Celestia felt that the air around her was very still. She couldn't put her hoof on why it bothered her, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right. She tried to get her hooves under her, but her legs wouldn't respond. She felt a sharp pain in her left ear, and warm blood trickled down the side of her face.
"Dearest Celestia," came the voice of Nightmare Moon from inches away. "I missed you so. Those daylight hours feel so long." The mare of darkness nuzzled Celestia in a parody of affection, "and I ache for your sweet caress." She kicked Celestia's face. The princess tried to say something, but it only came out as a whimper. "Oh, what's the matter, sister dear? Am I being too rough?" A kick to the stomach. "Well, how about we just take it slow at first?" A bite on the shoulder. "And you tell me," a sharp blow just above the haunches, "whenever," a kick to the kidneys, "it starts," a knock on the back of the head, "to HURT." Nightmare Moon kicked Celestia under the jaw. It felt hard enough that it should have sent Celestia reeling, but she didn't move. The princess tried to speak once again, but all that escaped was a gasp.
The dark mare knelt so that she was nestled between Celestia's forelegs, limp as they were. "Oh, that does feel nice after the harsh, harsh daylight." She wrapped her own forelegs around one of Celestia's, holding it under her chin. "I know you don't appreciate it now, Celly. You never appreciated me." Nightmare's grip became tighter. Even if Celestia could move, she felt that she wouldn't be able to escape the hold. "But somehow, you did always manage to find time for me." The grip relaxed, just a tiny bit. "You found the time to introduce me to ponies who would talk to me. Who would care about me." Celestia's heart slowed a little. Nightmare Moon's voice sounded sincere. "You took the time to show me that for every thousand ponies who adored you, there was at least one who would acknowledge my presence." The grip tightened once more, and the dark mare's voice became harsh again. "You took the time to let me know how truly worthless I was to you, and to everypony." The grip tightened more. Each of Nightmare Moon's legs were pushing opposite directions, each placed directly on the elbow of Celestia's foreleg. "You made time to not only show your contempt for me, but to make me hate myself!" Nightmare Moon pushed harder. Celestia's elbow snapped. Even though it was a single point, her entire leg shot pain into her body. Her stomach churned, and tears flowed unbidden. Her scream came out as a strangled whimper of agony.
"And now," Nightmare Moon said softly, nursing the broken leg, "I can make time for you."
"Sunny! Sunny, wake up!" Celestia's eyes shot open. Midnight Sage. Flash Burn. Amaranth. Morning Glory. Shimmerdust The rays of sunlight peeking over the mountains in the distance. The chill breeze flowing through the flying carriage.
"Hey, she's awake!" Celestia couldn't tell who had spoken. The pain from her leg was overwhelming her senses.
"Leg. Leg! Broken!" She dared not move, for fear of making it worse.
"Let me see." It was Flash Burn. The fire-maned pony bent down to slowly examine Celestia's legs. She ran over each one gently and quickly with her muzzle, not causing even a bit of pain. "They look fine. Which one hurts?" Celestia looked down. Her elbow was bent correctly. Nothing hurt anymore. She tried moving it. It felt fine.
"I…" she tried to say something, but she still couldn't think. "I. I am. Fine."
"Sunny," Sage said pressing himself in next to Flash, "you've been twitching and whimpering for the past half hour. What happened?" The pegasus was blushing from the proximity, but she looked at Celestia with pleading eyes.
"Nightmare." Celestia tried to form a sentence. "Nightmare was there. None of you were. When I was asleep. I couldn't…nothing. And she hurt me. She kept hurting me." Sage backed away a step, and Flash tried to help Celestia onto her hooves. It was very slow going, but Celestia managed to get her legs under her. They felt weak. "Why didn't any of you wake me?"
"We tried." Sage frowned. "We've been yelling at you and shaking you. Nothing worked."
"Not until the sun came out," Morning Glory pointed a hoof at the place where the sun shone through the mountains. "Your eyes just flew open."
"I'm not sure how," Sage said with a hoof on his chin, "but I think that Nightmare Moon may be reaching through the stasis, only she's not powerful enough when the sun is countering the moon essence that flows through her."
Celestia sighed. Would this happen every night? What about when they ran out of sunrises? "How soon will we be at Griffonmont?"
"Less than an hour!" came a call from the front of the carriage. One of the two pegasi pulling it must have heard her.
Celestia tried to push strength into her legs so that she could stand tall. It didn't work, but she felt better for the attempt. "Alright, everypony, we should get ready to meet the griffons. Flash, put on your armor. A bit of a show of strength is customary for them, so we might seem less suspicious." Flash nodded and ran off to her armor. "Sage, see if you can teach everypony some griffon customs. I've known them so long I'll lose track of what's obvious and what's not." Sage nodded in response. "Hurricane-" Celestia broke off mid-sentence. "Where is Hurricane?"
Morning Glory smiled weakly. "If you don't kick him awake, he sleeps until the afternoon." She gestured to the dark form in the corner, which Celestia had mistaken for a shadow. "We'll get him, don't worry."
Celestia shook her head. "I was just going to tell him to stay back. I'm not sure how they'll react to his wing bandage. Okay, everypony knows what they have to do. Get going." The other ponies started to group off, but the stopped and started staring at Celestia. Flash Burn was blushing vibrantly. "What?" Celestia felt a slight tugging at her mane. She turned and saw Shimmerdust nipping at a distinctive trail of frizzy pink, her expression distant.
The blue unicorn let the hair fall from her mouth with a downcast look. "Eugh. Well, it doesn't TASTE like cotton candy." Silence fell over the carriage. Celestia felt herself start twitching. Her breathing started getting strange. She was…laughing. With that realization, the laughter overtook her, and she soon found herself on the floor, desperately trying to stop.
Flash Burn pulled the unicorn back. "Sunny, are you okay?"
Celestia waved a hoof in the air, and tried to squeeze words out between paroxysms. "I'm fine I just…I just…it just finally hit me that I'm back somewhere safe." Her laughter calmed down. She really did feel better. "Thank you, Shimmerdust."
Shimmerdust tilted her head to the side. "For what?"
Celestia shook her head as she stood up. "Nevermind. Don't ever change, okay?"
"I'll try," said the unicorn with a bemused look. "I wonder how one goes about not changing."
Celestia held in further laughter. "You know," she said turning to the others, "I've been annoyed at it for so long, but I guess it's a comfort to wake up to now." She bounced her mane up and down with her hoof.
Morning Glory snickered. "Sage, have you ever found yourself thinking the same thing about somepony?"
Sage glared. "I know she seems odd at first, but Shimmer is very sweet and intelligent."
Morning Glory waved her hoof in the air. "I didn't say anything about your little friend, I was just asking a question."
Sage shook his head. "Look, can we get started? Griffon isn't a hard language, but even the basic customs take time." Glory smiled demurely. "Right, now, to start off with, you have to…"
Celestia stopped listening. She gazed into the distant mountains. The Element of Loyalty was very close, and she'd be able to put an end to Equestria's troubles. Hopefully things really would be that simple.
The mountain upon which Griffonmont was built towered over the rest of the mountain range. Its peak was so high that clouds obscured it, and at the level of the rest of the mountains, it was incredibly wide. Wide caverns pockmarked its surface, and griffons circled all about it. It was a sight that Princess Celestia had not seen in many years. However, though it was usually a welcoming one, something was making Celestia feel-
"Uneasy?" her advisor asked. Twilight Sage was leaning over the side of the carriage with her. He looked perturbed as well.
"I guess," Celestia admitted. "I wish I could figure out why. Griffonmont is one of my favorite places to visit."
"The world is in turmoil. We at least have knowledge of the goings-on of the heavens. The griffons will be a lot more confused than we are. Who knows how they'll act?"
Celestia sighed. "You're right. I hope we last long enough to reach Groza. How is everypony doing with the coaching?"
"I wouldn't be talking to you if we weren't done. Lucky for us that griffons aren't the types for long and flowery traditions."
A sharp call pierced the thin mountain air. A pair of griffons closed in on the carriage. The pegasi slowed, but they stayed on course. Within seconds, the griffons had already closed the distance.
"State your business, ponyfolk." The griffon's voice was nasty and dry.
"We seek an attendance with Elder Groza."
"Are you serious?" the other griffon spoke up. A young girl. "We should hardly be allowing you in our airspace, much less-"
"Erix!" The older griffon silenced the younger. "I apologize for her. But I must ask you to divulge everything. A mere wish to see the busiest griffon in the world is not sufficient for us to allow you to land."
Celestia hung her head. She had hoped to not provoke any more hostility than necessary. "We're trying to fix what's wrong with the sky. And we need more magic than Equestria has. We need the Element of Loyalty."
The young griffon's face contorted. "Presumptuous fools. You plan to steal our greatest treasure and you-"
"One more word, Erix," said the old griffon in his sharp native tongue," and I'll put your tail on my mantlepiece next to that of every other rookie I've kicked off the force." The young griffon shut up rather quickly. "Not many ponies know about the Element of Loyalty. How did you find out about it?"
"I've seen it. My little sister loved watching Groza put it on." The older griffon glared at Celestia, narrowing his eyes. She kept her gaze even and expressionless, hoping that he wouldn't find her story suspect.
"If you know that much about its nature, then it would be quite a stretch for me to believe that you're lying. Regardless, you will all have to stay confined to the landing. This is a…difficult situation. We will guide you. Don't make trouble." The two griffons flanked the pegasi pulling the carriage, directing them to one of the smaller caves of Griffonmont. It was well-lit enough to see that the cave didn't go terribly far back, and wasn't connected to anything else. The older griffon opened the back of the carriage for them. "Stay here. Well, I guess most of you can't fly, but still. I will speak with the Elders. You'll have word by noon, and if they permit you to see them, you can submit your request at…ah, what do you say in Equestrian…lunch?"
Celestia smiled. "Thank you, sir. We couldn't ask for anything more."
The griffon nodded. "Our treaty says that ponyfolk are welcome in Griffonmont. Knowing that I serve griffonkind is all the thanks I need. If only that was a lesson griffons learned young." He turned his head to the other griffon. "Erix, stay here and watch these ponies. If so much as a hair on their manes is out of place, it'll be your hide, I don't give a damn who your grandmommy is." With that, he flew out of the cave and out of sight.
Erix made a grunting noise and sat at the entrance to the cave, glaring at the ponies. "Don't cause any trouble."
Hurricane made an eerily identical grunt. "Trouble like what? We're in a dead-end cave."
Erix's scowl deepened, but suddenly her eyes went wide. "You…is your wing broken?"
Hurricane looked back at his own torso. "Uh, yeah, kinda, I guess. It's gonna get better soon, really."
Erix looked as if she were trying to make her face unreadable, but her expression was undeniably guilty-looking. "Oh. I mean…I mean, yeah, I mean." She scratched her head with her talon. "It's like…whatever."
Hurricane put a hoof on her other talon. "Yeah, I know what you mean."
"So, yeah, like whatever, okay?"
"Okay."
Celestia looked at Hurricane, then back to Erix, then back to Hurricane. "Sage, are you schooled in whatever language they're speaking?"
Sage's expression was as bemused as Celestia felt her own was. "Not a word, Sunny."
"Hurricane, what just happened?"
The dark pegasus shrugged. "I guess she's seen a broken wing before. And it's like, she didn't do it, so she's not sorry, so I guess she's, like, whatever."
Flash Burn giggled. "Well, that makes sense, then. I didn't pin you for the sensitive type, Hurricane."
Erix looked away. "Hey, let's not get all mushy, okay? I just…whatever!" She folded her forelegs across her chest.
Hurricane glared. "Yeah, I'd hate for it to get so mushy that I start talking about the story behind it." Celestia gulped. There's no way that the young griffon would react reasonably to that.
Before anything more could happen, the older griffon from before returned. "Well, that went more quickly than I expected. Apparently Groza was pretty excited to see you once I related your story." He was glaring at Celestia. "You'll be coming up to…lunch. I guess we'll have to prepare a landing for your carriage. It will take some time."
Celestia bowed. "We can't thank you enough."
"You already have. Oh, and Erix." The young griffon turned. "Groza's in a cheery mood. You might want to skip out unless you're ready to hear the great-grandkids talk again."
"Thanks, sir." Erix gave a weak salute before the old griffon took off.
Celestia's jaw was hanging open. "Groza is your grandmother?!"
"Heh, yeah." The griffon shrugged. "All of her other grandkids are married. I decided to put it off so I could do officer training young, before having kids." She scratched her head. "It's a whole…thing. I don't suppose you ponies have weird bloodline politics like we do." Celestia looked at the other ponies, who were all as uncomfortable as she was. None of them were saying anything.
"Er," Celestia tried to think of how to explain the sudden awkward silence. "I guess, it's like, whatever?"
"The Council of Elders has been called," a young Griffon spoke from the side of the head table in the Great Hall of Griffonmont. "The petitioners from Equestria shall be heard to their fullest, and the decision of the Elders shall be honored with food and song. We honor the Eternal."
"We honor the Eternal." came a chorus from the other Griffons.
"And we honor you, Ponyfolk," said Groza in Equestrian, from the center of the head table. "I speak, Groza, eldest of the Griffons, in the name of the Council and of all Griffonmont. Who speaks before the Council shall now be heard."
Celestia looked back at her companions. They had to know their part to speak before the Council. She turned back to the head table. "I speak, Sunny of Equestria, in the name of Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Equestria."
Twilight Sage stepped next to her. "I speak, Twilight Sage of Equestria, in full accordance with Sunny of Equestria, as her second."
Flash Burn stepped on her other side. "I speak, Flash Burn of Equestria, in…um…full accordance with Sunny of Equestria, as her servant." She got the accents all wrong, but it was certainly close enough.
Amaranth stepped next to Sage nervously. "I speaken Amaranth Equestria…uh…on the sunny accordion fully Equestria, and service her." The odd looks from a couple of the griffons made him lower his head, but none of the head table reacted.
Morning Glory cleared her throat and stood next to Flash, clearly ready to deliver her line with the utmost perfection. "I, Morning Glory of Equestria, possess an inordinate number of cheese blocks, and Sunny of Equestria can vouch for that." Utter silence fell over the room. The griffons who were chatting quietly had all stopped to stare at the brown pony. Glory looked around nervously. "What?" Celestia was about to say something, but she heard a sound on her left. Twilight Sage was…snickering? And covering his mouth with a hoof in a futile attempt to cover it up.
"Twilight Sage, what did you do?" Celestia attempted her best scowl, but it only caused the unicorn to burst into laughter. Celestia looked nervously back at the head table. They were all…smiling? Indeed, several of them had begun to laugh. The entirety of the Great Hall was soon full of the sound of laughing griffons.
Morning Glory broke formation and smacked Sage on the head. "You wretch! You evil, wicked pony! You told me to say the wrong thing, didn't you? You've ruined everything!" Sage was unresponsive, still laughing.
Groza stood weakly, shaking with suppressed laughter. "Perhaps…perhaps we should…conduct theheeheeheeheeehee the, uh, ceremonies in Equestrian, to prevent…to prevent any further…hnnn…mishaps!" She collapsed onto the table, unable to speak. She waved one of her talons, motioning for the ponies to continue.
Shimmerdust stepped forward as scripted, but she looked around confused. "I dunno what to say. You only told us how to say it in Griffon." The room once again surged with griffon guffaws. The head table, however, appeared to compose themselves a bit.
"Just…why don't you just give us the petition? All this laughing's making me hungry." Groza's eyes were filled with tears, and her talons gripped onto the edge of the table.
With a final glare at Twilight Sage, Celestia took a deep breath and recited the piece she had prepared. "Honored Elders of Griffonmont, we ponies come to you in an hour most dire. The night sky is dark, and soon, so too shall be the day. The princesses are in grave danger, and we require the most powerful magic in the world to save them. We need the Element of Loyalty."
The levity of the room died down, and the smile was gone from the faces of all the Elders. "We have seen the sky, ponies," said Groza, "and I personally know that there has been trouble with the princesses. However, you must surely understand the enormity of this request. For many centuries, the Element of Loyalty has been the most treasured object of all Griffonmont. Though the laws that named it the rightful possession of the griffons have long been abolished, it is more precious to us than all the gold and jewels that these mountains may contain."
Celestia lowered her head. "I understand. I would not ask, but the lives of all ponies and indeed all the world are at stake."
There was a brief silence. "Very well, Sunny of Equestria. As the Spirit of Loyalty, I accept your request." Whispers erupted around the room. "But," Groza said with a talon held in the air, "as the leader of the Council of Elders, I must receive their support before I can release the prized treasure of the griffons to ponyfolk. Let the Council speak." A griffon at the end of the table stood up immediately. Groza sighed. "The Council recognizes Oerda, General."
The old griffon cleared his throat. "I respect the wishes of Groza, Eldest, and all the much more the wishes of Groza, Spirit of Loyalty. However, I do not trust these ponyfolk. They say that they require powerful magic? Their gods grant them powerful magics enough. What more can but one of the Elements of Harmony do? They must be deceiving us for some other purpose." Another griffon at the opposite end of the table stood up quickly.
"The Council recognizes Ynga, Wisest."
The griffon spoke with a shaky voice. "The lore of the Elements of Harmony is not well known, Oerda. I imagine that the ponyfolk only knew to look for even one because Groza is well-acquainted with the Royal Pony Sisters. Surely, they are truly in service to their princesses, and merely did not know that all five Elements must be acquired to summon the power of Magic."
Celestia's heart fell. "All f-five? But…but how will we find them all in only eleven days?"
Groza held up a talon to silence the other Elders. "The locations we know not, but we know who last had them. The Element of Laughter was turned over to the Great Temple after the war, and that lies at the other end of this mountain range. The dragons possessed the Element of Generosity, and entrusted it to their leader, who was last seen in the Eastern Desert, just beyond these mountains. The Element of Honesty lies south of that, once possessed by the Anansi, before their fall. We believe that the zebrafolk now have it. Finally, the Element of Kindness is in the hands of the Serpent King, who dwells in the ocean to the West of Equestria. If your magic is not enough to fix your problem, you will need to gather all of the Elements."
General Oerda scoffed. "You presume, Groza, that this council will indeed vote to trust these ponyfolk. They have not shown themselves to be worthy, even if their intentions are as noble as they proclaim."
"Then let them show themselves," Ynga proclaimed. She coughed from the strain of raising her voice. "All those griffons who wish to be proven have undergone the Trial of the Mountain, our greatest test of loyalty and honor. I say, let the ponyfolk perform the Trial."
Oerda growled. "The trial must be taken by six, and the ponyfolk have only three working wings between them. You mock our traditions, Ynga."
"And you overstep your bounds, Oerda." Groza shot the general a glare from across the table. "The Trial of the Mountain has been put forth. The Council must vote to allow the ponyfolk to enter. All who vote yes, raise your talons." All the head table but Oerda did so. "It is decided. Sunny of Equestria, do you and your companions accept the Trial of the Mountain?"
Celestia looked back and forth. "What is the Trial of the Mountain?"
Groza's expression softened. "It's the only way I can swing this, honey."
Celestia's head sunk. "We accept."
"Then the decision is made." Groza raised her volume to fill the Great Hall. "Bring forth the feast!" In an instant, the Hall was flooded with younger griffons bearing trays full of food. "Come, ponyfolk, and sit at the head table with me. There is much I would like to discuss now that the formalities are over." Groza snickered. "For example, Miss Glory's robust cheese collection."
Morning Glory boggled. "Cheese collection?" Sage started laughing again.
Shimmerdust turned to Morning Glory. "You collect cheese?"
"I do not collect cheese!"
Celestia rolled her eyes as Shimmerdust continued to ask Glory about a nonexistent cheese collection. "Sage, why did you do that? You could have ruined everything."
Sage caught his breath. "I was told that griffons were very fond of practical jokes, and that it was not abnormal for them to interrupt even the grandest of ceremonies. And I owed Glory."
"Who taught you that?"
Sage raised an eyebrow. "Why, Princess Celestia did. And I hear she's very well acquainted with griffon customs. She even taught me the language." Celestia screwed up her mouth. She had forgotten that she told him that.
"It's true, sweetness," said Groza, with a hunk of bread in one hand, "I was doing this big important wedding a couple days ago, and the bride had her brother put on some makeup and go in her place. We had to hold the wedding off until next sunrise. Man, that was a trip." She tore into the bread voraciously. "No way you would have gotten so many votes if the Council didn't think you were, well, a lot like us. Most of them don't know much about ponies."
Sage smiled. "You see? It's a win-win situation."
"Don't be so sure, Sage." Celestia pointed over to Morning Glory, who was surrounded by griffons. "They're all giving her suggestions on how to get you back." Sage's smile disappeared. "Anyway, what exactly is the Trial of the Mountain?"
Groza swallowed more food. "It's a race through the big cave that goes all the way through Griffonmont. There's a few natural hazards. The first one through receives the prize, but don't be fooled. You won't live through it if you don't all help each other out. We often use it to see who will get promotions in the military. Good, loyal leaders make it through. Bad ones have to turn back. Or worse."
Celestia frowned. "I know the ways of Griffonmont are harsh, but do you really have to put us through a deadly trial? You know how much we need the Element of Loyalty."
Groza's expression turned serious. "It's of no use to you if the power of Loyalty doesn't reside in you. Now, come on, eat." She gestured to the plate in front of her, which was now empty of all but crumbs. "Uh…let's get some more food over here." The griffon waved a talon at one of the servers, who rushed off.
Celestia sighed and muttered to herself. "Just when I thought things couldn't get worse."