My Little Pony: The Seal of Death

by Azrael the alicorn

13: The Griffin Kingdom

Luna had reached the Griffin Kingdom sooner than she thought. It seemed like Celestia’s death and the disappearance of the sun gave her more strength than usual, probably the only good thing that come with that great tragedy. At her arrival the sentries at the edge of the Griffin Kingdom were alarmed at first, believing that she was Nightmare Moon, and she had to convince them to have a meeting with the king: Gyps Fulvus. It took a while, but in the end they agreed and allowed her to enter the hallway that lead to the throne room.

While she walked, she couldn’t help but look at the citadel. It was a lot larger than Canterlot and the Crystal Empire, and there was a lot of very tall buildings which would have shined in the sunlight. Even the smaller houses looked very comfortable and were filled with lovely architecture and designs made for beings who could fly and walk. And then there was the palace of the king, which looked great, mixing the awe of a stronghold and a sense of security. As she flew through the citadel she couldn’t help but notice how the populations was staring at her with a mix of confusion and fear.

Once inside the castle she was told to wait until the king was ready to meet her. In the meantime she viewed the murals on the walls which told the most important parts of the Griffin history, particularly on the relationship that Griffin and Ponies had; a story that she knew well.

The first meeting with the Griffin kin and the ponies was not of the most friendly of meetings, with the former race wanting to expand their territories and the latter being completely contrary to bow their head to the trespassing race. It didn’t take long for the two kingdom to start battling each other, with griffin armadas trying to break the defenses of the ponies. Where the griffin didn’t have the magic skills of a unicorn they had their brains and advanced technology to fight back.

In the end the situation become stalled, with both sides having won and lost much. Nopony would never have known who would have won had Luna and her sister Celestia not come into play.

They were born from the most humble of a pony family (The father was an unicorn, the mother an earth pony and her grandfather being a pegasus), surprising their own parents. They tried to keep such astonishing fact a secret until the two sisters had gained control and experience over their skills. And since then the war shifted in the ponies’ favor, forcing the griffin armies to return to their kingdom.

Anyone with a hunger for conquest would have taken this chance to invade the Griffin Kingdom and give them a taste of their own medicine; but Celestia was not of such foolish traits. She tried to convince the ruler of the Griffins, an ancestor of Gyps Fulvus, to make peace with them because she knew that a war wouldn’t have helped either of the two nations. Despite having several doubts, and with many people against such idea, the king nonetheless accepted to make a truce with Equestria.

Since then, Celestia and the kings of the Griffin Kingdom tried to amend relations between the two civilizations. It was a hard duty, made even more difficult because of the actions of Sombra, which made the griffins fear what an unfettered pony with magic could do; and then again with Discord’s trickery, which had gotten this close to unleash again the conflict.

But the worst instigator of conflict came from Luna herself, when she turned into Nightmare Moon. A lunatic unicorn was capable of scaring a nation; an alicorn who was related to the one who was trying to make peace completely horrified the Griffin Kingdom.

Eventually, thanks to Celestia stubbornness and determination, she had managed to make the truce work, turning it into a peaceful coexistence, allowing griffins to participate to the Equestria Games and other important events, even assisting them in financial actions.

Luna couldn’t but admire Celestia effort for all her accomplishments. At the same time she couldn’t not notice how ironic it was that her, the one which actions almost made all Celestia work vain, was the one who had to convince the king to help Equestria in such dire situation. It could be said that it was the work of fate, but Princess Luna was not one to believe in such silly things as that. Believing in destiny is like one not taking any responsibility for his own mistakes; not to mention, destiny meant throwing away any kind of freedom.

Her thoughts were interrupted when one of the griffin royal guards told her that the king was ready to meet her in the court.

Gyps Fulvus was a full, grown griffin adult. He was slightly taller than Luna, with grey and gold feathers and a medium sized tail, traits that were part of his family. Luna knew him well enough: he was brave, stoic, smart, and kind to his people and allies. It was quite impressive how her summary of what was going on was capable of making him look worried.

“I see. The news that you have brought is terrible and Sombra is indeed a threat to all that live,” he said.

“But?” Luna asked, noticing the unsure edge in the king’s voice.

“I’m afraid that it could, and I say could, be too much for my people. Sure, Equestria and the Griffin Kingdom did great progress in the last decades; but a war like this, against a powerful enemy such Sombra…” Gyps’ hesitant tone was getting more evident.

“Do you mean you will not help us?” asked Princess Luna, worried.

“No. If this choice depended on me alone I would have no doubt helped you. But sadly things are not that simple,” assured Gyps. “As I’m sure you know, there were many people in this country who don’t like the idea of peace between ponies and griffins. Some of them see this partnership as a weakness, as if I were nothing more than a servant of the royal sisters.” He took a slow breath before continuing: “Now, with this threat incoming from your nation, I’m afraid that I will meet strong opposition against helping you. And if those people manage to turn the crowd against me, I’m afraid I will be of no help.”

What the king said wasn’t news for the last royal sister. She knew there were people like this, even in Equestria, who wanted to win this war without caring if the other side was destroyed. She remembered how much effort her eldest sister gave to make sure this troublemaker couldn’t affect the crowd in the most effective way: she used her wisdom and the most of the non-violent way to make sure that the mob would understand that she was in wrong, showing how much those people acted only for their bleak interests.

“You must not let your fear take over you. You are Gyps Fulvus, son of Smirkclaw Fulvus! You are a strong and wise king which lead the Griffin Kingdom into a time of peace and prosperity. I’m sure you will find a solution as long you will make everyone understand how the only way to get out from this situation is to collaborate with us, rather than against us.”

The worried look of Gyps diminished, but hadn’t completely vanished. “But what about my people? Will they be strong enough to face an army of undead alicorns?” he asked.

“You underestimate the strength of your people. Sure, it has been a long time since griffins fought in a true war, but I can feel that for, how much latent it may be, it is still there.”

“Darn right!” stated a female griffin, entering abruptly in the conversation, “We are a race of proud warriors! It’ll take more than an some zombies to scare us and make us run away!”

Gyps and Luna looked at the female guard with a little bit of confusion, but the princess was more amused at the boastful tone of that guard, which reminded her of somepony else.

“I have really underestimated my own people? What an insane mistake on my part,” commented Gyps. There was no more fear or doubt in his voice. “But it won’t happen again.” He turned to Princess Luna. “I vow, with all of what I hold dear, that I will myself lead the army of griffins to your aid!”

“Thank you, King Gyps Fulvus. Then I shall be off,” said the princess of the night.

“What? Are you not going to stay?” asked the king, a little confused.

“No. I’m sure you will succeed in your promise. After all you have a faithful friend to help you,” said Luna, smiling to the female griffin who responded with a respectful nod.

“Well, then in that case I wish you a safe and quiet flight home. And I thank you for believing in me … in us,” said Gyps Fulvus, bowing his head in respect.

While Luna was flying back home she was sure that wherever her sister was, she was proud of her. She almost felt the need to cry, but she held her tears inside, because the war was not over.

Author's Note:

And here's the chapter about the griffins. I always liked this mythic creature. I mean how badass is a griffin? Is a creature which has the body of a eagle and a lion, two of the most beautiful looking animal on earth!
As you can guess I really disliked the "Treasure of Griffinstone" episode. After 4 damn seasons passed wondering how cool their empire could be and then we find out that their are broken and weak. One big disappointment. And for not talking of how it made look Celestia like an incompetent ally for not caring about another country situation.
I wanted to give my take of how the story about ponies and griffin conflict happened and how it was solved.
Much thanks to Jarvy Jared for pushing me to improve this chapter!
Enjoy!
PS: Next time we're going to... Knowing Death!

Comments

[Jarvy Jared]

I would squeal if you had Death quote Oppenheimer/Vishnu (though you probably won't):

"Now I am become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds."

[Azrael the alicorn]

6222834 Death can't become Death because he is already Death.

[Revan]

6222834 I love that logic chain.