//------------------------------// // Chapter 99.75: When There a Will, There a Way // Story: Griffon of Canterlot // by Electuroo //------------------------------// Griffon of Canterlot Chapter 99.75: When There a Will, There a Way “What?!” Mark's side said all at once in shock upon hearing that word. Mark quickly flew down to the bird, looking at her directly in the eyes. “You’re one of Grogar's monsters?!” Leela gazed firmly back. “I was made by him, but my creator is Master Wayne, known today as Gale, the son of Princess Celestia. Long story short – I leaked information to the ponies and griffons that were fighting his monsters.” She sat on the book which floated her to eye level with him. “It gave Gusty the information she needed to command her troops to distract Grogar for long enough while he was on one of his tours of the mighty kingdom to steal the bell and hide it away. He found out afterwards that it was I who did it and, for my betrayal, I was locked away in a trans-dimensional prison for the rest of my days. The outside is no bigger than a ten foot high cube, but inside, it’s ten miles.” Starlight used her magic to teleport from where she sat to appear by Mark. “Why not use your rune magic to teleport out?” Leela looked down, patting the book. “Because I have to stay close to my book at all times, teleporting or creating a portal would mean, for a split second, I and the book would be more than half a mile from it. Bye-bye me and the book.” Leela raised her head, looking over to Starlight. “It and the bell that could destroy me in an instant since I am made from Grogar's bell magic.” Twilight got up from the seat to join them. “I gather Shal-Quz was also?” “Yes. So is Anubis the Death Dragon. My specialty is book-keeping. This book holds everything written, painted, carved and printed. Anubis has a crystal holding between his staff. It his weakness; without it, he would age to the point of turning to dust in a week. As for Shal-Quz, without her brush to regulate the reality magic in her, the magic in time will cause her cease to exist,” Leela explained. Keeper lifted an arm, rubbing the back of his head. “As for me, I am a lesser created. I and others are magically advanced golems made of clay. What gives us our will, life, and such comes from a crystal within us. We call it the life crystal; without it, we would be slabs of rocky hard clay again.” He tapped his chest a few times with a claw tip. Octicovix felt a bit relieved to hear that. “When we get back, we just need to get to Manehatten and ke—” “Manehatten?! That’s where Princess Celestia and the others are right this moment!” Leela screeched. “Oh no, no, no! This isn't good! I’ve got to contact Princess Celestia at once!” She jumped off the book, opening it up. “Here we go, mirror contact.” Leela created the runes to have them shift into four black ones. “What is—” She was blasted back and vanished from their sight. Keeper was startled at what had happened. “Le—”Keeper vanished from their view too. They all looked around for Leela and Keeper. Penumbra noticed the runes in the room were turning grey one by one. “The runes – something’s happening to them!” Starlight probed them with a spell. “They’re losing their magic. Something’s draining them.” Leela reappeared before them on her back. Twilight tried to aid her but her forelegs passed through the bird. Leela sat up, rubbing the back of her head. “That’s not good. I can't get in contact with Celestia. I can't even get in contact with anyone else! Shal-Quz must have created a—” Leela vanished again and then reappeared. “—one in the chamber. I am using what I can to send you this message! Shal-Quz put a spell blocker in place from the runes. Because you are connected to it, it’s affecting all runes where you are—” She vanished again but failed to reappear. All the runes went grey. Glacier did a scan sweep. “I can't detect any magic coming from any of the runes in the fort! They’ve all gone dark!” Trail Blazer turn to Grover. “Lord Grover, doesn't that mean…?” “Yes, it does. The rune spell gate to send us back to Equestria, our Equestria, is non-functional and we’re stuck here.” He put his talons over his head as it lowered it. Silvite looked around the room rapidly. “You can't be serious!? Are you telling me that rabbit is near Gale and we can't do jack to go after her!? We’re stuck here?!” Glacier glared at her. “Yes, that’s exactly what that means. If she used the spell I think Shal-Quz used, the runes will remain inactive for around seventy hours.” “THREE DAYS?!” Silvite roared. “ARGH!” She stormed out of the room. Octicovix glanced at the door and then to Glacier. She nodded to the changeling to follow and she did. “She’s going after this Gale, isn't she?” Grav asked. Glacier sighed in defeat. “Yes. We don't have any means to get home, no way to warn Celestia of the threat to the innocent lives of Manehatten are about to face. I have nothing.” She sat down on the steps dropping the sub-sonic which rolled on the floor away from her. Mark picked it up with his magic and looked closely at it. It definitely looked like a sonic screwdriver. This confirmed it – she somehow in all the impossibilities was River Song. “Do you really have nothing?” He floated it over to her. Glacier raised her head, looking at the sub-sonic floating there. “Nothing for the next seventy or so hours. She knew we’d come and delayed our arrival in order to do whatever messed-up thing she’s got in mind over there. And I think she’s going to target Prince Gale at the Manehatten Comic Con. It’s happening this weekend and would explain why Celestia and Gale are there.” “Sounds like a display of one final act before she faces ultimate defeat.” “That’s most likely the case, unless you happen to have a way to travel to other dimensions and accurately get us to not only our Equestria, but also to our Manehatten in time?” She took the sub-sonic from his magical grasp. Mark smiled. “Funny you should mention that. It might be a long shot, but I think we do.” Glacier raised an eyebrow. “What do you have in mind?” Mark turned to Twilight Sparkle. “Grover said something about a rune gate – what if we bring a mirror portal here with all its equipment and hook it up to the rune gate?” Twilight tapped the tip of her snout thoughtfully. “Well, even though the magic has been drained from the runes, it should be possible to use the markings as an address beacon point. With the dimensional frequency information that I can glean from Glacier’s device, I think I can make it work.” Twilight lowered the hoof. “But the first time I set up a mirror portal in that fashion took me a week to get it working. However, with all the experience we’ve had since, it should only take a day or so to get it operational.” Glacier put her talons around Twilight's face. “Oh, sweetie, you and I just became best friends. One thing I like is a challenge, and seeing how this could be a possible chance, I'll take it.” She let go of Twilight’s face and walked by up the steps. Mark said, “Go ahead, Twilight. Do what you do best. Work your magic and, if you can, get some information on their world.” “Got it.” She teleported away to catch up with Glacier. Mark turned to Starlight. “Can you figure out a way to dampen or neutralize Shal-Quz’s reality magic?” Starlight walked back and forwards as she thought about it. “I sensed residual magic around the scorched ground. It’s like nothing I’ve encountered before and I’m guessing that is reality magic. I'll study it and come up with a spell that could help stop her.” “Good – go do that.” Starlight nodded and left. Chrysalis stepped up. “I am going to speak with Octicovix and find out anything on her part to do with their Equestria.” “Didn't you say that she’s not your problem, Sally?” “I did. Whatever happened between Octicovix and her mother has nothing to do with me, but this isn't about that. This is about gathering the necessary intelligence that we need, because I can see in your eyes that we’re going after her. I know you too well, husband,” Chrysalis said with a smirk as she turned and left the chamber. Grover raised his head. “I heard everything. Do you really think it will work?” “Maybe. It’s hard to say as we’re doing this on the fly and with little information, but I do have an idea how to get Silvite to open up. What she needs is some creatures who can talk on her level and I know the best two dragons for the job.” Mark stepped up to Grover with a hoof held out. “You’ve done your part. Tend to the griffons from that submarine and leave this in our hooves, okay?” Grover took the hoof and pulled himself up onto his paws and talons. “That is true.” He turned to look at Grav. “He lost an entire world and it’s going to take time for them to recover from that, if ever. We will tend to them and if you do find a way back and a plan to stop her before time is up, count me in.” He put the other talon over the hoof. “You can count on it, Lord Grover.” Mark placed his other forehoof over the talons, a solemn promise, leader to leader. They let go and Grover went to Gillian and Trail Blazer. Penumbra walked up beside Mark. “You know how crazy this sounds, right?” “A lot can go wrong, I know,” Mark said as the chamber cleared out. “Our home was on the knife edge of being completely wiped out, and all for what? Revenge? We can’t afford to ignore it.” Penumbra had seen that dance many times throughout the conflicts they had. “Doesn't seem to ever change, does it? You always end up battling some egomaniac wanting more power or revenge.” “I know, Penny, but at least we’re more prepared for it than ever before.” “That’s true.” Penumbra looked thoughtfully at the alicorn stallion. “I’m curious which dragons you have in mind to talk to Silvite. As you stated, we know little about her, apart from the few displays she has showed so far.” “Isn’t it obvious? Smolder and Spike.” Chrysalis walked around Grimfeather. She could see many ponies and griffons still dealing with the clean-up of the town. Some of her changelings were talking to a few of the Trail Blazers rangers by a building that had the same symbol that the rangers had on their uniforms. “—we’re stealthier than we look. Standing here, we stand out, but in the woods, we can blend in pretty well. It comes in handy when dealing with some of the larger wild life in the area,” a male griffon ranger said. “And keeping the roads clear for trade or visitors is quite the task too. You never know when a tree tiger could pounce,” a unicorn mare ranger chuckled. “A keen eye for danger – sounds like a—” The changeling paused and turned around to Chrysalis who was standing only a few feet away. “My queen.” He bowed. “Is there something I can do for you?” Chrysalis looked around. “The yellow-eyed changeling – have you seen her?” The three of them point in the same direction. “East wall, above the gate.” The changeling answered. “After parting ways with the silver dragon who flew west, she’s been up there since,” the griffon confirmed. The unicorn tapped the tip of her muzzle. “Something about her says she’s troubled, but also screams something else.” The changeling agreed. “I saw that too; it definitely has that strange vibe in it.” “I'll leave you three to exchange stories. It will be interesting to hear about them later.” Chrysalis walked away and their voices as they begin to talk again grew faint. Nevertheless, she knew her changeling agent would faithfully every last skerrick of intelligence that the locals would blab. Chrysalis soon saw the arched platform of the fort wall. Standing alone there, looking out to the east, was Octicovix. The queen flew up to it and landed on the hard wooden floor just metres from changeling. “Leave me be. The last changeling I want to talk to is you,” Octicovix said without even looking back. Chrysalis stomped her hoof down. “Let me be crystal clear –I am not your mother and I have never had a child like you. I do not give a buck about you personally, but you’ve brought danger to those I do care about. You will get your uncouth emotions under control and cooperate with us against our common enemy.” “And the penny drops,” Octicovix responded. The Queen frowned. “What?” Octicovix turned around with a smug look, causing Chrysalis to raise an eyebrow. The yellow-eyed changeling continued. “I knew from the get-go that you weren't my mother; nowhere near her. The signs were all there from the beginning. You were flying with other creatures, your changelings are in similar armour as ponies and griffons, battle-ready to fight with the two alicorns.” Chrysalis gave a stoic stare. “I had some suspicions that you were hiding something. It’s a natural thing for a changeling to do when facing the unknown, especially this far for you.” Octicovix returned a neutral gaze back at the queen. “Really now? Or are you just saying that?” “You know why I am approaching you. My family and I were in serious danger due to that rabbit from your Equestria. I require that information, nothing more,” Chrysalis said bluntly to Octicovix. Octicovix buzzed her wings, taking off from the wall and dropping down to the forest, closely followed by Chrysalis. They landed on the ground and walked. “It seems we were both gathering information, I with this world from the limited corner we’re in, and now you demanding the knowledge of what I know of from my home.” “That seems to be the case, since you seem to be more open. Or are you?” “Well, I did have a serious falling out with mother, but we came to a somewhat mutual understanding. Although it did hurt a lot when the location of my home was removed from my mind, but it was an acceptable price to live my own life with my husband. She didn't show or say it, but I knew she cared somewhere deep inside. That’s why the spell to remove my memories didn't do any lasting harm to me,” Octicovix said as they walked. Chrysalis walked alongside her. “I see.” Octicovix spoke on. “My husband, Greystorm, is mayor of Trottingham. When it comes to playing politics and dealing with meetings with Princess Celestia, we were always three steps ahead of the game. We analyse, gather information and then use that with truths and diversion. It all changed soon after the meeting in the war room under the throne of Princess Celestia.” “You discovered something more than you thought it was going to lead to?” “Pretty much, now I will lay it all out for you to hear. It’s going to take a few hours or more – I hope you have the patience for it, Not-Mother.” Octicovix glanced at Chrysalis with a fanged grin, finally dropping all pretence but keeping her damping shield around her from the hive mind. “Not-Mother?” The queen frowned. Octicovix shrugged. “It’s a Gale thing. Well, in that he called Silvite his Past-Mum from what she told me. Saying it out loud now, it does sound rather stupid.” Octicovix shook her head. Chrysalis just stared. “Silvite is a mother?” “There’s more to it, and all part of the things I’ve got to tell you, Chrysalis. I’ve also got a little something on top to show you for your husband to surprise him with.” Octicovix grinned. “You’re a completely different changeling with your guard dropped.” Octicovix turned her right forehoof into a talon doing a side to side motion. “Mostly dropped – I am keeping up my proxy shield. I don't want a hive screaming into my head.” She turned the talon back into a hoof. “Also, I gather your husband has got a plan to get around the rune problem?” “Noted and yes he does, now talk.” “Oh, I will. Just got to give you a Sunflower Surprise, and trust me – it’s going to be a very soft crushing way.” Octicovix moved ahead and quickly turned around. She changed form to a nine-hooves-tall snow-white finch griffon with blackish grey spots on the fur and feathers, with soft purple pupils in yellow eyes. Chrysalis looked up at the huge form. “I am not here to play games you idiot! I want information!” She glared up at the snow-white griffon with the black beak. The finch griffon grabbed the changeling queen, pulling her into a hug. “Gah! Get your stupid paws of me now!” Octicovix released the hug and turned back to her true form. Chrysalis’ horn was glowing very brightly as she looked furiously at Octicovix. “Huff! That took a lot out of me, she does it so naturally.” Octicovix wasn't fazed by the lit horn. “Now, I showed you that form so that you can give that surprise to your husband. One special from Octicovix the Changeling. And I’ve got to say you look quite red in the face.” Chrysalis growled, “You little insect!” “Come now, there’s only us two here. No one has seen us.” Chrysalis took a good look around but could sense no one. “Gah! Fine! You tell me what I want to know and I might not fry you!” “Deal.” Octicovix gave her a broad fanged grin. In Twilight's lab, she and Glacier gathered up the necessary equipment for the mirror portal sitting idly by the wall. Twilight picked up some of the wiring with her magic. “I can't believe we’re dealing with another Grogar problem...” “Sounds like you have history with Grogar, most likely this world’s one?” Glacier picked up a Tesla Coil. “Oh, these bring back memories.” “What kind of memories?” Twilight asked. “Putting together something on the fly, working on something new, sweetie.” Glacier walked over to pick up a view tubes. “Anyway, about Grogar. Our one has been around for over four thousandyears since his defeat on the mountain that fell.” “Mountain that fell?” Twilight put the smaller coils in the cart. Glacier put her talon over the edge of the cart. “Canterlot, that mountain it sits on, where I am from, it came from another world. It fell through a rift over four millennia ago and Grogar found it. There he also found Wayne, the last somewhat human.” She pulled out the sub-sonic, scanning the pieces of equipment with it. “Good – this will be useful,” she murmured. “Canterlot in your Equestria sits on a mountain that came from Earth?” Twilight was surprised. “A somewhat human called Wayne?” Glacier stopped scanning. “Yes. There’s a lot more to that tale from what I’ve learned. Is there anything in your world called Pure Magic?” “Not that I know of, unless you’re talking about the rawest form of it,” Twilight responded. “Is that what your Grogar is after?” “Pretty much, and what was your one after?” Twilight walked up to the mirror looking at her reflection. “The Bewitching Bell for a start, followed by the plan to conquer this world, and then on to others. He gathered several villains that we had dealt with previously, plus all kind of monsters. I, Mark, and others figured out a way to win. It was a terrible battle that left many lives lost. Going into all the details will take time.” Glacier stepped up behind her, looking at the reflection. “And as will be my tale, Twilight. It seems we’ve got a lot of work to do and a lot to talk about.” She placed a talon on Twilight's right side above the wing. “Let's get this mirror and the equipment back to Fort Grimfeather. The sooner we plug this stuff into the rune gate, the sooner we can work on creating a connection to our Equestria, specifically Manehatten.” “Right. We’ve got everything from the looks of it. I feel that the two of us can make this jury-rigged stuff work,” Twilight said in a confident tone. “I have high hopes.” Glacier turned around, hooking herself up to the cart as Twilight readied a daggerscale portal and picked up the mirror with her magic. “And Twilight.” “Yes?” Glacier pulled the cart up to her as she created the portal. “Let's show Shal-Quz what we brainiacs are made of.” she smiled. Twilight smiled back. “Gladly.” They stepped through the daggerscale portal. It been about a several hours since the runes had stopped working. Twilight and Glacier were busy setting up everything and working on the mirror portal at the Rune Gate. Neither Chrysalis nor Octicovix had been seen since they had left the arch over the east gate. Things would have been a bit quieter if it wasn't for the rumbles of explosions and blasts of white flames in the west. Another bigger explosion from the west caused many to turn their heads in that direction. A column of smoke rose followed by a minor shockwave of the boom. Penumbra frowned. “Mark, I’m telling you, something about this Prince Gale and her has some serious deep connections.” “From all those blasts and those intense blasts of white flames, I have to agree. However, this isn't something we can deal with – it has to be done on a dragon level,” Mark replied, staring out to the west. “At least she’s venting out in a uninhabitable area and not blowing up forests with wildlife in it.” The batpony agreed. “True – she’s level-headed enough for that.” A daggerscale portal opened up behind them. Turning around, they saw Smolder and Spike emerge from it. Mark smiled. “Good to see you two received the message and got here fast. We have a problem only you two can solve.” “To have my sessions in court cut short, it must be important,” Smolder stated. Spike took a look around. “Isn't this Fort Grimfeather? I read it only took about six months for it to spring up in the middle of the Undiscovered West. Not much said about the lord that got this altogether though. He’s a real mystery.” Mark would have told them who it was but another flash followed by another column of smoke from the west happened just then. “We'll fill you in later about the lord of the fort. At the moment, we’ve got a very upset silver dragon that’s venting a lot of frustration.” Smolder flew up to take a better look from above the trees. She could just see the rocky landscape ahead was littered with craters. After gleaning what she could, the dragoness landed in front of Mark. “Father, what kind of dragon are we dealing with?” “A dragon from another dimension,” he told his daughter-in-law. “She and others been cut off from getting home due to a reality-bending rabbit. Long story short, this is what we dealing with…” After a few minutes of explaining, they got the picture. “Whoa! That’s nuts!” Spike said with shock. Smolder thought about what Mark said with her arms crossed. “Sounds like Silvite has a really deep connection to this Prince Gale, more than we know right now. It’s a good thing you called us – we'll get to the bottom of it.” Spike agreed. “You can count on us!” He saluted. “Good, because I don't think Twilight and her new friend are going to keep their cool for much longer if those explosions keep going,” Mark said. He watched the dragons take off to the rocky fields west of Grimfeather. Penumbra suddenly felt something was amiss. In an instant, a shadow was cast over her and Mark. They turned around in time to see an immense griffon with paws instead of talons grab them and give them a crushing and overly soft hug. “Ak! Wh—” “Unpaw me you—” “Now-now! Is that the way to say to your loving wife?” The snowy white finch griffon grinned. “Sally?!” Mark squeaked with shock. Octicovix laughed from where she stood by the hospital before walking into it to help tend to the griffon submarine crew. “Indeed. I have what I needed and more. Now I can crush you with soft love.” Mark tried to free himself. “You certainly are! Let us go!” Chrysalis did so and turned back to normal, a smirk on her face. “How did you sneak up on us like that!?” Penumbra demanded to know. Chrysalis chuckled. “Now that would ruin the fun for next time, wouldn't it?” From the look of it, Mark wasn't about to get a straight answer on that, and now he had something new to watch out for with his mischievous herd mare. “Right,” he grumbled. “I gather you have some details to tell us?” “Of course, husband.” Smolder and Spike flew clear of the forests to the rocky smouldering wasteland that Smolder had seen from the distance. They landed near a crater. Smolder knelt down, grabbing a rock. The crust crumbled and molten rock poured out as she lifted it up, draining out through her claws. “That’s some intense heat.” Spike wiped it forehead. “I know lava is hot, but this place feels way hotter than that.” He took a look around. Smolder stood up and they walked “It is. For rock to be liquefied like that, she must have one heck of a fiery breath,” Smolder responded as they stepped through soft rock, leaving puddles of molten prints behind. They soon saw a boulder being tossed high into the air, followed by a ball of white flames. They watched the rock explode into smaller burning pieces with a huge blast. They got pushed back a bit from it, covering their faces with an arm from the intense heat released from it as the small rocks rained down around them. “Smolder, I’ve never seen a flame do that before!” “Nor have I, Spike. That’s some fire! Did you see the colour of it?” “Yeah – it was white,” Spike confirmed what Smolder had seen. “I remember Twilight researching on the different colour of flames, both magical and not. If I remember correctly, a white flame is way hotter than a blue flame.” “Hot enough to make a dragon sweat,” Smolder agreed. “It would explain the intense residual heat and why the rocks are melting.” Smolder noticed through the waves of heat a flicker of light reflected from the silver scales of Silvite. “I see her, Spike – right over there!” She pointed a claw at Silvite. They walked towards her, feeling their clawed feet sink a little on the softening rocky ground that slowly was turning molten under their clawed feet. Silvite caught sight of them approaching and she already gathered that this Spike wasn't the one she had met recently before chasing down Shal-Quz. “I know why you two are here and I’m not in the mood to talk,” Silvite said from atop a large boulder. “Not a chance, Silvite,” Smolder said firmly. “We came all this way to talk to you and we’re not going anywhere till we know what’s bothering you, and to find out anything that could help father deal with that Shal-Quz.” Smolder put her claw out to Spike for him to wait as she continued to approach the silver dragon, her feet sinking slightly more as if the rocky floor was a skin over the pool of lava. “What you are doing is weak and stupid.” Silvite shift her gaze over to the orange dragon. “Weak and stupid? You don't even know me, child.” “Don’t treat me like a hatchling. You may have many centuriess on me, but I'm still an adult and expect to be treated as one!” “Humph! Whatever, child. Leave me be.” “So are you so arrogant and set in your ways that you think everycreature is just a child?” Smolder only stood a few feet from her, looking up. Silvite turned around, her tail swishing in agitation. “I can see what you are doing.” Smolder raised her claws up. “Tell me what I am doing? Tell me why you think turning this whole area into a molten slab is going to help your pathetic hissy fit. This display says that you’ve got power but when you don't get your own way, you just throw a tantrum!” Silvite roared in fury. “You want to know why I am doing this?! Why I am so bloody pissed off that I did all this?! I'll tell you missy!” She jumped down, landing with a splash of red-hot lava. She walked up to Smolder only stopping a foot away . “I am unable to do jack! I am bloody stuck on this damn world while a crazy damn rabbit aims to end the life of my former son! I promised to protect him and his mother, Celestia, even my damn sister! I have no idea what Shal-Quz could do next! And I cannot do anything to help! I am so furious about being so goddamn helpless!” Silvite's ranting and raving burst with an echoing roar. Smolder kept a calm cool look throughout it all, watching the tears start to fall from Silvite's eyes as her pent-up anger was released in words. The silver dragon slowly deflated, panting. “Feeling better?” “No... maybe.” “Feel like wrecking more of this place?” “No, I don't.” Silvite responded. Smolder glanced over to Spike with a nod. He walked through the skinned molten pool to them. “You must be really hurting inside, unable to protect those you really care about. I know that feeling all too well from when we faced dangers that could bring harm to Twilight, my family or my friends.” Spike stepped up beside Smolder. “We could be your friends and listen to you; learn what we can about this Shal-Quz.” “And kick her fluffy butt as well.” Smolder smacked a fist into the palm of her other claw hand. Silvite scowled at her. “Didn’t I just get through saying that she’s out of reach?” Spike shook his head. “That’s where you’re wrong. We’ll soon be hot on her heels.” Smolder smirked. “If you had stuck around instead of coming here to sulk, you’d have been there for the brainstorming session. We have resources that your world doesn’t.” That caught the silver dragon’s attention. “What are you talking about?” “Twilight and this Glacier griffon are working on setting up a mirror portal back in the fort,” Spike told her the news. “You’ll be able to resume your rabbit hunt in about a day.” Silvite walked away from the massive boulder. “Mirror portal huh?” She stepped over to the edge of the cooling lava to pick up her bag, putting it on over her shoulder. “I guess I was the one being a stupid child after all. Thanks for snapping me out of that, kiddo.” Smolder stepped out along with Spike. “It isn't as simple as that, Silvite. The hours waiting until the portal is ready will be frustrating, so I’ve got some things in mind to help you really vent.” Smolder cracked her knuckles. “First, we will do a fire breathing competition followed by a claw wrestling.” Silvite gave her a bemused look. “I'm a titan-class dragon, magically compressed in size by my sister Pom-Pom, which took her four hundred years to pull off, I might add.” “Titan-class?” Spike asked. “That’s the name of the class of dragon that’s as big as Thunderous or the current Dragon Lord, Torch,” Silvite explained to Spike. “That kind of size. I used to be that over five hundred years ago until my senses got snapped back after being in a greed-induced growth state for five centuries.” Smolder frowned. “Erm... The Dragon Lord is—” Spike quickly grabbed Smolder by the arm, pulling her to him. He murmured, “We know who the Dragon Lord is, but where she’s from it isn't.” “Ah. You’re right.” Silvite spoke up. “You know whispering isn't going to help, I heard everything you two just said.” Both instantly stood rigidly as she pointed to her ears. “I’ve got really good hearing.” She stepped over to Smolder. “Still want to do this fire breathing and claw wrestling?” She grinned. “I am not one to back down from something I said I'll do. Let's see if you really are what you say you are!” Silvite sighed, shaking her head. “Fine...” Two minutes later... As they walked away from the rocky fields, Smolder rubbed her wrists. “I can't believe how easily you beat me.” “I don't mince words; I was serious about what I am. I know how easily my strength, both physical and flame-wise, can be deadly. That’s why I told myself to be very restrained and why I love helping life such as plants, flowers and trees grow.” She pulled a photo out of her bag. “This is my home that I created.” Smolder took it and Spike looked at it too. “That’s your home!?” Spike said with surprise. “It’s an underground meadow!” Silvite chuckled. “I’m proud of the work I put into it. That’s how I learned to be very delicate with my strength.” Silvite breathed out with relief. “But I have to admit that doing those little contests, however short they were, felt cathartic. Sorry if I hurt you, kiddo.” “It’s Smolder, and naw, it’s fine. I’ve had worse. I still prefer it over dealing with all the blockheads in the Court.” She chuckled. “It was a bit cathartic for me too.” Silvite looked back. “I feel bad for what I did to that land. I picked it to vent because it was uninhabited. Still, the wildlife could be affected by my stunt.” She sighed. “It will take a few days to cool down before it all solidifies again. Best to let those ranger fellows know to keep any and all away from that area.” Spike blew some green flames onto a scroll and it burned away. He waved the quill in his other claw. “I’ve already sent a message to Prince Mark Wells. He'll let them know.” Smolder placed a claw hand on Silvite’s shoulder. “At least you had the guts to admit you did wrong, and also thought of a good place to vent your anger.” “You could also feel much better by telling us how you got involved and why Prince Gale is so important to you.” Spike suggested. Silvite looked over to the purple dragon. “Even with wings, there’s something about you, Spike, no matter what Equestria I am in, it seems to just feel right to speak to you.” Spike smiled proudly. “Guess I’ve got one of those faces!” “Or you’ve got one of those special kind of spirits that has a diamond heart.” Silvite pulled out a few cups from her bag with a flask. “Well I'm ready to have a good chit-chat and clear the bloody air.” “Glad to hear it,” Spike said to her. Silvite spied some boulders. “I know the perfect place to sit and have a conversation while drinking a good cup of tea.” She used some of her fire to warm up a set of boulders. “Care to sit down on these nice heated stools and enjoy a cup of good old-fashioned tea while I tell you what I know?” Smolder sat down on one. “Don't mind if I do.” Smolder took the cup she was offered. “How did you get a flask and cups in that tiny bag?” “Bigger on the inside, trans-dimensional magic. I also carry a flask and a few cups always with me; you never know when you’ll be dying for a good cup of tea,” Silvite answered. Spike sat down on another rock. Silvite poured out some of the brew and give it to the purple dragon. “Thank you, Silvite.” “No problem, Spike.” Silvite poured herself one, closed the flask up, and put it back in the bag. “So, ask away and I'll answer,” she said to the two dragons as they took a sip of the tea Silvite gave them. Later that evening as the sun set, in the bar at one of two occupied tables sat Mark Wells with his friends and family. They ate their meals and drank their drinks while they talked about what they had learned and discovered about Shal-Quz, as well as the Equestria they'd be going to soon as the mirror portal was fully set up and functional. Mark Wells held his drink with the magic, swishing it around a bit. He sighed. “Grogar torturing a child with experiments to acquire Pure Magic...” “It was something I don't think any of us was expecting to hear,” Twilight said and drank a bit of her refreshment. “But it did lead to a positive outcome even if the morality of it was dark. Grogar was defeated and Wayne transformed from a human caught in limbo between life and death, to a young pure griffon filled with wonders of the world around him.” Mark put his cup down, picking up a hayburger from his plate. “That’s true Sparkles. It did lead to Celestia adopting him and taking the youngster under her wing.” He took a bite out of the burger, moaning a little in pleasure. Simple foods like this were rarely found in the royal dining room. Chrysalis chimed in. “It has me curious about how events seemed to play almost the same leading up to Nightmare Moon and the Elements being used on her to free Luna, but at that moment, the young griffon appeared in that world.” “The Dragonlands played a little different path to our own,” Smolder said. “There was no Dragon Lord called Thunderous, nor a death dragon god Anubis to the dragons, or even this Nowhere place.” She took a bite out of her gem burger. Penumbra said, “Grogar made a lot of these Created to grab the pure magic from Prince Gale, but it seems that all of them now have either been defeated or turned on him to support the prince. All but Shal-Quz.” Mark swallowed his food. “Now we have a better understanding of her. Grogar made her to be every way like him, a bit too well from the sound of things. After her main plan went south on top of the mountain above Canterlot, she most likely had blowing up two multiverses as a back-up plan in case the first one fell through.” Starlight Glimmer added her view on it. “I am impressed by the fact that the Gale from the future brought his past self forward in time to our perspective and changed the course of history to a somewhat better one.” “I doubt that, considering blowing up our world being that change?” Twilight brought up a point. “Well, the other one wouldn't have been so bright either. From what we were told it, sound like Shal-Quz wiped out the other Equestrias in fear of one of them becoming too strong. One of them could have been us and we wouldn't even have known it happened,” Starlight countered. “Fair point. I guess this one was the better of two timelines, making travelling through time to change events a positive outcome for a change.” Twilight exchanged knowing glances with the green alicorn. “Although Mark and I are very familiar with the perils of time traveling to achieve a goal, as you well know.” Satrlight cringed a little at that reminder. Twilight continued, “By the way, how is the spell coming along?” Starlight was grateful for the change of subject. “It’s coming along very well. I think I’ve figured out how to create an englobing shield that not only dampens her magic, but also protects those outside it from stray magical blasts. How’s the mirror portal coming along?” Twilight looked over to the other table where Glacier and her friends sat at with Grover. “We’re getting there. It’s just going to take a while to figure out how to get the mirror portal to the Manehatten of their world. I am thinking about using one that Glacier been near or touched. So we have a mental imprint on the mirror we can link to as well as a dimensional frequency.” “Sounds like working with Glacier has it benefits,” Starlight said to Twilight. “It does,” Twilight agreed. “She and I have been learning a lot from each other. Figuring out how to kludge together a mirror portal with runes and then finding a way to redirect the mirror entrance isn’t simple. There’s a high degree of probability that this will work, but there are still a lot of ifs though. How did it go with Silvite, Spike and Smolder?” Spike responded to Twilight. “It was quite the experience meeting a dragon like her. I’m glad we got through to Silvite – she really is a nice dragon once you get past the mother's fury of being unable to do anything to help.” “We managed to break down that fury, but learning about her old home was a bit of bitter thing to swallow.” Smolder sighed a little. “A whole Earth wiped out by this Gates of Elysium over four thousand years ago. The way Silvite spoke of it sounded very much like yours, father.” “It did,” Mark said, thinking about it. “It’s hard to believe that out there, an Earth was wiped out well before any of us was even born. The chain of events that started from that moment to now is crazy to even wrap your head around.” Penumbra looked over to Chrysalis. “I am curious about Sunflower's flight magic abilities. It’s boggling to know that a griffon that size is real. How did you manage to pull it off, Chrysalis.” “By using a great lot of my magic, and I still only managed it for a brief time. I didn't show it to you or Mark, but it was a big strain to hold that large form. I burned much love doing so.” Chrysalis looked over to the green alicorn stallion. “You will need to replenish it tonight in bed, husband.” Mark rolled his eyes. The changeling queen continued. “Sunflower, a stupid name for a griffon, is naturally that large and most likely trained her body and internal flight magic all her life to control her large form.” Mark thought about what Chrysalis said. “A soft hug for a few seconds, I think we can live with that.” “Exactly, my husband.” She stood up from the table. “Now if you will excuse me, I have to see to my changelings.” Chrysalis walked away from the table. Smolder got up from the table. “I am going to have a good look around Fort Grimfeather, Father.” “See you in the morning, Smolder.” Smolder turned to Spike. ”Care to join me Spike? Without my husband, Gallus, I could do with a bit of company.” “Sure thing, Smolder! Maybe we can go over to that table and chat with Grover? You can tell Gallus later about how we met the first king!” “Yeah, Gallus would freak out about that. He won't admit it that he admires and learned any and everything he could about the king.” Smolder and Spike left the table and headed over to the other one. Twilight got up as Glacier came over. “Ready to get cracking on the mirror portal, sweetie?” “I am, and might have a few good ideas on connecting to a mirror in Manehatten.” Twilight began to say as she and Glacier left. Mark, Penumbra, and Starlight were the only three left at the table. “Starlight – I would like to see that spell of yours,” Mark said. Starlight stood up from the table. “Gladly, Your Highness. Come with me outside and I'll demonstrate it to you.” Mark got up with Penumbra and walked with her as a few griffons came over to the table to clear it. Twilight and Glacier worked throughout the night and into early morning together in a building that housed the rune gate, a stone arch with rune markings for dimensional travel to Glacier's Equestria. Sitting under the arch now sat the mirror fitted with tubes, wires, coils and a custom-made magical converter. “That’s how you met Prince Gale? At a Cloudsdale restaurant before the Young Fliers Contest?” Twilight asked. “Pretty much, he wanted to win at a claw game. I gave it a go and after a few tries, won the toy and gave it to him. After that, he dragged me over to my boss, Princess Celestia. Since then, I've been involved in many strange goings-on,” Glacier said while using a spanner to adjust a few bolts on the tubes. “I’ve got to say that Mark had a string of events thrown in his face.” Twilight laughed. “It sure did, which led one thing to another. Our world seems so much brighter from it though. Sometimes it take only one to start a chain of events off.” “Amen to that one, sweetie,” Glacier said as Twilight adjusted the frequency of the mirror portal with her magic. “How many Equestrias have you visited? And what are some of them like?” Glacier curiously asked. “At last count, we have visited 163. Some are virtually indistinguishable from ours except for one critical change. Others are drastically different. There are worlds where we are anthropomorphic ponies, griffons, deer, and so on. Another is mainly populated by Hippogriffs and some of them even have horns. One of the more recent had an earth pony named Baked Bean married to Princess Celestia.” Glacier did a check on the energy read-outs from her wrist pad. “They sound like interesting worlds. I bet their histories differ too.” “They do in fact. My favourite so far has an organisation called House Path. It’s based in a nation called Griffonia but it’s headed by an earth pony named Lord Long Path. They’ve had some amazing ideas that we’ve started emulating.” Glacier smiled in recognition of the alicorn’s exuberance. As the night became early morning, she and Twilight continued to work on the mirror portal, sharing stories between them from Glacier's Equestria to the many other ones that Twilight had visited or knew about out in the vast ocean of the multiverse. Glacier wiped her forehead. “I think that will about do it. Ready to give it another go, Twilight?” Twilight took a good look at the mirror portal and everything attached to it to the runes. “We are. The first few times haven't activated the mirror, but I have a good feeling about this one.” Twilight fired a beam of magic into the crystal above the mirror. The energy flowed through the coils into the spinning tubes, the pump and into the runes. They watched the runes come to life with sparks of magic, and then all of them fired a beam of magic each into the mirror's back. The reflective surface rippled moments after. “Is it supposed to do that?” Glacier asked, never having seen a mirror portal be activated before. Twilight stepped up to it, pressing her hoof through it and pulled it out. “The way we jury-rigged this portal mirror is different to the others, but from the look of it, our hard work has paid off.” Glacier stepped up to it beside her. “One way to find out is for me to go through.” “Wait! Take this crystal with you. It will be your ticket back!” Twilight used her magic to give the crystal to Glacier. Glacier held it in her talon. “I thought you were going to try and stop me.” Twilight shook her head. “No. I had a feeling you would do this either way, so that’s why I thought ahead.” “When in Rome,” Glacier said and walked through it. “What’s Roam got to do with it?” wondered Twilight as she walked back and forth for what seemed forever, waiting for the griffon return. Minutes turned to almost twenty before the mirror activated and Glacier stepped through, holding a newspaper with Manehatten Comic-Con prominently featured on its front page. “You’re back! I was so worried! Did you arrive in your world!?” Glacier handed her the newspaper. “I did, and right inside the convention centre as well. You are definitely my best friend, Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight opened the newspaper and got a sight of Griffon Celestia with six other griffons plus a dragon in front of her. Some she recognised but the photo’s caption identified the rest. It read, “The lucky winner of the golden ticket to attend the nineteenth Manehatten Comic Con is Gallus Longclaw. He found it in issue one of ‘Mark Wells, the Alicorn of Justice’. Seven other lucky friends and family of his choosing will get to enjoy the convention with him – Princesses Celestia and Nightingale, Prince Gale, his uncle Greystorm Skyclaw, Gilda and Gabby Clawhowler, and Spike Sparkle will be sharing the experience as special guests at the comic con this weekend.” After Twilight read that out loud and saw the group photo above the small summary, she had to read one part over again. She chuckled. “Alicorn of Justice!” “So, Prince Wells is a fictional character in our world. Who would have guessed?” Glacier said with a grin. Twilight powered down the mirror portal. “I’ve got to share this with Mark and the others right now!” The purple alicorn teleported away. Glacier was left alone in the building staring at the spot where Twilight had stood. “Not even—” Twilight reappeared and hugged the griffon. “Thank you for this, Glacier. This will help us big time coming up with a plan! Get Lord Grover and everyone else to that bar place! We’ve got breakfast to eat and plans to make!” She teleported again away. Glacier blinked a few times. “Okay... I stand corrected.” She turned to the mirror portal and put it on standby. “Well, best to wake the troops. Today we hunt rabbit!”