//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: The Griffin War // by QuarterNote //------------------------------// Several Hours Earlier The arrival of King Aeris into the Meeting Hall of Gryphus Tower was truly a spectacle. Odd, considering that he and Celestia would be the only ones taking part in the discussion. Sunlight streaming in through the stained glass windows on the western wall scattered into multicolored spots of light, splashing across the spotless floor in a rainbow of separate hues. At least ten different tapestries hung from the vaulted ceiling, depicting great moments in griffin history such as wars, great heroes, and hanging above the door that the king entered from, a scene depicting the unifying of the various griffin city-states that had eventually become the Kingdoms after centuries of war. It depicted a circular table, the very one that sat in the Meeting Hall at this moment. Ten different griffins clad in varying colors stood around it, their posture regal and triumphant. Twenty griffin trumpeters clothed in black leather armor lined the foot of the wall, blowing a brazen fanfare on long trumpets from which hung small pendants emblazoned with the symbol of the Griffin Kingdoms, a white three-toed footprint on a black field. As they blew, the King entered. King Aeris would have been an imposing figure to anyone else. The griffin was massive, easily dwarfing the griffins and ponies in the room. He was a head and a half taller than even Celestia, his feathers a warm golden brown that caught the sunlight magnificently. Not for nothing was one of his nicknames “The Golden King”. His deep blue eyes were calm and reassuring, but full of authority at the same time. He walked in a stately manner, an easygoing smile on his face as he moved to the small, round table in the center of the room and sat down on the large, plump cushion that had been set out for him. With that done he merely sat there, the golden emerald-inlaid necklace that was his badge of office hanging around his neck and sparkling in the sunlight. Another bold fanfare rang out across the room, this time blown by the golden-armored pegasi of Equestria. Celestia entered through the door on the other side of the room, doing her own stately walk towards the table. As the fanfare ended her escorts all walked over to the table with her, taking up positions far enough away from the table to not be intrusive but close enough to intervene should any sort of situation arise. Like the griffin guards in the room they were heavily armed both as a show of force and for practical reasons. Lances protruded from harnesses buckled to the sides of their armor, scabbards on their right front legs revealing the presence of hoof swords. Round, golden shields emblazoned with the national symbol of Equestria were strapped to their left front legs. The griffins were similarly armed, though they had more conventional swords in addition to halberds, but lacked shields of their own. Celestia finally made her way to the table, giving Aeris a warm smile as she sat down. “Aeris,” she said simply, giving him a nod. “Celestia,” Aeris answered with an equally warm smile. His voice was a pleasant bass, smooth and charismatic, as it should have been; he had led the Griffin Kingdoms for many years, and they had flourished under his rule. “I hope your journey was pleasant?” “Yes, actually.” Celestia replied as a griffin came in with a tray loaded with a tea pot, two cups, and a number of cakes and small sandwiches. “The mountains are quite beautiful in the summer.” “Thank you,” Aeris responded with a chuckle. “I’m glad that you could enjoy the scenery.” He snapped his claws suddenly and another griffin came in, this one bearing a beautifully carved wooden case. “I took the liberty of having something made for you. A token of good faith and the beginning of better relations between Equestria and the Griffin Kingdoms.” Celestia took the case with her magic, floating it over to the table where she then opened it up. Inside the box was a small ring, just the size for the alicorn princess’s horn. It was gold, inlaid with different colors of metal interwoven into thin strands that worked their way around the whole of the ring’s circumference. A diamond-shaped sapphire was embedded in the center, acting as a focal point of all of the different-colored strands. “It’s beautiful!” Celestia exclaimed as she levitated the ring out and slipped it on. “Thank you, Aeris.” “You’re very welcome,” Aeris replied, chuckling. He prepared his tea as he continued speaking. “So, I hear that your sister has finally returned?” “Oh yes,” Celestia replied, mimicking him. “Yes, Luna’s indeed back. She’s adjusting rather well to being gone for a thousand years; I left her in charge of Equestria while I’m here.” “Well then,” Aeris chuckled, lifting his teacup. “To the health of your sister and you then, Celestia.” “Thank you Aeris,” Celestia replied, returning the toast and sipping. Both continued drinking their tea in relative silence for the next few minutes. Finally Aeris put his cup aside and wove his fingers together, looking at the Equestrian monarch. “And now, as much as I would like to continue catching up, there’s the matter of why I asked you to come here.” “Yes,” Celestia sighed. “I remember. The Merchant’s Guild and the Talos/Derbyshire border dispute.” “Indeed. You know the circumstances, I presume? The Council of Lords is taking Sharptalon’s side of the issue.” Celestia nodded. The main cause of the border dispute was that some landowner in Derbyshire had sold off land to part of the Apple family. It was good land, green and fertile and perfect for growing apples. The problem that not only did the landowner not actually own the land, but also (as the Royal Zoning Office had failed to notice as well) was that a significant portion of that land was designated as surplus fields for when the crop fields around Talos itself went fallow, so that the griffins didn’t have to worry about what they would do about food when the time came. Unfortunately before the Zoning Office could realize its mistake it was already spring, and during the time that the Apples had been planting their trees a number of griffins had come to measure out the size of one of their fields, only to find that the Apple ponies had planted their entire orchard on the land that had been set aside by Talos. The Apples had refused to dig up their seeds and plant them somewhere else, and despite Celestia’s personal attempts to compensate the Talosians for the unintended sale of their land, the griffins had refused to back down from their claim. That had eventually driven both cities to go to Aeris for judgement. “So, what do you think should be done?” Aeris asked, cocking his head to one side. Celestia put her tea down, shaking her head. “To be honest…I’m not sure. We can hardly ask the Apples to dig their seeds up.” “And there is no other land in that valley suitable for growing,” Aeris added. “The foothills are already taken by the griffins living in the western cities, and Talos is too big to get by on crops that they grow on the ridges around the city. Perhaps the Apple family could be persuaded to send a percentage of their crops to Talos every year?” Celestia shook her head “No, I don’t think that would work. If there’s one thing I know about the Apple family, it’s that they’re by and large a stubborn lot. I could hardly ask them to hand over a portion of their crop and not have them do something like send all of the bad apples over. Perhaps if we persuade them to, Talos can pay for the apples?” Aeris shrugged, a thoughtful look on his face. Then he suddenly looked up. “Oh dear, I believe we’ve lost track of time.” He stood, beckoning to her. “I took the liberty of having a meal prepared before you got here. They should be just about done cooking it by now. We can continue the discussion over dinner.” Celestia nodded, getting up and following Aeris out of the room. The two ruler’s respective guards followed them, and after a few minutes of walking they emerged into the Tower’s dining room. The room had been built in a huge circle, with more stained glass windows lining the walls. Sunlight, rapidly fading as the sun came ever closer to finishing its journey across the sky for today, reflected off of every westward-facing window in the room in a cascade of multihued light. While Aeris went to the head of the table and sat, Celestia held up a wing. “If you will tolerate me for a moment, Aeris. There’s a duty I must see to.” With Aeris’s nod she walked over to a window facing the sun. Her horn began to glow with a golden light, and with a mighty flap of her massive white wings Celestia propelled herself upward. She flapped several more times, going higher with each stroke, until finally spreading her wings as the sun rapidly disappeared over the horizon. Her duties for the day done, she landed and turned back around to see a griffin soldier handing Aeris a scroll. “Oh? A message?” “Yes, actually.” Aeris replied as he neatly slit the ribbon the scroll was wrapped in, then unrolled the scroll to read its contents. “I sent some soldiers out on a mission earlier, ahead of the armies that I have out on maneuvers near the border. They were successful.” “That’s nice,” Celestia replied. She walked back over to the table and sat down. “So, tell me. How have things been here lately?” “Oh, they’ve been well enough,” Aeris replied idly. “Everything going the way it should, dreams that I’ve had for a while now coming to light. Plans coming to fruition that have been in the planning for years.” “Oh?” Celestia asked, giving a warm smile as she cocked her head. “What sort of dreams and plans?” Aeris grinned back as he stood and looked at her. Unlike his previous smiles though, there was nothing warm in this one. It was cold and cruel, full of sarcasm. “Conquest, of course.” Celestia’s eyebrows went up, then beetled together. “Conquest? You can’t possibly mean-” “Yes,” Aeris confirmed, nodding. “I do, as a matter of fact.” He began walking around the table in a slow, measured pace. “You see, Celestia, among most of the world Equestria is known as the ‘crown jewel’ of ponydom. Your fields are perpetually prosperous, you control the very weather itself, and it is home to a pair of goddesses, able to control the sun and moon. All of that…and more.” He gave an amused chuff of laughter, shaking his head and grinning. “And yet…you are almost completely undefended. A country as important as Equestria, yet the only semblance of any sort of army that you have are your Royal Guards. A small group stationed exclusively in Canterlot and numbering only five hundred ponies.” “And your point?” Celestia asked, raising an eyebrow. “My point, my dear Celestia, is that Equestria is vulnerable. It has always been, the main problem was merely getting you out of the way. And that,” he said, “is of course the entire purpose of this meeting.” He suddenly raised his voice. “TAKE THEM!” The griffin guards that had positioned themselves around the room all surged forward, halberds extended and pointing at Celestia. In a flash, the Captain and his guards were in front of the alicorn princess, lances down in combat position and hoof swords extended. “Protect the princess!” the Captain bellowed. The pegasi charged the griffin guards, and the two sides clashed together in a clamor of crashing steel. Though the battle was a bloody, brutal affair the odds against them were bad from the start. Though Princess Celestia’s escort was made up of some of the best ponies the Royal Guard had, and each of them was a skilled warrior in his own right, the griffin guards outnumbered them at least three to one; while it was even at first, more guards flooded into the room at the sound of combat. Celestia spread her wings and shot forward, flying straight at Aeris as she lowered her head, her horn pointed straight at the griffin king’s chest. Aeris smirked and spread his own wings as well, giving them a mighty flap to conjure a focused blast of air that slammed into Celestia with the force of a freight train. There was a reason that his name was “Aeris” as well. Celestia went flying backwards, griffin and pony alike getting out of the way. The white alicorn managed to stop herself before she could slam into the wall, panting heavily as she looked at the still-smirking griffin from across the room. The air in the room was filled with battle cries and screams of pain, calls of warning and yells of concern. Celestia could only watch as the battle went on, now spread out into the open air above the banquet table, as well as on and around it. One pegasus smashed his shield against a griffin’s helmeted head, knocking the soldier to the side before turning and slashing open another’s throat. Another pegasus threw both rear hooves into the chest of a griffin soldier, only to turn and run straight into a halberd blade that speared the pegasus in the belly, the Royal Guardspony gasping wetly before his blue eyes slid shut as the griffn jerked his halberd out and shook it off briefly before going to rejoin the fight. Celestia could only watch in horror as the pegasus fell to the ground, bouncing limply before lying still. The Captain was fighting a pair of griffins at the same time. Blocking two sword blows with his shield he ejected his lance at one, spearing the griffin through the leg before swiping both across the throat with his hoof sword. One griffin smashed a pegasus into the table, breaking the hardwood furniture in two. As he stood up on his hind legs and raised his sword to deliver the killing blow the pegasus thrust his sword leg upward, the griffin giving a strangled scream as the blade slid into his body. “Princess!” the Captain yelled as he spun in the air, his sword beheading a pair of griffins in the process. “Go! We’ll cover you!” Celestia nodded and spread her wings, her horn lighting up ready to teleport away and back to Canterlot… And nothing happened. What? Celestia thought in shock. She cast the spell again, and again, but each time was met with failure. As soon as the glow creeping up her horn came into contact with the ring, it would dissipate in a burst of golden particles, a shimmering cloud of magic flaring from the princess’s horn before disappearing. “Don’t bother, Celestia,” Aeris called over the clamor of battle. “That bracelet is made of a mix of orichalcum, corundum, and ebony, painted to look like gold. The sapphire itself is the focus for the anti-magic charm that I had my smith enchant the ring with.” He grinned. “So to make a long story short…you’re merely a horned pegasus now. The only thing that bracelet allows you to do is control the sun.” Celestia looked at him in horror. Her eyes flicked upward to her horn and she immediately moved her hooves to it, aiming to take it off. I have to save the guards...stop Aeris, put him in a position to negotiate... ZAP. The alicorn princess gave a loud yelp as electricity coursed through her, her legs flopping limply from her horn. I can’t take it off?! She frantically looked around for another avenue of escape, but other griffin guards were blocking the door, keeping any of the pegasi (or Celestia herself) from escaping. She doubted she could take off with enough force to shatter one of the windows...Aeris would most likely meet her before she could get to one anyway. Aeris didn’t even flinch when a pegasus, his throat slashed open by a griffin blade, shot by him to smash against the wall in a bloody smear. Though the ponies had done well at first, weight of numbers was beginning to tell. Several were borne to the ground by groups of griffins, the guards slashing and stabbing with their weapons, or merely holding them down to take them prisoner. Soon enough, it was over. The dining hall was covered in blood and bodies of both sides. Scattered weapons and armor lay everywhere as well. The remaining ponies had been herded into a group by the griffins, pressed into a corner and surrounded by griffin soldiers that had their halberds pointed at them to create a steel thicket that it would be suicide to attempt to run through. Two of the surviving seven ponies had been severely wounded, one lying on his back and the other put up against the wall in a sitting position. “Hm. That was messier than I had intended,”Aeris remarked idly as he walked around the dining room, observing the carnage. “But it served its purpose.” “What should we do with them, Your Majesty?” one of the griffins asked. “Bind Celestia’s wings and take her to her room. I want a full wing of guards stationed outside of it at all times,” Aeris said as he approached them. “Take the guards to Blacktalon Peak.” A few of the guards let out anticipatory chuckles. Blacktalon Peak was the Griffin Kingdoms’ most secure prison, in addition to being one of its nastiest. More griffins came in with chains, wrapping them around Celestia’s body and pinning her wings to her sides. Celestia didn’t resist, as her guards were still under threat. Aeris smiled. “Don’t worry, Celestia. Equestria isn’t the only nation being invaded. This is merely the start of a grand ambition of mine; by the time this is over, the Griffin Kingdoms will be the Griffin Empire. Earlier this morning Germaneigh and Prance were both invaded by two of my other armies; they will require a much more significant force than Equestria, but I think it’s worth the risk.” “You won’t get away with this, Aeris.” Celestia replied, a glare on her face that promised Aeris a slow and painful death. Or banishment to the moon, one of the two. Aeris barked a laugh. “Please, don’t ruin the moment with clichés, Celestia. I already have gotten away with it. In a few hours the Darkfeathers I sent to ponynap your precious student and her friends will return here and Marshal Blackwing and my son will begin an assault on Canterlot itself.” He grinned again. “So don’t flatter yourself in thinking you have any sort of chance at victory. I’ve already won.” He waved at her dismissively. “Take her away.” “Princess!” the Captain cried, struggling against the griffins that had removed the Royal Guard’s armor and were currently binding them in chains. One of the griffin soldiers ducked low and slammed a fist into the Captain’s belly, the fist sinking in to the wrist and causing the pegasus’s white cheeks to inflate hugely before a rush of warm air and spit left his lips. The Captain doubled over with a wheeze, enabling the griffins to finish their work. “Sire, what should we do with the wounded ones?” one soldier asked as he pointed to the two guards that had been left out of the chain line. “Better that they die now rather than take up resources in the prison,” Aeris said idly. Two of the griffins raised their halberds and swung them down, Celestia turning away and shutting her eyes as two loud swack noises reached her ears. Two thuds a second later told her that the soldiers had done their work. Celestia didn’t struggle as twenty of the surviving griffin guards escorted her from the room. She tried to look on the bright side of the situation, small as it was. Twilight Sparkle and her friends were safe. They would be brought here, kept prisoner instead of being tortured. However, another thought was on her mind as she bit her lip, struggling not to tear up. Luna.