14. Sour Negotiations
“So you see, if the Blight wanted to find where the Tears are, they wouldn’t risk turning or killing my friends. They would be their only lead to finding…them…”
Twilight Sparkle trailed off her explanation as she looked around the royal courtroom and saw that not a single griffon or pony present seemed to be paying her any attention at all. Instead, all eyes were firmly focused on the lacquered box and the Tears within. She had made sure to point the box away from herself when she opened it, holding it above her head so as not to suffer the full power of its immense magical pressure again. But in doing so, she exposed the entire courtroom to the jewel’s magical aura. Twilight was unsure of just how magically inclined the griffon race were, but no doubt they were feeling the strange effects of the Tears right now. Even she could feel the slight heaviness in the air.
Indeed, before her the three members of the Council gazed at the jewel with nothing short of adoration. Glinda and Galahad sat staring in their seats, and Gellert had actually gotten up and was slowly walking towards Twilight and the box, arm outstretched.
With a snap that echoed throughout the stone chamber, Twilight quickly slammed the box shut. In an instant the heavy feeling in the air was lifted and the dazed expression on everybody’s faces was gone. Many of the griffons blinked and rubbed their eyes as if waking from a particularly vivid dream.
Gellert looked around at where he was with some confusion. “Erm… how did I get here?”
Hiding the first signs of a blush with a claw, he slunk back to his seat and sat down.
“Just what was that?!” Galahad asked.
“That,” Twilight replied, “Was the Tears of Gaia. It might just look like an average emerald, but as you can see, it holds immense magical power.”
“So it would seem…” Glinda nodded.
“And should the Blight ever gain access to such power, it would spell disaster for not only Equestria, but possibly the whole world,” Starswirl added. “I’m sure you can understand our concern.”
There was a general murmur of agreement, but it died down as Glinda raised a claw. “If I may, ponies, what exactly did you plan to do with the Tears once you found them?”
Twilight opened her mouth to reply, but found that none came. Come to think of it, she had never really given much thought to exactly what they would do with the Tears once they had them back in Equestria. Would they preserve it as a museum piece, a relic of times past? Would they find some way to harness its power for the good of all ponykind? Would it be hidden again?
Her original plan had been to bring it back to Canterlot, study it, and hopefully find some way to tap into its power. Who knows what sort of advances could be made with access to such immense raw power! But that was before she was aware of the Blight’s emergence. Now that they were back and they knew about the Tears, would it be safe to publicly use the Tears? Would it draw the Blight to them in force? Would it even be safe to try harnessing this much raw power?
“… Miss?”
Galahad’s voice brought her back to the present, and she found with some embarrassment that every eye in the chamber was now upon her.
“We shall ask again, what were your plans for these Tears when you returned to Equestria?” Gellert asked, more firmly than Glinda had asked.
“I… I don’t know. I guess we were planning on somehow harnessing the Tears’ power for our own use… but that was before we knew about the Blight.”
It was subtle, but there was a tiny glint in Gellerts eyes as Twilight explained their possible plans. He silently beckoned to Galahad and Glinda, and the two leaned closer to him. The three griffons conversed in hushed tones, as the audience of the council chamber began muttering amongst themselves as well. The four ponies looked to eachother with uncertainty.
After debating for a few minutes, the three griffons returned to their seats and faced the ponies again. The audience fell silent again, and Galahad stood up.
“Ponies, we have discussed what you have told us, and we have come to an… agreement.” Galahad hesitated on that last word, glaring for a moment at Gellert. It was clear that whatever they had agreed upon, the young griffon did not altogether agree with his peers. “We have information about many outposts of the yellow-eyed monsters, and it is likely that if your friends are indeed alive as you say, that they are being held in one of these. We will be willing to grant you an escort of fifty of our griffon soldiers to accompany you to as many of these outposts as it takes until we find your friends.”
The muttering among the audience began afresh. The faces of the four ponies lit up and for the first time in days, Twilight could honestly say she was feeling happy. A full escort of griffons! It was more than she could ever have hoped for!
“Thank you sirs, thank you so much! You have no idea how much this means to…”
“I’m not finished,” Galahad interrupted. “We’ll grant you this help on one condition: You allow us to use the Tears of Gaia for our own purposes.”
Twilight caught herself at the very last moment before she agreed. Allow the griffons to use the Tears? Would that be a good idea? “Just what would you be using the Tears for?” she asked.
“I’m afraid that is confidential,” Glinda said with a no-nonsense tone.
“Confidential? But why?” Rarity added.
Pinkie chimed in too. “Yeah, just what have you got planned?”
“As I said, that’s confidential. For the sake of public security, we cannot tell anyone who doesn’t need to know.”
“Least of all a gang of wandering hrossa!” said Gellert with a sneer.
“And what is that supposed to mean?” Rarity shouted. “Is there something wrong with us being ponies? Speaking of which, would it be too much to ask to be referred to as ponies and not hrossa?!”
“Rarity…”
The white unicorn glanced apologetically at Twilight. “Sorry darling, but it’s been bothering me since we got here!”
“Very well. My apologies… ponies,” Gellert spat out that last word. “But as Galahad and Glinda said, we can’t and won’t tell you what we would use the Tears for. All we can say is that it would be for a good cause. In fact, it’d be for the good of all creatures of this land, griffon and pony alike!”
“If it’s so good, then why keep it such a secret?” Rarity countered.
Gellert growled. “It’s a matter of public security! All it takes is one loose-beaked fool telling the wrong person about it, and pretty soon the Blight would know all about it. Worse still, they’d know how to counter it!”
There was another murmur of agreement among the assembled griffons. But Twilight was adamant in her decision. “I’m sorry, but until we know exactly what you plan to use the Tears’ power for, I don’t think we can agree to this.”
A frosty silence hung in the air. Gellert narrowed his eyes at Twilight and Rarity, as if challenging one of them to back down or falter. But neither pony moved a muscle, simply staring right back at him unflinchingly.
Pinkie Pie and Starswirl looked from their pony friends to Gellert and back again, waiting for one of them to back down.
Finally, Gellert closed his eyes and sighed.
“You are a stubborn lot… fine, we will show you,” he relented.
Galahad nodded. “Very well. This matter will be settled out of court. I declare this meeting of the council adjourned!”
With that, the assembled griffons in the stands began to get up and file out, chattering to one another as they went. Glinda made her farewells and exited too, and a pair of guards entered. Shouldering their muskets, they bowed respectfully to Gideon, who had sat silent throughout the proceedings. Ponderously he got to his feet and slowly stomped back through the doorway on the left of the chamber, escorted by the two guards. Only Gellert, Galahad and the four ponies were left.
“Follow us, please,” Galahad said as he led the way. The six of them exited the stone chamber through the doorway on the right of the room, and came into a wide corridor. The two griffons took the front of the group, the four ponies following behind. They moved through the corridor past dozens more chambers, rooms and offices. Every other griffon they passed dutifully stepped out of their way and bowed his head. Rarity noticed with some amusement that while Gellert seemed to indulge in his authority, Galahad appeared more modest, even perhaps slightly embarrassed about the whole thing, nodding awkwardly to every griffon they passed.
The group came out of the corridor and reached a narrow stairwell, spiralling down below the castle into darkness. Galahad flipped a large, chunky switch connected to a metal box on the wall, with a cable running along the wall down the stairs. Small lightbulbs began to glow with a strange green light, illuminating the stairwell.
When the group got to the bottom of the stairs (And the dizziness of climbing down a long spiral-staircase had worn off), the ponies found themselves in an enormous underground hall. All around them were dozens of griffons, clad in heavy grey aprons, black goggles and bulky gloves worn on their claws. They milled about, carrying crates full of metal bits and pieces, or sitting at work benches tinkering with strange devices, or managing enormous whirring machines. A few doorways led to smaller rooms where more griffons worked on smaller machines, or would all be tinkering with a single, larger device. There was a strange thin smoke all around them, making the air seem thick and muggy. Throughout the hall could be heard sounds of industry; whirring of drills and servos, the clang of hammers upon anvils, and a strange buzz of energy. Several of the rooms and many of the crates seemed to give off a green glow similar to the strange lightbulbs that lit the stairwell. All around was an air of industry and technology, the likes of which the ponies had rarely seen
“This way. And don’t touch anything!” Gellert called over the noise. The ponies obediently followed, and the group strode through the hallway, past various workbenches and machinery. A few griffons looked up from their work to watch them pass, before returning to whatever task they were busy with. The group came to a door labelled ‘TESTING RANGE’ and Galahad pushed it open.
On the other side of the door was another enormous room, but with a considerably lower ceiling. It was at least a hundred metres from wall to wall, and most of it was empty. The side they were on was fenced off, with griffons taking notes at small desks here and there. On the far side were a row of straw dummies, made in a vague griffonoid shape. And on the wall on their right was a rack of scores and scores of muskets of all sizes. Most of them were similar to the simple muskets the guards wielded: a long barrel, the business end trumpeting out slightly, with a small sight on the end, all done in matte black. But upon closer inspection, Twilight noticed something very different to what few examples of regular muskets she had seen. In place of where the ammunition would be loaded, there was a small metal case which surrounded a glowing green stone.
“Watch this,” Gellert said, picking up the musket in his claws. Rearing up on his hind legs, the griffon took aim and pulled the trigger.
Instead of the standard loud boom and burst of smoke, the musket whirred for a second, before discharging what looked like a green beam of light from the end. It fizzled and crackled off at breakneck speed towards the far end of the range, where it made contact with one of the dummies, instantly igniting it. Proud of his shot, Gellert put down the musket and turned to face the ponies, who were all slack-jawed with shock.
“Impressive, ain’t it?” he said with a smirk. “I’ll bet you don’t have that kinda firepower in Equestria!”
“Forgive me for being so blunt, but… what in Equestria was that?!” Rarity blurted out, still dazed by what she saw.
“That, little hross, was the power of Griffonic technology,” he replied proudly. “Just because we can’t use magic doesn’t mean we can’t harness it!”
Galahad stepped forward. “You see, these muskets and rifles are the product of a recent technological advancement by griffon scientists. Before we had these there was no way for griffons to use or control the inherent magical energy in the world.”
“And that’s when we discovered how to make these!” Gellert added. Pressing a small button on the side of the musket, the clasps holding the green stone inside the metal case came undone and the gemstone slipped out and into his hand.
“Gemstones that are imbued with magical energy,” Galahad continued. “By cutting them in this specific style, we found that we can siphon the magical energy from the air around us and contain it in the stones. Then, we can use the stones as a sort of fuel source…”
“And a handy replacement for traditional ammunition in guns,” Gellert finished. “No more wasting time with gunpowder and reloading lead shots. With these we can just keep firing until the magical energy drains!”
“And how long does that usually take?” Starswirl asked.
Gellert tapped his chin. “I think… we can get about five hundred shots out of one gemstone, but it depends on the size and purity of the gem.”
Twilight had remained silent throughout the explanation. Finally she spoke up. “Yeah, I’ve actually seen technology similar to this back in Equestria.”
Starswirl glanced her, eyebrow raised in curiosity. “Oh really? Does Equestria use it for weapons of war as well?”
She shook her head. “No, actually it’s used for medical purposes. There’s a rather dangerous disease that unicorns can come down with that causes random magical discharges. But they’ve invented a machine that siphons off excess magical energy from the unicorn’s horn and contains it in gemstones like these ones.”
Gellert rolled his eyes as he put the musket back on the rack. “Hmph, how unambitious. Hasn’t it crossed your scientists’ minds to use it for weapons technology?”
Twilight frowned. “Well no, mainly because we can actually use magic, so we don’t need this sort of technology. But also because they know just how dangerous this is! Channelling magical energy into a beam weapon without a proper focus, don’t you know how dangerous that is?!”
The giant griffon looked as if he was about to shout back at Twilight, but Galahad swiftly stepped between them. “Actually yes, we know all too well. You see, no matter how perfectly we cut the gemstones, there are still impurities in the stone itself. Even our safest gun has a small risk of blowing up in somebird’s face if they’re not lucky. We’ve tried every gemstone we can find, but we’ve never found any gem pure enough.”
“Until today,” Gellert added. “With the amount of magical energy contained in that little gemstone of yours, it’s obvious just how pure a stone it is. Imagine the good that such energy could be used for!”
“So that’s what you want the Tears for,” Twilight said, her disgust beginning to show in her voice. “You want use it as an energy source for your muskets.”
The older griffon nodded. “Among other things, yes.”
“You want to turn the Tears into a weapon?!” Rarity spat.
“Well that’s just the start, but yes. Is that so wrong?” Gellert asked, turning a derisive eye on the unicorn.
Rarity nodded. “Yes it is! You claim that you want to use the energy other Tears for some greater good, but all you really plan to do is turn it into another weapon!”
A few of the other researchers and workers in the testing range looked up from their work to watch the debate unfold. Pushing up their goggles, they listened in on the young unicorn’s argument.
“I may not know as much as my friend Twilight about these Tears and their powers, but what I do know is that it contains enough energy to accomplish just about anything! You literally have the power of gods at your fingertips, the most magnificent gemstone in all of existence, and all you can think about is more killing! That’s not technological advancement, that’s barbaric!”
Her voice echoed throughout the testing range, which had now fallen silent. A few goggle-wearing griffons were even peeking their heads around the door from the main hall. Pinkie, Twilight and Starswirl stared at their friend with awe. Even Galahad could not help but be impressed by the unicorn’s words. Gellert, however, simply closed his eyes and sighed.
“I want to show you something. Come with me,” he muttered, heading towards the door back to the hall. He stopped and turned around when he saw that nobody as following him. “Please,” he added.
Galahad followed, giving a little shrug to the ponies that seemed to say ‘just go with it’. The four ponies followed behind. The group moved through the hallway again, weaving through the enormous machines, which Twilight now recognised as the machines that were gathering energy and channelling them into the gemstones, which would travel down a narrow gutter out of the machine and land in a huge basket, almost half-filled with hundreds of glowing stones.
They finally came to the only door in the hallway that was locked. And barred. And deadbolted. And guarded by two griffons holding particularly vicious-looking muskets, complete with razor-sharp, barbed bayonets. But as they saw Gellert and Galahad approaching, they respectfully stepped aside and began undoing the myriad of locks on the door. Once the final deadbolt was undone, they opened the door, and the group entered.
Inside was dark, dank and musty. Lit only by a single dim bulb, the ponies could see that it was a completely bare room, save for an enormous metal box in the centre of the room. There were a few narrow slits on the sides of the box, covered over with glass panes, and a small hole in the top, out of which emanated wisps of black smoke.
“What’cha got there?” Pinkie asked, craning her neck to get a look over the heads of her friends.
Galahad beckoned them to approach the box, pointing to the slits. The ponies tentatively approached, and put an eye to the openings.
Inside was almost pitch black, except for slivers of light that came through the slits on the other sides. A silhouette could be seen in the darkness, of something malformed, misshapen and monstrous. It appeared to have what may have once been wings, but were little more than lumps of flesh and cartilage sprouting from its back. Spines and ridges ran down its back, and the tip of its tail ended in a vicious hooked stinger, like that of a scorpion. It opened its eyes, and two yellow orbs glared at them.
“Hrossa of Equestria, meet our resident Blightling, Mazgash,” Gellert said in a low voice.
Mazgash snarled in their direction and belched forth another cloud of his black smog, but it was stopped by the glass windows. He growled again and turned away to face the other wall.
Twilight stared in shock at the griffons. “You… you keep one of them? Here?!”
Gellert nodded. “We captured him a few months ago, when a whole bunch of them tried to attack our town. He doesn’t speak any language unfortunately, so getting info out of him is rather difficult. Heck, it took us weeks to discern his name! So we keep him here for research purposes .”
“What kind of research?” Starswirl asked.
“Well, analysing that black smoke they create, observing their mannerisms,” he answered. “And, in time, finding out how long they can live without sustenance.”
With that, Galahad switched off the lights and led the ponies out of the chamber, back into the hallway. “You see, little ponies, it’s not about just building new and fancier weapons,” he said. “It’s about protecting what we have. Our town might not be as glamorous or well-designed as your Equestrian towns, but it’s our home, and we need to do what we can to protect ourselves.”
Gellert joined in as they walked back through the hallway, towards the staircase once more. “Every time they try to attack us, those yellow-eyed monsters are getting stronger and in greater number. The last time they attacked, they very nearly stormed this very keep!”
“Please try to see it our way, ponies,” Galahad continued. “We may have a good supply of these gemstones, but they’ll run out eventually, and when that happens, the Blight will have no problem taking Fjaereir for their own. But with the energy in your little gemstone, we could finally have the power to drive those monsters back where they came from!”
The ponies were silent, mulling over their arguments, as they ascended the stairs. By the time tey reached the top, Twilight finally broke the silence.
“Well, I suppose I understand where you’re coming from… But still, I don’t think I can allow it. Even if it’s for a good cause, a weapon is still a weapon,” the unicorn said.
Rarity nodded. “I must agree. Using the Tears of Gaia for a weapon like this… I can’t say I agree with it, even if your intentions are good. I’m sorry, but using it as a weapon is exactly what the Blight want to use it for. I can’t speak for the others, but I would be perfectly willing to help protect this town in other ways. But the Tears stay with us, and nopony uses it.”
Pinkie, Starswirl and Twilight nodded in agreement. Galahad sighed deeply. “Well, it seems we can’t come to an agreement then. The Council’s decision was that we would be willing to help you find your friends if you allowed us access to the Tears. Sorry, but I’m afraid that if the will of the council remains the same, then you’re on your own.”
Twilight nodded, unable to hide the disappointment in her voice. “Well, thanks anyway. I agree with Rarity though, if you want we’ll definitely help improve your defences without the Tears.”
“Totally! We might be small but we’re tougher than we look!” Pinkie Pie added, with a mock-growl.
“Thank you for that,” Galahad replied with a chuckle at Pinkie’s snarl-face. “Well, if that’s as close to an agreement as we’re gonna get, then I guess you and our friends can be on their way. If you want to help with bolstering our defences, then I’ll be happy to show you where you could be helpful.”
“Please, Galahad, we don’t need help from the likes of them. That unambitious white one least of all.”
The young griffon and all the ponies glared at Gellert, who frowned back. Rarity in particular, stared daggers at the older griffon, but neither looked ready to back down. In fact, both had the look of one ready for a fight.
“Hey, I dunno about you, but I’m kinda hungry again!” Pinkie quickly blurted. “Whadaya say we go get some dinner, huh?”
Twilight saw the animosity swelling between Gellert and Rarity and noded. “Yeah, it’s about suppertime, sounds good! Come on you guys.”
They gently prised Rarity away from Gellert, and led her down the corridor. Starswirl gave a tip of the hat as he followed behind. “Well Galahad, I am glad that some good might come from this. I do hope we can provide some sort of assistance. My companions and I will be on the fourth tier if you wish to speak to us further.”
The two shook claw and hoof and, giving one last disdainful look at Gellert (Which the griffon returned in kind), the old stallion trotted off to join his friends.
A sour mood hung over the four ponies as they sat around a table in the food court. Griffons milled and flew about, merrily dining, chatting, a few even singing, blissfully unaware of the tense confrontation between their leaders and the ponies.
“Well, that could have gone better,” Starswirl said, desperate to break the silence.
Rarity dug furiously into her meal. It was a simple soup of vegetables, gravy and chunks of something white and savoury. She couldn’t identify it, but it was altogether very tasty. “Unambitious, he called me… Me! Just because I refused to let him turn the Tears into some fancy new bomb of his!”
“You performed admirably, miss Rarity,” Starswirl replied. “Any weaker pony than you would have caved under that Gellert’s gaze.”
“Things may not have worked out, but I still think we made the right choice,” Twilight said, levitating another spoonful of the broth to her lips. “Besides, we can still help them somehow. Maybe we could improve their muskets, make them a little less prone to, well, exploding… or improve the focus points… or maybe just help fix up the walls and defences and such.”
“Sounds good to me!” Pinkie said before gleefully slurping up her soup until the white chunks were all that was left.
“I can’t say I’m looking forward to seeing that Gellert fellow again,” Starswirl said, putting down his spoon. “Here’s hoping we won’t have to deal with him later.”
“Tell me about it.”
A familiar voice called out to them from among the crowds of griffons. Twilight looked up and saw Galahad, of all griffons, approaching them, a plate of the soup and a flagon of drink balanced on one of his wings. “You don’t mind if I join you?”
“No, go ahead!”
He nodded and sat down between Pinkie and Starswirl. “I do apologise for Gellert’s behaviour. He can be a real pain sometimes.”
“It’s alright,” Pinkie replied. “Maybe we just caught him on a bad day.”
Galahad shook his head. “Maybe, but he’s not much better on good days. And no offense, but he’s not exactly a huge fan of ponykind.”
“I noticed,” Rarity muttered.
The griffon giggled. “Well, don’t take it personally. He’s a bit… old-fashioned. He doesn’t respect anybird who he doesn’t consider superior.”
“You mean in terms of rank?”
“Not really. I mean a more traditional way; the only creatures he has any respect for is anybird who has bested him at his own game. You beat him and you have his respect,” Galahad explained.
“A fight? A rather primitive way of looking at things…” Starswirl murmured.
“And has anyone ever beaten him?”
“Only one,” the griffon replied. “King Gideon. Of course, that was a long time ago, before…” he trailed off a moment, searching for the right words. “Well, before he became like he is today.”
Rarity tapped her chin a moment. “So, if someone were to best Gellert, then he would have to respect them. What sort of things would one have to beat him at? I presume a fight is part of it.”
“Yep, that’s the final part of it,” Galahad explained. “Gellert’s Challenge is referred to as the 3 Fs. Fighting is the third F. Before that, there’s two other Fs. The first is a Flyt.”
“A flight? What, is it a flying race or something?” Pinkie asked.
“No no, a Flyt isa Griffonic term, essentially an insult contest. You both contestants hurl insults at eachother until one gives up. Then after that is the second F, Feasting. Both contestants are given an unlimited supply of food, and the loser is the first to stop eating for whatever reason. And finally there is the Fight, which is simple enough: Whoever gets knocked down and can’t get back up loses.”
“Huh, you know, apart from the fighting part, that actually sounds… kinda fun!” Twilight said. “I mean, it’s not like it’s high stakes, it just to get Gellert to respect you, right?”
Galahad shrugged. “Well that, yeah, and the winner can also take over as commander of the defence force.”
The purple unicorn gulped “Ah. Well, anyways, our offer still stands. Once we’re done here, we’ll be more than willing to help however we can, as long as the Tears aren’t involved. Right guys?”
The three ponies nodded enthusiastically. Galahad bowed slightly. “Any help is gratefully accepted. Even if Gellert doesn’t show it. So, after dinner, we can head down to the gatehouse and get started.
“Sounds good to me!” Pinkie chimed in. ”Speaking of which, this soup is dee-lish!”
Twilight agreed. “Yeah, makes me wish I could read Griffonic so I could understand what the menu said it was. I just went with what looked good, but I’ve never tasted something like this before. What is it?”
Galahad gave her bowl a small sniff and smacked his lips. “Ah, you chose well! Fjaereir’s finest chicken and mushroom soup!”
The four ponies instantly froze as he said this, suddenly very conscious of what they had put in their mouths. Simultaneous spit-takes in 3…2…1…
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I'm sorry but the inner writer is screaming at me. I'm sorry if I come out a bit presumptuous but isn't the word supposed to be 'Delicious'? I know people tend to lower it's syllable count for the audience of lesser intelligence, but It literally stands out and makes the character saying it sound dumb, if only a little.
other than that hoopla this is a pretty good chapter.
2986293 Oh come on, have you never declared that a piece of food was 'delish'?
2986463 I always say delicious. or good. I mean it is correct English, buuut... I still don't like it. however it really doesn't matter whether or not you use it, I'm just not a fan of it. Kind of like saying
Yo' Ma'ma.
It's really my problem not yours.
Are you a Redwall fan by any chance? I'm going to guess Rarity going up against Gellert.
A very good chapter, although I thought that Twilight & co were a little self-righteous about the whole making weapons thing.
2988585 Yep, huge fan of the books and cartoons a few years back. And yes, if you've read 'Lord Brocktree', you can probably guess where this is going.
And yeah, I'll be honest, I had a bit of a tough time trying to write that bit without it coming off as preachy or holier-than-thou. I guess whether it worked or not is up for debate. I might go back and fix it sometime.
2986293
Knowing Pinkie and her affinity for slang, using "dee-lish" is just proper characterization.
>>>Hey, it could be worse, I could be following the ancient tradition about Griffons, where their favourite food was horsemeat!>>>
It still is, actually...
They just hide the truth! In a CONSPIRACY!
And Luna is clearly involved, since as Nightmare Moon she too liked to gobble up ponies! And that means... the evil enchantress Zecora who gobbles up ponies in big tasty stews is ALSO part of the conspiracy!
CONSPIRACIES EVERYWHERE TO EAT PONIES!!
2995599 Okay, thanks for the explanation. I didn't really think of that angle.
3242662 I you want to take that idea in the story further as your own fic, be my guest. I'm all up for spinoffs.
So are the Griffens analogue to humans or dwarves in this? Also, dwarves are the best high fantasy race ever created, EVER. Griffens ain't got jack on them! Also, in case I hadn't hammered the point home yet, I'm a fan of dwarves. fc09.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/195/7/b/dwarven_warrior_by_mictones-d577r2f.jpg
3243325 I didn't really try to make them particularly analogous to any fantasy race, I try more to make them their own race. It would be all too easy to just make them Dwarvish since the Deerfolk are essentially Elvish. Even if it is more difficult and time-consuming for me to make them a more original culture than an 'animalised' version of a classic fantasy culture, it's also more fun for me.
Oh gosh! They were eating chicken!
And here begins the threefold besting of the warrior by the artisan.
-Spirit
Soon, we get to watch Rarity being awesome. Can't wait
Also, about the weapons side of things. I can see both points of views on this. On the one hand, the girls are indeed right. You start using the gem for guns and then you move on to who knows what else. Makes me think of the One Ring actually, you can't really use that sucker without going through an period of life long insanity. Not to mention, as a Fallout Equestria fan, I have seen the future of this type of thing and it doesn't work.
On the other hand, Geldeon is right. Using the gem as a weapon could only be th start, think of all the tings we learned about nuclear power just from the Manhatten Project alone! So many medical advances came from times of war and weapons. Maybe his argument would've been better supported if he showed the gals a hospital rather than a war room. Granted though, that might be seen as emotional manipulation, it woul still be an effective tactic and make them a little more agreeable to their side
I've really got to watch this show.
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it's King Bigbones vs. Dorothea all over again