Chapter 9: Flight of Fancy
Flight of Fancy
Twilight was just starting to dry her tears when Spike sauntered down the stairs with a big basket of dirty laundry. “Well, that’s all taken care of,” Spike said, still unhappy about the extra chores. “The bed sheets are changed and I cleaned out the dresser. Now to put these in the wash and…”
He froze halfway down the stairs when he saw Twilight crying. “Twilight?”
“Oh, Spike.” She wiped her face again with a hoof again and sat up, trying not to think about how long she had just sat there when there was important work to do. “It’s nothing. I’m fine.”
Spike had run down the stairs while she was talking, abandoning the laundry basket to a messy pile in the corner. Standing next to her, he put a hand on her shoulder. “Are you alright?”
“Look, I’m fine.” She smiled down at him, and gave him her best reassuring hug. “The girls and I are going to take care of this, just like Nightmare Moon and Discord.”
“I know,” Spike said, hugging her back. “But it’s different this time, isn’t it?”
Twilight gasped, pushing him back to where she could meet his eyes. “What?”
“Well, I remember what happened with Discord, and some of Nightmare Moon. You were scared both of those times, but you didn’t seem to let it bother you so much.” He looked up at her, real concern in his eyes as he fidgeted with his claws. “Something really bad happened in Canterlot.”
She froze. They had known each other all his life, but she had never known Spike to be quite so perceptive. He was growing up, but not nearly enough to handle what was going on. Twilight forced a smile. “Don’t be silly, Spike. I’m just tired from being busy all night. Look, why don’t you get some breakfast going? I’ve got a few things I need to look into before the girls get back.”
“If you say so, Twilight,” he mumbled doubtfully, but headed towards the kitchen anyway. “I’ll make some eggs or something.”
She was able to keep up her smile until Spike left the room, then she hit the books. It wasn’t hard to find things that might help her in the next few months; the problem was there were too many. Most of the library’s world history books had information on the griffin prides, but they were all from pony point of view with nothing specific. Military history was a fairly popular topic in books for stallions, but they were mostly just full of artwork and firsthoof accounts of this battle or that; nothing that really explained why the commanders had made their decisions. She couldn’t even find a good glossary of terms! How was she supposed to have a knowledgeable conversation with military ponies if she still didn’t even understand what they were talking about?
Soon she ran out of space on the center table for everything she had pulled from the shelves. She was deciding whether or not to put away her reading about Troa when there was a knock at the door, followed by a familiar voice.
“Twilight, I’m back!” Rarity had let herself in, and was wearing a scarf, hat, and saddlebags of her own design. The outfit was capped off with her usual confident smile. “Though it pains me dearly, I’ve closed Carousel Boutique and I am ready to—”
She was halfway to where Twilight sat in front of the round table when she stopped suddenly, her eyes wide as she looked at her friend. “Is anything the matter, dear?” Rarity seemed to sense that Twilight was about to give her a litany of all the things happening with the invasion when she narrowed it down a bit. “More than what you’ve already told us, I mean.”
“No, everything’s fine.” Surprised and maybe a little spooked by the question, Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Why would you ask that?”
Rarity gave her a piecing look. She wasn’t buying the innocent act. “You’ve been crying, dear.”
“What? No.” Oh, right. She had been crying. “It’s nothing. I’m fine.”
“Twilight, I can still see the tear tracks.” She trotted over and put a reassuring hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “Darling, you’ve done a marvelous job of keeping up appearances so far, but it’s about time you talk with somepony about what’s really bothering you, and it looks like that pony is me.”
“But I-”
“No buts,” Rarity said with a firm shake of her head. Her mane bounced a little with the motion, as if to further emphasize the point. “Besides, you and the girls have always been there for me when I needed a pony to talk to. If we’re supposed to represent harmony to all Equestria, what kind of a pony would I be to let a friend wallow in...”
Rarity paused to consider something, taking long enough to elicit a raised eyebrow from Twilight. Rarity smiled. “You know, I never did look that up.” She waved a hoof as if to brush the concern away, then sat herself firmly in front of Twilight. “What I’m trying to say is that you need a friend right now, and I’m here.”
Twilight’s eyes grew a bit misty, but this time not from sadness or fear. She nodded with a smile. “If you insist, Rarity.”
“And I do.” Rarity winked. “Come now, out with it.”
It took Twilight a minute to get her thoughts in order, but her friend waited patiently. “What little I know about war I learned from reading history or poetry. We’ve all seen violence before. A few months ago we fought the changelings. Even the day we met we all ended up fighting a manticore, until Fluttershy stepped in. I was scared each time, because I knew if we failed something bad would happen, but I never really thought…”
That wasn’t quite it. She took a breath, thought about it some more, and started over. “What the griffins are doing isn’t haphazard. They started with simultaneous attacks on three Equestrian cities. One them turned out to be a diversion, and it looks like the entire effort might be to cover for a fourth force that’s headed this way.” She rubbed a temple. “This isn’t random violence, or the work of one misguided griffin. There is no way any nation could pull this off without months of planning, with a military infrastructure willing to go along with it. Even if we all got near this Cyrus or whoever, used the elements on him and convinced him why all this is so wrong, we’d have hundreds or even thousands of griffins that would still be out for blood.”
Twilight closed her eyes for a moment just to breathe and think. Yes, seeing Canterlot on fire had hurt her dearly. She knew ponies had already been killed in the hundreds, maybe even thousands. Celestia had been hurt in the fighting; the only silver lining to the whole night had been that the princess looked like she had gotten by with just a few scratches. Now, with time and a little distance between those revelations, Twilight felt a chill as she realized where her deepest fears lied.
“They tried to kill my brother, Rarity.”
Rarity’s eyes widened for a moment, then nodded. “I suppose they would have. He’s a captain of the guard after all. It’s his duty to protect the princesses and the castle.”
“No, Rarity!” Twilight stood in angry huff, her voice rising. “It wasn’t that he was just doing his job! They knew his name, knew about his shield. Princess Celestia had to stop Cyrus from murdering him herself!”
Seeing her friend’s jaw hang loose brought Twilight back down to reality, and she exhaled slowly as she took a seat. “Spike asked me if things were different this time. I didn’t want to think about it, but they are. Discord’s antics or eternal night would have eventually hurt ponies, but they didn’t just…” She blinked a few times to clear her watering eyes. “A lot of ponies have already died, Rarity, and more are being murdered as we speak. I don’t see any way to end this war soon. I don’t even understand it yet.”
Rarity nodded in understanding. “And you think that they might know something about us, too.”
“I’m sure of it. Even if they don’t know our names or have our descriptions, they will have heard of the elements and the ponies that use them. As dangerous as it will be for anypony on the front lines, we’ll practically have targets painted on our flanks!” She looked out the window. “And you know Rainbow.”
Rarity smiled sadly. “She’ll want to fight, and she’ll be positively stubborn about it.”
“I know Discord got to all of us, but you remember how Rainbow got when she thought Cloudsdale was in danger. Now, it really is.” A sudden notion crossed her mind. “I wonder if he knew.”
That was a dark thought. Many of Discord’s schemes and taunts had seemed to have purpose, but as far as Twilight knew they had been short term. If he had even stopped to consider how his words might have impact years in advance, it would make him a far more dangerous enemy than any of them had considered. If he knowingly set Rainbow up to feel more pain in the off chance that Cloudsdale really did suffer an attack…
“That might be,” Rarity said, clearly just as unsettled by a possible Discord connection as Twilight was, “but I can’t see how anything Discord planned would affect what we do now. He’s still a statue in Canterlot, right?”
“I assume so. Nopony mentioned anything about him, and I spoke with both princesses. It would have come up.”
“Then I wouldn’t let that distract you right now. We’ll probably have lots of time to worry about Discord after…” Rarity dismissively waved a hoof in a few circles. “After all of this is settled. Wouldn’t it be best to focus on what we can do right now?”
Twilight nodded. One thing at a time. She took a deep breath, trying to get her thoughts in order. “Alright. I guess that means…Rainbow Dash wants to go to Cloudsdale. I don’t think we can talk her out of it. As much as I don’t like it, having even one of us at Cloudsdale could have an impact on the battle just by showing up. But if there is even a chance we might be targeted like my brother, I don’t think any of us should travel alone.”
Rarity thought about it. “I suppose there is some merit in that. After all, if we’re supposed to be the image of friendship like Celestia wants, it would be hard to explain why we’d let a friend go gallivanting alone into a warzone.”
Twilight blinked. “I meant it’s going to be dangerous. I’d hate to see anypony get hurt without a friend to look out for them.”
“Oh of course.” She innocently batted her eyelashes. “But if Princess Celestia wants us to represent harmony, our image will be immensely important. No sense in getting in harm’s way if we aren’t doing our best to do what the princess wants.”
Twilight was going to protest, but in the process of trying to figure out how she realized Rarity had made a good point. Celestia hadn’t asked them so much to end the war as to represent the elements to the ponies that were fighting. She smiled in spite of herself. Trust Rarity to never miss how something made a pony look, even during wartime. “Alright, so none of us should travel alone, both for safety and image, but that still leaves Rainbow itching to dash off to Cloudsdale. I’d go with Rainbow myself, but the military seems to expect me to be here, helping to organize or…something. I don’t really understand what yet. I’m sure Vedette will help me figure that out.”
Rarity smiled evilly. “Yes, I’m sure he will.”
Twilight gasped. “Rarity, he’s married!”
She laughed playfully, clearly enjoying herself at Twilight’s expense. “Darling please. I could tell, and he clearly sees himself in a paternal role. Besides, he’s much too old for you.”
“Aaanyway.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “It can’t be Fluttershy. Petronel and Black Jack seemed convinced that the fighting there would be,” she took a shaky breath, “brutal. I know she can be strong when somepony needs her, but I don’t know if she could handle it for weeks or months.” She told Rarity the story about Manifold, and how he thought he’d have to make his last stand there before Twilight had shared the cloudwalk spell.
The fashionista shivered. “My, that does sound serious.”
“I know. But if not Fluttershy, then who? The rest of us can’t fly. We’d have to take a balloon or be carried to the city. After my ride on the chariot last night, I don’t think either would be safe.”
Rarity nodded. “And you said you don’t want to give any orders, which I think is very admirable of you and suited to the element of magic, so you need a volunteer.”
“Yes.” Twilight frowned at her friend, slouching under the perceived weight of such a conundrum. “So you see my problem then?”
“I do indeed, Twilight.” Rarity smiled confidently, a slight hint of mischief gleaming in her eye. “But I think I know just the solution to your worries.”
Stupid griffins. Stupid paperwork. Stupid Twilight.
Stupid promise.
When the word got around that Equestria had gone to war, the ponies of Ponyville had filled the town square even with the snow and winter chill. The mayor had given a short speech and answered a few questions, insisting that if we all worked together everything would be alright in the end. Major What’s-His-Face had apparently brought plans to the mayor, and now he was helping her organize the earth ponies and unicorns with whatever they had cooked up in Canterlot to protect the town, or something like that. Ponies from the army were arriving by train and hoof now, and they were helping out too.
As the ranking member of the Weather Patrol, Rainbow Dash had her own responsibilities.
“Next!” Rainbow Dash shouted while tapping her clipboard. The long line of pegasi shifted forward, and Dizzy Twister stepped up to Rainbow’s table. “Name?”
“Um, I’m Dizzy Twister. Don’t you remember?” she asked with a hurt tone.
Rainbow sighed. She had to have been the tenth pony to ask a question like that. “Yes, I remember, I just have to keep this official. There’s even a script I have to follow. Don’t take it personally.”
“Oh.” Dizzy couldn’t seem to decide if she was relieved Rainbow had remembered her or worried that things were scripted, but she nodded in understanding. “Okay.”
“Age?” Rainbow wrote down her answer, and kept asking questions in the order they were printed on the enlistment papers.
She had always hated paperwork, but this was so much worse. After Rainbow had left the library, she gotten her weather patrol gear and reported to the mayor. Not many ponies knew this before the war, but the Weather Patrol was founded with a mandate almost the same as the Coast Guard. In peacetime, the serving pegasi would carry out their duty managing the weather patterns over the entire nation. During wartime, they immediately reverted to the control of the Air Corps to support any war effort.
When she reported to the mayor, Rainbow had been given a letter from her regional headquarters. Most of it was boring official nonsense and stuff Twilight had already said, so she had skimmed ahead to the part about her orders, and followed them.
So there she was, Ponyville’s Weather Patrol officer, dutifully filling out applications for the militia enlistees.
Rainbow sighed as she finished up the last line of Dizzy’s militia application form. “Alright, Dizzy. That’s all here. I’ll be across the bridge later to swear everypony in when I’m done with everypony’s paperwork.” She waved her off to where the other applicants were waiting. “Next!”
Thunderlane stepped forward, but his eyes looked past Rainbow and focused on something behind her. “R-Rarity, what are you doing here?”
Rainbow scrunched her brow angrily. Twilight sent a pony to check up on her, huh? Her already sour mood turned grumpy, and she couldn’t suppress and angry snort. “I’m still here, Rarity. You can go back to Twilight and let her know I haven’t left.”
Rainbow could picture Rarity’s innocent duckface pout even without turning. “Why Rainbow, whatever do you mean?” Agh, she even sounded like she was pouting.
“Look, I get it, okay? After the tricks Discord pulled I ran off and abandoned you guys. I’d be worried about me, too.” She reached down to a box to get another enlistment form, still without turning.
Thunderlane pawed the ground nervously. “Maybe I should come back later.”
“No!” Rainbow demanded, slamming a hoof on her clipboard. She might not get to go to Cloudsdale, but there was no way the pegasi that actually were going would be delayed because of her. “Rarity’s seen what she needs to see. Go back and tell Twilight I’m still here, and let me get back to work.” She stared frustrated daggers at Thunderlane. “Name?”
“Um.” The stallion hesitated. “Don’t you remember-”
“THUNDERLANE.” Rainbow scribbled it down, the pencil violently scrapping against the paper. “Your name is Thunderlane! Age?” He told her, and she scribbled the information down just as hard.
“Rainbow, you seem a little,” Rarity hedged, “tense. Are you certain nothing’s the matter?”
“Of course I’m okay! I mean, take a look.” She waved a hoof to indicate the ponies in the town square, talking loud enough for lots of ponies to hear. “All these ponies are preparing for the fight of their lives. But they won’t be doing it for their own good, no! They’ll be fighting to defend little colts and fillies, their families and friends. Why? Because they’re Equestrians, and proud of it!” A few stallions overheard Rainbow and cheered, further making Rainbow’s point for her.
But it also felt like salt in an open wound. Or her pride. Or…something painful. She slouched. “Cloudsdale needs ponies now more than ever before, and it feels like everypony is racing off to protect it. I’m being left behind because of some stupid promise.”
“But darling, nopony asked you not to go.” Rarity’s voice was surprisingly sympathetic, and Rainbow felt a hoof on her shoulder. “Twilight just wanted to make sure you wouldn’t go unaccompanied. But fret no longer, for that problem has been solved.”
Rainbow rolled her eyes and shook away Rarity’s hoof. “Yeah, right.” She had learned to accept and deal with Fluttershy’s fear over every little thing, but there was no way Twilight had talked her out of the cottage so soon. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”
She felt Rarity withdraw her hoof, and there was a long pause before Rarity “ah-hemed.” A few moments later she did it again, louder than the first.
“Um, Rainbow?” Thunderlane asked cautiously. Rainbow didn’t look up. “I think Rarity wants you to turn around.”
She rolled her eyes. Of course she did. “Fine. What could possibly…”
Rainbow never really came to understand Rarity’s frou-frou fashion sense, but it was pretty clear she had dressed for travel. She wore a funny-looking hat, scarf, and boots for cold weather, as well as a small matching saddlebag. Just as noticeable were the two suitcases that sat next to her.
As Rainbow turned, Rarity pulled back the scarf to show off the real surprise, and Rainbow wasn’t the only one to react. Half the ponies in the town square stopped to gawk as Rarity spread a new pair of gossamer butterfly wings. She must have talked Twilight into casting the wings spell on her again, but that could only mean one thing.
“That’s right, Rainbow. You are going to Cloudsdale with all these wonderful pegasi.” Rarity stepped into one of her fancy poses. Somehow, this time it even came off a little bit awesome. “And I’m coming with you.”
Rainbow was too cool to jump up and hug her friend, and there was no way she shed even one tear, no matter what anypony else might say. But if there were any tears, they would have been happy.
Dash finished her paperwork, swore in the militia, and grabbed a few things from home. Then she, Rarity, and the newly enlisted pegasi of Ponyville took flight and headed for Cloudsdale.
The hat was not funny looking; it was Rarity’s take on a traditional Ushanka, foregoing the traditional fur materials in favor of something synthetic Twilight helped her whip up. After all, what would Fluttershy think if her best friend took to wearing a pelt on her head every time it got cold? It matched the rest or Rarity’s outfit flawlessly, and the wool lining turned out to be perfect for flying in the cold winter chill. Of course Rainbow, for all her other wonderful qualities, couldn’t be expected to understand the finer nuances of fashion, but it had to be said. Now then, where to pick up with Rarity’s story? Oh yes!
Wings.
Rarity had forgotten just how splendid her beautiful butterfly wings could be. Okay, maybe she hadn’t really forgotten. How could a pony forget such colorful splendor, such freedom of taking gracefully to the skies? Still, Twilight had outdone herself this time. As magnificent as the first set had been, the new wings even surpassed that high standard. Words could never do them justice, and it would be a disservice to Twilight’s abilities to attempt to do so. Besides, as wonderful as they were, what was most important is that they allowed Rarity to travel with and comfort her friend in such a trying time.
Unfortunately, the long flight had done nothing to help Rainbow get in touch with her feelings, and even less to help her attitude.
“Are you quite certain you don’t want to talk about it?” Rarity asked, hoping the third time was indeed the charm.
“For the last time, no! I don’t want to talk.” Rainbow shook her head in frustration, and then once again focused on scanning the clouds above. “Look, I know you want to help and all, but we’re all busy here. We’re headed into a warzone, Rarity. These skies might not be safe and every pegasus needs to keep their eyes peeled looking for danger.”
She directed a quick frown at Rarity. “It’s bad enough that you’ve got poor Thunderlane carrying your luggage.”
“Only because he volunteered,” Rarity amended, looking back over her shoulder at the stallion. He was struggling with the bags a little, but his valiant effort was just so adorable. “And besides, he received more compensation than he even dared hope.”
Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “How is a kiss on the cheek compensation?” Rarity was only too happy to explain the nuances of how a lady should interact with and inspire colts not quite old enough to begin a serious courtship, preparing them for whatever mare they eventually find a true interest in, but Rainbow found it necessary to rudely cut her off. “You know what? I don’t need to know. We’re going to move the formation through that hole in the cloudcover. Move back with the other ponies so we can keep a proper lookout.”
“But Rainbow, you still haven’t-”
Rainbow glared daggers at her, which was needlessly provocative. Rarity could take a hint.
“I can take a hint, dear. No need to pull rank on a dear friend.” She flapped her wings a little slower to start to slow. “I’ll just make an effort to be a caring and supportive friend some other time.”
Rainbow muttered something, but Rarity pretended not to hear it. A lady does not acknowledge being called such horrible things.
Falling back into the “main body” of the pegasi formation, Rarity found herself next to Thunderlane who, in spite of his rustic upbringing was proving to be quite the gentlecolt. “I wouldn’t worry about Rainbow too much, Miss Rarity. She takes her work very seriously, and this is about as serious as it gets.” He was quite sharp for a young stallion, though Rarity wasn’t ready to accept the wisdom of his words.
“Perhaps, but sometimes she makes being a good friend so hard. I care about her feelings, and want to help her work through what’s going on as best I can.” She pouted, but only a little. “It’s like she doesn’t even want my help!”
“Um.” Thunderlane strained as he, Rarity and the rest of the pegasi began to climb upward toward the gap in the clouds Rainbow had mentioned. Goodness, Rarity hadn’t packed that much. Perhaps he wasn’t as strong a flier as he was observant. Of course, his next comment would prove that to be more a measure of his understanding of pegasi than his flying ability. “Maybe she isn’t ready for that kind of help.”
Rarity was aghast with shock, and maybe a bit of horror. “What could you possibly mean? This can’t be easy on her, after all.”
Thunderlane nodded sadly as they passed through the gap. “Well, no. Everypony is hurting over this, but I’ve seen Rainbow at work when things get tight with the Weather Patrol. She’s the type of pony who likes to work through a problem. Any time something starts to bother her, she just turns it into more energy to keep going. I’m not sure you’ll ever get a pony like that to slow down and talk about her feelings, even after all this is,” he stopped without finishing his thought as they cleared the cloud cover.
Rarity had been so amazed at the revelation Thunderlane was proposing that she had been listening intently to the colt when he trailed off, his eyes focused on something in the distance as the cadre of pegasi came to a hovering stop. “What, what is it?” She asked while turning to see for herself.
Rarity had been blessed once before with the honor and privilege to visit Cloudsdale under happier circumstances (with her first set of marvelous wings,) and she could easily recall the magnificent splendor she had seen from her last visit. The city’s marble architecture was stunning and would have been dazzling beyond description even if it were situated on the ground, but to build such magnificent facades in the sky was a stroke of brilliance! The natural cloudscape flowed harmoniously into the artificial cityscape, making it hard to distinguish where one ended and the other began, giving the impression that such buildings were just as natural as the clouds they sat upon. Taken all together and from any angle, the city seemed to simply radiate with the pride and splendor of the pegasi while using whites and blues that suggested a timeless, immutable purity.
And the brute griffins had come along and trampled all over it!
Smoke rose from the city, but unlike Canterlot’s single great plume seen at a distance, Rarity could never have hoped to count all the separate, little trails. Most rose a short distance above the city and trailed away in the winter winds. In other places dust and soot hung just above the city, soiling marble black with ash. Here and there in the hanging smoke rose sundered columns, their tops severed and jagged as broken bone. Not even the clouds beneath the city had been spared; they had been stained by rainbows draining out beneath the streets, in splotched browns and blues, with traces of scarlet. It was hard not to imagine the city as a once majestic beast that had been beaten, bruised and broken until it barely clung to life.
Not even in her nightmares had Rarity ever dreamed such a crime against fabulosity, nay! Against beauty itself. It was enough to bring tears to her eyes, and she wasn’t the only pony who felt that way.
Mares behind Rarity began to weep softly at the sight, their tears falling to the cloudscape below as Rainbow did her best to get the formation moving again. It broke Rarity’s heart to watch her friend barely contain her own sorrow while also doing her best to keep others focused on the next step, and for her sake that is all that needs to be said. She eventually succeeded, but only after stopping just shy of threats. Everypony was silent the rest of the way to the city, and the whole flight Rarity’s despairing heart was stuck on a seemingly impossible conundrum.
What could Rarity ever say to support her friend now?
Rarity couldn’t help but thank Celestia when they reached the city without coming across any of the vile griffins. If they had found such a beautiful city to be so offensive that it warranted destruction, who knows what they would have done seeing a sight as marvelous as Rarity and her magnificent wings. As happy a blessing it might have been, it did little to quiet her worried heart. There was still much peril ahead for everypony, and she still had no plan to help Rainbow open up.
The military seemed organized despite the state of everything else. Three had come out to meet the Ponyville pegasi as they came near, two in jumpsuits and the other a serious-looking young mare lieutenant. After the officer had checked Rainbow’s paperwork and asked a few questions, she directed them to a quaint little cloud that had been set up as a reception zone for the arriving ponies. Once everypony from Ponyville was comfortably landed and resting after the flight, the lieutenant pointed to a short line where other Weather Patrol officers were reporting to the Air Corps ponies.
Would you believe she left without ever even glancing at Rarity’s wings? Some ponies have no sense of the spectacular, even when they see it right in front of them.
Rarity took it upon herself as an element of harmony to join Rainbow in line, which Dash initially rejected until Rarity explained her reasons.
“Fine, whatever.” Rainbow agreed with unspoken reservations, understandably still worked up from earlier experiences. “Just don’t interrupt anything that sounds official, okay? The last thing anypony needs right now is a scene.”
It hurt to hear a friend talk that way, but Rarity understood. She did have a flair for the dramatic, after all. “Of course. I would never want to embarrass you or Ponyville’s pegasi at a time like this. Please lead the way, Rainbow. I’ll be on my best behavior.”
Dash raised an eyebrow, but her expression quickly changed to a thankful smile, and that was that. The two friends joined the other ponies in the line, and waited their turn to report. They didn’t wait long. An elderly pony with a scraggly beard and corporal’s stripes sat behind a table, filling out paperwork for the arrivals much as Rainbow had been doing in Ponyville. Rainbow answered his questions and handed over all the forms she had collected while he quickly stamped or signed off on detail after detail.
“Looks like everything checks out, Dash,” he finally said after what seemed like ages. “I’ll need you to move your pegasi up to the community center just up the road to report for processing, indoctrination and assignments to—what on earth are those?”
It had taken the desk pony long enough, but it seemed he had finally gotten around to noticing Rarity’s wings. She thanked him with a slight turn and her wonderful smile. “Oh, these old things? Just a little something the element of magic gave to me so that I could join the war effort with my friend here.”
To Rarity’s surprise and slight horror, the stallion only raised an eyebrow. “The element of what?”
“Twilight Sparkle. Protégé of Princess Celestia?” When he still didn’t seem to understand, she continued. “The mare that defeated Nightmare Moon! With the help of her fabulous friends, of course.”
He still looked confused.
“Discord?” Rarity tried, growing a bit desperate. “Queen Chrysalis?”
“Oooh, the changeling broad.” He looked between the two mares, suddenly interested. “You mean you two had something to do with that?”
Rarity was only too happy to explain every detail, but Rainbow cut her off. “We were there, but it wasn’t that big of a deal.” She turned to Rarity with a sad look on her face. “Look, this is where we part ways. I have to make sure the volunteers get settled into their assignments and find out where my posting will be.”
“What?” Rarity was positively mortified at the idea of being separated from her friend. “But we’re elements of harmony, Rainbow! Why can’t we stay together?”
“Because I’m going to be assigned to a combat unit. I know you like your wings and all, but I don’t really think they’re suited to the kind of flying that I’ll be doing.” She looked away. “Just…try to be somewhere that I can find you later, and stay away from the front lines. Okay?”
Rarity nodded, but Dash wasn’t quite done yet.
“And, well, I kinda wanted you to know that this means a lot to me. Coming to Cloudsdale, I mean.” She scraped the cloud beneath them with a hoof. “So, thank you.”
Even though Rarity and Rainbow had never been what you might call close, she knew what those words had cost the proud pony. Rainbow was a pegasi who spent every moment trying to live up to her own ideas of ‘awesome,’ and those words were decidedly not awesome. Rarity was touched beyond even her considerable ability to express, and was suddenly struck with a fit of inspiration and acted without thinking. As Rainbow shifted to leave, she stepped forward and embraced her pegasus friend.
“Don’t worry, Rainbow. I know you can do it.”
Apparently that did the trick. She felt her friend’s jaw go slack at the sudden, unbidden vote of complete confidence. They hugged for a few moments and said their final goodbyes, but when Rainbow collected the Ponyville volunteers she looked like her old self again, brimming with confidence and ready to take on the world. Her confidence seemed to further reassure the others, and while they were a long way from smiles at least their nervousness seemed to pass.
The corporal had apparently been listening to the entire exchange. “It’s a special pony that knows how to inspire others like that. She’s lucky to have a friend like you.”
“It’s a gift,” she replied with a beaming smile. Now that it seemed she was to be separated from Rainbow for a while, her thoughts turned to how she might best carry out Princess Celestia’s decree. “Sir, would you care to direct me to where I might find the ponies in charge? I suppose at least one element of harmony should speak with this General Manifold.”
The corporal never got to answer the question. A crashing echo coming from the direction of the stadium cut him off. It wasn’t an explosion that one might have expected, though. Instead, it was a mare’s voice that cut through the sky, bouncing between buildings as it traveled. Even though Rarity had never heard it herself, she had been told enough stories from all her friends to know exactly what it was. After all, only one pony in all of Equestria could be that loud.
“Citizens of Cloudsdale!” boomed the Royal Canterlot Voice. “Thy Princess of the Night HATH ARRIVED!”
As the echo died away, a new sound rose to take its place. Pegasi of all colors, shapes and sizes stopped what they were doing, standing or taking flight with a great cheer. What Rarity’s few small words had done for Rainbow, Luna seemed to have done for the entire city. In their darker moments, many had probably wondered if the defense of the city was a lost cause, but if the princess was sure enough of victory to join them, how could they fail?
For Rarity, however, it also served as a direct answer to her question. "I suppose that settles that, at least,” she muttered to nopony in particular. She collected the bags dear Thunderlane had been so gracious to carry all this way, and with a quick toss of her mane she headed off to find the Princess of the Night.
Stats
Page generated in 0.047 seconds
Total duration
925 users online
1,883,036 hits today, 2,078,928 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2025
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2025 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Round two: Go!
2423743
I’m glad you enjoyed, Martian, and I’ll do my best to keep them coming.
2435810
That’s some really high praise there. I’ve only seen a few episodes, but they were all riveting and I know how many awards the show has received. It’s on my to do list for later viewing, once the seasons on dvd become available for cheap.
And one thing I will promise: This story will get a lot more stressful. Just you wait.
2548618
Those are all things I’m putting a lot of effort into!
Well, except the gore. Thanks for the attention, upvote and favorite, but most of all for taking the time to leave a few words. It’s nice to see those numbers tick up but there’s something special when a reader steps out of the crowd to say hi. 
Also, an announcement: Expect a blog post with more announcements!
And now I'm finally caught up! Lmao at Rarity getting wings again. I take it this is what would "boggle my mind"? Or whatever it was you said in IRC? Anyway, this was a good chapter. It develops Rarity and Rainbow Dash in an interesting way (especially the latter). And to comment on the previous chapter, Kaleb is a "very wise d***". Could not believe his attitude or method of thinking at times.
Also, maybe it's just because I think I've become a slightly more experienced writer myself, but it did seem like there were moments where you would fall into telling rather than showing. I know, that old complaint. I can explain it better whenever I get onto IRC again.
Cheers!
2757153
The axiom about showing versus telling in writing is a harsh one. Functionally speaking, it’s almost impossible to always show, because at some point you will have to slide in a detail here and there just to keep the story moving. I think the trick is to make it look like you are showing 100% of the time, even though it really can’t be done.
I hope it’s just a matter of you developing an eye for such things, but maybe not. I’m always welcome to messages with useful criticism from readers.
As for Kaleb, do you mean his thought process was deep and something enjoyable, or confusing and hard to follow?
2873450
Um, nope.
No previous story here. ViM is a recounting of events that happened in universe, so it does have that “looking back” feel to it. I went out of my way to try to keep the storyline such that only the first two seasons of FiM are needed as reference point.
That doesn’t mean the story doesn’t reference events in later episodes or the fanon, but my goal was to use those as seamlessly as possible. If I did it right, anything you might miss that doesn’t involve seasons one and two will have no negative impact on the story.
Impressive. I haven't seen a story that handles war in-universe this well since The Immortal Game, which came with problems of its own.
3196278
Seeing as I am still fairly new to the fandom, I had to look up that story. You can imagine my surprise when I saw how old The Immortal Game is and the attention it’s received. So um. Thanks.
It’s gone on my read later list, but I checked out the tropes page just for kicks and yeah, I think I can guess what you might have meant about problems. Lots of newer war stories have been influenced by anime, where everybody and their mom has at least a half dozen abilities or powers to use in a fight. To be fair, I appreciate that too when it’s done well (Kakashi vs Pain was mind-blowingly AWESOME,
) but there’s more to conflict than the flashy weapons and abilities. With ViM, I hope to provide a contrast to the ability-driven combat that dominates most animated media, focusing more on how characters overcome their situations in order to become effective. Or at least, that’s the plan I wrote up in my outline. 
Also, is there any chance you are a pre-reader who likes sky pirates?
3205308
That chapter was written out last year, and yeah, I realized that about 10 minutes after watching the FiW episode. I played around with thoughts of changing his name for about a day. Thanks to a well known director whose first name is ‘George,’ I despise retcons and will only use them as a minimalist last resort. They undermine faith between a writer and reader even when used correctly and in the best situations. I decided to leave the name alone and trust readers to be aware of the chronology.
…And his last name is ‘Lucas.’
I’m not bitter or anything.
3208847
Soooo much fun to write those, but afterwards it feels like I have brain freeze from a milkshake race.
3209043
FEELZ TRAAAAIN!
ALL ABOARD! 
Ha ha ha ha ha ha haaaa! Ay, Ay, Ay…
(Also, Expect to see Silver Mist’s name pop up again.
)
3209427
Psh, whatever would make you think I liked sky pirates?
Ah, there I was, enjoying this to death, and then I reach the end, and with it comes a sudden realization that it's been several months since the last update, but then here you are, posting just recent-like, and so this is still a thing that is happening? Yes?
... That was almost coherent, right?
Fabulous! This story is supremely well written. Kaleb and the griffon culture is just AMAZING, and you have my eternal gratitude for keeping the characters pure even in a dark time. I just have one comment:
Griffon Logistics vs the Equestrian Celestial Intelligence Agency: An analysis by Cutting Edge
"This recent griffon invasion mainly consists of a tribal force that has banded together in a sort of jihad against Equestria in general, and our glorious Lunar Princess in particular. In addition to this, Petronel is one of the most intelligent and brutal ponies around, and the head of Celestia's intelligence agency. As has been found, the griffons attacking Cloudsdale alone numbered in the tens of thousands. A force that large in the hunter-gathering culture of the griffons will not be able to muster, much less launch a sustained triple pronged attack while outstripping their Diamond Dog ground forces. Why? A lion eats around 15 pounds of meat a day whilst resting on the Savanna, doing a whole lot of nothing. A force of a mere thousand fighting griffons would need around 15,000-20,000 pounds of fresh meat a day, traversing through hostile terrain from a supply base hundreds of miles away that doesn't have the miracles of canning or preservation, or even a ground force backing them up.
The logistics for such an attack are staggering, something that would give a first world country a run for its money. How do they eat? Thankfully the Griffons have no intentions of eating pony prisoners, (thankyouthankyouthankyouIhategrimdark
) and the Equestrian's food is implaleteable, so they cannot scrounge off the land. You have a nightmare of logistics there, and I have full confidence that Petronel will take full advantage of it, utilizing small, coordinated strike teams, high altitude drops, magical weaponry (did someone say, "unicorn snipers"? 
) and just general sabotage of stockpiles to keep the griffons demoralized and in a state of near starvation. Near starvation, of course, because I doubt the griffon's kindly treatment of prisoners would extend to dying of hunger with a pony snack nearby.
(Curses. I'm getting carried away, but...) This demoralization would break the griffon's already weak command structure and completely shut this conflict down, without having to resort to airbourne irritants directed by pegasus generated winds or long-distance high frequency sound spells targeting griffon entrenchments, driving these bird cats insane, to say nothing of more nasty spells that teams of unicorn snipers -I confess I giggle like a schoolfilly whenever I say those words- have access to. Although the griffons are formidable fighters up close, their lack of long distance weaponry and weakness to magic and technology will turn this slight on Equestrian defense into a demoralized retreat after the initial rush with the proper handeling of logistics."
-Cutting Edge, Armchair Logista of Equestia
(You probably have thought of this, but unless the griffons shape up their support, this war is going to turn into a skirmish really quickly)
3209471
Even my non-pony watching friends enjoyed that line, good sir/madam. My hat is off to you. And here, have this upvote to go with the fine cut of your jib.
3209476
I dunno, just a hunch. But you see, sky pirates also happen to be a thing I enjoy, at least tangentially.
I even found a thing. I’m just gonna leave this link here.
3210141
It’s amazing how many young types wouldn’t get that. I viewed that little reference as a civic duty. Didn’t stop me from laughing manically as I typed it, though.
3211878
If I remember, it was stated in episode canon that the time travel spell can only be cast once in a pony’s lifetime. While I think we can say she’s met at least one other unicorn lately who might be able to cast it to conduct such a warning, her experience with causality would leave her hesitant to do so. That’s assuming she even thought of the idea while trying to wrap her head around a situation she doesn’t even have proper vocabulary to describe, so I can assure you she hasn’t thought of it. It is also assuming said unicorn or unicorns have not already used said spell with similar results with causality. It’s not an idea I had considered, but it is a very character foil kind of thing to do.
The short version is that there will be no time shenanigans in ViM. Just the other kinds.
3216462
…Oh wow.
This is well thought out. I didn’t expect a deep consideration of such factors to show up so soon. You shine light on some important points. Logistics will be a concern sooner rather than later, and for both groups (this is a winter campaign, after all) and the nature of the confederacy means that Cyrus and his supporters will have to be concerned about military unity moving forward.
To ease some of your concerns about the feasibility, I would draw your attention to the only two griffins we have seen in canon. While we assume from classic griffin lore that they would happily eat fresh kills, the show supports a much wider diet for their race. Gilda, for example, consumes stolen fruit, and Gustave is a baker. It’s even possible that neither griffin has consumed any meat while living in pony lands, though I doubt the show will ever cover this in any more light. (Which is fine, since FiM isn’t meant as a milieu story.)
Speculations about show canon aside, we’ve seen both griffins and ponies consume things that humans would readily eat. You’re right on about concerns of feeding such a large force away from home (and in the clouds) but a biologic need for meat, or that much meat is a bit of a reach. After all, they are half bird.
More than that I’ll just have to leave to story material as I finish it.
3211687
And You, Good Sir Or Madam. Yes, You. You Get Saved For Last, And Thy Question Answered With A Side Of Ham.
(...This site needs some Luna emotes.
)
This is still very, very much a thing. An ongoing thing that will take me a great many more chapters, but a thing I am committed to finishing. See, I live and do chores on a farm in addition to part time work. Life makes its busiest demands of me during the summer and as a result I have less time for words. In addition, I spent effort that might have gone into new material went towards preparing already posted material for EqD submission and on a chapter-sized side project I’ll get to in a moment. That time was well spent, but yes, ViM is going forward. The next chapter is currently in alpha, which for my usage means it reads from beginning to end and has all the things I need it to have according to my outline. Soon it will be beta, which is when Wool and Front each get a crack at it. Then, after revision, it gets posted here.
I have an interesting habit regarding new material worth noting. When I have a chapter polished and ready to be posted, I post a 'SOON' blog entry with a spoiler in the form of the chapter’s name. More recently the images have been related to the chapter, such as ‘Familiar Faces’ introduction of Gilda, but I can’t commit to always being able to drop hints this way. A SOON post means you can expect the chapter in less than 24 hours.
But I also understand some people might be looking for something to hold them over. As thanks to readers who were already following the story, I did a little promotional thing I announced here. I asked for questions from readers to be submitted, addressed to Twilight, Luna, or Kaleb, and answered them in character in interview format. I received so many zinger questions that the project quickly became about double what I intended it to be, and the final product weighs in at about 6k words. While I don’t consider the interview to be ‘canon’ in the sense that I ask the questions myself as a human, every answer they give is accurate and truthful to the best of their ability. I know that’s not quite the same as a new chapter, it’s just as heavy and should suffice as added value until Chapter 10 rolls out the digital door.
That day is soon. Until then readers, The Enemy Gate Is Down.
Why are the poor griffons always evil invaders and/or pony-eating monsters?
They're quite content in their continent across the sea!
It's anti-griffon RACISM, I tell ya!
While at the same time, the changelings are 'misunderstood'... ARG!!!
The griffons just want LOVE!! Peace and love! (and pony entrails...)
I'm still trying to figure out what on earth the motivation for the war is.
The one griffon mentions some blathering nonsense about alicorn lies and other such BS...
We call people like 'conspiracy theorists' and they never get very far.
So Discord lied to them when he was free? Told them Celestia set him free? And they all believed a KNOWN LIAR AND BRINGER OF CHAOS AND DISHMARMONY? Never bothered to ask the ponies for their side, apparently. And apparently there's no pony ambassador in the griffon lands either. They know all about NMM too, in spite of her rebellion being a thousand years ago, short-lived, and confined entirely to one region of Equestria.
And yet despite having so much internal knowledge, they seem to lack certain information, such as Celestia and Luna being needed to raise the sun, the fact that it's going to be very difficult to convince unicorns to take over the job (assuming they even know how any longer) after they've seen the griffons murder their leaders.
From a power standpoint, the griffons are right screwed over if the unicorns say, "Buck you, we'll all die from freezing in the darkness rather than submit!"
The motives for this war are, as stated, severely impractical and hardly something that which would unify disparate tribes.
Really, what I'm getting from this story is that the griffons, for all their supposed military brilliance, are incredibly stupid, short-sighted, and gullible.
This story has handled its chosen topics very well and very in character, can't wait for the next update.
3219021
You could probably find a lot of reasons why the idea of a war against the diarchy would be a bad idea. Is that one thing keeping you from enjoying this entire story, though? I mean yeah, I can see how it might not entirely make sense, but there is a great story with great drama built around this war. You could say what things you liked, as well.
I can't imagine you just didn't like this entire story because that one thing, right?
3217111
3223565 Well, it's rather the CENTRAL PLOT of the entire thing.
If the rationale built into the war is nonsensical, then it rather undermines the entire thing.
How and why did all this disparate griffons care suddenly that the ponies were being lied to? Why did they all suddenly believe this? ALL of them? Even the ones who didn't trust each other? None thought, "What if this is just a ploy to gain complete power over our tribes? OUR leader could be conveniently killed in a war!"
They're being brought together over an 'enemy' who isn't even threatening them. An 'enemy' that has welcomed them into their land as friends and allies. They believe the alicorn who has led the Pony races into a state of extraordinary prosperity is actually a lying evildoer....
Actions speak louder than words, you know. And when the actions are in absolute conflict with baseless claims, guess which generally wins out?
As I said, it's the reason crazy conspiracy theorists are dismissed by all but other crazy conspiracy theorists.
And no one at all attempts to contact the ponies. There is no doubt at all about this very dubious and totally unsubstantiated tale (which has ZERO hard evidence backing it, other than deliberate misinterpretations of events which I'm quite certain a fair number of griffons know about in FACTUAL detail) and so start a war.
Never mind the Diamond Dogs getting involved. Never mind those ridiculous gauntlets that so conveniently show up just in time for the war. Supposedly they'd been at peace for hundreds of years... exactly what was the motivation behind their development, hmmm?
A slightly intelligent griffon would realize that these things were being made LONG before the nonsense stories these suddenly unification-minded leaders began throwing around.
We are also supposed to believe that no griffons feel the war is a ruse and refuse to take part, or perhaps that their leaders are insane.
The convenient solidarity of the griffons given the situation in which Equestria is completely peaceful makes this unanimous griffon aggression unbelievable.
Let us also not forget this central premise: The griffons believe the ponies are being lied to. BUT, rather than try to explain that... their first action is to launch a massive surprise attack and slaughter huge numbers of them, burn their cities, attempt to kill their beloved leaders, imprison many of them...
... and then say, "Oh by the way, we're really the good guys here!"
Now tell me, in that exact situation, would YOU believe such a load of BS if you were a pony, and if you were a griffon could you reasonably expect the ponies to respond favorably to any of this, or to believe you after the horrendous acts of unprovoked horror your kind have wrought upon them without any explanation or attempt at diplomacy, nor even a declaration?
3226318
Not saying the rationale for the war isn't flimsy. It's a valid complaint, but you've read ten chapters into this story so far — I have to believe you've enjoyed the characters, the writing, the interactions, and in some way, the action. You should mention that, at least once, otherwise it appears like you didn't enjoy anything about the story, which I don't think is true.
3226318
3226642
I’ve been hesitant to weigh in on this exchange for several reasons, but it seems now that I must. While I can certainly understand the desire to have a clear and distinct motive for the griffins to perform such a great wrong against the ponies we all care so much about, there are both narrative and plot related reasons the motive wasn’t simply dropped for the reader.
I suppose I’d start with a plot reason. As you have pointed out, and correctly, I’ve established the griffins as a disparate society of prides that conflict with each other on many levels. In my own experiences with such conglomerate forces in media, I’ve always felt cheated when the author(s)/creator(s) simply hand-wave a single, all encompassing reason for them to band together and attack something. In dealing with this situation a year ago while writing my outline, I wanted to make sure I avoided doing anything of the kind. For now, all I can say is that many parties involved have their own motivations for participating that will be explored as the story progresses.
Second, a narrative reason. In trying to maintain the feel of the original show, one of the first things I realized is that ViM would have to be as character driven as the cartoon it is based on. Of course Twilight and the other ponies are firmly established by the source material, but with only two griffins (and literally no word about griffins beyond those two) I saw I would have to put most of my early efforts on the invaders into establishing their characters and contexts. If I didn’t, the OCs would come off as weak cardboard cutouts against the ponies, which would undercut any possible sympathy for them as characters. (note: not the cause they fight for.)
As for much discussion beyond those points, my hands are tied. At this point I can only reassert that Cyrus is the primary motivator, planner, and negotiator for the entire operation, and that he believes in Hrothgar’s prophesy. He means to ‘slay a great darkness,’ and the very short day we saw in FiM Season 1, episode 2 was enough evidence to convince him that evil was Luna. More detail than what was established in ‘Flock Together’ will be revealed as the story progresses.
I hope this eases your and any other concerns related to this, but if not there is little else I can say on the matter without skirting spoilers. And with that, I’m at my limit to discuss the subject.
3226642 To properly give a proper review of a story, one must read all of ti that exists.
It's the same as being a movie critic. One must read even things one finds preposterous. How else can anyone make a legitimate criticism of a story when they have no idea what it's about?
I have read and ripped to shreds many stories that, by a few chapters in, I found almost agonizing in their awfulness.
Except "The Twilight Saga". I couldn't get past two chapters of the first book before I wanted to tear it to shreds and set it on fire.
3229111
Are you saying that everything you've enjoyed up until this point is invalid, because you ran into one plot hole?
You can't let a single negative thing stop you from enjoying all the good. Plus, as I'm sure you understand, there's a difference between being critical to be helpful, and being critical just to be mean. I keep seeing you dip into the latter, and I feel like you're missing a lot of good stuff because of it.
3229156 Uhm, the entire purpose of the war was a sticking point in my mind from the very beginning. When it finally got to the 'reason', the whole unsteady structure came crashing down.
I've studied far too many wars. The motive and unity of the griffons behind this flimsy excuse is simply unbelievable.
3229421
You should notice that, as the author already stated, we didn't get "the reason" yet. Also, there isn't one single reason for all griffins to go to war.
"For now, all I can say is that many parties involved have their own motivations for participating that will be explored as the story progresses."
That's not a plothole at all, you just don't have every bit of relevant information yet.
There is apparently more than one reason for them to go to war, and of course they don't think of themselves as the "bad guys". Noone ever did or does.
From what I've seen, I think you should read the story again, and this time with a bit more attention. Please don't take that as an offense, but you are criticizing some things that have already been explained in the story.
3232510 There's simply too much about the war that makes no sense. The fact that they managed to organize a massive invasion against a country right next to them in total surprise is particularly unbelievable.
You cannot disguise the arming and movement of tens of thousands.
Simply put, there is so much I find unbelievable that it takes quite a bit more effort to organize all my thoughts than I'm willing to spend.
I was only led to this story because EQD claimed it was a very well-done depiction of warfare in the Pony world.
I have found that claim rather weak.
3232697
History showed that you can. Surprise attacks have happened, at every point in human history. So of course they can happen in a story.
3232714 Not on this scale, not with two neighboring nations at peace (and thus travelling/trading between each other).
Most 'surprise' attacks happen between armies ALREADY ENGAGED IN WARFARE who manage to sneak around each other.
Others involve small kingdoms or fortifications dwelling in an almost willful ignorance of the warning signs. In many such cases, there were warnings that went unheeded.
This is not a surprise attack, this is a surprise WAR. A multi-pronged attack of a massive army using magical nullifiers (which conveniently can suppress all magic equally no matter how powerful... begging the question of how they thought it would work against an alicorn when they had no way to test it, begging the OTHER obvious question of how they could even design it anyway with nothing to test it on) that nopony ever even had a clue was being organized, no griffon at all felt was unjustified, and apparently at no time did the ponies have anyone 'on the inside' who could bring them information.
I find it too hard to believe that no griffon seems to have wondered any of these things and thought that maybe they should possibly kinda tell somepony about the crazy griffon going around calling for war... you know, BEFORE they all came together? This didn't happen overnight. Some griffons, after 200 years, would have known enough about the ponies to call BS on all of it.
Instead, their entire race is composed of a) warmongers b) powermongers and c) brainwashed idiots.
I could accept the cliche savage, tribal pony-eating griffons more than this, because at least their basic motive is sound. Now, said stupid violent griffons would be blasted to ash by the alicorns (as happened in a very good story about Gilda becoming a guard in a border city, oh which one was that... anyway, backstory was one griffon tribe decided to start eating ponies and Celestia left their region a blackened crater as a warning to the rest), but at least they're believably stupid.
But this whole thing comes together too conveniently for the 'masterminds'. It's the whole 'Everything is proceeding according to my designs' trope. With that in mind, I could even believe that every single griffon had been mind-controlled by changeling infiltrators (who would need the ponies alive to feed upon) because at least that would close up the plot holes and questions!
But then that would create a problem with the griffon spies who'd been around ponies for years... it eliminates their plausibility and internal motive.
3235627
On the reasons, I would like to remind you that the griffons think that Luna is still Nightmare Moon. And that Cyrus is meant to slay Nightmare Moon, and avoid the whole "eternal night that would kill everything". So, no, I don't think the reason is silly at all.