Piece of Parchment

by Metemponychosis

Superior

They traveled rather fast and Discord was happy he could keep up the pace because of the weird magic in the region. Or rather, with the magical disturbance in the region. Witnessing the Lion perform his own magic and Gwineth’s sword dance, also having had some time to reflect on the things he saw, he decided he should probably pay more attention to that voice in the wind.

Easier said than done. He couldn’t make out the meaning of the words even if he could speak and understand their language with his magical translator. That was likely due to the fact he was ‘listening’ to the spell, not to the uttering of the words themselves. He did notice that its power fluctuated and that it was weaker at the present, near to high noon. It made him wonder how much of the overcast sky was related to the spell and how it related to the magic the sun itself radiated.

Another funny thing he noticed is that the same magic that seemed to slow his advance before seemed to hasten theirs. It was a difficult thing to explain, so subtle it was. He wasn’t even sure if it was about space, time, or even their perception of the travel. Whoever cast that spell was actively watching them and adjusting it. It was almost enough to make his hairs stand, especially because of the way it was eerily easy to forget that they were being watched.

An innocent conversation with his travelling companions might shine some light into the subject, but he had decided he would wait until he was alone with either to start such conversation. Learning more about them would be fine too. He was curious and information was always good anyways.

Such an opportunity presented itself soon when Lord Gilad called a rest for lunch. They landed by a small grouping of trees on a soft mound that provided some surveyance to the surrounding area, a featureless snowfield flanked by wooded areas and following a path in between the mountains and the small forests. The sky, eternally overcast.

“I should find us something to eat in these woods.” Gilad said, and stared intently at the female. “Behave yourself, Gwineth.”

She smiled devilishly an held her face with childish glee. “I’ll be a proper Snow Mountains maiden!”

He didn’t like the way she mocked whatever concern Gilad had, but turned and flew to the nearby woods, as though it didn’t really bother him and soon disappearing between the trees. Turning to her, Discord found she had taken off her coat and was splayed like a big cat on her back, with her wings open over the snow, and not an ounce of modesty, wiggling like one of those wiggly worm gelatin candies.

Though he had to admit that the snow would certainly be refreshing after the exertions of hours of flying at the pace they kept. When she was done, she jumped upright, stood on her four legs, and shook her body and wings.

“So, we might be here a while.” She piped. “Wanna talk about something?”

“Yes.” He said curiously. “Can you hear the voice in the wind?”

She gave him an amused smile and her wings flared. “So, you can hear Her? Hum… I suppose that you should.”

“Hear who?”

“And I guess that not even you know everything.”

“Ah…” He gave her a knowing grin. “It’s the harpy.”

“Yes. The Harpy, silly.” Her amused smile grew. “Most griffons can’t hear. Only on special occasions.”

“What is the Harpy?” He put his hands on his hips. “I don’t remember anything about her. Him. Whatever.”

“Hum… So, you really don’t know everything…” She said curiously, but her tone disguised an attempt at avoiding the conversation that he found particularly amusing. “I am not sure I know myself.”

He chuckled then. “Well, I think you are interesting too. Tell me about you!”

She flapped her eyes at him, playfully. “Oh, you think so?”

But then she shifted to a less enthusiastic manner. “Eh… I was born in Thunderpeak. Lived with my parents until I was nine when they just up and left. Then I lived with my big brother until I met Lady Gwendolen and she made me see that I was wasting my life on that loser and in that dump we lived in.”

“Tough beginnings then?” He crossed his arms and stared curiously.

“We didn’t have money for jackshit and it seemed like every single griffon in the area was actively looking for was ways to screw us. In more than one way…”

That sounded weird. “How does that happen? I thought that there was some sort of monthly allowance from the government.”

“Yeah. It is great when your big brother isn’t blowing it all on alcohol and drugs. And then refused to get some actual sort of help even when the social agents knocked on our door on an almost daily basis. And I was too dumb… Had some sort of misplaced loyalty. You know… Family.”

He didn’t actually ‘know’. That sort of attachment was new to him, but he thought that he understood enough to try and not say something stupid. He didn’t want to offend her or something.

She shrugged. “The Children of the Harpy thrive in adversity, and I guess I am a good example. It made me what I am today and I really don’t feel like I lost a lot when I left that place. I just didn’t see it at the time because I was stuck in the mediocrity of those lesser griffons. Heck… I don’t even miss my brother or my parents.”

“I thought you weren’t supposed to discuss the Harpy with outsiders.” Either she was easy to lead in a conversation or he was… Either way, it was working.

“Those are simp laws.” She waved a paw at the notion with an expression that would be more well-placed on someone that had just eaten something spoiled. “I am special. I was supposed to be the next Queen of the Griffons with Grigory after Lord Gilad and Lady Gwendolen, but he likes Gallensa, so he mated her first. Ugh… I’m so much more fun and experienced!”

“Well, since you’re being chatty, can you explain the way you use the word ‘queen’? I’ve talked to another griffon who used it in another context.”

“We also use queen in a similar context the ponies use ‘mare’. Except a ‘queen’ is supposed to be an attractive female of reproductive age, not just any adult female.” She gesticulated with a paw, explaining, but stopped for a second. “And also ‘queen’ as the female ruler.”

“Creepy.” Discord grunted. “Rarity told me they use the same terms for cat breeding.”

“Well, I’m a ‘queen’, so it’s fine by me!” She gave him a ‘non-simp’ grin and then shrugged. “The Harpy called us that. Millenia ago. We’ll probably do worse with the ponies once we’ve put them in the pastures with the cows.”

“Ha ha. Funny sense of humor you have, don’t you? Whatever happened to your brother?”

“Got killed in a jail. He worked in a factory and made some wrong friendships. It was actually great that he died, and Lady Gwendolen took me in. I was seventeen at the time and she is very generous to those whom she likes.”

“So, I suppose Lady Gwendolen brought you here? What else?”

“She’s brought me to Snow Mountains and taught me about my lineage. I’ve been moving from town to town, learning stuff about my kind and about the great plans the Harpy has for me, with her help. Really, she’s been like a real mother to me.”

Interesting, the way she spoke many things, barely giving off any information at all. “But I thought that your enchanted prince was taken.”

She shrugged again. “The ‘only mate once in a lifetime’ is another simp rule… Not all rules apply to everyone and Gallensa is going to find out that this one doesn’t apply to Grigory. It’s gonna be alright, though. Gal is a going to be a good girl and share with the others. Mostly me.”

“I see. What about him? Is he going to like being ‘shared’?”

“If there is one thing I’ve learned about male griffons, especially the ones in high places, is that getting used to nice company is easy.” Her mocking smile started to disturb him. “And that is why she is going to put up with it. She doesn’t have a choice, and she can be replaced. She’s not that special.”

Ponies didn’t care about this sort of thing, usually. Obviously, they didn’t like being cheated on, but it was about the betrayal of trust, and ‘agreements’ were commonplace. His mind jumped back to Celestia, Luna, Chrysalis, Thorax and Chocolate Velvet. And countless other examples, even among his friends and the huge ‘parties’ that happened in the Bordello of Candy. Ponies were fine as long as everypony was in agreement and nopony got hurt in the process. But griffons seemed to have a custom that they would only have a partner their entire life. Maybe they were being hypocritical because they wanted to feel like they were special over something, but inside they simply wanted to have as much fun as the ponies. He didn’t know for sure and had never thought about it. Maybe the whole thing was simply an artificial difference to create the ‘us versus them’ mentality. Or even further, maybe this rule existed just so it could be broken by the ‘special ones’.

Ponies did usually put a limit in offspring, unless there was some special condition, as Discord had heard with Shining Armor and Chrissy. But that was Cadance involved and she was weird too. Regardless of that comparison, the whole thing seemed ‘off’ with the whole tradition thing he thought the griffons had going. At closer scrutiny, it all seemed very self-serving towards something he hadn’t discovered yet.

But what really worried Discord was that this Gwineth seemed to have a perverse delight in ruining it for Grigory and that Gallensa he didn’t know. Maybe there was something between them that Discord didn’t know, besides Grigory's position. Or maybe the problem, again, was this ‘Harpy’.

The more he heard about her, here and there, the more he felt like he needed to make it to this city, Griffindell, and meet Lady Gwendolen because it sounded like she knew what was going on with the Harpy.

Still, his attention returned to the griffoness that stared curiously at him. “You know, you had struck me as the independent type.”

“I am independent. But doesn’t mean that I won’t let the males drool all over me, get me things because they find me attractive. They better treat me like I’m damn special because I am. Besides, dating the chosen one has some perks. I got screwed too much in life already. You know that utopia thing ponies say? It’s bullshit. If you’re born the wrong way, in the wrong place you’re screwed. I got my privileges now and I’m gonna use them.”

“How very self-serving.” Discord teased her playfully. “Princess Twilight would not only say that your privilege is meant to help those that are less privileged, but also that all creatures are special. How about using those privileges to help others that are in a bad spot as you were before?”

She laughed. “Screw them. I suffered before I became what I am, and I had to work hard. Princess Twilight is an idiot and a hypocrite, because if there is one that is special, it is her and those alicorn princesses she lives with.”

She chuckled, completely amused. “Please… The only reason the ponies have it easy is because Princess Celestia happens to be nice and subscribes to the idea. If you want to have it good in here, you must make your superiors happy and be competent. I can assure you that Lady Gwendolen would’ve dropped me right back in the Thunderpeak slums had I failed to live up to her expectations.”

Before he could ask anything else, she turned the conversation on him.

“What about you, though? Why did you create the Lost Herd? I mean, can’t you just snap your fingers and get stuff done?”

It occurred to him that if he mentioned his perceived corruption of the ponies, he would eventually end up validating their argument that the Windigos could indeed be blamed on the ponies. They could, but not in the way she would assume, like the little griffon girl on the way to Brokenhorn. That was the whole point of sending Twilight and Cadance to Naminé… Hard facts, detached from the context were the way to doom in that whole mess.

Wait… What if Lady Gwendolen was teaching griffons wrong things intentionally? Or, more likely, she was herself wrong. Before he answered to Gwineth a new sense of purpose dawned on him. He ought to teach them the right thing! Whatever went wrong in Gwineth's life might have been avoided if Lady Gwendolen… He struggled with his thoughts for a while. If she ‘understood’ things like Celestia does. Stuff like she teaches in her school.

But that was a conversation to be had with Lady Gwendolen.

“It’s not really how magic works. Not even my magic.” He said. “And I was sick. I was wrong, and I’ve made a mistake. Everything would’ve been perfect had I not created that mess.”

“It is what allowed Emperor Grigor to unite the Griffon Warlords. For us, it was great. It culled the weak off the pride, and that is exactly what we need today. The south is full if degenerate disgraces that hide under Celestia’s wings like they forgot that she goes against almost everything the Harpy teaches!”

Oh well… Not like talking to her right then would help a lot. He needed to talk to that Gwendolen.

“I guess that is a valid point. But I just thought of something. Did Lady Gwendolen teach you this magic of yours? Or is it your sword that is magical?” That should get her to shift her attention.

“Hah!” She blurted out petulantly. “I can guarantee you that this sword wouldn’t do much in the paws of any lesser griffon. I was told that in the right paws it can pierce anything.”

“I am not terribly knowledgeable in magic swords, but I’m pretty sure that it is a tall order for even the best one of them.”

“Well, yeah. But when the weaponsmiths say such things, they mean it within the reasonable. At least, that is what the blacksmith in Griffindell told me when I said what you just told me. Do you want to know what he told me then?”

“What?”

“That in Grigor's time, a Swordmaiden with this thing could kill an alicorn princess.” She grinned mischievously. “It is funny. Most of our blacksmiths are trying so hard to come up with more and more powerful guns. For our soldiers and for our airships. When our greatest power is within ourselves. And that is what Lady Gwendolen taught me. As anyone with some understanding of such things will tell you, swords, spears, bows… These older weapons are simply better for working with magic. So, you see, a gun is a simp weapon. And this sword…”

She grabbed the thing from the ground, where she had left it with her coat and cradled it in her forelegs like it was a cub. “The sword maker told me that this is a weapon meant for special griffons. It can direct magic into offensive spells. It could even sever your bound to the land of the mortals. It can kill an alicorn princess.”

“Of course, Lady Gwendolen laughed and told us that no weapon could ever injure the Lord of Chaos. Sure enough, I took her side in the discussion. But I made a bet with him that if his sword could pierce the Lord of Chaos’ coat, I would pay him trice his original payment.”

“Ah-ha.” He nodded with a condescending grin, what a cute attempt at manipulation. She was compelling, but nothing close to a Queen Chrysalis. “I’d imagine Lady Gwendolen didn’t take nicely to you making bets with her money?”

“Actually, she liked the idea. Because she likes me acting by myself. After all, she is sponsoring me to be something special.”

“So, I suppose you expect me to let you prick me with that thing…” He wasn’t amused.

“I did answer your questions, didn’t I?” She said all innocence. “Come on, I’m not going to hurt you.”

Enough games…

“Well, I am sorry to disappoint you, but a simple needle can ‘pierce the Lord of Chaos’ coat’.” She blinked all surprise at him. “Yes… They drew my blood in Canterlot University, for ‘science’. You should know that Princess Luna is afraid of needles too. So, I don’t think that you need a magical sword to actually hurt a Princess. Or even me. It’s more the magic that one would envelop themselves in… And we would have a hard time testing that safely, wouldn’t we?”

She frowned and pouted her frustration. “Lame.”

And then she laid on the snow and didn’t talk to him anymore, which was good because he feared he would burst out laughing if she made him talk. Silly ‘kitten’. He didn’t know what that was about, but it certainly wasn’t about any bet.

Hopefully it wouldn’t take too long for Lord Gilad to arrive after that.

***

The small private room in the Magic of Friendship became an inscrutable mess of notes, diagrams and piles of books, notebooks and scattered writing feathers everywhere and also a few cups of apple juice here and there.

Meanwhile Starlight Glimmer insistently looked for something in one of the books in the airship’s small assortment of textbooks. Despite knowing that she could use her help figuring things out and organizing her notes, she seemed to be hunting for something important, so Twilight let her be. She had already learned the lesson that letting her friends do their thing often produced great results.

“Wow… That is… Uh… A lot.” Twilight scratched her head looking at her notes though. Actually, one of her many bunches of notes.

“Sorry, Twilight.” Cadance’s ears sagged from her head. “It was a lot.”

Flurry hoofed affectionately at her from her seat with Shinning Armor, next to Cadance.

“Are we sure all that was for real?” Pinkie spoke cautiously, next to Applejack who still wasn’t convinced of the Princess’ mental soundness. “I mean… Crystal palace inside your head. Caveponies, magical storm… Being a statue… All this talk of goddesses… Uh… How do I put it?”

“Yes, Pinkie.” Cadance was too tired to be angry at the pony and knew that she didn’t mean ill with her words. Cadance had come to know her enough to know that she was worried about her. “I know it all sounds crazy, but that was what I saw.”

“Well, for one, several parts of Cadance’s vision coincide perfectly with what we’ve been told and build upon those events. So, there is no reason to think that the palace wasn’t real. And Princess Luna seemed worried, but what Cadance told us. That also indicates those visions were true.”

“Actually, it makes a lot of sense if you think about it.” Twilight nodded. “I mean, if this Palace of the Self does exist and Princess Luna’s magic allows her to access it, then it would make sense that something going wrong with the spell could give Cadance access to it, especially if she is already supposed to access one part of it. Something I find even more interesting is that Cadance’s description of the branch of the Tree of Harmony makes a lot of sense, calling back to what Discord told us.”

“What about you, Twilight?” Pinkie looked at her. “Cadance saw your cutie mark there too!”

“I have nothing, Pinkie.” She shook her head and then looked back at Cadance. “It is possible that it’s not our cutie marks on the doors, but the symbols from the doors in our cutie marks. I wish I could go there and see it. Could, perhaps, replicate Luna’s magic, Cadie?”

“I don’t think that I can. It seemed like it was a complete freak accident.” Cadance sighed. “I would like to go back there too. If only to see if I could find out more about it.”

She would also like to do some renewing in the Throne of Love, but she felt it was better to keep that tidbit to herself. It felt like an old house she’s had for ages but never live in. It simply called to her.

Twilight sighed too and shrugged. “Maybe with some time we could find a way to access it… Maybe when this whole thing blows over, Princess Luna can help us… Or something. I don’t know.”

“I don’t know if we will be coming back from this, Twilight.” Cadance still had her ears down and she somehow seemed even more tired than before.

Twilight stared at her for a second before speaking. Nobody needed her words to see that she was worried. “You’re just tired, Cadance. I know it looks awful, but I do believe that our friendship can reunite us from any quarrel. At least with the Princesses Celestia and Luna I know… If they have been fooling us, then I wouldn’t want to reunite anyways. But the important things is that the reason Celestia and Luna are intent on capturing us is that there is something that lies beyond the facts that can be told, and that thing is what scares them. Something they must hide for our own sake? I still believe that Princess Celestia had a very good reason to do what she did.”

“That sounds like an excuse, Twilight.” Applejack told her, but Twilight simply shook her head again.

“No. Remember how Chrysalis told us about how Star Swirl was looking for the Goddesses Reborn? By itself, this piece of information has a completely different meaning from Cadance’s vision. By his conversation with the priestess, the Children of the Sun were ponies that already believed in the Goddess. Of course, they would call Princesses Celestia and Luna gods… Whatever that actually means. But they were made to believe something that Star Swirl didn’t believe at all.”

“So?” Rainbow asked.

“So…” Twilight insisted. “The two points of view paint completely different versions of Star Swirl. And the one in Cadance’s vision came with a context that was lost. That is why we must find Naminé. If Discord is right, she can give us these memories, rather than relayed facts that lack context and emotional impact.”

“Twilight is absolutely correct.” Rarity interjected with a hoof on the table. “She can help us reach information that nopony else can. I also believe that we need a more careful examination of what Princess Cadance has told us… It sounds like a solid foundation from which to question Naminé when we do find her. Does your Highness think that you can go over it all with us princess, Princess? That is… I don’t know if we could just go to This Naminé and ask her what is it that the Princess hid.”

“Absolutely, Lady Rarity.” Cadance smiled warmly, but Twilight noticed that something seemed off. She didn’t know if the others noticed it too, but Cadance didn’t seem quite like herself for some reason. Maybe she was only tired?

“Cadie, do you need to rest for a little bit?” Shinning caressed her back very softly. Twilight nodded at that… He had noticed it too.

“No. I need to figure out what all of that meant. And I need to figure out what happened to Daffodil.”

“Hum… She passed away?” Twilight rose an eyebrow at that, despite thinking it was a good start. “I mean, your vision likely covered thousands of years. It was weird enough that you simply knew things, such as what was the Throne of Love or who that Daffodil was.”

“No…” Cadance frowned a little. “She returned… As a different pony, but I recognized her every time by her soul. Or something.

Twilight's eyebrow rose some more as she checked her notes. “Except you only saw her twice. Once as the original Daffodil, and then again as the priestess when the Windigos arrived and after.”

“Yes. But I knew she was missing when I saw the new temple in the Capital. Besides, I know she was present all the time before that!”

“What do you mean?”

“I saw her many times before the Windigos. All the way from the caves while the ponies transitioned from the Stone Age into the Three Tribes. She was never too far away from me… I witnessed her aging, passing away and then reappearing to enroll as my priestess and becoming their leader every time. I mean, they didn’t always call themselves priestesses and priests, but that was the idea. After all, that is what they started calling themselves. Not only that, but I also remember that she was the one that listened to me the most and carried my will to all the ponies with the most excellence.”

The ponies around the table exchanged confused and worried stares for a while and Cadance wondered if she had said something wrong. “What?”

“That wasn’t in the story you told us, Princess.” Applejack was the one to tell her. “At least not in that way!”

“It wasn’t?” Cadance blinked twice at that.

“Hum…” Pinkie smiled sheepishly. “Maybe you really should take a nap? Just a small, itsy-bitsy little nap?”

Cadance saddened. “You don’t believe me.”

“I do believe you, Cadance…” Twilight told her, but she seemed as worried as the others, even more, as did Shining Armor. “We all do. We’re just worried. You’re not well. You clearly need some rest.”

There was a bit of relieved atmosphere as Cadance seemed to accept that, despite remaining.

“Maybe she can remember things now?” Rainbow offered. “I mean… Things changed inside her head, right?”

“I suppose that is it, Lady Rainbow Dash.” Cadance nodded with a frown and Twilight blinked at what she said. Who called Rainbow ‘Lady Rainbow Dash’? She supposed it was a proper treatment, giver her title, but is sounded so weird coming from Cadance! Regardless, the pink alicorn went on. “Sounds like I’m recalling things from a very distant past. I just hope I’m not imagining things. It is all so fuzzy.”

“To be completely honest, this whole ball of yarn sounds like the recipe to go crazier than a soup sandwich.” Applejack said. At least she sounded concerned, and Cadance had to admit that she was right. “I think you need help, Princess… From somepony that actually knows what they’re talking about.”

Celestia-damned Applejack always being right, Rarity grumbled. “Well, while I have to agree that it may not be healthy to break into one’s own mind like that, I have to say that this whole story is intriguing, and that bottling it up might end up doing more damage than not.”

“I don’t really think that this is going to hurt me. I mean, remembering would be good, right?” Cadance frowned.

Twilight frowned too, but in a different way. “You’re talking about those events as tough you were a part of them, and not something you’ve witnessed. I mean, when you were talking about the fight in the Capital, I imagined it was simply because you felt emotionally attached to the story you were seeing unfold, but right now you just spoke as though you were there the whole time. I feel like those memories aren’t yours.”

Cadance blinked a few times again. “You’re right… I did do that.”

“You ponies see?” Applejack said. “This ain’t healthy.”

“I think that the issue here is the line where Cadance and this ‘Amore’ or ‘Lady of the Heart’ start and end.” Twilight put her hoof in her leg. “I’m a bit worried. Where do you think this line is?”

“I don’t think that it exists, Twilight.” Cadance shook her head softly. “I think that I, Cadance, and the Lady of the Heart are the same.”

“That sounds dangerous and incorrect.” Twilight spoke softly. “Think with me… If Naminé is a pony with a special magic that allows her to see memories that belong to the soul, that means we’re likely not supposed to casually see memories from past lives. Those being past ponies with whom we share a soul, the piece of magic that animates our bodies. Logically, it seems like what makes us an individual is a conjunction of soul and our own experiences, which are separated from the ones of those past ponies. Each pony begins and ends at the moment the soul and body are joined and then when they separate. It is a logical conclusion.”

“The problem is that this is anecdotal… I never saw a published study on that, and all we know is folk lore. I suppose Naminé could tell us. Ugh…” Not to mention the pony with the cutie mark that was on the door to the ‘Throne of Life’… But… Ugh… Best to not even mention that.

Twilight sat back at her chair and shifted her head thoughtfully. “It would make sense with the way Discord thought ponies worked in the past. He never realized that killing them ended that individual. And why he thought they were somehow broken and the whole thing needed to be restarted. I suppose that we were really important, if it is also true that we were the ones that made the magic work. Huh…”

“Isn’t that line between one pony and another arbitrary, though?” Cadance argued back. “Because I can recall those memories.”

“You can because things got broken, somehow.”

“Yes.” Rarity rose a hoof. “But memories do seem to get imprinted on the soul, and not only that, but they clearly bled into the pony that Cadance is now. Princess Luna locked those memories away, if the imagery Princes Cadance described was correct. She should recall those memories naturally. It seems.”

“Huh…” Twilight stared blankly for a while. “You’re right. That is odd. I’m pretty sure that ponies don’t normally do, and it is a bit of a stretch to imagine Princess Luna locks away memories for all ponies.”

“Maybe we are different.” Twilight grimaced. “It would explain this whole mess with this dream-vision.”

“You sound concerned over this, Twilight.” Rarity spoke again.

“I’m not special, Rarity. I’m just a pony as anypony else.”

“Horseapples you’re not special.” Rainbow glared. “You’re special. In a good way. But you are.”

“Then all of us are, Rainbow.” Twilight spat back. “All of us have something that is unique and important. And I don’t mean us, I mean every single being that is alive in our world. So, Princess Celestia can raise the sun… Well, do you guys remember Party Favor? She can’t do what he can with those balloons. And I may be good at magic, but I can’t bake a cake to save my life, but Pinkie can. Remember what Discord told us: Harmony gives us things to do. To Princess Celestia it gave the sun. To me, magic. To Pinkie, baking.”

“Well…” Rainbow struggled with the words. “You’re more special!”

“Thanks, Rainbow… I guess. It’s just that… Going by Cadance’s first vision… Well, ponies as a race were meant to ‘start’ the world. Or something like that. I can’t think of anything more special than that!”

Then Starlight Glimmer coughed and drew their attention when she raised her eyes from the book she was reading. “Speaking of starting… Princess Cadance, what was it that Discord said about the ponies and the statues in your dream?”

She hummed, squinted and strained her thoughts for a bit. “That I… I mean, the goddess thought, and they obeyed. Or something like that. But it was not like she did… He was confused about it. Then he said they weren’t supposed to remember the goddess.”

Starlight thought for a second, with her hoof in her chin, but then her eyes shot open and her expression changed completely. “Oh, wow. Hum… Wow!”

Twilight grinned. “Talk to us, Glim!”

“Okay… Uh… This is a wild guess. Based on a theory that has been rejected. But… If what Princess Cadance told us represents the truth, it would make so much sense that it is just crazy how real this could be.”

Nopony, or dragon, said anything and they just stared at her. Even Flurry Heart did, and also the pegasus crewponies trying to listen in from the outside and thought that nopony noticed. “So… Some decades ago, a pony archeologist called Jungle Jaynest published a paper about her findings when comparing old texts from griffon and pony cultures. Fictional stories, mostly in scrolls and some wall and vase paintings.”

The others followed.

“She noticed a strange difference between those: while griffons seemed to talk about things characters did and things that happened to them, they also spoke of what these characters felt in relation to those events. But the older pony ones seemed to only speak of things that ponies did and things that happened to them, never about what the characters felt about those events. Only in more recent works did ponies start creating stories in the same way.”

“Her work was rejected, though. It lacked evidence and seemed circumstantial. Contrary to present evidence.” Starlight concluded.

While most of the present simply stared at her as though they expected her to say something else, not understanding the point, Twilight’s jaw hanged from her mouth and she gasped. “Are you saying she found that ponies of the past lacked the capacity for introspection? That is just not possible! If that was the case, ponies wouldn’t be able to function properly… They would be incapable of understanding their own needs. Things such as… ‘I ate because I was hungry. Or even understand what other ponies felt in relation to things’. They wouldn’t be able to function because they would need an external indication of things that happened to them!”

“That is what they told her. That it was likely a stylistic choice. But…” Starlight’s ears fell a little. “Princess Luna said that the Palace of the Self was a left-over of our creation. A place where a Goddess of Love literally told ponies who to be in love with. Which was exactly what Cadance saw happening in her vision.”

Ponies still weren’t sure what those two were talking about, but Twilight’s eyes grew even bigger and her jaw dropped even lower. “Oh my gosh! The Lady of the Heart was a voice in their heads telling them who to love! Was that Luccenoturna doing the same but telling ponies how to build things. What to feel about things? OH MY GOSH! Ponies didn’t think for themselves? The goddesses thought for them?”

“Daffodil said, in my vision, that she must go where I commanded her. And I have found one or two tales that referred to Princess Celestia as a goddess. But… There is also the tale of Mother Farfalla, that mentions a very weird version of Luna.”

“Well, colloquially, it seems rather trivial to call the Princess a goddess.” Rarity said. “She single-hoofedly moves the sun. Something that took several unicorns in the past, not to mention that it seemed to damage their magic. If this whole story is even true.”

“Hum… This seems a bit silly…” Pinkie complained while envisioning Princess Luna following a pony and pointing at things and saying their names.

“It seems silly because our minds work in a different way, independent. And most importantly, from the outside, you couldn’t realize that was the case. Unless they told you that the goddess commanded them to do something.” Twilight explained. “Maybe they weren’t fully dependent, but the goddesses helped, somehow.”

“I don’t think that they literally heard their voices, Twilight.” Starlight frowned next. “By the way Cadance described it, it seemed as though it was something deeper than that. More like they literally thought for us. Or with us. Like… They were walking us through the process of becoming sentient. Holding our hooves while we learned how to think for ourselves.”

Twilight nodded at Starlight’s opinion. “I wonder… What Amore perceived as ponies not listening to her anymore might have been ponies becoming independent.”

“Shouldn’t the goddess have expected that, then? Instead of freaking out ponies stopped listening to her?” Shining asked.

“It is possible that she didn’t understand what was happening. She may not have realized that she was teaching ponies how to love and that they wouldn’t need her guidance anymore.” Twilight explained and nodded to herself. “And then, the Palace of the Self and the Throne of Love is what remained of whatever magical mechanism that allowed her to do that.”

“It seemed that herself became more complex as the time past and ponies themselves became more complex. Until she became independent from them, and thus she could fly around near the end of the vision. All of that could’ve been because she became more complex as their belief in her became more complex as their own way of thinking became more complex and introspective!” Cadance gasped. “I mean, the goddess already was more independent than they were… I think. But she became more, as they became more.”

“Uh… Does that make any sense?” Twilight asked the others.

“I’m legitimately starting to think you two drank some spoiled apple juice!” Applejack grimaced. “But I think that it does!”

“Now that I think about it…” Cadance mused with a distant stare for a second. “That does sound right. Thinking back to it, I don’t think that I actually talked to them until they actually built a temple. It was weird that I was stuck inside the statues though. Did they change their way of seeing the goddess? While in the past they may not have realized that it was a different entity than they were, but as they learned and became more complex, the goddess shifted to an outside entity.”

“Maybe you weren’t in the statues.” Starlight spoke again. “Er… The Goddess wasn’t. She was inside their heads, but their belief that she was in the statues made her act like that. That is called a fetish… Not that fetish, Rainbow! An inanimate object that is worshiped for its perceived magical powers, often thought to be inhabited by a spirit. It is a bit awkward with that definition but seems to be the case in the vision. And given how everything goes back to magic…”

There was a bit of silence until Pinkie spoke again, with some doubt and not looking very sure of what she was saying. “This is crazy! Did the ponies create the alicorns? What about the four alicorns that the first ponies drew in the caves? Didn’t Discord say that they were supposed to have forgotten them?”

“Yes… Those definitively were different entities, outside their minds.” Twilight frowned. “They seemed to be older than the ponies.”

“Maybe ‘created’ is the wrong word.” Fluttershy concluded. “Maybe, ponies summoned them in the end. It would make sense with the end of Princess Cadance's vision. Maybe they existed, in some way we don’t understand and created the ponies, and then ponies brought them to the world, like they did with the Windigos and Discord. Gradually, because they didn’t forget them.”

Rainbow then huffed and her chest got all puffed up when her ears pulled back. “How could those jerks have done what they did? That Blueblood plothole conspired to murder the senators! Who does that? In that situation!”

Cadance frowned. “They maneuvered everything so that Cinnamon’s soldiers would be forced to go out and expose themselves. It’s vile.”

“Well, talk about something being wrong with the unicorns…” Rarity frowned. “As Discord said.”

“I hope those guys died in a very painful way!” Rainbow concluded.

“We need a second conversation with Discord! He clearly withheld information. I too want to know more about the events that followed, especially with the griffon letters in context.” Twilight grumbled and then shuddered. “Do you guys think that alicorns today are those four… I don’t know what to call them… Primordial beings that created the ponies?”

“Well, darling… I mean…” Rarity stared with some annoyance at Twilight. “There were four of them, they had wings and horns. One was related to the sun, the other to the moon. There was one related to love and the other… Well, I can’t claim she was related to friendship, but she had a necklace or something with six shinny stones. When it came to the point the ponies had built temples to them one was about statecraft, the other was about… Philosophy? The third was, unsurprisingly, love and the fourth had a place where ponies and other races would gather to discuss their issues.”

“There are just too many coincidences.” Rarity concluded, unimpressed.

“But I keep thinking back to what Discord told us.” Twilight complained. “That whatever is wrong with Princess Celestia’s soul is related to this whole thing, and also that we should be aware of preconceptions and first impressions. That everything has a meaning within its context. Every time we say that we know things, I feel like we’re jumping to conclusions. Dangerous conclusions.”

Twilight felt like her words had the desired impact because the others made silence again, until Rainbow spoke. “Whatever happened to ‘big Twilight’?”

Twilight looked at her notes. “Matriarch Grimoire Sparkle. Legate of the First Battlehorn Legion, apparently. I suppose she died in the fight with the Lost Herd before whatever happened.”

Pinkie giggled obnoxiously. “She jinxed her entire bloodline.”

Twilight simply shrugged though. “I think it is possible that I am her descendant. Or of one of her relatives. I don’t know. It’s not impossible since it seems as though bloodlines were important to them. What about Cinnamon Flameheart, though? By what Cadance told us, she died. But she was alive in the griffon’s letter.”

“Maybe they healed her.” Fluttershy said. “There are many powerful healing potions today and I don’t think that they would be impossible at that time. Especially with how important and powerful that pony seemed to be.”

“I believe it is more pressing to understand what happened at the end.” Rarity said. “The ponies seemed to have summoned the alicorns. But Discord killed them? And… they were reborn in the Alicorn Tetrarchy of today.”

“Rarity, nopony calls us that.” Twilight whined at her. “We’re simply ‘The Princesses’.”

“Oh, come now, Twilight.” Rarity grinned at her. “Just as everypony simply calls the Alicorn Concordat as ‘The Princess Meddling Accord’. It is the same difference. The important thing is that you could be the very same alicorn that had the six jewels, same as Cadance could be Amore, which for some reason is even in her full name. And also, as Celestia and Luna are the alicorns of the sun and the moon. Or that you are somehow connected to those.”

“Yeah, Twilight. Your cutie mark is in one of the doors Cadance saw.” Spike said. “We’re just not sure what it means.”

“What do you think, Princess?” Applejack touched Cadance’s leg. “I’d figure you have better insight than all of us.”

“Didn’t you say that I’m crazy?” Cadance frowned at her, easily slipping back into the conversation.

To what Applejack shrugged. “Twilight might be crazier than you as far I’m concerned. I mean, I know her enough to know and it is a distinct possibility that I am the only sane pony in here anyways.”

That did get a chuckle out of Cadance. “I don’t know, Applejack. I’m a bit confused. I did feel like it was me in that vision, but I also know that it is likely because of my point of view. Maybe I am the goddess… Maybe I just have her memories because something weird happened. I don’t even know for sure when my life started. I mean… I think I was alive for much longer than I thought if the memories that Luna had locked were an indication. Though, it is possible that those were all of them, not those of this lifetime. I don’t know! I’m confused because I’m sure Discord killed me… Or Amore. And that memory was just a normal one. I mean… I can’t even assume that it is a ‘normal memory”! I don’t really know anything!”

She continued. “I think it is so weird that they locked those memories from us. That they wouldn’t let us have access to the Palace of the Self when I suppose we are as important as they are. Why did they do that? I mean…”

She became frantic, and her voice pained. “Did they put me in the orphanage? Because… I feel as though they tried to contain me when Princess Celestia literally put you, Twilight, in a collision course with your destiny!”

“I understand.” Twilight told her and got her sanctimonious face on, meaning to go further, but Fluttershy stopped her.

“Princess… You are judging Princess Celestia too harshly. Maybe she was as lost as you are today. She might have been trying to do her best! And the best she managed ended with you among us.”

Cadance felt like a child throwing a temper tantrum. Fluttershy was right, and Twilight took the word again. “But what happened to you may not have been her doing. At least not entirely. Luna wasn’t even present when you were born.”

Cadance gasped. “You’re right! Somehow the timeline doesn’t fit! She was Nightmare Moon, banished to the moon when I was born! But… That was Princess Luna’s magic!”

“We need more information.” Twilight said, and then pleaded her. “Don’t judge them too harshly like I know you’ve been doing.”

“Yes… You’re right.”

“But what do you feel, Cadance?” Twilight asked. “About the vision?”

Cadance’s head hung for a second, then she looked back at them. “I think that I was the pony… Or whatever the Goddess was. Or the Lady of the Heart was. I know things that I shouldn’t know and that may be a consequence of my memories waking up again. Or maybe her memories are just being thrust in between my own? I don’t know. But I feel as though she and I are the same pony. Entity. Thing. I don’t know about being a goddess. All I know is that I can tell pony hearts who to love and that I’m a freak with wings and a horn. Is this a bad thing? Being that entity?”

Twilight frowned at that. “Maybe we’re trying to create an artificial distinction where there isn’t one. Ponies don’t usually use the word ‘goddess’, but I’ve heard yaks and diamond dogs, and even dragons calling Princess Celestia that. It is possible that it is a scary word that has no intrinsic meaning other than what we give it.”

“Isn’t that so for all words?” Starlight shrugged. “They are just labels for ideas we want to communicate. The context is important. Supposedly, a goddess would be somepony with the power to do something that others can’t. Something outstanding. Maybe something that isn’t thought possible within the laws of the natural world? But magic makes everything possible. Maybe a god has a special kind of magic? This is a definition. It’s a description of something we don’t know enough about yet. I suppose we are, again, stuck without more information and that Naminé is, again, our next stop.”

Twilight frowned and rubbed her chin. “It once bothered me that ponies never called Princess Celestia as ‘queen’, which she is in everything but title. When I asked her about it, she said it didn’t matter, it was just a word.”

“Discord did tell us that we could live our whole lives without this particular truth, and it wouldn’t make a difference…”

“No!” Cadance shouted. “I must know what happened to Daffodil! I know that something awful happened and I don’t know what real difference is it going to make if I know the truth, but she was important to me!”

They made silence after what Cadance said. She figured she could’ve been less emphatic. Maybe she was a little too tired and having some trouble dealing with her emotions.

“Hey…” Shining Armor called their attention. “Does anypony else think it is weird that the griffons were different? I mean… I may be jumping to conclusions, but I would like to know why is it that their mind developed in a different way.”

“We don’t know that they did. They may have developed earlier.” Twilight said but frowned at herself. “Though that is not likely. The ponies were the ones that seemed to have brought the world to habitable state. To this day, we are the ones that deal with most stuff relating to nature.”

Twilight wrote something on her notebook. “I wish we had more context on the griffons. We can’t really know without more information.”

“That defines our journey thus far, darling.” The elegant pony stared with some annoyance, but then she grinned. “I for one, though, am very excited! We have discovered some particularly exciting things. I am fascinated to find out my friend is a dead goddess that was reborn!”

“Rarity, please…” Twilight growled at her.

“What?” She whined. “Didn’t we just agree that there is no problem with the word itself?”

“I am not this…” She looked at her notes. “Amicizia. I simply share a piece of magic that used to be hers!”

“It’s a soul, darling. Not simply any piece of magic such as the magic that animates twigs and sticks to make a timberwolf. It is the magical essence of life.”

“Actually…” She glared at Rarity. “IT could be exactly the same kind of magic. It is magic that animates a body. You’re romanticizing.”

“You say it like it is normal…” Spike held his chuckling.

“It is normal!” Twilight yelled. “It is what happens when a pony dies and then another pony is born. Or concepted. Or whatever, I don’t really know.”

“Once again…” Rarity grinned. “We need more information.”

Twilight looked like she wanted to say something to that, but instead she looked at her notes, another batch of her notes and frowned.

“Maybe this Harpy created the griffons.” Applejack said in the meanwhile. “And she wanted them to be more independent, for some godly reason. I mean, griffons are tad aggressive sometimes, but they are definitively more independent than ponies.”

Twilight nodded. “That could be right. Hum… The Harpy. Sounds like she was important to the griffons. Where is she right now? I mean… Supposing she created the griffons, why isn’t she ruling the griffons the same way Princess Celestia is ruling the ponies?”

“Especially if the ponies somehow summoned the alicorns, right?” Starlight agreed. “Though I feel like we are assuming that Princess Celestia rules the ponies because of that.”

Instants later Twilight gasped. “Princess Celestia is ruling the griffons… Who are exactly the race with which we had at least two wars. Princess Celestia went to a war with Emperor Grigor, who followed the Harpy. The two Griffon Wars were documented and were about hunting rights and secession. The war we didn’t know happened is the one that involved the Harpy. The two Griffon wars also happened later. Did… Did Princess Celestia kill the Harpy? I mean, she killed Emperor Grigor.”

“Well, the griffons wanted to be rid of Grigor.” Applejack said. “It is within the reasonable that they also would want to be rid of this Harpy.”

“Right. So, assume that Princess Celestia killed the Harpy in the same period she killed Emperor Grigor... No, that is not right. That is not the reason she destroyed our historical records. It was because the ponies did or had something bad about them.”

“Maybe the Harpy in unrelated.” Shining said. “And is something that related to Grigor and that the griffons wanted to be rid of. By what you told us, she was pretty bad. Maybe she is unrelated to the reason Princess Celestia did what she did. This is quite common during investigation… We find circumstantial things. I mean… The Princess helped the griffons and the griffons helped her get rid of information about whatever the problem Discord mentioned.”

“Yes. That does make sense!”

She didn’t even need to think for long and agreed with Shining Armor. She meant to go on further, but a pegasus called from the outside. “Airship hoay, astern high! It’s the goldies!”

“All hooves on deck!” The Captain answered right away. “All hooves on deck, we got business!”

Twilight and friends rushed outside, including Cadance that didn’t seem to be any tired anymore and joined the rush of pegasi running everyway. In the ship’s aft, they joined the Captain and some of the crewponies, watching as a golden-hulled airship followed them from some distance.

“Ponyapples… They’re gaining on us.” The captain offered Twilight the spyglass, but Rainbow Dash took it.

“Awe-some! It’s the Main Event, the new Wonderbolt airship!” Then she lowered the spyglass and stared off in the distance. “Crap. We’re screwed.”

Twilight took back the spyglass from her. It was indeed a Royal Guard airship. With a fast-looking golden hull that reminded her of her own airship, and fully furled sails, which meant it had all its magical engines at full-power, coming straight at them. It flew the Royal House’s flag, which was a white background with shield with both Luna’s and Celestia’s cutie marks adorned with a long horn and a pair of wings. And also, a phoenix. Because why not? She couldn’t really see that it was gaining on them, but she trusted her captain’s pegasus eyes more than she trusted her own. Not to mention his experience.

She could also see that the thing had guns, something hers didn’t.

“What do we do, Captain?” She asked the pegasus.

“We’ll lose’em on the clouds, lass.” He pointed a hoof at a cluster of clouds she hadn’t seen before, being inside. “They’ll give us enough cover for a change o’ course to throw them off. Preferably under Luna’s Moon. If that doesn’t work, we’ll have to fight.”

“They look a bit far off, though.” Pinkie looked at the clouds too.

“Suit up, girls…” Twilight said while the captain ordered his pegasi to recover the Magic of Friendship’s sails and she ship picked up speed with the roar of her magical engines. “We’re not getting away too easily this time. At least we should have some time to prepare.”

***

Discord woke up with his own snoring. He was laying in the snow and Lord Gilad was next to him, looking over to the distance. He was seated to the trunk of one of the trees and stared at the griffon, who seemed unconcerned next to the remains of the fire where they roasted the rabbit Gilad caught. He didn’t see Gwineth, though.

“I didn’t expect to actually sleep.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Where’s Gwineth?”

“I do not know. She decided to go do whatever.”

“Just like that?”

The griffon shrugged calmly. “It is one of the points of living in Snow Mountains. One is free to do whatever they might wish as long as it does not disturb others.”

Apparently, she didn’t deal very well with the frustration that her little attempt at manipulation didn’t work. Or maybe she just wanted some space to herself. Curious, but it didn’t matter.

“I don’t mind her company.” Gilad said. “But I do prefer to travel without her. She has an irritating tendency of acting as though her charms are irresistible to any of either gender and that her presence is a gift in itself.”

Discord chuckled. It was a good description of her. He stretched his arms and yawned. “Is it too long until Griffindell?”

“If you can keep up, we should arrive by the morning.” He stared at Discord, who felt a bit of a challenge behind those words. It did rile him up a bit.

“I’m used to teleporting around, but I supposed I could give it a try.” He grinned and listened to the voice in the wind. “I am looking forward to meeting your mate. Gwineth made me think that she must be a very interesting individual.”

“She has been said to be interesting, indeed. I did choose her to be my mate, after all.” He said, gathering his sparse belongings and jumping up to fly again and Discord followed.

***

Celestia and Luna did their ritual of changing the day for the night without any fanfare, as Chrysalis imagined they usually did. Luna wasn’t even present, and Celestia didn’t do anything out of the ordinary. It was simply a spell she cast with that long horn of hers. The queen wondered for a second if Celestia actually understood the importance of that gesture to the rest of the world or if it was simply a chore to her.

There seemed to be so much going on inside that head of hers that Chrysalis wondered how she found patience to worry about petty crap like what they were doing…

She had procured two more spyglasses and made Chrysalis stand to one side of the ship’s bow looking at the distance next to Bossy, while Celestia herself stood on the other side doing the same. All the while, the ship’s actual lookout was doing his job of looking out.

Just why did she put her to that? Staring through a spyglass was menial work! If only she had found something and could claim to have ‘won’…

Finally, Celestia let out a frustrated whine. “Nothing.”

Chrysalis and Bossy stared at her. “The griffon airship should be here.”

“Oh my… Outmaneuvered?” Chrysalis did her best to make her sarcasm sound playful. Celestia did seem to be frustrated and worried.

“It seems so. This is odd. I’ve been told it is a quite large airship.” She sounded more confused than frustrated. “It shouldn’t have moved so fast, even with modern magical engines.”

Then Celestia frowned and looked away. Her horn shined and she started waving it around. She was probably feeling around for magical energies, but Chrysalis doubted that she could ever feel anything with the airships radiating so much magic around them.

“Princess.” A griffon in a flashy red uniform approached them. She had a tricorn hat in her head. No way! She knew those stupid hats were common enough some time ago, but had fallen out of fashion, yet for some ungodly reason commanding officers in the navies liked using them.

“No way!” Chrysalis said. “Your admiral is a griffon?”

The griffon in question was an old cyan and gray female griffon with small round glasses, wearing a full uniform, complete with one of those annoying and noisy pistols and a rapier. Also, a snappy, petulant way of speaking. “Does that bother your majesty?”

“Yes. You are a griffon.” Chrysalis said. “And griffons are the problem right now. I feel like you’re an infiltrated agent.”

“Hah. The day when a changeling accused another of being a spy has finally arrived. And accused an honorable griffon too. One that is exceedingly good in command.” The griffon snaped back. “As her majesty would’ve attested to had she picked a side, rather than spending the entirety of the Second Griffon War hiding inside her home.”

“How dare you?!” Chrysalis hoof found her chest. “That stupid war had nothing to do with the Swarm!”

“Chrysalis, meet Fleet Admiral Gloria.” Celestia grinned at the two exchanging barbs. “Admiral Gloria, Queen Chrysalis.”

The griffon completely ignored the queen after that, though. “Our scouts found nothing, Princess. It is as though the griffon airship evaporated. They might have known we were coming or changed their course to intercept Princess Twilight’s airship at a specific location. They moved exceptionally fast though… I can’t say I understand. Most of all in such clear skies.”

“A team of unicorns, well-trained, could teleport an airship.” Celestia mused more to herself. “But I don’t think that Grigory has access to such a team as the only ones I know are in the Royal Guard.”

The griffoness shrugged. “They might have figured out a way for the airship itself to teleport short distances.”

Celestia’s eyes squinted and she nodded grimly. “That is a possibility.”

There was a soft bang and silver flash above the airship and they looked up to see Luna flapping her wings and letting herself fall to the deck next to them. And she looked quite angry.

“They shot at me, Celestia!” Chrysalis almost laughed at the way Luna was so angry she almost sounded like she was accusing Celestia of setting it up or something.

“Are you hurt, Luna?” Celestia hid well her amusement.

“No! But you’re not going to like what I found.” Luna huffed. “The museum had a hidden room, after the curator’s office, with all sorts of artifacts related to you-know-what. It also had a giant statue of you-know-who.”

“Is it in ‘you-know-where’?” Chrysalis chuckled. “Open for visitation ‘you-know-when’?”

“I can just leave, if you want...” Admiral Gloria rolled her eyes. “I don’t really care. I simply came to report we didn’t find anything, and I have a lot of work to do other than listening to stuff I have nothing to do with.”

“I’m sorry, admiral. It is really nothing I think you need to concern yourself with. Please do mind your duties to the armada.” Celestia said with her typical smile and the admiral left with a curt bow.

“I know she said she didn’t care, but that was the nicest way I’ve ever heard to tell someone to go mind their own business…” Chrysalis said with a small amount of admiration.

“Well, I didn’t mean it like that.” Celestia said blankly. “You can speak now, Luna.”

“The griffons had a giant statue of the Harpy!” Luna blurted out with big eyes. “A big onyx statue, complete with that creepy stance and big evil, judging eyes! It was new too! No way it was carved on Grigor’s time!”

“I cannot believe this!” Celestia struck the floor angrily, but she did look around to see if anyone was listening. “How many times do I need to kill that thing?”

“Well, it shouldn’t surprise us by now…” Luna grumbled.

“I don’t like what I just heard! You said that thing didn’t exist at the end of the war. That there was nothing inside the temple!” Chrysalis’ shouted and Bossy cowered away a few steps. “And do you remember when I told you, thousands of years ago that you should have killed all of them? This is why!”

“Chrysalis, please calm down. Had I killed ‘all of them’ at that time, we would already be at war because the Lion wouldn’t have reason to trust that I wouldn’t do so again.” Celestia asked calmly. “It’s not something that we can’t deal with. Please continue, Luna.”

“When I arrived, they tried to dissuade me from entering, but I did anyways. They didn’t like that at all. The curator shot at me with enchanted bullets and his cronies attacked my guards. There was a bit of a scuffle, and two of them were injured.”

“Your guards or the griffons?” Celestia rose an eyebrow.

“My guards!” Luna ranted on. “The curator, his assistants and a few griffons that arrived to protect the place were all arrested, mostly unharmed.”

Celestia frowned at that and Chrysalis spoke. “Did you just say that other griffons that had nothing to do with the situation went inside to help them protect the place? I’d bet my crown that they are all in this together, but I don’t think that I have to. And I also don’t have to tell you two how bad this is! They are clearly infiltrated in the griffon cities!”

“Indeed.” Celestia agreed. “Good job in leading the apprehension of these bad griffons, Luna. “Did you speak to the curator, though? Did you manage to get him to talk without injuring him? Why does he have a statue of the Harpy?”

“No…” The night princess shuffled her hooves and let her ears fall. “I broke his paw and then stabbed the other to the floor.”

“Damn, Luna!” Chrysalis laughed. “I wish I was there to see that!”

“We need to talk about your definition of ‘mostly unharmed’, Luna.” Celestia glared at her.

“He shot at me!” Luna tap-danced nervously. “What was I supposed to do? I didn’t know if that thing could actually hurt me!”

“Calm down, Luna. You did nothing wrong.” Celestia held her shoulders with her wings. “And I would certainly side with you rather than a griffon shooting at my sister in any situation. I hope he understands in how much trouble that put him in.”

“The local militia arrived and did assist us in arresting those griffons, but that also prevented me from speaking with the curator without raising suspicions.” She went on. “He’s been teleported to Griffonstone, but I left Night Gaunt to watch over him. The others are under the Thunderpeak militia’s custody, and also have my night guards ensuring that no infiltrated griffon can interfere.”

“Excellent job, Luna. As soon as we have dealt with Twilight and Cadance we will take some time to talk to the curator” Celestia smiled. “What of the museum?”

“It is full of artifacts from that time….”

Celestia sighed. “It seems I could’ve done a better job at getting rid of those things.”

“Probably not your fault. The griffons must have slipped because you were thorough.” Luna said. “It is closed now. I also left my guards to ensure that the militia does its job of keeping it out of bounds to anypony. But…”

Then Luna’s ears fell… “Chrysalis, can you please leave us?”

To be completely honest, Chrysalis did expect that they would ask her to leave eventually, given all the secrets those two seemed to be juggling, so that didn’t surprise her at all. What did surprise her was Celestia’s answer to that.

“No. She should stay.” At least Chrysalis could say that Luna was surprised too. “You should know, Chrysalis, that Luna had trouble dealing with Cadance’s nightmares last night. Cadance likely has remembered a few things that we had tried to hide from her. If you care about her, you need to help us help her deal with those memories.”

“Let me guess… Cadance is gonna go Nightmare Moon on us, isn’t she?” Chrysalis frowned, not liking at all the way Celestia spoke. And she supposed that she did care for Cadance. And Shining Armor. And their kid. Mostly their kid. “And on top of that, he Cult of the Harpy is back, isn’t it? Sometimes I wonder if you two aren’t more trouble than you are worth.”

“No.” Celestia shook her head again. “We learned from our past and I hope we should be able to guide her through it. But it is enough that I have decided to end this whole game and rein in Cadance and Twilight. What worries me is that the Harpy indeed seems to have resurfaced and if she did, her followers are going to use that to turn Cadance and Twilight against me and my sister. We seem to be under attack already.”

“Who or what is the Harpy, Celestia?” Chrysalis kept a natural expression, but her voice raised steadily with her growing scowl. “Back then you said she didn’t exist, that it was all in the griffon's heads. That those insane maniacs that Grigor claimed were her chosen were actually his concubines and that you found nothing in the temple. For fuck's sake Celestia. Tell me that thing isn't real because I don’t want to fight another Swordmaiden ever again in my life!”

“I plan on having a conversation with Twilight, Cadance, Prince Grigory and their friends and I want you to share it with us once we have them all under our care. It will help us understand more about this resurgence of the Harpy as I suspect the Lion is using her to garner support among the griffons. I will explain more at that time. For now, all you need to know is that the Harpy doesn’t exist. The griffons believed in her and used her to justify their subjugation of other races and the superiority of their own race. You know. You were there, even if you kept your distance until the end. King Grover asked me to rid their history of the Harpy forever, along with Grigor and his empire, but it served as an excuse to do the same in the Equestria of the time.”

“Is this griffon stuff related to what is happening to Cadance now? What about this mess of changed history?”

“Not directly. The Harpy as a part of the reason the griffons wanted their history erased. And what is happening to Cadance is not the reason I lied about our past. But it is related.”

“Cut that out, Celestia.” Chrysalis slapped her with a hoof and while Celestia seemed to not have believed Luna dropped to the floor and laughed. “You’re not a good liar. The ponies just trust you because they’re dumbasses. If you want my help, you need to be straight with me. I’m doing my best because I trust in you, so you better trust me! Especially after that conversation when we found Chocolate Velvet near Ponyville! Especially if those crazy griffons are coming back.”

“Yes…” Celestia took a few seconds before she recovered herself, rubbing her cheek. “Yes, you are.”

“The Ancient Pact.” Celestia finally admitted. “The reason I wanted to erase history relates to the Ancient Pact. Only indirectly does it relate to the rest.”

“Ancient Pact… How ominous. Let me take another guess… Did you do something you are ashamed of, or something that broke this pact? Whatever it is?” Chrysalis stared at her curiously. “Or was there something even worse… Something that your ponies had done that caused you to try and wash the whole mess away?”

“You already know, don’t you?” Luna wasn’t as surprised as she thought she’d be.

“I had my suspicions and I did my thinking lately. I am somewhat surprised that the ponies of the present haven’t figured this out yet… I guess it’s their propensity to trust you two way too much.” Chrysalis frowned. “Why is it so bad? It doesn’t seem to be.”

“Because it’s not what they did. It’s the reason they did it. And it is not because it is shameful and repugnant… They breached the Ancient Pact and if the truth is known, it will open a wound that I managed to close. It is what summoned the Windigos, and then Discord, and it will summon the Black Sun. Even if the ponies of the present don’t understand the Ancient Pact, it was etched into our souls.”

“The Black Sun…” Chrysalis mused quietly and then nodded. “I certainly don’t want that again. Was that what Discord was trying to do with the Lost Herd? Summon the Black Sun?”

Celestia nodded. “He didn’t fully understand it, but he knew that something was wrong and that it was so bad that there was no other way around other than start it all over. That is what the Black Sun does… It stores information and returns time to the moment of creation, so that Harmony can try again, knowing what went wrong.”

“But it didn’t start over… Because of what you did?”

“The Windigos were supposed to have triggered the Black Sun, but the ponies managed to postpone it for a while through the Fire of Friendship, which is what it was supposed to do in the first place. It is a part of a magical system that is meant to make ponies cooperate and keep the world functioning as it is supposed to, but it is vulnerable because it is dependent on free-will. Which is the very thing that has the capacity to enable ponies to break it.”

“It is possible that the Wendigos would’ve happened either way and we would have to figure out a way to deal with them.” Luna added. “Ponies were forced to be nice.”

“How stupid. I always hated free-will.”

Luna wasn’t amused and Celestia rolled her eyes. “Anyways… I restored the Ancient Pact, covering their mistake with a lie and that ended the process of the Black Sun, but if the truth comes out, ponies will realize what happened and it will be forfeit. So, I took advantage of my deal with King Grover and hid the whole thing so that my lie would never be found. I don’t think that the griffons knew in the past or today, but if their side of the story is made known, then ponies will ask what I hid on our side of the deal I made with King Grover. They will figure it out eventually and the whole problem will start over.”

“How do you fix a dying world lying about something?” Chrysalis looked like she was going to have a giant headache trying to figure that out. “And how in Tartarus could simply the truth becoming known ruin everything up again?”

Luna still didn’t seem amused. “This is likely the most bizarre situation we’ve ever dealt with.”

“Do you know what this thing is about?” Chrysalis turned to Luna, who shook her head ‘no’ and that made Chrysalis chuckle. “Then it’s easy. We kill Celestia and bury the truth with her.”

Luna did her best, but she just let her giggling escape and Celestia’s lips made a smirk. “I’m glad you two can find humor in the situation. The problem, Chrysalis, is that the breach of the Ancient Pact begat distrust and the Pact cannot sustain itself without that trust. If the other creatures and ponies themselves cannot trust the ponies to do their part and not abuse their privilege as wardens of the world, then it will fail. As it almost did in the past.”

“That actually makes a lot of sense.” The queen nodded. “It is something so flimsy, so mundane and wavering as trust.”

“It is a beautiful system…” Celestia added. “Star Swirl thought at one time that it was meant to be fragile and elegant, like friendship itself. He imagined that we, as a civilization came to landmarks where we were tested. And he may have been right. We may just not deserve to go on.”

“Or…” Chrysalis stared hard at Celestia. “The thing actually worked, and ponies of the present have matured enough to understand that whole mess is done with and nothing needs to change today because of that. That things happened in the past because they did something wrong, and there was no other way and that your lie saved their flanks, so everything is fine now. Therefore, nobody needs to freak over ponies being bad in the past. It is what Discord believes. What Twilight has convinced him of. And why he decided to help them. How does that sound? Would that work?”

“Yes, that would work. But, are you willing to bet everything on that?” Celestia countered. “Are you prepared to bet your existence on that? Knowing Canterlotian nobility as you do?”

“You should be.” Chrysalis shoved a hoof on her chest. “You’re the one always going on and on about how everyone deserves another chance.”

Luna seemed convinced. Too much for Celestia’s taste.

“Maybe you are right, Chrysalis.” Celestia admitted despite becoming rather angry, staring at one and the other. “But I am scared. I loathe my part in it, and I don’t want to see the world end, consumed by a corrupted light-eating sun that devours everything when it is supposed to provide life. I am afraid we can’t afford to play games with this. This is not the Crystal Empire or Nightmare Moon returning after a thousand years. And there is another problem. Even if things changed as you say, if the Cult of the Harpy really is back, they’ll do everything in their power to undermine us and might use this whole mess just because they see it as an advantage. The myth of the Harpy has the power to destroy everything on top of this mess simply because it will completely upend any common sense the griffons have!”

“You are scared.” Chrysalis waved a hoof dismissively. “Fine. Fine. This is the ‘real deal’. I get it. Fine… That thing was scary anyways. I’ll play along. What exactly do you need me to do?”

“Promise me you will not help Twilight and Cadance get away and reach Naminé. And Remember our conversation earlier. We are dealing with a very resourceful enemy, Chrysalis. They will use Cadance’s situation against us, thus I also need for you to help us make Cadance understand the danger of what she is meddling with.”

“Fine. Cross my heart, hope to fly…” She did so as she spoke. “I’m not sticking a cupcake in my eye. I guess, for now I’ll stick to my changelings until it is time to act and wait for the right opportunity when you’re having your talk with the kids. Do you want me to tell them anything in particular?”

Celestia’s ears fell and so did her eyes. “Do you remember Shatterhoof Valley?”

“No!” Luna cried and stepped between the two. It was a bit funny since she was shorter than both, but her impetus made up for that. “Nuh-uh! No! We are most certainly not doing this! I will not allow you to desecrate your image like that, Celestia.”

“This is not about me, Luna.”

“She’s right, Celestia. I don’t understand it either. I thought that ponies going naughty was the problem to begin with. But even then, what happened in Shatterhoof Valley was a product of that time, and even then, a speck of dust in the sea of all the good that you did for Equestria. Not to mention that given the circumstances, not only that was forgivable, but those bastards had it coming. Finally, you overcame that and changed for the better. You learned… In fact, you got too nice to the point you wanted to protect the griffons from the others after the war with Grigor. Fuck! You’re making me sound like yourself! You stopped that wave of insanity that was the Griffon Scourge, and then you rid the world of Grigor and his ilk! You both stopped King Sombra., and you reigned in all the little bastard assholes unicorns that thought themselves the owners of the world! I’m with Luna and I will not turn your image into the monster you think you were!”

Celestia wished the situation warranted a better mood from her, since Chrysalis had never left herself so open for some teasing. She shook her head low instead.

“My image will survive, Chrysalis. I have done much good in the world, enough that if my darkest moments come to light… I trust I will be judged fairly. They will, however, show the dangers of being a god among the mortals, and why I relinquished this view the ponies had of me. What good I did, I did in the worst way possible. I need you to show Twilight and Cadance what happens when one of us styles herself a goddess. For them to understand the danger of the Harpy and of old cult of the Alicorns. The danger of the ponies thinking themselves better than the other races because Harmony made us to maintain the world. They need to see that there is a dark side to that! We are the wardens of the world, not its owners. And we serve Harmony, not our whims.”

Chrysalis mocked her with a smirk, but it changed to a serious frown. “What is this about, Celestia? Do you want Twilight to look at you and forgive you of your sins? Or do you feel naughty? I’m sure we can arrange something to ‘punish’ you with Chocolate Velvet and his white knight complex.”

“Don’t mock this, Chrysalis. Please.”

“This is the last thing we need, Celestia!” Luna joined Chrysalis. “The Lion is going to use anything that you might have done against you to gain political leverage. And with this conversation of the Harpy coming back… If they manage to oust you, we will be at his mercy.”

“They can’t Luna. They won’t. And this is how we defeat the Harpy. We show how imperfect we are, so that her perfection becomes as false as she is.”

“Your mistakes fixed the world, you insufferable…” Luna grunted. “Get over yourself, Celestia! Guide her with a good example. Of all the good things that you did! The bad is very well hidden in the past too! Oh…”

“They will think that I hid our past because of the worship ponies gave to the Goddesses, and because of what that allowed me to do. They need to see that what I did had nothing to do with the ponies worshipping us! I don’t know what is going through Cadance’s mind right now, but it is not something good.”

Luna didn’t accept it but tapped the floor angrily, looking one way and the other, searching for a counterargument, but Chrysalis accepted Celestia’s line of reasoning. Deep inside, she didn’t want to see Cadance or Twilight hurt… She didn’t want to see Celestia and Luna hurt anymore.

“But that! You! Argh! Fine!” Luna kicked the floor a bit too harshly. “But we will tell them of my part in that too. I caused Shatterhoof Valley more than you did!”

“That is fair, Luna,”

“Fine then. What do I do now?” Chrysalis asked.

“Actually, I have a job for you as soon as the battle with the griffon airship starts. You should meet with your commanders. I need to fly away for a while and find a way to track the griffon airship. Stay with her, Luna. Try to connect with her Praetorians, for the moment.”

***

There was a thunderstorm outside. Heavy rain pelted the window and the retiring sun completely lost its sway over the day. Only the lightning shone every now and then.

It was strange, though. Ponies… Pegasi didn’t usually add lightning to a storm unless there was some hermeneutical need for it only they understood. And even then, it was rare. Lightning and thunder scared the ponies. The artificial magical lighting worked though and that allowed the hospital staff to keep doing their work as the pony masonry protected them from the cold rain, but it was funny how some would still flinch at the flashes or the roar from the clouds and then grin uncomfortably.

And the pegasi claimed they owned the clouds and the lightning. It was enough to make an old griffon, educated in the true past of his race, laugh a biter laugh that most didn’t understand.

Deep inside, deeper than all the memories of their lives, all the intrinsic needs and wishes, they still remembered the primal fear that haunted their ancestors.

He remembered it too, deep inside, when their ancestors used to fly from the mountains to the verdant prairies to hunt. The Mother of Storms called them out from their caves to rejoice and sing with the thunder while the ponies cowered one against the other in the grass.

It was pointless. They would run, and they would cry. Panic in all directions or follow one that claimed to be strongest only to find that whoever it was couldn’t protect them from the sharp claws that flashed like the lightning, and when his kind flew from the mountains, there would be blood spilled on the grass.

Gabriel woke suddenly, but calmly when the thunder rattled the window of his room. Memories came back to him of being taken to Griffonstone because there was a surgeon there that could save his paws. That is, more than healing potions could. Griffon paws were delicate and complex things, and even the best zebra potion often failed to restore them to full functionality. Therefore, a skilled surgeon was necessary.

He frowned to himself. If only those idiots had the sense to take him to Snow Mountains, to the ancestor home of his race, then its magic would heal him more properly than any pony-trained griffon doctor could. If the doctor was even a griffon.

He was reclined on a bed next to the window and there was small pot with a simple white flower on it. His paws were bandaged, and he didn’t feel a thing. In fact, his head was distant, and everything felt dull. Sons of a mule, they drugged him. They were so scared of pain they couldn’t even entertain the notion that another would endure it rather than cloud his wits with poison.

“Meek, weak-minded degenerates…” He complained to himself in his most contained voice.

Someone next to him cleared their throat and he could already image a dumb-eyed pony staring at him. When he lifted his eyes, he saw he was right. It was a rosy-colored earth-pony mare with a little nurse hat, the cutesy stuff those grasseaters loved. Her mane was bunched up with a net and for some reason that made him even angrier. Her dove-y light green eyes seemed concerned, though.

“Good evening, Master Gabriel.” She said all concerned and caring. “Are you feeling well?”

“No.” He tried to sound angry but apparently his voice didn’t work very well because of whatever they had given him. “I feel like you’ve drugged me.”

“It’s mostly the anesthetic spells and one or two medications for the nausea and the pain.” She explained helpfully. “They should wear off in not too long. The important thing is that your paws should be fine in a few months. Doctor Scalpel will come see you before dinner. What would you like?”

“Roasted elk.” He said more to aggravate her. He didn’t feel like eating anything, but suddenly he remembered very important things. “I need to see my daughter. She is in Haybale.”

“I’ll see about your daughter, sir. But I don’t think that you should eat anything too strong for now. If it is alright, I’ll ask for some grilled tuna and potatoes… It is our kitchen’s traditional griffon dish!”

“Whatever.” He grumbled again.

“Hum… I’m aware you are in trouble with the law, involving the Thunderpeak local militia and Princess Luna. But for now, you should rest and not worry about a thing. While you are in our care, they can’t disturb you.”

Did that grass-breath just pity him? He didn’t need his paws to tear into her heart!

But his body refused to let him stand. He simply sighed and let himself rest on the bed while the pony stared and blinked at him. Such defeat at the end of his years. He still could see the statue’s stare down at him.

Then the pony grinned and chirped all happy. “I’ll be right back!”

At least she left him alone.

He meant to remain awake and alert, staring at the door once it closed, but his body refused and fell into slumber.

He woke when someone spoke to him and started fussing about something around his bed, but he couldn’t focus and lost consciousness until he finally woke again, and could see a gorgeous young griffoness with a pristine tan fur and white-magenta feathers. Fiery golden eyes that showed she didn’t like at all her present task of cleaning his wounded left paw.

“Almost done, grandpa.” She said with a feminine raspy voice.

His eyes focused on her and he lost his breath. Every hair in her body a pureblooded Child of the Harpy. Even if her color was uncommon in the Snow Mountains, she had the poise and the same fiery heart. Not a drop of pony blood in her.

“And stop staring like that. It’s freaking creepy.”

He did shift his eyes, if only because of how much that sounded as a veiled threat. After a while, he looked at her again, focused on his paws.

“Do you hear the Storm?” He asked her casually.

“Yeah…” She answered mindlessly while working to remove the dressing from the other wound. “It’s raining buckets outside.”

A shame… Not the correct answer. He had figured there was a chance of fifty-fifty in Griffonstone that she was one of them and that the Harpy would send someone like her to look after him. Alas, the Harpy may have indeed abandoned him for his failure. He sighed again.

“So, ponies tell me you’re under arrest and not to talk too much with you.” She told him, pulling the dressage around his paw. “What did an old dude like you do? Blew a raspberry at someone?”

“You are going to talk to me despite being told not to?”

She shrugged. “I wouldn’t be stuck with community service if I was good at following pony rules, now would I?”

She certainly had the heart, he laughed and grinned. “I shot Princess Luna.”

She stopped and stared at him, then she laughed heartily. “Dude! For real?”

“With a five-chambered griffon-made high-caliber revolver. Enchanted bullets too, straight from the Stormvalley Armory. Didn’t work as I imagined, though.” Telling her that made him smile and she laughed at it but still stared at his paws.

“Did she do this to you?”

He hummed and nodded. “Crushed my gun paw with a swing of a polearm and stabbed the other to the floor with a dagger.”

“Damn.” She grimaced. “I guess I would be pissed too if someone shot at me.”

“What about you?” He turned the conversation on her. “Why are you here? Somehow I don’t think you are enjoying what you’re doing.”

“Ugh… I punched a jerk that tried to steal two Bits from me and ended up breaking his beak. It was a damn minor and the judge said I had to do community service or spend time in jail, and no fucking way I would be spending time in a damn jail. I was down for cloud duty with the pegasi, but that was taken, so I ended up taking care of patients in the hospital.” She held her face with sheer frustration. “Even had to attend to a class about how to do this crap.”

“It is such a pony thing to punish others for defending what is theirs.” He frowned. “If it is worth anything to you, know that I would have done the same.”

“Yeah. Thanks grandpa. It’s not that bad. Most ponies are annoying, whining all the time that their everything is hurting, but it is easy enough. You at least sound like you’re cool.” She shrugged. “And, at least I get to sell some scones in the morning before my shift. Couldn’t do that if I was in jail.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m stuck here the whole afternoon. I tried leaving the stand unattended, but they took the scones and didn’t leave the money, just a note telling me I’m a sucker. Of course.” She growled and raised her closed paws like she was about to break something out of anger. “The problem is that griffons are jerks!”

The naivety, another pony thing. Instead of talking, he let her pour it out. “I mean… I did those things just as a hobby, but the damn Chancellor had all the southern holds drop the basic income because of the war effort, and now I barely make it month to month with the scones. I just hope I can last until the damn ponies in Canterlot get off their lazy flanks and fix this mess. There shouldn’t even be a war effort, but the damn princess must be too busy with some pony crap to notice that her feathering subjects aren’t getting their rights! I pay taxes every time I buy scone ingredients!

“I pay damn taxes every time I pay for anything! I probably pay taxes when I pay taxes!” She roared. “And now, on top of it all, the damn mayor decided that all commerce needs to stop by nightfall because something, something war, something.”

Poor youngling. Lost in the politics she doesn’t understand enough to take a stance. And that was no way for a Child of the Harpy to live, Gabriel shook his head at her words while she composed herself with a deep grunt. That poor kitty needed some guidance from real griffons.

“Your problem is not that griffons are ‘jerks’ either, kitty. Your problem is that you are living with the wrong griffons.”

She deadpanned at him. “Did you just call me kitty?”

“I mean no offense. What is your name, then?”

“Gilda.” She growled unfriendly at him.

“Your problem, Gilda, is that your race has been living under subjugation from an old enemy for so long you don’t even remember that you are a prisoner anymore or even what it feels like to be free.”

“Yeah, sorry. I’m not interested in your griffon pride spiel. I got more important things that I need to take care just to stay out of trouble.” She showed him the most disinterested expression a griffon could ever make. “I know this stuff, and it’s wrong. I have pony friends, dude. It’s not the ponies, it’s some weirdos that want to feel special about themselves.”

“Listen to yourself, Gilda.” He wasn’t impressed. “You have no means of self-support other than what money the government pays you. This is a pony thing. They are the ones that implemented the universal basic income, but now that things aren’t going the way they wanted, they took it away. The Princess, quite literally, pays griffons to behave.”

“This is not right!” She contained her agitation. “It’s the Griffon Chancellor that messed things up. He’s the one that ordered the territories to stop it and retained the money for the war effort.”

“But this is part of the problem: The Chancellor doesn’t rule for us. He rules for Celestia. And do you see why he did it?” She frowned and her eyes showed confusion. “Because he is doing Celestia’s bidding. They want the one that is fit to rule the griffons, for the griffons, gone.”

“The Chancellor needs the money to pay for his soldiers?”

He laughed. “No, kitty. He needs you. Your brothers and sisters. He did it so that the griffons that embraced Celestia’s ideals will starve until they join his army. You’ll notice that everything Celestia has done to us will work perfectly as long as you are compliant. As long as you violate your true nature and remain docile.”

“My true nature?”

“Have you ever seen a griffon using their claws to do a job the ponies have given them?”

She didn’t answer. Instead her eyes found the floor and her proud stance deflated. His words took root and the Child of the Harpy stirred inside its cage. It was a beautiful thing to see, when they opened their eyes for the first time and saw the Matriarch of the Great Herd for the oppressor she was.

Now, to spread her wings and watch her soar.

His eyes narrowed and he spoke in a low voice. “There is a city, far in the north. Where griffon lands meet the Frozen North. Holy Griffindel, in the Valley of Griffons. Most ancient of griffon cities, it was built before the Windigos were unleashed upon us, and she housed the mightiest Lords of the Sky, before the pegasi, before the sun and the moon.”

She listened quietly. “It is the birthplace of our race, full of history. Full of pride. It is a journey every griffon should make at least once. Beware though… Most that go do not return because they find their true selves, staring at her black gates where the Conqueror fell before the Dawnbringer.”

“Who is the Conqueror?” She frowned at him. “What is with talking like that?”

“You’ll learn in time. In there resides your future king. Lord Gilad Ironfeathers.”

“The Lion?”

“And his mate. The most important griffon to ever exist. Lady Gwendolen. The most beautiful, the wisest. Listen and open your heart to her. It will change your life forever.”

She shook her head. “That is the most inhospitable place in the world. How am I supposed to go there when I can barely pay my bills?”

“If you want change, you must change. Ask yourself… Are you happy with your life? Life-changing decisions are difficult and require much. You may have to throw yourself at an abyss and believe that there is one who will hold you. I have done the same. And She caught me in my darkest hour.”

She didn’t answer, but he knew that stare.

“Meet my daughter, Gerdie, in Haybale. She may have left already, but you were made to thrive in the adversity. When you do find her tell her that I sent you. She will ask you my name, and it is Gabriel. She will then ask you if you can hear the storm. You must answer, exactly, ‘I can hear Her cry’.”

Gilda nodded, but still seemed uncertain. The seed was there, though.

That moment a thestral pony, one of Luna's guards wearing their blue silver armor walked into the room holding a sandwich in his mouth, which he dropped, so surprised he was. “Hey, this guy is under arrest. You're not supposed to be talking to him!”

Gilda just stared at the bat-pony. “Sorry, girl. You gotta go if your job is done.”

Gabriel smiled to himself. He saw the change in her posture at the pony giving her orders. Yes. This one was set on her path.

“I’m going.” She said and gathered the small tray with what remained of the cleaning supplies. She squinted her eyes at the pony on her way out.

Finally, the thestral closed the door and glared at Gabriel. “What the hay is wrong with you guys and following orders?”

He grinned. Tired from the medication, but still grinned at the fanged pony. “Our Mother never taught us to serve the meek.”

The pony didn’t seem impressed. “Yeah. Sure… My mother taught me to be nice. I’ll be outside. Just call if you need anything.”

“Just… Don’t make any trouble, alright?” The thestral finished, walking out the door. “Let’s make this easy on both of us and don’t make me lose my vacation next week. Then I won’t bother you.”

***

Nightfall didn’t distract Twilight, her friends or her airship’s crew. Since the moment they first saw the golden airship pursuing them they have prepared for the inevitable fight. At least Cadance got some rest, finally, during the day.

She had hoped that sleep would somehow allow her access to the Palace of the Self, but it didn’t. There wasn’t much to do about that, so after donning her barding and making sure Flurry Heart was fine with Miss Calcite, she felt ready to join the others.

Walking outside to the deck she saw the pegasus crewponies dutifully working on their positions, caring for the airship and keeping watch in the night sky. The moon provided good illumination and there were few clouds in the sky other than the cluster they headed towards.

Shining Armor also wore his purple and golden barding and carried his sword and shield on his back. He didn’t see her, but she smiled at him. Such a great image of what a knight should be. He talked sternly to the Captain, who seemed very focused, just like Rainbow Dash and Applejack next to them. All wearing their barding and the Element of Harmony jewels. Cadance just couldn’t wait to see Applejack using that war hammer on her back! But for the time, it seemed like it would be best to leave them to whatever they were discussing.

Twilight’s guards looked over her from afar while she was with one of the pegasus by the stern of the ship. Cadance walked there, nodding at her guards on her way. For some reason it frustrated her that she knew Twilight preferred boys, but all her guards were female. Not only that, but she huffed to herself that they should have bowed at her.

Well… She only had two of them. And wasn’t even properly stern with them… What could she have expected?

She stopped and blinked. What the hay was she thinking? They’re about to go into a battle!

She pressed her step towards the back to reach Twilight and the pegasus. Squinting a little next to Twilight, she looked for the pursuing airship. It seemed somewhat closer. She wasn’t that good at judging great distances though. The pegasus crewpony next to them was a deep blue in his coat with a pair of crossed rapiers for cutie mark and had a strapping short-cut red-brown mane to go with his brown eyes. The best was the red bandana, though. He had the spyglass and he didn’t look happy, grumbling under his breath.

“Buckin’ goldies don’t give up.” He blinked twice, staring at Twilight and at Cadance. “Er. Sorry Princess.”

Cadance rose an eyebrow and the smaller one only giggled. “Don’t worry. I don’t mind ponies swearing next to me.”

The robes on her barding flapped a little in the wind, with her mane while she watched the other airship, now with the spyglass. Somehow, she seemed even prettier in the night and the pegasus seemed to agree because he coughed into his hoof after staring at her for a while. Actually, Cadance could swear she heard him begging for Twilight’s attention. “Princess, shouldn’t ye be inside?”

He seemed genuinely worried, but Twiilght lowered the thing with a determined stare. “We’ll fight them too. Rainbow said that is the new Wonderbolt airship… We’re gonna need all hooves on deck and you guys need to keep the airship flying at her best.”

Twilight then blinked and grinned, a little ashamed. “Uh… I’ve only ever read about airship combat. What is going to happen?”

“They’ll shoot ballistas at us, m’lady. Large harpoons with reinforced ropes strapped to their hull. Then they’ll reverse their engines and slow us down. Finally, they’ll attack with pegasi and shoot at us from their ship and put’em side ‘a side and jump aboard with all their ponies. Try ‘n take control o’ the airship. If we piss’em off ‘nough they’ll fire broadside at us to damage and ground us.”

Other than refraining an impulse to correct the pony that the correct term was ‘ballistae’, Cadance simply watched the two interact.

“That sounds dangerous.” Twilight sounded so worried it was cute.

The pegasus stuffed his chest though. Twilight didn’t see it, but Cadance giggled quietly. “Airshippin’ life be dangerous, princess.”

“I’ll bet!” Twilight chirped. “Did you guys really fight the Royal Guard before?”

“Aye. Off the Coast of Sharp Edges.” He flared his wings, all excited, but Rainbow Dash, with Shning, Applejack and the Captain called Twilight to see something off the starboard railing.

“We have to talk about that sometime later!” Twilight grinned. “Sounds like a great story!”

And with that she went to Rainbow Dash. Remaining for a second Cadance saw the poor pegasus deflate and let his wings sag before he realized she was watching and pretended to go back to watching the Wonderbolt airship. Cadance grinned like Discord would be proud.

“I’ve read countless tales of Royal Guards and soldiers having affairs with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. It feels like the time is ripe for a new one about the youngest princess and one of her airship ex-pirate crewponies.”

He coughed and tried to not look so ashamed of himself. “Please don’t tell the Princess? I don’t want her kicking me off he airship or something.”

“Heh… I wish my Royal Guards would be more excited with me than they are with Shining Armor.” She mumbled, but then she grinned at him. “Would you like a date with Princess Twilight? A real date?”

“I don’t know…” He recoiled and his ears dropped. “It sounds inappropriate.”

She lowered and approached him, uncomfortably close, with an even more uncomfortable grin. “Silly pony. I would be the one that says what is inappropriate in these regards. Or have you ever heard anypony telling Princess Celestia that the sun is raising to early or too late?”

His eyes shifted from one side to the other and he mumbled something until Cadance frowned. “Ponies of the present are so boring. I bet that in the earlier centuries of Princess Celestia’s rule anypony would jump at the golden opportunity that I offered you.”

Then Twilight called her from the railings, waving a hoof at her. “Cadance! Come over here to see this!”

“Think about that. Mister Dangerous Airshippin’ Life.”

Satisfied, Cadance sauntered over to Twilight and the others without a glance backwards. They stared at something in the dark of the night that just flashed white. “Is that a storm?”

“Thunderstorm.” The Captain said. “Nasty one.”

“Hum… Which city has jurisdiction on this area?” Twilight looked back at the others.

“I looked at the map and it would still be Haybale.” Shining said. “A bit too far and not a pegasus in sight.”

“That thing ain’t normal!” Applejack squinted at it. “It looks all weird. Not at all with the ones we get over the farm.”

“It’s because it’s not normal.” Rainbow said. “It’s too dense and I don’t see why they needed one here. Maybe over the fields, but this is too far and there is no way the weather team would let it drift that far. I also don’t know why it has that much lightning.”

“Is it going to be a problem?” Cadance asked.

“It can shut down our magical engines.” Twilight said but looked at the Captain for confirmation and he nodded. “Maybe we can use it to our advantage?”

The Captain shook his head. “Neigh. There be no way a professional crew ‘d get trapped in one of these monsters.”

“Oh… Did they make it them?” Twilight looked at Rainbow.

“Nah. A storm that dense and that big… You’d need Cloudsdale close by.”

“Let’s just steer clear of that thing, then.” Twilight concluded. “What about the cluster of clouds?”

“We’ll reach’ em right in time for dawn. With luck and some clever maneuvering, we can throw off our pursuers ‘till their scouts find us again. Might buy us some time to get’way.”

Shining nodded with a hoof on his chin. Frowned a little. “Captain keep a pair of eyes on that thing. I don’t like it.”

“Aye.”

Comments

[Kevin Lee]

Cadance gasped. “You’re right! Somehow the timeline doesn’t fit! She was Nightmare Moon, banished to the moon when I was born! But… That was Princess Luna’s magic!”

FINALLY!!
media1.tenor.com/images/7704df0d6c075a24adc205a535f3d1bf/tenor.gif
She should've realized something's not exactly kosher with the conspiracy theory she has of Celestia and Luna were manipulating her and Twilight--although, the revising of history was bad enough on its face value...

[Jinnchin]

Oh dear, looks like our intrepid band of heroes are about to discover just what that fancy new griffon airship can do!

So Gwineth doesn’t seem to have much sympathy for other people caught in the same crappy situation she was in. Here’s hoping Gilda doesn’t go the same route. For that matter Cadence too, the way she was behaving near the end there is more than a little worrying, she seems to be losing herself to those memories!

At any rate, wow those are some earthshaking revelations regarding the way the ponies of this setting have grown and evolved! Is this because of the alicorn’s influence, or did Harmony need the “wardens of the world” to be this way? At the very least it sounds like Cadence's earlier "goddess of love" persona didn't just become a poor fit for a changing world, it had arguably become obsolete! And there is also the implication that griffons were ahead of the ponies in terms of cognitive function, at least for a time. If this was the case why did the griffons gain sapience first? Is it all the Harpy’s doing, or is there a deeper reason? There's so much to speculate about! No spoilers please!

Sorry I know I'm rambling, but seriously *Chefs Kiss* this is the kind of world building I absolutely adore!