The Path to Griffonstone
Even with the powers I’ve been gifted I’m far from omniscient.
What a concept, right? A being that can affect life at a fundamental level and can also connect to other life forms at the most base and pure level can’t track all of the little critters that live on her world. It’s easier to understand than you think. After all no one can keep track of everything on their own house and from time to time some items may be misplaced, right?
At least that’s the best I can come up with. As good as an explanation as any I suppose… and I’m rambling again.
Truth is, that since I’ve come to this planet the creatures are harder to spot and ‘feel’ than at home, but I suppose that’s natural since it’s not my planet and I don’t own the place. I’m a visitor from out of town that it’s trying to get to know the neighbors after all! That’s why it makes this old-school exploration so exciting!
And it’s in moments like these when I get to know my hosts a little better regarding their beliefs and old tales.
“So you are saying that we can’t stop there since there are dangers that can destroy our airship?” I asked Luna, as we saw some mountains far from us, while approaching the lands of the liminal creatures.
… I know big words too, is it that surprising? My son is a massive nerd after all.
“The legends say that Peaks of Peril are inhabited by two sapient creatures, and while the kirin sound like some peaceful and unique lost relatives to the ponies of Equestria, the nirik and their angry flames can pose a serious threat to the integrity of a highly flammable airship,” she simply stated, “I’m curious myself but so far they are very reclusive tribes that don’t wish to be disturbed. Not even my teacher Starswirl knew about them, and he traveled with the other pillars around all the continent, and even across the sea to the griffon lands,” she continued, a frown now across her face, “We are not prepared to deal with them at the moment, but maybe we can train a team when we return to Equestria. I hope you understand that while I want to accommodate to your wishes I don’t want to disturb them either,” she finished, facing me with an apologetic expression and tone.
“I understand completely my dear, and don’t worry too much. I’ve dealt with many skittish creatures and I know that you can’t approach them out of the blue and without knowing their habits and the like. I suppose we can add this to one of the sites we can visit at a later time,” I conceded, looking back at the enticing peaks with fascinating creatures in them… but it was not meant to be. Not yet anyways! I levitated a bottle of soda that I pilfered from the mess hall earlier and took a sip while enjoying the breeze. Hm! Bubbly!
“You know, you didn’t crack the bottle this time. You keep saying that you are a slow learner, but you are getting the hang of levitation pretty well,” Luna told me while nodding in approval of my not so epic feat.
“Don’t be ridiculous, dear. You and young Twilight told me that this is an ability innate to those with horns and that even foals knew how to do it. I’m just an old mare with muscle atrophy and I’m not getting some exercise, that’s all,” I explained to her, getting an odd look from the dark mare as I took another sip, “It’s not as miraculous as you are making it to be.”
“While that’s true, I think that you were just simply out of touch with the magical nature of your being… at least regarding actions on a personal scale,” Luna said, as she turned towards where the former desert should be, far to the south and beyond the sea we were flying on, “We cannot deny that you have powers exceeding beyond our wildest estimations.”
“You and your sister are capable of moving one satellite orbiting your planet, respectively a moon and a tiny sun. I can’t even begin to think how you do that,” I sincerely stated, getting a small blush from the young princess. She looks so bashful for being just factual truth! It’s like she never had compliments said to her before!
“I believe this is one of those issues that depends on the eye of the beholder. We use our talents in the best way we know and each of us has an important role to fill in the natural order,” she said, smiling at me.
“To each their own, right?” I said, chuckling as I thought about natural order. That phrase just made me itch for some reason… Oh, of course, “That reminds me that I find funny how ponies have to deliver the weather by hoof and how they need to tend to animals. I mean, we are far from Equestria and I’m not seeing a barren wasteland. All seems to be working as designed so far…” I muttered, seeing as how from the tundra to the coasts and now the seas everything seem to be following the laws of nature and science.
“We believe that the highly magical nature of Equestria causes natural phenomena to simply not occur as they should. Many scholars suspected back in the day that it was caused by Discord’s antics during his reign, but any more than that is pure speculation,” Luna explained, again with a frown on her face.
“But before that surely nature had to run its course and follow the rules as anywhere else, right?” I pressed on, making Luna thing hard for a moment.
“I don’t thing we got many documents surviving from the pre-discordian era. I’m not glad to admit that beyond unicorns moving the sun and moon, and pegasi helping with some rains when droughts were coming we don’t have much to go by,” she admitted with sadness in her eyes. That doesn’t make any sense at all.
“Then what happened before ponies? How could other creatures live before they appeared if your moon and sun had to be moved manually?” I asked, not expecting a response
I didn’t get any, as we both pondered on such troubling things. Also, my bottle of soda is empty. Better get one for me and another for Luna. She looks like she needs it.
The coasts of the griffonian lands could be already seen from the airship as the contraption pushed onwards towards its destination. On board, many ponies were already excited to visit one of the oldest neighbors to the pony country, and as always the equestrians were eager to see if they could forge some friendships too along the way.
Many were saddened regarding the lost possibility of meeting the legendary kirins, but they also understood the need of a proper diplomatic team to be on board, and they knew they were merely tourists at best. Still, many wondered about them and the griffons beyond the sea. But not everypony was filled with excitement.
Luna found herself on top of the airship, alone and basking in the light of the dusk as she pondered on the heavy matters that found a way to worm themselves into her mind. Not even the salty winds of the eastern shores were making her less tense.
Unfortunately -or fortunately depending on who you ask- another pony found the hiding princess.
“A bit for your thoughts, princess?” asked the polite voice of one Twilight Sparkle as she landed besides the dark mare.
“Ah, Twilight… is good to see you. How is the little planet doing?” she asked, trying to evade the question.
“I’ll tell you, but I asked first. Some ponies were wondering where you went since they didn’t find you in your alcove,” Twilight said, getting used to the slightly stronger breeze on top of the airship.
“And how did you managed to find me?”
“I asked Gaia,” she simply said, a smirk gracing her muzzle, making Luna chuckle.
“I see…” the dark princess said, trying to stall for more time, but getting a raised eyebrow from the younger royal. “Alright, alright… I’ve been thinking about the dark past beyond the era ruled by Discord.”
“How so? There are almost no records of that era. Believe me, I checked,” stated the studious mare.
“I expect nothing less from a former student of Celestia, but Gaia made some very good questions regarding our history and the history of our world itself,” she said, getting the full attention of the lavender princess, “She asked what happened before the time of ponies. Before unicorns, pegasi and earth ponies roamed the land to control the elements and the celestial bodies… and I found myself lacking the knowledge to provide the most meager of responses…”
“It’s hardly your fault, Luna… Many things before the advent of Discord were lost to time,” she reassured the night princess.
“It may be so, but that doesn’t erase the time before his rule. What happened back then may be unknown to us for now, but it happened regardless. The main issue is that we don’t have an explanation. Can you provide a theory on how the world lived before unicorns were present to move the moon and the sun?” Luna asked the younger princess, getting a surprised expression from her.
“I… I think… maybe… huh…” Twilight tried to say, finding herself unexpectedly without words, “I see what you mean. It’s distressing to think about it to be honest. It’s not a timescale so far into the past some of the things that Gaia told us… but we don’t have a Gaia ourselves to ask what’s going on…” Twilight relented, a downcast expressions accentuated by the last sunlight of the day, making her expression look graver that it was.
“That’s what’s also bothering me. Her planet doesn’t have ponies but it produced two of the quirkiest and most powerful alicorns we ever met, more ancient than all of us combined by an absurd margin,” Luna explained, turning towards Twilight with a serious expression, “her world regulates itself and really doesn’t need them for anything more than safeguarding it, but they exist nevertheless. Our own world on the other hoof seems to be an impossibility on itself since without anyone moving the moon and the sun life would be impossible.”
“But that brings out more questions than before. How did life survive if no pony was there to move the celestial bodies? If ponies supposedly evolved here like any other creature on the models that Gaia showed me… where are the fossils of our ancestors?” she asked, getting more nervous by the second, “And what about the ancient civilizations lost to time and the ruins that they left for everypony to see?!”
“Princess Twilight!” Luna almost yelled, bringing the young princess out of her spiraling anxiety attack by startling her, “I know, and believe me I know those questions that are now popping in your mind, but that’s why I kept my musings to myself,” she explained as the lavender alicorn tried to get her bearings with some breathing exercises, “Those are the questions I’ve been asking myself, but for the time being we can’t do anything to solve them”.
“So what, we do nothing about them?” Twilight asked with a tone of incredulity.
“What do you expect us to do about it? We don’t have clues, documents or anything alike that could help us with them, and we don’t gain anything by piling questions upon questions. We have to wait and see, and maybe we will find something along the way.”
“That doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it,” she grumbled, making the lunar princess chuckle.
“As Gaia says, we must go with the flow. There are more pressing matters that pondering about the mysteries of the universe,” Luna said with a small smile on her face, getting a questioning look from the smaller princess.
“Like what?” she defiantly asked, earning a not reassuring smirk from the dark princess.
“Like personal hygiene. I know what a good study session feels like, but honestly Twilight you reek of ink and bad sleeping habits. When was the last time you took a shower? There are some aboard, you know?”
“Oh my Celestia…” the now red-faced alicorn said as she took flight towards the interior of the airship as the melodious laugh of the princess of the night could be heard loud and clear by everypony aboard the vessel.
For some reason, one green alicorn found herself feeling as if she missed ‘one of those moments’ as she calls them, but decided to ask the next day and rest.
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Wow those are dead questions
There are two things I am wondering at this point in the story:
- Would the other creatures have some clue about what happened to ponies before Discord?
- Is Permithous going to make a reappearance in the future of this story?
Can't they take a big swig of Zecora's past-seeing potion to find out what happened in the past?
9489531 Good questions, so let's see:
I must say that I don't like to show anything and then letting it rot in a corner so all will come into play and have a conclusion in some way.
That being said, this is a slice of life story so I don't have plans to put a "mystical adventure" full of martial arts, villians that always evade the heroes far beyond the suspension of disbelief and all that jazz, so I'll try at least to be consistent with the story and its pace.
9489557 They can try, but as I see it it's not a reliable way to take account of anything seen in those visions caused by the potion, since they would need someone to verify them. Last time was Discord, but who was there before him to say "Oh yeah, that's what happened!"? Plus, the energies inside Gaia may mess with the potion making it inert anyways
Save the Kirin for a musical episode?
Sometime, the question asked lead to unlocking secrets.
Sometimes, they lead to the Tunnel Under The World?
9489497
Agreed and they're some of the most difficult questions to answer.
nice
Here's my theory:
Their Eq-Gaia sustained a great deal of damage during the Chaos Era. She went to sleep to heal meanwhile Discord does his shit. Heavy pockets of chaos may have caused mass of the planet to shift. Like Discord was taking body parts off and on. History was lost while he reshaped and formed the land by force. The Sun's gravity was switched with Eq-Gaia.
Poor Eq-Gaia has been mutilated and needs to heal
9489617
Have anyone asked Discord about the time before his? Maybe what he heard from his parents or someone? Unless they find someone older than he is, he is probably the leading clue to this mystery.
Oh great, now purple smart is having an extasential crisis
9489786
Or maybe Equestria's Gaia is the Tree of Harmony
Someone should Discord about what happened during the pre-Discordian era.
I'm fairly sure the this is simply a life seeded planet. It makes sense even if this isn't the case in this fic.
I’d bet on this being the worlds longest running practical joke. Discord removes all traces screws up a big chunk of how things work and waits until logic causes an absurdist crisis of sorts.
Maybe they could ask Discord?
9490794
Hmm well that never really yielded any usable results, Discord only intervenes when he knows that someone somehow has the answer already.
For example he casted the translation spell because he knew Luna had it and it would anger her, he may not be overly malicious in his actions anymore but he is still Discord after all.
So a conversation with Discord about this topic would probably go like something along the lines of this:
He snips his claws and switches into a professor outfit while saying
"Ahh one of my favorite ages of all time , the pre DISCORD age"
Then he looks at Luna and smiles
"You know you have achieved something if they name all of History after you."
Luna rolls her eyes and ask him to tell her about it.
His smile becomes more vicious for a moment and he joyfully tells her the tale of what he did in the age of Discord.
Luna becomes annoyed and tells him that she already knows that and she asked him about the pre Discord age.
Discord will shrug it off and retort
"Well that's a bummer and here i thought i could give you some historical accurate information about my rule, you know its not all day that you meet a contemporary witness from so far back, there are only 3 commonly known ones you know.. i could tell you stories dea-"
She gives him a stunned and angry
"I KNOW i am one of them... "
This causes Discord to deflate and he says
"Oh yea .. well you know you cant remember everyone you meet.. it was a long time ago after all"
Luna stands there on the edge of a shouting fit at this point and tells him
"We meet every other day and you do know me !".
Discord pauses and acts reasonable for a moment while saying
"Ah yes you are right .."
then he becomes more bubbly
"yet we should probably rename them i mean 'other day' i wasn't even aware that we had that"
He turns into an otter and conjures a joyful otter hat on top of Lunas head
"How about we call the Otter days from now.. for no particular reason !?"
Luna can't hold her annoyance in by now and yells
"Stop this mockery and get to the point i asked you about the pre Discord age".
Discord acts insulted and turns back to his usual self and explains her
"Well Princess i have to inform you that they don't call it the PRE Discord age for no reason ... i have no idea what happened before i simply was not there.."
Before Luna has time to explode he quickly adds
"Anway i have a really important dried leaf summit to attend to with our dear friend Fluttershy see you next otter day"
Discord vanishes in a flash and Luna is left grinding her teeth while wearing an otter hat.
Ideally he would hide some references to the answer into this conversation but you could only spot them if you would already know the answer. For example if the planet was seeded he would say something like "spaceship ?" during the conversation and offer her a spaceship shaped cookie, empathizing on how delicious they are.
9491016
Then there is only one last thing to try... TIME TRAVEL
9491054
It's just a jump... to the left. (And then a step to the ri-i-i-ght~)
9491173
With your hooves on your flanks
You bring your knees in tight
9491173
You just need to remember to not mix Chaos Magic with Time Magic. Strange things (A little publicity to a blog that I follow) happen when you do that.
My bet: it's a Farnsworth universe box problem. Their whole planet is actually Twilight's practice planet in it's far future.
9502171
I do not deny that
9495031
that is just scary to think about
Who is fair, Dino ponies are canon
It's almost starting to sound like someone is using this planet as an experiment
Fausticorn perhaps?