord wasn’t used to this sort of treatment, and not only that, but they showed their respect very differently from what the ponies usually did. And that is not even considering he had no idea why these griffons even would show him respect at all. Most ponies simply acknowledged he had been given a title, he was powerful, but they treated him as much as an equal as they did to any other pony that didn’t have both wings and horn.
That said, he waved at the trio of griffons. Where they hunters, he wondered.
“Is there any way we can be of assistance?” The older one asked, taking the front. While the younger one resigned to sitting on the snow and watching, the little one already walked around him.
Before Discord replied to the older griffon, the child spoke cheerfully to him, but he didn’t understand what she said. It took Discord more time than he’d like to admit noticing that the older griffons spoke to him in Common Equestrian despite Celestia having told him that they spoke a different language in that region. He figured they imagined he wouldn’t understand their language.
Regardless, the little one either didn’t know the Common Equestrian or expected ‘The Lord of Chaos’ to know her language. He rose a finger and then snapped his fingers materializing a small golden badge with an upwards pointing arrow he then pinned to his chest.
The small one giggled at him and he spoke after clearing his throat. “So… Can you understand me?”
Both males stared at him inquisitively but the small one approached further and giggled again, speaking in her own language he now understood. “Yes!”
Discord feared that the older griffon would chastise the cub for approaching without permission, or something of the sort, but instead he simply let her stand in front of him. “Did you come here to see The Lion? Everyone wanted to see him!”
He rested his hands on his knees and lowered himself in front of the small griffon. “Why, yes. I would like to meet with him. Do you know where he is?”
“He’s staying in our town!” She chirped excitedly! “Brokenhorn! He’s staying in our Jarl’s mansion!”
“Hum. What is a ‘Jarl’?”
“It roughly translates to ‘count’. And is it’s equivalent to this title in Equestria Heartland.” The young male said helpfully while the older simply let them talk.
For some reason Discord imagined the older griffon would be stricter, but he seemed to be fine with his younger talking in his place. It’s probably because the griffon seemed so intimidating at first glance. Interesting.
“Ah. I see. Though… I get the feeling that I’m disrupting something.”
Then the older griffon finally spoke, calmly. “An archlich has been spotted nearby and seems to be causing a number of monsters to wander off from the Frozen North. My liege has come to slay the creature and we set out to track it.”
“Archlich, huh?” Discord pulled at his beard. Maybe it is the cause for the weird magic in the area. Though, liches weren’t typically that powerful. “Maybe I can help! And also, it would get me to meet The Lion! I need to talk to him!”
“I’m sure Lord Gilad would meet you anytime, Lord of Chaos.” The old griffon added.
“Great! So… Uh… Do you always hunt for undead monsters with your daughter?” Discord’s eyebrow rose inquisitively.
“I’m not scared of some old dead thing!” She frowned and pouted.
The old griffon shrugged. “We were not going to fight it. We were tasked with tracking the creature. And we are on our way back. We’ll take you to Brokenhorn if you so desire.”
“Yes. That would be nice. I take you didn’t find it?”
“We didn’t.” The griffon shook his head. “These things typically don’t move around much, but this one is wandering quite a lot. Maybe it’s not exactly an archlich but something that isn’t undead. We’ll know when we find it. But for now, we’ll take you to the town, if that is acceptable.”
“That would be great!” Discord grinned at the griffons. At least things were going in the right direction, even if not really in the way he expected.
***
The prolonged breakfast went well after Chrysalis had apologized to them and Luna didn’t seem to have taken her comment with any weight. They actually talked frivolously without a hint of the weight of the situation they found themselves in with the whole mess that Cadance and Twilight were creating, or the one Chrysalis had conjured up with her Paraetorians.
Celestia knew very well that Luna and Chrysalis would find a good cornerstone for a friendship with each other. She just didn’t expect the two to already have connected to the point they would fight and them make up right back up. She wondered if either realized that. She knew that Luna’s patience and their previous conversations about how Chrysalis would behave must have been helpful, but the current crisis brought all of them together faster than she expected.
Or rather current crises… She thought with her ears pulled back for a second.
If only Twilight and Cadance were with them. She sighed, looking at nothing in particular while the two mares next to her talked about something related to changelings and mint-flavored pastries.
She was happy the two struck out a nice conversation while they enjoyed their breakfast, but she felt somewhat left by the wayside and wished Chocolate Velvet was there. Whatever kept him and Thorax from the breakfast for so long, anyways?
She didn’t exactly worry, but she had the feeling that they were up to something, and maybe she was a bit on edge with the current situation, but she’d prefer if they didn’t do anything they might regret later.
Almost as if on cue one of the service doors opened slightly and a big brown alicorn pony sneaked in. Maybe sneaked wasn’t the best word to describe him tiphoofing his way towards the stage where a group of musician ponies played something in the background, while hiding behind a large fan of colorful feathers some filly in the Bordello probably used for her dancing presentations.
It wasn’t even big enough to hide him!
Chrysalis and Luna ceased their conversation with the first wondering aloud. “What is he doing?”
“I think he wants to ask for a song.” Luna stared.
“But why is he trying to hide with the brightest and most attention-grabbing accessory he could find?” The queen asked again.
“He’s being silly.” Celestia rested her jaw on her hoof with her knee on the table, watching with mild amusement and a soft smile while the big brown alicorn wriggled by the wall towards his goal.
He spoke as inconspicuously as someone in his position could to one of the musicians, a short aqua-marine crystal pony mare with a bright pink mane that played a guitar and listened curiously. They had a hushed and short conversation, and then he wriggled all the way back to the same door he had entered from.
“They are going to do something stupid, aren’t they?” The queen frowned as though she was already tired of their antics that hadn’t even started yet.
“Be patient, Chrysalis.” Celestia smiled at the queen and she relented a bit. “Whatever they are planning, it is certainly meant as a heartfelt gesture.”
“You must be very easy to please, Celestia.” Chrysalis spat back. “In fact, I think that you are.”
“I know them, Chrysalis. They wouldn’t do something to hurt us, and if it happened, it would certainly be unintentional.”
The queen became thoughtful. It seemed that her simple reasoning gave her something to think about and had potentially saved them some embarrassment in the following moments. Luna simply stared at the door with her ears perked up at attention.
It didn’t take long before Chocolate Velvet appeared at the main door, all spruced up with a tight dark-blue outfit and a bordeaux tie, like a gentlestallion. His mane and tail were impeccable, and he wore the two-piece golden horn band she had ordered for him. He even had the attention to brush his coat and shine it properly. He didn’t wear the mane fishnet that she liked, though.
Regardless, he trotted up to their table with a huge smile and cleared his throat. She had to contain a giggle.
“My ladies, but especially Queen Chrysalis… Me and King Thorax have decided that something special was in order to celebrate!”
“I will skewer him with a fork if he shames me.” Chrysalis threatened half-heartedly.
Chocolate stopped for a second and stared at her. Once again Celestia felt the urge to contain her giggling before he spoke again, resuming his excitement. “I can guarantee you that you are going to be flattered by a special song from my original world. A song that has delivered joy to many broken hearts and united couples in eternal love without count!”
He then turned with his smile to the ensemble of musician ponies, cueing them to start a cheery melody for a few seconds and rushed to the door while a pair of crystal pony maids of the Bordello opened the double main doors and Thorax jumped inside flaring his wings and smiling while he wore a black coat with a stiped white and black shirt underneath.
Chocolate Velvet was quite proud. It was the best possible impersonation of a certain singer he could think of.
They stood side to side and danced stepping in rhythm with the song, swaying from one side to the other doing their best performance of the song Thorax’s new knight-prince-friend had taught him.
He was even glad Chocolate joined him. They had little time to rehearse but the more Chocolate had told him about the song, the more he was convinced of its magical powers to woo the mares. And best of all, it seemed to be working! Chrysalis couldn’t keep a small smile from replacing her perpetual frown while she listened to him sing along and dance with his alicorn friend to the simple, yet cheery melody and lyrics that spoke of their mutual understanding of the rules of love, and promised commitment and endless love and comprehension.
Next to her Celestia softly swayed from one side to the other, listening with a cute enamored smile, but Luna held a passive expression on the brink of bursting with laugher while Chocolate shamelessly dragged Thorax into singing to them and simultaneously introduced Equestria to the song his people used to prank each other.
Well, she liked the song too, which was a good thing because it was certain to be stuck in her head for days to come.
***
The walk through the small town let Twilight think in silence for a while and with each step a tense uneasiness grew in the back of her mind. She hadn’t liked at all Miss Gerdie’s reaction to learning that this Grigor guy might’ve been real and for some reason that unnerved Twilight more than learning the things Chrysalis had told her. Maybe they just seemed more real now?
A fleeting exchange of stares with Cadance told her that her sister-in-law definitively felt the same and that made Twilight even more nervous. There had to be something really bad in this whole affair for this nice old griffon lady to feel so upset at the idea that Emperor Grigor was real.
Like… Come on. Even if The Lion is dabbling in bad things related to him, he’s been dead for millennia.
Meanwhile Rainbow Dash flew overhead with a way too serious expression, looking every which way. Twilight knew that her pegasus instincts would alert her to anything out of the ordinary, and at least an ambush or anything of the sort would be very unlikely.
Well, it was already unlikely in the place they were, but anyways. This tension was getting to her head.
It was a brisk and silent walk through the small town to a secluded lodge by the fringe of the town, near the closest corn fields. Rustic wood walls, fixed glass windows and a single chimney in a thatch roof which clear color contrasted with the dark water-besmirched wood. It was old and looked like it hadn’t received much in the sense of maintenance in the outside, but it looked sturdy enough. They took little time to enter and Rainbow Dash quickly locked the door behind them. It seemed everypony had been infected by the griffon’s insecurity and the pegasus remained by the door, looking out the window. At least she was taking the bodyguard thing seriously.
Inside the lodge seemed to be in a much better state, with a nice and comfy siting room. The floor and walls gave a rustic atmosphere with its dark-gray wood planks and the thatch roof above. It had a simple dining table, a sofa, a chair, an empty stand and a couple of doors. A single window let in the day light and a fireplace by the chair was clean and flanked by a neatly stack of firewood. The floor had a simple brown rug, but they didn’t take long admiring the interior design of the small house.
It wasn’t a very ‘pony’ little house, but it was usable by a group of ponies and griffon looking to have a conversation in secrecy. It was probably used by whoever would keep watch over the fields by night. Or something… It made sense in Twilight’s head.
Miss Gerdie drew their attention sitting at the table when she produced a pair of briefcases from under the furniture, one large and the other not so much. She laid the things on the table and as soon as all had settled, she opened one and the other, then she turned both to them.
Twilight’s eyes almost bulged out of her head so wide she opened them while Cadance let out a very soft but impressed ‘wow’. Sunburst adjusted his glasses, staring with his jaw hanging and Miss Goodread’s blinked several times before she believed what she was seeing. Rainbow Dash stared from afar and failed to see what was so impressive.
“Well…” The griffon lady grinned proudly, forgetting the graveness of the situation. “I’m glad you appreciate it!”
The smaller one contained a letter, similar to Emperor Grigor’s letter, also preserved in crystal and apparently of the same material. The other case however, held a large rectangular and dark gray stone tablet with rounded edges and rustic wedge-shaped drawings of griffons, buildings and mountains framed by similar symbols in sequence, like writing all around its edges. The deep grooves made for shapes that survived time even if the tablet’s face seemed to be slowly smoothing itself out. Under the sunlight the material shone softly, and it allowed for clear identification of its markings, despite the damage time had caused.
A pony like Maud Pie might have been able to correctly identify the substance, but to the princesses and Sunburst it seemed to be a slab of diorite.
The thing exuded magic too. A strange magic, different from the harmonious pony magic or the pungent changeling magic the princesses and pegasus felt from the old scroll in the Changeling Rock. It was aggressive and it intimidated them for an instant before they remembered they were staring at a lifeless block of stone. It brought images of the sprawling deserts of eastern Griffonia. Twilight could practically taste the dry sand.
“These belong to the personal collection of the curator for the Grand Museum of Griffon History in Thunderpeak. I only managed to acquire them because I dropped a few names, explained the situation, and he is also my dear dad.” Gerdie’s grin grew even bigger. “The letter was directed at Emperor Grigor, but a certain detail has caused us to identify it as fictional, or simply false. The stone tablet is a fragment supposedly recovered from a lost city of great importance in the myth of Emperor Grigor.”
“This should be preserved with time magic! It can’t be in somepony’s private collection!” Twilight squawked a bit too loudly, gawking over the tablet. Not that she didn’t care for the letter, but that tablet was outstandingly special! “It belongs in a museum!”
Cadance agreed wholeheartedly, but before she could voice her opinion both princesses realized that these artifacts could never have been put in a museum. They were not supposed to exist. Not any more than their letter or the story Chrysalis had told them. She instead stared back at the griffon with her hooves on the table. “How did these reach your father? Our letter I found inside a vault for dangerous magical items!”
“Our family has a very peculiar tradition, Princess.” Showing them the things and talking about them seemed to make the griffon calmer. Even proud. “My great-great-grandparents claimed that we are the descendants of the Imperial Loremasters.”
“Oooh. Fancy title.” Sunburst grinned too.
“How come your family isn’t cool like that, Twilight?” Rainbow joked with a giggle, aggravating the princess and Cadance rolled her eyes with a smile and a dismissive huff that caused Twilight to giggle too.
“At least you both know your own family.”
“Indeed, it is fancy.” The griffon granted. “And if the whole story of Emperor Grigor is truer than we presently believe, I am inclined to credit them because if these are real, then they truly are something amazing! Now, do you happen to know something of griffons in pony lands at the time?”
“Yes!” Twilight and Cadance jumped excitedly.
The second let the first proceed. “Our letter from the emperor to King Sombra mentioned that a griffon army had been dispatched to Equestria because he thought that the sun going out of control was an act of war on the part of Equestria!”
She rubbed her chin for a second. “Under the command of one Blacktallon! Odd… Now that I think of it, it is not a griffon name.”
Cadance nodded silently and the griffon stared at them for an instant with a grin. “That is because his name was actually ‘Gorham Blacktallon’. It is very typical, even today, for griffons to take epithets like that, as in Chancelor Gail Silkfeathers or Lord Gilad Ironfeathers. Most importantly, the name checks out with the letter that I have.”
She raised a clawed finger professorially. “Even more important! We believed the letter to be nonhistorical because of the lack of evidence of a griffon invasion in Equestria’s mainland. After all, no griffon kingdom of the time would have the numbers to launch an overseas invasion. But, considering Emperor Grigor did exist and did form his empire…”
The two princesses gasped, and the griffon went on, delighted at their reaction. “You see, what I have here is a letter written by Gorham Blacktallon to Emperor Grigor during the occupation of Everfree, and it mentions Celestia.”
The two gasped again. Only louder.
***
When they were done with their song and dance both stallions bowed to their audience, particularly to their mares. The restaurant applauded excitedly, patrons, workers and the musicians too, yet in a dignified way and the three mares clapped their hooves together with happy grins.
When the two finally sat next to them, Celestia held Velvet’s hooves and her eyes sparkled with childish glee. “I loved this! You should have sung it to us sooner!”
He put a hoof on his puffed-up chest. “I wanted to save it for a special moment. I knew you would prefer to share it with our friends rather than selfishly keep it for ourselves. I figured Thorax could use the help.”
“More important than our marriage?” She grinned mischievously but he didn’t let that hamper him.
“Ah, our marriage was more special.”
“Don’t push your luck, Casanova…” Luna grinned mischievously at him too. “Not to mention that if I remember correctly, you were too speechless to sing in our honeymoon.”
“Well, I am just glad you both liked it!” He declared with more of his typical excitement.
On the other side of the table Chrysalis and Thorax held their hooves together and she stared at him with big dreamy eyes that almost scared them. Thorax, at least seemed to take it seriously with the way she talked. “Do you mean it? Everything?”
He stared back at her with the most serious and honest-to-heart expression the ponies could imagine in a changeling face, holding her hooves between his like he was afraid she might slip away. “Yes! I do!”
Celestia giggled looking back at Chocolate and her sister. “It worked! Great job, Velvet!”
While he chuckled rather childishly and rubbed the back of his neck, and Luna hoofed at his shoulder with a grin, one of the crystal pony maids approached their side of the table with a concerned expression, not stopping until she was close to the sun princess and spoke reservedly. Ponies never seemed to do this when the news were good.
“Princess. I am terribly sorry to disturb your highnesses, but Lieutenant Crucible Wings requests to see you immediately. Says it is urgent!”
“I will speak to him.” She told the mare and then turned to her sister and consort. “You stay here with those two.”
“Don’t worry, Celestia…” The queen looked back and rolled her eyes. “I am not going to jump on Thorax in the middle of the restaurant.”
The conversation resumed after Celestia giggled and left the restaurant to talk with her lieutenant and Luna scooted over closer to Chocolate with a smile full of ulterior motives and they talked for a while, leaving the queen and king to themselves. It didn’t take long, though and the crystal pony mare returned looking for the other princess and their consort.
Chrysalis and Thorax didn’t care, but the two retreated outside to the corridor where Celestia stood next to Crucible Wings and she didn’t look very happy. A couple of ponies came walking down the corridor, but once they saw the princesses and that their conversations seemed to be serious, they turned back.
Celestia spoke in a normal, but restrained voice for the place they were in. “A group of griffons assaulted Baltimare’s freight teleporter and hijacked the facility to teleport in an airship from an unlicensed teleporter. They injured the staff and left with their airship soon after Flying Snake left with his team and Ponyville’s militia.”
Luna choked on her words. Her mouth moved a few times before she managed to form a coherent sentence. “This is outrageous! Baltimare! This can’t be a coincidence! They are obviously trying to get involved in Twilight and Cadance’s quest! This alone could cost The Lion his appointment as a Majesty. They are interfering with… Oh my goodness. Should anyone even know enough to get involved?”
“It seems secrets grow harder to keep by the day in Equestria…” The older Sister kept calm despite Luna’s outburst. Then she frowned her ‘I’m deathly worried frown’ “Luna, I fear The Lion may be behind this.”
Chocolate Velvet frowned as the seriousness of the situation became obvious. “There was no way that you going to Ponyville, and that whole racket would remain secret for long, Celestia. But why do you suspect the lion?”
“Yes. It seems it was too much to ask.” She nodded, but his words gave her pause. “I have no evidence The Lion is involved. But I suspect he is. Especially with The Lion’s situation as the future king and things that Twilight and Cadance are bound to learn if they are not stopped. Especially with things he may already know, if his claim about his magic is real. Griffons probably ran to tell him as soon as their pony friends noticed something seemed odd. Ponyville’s situation distracted us. Now Twilight and Cadance are on the run and I don’t know how much he knows, but any amount is too much in the present situation.”
“The airship…” Crucible spoke. “The Locals said it was nothing like anything they’d ever seen. Entirely closed hull, fully metallic and heavily armored. Certainly not a pony design.”
“Yes… Thank you, Crucible.” Celestia nodded. “That helps… Not many nations are capable of building airships on their own and they typically use pony-built airships or convert seafaring vessels. Griffonia could build it, but not in secret, and not with the damage the schism has done to its economy. It doesn’t sound like the sort of airship that cargo haulage companies would acquire either.”
“We have an airship closely chasing Princess Twilight’s as we speak.” Crucible added. “A Royal Guard frigate from the Number 2 Canterlotian Garrison. Still a way from the ambush location near Baltimare. Most important, the griffon airship didn’t chase our mercenary friend. It left in an interception course towards Princess Twilight’s airship, and it’s flying fast. I suppose that adds to your highness’ concerns.”
Celestia sighed. “I hope I am wrong, though.”
“Where exactly is Twilight’s airship?” Luna asked.
“It’s flying around the region of Haybale, trying to lose the pursuing ship without much luck for hours.”
Hearing that, Celestia frowned and shook her head, then staring at them with her ears pulled back. “No. That doesn’t sound right. Twilight’s airship is much faster than any Royal Guard frigate and if she wanted to escape, she would simply fly away, or they would be boarded already. She is in the city, not the airship and they are wasting their time chasing a decoy they can’t seem to board already!”
“Who is the buffoon commanding the frigate?” Luna’s voice and pulled back ears betrayed her irritation.
The Sisters were getting angry. Someone was going to regret it soon and Chocolate decided it was best to remain quiet for now.
“It is one…” Crucible struggled with his memory for a while. “Tango. Frigate Captain Wild Tango.”
“I don’t recognize the name.” Celestia stared at Luna inquisitively, now with her ears perked up.
“You don’t know him because he is an idiot.” Luna looked like she had just eaten something spoiled. “He is one of those jerks that joined the Guard because they thought it would make them more attractive to the mares. He is in a never-ending power trip where he thinks that his position makes him the next King Sombra… And that mares find that attractive.”
Celestia took note of Luna’s fuming glare and flared wings. “Have you recently met him in a dream, or something?”
“I wish it had been a dream.” Luna fumed some more. “A couple of years ago, in the Grand Galloping Gala he approached me and assumed that a mare of my standing would appreciate unsolicited touching and dirty-talking! That is why he is commanding a frigate from a garrison in the middle of nowhere! He is lucky he is not there merely to clean the latrines! He must have managed to save some of his reputation after I came short of having him expelled from the Guard.”
To say that Luna was angry was an understatement as far as Chocolate had come to know The Sisters. “Do you want me to punch him?”
“Please do!” She raised her muzzle with a deep offended scowl. “It would greatly please me!”
Try as she might, given the seriousness of the situation, Celestia just couldn’t keep from giggling before she recovered control of her herself and Luna returned to a calmer temper.
“We must deal with these griffons!” The blue one concluded. “We should depart immediately, Celestia.”
“No.” The other shook her head. “We’re trying to bridge a gap between us. We can’t get officially involved with whatever they are trying to do. Especially if Twilight and Cadance eventually manage to show the public some of the things they are looking for.”
Luna’s eyebrow rose. “I do believe that deploying an airship through violent hijacking of a teleporter facility could be considered an act of war…”
“I don’t know what is going on in Gilad’s head, Luna… But if we are not careful with our response, we risk escalation.” Celestia’s head shook softly. “He doesn’t know we just sent Discord to talk to him and if we act too brashly, he’ll assume that Discord is a decoy and part of an aggressive reaction to his own action. Not to mention the problems we are facing with the money laundering involving Ponyville’s militia, Chrysalis’ children and Twilight and Cadance on the loose. The timing couldn’t have been worse.”
Luna’s hoof rubbed her chin and she stared thoughtfully. “Hum… I suppose that is why you are ruling Equestria and I am not… Fine. What is your plan, then?”
In a display of something that wasn’t a very common sight, Celestia sighed and her ears fell to the sides of her head when she looked at Chocolate Velvet. She didn’t have to say a word. He knew what she was going to ask and memories of Ponyville flooded his head.
He didn’t have to say a word either. He didn’t even need to know if she knew about the letter and he could see the apprehension in her posture. The concerned eyes. The slightly sagging wings. The hanging ears. He knew what she was going to ask, and he knew she feared asking it.
Maybe it was a silly thing, but she knew it was important to him. Well, he knew what was more important to him. “What do you need me to do, Celestia?”
She took a step towards him lifting her wings just a bit, still with that look in her eyes. “We need to talk. Alone. There are a few secrets you must be made privy to for this to work.”
“So, uh…” Crucible was a little confused and nodded to the door. “I should go?”
“For now, yes.” Luna joined them, following after Celestia’s lead, even if she didn’t entirely know where it went. “Tell Chrysalis and Thorax that we will rejoin them soon.”
“We must act quickly this time.” Celestia told the armor-clad pony. “While Chocolate is away on his mission, Luna and I will gain him some time ‘investigating’ the situation in Baltimare. Chrysalis is to remain here with Thorax and her Praetorians. Ask her nicely, she is in a good mood. It is also of the utmost importance that Discord’s mission isn’t disturbed, therefore The Lion must think that Chocolate Velvet will be going to Haybale seeking to apprehend Twilight and Cadance and that we still haven’t reacted to his airship.”
Celestia thought for a second, frowning softly. “Relay to all Royal Guard outposts that the griffon airship is not to be disturbed for now unless they pose a threat.”
Luna nodded her agreement and, finally Celestia took a second before she spoke again to the pegasus. “There are some complicated things we must do and talk about. Give us a couple of hours and then look for us in our quarters. You will go with us to Baltimare after Chocolate has departed.”
There was only one thing one could answer when Celestia spoke to you that way. “Yes, your highness.”