Piece of Parchment

by Metemponychosis

Love Hurts

Gund had done everything he could, but it was simply unfair. What could they have done against Princess Luna? There simply was no way he and Geanna could have stopped Princess Luna!

Their mission demanded they protected the museum and Master Gabriel, but even with the assistance they got from the others in Thunderpeak, it was simply impossible. They had none of the modern weapons from Snow Mountains, they didn’t have enough griffons and the continued operation of their undercover unit required they remained… Well, undercover.

Later he knew it was Master Gabriel's daughter that led Luna to them and that it was thanks to the princesses meddling in stuff. It seemed like pure, dumb bad luck that got them in that situation.

He didn’t know what time it was, but there was a little light coming in from his window, so it was probably still early in the night. It seemed to be the moonlight or some of the public lighting, he hadn’t bothered looking outside since they left him in this cell, separated from the others. Maybe they thought that he was too frail to be with the other big griffons?

Sitting in the corner of his cell, the dark one far from the barred window and the bars, he kept his head low. At least they put him on an empty cell. He didn’t know if he could handle being put in a common cell like a common criminal, filled with criminals. Not that he was scared, but he was disgusted. Not only those griffons didn’t do anything about the ponies and the present state of Griffonia, but they were also so selfish.

He sighed. And did nothing more because there simply was nothing to do. A dark corridor past the bars, with just enough light that he could walk around his cell without stubbing his paws. He had a cot and even a bathroom with a door, which he supposed was a luxury.

He sighed again and hoped Geanna was alright. Of course, they had put her in another cell since she was female. It was probably for the best, though. He didn’t feel very well right then and didn’t want his colleague to see him in that state.

The heavy door in the corridor creaked and some additional light entered, only for it to creak again and them shut the extra light out. Soft paws sounded on the stone floor until a young female griffon with a light green body and green tinted-white head appeared with a plateful of food held in her beak.

Half of a prench bread with tomato sauce and some herbs, spaghetti with more tomato sauce, a piece of cheese, a cheese and guava fried sweet and a box of apple juice (Sweet Apple Acres). Seriously?

She wore the Thunderpeak local militia griffon armor with the insignia of the city, a thunderstorm over a mountain on a blue field and a pretty pink flower on her bang feathers. He legitimately thought she was pretty, looking at her while she opened a small hatch in the bars and pushed his plate in. It had a small fork and a rounded knife. It was a shame she worked for the ponies. Or rather the griffons that governed the city and that worked for the ponies.

“Hey. You didn’t dine, and it’s almost midnight.” She spoke softly. He didn’t move, though. He didn’t feel like eating, much less any of the pony-approved crap he’d spent his whole life tolerating. He just stared for a second and turned his eyes down. “Come on! This is not bad. I know it’s not five stars, but meat is kinda expensive right now. We couldn’t afford it for dinner ourselves.”

He rose his head to stare at her with his most intimidating glare. “Shouldn’t that tell you something?”

She wasn’t impressed, though. “Yeah! It tells me that you guys are ruining it for everyone, including yourselves. The Princess already said that The Lion can be the king of the griffons and that he can reform Griffonian government however he likes as long as he follows the regulations put forward in the Hall of Friendship. What else do you guys want?”

“For one, I’d really appreciate it if the ponies stopped telling me what I can or can’t eat!” He grumbled. He wanted to sound menacing, but he got the feeling that he came out more like a whinny kid than a fearsome predator. He went on, either way. “Why do you let the ponies decide what you can eat?”

“I don’t, you dummy. I eat ‘pony food’…” She emphasized the air quotes. “Because I like it. I eat fish, and I like it! You could eat fish too. It is delicious. I mean, you could be eating fish right now if Queen Novo hadn’t started taxing everything because of you northerner dumbasses.”

“So what? Cows and deer have fee-fees, but fishes don’t? How do you make sense out of that?”

“It’s a compromise. If Princess Celestia really weighted in like you guys try, she could outright ban all sorts of meat and she could easily get away with it. It is also a big difference between the fish and hooved animals that only you guys don’t see because it goes against this idea that you guys want to push that the ponies are evil conquerors.”

“She’d have a war is what she’d have. This is so much bullshit. The reason fishes are allowed is because Queen Novo is Celestia’s pal and because they pretty much live on selling fish, kelp and pearls!”

The griffoness stared at the ceiling and grunted. “Look, I brought you food because you haven’t eaten since they brought you in, and I feel bad for you. I mean, I’ve arrested a bunch of bad griffons, and you don’t look like one of them. We just need to work our differences out, but it’s just not going to happen if you guys keep shooting princesses. I heard one of you tried murder some noble in Canterlot and he even shot at Princess Celestia. Your boss shot at Princess Luna because you were doing something shady. He used magical disruption rounds. Those are banned unless you’re shooting at nasty magical monsters that can’t be hurt otherwise! How crazy is that?”

He could have made a point of the princess being a nasty magical monster, but he doubted much would’ve been gained from it. Instead, he kept his mind to more practical questions. He frowned. “What exactly have we been accused of? Not doing what the princess wanted?”

“You know that is actually a crime, right?” She grinned all sarcastic at him. “But no. The Princesses just don’t push their authority like that. You’re being accused of conspiracy and treason. Princess Luna found something bad in the museum and you guys don’t help your case by shooting at her. You’re associated with a separatist group that has no problems preaching war. Come on! Nobody wants a war. Life is too important to lose over petty stuff like hunting rights! We had two wars over that already! Isn’t it about time we at least tried a compromise like the Princess is trying? Please, think about this.”

Finally, she left, and his head hung again, but his thoughts turned a little. Maybe she was right. Things just happened and nobody really did anything to protect him, Geanna or Master Gabriel. Some of Master Gabriel’s friends did try to defend him, but they were in a really bad spot against Princess Luna and her Royal Guards.

That is, he had done everything he was supposed to. He could even say that he went above and beyond the call of duty: he put his life at risk against Luna’s Royal Guards. He grabbed a gun and shot at Royal Guards!

Maybe the whole thing was just a waste of time. He was supposed to earn a living in Snow Mountains, with a bunch of money and a nobility title. Not that he was doing it for the money or prestige. Well, maybe the prestige, but those were supposed to come to those who served The Harpy. Had all his revelations and all the promises She whispered to him been his imagination?

He sighed deeply and touched his forehead. Man… He looked at his ration. Fuck that. He wasn’t going to eat that ‘pony approved’ crap. He was supposed to be eating elk and such in Snow Mountains by now! Well, it looked like that was the end of it. Hopes, dreams and promises crashing down with the sound of a jail door.

Then the corridor’s door opened again. He didn’t look that time, but someone stopped in front of his cell and drew his attention. When he looked up, he saw the most beautiful griffon lady he had ever seen. He even thought for a second he was dreaming, with the surreal lighting that flooded the corridor from the door and her light blue coat that looked like steel and silvery feathers. And she was big with a devilish gleam in her blue eyes.

“Hello, cutie.” She said, all impish.

He gawked at her. “Who... Who are you?!”

She grinned again. “That depends, if you can you hear the storm.”

He gasped and he must have looked very silly because her grin showed it. He hesitated for a second before he grabbed his wits. “I can hear Her cry!”

“Then I guess I’m your friend and that we share a few acquaintances.” She winked at him.

Her grin changed to a knowing smile and right after another griffon came in, rushing and carrying some keys with his beak. He was a rather old gray and white griffon with the local militia’s leather armor. Yellow eyes that practically screamed of barely contained dread. Was that the Lord Protector? The head of the local militia?

“I’m terribly sorry, Lady Gwineth. It’s just that... Well… Princess Luna. And the Royal Guard. Just… Just, please tell Lady Gwendolen that we had to follow orders and… And…”

Lady Gwineth? Holy shit, The Swordmaiden! She existed! She actually existed and she was right there! Digging him out of jail!

She put a finger in front of her beak. “Just get it done… Nobody likes it when griffons mew around like scaredy ponies. This one too.”

Shaking paws, he barely managed to get the key into the lock and opened his cell. “I’m sorry, young sir. We were in a bad spot there. You know. With the princess… And…”

“Yeah.” Gund wasn’t impressed, walking out, and tried to look tough for the Swordmaiden. “Sure. Can we get Geanna out?”

“Way ahead of you.” The griffoness grinned a little more, speaking with a soft voice that managed to be soothing and threatening at the same time, and put her paw on his back, a bit more touchy-feely over his fur than he’d like, but he didn’t think he was in a position to complain. She was also a whole head taller than he was, and not to mention larger and bulkier. To be honest, she was plain scary! “She’s waiting outside.”

She let him walk and followed him out, through the other cells occupied by other griffons. That had nothing to do with the whole affair in the museum. Actual criminals, he was sure.

Once outside the local militia headquarters the air was plain cold and he refrained a shudder, but he saw not only Geanna under the soft public lights, but all the other griffons that were involved in the museum affair. They, some seven griffons, stared at the two and he looked up at that Gwineth. “I figured Princess Luna would’ve left her own guards to ensure that nothing like… This… Would happen.”

“She did.” Gwineth explained with some exaggerated if uninterested paw gestures. “But they got a letter from Princess Luna telling them that the prisoners would be transferred by train to Griffonstone and that they were supposed to split into one team teleporting to the destination and the other waiting for you in the station here. So, we just have to wait for them to get out of the way in the teleporter and get you guys to Griffonstone.”

“Uh… What are we gonna do there?” Geanna asked. “Shouldn’t we hide?”

“Of course not. We’re gonna bust Master Gabriel out. Gotta show those pony princesses they can’t just fuck around with us like that anymore. Didn’t you hear that things are changing? There’s a storm in the horizon.”

Her haughty smirk was met with chuckles and cocky smiles from the others and Gund himself let his face show a very content grin while Geanna elbowed him with her own smirk.

He smiled back at Geanna. He thought that the feeling associated with getting free of jail and then recruited for a dangerous, potentially lethal mission should be fear. Instead, what he felt was a happy resolve. Like what had just happened confirmed all the leaps of faith and the unsure moments when he listened to Master Gabriel speaking of the Northern Holds, all their cells ready to spring into action and the teachings of The Harpy.

***

The Break of Dawn flew peacefully over the pony farms of Mareland County. Her powerful magic engines, more silent than expected, kept her at a steady speed, leading the rest of the fleet in their peaceful cruise.

Night advanced and most of the fleet slept. Crewponies kept the airships functioning, though not many of them would be up: most slept and only skeleton crews remained for the night shift, in such a pleasant cruise over the Equestrian Heartland. It was probably the safest place in the entire world.

Most of the guests aboard the airship slept, and that included Princess Luna, who appreciated the whole bed in the royal quarters only for herself and had a huge smile on her face, spreading to every corner of the bed that was physically possible.

In her own room, Chrysalis slept peacefully hugging her toy called Thorax who appreciated the snuggling, but the creepy green eyes in the dark kept him awake and trying his best not to wake Chrysalis or disturb her guards in the room.

Not all slept, though, as Twilight Sparkle had her room’s sitting area converted to a nice dinner for two and had procured a nice romantic dinner of grilled vegetables and some Duskshine Sang Royal from the galley. There was something titillating in having dinner with her coltfriend and a bottle of exclusive wine named after her. She didn’t know what had Flash Sentry so on edge though.

Unknown to Flash Sentry, her brother and his captain in the next room was fast asleep, next to Cadance and both nestled Flurry Heart in between them while Miss Calcite slept in another bed.

In the hospital airship Rainbow Dash downed a whole bottle of Sweet Apple Acres cider while standing on a table and her Wonderbolt companions chanted her name. Also included were her friends Pinkie Pie and Applejack that joined the chanting and Fluttershy that cheered quietly. Starlight Glimmer covered her mouth and giggled at the scene.

Rarity didn’t sleep either. She remained by Twilight’s door with her ear stuck to it.

In another wing of the many rooms in the Break of Dawn, Grigory slept with Gallensa in their room, Gewehr slept with Gracielle in theirs. The big Gray slept alone and Garvie sat on a couch in his room, sleeping with a small book on his lap.

And while Princess Luna explained to Cozy Glow why she couldn’t rule Equestria, not even in her dreams, Grigory woke to the sound of thunder. It used to startle him, but as he grew, that changed. Already standing on his four legs, he blinked twice and looked around the balcony, a solid piece of black marble with the symbol of the griffon wings inlaid with black and white gold. Mountain peaks surrounded them, peeking out of the clouds that carpeted the sky below them. A lightning flashed beneath, lighting the whole cloud and its plume rose to the starry sky.

The same tower he had visited many times, both in his dreams and in his waking hours, days of travel past the frontier to the Frozen North. What remained of the Stormy Eyrie, nothing but an obsidian black tower at the top of the highest mountain.

He could hear crying. Not weeping, but the ‘raptor’s cry’ that the northerners did. Not of anger either, but as a salutation.

His friends stood with him, taking the moment to reorient themselves.

Gallensa coughed awkwardly. “Do you guys believe there are dead griffons living in the caves? This is weird.”

“This is inside Lady Gwendolen’s head, right?” Their physician friend shrugged. “I never heard of ponies living inside Celestia’s head. It just sounds strange and not likely.”

“Oh boy…” Gewehr properly summed up the general feeling with a worried frown and rubbind his paws nervously rather than participating in the conversation. “I’m more worried about what we did wrong for her to summon use here.”

Gracielle started counting on her fingers. “Left with a secret airship, lost said airship, got captured, probably screwed everything up…”

“Shut up, Elle.” Grigory started towards the giant black metal doors and his tone matched his mood. “All of you.”

He stopped for a second. “It’s not ‘caves’. They sculpted mansions out of the rocks. In reality, they are in the actual Stormy Eyrie. Resting. But it’s been abandoned since the Windigos claimed it. They sleep, safe inside her tower, until their souls are ready for rebirth. But through her we are all connected. All the griffons that have opened themselves to her, that is.”

She huffed at his offense but didn’t think much of it. She knew Grigory was in a bad mood and that was all. At least he had used the caring nickname and explained that weird stuff. She stopped next to him as he opened the doors.

He kept talking, knowing what she was going to ask, while he grasped the handle in the door. “The more griffons believe in her, the more powerful she will become. And if she can force her way into their heads, she can enforce ‘belief’. But more than that, the more griffons do things, her way, the more powerful she will become too.”

“That’s creepy.” Gracielle whined. “Do we really want that?”

“We don’t have a choice. And more important, we are on her good side. I suppose Celestia could enforce such a system upon the creatures that rest on the Pool of Souls, but she doesn’t.” He pulled one of the doors open and walked inside, followed by the others. “I don’t know why. After our conversation, I could imagine that she would since she believes herself the goddess. Maybe she thinks it would be wrong. Hell if I can understand ponies.”

“She probably didn’t want us having ‘ideas’ and didn’t touch on the subject.” The big soldier-like Gray walked close. “She doesn’t know The Harpy is alive.”

Black glassy stone for walls, floor, and high rising ceiling. Iron statues of beautiful griffonesses holding torches circled the room and provided an eerie flickering light. To the side, the wall had a discreet arcing passage that he knew led upstairs.

Also providing light was the large fire in the center of the room where two carcasses of caribou, complete with their antlers just because she liked, roasted and filled the room with the smell of roasting meat and burning fat. Small tables held all sorts of drinks.

The tip-tapping of their paws echoing in the large hall, they proceeded further into it, where different griffons, richly dressed as nobles from the northern lands and from the desert lands of their past littered around in the place, watching the new arrivals, drinking something, talking reservedly amongst themselves. Some of them greeted him and his friends, albeit respectfully. Some called him Emperor.

Grigory didn’t know if they were real. They might as well be delusions created by her not particularly sane mind, but they might as well be his ancestors. He could see the traits of their lineages, as she had taught him. He hasn’t had the courage to actually talk to one of them yet, and they respected him and the distance he maintained.

And by ‘she’ Grigory meant the large griffoness that sat on her throne. At the top of a few steps, flanked by two obsidian statues of herself, laying on the floor, with raised heads staring down and also open wings, stretched to the ceiling. An argument could be made about the room’s high ceiling being necessary to fit her ego, but Grigory generally liked her, and he was simply in a bad mood. More than that, the statues had pyres with tall flames in between their forelegs, and also arching headdresses made of gold.

She sat on her large white pillow in the throne made of black iron, staring down at them. One day he would understand her fascination with iron…

“As always, welcome to the Stormy Eyrie. Make yourselves comfortable and partake in the food and drinks.” She spoke pleasantly enough as they walked around the fire, holding a chalice of bone and precious stones. “This is a dream, but to the brain it matters not.”

“You are taking a risk contacting us like this. Especially all of us, and with Princess Luna aware that there is something different happening. She has talked to Grinolf.” He came a talon’s width from chastising her.

She left the chalice in the armrest and candidly joined her paws together. “I thought that we needed to talk!”

Then she opened her forelegs and beckoned him with her fingers and a needy smile. He sighed and approached her throne resting his forehead on her chest while she hugged him.

“Your blessings, mother.” He did his best not to sound as aggravated as he was.

It was sufficient and she softly nibbled at his crest and stroked his feathers. “My Blessings upon you, Grigory Stormborn.”

With that he rejoined his friends at the base of the steps. Gray, the big one had casually grabbed a piece of bone with meat. And Gallensa took a glass of wine one of the servant girls offered them. What was it with Gwendolen and maids?! Another fascination of hers he still had to figure out.

She took a sip of her bone chalice. “I wish to apologize. If Celestia was not present, I would have proudly granted you the power to summon a storm. Gilad is furious about the Skoll, however. I am inclined to believe you are not at fault, nonetheless. I would blame the traitor sooner than I would blame you. Your strategy was sound.”

“You are the reason he betrayed us.” Grigory didn’t exactly accuse her, but there was no other way of saying that.

That surprised her and she took an amused offense at that. “His ancestors are to blame. I am not at fault for his ancestors having a preference for the pony ‘charms’, whatever they might be, over griffon ones. I did everything in my power so that griffons could enjoy companionship and all the earthly pleasures amongst themselves without need for… An equine.”

She frowned. “All I expected of him was to understand that he was not fit to reproduce. I did not drag him to the inn nor made him cause a scene in the front of the gates to the mansion.”

“Grinolf is a good soldier…” He started, but she interrupted him.

“The times have changed indeed if traitors are considered good soldiers nowadays.” She took another taste of whatever she had in her chalice and rose an eyebrow at him in the most irritating way possible.

“The only reason he betrayed us is because you shunned him. You humiliated him.” It mildly infuriated him that she seemed impervious to his contained anger, so he simply didn’t show it. Perhaps reason would work. “Dedication and competence don’t come from blood.”

“No. It comes from discipline and focus. None of which he has shown. There is a reason our race survives and thrives in the Cold and the ponies hide behind the heart of a dead goddess. If one could even call Amore a goddess... Ponies lack the same hardness that allowed your ancestors to tame the desert and conquer the Hader as much as it allowed them to brave the Cold and face the monsters begat by the Windigos.”

“It’s not his pony blood that led him to his betrayal. It was hopelessness. If you treated one of your chosen the way you treated him, the result would have been similar. Where you see lack of discipline, I see a griffon that refused to surrender to the fate he was given. Resourceful enough that he used what he had to avoid what he perceived as his doom. If we allow him to side with the ponies, he will use that against us and if he is returned, we can spin this for our use. But for that you must recognize his tenacity.”

She huffed. “What would you have me do, Grigory?”

“If you will accuse his spoiled blood of driving him to treason out of lacking discipline, you must acquiesce to the fact that his tenacity carved him a place for his name.” He gestured, pointing a claw to the floor, making a point. “That he didn’t bow to what he considered an unfair destiny and that he has made for himself a position of importance. He literally did the best he could with what he had, rather than fading away in obscurity as you expected him to do. It is the same braveness and strength that you praise in The Conqueror and in my father. Accept him into the Court of the Harpy. You can ‘suffer’ a few imperfect griffons in The Court for the sake of our soldiers. If you only want the perfect ones, you will lose the ones just short of it, and make up for it with ingenuity and resourcefulness, not to mention pure bravery.”

“I’m pretty sure Princess Luna would rather the court was dissolved…” Gallensa drank her wine feigning disinterest.

“Yes.” Gwendolen stepped down from her throne. “And I would rather eat pony rumpy for lunch, but not all of us can have all we want. I suppose I can suffer an ugly duckling in The Court if it will make Grigory happy. I have sent Gehenna after him, and I will order her to bring him back by her own means if Luna proves to be a problem. Are you happy, Grigory?”

He rose an eyebrow at her passive aggressiveness, and she went on. “I hope you will not blame me, in a few hundred years, when your ranks of fearsome warriors are littered with traitors and sappy pony-loving grifflets. Then I suppose you will listen to me.”

He decided to let her comment slide. She was just frustrated she didn’t have it her way.

She stopped by the fire and stared at it. “There is a new Swordmaiden on her way. I hope you will endear yourself to her.”

Of course. Always a price.

“As long as she is not another boor.” He understood what she wanted and watched while she put her paws close to the fire as if warming herself. It didn’t matter. It would eventually sort itself out with Gallensa that was likely to get Gwineth and the new Swordmaiden murdered anyways once she is sufficiently fed up. He would play his part in that game.

“Worry not. Gwineth will learn to behave herself eventually.” She turned to them. “And I am sure you will like this one. You must know that The Lord of Chaos has come to visit Griffindel. Celestia sent him as an envoy, and I tried asking him for The Key, but he has proven to be too much of a pony lover. At least, we have acquired an almost pure descendant of the Haderani lineage. Lady Geena brought him from the army the Chancellor sent to our lands. She says the situation is dreadful and most of them are passable at best, but at least the young tom is perfect. A small gem in the middle of all the rubble and he has accepted to stay with us.”

“Perhaps we will find some more of those resourceful ‘ugly ducklings in their midst.” He knew he shouldn’t, but Grigory just couldn’t help teasing her a little. Not to mention he was right.

“I suppose that little Geordie could be considered a traitor, too. Very well, do you still wish to further rub your victory in my face, Grigory?”

Better shut his beak because pushing her was dangerous. Even for him. “It’s not like that. I do believe that we would be losing something if we let Grinolf go to the ponies, and however many are in a similar position.”

“It is fair, Grigory. You are supposed to respect your fellow griffons, after all. But do mind that your job is to guide, and not to pamper them. Life is not fair and not all may have everything. It is your place to make difficult decisions, recognize that not all griffons are equal and give to each their due. But, since you are so interested in that, and since they will be your soldiers, I will do as you ask. But you should heed my wisdom.”

She made a pause just to show that she was still frustrated over the defector. “Especially if you would prefer to keep your empire whole and under your paws.”

“How about we build an empire before we talk about keeping it?” He deadpanned at her.

“Well, with that attitude we really will not need that conversation at all.” She one-upped his stare with one of her own. “You were more agreeable and willing to learn when you were younger. I suppose assertiveness is a good trait, anyways…”

She changed her tone. “However, we would be better spending our time here discussing matters that are relevant at the present time and are also of importance.”

They paid attention and she went on. “Your plan in assisting the princesses escape seems sound. I will create a diversion that should draw Luna out too. But you will have to deal with the Changeling Queen. Fortunately, I believe that she is likely to allow Twilight Sparkle and her cohort to escape.”

“Celestia is not in the airship?” The big soldier-like Gray asked.

“She teleported away because she figured she had to deal with the situation in Griffonia.” Gracielle explained. “I guess they’re starting to figure things out.”

“They are indeed.” Gwendolen didn’t seem too happy. “Much sooner than they should for our plans to proceed smoothly.”

“Why would she do that?” Grigory blinked surprise, and she grinned. “Chrysalis, I mean.”

“Because it is in her nature to betray her alliances for her own benefit, and she believes that the two wayward princesses will uncover the truth about her race’s origins. If only she knew the heartache that will bring her.” She gave her small cruel smile. “Ensure to exploit that when the time is right.”

“Nevertheless, I will ensure that Luna is busy with something and it should provide some freedom for you to put your plan in motion. You must prepare for however the remaining airship crews will react after they have escaped. Hurt a few ponies if you can afford. This whole situation with the traitor has me in a bad mood.”

She sighed. “I promise you something special once you make it back to Griffindel. I promise you will like our new Swordmaiden. I am so good to you even when you insist in challenging my wisdom.”

He sighed to himself. So unnecessarily dramatic and overbearing.

***

The first thing in Chocolate Velvet’s mind as he woke up was how did that keep happening? He wasn’t complaining though. Also, why did Queen Novo have a bed large enough to hold herself, Celestia and him? He just laid there, staring up at the nice seashells hanging from the ceiling for decoration. Celestia snuggled with Novo on their side of the bed, sleeping soundly while he wondered where his life went so rightly wrong.

Maybe the best part of it was that he stopped caring what the Chivalric Society thought of him. Come on… None of their knights got laid with Princess Celestia and Queen Novo in the same night.

He chuckled at the thought. It was so childish, but it was true! But he did so quietly not to disturb them, of course.

Maybe he had come to terms that he would rather be useful to Celestia than hailed as one of their fancy knights that turned out to be overpriced mercenary monster hunters. In the end he was an idiot because being useful to her and being recognized weren’t exactly self-excluding things. Maybe it was her conversation with Ponyville’s Lord Protector that finally made him ‘find the switch he needed to turn in his head’. Maybe the griffon deserter… Poor guy… Chocolate hoped things would turn out alright for him.

There was also the fact that Chocolate realized he was in it for the ‘long game’. Celestia told him of all the compromises she had to make to get where she stood. Luna too. Things weren’t always rosy and nice…

Wait… What was that?

His head rose and he looked around. Novo’s room had a pool that connected to the caves under the mountain, and it sloshed around with the flow of the currents down there. Not to mention that it had a few decorative curtains that made a nice artistic impression of water, with all their sea motifs. It was probably just that in the wind. Her room was a bit open, and the curtains also gave a little privacy but were a bit on the noisy side too.

Nothing happened in the moonlit room, however, and he was probably imagining things. The chuckled to himself… Maybe it was a shockroach.

He laid his head back on the pillows again.

Where was he? Oh, yeah. The point was that things… They worked out in the end. And right then, he was more than some knight errant, hunting monsters for prestige. He was Celestia’s right arm… Foreleg… Whatever the proper analogy was. Luna’s too. The younger one just didn’t have that much need for him, usually.

Like one of those love stories. The Lancelot to their Guinevere. Or something. He also probably had way too much alcohol byproducts in his head to think straight anyways. The important thing was that he liked The Sisters, they liked him, and he was helping without stressing over silly nonsense anymore.

Did Emperor Grigor feel like that about The Harpy? What about Thorax and Chrysalis? The Lion and Lady Gwendolen? He supposed that situations were different. Details and all that…

Alright, he definitively heard something!

He turned on his belly and raised his head. Nothing in the room. A soft salty breeze, the softly rustling of the curtains. The smells of the two mares (he decided that hippogriff females where mares too). Nothing else.

He slowly stood from the bed, not to disturb the other two, and walked to the bathroom past an arched door. A colorful shade of blue with rosy metals and the same ‘under the sea’ motifs that looked rather at place in there.

Closing the door behind him, he took a second to appreciate the typical and functional bathroom, with all the luxuries Novo’s station ought to provide, including a large tub, a shower, cabinets, mirror, a double sink, squat toilet; not to mention the beautiful decoration with the same maritime theme of the rest.

Then, with a smirk, he opened the door again to catch a very young hippogriff adult skulking in between the curtains. Yellow, with a very light blue ‘mane’ and tail, she looked a bit thin, even if most hippogriffs seemed a bit fragile. A cute crest of feathers that looked like something overhanging before her cute and freckled face. She blinked her cyan eyes at him, as though she hadn’t fully understood she’d been caught, but shrieked and panicked as soon as his telekinetic magic held her hindleg and pulled her up to hang upside down.

The two on the bed screamed too and quickly sat while Chocolate brought them the young female.

“Can’t one wake up in peace in their own home?” Novo screeched. “What is… Skystar?”

“Hello, Princess Skystar.” Celestia greeted her with a smile.

“Hiiii…” She waved, upside down.

“Oh…” Chocolate’s ears perked up. “Sorry. I thought it was suspicious that she was sneaking around the room.”

“I wasn’t sneaking! I was being careful!” She defended herself.

He put her on the ground, and she stayed there, laying on her back with Queen Novo staring down at her with a less than amused expression. “It is suspicious. What did you think you were doing, walking into my room without announcing yourself, and before dawn?”

Skystar shrank as much as she could. “I woke up early and the guards said that Princess Celestia was here! And the sun is kinda late! I just wanted to talk to you before she mentioned the window! It was Master Blackhorn! I never even touched the hammer!”

Celestia and Novo stared at each other and the alicorn blinked twice. “What window?”

Skystar let her beak hang open for a second before answering. “I have the right to not produce self-incriminating testimony!”

“At least you are paying attention to classes.” Her mother helped her stand. “I swear! I should’ve listened to my own mother! Get out of my sight until after I’ve had some coffee! For goodness’ sake!”

Celestia giggled at Skystar skipping in the floor and hurrying out of the bedroom. “Go easy on her, Novo. She really is one of my best students today.”

“I don’t know how you can stand everypony else’s foals when I can barely stand my own!” Novo cried dramatically while trying to straighten the feathers in her crest without any success.

Celestia giggled again. “Skystar is a very good student.”

“She better! I’d hate to see all those taxes going to waste!” The queen sighed. “She better turn out a better queen than I am for all the drama that is getting her to study with you!”

Well, someone didn’t deal very well with mornings. Or with squealing young. Chocolate supposed he could relate, but Celestia just giggled again and gave her a knowing smile. “Well, Novo has to wake up out of her grumpiness and I must see to the sun. Will you meet the guards and see if anything important happened during the night, Velvet?”

“Will do!” He saluted her with a wing and gave her his happy goofy grin before waking out of the room to find the hippogriff princess in the atrium, sitting on her haunches and rubbing her paws nervously.

“Sorry, Princess Skystar. I didn’t know it was you. Though… Uh… I really don’t know what I would have done knowing it was you in that situation.” He chuckled and she giggled, if a little self-conscious. Maybe she was just anxious she got caught.

“I guess it was a bit suspicious, huh?” She rubbed her jaw with a finger.

Celestia was right! She was ungodly cute! But suddenly she cheered up. “Hey! You’re the Princess’ Consort, aren’t you?”

“Yes. That is me.” He blinked curiously at her sudden excitement.

“I was reading my mother’s intelligence reports and they said there was a battle in Mareland. A large griffon warship and the Royal Guard. They said that Grigory was there!”

“Yes…” He frowned. Did she know that guy? “What are you getting at, Princess?”

“I… Ah… I just want to know if everything is okay with him.” She avoided his eyes, and then rushed away, to the corridor that led away from the Queen’s quarters without another word.

Yeah… Definitively hiding something. And considering that jerk was involved, it was most probably not a good thing. Also, given the whole situation, it would be wiser to see Celestia alone before mentioning that to Novo. He could be wrong, but the hippogriff princess knowing that guy that hates hippogriffs was concerning to say the least.

Not to mention curious.

***

Cadance and Twilight followed Princess Luna down the Break of Dawn’s underdeck to the brig where Grinolf sat behind the bars. It was simple, with a bed and it even had a bamboo wall to give some privacy to where Cadance supposed was a bathroom. Or something of the sort.

The griffon himself literally sat in the middle of the cell, with his green coat and tan plumage. Closed eyes, he looked so calm that the two princesses wondered if he was awake and just stared from their side of the bars, next to Luna.

“Is he asleep?” Cadance softly asked her aunt.

“Yes, and no.” Luna frowned a little. “Griffons from that region seem to have learned a sort of meditative state where they aren’t truly asleep, but it helps them mitigate fatigue and the effect it has on their minds. I don’t know for sure how they learned that, but it works.”

Twilight looked at her, and then back at the griffon. “Is it okay to wake him up?”

“He knows we are here.” She said calmly and the griffon opened his eyes. There was something unsettling about that to Twilight and Cadance. “Grinolf, Princesses Twilight Sparkle and Mi Amore Cadenza would like to speak to you.”

“If that is okay with you.” Twilight added.

“I don’t really have a lot to do right now, Princess.” He said plainly, without any sarcasm.

Twilight and Cadance looked at one another. Cadance spoke after she cleared her throat. “Master Grigory has explained your situation to us. And we would like to help!”

“You cannot.” He said simply and shook his head. “Don’t pretend you understand the problem either.”

“Well, I do.” Cadance took a step towards the bars and glared at him, who didn’t react. “They filled your head with nonsense, and you think that you are inferior. There isn’t really much complexity in that. And we are going to help you realize that not only they hurt you, but that you can have a normal life of a normal griffon.”

“You don’t understand.” Twilight would have preferred if he became angry, but he simply explained as though it was a simple mathematical question that they failed to understand. “You believe that all griffons are the same. You don’t understand griffon magic. You don’t understand the importance of our ancient bloodlines.”

Suddenly something sparked inside Twilight’s head. What if they were meddling in their culture? They were different from the other griffons. But she didn’t voice her concern and instead watched the conversation.

“I understand that Master Grigory wants to take you back to Snow Mountains and fix that mess that Lady Gwendolen created. Because he thinks that you are worthy enough that he will challenge her judgement of you.” She told him mater-of-factly.

He tried not to show it but hearing that surprised him enough that his eyes shone a little in the dim light when he looked at them. Though Twilight wasn’t convinced he wanted their help, but rather he wanted to go back. Which she considered not that great an idea, but that decision might not belong to her. Still, Cadance was making progress. In some direction.

The older princess frowned. “We’re not sending you back. They’re just going to keep exploring you. Using a potential partner… A mate, as a bait to hold in front of you and make you do whatever they want. You are worth more than that to us.”

Maybe it wasn’t about culture, Twilight mused inside her head.

“I’m going to find you a mate. A non-crazy griffon lady that you can live happily with and make your own family. You will see that nonsense of unworthiness is going to vanish from your mind as soon as you find some acceptance.”

He scowled. “I’m confused. Do you want to mate me to a griffonness that doesn’t believe in the things that I believe?”

Yeah, that was exactly Twilight’s concerns! She paid attention to Cadance’s reply with perked ears.

“I want you to see that you are not broken.” Cadance explained with a worried frown. “You just don’t fit in Lady Gwendolen’s insane… I don’t even want to call it ‘standards’ because it is not about being good enough. You’re not inferior, or unworthy… You’re just not what she wants you to be, and she is wrong.”

Cadance surprised Twilight a little bit. She led him down a good reasoning path to see what she wanted him to see. She could hope that he would accept that simple fact that Lady Gwendolen was wrong, rather than that she had a say in what made a griffon good or bad.

Luna nodded at Cadance with a smile, and they waited for a few seconds as Grinolf seemed to think.

“You don’t know her.” He spoke, finally. “You don’t understand what she represents. You think that you know Lord Gilad, but you don’t know what The Lion means. You don’t understand what they mean to us.”

Luna gave him a sad frown. “My sister and I have been revered and even worshiped as gods by our ponies, Grinolf. None of that ever kept us from being wrong. In factual knowledge or in judgment. There are many powerful beings in the world. Beings tied to its creation and the creation of the races that inhabit it. None of that ever gave those beings extraordinary wisdom or benevolence. At best if gives then instinctual understanding of the workings of the world and that often can be refined into actual understating. I don’t know how high you place that griffoness but understand that even if she deserved that place where you put her, she could still, very easily, be wrong.”

He paid attention to what she spoke. “It is easy for creatures nowadays to imagine that Celestia has always been an invincible warrior or a towering intellect… A paragon of virtue. The truth is that she, as I, and as Cadance and Twilight, had to learn along the way and we made innumerable mistakes. We still learn, for at the least, the world changes and we have to change with it, lest we become a problem.”

“Give us a chance. If Cadance fails, I will have you sent back to Snow Mountains and you can believe whatever it is that you want to believe.” She concluded with a raised hoof of offering.

“That seems fair, Princess.” He finally nodded with a conflicted frown and Cadance gave him a happy grin. Luna seemed satisfied too. Twilight could say that she was happy too, even if she wasn’t much help there. She supposed that the matters of love belonged to her sister-in-law, after all.

“We will leave you in peace then.” Luna finally nodded a goodbye and walked out of the brig, followed by the other two princesses.

“That went better than I expected. Good job, Cadance.” She admitted, turning to talk to them once they were outside the room and the guards had closed the door and the pink alicorn had a huge, proud grin at the compliment.

It was a sort of common area in the underdeck before the cannon deck that was still off-limits to them and it had the stairs that led up to the working decks of the aftercastle that contained a kitchen and storage not related to weapons and ship operations. A couple of Royal Guards stood there, by the brig’s reinforced door and the access to the gun deck.

“How do you expect to do what you promised him, Cadance?” Luna asked, still in a good mood. Twilight was curious too. “Given that you cannot leave the fleet.”

“I know I can’t leave, auntie.” Cadance declared with a raised snout of an offended pony. Her grin gone. “I will ask that my assistants in the Crystal Empire look through our records and find him the best match. I will use the airship’s mirror room to talk to Milky White.”

“You have records?” Twilight wasn’t really surprised. But curious about how that worked. “I mean, I’ve been to the Bordello of Candy, and I know that you have some weird sort of ‘war room’ that you called the ‘Love Room’. I even know that you have ponies working for you there…”

Twilight rose an eyebrow. “In many ways…”

“But… Uh… We’re taking about griffons, and there aren’t that many griffons in the Crystal Empire. Aren’t they… Kinda… Out of your reach all the way in Griffonia? Even the griffons that do like us are not exactly all that friendly.” She let her voice raise a bit to emphasize.

Cadance patted Twilight over her head and that wasn’t amusing at all. “I have my ways.”

“Why do I feel like I’m the only Princess that doesn’t have some creepy or weird secret?” Twilight whined after straightening her mane with a hoof.

Luna giggled at their exchange. “Well, the situation being what it is, I hope that you can make it work, Cadance. I feel bad for Grinolf and I wish to see this situation resolved as soon as possible. I believe I have enough drama with Chrysalis and her ‘Praetorian Guards’.”

Twilight frowned at her air quotes. “They are weird. Thorax said that they do weird things and fighting then was a bit awkward.”

“There is something… Off. About them.” Cadance agreed.

“They are not fully adults, but not really immature either.” Luna explained. “There isn’t really a way to describe them that you would understand. So unique their situation is. It seems to be an after-effect of their accelerated growth and some strange trauma that they suffered during the process of their development as Chrysalis perfected them. There is also… Well… I probably shouldn’t say that… But Chrysalis used a sample of Celestia’s soul to make them. Our souls are not normal and that would be enough to cause some issues. But Celestia is the one that understands all that. You should talk to her when she returns.”

Then her ears perked, and she grinned sheepishly. “I should apologize, Cadance. For the way I treated you in the Bordello. I had to lie to Chrysalis at the time and I supposed that I could have had a little more tact in dealing with the situation.”

Cadance giggled. “Aw… It’s alright. You did freak me out though. I’m just glad that you and auntie Celestia aren’t… You know… Crazy, or anything. Though, considering that conversation we had… I feel like I might be going crazy myself.”

“You can say that again…” Twilight nodded. “It almost makes me agree with Princess Celestia that hiding the whole thing was a good idea. I mean… If that was all.”

Cadance began counting and hoofing at the floor. “Yeah… The Harpy. Emperor Grigor. The whole war. The Goddesses. The whole system of how our minds work... It freaks me out a little knowing that there is something that makes my decisions for me.”

Luna frowned. “This is exactly what I meant with hurting yourself. There is nothing making decisions for you. What you saw was your making decisions. It’s a lot more complex than ‘I guess’.”

Cadance whined a little. “What happened to all those ponies that I saw?”

“Give it up. Both of you. I told you. I don’t even know what the big deal was. Something made Celestia decide that it needed to be wiped away or it would bring the Black Sun upon us. The reason we explained all that was that you would calm and quiet yourselves over that subject. The sooner you let go the sooner we will release you from bondage.”

“Anyway…” Twilight dropped the conversation. “Do you think that he will decide to stay with us?”

“I’m fairly confident he will, Twilight.” Cadance grinned. “He could also give us some information about those crazy griffons up there in the north.”

“We will see.” Luna interjected. “I am loath to explore his situation to gain information, but that is the nature of such things. I will not reject any assistance he might be willing to give. That is not, however, our goal with him. I just wanted to make that clear.”

Twilight frowned. “I’ll try to talk to Grigory. The more I learn about those griffons the more concerned I get.”

***

Gilberta had just woken up and that meant that she should ‘report’ to Lady Gwendolen in her office. Half-asleep, she dragged herself through the herculean effort of getting up of her bed (full of fluffy furs) in the morning cold and through the gigantic corridor all the way on the other side (of the hallway; as in the other wall, but it felt like traversing the nearby snow desert they called the Whitescape). Something ran down her beak and breathing was a bit of an effort, but she was awake.

Dragging her wings on the stony floor she went forward step by step and one of the nice maids opened the door to Lady Gwendolen’s office for her.

Inside, she talked to another of her maids, one of the youngest, tan and creamy yellow. “Make sure he is well-fed and comfortable. He spent some eighteen years consuming that pony trash, so serve him some decent food. Indulge his fantasies. He is immature and childish and that will capture his fancy. Also ensure that the door to his room is locked at all times until I have found the time to talk to him. I would rather he did nothing stupid out of his misguided patriotism, or whatever he has stuck inside his head.”

“Yes, ma’am.” The maid nodded, but both looked at Gilberta as she dragged herself past the door and tripped on the fluffy bear rug.

The two looked at her and they smiled, Lady Gwendolen spoke to her. “Are you feeling well, cub?”

“I’m fine!” Gilberta lied. “I’m here for the morning lessons.”

Lady Gwendolen grabbed her in her paws and put her to her fluffy chest. “You are feverish, Gilberta.”

“I’m fine.” Gilberta insisted. Her soft fur in that area where it mixed with plumage felt nice and soft. “I’m not going to miss on my education because… Because… I have a dumb fever.”

“Nonsense.” The adult admonished her, holding her close, and beaking softly at her feathery crest. “Even kings and queens fall ill sometimes. You will rest today, or your illness will prolong itself and further hinder your studies.”

Then she turned to the maid. “Make her some elderflower tea. I will be with her by the fire, in the hall.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He maid giggled and scratched Gilberta’s head softly.

But instead of leaving, or giving her maid leave, Lady Gwendolen looked at her again. “Did you, or the others, see the Lord of Chaos this morning?”

“Not that I know, ma’am.” The other shook her head. “Do you fear he is up to something?”

“It probably would not be him if he was not ‘up to something’.” Gwendolen frowned. “But I must care for the little one. Ask the other maids to keep an eye on him once he is found. Let me know immediately if he is found outside of the inner walls.”

***

Discord was in his best behavior and well within the inner walls that surrounded the mansion. He waited in the small garden with the throne to the side of the hall, nested next to the mansion’s kitchen, on the outside. The chilly morning didn’t bother him as much as it probably bothered the griffons, but they seemed to have learned to live in that place well enough. One of the larger griffon ladies, a maid, cheerfully cleaned the place after the night’s snowfall, shoveling the white frozen stuff to the gardens, out of the way and then making sure the throne was nice clean and dry.

Then she left, bowing and smiling at Lord Gilad past him, leaving him alone with Discord in the garden. He walked closer.

“Good morning, Lord Gilad.”

“Please…” The griffon frowned a little. “Call me Gilad. I believe we’ve made enough mischief that it is time we did away with the formalities by now.”

Discord hummed.

“Your spell, or whatever is it that you did to the fireplace that made it talk to me did work. Thank the heavens Gwendolen took longer than usual to get up this morning.” Gilad smiled a little.

Discord grimaced though. He should have thought that the fireplace might talk to him with her around and she would have known that they were up to something. “Well, good it worked.”

“I am sorry it took me so long to come, I had to wait for Gwendolen to get entertained with something or she might suspect something. And I also needed to tend to some matters of the army.” Gilad sat on the floor. “Did you manage to meet the Windigos?”

“Yes…” Discord crossed his arms. “And they told me some interesting things. Did they really talk to you in the past?”

“I talked to one of their monsters.” He explained. “It was years ago. Ah… They told you of our little conversation.”

“The Raptor Queen seems like a fitting title.” Discord mused. “But I’m worried about the things you told them.”

Gilad shook his head. “I was younger and less wise. By then I still believed that we should separate from the Confederation and that we should actively antagonize the ponies and their supporters. After those years, that sounds wrong today. I also believe that Gwendolen will not survive an encounter with Celestia if she decided that she is too dangerous. Heck… I am convinced that Gwendolen is too dangerous.”

“So…” Discord uncrossed his arms and spoke calmly. “The way I see it, you wanted her to help you achieve your goals of reforming the griffon nation. But along the way you fell in love with her. And now you’re stuck with a super-powerful crazy being that has plans for the griffons that involve ethnical cleansing and ultranationalism.”

“At one point I believed her ideals. It was when I noticed the amount of suffering she caused to her ‘non-ideal’ griffons I decided something ought to change. And the fact that I managed to change my mind convinced me that hers can be changed too.” Gilad sighed. “It’s not as though she hates them. She sees that they will suffer in her ideal griffonkind and wants to spare them the pain. It’s makes sense in her archaic mentality of when the world was a mess of wars left and right. But I’m not sure what to do about that or how to drive the change.”

“Has it occurred to you…” Discord spoke carefully. “That she might be using you?”

The griffon frowned and looked at the floor. It was such a strange sight, the big and powerful Lord Gilad looking so lost like that. Finally, after a few moments he looked back up at Discord. “That is trust, right? I can’t say for sure that she isn’t using me, but I believe that she loves me back.”

Discord frowned again. “The Windigos said that beings like Celestia and her are the problem… Does she have an actual name other than Gwendolen? I mean, it sounds like a fake name that she uses because you can’t call her Harpy. Or something.”

“She chose Gwendolen because of the meaning of the word… Such as fair and holy. But she used to be called ‘Aya Harpyia’ since the times she first created the griffons and they lived in the Stormy Eyrie. It means ‘mother Harpy’ in High-Griffonese. Or so she claims. It is meant today to be used in ceremonial contexts, but her ceremonies are meant only for her and her chosen at the moment. I really have no idea what they do in that tower of hers and in the Sanctum.”

He pointed at one of the towers annexed to the mansion. “She claimed that for her. The Sanctum is accessed through a door in the cellar. It is a natural spring exposed to the back side of the mountain. She really likes that place. And she says that when griffons are prepared, she will teach them proper worship… Or something.”

Discord couldn’t care less for anyone that believed in most of the things Lady Gwendolen seemed to believe, but if she could actually change, he should give it his best effort. Creatures changed, he supposed that gods did too. He did. And if she really did like Lord Gilad, that could be a very good approach to the problem. He needed to figure out more about her, him, the griffons that lived in that place until Twilight showed up.

“Guess my plan of learning more about her stands.” Discord concluded. “I’m just glad you don’t think that going out in a blaze of glory is a good idea anymore.”

“Please…” Gilad’s face reddened a little. “Honor and dying in battle… All that sounds great when one is young and thinks himself invincible. It took me falling in love and actually having a son to realize that there is more to life than ending it in and earning a name for myself along the way.”

“Master Grigory is not really your son, right?” That sounded wrong. “I mean, he is not your biological son. You’ve adopted him with her.”

“Gwendolen is infertile.” Gilad explained offering a paw. “She explained it relates to the way she was brought to the realm of the mortals. That her soul wasn’t meant to exist in the realm of the living, or something of the sort.”

Same as Celestia and Luna. He had supposed that Cadance and Twilight too, but the pink alicorn generated a foal with Shining Armor. It might be interesting to take a gander in the workings of that and the system that kept souls in movement and magic flowing. Maybe Cadance was special since she was the one that deal with that. Conjecture, but reasonable. He might study that… Or get Twilight to understand that and then explain it to him…

Discord nodded and brought his thoughts back to the actual subject. “Hum… Griffons summoned her…”

During the process of the Black Sun when Time lost its meaning. Even if she was destroyed in another existence past… Amazing magic. So powerful. So… Capacious as to ignore causality. Even his magic was bound by it. Creatures called him a God and called Celestia, Luna… The Harpy… Gods. Yet this amazing force that created their world was capable of anything. Even returning everything back to the right place if things got so bad they were lost. Celestia was right… It was a caring world that conspired to their well-being.

It seemed wrong to kill her again. Even if she could be monstrous, especially if she could be changed. In a world where not even the ultimate destruction was final and where she managed to return. Griffons wanted her, after all. Not to mention there was so much to be learned from her and her magic. Twilight would be amazed, much as she was with Celestia’s own power. Heck, Celestia would be too if she contemplated it under a new light of coexistence.

Of course, the problem was making Aya Harpyia accept that coexistence. It wasn’t so bad… He was sure that Celestia would be reasonable. Speaking of her…

“Celestia thinks it is interesting that you chose to raise a cub that wasn’t related to you.” Discord spoke to him again. “Though it seems that Grigory is yours and you don’t care.”

“At the time Gwendolen offered me to have a son with a noble griffoness she chose. It hurt her that she couldn’t give me a fitting heir.” Gilad sighed after he spoke and looked earnestly at Discord. “I must tell you something important. That she must not know I told you.”

The draconequus paid attention.

“The reason we adopted Grigory is that he carries a specific soul. We once went to Griffonstone and she knew exactly where to find him. An abandoned cub, almost dead on the streets. I never knew where he came from. I never cared about it, though. He is my son, and Gwendolen is his mother. He is however to be the next Emperor, as he was in the past.”

“I can see that now you would be further convinced that Gwendolen is using me…” Gilad admitted. “I am supposed to prepare the ground for Grigory to become a new emperor. Much as she rose Grigor to be the Emperor in his time. She has learned from her mistakes in the past, and, honestly, that makes her dangerous. She surrounded Grigory with loyal friends and she has even chosen Gallensa to be his mate. Everything she does revolves around him rising up. She has done some questionable things to him too. That showed him his past life and the path to becoming as powerful as Grigor was.”

Not surprising at all. Discord nodded. “We’ll deal with that.”

“Thank you for your comprehension, Discord.” Gilad sighed and his shoulders seemed looser. “I know she wants the best for him and my race. But her best may not agree with the whole idea of coexistence. I would be lost without you. As much as she respects me, she still thinks of me as one of ‘Her Children’.”

Discord nodded again. “Yeah. Glad to help and also to keep the world from breaking down at her and Celestia murdering each other. I’ll go see what she is up to.”

“I’ll skip breakfast.” Gilad pointed towards where his camping army ought to be past the walls. “I have to see to the soldiers. I’ll catch up to you later.”

“Thank you again, Discord.” The griffon said, seriously, but Discord grinned lightheartedly.

“Thank me once this mess is done with and we’re not getting swallowed by a sun turned inside out… Because our friends want to murder one another.”

Gilad chuckled and went his way past the gates. Discord went back inside to the great hall where there were two new roasting carcasses of some poor creatures, but what got his attention was Lady Gwendolen laid in one of the sofas by the fireplace on the side with a host of griffonesses and some cubs. She had a book with a cute drawing of a great bear by a little house made of straw with a blue griffon cub showing on the window.

Only when he came closer, he saw Gilberta nestled by her belly, and under a wing she laid over her, sniffling and looking miserable as the other cubs and the adult females paid attention to the great griffon lady reading from the book with the cheery voice one would read to children.

“A big, bad bear comes and says ‘Little griffon, little griffon, let me come in.’ But the little griffon says ‘Not by the feathers in my crest! I will not let you in!’ And so the bear says, ‘Then I will huff and I will puff and I will blow your house down!’” She frowned at the book, holding it in her paw. “Is this what parents read to cubs nowadays? This sounds like a pony tale!”

One of the adults, tan and white with a beige cape and a tiara made of silver shrugged. “It is a nice story about industriousness and preparedness. The point being that the little griffon that built his home of brick was hard-working and wise.”

“Dumb bear knows nothing of siege tactics…” One of the cubs, female with green fur and grayish plumage next to another adult grumbled.

Gwendolen chuckled at her comment and another adult, a soft gray with white head explained. “It is a pony tale. It was adapted for griffons and the Loremasters said it was acceptable. The original story had three foals and a… Giant bird.”

“Of course…” Gwendolen casually tossed the book at the fire. “I am going to write a story about a winged unicorn that burns griffon houses down… Or perhaps a shapeshifting bug that poisons wells.”

“Excuse me…” Discord hummed. “What is going on here?”

“Little Gilberta is ill.” Gwendolen looked up at him. “So, when her friends came calling her outside to play, I invited them in to keep her company. Lady Grisley was unfortunate, if unintentionally so, to provide us with a pony story to read to our cubs. We will find something more appropriate to entertain the little ones before breakfast, though, will we not?”

“So…” Discord started again. “I am not a doctor, but if she is sick, shouldn’t she be kept away from the others?”

“That is so for dangerous diseases, Lord of Chaos.” Gwendolen explained patiently. “There are several seasonal diseases, both of magical and of biological origin that afflict griffons and they are quite common and unavoidable to life in community. She certainly caught it a few days ago, playing the little ones and they passed it to one another. She was unlucky to become sicker than they were, or they are yet to suffer the worst of it. They are quite safe.”

“Yes.” One of the adult griffonesses, a tall steely gray with a metallic sheen to her blue plumage spoke too. “Not to mention that there are some diseases that one only catches once and that are much worse on the adults. It is preferable that the cubs catch them before they are grown. Isolating them is only a good idea when there is something dangerous in the air.”

Discord hummed again. “I was never a mother… Guess I wouldn’t know of this.”

“Hum… We still need to find a good story to tell the younglings.” Another griffon lady reminded them. A younger one, cyan coat with white plumage and big innocent gray eyes. “Do you know any good story to tell the cubs, Lord of Chaos?”

He scratched his head. He did… But they were pony stories. “Hum… Not any that you would like or not get Lady Gwendolen to toss me at the fire…”

“You wound me.” She looked oh-so-offended. “I know well enough that it is not your fault you only know of pony tales. Most griffons I know only know of pony tales.”

“Ugh…” One of the female cubs grunted and flapped her wings angrily. “Dumb fairy tales. Tell us a real story. I mean, griffons say that Lady Gwendolen is older than Princess Celestia I bet my feathers she knows great stories.”

“Who told you that, little one?” The other adults seemed nervous, but Gwendolen calmly asked the cub gesturing for her to come closer. “Why would they say that?”

Yeah… Discord figured that most griffons wouldn’t know the truth about her. It was the big reason they didn’t discuss The Harpy with outsiders. If they did, Celestia would eventually find out, too soon. He supposed that the more griffons knew of that truth, the more it would leak away to ‘the enemy’. He could see how only a few select griffons would know that Lady Gwendolen was the Harpy that they worshiped.

Although… Just look at her!

Her plan would certainly benefit from them knowing, and that would draw even more of them in, but at the same time, it would be too conspicuous if griffons started spreading that around too soon. At the same time, given the way ponies view their princesses, he could also imagine that some griffons would want to believe that they had their special someone… And given all her status with them… It was a simple conjecture to make, especially if they wanted to reach that conclusion.

Although not all griffons would readily join them if they knew about Celestia’s and Grover’s fight against The Emperor. Would be nice to learn some more about that.

“Well…” The cub started a little anxious, as though she had done something wrong. “Dad is one of The Lion’s officers and the soldiers talk about that a lot. They say that milady is The Harpy.”

On one hand, Discord was happy they trusted him enough to discuss that in front of him. But then again, with all the drama that came out of his initial conversation with Lady Gwendolen most griffons in the city must have heard of it. Finally, he hoped the little cub wouldn’t get herself in trouble for actually saying that.

“I’ll eat my feathers if she isn’t…” Gilberta sniffled and then sneezed from under Gwendolen’s wing.

The cubs were curious. The adults looked nervous. It was almost comical.

“Soldiers speak of many things they know little about. Especially the ones that arrived recently and still have not fully understood all our customs. I will tell you a story, then. It is probably one you know already, but certainly never heard the way I am going to tell you.”

That got their attention. Discord’s too… He even sat in one of the other sofas.

“Do you know what a gladiator is?” Discord knew, but he was not going to ruin the fun for the little ones, or the adults for that matter, since they too shook their heads. “Imagine a large a building. As large as Griffinsky’s walls, made of sandstone, pale yellow and tall to hold grandstands in all directions, enough to hold hundreds upon hundreds of griffons under the dry sky of the Hader.”

“There were no decorations because for all their ostentatiousness, its owner had not many resources, but in the center was a great arena, covered in sand and rough sawdust. Black iron gates on each side that led under the stands.”

She stood, sitting on her haunches and her wings opened a little, with a mischievous smile, and waved her paws around. The room grew darker, and the walls showed shadows of cheering griffons as two of them fought in the middle with spears and shields.

“They would come out of the gates, with all sorts of weapons. Not expensive or of quality but improvised and rusted. Not many good blacksmiths remained, and Children of The Harpy lived poorly under the searing heat of the Sun. All the great cities founded by the Haderani were razed by the madness of the Lost Herd the Mad God had unleashed upon the world. But they survived and few petty kings made names for themselves. Rarely for they wisdom or for their ingenuity in ruling Her Children, but if not by brute strength, for their ability to gather those who would enforce their will.”

“Such was Tabetir, a small, non-important settlement that dared call itself city, under the rule of a pathetic griffon that dared call himself King, and yet his name was lost to time. All he had were coins made of gold in a pile he cared call a treasure. He was stronger than most, however, and his coin did pay for soldiers. All he had beyond a few tired griffons that obeyed because they feared the leash and their swords, was the arena, where his slaves fought for the entertainment of his citizens. The excitement of bets, the bloodlust, kept them working and paying tribute.”

She stopped for a second while her audience gathered the information in their heads and then the shadows made the form of a griffon, not a lot of details, but Discord could see he was big and intimidating.

“One of his many slaves fought bravely and his mother had told him of The Harpy’s Commandment.” She stopped again and waited until the little ones recited the words she wanted to hear.

“Love your own infinitely and hate your enemy infinitely. Take everything and give nothing. Such are the Words of The Harpy and thus commands the Mother of Storms.” They chanted memorized words one by one, and Discord could imagine Twilight dying inside just from hearing them saying that.

Satisfied, she went on with a proud smile and the shadows shifted, showing a large and fat griffon with a crown and holding a rod, surrounded by other griffons. The background showed draperies and columns. “He hated his liege, as the weak and unfair ruler he was, and his family disgusted the proud fighter. They became spoiled over too much food and liked the shiny things too much. But he would not rebel, for he understood that alone he stood no chance against his owner’s many soldiers and his own family was vulnerable. His mate was a wise apprentice healer and his daughter the joy of his life, so pretty and smart she was.”

“He fought, then. For the entertainment of his owner, his family and their guests. Strong and clever, the stained the sand and sawdust red with the blood of his opponents and robbed other families of fathers, sons and brothers so that he could care for his family. He understood the Harpy’s Commandment.”

“Bloody battles and violent victories gave him recognition and fame. Others yearned to be as he was and others lusted after him.” The shadows shifted to show two griffons standing in front of each other. “But even if he had no eyes for the others but his mate and daughter, it did not surprise him that his owner’s eldest daughter would desire him.”

The shadows showed angry shouting and large griffons dragging another until they shifted again to show the griffon behind bars. “He refused her advances and the overindulged griffoness ordered her father’s soldiers lock him in the dungeons under the arena.”

“But where dark deeds of misused power grow, often so too grow bonds of camaraderie and mistreated slaves make for poor and disloyal servants.” She said as her paws waved, and the shadows shifted to show a griffon opening the cell and just like that shifted again to show a small hut on fire before the griffon, helplessly watching.

“Poor and weak rulers often forget something important…” The shadows shifted to show a group of angry griffons downing a door and entering a room. “The crown does not make the meek powerful, nor do the shackles make the mighty weak.”

The shadows showed a battle. Griffons killed left and right with blood splatters everywhere and Discord doubted that story would make it to the theater of shadows in Canterlot, but the little griffons seemed more interested in the story and such details didn’t bother them or their mothers.

He doubted Gilberta’s actual mother would be happy about that though.

There was even sound. Subtle clinging of metal, screaming. But eventually the shadows showed the fat griffon on his belly, begging for mercy on a balcony, but the big and strong griffon showed none and shoved him off the edge, breaking the rails. Cruel details such as his uselessly flapping wings drew Discord’s attention and it ended with a broken body surrounded by a mob and a pool of ‘shadowy blood’.

“Moments before his death…” She said in a low, mocking voice. “He wished for his citizens to avenge his death and kill the rebelling slaves.”

One of the cubs chuckled. Discord didn’t see which one in the dark. “What a dumbass.”

“You see, that is why Lord Gilad treats his vassals with respect.” One of the mothers said in a low voice as to not disturb Gwendolen’s presentation.

“Indeed.” Gwendolen agreed. “Gilad is wise to remember the lessons of his forefathers. It was his mother that told him to beware the Harpy’s Commandment.”

The shadows followed her waving paws and showed the mob cheering and raising their weapons to the griffon still on the edge of the balcony, and then to the griffon sat on a throne and others bowing before him. “It took long enough for one to challenge the city’s ruler, and when one did, griffons flocked to the real strength they saw. His fellow slaves, freed, sworn loyalty and so did the rest of the city, either because they saw true strength, or because they too feared their old ruler’s fate.”

“He did not rest, however. He knew that the surrounding cities would soon learn of what happened in little Tabetir.” Gwendolen went on. “He knew that the rulers of the surrounding cities wouldn’t take kindly to a slave giving ideas to the others. He decided he would act fast, before they did, and rallied an army among his fellow fighters and capable griffons among the citizenry.”

“They understood something: armies do not take kindly to the foreign. When the other cities learned of what happened they would attack and take the old slave back into bonds, and their warriors would want loot. More slaves. Their new leader’s wisdom lent to a great tactician mind and they won battles. They sacked cities and former slave became a slaver himself. If he had suffered it, others could too and cared not for the pain of those that raised weapons against him and would bind him again.”

The shadows showed a city growing and its walls becoming taller. A blacksmith hammered something, and griffons danced in a party before the throne the big griffon sat on.

“His city grew in power as others flocked to his might. They saw themselves rich with loot and wisely invested it. The walls grew. Blacksmiths came and made good bronze tools of warfare.” The shadows showed soldiers with round shields and spears, uniform with ogive-shaped helmets under the big griffon pointing forward. “Sacking raids became wars of conquest and he ruled twelve cities in the scorching sands of the Hader. He was crowned by his fellows. Slave to king he was Gaven, and they called him The Nameless.”

One of the cubs gasped full of childish wonder.

“Independent griffon cities herded together as does scared prey, and his enemies flocked against him.” She smiled at the cub and continued. Shadows shifted constantly and showed battles and armies clashing against a fortified city filled with archers and spear-armed griffons with the ogive-shaped helmets. One large griffon marched in the middle of the soldiers. “None bested his soldiers or himself and no subterfuge availed them a victory against him. None stood before his might and cities fell faster than his mapmakers could keep up. He took their lives, and they were his to do as he pleased. King to Emperor, he was called Grigor, the First of his Name, and sea, earth and sky trembled at the sound of his approaching armies.”

“Under the unrelenting sun he stretched forth the borders of his empire and the lesser races paid tribute in fear they would be destroyed.” The shadows showed a procession of creatures bringing large chests with coins and gems, but also artifacts such as statues and vases. Discord saw kirins and saddle arabian ponies.

Then the shadows showed the griffon sitting on his throne, thoughtfully looking down. “But =, in the middle of all his victories, he knew that something was wrong. The sun behaved erratically, and he remembered the tales his mother told him, and his mate once told his cub.”

The shadows shifted and showed a tall palace made of spires and two orbs of light above it. A line of unicorns before the palace. “He remembered the tales of the old enemy of his race. Griffons fighting each other would not hold when the hooved ones regained whatever power they lost with the Mad God.”

The shadows showed the large griffon wearing a cape, walking alone. “He traveled beyond the sands of the Hader, to the prairies and mountains settled by his Shadanni brethren. He traveled to the frozen lands where the Nartani resisted the monsters sent forth by the Windigos.”

The shadows changed to show griffons gathered by a fire between stony walls. “He heard the ancient legends of his brothers and sisters and he understood that the world was not as it was meant to be and that was why Chaos ran rampant. The servant yearned to rule and could not. The hooved ones rebelled against their creator and dragged the whole of Creation with them. He understood it would befall a mighty griffon to rule his kind and retake Creation in the name of the Allmother, the mother of all griffons, the Mother of Storms. She who his ancestors had called ‘Aya Harpyia’.”

The imagery changed yet again and showed Griffindel’s great walls where the big griffon, Grigor listened to an old griffoness with a cloak, and she pointed at the mountains in the distance. The shadows shifted and pictured the great griffon as he walked against the wind and snow. Fought wild beats and monsters until he found a chain of mountains. He climbed the mountains, and the images showed a series of peaks, and one had a single tower above it.

“Grigor went forward, never stopping, always sure of his objective. He braved the monsters and the storms the Windigos sent over him. Nothing could stop him, and when he climbed the mountains, he found his ancestral home. He knew. He felt it in his blood! The Stormy Eyrie from where his ancestors had marched from when the ponies unleashed the Windigos upon them.”

The images showed the griffon landing on a balcony at the base of the tower. Those were shadows, but the doors looked heavy to Discord. The shadow image of a griffon reached for them and pulled them open, though. The gesture seemed very important, and the way Gwendolen spoke of it confirmed that.

“She allowed him entrance, for his blood was pure, and his mettle proved.” The shadows showed Grigor before a large and tall throne where sat a large griffon lady that had her distinctive crest of feathers even the cubs could see it was her. Still, it was a bit funny the way she made her voice deeper to sound different. “ ‘I am Gaven, the Nameless!’ He said. ‘I have come from the Hader for I seek knowledge to face my ancient enemy. It is too strong for mortals to fight and I seek understanding. I would learn how to destroy it.’ ”

“ ‘My brothers from the north tell me that here my race was born, and I am compelled to believe them.’ He told her, wise and humble. ‘That here I would find the knowledge to undo their magic and their power over the skies themselves.’ ” She gestured flamboyantly, making ‘his’ voice and the shadows shifted to show the scene. It was a bit silly, but the cubs loved it and even Gilberta was excited. Discord would have loved it too… If… Well… The content was more palatable to him. “ ‘And yet here I find only a griffoness living by herself in the middle of the Windigo’s death trap. My heart tells me you are infinitely important and that I should recognize you, but my eyes see no more than a witch lost in this white desert. Tell me, female, who are you and what help in my quest you can give before I bring back my army and teach these griffons not to tell empty tales.’ ”

She made a small pause and inhaled with a paw on her chest. “ ‘Mighty indeed you are, Gaven, thus named Grigor, The First of His Name. And wise you are to seek counsel in the birthplace of your proud race. You have found favor in me, for you are mighty and you remind me of the griffons of old that cried my name as they burned the bones of their prey.’ ”

“Hum… We don’t burn the bones of the animals we hunt…” One of the adults, the youngest, mumbled.

Gwendolen stopped her theatrics for a second and growled at her. “Well, maybe you should. It might make someone happy.”

After that she went back to making the shadows dance to the scene of ‘not her’ talking to the Emperor. “She told him of things older than the mountains and explained to him the origin of Creation and how it used to serve his kind. How the hooved ones led Creation in rebellion. She explained how they usurped all there was and how powerful they were. How they would end his empire if he did not heed her counsel.”

“How?” Discord rose a finger and she halted again.

“I am writing a book about it. You can read it when it is done. Can I finish the story?” She growled at him too and Discord nodded, well-behaved.

“She taught him the magic in his blood and the power of his language. The Emperor stretched further his empire and all creatures feared him and paid tribute.” The shadows showed dragons, yak, zebras… All carrying piles of coins and gems. Then they shifted into a series of pyramids and tall spires in the middle of the dunes. “He built… Her a temple city so that she would live with him and lend him her power. It was called Aen Hader, and it was The Harpy’s holy city, from where the Emperor governed his holy empire. She trained for him the wisest Loremasters and the deadliest Swordmaidens. They danced for him and they educated his subjects. They taught them the Raptor’s Creed and griffons worshiped the Mother of Storms once again! Her Chosen mothered for him his strongest warriors and his strong once numbered in the millions! The Harpy mated him to one of her favorite Swordmaidens and her name was Geneviere. They generated a healthy and powerful family, strong of blood, regal and of mighty intellect.”

“There was no force in the world that could defeat him.” The shadows showed what looked like Chrysalis with a smaller version of herself before a giant throne with griffons laughing. “And even the Broodmother, the Changeling Progenitor tried marrying one of her daughters to him.”

Discord could imagine that not going very well… Though he would like to see Chrysalis wearing a wedding gown in the middle of all those griffons.

“But… The Emperor lost.” One of the cubs whined. “What happened?”

Gwendolen’s voice grew sad, and not in the theatrical way she mimicked the Emperor’s voice, and the shadows showed a griffon of indiscriminate shape. Just a random griffon as far as Discord was aware. “One of Grigor’s vassals, who later became known as the Traitor King feared the destiny of the griffon race.”

“Knowing he would never defeat the Emperor, he sought an alliance with the most hated of our enemies. The Usurper themselves.” The shadows showed the figures of two most obvious of alicorns under the two orbs in the sky. “One day the Sun relented, and the stars returned. The Emperor knew that the time had come. The ones The Harpy had told him about walked the realm of the mortals and our hated enemies would soon regain their strength.”

“As confirmation that our enemies had indeed been born arrived, The Emperor devised a plan to end their lives before they grew old and powerful. But that would not do, and The Harpy counseled him that in order to destroy the Dawnbringer and the Lady of the Stars he must first unite all of the griffonkind. Only once her kind had been subjugated would they the able to finally destroy The Sisters, and only with her blessings could he do it.”

The shadows showed Grigor and The Harpy at the top of a pyramid and she raised a crown above him. “She made him a crown with the iron from the mountains where our race was born and called it, the Crown of the Conqueror, and she gave him a sword she made herself with enchanted steel and her magic strewn over its mighty blade. They represented her Favor with which to rule all griffons and her Power, with which to destroy their ancient enemies.”

“The Traitor King grew afeared and made contact with the Dawnbringer. He called for help amid all the races subjugated by the empire. But the Emperor knew of it and he refused to strike down the cowardly traitor. And that angered The Harpy. Brotherly love was meant for you brethren, not traitors, much less in the moment all existence converged towards their defeat of the Usurpers.” The shadows showed The Harpy and the Emperor. She slapped and screamed at him. His crown fell to the ground and she took the sword from him. She cried and her wings embraced her before she vanished. “She left him. She cried for months, hiding...”

She coughed and frowned. “I mean… She waited for another worthy of her blessings in her tower.”

“Why did the Emperor refuse to kill the Traitor?” Gilberta sniffled some more.

The shadows vanished and Gwendolen seemed a bit angry. A bit sad. She didn’t even bother with some of the maids that had gathered. “Because Grigor loved Grover as a brother. He had grown too close to his vassals and allowed his feelings to get in the way of judgement. He couldn’t believe that one of them would betray him to the bitter end. Until the day he died, Grigor believed that Grover would return to his side and that The Harpy would return her favor to him, and that they would be victorious.”

“The others remained loyal though. Even as it became apparent that Celestia and her battlehorns, joined by the other races, would be victorious.” Gwendolen let her eyes drift downward. “The northerner Nartani never faltered. They held their advance at every battle. Every city… Grover and Celestia had to rip them out of their claws, bloody and scratched. The Griffindelians refused to submit even after the war was over and lost. Simply because The Harpy had told them not to. So many griffon lives ended, only because of that.”

“Why did The Harpy leave the Emperor?” Gilberta toughed her thigh with her little paw. “Why couldn’t they work it out?”

“It is a difficult thing to explain, Gilberta. She needed Grigor to have absolute trust in her and that he believed absolutely in what she told him.” Gwendolen sighed. “That griffons believed in her, with all their heart and Grover’s betrayal opened space for doubt. Without that, Grigor would not be able to strike down Celestia and destroy her soul.”

“Had it ever…” Discord started. “Had it ever crossed her mind that they might lose the war? That she had pushed things too far? That maybe Grover wouldn’t have been driven to seek for help elsewhere? I imagine he too was a faithful of The Harpy until something drove him away.”

She didn’t answer. She frowned and her eyes shifted a little, but she never answered. Instead, she stood. “I must be alone for a while. Excuse me. Gerri, please take care of Gilberta for me.”

The maid in question nodded positively and Gwendolen left for the private areas of the mansion. Discord stayed with the griffon ladies and his thoughts. That was something…

One thing disturbed Discord, though. All the parallels that existed between Grigor and Gilad. It seemed as though history really liked to repeat itself. Or she had done it purposedly and… Grigory at the end of it all… Her perfect little emperor…

***

Cadance casually strolled around the Break of Dawn’s main deck until she found the pony she was looking for. That unpleasant pegasus mare from the Ponyville’s Local Militia. Candy Crush. She found her in the bow and approached her as she would a friend, treading easily on her hooves.

When the mare noticed her, she made a tired expression and huffed like having Cadance around her was a burden. Well, too bad. Cadance wasn’t going anywhere. Still, she smiled and tried to be as pleasant as she could.

“Hi.” She cheerily greeted the pegasus mare with a smile. “May we speak for a minute?”

“I would rather not.” Candy retorted grimly.

Seriously, what was wrong with that annoying mare? Cadance frowned and glared down at her. “Tough, because I’m going to talk to you on my authority as a princess and I swear that if you make me angry, I will put you on the ship’s brig!”

“Gee, when you put it like that…” She had the gall to stare back at Cadance and sound as though she was offended. Then she just waited for Cadance to talk already.

“What went wrong with you?” Cadance frowned more out of concern and frustration than anger. “Ponies are usually nice and friendly. They welcome it when others are concerned for them. And I understand that some ponies just don’t feel the need to get a romantic partner. Not even a temporary. But you just hate that pony that likes you. Why?”

“Just for the record, I want you to know that I’m only talking to you because you threatened me.” She glared at cadence, who rolled her eyes. “But it’s not that I don’t like him. I know that he fancies me… It’s just that… He puts this dumb job in a pedestal that is way too high.”

“It’s not a dumb job!” Cadance gasped. “You ponies are important! But I suppose that you don’t see it that way. Do you really not have a pony that you like?”

“I like myself…” She said casually with a shrug. “Why does it bother you so much that I don’t want to hook up with anypony? You said it yourself that some ponies just don’t want to.”

Because Flight Worthy liked her, and she was supposed to like him back. That was how the Throne of Love worked! She had made it to work like that! But she supposed that trying to explain that to her would just be a pointless waste of their time. But…Cadance knew!

She also had made a promise to Flight Worthy.

Watching the pegasus mare walking away (without her leave, which was a detail that mildly infuriated her), she felt cornered into making a decision.

Amid memories of little ponies telling her their little hearts’ desires, offering humble bushels of radishes or exuberant bouquets of daffodils and of Auntie Luna explaining all the reasons she believed that Cadance was not the deity of ages ago or her woes about such memories, the the thought that tipped the balance was the one that of her pure and unyielding joy at uniting two ponies and their hearts together.

It was a simple nudge. So fast she barely noticed she had done it, and then it was done. So simple it was silly how much she had fretted over it and also seemed so right it was unthinkable that it was wrong.

It was her Gift, after all.

***

Discord gave her a few minutes, entertained with the cubs talking to Gilberta about some the happenings in the city. Children stuff. Some different things they saw or did and their mothers just kept a paws-off overwatch next to them, talking about their own things.

He went after Lady Gwendolen when he felt enough time had passed. It might have been cheap, but she was vulnerable and that meant she would be more open to him. It was for her own good.

It was a good thing she didn’t seclude herself to her tower that Gilad had mentioned, or he might not have been able to access it without making a scene. She just went to their private quarters and he found her in that nice room where he had first seen her, freaking out that Grigory wouldn’t trust her anymore, or something of the sort.

That whole conversation had made him think of something important that might relate.

She sat near the window, looking outside when he entered and then closed the door.

“What do you want?” She asked without staring at him and not in a very friendly tone. “You are Gilad’s guest, but that does not mean you have free reign around the mansion.”

“I’m sorry. But I need to talk to you.” He approached and spoke in a friendly way. “I want to understand what happened with Grover and Grigor. I feel like you leaving Grigor may have been… Somewhat important in the following events.”

She looked at him with a sly smile. “Why? Are you willing to help all of a sudden?”

“Not in the way you would like but helping is the intention.” He grinned back at her.

“You wouldn’t understand the connection I shared with him.” She spoke softly.

Discord though, thought about Fluttershy. “I might surprise you. You know, I’m good with surprises and I have learned a few things along the way.”

She sighed. “You would not understand. You never experienced existence without your physical body. Before the whole war with our servants began, I was an incorporeal entity. Griffons knew of me. They understood what I was, and they worshiped me, and that was as it was supposed to be. Then ponies decided that they deserved better… I do not even know how since they never had rational brains or even free will. And then they started killing cubs and the whole affair ended with the Black Sun!”

Discord was just amused at the way she simply expected ponies to just accept that they ought to die and feed the griffons. But rather than interrupting her, he let her continue.

“When, creation started anew I was left conscious, still in my incorporeal form and I had to watch as those asinine equines made mistake after mistake and only after the fourth attempt, they managed to make the world inhabitable by anything that had a basic physiology capable of sustaining some intelligence.” She pulled at her crest and grunted. “It was maddening!”

“At least, once the ponies were able to put the world under control, I was able to bring My Children into existence.” She held her beak thoughtfully. “Though, for some reason I do not understand, other creatures also appeared. Dragons. Diamond Dogs. I do not believe they were Celestia’s creation. They must have been the result of the world’s innate magic once the ponies had made it inhabitable.”

He rose an eyebrow, but kept his mouth shut. Came to a talon’s width of telling her that it was like the world finally worked as though it was supposed to.

“When you arrived, I believed that the ponies were done for again. Amicizia’s Elements of Harmony did their job with the Windigos and kept those pests alive, but the system required the ponies had free-will. And that most certainly did not work as she expected. But….” She grinned at him.

“But the Black Sun didn’t happen…” He mused. “They actually managed to avoid it.”

“Please…” Gwendolen gave him a derisive stare. “They cheated their way out of oblivion.”

Discord hummed to himself. He had heard that before.

“Hum… It wasn’t the Black Sun that brought you back… It just allowed the griffons to bring you to the realm of the living. Much like the others.” Discord mused again.

“They were incredibly powerful, but they had no real control over their power. Ultimately, it was ponies that brought the Windigos. And brought you. The Princesses.” She paused for a second again. “Although, I cannot imagine how did Cadenza manage to breed. It should not be possible. My womb is as barren as the Hader because my soul lacks the… Mechanism to call another soul from the Pool of Souls to animate a new being. Such should be the same for her, since her soul was never supposed to actually inhabit a body and be bound to this place.”

“I suppose that is also why they are immortal?” Discord mused. “Or… We are.”

“Correct.” She nodded. “That is not what you wanted to know, however. What happened is that I was not happy with griffons. Not much has been said about them before the Lost Herd. My Children had organized in small countries headed by decadent families, one more incompetent than the other. They sought comfort before prestige, and it infuriated me. I told you when you arrived. They became complacent and enjoyed a long and easy life too much. I let them fend for themselves. And you taught them good lessons: no better teacher than adversity.”

“Yeah…” Discord blanked. “Something about not getting laid and eating sugar.”

“I will not blame a griffon for failing. But I will for not trying out of cowardice. Their lives are short, and I have taught them that they ought to live it to its fullest. Griffons that do not spite their gift of being alive. One I was very much sour about never having received myself.”

“Celestia teaches ponies the same thing.” Discord deadpanned at her.

She just frowned at him.

“Eventually they brought you to life.” Discord nodded, understanding her explanation.

“I never thought it would be possible, but rather than gifting me with the same gift I had bestowed upon them, they dragged me down into their pit of mud. They wanted me to save them, but they did not deserve it. They disgusted me. They were not the fierce and powerful creatures I had made them to be. So, I left. Had I assisted them, they would have learned nothing. You were a better teacher, at the time, than I could ever be.”

Discord sat in the thin air, crossing his legs and hummed. He didn’t necessarily like what he had heard, but that was in the past. “It worked, didn’t it?”

“Barely.” She frowned. “It culled the pride if nothing else. But it generated a layer of infuriatingly incompetent leaders that were charismatic and brutal, but all their ruling capacity came from their ability to yield their might against the meek. No intelligence, no regality. No respect for their fellow griffons. No understanding of what made for great leaders and what made them powerful.”

She went to a cabinet with all sorts of bottles with dinks and opened it, looking for something. “When it became obvious that the world was not about to end, I decided the best strategy would be to disseminate the right beliefs. Not surprisingly, they remembered me, but they seemed to believe that if they cried hard enough, I would help them. I know My Children. That was the path to creating more grown-up cubs with no mettle and no spine. I contacted a few of them. The wise ones. The ones that would listen to me and understand that their complacency was a threat bigger than the Lost.”

“It worked.” She offered Discord a glass of wine and he floated it to himself. She also served a glass for her, and then she corked the bottle and stared down at it. Thoughtfully. “It was a shame that he needed to lose his wife and child… I quite liked them. But then again, he might not have felt such a connection to me, had his mate been alive.”

“Wait…” Discord stopped at the first bite at the crystal glass. “What?”

“You may not have noticed, not being a griffon, but I am an exceptionally attractive female.” She actually blushed. “He introduced me to feelings I believed I understood but were… So overwhelming once I experienced myself. I never expected how powerful physical sensations could be. How powerful feelings associated to being alive could be.”

He just deadpanned at her. “Stupid hormones, huh?”

“Make fun of this, if you will, but my feelings for him were very much real and overwhelming.” She whined at him, instead than her usual angry response.

Yeah… The Chad Emperor. That made it even harder, but he managed not to laugh. He did, kind of, understand it… He got overwhelmed by feelings too and almost ended the world because he thought that he knew better. It also made him think back to the things the Windigos told him about ‘those beings’, which included Celestia and himself. Yeah… Letting go from being alive was damn hard, exactly because it was so awesome.

“So, you loved him?” He tried to sound the least accusing as possible.

“He managed to make it all the way to my tower, and he was a fit and healthy griffon… If anything, it was an ultimate test of his mettle and skill. It should be easy to imagine he was an attractive and seemingly capable griffon.” Yeah… The Chad Emperor… He thought, but he kept simply listening to her. “He took me from the tower to…”

“You… Literally stayed in the tower for however many years until he went there, didn’t you?” He deadpanned at her again. Sweet Luna… It was like a twisted fairy tale. A really dumb one!

“I could not be out and about, taking a stroll around the world!” She frowned. “Celestia would eventually find me. Not to mention that it was filled with things that downright disgusted me!”

“Well, I suppose so. But you still hasn’t told me what was it that made you leave Grigor. It seemed as though that you could have won if you stayed at his side.”

“Grigor’s insistence told griffons there was another way other than me.” She growled. “He could not ever summon sufficient magical power to undo her soul in such way.”

“Gwendolen, you said Grigory couldn’t cast a spell without your help. Now Grigor can’t defeat Celestia without the griffons backing him up. What is going on?”

She frowned at him. “I am at no obligation to disclose everything to you. Especially when you refuse to help me. You should rethink your position, really. You would spare many creatures a great amount of suffering.”

“Well, I’m trying to do exactly that, you know.” He crossed his arms, and she gave him a disinterested stare. “Fine then, don’t tell me about that. But did you really spend… I don’t know. Centuries, if not millennia, hiding inside a cold tower?”

“I was not hiding, nor was it cold!” She cried. “I was bidding my time! Waiting for the right moment. Waiting for a worthy griffon to find me and take his place at my side. And my tower in the Stormy Eyrie is quite comfortable. I liked it there!”

“You mean, rule for you, the way you wanted.” He offered a hand with his retort and ignored her outburst.

“I most certainly do not see the problem in that.” She rose her beak, arrogantly offended. “No one knows griffons better than I do.”

He sighed his frustration out. That was going to be a tough nut to crack… aybe he could get to understand her better and find a way to approach her through other griffons. Her Loremasters in training came to mind, and also her courtiers. Then he smiled at her.

“Maybe I just need some help seeing things your way.” He opened his arms all friendly. “You are right! I spent most of my time, that wasn’t turned to stone, living with ponies. Maybe I need some griffon experience.”

He got the impression that he failed to completely convince her of his intentions, and she might be able to see right through him. She was a clever girl, he believed. But at the same time, she wanted him so bad to just side with her he just might have a chance to make her believe and give him the space he needs to show her the wrong in her ways.

He opened his arms and frowned. “It’s not like you’re letting me leave before you’re convinced I’m siding with you, right?”

She grinned impishly. “Well, you will not be leaving unless you acquiesce, yes. There is much you can learn. Yes. And you are our guest.”

Well, at least he was having some fun.

***

Twilight passed the fourth group of murmuring crewponies while crossing the deck of the Break of Dawn. She found it curious but didn’t bother investigating as she was busy. She meant to talk to Grigory about his sword and the spell he tried to cast. Along the way she found Cadance talking to Shining Armor, but they stopped talking when she arrived.

Cadance turned to her with a serious expression while Shining Armor had the same expression he’d have when he sat behind their mother trying to have some serious conversation with Twilight and tried his best not to giggle at whatever the problem was.

“Twilight, can I ask you a hypothetical question?” Cadance asked with that serious expression that her mother usually had when she wanted to talk about something serious.

“Sure.” Twilight just stared at her serious expression and past her to Shining barely contained giggling.

“If it came to that, would you be willing to marry to save Equestria?” She simply asked the question, as though it was normal.

Well, twilight was sure it was normal in those books she read…

“Cadance, I met with Grigory in that bathroom for…” She caught herself and looked around to see if anyone was within earshot and still kept her voice low, if a bit angry. “To discuss our plans for escape! You know that!”

“I know! I know!” The other did the same. “But… If it was a solution… Would you?”

“Well, would you marry Flurry Heart off to some griffon jerk?” Twilight glared at her.

“Hypothetically?” She blinked.

“Cadance!” Twilight yelled at her and Shining Armor just burst out laughing out, hugging his stomach.

“This isn’t funny!” The two yelled at him. Although he could bet it was for different reasons.

Twilight grunted and shook the nonsense out of her head. “Look. I need to talk to Prince Grigory. Do you know where he is?”

“Oh! I need to talk to him too!” Cadance piped with a huge grin.

“Cadance! I am not marrying him!” Twilight yelled louder than she meant to and that, of course, drew attention from the entire deck. She groaned and facehoofed, but before she could speak further, Cadance interrupted her with a raised hoof.

“That is not it!” Cadance recoiled with a grimace and rose a hoof from the floor. “I need to talk to him about his marefriend. Er… Mate. Gallensa. It seems they have a problem with another griffoness getting in the way of a happy marriage and she asked for help.”

“Are you sure you want to get involved?” Twilight closed an eye in doubt, but Cadance put a hoof on her chest, speaking with all the pomp a Princess could afford.

“What sort of Love Goddess would I be if I didn’t?”

“Fine…” Twilight could feel a headache coming her way if she allowed the conversation to keep going. Cadance had made her mind on that issue and she didn’t feel like she had the right to tell her otherwise after all she’s been through. “Just be careful, okay? I don’t trust these griffons and you’re too important for all of us.”

“It will be fine!” The older princess waved a hoof at her. “I know what I’m doing.”

“Well, both of you take care.” Shining suddenly became serious. “They’re up to something. Grigory outright admitted to wanting to ponynap you two and take you to wherever and do Celestia knows what with you.”

“The Stormy Eyrie.” Cadance said thoughtfully.

Earlier Twilight had made fun of his worries, but after meeting those griffons, his concern seemed very justified. But Cadance spoke before she did, with a huge grin. “Come with us then!”

He frowned. “I would prefer that you two dropped this whole thing but since that seems very unlikely, I’ll go with you.”

“We can always count on you, Shining Armor!” Cadance cheered. Then she saw something in the distance and pointed. “Hey. What’s that?”

A medium sized airship sided up to the large and long airship that was different from the others and wasn’t the hospital airship. In fact, neither ships seemed like they belonged in the armada because the one Twilight knew was the support craft, nor the other, had any weapons, but the newly arrived airship seemed much older and used than the shinny golden-hulled airships that escorted Celestia’s airship. It seemed to be a old cargo ship.

“Ah, that’s likely a supply ship.” Shining explained unworried. “It must’ve come from a nearby city with supplies. Crewponies need food and the airships need ‘stuff’.”

Then he turned back to them. “If we’re going to see the griffon prince, we should go already. We don’t know what they’re up to and they might spring their part of the escape plan on us at any moment.”

The two agreed and he went on. “He ought to be in his quarters in the hospital airship. He decided to stay with his soldiers. Come on.”

***

Civilian contractors.

The title made it sound delivering groceries to a flying armada even better than it already was. Sure, he worked his way up his shipping company and he was used to overseeing loading and unloading of airships (trains before that, and carts in the start of his career) but he had the feeling it wouldn’t get any better than it was at the moment.

The two airships moored together and a wide plank in between them made the transfer of cargo possible. Simple, but it worked. His crew pulled small carts with the crates of supplies to the military supply vessel, and he stood by the plank checking the identification numbers on each crate.

So, yeah. His life was basically watching ponies hauling crates from one side to the other, but Heavy Haul liked that job. His cutie mark was a crate with wings, after all, and he worked hard for his job!

He was, technically, working directly to the princess!

He took pride in it.

It was the same as it always was, though. Crate coming through, number checks with the records.

Crate.

Crate.

Crate.

Another crate.

Yellow crate instead of brown.

Brown crate again.

Oh, crud… Somepony tagged that one upside down. Good thing he had such good eyes! And Chill Breeze was limping of her left hindleg again! How many times did he have to tell her not to work if she was not one hundred percent? Those things got worse, and then he’d have Worker Welfare up in his case again! Ugh!

Anyways, crate…

Crate.

Griffon lady in black cloak.

Crate. Crate.

Wait! What?!

“Whoa whoa whoa!” He cried and his wing let his clipboard fall to the deck. “Lady! Hold up! Who are you?”

Fortunately, he caught up with her before she reached the plank. The Goldies were gonna flip if she boarded without permission! What the heck? Was she onboard the whole trip?

“My name is not important, pony.” She said. Silvery fur under her cloak and a white head and grey eyes with a scowl at him. “Let me pass, and forget you saw me.”

“What?” His head seemed light and his thoughts fuzzy. Something that she said seemed incredibly shady and ridiculously out of place. There was something he was supposed to do, but he kinda forgot what it was. He put his hoof to the side of his head and frowned, focusing on her. He shook his head and… Who was she again? “Wait… Who… Who are you again?”

“You do not need this sort of trouble, pony.” Her voice was weird, and it seemed to worm its way into his thoughts and tugged at them like the old griffon lady tugged at a kite and got it go wherever she wanted to. “You forget or not even notice most things you come into contact with. I am nothing more than something unimportant to be forgotten. You have more important things to mind.”

“Yeah… Sure…” Something was wrong. Something was terribly wrong. But he couldn’t put his hoof on what it was. His head ached like someone had just kicked him in his temple and he had hard a time focusing on just about anything.

“Boss? Hey boss!” Spring Breeze frowned at him. And he recognized her green-eyed stare at him, full of concern and a little impatient. He felt like he had been lost inside a hole and her voice brought him back from it with a snap. “You okay, boss? You’ve been there staring blankly for a while and just wouldn’t answer.”

There was a line of pegasi, his crewponies, frowning at him from behind her. Oh crud! Work stalled because… What happened? He got distracted. That was what.

“I’m sorry, Spring Breeze. I don’t know what got into me.” He just stared at them with his ears hanging from his head. “I’m sorry guys. Let’s get back to it!”

Still strapped to her cart, his light green pegasus crewpony that was Spring Breeze approached him and held his hoof in her own. “No. You’re not like this. Something is wrong.”

“Yeah, boss!” One of the pegasi in the line waiting inspection agreed and raised a hoof. “They got this fancy hospital airship here. You should get yourself checked in there!”

The mare nodded. “I’ll take you there and the others can get the unloading done by themselves.”

“Alright.” He didn’t like it. Leaving his job like that. But she did seem very worried. And… Something weird just happened to him. He remembered something in the newspaper about stuff going wrong with your head and stuff just like what happened to him might just be that. Yeah… Best to let the others take care of him for once.

He walked with his crewpony mare for a few steps before he stopped. “Did… Did you guys see an old griffon lady? Wearing a cloak?”

“Come on.” Spring looked deathly worried. “Let’s worry about that later.”

Comments

[Silentwoodfire]

Surprised Gwendolen doesn't have a private pony herd to fatten up and eat as desired. Girl is slacking if that's the case.

[Metemponychosis]

10826819
lmao! I totally admit I should have thought of that. At least in the dream meeting.

[Kevin Lee]

10862396
Of course it wouldn't have been the real Twilight Velvet and Celestia... just very convincing drones playing them. (fake mom crying for what Twilight did, & Celestia using some obscure reference that only Twilight, the real Celestia, and the changeling spy know about....)

Cadance: "Get away from her, you bitch!"
Chrysalis: "Oh, that's a fantastic impression of Ripley, my dear!"
Cadance: "Wait--yeah, it was a movie that I recall seeing all this get up before."
Chrysalis: "What can I say? We created such an awesome movie with impressive makeup and sets. I knew I just HAD to try it out for my next spawning cycle. And you know what, doing it this way is SOOO much more comfortable than how I always did in the past... Fuck the old way of laying eggs from now on! Carol Brunette once said it's like pooping out a bolling ball? Let me clue you all in on the secret to real pain: try several dozen champion-sized watermelons, bitches!"
Twilight Sparkle: "whatthefuckinghayiseveryponytalkingabout!!!???"
Cadance & Chrysalis: "Aliens"
Twilight Sparkle: "Huh? The movie where some creature face fucks a stallion and an acid-blooded insect killing machine pops out of his chest!? That damned film gave me nightmares for months! Princess Luna started charging by the hour treating me over that one! Princess Celestia nearly had it banned for all the harm it caused!"
Cadance: "No, you're thinking of the first movie: Alien--as in singular."
Chrysalis: "Aliens was where the evil Ripley has to rescue a immature food source from the real heroes of the movie."
Twilight Sparkle *lower left eyelid twitching*: "They made a sequel to that thing!? And leave it to Chrysalis to consider those monsters to be the 'real heroes'. "
Cadance: "Of course she would. That's why we all just love Chrysie! "
Chrysalis: "Besides, I bankrolled all the movies in the franchise. Six movies of Aliens, four of Predator, and the two crossovers "
Cadance: "Oh, I LOVE all those films!"
Twilight Sparkle: ""

[Metemponychosis]

10862758
"Aliens: The Changeling Cut"
I would watch it.

[Metemponychosis]

10874542
"Ice Queen" is gonna scramble that whole thing...
I think you'll love it.

Although "Dines with Griffons" is gonna mess stuff up too.

[Metemponychosis]

10874899
Just you wait.

[Kevin Lee]

10877275
Yeah, Google Translate is awesome! I ran the second part from Grigor through first and it autodetected as Bugarian.
Me: "Okay, kool!"
Then I ran the first part of his call out to the Harpy through and I get "Dirty Harry!"
Me: "Wai--WHU!? "
Especially as Harpies are supposed to be depicted as "filthy" blend of women and a carnivore bird (or more like a vulture or other carrion eater). Of course, you know that Google gave me nothing but shit for what Celestia said to him, but the whole "High Griffon" language that was introduced very early on in both stories has been giving me nothing but a Cthulhu-esque feel to this whole business for quite some time. Even from the start, I felt this "Harpy" was more akin to the corruptions that had created Nightmare Moon and Sombra. I'm not sure what to make of Celestia's revelations--maybe there's more than just another shadow-creature...maybe a Shadow

As for griffons being omnivores or carnivores is a matter of good valid fandom debates. The show clearly has them as able to eat "pony food", but there's a serious lack of logic to support such, seeing as how griffons are definitely a blend of feline (carnivore) and bird (with many of the birds being carnivores, although Gabby's avian parts seems to be pigeon).
Your version of Celestia is clearly and solidly in the Vegan camp--MLP's Canon Celestia hasn't ever made that strong of a statement, but she does seem to be a pragmatic character...and there is Canon Fluttershy who definitely recognizes and accepts the needs of carnivores to have their diet.
There's also the comedic gag in the Mare Do Well episode where Rainbow Dash snags a fish in her mouth when she dives/falls into a river--that's also prompted numerous debates as to whether at least pegasi are omnivores, when you consider the odds of catching a fish from an aerial dive: even full-time predators fail more often than not, so many have wondered if Rainbow's "lucky fish catch" was perhaps an instinctive reaction on her part of an omnivore versus purely an accident of a herbivore.

[Metemponychosis]

10879861
Harpy eagle - Wikipedia
The Harpy is deeply offended and her day is thus ruined.
Though you could say that at the beginning, all of those beings, the Windigos included, had a larger than life and unfathomable quality to them, being immaterial and 'not meant to exist in the realm of the mortals'.

In the cartoon I barely felt that Celestia even had a character other than a series of quirks they thought was funny at the moment for a certain episode and also a cardboard they put in front of a speaker to deliver exposition. I'm not in any way bashing the cartoon, or its creators, though. This version of Celestia is meant to be a more defined character. The intention was that Celestia, Lady Gwendolen, and Chrysalis are basically the same archetype, each in different times of their lives, and with different agendas, but that should be more easy to see in the coming chapters when Cadance finally reads the book Chrysalis gave her. All in all, Celestia is meant to be a vegetarian, since she will consume dairy products with no shame (but, to be seen in other stories, she enforces strict laws on how dairy animals must be treated). Vegans would bash my Celestia for presuming that it is acceptable to explore chickens and cows for milk and eggs. Again, more in another story.

One of the reasons I went with an alternate universe was that it would free me from fandom interpretation of what stuff in the cartoon meant. Pinkie once said they're vegetarians, yadda-yadda... in the end, there is nothing keeping a horse from learning how to fish, especially a rational horse (though I had teachers in genetics and neurophysiology that would hit me over the head for trying to pretend there actually is an easily definable line, much less in the story). The cartoon is a bit of a mess. Not that my AU is much better, but I'm trying to establish diametrically opposite cultures with the griffons lost somewhere in the confusing middle. But I may be talking too much.

Did Lady Gwendolen make you feel that she wanted to see the manager?
Seriously, once you reach the end of the published chapters, since you seem to enjoy this story and the AU as a whole, can you give some thoughts about the whole thing? Am I reaching the intended humor and implications?

[Kevin Lee]

10879927

Seriously, once you reach the end of the published chapters, since you seem to enjoy this story and the AU as a whole, can you give some thoughts about the whole thing? Am I reaching the intended humor and implications?

Have you ever read Moguera's Savage Skies series? This puppy's going right into that same Top Faves bin of mine, for the same reasons: a well thought-out idea, great detail, great characterizations and motivations, lots of intrigue and catchy mysteries, great humor, and I'm sure lots of surprise reveals still yet to come. Absolutely, you've got some serious gold with this story, Fólkvangr, and Angry Horny Evil Griffons!

[Metemponychosis]

10881090
I hadn't read that. Added it to the read later list.
I'm very happy you like it. For real, it means to world to a starting author.
Well, there are more stories coming. Gwen will be about that little soldier Lady Geena brought. There will be shorter ones about Flying Snake getting involved in that mess, about how cows are treated in farms in different places. Another about Luna and The Harpy trying to get Gallus to dream what each of them wants. Twilight's date with Flash Sentry. And one about how unhinged and out of control Lady Gwendolen is.

After Piece of Parchment there will be a story about Celestia and Luna becoming princesses, the full battle before the Citadel. The whole campaign against the Empire, another about the events before the Black Sun removed the Harpy. I have outlined stories for years in this AU.

There will also be a Death Stranding parody with Gabby.

[Kevin Lee]

Oooh, and now we have griffons using Jedi mind tric....
Wait... did we just see... Gwineth!???

what was is that Gehenna and Gwendolen just got through ripping her a brand new, spanking, never-before-used, asshole about, again????

Shit has just been locked and loaded! Target: the Fan!
Ready....! Aim....! Fi----

[Kevin Lee]

10881656
Glad I could entertain.
Now, back to Fólkvangr.

Also, I've got to go and reread Chalker's Well Of Souls series. It's been too long since I last did so.

[Metemponychosis]

10882609
They're not Jedi mind tricks. No paw waving was involved. They're Bene Gesserit voice tricks.
(That whole description of the Loremasters was ripped out of Duna. )
That was Gehenna. The only thing Gwineth knows how to do is slice others into pieces and pretend she's badass. You saw Gwineth on chapter 11 of Fólkvangr though.

And the shit is indeed en route.

[Metemponychosis]

10882609
Wait. That was Gwineth unarresting Gund and his friend, she off to Griffonstone to free Master Gabriel, as Lady Gwendolen ordered.
The one infiltrating the Break of Dawn was Gehenna.

[Jinnchin]

Uh oh, getting the distinct impression Cadence just crossed a line she cannot uncross when she gave Candy Crush that “Nudge.”

Also. Grigor, Grigor-y. I’m kicking myself for not putting two and two together sooner! At least now we know why The Harpy was willing to give him so much leeway! And why she wants him to call her mommy…

That conversation between Discord and "Gwendoline" was possibly the highlight of this chapter. For all her flaws there are quite a few aspects of the Harpy’s philosophy I can get behind, not least of which that she wants her children to actually LIVE, not just exist (ironic since this seems identical to what Celestia wants). It’s just a shame she has to go about it the way she does.

Also just going to say it, Gehenna is flipping creepy!

[Metemponychosis]

11834117
The Harpy has this belief that with station comes privileges. To her, it is a way to incentivize griffons try to climb the stairs. Until Gavingkal and Goving happen.

The intention behind them is that Celestia and Mother Harpy both want the same thing, but they disagree on how to get there. I wanted the northerner griffons to be 'villain' that you can't fix pointing the Elements at. So, the northerner have their traditions and beliefs that range between the 'good' and the 'evil' and even then their motivations are gray. For example, the thralldom system is a for all intensive purposes a safety net that catches griffons that can't help themselves, like Goving and Grunhilda. But then, it is thralldom. Celestia has instituted UBI and the Griffonian Chancelor diverted it. Because he wants to protect the nation, but also because he doesn't want to lose his bone. And the Harpy believes in a world where everyone is capable of taking care of themselves because they were prepared. Figuring that out is the point of Twilight's quest, but she needs information that Celestia won't give her.

Gehenna is the quintessential Loremaster. lol