Journey to the center of Equestria

by Rarity Belle

Chapter XLIV

The keymaster and the soldier were both dead tired from the night before. They just didn’t care whether or not there were four or five anthronies in their line. They just commanded the lot of them to walk behind them. With the soldier up front and the keymaster behind them, Rainbow couldn’t help herself but to almost look over her shoulder every so often. Only to see the keys just dangling around and about at his side.

Their means of escape were easy, they weren’t cuffed at all, they weren’t held in place by any other griffons. But out of the group there were only two pegasi. Two pegasi who only had the lifting capability of only two other anthronies in the eyes of the griffons. Which in the long term meant that one of the anthronies would have been left behind by them. Either to serve as bargaining chip or just as poor and unfortunate soul who would be left to rot.

It were facts that the whole of the group knew as well, except it was even worse. They did have the lifting capability of carrying two anthronies but the distribution of the both of them was vastly different. The major could carry one and a half, whereas the doctor was only able to lift up half an anthrony.

Those kind of details were the thing that worried Twilight pretty much to no end. The mare stroked her chin almost all the time. She was the one who walked behind the soldier up front. Thoughts turned and twisted themselves in manner that were previously unseen by her. Twilight was looking for ways out while they walked through the decks of the ships.

Ways out there were plenty of, but each of those ways ended sadly in one of two ways. Either they would be killed by the talons, beaks and weapons of the griffons before they could make their second move. Or they would be literally just falling down to their deaths if Twilight’s and Rarity’s arcane energy wasn’t enough to catch the others and teleport them all out of harm’s way.

Too many variables were the things that Twilight was struggling with. Every single variable was one too many and one that could be changing each of their fates on the spot. No, it was perhaps the best thing to do, to follow the soldier to the cabin of the emperor and listen to what he had to say. With that thought did Twilight release a deep sigh, finding peace with her decision.

After that would the company hopefully have been able to do that they needed to be doing. Yet the hopes of actually being able to just became slimmer by the second. Twilight wasn’t looking at the situation that happily anymore as the memories of the war reports she had read time and time again all came back to hear. She began to prepare for the worst yet hope for the best.

The rest of the company was just walking in the straight line while Applejack’s very leg caused the commotion to arise within the other griffons. Each of them had served in the war or in the very least heard about it. So the clunking of the leg against the wood was more something along the ways of a ghost of the past which headed their way.

Strange eyes were given to both the admiral and the pirate captain. Even though they hadn’t seen the admiral with the leg before, the orange skin was more than enough to make them recognize her. There weren’t many anthronies in the navy –certainly at that time– who wore that kind of skin.

Then there were growls that came from pretty much every single hammock there was on the deck as they walked for the furthest staircase. But both the keymaster and the soldier weren’t in the mood to deal with a horde of angry griffons in the morning.

The growling matter would have been solved in pretty much the only manner a griffon could be solving their problems. All of it was ended with a loud snarl given off by the soldier before the keymaster took over the word.

At first he chuckled to himself, he couldn’t believe how all of the others reacted to the presence of the mares. “So, it seems like some of you scums know some of the prisoners. You might want to tear them apart and devour them before breakfast. You lot be my guest, but know you’ll be having to plow through me first. So, who wants the first bite?!” he shouted over the deck. His eyes were piercing over each and every single griffon with a thunderous stare.

All of the other griffons suddenly turned silent as they didn’t seem to be daring to fight the keymaster. Their lives were perhaps just a little bit too valuable for them then to have them ended by the brute of a griffon.

“Do Ah wanna know, what ya did to ‘em lot to make ‘em that terrified of ya?” Applejack asked as she turned her attention over to the keymaster. Who on his own turn just turned his head towards her and rose an eyebrow. His beak then curled up into a sadistic grin. In that moment did the admiral knew more than enough. “Ah see.”

None of the other mares knew what the silent words meant. But they weren’t in the mood to figure it out either.

With the silence that went over the deck did the keymaster eventually release a deep huff through his nostrils. The eyes scanned each and every last other griffon before he gave just a simply nod towards them all. “Now there are some good ladies. Back to your jobs, these are for the emperor.”

There wasn’t any denying within that demanding tone. All of the griffons had turned from savage beasts into nothing else but scared, little kittens. They were all genuinely afraid for the keymaster and Applejack seemed to why that was. A secret she wouldn’t share, just yet.

The group then continued to walk further over the length of the ship as they were then send up a series of stairs that would be leading them to the captain’s cabin. Or in their case, the cabin of the emperor. What they could be expecting there was something none of them knew. Though they had figured would be grand.

Facts and figures were turning inside of the heads of the other mares. They wanted to find out manners of escaping their very holds. Naturally did Rainbow just wanted to fly away from the place and take the rest with them. But the limitations of her body prevented that very thing. As annoying as it was, she also took a certain delight in meeting the emperor of the griffons.

Not many anthronies of Cloudsdale have had the ‘privilege’ of meeting the emperor of the griffons. Perhaps the reason was because after the conflict the two races severed all the ties they had with one another. Or they just didn’t want to meet one another. One way or the other, it didn’t matter for Rainbow.

~~~~

In the end they came to a door that Rainbow seemed to have missed at her first little adventure through the ship. Though how she could have missed it was a mystery for her. The door was almost twice as big as any of the others. When Rainbow looked around the deck when there came another realization to her. She hadn’t been on that very deck before. She had only been on the top deck of the official’s quarters and that deck wasn’t there.

The doors were possibly one or two decks lower than where she got inside. “How big is that thing behind here?” she mumbled to herself. The math was done inside of her head. She assumed the general size of the vessel, the location where she dropped down and a couple other variables. Whether or not she happened to be right would be discovered within the next couple of seconds.

The soldier opened the door and the anthronies were blinded by the light of the rising sun. Their eyes were shielded from the light with hands and arms as they were commanded to get inside.

Almost like blind dogs did they just obey the order and before they knew it was the door shut behind them. Each of them assumed that they would be left alone with just the emperor right there. Something that was actually too good to be true. Just them and the emperor of the griffons? That must have been the joke of the century. Rainbow was still having her flintlocks as the others were stripped from head to hoof on any other weapons.

Slowly but surely did their eyes managed to work themselves around the sunlight and they began to see things clear again. Their arms were all lowered before they were given the sights of the emperor’s place.

It had confirmed the very suspicion of Rainbow in the blink of an eye. The place where they were standing, reached from one of the lowest decks up to the top deck. Hundreds of little windows were placed in the frame of the back while the sunlight penetrated through it as if it was nothing.

The room itself was riddled with statues of the emperor in all kinds of poses whereas a couple of guards stood at each end of the room. All of them wore a full set of armor attire and carried a spear in one hand. If any of the anthronies would be trying something funny, they would be all over the place. And finally, there was the emperor himself.

He just sat there on his elevated throne with a talon stroking his very chin. His striking blue eyes glanced over each of the anthronies like a winter’s breeze. His feathers were even whiter than Rarity’s skin could ever be. Though his owns skin was browner than the most ripe apple tree. He truly was a being of royalty. But that wasn’t all he carried, for his wings were hidden behind a cape and a sable hung off the left side of his body.

“Bow,” he just spoke towards the anthonies before him. His tone was both cold and demanding. He made certain within the first couple of seconds that he wouldn’t be taking any jokes from the mares. They were his prisoners and he could do with them whatever he wanted.

In response didn’t the mares know what they had to be doing when it came down to the matter. They all looked at each other as if they were trying to ask if they had heard it right. The griffon emperor then narrowed his eyes as a growl was released through his throat. His mood was already a little pesky to begin with given the early morning. They didn’t need to become the greatest of annoyances to him.

“Bow,” he spoke a bit more clear and even more demanding.

All of the mares knew that he meant it and they looked at each other one last time before they looked back at the emperor. It only took them a couple seconds afterwards before Twilight was the first one to actually make the bow before the griffon emperor.

She made a rather polite looking bow and held that pose before the rest of them followed her example. Each of them took a different pose but it all ended up in a bow nonetheless. But the bow that was given towards the griffon emperor wasn’t one of respect as he was used to.

Instead they all gave him one of nothing else but submission. They had all listened to his simple demand to bow before him. The mares held their posture for a couple of seconds as the beak of the emperor formed a little bit of a sadistic smile. He was actually taking pure and utter delight in the fact that they obeyed him without a single thought.

He stood up from his throne and walked down the couple of steps before he leveled with the mares. The anthronies looked at the lion paws of the emperor and they could all clearly see just how long and sharp the nails were. Terror was filling their bodies when he paced in front of them.

He was taking his sweet time with the group of mares, something what some of them weren’t truly appreciating. Especially Applejack with her steam powered leg seemed to be having the most trouble with it all.

“Rise back up, I want to see your faces for a moment,” he said to them. The emperor even gestured with his hand they had to come back up. The mares were relieved they could finally stand up again and did that with a lot of pleasure towards themselves. Finally they could be asking the all-important questions, if they weren’t asked to them first.

With the mares back in their standing position did the emperor of the griffons glanced over each of their faces. It almost seemed as if he was selecting the entire group at something that was still unknown to them. A little fact that terrified Fluttershy to no end, while Rarity remained unusually cool about the facts as they were.

It almost seemed as if she had been through some kind of process before. Applejack didn’t even wanted to know how such a thing was possible as Twilight had some ideas. Rainbow on the other end just assumed a regal pose before the emperor.

The emperor himself smiled once again towards the group as a little chuckle left his beak. “Good, good, each and every one of you are looking really nice and have been good spoil from my men. But the questions are still riddling within my very head. I’m pretty certain that you would be knowing those very questions as well. Am I right?”

Twilight appeared to have been the only one within the whole of the group who was actually willing to talk with the emperor. Since none dared, it was her that took a step forward. All of the guards pointed their spears towards her and spread their wings. They were all ready. Even though it was a bit scary to look at, the unicorn stood her ground and looked the emperor right in the eyes.

The emperor himself gestured to his guards to stand down as not many beings even had the guts alone to stand up against him. “I think you have a question that you want me to ask. Or do you desire, to answer the unasked question?” he asked of her before he came a bit closer to her.

Just the whole way he was dealing with them was unlike anything she had seen from any griffon so far. He tried to reason or at least outsmart the group rather than outnumber or outfight them. Perhaps there was a little chance of trying to reason with the beasts. Even if it was just so small would still be one they took with both hands.

Twilight gave him a simple nod before she spoke her own words. Words that probably would be turning the tide into her profit for a change. “Oh I do have an answer for the unasked question. However, why don’t we make it a bit more interesting?” she said to him, wanting to tempt him.

Those words caused the other anthronies to look at one another with a scared expression. Was Twilight really trying, or actually taunting the emperor of the griffons themselves? In what pool of madness had she been sleeping for the past night? How far had her mind destroyed itself just to come up with something like that?

“Twi, are ya sure ya wanna do this? It’s, it’s the emperor, remember?” Applejack struggled to say before placed a hand upon the soothsayer’s shoulder. The admiral almost had come to the point where she would be knocking some sense into her. It was a thought that a couple of them shared. Both Rainbow Dash and Rarity shared the thought, while Fluttershy just wanted it to be over with.

“Girl, you have no idea how hard I want to smack you right now,” the pirate hissed through her teeth. Rarity even gave a couple of cutting glares towards the soothsayer. The major didn’t spoke a word, but Rarity knew exactly what was surging through Rainbow’s head. Not to mention that she saw the handles of the flintlocks sticking out.

The urge for Rainbow to just take one of them out and aim it at the emperor was tempting for her. Her fingers twitched gently as the arms were already retracted to draw them. Rarity wasn’t saying a single word about the whole thing. She didn’t wanted to be the direct influence of the trouble that most likely would be following afterwards.

The fingers of Rainbow Dash continued to twitch. Both the emperor and Twilight were just looking at one another. The glances given off within their eyes were some of the most serious that either party had ever seen. The words of Twilight didn’t go to the ears of a deaf being though. For when the emperor replied, there was something that came out of his mouth.

Words that weren’t expected left it. “And what is it that you are proposing?” he asked before just circling the mares in an ominous manner. “You desire me to let you go, after you have given me enough answers? No, no, no, that’s not going to happen. But please, do tell me your offer.”

The unicorn soothsayer took a deep inhale as a response. The hand on her shoulder was shaken off, she would do it alone. It would have been her versus the emperor. Her focus was regained to him before the words of her mind came into the real world. “An answer, for an answer.”

Even the emperor himself had to admit that he was actually surprised about the matter. He wouldn’t have dared or thought that anyone was brave enough to ask him that very thing. “Interesting conclusion, I do give you that,” he said to her as he stroked his chin again. A little moan of thoughts was released through his throat while the eyes were focused once again upon the unicorn. “Alright. I’ll bite in this little game of yours. So, to make the unasked question, asked. Who are you anthronies?”

Relief was going through Twilight when she knew that he had agreed upon the fact that they could at least be talking to one another. Yet straight away was she bombed with the question. She had to give an answer to it that was almost the same, or pretty much the same as she gave to the commander. Whether she liked it or not, Gilda could still just barge in at any given moment in time.

“Me and my, company, are travelers and explorers. We have been sent out by Canterlot officials to investigate the disappearing peak on one of the mountains. Now it’s my turn. Who are you?” Twilight both answered and asked the griffon. A griffon who erupted out in a laughter before he continued to play the little game they had tangled themselves in.

“Oh dear me, Canterlot has finally gotten a scent about what we’re doing here? About time they would finally recognize it. So that’s why then send you lot. Curious choice. But for your question…” He then gave another grin with his beak. The name of names was being spoken through the room. “I am emperor Sharpbeak Razorclaw the Second, a name you might remember well.”

“Pleasure meeting you,” added Twilight in a tone of sarcasm. The soothsayer was getting just a little bit fed up with his tone. He thought he was the greatest of all, that he was the center of the universe. If he only knew what else was out there to push him back in his place.

“But, it’s my turn to ask another question. Why does your team consists out of two of Equestria’s greatest enemies?” Sharkbeak asked while he peeled his eyes over to both Applejack and Rarity. Not much remained hidden from the griffons. The feud between the two mares of the sea was one they all knew about. One they even loved to follow, if they had to be honest.

Twilight released a little chuckle before she shook her head. She had to lie herself out of it. Luckily, she knew the right lie. “One can’t live without the other. Day and night, sun and moon, light and shadow. They are always in one another’s path walked. Watching the back of the other while hating their guts. But never, stabbing them in the back. ...So far.”

The words of Twilight summed up the relation that Applejack and Rarity had with one another almost in a poetic manner. Almost as if she had been wanting to say those very words for a very long time already. The two mares of the sea looked at one another with a little twinkle in their eyes, just before they glanced the other way again.

“You keep them as toys? Making them live with one another and see who snaps first? Oh, oh, oh, you’re a cruel mistress, soothsayer,” replied Sharpbeak with a grin. Then he pointed to Twilight with one of his talons. “Cruel, but honorable. Ask your question, if you have any left.”

Those words were some of the hardest that Twilight ever had to endure in her entire life. Never was she called ‘cruel’ before by anyone. Yet the way he showed her how both Applejack and Rarity had to work together, made her rethink her actions. Whether she had liked it or not, the emperor was perhaps more than right on the matter.

A quick shake of the head was given by the unicorn in the attempt to get everything back in a row. “Never cruel or cowardly, never give up and in,” she mumbled to herself when her eyes met once again with those of Sharpbeak. “My question is, what you’re doing at the top of that mountain? Something obviously has happened and you’re the doing of it.”

There was a sigh being released through the nostrils of Sharpkbeak. He couldn’t truly hide the facts anymore. He had to play open cards to honor their agreement with the mares. “My shaman’s are powerful, taught in the way of brews and potions thanks to the zebras of the Great Plains, but they are still nothing compared to their might. No, it’s indeed my doing. A grand palace shall be placed there. A palace for the rightful ruler of this forsaken land.”

In an instant had his mood just shifted over from calm and collected, to hateful and burning. The glances within his eyes just terrified the anthronies as they all did a step backwards. “Five anthronies, five heads worthy of being sent over to Canterlot. That must be enough to get your high command to join Cloudsdale itself, and try to fight us. Before realizing it’s a losing battle.”

“Wait, wait, wait, am Ah hearing this right?!” Applejack exclaimed as she needed to be absolutely certain about everything. “Are ya willing to redo the conflict of years ago?! Are ya mad?!”

“Silence!” Sharpbeak shouted before he drew his sword. The tip of the blade was set at the throat of Applejack who released a deep gulp in response. The cold steel in the early morning weren’t two things that she liked all that much. Trouble had risen up and they were all in the eye of the storm. What could any of them have done, to make sure it wouldn’t end in a bloodbath?

Twilight did also a step back the moment the sword was drawn and gestured with her hands that everyone had to take it on calmly. For she remembered a little something that happened on top of the mountain. “Wow, wow, wow, okay, okay, okay, listen. Listen to me emperor Sharpbeak.”

“That’s emperor Razorclaw, for you,” Sharpbeak said to her. His attention shifted from one mare to the other. “And why should I listen to a soothsayer of the likes of you? A cruel mistress tangled within the web of your own goddesses. Two all powerful forces that control everything? I don’t believe in fairy tales anymore, filly. So you better give me some good information.”

“Basically, don’t build on top of that mountain. Just, don’t. Okay? Just, don’t.”

A huff came from the emperor as he wanted to know the finer details behind the words. Yet the chance wasn’t given to them as somepony else opened the door and walked in. Everypony immediately recognized the griffon who entered the place. It was nopony else then Gilda, the commander they had encountered before. One they remembered a bit to vividly.

What then happened must have been something out of instinct. The griffon just forced Twilight back in the line with the others. A loud ‘wha’ was being released from the soothsayer as she was placed back with the sharp talons. She could be speaking of luck that they didn’t pierce through her flesh though.

Then Gilda moved in front of the group of mares and glanced over each of them as she spoke her words. “You need to learn some respect when you’re standing before the might of emperor Razorclaw the Second,” she huffed through her nostrils. Her eyes then looked over Rainbow Dash and the entire sight set within them began to change. She couldn’t believe the things that saw happening before her and wanted to make a comment about it.

For Rainbow Dash was the only one who had managed to escape the clutches of her hold. Though before she could be speaking even one word on the matter did she receive a smack from the emperor. “Commander Gilda!” he bellowed towards her. The sword was taken off of the throat from the earth anthrony and sheathed again. “I was having a perfectly good conversation with the soothsayer until you barged in. Go to the corner and let us finish our talk, before I will have you carried away. Am I understood?”

"As crystal,” the commander replied as she rubbed the back of her head. The curled up talons of the emperor made a hard contact with her skull and she grumbled to herself. The words couldn’t be heard by anyone but they could assume they were bad about everyone that was present. The griffon then walked over to the side of the room where she would lean against the wall with her arms crossed. Silently brooding her plans of action.

Sharpbeak then gestured to Twilight that she could be taking a step forward again. “Please, soothsayer, tell me why it wasn’t a great idea to build on top of that lonely mountain? I’m all ears to your pleas to save the surrounding land,” he spoke almost in a mocking tone towards her.

Everypony had of course seen just how hard Razorclaw hit Gilda and it was something that was actually well deserved. But Rainbow was the one who couldn’t actually keep her things together as she struggled to keep her laughter inside of her.

Though the attention of most being shifted over to the emperor and the soothsayer while they continued their conversation where it left off. Him hitting Gilda also showed something else towards Twilight. Something of which she wasn’t a full one hundred percent certain. From the looks of it, it seemed that the emperor could be reasoned with, yet the question to which degree was the thing that remained unknown to her.

A great exhale was released through her nostrils when she looked Sharpbeak deep in his eyes. She wanted to speak the words so eagerly but she had to find a way that still concealed them just a little bit. She placed both hands together before she rubbed them a little bit. The gears in her mind still twisting about what was the best thing to do.

“I’m still waiting on your answer,” said Sharpbeak. He seemed to be getting a little bit impatient about it all. It was then or never. The mare had to throw out everything and play an open card with the creature that wanted them all dead or enslaved. Once more were they faced with a literal impossible task.

“Just the other day, that mountain got hit by a tremor from the ground itself. And these tremors have been tormenting Equestria’s land for months already. I have been keeping track of them as well and noted all of their locations and strengths. But that mountain is special. It seems to be the very source of all the earthquakes. Just ask Gilda about how many times she has felt it when up there,” brought Twilight then forth to the emperor himself.

Sharpbeak himself was baffled by the fact that things like that could actually have happened. Yet he still rose an eyebrow to the fact that Gilda might have been known more about it all along. “How long, have you been knowing this, commander?” he asked her with a threatening tone in his voice. He was serious about the matter, she would tell him. One way or the other.

“We, we only, maybe for about a week! We thought it would have died down by then. I would tell you everything, wouldn’t I?” Gilda replied to the emperor. She was visually already hesitant about pretty much everything.

The emperor released another huff before he turned his attention back to Twilight. Obviously was Gilda just lying her flanks off, but the soothsayer didn’t wanted to place her into more trouble. “Continue,” added Sharpbeak then with a gesture that Twilight should speak further.

“A-Any structure placed upon it, with the increasing strength of the tremors, would just collapse like that, at one point or the other. It’s impossible to have anything solid build on top of it as it will be the death of everything inside of it.” Twilight explained him to the best of her abilities.

It almost seemed to have been funny to him with the way she was moving her hands around and about. “So you’re telling me, that mountain is basically a volcano ready to erupt? To place it in a perspective that I can understand,” the emperor spoke with a raised eyebrow.

“A volcano without lava, yes,” commented Twilight with a nod.

Once again was there a growling sound that filled the room. But that time it was the emperor himself who released it as he was set on a crossroad. A crossroad that only would have been made more difficult by Twilight. “You’re an honorable griffon, you plan is crazy but manageable. However, once done and you do live in your mountain castle, imagine yourself dying by falling debris in your sleep. For that is something that will happen if you build on top of the mountain.”

In an instant had the eyes of Sharpbeak turned over to Twilight. He was trying to figure out what she was truly saying to him. “Do you desire to meet your end by falling debris? From my eyes, that doesn’t seem like an honorable death to a griffon. More like, swatting a fly.”

Even though the emperor looked sternly into the eyes of the soothsayer, he was beginning to doubt his plans. In his mind he quickly tried to make some sort of deal as Twilight continued her words. “I may not have been entirely honest though. Canterlot has never sent any of us to investigate the mountain. Where’re here to put a stop to the tremors once and for all.”

The new pieces of information were quickly soaked up by Razorclaw and worked within his new plan. Shortly afterwards he would be having one that would benefit him from every possible side. “Alright then, soothsayer. Then I propose this to you. You go to where you have to be going, while the other four remain here, with me, on this very ship,” the emperor said in an honest sounding tone.

Yet Twilight wouldn’t be having any of that. She looked over to the other mares and they all had that same glance in their eyes. They all just wanted to stay at her side for as long as it was needed. So the unicorn had to shake her head. “I’m sorry, emperor Razorclaw the Second, that’s not going to happen. Those mares either go with me and we solve it together, or it won’t be solved at all and Equestria shall become nothing but a barren wasteland of volcanic activity. So the choice, is yours.”