2 Months Later…
It was terrible, the pride of the Empire, the capital, Griffonia, decimated in less than a night. A trail of destruction could be followed like a path through the enormous city, from the first tier, all the way to the seventh, and further to the palace. Some say it was luck, only the parts of the city that were in the Fear Lantern’s path were damaged immensely, one half was alright, and so was the other, but the middle was were the bulk of the damage had been done.
Many griffon soldiers and volunteers worked feverishly to find any and all survivors from that night so long ago, some were still finding remains and few were found alive, although with some considerably bad injuries. Still, they worked to rebuild as much as they could, families and friends lost during the battle, and others slaughtered by the droves. It still baffled others, how a single pony could do so much damage, an alicorn was easier to fathom, and truthfully would have been preferred. But the fact that it was a lone pegasus pony, that one fact made it all the more startling, knowing that Equestria had such a warrior on their side, had a weapon that could bring the level of destruction that a deity could wrought, made this all the more terrifying.
All this was laid out before a single griffoness as she looked upon the capital from her balcony with sadness and remorse. Her brown feathers sheened in the sunlight, her white plumage that covered her neck and head was glossy and bright. Her cleaned up appearance was thanks to the royal clawgriffonesses, she usually hated being made to look all prim and proper, but she didn’t have much of a choice, she needed to be presentable. Although, she was able to talk them into keeping her light shade of purple eye shadow over her eyes, she needed something that still remained her when looked at herself in the mirror.
“Are you alright Gilda?”
The griffoness turned around and saw a black griffon walk into her room; he had been so silent that she didn’t even hear him.
“Dammit Nox, give me some warning that you’re there! Clear your throat or something, geez!”
Nox chuckled, “Sorry, it’s a habit. But seriously, how are you doing?”
Gilda sighed, “I guess I’m alright. I mean, as ‘alright’ as I can be all things considering…”
The griffoness walked into her room, it was once her father’s room, but his bed and furniture had been removed in place of hand picked furniture by Gilda herself, if she was going to stay in this room she wasn’t going to sleep in the same bed that her now dead father had slept in. She shuddered upon remembering what Nox had told her about how their father died.
“Pinned to the floor by spears, and putting his severed head on a pike! What kind of medieval, sick crap is that?!”
“Apparently one that is meant to make a statement dear sister, the Fear Lantern showed us just how powerful she was, and now we need to step up our plans.”
“I still can’t believe you survived that fight…I’m glad you did, don’t get me wrong, it’s just that when they told me you were dead as well…” There as a hint of sadness in Gilda’s voice, remembering hearing the news of her father’s passing as indeed sad, but felt even more worried when she heard of her brother’s death.
Nox walked over to Gilda and placed a claw on her shoulder, “I’m sorry I had to be secretive about this, but we stand a better chance if the Fear Lantern thinks I’m dead, as well as everyone else. Besides, it allows me to better see just who my enemies and allies are.”
Gilda placed her right claw over Nox’s, smiling slightly. “Well, you don’t have to worry, I’m not abandoning you again…Can you forgive me, for leaving you alone with dad…?”
“Gilda, I don’t blame you for leaving. It was my choice to stay behind. I became a Wing Commander, and I was able to advance my abilities further, which is the only reason I was able to survive the encounter.”
The griffoness moved closer and hugged her brother, with Nox embracing her as well. The siblings parted and Gilda’s gaze drifted over to a stand where her royal regalia and cape awaited to be worn. “I still don’t think I’m the best choice for this, being an Empress and all…”
“I know, but I’ll be there, in the shadows, helping you out. So you needn’t worry. Just look regal, and above all else, do not lose that fervor in your heart dear sister. Do not forget what the Equestrians have done to us.”
Gilda still couldn’t believe that the ponies were capable of such destruction. Truth be told she really didn’t believe in this war from the beginning, having lived in Equestria for a good length of time, but upon hearing of what happened to Griffonia, she was starting to think that maybe her father wasn’t so crazy to wage war against them. Equestria had many a powerful being in their homeland, four alicorns, each a demi-deity, a Spirit of Chaos, and there’s the added new danger of the Fear Lantern. The Equestrians were more dangerous than she first thought, but, then again, even a mouse will lash out if it’s cornered.
“So, what’s this ‘plan’ I keep hearing about? Commanders Carmen and Silva haven’t really…saw fit to inform me. I mean, how can I be an Empress and help with this war if I don’t know the whole plan!?” Gilda growled.
Nox patted his sister on the back in a placating fashion. “I’ll fill you in, come with me.”
Nox lead Gilda to the study in the adjacent room. The two of them stopped before a round table in the middle of the room. Nox then waved his right claw over the main entrance and the door they had just entered from. A veil of darkness layered itself over the doors for a moment and within the next moment melded into the doors themselves. The black griffon noticed the look his sister was giving him, remembering that this was the first time she had seen his dark magical abilities to this extent.
“Sorry, I forgot, you haven’t seen my powers like that, but it’s just a protective field to keep eavesdroppers from overhearing anything, only the Wing Commanders and the current ruling head of state can be told this, or see it, lest the public or a spy get wind of it.”
Nox then placed his right claw on the table. Gilda noticed something on his middle talon that she hadn’t before, he was wearing a ring, a black one, with a strange symbol on it. An upside down triangle, with five vertical bars sticking up from it, this ring then began to glow with an eerie light, it was actually emitting a black light, as weird as that sounded. Before them constructs made of darkness appeared, depicting old Emperors and Empresses from past generations.
“It is no secret that during the founding of Equestria, and the subsequent expansion of the realm, the griffons and the ponies have had a long standing rivalry. Back in the ancient times, skirmishes and full out wars were common place back then. But, the arrival of the Princesses known as Celestia and Luna more or less brought these battles to an end.”
Gilda shrugged her shoulders. “Makes sense, going up against two ponies who can move the sun and moon on their own would seem like suicide.”
“Quite.” The constructs shifted, showing battles upon battles with the griffons and ponies. “But nonetheless, our ancestors only bided their time, watching and studying the ponies. Some of our past rulers had launched full scale wars against Equestria, and of course, they either ended in stalemates or we were defeated outright.” Another shift in the constructs, this time showing a regal Empress griffoness that bared some semblance to Gilda. “But, it was thanks to Empress Claudia, who believed that, in lose, there was victory. She kept a record of all the losses we suffered, how, why, where, and when. Upon her passing, she bequeathed this knowledge in the form of a tome, writing down all she knew, and making sure that any future ruler who challenged Equestria, write down their strategies, tactics, as well as conditions of each battle, whether it was a win or a loss.”
Gilda had to admit, she was impressed. This was going on for centuries without her knowing, even when her grandfather was Emperor. “But what’s the point in all this?”
“The eventual downfall and occupation of Equestria, that is the point sister. By studying the tome, we can refine and build upon what we learned since then, adding it to what we know now and finding correlations in their fighting and training, when their most vulnerable, where their weakest, and how much their military strength has grown from one generation to the next. It all culminates into a single war to end all wars. The Age of the Equestrians has lasted too long, now this new era will be ours.”
To emphasize the point, a construct of the Griffon Empire flag appeared atop a mountain of pony corpses, along with a single griffon beside the flag, holding chains that were bound to the four alicorn rulers of Equestria. Gilda couldn’t keep her slight discomfort from showing, she had anger management issues, was violent from time to time, would cuss out the occasional passerby if they bumped into her, but…this was a little out of her league.
“You’re scared sister.”
Gilda looked to Nox, surprised. “I-I’m not scared!”
“I know you are, I can tell. But you don’t have to be. You won’t be alone in this big sister.”
“I know…and thanks. I don’t deserve a little brother like you.”
Nox waved his right claw again and the constructs vanished along with the protective spell over the doors, his ring having stopped glowing with its supernatural light. “No, no you don’t.”
Gilda scoffed, “Always gotta be a wise guy don’t ‘cha bro?”
“Only when you’re around sis, now I’ll leave you to get ready, they’ll be swearing you in soon, and I need to make myself scarce.”
Gilda nodded to her little brother and bade him farewell as he created a portal of darkness and passed through it. She then sighed heavily, gazing at the regalia and cape once again. This was her future from now on; she was to be the Empress of the Griffon Empire, and wage war against a land that she had come to call home for the latter part of her youth. Few of the ponies on the other side she called friends, but even now, her thoughts traveled to one pony in particular, a rainbow maned pegasus mare to be exact. Although, for a good part of that time, “friend” may not have been the word she would’ve used to describe her feelings for the mare in question. But that was in the past, that mare was married and had children now, any possibilities were quashed when the “I do’s” were spoken.
But…that doesn’t mean things can’t change.
Gilda shuddered again, was she seriously contemplating that making this mare her own when all was said and done really something she should look forward to? If things went as planned, from what Nox had told her, such a thing could be possible, since the Griffon Empire, at the end of this scenario, was to bring the Equestrian’s down to their knees. It certainly was a thought.
All the while, Gilda never knew that she was being watched from within the shadows. Though her younger brother appeared to have left, he remained between the realms of the physical and shadow world, watching his sister.
He saw within her many conflicting colors, red, yellow, orange, green, blue, and violet. All of them beaming with emotional energy, and he didn’t know which of them he liked more. Within this netherrealm, his ring blinked a few times, Nox raised it up closer to his face and nodded as if hearing a voice.
“I understand Master, but be patient, things aren’t ready yet for your arrival. The pieces have yet to fall into place.”