154. Dreading the Future
“Enter,” Sir Lightbringer called from his office as Storm knocked on the door.
With a quick glance behind him at his fellow paladins, Storm opened the door and entered the Grand Master’s office. The day so far had been great; aside from having Serenity back at the Abbey and meeting a new ‘recruit’, so to speak, they all got to enjoy a great party today, courtesy of Pinkie Pie. Admittedly, a lot of the positive moments he experienced during that party could be credited to being in Rarity’s company, but honestly, everything else had been great, too. It was fun just to hang around with so many townsfolk, not needing to care about any paladin business for a few hours. It was nice seeing Nymph being comfortable in her true form around so many ponies, and to see both her and Big Mac become more open about their relationship (not that it was that big of a secret, for if what Storm had heard from Rarity was true they only tried to keep it a secret from Applejack, but she had seemingly grown to like the changeling a lot recently). It was also nice to see Zahara again, even though they didn’t talk much; whether she was still embarrassed about the way they all first met or if there was some other reason, the zebra seemed content to just hang in the corner, talking with Guard.
“Seeing how he’s not exactly the heart and soul of the party either, one has to wonder how fun that could have been,” Storm remarked jokingly.
It was definitely a fun party. However, now it was over, and they all had to return to their duties. As Sir Lightbringer had told them, they were suppose to leave tomorrow, going somewhere for over a week, and right now was the time for their briefing regarding this mission, or whatever it was.
“Duty calls,” Storm thought, with only mild annoyance, as they entered the office.
“Reporting for the briefing, Sir,” he said when they all stood at attention before Sir Lightbringer’s desk.
The Grand Master of the Order, who had been sitting behind it, nodded. “At ease. I hope that all of you had a pleasant time at the party,” he said with a brief smile as all of them had somewhat relaxed and shifted to stand a bit more comfortably.
“Meh, it was alright,” Tucker replied, shrugging. “Would be cooler if there were a few stri-”
“Thank you for making arrangements for Liturgy during our time away, Sir,” Serenity interrupted the unicorn before he could finish. Pausing only to shoot her paladin brother an annoyed look, she continued: “I should have thought about it before I had brought her here the day before this mission.”
“Well, you can thank me by alerting me sooner in the future when you recruit anypony into the Order. Or better yet, consult with me on that matter before you do. That goes to all of you,” Sir Lightbringer said, addressing the three other paladins. “I don’t care if it would be a filly or a colt, zebra, griffon or diamond dog or whatever, just let me know in advance. And since we’re on the subject,” he added, sighing and growing more serious, “I would like to let you all know that the Order of the Celestial Light will be accepting initiates from Griffonia as well as from Equestria.”
Storm stared, surprised. In the corner of his eye he noticed that Guard and Tucker were too, but strangely, not Serenity. Putting that out of his mind for now and focusing on what Sir Lightbringer had said, he asked: “Does that mean griffons will be joining the Order, Sir?”
“How come?” Tucker asked when Sir Lightbringer nodded. “Also, will any of them be chicks?”
“Political reasons aside, the Light loves all of us equally,” the head paladin replied to his first question. Clearly ignoring the second, he added: “If they come to us to learn Its ways, I will teach them regardless of their race, and I expect all of you to do the same.”
“Of course, Sir,” Storm quickly replied, and the others nodded. “We’re all just… surprised. I mean, aren’t we serving the Princesses? How would it work, to have people from another kingdom in the Order?”
“We serve the Light, first and foremost,” Sir Lightbringer said. “But you are right, it is true we all swore fealty to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Which is why in the future we will have to divide the oath we take when we join the Order into separate oaths of loyalty to the Order and their respective rulers. Alternatively, the Princesses and King Robert could work on improving the alliance between Equestria and Griffonia,” he added with shrug, “but that part shouldn’t worry you.”
Storm nodded, a bit hesitantly, as he thought over what Sir Lightbringer had said. It seemed like a reasonable solution… and besides, it’s not like those two nations were even unfriendly towards one another. If anything, with members from both Equestria and Griffonia serving in the same paladin order could bring the two kingdoms together.
He did feel some discomfort at that prospect, though. Being the only pegasus paladin, Storm suspected he’d be responsible for overseeing their combat training.
“Guess I better get some more practice in aerial combat,” he thought, slightly moodily; despite being a pegasus, he had always preferred fighting close to the ground.
“I think I speak for everypony when I say that we will be honored to help griffons discover the Holy Light, as you had for all of us, Sir,” Serenity spoke up.
“The things I would help those chicks discover…” Tucker muttered, more to himself, then - as if sensing the annoyed glares he received from everypony - he added: “What Serenity said, Sir.”
Storm and Guard also nodded in agreement. “I am proud to hear you say that,” Sir Lightbringer said, smiling. “The initiates from Griffonia will arrive on the same day all the others will. According to the letter the Princesses received from King Robert, there should be ten of them. However, two days before that we will be receiving other guests from them.”
The Grand Master sighed, sounding very tired, as Storm and the others listened intently, confused; what other guests could they have?
“The King of Griffonia had also requested that I take his youngest son and another noble cub as my wards and make them squires in the Order.”
“Oh,” Storm thought, stunned. “That answers that question I guess.”
“Furthermore, they will be accompanied by a member of the Griffonia’s Kingsguard, whose duty will be to make sure Prince John stays safe,” Sir Lightbringer continued; it was clear from his tone of voice that he wasn’t entirely pleased with that request. “From what I understand, though, with the Prince being my ward, the Kingsguard will have to obey my orders, unless she decides they put his life in danger. Which is good, as the last thing I need is some griffon doing what she pleases and causing a diplomatic incident.”
“Wait, you said ‘she’, right?” Tucker cut in, looking at Sir Lightbringer hopefully. He then frowned and added: “And what’s this ‘Kingsguard’, anyway?”
“It’s an order of knights whose purpose is to protect and serve Griffonia’s royal family,” Serenity replied for the Grand Master.
“Oh, I think she will find some other things to do when she gets here,” Tucker said, smirking. “Or rather, a pony to do. Bow-chicka-bow-wow!”
Ignoring the unicorn along with everypony else, Serenity continued: “Usually at least one accompanies the cubs of the king when they are sent away as wards… although it is rather unusual for a prince to be sent away to Equestria. At least, it was back in my time,” she added sheepishly.
“From what Princess Celestia had told me, it’s still unusual,” Sir Lightbringer quickly assured her. “I can only assume King Robert hopes for his son to become one of the first griffon paladins… or spy on us. In any case,” he continued casually, ignoring the worried stares everypony game him, “I will be taking Prince John as my own squire.”
Having expected what came next since Sir Lightbringer mentioned squires, Storm was only barely able to stop himself from rolling his eyes as he turned to him.
“Storm, you are the second highest ranking paladin in the Order, and like Lord Francis, you can fly. It would seem like the best choice to assign him to be your squire.”
“It would certainly seem so,” Storm agreed, despite his own uncertainty whether he should accept this charge. “What exactly would be required of me? I mean, what will be the squires’ duties, Sir?”
“They will have to attend one of the praying sessions together with initiates and have an hour of combat training everyday after school,” Sir Lightbringer replied. “I’ve already talked with Cheerilee about the griffons joining her school when I told her about Liturgy,” he added, glancing at Serenity. “She of course agreed, although I think she’s understandably nervous about the prospect of teaching a prince.”
“Oh,” Serenity exclaimed, interrupting him. “That explains why she seemed a little… odd when I went to thank her for agreeing for Liturgy to join her school so abruptly.”
“She’s going to have a prince of a foreign kingdom in her school, being ‘odd’ is actually rather calm reaction,” Storm thought, himself being nervous about taking just a squire, let alone a griffon noble.
Pushing his worries aside for now, he focused on listening to Sir Lightbringer as he continued: “Aside from that, I’d like the squires to have an hour or two of individual training from their mentors. You can use that time to teach them whatever you feel like would be of use to them, or give them assignments like doing some chores at the Abbey.”
“That… shouldn’t be too hard, then,” Storm replied diplomatically; he wasn’t sure if what he said was true. His concern wasn’t caused by having other duties on top of helping to train the initiates, he was more worried about not being able to properly teach the young griffon. “What do you intend to teach Prince John, Sir? If I may ask, of course,” he added hastily.
“Various things,” he replied, shrugging. “As I’ve said, those cubs will be arriving before the initiates, so we can begin teaching them together, but we’ll discuss this at a later date. For now, I would like us to focus on the reason why we are having this briefing,” the Grand Master of the Order said, leaning closer to them against his desk.
Storm felt the others brace themselves for what they were about to hear. Pushing the thoughts about squires and griffons away, he likewise tried to prepare himself.
“I’m sure you’re anxious to know where are we heading and why,” Sir Lightbringer continued. “We’ll be leaving Ponyville by train, of course, and travel to Baltimare. There, we will board the transport ship Lady Gale as it sets sails, and after thirty-six hours of sea voyage we will reach the Dread Isle on the morning and make landfall.”
Storm’s eyes went wide and his jaw dropped. Shivers went down his spine as in his mind the name of that place echoed.
“Dread Isle?” he heard Serenity ask. Storm glanced at her; unlike him and Guard, who was as disturbed by their destination as he, Serenity was merely confused. “Why are we going there, Sir?”
“Why, what is it?” Tucker, sounding even more confused, asked her.
“Oh, of course; Tucker has no memories of anything that had happened prior to being released from that amber, and Serenity had been gone for a thousand years,” Storm realized. “There’s no way they could have just read about something like this.”
“Why don’t you answer Tucker’s question, Serenity?” Sir Lightbringer asked her, leaning back against his chair.
Serenity frowned, surprised, before she turned back to Tucker. “It’s an island between Equestria and Griffonia. During the war, the griffons used it as a naval base for transporting supplies to their forward outpost in today’s Manehatten and then their fortress when Equestria began their counter-offensive. It’s a site of the biggest battle that ever took place in history. However, there’s nothing there now, except some ruins and a memorial at the peak of the island’s mountain. At least,” she added, hesitating, “that’s how it was a thousand years ago. Did, um, something change since then?”
“You could say that,” Guard said, grimacing.
Sir Lightbringer nodded in agreement. “I’m sure you had heard, Serenity, about the Dance of the Feathers, the Griffonian civil war with a ridiculous name,” he said, rolling his eyes. Turning to Tucker, who became even more confused, he added: “It was more of a series of separate wars that lasted throughout three hundred years, starting eleven hundred years ago with a succession dispute between two brothers and ending eight hundred years ago with the death of the last Bloodfeather Pretender.”
“Okay, let’s say I got all that,” Tucker said, rolling his eyes. “What does it have to do with this Dread Isle and why are we going there?”
Undeterred, Sir Lightbringer continued, “That last pretender to Griffonia’s throne was a hippogriff known now as Bane. Like all hippogriffs, he was able to use magic like unicorns do. For some time he even attended Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, although he was eventually expelled. He continued to learn magic by himself, though, intending to one day use his powers to help him win the throne of Griffonia. However, by then no griffon would support any Bloodfeather Pretender, having enough of those civil wars, and that’s besides him being only half a griffon. In any case-”
“Here it comes,” Storm thought, curious how Serenity and Tucker would react to this bit of history that was only briefly mentioned in schools.
“- Bane had decided that if he couldn’t recruit an army or hire an army, he would just create himself an army to help him.” Once again, Sir Lightbringer leaned against his desk, propping his elbows on it and joining his forehooves before his chin. “Serenity, as you’ve said, the battle on Dread Isle was the biggest battle ever thought on the world of Equestria. The amount of ponies and griffons that died… so many people dying, all in such a brief period of time, caused the walls between the mortal plane and the Spirit World to grow weaker on the Dread Isle. Bane had hoped to use this. He traveled there and began to perform a necromantic ritual that would summon the spirits of all that were slain on that island and bind him to his will, creating a phantom army that would do his bidding.”
As both Serenity and Tucker stared at Sir Lightbringer with wide eyes, Storm couldn’t help but be amazed by his knowledge regarding those matters. In schools ponies only learned that Bane had planned to use an evil spell to summon ghosts, and even during the royal guard training it was only mentioned that it was the forbidden necromantic magic he was going to use and that he would enslave all those spirits. He hadn’t know all about those walls between planes and what not.
“Fortunately, Princess Celestia had been alerted about Bane’s plans - possibly Her Highness had him under surveillance due to the reasons why he was expelled, but I hadn’t asked Her - and travelled to Dread Isle to stop him. After trying to talk him into backing down, the two began to fight, with Princess Celestia being victorious. The memorial you’ve mentioned no longer exist,” Sir Lightbringer told Serenity. “It was destroyed during their battle, along with most of that mountain. However, that wasn’t the only aftereffect of their fight. The magical energies released by both the Princess and Bane as they fought resonated with the half-finished ritual, creating an unpleasant phenomenon.”
“Sure, that’s one way to describe it,” Storm thought.
Sir Lightbringer frowned as he began to explain it: “Ever since then, the Dread Isle had been bursting with echoes, recreating the battle in which they had fought, the biggest battle in Equestria’s history.”
Serenity’s jaw dropped as she stared at him in horror. Tucker, shocked and somewhat scared as well, asked: “You mean, like, ghosts?”
“No, fortunately,” Sir Lightbringer replied. “Ghosts are what we call the souls of actual living beings, who, for various reasons, have been brought to the mortal plane. The agony of their undeath state is torturous and maddening, and even though they might not necessarily be evil, they can cause a lot of harm to the living eventually. It is what Bane had intended to do to those that had died on that island. The echoes, however, are more of a… reflection. A literal ‘echo’, they’re not actually the ponies and griffons they look like. Princess Celestia, upon finding it impossible to dispel the magic that gave rise to them, had made sure of that. She had even asked the zebra of the Dowunai Tribe to send some of their shamans to be absolutely certain that those weren’t cursed souls. So no,” he finished, turning again to Tucker, “they are not ghost, although there are little ‘practical’ differences between them. Like I said, those echoes are locked in eternal combat with each other, and are unable to realize that the battle had been long since over and they’re all dead. In the past, the Royal Guard had been deployed several time to the island, mostly within those few first years after Bane was defeated,” Sir Lightbringer said, glancing at Storm and Guard. “Princess Celestia had sent them there to observe the echoes, and she herself led most of those expeditions. Most of what is known about Dread Isle comes from those times. Some echoes perceive the living as allies, while others see them as enemies. It is true for both sides of that phantom conflict, the echoes of ponies and of griffons. Which means that our expedition there will be the perfect opportunity for you to display your abilities to the fullest.”
“Sir,” Storm gathered his courage to ask the question that had been bothering him, “why exactly are we going there?”
Sir Lightbringer looked him in the eyes for a few heartbeats before he replied. “Paladins are warriors of the Light. We serve and protect the weak from harm and vanquish evil. Some of you had already proven to be capable of just that,” he added, looking at both Storm and Serenity, “But you need to be ready to serve in that capacity even in the darkest of times. The Order of the Silver Hand that I had been a part of had been born in the times of war,” he said; his eyes momentarily gleamed with nostalgia before he continued. “They had led the charge during the greatest conflict we had known. I want to be sure, and want you to be sure, that you’d be capable of doing the same. Which is why I had asked the Princess for permission to use the Dread Isle as… training grounds, of sorts. Starting with you four, I’d like to send groups of paladins in the future in order for them to be promoted. We can’t expect every knight to run into hate-feeding spirits of cold or power-hungry evil villains,” he added humorously, looking at Storm.
“Yeah, I think I’d rather take on Tirek again,” Storm remarked, smiling nervously.
“So, we go there and the three of us get promoted to knight-lieutenants?” Tucker asked, pointing at himself, Guard and Serenity. When Sir Lightbringer nodded, he glanced at Storm. “Sweet! Okay, I’m game. And what about Storm?”
“He’ll get promoted to knight-captain,” Sir Lightbringer replied. Storm frowned, thinking that it was a little unfair to others, but as he opened his mouth to protest the Grand Master added: “In all honesty, you should have been promoted to a higher rank than knight-lieutenant for stopping what could have become a serious threat to all of Equestria.”
Although he wasn’t entirely convinced that it was true, Storm was forced to nod reluctantly. Tirek could have become a threat to Equestria, one that possibly could have only be stopped by the Elements of Harmony. And although Storm had no doubt that Rarity and the rest of her friends would step up to save Equestria again, he was glad he had spared them from having to do so at least once.
As he mused over that, Tucker also seemed to think over something. “So, we have initiates and squires,” he began to count, “then knights, then knight-lieutenants, knight-captains… what are the next ranks in the Order, Sir?”
“The rank above knight-captain is templar, and above that is master, which is just below myself as the Grand Master. I also thought about adding the rank ‘crusader’, but…” Sir Lightbringer trailed off and rolled his eyes. “Let’s just say for several reasons, one of which was that I think it’s enough seven ranks is enough, I decided not to add that one.”
Storm and the other three paladins exchanged glances. He was certain each one of them was thinking the same thing:
“He didn’t want paladins to be confused with the Cutie Mark Crusaders.”
Deciding it was probably better to not ask more questions on that subject, Storm cleared his throat and asked instead: “What exactly are we supposed to do on the Dread Isle to gain promotion, Sir?”
“I’m glad you asked, Storm,” Sir Lightbringer replied, opening a drawer from his desk and pulling out a scroll. He unrolled it at his desk and motioned for the paladins to lean closer. When they did, Storm realized that the scroll was a map of Dread Isle. “We will make our landfall here, at the remains of the port,” Sir Lightbringer began, pointing at the said port. “From what I’ve read, it’s being maintained by the Royal Guard.”
“That’s right, Sir,” Guard spoke up, nodding. “I’ve been among the assigned royal guards during the last repairs eight years ago. We made sure any echoes didn’t interrupt the engineers and masons during repairs. The echoes in that area, however, are usually ‘friendly’.”
“‘Friendly’?” Serenity, noticing the strange tone with which he had said that word, asked.
“They’d keep asking us to go and join the squads defending the fortifications of the port from griffons’ counter-attack,” Guard replied. Rolling his eyes, he added: “About every ten minutes. Sometimes there would come some sergeant outright yelling at us, too. From what I heard, though, there were some times when they’d attack.”
“Well, if this time they’ll ask for help, too, then they will receive it,” Sir Lightbringer interjected. “If we come upon echoes that would see us as allies, we will aid them. Whether it would be by fighting their enemy-”
“Sir,” Tucker interrupted him, “about that; how exactly do we fight echoes?”
“Same as with windigoes, Tucker. Though those aren’t ghost, they’ve still been created in large part due to the necromantic ritual Bane had tried to perform. As such, the Light is very deadly to them. With the Light empowering your strikes, your weapons would affect them as if they were flesh and blood. You would also be able to heal them,” he added. “However, although the Light would heal their injuries, it would be extremely painful to them. You will have to judge for yourself if it’s the right thing to do.”
“Judge for ourselves, Sir?” Serenity asked, confused.
“I will be with you, but only to help you fight and advise you. I will not be leading this party.” Storm stared at him, speechless, knowing what this probably meant. “Since Storm Clash is the highest ranking paladin, it would be logical for him to lead then, but you can discuss this amongst yourselves.”
“Yeah, I knew it,” Storm thought, mentally sighing. He opened his mouth, wanting to ask Sir Lightbringer why he didn’t want to lead himself, but he was cut off.
“There’s no need to discuss this, Sir.” Storm blinked in surprise and turned to look at Guard. The older paladin continued to speak: “I have faith the Knight-Lieutenant can lead us.”
Although Storm felt touched hearing him say so, as well as seeing both Tucker and Serenity immediately nodding, he still frowned and whispered: “You guys mind consulting me next time?”
“Step up to the rank, sir,” Guard replied in the same tone.
Storm could swear he could detect amusement in the older stallion’s voice.
Sighing, Storm shook his head and turned back to Sir Lightbringer. “Why aren’t you going to lead, Sir?” he asked, doing his best to ignore the amusement on the Grand Master’s face.
“It’s supposed to be a test of your abilities,” Sir Lightbringer replied, addressing all four of them. “All of your abilities, including the ability to lead.”
“Light damn it, that makes sense,” Storm thought, resigned. Almost immediately, though, he frowned as another thought occurred to him. “No, wait.”
“Shouldn’t we then, I don’t know, take turns leading or something?”
Sir Lightbringer shook his head. “Something like that would only cause unnecessary chaos during our expedition. However, according to some older reports on the echoes on Dread Isle, sometimes they see the living not only as allies, but leaders as well.”
“So we’ll get to lead a squad of ghost-like things?” Tucker asked. “Awesome. Guess you can’t weasel your way out of this then,” he added, smirking at Storm. As he deadpanned at him in annoyance, the unicorn paladin blinked and then turned back to Sir Lightbringer. “Hey Sir, there were mares and griffon, um, girls, in those armies right? What do you call griffon females anyway?” Tucker added, turning to Serenity, who groaned and facehoofed. “Griffoness?” he looked around at everypony, waiting for anypony to reply. When nopony did, Tucker shrugged and said: “I’m just gonna call them chicks then.”
“... As I was saying,” Sir Lightbringer finally began again, having been deadpanning at Tucker, “some of the echoes will look to you for leadership. It could be that we will have to make our way across a battlefield, in which case we would have to fight our way through it. Leading some of the echoes would be the easiest way to do it.”
“So we might have to lead armies of echoes into battle?” Storm asked.
When Sir Lightbringer nodded, he couldn’t help but think: “Great.”
He did his best to push his anxiety away as the Grand Master resumed telling them about the expedition’s plan. “After making landfall, we will be heading along this road,” Sir Lightbringer said, his hoof following a trail on the map. “Our objective is the new monument, placed by Princess Celestia at the new location after her fight with Bane, before the echoes began to manifest in such great numbers. According to this map and accounting for battles with echoes, we should reach it within a day and a half. We will pay our respects to the fallen, then we will head back. The ship will be waiting for us, and we will begin journey home. Any questions?”
“Will I also have to pick a place to make camp?” Storm asked in resigned voice, looking at the map.
“Actually, I already picked a good spot to make camp,” Sir Lightbringer said, dispelling his worries. “It’s within the ruins of a tower, should be about a day away from the port.”
Taking a look at the spot Sir Lightbringer was showing on the map, Storm had to agree that it did seem like a good location for a camp. Based on the short description, it should be easily defendable, but even more importantly, thanks to its placement they would be able to use it twice, first after arriving and then after reaching the monument.
“Oh, right, there is one more matter,” Sir Lightbringer unexpectedly added, stopping his musing. He picked an open letter from his desk and glanced at it. “On the day we will return to the Abbey, we will be joined by Metal Wrangler, our Order’s new blacksmith. He had sent me this letter informing of his request regarding our expedition to Dread Isle. Apparently, some of the echoes manifest themselves around shards of steel, remains of the weapons carried and armors worn by those who had fought on that island. The ritual caused them to be drawn to them. Those ‘Ancient Steel Shards’, as they are called, will drop from the echoes after dispatching them, and you’d be able to pick them up. Metal Wrangler had requested that you bring him several of them, so that he could, and I quote,” he added, looking at the letter as he read: “‘make you something nice’.”
“So we’re also doing some fetch-gathering quest while we’re there?” Tucker asked, raising an eyebrow. “Meh, sounds boring, but okay.”
Sir Lightbringer spared a moment to glance at Tucker with mild annoyance before resuming: “I would like you all to keep in mind what I said and be on the lookout for any of those Ancient Steel Shards after we finish fighting. That’s all I have to say regarding our briefing,” he added, putting the letter away. “Finish your last preparations and have a good rest. Dismissed.”
“Yes, Sir,” Storm and the other three paladins replied, saluting, then proceeded to leave his office.
Serenity was first to speak. “So,” she began, several moments after they closed the door behind them and started to trot away, “this… this is going to be hard, right?”
“That’s not the only thing-” Tucker began, only to be silenced by Guard hitting him. “Ough, the back of my head!”
“Yes,” the older pony replied, frowning. “However, I’m sure that Sir Lightbringer wouldn’t want us to go there if he wasn’t sure we’d be able to do this.”
Storm had to agree with Guard on that, and, as he thought about it, he realized he, too, was sure they’d be able to handle going through the Dread Isle. Whether they could do it with him leading was another matter, but he tried to not focus on that.
Still, it didn’t in the slightest mean that this wouldn’t be hard. They would be trotting almost literally through war. Serenity had the right to be nervous, maybe even scared.
There was only one thing that came to Storm’s mind to say that could help to quell her anxiety.
“Have faith in the Light to see us through this, Serenity,” he told her, smiling.
Serenity blinked, then smiled back, quickly followed suit by Guard and Tucker.
Bernhard Heatherbreeze, the Royal Treasurer of Griffonia, was not happy.
One would think that, given his highly coveted position, that wasn't something unusual to him. Sure, such an important job could be stressful at times; needing to keep track of all of the crown’s finances, advising the King where the gold should go for the betterment of the kingdom and making sure it would. However, it was a job that Bernhard both excelled at and enjoyed doing it.
The problem was, however, that his advices as of late had been falling on deaf earholes.
He tapped the edge of the table with his talons impatiently as Bran Nightcloud, the Master of Crows, finished reading out loud for everygriffon in the Council Chamber the letter from Princess Celestia. Much to his annoyance, the pony princess wrote that the ponies would be more than happy with their conditions and will happily accept griffons into their order and teach them the ways of this ‘Light’. The whole idea of agreeing to send griffons to join this order was something he had strongly opposed, as well as earlier asking for zebras and minotaurs to teach them their shamanistic tricks.
“A griffon asking other races if they could learn from them,” Bernhard thought, growling inwardly. “Just the idea is an offense.”
Not that he didn’t consider ponies or any other races lesser - well, not by much anyway - or their magics to not be useful, but their ways weren’t the griffons’ way. The griffons didn’t need magic to stand proud for thousands of years. Throughout their history, they’ve needed nothing but their nature-given strength and wits. When the war with ponies had erupted, they had proven to be a match for them, despite all their magic. They could easily compete with Equestria by advancing their technological level further instead of wasting resources on attempts to learn magic, as he had tried to convince the King and the rest of the Council. They didn’t need the other races.
But even more importantly, the thought of them teaching their ways was just demeaning.
“I knew Princess Celestia would agree to those demands,” a melodic voice sounded in the chamber as Bran had finished, pulling Bernhard out of his musing. “The Grand Master of the Order of the Celestial Light’s stand on them was more of a concern.”
Although it took some effort, Bernhard managed to keep his face neutral as he looked at Princess Victoria Snowfeather. The future ruler of Griffonia was justly considered the most attractive griffoness alive, and often it caused other griffons (of both genders no less) to be a little… flustered while looking at her. Which made thinking critically of her opinion - that admittedly didn’t happen too often for Bernhard - annoyingly much harder.
It was, however, Princess Victoria who had pushed for accepting Princess Celestia offer to join the pony order, after she’d agree to a few demands, of course. She was also the one that came up with the earlier idea of attempting to convince the minotaurs and the zebra tribes to teach them shamanism, even though she herself had been sceptical of the results. Bernhard couldn’t help but find Princess Victoria’s eagerness to grow closer to other races alarming.
“Not that I would say it ever out loud,” he mused, glancing briefly at Bran.
The Master of Crows was probably the closest ally of the young Princess from all of the Councilors, discounting maybe only the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard. Why that was wasn’t known to him, but the fact that they’d often agree with each other and that Bran had took on that homeless orphan as a ward per the Princess’ request seemed to point out that there was friendship between them. Meaning that if the head of Griffonia’s spies would have learned of anygriffon slandering Princess Victoria, even mildly, it could spell trouble for that griffon, especially if they were of such standing as Royal Treasurer.
“No sense risking to lose all of that just to mutter some annoyed remarks,” Bernhard concluded. Glancing at King Robert, he added: “Hopefully, what I have to present to the King and the Council now would be enough to sway even Victoria Blizzardborn.”
King Robert Snowfeather, the powerfully built griffon, had nodded at his daughter’s comment and turned back to the Master of Crows. “Read his letter as well, Bran,” he commanded, leaning back in his chair.
As the Nightcloud griffon nodded and reached for the second letter, Bernhard looked at the other members of the Council. Lord Commander Gerard Snowfeather was as impassive as ever, Grand Admiral Horatio Shellheart was as bored as ever. The Court Conjurer, Erwan, who had been probably most fascinated with this new type of magic ponies had discovered, was listening attentively, the hippogriff’s face betraying great interest and excitement.
“Doubt I can count on either of them to help me convince the King to change his mind,” Bernhard concluded, disappointed, and turned his attention back to Bran as he began to read the letter from this Lightbringer pony.
“‘To King Robert Snowfeather, ruler of Griffonia; it was a great joy to learn that you had accepted my and the Princesses’ invitation for your people to join the Order of the Celestial Light. I have no doubt that the griffons Your Majesty chooses will become fine paladins, and they will soon be spreading the Light’s teachings further among Griffonians, and that this experience will bring ponies and griffons closer.”
“Hopefully not,” Bernhard remarked.
“‘I was surprised to hear about your request for me to take you son, Prince John Sandstorm, and nephew, Lord Francis Snowpelt, as wards, but at the same time I was deeply honored,’” Bran continued. “‘I humbly accept this request, and I swear by the Light that they will both be well cared for. I assure you, they will have the proper education during their stay in Ponyville, and I myself will do my best to raise them into the Light’s holy warriors. As per your request, I will make Prince John my squire, and Lord Francis will become a squire to one of the paladins already trained by me. Both of them as well as the Kingsguard accompanying them will be properly accommodated, of course. I look forward to meeting them, as well as the ten griffon initiates when they arrive. May the Light guide you’, signed ‘Sir Lightbringer’,” Bran finished, putting the letter back on the table. “There are also two seals underneath the signature, one being the symbol of the Order of the Celestial Light, and the other what my informants tell me is Sir Lightbringer’s cutie mark.”
Bernhard didn’t even bother to roll his eyes as Bran mentioned the symbols ponies carried on their flanks, and as Erwan glanced at the seals on the letter curiously.
“A rather unusual cutie mark,” he remarked; when Bernhard looked at him again, he noticed with mild interest that the hippogriff was frowning. “What exactly do we know about this pony?”
Bran spread his forelegs and shrugged. “He first appeared in that small town, Ponyville, about half a year ago, seemingly out of nowhere. From what my crows were able to gather, he seemed to claim to come from some distant land, but if he did go into more details, he must have shared them only with the Princesses and their close circles. At first he had been known by the name Matthias Lehner. He had chased out of the town three teenage dragons soon after coming to Ponyville, using his bare hoofs and a kitchen knife, and later began using this magic, this ‘Light’, to heal ponies. Two months later he was present at Canterlot during the changeling invasion, and supposedly fought off the Changeling Queen long enough for Princess Cadance and her soon-to-be husband to blast them all off with their combined magic. Some months later, a strange creature named ‘Brann’, belonging to a race called ‘dwarf’, appeared in Ponyville, and him and Lightbringer seemed to know each other. The next day the Princesses officially asked him to teach other ponies how to wield this Light, and began creating the Order of the Celestial Light, first by knighting him. Several days later, when the Crystal Empire had reappeared, he had fought with King Sombra long enough for Princess Celestia’s student find the artifact called the Crystal Heart and her pet baby dragon bring it to Princess Cadance, after which the blast weakened Sombra enough for Lightbringer to kill him.”
“I thought it is considered a high offense in Equestria to take the life of another,” the Grand Admiral interrupted him, speaking up for the first time since the meeting had started.
“Yes, Horatio, except that their law allows it in some specific conditions. In this case,” Bran paused to pick up some of his notes, “the pony known as King Sombra was actually possessed by some evil entity; dealing a mortal blow to its vessel caused the entity to escape in the shape of dark fog, that was then vanquished by Sir Lightbringer with a blast of the Light. That’s how he had gotten his name, apparently; the crystal ponies began calling him that after his battle with this evil, and he had eventually began using it as his name. He would then oversee the construction of Everfree Abbey, located on the border of Ponyville,” the Master of Crows continued, “which were ready after a month, and began training of four ponies as the first paladins. The last notable things regarding Sir Lightbringer worth mentioning are that it was apparently thanks to his efforts that ponies and changelings were able to make peace and form an alliance.”
“What about that windigo that appeared in north Equestria?” Erwan asked. His small antlers began to glow as he picked up some letter with his magic. “Didn’t Sir Lightbringer lead his paladins to deal with that?” he asked, looking up from his notes.
“He did lead them,” Bran agreed, “but it was one of the paladins he had trained than defeated the windigo, so I didn’t think it was worth mentioning.”
“Regardless,” Princess Victoria spoke up, causing everygriffon’s attention to turn to her, “I think it is pretty clear that this Sir Lightbringer is an unusual individual. He came out of nowhere, nobody seems to know where his homeland is, within just a few months he seemingly gained the equestrian Princesses’ confidence and trust, and has proven to be both a powerful fighter and a skilled diplomat, apparently. It was a good idea to send John and Francis to him as his wards, Father,” she said, turning to King Robert. “Griffons learning this new magic aside, we stand to learn much about this mysterious pony. Also, I think both of those cubs could learn much from Sir Lightbringer,” she added, smiling.
As King Robert frowned - confirming for Bernhard his guess that this ‘good idea’ came from Princess Victoria rather than from His Majesty - the Royal Treasurer decided to use this opportunity to try and avert this whole mess before it would be too late.
“Your Majesty, Your Highness,” he began, interjected as he addressed both the King and his daughter, “I feel obliged to try and convince you to rethink this course of action.”
“Royal Treasurer,” Princess Victoria said, smiling at him friendlily, “I believe we had this discussion during the previous meeting. With the Equestria’s increase of military potential, Griffonia must also grow if we are to preserve the balance of power in our world. What better way there is than to for griffons to finally learn magic?”
“I do agree with your statement, Your Highness,” Bernhard nodded subserviently. “Even if we aren’t in conflict with any other kingdom, besides maybe the skirmishes with Aaztai and Sovati zebras, it wouldn’t be good if we were appear to look weak in the international arena. For all we know, it would be like inviting the powerful entities that seemingly all set their eyes on ponies to try raise to power here,” he pointed out. “But I wouldn’t say that putting our trust in others to teach us their magic is a correct way to go. Rather, I would suggest to continue funding our archaeological organization, Artifact Hunters, in search for magical artifacts-”
It was his less preferable option, as it would still result in griffons using magic. However, if they’d indeed need to start using magic, Bernhard would prefer it to come on their terms, not ponies or whoever else. “After all,” he would rationalise to himself, “during the Equestrian-Griffonian War, King Friedrich must have used some artifact to enslave the earth elementals.”
He was about to move to his second, more preferable option, but Princess Victoria interrupted him. “The same Artifact Hunters that are being led by a pony?” she asked, the corner of her beautiful beak curving up into a smirk.
“Doctor Caballeron is doing a great job,” Erwan quickly defended the archaeologist before Bernhard could reply the Princess. “The artifacts he had recovered allowed me to craft the communication orbs that you had requested, Princess, and I can’t begin to imagine what more could come from him and Artifact Hunters’ work.”
Nodding with gratitude at the hippogriff for his support, Bernhard resumed: “- and our technological development.”
“I believe we had been over this, Royal Treasurer,” Princess Victoria immediately said, sighing. “Our technology requires oil to work. Advancing it further would cause Griffonia to become dependant on Saddle Arabia.”
Bernard smirked. “Not necessarily, Your Highness,” he said, causing her to look at him with interest. “I received today a letter from an inventor named Anthony Flamecloud in which he writes that he had discovered an alternate type of fuel. One which we wouldn’t need Saddle Arabia to sell us. The whale oil.”
“‘Whale oil’?” Princess Victoria asked, surprised, as everygriffon turned to look at him. However, the next heartbeat the Princess was frowning. “Surely, Royal Treasurer, you jest. Hunting whales has been forbidden for over sixteen hundred years.” The Grand Admiral, who bore the colouring of the tribe that had hunted whales, nodded in agreement. “How did this inventor even come about it?”
Bernhard didn’t like the subtle note of threat he detected in her voice.
“A dead whale washed up on the beaches by the Tallcoast at Refuge Rock, about a month ago, “ he quickly explained. “The inventor had been conducting research on it, and discovered that its oil is three times more efficient as an energy resource than oil. If we would lift the ban on whaling, we would free ourselves from oil dependency, and the gold we were using to buy oil from Saddle Arabia could be used for other expenses, like the technological research,” Bernhard added, his excitement on the thought creeping into his voice. “Anthony Flamecloud had also sent me several drafts of his projects-”
He stopped talking as the King raised his paw, silencing him. “It’s an interesting idea, Bernhard,” he told him; hope swelled in Bernhard’s heart, but then was immediately vanquished: “But not possible. Allowing to hunt whales again would not only put us in conflict with various environmental organisations, but also with the sea ponies of Aquastria. The latter could possibly even lead to a war,” he added, ending the discussion. “However, it is an interesting concept. Commision that inventor into doing more research into this field; if he finds some other, easier to acquire fuel, we will revisit this matter. But for now, we will see how the griffons we choose to join the Order of the Celestial Light take to learning this Light.”
Bernhard sighed in defeat. “As you wish, sire,” he said, bowing his head.
As the conversation moved to the list of candidates they would send and what criteria apparently made for a good paladin (known to the Council thanks to Princess Celestia’s earlier letter and Bran’s investigation), and then further to the rumors of a band of thieves at southern Icecliff, Bernhard was capable of thinking only one thing:
“I don’t like where the future leads.”
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I sense the Treasurer to be a trouble later on...
8206413 While I agree, don't forget that he simply wants what's best for his people. It's not out of maliciousness that he is doing what he is but fear of what the other nations might do and how they see Griffonia.
Wouldn't be surprised if Bane's echo somehow ends up being a sort of "Boss" that Storm and the others will have to fight when they get to the Dread Isle's shrine.
8206501 the road to hell is paved with good intentions, is it not?
Those who fall to that road are dangerous in a class of their own
And so the Game of Thrones begins...
8206593 Keep that shenanigan outta of here!
I'll grab a phone...just in case.
8206503
8206565 Aye for they will do everything in their power to stop whatever they believe is wrong.
8206413 I think he is IN more trouble than being trouble. Victoria seems to be far the worse within the court. She is the true danger I think.
Hmm, so the Treasurer condones mugging, extortion, and other such the needs of his family at the expense of others that means he doesnt need to ask for helpbut only for him is a valid method?
This is the sort of guy that needs demonstrating that a unicorn charged magical gem, due to its usage of energies vastly beyond oil, can bankrupt anything he wants to go his way.
Theres an awful lot of buggy whip manufactuers out there very unhappy.
As long as things don't turn into a Bloodtotem/Feltotem (betraying their long-time allies for the promise of power) situation, I highly doubt the treasurer will be more than a minor nuisance.
A sudden thought during this chapter; Why am I getting so many pre-Lich King Arthas vibes from this griffion prince? Love interest that isn't meant to be, but both feel the same, he is being sent to become a paladin, he only want's whats best for his people, he seems fairly driven to his goals, whatever those goals are... Will we see Arthas recognizing this and explaining how bad that could go to the little prince al la 'Story of the Lich King' sepal? Or will the Prince become the griffon version of the Lich King somehow? Will we see an Undead from Azeroth at some point, and will it be Invincible, Arthas's old horse? So many questions...
8206652 Sorry, but it's true. When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground.
8207556
That could likely be intentional, and I certainly hope it is. I don't really think the griffon prince will become the new Lich King or anything, since that's still reserved for Arthas if he screws up, but having to deal with his past and help someone else avoid the mistakes that he made might be one of the things he has to do for Medivh's prophecy.
8206501 Don't forget, we apparently have the reborn Onyxia living there as well. Put those two together and you have the recipe for trouble.
So Victoria is by far the most dangerous member of the court, and I feel the admiral is going to decide to look into the "washed up" whale and see if it was real, and if not the treasurer's friend is going to be keelhauled.
8207856 Maybe the Prince becoming the new Lich King is the consequence of Arthas messing up, as I'm fairly sure that he wouldn't just give his soul to a rune blade again, even if Twilight was in trouble, as he would know the consequences.
8208056
I thought Medivh's prophecy was specifically that Arthas himself would fall to darkness again if he didn't complete all the steps necessary? But I could be misremembering it. It's been a while since I went back and reread the story.
Not to say that he couldn't drag others down with him, or that preventing someone else's fall could mean he fails one of the steps, or even that someone else's fall wouldn't be what prompts his own, but I think the ultimate bad end is Arthas himself turning back to the Lick King in Equestria.
8206712 She seems to be helping the Gryphons. The treasurer, however, I have to disagree with 8206501 . If he wanted the best for his people, he wouldn't care where or how they got more power, only that they got it.
From the sounds of it, he only cares about being 'Pure' not better. That he would hate any hippogriff, and any griffons that are friends with other races, and sounds very racist in general. He does NOT have his people's best interest in heart, only his deluded ideas.
8208089 All Medivh said was that if he failed any of his steps, that 'His worst nightmare would repeat'. At the time we all assumed that meant that Arthas would become the Lich King again, but what if it doesn't play out like that? Being unable to prevent someone else from walking the same path that he walked, and unleashing a horror like the Lich King (n any version) on Equestria would probably be enough to destroy Arthas... Plus with all the Uther the Lightbringer references, it wouldn't surprise me if history were to repeat it'self with some slight deviation due to Arthas's experience.
Whale oil as alternative fuel source... It reminds me Dishonored. Thinghs looks interesting for Griffons.
8208136 Carful politics are a dangerous game, Treasurer is least dangerous due to his intent and options being more obvious. The Princess there, is more a wild card, she could be well intentioned, but the may just as easily be devious in action. Either way all we can do is keep an eye on them.
8206501 True, but isn't that what Arthas originally wanted for his people, before he walked the path of the damned?
Welcome to Warcraft. Where you regularly stop in the middle of a mad dash to save a town that is being invaded to find an villager lost wallet.
8208136 He works not for the griffons but for the 'purity' of their species, a pretty big difference there frankly.
8209398 Never said he won’t become the bad guy.
8207901 ...Maybe, though they’ll probably try to kill each other.
8207845 Keep your thoughts out of this!
8207486
I doubt that we would be seeing focus put on his perspective were it not potentially going down such a path.
nice in sight on the griffon nation an i can’t wait until somthing ells happens
This is the first chapter I've read where I found out the 'read' function. For those who don't know, tap a paragraph, and select 'read'. It also makes quoting easier.
8216970
It’s new.
8218006
I 'new' that. *rimshot*
Twilight is not strong enough to deal with Arthus' past. She is just to sheltered to truly understand what the he has done are.
Hmm..wonder if they will start frakking for oil...? Normally that would be bad but Equestria grows gemstones like an addict snorts meth. The gemstones would grow fast enough to literally fill in the empty spaces so no problem really.
They want oil? Try one made from 2 parts remora and 3 parts hammerhead.
thats if the shards actually drop, fetch quests are annoying
Whale oil... Dishonored?