Mission to the Griffon Kingdom

by Rakoon1

Arriving to Griffonstone

Shining Armor was on the train that would take him to Griffonstone, the Kingdom of the Griffons. Apparently, one of his guards got into some trouble with a member of the royal family. Taking into account how proud griffons were, they could not allow a war be started between them and Equestria.

The young captain spent the trip beyond the eastern border of Equestria thinking about what he had left behind. Cadance, the great love of his life, would have gone back to her homeland when he had arrived. After everything they've been through with Fire Punch, he just wanted to spend more time with her. He also thought about his dear sister Twilight. He didn't like having to see his sister's sad face seeing him go, but Shining know that is he finished that mission quickly, he would come back to her also quickly.

But he also thought about the mission that was ahead of him. He had to prevent that a war between the hriffons and ponies began, something that was an immense responsibility. That first mission of his as captain was definitely big enough. If you couldn’t appease the griffons, he wouldn't to be able to look Princess Celestia in the eyes, as well Captain White Light who had entrusted his rank of captain.

"Captain" a voice called.

Shining looked and saw one of the guards he had brought with him. He said to him:

"We're almost there."

"Very well" Shining said. "Thank you."

The guard nodded and walked away. As he had said, the train began to slow down until it stopped at the station near Griffonstone. After it had stopped, Shining Armor and the guards who had come with him left the train.

"Captain Shining Armor, I assume" a voice said.

Shining Armor turned and saw a male griffon, at the same age of Shining, with a strong and athletic stature with the body covered with moderate amber coat, the head and the wings with dark grayish amber feathers, pale light grayish olive beak and claws and dark amber eyes. He was wearing a suit of armor for griffons and behind him were two griffon warriors.

"Yes" Shining replied.

"It's a pleasure" the griffon said, making a slight nod with his head. "My name is Gael. Lieutenant Gael. I was assigned to escort you and your guards to Griffonstone."

"So be it" Shining said.

"Okay, follow me" Gael said.

And he began to advance. Shining followed him, along with his guards. When passing by the other two griffons who were with Gael, Shining couldn't avoid noticing cold looks that they are giving to them. He could see the distrust that they had. It seemed that the griffons didn't have a very good opinion of ponies.

"Don't mind them" Gael said, continuing to advance. "Griffons’ pride makes us look somewhat… down the other creatures in a somewhat. Especially after the incident."

"I'd like to know exactly what happened to one of my guards have come into conflict with someone of your royalty" Shining said.

"Unfortunately, it's not for me to explain it" Gael said. "My mission is to just escort you to Griffonstone and the royal castle."

"You know, you look different from the other griffons" Shining observed. "You seem to not be so..."

"Arrogant?" Gael asked.

"Well, I wouldn't to use that word, but... yes" Shining replied.

"My father used to take me in his travels through Equestria" Gael told. "I observed ponies in a way that most griffons never observed. So, I was able to form my own opinion about you. But of course it's pretty hard to think that way in the middle of other griffons."

"I can imagine that" Shining said. "I just hope we can change that and improve the relationship between our species."

"You seem to be saying these words with honesty, Captain Shining Armor" Gael said. "Maybe this will be possible. But, for that, you have to convince our king."

"Can I ask you how is your king?" Shining asked. "Just to know how to address to him."

"Well, King Guto is a king quite proud of his kingdom and does everything for its own good" Gael said. "It is said that he inherited the leadership and spirit of union of our first king, King Grover. But, one thing is certain. He is a fair, tolerant and compassionate king. If you behave with respect to him, King Guto will treat you the same way."

"Well, thanks for the advice" Shining said. "I'm sure it will be very useful."

From what Gael said, it seemed that the King of the Griffins was a good king. If Shining could show his good intentions and could alleviate the current situation, maybe he could avoid a war between the griffons and ponies.

They continued to walk until they could see it. Griffonstone, a kingdom located on a huge tree on the top of a mountain. On top of that tree he could see a beautiful castle. It took them a while to get to the mountain and then another to climb it up, but they ended up reach the entrance to the kingdom, which was adorned by a large arch with large brown rocks in the shape of wings. Guarding the entrance were two griffons guards. When passing by them, Shining could see them making the same look the other griffons who were with Gael had done to him and his guards. Finally, they entered in Griffonstone.

Wooden houses with thatched roofs of majestic aspect appeared, some more majestic and larger than other, located in different altitudes. There were several griffons, males and females, with a variety of colors. The youngsters played with each other, making races. It was amazing how, living in society, griffons didn’t seem to have the greed that characterized them in the pony society. When passing through the streets of Griffonstone, he noticed how the adult griffons looked to the ponies who were passing in such haughty way.

"It looks like we're not really popular around here" Shining said to Gael.

"Don't worry" the lieutenant said to him. "Just give them time and they will get used to you."

Shining hoped that way. It wouldn’t like that the peace that he could achieve with King Guto had foundations of mistrust and disregard, as this would not be a real peace, but rather a way to cover the differences between the two species.

It was then that they reached the top of Griffonstone, where there was the castle. Unlike the other buildings, the castle was made stone with the form of spiral stone. At the top, there was a crescent moon made in gold.

"Well, it looks like we're here" Gael said to Shining. "Nervous?"

"A little bit" Shining said. "Princess Celestia trusted me with this mission to neutralize this threat to the peace between ponies and griffons, but, considering the way the other griffons looked at me and my guards, I'm not sure."

Gael seemed to sympathize with Shining, but remained himself unmoved. He then opened the gates and left Shining and their guards come in.

Author's Note:

So this is the first chapter of this story that much of you asked. I hope you had enjoyed. As you can see, I will portray Griffonstone as it was before its fall, as my main stories doesn't follow the main plot of season 4 and season 5. To create Gael, I used the same design as the griffon Gaston, the one that participated in Equestria Games.