PRINCE GALLUS? And the Trial for the Throne

by Hopeful_Ink_Hoof

Home Stony Home

Sitting by the side of the air carriage, Gallus watched as they approached Griffonstone. His old home. A city built on stones, then left to rot. The bright colors of Equestria had been left behind, giving way to brown dirt and gray rocks.

There was a flash of blue with amounts of pink and yellow, interrupting his thoughts as much as his view.

"I can't believe it!" Silverstream squealed out for the... umpteenth time. Gallus had not even bothered trying to keep track of it. "One of my friends! Royalty!" Her foretalons clenched into fists and she shook them, hind hooves kicking. "It's so exciting!"

Gallus could only let out a small huff. He had already pointed out that he may not actually be royalty, that it probably would not matter, that she herself was royalty and a lot closer to the throne than he was, that she was the first hippogriff Wonderbolt in recorded history which was a big deal in its own way, and a few other things as well. Each time, she would say something to acknowledge it, but it never stopped her from squealing and commenting again. And again. And again.

Still, he was glad that Silverstream had been able to make it. It would have been better if all of his friends could have made it, but they all had other obligations now, and there was a rush for the trip. Princess Twilight had wanted to get to Griffonstone as soon as could be arranged, to at the very least find out what they can do to start the process to get Gallus recognized as royalty, and take the throne as king.

King Gallus, he thought, and shook his head. It still did not sound right to him. An orphan from the street, joining the military, and turning out to be secretly royalty? It sounded like something out of a story book. The only things missing were some great threat to the kingdom that they had to defeat, and a princess to fall in love with. Although the first was a possibility, considering all that had happened, and as for the second... well... There was a princess, but she was in a relationship, and while Gallus did love her, it was not in a romantic sense. More somewhere between parent and sibling.

"We're getting ready to land," Princess Twilight Sparkle announced. "Silverstream, you better get ready."

After snapping a salute, Silverstream snapped her goggles in place and pulled away, flying ahead and above the carriage.

As they started to descend, Gallus closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Picking up his helmet, he placed it back on his head. It had been a while since he had been back to the city. Last time he had gone, it had been for Grampa Gruff's funeral. He had even stayed for the reading of the will. Gallus had gotten the old griffon's fez, and everyone assembled got one last whack with his walking stick for "driving me to my grave."

Opening his eyes, he looked out. As he watched, they came down in front of the newest building in Griffonstone. It was easy enough to tell apart from the rest of the buildings for one simple fact: it had not fallen apart yet. The walls were all upright and in one piece. The paint was still white, not yet yellowed by the sun or peeling away. The thatch on the roof was a bright yellow, not yet showing signs of rot.

It looked great.

Which made the broken, rotting piles of once buildings look all the worse by comparison.

Once the carriage came to a stop, Silverstream walked up and opened the door. Gallus stepped out first, his golden armor glistening in the sun. His blue eyes flicked back and forth, taking in the area around him and checking for any possible threats, and wings spread wide.

Growing up around griffons, and being one himself, Gallus understood how most of them were. They were curious, they were greedy, but they were not dumb. Seeing the approaching carriage had gotten the attention of quite a number of the locals, as even with the exchanges, Griffonstone did not get a lot of visitors. Once they got a good look at the carriage, and how expensive it must have been, they started calculating, figuring out how they could possibly get as many bits from the rider as possible. Having a griffon dressed in armor, wings spread, glaring right at them was enough to make most decide they had more important matters to attend to elsewhere.

Satisfied, he lowered his wings and stepped aside, allowing Princess Twilight Sparkle to step from the carriage. As she started walking toward the building, Gallus moved to follow, a step to the side and behind. He continued his scans as he marched, keeping an eye out for any possible thieves.

From the corner of his eye, he caught Silverstream landing on the Princess's other side and falling into step as well.

The door to the newest building opened, pushed by a griffon cub. Too young to tell the gender, but old enough to have the full feathers covering their body. They looked up at the group and their eyes went wide, beak falling open.

"You're a princess!" the little griffon squeaked out, hopping up with excitement on the last word.

"Yes, I am," Princess Twilight said, leaning down to smile at the cub.

"Mom said we were having a special visitor," the cub said, "but she didn't tell me it was a princess." Turning around, they ran back inside.

"Mom! Mama! There's a princess here to see us!"

"Really?" a rough feminine voice called out. "I never would have guessed. I mean, you're just shouting it at the top of your lungs for every griffon to hear."

Gilda the griffon stepped out from the back, making her way toward the cub. The older griffon pulled the smaller closer, reaching up to ruffle their head feathers.

"Why don't you go see if Mama needs any help getting things while I show them to a table?"

"Right," the cub said, giving a nod. Pulling free of Gilda's grip, they made their way toward the kitchen. Gilda watched before turning toward the group of arrivals.

"Twilight," Gilda said, giving a faint bend of her forelegs. She turned to look at Gallus. "Dweeb." A smirked formed on her mouth. "Decided to try and be a royal dork now, huh?"

"Yeah," Gallus snorted, rolling his eyes. "Don't worry, though, I won't banish you for being illiterate or anything." He then stepped closer and opened his wings, giving Gilda a hug.

"Glad to see you're doing well."

"You too," Gilda said as she returned the wing hug. She then pulled away and whacked him on the helmet with a metallic thump! "Which we would both know if you visited more often! Give Guinea a chance to know her Uncle Gallus."

Gallus rubbed at the helmet, feeling his head aching a little underneath, then turned to glare at Princess Twilight and Silverstream, both of whom were snickering.

"Come on," Gilda said as she turned and started walking. "I got a table set up. Tea and scones should be out shortly."

As they walked, Gallus looked at Princess Twilight.

"You're fine with her striking one of your guards?"

Twilight Sparkle turned to look at him from the corner of her eye.

"Do you remember learning about the changeling invasion of Canterlot?"

Gallus gave a nod, brow furrowing. What did that have to do with anything.

"To remind you," Twilight said, "Shining Armor is my older brother, and I didn't find out about him even dating, much less getting married, until I got an invitation days before the ceremony." Her eyes narrowed as she smirked. "Sometimes, a sibling could use a good smack, guard or not."

With a sigh, Gallus shook his head. He considered pointing out that he and Gilda were not actually related, but one of Professor Applejack's lessons had been how "family ain't just 'bout blood." There had not been an exact definition on what did and did not constitute family as opposed to friends -- even really close friends -- but the point had remained the same.

Besides, having a niece did not sound so bad.

"So, Gilda," Princess Twilight said as she took a seat, "what do you think? Can we get griffons to accept Gallus as king of The Griffon Empire?"

As she sat down, the older griffon took a deep breath and shifted, wings flickering.

"Well, the good news," she answered, "is that most of the griffons I've talked to would like a leader of some sort." She rolled her eyes. "Even if a few of them want it just so they can blame someone for how lousy things are. Still, the are a minority, and most hope that they could have a king or queen to help them have a better life. More like what the stories of The Griffon Empire claim they are."

"Does that mean there's bad news?"

Before Twilight got an answer, Guinea came out, wings spread wide as she carried a tray filled with scones. Not far behind her was Greta, carrying her own tray. On it was the teapot and cups.

"Scones!" the cub announced as she reached the edge of the table.

"And tea," Greta added. She took a hold of the tray Guinea was carrying and set it on the table before doing the same with her own. The two new arrivals moved to take their own seats, joining the others.

"While they do want a leader," Gilda stated as she picked up the pot, "they aren't going to just accept any griffon." She began pouring. "Most don't care about the word from an Equestrian princess when it comes to our king or queen, and even with Gabby's help, we can't get enough support from others to have it simply accepted because we asked." The first cup was passed across to the Twilight. "They want proof. Something that shows that Gallus is meant to be king. Something like The Idol of Boreas."

"Great," Gallus huffed as he grabbed a scone. "Too bad there's only one of those in the world, and it's deep in The Abyssal Abyss." He took a bite. "Any griff..."

The rest of his statement was lost as he chewed, noticing the taste of the baked treat he had grabbed. It was not as sweet as a cookie or cupcake, but it was sweet. There was also a hint of something that he could not quite place. Something fruity.

"Not the Idol itself," Gilda corrected as she passed him a cup. "Something like it. A sign that the ancestors or First Griffon was supporting the claim."

"Do you know something like that?" asked Silverstream, eyes wide with curiosity.

Gilda's eyes narrowed as she smirked.

"I don't," she said, turning to face Greta, "but she does."

The minty colored griffon hen grinned and leaned forward.

"My own grandpa told me many stories," she explained. "Including one called 'The Trial of the Throne.'"

Comments

[Comickook]

Excellent job on this latest chapter. Again, the exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up are all well done in all the right places. I adored how Silverstream and Gallus played off each other as the former accompanied the latter and Twilight. And, Gallus's reflections on how much this seems like something out of a storybook was superb in addition to the interactions with Gilda and her daughter.

Once more, on to the next chapter.

[Ri2]

Awww, Gilda's got a kid! Adorable!

And Gruff gave Gallus his fez. He really did care!

[PresentPerfect]

Gallus had gotten the old griffon's fez, and everyone assembled got one last whack with his walking stick for "driving me to my grave."

So in the end, the old buzzard actually learned the meaning of generosity. Magical.