//------------------------------// // Journey To The East // Story: The Equestria Chronicles: The Gallop Through Griffonia // by Slippin_Sweetie //------------------------------// The morning sun had barely crept over the horizon as an orange and purple dawn illuminated the city in a comfortable hue of warm colors. Most creatures would be snug in their beds, but the expedition had to set out for their journey to Griffinstone. Applejack tied the final set of knots for the covered wagons, and after climbing out from the back of the supply wagon, the mare let out a sigh. “Alright, we’re all set, now everycreature, line up for a head count!” shouted Applejack. Pinkie Pie zipped up beside the apple farmer, nearly catching her off balance with the speed she managed to pull off. “Riiiiiiight here!” Pinkie delicately hooped Applejack on the nose, giggling as she bounced away. “Present,” Rainbow called as if she were back in flight camp, rolling her eyes as she lifted a crate into the back of a wagon. “H-Here…” A timid voice murmured, Fluttershy peeking out from behind the wagon, having been in a deep discussion with a flock of birds. Starlight took a long sip of coffee before quietly murmuring, “Here….” Thorax yawned loudly, “I’m here; Trixie is in the wagon.” Trixie popped her head out, giving the group a wave. The armor-clad knights descended from the top of the inn's roof, “Present and accounted for,” the two clinked their swords together as they stood firmly in the position of attention. “Yona?” called Applejack. One of the wagons rocked from side to side before the yak popped her head out of the back, giving Applejack a charming smile, “Yona here! Yona excited for adventure!” She looked ready to join Pinkie in hopping around but stopped and surveyed everyone present, “Uhh… where, pony princess?” “Or Rarity, for that matter.” huffed Applejack. “Probably getting some ‘beauty sleep.’” smirked Starlight. The inn doors would open as Rarity stepped outside, wearing an elegant winter coat to combat the frosted morning air. “I’ll have you know that I always account for the perfect amount of sleep so that I am beautiful no matter what the occasion is.” hmpf’d Rarity. “Now we’re just missing Twilight.” Applejack said, checking her list of creatures. “So who’s gonna drag her out of bed?” questioned Gael before getting swatted by György. “While my squire has a problem speaking out of term, his question still stands. Who will wake the Prinzessin?” inquired György. “I can, I can!!” Pinke raised a hoof, jumping up in the air. “Yeah, if you wanna give her a headache as soon as she wakes up.” Rainbow rolled her eyes as she slowly set her hooves on the ground. “Besides, she’s probably waking up now and freaking out thinking she’s late.” “Or she’s oversleeping because she was exhausted last night….” Fluttershy sighed, “Oh my, where’s Spike?” “Just getting Twilight out of bed; you’re welcome,” Spike said with a smug grin as he presented the princess to the group. “Oh, great work Spike. How are you feeling this morning, Twilight?” prodded Applejack. The princess rubbed her face, having visible dark rings framing her eyes as she squinted against the bright light of the morning sun. Her horn was burning that familiar magenta hue, a brush enveloped in her aura, taming her wild bed mane. She gave a mighty yawn before replying, smacking her lips. “Well, I didn’t exactly sleep on the bed last night… but the couch was comfortable.” She gave the apple farmer a lazy grin that quickly dropped, “Ugh, I need some coffee….” Starlight quickly handed Twilight a cup of warm coffee, “One step ahead of you. How else did you think I got everyone out so quickly?” Applejack rolled her eyes, “I got everyone up. You just handed them coffee.” Starlight scoffed, “Fine, you got them up, and I kept them up. Fair?” Applejack sighed quietly, grumbling to herself as she gestured to Rarity to help her hitch one of the wagons on her. “The journey will be about a day’s trip, and we intend to arrive by nightfall. If everything goes as planned that is,” informed Starlight. Twilight gave Starlight a grateful, tired smile, “Thanks.” She was glad their earlier argument was now water under the bridge. Frankly, with all the stress, she could hardly remember what they had even been arguing about. Taking the coffee into her grip, she took a long gulp of the brown nectar, smacking her lips in satisfaction. “Let’s hope one thing goes to plan for once….” Fluttershy murmured as she took a seat up front, wanting to look at the scenery as they passed by. “You could say that again,” Twilight sighed, resting on the back of the wagon, letting her hindlegs dangle off the edge. “Aw, c’mon, what’s wrong with a little action? Besides, it was kind of fun other than those sailors getting hurt!” Rainbow grinned but quickly dropped it when the others gave her an unamused stare. The griffins would give Rainbow Dash a firm nod of approval in contrast to her ponykin, “She has the making of a knight, that one.” whispered György to Gael. Gael quietly nodded as he marched beside the wagons. Starlight rolled her eyes, “Given the fact we have only two knights guarding us, Rainbow Dash, let’s hope for all of our sake we don’t run into any trouble.” György scoffed, “Have ye no faith? We are The Knights of Kerekasztala, defenders of the Kingdom and Boreas.” “Titles and faith will only get us so far. Let’s think pragmatically here.” retorted Starlight. “That, and we thought we were safe with a crew of sailors. Clearly, numbers aren’t quite as much of a deterrent as we thought.” Twilight sighed, shaking her head slowly, “But it’s no matter. We’ll simply have to keep our guards up.” “Or we could be sneaky,” Pinkie wrapped her hair around her face, making an impromptu mask, “Ninja Pie….” The pink mare first jumped into a bush back and slowly disappeared into the foliage. Yona couldn’t help but snort in amusement. “Whatever happens, this time, we’ll be ready.” Rainbow grinned, a determined, cocky grin on her lips. Spreading her wings wide, she took off into the air, heading straight up and barrelling through a cloud layer before returning a second later. “The weather looks good. I don’t think we’ll have any rain.” “That’s good. Our armor tends to rust in the rain,” replied Gael. “Yes, this is good. But be informed, Rainbow Dash, the road to Griffinstone, has many trees, so flying won’t do the rest of us any good. You need to stay with us less you be ransomed off to a Zebrican slave market.” warned György. “Puh-lease, like they’d be able to catch me.” Rainbow gave the knight a smarmy grin, crossing her front legs as she hovered in the air. “Wouldn’t be the first time we had the threat of slavery over our heads,” muttered Starlight. “I just can’t believe any creature would do that.” hissed Applejack. “Be fortunate that we aren’t heading to Unicornica…” whispered Gael. “You know never to mention that awful place, young squire!” snapped György. “Unicornica?” Twilight’s ear perked up, twitching at the mention of it. “I’ve heard stories and read a few books on the location, but I’ve never met anyone who has ever been there… what is it like?” “Kinda sounds like that play we did. Remember the place Rarity?” Twilight turned to Rarity, “When you played the part of Princess Platinum. Unicornia, I think.” “Oh yes, I quite remember how lavish I looked wearing that crown.” mused Rarity. György’s expression darkened, “No griff, harpy, or any creature dares enter Unicornica, unless they are dragged by chains.” “The griffins and what few harpies live in Griffinstone’s borders have the luxury of not worrying about the unicorn kingdom to the east. But what we hear down the grapevine from Swallowtail, it isn’t good,” explained Gael. He’d continue, “A powerful council of warlocks rules with an iron hoof, searching for the most powerful unicorn to become their monarch. But in the meantime, they keep their kingdom’s coffers full by capturing and enslaving griffins, harpies, even other ponies, and from what I hear, they sell them to the markets of Zebrica.” The color drained from Twilight’s face, “That’s just… just awful! How could somepony ever do that? Celestia certainly wouldn’t, especially if she knew something like that was happening!” The alicorn bit her lip, torn over whether or not she should write a letter to Celestia herself. But then again, she would probably just guide Twilight to handle the issue… “How close is this Unicornica you’re talking about?” Rainbow narrowed her eyes, cracking her neck as if she were getting ready for a fight. “If we’re close, maybe we can stop by, and I can show ’em a thing or two.” “May I see your map?” asked Gael as the griffin quickly examined the map. “... It’s a few weeks’ journey.” answered György, “Not to mention ill-advised, the Republic of Swallowtail has the borders secured, and the kingdom’s safety is secured. Besides, you are in no danger, little ponies. You are in the court of an alicorn princess. You are perfectly safe.” “There’s also a bunch of mountains that act as a natural wall to outsiders and invaders, which is why I assume Swallowtail never could beat those unicorns back,” replied Gael. “Unicorn magic would be pretty hard to beat with swords and cannons, too, I’d bet.” chimed Starlight. “What, do you guys just accept that this ‘Unicornia’ is–” Rainbow began before being cut off. “Unicornica.” Twilight corrected. “Whatever!” The pegasus snapped back before continuing, “You guys KNOW for a fact that some kingdom is kidnapping and enslaving creatures, and you’re just… not going to do anything about it…?!” She stared the two down incredulously. “Rainbow…” Twilight sighed, shaking her head. “What?! We’re all thinking it!” Rainbow threw up her hooves. “I-I wasn’t… n-not really. I was just hoping those creatures are okay….” Fluttershy mumbled, staring at her hooves self-consciously. The knights shrugged, “We’re defenders of our kingdom and our people; if– Boreas forbid, Swallowtail fell, then we would fight and defend against the unicorns.” explained Gael. “Yes, we are loyal to the heiress, for she is the holder of the Idol of Boreas.” nodded György, “While it is a shame that fellow griffins fall to the tyrannical hooves of these slavers, we can only afford to look out for our own. Until recently, the Kingdom of Griffinstone was a decentralized and near anarchic state.” “He saying we were barely a kingdom until a few years ago.” chimed Gael. “Yeah, I visited Griffinstone a while back. It was a dump.” Rainbow snorted. “Aw, c’mon, it wasn’t that bad. It was homey!” Pinkie piped up, a sudden dreamy look crossing her face. “Oh, that King Grover, what a charmer….” Rainbow cocked her head and stared at Pinkie in curiosity, disgust, and amusement. “Regardless, Unicornica isn’t our goal. If we can spare the time to help those in need, we will, but for now, we should continue on our journey as planned.” Twilight said firmly, giving the others a nod. Starlight gave an affirming nod to Twilight, “Let’s see to the map…” the unicorn quickly scanned her copy of the map. “Since this is a geographical map and not a political one, it’ll be pretty difficult to tell where exactly we are going, but it looks like….” “Oh…” she’d slowly look up at the group, “We’ll be heading eastward eventually, I assume to Swallowtail and Unicornica.” György rubbed his chin with his claw, “Then you will have to seek council with The Most Serene Doge of Swallowtail and speak to the…” his face scrunched with disgust, “Parliament.” “The Parliament?” Twilight questioned, adjusting her seat on the wagon as she eagerly listened, hungry for knowledge. Pinkie Pie sat down, too, balancing on her cottony tail. The knight scoffed, “From what I understand, it’s a council of fools who make and enact the law. With the Doge being a figure of authority who is voted by the locals into power alongside the clown cart of fools.” “It’s a cycle of fools electing fools to rule them. You’ll understand once you go to that cesspit of singing, partying, and headaches.” groaned György. “Yeah, the griffins in Swallowtail are only griffin in name. Those guys are… weird.” shivered Gael. “Partying?!” Pinkie’s eyes grew wide, as she shot up like a jack-in-the-box, a gleeful squeal escaping her lips. “That sounds like myyyyy kind of place!” She danced in place once she landed, practically prancing, “Ooooh, let’s get there soon! I wanna see how Griffins par-tay!” The two griffin knights looked at one another as they loudly sighed, “Ponies….” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, “I really doubt that it’s that great.” “I’ve never heard of the term ‘Doge’ before,” Twilight cocked a brow, “It seems familiar somehow….” “Let’s not get too excited here,” interrupted Starlight, “We still need to reach Griffinstone and make sure they don’t have any problems before we go to Swallowtail or Unicornica.” Pinkie sagged a little bit but perked back up immediately. “Oooh, we’ll get to see Gilda again! Aren’t you excited, Dashie?!” She turned to her pegasus pal enthusiastically. “Well, duh. At least this time, I won’t be dangling in a canyon nearly about to fall to my death.” Rainbow snorted, landing beside her friend to wrap a hoof around her neck. “I’m just glad you two showed up… even if you didn’t help much.” Pinkie giggled behind a hoof. “I’m excited to finally see Griffinstone; I know from your descriptions it wasn’t… exactly the way the historical texts describe it, but I’m hoping it has improved since your absence,” Twilight replied. “If we get moving soon, we should make excellent time.” “Sounds like a plan to me.” Rainbow nodded. “Then let’s get goin’!” Applejack called. The group climbed aboard, and with Rainbow Dash cutting through the sky and leading the way, they trotted off into the early morning.