Codex Ponera - Cliffside Eyrie

by Pepperbrony

Epilogue

After a day of negotiations, Duchess Coloratura and Nest Leader Gilda had come to a deal to begin trade between Ponera and the Effoh clan of the griffons. To celebrate both the victory over the invaders and their newfound trading partners, Cliffside Eyrie had turned into a party.

Apple Bloom and Gabby were joking and laughing with Apple Bloom’s family, regaling them with tales of their exploits in griffon lands. “And with her leg broken, Gabby couldn’t run, and she says that griffons can’t fly really long distances like a windcrafter could. So I told her to hold her wings out, and I galloped all the way to the city, pulling her along like a kite!”

“We got all the way into Eyrieport like that, straight through the fortress gate,” said Gabby to the laughter of the ponies.

“O’ course, then they went and arrested me,” Apple Bloom said.

“Arrested ya?” asked Applejack.

“Well, like Gabby said,” replied Apple Bloom, “we did go straight past all the guards and everygriff.”

“Nest Leader Gilda had her released the next day though,” said Gabby. “And I think we made an impression on the griffons - remember those two we saw on the way to see Gilda?”

Apple Bloom laughed. “Yeah, I remember! I still reckon we invented a new griffon sport.” She turned to her family. “What about you guys? How’d you manage to outrun an airship all the way to Cliffside Eyrie?”

“We didn’t,” Scootaloo said. “They caught up to us in the middle of the afternoon. Big Mac fought off Octavia and Flim and Flam, while Rainbow Dash carried me up into the air to try and stop the airship.”

Apple Bloom’s eyes went wide. “Up into the air? But you’re afraid o’ heights, ain’t ya?”

Scootaloo blinked, thinking back to her adventure. “Huh. I used to be, but I guess there was so much happening that I forgot all about it.” She mused on that thought for a moment. “I guess I’m not afraid anymore.”

“Good, because now we’re friends with the griffons we can cross that rope bridge to visit them without you firecraftin’ all that fear at me,” Apple Bloom said.

Scootaloo sheepishly grinned. “Uh, maybe not,” she said. “When Rainbow was carrying me away from the clearing, we were being chased, and, well… we kinda cut down the bridge.”

Apple Bloom’s ears lowered in disappointment before perking up again. “Aww. Wait, if the bridge was gone, Applejack, how did you get across the canal?”

The reunited family continued to exchange stories and enjoy each other’s company for the rest of the night.

---

While the family laughed, shared stories, and generally enjoyed being reunited, Rainbow Dash stood with Duchess Coloratura and Nest Leader Gilda at a fountain before the Ducal Manor. A full-scale, full-colour image of an elderly earth pony mare was being watercrafted up in the pool. The mare was a faded green colour, with mane and tail faded to gray by age. Her cutie mark was of an apple pie.

“Nest Leader Gilda, this is High Mare Granny Smith, ruler of Ponera,” introduced Rainbow Dash. “High Mare, this is Nest Leader Gilda, of the Effoh clan. She’s sort of like a duke.”

Gilda nodded her head to Granny Smith. “High Mare,” she said.

Granny Smith leaned forward a little. “So you’re the griffon we’re makin’ all these new deals with, eh?”

“We went to the trouble of saving your city,” Gilda said. “It’s only fair we get some kind of compensation for all our hard work.”

“Hmm,” hummed Granny Smith, glaring at the griffon before breaking into a chuckle. “Oh, I like you, ya young whippersnapper. I think we’ll get along just fine.” She then turned to Rainbow. “Now, as for you, Auditor Dash.”

“Uh, your High Mare-edness, I’m not an Auditor,” said Rainbow. “Octavia betrayed us before she passed me.”

“Fiddlesticks!” snapped Granny. “I’m the High Mare, ain’t I? If’n I say you’re an Auditor, then by gum you’re an Auditor!”

Blinking in shock, Rainbow could only stammer. “R-r-really? Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!”

“Congratulations, Auditor Dash,” grinned Coloratura while Gilda looked on, shrugging away her confusion.

“Thank you!” said Rainbow, before taking a breath and calming herself down. She looked over at Scootaloo for a moment before turning back to Granny Smith. “Actually, High Mare, there’s several other ponies who also deserve a reward for what they’ve done here.”

“Fair enough,” Granny said. “Duchess, you can hoof out any rewards you see fit, just send me the bills.”

“Of course, High Mare,” said Coloratura. “Though knowing that family, they won’t ask for much.”

“Whatever. They did all of Ponera a good deed, they get a good deed back,” said Granny. “Now you young fellas go on and enjoy yourselves, ya hear?” Waving goodbye, her image collapsed back into the water.

Rainbow turned to Coloratura. “Well, your Grace, what kind of reward were you thinking of giving them?”

“I’m not sure yet,” replied Coloratura. “Like I told the High Mare, they’re not the sort to want much that they feel they haven’t earned.”

“And stopping a war doesn’t count as earning something?” asked Gilda.

Rainbow thought about her interactions with Applejack and Big Macintosh. “Not to them it wouldn’t,” she said. She looked over at Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, a smile creeping its way onto her face. “But I think I know what they might like anyway. With your permission, your Grace?”

“Go on, Auditor,” replied Coloratura. “Nest Leader Gilda and I need to decide where to build a griffon consulate.”

Rainbow left Coloratura and Gilda to their discussion and went to join her new friends. “Hey guys!”

“Rainbow Dash!” greeted Scootaloo. “How’d it go with the High Mare?”

“Put it this way, squirt: you’re looking at Ponera’s newest Auditor!” Rainbow replied.

“After all this, they made you an accountant?” asked Gabby while Apple Bloom looked on in confusion.

The rest of the family burst out laughing, along with Rainbow. When they finally calmed down, seeing Apple Bloom and Gabby glaring at them was almost enough to set them off again.

“AB, an Auditor workin’ for the throne is more than just a bean counter,” explained Applejack. “Apparently, that’s just a cover for their real work of keepin’ an eye on folks that need an eye kept on ‘em.”

“Oh,” said Apple Bloom. “Well, I guess that makes more sense.”

“Actually, guys, I came over here to offer you all a reward for what you’ve all done,” said Rainbow.

Applejack and Big Macintosh exchanged glances. “Well, I dunno that we deserve a reward for doin’ the right thing,” said Applejack.

“Nnope,” Big Macintosh agreed.

“Hey, in my line of work, you see all kinds of ponies who don’t do the right thing,” said Rainbow.

“You’ve had your job for what, five minutes?” quipped Apple Bloom.

While the ponies laughed, Rainbow swatted a wing at Apple Bloom. “Very funny, but you know what I mean.”

“Rainbow, we’re just teasing you,” Scootaloo said. “That means you’re part of our family now.”

Rainbow’s eyes watered at that. She bent down to hug Scootaloo. “Thanks, squirt. That means a lot.” Standing back up, she addressed the family. “Even if you don’t want anything, I’m still gonna make an offer. Scootaloo, Apple Bloom. How would you two like to go to the Equine Academy in Equinopolis? You could learn to be anything you wanted to be there.”

Applejack looked unsure. “I dunno, Rainbow. That’s a mighty expensive school.”

“And a full scholarship for both of them is the reward on offer,” replied Rainbow Dash. She looked back at the fillies. “You two have shown that you have what it takes to make it big, to do anything you set your minds to. Scoots, you helped defend Cliffside Eyrie against invasion, fighting right at the front line. And Apple Bloom, you managed to do in one day what hasn’t happened in centuries, getting griffons and ponies to be friends. You two deserve every chance to do anything you set out to try. So what do you say?”

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo grinned at each other. “What do ya think, Scoots?” asked Apple Bloom.

“I think we should go for it,” said Scootaloo. “Applejack, Big Mac? Can we go?”

“Please?” begged Apple Bloom.

“Well, how can we say no to that?” said Applejack. “Sure, if you want to go to the academy, and the throne is gonna pay for it, then why not? Just make sure you keep in touch.”

“Eeyup,” Big Macintosh said.

“But if you go to this academy, will I ever see you again?” asked Gabby.

“Of course you will,” said Apple Bloom. “Now that ponies and griffons are talking to each other, you could come to see us in Equinopolis, or we can visit you in Eyrieport.”

“And you’re all always welcome back home at Sweet Apple Acres,” said Applejack. She turned to Rainbow Dash. “Well, Rainbow, it looks like we have that reward you wanted to give us. If you see to it that their schooling is all paid for, then I’ll consider myself rewarded.”

Big Macintosh nodded in agreement.

“That’s all sorted then,” Rainbow said. “I’ll make the arrangements when I get home to Equinopolis, and you’ll be able to start in a month or so.”

“Thank you, Rainbow Dash!” chorused Apple Bloom and Scootaloo.

“And make sure that Gabby will always have a place to stay whenever she comes to visit,” insisted Apple Bloom.

“No problem,” said Rainbow. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to find the duchess, tell her that you guys are all sorted out.” She spread her wings and flapped them a few times, lifting up into the air before summoning Tank to her wings and departing on a windstream.

Gabby looked thoughtfully at Rainbow’s wings as the mare left, before shrugging and turning to her new friends. “Are you really going to want me to visit you in Equinopolis?”

“Sure we will,” said Scootaloo. “I’m gonna want to hear all about the mischief that Apple Bloom got up to on your adventure that she hasn’t told me.”

Gabby’s eyes glittered with excitement. “Ooh, I could tell you about the cloud.”

Apple Bloom facehoofed. “Darn it, Gabby, that was your fault.”

“I told you, it’s perfectly normal. I still don’t know why it didn’t work for you,” replied Gabby.

“Cloud?” Applejack shook her head. “Whatever, I’m just glad that after all those exciting adventures, we’re all okay.”

“Yeah,” Apple Bloom agreed. “Stopping a war, making friends with the griffons, thwarting a spy, earning a place at the Equine Academy.” Her ears perked up as an exciting thought occurred to her and she turned to look at her flanks. “Ooh, I bet we even got our cutie-” Her ears drooped again. “Aww, darn it. After all that, I still didn’t get my cutie mark.”

---

The timbers of Soaring Scavenger groaned as the ship was pulled up to the dock. The envelope had been slashed so many times by the griffons that it was beyond repair, and so the mercenaries had been forced to improvise. They had modified the mast to support sails, and used the largest pieces of the envelope to catch the wind. They had spent over a week at a crawl, limping their way south along the coast, until they finally arrived in Jewelport.

Octavia leaped from the deck to the dock before the ship had fully stopped, followed quickly by Flim and Flam. Leaving the crippled vessel, they made their way through the city to Jeweled Palace, the seat of Duke Svengallop. The two guards at the palace tried to stop them from entering the palace grounds, but Octavia simply stepped down with slightly more force than usual and called upon Kazumi. The guards were flung sideways when the very ground they stood upon threw them aside.

Before the guards could climb back to their hooves, they found Flim and Flam standing over them, holding them at spearpoint. “Inform Duke Svengallop that Octavia is on her way,” said the twins.

The guards looked at each other, then over at Octavia, making her way toward the entrance to the palace. One of them closed his eyes for a moment longer than a blink, and spoke, “Octavia is on her way to speak with the duke. Let her through.” His words were carried to the palace by his windcraft, just in time for the guards at the door to spring from their positions and admit Octavia.

She trotted through the palace, the staff scrambling to stay out of her way, until she found her way to the throne room. Not waiting to be announced, she simply threw open the doors and strode her way past the supplicants to the duke’s court.

Sitting upon the throne was Svengallop himself, an earth pony stallion, his coat a gray so light it was nearly white, with a short curly vermillion mane. He watched Octavia make her way past the line, and responded by standing to make an announcement to the court. “Court is over for today. Clear the throne room.”

The supplicants started to protest, only to be silenced by the guards who chivvied them out. Soon, Octavia and Svengallop were alone. “Octavia. Your mission has failed,” said the duke.

“There were witnesses when we were finalising the arrangement with the griffons,” explained Octavia. “I was able to compensate for one who made it to Cliffside Eyrie, but it seems the griffons failed to catch the other before she made it to another griffon clan.”

“Your mission failed,” repeated Svengallop. “Now Coloratura is in favour in the Stable, the duchess who opened trade with the griffons. She is even selling canal passage to the griffons! Her financial position is now so secure even Filthy and Spoiled couldn’t bankrupt her, and politically she can do no wrong. Even the common ponies support her, after she sponsored a pair of farm fillies, the same fillies who ruined things for us, she sponsored them to the Equine Academy.”

“Perhaps it would have been… better to have allied with a different griffon clan, your Grace?” asked Octavia. “It seems the Effai were not the clan controlling the griffon lands just past the canal.”

“Hindsight is always perfect,” snapped Svengallop “It does little good now to discuss what we should have done in the past.”

“Of course, your Grace,” replied Octavia. “Your Grace… what now?”

Svengallop simply stared at Octavia for a moment. “You are fortunate that reports from Cliffside made it here before you did. I know that it was the griffons who failed me, not you. So I continue to have use for you. I have work for you in Equinopolis.”

“Equinopolis?” said Octavia. “I am quite well known there, your Grace. I would be recognised very easily, and by now Rainbow Dash must have reported my betrayal.”

“That would be your problem, Octavia,” replied Svengallop. “You have your orders. You will go to Equinopolis.”

Comments

[BleedingRaindrops]

*Reads Synopsis*

This is literally just Codex Alera with Ponies, isn't it?

[CTVulpin]

8742044
Essentially, but there are lots of seeds for things to go in significantly different directions.

[CTVulpin]

Fantastic story, Pepperbrony. I await the next installment with eagerness.

[M00NFIRE]

That was really good, I enjoyed it tons! And I understood the fury stuff perfectly with the help of your blog post.

[Seraphem]

Ohhh this was good... really really good. Amazingly well done mix of Pony and Alera. This really did feel like a blending of the two worlds. While the story hits more or less the same overall major plot points as the first Alera book, it does so in it's own way that feels natural for the characters. Said characters being a so well done as well. Fitting the roles they are taking over from the book, while still being themselves about how they do this.

And the worldbuilding, again, so well done. Spot on use of Furycrafting, while also working in how Ponies natural magic would change this as well. But keeping clear the implication that Fury crafting has effected magic as well, ponies having relied on furies to the point their natural magical skills have been largely forgotten or lessened just due to lack of use. Such as the belief that only Windcrafterscan fly, rather then all Pegasi, something we see RD learn may not be the case, with her struggling at it being a result of never having used her muscles and magic that way before. Could even see it being because this is RD, and just how much time she spends flying, that she would be one of the only pegasi to have even enough skill and conditioning to do what she can with non-crafting powered flight.

Or, could see it more being that Ponera simply has lower ambient magic to draw on then Equestria. We know it has some, cause unicorns can still do magic, and griffons can fly without crafting. But Griffon flight does seem to be limited, being harder and able to support less weight then they could in Equestria so......

Loved nearly all the character swaps. Some were just beyond obvious that was the only choice that could be made... such as Chryssi as the Vord Queen or RD for Amara, others were a bit odd at first but worked in the full context, like RaRa and Svengallop. Loved the implied casting of Twilight's family as the Placidas, and High Mare Granny Smith had me laughing my ass off. Only one that felt a bit weak was Flim and Flam, since they utterly lacked the presence, and intimidation factor of Aldrick.

Beyond that, only real issue I could say I had was the pacing being rather quick, and I wanted to spend way more time with this story and giving things time to flesh out and be explored in more detail. But beyond that, amazing story that did a wonderful job combining two epic stories together.