Ch. 7 - Morning Glory
The Traveling Tutor and the Diplomat’s Daughter
Morning Glory
The love from a supportive family is the greatest of all goods.
— C. Manson
It had been a long, strange trip through the upper city of Canterlot with the curious little griffon fledgeling at his side and Friday Haystings trailing behind, but after a great number of stops assuaging Sunny’s curiosity at everything shiny, Green Grass had finally arrived at his destination. It took several rings of the doorbell before he got a response, and when the rattling and calls of ‘Just a moment!’ had died down, the door opened to a familiar purple and white mare who he had finally gotten comfortable calling ‘Mom.’ After all, it was a lot more comfortable than calling her ‘Twilight.’
“Greenie!” shouted Twilight Velvet the moment she opened the door, grabbing the tutor in a crushing hug that smelled vaguely of mashed carrots and ozone. “I thought you and Twilight were in the Crystal Kingdom?”
“She went to save the world without me again, Missus Velvet.” Quickly continuing at Twilight Velvet’s frown, he added in Griffon, “I would like to introduce to you to Princess Sun Shines on the Misty Mountains at Dawn Through Early Morning Hazy Skies, daughter of Ambassador How Sharp The Edge Of Slicing Feathers Are During A Dive Upon Prey, and heir to the aerie of the Misty Mountains Griffons. Sunny, this is Frefreu Twilight Velvet of House Twinkle, Mistress of the Silver Diadem, Defender of the Realm, Dean of the High Energy Thaumatology Department in Canterlot University, and the mother of Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic.”
“Charmed to meet Your Highness,” responded Twilight Velvet in somewhat accented Griffon. “Please come in. Our nest is your nest.” A loud crash from inside the house sent the middle-aged mare dashing inside, shouting, “Have Greenie show you around while I catch the colts!”
* * *
Tea in the house of Twilight Velvet was much simpler than with Celestia, but carried a similar learning experience. A plastic container in the icebox with a few icecubes tinking around in the glass provided a sweet, golden beverage that tasted every bit as good to his plebeian taste buds. Orange juice for the griffon princess and bottles of formula for the two little unicorn colts finished out the refreshments, while Twilight’s mother settled for running around in a dither, trying to keep the two young colts from getting into trouble. As they were Twilight’s baby siblings, and colts to boot, it was a futile effort.
Twilight Sparkle had a habit of being caught unaware by current events, partially due to her reluctance to read newspapers without a red pencil and a blank letter to the editor close at hoof. When her own brother had gotten married, she had read the newspaper that had held the announcement, but in such fine detail as to miss the announcement totally while producing a three-page response detailing every missing comma and four different instances where the paper misspelled Quinary in their dining review. The birth of her new little brothers struck her much the same surprising way when she found out about them by way of a congratulatory letter from Celestia. For one playful moment, Green Grass considered making his wedding proposal to Twilight, that is his Twilight, by way of a letter from Celestia too, if not for the long and vengeful memory of his potential spouse, and his hopes for spending many long years within hoofs-reach of a pony who had learned so many spells useful for pranking. Not to mention just exactly what humorous edits Celestia might add before sending.
Sunny took to playing with the colts with a vengeance, or more correctly, the smaller unicorn colts quickly viewed the big griffon princess as Equestria’s greatest fluffy toy. She would pounce down on them from tall shelves, making them run screaming with joy around the room until they ganged up on her in return. At that point, the tables were turned indeed, as Sunny turned out to be quite ticklish to little colt hooves. Given a respite from her motherly duties, Twilight Velvet plunked down on the couch next to Green Grass, snagging the iced tea from his grasp and draining it dry.
“Ahh, thank you Greenie. You want any more tea?”
“Yes, Missus… I mean yes, mom.”
“Great. It’s in the icebox.” Twilight Velvet reclined on the couch and propped her legs up on a hoofstool while a collection of ungraded tests floated out of her nearby saddlebags in her glowing purple magic. “Get me one too while you’re up.”
There was no way to keep from chuckling on his way to the kitchen. His own mother would have demanded a servant tend to the menial task, and since Friday had vanished without a trace once he knocked on House Twinkle’s door, it would have been a very long, dry wait. True, his own parents were of a social rung far higher on the ladder than Twilight’s, who occupied what the upper-crust would think of as a mere step-stool, but sometimes he thought his real mother would rather starve to death than cook. Two large glasses of iced tea and one orange juice later, he returned to the chaotic playground the little ones had made out of the room, putting the glasses down on a table and just watching his someday-to-be brothers in law play with royalty.
Daring Doo, the famous griffon explorer, prowled fearlessly through the Temple of the Pony Goddess in search of ancient treasure. Shifting blocks of the heaviest couch cushions loomed to the left and right, threatening to fall down in a crushing avalanche if she failed to negotiate the treacherous passage. She could hear the giggling of the natives, fierce protectors of the temple, just waiting to spring upon their helpless prey. Suddenly, one of the walls caved in, and the temple guards leapt onto the intruder. Rolling across the floor in a blurred streak of blue and purple, their ball of mortal combat bumped against a raised altar of polished wood, upon which rested the fabled Treasure of the Horned Ponies. As Daring Doo struggled to free herself from the guards, a blue aura surrounded the vase and floated it away from their combat area.
“So how are Phobos and Deimos doing, mom?” Both little colts looked up at the mention of the familiar nicknames, their violet eyes glittering with cheerful malevolence. Night Light had supposedly wanted to name them Pulsar and Quasar, but for some reason that he was still trying to figure out, stallions got almost no input with regard to the naming of newborns The possible exception to the rule had been Shining Armor, who was named after Twilight Velvet’s favorite uncle. After all, Shining Sword had been the one at the wedding to stand behind Night Light with the family sword when Twilight Velvet had gotten in a family way from their family activities, and the ceremony had considerable influence on the naming of the child present at the occasion, but still unborn. Still, Green Grass could find no reasonable logic for a noted scientist like Twilight Velvet to insist on naming her newborn colts Dusk Shine and Dawn Glimmer. Dusk had a fairly dark purple coat, that had continued to darken as he had gotten older, along with the most beautiful flowing white mane that looked a lot like Green Grass’ brother, Graphite’s. Dawn, which still sounded like a filly’s name to him, was a solid blue much like his father with untamed tufts of red mane and tail that clashed something fierce with not only his colors, but those of his entire family. They were about as different as a cat and a bird, but could coordinate their assaults and activities with the ease of hoofball players running familiar plays.
Twilight Velvet did not rise to the bait, tucking the vase away and allowing the familiar point of discussion to pass with another red checkmark on a poor, unsuspecting test held hovering in front of her. “So, have you set the date to make my daughter an honorable mare? You know, if you two were to have little ones of your own, you could name them whatever you want. Within reason.” She tilted her tea back for another drink and froze momentarily, gently putting down all the papers she was grading before fishing the diamond ring out of the tea with her magic.
“So, what do you think, mom?”
“Well, I’ll give you points for creativity, but you’re going to lose some for placement and safety. I certainly hope you don’t intend on proposing to my daughter in this fashion.” Getting no response from the grinning stallion, she held the ring up for close examination, turning it back and forth to catch the light as the three little ones darted about unsupervised. Finally she floated it back over to Green Grass, who tucked it back into the box inside his suit jacket. “When were you planning on asking her?”
A cloud seemed to sweep across the windows, blocking the sun and damping the warmth in his chest he had just begun to enjoy. “I’m not sure. Princess Celestia needs her and the rest of the bunch fairly frequently, so I’m afraid if I spring it on her at the wrong time, I’ll distract her from saving all of Equestria from some horrible fate. I can just see the post-apocalyptic land populated by only a few tattered ponies all cursing my name as they huddle in shelters and cross the poisonous deserts of a doomed world.”
“Or perhaps your proposal will fill her heart with even more friendship, and save Equestria from a similar fate.” A red pencil descended on a test with a single sweep in a motion that Green Grass was quite familiar with, having seen it on his own tests far too often. “Had you scored better in your Dialogue and Logic class, you would know better than to use a False Dichotomy argument in this circumstance.”
“Oh.” He thought about the problem while watching Sunny prowl along the rug, pretending not to see the two giggling colts hiding behind a pillow in ambush. He envied the young griffon until he thought back to yesterday, and her questionable future if her grandfather were to invade the Crystal Empire. It was probably best that she did not know of her potential fate, instead enjoying the moment with two little playmates in a sunbeam coming through the window. “I can’t possibly know if Twilight Sparkle and I are ready—”
“Argument from Ignorance,” said Velvet, checking off another incorrect answer and writing a short note.
“Statistically, over a third of unicorn/earth pony marriages—”
“Ecological Fallacy,” stated the teacher with great certainty. “We are not talking about generic unicorns and earth ponies, we are talking about my filly and you.”
“We have a lot of differences we’ve never really worked out to—”
“Nirvana Fallacy,” stated Twilight Velvet, putting one reddened test into a folder and pulling another unbloodied victim out. “Nopony ever has all their differences worked out before a marriage.”
“I want to find the perfect moment to ask her.”
She stopped at that, holding a test with half a red mark across an answer. “The perfect is the enemy of the good.”
“Coltaire? I believe his quote was actually Le mieux est l'ennemi du bien.” Green Grass fumed slightly, taking a drink of his tea despite its suddenly flat taste. “The best is the enemy of the good. I want her to have the best, and all I can think of is how I’m only marginally good at best. I mean, my whole life I’ve been a disappointment to my parents, my school. The only thing I’ve ever really been good at is written right on my flank.” He gestured to his cutie mark, a filly-sized horn with weak sparkles around it. “I love working with the little tikes, the way their eyes light up when they levitate their first object, the way they shriek with happiness when they show their parents what they can do. Twilight, that is your daughter, makes me feel the same way when she looks into my eyes. She laughs with her entire being when I do something funny, and she lights up like a beacon when she talks about her friends. I know just how Spike felt when he had his brief ‘growth spurt’ a few months back because I get so greedy I want to possess her all, every atom, every thought. But then I realize what makes her so special is what she gives to the world, and it makes me feel guilty to be blocking her light from those who need it most.”
Twilight Velvet sat quietly listening to him ramble until he had finished, leaving her tests ungraded for the moment. “You,” she declared decisively, “are an idiot. But a nice idiot, much like the idiot I married. You have the approval of a princess and her parents, but you’re still afraid to ask the permission of my daughter. As parents, I must warn you we’re only going to accept this reluctance from you two for so long before we take measures.”
“How long?” asked Green Grass reflexively, as if it were the due date of a homework assignment.
“Until she starts to show.” Ignoring the sputtering stallion, Twilight Velvet gestured, and a thin book wrapped in her magic floated out from one of the multitude of bookshelves that encircled the room.
“On a different note, I have a little job for you. I thought about this the first time Night Light mentioned the troubles that have been affecting the Misty Mountains griffons. I had a great-great-something grandmother from there who never spoke of her experiences, but wrote them down and bound them up with the promise they never be opened while she was alive. Her diary was forgotten in a pile of other family history, passed down from cluttered attic to basement storage through the years until Twilight became the Princess’ student. Back then, I thought it would be nice to make a family history for a keepsake, some research with more practical applications for her than thousand year-old prophecies about the mare in the moon. We never got very far into the project, what with my job and Twilight’s studies with the Princess, but I kept it all boxed up just in case. Since you have some free time, I thought I’d dump the whole thing on you. I’ll mail you the rest of the boxes, but I held that one back for you to read.”
“My diary. By Morning Glory,” read Green Grass from the front of the thin book. “That’s odd. One of the diplomats who was killed… I mean who was in the diplomatic group to the aerie back before the battle I covered in my thesis had the same name.” He flipped through the pages with casual interest at first, then with a great deal of trepidation and more than a few uncomfortable glances at the young griffon princess at play with the two little colts. It was far too easy to see Sunny as an adult centuries ago, diving down on ordinary ponies to rend and tear their bodies into shreds, eating their…
“Greenie!” shouted the griffon fledgeling as she landed on Green Grass’ chest, claws first. “What’cha readin’?”
After picking the book up off the ground and recovering his now-empty glass of tea, Green Grass scooted down the couch away from the tea-dampened spot and replied. “Just some dry old stories from a few centuries ago during the last griffon/pony war at your aerie. Has your grandfather ever told you stories from that time?”
“Oh, yeah!” The young griffon bounced across the couch as the two little unicorn colts jumped up on the damp cushions. “There must be dozens. The one I like best is...”
Iron Talon, Wingleader of the First Talon, swept high in the sky over the armored pony invaders far below. The weak wings of the pegasi guards were unable to lift their steel-clad bodies to his height in the sky, and so they clustered below in frightened clumps. With a scream of battle, the brave griffon tercel plunged towards the ground, shouting out a cry of battle to his fellow griffons over the roaring winds.
“Friends and wingmates! We shall strike the pony invaders and drive them back from our beloved mountains. Never more shall our chicks be endangered of becoming slaves to the hooved menace, but we shall bring even more of their defeated kind into our aerie so they may learn our wisdom and serve us as they are meant to serve. Fear us, Oh Pony Queen, for our talons are sharp as thorns and our wings as strong as the mountains we inhabit.
“Fly, my fellow warriors! Show your bravery and skill against these cowards who hide their flesh behind steel and crawl upon the ground like vermin! Your feeble attempts to invade shall be shattered against our brave kind, and you shall know our beak on your throats. Let us meet you in glorious battle, so that you shall be crushed beneath our talons!”
Green Grass sat back and listened as the eager griffon chattered away. No passive storyteller, she pounced from the couch at the squealing colts, or clambered up onto a chair to spread her pinfeathered wings wide, telling a half-dozen stories about brave griffons defending their nests from the evil pony invaders.
The amateur historian in him marveled at how the degrees of difference in the griffon side of the conflict clashed with the exhaustive research Green Grass had put in with the various pony histories of the fight. The teacher in him loved to see how the young griffon could spout off entire long speeches supposedly given by the brave griffons in the midst of combat, if somehow a creature in a full dive upon a ground-bound foe would be able to speak more than a few words before impact. The prospective parent in him fairly glowed with badly-subdued pride at both the grifflet’s brilliance, and her rapt audience of two little mismatched unicorns who would someday be his nephews.
Story time was brought to an end by a trip out into the garden for some sun, allowing the little unicorn colts to be led on a hunting expedition by the fierce griffon warrior. Her mortal enemy lurked in the rough wilderness of the pristine garden: the vegetable-devouring bunny rabbit who had been poaching on Twilight Velvet’s lettuce, Prench Beans, and radishes. The hunt was long and intricate, the fierce warrior constantly expressing frustration at her assistants who seemed more interested in nibbling the flowers than their assigned tasks.
Green Grass tried to relax on the patio furniture while splitting his attention between the book and his young charges, Twilight Velvet having vanished into the house for ‘just a minute’ which wound up being well over an hour. The book was a fascinating glimpse into the life of an ambassador two centuries ago, as they held a fragile peace between the violent griffons and the relatively peaceful ponies. Most of Green Grass’ master’s degree research was related to the two century old battle and the subsequent treaty from the pony military point of view, talking about high ground and supply lines. The ambassador Morning Glory served as an assistant seemed focussed to a fault on understanding and trade.
Being a personal diary, it held the assistant’s private thoughts and worries about their mission, worries that turned out to be fully justifiable as the entire diplomatic envoy had been attacked without cause and slain except for Morning Glory.
Lessons of the past should be passed on as a warning to the next generation, not blown into tales of glory and honor as Sunny had recited to him. Ponies had died in that battle, but far more griffons. The tightly regimented discipline of the pegasi were exemplified in the Wonderbolts, where anywhere up to twelve of the performers would act as a single unit. One griffon was a match for any pegasus soldier, which is why ponies trained in teams of four or more. Griffons were solitary creatures not known for cooperation, or the rulership of Equestria would look much different than it did. Even the two little unicorn colts cooperated together against Sunny as if it were in their nature to herd together against predators, and although they were younger, could fully hold their own in youthful games of pounce and tumble. Despite the fascinating nature of the diary, Green Grass maintained a split-concentration with his ward, only partially due to his desire not to wind up as green writing paper for the griffon ambassador. Sunny was a very likable griffon, and even with the substantial respect Green Grass had for his own personal safety and the fact she was a predator, he still trusted her with his prospective nephews. Two centuries ago, he could not imagine griffons and ponies playing together like this. Two centuries from now when he was long gone to dust, perhaps their battles would be only a distasteful entry in dusty history books. Well, and Celestia’s memories.
Steel Beak, the famed hunter of dangerous game, proceeded into the hazardous Zebrican jungle with her two native guides. They were terrified of the fierce Lapin who had devastated their native village food supply, but they were stout and brave, for ponies, and clung to the brave hunter’s heels. Their hunt proceeded around the Dill Forest, and past vast fields of towering Okra Trees, and through the tangled Prench Bean jungle until the famous hunter discovered the first sign of their elusive prey: Lapin prints in the soft soil. The native guides agreed, after she got them to stop grazing on the leafy green lettuce of the area, that they indeed looked like the same terrifying Lapin, and so the three fearless adventurers tracked the prints into the dangerous Radish Fields. And there they found a danger far more dangerous than the deadly Lapin…
The deadly Green Hose Snake lay curled up silently at the end of the trail, where undoubtedly it had ambushed and slain the Lapin, and was digesting the remains. A threat like this could not be ignored, for the innocent helpless natives would certainly be in much greater danger from this fierce predator. Silently, the hunter stalked her prey, concealed by the rows of lettuce her native guides were stealing nibbles from as they followed. Closer and closer they came, and still the deadly Hose Snake remained sleeping, the only sign of its meal being a few tiny blue scraps of cloth sticking out from under its deadly coils, perhaps a shoe and a fragment of jacket from the deceased Lapin.
With a sudden roar, Steel Beak leapt upon the deadly Green Hose Snake, and wrestled it though the short grass. Her terrified native guides jumped into the fray too, but they were soon entangled by the green coils of the serpent, and rendered helpless.
Lunch was announced by the arrival of Friday Haystings, towing enough food to feed a small army, or at least a very small griffon and her two lieutenants. Once the little ones were untangled from the garden hose and Twilight Velvet was awakened from her nap amidst a pile of graded tests, they spread out on the patio and brought out the food. The infant colts were still working on the ‘mashed’ food groups, but he helped mash and spoon right beside Twilight Velvet while Friday and Sunny offered suggestions. The chef at the castle had prepared a very tidy Lapin Rôti à l'Origan with carrots, which seemed to irritate the young griffon at the thought of her cotton-tailed nemesis being cooked instead of served raw and bloody, but after the first bite, all complaints ceased. She even offered Green Grass a bite, which after a great deal of thoughtful consideration, he accepted.
It was frighteningly good. But he was never going to tell Fluttershy. And it was very easy to restrain himself to one bite.
* * *
Afternoon meant naptime, which in the case of two little unicorn colts was a near-trivial task from their rather exhaustive play earlier. Twilight Velvet carried them off to the nursery, leaving her three guests in the gardens to enjoy the lovely spring day.
Sunny took the opportunity to climb to the top of a lawn furniture shade and look to the north, where faded threads of colors still writhed on the horizon. “Grandpa says the Crystal Empire is sending up fireworks to show just how glad they are to be back after so long away. I wonder if there are crystal griffons there?”
“Unfortunately not, young miss,” intoned Friday. “I took the liberty of stopping by Miss Sparkle’s father’s workplace before picking up lunch. Preliminary reports from the Crystal Empire have just recently been declassified, and I’m afraid all you will find within their capital city are crystal earth ponies.”
“Oh? Grandpa says ponies always come in three flavors. Not that I’ve ever bitten a pony,” she continued hastily.
“It has been centuries since there have been any credible reports of griffons eating ponies. Or the other way around,” Green Grass added playfully with a snap of his teeth that sent Sunny scurrying to the very top of the furniture shade to giggle. “Only old mare’s tales, I suppose, and old stories.”
“Rarr! I am a fierce warrior,” declared Sunny from the top of her lawn furniture umbrella, raising her wings high. “Fear me chubby pony, as I swoop down on you and gobble you up!” Leaping from her perch, the energetic griffon princess glided down to land on Green Grass’ chest with a solid thump that knocked his breath out for a moment. “Tell me a story, and I’ll let you live.”
Once he managed to start breathing again, Green Grass looked deep into the young griffon’s eyes to see his own reflection. It was a sight Princess Celestia had probably seen more times than she could recall, looking into young and promising eyes while knowing their unfortunate fate and being unable to help. But she continued to try no matter the cost, so he should also.
“Sunny. You’re a very smart and mature griffon for your age, correct?”
“Grandpa says I’m the smartest.” The little griffon spread a wing and rearranged a crumpled feather with the same neatness and precision as she had displayed in her lessons last night.
“So you can tell the difference between a lie, and somepony telling a story with a different point of view than yours, right? And you’re willing to listen to a story that won’t be like any of the other stories you’ve heard while growing up, right?”
“Pfft. Sure.”
Green Grass ignored the rather dry look from Friday, who had loosened his tie microscopically and was reclining on a lawn chair in the most casual pose he had ever seen from the elderly servant. The excitement of the previous night’s entertainment must have still coursed through his varicose veins, for his tea contained an actual slice of lemon and just a dollop of honey among the ice cubes.
“Very well. The story I am going to tell you is of a diplomat pony, many years ago. Much like your father, she traveled to a far-off kingdom with other diplomats to resolve a war that threatened her lands, but there the resemblance with your father ends. After negotiating with the kingdom for several days, the king of that land lost control of his subjects, who attacked the diplomat and her staff. Only three of the ponies made it back to their rooms that afternoon, and they knew a message must be sent to warn the innocent pony farmers who were about to be invaded and killed.
“The diplomat hid herself in their rooms and used her magic to send a message to her princess, warning of the attack. It took several hours for her to cast the spell, and while she was casting, the other two diplomats stayed behind to guard the door. Wave after wave attacked the two diplomats, who fought viciously, but eventually they were overwhelmed and killed. When their attackers broke open the door to the diplomat, she had sent the message to her princess, but the attackers killed her anyway, and then flew away to organize the invasion.”
“So what happened then?” asked the little griffon after Green Grass had remained silent for a while.
“Princess Celestia and her Royal Guard met the griffons as they attacked a bunch of defenseless earth pony farmers,” he said bluntly. “Those who persisted in their attacks, died. The only reason the Princess did not wipe that griffon aerie off the face of Equestria is a young diplomatic aide named Morning Glory who survived the attack and negotiated a treaty with the Wingmaster of the Misty Mountain griffons and those few who remained loyal to him. Your aerie. Griffons killed every single one of her friends, and yet she was so committed to peace that she was willing to—” Green Grass broke off and looked away, staring up the mountains to the snow-capped peaks. “It is one thing to be strong in battle, but quite a different thing to be strong in peace. It requires far more from your soul than simply fighting.”
The little griffon snorted, laying her head down on the tutor’s chest with her beak poking a tiny hole in his dress jacket. “I don’t like that story,” she whispered.
“It has a happy ending,” he replied, still looking up at the mountain. “Many years later, a descendent of that brave Wingmaster met two small colts who were descendents of the diplomat, Morning Glory. They played in a garden and were very happy. And when they grew up, they continued being friends, and visited each other all the time.”
“I like that story better,” said Sunny with a sniff. “Tell me another one. One that doesn’t have ponies in it.”
“Very well.” Green Grass rearranged his jacket and put a kerchief under Sunny’s beak so it would not draw blood where it was resting on his chest.
“Once upon a time, before Equestria even existed, there were seven Titans, a mother and her six daughters—”
“Not ponies?” asked Sunny, opening one eye to watch her green storytelling pillow.
“No, of course not. They were… griffons.”
“Better. Proceed.” Sunny closed her eyes and resumed basking in the sun on Green Grass’ chest.
“The Titans were so massive that they strode through the stars and the depths of space the way we would walk through a cloud of fireflies, arranging the heavens as they passed to be pleasing to the eye.
“Once while they were out walking, far, far from home, their mother became very sick. The six daughters wanted to carry her home, but she loved the stars so much that she ordered the daughters to leave her body lie among them when she finally passed away.
“When she died, her daughters gathered around in sorrow, and decided to create a monument that would live forever in her memory. Her body they spread out as an immense land they called Equestria, and her eyes they plucked out and set above the land. One was gold and brought warm light, and the other silver, and brought the cool night.
“The first daughter reached into the sky and surrounded the land with her mother’s beloved stars, pulling the brightest down and forming them into horned ponies who were given the responsibility of keeping the day and night.”
“I thought I said no ponies,” mumbled the griflet, shifting positions in the warm sun.
“Only a few,” reassured Green Grass before continuing.
“The second daughter saw the new unicorns were hungry, so she waved her hoof… err, wing, and brought forth the grass and the trees to spread across her mother’s body in a thick green carpet, so that life would always be upon her.
“The third daughter saw the plants wither and die without any to tend them, so she reached into the body of her mother and brought forth a race of ponies from the earth to tend the plants and protect them, so none would be hungry.
“The fourth daughter saw the plants thirst, and reached up into the sky to bring down clouds, which she formed into winged ponies to bring water for the plants.”
“And griffons,” muttered Sunny, shifting her stubby wings.
“And griffons,” verified Green Grass. “Who helped bring water too.”
“The fifth daughter saw the land lacked the beauty of her mother, so she created the towering mountains, the raging rivers, and the mighty oceans. And to watch over them, she placed the griffons, the selkies, and the sea ponies—”
“Sea Griffons,” muttered Sunny, flattening her neck against Green Grass’ warm chest.
“The sixth daughter was wise, and looked over the whole land, saying, ‘The land is indeed beautiful, but it has no defenses. Let us each leave an Element of our power when we depart, so the caretakers can use our Harmony to defend against the forces of chaos and evil.’ So each of the Titans parted with a small bit of their power, leaving it with the protectors of the land.”
“Griffons,” mumbled Sunny.
“When Discord appeared in Equestria and began to cause chaos, the ponies tried to use the power of the Elements of Harmony against him. But they were confused, and unable to work together, and so the Elements did not work for them. Desperate, they cried out, and the spirits of the Sun and Moon heard their pleas, manifesting in the forms of ponies of all three races. After using the Elements of Harmony to defeat the god of Chaos, the ponies were worried, and approached the celestial beings. ‘Please,’ they begged. ‘Do not return to your Sun and Moon, but remain with us and rule us in Harmony, for we are lost without guidance.’
“And so did the spirit of the sun and moon, now called Celestia and Luna, become the rulers of Equestria. The End.”
No applause or thanks met the end of his story, only a faint snore from the little princess. The close proximity of the griffon make him think of Twilight sitting in the train just a few hours out of Canterlot. She was safe from any griffon invasion, even if the worst happened with the Crystal Empire. Princess Celestia would not risk the life of her special student, or any pony for that matter, without good reason. Before he met Twilight Sparkle, his tendency to place his own precious green hide in danger was almost nonexistent; now he had a young griffon napping on his chest while her grandfather threatened war. Perhaps it was the close proximity of a princess that caused foolish bravery.
Or love. Was he taking risks he never would before just to ingratiate himself with Twilight? Or was it a real change in his heart? More likely it was a result of his fitness plan. The hero in the story always was the slim, handsome stallion who rescued the princess by battling the fierce dragon. It never was the slightly tubby teacher who made friends with the dragon, and only then captured the heart of the beautiful princess.
In his eyes, she was a princess, less feathers and a crown. Or in present company, less feathers and a beak. Was he simply drawn to the danger she represented as a moth to the flame, or was he—
Green Grass pushed his hat down lower over his eyes to block the sun and smiled. Self-delusion aside, he was well and truly hooked by the purple mare with the sparkling eyes, and regardless of his own dubious merits under relentless self-examination, she had declared the same about him. He was trapped, with no interest in escaping, in more ways than one.
The sleeping griflet on his chest did not keep Green Grass from looking plaintively at his servant, who promptly floated a glass of iced tea with a straw over to the immobilized tutor. With a nod of thanks and a soft sigh of relaxation, he leaned back in his lawn chair to just enjoy an hour or two of peace and tranquility with nopony to bother him, wishing the weight on his chest was somepony else.
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That was a nice story! That is all.
Note that there are no footnotes...
Fear us, Oh Pony Queen, for our talons are share as thorns and our wings as strong as the mountains we inhabit.
Think you meant 'sharp' there.
Love this story, and quite the adorable scene there at the end!
Amazing chapter!
I am, unfortunately, compelled to point out that the colts would be Green Grass's little brothers-in-law, not nephews. If thy were Shining Armor's and Cadence's kids, then they would be nephews.
I think that Green Grass has learnt an important lesson about history here - the two sides of a conflict have different perceptions of the same event. Sometimes, those perceptions are so different, they don't even sound like the same event. This is the cause of the current problems over the Crystal Empire. The Griffins have a subtly but distinctly different view of their shared history with Ponydom and of the concept of rightful possession that views the Ponies as usurpers of their rightful place at the top of the pile. It's a problem made a lot worse by the Ponies' unfortunate habit of assuming that they have reached the top of the pile by inherit merit rather than centuries of blood, toil and (more recently) total military advantage.
Things like this make negotiations difficult. Luna sees blue and the Griffin ambassador sees green. How can you negotiate when you don't even automatically have a common perceptional context?
It will be interesting to see if the relationship between Sunny, Dawn and Dusk survives what must happen next (barring a miracle).
i suppose ill have to point it out, but uve been misspelling the name of Sunnys race. she is a Gryphon, not a griffon. a Gryphon is a creature of myth with the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion. a griffon is a breed of dog...
Woah, I had totally forgotten about the other Twilight's pregnancy.
If you've got a family theme, might as well stick with it.
Ahh, Morning Glory. I suppose it shouldn't have been a surprise that her memoirs turned up.
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Griffon is the series canon spelling. Griffon, Griffin, and Gryphon are all methods of spelling the same word, but MLP has taken Griffon as its canon spelling. So the spelling here is correct.
2870085 Ouch! Caught it and fixed, in addition to Nonexistent. Gdocs wants to spell it 'missmatched' but research shows 'mismatched' is right.
2870335 Hasbro spells it Griffon in at least most of their materials (who can forget Cadence/Cadance), possibly because of the advertising agency Griffin Bacal, Inc which was suing them, or maybe Griffon Corporation (NYSE: GFF ) which makes Monopoly pieces (I think) and has some sort of relationship with Hasbro. Odds are, if you dig deep enough to find out just exactly why they named Gilda that way, there's a lawyer in the bottom of that hole. (Please don't sue me)
2869811 Got it! Darned typos, I swear they hide in the margins and breed when you're not looking.
2869727 The story will end with a footnote. I would advise you to read it. Not saying any more.
2870255 I have griffons portrayed with the mindset of 'I see it. It must be mine.' Note that just about every pony has forgotten about the Crystal Empire too (excepting Celestia), and although there are Crystal Griffons shown all over the city (Click the link above to see what I mean), King Sombra did not strike me as the 'Second Banana' type of ruler, so it's possible they were ruled by the Crystal Kingdom, not ruling it. (A few centuries of oral history can do that)
I'm really kind of shocked that nobody commented on the color scheme I used for the twins.... (whistles)
I'm so glad those are just nicknames, no one calls their children Fear and Terror unless they want to raise super villains. Still I suppose it would keep their sister in work.
Aww Sunny is so adorable!
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Too lazy to look it up, but weren't the the two horses that pulled Aries' chariot?
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AITHON, PHLOGIOS, KONABOS & PHOBOS were the four fire-breathing, immortal immortal horses which drew the chariot of the god Ares. (from the excellent reference Hippoi Areioi)
Phobos and Deimos were his grooms (from the same reference)
Homer, Iliad 15. 110 ff :
"[Ares] ordered Phobos (Fear) and Deimos (Terror) to harness his horses, and himself got into his shining armour."
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What link are we supposed to click to see Crystal Griffons?
I need to know what "frefreu" means
7698715 Actually, that should be Freifrau, which is technically a married noblelady. The error is Green Grass' and will be referenced in the next story too.
"and her rapt audience of two little mismatched unicorns who would someday be his nephews"
Should this be brothers in law? As they are Twighlight Sparkles brothers.
Grant the growing chick the perception to see all sides and wisdom to judge with forethought.
Since they are Twilights siblings, wouldn't that make them his future brothers-in-law?
2870085 9506144 9801364 Yes, this is the character's *misconception* so it's a unreliable narrator trope
Thankfully, it's a fairly small misconception, unlike the story's ending.
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Purple & white and red & blue? Nope, not getting anything from the colts' color scheme.
That's an interesting creation myth GG tells, too.
Also, is that meant as a quote from the C. Manson of the famous "Family?"
This is so, so wrong. (And so hilarious at the same time.)
I’m calling it; a couple decades from this, the twins will both be vying for her affection, and she’s going to love every second of it.