• Published 22nd Oct 2020
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Realms of Magic: The Realm of the Gryphons - TheEighthDayofNight



An elf, Kathranis Shadowsong, is transported to the realm of Equus by wild magic. This story follows his explorations of the different races and civilizations a new world has to offer.

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Prologue: Part 2

In a land of magic and harmony, all seemed well. Ponies played and built during the sunny day, while at night they rested away. To most, this brought balance and beauty to the realm, keeping things in a state of peace that had not been seen for centuries.

Gone was the eternal strife between the pony tribes, gone was the old faction lines that kept them divided and weak. Under the guidance of their beloved diarchs, the ponies thrived, expanding their borders to finally come into contact with new neighbors.

Talk of conflict rose in several minds, but the ponies had learned from their bloodied past, and the word war was not so welcome. Treaties, trade, and friendship spread outward, with the ponies making peace with every nation in their grasp. They bared their teeth only when necessary, and when that occurred, all the world trembled as the pony armies marched. For the nations of the world, only one show of force was needed, and once the warlords were finished with the Crystal Empire, none questioned the prowess of the peace toting ponies.

But at the heart of the Equestrian homeland one paced, her mind alight with irritation. Long had she been ignored, despite her pleas. Unheard her grievances turned from irritation and neglect into the fledgling flames of hatred and resentment. Unseen by all, lines were drawn anew, with new tribes forming from the ashes of the old. Powers consolidate in the dark, all alight in the mind of the pacing mare. Her mind awash with thoughts of conflict, of revenge, she paced.

The room around her was lavish, as was befitting her position. The stone walls were covered top to bottom in only the finest things, but if she noticed, she didn’t care. Of note on her walls and her desk was the lack of notes. She knew why of course; there could be no evidence of treachery, no sign, no matter how small, of her intentions. All had to go perfectly if she had a shadow of a hope of success. In truth, she could only think;

“Too few, too few,” she whispered. “Too few will stand with Thine. We need more, more to counter her infernal followers.”

A shadow, standing tall in the corner, rolled his shoulders.

“Respectfully Warlord-“

“Thou are not to call me that!” she snapped, stopping her march. “We shall take thou’s head and mount it on a pike if thou continue with that ancient foppery! Have We not earned thine respect? Is Our orders not to be followed?”

The shadow’s eyes flicked down and he sighed.

“Apologies Lady, I meant no offense. I only wished to convey your most accurate title for our talk. If you wish my true opinion, I would prefer to call you by your true title.”

The mare sighed and resumed her pacing, clasping her hands behind her back.

“Apology accepted, but nay, We cannot have that. Not yet. Our spells can only hide so much, and thou know the spies that hide in these walls. We rout them out like the rats they are, yet they always return. So they stay. At least now We control what they hear.”

The shadow nodded.

“Then again my apologies my Lady, for I have failed to keep your quarters private.”

The mare waved a hand of dismissal.

“We care not for thou’s apologies. What We care about is the numbers. We have not enough.”

The shadow’s eyes flickered toward the window.

“I disagree Lady. The minotaurs from the east and the southlands are joined to our cause, as well as a number of dragons that we-“

“Bought,” the mare hissed. “They do not back Our cause, they line their pockets. Should Our enemy learn of our plan, We are lost. She has plenty coin to buy them back, and what then? We have the power to intimidate, but not for all, especially not for the more powerful chieftains and dragons. We must find more devoted allies instead of this mercenary rabble.”

The shadow on the wall sighed and rubbed at his forehead.

“My people are with your Lady, are we not enough? You have seen their ability; they are easily double that of their infernal counterparts!”

The mare smiled faintly.

“And We truly appreciate their devotion. Thou have done well in their training, and We commend you that.”

The shadow puffed up with pride, his furry chest poking through his armor and into the moonlight. The mare didn’t stop her pacing.

“But the ability to kill two is not enough,” she growled. “They need to kill a hundred to make the numbers match. She has the rabble on her side, has them brainwashed to her ways. The lies about the inability to grow food under MY….”

She closed her eyes and took a breath, mentally cursing herself for both her lapse in speech, as well as her near lapse in tongue. She slowly exhaled, then opened her eyes and continued pacing.

“We need more. It is a simple fact.”

The shadow scratched at his muzzle.

“I don’t know what to say then my Lady. The Diamond Dogs are ours by fear, and the minotaurs by coin. The only other creatures we have easy access to are the changelings.”

The mare growled again.

“We would see Our moon ground to dust before We make deals with those feckless wretches.”

She paused again, and stomped her foot into the carpeted floor.

“There must be someone else! We have to-“

A mighty crack of thunder rocked the room, and the shadow was thrown from his place in the dark. Even the powerful alicorn stumbled, leaning against the stone walls for balance. Almost as soon as the shaking started, it stopped, and the shadow bolted to his feet and to the window.

“What was that?” he whispered. “Are we under attack?”

The mare shook her head and stood up straight, her wings fluttering slightly as she recovered her balance. Her horn sparked slightly as she made her way across the room. Joining the shadow at the window, she looked to the sky, unable to hold back a slight look of awe at the sheer power displayed between the stars. Blue light flickered and flashed, splitting the sky with roiling coils of magic. Her awestruck look quickly turned to grin as she bowed her head, accepting the obvious sign of divine approval.

“It ‘twas not an attack, but a gift. Watch Our form while We investigate.”

Not waiting for a word of affirmation, she lit her horn and sent her consciousness away, taking to the sky to analyze the blue lights. As she approached them, she felt her immaterial form become enwrapped in a blanket of love and motherly affection, and so she closed her non-existent eyes, savoring the sensation.

Hello mother, she thought.

It was such a sensation she found missing in her mortal life, but the very presence of Harmony herself, it was a sign. Sighing with her non-existent lungs, the mare opened her eyes and looked at the lights she found herself immersed in. Their magic flowed north, and to the east, so without hesitation, she followed.

She did not feel time as she traveled, but she knew the lights led her a great distance. Flat plains and lonely mountains gave way to massive forests of pine, out shadowed by massive chains of grey rock topped with icy snow. As she passed overhead, she looked to the valleys that laid nestled between the mountains, and she noticed the familiar orange glow of civilization. A sizeable village sat amongst pristine fields of wheat, with small pens filled with cattle and pigs nestled tightly against the sturdy wooden huts.

She took her flight lower, wishing for a closer look. As the ground loomed close, she arrested her descent, and she cast about for signs of the inhabitants. She felt a twitch of irritation when she realized that most of them were sleeping, yet another species caught within the lie of the sun’s light, but she dismissed her irritation as a troupe of young creatures emerged from the woods. Moving herself their way, she realized that she was within the nation of the gryphons.

Tall, and built stronger than both pegasi and unicorns, she had met more than a few on the battlefield. The winged creatures were not to be trifled with, and unlike the Diamond Dogs or the minotaurs, their loyalty, once bought, was firm. She had already recruited a troupe or two of the creatures, but if she could be backed by a nation…

The young group looked and pointed to the sky, gasping audibly as they beheld the lights. Their voices raised, and they set off to the village, which came alive with activity. She smiled in satisfaction as more gryphon’s left their homes to look to the night sky, and wished only that direct intervention from the Goddess wasn’t necessary to draw their eyes to her creative beauty, but she could lament later. She had a purpose.

She took higher to the sky, following the lights again at a much faster pace. The ground blurred before her as she traveled deeper into gryphon territory, but eventually she found what she was looking for, and she slowed her pace as she beheld what could only be described as a magical maelstrom.

Blue light coiled and whipped between massive spiraling clouds of onyx. Lightning ripped apart the sky, offering hazards to anything flying nearby, but she was more than safe in her amorphous form. The mare studied the maelstrom, trying to decipher its purpose, but more importantly, its source. She could easily recognize the blue lights leading into the roiling clouds as the Goddesses magic, but the rest was foreign, and new.

She jolted as a body fell through her. Glancing down, the mare found a human dressed in strange robes, his eyes closed with apparent sleep. A blue beam diverted from the maelstrom above, and it slipped under the human, drifting him slowly toward the ground. She followed, watching his featherlike fall, taking the time to analyze the strange markings on the creature. Tattoos written in a strange tongue marked the human’s bald head, and useless little objects threatened to spill from the many pockets of his robes. The mare looked over each, trying to remember her alchemy lessons, but ultimately, she didn’t recognize the ingredients. Perhaps it was merely trash the human had picked up, but she knew Harmony wouldn’t waste her time with human trash. This was clearly something else, something important.

She had no time to ponder on the strangeness as another world-shaking peal of thunder cracked the air, sending lightning across the sky. She glanced up to find more bodies falling from the sky. Blue beams reached out by the dozen, guiding the bodies to safety on the ground below. The mare flew among them, noticing more strange bald humans, as well as many decorated with mighty armor and wicked looking weapons. She wanted to learn more, needed to learn more, but the strain from maintaining a non-physical form so far from her body was draining her focus fast. She would need to make an expedition of some kind, to visit the maelstrom in person.

Using the last of her energy, she rocketed to the ground, memorizing the landscape as best she could. A few things were vaguely familiar, and after a few moments, she was satisfied that she could find the place again, could even locate it on a map. She let her magic fade into the air, and her mind drifted up and into a blue beam, which wrapped her in warmth and escorted her home.

The mare opened her eyes and let out a breath. Her hands clasped behind her back, and she smiled at the blue storm of magic above her castle.

“Very interesting,” she said cryptically.

The shadow frowned slightly at her, then looked to the sky.

“Is it something that work in our favor?”

The mare shrugged.

“Perhaps. Tell Us, doth thou still have the work Our scouts did in the gryphon lands?”

“Gryphonia?” the shadow asked. “Yes, we still have the maps they made, but said yourself that any diplomatic expedition was pointless, that they would never even consider-“

“We are aware of Our past views,” the mare snapped. “But perhaps if thou used thine’s eyes, thou would notice that things have changed.”

She looked to the sky, letting her anger cool in an instant. Now wasn’t the time for anger, now was the time for preparation, for manuvering. She did always enjoy a good game of chess, and from what she had seen, the game had given her new opponents, had perhaps even changed the game altogether. It was a challenge, a rite of passage, and she hadn’t been found lacking yet.

“Send word to Our sister,” she said. “We must make preparations. She should be pleased that We are leaving this place for once.”

The shadow gave her a bow, then flapped away, leaving her in darkness and silence. The mare grinned at the sky, and her teeth sharpened slightly as thoughts of conquest and vengeance filled her mind.