//------------------------------//
// Chapter Twenty-Five – Griffonstone Welcomes You, Now Get Out 
// Story: An Alien Walks Amongst Us 
// by Hazardus_Havard 
//------------------------------//

“I was expecting… more.” Bon Bon looked around outside the trashed building that was the train station.

“Where exactly are we supposed to go from here?” Anon asked, not seeing much in their vicinity. “This doesn’t look like much of a town.”

“You can’t call this one station a town, Anon,” Bon Bon pointed out, making a show to look at the rundown area.

“From what Princess Celestia said, we’re supposed to head to an area that has a large tree.” Lyra looked around, pointing up at the sky, “Somewhere up there. It’s reported that the griffons congregate there.”

“Of course the griffon’s had to live in a tree, up at the tallest place,” Anon said with a groan. 

“It’s not so bad,” Bon Bon said, strapping her pack on. “It’ll be fun going up there I bet.”

“Easy for you to say, you have hooves. I’m stuck with my human feet.”

“At least we have a clear path to our destination,” Lyra said, tightening her straps. She started forward in the lead as the other two followed.

“I swear if it’s seven thousand steps up there I’m going to lose my mind,” Anon muttered, kicking a rock in his path.

Lyra looked nervous. “It’s actually around… triple that?” She hovered a book out of her as Anon let out a loud moan of annoyance. “Yeah, it’s about twenty thousand or so steps.”

“How would you even get a book for that?” Bon Bon asked just as they started up the slope.

“I got it from Twilight. When I went looking for info about where I’d be going the library seemed to the best place to start at. She tried giving me a dozen books on their history and other miscellaneous junk but after profusely explaining I wouldn’t be able to take them all, and only wanting current knowledge as I’m already well versed in their history, she quickly went about writing a quick summary of the griffons as fast as she could for me. She still managed a good chunk of info here, but it’s all over the place.”

“Was there anything we should know beforehand?” Anon asked, kicking more rocks in his path to the side. “Like why this place looks like it hasn’t had anyone near it in years?”

“Unfortunately, no,” Lyra said with a frown. “Even Twilight had little on them. There’s just no recent info on them, only tidbits on a few select things that don’t matter. All I have to work with is a generalization on their history, as griffons aren’t ones to open up about themselves outside their lands.”

“Oh?”

Lyra hummed, “They had once been as greedy as dragons when the three pony tribes had just started to be united. It wasn’t until a king of theirs had united them under some odd relic of theirs that they started to come together. It was an important griffon artifact though I didn’t get a name for it. Other than the griffon’s bit of cultural oddities and some really old history on their people, there isn’t much else that I could think would be very reliable to help us on our trip for recent up to date information.”

Rounding a bend, Anon pursed his lips, looking at what appeared to be a deep gorge to their side. He made sure to pay special attention, not wanting a bad spill down that hole. “You don’t find it odd that there hasn’t been any recent information on them?”

The minty pony harrumphed, “Of course I do. But we haven’t had a whole lot of contact with their kingdom in a long while. As I said, they’re not open to others and keep to themselves. Even the ambassadors that come out don’t share too much inside the country, though there are hints that they’ve been trying to fix their infrastructure and keeping it quiet.”

Anon hummed, rubbing his chin. “So a blackout on all information, and we are coincidentally going at just the right time when all the other countries are now opening up. How much you want to bet we have to take down some baddie that’s making this all happen.”

Lyra didn’t find his words appealing, “Please don’t jinx us, Anon. .You’re putting bad juju on our trip just as we’re staring.”

Bon Bon started, “You’d think Twilight would have found something that could help us out on this, what with her being an apprentice to the princess herself.”

“Tell me about it,” Lyra agreed. “I am glad I didn’t push too much with her trying to get info for us.”

“Did she have one of her spells again?” Bon Bon asked, turning slightly to Lyra as she continued to walk.

“Pretty much. The moment I bring up that we’re headed to the griffon capital, she starts to pack up and practically demanded she comes along.”

“Seriously?” Anon was surprised to hear that. “Seems odd for her to just want to drop things and go with you on a trip.”

“If there’s one thing that mare’s all about, it’s learning something new, and what’s more new than going to a place where ponies haven’t been to in some time? She was totally ready to go until, out of nowhere, the princess ordered her that she stay in Ponyville. I didn’t get why, but I did hear that Princess Celestia is preparing her for something.”

“Joy, something fun to encounter when we return. Maybe the princess even has us leaving to keep us out of the way for whatever she has planned for Twilight.”

“Anon, if the princess wanted us to not interfere with things all she had to do was ask.”

“I was thinking more along the lines of the narrative keeping us out of things than her doing it intentionally.”

“Oh, that,” Bon Bon huffed. “Probably best that we left then.”

“True, true.”

Lyra, immediately stopping, let out an audible gasp before flaring up her horn and digging through her pack. Out came an old fashioned camera that looked par for the eighty’s. “I almost forgot! Stay still, everyone!” Levitating the camera forward, she gave a large grin before snapping an image, blinding the other two, unprepared for the visual attack.

“Darn it, Lyra!” Bon Bon said, rubbing her eyes. 

“What? Did you expect me not to take any pictures on our first adventure together!”

“First willing trip, you mean?” Anon corrected, blinking his eyes clear.

The unicorn ignored him, flapping the picture in the air that was spewed from the camera. Looking at it, she curled her lips at the other two in the image. Lyra sighed before putting it away, vowing to get it right next time. 

‘Darn them and their totally un-photogenic selves!' her inner-voice cried.

‘I swear that we’ll get them next time, no need to worry.’

‘You better! We need to have an awesome scrapbook that we can share with all our adoring fans in the future!’

‘It will take time, but rest assured I will get them, no matter how difficult a task it may be.’

“Why is Lyra waving a hoof in the air and nodding her head like that?” Anon asked.

The two of them watched said mare bobbling her head about as she mumbled incomprehensible words to herself. “It’s nothing, she’s just talking to herself again,” Bon Bon answered. “The better question is how are you only noticing this now of her?”

“You mean with every little thing that I could point out being in character to the Lyra we know, I’m supposed to notice this one thing out of a hundred?”

“…Fair point.”

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It had taken the three several hours trekking along the perilous path to reach Griffonstone. It was an oddly quiet trip for Anon, notwithstanding Lyra’s random bouts of picture taking. He had half expected some random event to crop up sometime during their walk to the griffon town, as was common for him in his new life of pony adventures. He knew it would come eventually.

Reaching the end of their trail, the three of them stood side-by-side, staring at their destination.

Anon spoke first, “This can’t be the place.”

It was a massive dump. Decrepit buildings littered the supposed capital as hay blew over in the wind every which way. Various pieces of trash could be seen spewed about the place. Not a single griffon there seemed to care about the state of their town as they appeared keener on bickering at one another. A town full of frowning faces was what had awaited them.

“Maybe we got dropped off at the wrong station?” Bon Bon asked, dumbfounded at where they were.

Lyra merely shook her head, “That was the only stop to the griffon lands. The train rounds about further down the tracks and heads back to our lands. This is the right place, it’s just in shambles.” Taking a quick picture of the scene, Lyra deposited her camera back into her pack, turning to the other two. “We should head directly to their castle to see about introductions with the king.”

“Where’s that?” Anon asked. Lyra pointed directly up. Looking, Anon saw a massive tree that soared into the sky. It was hard to see anything so high up, but he could make out dwellings in some of the branches, along with a very tall structure near the top of it. “All the way up there?”

“Eeeeyup,” Lyra answered, looking up herself.

“…Can we not go up there? We could try asking the locals more about the place first.” Anon did not like how high up the place looked, wanting to put off going there.

“I think we should try the more direct route first Anon,” Lyra said, walking toward the base of the tree.

“How do we even get up this tree?” Bon Bon asked, looking at either side of it. “I don’t see any kind of built-in steps leading us up.”

“Perhaps a pulley system?” Anon suggested.

Looking at a passing griffon, Bon Bon turned to him. He glared at her, clearly not wanting to be bothered. “What do you want?”

Bon Bon, slightly taken back, pushed on, “I was hoping you could help us.”

“What’s in it for me?”

The candy mare wasn’t sure how to take this. “Ehr, um… what—”

“If there’s nothing in it for me I don’t see why I should be wasting my time with you.” And with that, he stomped off away from the pony.

Blinking, she turned to the others, unsure about what had just happened. “What was that about? That’s even gruffer than I’m used to for a griffon.”

“That was very odd,” said Lyra, walking to her friend. “It’s as if they regressed to who they were before uniting.”

“Into jerks?”

“Yeah.”

“There has to be some way to get up to their stupid castle of theirs,” Anon said, walking straight up to the tree, brushing a hand against the bark. “I doubt the only way to get up there would be to fly.” The three of them stared at the tree in thought. “Maybe there’s something built into the tree itself?”

“Like a room dug into it that lets beings up and down?” Bon Bon added, tapping the wood. “We could walk around the base and see. Maybe there’d even be a griffon willing to help us somehow.”

Walking right, they kept as close to the tree as possible, watching for anything that could let them up the tree either in or outside of it. There were plenty of griffons about, giving their group looks as they went about whatever business they had. They had attempted to ask a few close walking griffons for help, but like before they held a snobby attitude, unwilling to help as they flittered away from them. 

It wouldn’t take long for them to reach one end of the base, being forced to a stop. “It just ends here,” Bon Bon said, looking at the large drop that was a mere body length away. “Guess we have to turn around and try the other way.”

“Shouldn’t Twilight have written down something about this?” Anon asked as they walked alongside the base once more.

“I’ve checked my papers already on this and there doesn’t seem to be anything.” Lyra hummed, taking a moment in thought. “Now that I think about it, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a pegasi transport for them to go directly to the castle. Maybe they just didn’t see a reason to mention something like that.”

“You should make a note of this for any future trips people have to this town,” Anon said, watching a pair of griffons bickering to one another. “I don’t even understand why there isn’t any info on any of this before we came here.”

Walking around to the other side of the base took much longer than they had thought. The thing was central to the entirety of Griffonstone, and as such, they had to walk around a few houses and crowds to continue. They were constantly treated with leers from the griffons or the cold-shoulder wherever they went. It was draining on the three, not seeing a single friendly face.

“This seems promising,” Bon Bon spoke up, looking at something at the base of the tree. 

Indeed it seemed that there was a large hole built right inside. Walking up to it, the three saw a long, massive chamber that once looked like it was a great communal, now worn down from the elements and neglect. Ladders and rope could be seen lying against the walls, and looking directly up they could see more ropes and ladders. In the midst of this, a large griffon in the back carved out something in wood. He looked their direction, letting out a grumble before putting his work down.t

“What suppose two ponies and their tamed beast want coming here?”

“He’s not a beast,” Lyra spoke up. “He’s a human.”

“Bah, what’s it matter? Now speak up or get lost, I got my work to tend to.”

Lyra, deciding the friendly approach would be for the best, let out a cough before a smile could be seen on her. “My name is Lyra,” she said, offering a hoof. The griffon stared at it, then at her with aloofness. Her smile strained on her, placing her hoof down. “I’m from Equestria and I require help to get to the castle up above.”

The griffon stared at her for a few seconds before huffing out. “Name’s Gilligan.” He looked at the others, then at Lyra. “It was a mistake for you to come here.”

“I’m sorry?”

“The griffons here, we’re not exactly friendly on many matters nowadays. You’re lucky to not get a look from just breathing the same air as one of us.” 

“I don’t understand why everyone’s acting like this,” Bon Bon said with a frown. “Even the griffons back home weren’t such jerks.”

“It wasn’t always like this. Oh sure, we’re nearly as greedy as those overgrown lizards and our pride is hard to outmatch. But we used to have something to care for, to be united with.” He paused, looking out at the entrance. “It’s like a gluttonous miasma we produce affecting ourselves, making us greedier and arrogant that spews out from the seams when we don’t have something to tie us all together.”

Gilligan shook his head, scratching at his beak. “I’ve no reason to speak of my woes to you lot. What was the reason for your coming?”

“…We need to go to the castle up above,” Lyra said, just wanting to move on.

“Ah, you want to climb up there?” He scratched his beak in thought. “I can lend you a ladder. But, ehrm… how much can you offer me?”

“You want us to pay you to go up there?” Bon Bon asked.

“Hay, of course, it’s not free! I have to build all these things myself and you want me to just offer my services without charge? Downright rude, really!”

“Fine, how much for your services?” Lyra asked.

Gilligan gave it some thought, still scratching his beak. “Well, you look up there and see? You see all of those ladders and ropes and platforms up there?” They all looked up, indeed seeing them. “I can offer you different ladders. The first is simple and will get you to that first ledge, but you’ll have to get up the rest on your own. Five bits.”

“That’s a short distance to travel up, just for us to try and climb up the rocks the rest of the way,” Anon said, seeing that ladder being pointless. “We need more.”

“I s’pose the second could work. It’ll take you almost halfway up to that ledge up there,” Gilligan said, pointing to a ledge with a torch on it. “That’s thirty-five bits.”

“Do you have anything that leads us directly to the top?” Bon Bon asked, wanting to get straight there.

“Ah, I do, but that’s my personal system. See, this room used to be a pulley room to lift but I outfitted with ladders I build in my spare time once that thing went out from disuse. I have a room directly up there, and I won’t even charge going down. But that’ll be a hundred plus twenty bits.”

“…And it leads all the way there?”

“Of course.”

“Guess we have no choice,” Lyra said, pulling out the bits and giving them to the outreached claws of the laddersmith. 

Standing up, he walks over to a wall and smacks it. Sounds could be heard, activating whatever mechanism was in place before sliding it out of the way. As soon as the dust settled, Gilligan walked back to his spot on the ground, motioning at the room. “Go on ahead.”

Looking at one another, they slowly made their way to the room. Inside they could see a well-made ladder, better kept than the others in the previous room. Up above were ledges that had similar ladders, encircling straight to the top.

“Let’s get a move on,” Lyra said, 

Anon took the lead, making sure that his pack was strapped tight to his back before slowly making his way up the ladder. Once he got to the top, he looked down at the other two, standing now on top of a built-in platform made of rock. 

“It seems safe enough; just need to take turns to make sure we have enough room on each platform.”

“Coming up then!” Lyra said. She awkwardly grabbed the ladder, walking up to each rung with a clacking of her hooves. 

Nodding to them, Anon started up the next ladder, only slightly off to the side of the previous one. He made sure to take his time, not wanting any mistakes from falling from the height they were traversing. Anon didn’t like the idea that he was currently climbing up such a large tree with nothing to prevent him from falling. 

After the second ladder, he paused, hearing a whistle down below him. Looking down, he could see the two smiling and laughing at something, pointing up at him. 

“What is it?” he asked.

“Nothing!” Lyra replied. “Just enjoying the view from here!”

“Enjoying the—” He gave the two an unamused look, something that only made them laugh louder. “Can we be a little serious here?”

“The only thing serious here are those buns! Have you been working out?” Anon ignored Bon Bon, moving faster up the ladder.

It was a long, agonizing trip for Anon having to listen to the two catcalling him the entire way. Lyra wouldn’t stop trying to get him to hold still on a ladder to take pictures, of which he would have to figure out how to destroy later on down the line. 

Having finally gotten to the top, he ignored the snickering ponies, moving forward toward what he had to assume was the castle. It was quite impressed with how the griffons managed to build something that large on only a tree. Sadly, the place looked like no one had been in it for quite some time.

“What a dump,” said Bon Bon, not looking impressed at all. “The king lives in a place like this?”

“It would surely reflect how the griffons down below act,” Lyra said, walking up to the door. “So weird, there are no guards here.” She banged on the door, hoping to get someone to come out. 

Ten minutes passed with Lyra knocking on the door every so often. It was clear no one wanted to open the door for her.

“Why are they ignoring me?” Lyra huffed, lighting her horn up. “I’ll just open the door myself!” The moment she tried opening the door, it falls inward, slamming into the ground with a resounding smack. “…Oops?”

“This place is just falling apart,” Bon Bon said, walking forward into the castle. “It doesn’t even look like anyone’s been in here for ages.”

“What are you three doing?” a loud voice spoke up, making the three jump. They turned around, seeing an old looking griffon, peering into the castle, then at them. “Trying to wreck the place up, eh? We get enough hooligans trashing the place down below, so now you want to come up here to do more damage?”

“We’re not here to do anything of the sort!” Lyra jumped away from the door, looking worried. “The door just… fell on its own!”

The griffon glared at the three, swirling a tongue around in his beak. “Why you three even up here in the first place if not to vandalize the place?”

“We need to talk to the king,” Anon said. “So why wouldn’t we go here to his residence?”

A sputtering came out of the griffon, sounding like a hoarse laugh. “You came up here for the king of all things?!” 

The three looked surprised hearing that. “What do you mean by that?” Lyra asked, not liking where this was going.

“There’s no king here! We haven’t had a king in ages living in this castle!” More of the strange laughter came from the ancient griffon. “And you three just came up here wanting an audience with the king?!”

“Gandervalt, what ya talking to these strangers for?” another old griffon asked, flying up to them.

“They… They wanted to have an audience with the king!”

“What? Why would they come here then? Aren’t they aware there’s no king here?”

“Apparently not! Coming to this town, climbing this tree, all to see an empty throne!”

The two started laughing even harder, having difficulty staying up in the air. 

Lyra was shocked to hear this. “…No king?”

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“He could have told us there was no king up there!” Bon Bon said angrily. “We wasted a huge chunk of our time, AND bits, over nothing!”

“We really should have asked him about it before going up,” Lyra said, though it was clear she was equally frustrated.

“To be fair, how would we have known to even ask that question?” Anon motioned. “‘Hey, just curious if you could tell us if the king lived in his own castle?’ Doesn’t make much sense.” The other two grumbled at that. “So we just need to find where the king is currently in this town. We could try to ask Gilligan if he knows anything.”

“Gilligan can suck marbles for all I care; I don’t want anything to do with the guy.” Bon Bon was a very mad pony.

Anon coughed in his fist, “Okay, do you have any associates yourself in this town from your organization?”

“No, if I did they’d have told me to avoid the tree. Stupid tree, stupid Gilligan.”

“Fine, let’s just walk around and see if there’s anyone that won’t ignore us directly can help us.”

Nodding in agreement, the three of them made their way down the unkempt street. Most of the griffons seemed to ignore the group, with a few sneering in their direction. A scant few looked interested in them yet shied away from the presence of the strange creature in tow of the two ponies.

Having passed several blocks, Lyra was starting to get fed up with the looks directed their way. Seeing a griffon walking down the road, not having noticed them, she decided enough was enough and took action, changing her path to meet the griffon directly. Noticing the unicorn headed her way, the griffon slowed to a stop, examining the strange group that walked their lands.

“What is it you want stranger?” the griffon snapped in a rough voice. She winced back, seeing what appeared to be a new species narrow its eyes at her.

Lyra, ignoring the behavior, approached with a smile, “We’re new to the lands and seem to be a bit… lost.”

“More confused than anything,” Bon Bon muttered just loud enough for them to hear. 

The unicorn forced a laugh out, “Yes, that’s a more apt description! I was hoping you could answer a few questions for us.”

The griffon, staring at the group, sensed an opportunity here. “You got any bits?”

Lyra merely blinked at her. “Excuse me?”

“Bits. For answers.” Lyra continued looking confused. “You don’t expect me to waste my time with you lot without any compensation?”

Seeing her friend wasn’t sure how to respond, and not wanting to see her do so in her typical manner, especially what happened with Gilligan, Bon Bon stepped forward. “How much are you asking?”

“Five bits,” the griffon responded immediately.

“Three bits,” Bon Bon countered.

The griffon narrowed her eyes. “It’s nonnegotiable.”

Bon Bon lifted an eyebrow, “I’m certain we can take our business elsewhere to some other griffon that is willing to answer a few questions for some easy bits.”

A flash of a snarl could be seen on the griffon before she recomposed herself. “Fine… What are your questions?”

Lyra, looking briefly at her friend, turned to the griffon. “I’ve wanted to know this since arriving but why is Griffonstone in such a mess? I was expecting a busy city full of trade and griffon culture, not… this.”

A clawed appendage appeared, with three bits dropped into them. “I don’t know what you mean by trade or culture, but I’ve lived here my whole life and it’s always been like this. No one in this town cares if it’s like this, so who would clean it up? It’s every griffon for themselves here.”

“O-Oh. Well then… I guess I should get straight to the point. Do you know where we can see the king? We can’t seem to locate him for some odd reason.”

Depositing another three bits, the griffon huffed, placing the bits behind her wing, “We don’t have a king here.”

“No, we already know that the king isn’t in his castle. We just want to know where.”

“No, I mean there isn’t a king at all in Griffonstone.”

“…What?”

Her claw came out once more, three more bits dropped into them. “I repeat, we have no king here.” Lyra frowned at her. “You asked what,” the griffon said with a smirk.

“How exactly do you do anything around without one?”

“We’ve been fine by ourselves here,” the griffon answered, placing another three bits under her wing, “haven’t needed a ruler in a long while and don’t want one. “All for one and one for me” is the motto ‘round these parts. All a ruler around here would do is force taxes or some other nonsense. Who wants that?”

Anon hummed, “The place is a dump. No one seems happy and there’s no commerce going on to provide anything. Feels like the slums in a third world country.”

“And that’s home to us.”

At a loss on what to do, Lyra pulled out the letter holding some of the things that the princess had mentioned to her. “Is there anything we can do to help here?”

Another three bits passed to the griffon. She inhaled a large amount of air, unleashing it all in one blast, “NO!” The griffon immediately left, leaving a perturbed Lyra sitting on the ground.

Watching the griffon walk away in a huff, Anon and Bon Bon walked up to Lyra. “A bit ruder than I thought was necessary” Anon muttered.

Lyra rubbed her head before standing up, shaking the dirt off her rump, “Twilight had mentioned I should bring bits with me on this trip of ours, something about the griffons being willing to help as long as I “shared the wealth” with them. I wasn’t sure what she meant by that but it’s starting to become clear the griffons around here may have reverted to how they used to.”

Bon Bon frowned, “Should we head back to Equestria? I’m not sure what much we can do here if there’s no king or any way for us to do anything.”

Lyra frowned, shaking her head. “I’m not giving up on my first assignment on the job.” She harrumphed, looking around before slowly walking down the street. “We’ll look for the library located in this town. At least there we’ll be able to find out something about this town.”

“I hope they don’t make us pay a fee,” Anon said.

“I’ll pay any fee needed to get my job done! And once I check off the things I’m needed for, I’m going to go back to Equestria proud of my work with a very large smile for a job well done!”

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Lyra had a very large frown on her face. “You’ve GOT to be kidding me!”

They were currently standing in front of a ruined building that was supposed to be the library for the town. Books laid in tatters on the ground with shelves tilted, spewing their contents out. 

“Are you sure this is the library?” Anon asked, kicking a shredded book by him. 

“Twilight told me to look for the statue of their founding king, which is right there,” Lyra gruffly said, pointing to a statue that looked ready to keel over.

“How can this be the library?” Bon Bon asked, poking through some of the books on a destroyed shelf. “Could this have happened recently? A lot of the books seem to be in good condition, ignoring the ripped pages out of them.”

“Preservation runes,” Lyra answered, ears turned down and looking through the books. “These are some really old books to have them, probably two hundred years old from what I’m seeing in their designs. So long as someone doesn’t intentionally rip up the books, these things should hold through just about anything, even being left out in the rain. Some good work here.”

With a sigh, Lyra dropped the book she was reading. “There isn’t anything here I can see helping us with our situation. I don’t see any of the griffons wanting to aid us, not with how they’ve been acting, and I don’t know if I can do anything without any kind of authority in place.”

“Why can’t you do your job without their king?” Bon Bon asked.

“A Kommunelegatusionists is a pseudo-ambassador that has more privileges than one would normally have and is sent around to different destinations as they're needed. But with the griffon’s saying they’re kingless, I can’t establish myself and get started on anything the princess wanted.”

Bon Bon shook her head, walking over to Lyra. “This doesn’t make any sense. I know there’s an ambassador that works for the rulers here, my dad has mentioned him a few times.”

"I've had a few reports dealing with that ambassador. He's not allowed to share information involved with the griffons, nothing that the princess doesn't allow anyway."

“You're sure they have a king?" Lyra nodded her head. "How is that possible?” Anon asked, rubbing his chin. “Maybe they have a different form of government now and the ambassador has to keep it quiet?”

“The griffon could have been lying, saying they had no king here.”

“What reason would she have to lie to us?”

“She’s a greedy little snot, what more reason do you need?”

An exaggerated sigh from Lyra directed the two to her, “I don’t know what’s going on but I’m going to bring it up with whoever is actually in charge.” Looking up, she could notice the sun starting to vanish over the peaks of the mountains. “We’ll figure something out tomorrow but for now we need to find a place to rest for the night.”

“They’re going to overcharge us heavily aren’t they?” Anon spoke up as they departed the dilapidated library.

“Most likely,” the two ponies spoke in unison.

Having walked around a few blocks and quite a few bits lighter from some simple directions, they stood outside a building that had seen better days. Most of the windows were boarded up to the point where no one could see anything in the building. A large, heavy door was bolted at the entrance, menacing swirls of brass embedded into it forming what should have looked like a griffon toasting with a goblet, now a demon clawing out to the sky. Dimly lighting the entrance was a lantern held in place by a hook right above the sign announcing the building: The Golden Egg.

“Doesn’t this place look inviting,” Bon Bon dryly said, walking in the front entrance with the other two following close behind.

Once in, the three of them looked at the dingy establishment. Worn down chairs and tables could be seen in plenty, all dusty and empty. The room was lightly lit from the fire of the far wall, the crackling the only thing being heard. A sole griffin, large and imposing, stood at the bar eyeing the group that came in. 

“What is it you threes want?” the griffon asked the group as they walked up to him.

“We’d like a room for the night?”

The griffon let what sounded like a low growl out of its clamped beak. Leaning under the bar, he grabbed for something before slamming a key down. “Hundred bits.”

Anon looked appalled hearing that. “That’s pretty steep for a room for the night.”

“You’re welcome to go elsewhere,” the griffon graveled out, pointing to the door.

“What does the room come with?” Bon Bon asked unhappily, digging out the bits from her coat pocket.

“A place to sleep and to keep prying eyes off your bits,” the griffon huffed out. “If that’s not good enough for you then beat it.”

“We’ll also need a meal for the night,” Lyra said with a small smile.

“Meal cost extra,” the innkeeper squarely replied.

Lyra didn’t look amused. “I’m pretty sure I saw the seal of King Grapper beside your sign. You are required by your laws to provide us with a secure room, proper bedding, AND a meal for all of us.”

The griffon looked like he chewed down a bucket of lemons, staring at the group with a glower. 

“On top of that,” Lyra continued, “I’m quite certain we’re also paying for the above standard dwellings pricing, last I checked.”

Clamping his beak shut in anger, he let out a low growl, “What. Do. You. Want?”

“I won’t ask for much: We need to be woken up two hours after the crow along with a map of the place. I might have some questions to ask you in the morning before we leave as well.”

The innkeeper stared at Lyra for a moment before bending down and looking at his papers before coming back up with a dusty article. He blew on it, wiping off the accumulated particles before handing it over to Lyra. “That all?”

“That should do for now,” Lyra answered, taking both the map and key before making their way to the stairwell to their room. 

Just as they were to leave, the griffon called out to them, “Hold up a second there.” He looked at the three for a few seconds to memorize their faces. “Just who are you three coming in here? We don’t get much in the ways of ponies and… whatever hole you come from stranger.”

Before Anon could reply to the comment Lyra spoke up, “Us? Nothing much, just a komlas going out on an errand of her princess.” The griffon frowned as he watched Lyra walk away with her head held high.

Once up the stairwell, Lyra looked at the key, noting the number six on it and heading directly to the room with the same number. Once inside the room, Lyra threw her pack to the side before letting out her held breath, smiling to herself. “I totally got that darn griffon!” she said, pumping a hoof to herself.

“Cheering like that isn’t so awesome,” Bon Bon pointed out, making Lyra sag.

“Why do we need that other map anyways?” Anon asked.

“To see if anything has changed or if we have any faulty information,” Lyra answered. “These inns are required to have up-to-date maps normally for purchase.” Walking to the bed, she flopped on it beside Bon Bon who was trying to get comfortable on the stiff-looking mattress.

“There’s only one bed,” Anon complained.

“Be lucky there’s even a bed and not a nest,” Bon Bon said. Lyra lightly tapped her on the shoulder, her eyes narrowed as she shook her head. “What? Birds have nests, it’s a fact.”

“Don’t say that around the griffons or you’ll get more than a bop.”

Anon, now sitting on the bed popped his neck before turning at the other two. Bon Bon, trying to fluff a pillow, looked a little more than haggard though she tried to hide it. Lyra made no effort to do so, lying on her back, legs flopped on either side of her as she lightly groaned looking through the map lazily.

“I think we did some good work here today,” Anon said, trying to keep spirits up.

“What work?” Lyra mumbled. “We don’t have a single thing to report back to the princess other than the griffon’s being a bunch of snot heads—”

“Something I’m sure she already knows,” Bon Bon spat out.

Lyra nodded in agreement, “And I still have no idea how they’re running as a country! Where is their king? They can’t just run without a ruler, not the griffons. I know they have someone leading them, I just need to figure out where he is and start my work.”

“And that’s still some good headway. We’ll be better prepared to take on the day’s events tomorrow with what we’ve learned today.” Leaning back on his arms, Anon directed the conversation elsewhere, “Just what was that back with the innkeeper there? That seal nonsense?”

Tilting her horned head at Anon to look at him, she replied, “As a Kommunelegatusionist, I need to know about the laws of the places I could be sent to. So that seal nonsense was just me pushing the guy to obey his laws. The princess has all the up-to-date laws on every country sent to me to memorize so I’m able to understand how to operate.”

“Or get your way it seems.”

Bon Bon nodded, “You’d be hard-pressed to find another pony as knowledgeable as her when it comes to other species and kingdom laws.” Lyra smiled hearing that.

“So if the princess knows about the laws, why wouldn’t she know about what’s going on and tell you about it? And just to add to that, why are we here anyway?” Anon asked.

“That’s pretty easy to answer,” Lyra answered, rolling back on her stomach. “My main job is to gather what info they know about the passages and chum up to the ruler, establish myself if you will. Additional objectives include looking around the kingdom for anything to report back on and checking in on the ambassador, though if there’s anything I should respond to that is important I’m allowed the leeway.

“As for why we don’t know about what’s going on, the griffons have made it a point to seclude themselves from everything. Nothing of interest comes from these lands, so why would these things be talked about or shared? “ Lyra grimaced, straining out a groan. “The princess… may have also signed an incredibly and miraculously stupid deal with the griffons fifty years back that involved keeping their nations from interacting with one another, with their only main point of contact being between ambassadors.”

“Let me guess, the deal just so happened to end just as we’re arriving in these lands?”

Lyra blinked, “Wow, that’s exactly what happened!” Anon slapped himself in the forehead. "They ended only a few months back, so ponies are slowly trying to see what there is in the form of trade or travel here. Princess wants to know how it is on the ground level, so I'm checking in on that. Not liking what I'm seeing so far."

“I don't understand why wouldn’t they just kick you out or regarding whatever is going on that we are no doubt in the dark about.”

“So long as it doesn’t involve something truly heinous, I'm allowed to do as I please without them being able to kick me out. It’s like that with the other Kommunelegatusionists; they’re allowed leeway to do as they please, within reason. Still need to follow their laws and certain decorum for each nation, of course. Too bad for the griffons they don’t have one at the moment, but with the passages open and other komla’s going around, that should change soon. Even the yaks are getting in on this.”

Anon settled down, letting out a long-winded sigh. “Okay, fine. I will suspend my sense of disbelief to allow this nonsense.” Lyra gave him a large smile. “So, why don’t the griffons have their own komlas? Seems like a good position to insert a person and interject whatever actions you want to be done in another kingdom without too much reprisal.”

Lyra sighed, looking at the two maps back and forth. “The griffons wanted to keep to their own a good while back, discontinuing certain programs and titles which included the komlas in the process. The princess agreed to such things which meant any previous komlas would be kept in our kingdom. For a while, the komlas was an empty title to hold as it was agreed the kingdoms would keep them in their borders. Now, with the passages cleared, Princess Celestia wants to have a return of the treaties, including the Kommunelegatusionist position. She still has the idea of trying to connect our peoples.”

Anon hummed, thinking about the information. The princess would like her “friendship” ideals to spread. The komlas were likely created as a way for the princess to help push the locals into being more friendly and welcoming towards other species on a much more personal level without her involvement.

“It seems like a really strong position to have,” said Anon. “Why would the other kingdoms discontinue that?”

“You already know the passages blocked the other kingdoms out, so we have no idea what happened with them. Minotaurs were and are still a bunch of roving clans. A komlas from them would need to be from the leading clan, and even back then the clans didn’t get along, not wanting to share that top spot with the others. They were always fighting for which clan was on top. It wasn’t a surprise for their komlas to be completely replaced when a new clan rose to the top. 

“Soon enough, they just outright rid of position instead of deal with the extra hassle. Griffons on the other hoof wanted to return to their isolationist ways several hundred years back. Removing the komlas pushed fifty years back seemed to signal all the other nations to do the same together, though once more that ended just recently.”

“It’s only due to the princes not wanting to push back that they returned to their old ways,” Bon Bon commented before sighing. “So much for trying to bridge our peoples together; I’m surprised the other kingdoms would keep such treaties around if it’s barely benefiting them.”

The unicorn folded up the map, not finding anything of note to help her with what she already knew. “Little known fact: The old treaties, the one that also involves the Kommunelegatusionist, was one of the few that the leaders, especially the princess, signed in blood.” Bon Bon looked at her friend in shock, not having known that. “The princess really wanted it to work out.”

A knock on the door came with Anon getting up for it. The innkeeper was standing outside with a covered platter. “Your meal,” he said, presenting it.

“Uh… thanks.” Anon grabbed the platter as the griffon brusquely walked away. Closing the door, he turned to the other two, opening the tray: it was hay. “Seriously!”

“Ooh, I could go for some hay,” Bon Bon said, grabbing the tray and jumping back on the bed. The two started to chew on it, humming to themselves. “Not bad, though it has a slight staleness to it. Still, it’s good quality. I’m surprised he had this here.”

“Yeah, what am I supposed to do?” Anon asked, crossing his arms. Lyra paused in her chewing, looking at Anon, then at the hay, and then once more at Anon. “No, I am not going to eat griffon hay. Or pony hay. Or any hay at all!”

Swallowing her piece, Lyra lit up her horn, searching her pack. She levitated a package in front of Anon. “I had something packed away, just in case.”

Examining the pack, he could see eggs cooked in multiple ways and toast. He then looked at her pack. “How did this fit in there?”

“Hmm?”

“This food. It’s almost half the size of your pack. I refuse to believe you packed mostly eggs and toast in your pack.”

Finishing her hay, she levitated her pack over, showing the inside of it being pitch black and bottomless. On the wall near the top, an odd grouping of squiggles could be seen. “Void rune, of a high-tier work mixed with cloth essence. I have quite a few things packed inside, just in case.”

Anon looked at the tray of food in his hands, then at the pack. “…Maybe I could－”

“No,” the two interrupted him in-tandem.

“What’d you even know what I was going to say?”

“Can’t learn runes,” Bon Bon said. “Even the basic ones require over two years of study along with knowledge into the arcane. And those only allow for crude usage of runes.”

Lyra swallowed her hay, “On top of needing a catalyst to cast them, you’d also need to learn how to mold essences and form second and third dimensional visualization spells, or at least be capable of extreme visualization of said items to an nth degree.”

Anon pouted, looking down at his food. “I bet I could learn it…”

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

A loud banging on the door woke the three up immediately. “WAKE UP CALL,” the griffon screamed out, loudly stomping away.

Groaning, Anon scratched his head and yawned. Trying to get up, he noticed Lyra was on his stomach belly up. He picked her up, a squeak emitting from her, before placing her aside and getting up. Bon Bon was already up, brushing her mane in place, looking at the other two. “We should hurry up and get started,” she said, still brushing away.

“I’ll go and bug the griffon real quick,” Lyra said, getting up. “He might have some info about the going-ons around here.”

“And what about your mane?” Bon Bon asked, trying to get her own as she liked it. Lyra lit up her horn and her hair looked as it usually did. “You didn’t brush in any oils though…”

“Girl, with a mane this fine I don’t need my oils,” she said with a hoof waved back, walking out the door.

Bon Bon snorted as she continued to brush. “She’ll be back. Lyra doesn’t do the day without no oils.”

“Uh… right.” 

Anon merely started to stretch, writing a few entries into his journal and using up his time before Lyra returned. When she did it was with a frown. “So the innkeeper is a jerk.”

“What’s new?”

“What did he do?” Bon Bon asked, pausing from brushing her tail.

“It seems he sold out who I was to some people he knew and now we have three griffons outside that want to escort us someplace.”

The two paused their activities, turning to Lyra. “Did they say where that would be?” Anon asked, getting his gear ready. 

“They said they could take us to where the king was. I’m not sure if we should trust them.”

“I’m in agreement with her,” Bon Bon said, putting her brush away. “Should we really follow them to who knows where?”

“I’m not sure about this either, but it might be better than looking around town for what might amount to nothing. If anything, they’re a possible lead to consider.” The other two didn’t seem very convinced. “Why don’t we just go down there and see where things lead to. It’s not like we need to follow them anywhere if we don’t want to.”

“I suppose that’s true,” Lyra said before walking over to Bon Bon, sitting right beside her. “But first, this girl needs her oils.”

“See! I told ya! The oils came calling for you.”

“I swear I will get the oils to magically form someday!”

Anon rubbed his face at the antics, watching Lyra getting her mane brushed by Bon Bon as they spoke in their childish voices. It took them a quick ten minutes (after a lot of push from Anon) before they finally made it to the door of the inn, staring at three griffons. They stared back, first looking at Lyra inquisitively before looking surprised at the other two there. “Well if it isn’t Anon and Bon Bon.”

Crossing his arms, he tapped a forearm in thought staring at them. “I swear I’ve seen you three back in Ponyville.”

“See? I knew he’d remember us!” A female looking griffon started to walk up before being held back by another of their group. 

“We were told there was a Kommunelegatusionist here,” a male griffon spoke out, taking the lead. “By the description given I would assume it is the greenish looking pony here.”

“I prefer it being seen as a minty coat,” Lyra said with some lip. “But yes, I am the komlas.”

The griffon hummed, and then looked at the other two. “Why are you two here accompanying her?”

“They’re my assistants for the journey here,” Lyra answered for them. “I’m allowed to bring two with me wherever I go.”

“No, I understand that I mean why is the “Rebel Wrecker” and first alien of our lands along with the daughter to the mayor of a major port and heir of a global trading company doing assisting you?”

“She’s the individual that found me and helped introduce me to the lands,” Anon said, rubbing the back of his head.

“As for me, I’m a longtime friend of hers,” Bon Bon said, saddling up right beside Lyra. “We’ve known each other since we were fillies.”

“It’s a strange coincidence having you three in one spot,” the griffon said. He merely got shoulder shrugs in return. “Oh, and yes Anon, the three of us met you back in Ponyville quite some time ago after our visit with the princess.”

It took him a moment to remember before snapping his fingers, making the others jump. “Oh right! Actor, Delany, and Jana!”

“Ehr… close enough. It’s Auctor and Delano by the way,” the one named Auctor said, ignoring Jana’s superior smirk.

“So what was this about leading us to our destination?” Lyra asked, wanting to move things along.

Delano spoke up, “We got word that you were out here last night. After talks, it was decided we should direct you to where the king is currently residing.”

“Is there a new castle here we weren’t aware of?” Anon asked. “It doesn’t exactly pop out like I thought it would.”

The three griffon’s looked at one another before Jana spoke up, “You are aware you’re currently in Griffonstone?”

“Where else would the king reside?” Lyra asked.

“Ah, so you don’t know. At least our information-halting tactics seem to be working."

"Though with the passages open and borders being cleared that's going to change soon," Delano mumbled.

"We relocated a hundred years back through the mountains. Our capital is now at New Griffonstone.”

Instead of arguing about their wasted day, as she wanted, Lyra moved on, “How exactly do we get there? I don’t think you’d just fly us there.”

“Yeah, not happening,” Jana spoke up. “We have a road that goes through the mountain. You can take the Speedy Cart through it no problem. We’ll arrive there in a few hours where you can do whatever it is you’re here for.”

“It can’t be any worse than staying here,” Lyra spoke up before sighing. “Okay, lead the way.”

The three griffons nodded before turning around and walking down a street, with Lyra and her group following. After a few turns, plenty of sneers, and tripping over debris a good few times, they eventually stood in front of the base of the mountain. A massive tunnel could be seen dug inside of it, with lights trailing the roof of it lighting the entrance. On the side of it could be seen a large wagon with a few contraptions strapped on the back of it.

“It’s large enough for all of us to get in,” Auctor spoke up, walking up to one of the vehicles. Speaking to one of the griffons in charge, he got inside the front before starting it up. Coughs of black smoke poofed from the back smokestacks. “Hop on in.”

Getting them all in wasn’t very difficult as it was a large, long vehicle. Wheeling the thing forward, Auctor started it down the tunnel. “We should be there in a few hours, so relax and enjoy the ride.”

“I wasn’t aware the griffons were quite so advanced,” Lyra said, examining the Speedy Cart. “I swore your people shied away from such things in the past.”

“Times change; this is only a recent thing we acquired,” Jana spoke up. “Got this from some ponies coincidentally, they tried to sell some cider up here for some reason while singing."

“Ah yeah, I can see why that didn’t work out for them,” Lyra said with a nod. 

“So the two dunderheads overheard we were trying to install a train here and decided to sell the schematics of their powered Speedy Cart as a replacement. We’re still testing it out but it’s doing wonders for us!” Jana turned around to look at Anon who sat in the back. “What do you think of it? I’m curious what a being from another world would think of this.”

“It’s a car,” Anon replied. “We have these back on Earth in spades. They’re all over the place, though ours have come a long way.”

“Really?!” Jana seemed pleased to hear that. “That’s exciting to hear we have the technology you seem to have!” She then frowned, staring at Anon. “You don’t seem pleased…”

Indeed, Anon was frowning, looking behind him at the engine of the vehicle. “What does this thing run on?”

She blinked at him. “It runs on black rock. We don’t exactly have a steady supply of magic like the ponies do.”

Anon narrowed his eyes, staring at the black fumes that puffed out of the pipes. “Been a while since I’ve seen someone using coal to power anything. We’ve stopped using it almost entirely where I come from. How much would you say your people use this stuff?”

“It’s at the forefront of all our recent works,” Jana said, watching Anon examine the vehicle. “We can’t do a lot without it.”

“In a world full of magic, you’d still use such crude methods.” His words confused the griffons, with Lyra and Bon Bon sharing worried looks. “It seems I finally get to share some worldly knowledge that might have some good. Let me explain some things to you about your… black rocks.”


~End Chapter Twenty-Five~