The Equestria Chronicles: The Gallop Through Griffonia

by Slippin_Sweetie

The Toll To Griffinstone

It was noon, and the party was halfway down the road to Griffinstone. The Knights of Kerekasztala lead the way, guiding the expedition through a forest with thick brush and large oak trees hanging over them. The sun was just barely creeping through the limbs of these massive trees.

The forest felt alive, brimming with natural flora and fauna. Many animals had come to greet Fluttershy, personally sensing her connection to nature and life. Bringing much amusement to the knights.

However, the trail felt different as the wagon train trudged along, the dirt roads becoming narrow as the trees practically enclosed the group, making everything feel claustrophobic. The wagon's wheels were only inches away from the bramble and bushes. The forest seemed to darken with each step they took as a heavy feeling hung in the air.

The knights kept a claw resting at their iron sabers as their posture tightened, their heads on a swivel at all times.

"Something isn't right…." muttered György, "Hang back with the prinzessin Gael."

Gael nodded slowly, falling back to the end of the wagon train where Twilight's wagon was.

"Prinzessin, György senses that something isn't right. We advise you to be cautious as we go deeper into the forest," informed Gael.

"Aw, c'mon, it can't be as bad as the Everfree Forest!" Pinkie grinned, poking her head out of the wagon to look around. In fact, it felt quite familiar to her.

"T-That doesn't mean we shouldn't be careful…." Fluttershy murmured, gently pulling the party pony back inside.

Twilight nodded, standing up. "We still need to keep moving. Please tell György to keep us moving, but carefully. I'll begin a few spells that might help us…."

Levitating her bags to her side, she tore through the contents before pulling out a hefty tome of spells she had been studying prior to their journey. She flipped through the pages, calling Starlight to her side.

"I have a Detect Life spell. I was hoping you could do that while I put up a small Shield spell. It won't be anything too powerful, but it will give us a moment to steel ourselves if we are attacked." She turned to the fellow mage, pointing at the pages with a hoof.

Starlight quickly climbed out from her wagon and joined Twilight, "That shouldn't be too hard…."

The unicorn's horn glowed as a magical aura encompassed the wagon train and beyond for what seemed like miles. Starlight focused as she detected the life that surrounded her.

"We're in a forest; there are animals surrounding us, mostly small rodents and songbirds, a village five miles north, and a group of creatures coming from the main roads about a mile away."

Gael quickly nodded, "Those might be bandits. I'll inform György. It'd be advised to raise the shield spell for yourselves." he'd said before running up ahead to his teacher.

Twilight nodded before turning to Starlight, "Do you know how many creatures exactly?" She wanted to prepare her spell for the coming threat and didn't want to underestimate their possible adversaries.

"D-Do we know that they're even bad guys? What if they're just travelers like us?" Fluttershy offered fretfully.

"That's a good point!" Pinkie nodded her head.

"And what if they are bandits, and we're not vigilant enough?" Rainbow spat back, "We need to be on guard!"

"That's also a good point!" Pinkie said, immediately switching sides.

Starlight clenched her eyes as her horn burned brightly, "Party of… seven… looks like it's seven creatures heading toward our direction. We'll see in about half an hour if they're friend or foe." sighed Starlight.

The unicorn wiped a few beads of sweat off her brow as she looked over to the concerned ponies, "There's nothing to be worried about; we have Twilight, the knights, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and of course, Thorax and me."

"The only creatures we should worry about are Spike and Trixie (don't tell her I said that.)," whispered Starlight,

"Hey!" snapped Spike, "I can breathe fire too!" he said, snorting smoke from his nostrils.

Applejack chuckled, "It'd be cruel to unleash your deadly fire on those bandits, Spike; we wouldn't wanna kill anycreature, would we?"

Spike sighed, "I guess not."

Rarity crossed her front legs, "I am capable of magic too, you know."

"Noted," replied Starlight.

"Hey, I heard that!" Trixie stuck her head out the window, "And Trixie is perfectly capable of handling some ruffians!" She swiftly brought her head back inside in a huff.

"Whatever," Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, "We'll be prepared for whoever it is and kick their butts if needed!" The pegasus punched the air, miming as if she were fighting someone in mid-air.

"Alright, everyone inside. I'll stay near the back of the wagon if I need to get out in a hurry…." She knew the Knights probably wouldn't take very kindly to her putting herself in unnecessary danger.

Climbing inside, Twilight sat down, facing the wagon doors before her horn burned to life. A magenta aura grew before slowly expanding larger and larger before eventually engulfing the entire party. The bubble seemed to disappear in the blink of an eye, but they could feel the magic surrounding them.

"Hopefully, that will be good enough…." The princess sighed as she opened her eyes, sweat dripping down her brow.

"If they lob arrows or gunfire at us, we'll be safe, or did you cast a shield that prevents anything from entering our bubble?" inquired Starlight.

"It's more of a simple bubble shield expanded; it will block any attacks or anycreature attempting to get inside, but not for long. I was never as proficient in shield spells as my brother, but he taught me this one." Twilight gave the book a nostalgic gaze before carefully tucking it away.

"W-Well, that's good…." Fluttershy sighed, smoothing down her mane in a gentle manner.

Starlight tapped a hoof to her chin, "Let's hope they don't put too much pressure on us then…."

It wasn't too long before Starlight peered her head out of the wagon and informed the group of the incoming creatures. As the knight lowered their visors and kept a firm claw on their swords, every creature braced for impact.

But instead, a tirade of… colorful language was echoed throughout the trees.

"IDIOT, IDIOT, DU HAST DAS RAD GEBROCHEN!" thundered a shrill and ridged voice.

"FOGD BE!" replied a deeper voice.

As their wagon approached, the group could see a group of two adult griffins arguing amongst themselves over a broken wagon wheel.

Starlight let out a sigh of relief, "I guess they weren't bandits…."

A white and light gray griffin with an eye patch and a worn cloth cap would approach, "Er, Sprechen Sie Griffisch?" he inquired.

György gestured the wagons to halt as he and Gael approached the group cautiously, speaking in their native tongues as the rest of the expedition watched cautiously.

Twilight couldn't help it. Overhearing the Griffins speak Griffish was too much of a temptation. Very few griffins actually spoke the language outside of Griffinstone or other Griffin cities. She tore open the journal Celestia had given her, writing down notes.

Pinkie Pie would peer through the window excitedly, waving to one of the Griffins outside cheerfully.

"Pinkie! Get down!" Rainbow hissed.

The griffin quickly took note of Pinkie, giving a small wave with his claw, "Er…ponies!" he said in a thick griffish accent.

"You're coming from Griffinport, yes?" his grey face seemed to brighten at the sight of the mares.

"Eyes on me," ordered György.

"Pónik!" shouted the griffin, much the pleasure of the other griffin.

A group of hatchlings peered from inside the wagon, excitedly looking for the ponies, as they chanted 'pónik' excitedly. Quickly overwhelming the knights as they raced toward the wagons, peering inside each cart and fawning at the expedition.

These hatchlings looked very young, having soft tufts of feathers made up of bright whites, browns, and greys, with a large pair of blue and green eyes gawking at the peculiar and foreign sight.

A hatchling would approach Rainbow Dash, taking note of her wings, another would oogle Twilight's horn and wings. While another in Trixie and Thorax's cart would oogle and play with the many 'magical' items she had.

Before one of the children would shout, taking notice of Yona's massive build as the flock of feathers quickly surrounded the Yak, taking note of her horns and bulk.

"Nagy ló?" inquired one.

“Nein! Eine große Kuh!” retorted another.

Yona seemed overwhelmed and scared to move, hesitant that she might hurt these young griffins if she drove the wrong way. "Err… good little griffins…? No, hurt Yona?"

"Uh… what are they doing?" Rainbow whispered to the others, "I know I'm awesome, but this is a little… weird."

Fluttershy would coo at them, leaning down to nuzzle one of the younger hatchlings. "Aw, they are adorable!"

"See! I knew they were friendly!" Pinkie grinned, clapping her hooves together.

"No, Fluttershy said–" Rainbow sighed, "Ugh, whatever!"

Twilight cocked a brow before sharing a look with Starlight, slowly climbing her way out of the wagon. The alicorn could hear the protests of Trixie, who was attempting to wrestle away her equipment from the newcomers.

"Um, hello, it's nice to meet you." Twilight approached, doing her best to seem friendly, "My name is Twilight Sparkle."

The griffins would obviously be the parents of these five little hatchlings, looking weary and exhausted. The father would take the princess's hoof, gently shaking it, "I am Gylde, and this is my wife Grace, and our children, Gunter, Gabriel, Gus, Giana, and Gwen."

The mother would clear her throat as she'd bellow a loud cawing, quickly getting her hatchlings back in line. Fluttershy chuckled as the hatchlings scampered off, sighing as she watched them go.

"We are very sorry about that. They just get excited when they see something or someone new, haha." sighed Gylde.

"If you could help us, we'd be on our way to Griffinhafen," explained Grace, "It's just that my… husband's skills with a hammer are not as good as he claims." scowled Grace.

Gylde hmpf'd as he crossed his claws, "As my wife rudely put it, we need help with our wheel. Could you help us?"

The knights looked at one another before Gael sighed, marching over to the wagon as he began putting the wheel in place to make repairs.

"It's no problem, of course. Frankly, we were expecting bandits of some sort, so you're a welcome surprise." Twilight chuckled, "It's nice to meet all of you. We're actually headed to Griffinstone, but you're on the right path to Griffinhafen."

"Oh, I can actually help with the wheel if you like." She turned to the knights, her horn burning to life as she lifted the cart to the proper height and position.

The hatchlings would watch in awe at Twilight's very minor display of power, awing at the bright lilac color. Gael gave an appreciative look to Twilight as he quickly used a mallet to hammer the wheel back into place.

Gylde graciously bowed his head at the alicorn, "Oh, thank you, ma'am, we are indebted to you."

"Oh, it's nothing, really." Twilight shook her head and smiled kindly.

Grace gave a warm smile to the princess as she too bowed, "Yes, thank you…" she'd glare at the hatchlings, who quickly shouted, "Köszönöm!" in thanks.

And as quickly as they came, they soon left, with all but Gylde packing into the wagon as they set off.

Chuckling, the alicorn would wave goodbye to the group, sighing in relief once they were out of sight. "Well, thank goodness they weren't bandits… I'll be keeping the spell up, though, just in case."

"Sounds like a good idea to me." Rainbow nodded, "Should I go scout ahead? Maybe I can break this tree cover…."

"I don't think that's a good idea…." Fluttershy murmured.

Moments later, Starlight screamed from her wagon, "WE'VE BEEN ROBBED!"

"What?!" Twilight's wings flew open as she ran towards Starlight's wagon, peering inside.

"Those little RATS!" Trixie hissed, baring her teeth. "I knew they were going through my things for a reason!!"

Thorax gently pat Trixie's back, "They stole our bits…HEY APPLEJACK DID THEY STEAL YOUR BITS?" shouted Thorax.

"Yup! It was a clean sweep! They stole all of our money and made out like a pack of thieves!" replied Applejack.

Gael tsk'd as he shook his head, "Oldest trick in the book." before getting swatted by György.

Trixie screamed in frustration before slamming the doors to her wagon, muffling her yelling further. Fluttershy turned pale while Pinkie stopped bouncing in place, her gaze shifting from anger to sadness.

Twilight rubbed a hoof across her face, unsure of what to do.

"Should we chase after them?!" Rainbow asked, gritting her teeth. It looked like she was ready to fire off like a bullet any second.

"I…" Twilight muttered, "I-I'm not sure it's worth it…."

György gently patted Twilight's back, "Fear not, your highness, if we continue on the main roads, we'll reach Griffinstone, and I'm sure the heiress is willing to compensate you for your measly coffers."

Gael would search through Twilight's wagon before looking up from one of the chests, "How many bits did you have?"

"A few hundred," replied Rarity, "It was enough for the whole journey."

"For a family like that, that's a ticket to Equestria and the start of a new life, filthy peasants." snarled György, "Have they no shame? No honor?"

"Well, the stereotype about greedy grifs rains true then," smirked Gael, getting swatted again by György.

"We, Gael. Are better than the company of thieves!" retorted György.

Applejack sighed, "Well, at least our supplies weren't stolen, probably because they couldn't hide a bunch of crates and chestfuls of food in their feathers and pockets."

"That's a relief; how was I gonna bake without ingredients?! Especially if we're meeting an HEIRESS!" Pinkie squealed, twisting herself into the air.

"I just hope they can handle Pinkie's energy…." Rainbow Dash whispered to Applejack discreetly.

"I'm sure she'll appreciate the gift, Pinkie if we even have any time for you to bake…." Although Twilight really shouldn't question it if she found Pinkie with a perfectly baked pastry in hoof when they met the new leader of Griffinstone.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get moving!!" Pinkie cheered, hopping back into one of the wagons. The others climbed inside, with Twilight hesitating in the back. Looking out at the forest, she slowly followed the others inside, paranoid that something was looking back at her.

Comments

[origami]

The classic pickpocketing kids move.

[SpikeSmolder fan]

Dang, talk about getting fleeced!!! 😵‍💫

[Yoshifan30]

"Aw, c'mon, it can't be as bad as the Everfree Forest!" Pinkie grinned, poking her head out of the wagon to look around. In fact, it felt quite familiar to her.

That's just basically tempted faith

[Yoshifan30]

The unicorn's horn glowed as a magical aura encompassed the wagon train and beyond for what seemed like miles. Starlight focused as she detected the life that surrounded her.

Dang that's pretty powerful to reach all the way that much

[Yoshifan30]

As their wagon approached, the group could see a group of two adult griffins arguing amongst themselves over a broken wagon wheel.

That's usually a classic ambush I really wish that was never the case but sometimes people will use that as an advantage because of our kindness to help

[Yoshifan30]

Moments later, Starlight screamed from her wagon, "WE'VE BEEN ROBBED!"

Yep

[Yoshifan30]

Well that did not go very well as we hope for so Twilight and the others are on their way to the destination so far nothing too hectic except for they have incoming creatures and they don't want to take any risk of having an ambush or anything but it turns out it was a family of griffins needed some help and they were on the way to the other direction the others came from even the little kids were pretty excited to see ponies but unfortunately not exactly what they were thinking after helping them they realize they've been robbed again I saw that coming but it looks like the Griffin guards will pay for the stolen money so I guess that's okay for now but Twilight has stinky feeling that somebody's been watching them which that's never a good sign well I guess we'll find out next time