The Mysterious Letter
The library in the Crystal Empire’s palace could get dark after the sun had set, and that was a good thing for a pony trying to inconspicuously study particularly obscure pieces of parchment or ancient books. Even if said pony happened to be the owner the palace in which said library was located. That notwithstanding the peculiar thing about that library was that it contained a special vault designed to keep dangerous magical artifacts including all sorts of scrolls, and particularly the ones which held secrets of the arcane.
As such, all documents within that vault would be reviewed by respected members of the Mage’s Guild which included Princess Luna and none other than Princess Celestia herself, both recognized as two of the greatest authorities in the field given their experience both studying and teaching magic. All others were expected to have similar levels of understanding on the subject so one could expect that when one of them said that something was dangerous, it was dangerous.
Following their appraisal, these documents would always be marked ‘special interest’, and then as ‘open access’, ‘restricted access’, ‘forbidden’, ‘dangerous’ and other relevant and ominous categories; finally, to be stored in one of these vaults.
Cadance wasn’t a bad pony. She understood why some things shouldn’t be so much as touched in such a dangerous world where certain magical artifacts could make a common, normal, nice pony into an evil monster filled with all sorts of powers and unrestrained base desires. She certainly knew of dangerous schools of magic which thrived on causing pain, disease, generalized misery and death, and she wanted nothing with those energies near her natural love-oriented magic.
That way she wasn’t interested in the forbidden magic and knowledge that her aunts sent her for safe-guarding in the vault. She understood the objective in this strategy too: spread the dangerous things so that they are easier to manage and wouldn’t all fall into the wrong hooves if one such vault would be breached. This was actually an honor. After all, in Cadance’s eyes it showed that her aunts considered her to be reliable and experienced enough to deal with such responsibility.
Well, for one Twilight’s palace didn’t have such things for safeguarding. And this felt right, after all Cadance was older and more experienced than Twilight was.
Those thoughts aside, what of an unmarked document she had found in the vault? Somehow it had found its way into the vault and that probably meant it was supposed to have been verified by somepony but got lost and ended up in the same shipment as the identified items.
She thought about it for a second… A potentially dangerous document that hadn’t been studied by her aunts or any of their many delegates for such matters? Maybe it hadn’t been identified and categorized simply because it wasn’t dangerous? But then why would it have found its way into the vault? At the same time what she had on her hooves was exciting! A brand-new discovery. As far as her aunts, Twilight, and all the guilds and societies in Equestria were aware this document simply didn’t exist, and she was the only one who knew of it.
Or it was simply a common, harmless piece of parchment that got into the vault by mistake. The fact that it wasn’t the typical vegetable paper might mean something… Either way Cadance felt confident in her ability to deal with anything she might find in it. Up to the task and willing to prove herself. Well, come on… It seemed to be a simple letter and nothing more. Not even one those scrolls that assist you in performing complex spells.
It had found its way towards her hooves, innocently enough while she was in that secluded area of the library checking the ward spells that kept the vault secure and, had it been breached would alert ponies and other creatures all over Equestria, from herself to the Crystal Empire’s local guard, to her aunts themselves. That put Cadance in the privileged position where she could examine that document without a giant amount of paperwork and permissions in a very bureaucratic process that could stop in any of the steps involved. She wasn’t about to lose this opportunity.
No need to inform her aunts just yet either… She would understand what that thing was and make sure that it wasn’t dangerous. Thus, sitting behind a cyan crystal desk, by candlelight the pink alicorn princess was hunched over the old piece of parchment preserved inside the magical crystalline sheets she put it in. The reflecting light made it a little harder to read, but that was the only way to look at it without it crumbling before her eyes. It seemed very old and, as such fragile. It was never meant to last.
It was a single letter sent to none other than King Sombra by an Emperor Gregor of ‘The Holy Griffon Empire’. The problem with that was: King Sombra trading letters with some griffon monarch? Whatever was this ‘Griffon Empire’? And what was so holy about it? She had never read about it in any of the many history books she’s studied in her princessly career. What the hay was going on?
But certainly, even more curious than the recipient, the author, or even its age was the content of this letter. It was written in an old language that wasn’t spoken anymore, a very formal version of her time’s Griffonese which wasn’t itself a very well known and widely used language to begin with since the usual language of her time was the Common Equestrian.
But one of the things Princess Celestia insisted that Cadance should be proficient at was, at least understanding several of the languages used in their world. So she did her best to translate the letter as she read.
“Hails to you, King Sombra of the Frozen North.
Firstly, it is with sincere admiration and the greatest respect that We acknowledge the most recent conquests achieved by Your Majesty. May history remember what was of the tribes who stood against the Great King of The North and know that The Holy Empire of Griffonia stood at His side.
Now, on to matters at hand. We are grateful for the records Your Majesty has so promptly shipped to our great nation of Griffonia. They have, as We promised been invaluable to our astronomers.
The results of their inquiries are thus:
1. While the Sun would infallibly rise and set at predictable time intervals respective to time of the year so too would the Moon. However, as of the late decade such has not been the case, with gross variation.
2. As Your Majesty has inquired in Your letter the mean temperature of the days has been slowly, but steadily and predictably rising. Additionally, within the same time frame when recorded time of sunrise and sunset showed discrepancies.
3. The afore-mentioned rise of the mean temperature of days is increasing in rate by the day.
We find that concerning and with that mentioned We can assure Your Majesty with the greatest levels of certainty that the night sky above Our nation does resemble a lightless void instead of the typical starry and moonlit skies of not so long ago. As Your Majesty has mentioned, the change was abrupt and has greatly aggravated the general populace.
At first thought, as mentioned by Griffonia’s science-oriented citizens such discrepancies are, indisputably chronologically associated with the arrival, and defeat of the so-called Mad God. While We are aware that Your Majesty cannot be held responsible for such, We fear the denizens of Equestria have taken much too long to deal with the threat he posed and what irreparable damage may have been done.
We are aware of the present fractured state of the Equestrian Republic, but earlier this decade, while in official communication with Equestria’s Mage’s Guild We have been assured by the Archmage himself that their responsibility to the entire world was unchanged in respect to providing the life-giving sunlight and the respite of the night and that nothing had changed.
Aware of the contradiction posed, We have again contacted the Archmage via a very trusted and efficient messenger. He has been assured by the same Archmage that still things were under control. The dishonesty is patently obvious to Our eyes.
We have been advised by common sense and by Our schooled advisors that this situation warrants immediate attention and, in the same manner Our military advisors have called this an insidious, underhanded and cowardly act of war on the part of Equestria.
While it must be mentioned that We do not hold ill-faith against Your Majesty given your forces’ inability to reach Equestria’s original heartland in practical time, We conclude this by informing Your Majesty that on the morn following this letter’s dispatch the First Airborne Army of Griffonia shall be deployed under the command of Captain General Blacktallon.
He is expected to personally meet with the Archmage and understand what the details of the situation are. Following that, he is to deal with it as he sees fit with Our complete confidence and authority.
Thus said Gregor, Holy Emperor of the Griffon.”
Cadance raised her eyes from the preserved parchment lifting her head and staring confusingly at nothing in particular. “Seriously, what the hay?”
Once again she scanned the document as though she might have missed something. Apparently, she hadn’t, but to her recollection not only was Princess Celestia responsible for the Sun, and Princess Luna for the Moon some time before Discord was turned to stone, but there were no griffon invasions at that time. Well, at least, she knew what Griffonia was… Certainly never called a ‘holy empire’ though.
He could only be talking about Discord when referring to this ‘Mad God’. Maybe he would know something about this, but he wasn’t exactly a trustworthy source of information.
What about these variations in sunrise and sunset? Why did they start? Why did they end? They were not happening at the present: Equestria’s Sun and Moon were like clocks. If anything the princesses will usually stop anything to care for the heavens. Temperature rising? What?
Common sense would say that it was because the unicorns were messing up the process since it drained their magic, but that wouldn’t be right: the letter said that the unicorns were dealing fine with the Sun and the Moon as confirmed by the unicorns! Not to mention that Princess Celestia was supposed to be responsible for that already.
Did they lie to this griffon emperor? Did the griffon lie to King Sombra? Why was this griffon talking to King Sombra to begin with? Shouldn’t his letter have mentioned Princess Celestia? Maybe she was too young, but still, records said that she and Luna were crowned immediately at their arrival. Or, at least very shortly after. Which is something else Cadance never truly understood, but that was beside the point now. Curious how these details, when given attention often made the jigsaw that is Equestria’s history look awkward.
Like most equestrians Cadance assumed that the confusing timelines and details were a result of the mess Discord had created.
But this letter specifically contradicted several things Cadance took for certain. Add to that the weird line about the night resembling a black void. Did he mean there were no stars? No moon? That made no sense.
Suddenly the magical lamps that would normally be lighting the library if she wasn’t almost hiding there were alighted and flooded the whole place in clear, blinding light to her dark-attuned eyes. Cadance squeaked and almost let the preserved document fall to the floor. Fortunately, she instinctively held it in her telekinetic grasp and let it rest safely on the desk.
“Cadance?” Shining Armor came out from behind a large bookcase carrying Flurry Heart on his back. “What are you doing?”
“I’m having a heart attack.” Her magic carried her crown back to her head while she complained.
“Sorry.” He approached and the baby in his back called for mama. “Well, you’ve been here a while, and it’s time for bed. We were worried.”
“I’m sorry. I found something weird. It seems King Sombra was talking to some griffon emperor about something wrong going on with the Sun.” Cadance had her eyes shut as she hoof-massaged her temples and explained, then lightly tapped the document’s crystal protective encasing with a golden shoe. “But it’s mentioning events that contradict our own records.”
“Are you sure?” He looked at the document and then at her. “Maybe the griffon was lying to King Sombra? Or vice-versa.”
“Hum… That could be.” She admitted. And if the griffon was lying about the problems with the sun and temperatures, he could be lying about his invading army and that would make sense. Now that she thought of it, Princess Celestia never liked griffons… Maybe the ones from her time weren’t very trustworthy?
“Sombra seems to have sent him records made in the Frozen North, which seemed to independently verify the ones in Griffonia. And both seem to disagree with Equestria’s records of the time.” Her hoof massaged her chin. “Though I’d have to actually see the records in the Canterlot Archives because there is the possibility that even if the letters are wrong about the Sun being under the unicorns’ command, the Sun and Moon could have been acting weird.”
An eyebrow rose in her forehead. “Why only in that decade, though? Probably because of Discord. But, why would he be making it hotter? It’s just weird. Maybe this all happened right after his arrival? No, that can’t be: Discord didn’t stay for a decade. Something doesn’t sit right in this whole story.”
“Cadance?” Shining Armor called her, and Flurry made her needy baby noises that the youngling was convinced were supposed to enchant her mother into giving her attention. “Come to bed? You can see about this tomorrow.”
“I suppose you’re right. I just have to make sure that I understood and translated this correctly, because- Oooow!” She yelped painfully as something pulled on her ear. “Shining!”
“It wasn’t me!” He promptly defended himself, while Flurry Heart vehemently demanded her attention with outstretched little hooves and angry baby noises. Having failed the attention seeking baby-talk, a persuasive use of telec… Teleken… ‘Moving things with horn-magic’ usually brought her mother back to her senses. And, she knew mom didn’t like her using such harsh language, but it was mommy’s fault for failing to give her attention!
“You know what?” Cadance finally looked over the parchment and then at her husband and child. “This looks like a lot of boring work.”
“So, you’ll let go of it?” His head bobbed a little to the side.
“No! I’ll go see Twilight tomorrow morning!” She smiled happily.
***
Soon after waking in the next morning, after her early day duties were performed Cadance rushed to the ‘mirror room’. It was a simple room next to their private quarters which contained a large and comfortable red sofa on which she sat. In front of her was a cyan crystal desk and on it sat a slab of pink Crystal Empire’s patented crystalized metal and that held an oval mirror sitting over it with beautiful golden supports on both sides.
The first time Cadance had ever seen something similar was in one particular stadium where unicorn magic was inhibited when ponies passed under especially enchanted arches on their way to see the event. The idea was to prevent cheating and it was a rather strong magic, it required a lot of power and eventually somepony realized that wasn’t a particularly smart idea. But the notion of complex spells bound to artifacts and its underlying arcane architecture made things like the communications mirrors possible.
Her reflecting bust stared back at Cadance until she charged up her horn with magic, thought of her beloved sister-in-law and projected her magic upon the device. It came alive projecting some light from its crystal component and her image vanished from the mirror replaced by an image of a horn and wavy lines emanating from it in a white background.
Cadance waited for a while moving her eyes about the room and thinking of how she could make it a little prettier. She also reminded herself that Twilight preferred magic-sent letters and such, but these pre-charged divination magic devices, which required only a small input from the user were much more practical. Even Princess Celestia, the bastion of all that was traditional had one installed in her palace. The pink alicorn also thought of Luna who ‘prophesized’ there would, eventually be hoof-held versions of it. Cadance betrayed a small knowing smile as her eyes rolled. As if those would ever get small enough.
Although, she supposed a version earth ponies and pegasi could easily use was way overdue. She knew of projects as she tried to keep in touch with such modern ‘toys’, but manufacturers seemed to keep bumping into design problems. Unicorn magic just made everything easier.
Suddenly, the device emitted a soft chime and Spike’s curious face appeared on the mirror. “Oh! Princess Cadance! Hello!”
“Hi there, Spike! How are you?” She smiled happily, making herself comfortable on the sofa.
“Just great!” The young dragon answered excitedly. “Bought a new board game Shining is gonna love! It’s about the Royal Guard fighting zomponies on Nightmare Night!”
The princess let out a soft chuckle. “That’s great, Spike. Can I talk to Twilight?”
“She’s having breakfast now. Do you need me to call her?” Spike pointed with a thumb.
She dismissed the need to fetch her with a hoof gesture and lightly shook her head ‘no’. “No need. Please tell her that I, Shinny and Flurry will be going to Ponyville soon after lunch. I need her help with some research.”
She watched curiously as he wrote something down outside of her view. “Sure thing! Is it important?”
Cadance raised an eyebrow. “I suppose it is…”
“Uh-huh.” He wrote some more, and then spoke again, looking down at something. “Does it involve harmful magic or any other form of dangerous effects, including, but not limited to: curses, compulsions, high-energy elemental magic, necromancy or quesadillas?”
“It’s just a preserved document!” She frowned a little. “Quesadillas? What? Did Twilight put you up to this?”
While the small dragon said nothing with his mouth, his eyes conveyed all the answer she would need. She grimaced a bit. “It’s just an old document. A letter. Inside a protective enchanted crystal casing. I need her help figuring something out about its contents. It’s in an old language and might be telling of events we didn’t know. But it’s just a letter.”
“Alrighty then. I think I can fill up the rest of this… Is that all?” He was back to his ‘can do attitude, and after she confirmed that she needed nothing more, they said their goodbyes.
***
After all the remaining morning functions and lunch were done Cadance and Shining Armor, accompanied by their maid who pushed Flurry Heart’s carriage, a squad of Cadance’s all-female guard corps, and one from the traditional local guard of the Crystal Empire left the palace. One of said guards carefully carried a black and thin briefcase under his wing. It wouldn’t do to let the princess carry it, after all.
It was somewhat tiresome that they had to drag their entourage around every time they left the palace, but both of them could think of worse things, and had understood some time ago that they were the prince and princess for their subjects, not for themselves. Not to mention that they could be useful every now and then, and if they really wanted, they could simply dismiss their escort anyway. It usually created a situation where none needed be. In the end, it was better to be cautious: it wasn’t a good time to be tempting luck.
As the royal couple preferred the small procession trotted through the streets of the Crystal Empire instead of riding a chariot. It was a bit of a walk, but the crystal ponies liked seeing them. And they drew attention from ponies both outside and inside, staring from within their crystal-y homes, waving and cheering for the royal couple until finally, after a somewhat pompous walk through town they arrived at their destination: it was a big, ornate and ‘crystal-y’ building on the edge of the city. Purple-ish and shiny, it was right at home in the Crystal Empire with some white snow over its roof.
One of the most useful advances in magic and infrastructure and one of Cadance’s and Shining Armor’s favorites was the creation of the Teleporters. They were very expensive to set-up, but practical, cheap to maintain and really increased the tourism income of the Crystal Empire. On the outside they were buildings of variable sizes and architecture made to specification to fit the needs and aesthetics of individual cities where they were installed. Usually when solicited by the municipal offices responsible for tourism and transportation. Or when a princess was tired of taking multiple-day train rides to go see her aunts or sister-in-law.
On the inside their individual layout varied from facility to facility as much as their aesthetic sense but after buying a ticket off the counters, easily accessible from the entrance, a pony would go past a door into the terminal area. There a series of placards would direct traveling ponies to one of the teleportation terminals.
Different companies operated each teleportation platform and they typically offered different prices, travel packages and on-site facilities which ranged from simple waiting rooms to art galleries, restaurants, gift shops and relaxation rooms. But the prince and princess usually preferred the services of the state-funded corporation. It seemed right.
Typically, waiting times were reasonable, but still ubiquitous since the platform’s magical capacitors would need time to recharge. This was important because Cadance and Shining Armor preferred waiting in lines where they would form. They agreed that it was very uncomfortable when ponies tried to treat them with special benefits because of their position. Unfortunately for them ponies loved them too much and always offered them to skip lines, take the best seats, not pay for whatever services every now and then. In fact, some ponies were very insistent on that.
As Princess Celestia once told Cadance, ‘You’re the princess… You’re always right, and you’re always wrong. You’re always humble, and you’re always haughty. They always like you, and they always dislike you. Just relax and smile. Wave if you can. It will be over soon, and just be glad they don’t think you can send them to the Moon over the smallest slight…’
Thus, when they were offered to skip the line Cadance and Shining Armor simply smiled and allowed themselves and their entourage to be herded through the waiting room straight to the teleportation room. They even waved at the ponies on the way. They would be dishonest if they didn’t admit that being able to skip lines wasn’t the worst thing in the world.
Once inside the teleportation room ponies would see themselves in a medium sized room where the teleportation platform would be in the center, and next to it a single desk where the teleportation officer would be waiting. Of course, details such as decorations and uniforms would vary. The state-funded company kept costs to a minimum so it was a mostly empty room with the round teleportation platform in the center, made of crystalized metal and it was connected to the operator’s desk by parallel golden lines.
While Cadence waited Shining took their tickets to the blue crystal pony unicorn on the other side of the desk. She had no uniform, only a blue hat with the Royal House’s coat of arms.
“Fourteen ponies to Ponyville! Anything to declare?” She asked calmly.
One problem that could arise was that the pre-charged teleportation magic could disrupt other kinds of magic and vice-versa, and as such, for security reasons ponies were required to declare anything magical they might be carrying.
Different from naturally cast magic where the unicorn would instinctively adapt the formulae of the spell as it played it in their head pre-charged spells were rigid structures, less like a song that came from the heart and more like a recording of a generic one. That way a unicorn could easily deal with another form of magic disturbing his spell, as they performed a teleportation spell, but the enchantments charged into something could be potentially dangerous when mixed with the teleportation spell held in these devices.
Nopony wanted a repeat incident of the airship captain that got divided into his good and evil sides because of a magical disruption of a teleporter.
“Archaeological document preserved in enchanted crystal!” Cadance said calmly as the guard opened the briefcase he was carrying under his wing.
The unicorn nodded. “Those are fine, your highness. Please step onto the platform.”
Since some spells where widely known such as typical preservation spells, the enchantments of a Royal Guard’s armor, or the powerful ones in Cadance’s royal regalia they were taken in consideration when these teleportation devices were created and whenever they were updated.
They climbed into the platform and the unicorn’s horn charged up with magic which she infused into the desk and a small graphical representation of the small town appeared over it. “Thank you for choosing Equestria Magical Travel Corporation and have a safe travel!” The unicorn chimed happily as she magically activated the trigger step in the spell.
In an instant and with a flash the room had changed around them. The walls were covered in light cream masonry and another unicorn stood behind the desk. “Welcome to Ponyville your highnesses. Please step off the platform.”
They did so as they thanked the new operator and walked out of the door this time to an empty waiting room. They wasted no time in leaving the facility, significantly smaller than the one in the Crystal Empire and well at home in the small, rustic town with pastel colored masonry on its walls and red roof tiles. Even a small plaza with a gift shop, a cafeteria, a small library, some sitting space, and a welcoming booth. There was also an ad for an express train line to Canterlot.
“So… How come Ponyville has a teleporter but Canterlot doesn’t?” Shinning frowned a little.
“Oh. You don’t know?” His wife giggled. “It seems that this facility should have been installed in Canterlot but the prices for the terrain and the aesthetic requirements were so out of this world high that no company offered to buy the slots in the facility. Leasing costs were insane!”
“Wow. But there are a lot of rich ponies in Canterlot.” He wondered. “Didn’t they want the teleporter there just so they could say they have it?”
“Well, yes… But during one of the meetings Princess Celestia let slip that...” She made a serious expression and mimicked Princess Celestia’s voice. “I have become a princess to rule Equestria, not to have my atoms scattered back and forth across the land by this gadget.”
“That’s… Not how Teleportation magic works.” Shining deadpanned.
“Yes, but Princess Celestia doesn’t trust those things. And that is how Canterlot’s slim chances of getting a teleporter were gone forever.”
“Wow. Though.” He chuckled. “At least it seems that Ponyville is making good use of the teleporter.”
They could see small stands in the square in front of the teleporter facility, and the city seemed to have increased in size, growing towards Twilight’s school and her palace.
“Not to mention…” She agreed. “That Ponyville can certainly use the increase in income with tourism, and with Twilight’s school, at least her students can come and go a little easier. I hear Twilight’s asked Mayor Mare to work out special prices for them.”
“Sounds fair.” He nodded.
Once in Ponyville proper Cadance and Shining Armor went straight to Twilight’s palace, where her small library used to be now a much larger and elaborated version of her library, as if the thing had grown to accommodate Twilight’s new life as a Princess. However these things worked in Equestria…
Fortunately, the two weren’t interrupted, and as soon as they arrived, they were received by Twilight and her typical court: her assistant and friend Spike, and her apprentice and friend Starlight Glimmer. Their escorts stayed outside and Shining carried the briefcase for Cadance.
After a short combination of dance, song, greetings and squee’ing over the baby they could get to business, and after a short explanation of what Cadance needed, with no questions asked Twilight led them on the way.
As the purple princess magically opened the doors to her own palace’s library her eyes quickly scanned the main area dotted with reading tables and flanked by large bookcases. Quickly she found her librarian, Miss Goodread as the pale yellow and black unicorn was already going around her desk to welcome her princess and her friends.
“Ah! There you are! We need a few things for a research project: our climate records with temperature and sunrise and set records for the first century of the Age of The Royal Sisters, our copy of the same records made by the griffons, and all we have on griffon history!”
“Immediately Princess!” She said, and wasted no time turning around and quickly went on her way towards the large bookshelves.
“We have a copy of the griffon’s climate records?” Spike asked with huge eyes, actually impressed. “I mean… I can understand history books, but…”
“I need to fill this library.” Twilight explained with a small frown of annoyance. “There are a lot of empty spaces yet. Not to mention the one on the school.”
“So, what is this all about, then?” Spike sat on the next reading table.
The Princess of Love sat on her own chair. “I found a letter sent by a griffon ‘emperor’ to King Sombra, and in it he discussed how the sun had been acting weirdly, and how temperatures had been rising. But, most importantly, he blamed it on the unicorns and not on Princess Celestia after Discord. Not only that, but there is mention of a griffon invasion and what seems like a huge chapter of griffon history that’s gone missing including records of some sort of empire.”
Twilight took the letter for herself to read while Starlight and Spike both stared at the two princesses. Finally, the pony spoke. “So… Does any of this make any difference today?”
“Of course, it does!” Twilight said cheerfully as she sat at the table and left the letter. “Our records might be wrong, and so the ones from the griffons since our documents on their history come from them! Now it is possible that this ‘empire thing’ was simply a nomenclature decision at the time that was revoked later, so… We need to keep an eye for that. The invasion, well it’s possible that it wasn’t relevant to Equestria or that the griffon forces never arrived. So that is another thing to be on careful about!”
“Twilly…” Shining Armor looked at her from the other side of the table. “Is it possible that the griffons could lie about their past? Wouldn’t other nations that had contact with them know?”
“Well, that time was peculiar. Because of Discord. The whole world was a mess while everyone tried to recover from the damage he caused.”
“So…” Starlight was unimpressed. “How does that make a difference today?”
Both the pony and the dragon looked unimpressed, actually, and Twilight frowned with frustration. “If anything, it’s an excuse to travel to the griffon lands and present our data on Canterlot while you two can tour the capital?”
Spike and Starlight looked at each other agreeably, with the dragon looking happy. “Yeah, that works.”
“What are we gonna do, then?” Starlight sat on one of the chairs, and at that precise moment, Miss Goodread dropped several massive leather-bound tomes on top of the table with enough weight to almost make the poor table split in half.
“We are going to check Equestria’s records!” Twilight squee’ed. “First we’re going to do some research on the holy empire and on Emperor Gregor! Then we’ll check records of military movements for evidence of the invasion or even the departure of the griffon force. Finally, we’ll check temperature records from the Canterlot Archives, the Royal Observatory, the griffon records and compare them all. But we’ll start with the letter! We’ll translate this wonderful specimen of a dead language! It’s so exciting!”
“Fun!” Starlight Glimmer laughed awkwardly, immediately regretting agreeing to this. “I’ll be in the lounge if somepony needs help recovering their sanity when you’re done.”
But as she started her retreat she was captured by purple telekinetic magic and put back her on her chair. All she could do was sigh in defeat and steel her sanity.
***
Well into the afternoon, the small ‘study group’ was still at the library, surrounding the same reading table which now contained a fine wooden tray with half-eaten daisy sandwiches and empty glasses.
“This can’t be right… This Emperor Gregor never existed!” Twilight was perplexed as she examined down her notes. The griffons at the time were supposed to be a large collection of independent kingdoms and that was it. “I don’t get it! It was only much later they united, when King George came into picture and that culminated on the First Griffon War when their nobility resisted the Alicorn Concordat.”
Starlight kept her thoughts to herself given present company, but a treaty that was otherwise known as ‘Princess Meddling Accord’… Gee, someone had to offer some resistance eventually. Maybe ponies and the others were too afraid of the alicorns and it was the griffons that finally had the guts to stand up to them.
“Maybe our records of griffon history are wrong?” Cadance offered.
“No, that can’t be! Our records, present here, on Canterlot, and the whole world were made by the griffons! They unified these resources after the unified kingdom.”
Twilight stuttered a bit. “I-I mean… He’s not in the records for griffon rulers, and they have detailed records of all dynasties, of all the independent kingdoms and of the united kingdom, up to the Equestrian Confederacy. They don’t even acknowledge this Holy Griffon Empire… It is as though it never existed.”
“If the griffons collated and distributed the documents about their history…” Starlight started. “It would be very easy for them to lie about it. It’s something a newly minted unified government might be tempted to do.”
Miss Goodread agreed with the other unicorn, nodding. “That is true, princess. It happened before the Alicorn Concordat. They wouldn’t have to answer to the princesses at the time.”
“Do we have any independent sources on griffon history?” Twilight stared at nothing in particular until a smile appeared on her face. “We do!”
Goodread had a smile on her face as she waited for her princess to tell her what to look for. “Trail Blazer, The Lonely! It’s titled ‘Of Memoirs Beyond’! He was a pony historian from the time that took interest in cultures beyond the ocean, but never published his work about it. However, his notes were recently recovered from his home, and published by his descendants!”
Goodread nodded once and smiled. “I’ll find it and see what I can uncover in it about this Gregor, or his empire.”
“And we are going to check the temperature and sunset and rise records.” Twilight agreed.
As the day progressed and turned into night, and then went late into it so did the growing pile of discarded notes in the form of crumpled paper, bread crumbles and drops of apple juice on the table. Then it occurred to Cadance while the younger princess and her lilac friend were hunched over their notes that all they drank in Twilight’s palace was apple juice. She wondered if the fact that Applejack was Twilight’s friend and owner of the biggest apple farm in the region had anything to do with that.
For a brief instant of insanity, amid the numbers, formulae for unit conversion, and facts about the sun, about the moon, she realized Sweet Apple Acres products were sold all the way to the Crystal Empire and wondered if Princess Celestia would eat their zap apple jam without even knowing that Applejack secretly ruled Equestria with an apple fist.
Still, the fact being that all she ever drank was the regional mountain water in the Crystal Empire and apple juice in Ponyville. She glared at Twilight who didn’t notice and made a mental note of the fact that she’d like to try that famous Blueblood chardoneigh or the exclusive Sang Royal from the Royal Winery at least once again before dying, if it wasn’t asking too much! Why in Tartarus did Canterlot Palace even have a wine cellar if Luna liked much stronger stuff and all Celestia ever drank was that Discord-cursed tea!?
The pink princess sighed and massaged her temples. “I need a break…”
Ignorant of her sister-in-law’s thoughts Twilight looked at the records, her notes again, and Cadance’s own notes besides her, as Shining Armor slept with his head on the table and Flurry Heart slept, curled into a ball on his back. “Maybe there was something in the griffon lands, at the time that made those days hotter? I mean, they could easily have missed that if they somehow missed an empire!”
“Nuh uh.” Said Starlight, now surprisingly interested with the whole thing while pointing at the document Cadance had brought. “If that were the case then whatever report King Sombra had sent this Gregor griffon shouldn’t have confirmed the numbers the griffon astronomers came up with.”
“Maybe our data is simply wrong…” Spike offered from his seat, half-asleep but hanging on like the good trooper he was. Still, he was getting bored. “Or even yet, this whole thing is a misunderstanding.”
The princess agreed with them, silently, thoughtfully staring at the documents spread over the table. The dragon and both Cadance and her apprentice friend remained in silence. It was usually a good idea to let Twilight think.
Then Miss Goodread approached her with an open book. “I found a reference to Emperor Gregor. It seems that he did exist because Stargazer recounts his travels to Griffonia, being arrested and taken to the Emperor, who then left him free to tell of the greatness of his empire.”
“Well, what did he write about the Holy Empire?” Twilight asked anxiously.
“Hum…” Goodread hesitated with flopped ears. “He said he fled in the first boat because he was too scared.”
“Oh! Come on! That could be completely anecdotal!” Twilight screamed in frustration. “You know what? We need a third set of the same data so we can rule out foul-play from either parties. And confirm one of the versions.”
“From whom?” Cadance looked at her, and Twilight put her hoof on her chin even more thoughtful than before. Going after the historical records for the griffons would be a dead end: what they had was likely to be the same everyone else had since it was the official griffon history. Sure, she could go around checking obscure references, but that would be too impractical because discrepancies would arise from independent records anyway. They needed something that was objective and the temperature records would be perfect.
The problem was that the records were the same for griffons and ponies. She needed someone else’s. She didn’t know if the zebra did this sort of records. The hippogriffs probably didn’t. It’s possible that the kirin or minotaurs had records, but it wasn’t very probable. The yak? Doubtful. The dragons? Unlikely.
Then the answer materialized in her head, her smile grew, and her ears perked up. “The Changelings!”
Starlight was somewhat surprised and Cadance simply waited. “The changelings? Why would the changelings keep climate records or know about the griffons?”
“Because not only they infiltrated every corner of Equestria before we figured out their spells, but temperature influences the development rate of changeling larvae and of the queen’s capacity for generating them.” Twilight explained, gesticulating and sounding excited. “Before the Changeling Rock, and before temperature management spells, Queen Chrysalis depended on understanding how temperatures change, so that she could lay her eggs in the best period of the year. Since it was that important she actually had her drones keep precise records. Up to a time, at least… It was only when we developed those spells, she stopped worrying about it. So, they should have the data we need. And considering their methods, they might even have good information on the griffons of the time that might explain this Gregor guy!”
“Huh… The more you know.” Starlight wondered if, had she studied as much as Twilight had, she would know this sort of thing.
“What if they threw it all away, Twilight?” Shining Armor looked at them raising his head from the table and waking Flurry Heart. “I mean… It’s a long shot to imagine they have info on Gregor, but they may have thrown away the climate records.”
“Uh… Then, we’d be out of luck, I guess.” The princess shrugged.
“Don’t we have a copy of the Changeling’s records?” Spike asked from his perch on the table.
“Nopony asked them.” Twilight’s librarian shook her head. “And I doubt the Changelings would’ve shared them before the Heartmend Treaty.”
“So, what?” Starlight asked, sounding somewhat worried with what might come next. “Are you going to ask they sent a copy? Maybe a summary of their materials on the griffons?”
“No!” The purple princess was excited again. “We are going to the Changeling Rock!”
“Send them a letter!” Starlight begged. No way Twilight could be talking seriously. And no way she would drag her on a travel all the way to the Changeling Rock. Sure, they have traveled to much farther places, but it wasn’t Canterlot with its gold and silver towers or the great griffon mountain cities… It’s the Changeling Rock! Literally a big rock full of pony-bugs! “Call them via divination magic mirror!”
Twilight shook her head. “It could take days before the changelings replied. They are busy with the new brood, and they don’t have a mirror. Not to mention, it would be a lot of information to collate and send to us.”
Starlight’s hooves met her face as panic began to set in. “For Celestia’s sake! It’s a two-day train ride to Dodge City and then a six-day caravan to the Changeling Rock, half of it through a dead badland. If we’re lucky, and there is one ready to go when we arrive, we don’t get attacked by monsters or some highwayponies don’t get ideas about stealing from the Princess! Because of a weird griffon emperor nopony wants to remember!”
Granted, that did sound important… But… Eight days of travel for something that is likely not going to mater in the long run anyway?!
“Well, there may also have been an invasion we didn’t know about…” Cadance added and Starlight kept to herself what a fat lot of difference that made.
“Well, we could go by train and then walk. Or…” Twilight’s expression changed to a smug smile. “We could ride an airship.”
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The term "empire" could also be a misnomer. For instance The Crystal "Empire" is everything but. It's just a royal city-state, not an empire.
9608467
Absolutely correct. I didn't want to put too much of a definition on what it actually meant because the ponies aren't sure, but when Twilight brought up that it might have been a nomenclature thing, it is what she was thinking of.
When I used the terminology, "holy empire", my intention was to hint at the meaning I intended. And also what kind of guy Gregor was.
I love this Cadence. In the show she's always portrayed as this pristine young adult who is the ideal princess, and that's it.
This Cadence is more inquisitive, has a slight rebellious streak, and apparently has a keen interest in history.
Still a lazy mother though.
I would love to see a story where Applejack rules Equestria
10027249
Perhaps one day.
<ominous apple sounds>
Just relax and smile. Wave if you can https://youtu.be/DvYBZRwwGB4
the airship captain that got divided into his good and evil sides because of a magical disruption of a teleporter. James T. Kirk [ S.T. 1st Gen.]
“I have become a princess to rule Equestria, not to have my atoms scattered back and forth across the land by this gadget.” Dr, Mcoy [ S.T. 1st gen.]
Love what you did here.
10186155
Yay! Someone commented on those!
That's because Luna knows a couple of Neipony unicorns, Sung Sam and Kia No, who specialize in miniaturizations.
Well, since Celestia doesn't have a red coat, she's perfectly safe... Cadance, however, with her pink coat, which is basically a tint of red, is taking an awful big risk using such....
WHY do I suddenly get the feeling that it's the same captain & same airship!!
10861404
Nope, that is a comedy still being written. It will include daring captains, an airship, a princess and malfunctioning prototype.
Ok I'm interested, think I will follow this one. Though later.. as I was going to skim this first chapter but actually read it.. and it's now 4am XD
11288004
I'm glad you're interested, and hope you like it.
Come back any time. We're open all day.