Piece of Parchment

by Metemponychosis

Red Dawn, Pt. I

He stood in the center of a dimly lit room. A confused griffon that blinked his honey-colored eyes a few times before he could make out where he was. He scanned the room under the flimsy light. Magical torches attached to the pillars close to the deep blue walls barely gave any of it, but it was enough.

He sat on a long azure and velvety carpet lined with silver at the edges. An elongated domed ceiling met his eyes when he looked up. Behind were him closed doors made of magically tinted blue wood and carved to perfection with an image of the moon. A pair of large gray Thestral Royal Guards stood watch by it and their stoic appearance worried him.

Wait… That was… What the hell was going on?!

He stood on his four legs and turned his fully dark-tan body with an anxious gasp.

There were many thestrals, well-dressed in dark-colored clothes. Males with top hats and females with elegant jewelry and fancy dresses. Among them were also unicorns and a few pegasi and earth ponies. All of them stared at the griffon with less than enthusiastic glares and raised snouts.

Several pieces of luxurious furniture and tables with pony foods littered the hall along the walls, but what dominated his eyes was behind it all. A mural of colored glass showed the night and the clear glass shone with the moon behind it. The throne was illuminated with the moonlight that entered from the clear glass. It had blue pillows and it was flanked by blue and black satin curtains. Finally, it stood at the top of seven steps made of deep blue marble.

A throne worthy of the Princess of the Night and she sat at her throne with her wings slightly open, making her larger than she already was. Her stare was down at him and held none of the typical awkwardness she was known for.

What was going on? When had he come to Canterlot? He was not supposed to return to the Court of Midnight. Ever. Not after he was given his assignment. No. Something was wrong. He remembered he had laid on his bed, next to his beautiful mate. He was in his home in Griffonstone, and he was a dreaming. There was only one explanation: he was caught. The Princess had found he had betrayed her.

“Princess, I…” He didn’t know what he was going to say, but he started anyways. He had to say something. Anything. Or he was going to explode.

“Silence, Gast.” The princess interrupted him curtly. “Time is limited.”

He should apologize. The Royal Sisters had trusted him with monitoring the situation in Griffonstone and he had betrayed them. The fact that Luna had chosen to go to him in a dream was almost scarier than a flesh and blood visit.

“Be at peace, Gast.” The princess spoke again and interrupted his thoughts. “Know that I am most displeased you have chosen to betray me and my sister, but there are much more important troubles at hoof.”

He blinked at her eyes filled with confusion and worry.

“Celestia has come to Griffonstone and she is bound to discover things I consider most disturbing. Among those, that the bird we had chosen to assist us has chosen betrayal instead.” The princess declared nonchalantly.

“I… I… You wouldn’t understand, Princess.” He wanted to speak, but the words failed him. Until realization hit him like lightning from the storm. “Wait! Celestia is in Griffonstone?! What!?”

“Much on the contrary, I understand it better than you do.” Luna retorted with a scowl. “Didn’t I tell you to be at ease?”

Yes, she did. But being at ease was kind of difficult at the moment. And Luna didn’t allow him much time to think anyways. “Pay attention. You and your supporters must leave, you know what this means. I will help however I can, and I will give you a list of griffons. They are griffons who The Harpy has contacted, but that have not yet joined you. You must move them out of Griffonstone before the break of dawn. Before Celestia finds them. It is imperative and may hold a heavy weight in defining the future of your race. Possibly the whole world. The list will be waiting for you under your home’s door. Be quick. Be assertive. Do this for your race, not for Celestia. Not for me.”

“Princess…” Damnit. Hearing her talk like that hurt more than it had any right. How did she even know? Of his betrayal? Of The Harpy? “Why are you…”

“Hush.” Luna admonished him. And just as she said that something heavy banged against the sturdy doors to her throne room.

He turned with an upstart to see the two thestral guards distancing from the door with their wings open.

“Yes. Time is limited.” Luna spoke again, but he didn’t look at her. The doors banged against the framing, and she cried on the other side. And she was pissed. “Now, forget this interaction. All of it, but your mission.”

“Huh?” He turned to Luna.

“And awaken.” Her horn shone and a flash took his eyes.

Gast cried as he sat on his bed. His flaring wings sent the sheets flying from the bed and sweat soiled his coat. “Aah!! What the heck…”

The griffoness next to him rose slowly from the bed and sat too, all elegance in her turquoise body and her head with back-swept feathers. Her face was white, and it accentuated her delicate beak and her sapphire eyes.

“Gast, what happened?” She asked with her whistle-y northerner accent, calm and collected as always.

“I… I don’t know!” He grimaced and then he groaned, holding his head with his paws. What in the Scorch happened? He couldn’t remember what he dreamed about, but it was deathly important. His skull was about to split in half and the only thing in his mind was that he must act.

He jumped from the bed and rushed out of his room. His house wasn’t a mansion or one of the largest manors in the city’s rich areas, but it was large. Enough that it had two majordomos and a butler. And they came to him with all the racket he caused. His wife followed him too, calling his name with some worry. It meant a lot coming from her usually cold self.

He went down the stairs to the main hall, all the way to the house’s doors. He wasn’t sure what he expected until he saw it. A fat envelope that was not sealed or anything. When he opened to see its contents, he found a list of names and addresses.

His face shifted into a frown as his eyes jumped between words in Griffonian glyphs until he, finally looked at his patiently waiting mate. “We have to leave!”

“Gast.” His mate spoke to him in front of their servants and their three son and daughters that also had come to see what the fuss was about. The eldest daughter still had the netting over her head. “Talk to me.”

“I don’t understand… But I know that we have to go. All of us. We have to leave Griffonstone.”

“Why?” His elder daughter, the same colors of her mother, but with her feathers spiking out of her head after she removed the netting, asked. She sat and opened her forelegs like he was talking nonsense.

Which he was, but he was also sure.

“Celestia is in Griffonstone.” He just said it, bluntly and as simply as he could.

“What?!” His older daughter acted up again. “Just like that?! What craziness is this?! Everything was fine yesterday.”

Gast gave his mate the pieces of paper before he rushed to a large cabinet by the wall, and she examined what was written with an inquisitive frown.

“Mamma, what is bothering pappa?” The little griffon cub in her father’s colors complained between her older siblings with an upset whine. All while holding her little chicken plushie.

“Hush, little plume.” She told the cub in a stern tone that transmitted all the severity of the situation. Then she rose her eyes to her mate who just finished entering the sequence in the lock and opened the gun cabinet. “Gast, some are our brethren under Our Mother, but I don’t recognize most of these names, much less these addresses.”

“They are Her Children.” He told her with all the certainty in the world as he grabbed one of the modern northern-made pistols. The one with the long barrel and the bullet magazine. He turned, offering it her. “I don’t know how I know. But I know. I dreamt. Or something. Celestia is in the city, and we must get them out. As many as we can. Celestia can learn things that she mustn’t. from them. From us.”

“A dream?” She hissed. “How can you know it is not Princess Luna’s doing? Luring us into a trap?”

“It wasn't a dream! It was... I don't know. I don’t know!” After that, he spoke calmly and slowly. Staring her dead on the eyes while offering her the weapon grip first. “I am not sure what happened. But I am activating ‘Red Dawn’. Right now.”

"Maybe Mother Harpy wants pappa to do something?" The younger cub turned her big eyes back up to her mother.

"Our mother doesn't talk to us like that, little plume." The griffonness frowned and shook her head before she turned back to Gast. He had steel resolve in his eyes and still held the weapon to her, with the grip for her to grasp.

She didn’t hesitate much longer and reached for the weapon she then stowed under her wing. “Very well. If Celestia is in the city, all could collapse before we can react and this might be our only warning. I hope that you are right, Gast. I shall prepare myself.”

With that she hurried up the stairs back to their room and their daughter put up her paws. “Whoa! Whoa! Pappa! This is freaking me out!”

“We’ll have to travel to the north, Georgia.” Gast turned back to the locker as his son approached him and the younger cub started sniffling.

Just as quickly as she had left, the mother came back wearing her blue satin cloak. “I will see Madam Gladys. She has access to more resources, and we will need the teleporter, as per Red Dawn procedures.”

She also put out her cerulean paw for him and asked for one of the lists, pulling her fingers. He obliged.

Some might find it abrupt, or cruel that she left without a word of goodbye to her mate or a loving peck to their children. Perhaps a ‘I love you’. But she was a northerner, a fair lady from Frozenlake. They didn’t say things you were supposed to know. And not just any northerner either. She was one of those ‘special’ griffonesses. A queen Lady Gwendolen had trained specifically to light a fire in him and make him betray the Royal Pony Sisters. And he had swallowed it all, hook, line, and sinker. Even now, he simply had chosen a side.

“Pappa, is this for real?” His son’s voice carried as much apprehension as his frown. “I’m kind of scared right now.”

Behind him, his older sister soothed the youngest as their mother left in the middle of a rainy night. Gast borrowed a little of his mate’s drive and focused on his son. “You don’t have time to be afraid. Like the training camp in Frozenlake, there is business to tend to. I don’t know what happened, but we have to take matters into our paws. I will throw myself into the Scorch if Our Mother finds my children lacking.”

He grabbed one of the fancy new guns from the locker and put it into his son’s paws. The short automatic weapon from the northerner armories had a strap the young griffon put around his neck. Gast also gave him a bandolier with three magazines loaded with bullets. “Take your sisters to the teleporter. As soon as griffons start moving, the GSA and the local militia will notice something is happening. Hurry. Fly low, if you must, and avoid them. If it comes to that, shoot to kill.”

Gast also gave the same to his older sister. “Don’t wait for us in the teleporter. Don’t wait for us in Thunderpeak. Take a caravan to Wayfarer’s Rest and wait for us there. Remember the Raptor’s Creed, and that if it has hooves, it’s not our friend.”

As he spoke, his son settled his gear in place and his sister grabbed their baby sister.

“Hold on, baby.” She said softly and the small griffon cub did exactly that.

“We’ll be at Wayfarer’s Rest then, pappa.” The male said and opened the door for his sister, leaving after her.

Finally, Gast turned to his servants. “Gentlegriffons, it’s been a pleasure.”

They nodded in a single line in front of him as he offered each one of the lists of names and addresses. “Go to our supporters first. You know what to do. Enlist their help and find the others. Convince them they must leave. That their lives are in danger and that we all must escape Griffonstone. They’ll believe you, but most of them will have no idea of what to take or do. Help them. They are our brothers and sisters under Our Mother.”

The three griffons reached for the weapons inside the locker and secured their lists in their bandoliers while Gast took one of the pistols and loaded it with a magazine. His had a thick barrel, designed to muffle the sound of the weapon when it fired.

The four left the house after they turned off the lights and closed the door. With one last stare they flew their different ways.

Gast stowed his pistol under his wing and walked under the rain across the street. It was so dark with the cuts in the public lighting, and the overcast sky didn’t help. The water carried most of the filth away, but it quickly drenched his coat and plumage. His heart beat so fast, and it thumped into his ears, but the rain cooled him and his mind found focus.

He reached the other side of the street and hopped over the small cast iron fence. Then he walked straight up the small cobblestone path that winded to the main door of the large house across the street from his. Looking up the façade, he knocked on the large mahogany doors as soon as he reached them.

No response and the few seconds that passed felt like an eternity. He looked to the side. The wind had moved the bushes and it almost made him jump. A can fell to the cobblestones of the street with a clang and rolled in the distance. Other than that, the street was silent under the soft drizzling of the rain.

He knocked again as a thousand thoughts flooded his mind. He half expected a Royal Guard pegasi to swoop down from the roof. Maybe the GSA military police, or the local militia would burst out the door. They had been discovered before they even began.

He knocked yet again, louder. A few seconds passed and he raised his fist to knock another time, but light griffon steps on the other side convinced him to give it a rest. Yet, his feet shuffled under him until the door opened. Gast let out a relaxing sigh as saw his neighbor’s old majordomo with his iron wristband instead of a Blackfeather GSA agent with a gun.

“Master Gast? At such a time.” The old griffon gasped. “Is something the matter?”

“I must see Gustav.” Gast explained as calmly as he could. As calmly as his nerves allowed.

“I am terribly sorry,” The majordomo kept his professional poise and explained calmly. “but master Gustav has ordered me not to disturb him for any reason whatsoever.”

“Now, Gerard.” Gast insisted, and it was probably good he knew the griffon’s name. It was all in the tone, the inflection. These Northerners and their thralls… One often needed to know how to talk to them. “It is urgent. Including to the griffons I know he is talking to right now.”

The old griffon let his beak hang for a second before he regained his composure and nodded in submissive acquiescence. “I understand, sir. Please forgive me.”

He walked out of the way and Gast entered the house, looking around at the vastly more luxurious interior than his own home was. Meanwhile, the thrall closed and locked the door.

“Kindly follow me, Master Gast.” The older griffon spoke before he led the visitor along the main hall and up the stairs on the right. In the mezzanine, he took a right to the corridor. Gast knew where it led and was satisfied the majordomo didn’t try to bamboozle him.

The short walk allowed Gast a moment to breathe easier. The red carpet was tacky, but the noble caramel wood in the walls and the floor were signs of their owners wealth. And so were the expensive vases, the paintings of old griffon generals and the metals on the window at the end of the corridor. The grand crystal chandeliers helped too.

The old griffon led him to the last door on the corridor. Approaching it, Gast could hear a heated discussion on the other side. He couldn’t make out the words, though and the voices silenced anyways when the old griffon knocked politely.

The door swung as a griffon Gast didn’t know opened it. They were greeted by stern stares and a few angry scowls that remained from the conversation. Gast could imagine what it was as the source of grievances was right there, sitting across the table with a map of Griffonstone.

A young and attractive northerner griffoness with that stupid magical sword of hers stared at Gast with a bored glare. She made it obvious she was not impressed. Next to her was the griffon Gast wanted to see.

Large and imposing, black in his body and white in his head, Gustav’s blue eyes met with Gast’s across the table. He just waited in silence as though he already knew what Gast was there to tell him.

“It is five till dawn.” Gast spoke clearly and the other griffons understood. With the exception of the majordomo and the northerner lady, who just gave him a quizzical frown.

The big and black griffon that was Gustav nodded and turned to his majordomo with his northerner accent. “Leave us, Gerard.”

Without missing a beat, the old griffon nodded too and walked away, leaving Gast to enter and close the door behind him.

“Is this one of those silly codes and secrets?” The northerner hen asked with the same quizzical stare from before, but it morphed into a mocking grin.

“Shouldn’t you know?” Gast stopped by the table and glared back at her. As the immature, irresponsible whore that she was deserved.

She responded with a guffaw and her glare turned arrogant. “Do I look like one of your little conspiring friends? I don’t know how you live in this place! How do you even have the energy for these codes and spy stuff with how hot it is?”

Her northerner accent should have reminded Gast of his own wife, but the unpleasant griffoness couldn’t be more different. And Gustav turned to her before Gast could bother talking to her again.

“I’m sure Gast will tell us what happened.” Gustav was his friend, and the later knew that his impatience had more to do with the prospect of spending more time with that hen in his bed than any lack of commitment to the cause. His large black body didn’t hide his irritation, though.

“Celestia is in Griffonstone.” Gast just dropped the bomb on them and wasn’t even amused at the gasps and comically surprised widened stares.

“What?” The griffoness chuckled. “What is she even doing here? She should be somewhere in Mareland dealing with the pony princesses and Grigory.”

Gustav slammed a fist on the table and his anger drew the attention of the others.

“Useless civilian observers. Not a single chirp about it.” He growled and grimaced with his eyes over the map strewn over the table. “I don’t know if they’re traitorous or just plain incompetent.”

“We are traitorous.” Gast told him plainly. “I don’t know what happened, but I don’t feel like I am in a position to judge.”

He couldn’t explain it if they asked too, and Gast was glad nobody questioned it. He supposed it spoke of his status among the Northerners. Or that of his wife, at least.

Hearing that, the black griffon let out a frustrated sigh and walked over to a cabinet where he started spinning a combination lock without so much as another stare or word at the other griffons present.

The hen, Gwineth, wasn’t amused at the situation. “Are you going to tell me what is going on, or are you gonna keep pretending you’re on a cloak and dagger roleplaying game like a grasseating nerd? What are we supposed to do?”

Of course, Gast would never call her ‘hen’ to her face. Unless he decided he wanted to taste of that magical sword of hers. The Northerners used such word in a pejorative way. He was sure that had not Lady Gwendolen sent his wife to Griffonstone with the explicit mission of seducing him, she would’ve been done with him when he called her a hen in their first date.

“We must move our griffons out of Griffonstone.” Gast explained to her. “Too many secrets the big cats in Griffindell don’t want to fall in Celestia’s ears.”

“Oh!” She perked up and grinned. “So, I suppose that our dilemma is solved!”

“What?” Gast stared at her, then at Gustav.

The black griffon just finished opening the weapons cabinet and he spoke while grabbing the northerner rifles in there. “We were discussing the best strategy and moment to break into Griffonstone Hospital and rescue Master Gabriel. The problem is that the place is crawling with Princess Luna’s Royal Guards, and the Local Militia won’t take it nicely either.”

Gabriel. The griffon that Princess Luna had ‘arrested’ in Thunderpeak. Curator of a particularly large museum about griffon ‘stuff’. Also, a front for the northerner operations south of the border to Snow Mountains Hold. Recently the city was captured by northerner supporters, but details were sketchy. All Gast knew was that it was where Gwineth teleported from after coming from the north and where the griffons that came with her were from.

They were Gabriel’s students, friends, supporters. The old griffon was important. Enough that Lady Gwendolen sent her goon and she recruited them to come to Griffonstone and rescue their griffon.

“We should have done this sooner!” Gast let his voice raise and his forehead frown. “Or do you imagine Celestia came alone?!”

“Considering she arrived without notice.” Gustav pawed one of the rifles to one of the griffons in the room. “That is likely. Our cell in Canterlot would have let us know the Royal Guard was up to something.”

“Alright.” Gast nodded. “So, we proceed according to plan?”

“Which is?” Gwineth whined, bored of the conversation.

“None of your business.” Gustav told her curtly, finally done distributing the weapons and grabbing a pistol much like Gast’s one. “But we could use a distraction, if you manage to rescue Master Gabriel and retreat to the teleporter with just enough of a hassle…”

“Great!” Gwineth chirped and flared her wings with a huge smile. “I’ll get Master Gabriel out and crack open some grassbreath skulls!”

“Are you two out of your mind?” Gast glared at her. “Celestia will be staying in the Chancellor’s Palace, right across the plaza from the hospital!”

“Oh, please.” Gwineth laughed and waved a paw at the idea. “She? The great and mighty Celestia sleeping in a griffon bed? Funny! She’ll be in the Royal Suite, in the Grand Hotel. Barely in the city.”

“She’s probably right.” Gustav nodded as he stashed his weapon under his wing.

“We’ll be in and out in hop and a flap.” Gwineth shrugged dismissively.

“This is foolhardy.” Gast shook his head in disbelief. “Even if Celestia is out of the city, it will take her minutes to arrive.”

That was when the griffons that had remained quiet, sitting, or standing next to each other, just listening, got lively. One young griffon took a step forward with a furious glower at Gast. “We are not leaving without Master Gabriel, southerner.”

The others stopped complaining, but their angry stares proved they agreed and wouldn’t listen to Gast.

“No one is leaving anyone behind.” Gustav settled the conversation with his grave voice and tapping the table with a talon. “This is not negotiable, Gast. I understand the urgency of our task, but we cannot let Master Gabriel behind. Our luck will not hold once Celestia realizes something is happening and Gabriel will be at her mercy. He knows too much.”

“Don’t worry.” Gwineth told Gast with an irritating jesting tone. “Gabriel will understand if extreme measures must be taken.”

Her eyes shifted to an accusatory tone. “I hope that so will you, while you’re out there playing cloak and dagger.”

“Don’t be daft.” He spat back. “Our orders came from Griffindell. Just because you don’t, it doesn’t mean that Lady Gwendolen or Lord Gilad don’t understand the importance of contained instructions.”

“Fine…” She rolled her blue eyes. “Whatever. Let’s go, birds. Master Gabriel isn’t going to free himself.”

As though she was the star in a blockbusting theater play in the Royal Theater of Canterlot, she waved her wing as though it was a cape. The northerner and the loyal southerner griffons followed her out of the room, leaving only Gast and Gustav without any second thoughts.

“I know you don’t like her.” Gustav closed the cabinet, now empty of guns. “She’s had a rough start in her life.”

“Yes…” Gast wasn’t moved, and his deadpan stare showed that. “That she is ready to use to get into your good side and stay in your mansion, instead of the teleporter front operation as is expected of all northerners visiting the city. As though the hotel isn’t better than anything north of Thunderpeak.”

“Although, I am sure she has paid you passionately.” Gast continued and all but accused. It drew an amused frown from the larger black griffon.

“Was that jealousy, Gast?” Gustav raised an eyebrow, walking towards the door.

“Please…” Gast grimaced. “Guella would castrate me.”

“Careful with those jokes in the North.” Gustav walked out of the room and Gast followed. “They don’t like those.”

“I’ll try to remember that.” All he got from Gast was a non-committal reply.

On their way through the corridor, they came across the majordomo, waiting patiently.

“Gerard, burn everything in the meeting room.” Gustav told the very surprised old griffon. “Papers, especially. Get the other servants to help you. Burn the entire mansion down if you must.”

“Master, what is happening?” The poor confused griffon barely kept his uneasy frown under his professional poise

“Nothing that concerns you.” Gustav walked past him with Gast, not sparing even a passing glance. “Once you are done, get the money in the coffer. Keep the others together and make it to the teleporter. Join the other griffons and go to Thunderpeak and Wayfarer’s Rest. Don’t wait for me and take care of each other. We’ll meet again at Wayfarer’s Rest.”

“Yes, master.” Gustav’s majordomo and thrall confirmed he understood his commands despite the visible confusion. Gustav didn’t stop or gave him a backwards glance, simply leading Gast outside. A cold wind had started, and it shoved the heavy drops in their faces as soon as they walked out the door.

They grabbed their weapons and jumped to flap their wings and fly. Gustav’s expression was inscrutable and Gast only hoped his kids made it alright to Snow Mountains and had already met with their mother.

***

The wet hot of the day was not enough for that annoying land of griffons. Chocolate Velvet had to endure most of the day flying a long distance, then hiding under a grotto once he had sent Luna Celestia’s message. Then he waited for hours past nighttime until the Princess of the Night finally sent him a reply letter. Obviously, he didn’t open it. He rushed from under the literal rock he had been hiding and took flight towards Griffonstone, making as much speed as he could with his heavy armor.

Of course, it had to rain. But, at least, the cold wind made it a bit more refreshing than unpleasant.

The sprawling griffon city would take him a few minutes to traverse flying low above the relatively flat city. Most of the public illumination was off and there were very few griffons outside. Most of them local militias patrolling their assigned neighborhoods under heavy raincoats.

Speaking of rain, it infiltrated through the plates of his armor and soaked his aketon. It, very annoyingly, effectively replaced the sweat he had to suffer during the day. Hopefully, Luna’s letter wouldn’t get too soaked inside his saddlebag.

As he flew above one of the many residential neighborhoods, he almost thought he hadn’t seen them, but they were there. A significant group of griffons moving about in the dark. Scurrying along the dark streets like rats. He frowned and circled above buildings and under the cover of the dark cloudy night.

However, they didn’t seem like the usual group of ‘shady individuals’ that would be out at night and up to no good. They looked like griffons that had just been yanked out of their beds and put to scramble around in the dark. They carried little with them, but he could make out bundles of stuff and backpacks. Not only adults, but kids and even fledglings. Elderly too.

Something way out of the ordinary was happening and he felt compelled to investigate. But Luna’s letter weighted in his armor’s saddlebags, and he had to deliver it to Celestia. A report that something was going on would have to be enough and she would take care of whatever was going on.

He was tired, too. Flying around like that all day, in a hurry and with important matters on his mind had taken a toll on his stamina. Not to mention having killed that griffon. Not the first time he had taken a life, but it felt wrong. Even if it was self-defense. Bottomline, whatever it was those griffons were up to, it was unlikely that he would be able to deal with it by himself.

He pressed on, beating his wings with renewed vigor, and galloped in the sky toward the center of the large griffon city. He could already identify the plaza. It was dominated by King Grover’s statue and the open space that commercial stands would occupy during the day along with meetings and entertainment of all sorts. But it seemed that in the present days it was protests and gatherings of angry griffons that occupied the space. Placards and signs left behind were the testament to that, as well as the fact that nobody bothered cleaning the place anymore. Griffons had just given up on their capital, it seemed.

Surrounding the plaza were mostly government office buildings, closed and dark during the night. But there were also the city’s hospital and the Chancellor’s Palace. Most of the windows in the former were also dark, but the lit ones showed that the never-ending work of healthcare went on.

The palace was mostly dark and that indicated the presence of the griffons that worked on security and groundskeeping. If there was one that worked there, beyond that, it was Celestia.

Chocolate flew above the slanted roof of the manehattian inspired building to find the inner garden and fountain that separated it from the annex buildings. In the back of the main building, he found a balcony alit from inside the room and brought himself down to land on it.

The flapping of his wings and clanking of his armor drew the attention of the room’s occupant and Celestia came out the glass door to welcome him. She didn’t wear her royal regalia, but she walked to the door to meet him carrying a white towel.

“Goodness! It took you forever!” She promptly dried his face with a white towel. Made of good quality materials, it was soft in her telekinetic magic against his hair and skin. She also muzzled and kissed him before she retreated a step with a worried frown. “What happened?”

“A griffon really wanted to know what you had written Luna.” He spoke dryly and her worried frown told him she didn’t like hearing that. “And Luna probably had to take care of something. I took off back as soon as her reply arrived.”

Saying that, his amber magic opened the lid on his saddlebag, and he shoved his snout into it to come out with Luna’s letter. A fancy envelope with Celestia’s name written on it. Like a civilized horned pony, Celestia grabbed it from him with magic.

“Make yourself comfortable.” She said as she opened the letter with an opener she grabbed from the table. Chocolate noted the large pile of griffon documents resting in organized piles atop of the table along with office supplies in use.

The room itself was a fancy bedroom with an office area and a living room area. Beautiful wood furnishings, a white rug in the living room. A large bed too, covered in white sheets. A comfortable and well-equipped apartment for visiting dignitaries.

When his eyes returned to Celestia they remained over her haunches and tail for a few seconds. Then he decided he had had enough of his armor weighting on him. With practiced ease he opened the clasps and removed it with his magic. First his shield and weapons, his robe, the gorjet and then the plates. Then he left it all on the wooden floor. Ideally, it should be stored in a chest and cleaned, but he was too sore to worry about that. It was also likely to damage the varnishing on the floor, but that was some random griffon’s problem. Next, he removed the leg pieces and the clothing that went underneath the armor. He just left it over his armor.

Staring down at his fancy armor, he remembered he had two important things to tell her. The griffon’s weapon could wait. He whipped his head to look at her and let his wings flare. “Celestia, I saw some griffons in the streets. They looked like they were fleeing, although I don’t know where they were going.”

She had sat behind the desk with Luna’s letter in front of her but lowered it when he spoke. “Really? Hum… That is interesting. I wonder if it has any relation to us arriving. Maybe they are northerner supporters? I didn’t think I would startle them off. Curious…”

“Tell me later.” She frowned a little. “Do make yourself comfortable first, Velvety. You look tired and I’ll I read Luna’s letter meanwhile. It may have some information in that regard.”

“Okay, then. I suppose I’m going to take a bath.” He pointed at the door that could only be the bathroom.

“Hmm-hm.” She hummed a response while she focused back on Luna’s letter.

On his way to the bathroom, he went to the wardrobe for a clean towel and found a trio of very young griffon chicks sleeping on a red sitting pillow. Chocolate blinked twice. They completely ignored his presence, sleeping in a bunch as though they hadn’t slept for days. They had also been bathed recently and their fur and feather were a bit of a mess. Their similar shades of tan and gray made then look like siblings and one of them breathed noisily. A small table had a few medications, some cups and a pitcher with water.

“Uh…” He turned back to Celestia, who was still sat behind the desk, reading Luna’s letter. “So… What is it with the chicks?”

“I found them crying under Grover’s statue.” She put down the letter for a moment and frowned at Chocolate. “One of the representatives in the city’s hall tried to distract me from them while we walked to the palace. I almost yelled at him, but I suppose he was already scared enough.”

The word on Chocolate’s head was ‘vile’. But he didn’t say anything while staring at the sleeping chicks, allowing Celestia to go on with a frown. “One of them was coughing and I called for a doctor from the hospital. They thought it was for me. Not only one of their best came, but an entire team. Physician, nurse, and a couple of paramedics with a whole paraphernalia of medications.”

“They were surprised, but they cared for the little ones. One of them has pneumonia, and I will take them to Luna’s Orphanage.” She concluded with a deeper frown.

Chocolate had seen that frown a few times before. She didn’t trust the griffons anymore. Not ‘The Griffons’, but their government and their officials in positions of prestige. Unfortunately, the last time she had shown that frown, it was because of the Society for the Good Manners of Royalty.

Well, the little griffons were safe for now. The Princess went back to Luna’s letter and Chocolate went to the bathroom. After a quick and refreshing bath, with his mane in a wet mess, he returned to the bedroom. Celestia stood next to the window by the bed. It overlooked King Grover’s Plaza.

“A nightmare.” She said without looking back at him, keeping her stare out the window.

“What?” He approached, detecting the worry in her voice.

The plaza looked sad. The overcast sky and the rain didn’t let a lot of moonlight through, and the wind splattered the rain against the window. It all made for a melancholic scenery in the dark. There should be floodlights keeping the statue lit and public lighting from the gas light posts that circled the plaza should light the walkways. Even under the rain there should be activity in the form of food stands and covered tables. In clear nights there would be bands playing, maybe even a theater presentation or another.

At least the rain cleaned the plaza and the statue.

The hospital looked alive, though. But he focused on Celestia, despite her eyes down on the plaza. “What do you mean ‘a nightmare’, Celestia?”

“Luna’s letter.” She showed the folded paper in her magical grasp before returning it to the desk. “Luna discovered griffons are collectively under attack from a Nightmare. A particularly powerful and dangerous one.”

He blinked at her, expecting her to go on, and she did with a deeper frown at the window. “Since that time… Since the time of the Holy Griffon Empire. A Nightmare seems to have exploited deep-seated memories to disguise itself as The Harpy. It guided them to worship so that it could feed on their psychic energy.”

“What the fudge?” He grimaced. “You mean… It was a Nightmare? Their goddess was a Nightmare? A Nightmare made the Emperor abuse the other races, enslave ponies and diamond dogs, caused wars and…”

He stopped for a second, drawing in air. “A bucking Nightmare? How did she not notice it at the time?!”

“Apparently, it was your description of that story that made Luna redesign the magical system of the Throne of the Mind. It helped her notice.” Celestia explained softly.

“What?” His ears fell to the sides of his head.

“It helped her see things in another way.” Celestia finally looked at him. “It gave her a new perspective, as she explained it. She developed a new methodology to examine her own magic and how it interacted with the minds of beings.”

“Or so she explained.” Celestia grimaced. “I don’t understand it nearly as well as she does.

“Okay.” His ears perked up again. “What now? What are we supposed to do about it?”

“Luna has asked that I let her deal with the Nightmare and the Northerner griffons.” Celestia spoke calmly. “She believes my interference will cause more harm than good. It could give the Nightmare more power and make it feel threatened. It might cause the griffons to become more aggressive. Or it could hurt them. It is effectively holding them hostage now.”

Weird. No other way Chocolate could process that whole situation. But dreams, Nightmares and minds were Luna’s province. She understood things that not even Celestia understood fully. And he knew Celestia trusted Luna as much as he did.

“So… Alright.” He blinked at her. “Cool. It’s a Nightmare. Dumb griffons are being exploited by a Nightmare and Luna’s gonna do Luna’s things. What are we supposed to do?”

“We’ll investigate the situation of the Griffonian Government.” Celestia nodded softly. “We’ll let Luna do her job and we’ll do ours.”

“Nice.” He nodded too, with a grin. But it turned to a frown. “What about Twilight and Cadance?”

“Chrysalis will be taking care of them.” Celestia told him and the first thought in his head was that he didn’t trust the Changeling Queen. Apparently, she thought the same thing too, because she mimicked his frown and rubbed her chin with a foreleg. “Hum… That is an issue.”

He waited for a few seconds before Celestia decided what she wanted to do and internally had resigned to the idea that she might send him back to the fleet to keep an eye on Chrysalis and the two princesses.

A sharp bang interrupted the thoughtful silence and their ears shifted to the door.

“Was that a gunshot?” Celestia opened her wings and lowered her head with a frown.

“It was.” He turned to the door. “Musketfire.”

They walked towards the door. Chocolate positioned himself in front of Celestia and magically grabbed his revolver from the bundle of armor and clothing. Sounds of bells and alarmed shouts came from the other side, along with clanging of armor and heavy steps.

The male alicorn opened the door with his magic. Beyond, chandeliers on the walls provided a dim light. A pair of griffons wearing the green uniform of the Griffonian Standing Army came running down the corridor, carrying muskets on their backs and with huge eyes filled with adrenaline.

“Please stay inside!” One of them cried right before they skipped to stop by the door. He was a young tan and white griffon, and the other was green and lighter green, slightly older griffon.

“We’re taking care of it, Princess.” The older griffon said with an urgent ring to his voice. “Please stay inside. We don’t want a murder attempt against you in our paws over whatever is going on over there.”

Celestia was going to say something, and she meant to walk outside, but Chocolate stayed in her way. Much to her annoyance. More shots rang beyond the corridor and her ears and Chocolate’s perked in the direction. Before she could say anything, he talked to the older griffon. “What’s going on?”

“We don’t know, your highness.” He shook his head as the other turned his back to then and held his weapon, watching the corridor. “All we know is that they sounded the alarm and that there is some intruder in the building.”

“Do you seriously expect me to stay hidden in my room while there are griffons shooting each other in the building?” Celestia pulled her ears back and glared at the three.

“Yes.” They replied in unison.

Author's Note:

Changed the dialogue between Gast and his mate to make it not seem so random that she accepts his 'premonition'.

Comments

[2tail]

When a God asks that type of question, you should think longer.

[Metemponychosis]

11191194
We'll see how well that goes for them.

[DocFlareon]

11191194
You're elevating Celestia above her station. Harpy is the only deity that I am aware of in this world.

[Kevin Lee]

“Yes.” They replied in unison.

Their last mistake!
Next chapter: Two GSA guards wake up in the hospital. When their eyes opened, they saw their captain standing over them.
"What in Tartarus happened to you two!?"
"Last thing I remember, Princess Celestia asked us a question, and we said, 'yes'."
"What was the question?"
"She asked, 'Do you seriously expect me to stay hidden in my room while there are griffons shooting each other in the building?'"
"Oh, that explains it!" the captain said, rubbing the bridge of his beak. "For you information, the next time you get a question like that, reply with 'forty-two!'"

11191222
Okay, "demigod" for Celestia if you insist, but it's still a valid question.
Honestly, I would agree with you, but the jury is still out on The Harpy.

Reading this chapter, it makes me wonder how very different Game of Thrones would have sounded if, instead of "Winter is Coming!" being the Phrase of the Day, it had been "The Sun is Rising!"

[Metemponychosis]

11203751
LOL. Chocolate had it worse because he can't even go to a hospital. He's stuck with her.

11191222
11191194
Honestly, I'm glad that people disagree on this, because it was the intention that definition of a god was muddy in this setting.