Piece of Parchment

by Metemponychosis

Dines with Griffons

Grinolf found himself on a rectangular room with crystal walls, ceiling and floor. Matted crystal, rather than clear and transparent. The light seemed to come out of the crystal, but it didn’t disturb his eyes, so soft it was, despite getting the place sufficiently illuminated.

He sat on a simple stool in the middle of the room. It was a ridiculous thing, of clue crystal and cyan moons adorning it’s shaft, but it was a place to sit and he had other things on his mind at the moment.

He blinked twice and it was one of the weirdest feelings he’d ever experienced, as though existence began in that very moment. He could recall memories of his life and the fact that he was in a pony airship, but that particular moment seemed detached from everything, as though the story of his life had been somehow halted, and he was plucked from it and put in that place.

He felt like an infantile fool, but it took him more time than he’d be willing to admit until he noticed the pony princess in front of him. The blue one, wearing her royal garments.

“Hello, Grinolf.” She grinned a friendly pony grin while she held a thin slab of blue crystal in her freakish telekinetic magic. He had no idea what it was other than a thin and blue crystal slab and he had no idea what she was doing with it, but she looked at it about as much as she looked at him. Finally, she asked him a question. “You are not very comfortable, are you?”

No, he wasn’t. It wasn’t the cold, nor being stripped of his armor and weapons. It was the weird sensation that place gave him. He was going to ask her what that place was, but she spoke first. “This is a dream. You are safe here and nothing bad is going to happen to you. I just want to talk to you. Remember? You acquiesced to this session.”

He accepted it as the purest of truths and simply nodded at her. The princess smiled at him again, after looking satisfied with something she saw on her weird crystal slab. “You were born in Brokenhorn, correct?”

“Yes. Though my family initially came from Beachhome. It is a griffon and hippogriff mixed city.” He spoke as matter-of-factly as was possible, but he wasn’t sure why he just told her that. His training had prepared him only to answer direct questions, as directly as possible. Curiously though, the thought evaporated from his mind as quickly as it flashed, like a warning, but then he wasn’t even sure he even had thought about that. It was gone by the time he tried to think of it. What was he thinking about again?

He directed his attention back to the princess and she rose an eyebrow then seemed to focus on her strange crystal device. Following that, she simply nodded to herself before addressing him again.

“Why did you think it was important mentioning that your family is from there and that it is a griffon and hippogriff mixed city?”

What kind of question was that? “It is my heritage. It is important, isn’t it?”

The princess simply stared at him frowning with some confusion, but then she cleared her throat. “What was your duty in the griffon warship?”

“I was the Master-at-Arms.”

“Hum-hum. Can you please elaborate on your functions?”

“I was responsible for the Skoll’s Air Battalion detachment. It was my job to keep our combatants fit for combat and commanding boarding and occupation operations.”

“Was it an important position?”

“Yes. It was.” It was so unsettling. She knew those things, and yet she asked him. Was she testing him to see if he would tell her the truth? Was that some freakish alicorn magic at work?

“But you did something you weren’t supposed to.”

“I helped Prince-Consort Chocolate Velvet escape the airship as leverage for my request of asylum.” What was wrong with him? Who would tell her that he only helped her consort because he expected something from… What was he thinking again? It was difficult focusing on his own thoughts without her words to guide them.

“Why did you want to defect if your job was important? Were you unhappy with it?” She provided what he needed to focus, so he clung to it.

He wasn’t unhappy, though. He loved his job. The problem was… “I wasn’t unhappy. I loved my job. The problem was that I expected to earn recognition and to be accepted into the Court of the Harpy!”

He sighed. “I took too long to realize that they were lying... The bastards! Simple grunts can’t earn it! We just can’t! I had no other choice! I had to do something outstanding. Something that would prove I am better than they think! I just know that I am! But… Grigory wanted our Air Battalion to keep the Wonderbolts busy while he and his personal guard dealt with the pony princesses. That wouldn't be enough! It just wouldn’t cut it! I know that if they had allowed me to capture the princesses and take them to Lady Gwendolen, she would have allowed me into the Court of the Harpy!”

He wasn’t supposed to tell her any of that! He was not supposed to mention the Harpy to outsiders! What was that? He heard something; he was sure of it! There was definitively something on the other side of the crystal walls. He couldn’t see it, but he could hear claws clicking on the crystal floor. An angry breathing. The shuffling of feathers!

Why was it so hot in there? Why was it so hard to breathe?

The princess frowned curiously at her crystal slab, at him and then back again at that thing. He was sure he heard the growling… It was out there! Prowling around, looking for a way in, scrapping at the door! Couldn’t she hear it?

“Calm yourself, Grinolf. Remember you are completely safe.” She touched the crystal a few times with an adorned hoof. “There. Is this better?”

The princess seemed worried about something. Maybe she saw something in that crystal tablet of hers. But he got his breathing under control and reorganized his thoughts. There was something terrible he should remember, but the thoughts evanesced from his mind. Oh, yes. He was telling the princess why he chose to defect.

“I didn’t see any future for me, and I feared I would be killed or captured in the ensuing battle, then there would be no recovery for me. It might not even be worth returning home. Gonrur just wouldn’t understand because he was already in.” His eyes found the floor. His voice failed for a second and his eyes stung, but he felt perfectly fine in the next moment, so, he went on. “I am ashamed, but I betrayed our friendship. Even if he failed me… I shouldn’t have. It was not his fault, and I hope he won’t suffer repercussions for my actions.”

Luna frowned again and her eyes scanned whatever that crystal tablet showed her. “This seems to be important to you. Why couldn’t you make it into the Court of the Harpy while your friend could? What didn’t he understand?”

“He couldn’t understand it because it was so easy for him. No one has ever looked at him and showed disgust. He made it into the Court of the Harpy simply because his parents were pureblooded. I didn’t know at the time, though. We were simply two cubs growing up together, but his father is a pureblooded ranger from Brokenhorn and his mother a pureblooded Loremaster from Griffindel. Of course, he would be taken in as soon as he was ready. I was such a fool to think that there would be a place for me…”

Luna stared at her crystal thing and then back at him. Her frown changed from curiosity to confusion and pity. “But you are impure? How so?”

“I am too impure, and the Harpy has rejected me because there is too much pony blood in me. Lady Gwendolen has forbidden me from mating and producing offspring. That is why I must make an impression on her and convince her that my griffon blood is stronger.”

Luna stared at her crystal and something flashed red before her eyes. Not only that, but he heard the growling and the doors banged outside. He could hear it. The beast cried furiously outside, shrill and piercing as the doors banged, but they held against the onslaught. However he remained perfectly calm, watching the princess stare at her crystal tablet and waited for her next question. She seemed concerned, but soon enough she talked to him again.

“You seem to be under too much stress because of this subject. I’ll stop this now. Go back to sleep and forget this.”

His eyebrow raised at the princess’ request. But his eyes became heavy and he simply allowed himself to sleep.

***

Luna woke slowly to the aroma of chocolate with Celestia and Chrysalis staring at her with huge curious eyes.

“So?!” The queen urged her with a raised hoof.

“Is he well?” The other took a nervous step forward.

Luna rubbed her eyes and stretched her neck with a yawn from leaning on Chocolate Velvet, sitting next to her in the couch. “I’m worried. He seems convinced he is inferior because his ancestors were hippogriffs and ponies.”

“Ugh… ‘Ancestors’…” Chrysallis let a disgusted grunt out. “What is this about?”

Suddenly Luna frowned all worry while Chocolate petted her mane with a hoof. “His friend got the VIP pass for life because his parents were ‘pureblooded’ while he was denied a normal life because his weren’t. At least from his perspective. The point is that it seems to be a subject of intense stress for him.”

Luna stood and walked around sullenly. “It seems he’s been convinced that the Harpy has rejected him because there is too much ‘pony blood’ in him and they want purer griffons. Therefore, he is not allowed to mate and have cubs.”

“Is that reasonable?” Chocolate asked from the couch, frowning. “I mean… If the offspring of a griffon and a hippogriff would be griffon and they have common traits that are inheritable by both, I suppose that this idea would make sense. But this sounds to me that they just found something that might just be anecdotally evidenceable as a ‘pony trait’ that they can get from the hippogriffs. Sounds like a way of fabricating escape goats to me.”

“If a griffon and a hippogriff generate offspring there is a three to one chance that it is going to be a griffon cub, same chance for a hippogriff and a pony to generate a foal.” Celestia explained. “But I’ve never heard of something like that. I cannot imagine what sort of outward sign would point to a griffon being ‘spoiled’ with pony blood. It might be something magical in nature, however.”

“He mentioned Lady Gwendolen. I have no idea if she knows anything that we don’t, or even if she’s merely looking for ways to antagonize the hippogriffs and the ponies for the sake of their isolationism.”

Chocolate huffed. “Isolationists that want to take over the nation. Yeah, right.”

“Lady Gwendolen? Tell us more, Luna.” Celestia urged quite a bit more emphatically than Chrysalis. “I never thought that she would do something such as this!”

Luna shook her head slowly. “Unfortunately, I can’t. It caused him too much stress and I worried I would hurt him if I kept forcing him.”

“So?” Chrysalis asked. “What’s the worst that could have happened?”

“He could die with angina, a blood vessel could rupture in his brain, or somewhere else and that is never good. Any number of post-traumatic stress disorders he probably wouldn’t even know what from… Panic attacks or phobias.” Luna let her voice trail off.

“Is that how a pony gets a phobia of quesadillas?” Chocolate raised a hoof.

“I cannot confirm nor deny that.” Luna said and Celestia rolled her eyes.

“Really?” The changeling wasn’t moved nor bothered with the distraction. “It’s one griffon. We need to know what is going on, because The Lion’s kid was trying to cast a spell. Shouting words. Like they say that The Lion can, and our old friend could. Except Grigory is not actually The Lion’s kid. I need to know what is going on and I certainly do not care about one single griffon! Fry his head if you have to!”

“No! I don’t have to hurt him like that! I just need some time and do it another way.”

“Then do your dream voodoo with The Lion’s kid. I bet he knows what is going on.”

“What is wrong with you, Chrysalis?” Luna berated her. “Grinolf consented to the dream analysis.”

“Yes…” Chrysalis countered. “Because you and your sister leaned on him while he was asking for asylum.”

“He did say he was willing to accept any condition.” Celestia explained. “Luna’s method offered us with a certainty we couldn’t have otherwise. I doubt that these griffons would be above a false desertion to plant false information. And with this story of The Harpy, I believe we must be very careful. We need information right now, but Grinolf already provided us what he could. We must talk to Twilight, Cadance and Grigory now.”

“And that is precisely why I have arranged for Twilight and her friends to be admitted in the same area as Grigory and his.” She concluded with a grin.

“I don’t follow…” Chrysalis raised an eyebrow. “How is that anything more than asking for trouble?”

Princess Celestia grinned some more. “I know Twilight. If we leave her with the griffons, she is going to let her curiosity get the best of her. I’m hoping that the griffons will tell her things that she believes are important for her and that we may not know. Things I am sure she will end up revealing in our shared dinner.”

“Well, Cadance is certainly likely to ask questions…” Luna didn’t seem very excited, returning to the couch. “She’s not likely to be happy either. I hope this doesn’t backfire. Grinolf said he wanted to take Twilight and Cadance to Lady Gwendolen.”

“Odd…” Celestia frowned. “What would she want with them?”

“Certainly, nothing good for them. Especially when he implied she created something called the ‘Court of the Harpy’ and he is desperate to get in because that is where the cool griffons are.”

Celestia’s ears pulled back. “I don’t like this. Grigory made mistake after mistake and The Lion likely never authorized this whole mission.”

“How do you know?” Chrysalis inquired.

“He’s fought with his father several campaigns against monster hordes that threatened griffon cities to the south. He is a skilled tactician and would not have authorized the airship to enter combat and be lost. That thing cost too much, and we also had no idea it existed. It was revealed too soon and that is not the kind of asset one needs to fight a contained civil war. I don’t know what is going on, but I’m starting to think that Lady Gwendolen is not as nice as I thought she was. She’s likely using the myth of the Harpy to move griffons towards their agenda. I hope she’s only doing that to help her mate, but I want you to look into that Luna.”

Luna simply nodded but hearing that Chrysalis’s ears pulled back and she grimaced at Celestia. “I hate this. I keep hearing this cursed name of The Harpy and myths usually have too much of a sliver of truth for comfort. If you are lying that this Harpy doesn’t exist, I am going to murder you.”

Celestia rolled her eyes. “These idle threats aren’t funny, Chrysalis.”

“Fine. I won’t murder you. But I swear I will punch you.”

“She doesn’t exist.” The Princess sighed. “Not anymore. I destroyed her.”

“Wonderful.” Chocolate, sat on the couch, added sarcastically. “That is going to resonate marvelously with the griffon guests. Well, I got work to do. I’ll see you later.”

“What do you mean you destroyed her?”

“Please, Chrysalis.” Celestia put up a hoof, pleading. “I’ll broach the subject with Twilight and her friends. I want to gauge Grigory’s reaction and try to infer what is Lady Gwendolen trying to do with her myth. I need your support.”

“Fine.” The other relented begrudgingly.

***

Twilight woke in a clean white room. A square with an open door that led to a pony bathroom, a window that showed the blue sky, and a closed door. It didn’t have any smells and she could barely hear the sounds of activity on the other side of the closed door. She could feel magic at work though and immediately knew she was on an airship by the magical engines radiating magic. It was more interesting that the room had several spells of minor effect but that seemed designed to keep it clean and some effects she couldn’t identify because they weren’t active.

She laid on a bed and blinked at the featureless roof. Her head rested on a medium pillow. Not too soft, not too hard, just like the mattress. The sheets were rather soft and comfy.

Something was beeping and she saw there was an empty bag hanging from a tall holder next to her bed. It had the remains of a softly glowing pink liquid with a small tube that came down from it all the way to her foreleg, as she could attest when she rose her head from the pillow and followed it.

Oh, right. She was in the hospital airship. She was a bit too anxious… She didn’t exactly know how long she was unconscious, but the Royal Guard doctor decided that she was being a problem. Apparently not everypony was as patient as her friends because he sedated her. And she woke in the hospital airship.

That sounded reasonable, if mildly annoying, she decided with a frown.

Then the closed door opened, and Chocolate Velvet came through from the corridor outside. He wore a white doctor’s coat and brought a sort of amber crystal clipboard on his telekinetic magic with a stethoscope hanging from his neck for some reason. “Hi Twilight. How are you feeling?”

“I suppose I’m fine for somepony that just woke up in a hospital bed with something stuck to my leg.” She giggled. Probably would be freaking out by then if she didn’t know Chocolate Velvet. “What was that stuff? Can I take this out?”

“Let me help.” He reached with his magic while he talked to her. “Think of it as a ‘mana booster’. It’s meant to provide free magic for your body to heal up, like a souped-up healing potion. It makes you hungry because it kinda puts your body on overclock for a while. You probably don’t remember, but you were pretty banged up and you were so nervous… Well, stress piles up. The royal guard doctor decided you needed a break.”

“I see.” She murmured to herself, but she would probably have time to learn about that later and instead of focusing on that, she smiled at him. “So, you’re playing doctor now? Complete with entering the room as soon as the patient wakes up cliché?”

“Well, this thing let me know when you woke up.” He showed her the clipboard. Rather than an actual clipboard it was a slab of Crystal with room numbers and colored dots. He also pointed at the wall above her bed. “It will also inform the staff if there is anything wrong. This is an example of what we’re getting out of the changeling magical medical sciences.”

She hadn’t seen it yet, but it was one of those magical images with pictograms for a heart, a thermometer, and lungs followed by numbers.

“Need unicorn staff to use those, but we're getting there. Oh! We also drew some blood for some tests so that Celestia would finally leave us alone. She freaked out for a while until she finally understood that you were not injured.”

She was glad Celestia still worried about her but distracted with something else. “How many died in the battle.”

“Zero. Among ponies and griffons.” He shook his head and she got angry, and by the way he looked at her, she figured he knew she’d be angry.

“That is just not possible!” She rather he told her the unpleasant truth than try to make her feel better, or whatever he was trying to do. She was partially responsible! She had to know! “Tell me!”

“I’m telling you, Twilight. No one died. Some were severely injured, but they’re recovering. Don’t ask me how.” He shook his head. “Beats me.”

What? How? She saw that big griffon airship ripping the others apart. She remembered Rarity asking about how naval combat used to be. That is, that pegasus’ answer hadn’t been completely right because ships had to carry gunpowder, much like the modern airships, and if the storage was hit it could blow a chunk of the ship, but… The point was that there was no way ponies weren’t working in the areas where the explosions happened. Even with good, enchanted armor and all the luck in the world!

“Well, you don’t have to believe me. You’re a princess. You should be able to get to the archives and see them for yourself.”

She hummed at him. She could try. “Anyway… Did they hurt you?”

“The griffons? No. They just stuck me in a cell or another. I got to escape because a griffon guy decided that he was done with his bosses.”

That could be useful. Though he would certainly be under vigilance. “What was his name?”

“Grinolf.” He scratched his head with a hoof. “I think they may have some weird sort of discrimination going on up north. I mean, Luna talked to him and it didn’t sound good. I suppose that is a job for the friendship squad after this whole mess is done.”

She sat at her bed. It seemed that he was fine with her teasing from before and he wasn’t hurt, so she ought to worry about herself. “So… How in much trouble am I?”

“Luna told us that in the meantime something went really bad with Cadance and she had a sort of dream… They are worried about you two.”

Twilight grinned. “Cadance doesn’t see it like that. Since she saw some things Celestia and Luna didn’t want us to know, I figure that they would think that things went bad. Especially because she was acting a bit weird and she wants to figure things out.”

“And that is probably why you are all invited to dinner.” He produced a small piece of paper folded in half that he gave to her to read. A simple invitation to dinner and a note saying that she was free to go anywhere on the fleet, excluding the Magic of Friendship. She also had been assigned a room in the Break of Dawn, where they’ll have dinner.

That told Twilight two things: Celestia might be willing to have a conversation and with some luck, disclose some of that crazy stuff. And second, her airship was operational. Yet she held her grin inside because Chocolate Velvet sure liked her, but he was on Celestia’s and Luna’s side.

“So, I’m just free to walk around?” She looked at him, and then back at the letter. She might have missed something.

“Yes, according to Celestia, you are not prisoners. She just wants to keep you here so that you can have a conversation.”

She wasn’t sure how much of that she believed, but there was no doubt that playing along for the time was the better course of action, so she smiled at him. “Thanks. Can I leave the room or was there something else?”

“No. We’re done. You should see the others. They’re around this section. And I’ll see you at the dinner.”

Then he left and Twilight didn’t take long before leaving herself to enter a simple corridor with a the typical spartan decoration of hospitals. A plant here or there, some benches, a nice easy to clean floor and walls, typical magical lighting. It all seemed very ‘pony’, with hearts and pony pictograms everywhere. The corridor didn’t seem as wide as it should, but that was likely to the fact that it was actually an airship.

She could imagine all sorts of applications one such airship could have, starting with taking that new thing that was the changeling medical science to areas with less infrastructure than places such as Manehattan and Canterlot.

That was a good thing even if Twilight still thought that their deal with Chrysalis was a bit shady. She supposed that Princess Celestia bending the rules wasn’t new at all, but that whole stuff about griffons and goddesses and changed history seemed a bit too much. Maybe the diner would prove useful if she asked the right questions.

She let her thoughts trail off when she saw one of the griffons coming out of one of the doors. She was big, with a white head and magenta eyes. Bigger than she was and that was probably Gallensa, Grigory’s mate. She remembered seeing her pretty hurt during the fight.

“Hi!” She beamed at the griffon. “Nice meeting you! You must be Gallensa, right?”

The big griffon looked at her and didn’t even smile. Oh well… “Uh… You do speak Common Equestrian, right?”

She kept staring at Twilight without so much as a hint of a smile to the point Twilight thought she might have somehow offended the griffoness. Then Grigory came out of the room too.

“Speak Common Equestrian in their presence, Gallensa. Be courteous towards our hosts.” He said coldly, to which she said something in their own language. Never stopped staring at Twilight, though, and her ears moved about, trying to listen one word or another. “The Law of Hospitality includes that the guest must be courteous towards the host. Not to mention something that is expected of an adult.”

Gallensa stared at the ceiling and sighed in the most contemptuous way Twilight had ever seen. “Hi…”

Was there something wrong with her feathers in her neck? She had a bit of a scratch there. Actually, she had something of a pair of cuts in her neck, under her feathers! “Oh gosh! You’re hurt! Didn’t they take care of your wounds?”

“Yes, they did, Princess…” She didn’t sound very worried, instead she showed a level of annoyance Twilight really didn’t expect. Before she could inquire further though, Gallensa turned to Grigory. “I’ll see if there is anything edible in this place. Find me when the pony ceases to entertain you…”

Then she rubbed her beak together with his in a soft clicking sound and softly closed her eyes. It felt like she initially meant to be offensive towards Twilight, but the pony was too curious for that to cut in. She couldn’t remember ever seeing griffons showing affection like that. In fact, Twilight didn’t really know much about the griffons that actually were friendly towards her kind.

Finally, Gallensa left the two alone. “Greetings Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

“Greetings. Hum. Should I call you Prince?”

He shook his head. “‘Grigory’ will suffice, Princess.”

“Well then, call me simply ‘Twilight’!” She chuckled. “So, things didn’t really go as planned, did they?”

“They most certainly didn’t.” He smiled a little and gestured the way down the corridor. “No hard feelings for capturing your friend, I hope?”

“I hear Princess Celestia sent him to Haybale specifically to get us away from you.” She walked along with him down the corridor. There was some sort of sitting area ahead. Then she frowned. “Kind of curious that she let us walk freely and put us in close rooms.”

“Princess Celestia is known to us as a skilled strategist with a penchant for convoluted stratagems.”

“I can’t disagree…” She grunted, but then she looked up at his mustard-yellow face. “Do you hate her?”

“It is a complicated issue.” He kept staring forward as they walked.

Evasive much, huh? Fine. “Well, I know for a fact that she has no problems with your father becoming the King of the Griffons.”

“Still, it is a complicated issue.”

Not very forthcoming. Still fine. “You came looking for me and for Cadance. We have something that you want, or you want to give us something that you think might be beneficial to you if we had. Given the context of the whole situation, it most certainly is about the past that Princess Celestia helped King Grover erase. Well, I am interested in it too, and in the part of our own history that she erased. Discord has told us something and Cadance had a vision, but it us only about the pony part of it. Queen Chrysalis told us some things, and she didn’t paint a very good image of Emperor Grigor. But I want to know your point of view, and I also think that we can help each other.”

He didn’t answer right away. Instead, he seemed to ponder on her words.

Then they crossed into the sitting area. It was a sort of living room with windows to the outside on one wall and passages to corridors on the others. Pictographic signs indicated the way to different places, such as bathroom, room numbers, a surgery center, emergency center and a cafeteria.

“Well, I’m hungry. And I think that the others would gather at the cafeteria.”

“Yes.” He agreed. “I would like to know what the name of the traitor was. I did not recognize him, but I has just occurred to me that you might be able to find him.”

“Chocolate Velvet told me that his name was Grinolf.” She immediately regretted telling him that, but it was too late.

“Grinolf…” The griffon stared at the floor for a second. “The name means nothing to me other than it is a typical name of the northern region. Odd. I did not expect someone born in the region to betray us.”

“I don’t believe it’s very likely, but I’ll try to reach him for you.” She assured him and they started on their way to the cafeteria.

“I appreciate it.” He thanked her mindlessly, clearly thinking of something else and she didn’t like it.

“Are you thinking of punishing him, or something if I find him for you?”

He kept a serious poise but relaxed a little. “No. I want to understand. I don’t know him, and it bothers me that he would betray us. If anything, I could try and fix whatever problem he had so that others don’t do the same. It is what my father would do.”

That sounded fair to Twilight, and in the meanwhile they arrived at the cafeteria. The corridor that led to it turned to a stair up and once at the top they were at the cafeteria. It was a lounge area surrounded by windows that made Twilight think of the restaurant on one of those large and luxurious cruise ships. The zeppelins where the very rich threw parties.

In the back were tables with food. One for salads and side dishes and another for cooked food. The rest of the space was occupied by tables and creatures already enjoying their breakfast and the central area was left open for passage. It smelled great as far as Twilight was concerned, but there were also several Royal Guards in their traditional golden barding watching over. She had almost forgotten that she was ‘not arrested’.

That was probably a good thing though, with lots of ponies and griffons that were fighting each other not a day ago in the same place. Even if things seemed calm.

Regardless, Twilight and Grigory reached the tables where a helpful white and blue earth pony with a tidy mane and blue suit greeted them. “Greetings Princess! Master Grigory! Can I offer you breakfast?”

“Please do!” She beamed happily at the pony while Grigory critically examined the tables.

“We have waffles with honey and strawberry or oats with yogurt. Additionally, blueberry muffins. For the griffons we also have muffins, but with fried eggs or sausage quiche! You can also help yourselves to a selection of fruits and nuts, cheeses, juices and milk and coffee, or chocolate! Free for all staff, patients and companions!”

“Great! I'll have the oats!” Twilight chirped.

“What is a quiche?” Grigory looked at the open pastry, not so sure. To Twilight it would’ve seemed tasty, with all the cheese, parsley and mashed potatoes. If not for the sausage bits poking out of the cheese. “Looks like a pie to me.”

Twilight hadn’t even seen her, but Pinkie Pie inhaled, seemingly out of nowhere. “A quiche is a savory open-faced pastry crust with a filling of custard with cheese, meat, seafood and/or vegetables. It can be served hot or cold and it is quite popular in Prance! Whereas a pie is a sweet or savory dish with a filling AND a crust. The sides of a pie dish, or pan, are typically sloped. It can have just a bottom, just a top, or both and a top crust! Which is traditionally made of flour, salt, cold water and lard. It’s supposed to be crisp and flaky! They are served straight from the dish in which they were baked!”

“Thank…” Grigory started but Pinkie took another deep breath.

“Which is different from a tart that is a sweet or savory dish with shallow sides and only a bottom crust. Their crusts are usually made from pastry dough. The goal is a firm, crumbly crust! They are baked in a pan with a removable bottom or in a pastry ring so that it can be unmolded before serving. Similar to a cake which is a form of sweet desert that is usually baked. They were modifications of breads, but now cover a wide variety of preparations that can be simple or elaborate and share features with other desserts such as meringues, custards and pies!”

“Miss Pie, thank…”

“On the other hoof! A flan is an open pastry or sponge cake containing a sweet or savory filling! A typical one is round with a shortcrust and coated with a sweet syrup!”

He waited for a few seconds and she didn’t say anything, simply stared at him and Twilight. “Thank you, Miss Pie.”

“You’re welcome!” She chirped like the happiest pony on the planet and pranced away carrying her tray with food on her back.

“Sorry…” Twilight grinned all sheepish to the griffon.

He retorted with a smirk. “Don’t ever call my friends quirky again.”

She giggled at that and he smiled, genuinely this time, while both scanned the other table for other things to eat. Toasts, sauces, caramelized grains, some greens and fruits, and then they followed the bouncing tray towards a table by the corner near the windows. And, judging by his reaction, much to Grigory’s surprise his friends sat at the table with Twilight’s friends. Each group on one side of the table, but still at the same table.

“I’m surprised.” He said. “I expected I’d have to drag each one of you here to sit with the ponies.”

“I figured that you’d want to talk.” His big dark-gray furred friend explained while he grabbed the water pitcher in the center of the table and poured it on his paws above an empty bowl and dried them off on the tablecloth. “I told them to sit with the ponies so that we could.”

Then he noticed the ponies staring at him. Twilight herself found her eyes drawn to his gesture.

“What?” He asked when he stopped after he noticed all the eyes on him.

“Hum. The water is for drinking, sir.” Rarity told him, all courtesy.

“Actually, you’re supposed to wash your paws even if you do use the forks.” Spike added. “You just don’t use the drinking water and the tablecloth…”

Twilight cleared her throat. “It’s not like he’s hurting anypony. If they are used to doing it like that, then they should.”

“There. I know common-sense when I see it.” The big griffon grabbed his slice of quiche in his paw. “How in the feather do you earth-ponies and pegasi hold forks?”

“Like this.” Applejack grabbed a spoon folding her heel over her pastern. “It’s not that difficult. A lot of ponies just eat straight from the plate too. Most creatures with them fingers think this is weird. Works just fine.”

“Really… I find it somewhat cumbersome. But I am a unicorn.” Rarity said while her telekinetic magic picked up her own spoon and Applejack didn’t bother while eating her oats.

Nopony made much out of that conversation and they started sampling from the food they had picked for themselves, but Twilight spent a few seconds watching ponies and griffons eating, wondering something that just became apparent. Unicorns didn’t really touch their food. She recalled Discord telling them that the problem were the unicorns and by what Cadance had told them about the Bluebloods and the Brightmanes, she really didn’t doubt it.

Something else distracted her though. “Where is Cadance?”

“We slept together with Flurry Heart.” Her brother told her, looking past her friends at the table. “But she woke early, nursed and played with her a little, and then she left. Flurry is with Miss Calcite now, but I don’t know where is Cadie.”

“I hope she’s okay. She was a bit strange yesterday.” She sat by the table, same as Grigory on the other side. “So… On to matters at hoof. I don’t expect that they wouldn’t, but did the royal guards treat you fairly?”

“Other than having my baby taken from me…” The all white and caramel ‘owl’ griffon grumbled with fidgeting with the small cherry tomatoes on her plate.

“Whaa? Wait a minute! Your baby?!” Rarity let her fork go and cling on the table.

“She means a weapon, Rarity.” Twilight scowled at the griffon.

“It’s one of a kind” The other defended herself slamming a closed fist on the table. “It was my baby and Princess Celestia hasn’t even answered to the last forty requests I made!”

“You have an unhealthy obsession with that thing.” Spike declared from his side of the table.

“It’s not funny.” Rainbow glared at the griffon next to Applejack. “That jerk could’ve killed Spitfire!”

“Feh…” She dismissed the complaint with a wave of her white paw. “If I wanted her dead, she’d be dead. I shot her where she’d stop fighting and wouldn’t die before she could get help.”

“These things don’t work like that.” Fluttershy glared too, even if she did speak softly. “You could’ve crippled her! What you did was very dangerous and irresponsible!”

“Honey, we were in the middle of a fight, and Spitfire is military. She knew the risks.”

“Excuse me?” Rarity stared with all her elegant anger; in the same way she softly laid her cup of coffee on the table. “You are the one complaining that you were disarmed upon capture and whining that your weapon is special…”

“Amusing as this is…” Grigor spoke sullenly, examining his slice of quiche in this paw. “I think we should be using our time in a more useful way.”

“Yes… I’ve been invited to a dinner with Princess Celestia and I really want to have some good questions to ask her.”

“You too?” Rainbow blinked at her.

Twilight wasn’t surprised. “Well, I suppose she would invite all of us.”

“We have been invited too.” Grigory added. “And this is exactly what I mean. I doubt that Celestia will be very forthcoming with me or my friends, but you… Especially if you ask her the right questions. I wonder, however, if it would be a good idea to discuss this so openly.”

“Right! I don’t think that the guards are worried about us right now.” Twilight chirped with a huge grin, nodding at the guards more interested in the others around the restaurant “I wish Cadance was here though, but I have the feeling she’s looking for something important. I also wish I had brought my notepad, pen and ink or a pencil.”

Spike then rose triumphantly with a foot on the table and the required items in hand. “I got you covered Twilight!”

“I need a pet too.” Grigory spoke to himself, stroking his beak. Twilight pretended she didn’t hear that.

***

Cadance casually walked around Princess Celestia’s airship, the Break of Dawn. Inconspicuously taking mental notes of every single detail, but she ran into problems the in the first minute she strolled about. There was absolutely nothing out of the ordinary in the main deck, but she didn’t expect there’d be something interesting anyways. Having overheard Twilight and Shining’s conversation during the fight she imagined that the juicy stuff would be hidden bellow.

“What do you mean I can’t go down.” She struck a hoof on the crystalized metal, but the royal guard didn’t care.

“Nopony but the crew are allowed underneath, Princess. Unless you have a good reason to go down there.” He said with that annoying stoic expression they always had, next to his friend that didn’t even say a word.

“I’m looking for my baby!” She lied as convincingly as she could and at least she got a reaction from them. They looked at each other and then both stared at her with less than amused raised eyebrows.

“Your highness… Did you just say that Princess Flurry Heart is down there?”

“Yes!” She grinned from ear to ear. “She’s been teleporting around all morning and our maid, Miss Calcite, is a crystal pony so, she couldn’t really control Flurry Heart. I’ve looked everywhere for her up here!”

The two stared at her and she kept grinning, blinked hopefully at them.

“Princess, with all due respect, if you weren’t married to Captain Armor and weren’t a Princess of Equestria, I would have you arrested for what you just did.”

The other simply nodded as though they were talking to an unruly child.

Cadance pouted and thought of trying something else, but she wasn’t in a very good mood to deal with this. So, she simply walked away with her pout. There were other accesses to the underdeck in the main one, but she figured that in her present situation trying to get in was pointless.

She tapped her hoof on the floor, looking around, searching for an alternative until her eyes were drawn to the officer’s quarters in the ship’s stern. Or rather, what would be it on a normal ship. Instead of the cramped, but comfy, quarters that Twilight’s Magic of Friendship had on her aft, the Break of Dawn had something that more closely resembled a luxurious palace in the form of an airship’s captain’s quarters. It had several floors above the main deck and probably others below. It most likely had an entrance to the lower gundecks. Hum…

Casually, she strutted about, as was expected from a princess of her caliber and certainly drew attention from the ponies working in the deck until she reached the door to the aftercastle. It looked like the entrance to a palace, indeed, including two royal guards by the doors.

“Greetings princess.” The one on the right said. “May we help you?”

“Can I come in? I need to talk to Princess Celestia.” She asked, all innocence, playing the repentant little filly. “I think that I owe her some explanations before we meet with the others.”

One stared at the other. “Absolutely, Princess. Do come inside.”

They opened the door for her, and she walked inside with a grin as soon as they were behind her. She found herself in a rather spacious hall for an airship, with a freaking twin curved staircase to the mezzanine and a huge double door. All in whites, goldens and magenta. A giant gold and crystal candelabra and luxurious doors to side rooms and her aunt’s cutie mark in a giant rug in the floor. It was a monument to Celestia’s ego!

Angry shouting distracted her and directed her attention to the top of the stairs where the rude pegasus mare from the previous day stomped down the stairs followed by her male pegasus friend.

“Candy! Wait!” He called for her with an outstretched foreleg, but she ignored him, and passing by Cadance she turned her face the other side with a petulant huff to storm out the door.

That little mare needed an attitude adjustment! But rather than going out after her, Cadance turned to her pegasus friend. She assumed it was her friend since he tolerated her and wanted her companionship, or something.

“Hum. Hello, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.” He said, shuffling his hooves at the floor. “I hope you’re not hurt or anything from yesterday.”

“No, I’m fine! Flight Worthy, right?”

“Yes! Ah... Please forgive my friend, Candy Crush. She’s had a few bad days.” His ears drooped on his head and his eyes seemed so hurt.

But more important than that, Cadance heard something. She had been hearing it for the last days since her dream vision, but either she hadn’t paid attention to it or she thought he was mistaken, but she definitively heard it then. That little pony’s heart whispered to her. It felt like Flurry Heart crying for her, and she was compelled to listen now that she had heard it so clearly. She knew what that was.

She did her best no to show it, but she smiled inside. It was a cry of unrequited love that she heard, just like all those ages ago. It was like she removed a veil from her face that she never noticed was there until it was gone.

“You love her, don’t you?” She smiled, a little too conceited, less friendly than she wanted, judging by his reaction, but it was good enough. “There is no denying, I can see it as clear as Celestia’s day.”

He shuffled his hooves some more, trying to avoid her gaze. “I like her. A lot. But she’s been so mean.”

Cadance had seen mares doing that to drive away a suitor they were not interested in. Whatever happened to communication, though? She didn’t like it, and she didn’t feel like allowing that. But, for a prize as precious as unconditional love, her small request would be an insignificant price.

“She is callous, and her heart turned into a thorny monstrosity, unlike yours, so pure and innocent.” She smiled at him, who stared back with big, confused eyes. “She would benefit greatly from your love and I would bound your hearts until your lives are expended.”

“You’re talking funny, Princess…” He rose an eyebrow at her.

“Hush.” She touched his nose with a hoof. “I am in need of your assistance, however. You are to be trusted by Celestia’s royal guards, therefore I urge you to enter the lower decks of her airship and report to me what you should find.”

“But…”

She silenced him again. “No buts. This is the opportunity of your lifetime. You are with her on a luxurious airship. You will not have another opportunity, and this is as right as could ever be for it is my desire that you are together. However, I demand your assistance, on an exceptional situation.”

She didn’t leave him time to think, coming closer still, lowering her head to his. “You are a member of a local militia. A pony sworn to fight danger that others should not be exposed to. A gallant and brave offering to society, and I expect some courage from one who follows such a Destiny. The courage to seize opportunity when it presents to you.”

He frowned and she knew that her words bit deep. Then he showed her a brave expression, determined. “I’ll do what you’re asking princess! I’ll be discreet and I’ll see you when I have something to report.”

She sat on the floor and smiled agreeably at him, who bowed respectfully and left out the door she had come from. Cadance remained sat on the rug in the center of the hall and rubbed her chin with a hoof.

Perhaps it was not such a good idea to bargain up her Gift like that, but she was sure that the colt would produce some results and if not, she could always ‘reward’ his efforts. Whatever. Her Gift was hers to give to whoever she deemed worthy and that colt was anyways. She wasn’t hurting him or anything over such a simple thing.

Then the door to one of the side rooms opened and Chrysalis came through it, cocking her head and opening large eyes at the sight of her in the hall. Her weird secretary followed, and she managed to compose herself.

“What are you doing here?” The queen took a few steps closer to her. “I thought you were supposed to be on the hospital airship with the others plotting an escape or something.”

“I’m not talking to you! You lied to me!” She glowered at the queen. “What are you even doing here?”

“I’m helping Celestia get you two brats under control before you ruin it for everyone.” She scowled back at Cadance and poked her chest with a hoof. “I want the world to survive for a while longer now that I’m on the House of Majesty and the griffons are enough of a problem without you two messing it up worse.”

She glared at Cadance. “Kindly stop!”

“You wouldn’t stop if you were me!” The princess stomped the floor. “Why are you helping them? I mean, you and your mother may have been involved.”

“I was involved, genius.” Chrysalis snarled while her secretary remained stoically bored. “I met Celestia soon before they kicked the griffons out of Everfree. My mother wanted to marry one of my sisters to Celestia and wanted herself to marry Luna. I can guarantee you that I know what happened during that mess. Which is a good reason I’m still trying to decide if I want to help Discord help you or help Celestia stop you! But when you do stupid things like getting caught by a griffon mercenary and a bunch of local losers from Ponyville, the question becomes rather one-sided!”

“Wait!” Cadance blinked twice. “Mother Farfalla wanted to marry your sisters to Princess Celestia? And she wanted to marry Luna?!”

Chrysalis sighed. “Yes. It was common in that time, trying to marry your monstrous daughter to some powerful jerk too much of a plothole to attract a suitor themselves. It just wasn’t very normal to try and marry them to another female, and Celestia wasn’t even queen yet, so that may have influenced the outburst. I swear… I thought that the old Blueblood was going to die from a heart attack. But didn’t stop him from trying to arrange a marriage between me and the youngest Brightmane. But no way I was going to marry a fat earth pony.”

“But why?”

“Strategical marriage, dummy.” Despite her words, Chrysalis seemed to be uncharacteristically patient. “The Swarm, even at the highest of our numbers was always weak. Not to mention that my mother knew something about the Two Sisters and wanted in. Maybe she knew who they were. I don’t know. She was obsessed with something I don’t understand to this day. When that didn’t work out, she tried selling me out to Emperor Grigor. But you can imagine he wasn’t into the freakish changeling thing.”

“Would you have married him?” Cadance’s ears perked up like she was gossiping with a friend before she realized it herself.

“Sure. And then slitted his throat in the wedding night as soon as he was sleeping. Don’t look at me like that. It’s the best time to kill a husband you hate. Particularly in these arranged marriages.”

“Sounds like you’ve done this before.” Cadance squinted at her.

“Not the first jerk she tried marrying me off to. It’s also great for after you’ve convinced some dumbass he’s going to be the next king of the changelings because he is donating ‘his precious seed’… Males are dumb, Cadance.” The queen grunted. “At least I never destroyed an entire kingdom because of that crap. Things were a mess back them, Cadance.”

Cadance blinked again. “What do you mean?”

“Ever heard of the Four Princes of Shatterhoof Valley?”

“Yes!” Cadance beamed. “It’s a cute story about the three older princes that set out to find a loving wife for their younger brother, Prince Glitterhoof, when a minstrel from Equestria arrived and sang about Equestria! They traveled to Equestria and arranged for Princess Luna to date with the youngest and then they got married and got to live in Equestria happily ever after!”

Chrysalis stared at Cadance for a while until it became an uncomfortable silence. Then Chrysalis chuckled and laughed. Cadance deadpanned at her. “Not the real story, is it?”

“Well, let’s say that Prince Glitterhoof wasn’t the youngest and that it turned out he didn’t exactly live happily ever after.” Chrysalis gave her creepy smile and a book flashed into existence after her horn charged up with magic. She gave it to Cadance, who took it in her own telekinetic magic. “Don’t let Shining Armor catch you reading this. It will scar him for life. Especially the part about ‘Prince Glitterhoof’.”

Cadance blinked at her and then stared at the book. It was a simple, rather thin book with a green leather cover and golden letters that said ‘The Four Princes of Shatterhoof Valley’. Seemed safe enough. There seemed to be no magic on it other than the typical magical preservation spells and another to make it more resistant to manipulation. Somehow Cadance felt a bit uneasy about it. Probably because of Chrysalis. “What is it about?”

“It is about what happens when one's ego becomes larger than their worth. The greater the glory, the greater the fall and Celestia fell from very high.”

Cadance gasped. “Is this about Princess Celestia?”

“No, Cadance. It is about four princess that failed to understand times were changing and happened upon the worst pair of sisters they could have to try and bully them around. If you asked me, I wouldn’t shed a tear for the princes, their families, their friends and even their courtiers, but there is a limit to how much ‘justice' one can do without becoming part of the problem themselves.”

“I see…” Cadance frowned at the book. Better to read it with Twilight later.

“Anyways… I thought that you would benefit from learning from this story… Luna’s told me about your issues. Celestia is going to want to hear about that in the dinner.”

Oh, Cadance bet she would, and she hadn’t noticed, but she frowned at Chrysalis because Celestia would be hearing a lot in that dinner. That was probably why Chrysalis looked so concerned. It was kind of funny seeing Chrysalis trying to play mediator. Still, that didn’t change the fact that Cadance was angry and that was putting it lightly.

“They want to help. As do I. Don’t be late for dinner.” Chrysalis sighed and then went her way, also leaving through the door and Cadance was alone, staring at the book, wondering about the timing of their meeting. Princess Celestia used to be more cunning and subtle.

Cadance cringed at her own thoughts. Maybe the situation was just that bad and she was too stubborn to realize.

Anyways, better to find Twilight and get ready for the dinner.

***

“Wait… You mean you guys think we summoned the Windigos to attack you? Are you out of your minds?!” Pinkie Pie shrieked with her typical gaping mouth and giant eyes of surprise. “This is crazier than… Than… Hum… Applejack?”

“Crazier than a soup sandwich!” The farmpony agreed. “They almost destroyed us!”

Twilight nodded. “Not to mention that it contradicts Cadance’s vision more than the Hearthwarming tale.”

“Oh! The princess had a vision?!” Gallensa growled. “Goodness me… She had a vision! You ponies smoke stuff we use to scare the flies away!”

“Hum… Those don’t really scare the flies away.” Fluttershy said timidly. “They overwhelm their senses, and it is very uncomfortable to them.”

Gallensa just stared at her until Fluttershy went back to her food.

“Although…” Twilight spoke again, frowning and rubbing her chin. “The vision didn’t say anything that would outright contradict this version. It is possible that the unicorns caused the Windigos to arrive. Discord did say he felt something was wrong with them… Even if he figured all ponies were the problem. It is even possible that the unicorns did it, even if unintentionally, and that could be what Princess Celestia is trying to hide so much.”

“I feel like if one third of the ponies had a dirty secret it might cause some issues…” Starlight mused. “Maybe enough that it warranted hiding the whole story?”

“So… You agree with us?” Grigory’s skinny brown friend stared.

“No! All I’m saying is that your point of view could be correct from a certain perspective, and that it warrants closer examination. It is a good thing to ask Princess Celestia.” Twilight would like a quick answer, but in her experience, those were typically plain wrong. She just couldn’t get out of her head that Discord thought it was important that they met that Naminé. Such a weird name.

“Do you really think that she’ll outright admit to it?” Grigory’s white friend, Gracielle, didn’t seem very convinced. “Princess Celestia has been lying about that matter for centuries.”

She rubbed her mane with a hoof. “I know it’s not very reassuring, but I’m afraid we can’t just force her to acquiesce to us. The best we can do is try to get her to talk about all she wants and maybe something more. I think it’s good enough that she wants to talk.”

“You don’t really have a plan, do you?” Grigory sighed at her and held his face.

“Says the guy that stole dad’s airship and whose plan crumbled before his eyes.” She grinned back at him.

“That is not what happened.” He defended himself, borderline offended at her remark.

“It sure looked like it, though…” Rainbow chuckled from the other side of the table.

“Well, it is true that my plan didn’t work, but it is not as though I stole my father’s airship. Most important: how do we approach questioning Celestia, if she is not willing to tell us the whole truth?”

“I believe that a tactful approach would be advisable.” Rarity offered. “I doubt the Princess will feel much inclined to explain anything if we are not mindful of our manners. Over time, I have learned that Princess Celestia responds well to good manners.”

“What?” Grigory’s big friend mock-smiled at her. “No wiping paws in the tablecloth?”

“That would be preferable, sir.”

“Hum…” Twilight continued. “Why do you believe that we used the Windigos as weapons against you? You certainly know of the Hearthwarming Tale, but given the reclusive demeanor of your… Hum… Faction… Could you explain to us where your belief comes from?”

“No. We can’t.” Gallensa replied in such an aggressive manner she almost scared the ponies. “Our tales are not meant to be given to others. Your precious princess would antagonize and seek to destroy us more than she already does and if she knew of our actual history more than she already does, she could destroy us.”

Before Twilight could argue that she needed the information, Grigory put a paw on Gallensa’s shoulder. “Gallensa is correct, princess. Our lore and our culture must be protected for the sake of our safety. But the situation is extraordinary.”

Twilight imagined they wouldn’t like what they had just heard, but the other griffons said nothing and Grigory went on. “It is mentioned in the Cry of the Harpy. ‘Until they saw they could not bend us and brought the Eternal Winter to the North. My Children scattered and fled to the south in the wake of the pony nation’.”

“The Cry of the Harpy, huh?” Twilight mused. “What is it?”

“It is our History. A book containing a tale written by The Harpy herself about our story. From our creation to the present day and what Celestia has hidden from the world for the sake of the Traitor King, and for her own sake.”

“King Grover?” Twilight asked. “Was he the Traitor King? I mean, it would make sense. From your point of view.”

“I am surprised you are so accepting of the idea, princess.” Gallensa said, looking bored, holding her head and with an elbow on the table. “I suppose that having your big princess lying to you would have that effect.”

“Wait a pony bucking second!” Applejack suddenly tapped her hoof on the table. “I had assumed that this Harpy of yours was some old griffon of that time. Twilight did tell us that she was mentioned in a letter from some general way back when.”

“The Harpy is eternal, pony.” He said while his girlfriend seemed distressed over that and said something in their language. He remained calm and talked back to her, then returned his attention to the ponies.

“Is she alive now?” Pinkie closed an eye at him, all suspicious in her own ‘Pinkie way’.

“She is hiding, Miss Pie.” He looked calmly at the pony. “Your adored Princess Celestia would stop at nothing to murder her.”

Twilight rose an eyebrow. “I find that hard to believe.”

“You don’t have to.” He was serious and his eyes left no doubt in that regard. “Ask your princess about her and you will see that she is not as welcoming and friendly as you like to think.”

Good moment to keep her head cool. She nodded at him, but also grinned. “Well, I’m convinced that Princess Celestia had good reasons to do what she did, but it may be a good idea not to mention to her that you claimed The Harpy is alive. I am also willing to help. I assume that you would help me understand. Where did you want to take me and Cadance?”

“To Stormy Eyrie. It is the place where Emperor Grigor first met the Harpy.”

“Stormy Eyrie…” Spike noted the name down.

“Hum… If something happens and we are separated, we’ll try to go there after we see Naminé in Manehattan. Where is it?”

The griffons chuckled at that and Grigory more than the others. “You’ll die going there on your own. If you make it to the northern frontier, you will not make it past the Frozen North. If the malevolent climate from the Windigos doesn’t kill you, the undead monsters from the battlefields of the past will. And if you manage to make it to the mountain range, the climb or the storm will. But if you make it past them, somehow, the Harpy will not suffer your presence in the Stormy Eyrie. She’ll return you a finely cut set of pony parts to Celestia.”

The ponies stared with huge eyes, but Twilight just deadpanned. “Well, it’s pretty hard to help someone that is trying to kill me. And you wanted me to think that Princess Celestia is wrong? Wait… She lives in there? Somewhere in the Frozen North?”

“It is complicated, and I can’t explain to you anymore, unless I take you there. That is why I wanted to escort you into our territory. You are of no use to us if you are dead.”

“I take it that this Harpy doesn’t like ponies very much.” Applejack squinted at them. “Mind explaining?”

“You stole the world from us.” There was another gasp, but as it had become commonplace in that adventure Twilight didn’t find it funny.

“That is a weird way of putting it.” Twilight said, finally. “Was it because Princess Celestia killed the Emperor? We don’t really know much about what happened in that time because she hid all of it.”

Grigory shook his head and then grinned mysteriously. “Our grievances with your kind are much older than that, pony. They go as far as before the beginning of time.”

“That doesn’t make a lot of sense.” Twilight gave him a reproaching stare. “Things cannot happen before time. It’s nonsensical, not to mention absurd to imagine that you would have actual information about anything of the sort.”

“It is also in the Cry of the Harpy.” Grigory explained. And he was going to quote from it again, but Twilight interrupted.

“And you believe it just because of that? Something that makes no sense on its own?”

“Actually…” Spike rose a claw. “Didn’t Cadance tell us that Discord wanted things to return to the moment of creation?”

“There is clearly some powerful time magic involved, Twilight.” Starlight added. “Not to mention that the griffons could be using some sort of figurative language.”

Twilight hummed and Grigory simply stared, mildly angry. “Will you let me speak?”

The others grinned apologetically.

“Long before the Windigos, the ponies cast a powerful spell that summoned the Black Sun. We don’t know exactly what it did, but it was what allowed the ponies to rule the world and replace us.”

“Black Sun…” Twilight mused. “Is that the same thing Queen Chrysalis mentioned? That the sun exploded and became dark? I mean, I didn’t believe her at the time, but now you’re telling me that the northerner griffons have a similar tale about the sun becoming black… Probably different events, though. What exactly do you know about this?”

“Not much, unfortunately. But it is likely that Chrysalis told you about the Mad God and his attempt of returning the world to us. And I am talking of a time before that.” Grigory shook his head. “An event that the ponies used it to take over the world from us in the climax of a war between our kinds.”

“Whoa nelly! What the hay?!” Applejack shrieked

And Twilight cried. “What? What do you mean?”

Grigory shrugged. “Why else would he attempt to return time to the moment of creation? If not to return it’s fate to the original owner, The Harpy?”

“That is not what he said I Cadance's dream. She quoted him saying that Amore and the others would have a new chance.” Twilight frowned at him. “He didn’t even mention The Harpy.”

His big friend smirked at her. “In his place I wouldn’t either.”

“Alright.” Twilight frowned and groaned. “Regardless, Spike, make a list of subjects we need to ask Princess Celestia.”

“Guys, don’t look, but those two ponies are paying attention to everything you say.” Shining alerted them, as quietly as he could while still being heard. “Ten Bits say they’re royal guards listening in for the Princess.”

“Took us long enough to realize…” Grigory added with the same low voice. “I suppose we’ve talked enough.”

“What would you have us do, Grigory?” His big friend asked.

“Return to our rooms. And be quiet until dinner.” He told them calmly and they nodded.

“I wanna see if Spitfire is okay…” Rainbow told Starlight, then looked at Gracielle. “You know… Someone shot her with a real gun.”

“What? I was helping you guys! She was fighting Captain Armor! I mean… She was kicking his ass!” She paused for a second. “His flank. Whatever.”

“Enough.” Grigory put an end to the arguing and didn’t look like his mood was improving. “Go to your rooms. We will prepare for the dinner with Princess Celestia. And probably Princess Luna too. Be mindful of even your thoughts.”

They didn’t argue and left the table without another word, leaving the ponies and dragon by themselves, and when they were gone, they turned to Twilight.

“I don’t like this.” Applejack was the first to speak. “I don’t trust these griffons as far as I can throw them. I got the feeling that he wanted to downright ponynap you and Cadance. I feel like Princess Celestia and Luna, Chrysalis too, just saved us from them!”

“I can’t say that you are wrong, AJ…” Twilight nodded. “But they may be our best chance if Princess Celestia isn’t willing to talk openly to us.”

“I’m a little worried, Twi.” Her brother said rubbing the table’s edge with his hoof. “Cadance isn’t very well…”

She sighed. “Yes. I know Shining. But I’m hoping that Princess Luna or Celestia can somehow make things better for her in this dinner tonight.”

“Well, at least we know that she’s going to want to be there, if only because she wants to make them talk about her dream.” He shrugged. “I suppose that we want to know too, right?”

***

Twilight stayed at her designated room in the Break of Dawn, a rather large room considering it was on an airship. It had a princess-size bed, all the required furniture for a pony like Rarity to spruce up in addition to the furniture normal ponies would need from a bedroom, and much like the room in the hospital airship, it had its own bathroom.

It felt luxurious like the rooms in the Canterlot Palace, but smaller.

The closet had been stocked with stuff she might need and one of her dresses, the white, pink, and purple one for important meetings. She hoped that royal guards had gone to Ponyville and asked her servants for one of them or something of the sort, because otherwise that would be kind of creepy.

She spent most of the day preparing for the conversation and reading a book she found in the bedside table. It was about relationships. She wondered if hitting her boyfriend in the face during the fight had something to do with that. Probably not and the book was just some random thing somepony had left there.

The wait was a bit boring, and she was curious about the airships, but after her efforts to find the griffon traitor got her angry stared from the royal guards she decided that staying shut and out of trouble was the best way to deal with the situation for now. Cadance had been doing some snooping around on her own and Twilight was sure that if there was anything of notice, she would share when she had time. She only hoped her friends, or the griffons wouldn’t do anything too stupid, like that Gracielle trying to steal back her weapon. Fortunately, Grigory seemed to have her under control.

When the time for dinner loomed, she prepared accordingly, wore the dress and included her Element of Magic tiara, then left her room. Shining Armor and Cadance just arrived. He wore his gala Royal Guard uniform with a ceremonial rapier and she a white and pink dress. Cadance didn’t look very happy though.

“You look great, Twilight!” He grinned at her and Cadance nodded, despite her mood.

“Princess Celestia is treating this as though everything is fine.” The pink alicorn grumbled unfriendly. “She better cough-up some answers or we’re going to have problems this night!”

“Don’t worry, Cadance. I’m with you in this.” Twilight agreed, even if she hoped it wouldn’t come to that. “If she didn’t want to talk, we wouldn’t be having dinner. Let’s just try and enjoy it too, alright?”

“She’s probably going to lie her muzzle off to us, Twilight.”

Twilight frowned. Just a little. “Try not to go into the conversation looking for reasons to be angry, Cadance. We owe Princess Celestia and Luna a fair chance.”

The other seemed to have agreed, at least.

“We’ll deal with that however we can.” Twilight frowned some more and lowered her voice. “Just because we’ve been caught, it doesn’t mean that it is all over.”

Cadance nodded silently and Shinning rolled his eyes. “Can we go?

Both mares agreed, and so they did. The corridor took them to the entrance hall where Twilight’s friends gathered, appropriately dressed for dinner with royalty. Twilight thought it was silly. This dinner wouldn’t be a social affair or a celebration. It was an opportunity to be level with each other and make amends. The thought that Celestia might not even recognize that she needed to make amends struck her, but that was what she had at the moment. Hay… As far as Twilight knew, Princess Celestia might think that she and Cadance needed to make amends. They got caught, after all…

Well, she had been throwing around some cards Twilight didn’t recognize, but if she was indeed that nice Princess Celestia Twilight knew, she would be interested in making amends no matter who was wrong in that whole affair and in that everypony got off feeling better. And that there would be peace.

She supposed she would see.

Standing with her friends, she could see Grigory’s griffons too. They wore a black set of ceremonial armor with golden details, but Grigory and Gallensa also wore very discreet and elegant golden diadems.

The ‘prince’ approached Twilight and she talked to him “I wish we could’ve avoided this whole thing. I would rather we had gone to that place you wanted to take us. At least I wouldn’t be feeling like a little filly about to be scolded.”

Grigory smirked at her. “Trust me, Princess. I know how you feel. There are adults that fear a scolding from Lady Gwendolen and giffons joke that they are more afraid of her than of the Lion himself.”

“Lady Gwendolen is his mate, right?” She asked and he nodded. “I never bothered with her. Everypony is always talking about The Lion.”

He grinned a touch more conceited. “A good predator lies in the tall grass and waits, Princess. Won’t move a muscle out of order until their prey is already dead but doesn’t know it yet.”

Then he frowned. “That was what I believed, at least.”

Twilight frowned at his words. The others didn’t seem to have heard as he was very personal and reserved in that conversation, but his change in mood drew her attention. She thought back to him trying to cast a spell and failing. Maybe that had something to do.

But before she could inquire, Crucible Wings, wearing his standard Royal Guard armor, opened the double door under the stair to the mezzanine and spoke clearly, the same way he announced guests in her court.

“Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, Princess Twilight Sparkle. Master Grigory. And companions, Her Royal Highnesses, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna welcome you. Please, this way.”

Grigory smirked at Twilight again and gestured with his paw for her to go first, which she did, followed by her friends. Starlight Glimmer and Spike were there too, but not her guards, or Flurry Heart and the maid. Certainly not her airship’s crewponies.

Past the door they entered a ball room with windows, a balcony on the far end, a beautiful gold, silver and crystal candelabra and a large table prepared for dinner in the center. Celestia wore a pretty white and gold dress next to Luna, who wore a turquoise and silver one. In between them was Chocolate Velvet wearing his custom Royal Guard gala uniform with whites, blues, golden and silver, complete with that golden mane fishnet he often used. He even had a decorative rapier, much like Shining Armor. Not to mention that they also wore their royal diadems.

And then she saw Thorax wearing a weird green and black uniform with bright green highlights that were just weird, but that was probably some sort of cultural shock. She couldn’t imagine Chrysalis allowing him to look bad next to her, who wore a dress too, but it resembled a carapace of velvety black plates and also a golden diadem. Thorax wore, instead, a nice and delicate chain headdress on his horns.

She was about to greet their hosts when Grigory fired off furiously by her side. “I am not sharing a table with that vile creature.”

“You can sit on the floor if you want, Grigory.” Chrysalis replied without missing a beat and not even changing her disinterested expression.

He stared back at Celestia. “This is why things will not work, Celestia. For some reason, this monster that has brought nothing more than pain and suffering into the world, including to her own kind is allowed a saying in the matters of griffons!”

Twilight couldn’t decide which was better. Luna’s blank ‘bitch, you serious?’ expression or Celestia’s motherly, knowing smile as she talked. “By that logic I don’t think that you would be here either, Grigory.”

Chrysalis’ ears perked up and she stared at Celestia. “I don’t know wherever I should feel defended or attacked, Celestia.”

Celestia smirked at her. “Perhaps all of us should feel grateful we have the opportunity to sit together and talk?”

Luna giggled. “How about we sit for dinner and talk like friends trying not to kill each other? We ask that all leave their quarrels outside and instead share a nice dinner and conversation.”

Twilight felt as though Grigory wanted to say something more but didn’t. Instead directed himself and his friends to the table. There were small paper signs folded to stand in front of the seats. Cutie Marks for the ponies, the Swarm’s emblem for the changelings, and a symbol Twilight didn’t recognize as Griffonia’s emblem, but it looked like a diving eagle, so it must be for the griffons, including two that also showed a small crown, which obviously were meant for Grigory and Gallensa.

She also noticed the pitchers with water and the small towels for the griffons.

Celestia and Luna sat at the head of the table with Chocolate Velvet to their right and Chrysalis and Thorax on the other side. Twilight and ponies on one side, including dragon, and griffons on the other side. Twilight had once read about the ‘secret language’ behind formal dinners and she supposed she was seeing a pony that was fluent at it in action.

“Now…” Celestia spoke while the servants brought in the food and beverages. “I hope you found your accommodations satisfactory.”

“They’re nice.” Cadance said and Twilight agreed with a nod. Grigory did too, but Twilight decided it was out of politeness.

“There are several issues that I believe we must address, but, originally, I did not plan we would have griffon guests at our table. I believe that politeness would dictate our guests are allowed the first opportunity to talk.”

“Thank you, Princess.” Grigory and Twilight watched as a royal guard in uniform, rather than armor, put a covered plate for him. “But I think that the only reason we are here is because Princesses Twilight Sparkle and Mi Amore Cadenza would like to talk to you. After all, we merely wished to assist on their quest. But since you offer the opportunity, I would like to mention that it seems as though ponies consider themselves the owners of the world. And that is something I have a problem with.”

“That would be wrong. Ponies don’t think of themselves as the owners of the world and if they did, they would be wrong.” Celestia told him while the servant next to her took the domed covering of her plate away, revealing steamed vegetables on butter, grains and bean sprouts. “I know why you would say that, though. But you should be acutely aware that, as responsibility over the manipulation of weather and worldly matters, the legislations over game hunting are sanctioned by chosen representatives of all the peoples in the Confederacy. It is easy to misconstrue the facts as though ponies didn’t want you to hunt to your heart’s content because we would consider ourselves closer to your prey. And, for the sake of the legitimacy of the other subjects that should be brought up tonight, I will be utterly and brutally honest with you. If it were up to me, you would simply not be allowed, or given any leeway on meat. Not even fish or poultry, or even more exotic meats, such as snakes, eels or monsters.”

While Twilight and the other ponies were served the same as Princess Celestia’s, she noticed the griffons were given steamed and buttered vegetables, but also finely cut and fried fish fillets. She didn’t know what was that in Chrysalis’ and Thorax's plates, but it looked like somepony had cooked sponges for them. Was that some sort of fungus?!

Looking at Cadance, Twilight almost gasped at the sight of the usually composed princess devouring the steamed vegetables as though she hadn’t had a decent meal in days. Still, she paid attention to Princess Celestia.

“Your people, or rather, your faction among your people can hate me all you want, but the truth is that your fellow griffons themselves are aware of the issue of taking the life of intelligent creatures and would agree with me. In fact, I am constantly under attack from low-level tabloids all over the Confederacy for allowing your faction not only getting away with slaughterhouses and game hunting but also simply existing and testifying of your beliefs.”

The princess frowned and let her silverware on the table to stare at the griffon. “I have been told that I am too lenient on Snow Mountains Hold since the times of Emperor Grigor. In fact, I can recall then Princess Chrysalis yelling at me to ‘kill them all or they would be back’.”

While Chrysalis happily munched on whatever was that greenish-gray spongy thing, Thorax cleared his throat and grinned apologetically. “The Swarm is however happy to declare that whatever grievances we had with the griffons are a thing of the past!”

Chrysalis was too happy eating that thing to bother with her typical snark.

Grigory looked at the queen and at Thorax, listened to him (and to Chrysalis’ noisy chewing), but didn’t say anything.

Celestia went on. “Other than that. It is incredibly frustrating that your cohorts hold this idea that I am the evil which corrupts all griffons from the path of whatever glorious purity you think that the Harpy wanted you to follow. I violate my own morality to allow for you to murder almost childishly naïve creatures that just want to be left alone and I certainly do not encourage ponies to create offspring with griffons or hippogriff. They do that on their own, from both sides.”

“Unfortunately, our issues can’t be resolved with words, Princess.”

“I am aware, Grigory. Which is one of the reasons I have no objections towards The Lion becoming the king of the griffons and ruling Griffonia. I believe in small steps, as long as civility can be maintained. I expect that a more reasonable dialogue on these issues can resume once the griffons are satisfied with their new leader.”

“How civil is it that you lied to my people, and yours, that you helped the Traitor King erase all history about Emperor Grigor? Is that why you have lied to us?”

“One might consider that, since Grigor acted against the vast majority of griffons, he would be the traitor. But no, Grigor was a monster like no other, even when the griffon lands constantly changed paws in between petty kings, one after the other deciding that they knew what was best for the griffons, no matter how bloody their claws became to the point I have wondered if griffons themselves were the problem. But not only that, he allowed an insidious and dangerous evil such as the ideology associated with The Harpy to thrive on his rule because it was beneficial to him. The truth is that you are as you are today because of the belief in The Harpy. Somehow, it survived past the fall of Grigor's Empire and eluded my notice. He allowed her cult to turn you into animals, and Grover, much like the remaining sane population of griffons, was terrified that she would ever return. He wanted her forgotten and erased from your history and if Grigor had to go too, no one would shed a tear over a particularly brutal warlord. And yet her name is mentioned today. I would like to understand how that is so until the end of this dinner.”

“Princess… Since you brought up The Harpy, may I ask you a question?” Twilight thought it was a good thing Starlight was there because it was probably better to approach the whole issue from a tangent, as Starlight did.

“Yes, Starlight Glimmer?”

She put her hooves on the table and spoke carefully. “Princess Cadance’s dream-vision made us believe that ponies and griffons may have developed in a different way and it seemed as though ponies were indeed meant to… ‘Make the world work’, for in the lack of a better expression and we also were under the impression that their minds developed in dependence of the entities that created them and sent them from somewhere to do just that. Meanwhile, from her perspective, the griffons just happened to exist and also developed in a different way. Was it because of the Harpy?”

Twilight agreed. “Good question. The fact that ponies were created to make the world work is as good as any explanation about the reason why we exist, and our magic makes the world work. But this difference in how our minds developed distinctively from the minds of griffons seems strange. Are you familiar with the works of Dr. Jungle Jaynest? Starlight said she happened upon evidence of that and in the light of Cadance’s vision, it becomes rather important evidence.”

“Her work was regarded as biased and too opinionated. Not to mention plain fantastical.” Celestia closed her eyes for a while and nodded, more to herself than to the others. “However, this is a good starting point. Have you ever noticed how certain creatures, intelligent as they are, would rather not civilize themselves? Such as cows, which are completely dependent on us taking care of them? But also, dragons that refuse to organize further and build a civilization. Or wild animals you could have a simple philosophical conversation with, but will simply not settle areas? Or seek higher education or protection from civilization, where their rights would be held? Countless intelligent creatures that exist isolated or, even if they are gregarious and do form strong bonds, distance themselves from civilization?”

They listened to the princess, quiet and intently. “That is because they lack the insight to understand that. Simply because it wasn’t given to them. They didn’t need that to fulfill their role.”

“The reason ponies have the capacity to shed their magic into the world and bring order to its chaos is that magic cannot act on its own. Similarly, Harmony needed an agent with the power to decide on how to tame the world. Thus, called into existence one with the power to create other beings, as once the world began to exist, it needed to find its path into order, and such creatures would guide it. She was The Harpy. She made the griffons in her own image and gave them independence and free reign over the world, and they shaped it in their image. Harmony reacted, providing what they demanded, and while they ruled the world, Harmony populated the world with other creatures, that were given the task to grow, multiply, and taste different, I suppose. But those had needs of their own, and so the ponies were created.”

She turned to the griffons. “Does that sound right, Grigory?”

“Hold up! Wait a second…” Rainbow frowned and made a ‘time-out’ gesture with her hooves. “Did you just say that The Harpy made us for food?!”

“No.” Celestia explained. “Not the harpy, nor necessarily for food, but to fulfil the roles griffons demanded of the world, reflecting The Harpy’s idea of order. By the inherent magic of the world, shaped in the wake of The Harpy’s creation. It just so happened that in a world of predators, one needed prey. And prey needed their own food.”

“That does makes sense…” Grigory actually seemed surprised. “I just didn’t expect your highness to outright say it like that.”

“Geez…” Chocolate complained with a sour expression. “The Circle of Life doesn’t seem so fun when the main character isn’t the apex predator.”

“Indeed.” Celestia agreed and took a drink from a glass with wine and Twilight wondered what that Circle of Life was. She had an idea that it was something about predation, but the way he mentioned it was weird.

“But that makes no sense! At all!” Cadance complained, her food completely forgotten. “My vision had nothing of that!”

“Because Celestia is talking about events from before…” Grigory mused. “What you saw is after the ponies had taken over the world.”

“Please… We didn’t ‘take over the world’. Your Harpy failed at her job.” Celestia scorned what he had just said with a scowl and left her cup back on the table. “What happened is that The Harpy and her extremist ideals were incompatible with coexistence. You savages hunted and killed so much that you made life unsustainable. You quite literally broke your toy. Now, have you come across the subject of the Black Sun?”

It almost scared Twilight that the Princess outright called the griffons savages, but she held her reaction at bay and simply listened.

“It is mentioned in our tales as a spell you ponies cast to rob the world from us.” Grigory explained calmly. “Similarly, as to when you summoned the Windigos to wage war on us.”

Twilight nodded after clearing her throat and focused on the conversation itself. “Chrysalis mentioned it. And then Discord might have, in Cadance’s dream.”

Chrysalis remained quiet and listened.

Cadance nodded too while Twilight went on. “Discord said that things would return to the moment of creation. Taking what Chrysalis had told us, and what Grigory told us, I assume that he wanted to summon the Black Sun and that it somehow involved ponies being killed, hence, the way he acted. That would make sense if griffons hunting and killing too much prey caused it previously. Is that right?”

“The Black Sun…” Celestia’s fork fiddled with her vegetables, enveloped on her magical aura. “Is not a spell that can be cast. It is a natural process of magic that is triggered when existence cannot sustain itself further. If creatures brought magic into the world in the form of a soul, when they died, the magic they carried would leave the world. Now, if magic was dependent upon itself to work, magic in the world would cease to function properly and would cause Life, which is magic animating live structures, to cease to work too. Therefore, causing a cascade effect of magical failure of the world.”

Twilight nodded and looked at Cadance who nodded too.

“Now where would that magic go?” Celestia had her ‘teacher mode’ in full swing, with ‘that’ way of speaking and Twilight had to hide her giggling grin so that she wouldn’t see. Cadance elbowed at her with the same grin.

However, nobody answered, so Luna did. “It must follow the natural flow it always does. It returns to the Sun, which is the source of Life. In more than one way, as Celestia explained. Everything in Equestria is magical, so if plants need the sunlight to exist, then the magic which animates them also needs that magic that the Sun radiates. After all, for magic to do anything it must flow. Act. It is the ‘verb’ of Creation. At night, the magic flows from the world and is returned to the Sun, via the Moon. It is also when most creatures rest and the plants themselves rest from their job of making oxygen for us to breathe. It is in that time that souls make their journey back to the origin of Life. So that their souls will rest, and then begin Life anew.”

“Does that have anything to do with your dream powers and the nightmares?” Twilight frowned at Luna. “If nightmares are attacks from psychic monsters, I feel like there could be a connection, since you take care of the moon and of our dreams.”

“You are almost there, Twilight…” Celestia smiled. “The right question would be ‘what happens to a pony, or any other creature when they expire?’ And the answer is that their souls decouple from the living creature they used to animate. Then, they flow freely with the ‘river’ of magic. Vulnerable, drifting. A very special pony was then given the power to guide confused and exhausted souls to safety, protecting them from parasitic magical monsters that would feed on their magic and potentially stop them from reaching their resting place.”

Luna blushed. “That is an idyllic flourish… It's complicated and Celestia has no qualms in assuming that the Sun is part of her as much as the Moon is a part of me. We should reach that point soon. For now, know that the Moon is their guide as much as it syphons the energies from the world and keeps them flowing. By its nature, the Moon is associated with the processes of death and it tints the magic of the world so. Necromantic magic becomes powerful, and mind-attacking magic is included, such as the ones used by the Nightmares, as mind and necromancy focused magical creatures.”

“So…” Rainbow began. “If there are monsters in the night, why don’t we sleep during the day?”

“We need the sunlight. It causes our bodies to make hormones that help us focus. At night, we make hormones that help us be calm. That is an oversimplification, and the actual system is extraordinarily complex, but that is the gist of it. Ponies become depressed without sunlight.”

Luna frowned a little. “Well, biology is what it is and has its reasons. And magic… Well… Because of our cultural traits, this sounds disturbing, but as far as magic is concerned, Death is as much a part of Life as Life itself as waking time and sleeping time. It is a part of the process that channels magic to where it must go. But it does make for good Nightmare Night themes, and once again, it fulfils a purpose.”

“Huh…” Twilight touched her chin thoughtfully. “That would explain Discord’s views on death before he understood that each creature is unique.”

“Beings such as The Harpy, Discord, Amore….” Celestia said softly. “Instinctively recognized the souls more than the creatures they became. In this light, the Sun and the Moon are different facets of the same thing. The processes of becoming alive and dying, symbolized in the celestial bodies, conceptualizing a cycle, as dawn and nightfall. A cycle of birth, death and rebirth. Small wonder the ponies saw sun and moon as sisters and that manifested in us being bound as sisters once that magic was bound to us.”

The blue alicorn giggled. “Magic rhymes. It has phrases and choruses. It is like music. The point is that all that magic from creatures dying, returning to the Sun is what triggers the Black Sun. As though it is overwhelmed with too much magic, which was a state it used to be in before Life came to the world. It does weird things to it, and then it swallows everything, and when it is done, it creates everything again, as though so much magic cannot be contained and must be let out. The flow of energies creates magic as we know it. From the simple unicorn telekinesis, to the forces of creation and destruction on a cosmic scale.”

“It’s a freaking black hole…” Chocolate Velvet gasped and drew attentions to him. “Just magical. Even in my original world, where magic doesn’t exist, black holes were imagined connecting universes. They were told to have all sorts of bizarre effects because of the way they were theorized to affect spacetime. Some people even said that they connected time from the moment of their creation to the future because of extreme gravitational time dilation. Thus, some supermassive black-holes could literally be connected to the origin of the universe and its eventual end.”

“What exactly is a black-hole, Chocolate?” Celestia asked curiously.

“Well, the term was a misnomer. They aren’t holes, and they aren’t black. They are more like collapsed stars. A star is a collection of matter that is so massive that its gravity causes it to compress itself so much that it fuses matter, and the process releases energy. They exist in a balance where the energy they generate keeps them from collapsing completely, but as they use up matter, which becomes heavier, it also generates less energy per fusion, so, eventually, gravity ‘wins’ and they literally fall into themselves. If they are massive enough, they will become a black hole, containing ridiculous amounts of matter into an infinitely small point in space. They would be hard to detect, and their gravitational attraction would drag matter that comes too close into them, inescapably. So much gravity that not even light, supposedly the fastest thing allowed by the laws of physics could breach escape velocity. Thus, they are ‘holes’ in space that consume matter, and they are ‘black’ because their light can’t escape them.”

“Sounds like a cosmic monster!” Cadance gasped.

“Hum…” Celestia hummed to herself, thinking of something, but she didn’t say what it was. She didn’t seem too happy, though.

“I don’t know how, but I’m going to come up with a black hole costume for next Nightmare Night Ball!” Luna giggled all happy.

“You’re supposed to go as Nightmare Moon, Luna. You’ve created a monster, Velvet…” Celestia chuckled at him. “Anyways, the problem is that the Harpy was not aware of such processes. Or simply ignored them. She merely allowed her children to break the world, as it would fix itself anew anyways.”

Celestia cleaned her muzzle with a napkin after eating some of her vegetables while Luna spoke. “It never occurred to her and her dumb bird brain that she was supposed to take care of the world, not use it as her playground where her little ‘herselves’ hurt others as they pleased. Because even if magic simply does what it must without hard feelings, creatures don’t. And as you now know, some memories are so powerful they transcend existence.”

“Ponies were the preferred prey of the griffons. They were also not rational and lacked a sophisticated intellect to defend themselves. The problem was they were responsible, since that time, for taming the wild magic of the world. Thus, magic being tied to will, and Harmony being the orchestrator of Creation sought a solution to the problem. If the griffons, donned with free-will, would kill all the ponies, then they needed something that would protect them. And ponies, abandoned in a terrifying world where they existed only to suffer for the delight of others sought their protectors in the things that gave rhythm to their life, in more ways than their simple instinctive intelligence allowed for them to understand. The Sun and the Moon. The cycle of attraction and of birthing new foals. The bounds of unity among them, that kept the herd together. It was all their simple minds understood.”

“But it sufficed and manifested in the form of big and powerful ponies, to protect the herds.” The princess frowned. “But The Harpy didn’t take the hint. It escalated into a wild war where the griffons sought to subjugate their inferior prey, and that caused panicked, powerful and dangerous creatures, driven by fear and hatred to hunt and trample griffon nesting grounds in response to the griffons killing the ponies and it was awful all over!”

Luna sighed. “With a proper insight that we are talking about creatures capable of fear and anger, you can imagine it was awful, and that is putting it lightly.”

“That does sound awful!” Cadance whined.

“It sounds natural.” Grigory replied. “You ponies are just scared of everything.”

“Actually, a natural system should keep predators and prey in balance with each other. Even if irrational animals would fear each other, they wouldn’t escalate into a veritable war. Even with ponies caring for nature, prey moves away from areas where predation is too intense.” Fluttershy said. “This system is self-destructive and couldn’t be farther from natural. Even our version of natural. Why did the Harpy make it like that?”

“I don’t know. Prey was supposed to see it as a good thing, or something. As though being chosen to be brutally killed and eaten was a privilege. Their lot in life. Some creatures begged to disagree.” Celestia shrugged.

“What happened?” Twilight asked. She looked at her food, and it looked and smelled delicious, but the conversation was more interesting.

“Creation rebelled.” Luna said. “Until everything collapsed, and the Black Sun ended everything when the Harpy was finally destroyed. Creation began anew, but it was not her tasked with taming the Chaos. It was the creature that had killed her. Why her? Probably because Harmony saw it as the most logical. Remember that Harmony itself isn’t intelligent. It reacts.”

“Was that when the story I saw began?” Cadance asked. “With the ponies leaving somewhere to settle?”

“Can you tell us of the dream you had?” Celestia asked.

“Oh… It started with ponies traveling through a very hostile landscape until they found the place they were supposed to settle. Then one of them remembered four creatures that they had left behind, or something. They drew them on the wall… One was yellow, shinning like the sun and the other was white, like the moon. The third was pink with a heart on her chest and the other was white, with six stones on her neck. Or something like that. I think that they remembered because there was a doll, or something that they brought and that reminded them of those… Beings.”

“Now that I think of it, the images weren’t that precise, but it was the feeling that they carried. The ponies were so sad they had to leave them behind… There was also Amore going through a long time and witnessing The Lost Herd attack on the capital of the Republic.”

Celestia let out a small thoughtful hum, as though she remembered something from long ago. And, of course, her long ago was already unfathomably beyond Twilight’s league, even without that whole mess of goddesses and erased History.

“Not exactly, but it is close enough, Cadance.” Luna nodded. “The ponies you saw are the same ponies of today. The final product of a succession of trial and error. Understand that as much as they were irrational, so was their creator, at first. A scared creature that just wanted the griffons to stop hurting them, suddenly was given the reigns of Creation. She tried, but she didn’t understand the dangers of the world, and her I notion of a paradise for her little ponies to frolic, in her own interpretation of what the Harpy tried to do, just wasn’t to be. The real world was full of chaos and dangers. The first ones failed miserably. Much to her despair.”

“You see, the Black Sun is the process through which Harmony learns and can then deploy the adequate tools to self-correct in such an extreme situation. I imagine it is because souls bring information into the process of creation.” Celestia smiled. “Much as how it reacted to the griffons, it gave rise to another primordial being. One with the proper insight of how a rational mind ought to work. Together they were able to create the ponies once more. Rational creatures that would learn, understand, adapt and overcome the dangers of the world! And so forth until the ponies managed to overcome the challenges of settling the world and allowed other creatures to be born from it.”

Twilight held her gasp, but it was outrageous that Celestia simply stopped talking in that precise moment! She wanted to urge her to keep going, but the stupid griffons started talking!

“I take it things didn’t work as intended still.” Grigory said from his side of the table, rinsing his paws on the towel he was given. “After all, I see four alicorns. Four ‘goddesses’ that made the ponies. Is that correct?”

Grigory’s skinny friend, Gewehr just deadpanned at them. “So… The Harpy. And four alicorn goddesses. Did you just tell us that you need four ponies to do the job of one griffon?”

“There are five alicorns, though…” The white Gracielle showed five fingers. “What’s her name? Fluffy Heart?”

“Flurry Heart…” A bored Gallensa held her head with a paw and her elbow to the table. “Maybe she heralds the end of times.”

It almost amused Twilight that Cadance was so enthralled with her food, and Shining Armor so distracted by her that neither bothered with that comment.

“Make fun of this if you will.” Celestia glared at them like an angry teacher. “But bear in mind that it was a process, painstakingly putting together the pieces that allowed for you to exist. As they failed, for other reasons, other primordial beings manifested and corrected the problem.”

“Also remember that the Harpy does not exist anymore. That is the important fact, other than that certain creatures still exist in the same estate that Harmony originally created them in reaction to the griffons.”

“How come griffons still exist them?” The skinny Gewehr frowned. “If She doesn’t exist anymore?”

“I don’t know.” Celestia shrugged. “I suppose there is a part for your race to play in the grand scheme of things. Maybe you were not supposed to be here anymore but remained. Maybe The Harpy was supposed to create your kind and then leave. Maybe it’s some weird sort of magical imprint. I like to think that you have a purpose, because it seems that when things go the right way, that is how our world operates.”

“With all that said…” Luna spoke again. “The fundamental difference between ponies and griffons was that the Harpy made them independent and taught them to be selfish and take from the world. The Mother only wanted her ponies to be happy and spread their magic to the world, giving to it. And it is possible that this difference comes from the way our minds formed.”

Yes, that made sense until one remembered that whatever was the problem that caused that whole mess was with the ponies, not the griffons. Maybe the thing was that ponies were supposed to do something, not the griffons, and the fact that some ponies failed caused the problems, Bluebloods and Brightmanes from Cadance's dream seemed like a good example of how that could be right.

“What killed the Harpy?” Chrysalis finally broke the short silence following Luna's words. “Was it you, Celestia?”

“This is a complicated question, Chrysalis.” Luna said and frowned. “It seems as though everything in this subject is.”

“So, we are actually not those four beings the ponies were supposed to forget and then summoned when Discord tried summoning the Black Sun?” Cadance sounded disappointed.

“What you saw were Amore’s memories.” Luna explained softly. “The first strings of her consciousness as ponies literally made her from the memories they retained of their creation. I don’t know, but I suspect that she was never meant to be conscious of herself. Just a collection of magic that made Love work, continuing from their original creation in that place they migrated from. That is what would have happened, had the ponies forgotten them.”

“That is another difficult question, Cadance.” Celestia said, looking like she felt sorry for her. “And I am afraid there are no simple, easy answers. Only our opinions. Luna believes that a pony begins and ends with conception and death. The coupling of soul and body, which animates matter and generates our consciousness, is what makes a pony in her eyes. So, you, Amore, and the being which helped created the ponies are all three different individuals, if related entities, that happened to have shared a same soul due to their purpose.”

“Therefore.” Luna added. “I am the daughter of two bakers that lived in Everfree after Discord was defeated. I have an older sister and we happen to have within us the souls of some dead goddesses that allow us to do our jobs. And for some freakish accident caused by this strange magic, we have memories that belonged to these goddesses and share in their Animus Imperatives. We are, thus, compelled to carry on their jobs.”

“But that is something that she would think, considering that the mind is the province of her powers.” Celestia explained further. “My control over the Sun is a part of what I am and it is so only because this soul which animates my body and generates my being, is the same one as the primordial being that first attempted to create the ponies. And that before fought and destroyed the Harpy. That was born out of the ponies’ desperate plea for help, many existences ago. And then again, as the world ended around them because of Discord’s insane attempt of restarting creation. And I am also the daughter of the same bakers that begat my sister.”

“What happened then?” Twilight asked. “Did the ponies… Summon us? When Discord tried to summon the Black Sun and Star Swirl and the others fought the Lost Herd in the Citadel?”

“If you really think about it, the ponies both created and summoned us. Are we the same primordial beings? Yes? No? Are you the same pony you were right after you were born? The primordial beings themselves changed before that, as they had to leave the realm of the living on the penalty that their powerful magic might damage it. That fact alone may have allowed Amore to achieve a consciousness within the collective of pony minds, as she remained inside the ponies’ ‘collective mind’ while The Mother and The Sister retreated to their celestial orbs.” Celestia mused. “The ponies dragged us, or at least our souls, into this world and the end product of that process is what we are. It meant different things for each of us. For me and Luna it ruptured our souls and ripped us out of our places in the sky. Maybe the same can be said of you and Cadance, but since you were closer to the ponies, that may not have been as traumatic. That is, if you agree with me, and not Luna. If you agree with Luna, you are a normal pony that has simply been saddled with the memories of a dead goddess and the ‘gears’ within her soul.”

Then Luna took back the word and looked seriously at Cadance. “The important thing, is that you must come to terms with whatever it is that you believe that you are, because those are thoughts that, left to fester, will poison the mind and create a monster in itself that will threaten to swallow everything that you are. The truth is that there is no right answer. There is no higher authority that can tell us what we are and how we should deal with this. The best that we have are each other and their examples, to learn from their mistakes.”

“Am I wrong, then?” Cadance frowned at herself and her eyes shifted nervously. Her hooves rubbed the table and she had barely touched her food anymore, despite how excited she was with it earlier. “If I believe that I am the goddess. Amore, reborn. The Lady of the Heart… Is it wrong for me to feel as though something has been taken from me? Because ponies don’t ask me for Love anymore. Even if I see myself as a different entity… I feel as though my Gift is useless.”

“No. You are not.” Celestia shook her head and so did Luna. That answer surprised Twilight and she almost gasped. Fortunately, she made like the others and kept her mouth shut while Luna spoke. “It is the Animus Imperative that makes you feel like that. How could you ignore it? And by the way Celestia sees it, you are Amore.”

“Careful that this doesn’t twist into a bundle of self-justification.” Luna added. “As an artist with a hurt ego that nopony appreciated her Night and that disgraced herself into hurting all that she had sworn to protect. So twisted that she ignored that the peaceful beauty of the night was the very reason she had dreams to protect from the Nightmares. So depraved a monster that she shut away the one she loved the most, the only one who understood her; and then broke her own pact with Harmony and would eventually have caused the Black Sun to be summoned again out of her selfishness.”

Twilight listened to Luna and then looked at Cadance, who frowned a little and seemed satisfied with what she had heard. But she looked at Luna a little more intently. “But… If I can’t make ponies fall in love…”

Twilight had the impression that she wanted to say more but refrained herself. She too restrained her own words, even if she wanted to tell Cadance that she could still use that magic to help ponies with problems in their love life in a few ways, but her mind was actually a blank at how exactly even if she could just justify her authority as ‘The Princess of Love'. She could help couples going through divorce, but if they wanted to be free from each other, that would still be bad. Ponies that never found love, would still require another pony to love… Complicated. In the end of that train of thought Twilight simply admitted to herself that she didn’t know what to say.

Princess Celestia spoke softly, smiling at Cadance. “You are the only one that understands your gift enough to realize how it can be used. If I told you how to, I would be trespassing on hallowed ground.”

“That way of speaking doesn’t help!” Cadance whined.

“But that is what it is, Cadance.” Celestia shook her head softly. “I would not presume to tell a pony how to use their talents. Maybe you will figure out that, in the end, it would be better to force some ponies to fall in love in good will. They would be happy; their feelings would be genuine. But you might be violating their free-will. But then again, don’t we violate the free-will of creatures all the time because it is better for them? Some are arrested because they commit crimes. Foals are forced to go to school… I can tell you, with absolute certainty, however, that we will be here to help you however we can, whenever you need.”

“This didn’t help a lot.” Cadance whined again.

“It did.” Celestia insisted, seriously. “It just wasn’t what you wanted to hear. We explained to you that you can't rely on a higher authority to tell you what is right. Amore was meant to teach the ponies how to love, and once they conquered their independence, they had to figure it out for themselves with what she had taught them. As such, you are an adult. I taught you all I could, to the best of my abilities, and now you are a grown mare. You are prepared to make your decisions, much better than I was in my time. God, or mortal, morality is the same. You must figure it out on your own. I believe in you.”

Then she softened and smiled. “But remember that we will be here, just in case.”

Cadance looked down and Twilight had no idea of what went on inside her head. The others, even the griffons, made silence. Cadance smiled a little. “You know, you’re making it really hard for me to be angry at you.”

“Ah, don’t worry. I am certain I’ll fix that until the end of dinner.” The older princess giggled.

By then the food was already consumed and the royal guards brought the main course as they talked. Delicious-smelling pumpkin fricassee for the ponies and changelings and a large grilled fish for the griffons, seasoned with herbs. It was a little funny that Celestia trusted the Royal Guard to listen into all that just so that they could serve dinner, but she supposed that if there were ever ponies that Celestia could trust, those would be them. She had heard many, many stories growing up.

Something nagged at her mind, however. Actually, several things nagged at her mind, such as the fact that the griffons seemed too quiet; whatever happened after the dream ended; what happened to her ancestor; how did Matriarch Flameheart survive; where did she and Luna fit in the whole dream; what was that story about being summoned, dying, and then being born; and how did griffons know about The Harpy if she wasn’t supposed to exist anymore… But the most pressing of her concerns were about herself. “What about me?”

“As I said that event was certainly different for each of us.”

“No.” Twilight insisted. “I mean the fourth ‘primordial being’! What did they do? There was Life, Intelligence, Love and…? Friendship? Also, was Amicizia the first one that attacked Discord?”

“It looked like it.” Cadance said.

“Does it bother you that Discord murdered the two? Amore and Amicizia?” Luna asked and the two princesses exchanged a glance. By what she read on Cadance's expression, her answer would be ‘no’ too.

Also, she dodged her question!

“It doesn’t.” Twilight said, looking back to Luna, despite that. “Even if I felt like it was actually me, I don’t think that it would. He was sick, right? For lack of a better word. I don’t even think there is a proper parallel for what he suffered in a ‘normal' being. The situation was so extreme and his place in it so particular… Poor Discord. I’m actually a bit worried about him. He wasn’t very comfortable talking with us when we left Ponyville.”

“Discord is fine, Twilight.” Celestia assured her. “He is on Snow Mountains Hold trying to talk to The Lion. It seems that those griffons have some sort of interest in him. Some sort of reverence. Could the present griffons shine some light on that?”

“I wish I was there.” Gallensa said absentmindedly. “There is so much I could learn from him…”

Grigory didn’t seem to have heard her initially, but when she insisted, calling his name he looked at her, and answered after she repeated her question. His initial reaction was a frown and Twilight imagined he would tell the princess off, but he seemed more to be worried about something than annoyed at her question.

“We believe Discord is the origin of magic in the world.” He said bluntly. A little too blunt for Twiloght's tastes, but the Princess had called them savages. She wasn’t sure she believed him either. “We don’t believe this idea that ponies brought magic to the world. It’s nonsense and too self-serving.”

“So, you don’t believe a word that they said here?” Applejack deadpanned at him. “I thought that you had taken us seriously during the breakfast.”

“I do not care for the insignificant details such as being the daughters of some baker in some hole-”

“You know there is a letter written by a griffon general that served under Emperor Grigor that corroborates that story.” Twilight told him nonchalantly. “Right?”

“That is not what I’m trying to say.” He stared at her and then at Princess Celestia. “What about the Harpy? Why didn’t she… Come alive. Or whatever is it that you did?”

“Now that is funny…” Chocolate chuckled amused more to himself than to others, which was good since Twilight didn’t really understand what he said, and no creature seemed to have either. “I’d like to see Freud explain Goddess Envy…”

“I think you’re making this up because it agrees with Princess Cadance’s vision. Dream. Whatever.” He accused as calmly as a County lawyer. And Twilight begrudgingly had to agree. Luna had done that before and she certainly didn’t think Celestia wasn’t capable of such. “I don’t think that I have any reason to believe anything that you’re saying. As Princess Twilight Sparkle has attested to, there is a letter, and several pieces of evidence that point to the fact that you lied about important events in history, used your position to adulterate historical records, helped King Grover lie to his subjects, and denied my ancestors and present folk an important part of our culture.”

“You may not believe this, but I understand. It wasn’t a decision I made on my own, and neither did Grover. Star Swirl condemned me to the end of his life and, according to the letters I shared with King Grover, he suffered the same kind of condemnation from his peers.”

“But why? Shouldn’t that have been a good sign that you were doing something wrong?” Twilight looked at Cadance when she spoke and then at Celestia and Luna. The second didn’t seem too affected, but that had certainly hurt Celestia.

“You didn’t live at that time, Cadance. You didn’t see the things that happened. Diamond dogs were almost made extinct because they were used as slaves and then fought in the war to liberate their kin. I am sure that in Grigor’s court you would be seem as a delicacy. And I am not talking about what you are thinking.”

Cadance pouted. “Regardless, whatever Grover's or your intentions, you have erased from history ponies that deserved to have their stories heard.”

Twilight rose a hoof. “Not to mention that despite their ‘savagery’…”

She made air quotes to emphasize her annoyance at the way Celestia spoke earlier and it seems to have gotten through because the older princess looked at Twilight as though she didn’t like it at all. Regardless, Twilight went on.

“We, as a civilization, deserve to know about our true past. Even if to learn from it. No matter how gruesome and shameful. We must learn from the mistakes of our ancestors or we are bound to repeat the same mistakes. We must know what is it that that you have hidden, in its entirety and the reasons that led you to it. This is something that you have taught me.”

“It is not about deserving, Twilight.” Celestia nodded softly. “And you would be correct in any mundane situstion. But would you still think the same way had I told you that by knowing the truth you could trigger the process of the Black Sun?”

“Well, that would probably be bad.” Twilight admitted. Chocolate's description of a collapsed star in his original universe made her think back to that awful dream Luna rescued her from.

Gallensa wasn’t as impressed, though. “As far as I know, you could be lying about that. Not the Black Sun, but that if you reveal the truth, the process will begin. It sounds incredibly self-serving.”

“If I disclose this information, if it becomes public, then the Black Sun will be summoned. I had to hide certain events and facts, and everything surrounding them, and since the whole mess with Emperor Grigor would be better forgotten, I and Grover took on this vow to hide those events together.”

Twilight blinked her surprise at her and could see Cadance doing the same. “That means you erased our History because you feared the Black Sun being triggered again?”

Celestia nodded at her and Luna took on the word, leaving her spoon on the table. “You should be aware that this is quite serious. Not even I know exactly what happened.”

“This is rich…” Gallensa did her best to not sound bored. “How do you know she’s not lying, then? Maybe you were supposed to be the big leader of the whole world, and not her.”

“How foalish. I share an equal standing to my sister. Furthermore, in all my life, I have never witnessed Celestia trying to take undue advantage over anypony. Not for the sake of ‘the greater good’, much less for her own sake.” She explained calmly, but sighed and her eyes drifted, her ears hang from her head. “I understand that this may not mean much to you… But the worst years of my life were when I distrusted my sister.”

“Do you realize that you are implicated as much as much as Celestia is?” Grigory glared at her.

“I am aware, Grigory. But there isn’t much more than I can offer you other than my sincerity.” She looked hurt. “Even if you make little of it.”

“Princess Celestia...” Twilight didn’t intend to sound so whiny, needy, but it got the others to turn to her and Celestia did look like she was worried, so she’d take it. “Discord told us that he worried our quest would only bring us pain and sorrow. And that we didn’t need to know of such things.”

“He was correct.” Celestia told her, frowning a little and confused at her argument. Good. That was exactly the reaction Twilight wanted.

“But we convinced him that we were prepared to learn the truth. As a society. As a civilization, we have overcome much, and it is a good evidence that we can overcome whatever was the problem that made you decide you needed to lie to us. He agreed with us.”

Instead of agreeing with her, as she expected, Celestia looked at Twilight that way she looked at the younger Twilight years ago, frowning as though she couldn’t believe just how stupid she could be and at the same time pitying the dumb little foal that she was. “Do you realize you are telling me this as you sit by the table with a group of griffons that think that one of the biggest monsters that lived in our world was right and that murder is justified because they want their steak?”

“We are carnivores.” One of Grigory’s friend that had remained quiet the whole time finally spoke. Not the big, gruff one, but the medium sized with light gray colors and icy eyes. “We become sickly if we don’t eat it.”

“That is a blatant lie!” The Princess struck the table with her hooves and perked her ears. Boy, did that anger her! “You are omnivores. Many griffons spend their entire lives without ever tasting meat and most will only eat fish, eel, snake. And others, such as insects in the savannahs near Saddle Arabia. They are considered a delicacy.”

“There can’t be a place in existence where eating bugs is preferable to game meat.” Grigory growled.

“Actually, their protein is very much capable of replacing animal protein. You could even process it into hamburgers and such.” Chocolate rose a hoof. “You know… Hakuna Matata…”

“Actually…” Chrysalis interjected raising her own hoof. Her tone spoke more of her typical mocking jests than a serious issue though. “I consider eating insects very offensive.”

“Shut up, Chrysalis.” Celestia’s mood suddenly wasn’t very cheery, though. “Shut up, Velvet.”

But before the griffon could say anything further, Grigory spoke to him.

“Garvie, there is nothing that can be said in here that can solve this situation, one way or another. It is pointless to debate. And I have other issues that I wish to discuss with the Princess.” His words drew her attention, and he went on. “I want to understand why is it that you claim that the Harpy is dead when you and the others were killed by The Lord of Chaos in the events Princess Cadance saw, and yet you are here. And the not The Harpy.”

“I said no such thing. I said that ponies did something that drew our souls to the realm of the living. Discord killed us, yes. But Luna and I turned him to stone with the Elements of Harmony.”

Luna cleared her throat. “Sol-Estia and Luccenoturna did.”

The white one rolled her eyes. “Regardless, us, or they expired soon after. I don’t understand the details, but it was something about their powerful magic not being compatible with a body that could inhabit this world. They slept and passed away. Again, I don’t understand the details of the process, but being born the traditional way fixed whatever the problem was.”

“This story is a convoluted mess.” The purple griffon frowned at her. “How come you… Or whatever it was that died simply came back, but you expect us to believe that The Harpy could not have come back and partnered with Emperor Grigor? Why were you reborn in that time, but not her?”

“I don’t know.” She said all simplicity. “I don’t understand all that happened. I can tell you two things. The first is that I, or rather, the Mother didn’t envision a world where griffons would kill other creatures for food. Or where any creature would kill another for food at all. In fact, she wanted a world with no unnatural death at all. As far as I know, she wanted a world where ponies would care for its needs and other creatures would thrive on it. She never imagined diamond dogs or dragons, which didn’t exist in the time of The Harpy because she wouldn’t allow any other creatures to compete with her griffons.”

“The other is that I have looked for her and I have never found her. Grigor and his followers said she had abandoned him for failing her, or something like that.” The Princess frowned and looked down at her plate. “She was never in any temple, she never met me to fight. Even though I was constantly afraid that she would appear in one of those many battlefields and kill me, leaving Luna alone and ultimately ending the fight against Grigor’s empire, but she never did. It was like chasing a ghost that didn’t exist, despite griffons honestly telling me they had met her. And I am not talking about her followers. I mean Grover’s followers. They were afraid of her. They said she haunted their nightmares, which is curious, because Luna also never met her.”

She stared at the griffon prince. “I was afraid of her, Grigory. Memories of past lives kept forcing themselves to the forefront of my mind and I don’t know if I would have been able to face her had she appeared.”

“That led me conclude that she didn’t exist anymore. She really was destroyed, existences ago.” The Princess sighed. “As to why it was different with us, I would gamble a guess that it had something to do with manifesting with a physical body. The Harpy was a purely magical entity.”

“And in the end…” Celestia forked at her vegetables a little. “Your friends are keeping alive the memory and the ideology of a dead goddess that not even your people wanted to accept. It is dangerous because it infuses the minds of her followers with ideas of supremacy and dominance that are simply not needed and contrary to coexistence in the modern world. That is the reason I am worried about her cult.”

Her words influenced him. He became contemplative and his thoughts turned inward. His friends seemed incredulous, or dismissive, but Grigory certainly found something in her words and his own thoughts that gave him pause. More than he expected. Twilight would pay a hefty sum to know what he was thinking.

“What about the cult of the alicorn princesses?” He growled at her, and from Twilight’s perspective, Celestia didn’t like it at all.

“There is no cult of the alicorn princesses, Grigory!”

“You are either blind or willfully disingenuous!” He accused poignantly. “Ponies will move mountains and rivers to satisfy you. You belong to the race tasked with working nature. It makes you biased against my race that explores nature. And with this tale of defeating The Harpy, earning the reigns of the world, that becomes even more obvious. Not only that, you are immortal and there seems to be nothing capable of challenging your decisions. There should be no place in politics for a creature such as you. Not to mention that alicorn are deemed as special, wherever you like it or not.”

“I earned my place, you insufferable brat.” She spat back, just as sharply. “I earned the trust and love of creatures. And I also conquered this position, as the many battlefields filled with the skeletons of my enemies will attest to. If you cannot respect the former, you should respect the later, if only not to be called hypocrite!”

Luna cleared her throat in that obnoxious way one does when they want to draw attention. “How about we calm ourselves and breathe for a while?”

The table remained quiet for a second or two, including the clicking of tableware.

“I am sorry, Grigory.” The Princess finally spoke again, apologetically. “It is not the sort of thing that one likes to hear. Especially when your people believe that you are ordained to something special thanks to The Harpy. The truth is that you are still special and important. As important as all the creatures of the world. As unique as each of the races that make our world. You have purpose in your existence, just not the one you believe the Harpy had for you.”

“In that annoying ‘all creatures are special’ way that Princess Twilight teaches in her school? No, thank you. I rather be special because my claws can rip you to shreds if you anger me.” Gallensa's remark sounded so cruel and snide Twilight wondered if she ever even tried not being so edgy all the time. Such a jerk thing to say too, intentionally misconstruing what the saying means.

Princess Celestia's legendary patience managed a better reaction that Twilight’s. “No, Gallensa. Creatures accuse me of planning and plotting. Of extreme long-term plans. They forget that is my job. What I will discuss with you I have not disclosed to any other creature other than Luna. But I hope that it will give you some insight into what I mean.”

“It should be patently obvious that there are other worlds beyond our own. Chocolate Velvet is proof of that. As he has told you of the dead stars in his original universe, he has told me of other worlds beyond his own. Barren, lifeless worlds, wasted by an uncaring cosmos.” She put her hooves on the table and leaned into it dramatically. “Within your lifetimes I plan on having the whole of Equestria prepared to reach beyond the stars and start colonization of at least one of those, to prove the plausibility of the idea. Private interest will be drawn by the endless opportunities for profit. The greatest minds will too, as the infinite beckons to their curiosity. Challenges will present themselves and the ingenious will defy the impossible. As they always do.”

“But perhaps, more important to our present discussion, there will be many dangers, and that ought to draw the brave, the honored, the strong. We will meet numberless creatures and civilizations. Many who would pose a threat to us. They would beseech our riches and some would take them by force. Many names will be made and legends will be forged.”

She relaxed on her seat, thoughtful. “Despite my irritation with your beloved firearms, my mind immediately turned to the brave griffons that protect the North from the evil monsters begat by the Windigos. Lord Gilad, The Lion… Such a proud and powerful alias. It filled me with hope that I had found those that would throw themselves at the dangers that lay ahead. If not for honor, not for friendship, at least for the thrill and legends that would be born of it.”

Was she even talking seriously? Just the notion of the unknown and secrets spread all over their own and limited world made Twilight's curiosity tingle. The thought of what could be in other worlds. The idea of, one day not that far away, stepping in soil that didn’t belong to Equestria, maybe befriending a creature unknown until that time… It was overwhelming. As her mind grasped the ramifications of such feat, its true significance dawned on her and it wet her lips.

The others seemed as intrigued and lost in their own thoughts on the mater, including Grigory. Then Celestia spoke with a rather disdainful tone. “Of course, if the griffons would be found lacking, others would still suffice. Such as the Changeling Swarm and their ambitious foray into the sciences of Life. If only to satisfy their queen's ambition. As before, I would prefer noble intentions, but I will take results over nothing.”

Finally, it was Grigory’s big, dark furred friend that broke the silence. “This is likely the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. Even if you had the capacity to move the entirety of the world to secure resources in that direction, it sounds like a pipe dream.”

“Do you know what else sounded like a pipe dream?” She spoke unfazed, with a reproaching stare. “Recruiting six heroes capable of wielding the most powerful magical artifacts known in our History to bring back my sister.”

“And this is why we can’t have nice things.” Celestia sighed. “Of course, it seems impossible to you. You cannot imagine other races joining together for a larger goal because you cannot imagine yourselves working so closely with other races. You don’t see the damage that the ideology of The Harpy has done to you. Even worse, your defecting soldier told Luna concerning things and led me to believe Lady Gwendolen may be using the myth of The Harpy to help your father gain leverage with the griffons, or perhaps for her own personal gain.”

“Watch your tongue when you speak of Lady Gwendolen, pony.” The big dark griffon, the military type Grigory had called Gray. “Even you.”

“I simply don’t want to see your people’s sense of honor twisted into blind obedience for one that would abuse you. And in such vile way. And damage the rest of the world through that. I have experience in the damage this sort of thing can cause to completely innocent creatures. I have seen it.”

His following silence surprised Twilight. Angry silence, but uttered not a word further. Then Grigory answered to Celestia. “I will not discuss my mother with you, Celestia. If you suspect her of wrongdoing, you are free to go to Griffindell and ask her yourself.”

“Did you just tell us all that only to get at this?” Cadance’s angry tone surprised Twilight out of her contemplative silence. “I don’t understand. How would they know who The Harpy is if she didn’t exist anymore?”

“I did not. I made plans.” Celestia said. “And I do not know.I am aware that it may be frustrating but there are things that I simply don’t understand any more than you do.”

Luna took the word, staring up from her plate. “It may be a similar phenomenon to what causes us to have memories of the past lives of our souls. Maybe griffons remembered The Harpy, similar as to how ponies remembered their creators. Maybe they weren’t supposed to either. Or maybe it was simply something that happened, unrelated to anything. The truth is that we don’t know.”

Luna shifted her head to the side, thoughtfully as she frowned. “Maybe it relates to the Black Sun almost being summoned again. Maybe it all relates to Discord’s magic. Maybe it relates to whatever Discord thought was wrong. The point is that it is most probable that they simply remembered The Harpy and her cult emerged from that remembrance. Maybe they didn’t truly remember, and it was due to some subconscious process… I could study that I had permission.”

“Quite right. She was unknown before that time.” Celestia agreed.

Grigory didn’t seem like he wanted to talk anymore. Twilight wondered what was it that Princess Celestia had said that troubled him so much. Not like she was going to ask in front of the others, but Cadance had other questions of her own after a few seconds of thoughtful silence.

“What happened to Daffodil?”

“Daffodil?” Luna didn’t seem to recognize the name, so she looked at Celestia who simply shook her head negatively. “Who was Daffodil?”

Cadance frowned. She didn’t like hearing that one bit. “I think she was a priestess, or something of the sort. I saw her a few times until one day she wasn’t there anymore. She was important to me… To Amore. To us.”

“We used to recognize ponies by their souls, Cadance.” Celestia explained. “Names meant little to us. She probably was a soul that connected intensely to Amore. It is impossible to know for sure.”

“You know, I think that this whole conversation is messing with your pony heads…” Garvie commented from his seat but they ignored him and Cadance hummed angrily to herself and frowned, pulling back her ears.

“Fine. You’re not gonna tell me. What about my parents? Why can’t I remember them?”

“Because you were too young to form memories?” Luna raised an eyebrow at her. “I know what you’re thinking, but I wasn’t even here when you were born!”

“My hoof!” Cadance didn’t seem very convinced, didn’t sound convinced at all and almost scared Princess Celestia with her outburst. “You locked my memories away!”

Luna growled and struck a hoof at the table. “This is why I hate this talk of goddesses. If this whole mess became public ponies would start blaming me every time they forgot their keys!”

“Cadance, please.” Celestia pleaded so sadly. “We never did anything with the intention of hurting you. Luna knows nothing of your biological parents, and neither do I. But why is this so important to you all of a sudden? Would you be worrying about that if not for the experience you had?”

Twilight remained quiet, as did the others and Cadance let her stare drift downwards with a sigh. “No. I don’t think that I would. I think I just feel like I lost something because I had that dream.”

“But that is because I didn’t know of anything.” Still, she pleaded too, with her eyes. “I still want to know. Let me see the memories that are locked away.”

“No.” Luna was adamant. “You are better off without those. Even I have memories that I have locked away myself.”

“Oh, come on!” Twilight raised her hooves. She was going to point out that it was hypocritical, but Celestia did say That Cadance could act as the goddess if she saw fit. In the end, Twilight was just glad Cadance didn't see that, because that could turn ugly in a hurry. Still… “That should be Cadance’s decision!”

“Well, no.” Celestia said plainly. “Because there are things related to that whole mess that you two insist on poking into.”

“Ugh!” She threw her head in frustration. “But you even called us here to talk!”

Celestia frowned. “I called you here to talk because I wanted to give you some sense of understanding. Some closure to this misguided adventure that ends with this meeting. Not because I was prepared to unveil everything to you. I expected you to have the maturity to understand that you lost. You have been captured after you’ve created much more trouble than this whole mess warranted. You, your friends, and also Grigory and his own. I will spend months getting all the damage you have caused under control and with Discord actually doing something helpful in Snow Mountains, I would rather you listened to your conscience and, at the least, let go of this whole mess.”

Twilight glared at her. At least Luna giggled at the way she looked at Celestia. “My conscience is telling me that you are wrong!”

And Cadance pouted. “Irrespective of everything that I believe about myself, there are bigger issues. Cinnamon Flameheart, all those soldiers… All the ponies that you buried in oblivion deserve to have their stories known. Ponies and creatures in the world today deserve to know what sort of real sacrifices earned them the present.”

“How dare you? You have no notion of what you speak of Cadenza! You think that you understand what you are talking about because you had a dream. You don’t know those ponies and you didn’t lose nights of sleep over this decision! Much less every sacrifice they made in my name so that you could live in peace. They believed in me! I should.. I… I…”

Seeing Celestia legitimately angry was a privilege that Twilight never realized she hadn’t actually been treated to until that very moment. It was so fast she didn’t have time to be scared, even if both she and Cadance knew that the older one could have afforded to keep her mouth shut. Fortunately, Celestia wasn’t known for holding petty anger. If anything, Twilight knew that Celestia understood Cadance meant no offense.

“This is exactly why I want to know the truth and show it to the world.” Twilight sighed, more frustrated than she wanted to show. “I understand that Cadance is hurt. But I also understand that whatever happened hurt you too. Maybe it will be for the better if every creature understood what happened. If not to show how dangerous The Harpy is, so that they can understand the sorts of sacrifices that brought us to where we are. Yours included. Ponies sing glories to you, but they don’t understand anything. The story they know isn’t the true one and I believe that you made much more than we are aware of. Not only you, but those creatures Cadance mentioned!”

“Have you two paid no attention?” Celestia’s ears folded back and Twilight knew that they were pushing it. But…

“I’m sorry, Princess… I do believe you believe you are right in hiding away what happened. Even if I don’t understand it.” Twilight shook her head, looking down at the table with the remains of their dinner. “But you are wrong. In the same way you told Cadance that you did your best to prepare her and that she must make her decision as an adult mare, much as ponies earned their independence and must deal with it, you must see that what our search for the past is the same. You have to trust ponies, and other creatures will know how to deal with the truth.”

Her words did hit their mark and Celestia’s ears fell with her softened expression. “I fear you are being used, Twilight. Someone explored the situation in Ponyville to launder money that seems to be going to Snow Mountains Hold, but I can’t prove it. And we only found out about it because of the present situation, and your meeting with Grigory was clearly orchestrated. I’m afraid even Cadance finding Grigor's letter might have been no accident. You were meant to go straight to Griffonia, but getting Chrysalis involved, you scrambled their plans. Then Grigory showed up…”

Candance blinked dumbly. And Twilight… Well… Fudge…

“Are you accusing us of something, Princess Celestia?” Grigory glared at them.

“Maybe I am, Grigory. Would you care to explain how you knew to look for Twilight in Haybale rather than set an interception course from Baltimare? Assuming you knew she would be going to Manehattan, since it was the most logical if she meant to cross the ocean to Griffonia?”

“Maybe our airships have modern means for tracking other airships from a distance?” He grinned petulantly at her.

“I don’t think that you would’ve happened into Chocolate Velvet there, if that was the case, Grigory.” The princess answered with a worried frown. “Perhaps you would rather explain how your people managed to exploit the unusual and specific situation in Ponyville to syphon money to your hold, that I am sure helped a lot in building that airship that is currently burning in the ground.”

“Another accusation. I hope your highness has proof of any of that or you would wound up sounding like you have biases against my people.” Twilight was almost amused at the wounded way he spoke. If she didn’t know better, she might even believe that he was offended at Celestia’s words. “I think this conversation is over.”

Twilight was simply stunned as he stood and left, soon followed by his friends. Then she gasped at what Grigory said next. “If you are not going to tell the truth, we simply don’t have anything to talk anymore.”

No! No! That was stupid! Twilight almost freaked out seeing the griffons walk out. She meant to tell him to stop, but Cadance touched her back. “Let him go, Twi… We can talk to him again later.”

“Oh…” Twilight turned to what remained of her plate and then to Celestia and Luna. Her friends. “What happens now?”

“I suppose you are the ones to tell us, Twilight.” Luna told her seriously. “Have we satisfied your curiosity? Convinced you that your quest is silly? That you ought to let go and enjoy the life that you have in peace instead of worrying about such matters?”

Twilight had an answer. And she was sure Princess Celestia wouldn’t like to hear it, which greatly discouraged her. Looking at Cadance, her expression made Twilight believe that she was with her, so she took a deep breath and faced Celestia and Luna again. “I’m afraid I can’t do that, Princess. I understand your fears, but Discord believed that we are right, and that the world has to know. I believe that it will be healthier for us… For both of you.”

“Twilight is right.” Cadance added. “I don’t like being at odds with you, but this is too important to keep a secret. Even if you didn’t do anything wrong, hiding whatever happened from the rest of the world is still wrong.”

“I see… We can’t reach an agreement yet.” Celestia let her head hang. “It’s a shame.”

“So… Uh…” Twilight grabbed at the table while her friends stared at her and Cadance. “I guess… Uh…”

The princess looked back up to her. “I can’t afford to let you go free, Twilight. Cadance. You and your friends will have to stay with me until I have convinced you of the danger of what you are trying to do. If I do you will try to escape me again.”

“What?” Cadance frowned. “Are we grounded, or something?”

Celestia grinned while her guards in uniform served ice cream. “Why, yes. That is a good analogy.”

Twilight sighed. “Is there anything we can do that will convince you that you are wrong?”

That was a good question, Twilight decided since Celestia stopped for a few seconds before she answered. “I am sorry, Twilight. But I don’t know. You are not the problem. You, Cadance, Shining, your friends are clear-headed ponies. Very well-intentioned. Others will not be so understanding or forgiving.”

So frustrating.

“Do you seriously expect us to stay here?” Cadance growled. “I mean, we're adults!”

“I am sorry, Cadance.” Celestia smiled. “It won’t be so bad. We'll soon return to Canterlot, but I’ll be sure to make your stay as comfortable as possible. And it doesn’t mean that we can’t have fun!”

“Consider yourselves held captive.” Chrysalis smirked at them. “Pretend you are in one of those stupid books you like to read.”

For a brief second Twilight, after one glance at her expression, was glad she couldn’t read Cadance’s thoughts. Then the pink princess followed that with an angry stare at her aunts. “Do you know what? I’m done talking with you.”

After that she stood, but before she left Cadance grabbed her ice cream and stomped angrily towards the door. Shining Armor rushed after her. “Cadance! Wait!”

“She actually took it better than I thought she would.” Luna tasted her blue ice cream while Celestia watched helplessly with her ears pulled down.

“I think that I should be leaving too…” Twilight said. “Not that I’m angry, or anything… I just think that you are wrong. Is it over or can we still talk about this? Another time?”

“We can always talk, Twilight. Whenever you wish.” Celestia shook her head softly and smiled. “There won’t ever be a time when we can’t talk.”

That was something, at least. “I think I should go, then. I better talk to Cadance.”

“See you tomorrow at breakfast, then.” Celestia concluded while the others stood after Twiligth’s lead.

“Thank you very much for this meeting, Princess!” Rarity added. “It was exquisite and very enlightening!”

“You’re welcome, Rarity!” Celestia grinned. “I am glad you have enjoyed it!”

The other ponies thanked too and followed Twilight on her way out. It was Rainbow Dash that approached her, with Spike and Starlight Glimmer as soon as they were out of any royal guard’s earshot on their way out towards the main deck.

“What now, Twi?” Her tone changed from doubt to incredulity. “We’re not gonna give up, are we?”

She shook her head. “Not even close, Rainbow. I just need to figure out a good argument to give her.”

“I doubt the princess is ill intended.” Starlight agreed with her. “She is very likely to listen and capitulate if we come up with a good argument. The problem is that I think Princess Cadance could do something… Unwise in the meantime.”

Twilight grimaced at the though. “Yes… She’s not very well. I’ll talk to her before bed.”

“I’m more concerned that Grigory fellow will do something rash. Or just plain dumb!” Applejack added next to them. “He’s not a good guy. And neither are any of his friends.”

“You’re judging, Applejack.” Twilight looked back at her. “They are certainly not our friends, but we must change that by offering the first hoof. Also, I felt like something bothered Grigor. Something related to the Harpy. It could be important, and I’ll make sure to talk to him when I feel he is more agreeable. For now, we’ll just rest for a bit.”

The others nodded in agreement.

***

“How did the dinner go, Celestia?” Chrysalis had taken a liking to the mint ice cream she was served and Celestia did seem to be in a good mood, if a little worried. She wasn’t the easiest creature to read, the queen admitted to herself while she also noticed she gained more and more appreciation for the pony in the last few days. “And what happens now?”

“They didn’t talk very much… Though I believe we know enough, thanks to Grigory’s strange behavior and Luna’s conversation with Master Grinolf, to assume that Lady Gwendolen is up to no good.”

“What exactly have we learned, Celestia?” Chocolate asked next to The Sisters and Chrysalis simply paid attention for now.

“Grigory seems to have a rather extremist view. Different from his father, who would simply not plainly state that we are simply scared of everything and that what the Harpy was doing was acceptable.”

“That nonsense of exploring other worlds.” Chrysalis rolled her eyes. “What was that nonsense about?”

“Not nonsense at all, Chrysalis.” The white alicorn chirped.

“Not only that will happen eventually…” Luna added with a smile. “ But Celestia planted a seed on Grigory’s head. Now he has something look for beyond whatever plan he has on his head.”

Chrysalis squinted a little. “I see… But, now that the kids left us alone, how about you explain all that bullshit about The Harpy? You have been very dodgy about this subject Celestia. You were content with letting me think that she simply wasn’t real until you absolutely had to admit she used to exist. I am not happy.”

“Well, are you happier now that you know the truth than you were before?” Celestia spat back. “You don’t need to worry about her. She is dead.”

“You’re not listening, Celestia. Before she didn’t exist. Now she is dead… What will be next?”

The princess sighed. “I am sorry, Chrysalis… This whole secret is not an easy burden to carry. Much harder with ponies I care for so much prodding it. Please don’t think that I keep things from you because I lack trust in you… These things ought to stay out of everypony’s minds.”

“I don’t remember that life.” Luna said sheepishly. “I have blocked my own memories! It was a life of fear and hatred that has no place in this new world.”

“Well, I suppose that is what matters in this whole mess. It’s not like I care about some random pony Cadance thinks is important.”

Celestia frowned at her words. “I am worried though. Snow Mountains Hold cannot hope to fight the whole world which is what Grigory’s reasoning would cause. Lord Gilad understands this and is more interested in securing the throne. Grigory’s behavior speaks ill of the education he received from his parents. It doesn’t fall in line with Lord Gilad’s profile.”

“So, his mother spoiled him?” Chocolate offered.

“I believe this is not too distant from the truth…” Celestia mused. “Grigory trying to cast a spell also worries me. It didn’t work, but it almost did.”

“And he is not Gilad’s son.” Chrysalis completed her thought. “What does it mean?”

“All I know is that a petulant child tried casting a spell with the same words a dead emperor uttered when he realized that his power was no more. And I am certain that he knows that particular story.” Celestia frowned and mindlessly poked at her ice cream with her spoon. “It is interesting…”

She didn’t speak right away, and that gave Chrysalis the feeling that she was measuring her words before her spoke. Never a good sign.

“The Lion says that griffon magic comes from the blood that connects him to the Griffon Patriarchs and that allows him to cast spells. Yet, Grigory is not his biological son but expected his magic to work. And, again, it almost did, didn’t it?”

“That doesn’t mean much.” Chocolate said. “He could be related to the Patriarchs, even if not through The Lion.”

“True.” Celestia agreed with a few curt nods. “That would also give a good reason why a northerner griffon decided to adopt a fatherless cub, contrary to their customs. But that is not the interesting thing.”

Luna frowned after a second of silent thinking. “How is it that one’s blood loses its power because one has lost the favor of some ‘goddess’, or something?”

“Someone is lying?” Thorax blurted out with huge eyes.

Celestia grinned a little. “It seems that young Master Grigory has delivered a lot more than a secret airship. There is definitively something going on, and I think that it is worth investigating. I think I’ll personally escort Grigory and his friends home.”

“At least it is comforting that the kid couldn’t cast his spell.” Chrysalis relaxed a bit. “I am still worried. The fact that griffons may be lying about this magic nonsense and that The Lion can cast spells is worrying. Grigory called for The Harpy. Even if it didn’t work…”

“We don’t know for sure that Lord Gilad can cast spells, Chrysalis.” Celestia added. “That is one of the issues I intent on understanding.”

“Hopefully, Discord can shed some light on that.” Luna offered. Chrysalis thought it would be enough if he didn’t make things worse. Not that he was the problem lately, but Discord was Discord…

“I’ll order the fleet return to Canterlot.” Celestia said. “In the meanwhile, this could be a good time for Luna to look into your children, Chrysalis.”

She nodded positively, but wasn’t very excited with the idea.

***

After a short talk with her friends, Cadance and Shining Armor Twilight made it quickly to the room they had prepared for her on the Celestia’s airship. At the door she found Grigory, sitting in front of it. At first she didn’t know how to react since he hadn’t left the dinner with the best of moods, but surprisingly, he seemed calm and collected.

“How would you like to leave this place as soon as possible?” He asked so unworried about many things he should be worried about that she wondered if he was serious.

“I intended on talking to Princess Celestia and convince her that she doesn’t need to hide that whole story anymore.” Twilight sighed while her wings sagged from her sides. “Guess that didn’t work as well as I thought. Well, I’ll talk to her again in the morning.”

“You are much more naïve than the typical pony if you believe that will work.” He just stared deadpanning at her, which caused her to frown a little angry at his attitude. But he went on before she could answer. “We have a way to get you to Manehattan in a flash, if you are willing to flee from under Celestia’s wings and have a bit of our technology added to your airship.”

Enticing… “I’m listening.”

“No. You have to agree, and we’ll get things done. It is a secret I’m willing to unveil and I’ll not disclose it unless I have good reason to.”

“I can’t decide like that! I have to talk to my friends first!”

“Fine.” Grigory didn’t like to hear that, but it’s not like he could do anything about it either. He simply left.

She knew he really wanted Twilight and Cadance to get to his home. The more she thought about it, the more Discord’s warning rang in her head. And also Celestia’s… And Shinning Armor’s… And her own common good sense! Oh, ponyfeathers… What had she gotten herself into?

Comments

[Javarod]

Is no one going to point out how much like a cult leader Celestia sounds in this chapter?

[Metemponychosis]

10614249
Geez. Wait for next chapter.
Or better yet. Wait for Folkvangr.

[Silentwoodfire]

Usually when one feels that they know best and refuse to hear another opinion, it's tyranny.

Also don't Griffiths need animal proteins to stay healthy? Refusing their health needs like that is condemning them to a slow decline, and eventual demise.

[Metemponychosis]

10811367
Celestia is arguing from a position that she is convinced that she knows what she is talking about and that Cadance and Twilight don't. The problem with that is that she is the reason that she is the only one that can claim to know. Well, she and Grover, but he is dead. But this exactly what I wanted. Celestia has a tyrant streak, and she believes that she knows best. She also believes that she is benevolent and that the only reason she does so in that regard is because the whole world is under threat. I decided to leave up to the reader to decide. Is she wrong? Right? Will opinions change as more information becomes available? Twilight's changed fast and Cadance isn't too sure either way and she feels as though something was taken from her. It's the same with their points of view about the soul and the individual.

But honestly, next chapter is going to do a lot in that regard.

About animal proteins... Again, next chapter. You'll have to decide if you trust Celestia that griffons are omnivores and could live just fine without any meat at all, or the other character that literally has a rant about 'pony food'. Or maybe the answer is in the middle where Celestia actually stands with the resolution from the representatives in Canterlot that decided that meat should be regulated.

Or maybe Celestia actually is trying to kill the griffons off slowly? For real. I wanted people to wonder.

[Kevin Lee]

Grigor: "Dity Harpiyi!" {Dirty Harry!}
Grigor: “Aya Harpiya, matha beir, imperatrytse desh pochuymiy krahah!” {Goes harpia, head out, imperatritse the country conquest! karahaha!}
Celestia: “Harpiya dekesh pochyah, Greigorei… Sekesei ya.” {You're pronouncing it wrong. It is supposed to go...}
Celestia: "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn" [Translation Censored By FimFiction To Prevent Actual Summoning Of An Old God]

♪♫

10811522

About animal proteins... Again, next chapter. You'll have to decide if you trust Celestia that griffons are omnivores and could live just fine without any meat at all, or the other character that literally has a rant about 'pony food'. Or maybe the answer is in the middle where Celestia actually stands with the resolution from the representatives in Canterlot that decided that meat should be regulated.

Um... FYI, omnivores DO need meat, along with plant matter, in their diet--that's why it's called "omnivorous".

[Metemponychosis]

10876032

Grigor: "Dity Harpiyi!" {Dirty Harry!}
Grigor: “Aya Harpiya, matha beir, imperatrytse desh pochuymiy krahah!” {Goes harpia, head out, imperatritse the country conquest! karahaha!}
Celestia: “Harpiya dekesh pochyah, Greigorei… Sekesei ya.” {You're pronouncing it wrong. It is supposed to go...}
Celestia: "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn" [Translation Censored By FimFiction To Prevent Actual Summoning Of An Old God]

♪♫

The worst (or best) part of this, is that this isn't too distant from the truth. Though the Harpy doesn't have tentacles.
Put that through google translate, didn't you? I used a combination of and ancient and self-patented language called Bullshit Ukranian and Romenian with self-made gramatical rules and tweaked to sound in a way I liked. Imagine I'm like Tolkien, but not actually good.

Um... FYI, omnivores DO need meat, along with plant matter, in their diet--that's why it's called "omnivorous".

Colloquially, an omnivore is a creature that can reliably derive nutrients from both vegetal and animal foods. People imagine a Venn diagram with omnivores in the middle, but that is not exactly how it is. It also relates to dietary preferences. Which is why people talk about preferential herbivores/carnivores and then obligatory carnivores, etc...

Remember those videos of people feeding ham sandwiches to horses and those others about horses eating chicks, scorpions, etc?

The thing is that what we call a herbivore is an animal that eats plant life. Period. But I'll use the horse as an example: it is an animal that cannot survive on a diet of pure meat because it can't efficiently digest and absorb the nutrients in that food. Therefore, it mostly eats greens, fruits, grains, which it has the proper enzymes and digestive processes to properly digest the nutrients out of that food in a way their organism can use.

Instinctually, they'll prefer grass, grains, hays, but out of curiosity, boredom, pica, 'I trust this human syndrome', whatever the heck goes on in their equine minds, they will eat things they shouldn't. And the funny thing is that they can derive nutrients from that ham, just not in an effective way.

So, yeah... Fallout Equestria exaggerated, but didn't lie.

Omnivores can get, for example, their B5 from beef, or from nuts. You know how it goes and it's a waste of time to talk about that and it usually ends on B12 and I plan to have the resident doctor in the story to talk about that... The point is that omnivores have no intrinsic preference over one of the other and they can live just fine with zero animal products, diary included, if their diet is supplemented in some way. Because if you think about it, when a person suffers from anemia for whatever reason (disease, malnutrition, parasitic infestations, trauma and more), when the doc prescribes iron tablets, it is effectively offering the digestive system 'pre-digested' iron. Yeah, there are details about acidity and proper valency (not sure if that is the word in English), but that is the gist. The same is when people ingest vitamin complements, yadda yadda...

Celestia and the griffons were doing the 'vegan x carnist' argument. I'm a Brazilian doctor (I survive in the Brazilian public healthcare... It's like a zombie apocalypse with COVID ) and I don't subscribe to either side of the argument and I'm not using the story to preach, but the point is that when you bring rational creatures into the conversation, it gets a lot more complicated and biology has to contend with culture, religion, stupidity... There was a reason Gilda and Grunilda talked to the cows in Folkvangr.

I'll hold this conversation until you've read Lady Gwendolen talking about that to Gilberta. Shouldn't be too long.
Just you wait until you find the incel argument...

[Jinnchin]

Given that both birds of prey and big cats are obligate carnivores, I'm going to take a stab and say Celestia is more so projecting what she wants to believe than reality! Can't help but think of this scene:

I know I said earlier that I appreciate stories that portray Celestia as a competent and strong leader, but I also appreciate stories that show she still has her flaws, and we're getting a good look at that this chapter. As noble as her intentions are, I just don't think she knows how to deal with someone who isn't an enemy, but also isn't willing to back down to her when they disagree. The funny thing is I actually do agree with Celestia that Twilight and Cadence should leave this subject be, at least until after they've gotten the issue with the griffon's sorted out. But I suspect a big part of why she is failing to get this point across is because she just isn't used to people telling her no.

Also, the overall impression I get with Celestia's interactions with the griffons is the same as I do with an older person who used to hold some unpleasant racial views which they are genuinely working to overcome, and are mostly succeeding. Mostly. (Yeah I know Grigory isn't even trying to overcome his views, but my point still stands!) And of course anyone who has read Fólkvangr will know she is very, VERY wrong about the Harpy being dead!

Any rate, looks like things are pretty well under control in this chapter. Can't wait to see how everything goes wrong in the next one!

[Metemponychosis]

11832360
I love your interpretation so much.