I found Dawn waiting on the Daughter of Wintergreen, along with a half-blind bird with a pink head and a face like he was perpetually smelling sour milk.
“You’re the faulty hatchling, eh?” he said, before even Dawn could greet me. He jerked forward, pulling out a gnarled stick and smacking one of my wings.
I jumped, backing away. “Hey!”
He ignored me. “What, you gonna fly away? Oh wait, you can’t.” He jerked forward again, smacking my other wing just as hard. “Flightless hatchlings like you are supposed to die. Who pretended they didn’t see you climbing down from the aerie?”
“Contrail, I want you to meet Grimsley. He’s one of my father’s oldest monks. Trained… lots of big important war heroes you probably know about.”
“And she doesn’t, because she’s got a brain half pony mush,” he said, still advancing on me. I could guess where he’d come by so many scars if he talked to everypony like that. “Frankly half-breed I’m not sure if there’s much point. Shove him off the side of the ship and call it good.”
I glared past him, meeting her eyes. There was no need to say anything, I was sure she would get my meaning.
“I’m afraid that’s a crime in Equestria,” she said, winking at me from behind him. “You’re going to have to train him instead. I’m sure he’ll need to fly before too long.”
“Considering how you smell, I bucking guess so,” he said. “Assassins, or imperial guard, or just your own stupidity. Hard to say what comes first.” He spun on me again, waving the stick threateningly with one claw. “Can’t be sure I won’t kill him, half-breed. Ponies are softer than down when the gale’s a blowing. He’ll be vulture food in a week.”
I almost wanted to shove him off the ship. Except that his claws were still sharper than knives, and his hooked beak could probably peck out my eyes. He swung that stick like a soldier, and clearly age hadn’t worn him down the way it did to some others. This bird was a survivor.
“You can do it,” Dawn said gently. “We made it through the Ashlands together. You were born to fly. And once you can, we can fly together.
If that wasn’t motivation, I didn’t know what could be. “I’m completing a thesis,” I said, backing away from his stick before he could swing it again. “I’m not going to give it up to study under you, I don’t care how bucking important you are. I only have a few hours a day.”
He did swing at me. But then he stopped chasing. “So there’s a spine in there somewhere after all? Didn’t think I’d find it.” He rapped his stick on the deck. “So be it, half-breed. You’ve got me. Until he flies, or I’m bored of trying, or he’s dead. Whichever comes first.”
I could see the way it wore her down. As soon as we were in our quarters, I embraced her, leaning in close to her ear. “Why do you put up with that from him? You’re a princess! He shouldn’t… talk to you like that.”
“I’m nothing,” she said flatly. At least she didn’t try to push me away. “It’s not… proper… to try and stop a bird from saying something true. And he’s speaking the truth. I am a half-breed. Being a pony does make me soft. Telling birds to stop saying so won’t make me one of them.”
“I wouldn’t want you to be,” I told her. “You’re perfect, Dawn. You don’t have to be like them. You don’t have to be like me, either. You’re supposed to be you. Not just a pony or just a griffon. Something else.”
She chirped in response, a cheerful avian sound I rarely heard from her. “And I wouldn’t want you to put your scrolls away, scholar. Even if they’re feminine.”
“Want to trade? You finish my book, and I’ll, uh… fight with swords?”
“Fight with swords,” she repeated, shoving me playfully. “How would you even swing it, in your dumb mouth?”
Isn’t that how you use a sword? Pointing that out now felt incredibly stupid, so instead of doing that, I did something else with my mouth. She didn’t seem to mind.
We didn’t leave Griffonstone right away. I feared that sticking around would hasten the chance that Twilight or someone else would discover me here, and exact their just vengeance for my crimes. But we didn’t leave right away.
But there were no assassins, and no news stories about war being declared between our two nations. I got my hooves on a copy of the Canterlot Times, and was surprised to hear no mention at all of the missing princess, or my visit, or any diplomatic outrage. The closest I could find was a story on the bottom of the international page about “More outrageous stories of undead monsters from Accipio.” Yeah, outrageous. Too bad I didn’t get a picture of that dragon-thing. Or… any of what we saw under the ash.
There was the flying lessons, which I couldn’t avoid even if Grimsley made it very difficult to want to fly. Only my love for Dawn was enough to return to him on the second day for another few hours of torture. To a bird, flying is about exercise and technique. Since I couldn’t use instinct, he was going to work me until I had the right muscles. Or at least, that was what I assumed. I didn’t think it was a good idea to point out the important role magic plays in flight.
But right before we would’ve left, I received an invitation from the queen of the city. Bit of a pretentious title, given the castle was thousands of years old and Griffonstone was far from rich, but I wasn’t about to say no. In particular, when I saw her signature.
Gilda had turned the palace into everything that the administrator’s office wasn’t. Rich treasures were arranged on prominent displays, along with incredible creations of hoof and hammer. A few murals had been painted on the walls, depicting what was clearly meant to be the former clan that had become Griffonstone, fighting valiantly against ancient ponies. Neither side was depicted as losing, or particularly villainous. Two glorious battle-lines assembled, and clashing. And for every treasure, there was an armed griffon guard, apparently ready to die to protect it. There were so many soldiers packed in that some of them were running out of room to stand.
Gilda herself even had a throne room, and a throne, though she didn’t sit or act much like a queen. She did wear a crown, a band of iron around her head. If anything, the bird in the fancy dress seemed more like royalty. She had Gilda’s eyes, but sandy feathers. The colors of house Vengeance.
“I heard you were writing a book,” she said, from the other side of a feast-table. “I don’t care much about books and that—pony stuff. But I wanted to make sure you weren’t going to lie about my city. Griffonstone is bucking great, yeah? No trash talk in no pony book.”
“I…” I had brought my supplies of course, though I wasn’t wearing my saddlebags or holding a pen at the table. “I would never tell a lie about Griffonstone, Queen Gilda.”
“We love it!” Dawn added, much more enthusiastically. “Before we got here, Contrail said there wouldn’t be much to do. But he was so wrong! It’s way bigger than he said! I could stay another month!”
She didn’t look like she even realized what she’d just done. But Gilda smiled, relaxing back into her oversized chair. “That’s the pony way. Unless they’ve been here, they don’t realize. They still think we’re… broken. Still think we’re small and pathetic. They see our team at the Equestria Games, and they think it’s so brave of us to make it. We’ve really achieved something to overcome our disadvantages.”
She stabbed something on her plate with a fork. There was a little fish here, but nothing… harder for me. Griffonstone birds had been conforming to pony sensibilities for so long that they hadn’t wanted bovine or any of the other prey species any more than we did.
“We’re not a buckin’ charity. We’re not a village. We’re not desperate and struggling, and we don’t need ponies to take care of us. You get all of that in your book, scholar.”
“I will,” I said hastily. “I already did, actually. It’s amazing how well you endured the Migration War.”
“Amazing is right,” Gilda said, cleaning off her plate. “Amazing that Santiago could stick a bloody egg in me and think that’s all it took to get every bird in the city to fight for him. More amazing that it worked.”
The bird on the other side of the table looked away, covering her mouth. From her scent, it seemed she was so embarrassed she was trying to magic herself out of existence. She was the egg, then. Egg of…
No wonder the castle had so many guards. I wasn’t writing my book about individuals too much, so it probably wasn’t worth an interview. I could see how it had happened anyway just from her single response. Santiago had seduced his way into Griffonstone, where he’d made his illegal weapons. The weapons he’d used to invade the rest of the world.
The city didn’t need a reminder of that beyond what was already going into the book. And from the look of her, this bird might tear my throat out if I tried, nevermind growing up in pony territory.
“You had a lot to rebuild after the war,” I said instead, as close to the subject as I dared to get. The ashamed griffon looked visibly relieved that I’d moved on without asking about her. I started to think she was pretty cute too—but banished that thought quickly. What the hell are you doing, Contrail? Don’t even think about it. I didn’t think about it again. “Were you here for all that?”
“Was I here he says?” she muttered, rolling her eyes. “Was I bucking here. I dunno, you tell me. Would Santiago let his bucking bargaining chip out of his sight? I was too young to understand what was going on—but I know now. He didn’t think his marriage to me mattered. He thought he could get away with a political union, probably with house Victory. He couldn’t kill me, or Griffonstone would turn on him. But I couldn’t leave, or his stupid house of cards would come crumbling down.”
“That sounds… like a monumentally stupid plan,” I said, before I could stop myself. “If you were how he got Griffonstone’s loyalty, then thousands of birds knew about you. Word would make it back to Accipio eventually.”
She smiled at me, the first time she’d done anything remotely friendly since we walked in. “Monumentally stupid. I’ll remember that one. Too bad he had to get himself bucking killed so soon, though. I wouldn’t have minded another egg first.”
The princess rose from her seat, swaying on her claws. “May I be excused?” She didn’t wait for an answer, storming off down the hall with an embarrassment thick enough to leave a trail in the air.
“Bah.” Gilda shrugged one wing. “She’s going to be queen someday, she has to learn these things. And you all… you best be learning too, scholar. If I see one lie in your book about my city, I’m going to burn it. And maybe you, we’ll see.”
She smiled when she said it, but she was also eating a fish, so I couldn’t be sure if she was serious. “I’ll send you a draft of the relevant chapter before we go to print,” I said. “You can check it for errors yourself. But I won’t make any, I assure you.”
She laughed, a little louder this time. “Send it to the administrator. Do I look like I care about books?”
Don't do it.
For the love of
CelestiaTwilight DO NOT start a harem with all the neglected daughters of the Griffins."Well, it's not like I'm using my wings for anything else."
Turns out Contrail's type is the downtrodden daughters of griffon nobility. Every pegasus likes to live dangerously in one way or another, but this is one heck of a way to go about doing it.
I do hope Gilda doesn't take them up on that extra month. While I don't expect a world war to come of this pairing, I can definitely see some awkwardness arising.
I like this guy already.
On the other hand, the constant half-breed comments are a little tiresome.
Gilda, queen? How'd that happen.
Ahh.
There really should probably be a one seduced princess limit to this adventure.
Hey, Gabby probably cares.
9835510
Cadance in the background silently waving a "Yes Do It" banner
Well, at least we know more about the politics of Vengeance now.
With griffon senses, I wonder how intolerable pony cities are? With all the happiness and love, there are probably more than a few ponies eager to get it on.
"Fly with me to the castle."
I'm hoping wing-blades are a thing.
Well, Gallus is a crew member of one of the most technologically advanced warships in the world and he would be considered even less than a standard griffon in griffonstone. That's definitely one heck of a story.
And here I thought Gilda was a true convert to Vengeance's cause. That Santiago had more tricks in manipulating Griffonstone. Turns out it was just sex. Well, at least Santiago's dead and no one will dispute the daughter's status as Vengeance's ruler. With Griffonstone mixed in we'll see them move towards a more productive path.
Heck, maybe in the future there might be marriages between the hippogriff (ponygriff? Interbreeding's a fickle thing.) descendants of Contrail and Dawn and the Griffon descendants of Gilda and Santiago. It'll be the ultimate reconciliation between House Valor (at least a breakaway branch) and House Vengeance.
Dawn:
Gilda:
Minibox:
You have an amazing skill at making me hate anyone who isn't Contrail or Dawn. Unfortunately, that also means I'm running out of patience with your world if everyone in there is a racist f*ck who never gets challenged. This is becoming Pony Bashing: The Movie and we're fast approaching a state where I don't want to explore the rest of anything that's not Equestria. It's all the same.
9835694
You like that guy? I despise him. Racist bird number 287, but important because he's the only one who can teach flying. Apparently.
9838010
Well, if ponies bothered going out of Equestria and challenging miscellaneous fucks at least occasionally, he probably wouldn't be saying that. Don't get me wrong, he'd definitely still talk shit about ponies --- just a bit different kind of shit
9838174
I'm not sure they could. They're the only power to challenge Accipio, but everyone still thinks they're weak, pathetic wastes of space. It's maddening. People here apparently disagree, but I see nobody argue differently.
9838313
Hmm... guess I'll put in my two cents. Just like the good old days...
We tend to think of our rivals in a similar fashion.
From what we seen from the Republic so far, the griffons seem to be willing to attempt coexistence with the ponies. With the technology sharing and serfdom (not great but still a step up from slavery) of Accipian ponies. There's gonna be racism and bigotry but note that some twenty years have passed. The old guard is very much still alive (and almost always the people who Contrail interacts with). It's gonna take a couple generations before attitudes mellow out. As for everyone else being bigoted? Accipio controlled the world sans Equestria. They're going to view things from an Accipian point of view.
And don't forget who most of the people were talking to. A male scholar that would be considered a serious deviation to the cultural norm. The most "Equestrian" thing Equestria could send them. Almost an insult actually since Twilight would've had some grasp on Accipian culture and still she sends him. And a not-princess with blood ties to Equestria. As if she represented the final victory of Equestria over Accipio. Pure salt on the wound. It's gonna leave raw feelings. I expect bigotry but they're probably at least willing to work together in grumbling, grudging, silence. Until we have a view point of how other pony visitors are treated, it's possible that Contrail and Dawn are the worst people to focus on to see the full view of Equestrian-Accipian relations.
As for Equestria's continuing non-response? Isn't that pretty much like Cold War America telling Cold War Soviet Union to stop being "evil communists" and stop trying to take over the world and stop calling Americans "capitalist pigs"? It's pointless to do so. They're probably grumbling at home at the continuing evils of Accipio but understand it's useless to protest. It's probably more of a "we don't trust each other but lets try not to kill each other" kind of mentality. They'll believe whatever they want and we'll believe whatever we want as long as we both go home at the end of the day. The smart (and thankfully important) Accipians know they've always lost wars with Equestria. Perhaps that's the message Equestria wants to send. A message of strength. Nothing else need be said.
9838527
You make some good points. Yes, it's definitely a problem with who they're talking to. Though even the ex-slaves have nothing good to say of Equestria, judging by the minotaur they talked to before. It was that scene especially that troubles me, on top of it just going on and on and on everywhere else. It is possible they have, by chance, managed to avoid anyone who might have something approaching a favourible opinion. But it becomes more difficult to buy with every new place they visit.
And 'challenge' doesn't mean ponies going over there to raise a stink. Being a slaving empire with obvious racist politics would, I imagine, leave some of the peoples they abused and exploited with a less than stellar view of them. Or so I would think. Because it's the ponies who get all the hate, the disdain, from everyone. I've said it in the past and it's still relevant: The story acts like the ponies were the slavers and the griffons just noble warriors.
9838629
I don't find the minotaur's view too unreasonable. Equestria allowed Accipio to keep their nonpony slaves. The "City on the Hill" leaves his kind and all the "others" but will not tolerate their own species (generations removed) to suffer like that. Of course there was good reason for them to do that but he might not know. And even if he did, whatever way he earned his freedom, it must have been more arduous and risky while ponies were literally freed with the stroke of the pen. The more hardship and hard work one endures to earn something the more they will put value into that something. I guess I read it as "the Equestrians gave them their freedom but I had to bleed to get mine." I didn't even think he was being racist when I read that. He's just pointed out to Contrail how much harder it was for him.
Any sort of anti-Equestrian sentiment from non-griffons might just be envy. The "City on the Hill" catering only to ponies and leaving the rest to the birds. They are isolated as well. Like a Garden of Eden out of reach. Everyone would be somewhat resentful of other doing better than they are. Besides, anyone still living with the griffons probably isn't too angry with them. Otherwise, they'd be in Equestria. As for the Griffons as noble warriors? I don't really see anyone praising griffons. Self-aggrandizement sure. Even a flowery skewed view from a pony slave. But the only heroic actions are from the reasonable griffons and even they are terribly flawed. The story makes it perfectly clear the conflicts were caused by a griffons and only griffons (other than the volcano, of course). Heck, even the new ghost problem and the cause of Dawn's emigration are ultimately griffon in origin. And holy crap, we won't even get to the things Starlight is planning to do to keep the peace.
9838313
Celestia was the only power to challenge Accipio (+ minority of her top mages and best trained soldiers) until very recently when they got more alicorns and learned to build death stars. I'm pretty sure that she can and average pony Joes possibly can't (in which case that guy is actually right ). Although, what I meant earlier was more about pony "anything beyond Equestia's borders is none of my business" politics.
If we look at that from higher level, well, exact points they're criticizing ponies for are not that important --- there are always some to be found by clever enough speaker (then others can just repeat that --- memes!). And speaking nice things about your enemy is politically very stupid thing to do for everyone from lord to slave.
9838787
Actually, if you look at things, the ponies simply can't do it right. Remember, the griffonstonies were annoyed when ponies suddenly arrived to help with a "Friendship Problem". Now Gilda here acussed ponies of falsely thinking Griffonstone is a dump when only a few years at most before the war, they thought the griffons had a rich, awesome city-state with a thriving monarchy. So it's wrong if they interfere, it's also wrong if they don't interfere. Being pony means literally being unable to please anyone non-pony, it seems.
9838755
It's the only things we get, though. It's almost as bad as the prequel, where Starlight was incapable of arguing with Velar on any of his bigotries.
9838820
You mean "The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone" episode? It was Gilda (who had personal grudge), others seemed to care only if ponies have bits.
We weren't directly told how fair is that. Well, Twilight probably has wrote down Pinkie's and Dash's story in a book, and knowing pony foreign policy, that as wall may be the most recent source available to general public Our protagonist didn't have much prior knowledge about Griffonstone and he's a historian.