Crystal Empire
When Equestria was magically resurrected by the Genesis-2 Device, everything was magically reset. The land, the sea, the sky, the entire planet to the core, all the buildings and structures, roads and railroads, even magic itself was all reverted back to the state it had been three years prior, back to when Twilight first arrived in Ponyville. All with the exception of two places: the Golden Oakes Library, which had been relocated to the moon's surface, and the Crystal Empire.
Having disappeared for a thousand years, the crystal ponies were still in many ways playing catchup to the rest of the world. With the devastation and reversion that took place, along with the general shock and reeling that accompanied such events, the Crystal Empire was poised to be a point of stability in the new Equestria. By virtue of being stored in the Crystal Heart during the catastrophe, the Empire had been immune to the effects of the magic. Whether conscious of it or not, they were fully able to take advantage of this new situation.
The griffons, however, were not about to allow it.
The Griffon Gear shot right at the shield, cutting through the skies. Its talons glowed red like Sword Spells. When it reached the shield, it dug into the magic bubble, tearing it apart like it was made of thin plastic wrap. Then, another spell added to it. And another. And another.
Shining Armor, Sam and Flash Sentry added their own magic to bolster Cadence's shield spell.
The Griffon Gear's eyes leveled and excess steam shot out its back, the equivalent of a frown and sigh. The machine rolled up its sleeves, tilted its head to the shield and pressed its claw into the bubble.
"Try to the left! The left!"
"Hrrrrrggg."
"No, the OTHER left."
Rotating its claw like it was cracking a safe, the Gear found the resonant frequency the shield spells were operating on. And because Shining and Cadence at least are confirmed Star Trek nerds in this universe, the Griffon was able to use that to bypass and lower the shield spell. Its claws unscrewed a hole in the shield and popped it open. The discarded piece of shield fell and shattered like glass on the ground below.
"That's it! We're in!" De Gauss announced. "All units, charge! Plunder it all, leave nothing behind!!" He turned, took his seat in the gilded command chair and leaned back. "Bring the first haul right to the bridge."
The griffons swarmed in through the hole in the shield. The first wave of gunships were right behind them. Not really 'gunships' any more with most of their weapons removed; most of the arms and armaments had been discarded for hull space. Without their torpedoes, missiles and other guns, the griffon gunships had more room to hold treasure, which was the most important thing for the pirates. The more they could carry, the better.
The Crystal Empire had many shiny buildings, many shiny targets, many things that either were made of complete gems or at least looked like gems. The griffons took it all. Crystal ponies fled, evacuating buildings and structures as griffons literally ripped off the roofs. Those ponies that remained were dumped out on the street or captured themselves, hoisted away in nets.
"Wait, this isn't a real store! We just sell your stuff on EHay!" Alas, the protests of crystal business owners fell on deaf ears. Or ones too greedy to hear anything but the sound of cha-ching.
"Not the Starbucks! Not the Starbucks!!" Then, the griffons took the Starbucks. "NOooooooooo!! We didn't even have to ponify it..."
While the griffons did work quite fast, the empire was quite vast. Crystal guards were able to rally towards the middle of the city.
"Fire!!"
Catapults launched exploding spheres of crystals at the griffies, to little effect. A couple of griffons were caught off guard and crushed by the counterattack, but this only drew the attention of the gunships.
One of the gunships opened fire with its cannons and scattered the crystal ponies manning the catapults. The catapults themselves were fragile and broke to pieces under the gunship's fire. The Crystal Empire was still lacking in the defense category, one of the traits that made it easy for then-King Sombra to take over. Even with additional guards from Equestria, the Imperial Crystal City covered a vast area of land in the Equestrian northwest. The city alone was larger than any other in Equestria, easily dwarfing Manehattan, Pittsbuck and other large cities. Indeed, the Crystal Empire was very much a city-state.
The griffons were going to have to make multiple trips. Still, the greedy birds looted with undo glee and little resistance.
The first batches of plunder were brought before Marshal De Gauss himself. "Hmmm. Decent cut, decent purity," he said, examining a large gem through a jeweler's eyepiece. He then chucked it back at the griffon that dared present it to him. "But you can do better than decent!"
"Yes, sky marshal." Bowing his head, the flight lead looter backed away.
"And the rest of you... what do I pay you people for?!"
"You don't pay us-"
"Get busy! Be diligent or I'll toss every last one of you overboard!" De Gauss yelled.
"How does that work when we can fly?" the assistant navigator asked.
The navigator then had his wings, beak and limbs bound and was tied to a spare cannonball.
"Any more questions?" The navigator rapidly shook his head at the marshal. "Good. Bring me more loot! Don't stop until this great glass bauble of a country no longer shines! I want it all!" He sat back down in the command chair.
The New Libertalia continued its work. The literal flying fortress positioned itself over the Crystal Empire and dropped as low as it could. It was hard on the craft's combination of engines and ballasts, as was the increasing amount of loot it was forced to carry, but the griffons knew the oversized craft's capabilities. Too many griffons had learned the price of overloading an airship and left with nothing. A griffon losing their loot to something so silly, that was a disgrace.
Still, the process of stealing an Empire's worth of jewels and treasures was a slow process. Too slow for Gauss De Gauss.
"Lower the tethers! Start pulling up the buildings."
"Sir, our orders are just to pillage in this run."
De Gauss looked down at the helmsman.
"Lowering cargo tethers and heavy platforms!"
"Standby on the primary winch."
One day, Gauss thought, one day they would scour the stars in search of treasure. They'd build colossal vessels just like this one and carve entire planets to pieces, crack them wide open. Like eggs.
Down below, the griffons began attaching cables to the ground. Many of the buildings were made of gems, or had plenty of gems in them. Either way, they ripped them right out of the ground. The Griffon Gear dug into the foundations of the very Crystal Empire itself. Teams of griffons dug, bolted and hoisted structure after structure up onto the airships, gunships and flying fortress.
One of the Crystal Ponies actually managed a very successful eyeglass store. His lenses weren't made of crystal, but the griffons didn't care. He returned to work from lunch to see his shop being lifted away.
"What the hell is this? A ripoff of "Up" or something?" He got so angry he accidentally stumbled and dropped his glasses. "Gagh, no!" Unfortunately, the lenses shattered. "No... no, it's not fair. There was time now. All the time in the world..."
"Clarence, you switched to contacts last month. They're in your back pocket."
"Oh. Thanks, honey."
The looting of the Crystal Empire continued unabated. The Crystal Empire itself had not been physically present on Equestria three years ago; it had vanished. Now, it seemed like the same thing was happening. With nothing to stop the griffons, the Crystal Empire slowly disappeared again, but this time, it did so piece by piece.
The Griffon Gear grabbed the Crystal Palace itself with its mighty claws. Using all of its strength, it lifted the palace right out of the ground. It then promptly dropped it and the thing shattered into several pieces, but those pieces were easier for the griffons to carry so, it worked out for them. The crystal ponies, Sam, Flash Sentry, Cadence and Shining Armor were forced to watch from afar as the griffons stole their kingdom.