Twilight Sparkle, Spike, and Flash Sentry go deep into the Griffon Kingdom to recover a lost book from a young Starswirl the Bearded.
When it is discovered that a book containing hidden magic from a young Starswirl the Bearded is located deep within the Griffon Kingdom. Twilight and her #1 assistant team up with The Crystal Kingdom's newest guard for a bradical adventure about teamwork, friendship, and the (awkward but cute) art of waifu stealing.
There are two ways to incur the wrath of Princess Celestia: One is to plot and attempt to take over her kingdom and remove her as ruler. The second and certainly the easiest is to wake her from her sleep hours before she is to move heaven and earth.
Luna knew the risk waking up her sister would mean... and of course she didn't care. But with a sinister smirk she proceeded to wake her anyway, "Sister! Wake from your slumber! I bring news even you can smile about!
Celestia, groggy and wishing that punishment by branding was still a moral and practical option, replied "Luna, can’t you see I'm trying to get my beauty sleep?!"
The Princess of the Night replied with a smug face "My dear, dear sister. If you needed rest to achieve beauty, you must be in rest for no less than a thousand moons". Celestia took a deep sigh before giving into the temptation of hearing the hiss of burning skin and the tortuous screaming of her impotent sister. As she heavily moaned getting up, Princess Luna observed "any more of the cakes sister, we might have the chariots pull you all over the castle!"
The walk to the archivist was a grueling, daunting task for the Sun Princess. Even to a mare of her experience, a lack of sleep never gets any easier. She was drowsy, head struggling to keep itself up and stumbling all over while her younger sister was humming and galloping quite joyfully. Although the archive was on her daily route from her chambers to her throne room, the fatigue due to the lack of sleep and the annoying alarm clock of a sister made things drag on longer. It was the easiest to spot the archives because there were two guards at all times. The archives contain some of the most rare books that cannot be afforded to fall into the wrong hands. Magic spells, locations of portals to other worlds, even the Equestrian financial pages are stored here plus a painting of a particular princess in the most provocative pose. Inside were bookshelves upon bookshelves of books, scrolls, and manuscripts were on these shelves, but in a severely unorganized and messy state. The royal sisters move their way to the rotunda of the archives were a circular desk occupy the middle of it.
In the midst of the circular desk was a unicorn hard at work. The unicorn was reading a small book, taking notes, and from there looking at maps that covered all over the known world. She was young, too young for this job Celestia noted, looked like she was fresh from the academy, gray coat, long straight auburn mane, and had baby blue eyes. The young filly bowed to the Princess's presence and said, “My apologies Princess,” she looked up into Celestia’s stern, tired eyes. "I wouldn't disturb you from your slumber if it weren't a great deal of importance" the young filly noted. Celestia tried to speak, but it came off as a mix between a mumble and a gargle.
"Oh sister, you really need to rest!" Luna chuckled at the expense of her older sister.
Celestia ignored her sister and concentrated on the archivist "Aren’t you a bit young to be the archivist?" Celestia asked, finally aware enough to speak coherently.
"Oh, I'm just the intern, the real archivist is on maternity leave. I believe this is his second foal," the intern said all giddy and daydreaming of her chance for children of her own. Luna notices the dazed look in the filly’s eyes and cough trying to get her attention. The Unicorn made a faint squeak from the cough and finally snapped back to reality "oh yes! you want to see what I found then?" the archivist said motioning to the small piece of paper.
Celestia drew it to her, skimmed the page, and in that second her groggy, sleepy eyes sprang wide open. Celestia, in complete shock, forgot her magic and let the paper sail to the floor. The Princess of the Sun looked straight at the curious intern "where did you find this?!" she asked in complete shock.
"Well, I was cleaning up, chatting with Luna and-"
Celestia glared right at Luna "Wait. Instead of making sure Canterlot does not come under attack, you were here?!"
Princess Luna immediately snapped back "sister please, this filly is the only one around here who is awake, and she makes excellent coffee and don’t get me started on her cookies...” Celestia's glare left Luna and turned towards the young unicorn "paper. Quill. Now!” As the intern ran off Luna took a sip of the coffee and commented "you know, Twilight Sparkle will not be awake at this hour" Celestia, with a wry smile looked to his younger sister, and down to the floor
"Fuck."
Ever since her adventure through the magic mirror, all Twilight Sparkle can think about was Flash Sentry. Even her most desperate attempts of focusing were in vain. At this point, her mind was racing thinking of times in her past that she can use to bribe Princess Cadence to tell Flash to send her a letter. Asking her brother would have been a really, really, bad idea. Mostly because he would not let it down like how she was when they were kids and Shining Armor told her about his crush on Cadence on accident. She took a big sigh because this stupid little crush was interfering with her studies. Twilight tried to blow it off “so what if he is really dreamy, or a member of the Crystal Kingdom's Royal Guard, he is not more important than my studies".
Spike walked in from shelving books from the next room to see the young princess daydreaming and blushing. "Hey twilight, I see you have a c on that one pony, so why not let him give you the D?!" Unfortunately, Spike was right on her hind legs, so it was not that hard for Twilight to buck him and send him clear across the room and made him hit his head on a shelf, causing an avalanche of books to cover him completely.
"Spike! Didn't I tell you not to joke about things like that! You are already on thin ice for telling Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo that really dirty joke!"
Spike muttered while climbing out of the massive mountain of books, "they thought it was funny". At that exact second, Spike felt a convulsion and quickly expelled a letter. Almost immediately, Twilight levitated the letter towards her. She was nervous. Scratch that: nervous was an understatement. Twilight was on the verge of a panic attack as the letter came closer and closer
"What if it's him, or what if it's Cadence asking me to visit the Empire, you know it's a good thing" she repeated this over and over until she opened and read the letter. She could almost picture Cadence saying the most awkward things to him. When she finally opened the letter, and for the first time in her life, she was actually disappointed that it was a letter from her teacher.
"To my most faithful student,
Come to Canterlot as soon as possible. Bring Spike”
As far as losing her cool goes: Twilight Sparkle could handle a deranged moon princess, a traveling magic show off, the spirit of chaos, a Changeling invasion, a mute king, a bratty she-demon/schoolgirl, whatever. Then again, dealing with the dreamiest pony in her brother's kingdom is an entirely different ball game.
With Spike by her side, they made the long but beautiful trip from the station to the castle. The Princess and the baby dragon took in the beauty that was the Crystal Empire. The Crystal Ponies were doing their usual activities: walking, shopping, and generally enjoying the beautiful day. The two made it to the castle without any major distractions or problems from the locals, well minus someone yelling in the background. The yelling sounded like her brother, but no it couldn't have been. Shining Armor never swears Twilight thought to herself.
The usual sound of trumpets made their way across the throne room to announce Twilight's arrival. Other than the guards and their horns, the only other pony in the massive room was the beautiful Princess Cadence. Due to the fact that this was the first time in months she saw her sister-in-law and with it also being a less than formal visit; They reverted back to their age-old routine of greeting each other with a small playful song that Cadence taught Twilight when she was younger. This song and dance had concluded with a fit of giggles before they went back to business. "I can't believe Celestia is sending you to the Griffon Kingdom, I've heard stories about that place, none of them any good," Cadence said with a heavy heart.
"That's why she sent me. She said that she couldn't trust anyone else with an artifact this important" Twilight replied, wearing those words as a badge of honor
...
He didn't know how Shining Armor did it, but Flash Sentry was awoken before dawn with the prince breathing down his neck literately, and in his own residence.
"Wakey wakey, get the fuck up!" Shining Armor yelled at the Pegasus still trying to get up.
"Sir?" the Pegasus asked; still disoriented from being awoken hours before he was to report for his shift.
"You and me have some things we need to do. Come with me, Flash," Prince Shining Armor demanded as he made his way towards the door with a still tired Flash Sentry and a few of the Crystal Kingdom's top military officers not far behind.
Flash Sentry and Shining Armor spent the next eight hours in drills, going over contingency plans, relearning and re practicing hoof to hoof combat. Mainly, Shining Armor was giving Flash Sentry everything he learned from basic training that took one year and crammed it to less than a day.
Towards the middle of the day, Flash was busy with 500 laps while Shining Armor laid down the rules "If you lose sight of her even for a second: That's 500 laps. If you talk back to her: That's 500 laps. If you put her in any dangerous situations: That's 500 laps. If you disobey her: That's 500 laps. If you don't taste her food before she eats it: That's 500 laps. If you break her heart: I will personally shove my hoof up your ass. Then I will make you run 500 laps."
The seats of the track field were packed with members of Sentry's guard company. These young and elite guards either on break or on their day off were looking on and speculated as to what Flash gotten himself into to deserve this punishment. Five minutes earlier, Flash was strapped to the dizzytron at extreme speed. Even at this point, Flash was still hanging on to his sanity and his nonexistent breakfast and lunch.
Flash's company commander was an old, cranky, and opinionated earth pony. Even at this point he decided that even if he loved pushing his men to the limit: he had enough. "Sir!"
"Release!" Yelled the prince.
...
As Princess Cadence returned to sit on her throne, she cleared her throat and spoke as royally and official as she could once she took a seat and viewed a smiling Twilight and Spike below her: "Princess Twilight Sparkle, for your expedition to the Griffon Kingdom: I, Princess Cadence of the Crystal Kingdom, wishes you a safe trip and presents you a gift: A member of our elite company to guard you on your travels!"
Twilight's heart skipped a beat Yes! Yes! Yes! She smiled in anticipation.
"Unfortunately, he is out sick, so we are giving you someone else," Cadence said with a devilish grin. "Because of what I saw after you came back from the portal AND seeing how I am the ruler of this kingdom. I called in a few favors and arranged someone special. With that, I'm assigning-"
One of the windows overlooking the track and field area gave way to a solid mass of a body that caught the guards, Twilight, and Princess Cadence by surprise. The mass landed on Twilight before she could get off and was too shocked to teleport away. The mass lifted his head from Twilight's chest to reveal a baggy-eyed and sweaty Flash Sentry, which caused Twilight to blush to the point of her face, turned Cherry Pie Red.
"W-we got to stop bumping into each other like this" he chuckled as his head collapsed back to her chest. Twilight transported out of being under him and on her 4's next to Flash; and watched as his body plop to the floor, her face still the bright red color that it was before.
At that moment, Shining and his officers ran into the throne room and looked at the damage. They then noticed the lifeless body of Flash Sentry in the middle of the room. After that, he observed his little sister kneeling next to the body trying to wake him up.
"Honey, what is going on?" Cadence asked in an angry but stern tone.
Shining Armor ignored her and turned to his officers: "Yea, I think he's ready. Also, put down 500 laps for breaking the window."
"On that day, humanity received a grim reminder. We live in fear of marketing ploys."
A few hours into the blimp ride the Griffon Port town of Alsace came into a distant view. Because of the reflection of the sun Princess Celestia had risen an hour or two ago, the town was a Silver dot down on the base of one of the massive, jagged mountains that occupied the entirety of the Griffon Kingdom. Alsace's port was also at the entrance of one of the many majestic Fjords that cut their way for tens of miles into the kingdom lands and were used as a safe harbor during storms.
The second Flash Sentry saw the small silver speck; he left his post right next to the captain of the midsize dirigible and made his way to the wooden deck, passing by the many cadets and officers who were busy with the day to day. Most were cleaning the cannons and mopping the deck while their superiors were supervising them and the five or so armored pegasi who were patrolling the area around the airship.
Flash entered the lower decks of the ship, often called "Woodies" due to the Spartan state of the interior and having no source of light for the hallways, save the less than effective lanterns. As Sentry walked closer to the captain's quarters and Twilight's room the attempt to listen to the muffled discussion between her and the small dragon that followed her around like a lapdog was in vain due to the constant creakiness of the ship. The Pegasus knocked twice on the door before allowing himself in. The captain's quarters was the most luxurious spot in the ship, and luxurious as in the only living quarters with windows and enough room for one to walk around freely.
Twilight and Spike were in conversation when Flash entered and both stopped to look at him.
"Speak of the discord" Spike muttered.
Flash ignored the background character and spoke: "Twilight, Alsace is an hour away. We should go over the plan."
"There's a plan? I thought it was just to go to the Griffon King and ask for the permission to check the Old Orleans Castle."
Flash's showed a hint of surprise "Your older brother didn't tell you? We were supposed to look into why almost every pony who has been in the kingdom has disappeared. It hasn't been revealed to everyone, but Princess Celestia and Princess Cadence believe you are the only one who can solve it."
Again Twilight beamed from the compliments and the determination to not fail, the fear of failure seemed to loom over her at all times but for that second it receded. "Well princess, if I'm not needed, I'll be on the main deck," Flash said as he walked out, not before bowing to the princess.
As soon as Flash Sentry left the room Twilight looked at Spike with a nagging look on her face "See what I mean Spike?"
"Twilight, you are acting like he was just made to sell more toys," Spike said.
"That, not it Spike, He is different from the Flash I knew from the other world, the other Flash had more....Character."
"That's because they both had different experiences in life, the Flash in the other world isn't a soldier, and the Flash of this world does not have a-"
Suddenly cheering and a loud electronic sound forced Spike and Twilight out of their room and racing to the main deck and were drawn back to what they saw: Flash Sentry entertaining the boys and giving the port town a alarm clock with his electric guitar on a small black amplifier.
In the midst of the impromptu show, Twilight looked to Spike with a puzzled look: "Wait, where did he get that, and how is it playing without electricity?"
It took around half an hour for the three to disembark the airship. In reality, they could've left the second the ship hit the air dock. The holdup was Twilight double and triple checking her and Flash's gear. The problem was they did it last night: all 8 times of it. "One last time, pinky promise," Twilight said as she removed all of their gear from their saddles and it all went crashing down on the deck of the ship. Flash forward to the present they walked the bridge down towards the airship docks and awaiting them were four Griffons with armor and spears at the ready; as well as a well dressed griffon that proclaimed to be a member of the king's counsel.
"Princess Twilight Sparkle, we do not believe you should be in our land," The Griffon in the gold and black robes told the princess.
"I don't understand, we sent a request to King Griffonmange and he agreed let us come," Twilight said in surprise.
The nervous dignitary continued: "He might want you here, but we don't. Please leave the kingdom and tell your ruler and her subjects to never come back. It's in the best interest for both of our species." The Griffon walked ever so slowly towards the princess, with a scared look on his face. His advance was stopped by Flash; armed with a spear cradled by one of his wings standing in the way between the Griffon and Twilight.
"That's close enough, pal," A determined Flash said with his raised spear, backing off the dignitary and causing his guards to raise their spears at the pony, causing the armed escorts overlooking the entire event from the deck of the ship to lean back, with their spears in their mouths or wings ready to lunge at the Griffons.
The dignitary sighed "You choose this; not I" as he nodded to his guards, three of them lowered their spears as the last one immediately took off to the tiny dot on top of the massive mountain overlooking the port. "That Griffon is now going to deliver a relay to the king of your arrival, Welcome to the Griffon Kingdom," he said as we flew off the dock with the rest of his guards.
"You ok Twilight?" Flash said looking back to the princess.
"I'm okay, but I can't help feel he was trying to warn us not to scare us," Twilight responded, making sure the baby dragon next to her was ok as well.
"If he did, he couldn't have told us to our faces. Those guards don't exactly look like his best friends," Flash commentated.
The bustling port and its inhabitants were all dressed in either elegant silk robes, surrounded by their family and the many servants from their estates carrying the family's many belongings as they went shopping or the ones in wool rags following the families asking for a coin or two to spare. There were merchants screaming in front of their stalls advertising the diverse crafts they produce. In the crowds were Nobles along the streets, with a coin bag with them looking for their next meal or something to bring home. The most eloquently dressed were the clergy with a unique satchel on them with a slot, looking for generous Griffons with money willing to cleanse their souls for a small fee. The streets were cobblestone and massively uneven. It wasn't rare to see a Griffon or a pony who weren't watching where they were going take a stumble on the streets, generating some laughter from passersby. The buildings were all mostly wooden two-story structures with hay roofs.
In the midst of the bustling street; Flash Sentry used his wing to pull a note from his bag and began to read the checklist: "So next stop is the...all right! The town's tavern! There we should get a guide and..." He couldn't finish it because Twilight used her magic to take the piece of paper from his wing
"I can read, thanks," Commented the princess.
Continuing on their way, Flash decided to try to break the ice; Since you know: being strictly business isn't exactly how you would typically pick up mares, even one who was so "strictly business" as Twilight Sparkle: "So....did you like the show I did earlier?" Flash asked blushing, the smell of spaghetti in the air from the small cafe they were passing.
"It was ok," Twilight said not taking her eye from the scroll.
"Oh, ok. so umm... nice weather today, isn't it?" Flash said, deciding to give it another go.
"Sorry Flash, I have to finish this, we can talk later" Flash walked a little bit slower just so he can head his head in shame, and looked to see all the ponies who was looking on to this awkward moment and decided to look around. "Wait just one moment." Twilight was too busy reading the letter to not smell the lavender smell of Flash's shampoo, and blushed to see the Pegasi practically cheek to cheek with her.
"Um Flash, isn't this too close-"
"Shh Princess, look around you," Flash whispered to the princess, with Spike even leaning in eager to listen. "They say this is a town with many species right?" Twilight nodded looking deep into the eyes of the person she once had feelings for and the spark that was in his eyes "But, there's something missing." He added.
Twilight looked around and even though it was hard for her to see it at first, even she realized it:
"We are the only ponies here, where is everybody?" Twilight Sparkle asked looking around at all the Griffons and the lack of ponies: which the port boasted as one of the largest populations of ponies outside of Equestria.
"That's one reason why we were sent princess. Now look at the griffons, they are looking at us. They don't have anger or hatred, but pity TOWARDS us." Flash observed. Twilight looked again at the faces: Pity and sadness towards the two ponies and the baby dragon trotting down the street as if they were the last of their kind in the world.
They found the tavern, well fond was an understatement. The stench of mead can be smelled a few hundred feet away, drunken griffons stumbling about and talking about the princess's arrival in slurred speech. Finding a table in the confusion of the drunken singing and loud conversations inside was difficult but not impossible. The dragon and the princess took a seat on the rough, wooden blocks that was supposed to be griffon hospitality. "Keep an eye out while I find us a guide," Flash said as he took off to the bar section.
Twilight looked at her surroundings and although she didn't feel exactly safe: "Good thing Flash is with us, this place isn't what you exactly would call 'cozy.'"
Spike irked an eyebrow "Twilight, you were trying to make up excuses to leave him our room a few hours ago! Are you trying to magically fall in love with Flash just so Chelis doesn't have to take the time to explain why you might have feelings for Flash Sentry?"
"That's ridiculous Spike: why would I let a pepper make me fall in love with Flash?" Twilight scoffed.
Spike surrendered "Yep, you have no idea what I'm talking about."
Both were interrupted by Flash Sentry introducing them to their guide. Problem was the Griffon had a familiar face, which caused them to almost jump out their blocks "G-Gilda!?" they both screamed in surprise.
The reaction from the dragon and the princess was enough to attract the looks of everyone in the tavern. Most were looks of confusion. Gilda could have felt their eyes burning through her feathers and right into her soul, right before they decided to go back to their drinking and roughhousing. All four of them just sat there for a while, trying to think of something to make the entire situation as less awkward as possible.
"Soooo, you all know each other?" Flash asked, being the only one clueless of what happened.
"Gilda here was a friend of one of Twilight's friends. She showed up one day out of nowhere and was mean to everyone." Spike explained.
"Hey! It's not my fault I'm like this!" Gilda answered.
Spike laughed. "Was that supposed to be your best rebuttal?"
Gilda gave Spike her death stare as the table fell awkwardly silent again, this time like when your crazy ex-girlfriend shows up at your wedding... and didn't even get a gift from the registry.
"So if we leave now, will we be at the Capitol by nightfall?" Flash Sentry asked, trying to diffuse the tension.
Gilda laughed before trying more of her mead. "It figures you dweebs would still be using the pony maps. Those maps of the kingdom suck Manticore balls because they can never get the distances right. But if we leave now, we definitely can make it to Parfondeval Village by sundown."
The two ponies and the dragon looked at each other then shrugged. Making it to a village and closer to the capital was better than waiting a day and leaving before sundown tomorrow morning.
"Alright Gilda, you have yourself a deal," Twilight said as she levitated a pretty big coin purse in front of Gilda. "This is half. You get the rest when we reach the capital. Drinks are on me," Twilight smiled
Gilda had a large grin as she finished the rest of her drink.
"Alright princess, Let's go then."
***
"Hey Gilda!" Twilight Sparkle screamed, as the wind from fighting the morning offshore winds that funneled into the fjord not only slowed the three down, but also made communicating harder than usual.
"What is it Twilight?!" Gilda screamed back. The Griffon motioned for the princess to fly next to her, which Twilight obliged.
"Hey, you know Rainbow Dash still talks about you?"
Gilda looked down into the water below for a second and took a big sigh. "Yea, I feel bad about the way we fell out, I've meant to write to her."
"There's no time like the present," Twilight said in a soft but assuring voice.
"What?!" Gilda screamed.
"I said that there's no time like the present!" Twilight replied at the top of her lungs.
"Oh! Okay!" Gilda screamed back.
***
They cleared the Fjord hours ago, and landed on a small meadow deep in the endless expanse of the forest that covered the majority of the kingdom. Gilda happened to spot a little rabbit in the field and made the rabbit her lunch. Everyone else were on the opposite side of the field, or as far away from the carnivore feast as possible.
Flash walked up to Twilight again, hoping, maybe, for a small miracle and have her talk to him.
And once again the advance was met by a disinterested twilight going over a better map
Flash returned to his spot dejected, but this time not alone.
"Not working out, huh?" Spike asked.
"Yea," Flash said as he looked at her.
"She just wants to do the mission and go home. But, between you and me: talk about magic with her and she will talk to you," Spike advised as he walked away flash and towards Twilight.
***
After using the grass to wipe the rabbit's blood, Gilda took off. She was followed by Flash with Twilight and Spike riding her back.
"So Twilight, did you know that-"
"Sorry Flash, I am looking out for bandits!"
"My friend is a really distant descendant of Starswirl the Bearded?"
Twilight's ears perked up the second she heard that wizard's name and her attention soon aimed to her pegasus bodyguard.
"Oh really?" she asked.
The talk turned from minutes to hours, and it eventually encompassed the entire day. Magic theory, spells, history, and of course Starswirl the Bearded was the conversation. Twilight was impressed by Flash's knowledge of magic, which he explained that magic was part of advanced training. Just in case he would have to fight magic in the battlefield.
As the sun descended out of sight, the light smoke and candlelight of the Parfondeval became visible.
It was all laughs and smiles as they dropped into the old world village.
They landed without incident in the village, which also had little to no ponies there. Those in the village square at that time were curious, but went on with their day. They made their way to the largest building in the village, and that would be the inn. They walked through the center market and marveled at the many fruits, vegetables, sweets, nuts, meats, clothing, jewelry, and many other necessities.
They stopped by one of the stalls for some quick food and finally arrived at the inn to rest up for the night before flying off to the capital.
They entered and were greeted by everyone inside. The place smelled of mead and sweat, but there was no sense of danger like the one in the harbor. It was explained later that the village rarely had any visitors, so new faces were always welcomed. In fact, most of the village that night offered to buy the princess and her guard mead, which they accepted graciously. Gilda also was offered mead by the many young griffons who wanted to get to know the new female in town.
The bard and his group began to perform as soon as the mead settled in everyone's bellies. music started, and the entire inn was alive in song and dance as if it was a massive celebration. Gilda could be seen dancing with one of the young hunters while Flash, Twilight, and Spike looked on in amazement.
"Why's arnts u up theres n 'ancin?" an older griffon asked, nearly flipping the table over when he used it as a brace.
"Is this a special occasion?" Flash asked, looking at the celebration around them.
"No's party. in da village: eryday could be ours lastest moment. We celebrit like if last."
The old man stumbled away, leaving the three to digest what he’d said.
"So every day they celebrate life by drinking something that will slowly kill them," Twilight found.
"Nice one, Princess Buzzkill."
Before Twilight could say anything, two mugs of the liquid gold landed on their table. They looked over to the source to see the bartender raising his glass in their direction.
"So, is this for us?" Twilight asked.
"Yea, I doubt the bartender wants to give alcohol to a baby dragon."
"What if it’s poisoned."
Flash responded to having a healthy drink of her mug with his to boot.
"See, it's not so bad, other than it being a bit stronger to my liking."
Twilight took a sip. One sip turned to gulps; those gulps turned to 3 whole mugs. Those three cups turned into her and Flash Sentry joining the rest of the village in the singing and dancing. For the both of them, it was a lovely night of not either doing princess duties or preparing for another day of training. They were just celebrating. They didn't know what they were celebrating, but they were with each other.
Throughout the entire night, Flash could have sworn Twilight had a bit of a sparkle to her eyes every time they locked eyes.
***
The party ended hours ago, but it had just begun for the Princess and her guard. They were on top of the straw inn, admiring the large moon that light up the night sky. They had been talking for hours about life, their friends, upbringings. Twilight even told Flash some of her brother's most embarrassing stories, in case he felt suicidal.
The conversation quickly turned into relationships, with both of them concentrating on their work too much to even consider something as big as a relationship.
"Do you have somepony you would be in a relationship if you had the chance?"
Flash Sentry blushed. "Well, my momma always told me never to kiss and tell. How about you?"
Twilight had no answer. Instead, She elected to attract Flash's attention. As soon as he did, she answered with a passionate kiss. Flash did not move, and let the Princess shove her tongue into his mouth. She wanted him, but he had a change of heart, backing out of the kiss.
"I want to keep going, but your brother will kill me if he knew about us..."
"You can tell him that it was me who started it."
"Doesn't work with him."
"Y-yeah..."
The conversation quickly died and fell into an awkward silence. They looked in every direction, looking and thinking about something, a topic, anything to break the silence, but the situation was too telling for the two.
"I think I have to get some sleep. We have a big day tomorrow," Twilight said with a nervous chuckle. She flew down to the front door of the inn and silently entered, leaving Flash to himself.
In the moonlight, the silhouette of a Pegasus on the roof of the inn hitting himself in the head with his hoof can be seen.
A few minutes later Flash returned to stand in front of Twilight's door, a guard in the inn filed out with the entire village already home, leaving the other travelers in the main hall. Flash looked on the other side of the lodge to see Gilda sneak into another room, with the young hunter that was talking her up a few hours ago. Both of them were smiling seductively at each other, knowing what the rest of their night would entail.
Go get em, Gilda.
His eyes began to get heavier, to the point where he collapsed next to Twilight's door and was fast asleep. The bartender looked at the sleeping guard and did not bat an eyelash. He had seen enough bodyguards fall asleep on the doors of their protectee's rooms that it didn't phase him, even if the guard was sleeping on the floor.
It was an hour later that the door opened behind Flash Sentry, and an annoyed Twilight came out.
"We got the big bedroom for a reason," Twilight said as he carried his body inside the room. She dropped him on the other bed and tucked him under the covers. As she turned to lay back down in her bed, she ran into the fact that Spike had taken over the bed. The baby dragon conquered it with his out-stretching limbs. One thing that Twilight learned was that if she interrupted his sleep for any reason, he would never be awake for the rest of the day and blame her for everything.
Well...
She slipped under the covers of Flash's bed far enough to not be physically touching him, but close enough that it was as suitable as cuddling.
"There it is, the griffon’s capital. Too big and too French for anyone to pronounce," Gilda said.
They were on a edge of a cliff, overlooking the grand valley of the Kingdom. On the other side of the valley was the capital, its many pillars of stone sticking out of the rocks and standing right above the tree line.
They left that morning in a hail of goodbyes from their newfound friends and continued their trek through the mountain passes and valleys of the inner kingdom. By the time they had arrived, they were ready to go into the city and get some food.
"I can smell the Hayburgers all the way from here!" Twilight cheered, salivating at the lips.
"Well, have fun without me. Smell ya later!" Gilda said as she prepared to fly back in the direction of the village.
"Wait! Why don't you join us?" Spike asked.
"Something, something... Dead or alive," Gilda mumbled. "Besides. I have someone to see in the village."
"I see someone got some..." Flash snickered.
Gilda's face became red as she flew off, leaving the two ponies and dragon to fend themselves in the strange land of the griffons. As they watched her sail into the morning light, Flash only had to snicker.
"I so caught her going into the bedchambers of one of the younger hunters in town," Flash said with glee.
Twilight giggled while Spike shrugged.
"You see Spike, when mommy and daddy-"
"Yes! I know...... I got 'The Talk.'" Spike grumbled.
"Well, by ‘The Talk' he ran into one of my advanced biology textbooks." Twilight confessed. "It was...."
"Painfully awkward?"
"Yep."
The three chuckled in unison before looking on at the city before them.
"You ready, Princess?" Flash asked.
"I'm a bit nervous. I have never met a ruler of a different nation without Princess Celestia by my side.”
"Well, at least you have me." Flash grinned.
"Corny. But cute. Alright, lets go. Sooner I get my hoof on a hayburger the better I will be."
They galloped off the cliffs, diving head first and picking up speed on the drop only feet from the sharp rocks of the cliff face. Their manes and tails were flapping wildly behind them as they expanded their wings and pulled up, narrowly missing the rocks. They flew up with an even greater intensity, allowing their bellies to feel the brushing sensation of the pine thistles as they barely cleared the canopy of the trees. As they got closer, it looked like the city was surrounded by gnats. As the hour dragged on and the distance to the city
The gnats became bigger as time went on, eventually becoming the heavily packed skies that was the capital. Griffons of all colors and social status were sharing the skies, even if there was disdain for other griffons who were "different." For that reason, it was no surprise that the two ponies and dragons were the center of everyone's attention.
Unlike their fellow species, there was not disgust to the three, but worry and fear.
"Well, they're screwed." A griffon said to another in passing.
"Now he is going after Princesses too?" Another wondered out loud.
"This is going to lead to war, I know it!" A more well-off griffon complained to his wife.
"What is all this about?" Twilight whispered to Flash, while at the same time looking for somewhere to eat.
"I don't know, but it worries me. It's just like in the port city. Remember? no ponies? Every-"
"Wait! I smell food!" Twilight elated as she sniffed around, like a bloodhound smelling the trail of its master’s kill. "It's coming from... There!" Twilight bellowed, pointing her hoof at a ordinary looking pillar of rock. It was hollowed out at certain points. "Let's go!" Twilight commanded as she locked her hoof with Flash's, dragging him down with her into the delicatessen.
***
"B-but it smelled so good!" Twilight moaned, looking at the bowl filled with a white stew that had different animal parts in it. The waitress agreed to take it back to the kitchen to remove the meat and add the vegetables that the griffons never ate exclusively.... For extra bits of course.
"Anyway, did you see what I was talking about earlier?" Flash asked.
"All I wanted was some carrots, apples, or maybe even a whole potato...."
"Twilight!" Flash barked.
"Oh, sorry... I guess? I noticed it, but what does it mean?"
"I guess we’ll find out when we see the king." Flash said, waiting patiently for his bowl as well.
Their stew arrived and they were elated. Carrots, leeks, potatoes upon potatoes, a whole cabbage, zucchini, and a exotic fruit known as chayote were diced and sprinkled into the mixture
They wasted no time in chowing down. Twilight did not even use her magic, she dropped her face down and began to nibble at the first thing her mouth touch, letting go of her new title as Princess and embracing good cuisine. It took them minutes to finish the more than healthy portion of food but elected to sit on their bench for a little while longer. Spike continued to chow down on his own bowl of gems.
"So, what is the king like?" Flash asked. “You said you met him at a social gathering with Princess Celestia before.”
"Well, you are about to find out!"
All three turned their head to see a larger, bulkier griffin. His mere sight had even the meanest looking griffin cowering in place. He was covered in gold armor, his wings capped by a gold exoskeleton. His claws were also capped with gold but were as sharp as blades. Behind him were two other griffons covered in steel armor.
"Princess Twilight Sparkle, my name is Rainier. I am the first Griff-at-Arms for the king of our land. You need to come with us."
It took them around ten minutes to fly from the restaurant to the imposing castle at the edge of the rocks. The castle grounds were one of a few rare areas in the cliffside city where there was a large expanse of flat surface to walk around on. Outside, the castle looked like any other one Twilight had seen in their history books or Flash's military strategy textbooks. Inside, however, they were nearly blinded by the amount of gold that lined the walls as part of the trim and texture for the maroon ramparts, the gold plated base and ceiling boards, and many decorations along the walls that were either gold, ivory, or of an assortment of precious gems.
"They seem to be doing okay," Flash joked. Twilight and Spike snorted out a quiet giggle, which attracted the attention of Rainier. He turned around, gave a quick huff and continued to escort the three down the lavish hallways.
The largest room in the castle was the throne room, about the size of a Canterlot city block. Like the halls, they had a maroon wallpaper laced with gold. The many pillars were made out of marble, and at the end of the room stood a large stairway that led to a lavish chair made of gold and gems. On top was an older griffon, nude in comparison to everyone else with their jewelry and fancy clothes, but he had one object on his head: a crown.
"Ah, Princess! Welcome to my kingdom!" His dark and brooding voice bellowed from the throne. As per tradition, Flash Sentry and Spike bowed, leaving Twilight to stand there and prepare for what she was hoping for: the location of Starswirl’s book, or if the king had it, to have it handed over, for a hefty sum of course.
"Hello, King Carloman, my name is-"
"Available, I hope."
Everyone's attention turned to a younger, more stylish griffon with white clothes, undressing the princess with his eyes.
"Ignore my son, he is a charmer." The king replied. "You came for something, as I was told?"
"Yes!" Twilight replied. " A book, from-"
"Starswirl the Bearded," The king interrupted.
"Yes! We know of a few places where it can be if you would so kindly allow us to look in your ancient castles?" Twilight asked.
King Carloman had a grin. Sinister, yet warm. "I'll do you one better, Princess. The book!"
Twilight stood in awe at the griffon in a golden robe as he walked in from the side of the throne room. On his back, placed on a silk pillow was the book: It looked more like a diary than anything, with some of the pages torn and sticking out of the book. It looked delicate, but if Twilight knew Starswirl's bookbinding, it was built to last forever.
"So, this is the book of Starswirl's early magic... I'm impressed" King Carloman said as he glided from the top of the throne, snatched the book and flew back to the throne with a thunderous flap. He sat on the throne as he opened up a random page. "I love books, I love reading, I made literacy decrees that forces my subjects to learn to read. But it comes with some risks. One of the risks is the idea that Gryphons are inferior. So, when I see a magic book, it makes me compelled to show my power."
He pinched one page between his fingers and tore it off, the sound of the paper ripping in half made twilight flinch.
"What are you doing!?" Twilight hollered.
"This book has no use to me, I don't have magic, so it must be destroyed." As he ripped another page. Twilight watched in horror as the king was desecrating the book. The king simply laughed as he did so. As he prepared to rip a fourth one she disappeared in an amazing ball of purple. She instantly reappeared in front of the throne. The book became possessed and yanked itself out of the Carloman's reach. She disappeared and returned to her spot next to Flash.
"Guards! Seize them!"
The guards surrounded them, with spears hanging from their wings.
"I don't know why you would have me arrested! You performed an act of desecration to-"
Twilight looked at one of the ripped off pages and discovered that the words in the book were not in her language.
In fact, it wasn't even any common language.
"Ah, the old fake book trick. Love it!" Coleman said. "So, you are wondering why I was entertaining you with the fake for so long... Well if you haven't known, the Kingdom is always in need of more gold. so, I captured all of the ponies in my kingdom for ransom. Celestia at first refused to believe someone would be so 'evil'. but having you as my top ransom... Well, I’ll be swimming in pure Equestrian bullion. "
All three were speechless, they were lured into a trap and it was sprung open.
"So, Princess. Will you go quietly-"
His demands were answered with Flash charging at the king. He had no armor or weapons, but he knew where to hit where it hurt, which was the head and using his hind hooves. The entire throne room was agasped as Flash was chased all over the room, ten angry, armored griffons trying to fly down the quicker, more agile pony. His luck quickly ran out as he was surrounded and tackled to the ground.
"Run!" He yelled.
With the guards also about to grab her and Spike, she used her wing to scoot Spike close. she disappeared in a cloud of purple magic.
The king walked to the young stallion, who was still struggling against his captors.
"You attack a king in his own throne? Oh, you are so screwed."
Twilight and Spike appeared in a brilliant flash of violet between the walls of the castle and a watch tower. The small grassy area was well hidden by a giant, wild berry bush that was sprouting it’s seasonal dark purple fruit,. Even though Twilight appeared there for her and Spike's safety, she had no intention of staying and was preparing herself to disappear once more. In Twilight's mind: as long as Spike and Flash were safe she could have rested her mind. But, only one of them were not in danger. "Stay here, Spike!" Twilight commanded. She was stopped by the baby dragon holding on to her wing.
“Where do you think you’re going?!" Spike demanded.
"Saving Flash!" She said in desperation.
"It's too late, Twilight. They’re all over the place looking for you."
"But-"
"I don't think Flash would like it if you went back after him! He told us to run!"
Twilight gave a defeated sigh, especially with the entire guard now scrambling to the skies looking for her like hawks looking for their next meal. They were in all manners of dress, from full metal armor to simply nothing but a spear clutched in their talons. It didn't matter if the Princess could easily defeat them in a one-on-one battle, as long as the rest of the griffons knew of Twilight’s location.
"What can we do, Spike?" Twilight asked in despair while the images of a brutally tortured Flash Sentry raced through her mind.
"Hide for now... I think we can use the night to help us look for him," he suggested.
"I guess we don't have a choice either way," Twilight sighed, looking to the frenzy she had started above her.
***
They waited in that hidden crevice for hours as they looked up to see patrols whizzing by as they looked for the princess and dragon. Their search went on tirelessly into dusk, and then they eventually gave up at nightfall.
"What do we do now?" Spike asked, peering at the night sky above. The rushed deployment of the kingdom's guards were replaced by the infinite dots in the sky.
"If I remember correctly, Carloman said he was holding ponies for ransom. Flash must be in the prison."
"But where is the prison?" Spike asked.
"Well, I think it's that tower?" Twilight pointed to the tower that, upon a close study, could be the prison. While the rest of the walls and towers of the castle were white, the lone tower was gray, old, in shambles, and had the look that it would collapse at any moment.
"Get on."
Twilight and Spike struggled out of the thorny bushes. As soon as they did, Spike jumped on Twilight’s back and she silently took off into the crisp night air. Twilight flapped her wings towards the light on top of the tower. it was a single solitary light, and she had a hunch that Flash was inside. She didn't get far until she was stopped by the voices from the larger window a story below.
"Well look who we got here! Howdy, princess!" An older, dirtier earth pony hollered.
Twilight peeked in and had no words. Over a few hundred ponies were inside: colts, mares, and foals alike. They seemed well fed but cramped, and they looked on to their princess in complete wonder.
"She's a really pretty one," a larger mare observed. The entire room rushed to see their princess flapping her wings to try and keep level.
"What is every pony doing here?"
"Well, the King started imprisoning us, hav'n something to do with pay'n a tax for being in his land. We can’ pay it so he has all o' us in here until Celestia pays for our release."
"So the rumors were true," Twilight lamented. "Did they bring someone here today? A young colt with blue hair and an orange coat?"
The older stallion grimaced. "No, Princess. Not here. They must have brought him up there to the top of the tower. R'ughed him up real good. We o'erheard the guards talking about his execution."
Twilight's heart became heavy, and her eyes began to water.
"Is he..."
"He’s asleep. The boy snores like a freight train. Is he our prince?"
Twilight did not answer, she gave her wings a few heavy flaps and rose to the window at the top of the tower.
As Twilight flapped up to Flash's iron-gated window, the lone lamp exposed the amount of injuries he had. He had cuts that still had small amounts of blood seeping through them, a few lumps around his body where the dark splotches of bruising were setting in. The cell itself was cramped, only allowing whoever was inside to move a few feet in every direction. The bottom of the cell was also lined with a thin layer of straw.
"Flash?" Twilight asked to the mangled body. As if by some miracle, the pegasus perked his ears up and flipped over. His once pretty-boy face had cuts and bruises as well.
"What happened to you?" She asked in shock as she reached her hoof into the iron bars, Flash took his dirty hoof and held hers. He felt his princess's soft, polished hoof and smiled for how much she cared about him.
"They beat me trying to get information. They think we are here to usurp the king and invade his kingdom. I've been through worse at basic training. Your brother knows how to beat us down to make us stronger."
"But your body can't take that much!" Twilight said.
"It won't need to, I'm going to be executed tomorrow. Get all the ponies in the prison and the book back. It should buy you all some time."
"Flash, don't think that way! We can get you out of here!"
"No can do, Princess. That puts you and Spike in danger, and that defeats the purpose of me defending you!"
"So? Just let me help you."
"Twilight! Get the other ponies and the book and leave the Kingdom!"
"NO! Not without you!" She snapped back, tears falling down her cheeks.
"Why, Twilight? Why me?"
Twilight looked at the young guard and looked down. Spike was still on her back, which barely let Twilight think. She knew off the top that why she fell for someone like him was incredibly weird.
But, he had to know. Twilight knew it too.
She took a deep breath, trying to collect herself.
"Well.. it's hard to explain. I went to another dimension where I met the version of you and I fell for him. I mean, it was hard not to! He played guitar like you, he like fast cars, which I bet is the same as flying fast, and he was sooooo dreamy like you! I mean..."
Twilight took another sigh, but choked at the end.
"What I'm trying to say is.... I love you, Flash Sentry. It doesn't matter which side of wherever you’re from. You’re perfect in every way" She said, on the verge of tears.
Flash was unmoved, he knew deep down his feelings for her as well, but there was everyone down below them. There was the book. and, there was his duty.
"Well, Twilight..."
"Does this mean you will let me help you out of there?" Twilight asked.
Flash only shook his head. "We still have a duty to protect you and the others. Sorry, Twilight. It's the only way."
Twilight hung her head and began to sob. She flew to the ledge and sat on it, lacking any strength to do anything else but cry.
Spike got off her back and tiptoed his way to her front to give her a hug. Her teardrops fell on his chest.
"I'm sorry, Princess..."
"I-I know, but-"
Behind him, the sounds of the clanking armor were heard as the griffon prison guards were approaching. He struck his hoof out and held it against hers. and with what strength he had left, he reached out of the bars with his muzzle, and planted his lips on Twilight's forehead.
"Goodbye, princess. And tell your brother I'll finish my five hundred laps someday."
The sun had barely peeked through the horizon when the plan was sent into motion. The capital was deserted in the mornings, too cold for the thin-haired griffons to start their daily rituals. It made Twilight's part of the plan a whole lot easier. She flew with Spike on her back to an open window in the library tower.
"Do you even know where it is?" Spike asked.
"No, but you are smaller and harder to see, Spike. I don't think they're on guard for a baby dragon," Twilight assured him, as he jumped through the window into the tower.
"Good luck," Spike waved as Twilight flew off. He turned to see how massive the library was. There was floor after floor of book shelves, and each one had its own collection of manuscripts and hardcovers. In order to go from one end of the decimal system to another, you would have to climb the stairs to the other end of the tower.
“I'm starting to miss the library in ponyville," Spike muttered as he began his search on the very top of the library.
***
The daybreak gave way to the warmer, brighter morning. The citizens, the guards, and even the upper crust of the capital were buzzing. It had been a good year or two since a public execution, and that dry spell was to be broken today. The wooden structure in the middle of the town square was surrounded by griffons of all walks of life, colors and classes. Usually, the different groups would have nothing to do with each other. But on that day, they were unified in seeing someone get their head lopped off in the name of the king. The king’s guards were also in attendance, circling the execution square and squatting around the executioner’s block, looking for trouble while also trying to get a good view of the kill.
The crowds roared when Flash Sentry was dragged out from the base of the prisoner's tower. He was bruised and bloodied. As he was pulled through the crowd he heard the boos and hisses from the crowd, and cries of 'Execute the pony!' were heard throughout. When his escorts landed him in the execution square he immediately collapsed from the sleep deprivation and the beatings. Flash still had a grin in his face. He did his job by getting the princess to leave and ge the message that would end with his brothers in arms storming the castle in the near-feature to fuck the king’s shit up.
Do what you must, beakheads. I have already won.
His neck was placed on the chopping block and he finally saw his executioner. The executioner was smaller than most, and even the wings that protruded from the long drape to conceal the identity of the axe griffon looked different from griffon wings that he was used to. They were also purple. There was also the fact that the axe was levitating by itself in a purple aura. Flash cracked an even larger smile since so far no one had picked up the fact that the executioner was not one of them.
I have to admit, she has guts.
Although he was the one to be executed, the king was the star of the show. The crowd cheered when he glided down from the royal tower, his son with him, to see the bloody spectacle. When King Carloman landed, he gave one look to the executioner and gave her a nod. The executioner took her place next to flash's neck, which was on the block and ready to be sliced in half.
"Ladies and gentlegrifs," he spoke, "Today, we have a special execution for all of you. This pegasus from equestria has dared to attack your king!"
The crowds booed at flash, with rotten food thrown in his direction.
"But! This does not mean we should live in fear with those... Equestrians. Oh no. This is the first act of defiance to our Equestrian aggressors! This is a direct message to them: This is our land! This is our land! THIS IS OUR LAND!"
The crowd repeated their king. "This is our land!" They cried in unison. As they did the king and his son swooped down to flash, still laying on his side on the chopping block.
"Even your little princess has abandoned you, pony."
The king and the prince backed away to let the executioner go to work.
***
Spike went through floor after floor with no luck. Even his expert book finding skills were no match to how physically demanding this library was. When he reached the top of the tower, he spotted something different. There were no shelves, no stacks of books. Instead, there were display cases, and each one held a book or a scroll. He looked around until he found it: the book of Starswirl.
"Ah-ha!" He shouted as he lifted the glass case. He gently placed the display box aside and opened the book. For him, it was unintelligible, but he’d seen the wording and the inscription before. To unicorns, it was easily legible.
"Now I'll I have to do is-"
"-die."
Spike turned around in shock. Standing before him, covered in steel plate armor, was a griffon armed with a spear.
"Uh, Dad?" The young prince asked in concern as the crowd hushed themselves to hear the slicing of the neck that was to come.
"Hush, boy! Our first act against the ponies is about to start!" The king angrily whispered.
"That's the thing! last time I checked griffons can't use magic!" His son frantically warned.
"Yeah? And what's your point?!" The king growled at his son.
"So we have established that griffons cannot use magic. So, dear father, why is the executioner using magic!?"
The king turned pale and slowly pivoted just in time to react as the executioner's ax sailed at him. He ducked at the last p second, but not before the ax cleaved the king’s favorite crown.
"Seize the hot princess!" The prince commanded. The guards flew to Twilight, but before they could reach her, she disappeared in a flash of magic. She reappeared in front of Flash, and with her magic, she freed Flash with his shackles.
"Let's go! Now!"
Flash was quick on his hooves and in the air with Twilight. The griffons knew their speed was no match for the ponies in the open air, so they threw their spears at them in an attempt to strike them down. Each one missed them and buried themselves into the side of the brick tower. Twilight changed her direction towards the library tower, with Flash flying right behind her.
"Where is Spike!?" He asked.
"Library! Going to take the fly-thru!"
***
With each swing of the armor-clad guard’s ax, the harder Spike screamed. He would dodge out of the way at the last half-second, causing the ax to strike the floor. With Starswirl's book in one claw, he was more concentrated on not being split in half than the safety of the book. Even one sneeze could turn it onto a pile of ash. The second he heard the commotion he took a quick peek at the mayhem, waiting for his chance. He saw Twilight and Flash fly to him and knew it was his chance.
He kicked his feet up as hard as he could, narrowly missing the ax several times.
"This better work!" Spike groaned in prayer as he leaped out of the window. He felt his stomach fly back, his eyes widen, and his heart race. He was free falling down to the floor with nothing to stop him. It felt like it was going to be certain death.
He landed with a firm, but safe, thud, still clutching onto the book. He saw that he landed on something purple, and something flying.
"Thank you Twilight!" He hollered as he held onto her mane.
"Thank you for the idea for this, Spike. Now we have to get those ponies out!" Twilight commanded as she took Flash's hoof in hers. As the griffons were closing in on the three, Twilight's magic surrounded them and they disappeared, to the bewilderment of every griffon watching.
The ponies in the prison tower were watching the drama unfolding below them, cheering for their princess. When she disappeared, it was bittersweet. She had left to get help, but left them behind, to the wrath of the king. They were more than relieved when she reappeared in front of them in a flash of purple.
Twilight's first observation gave her an idea: a sled.
"Is there any pegasus here that's able to fly?" She panicked.
A few raised their hooves and started to stretch their wings, which they had been waiting to use for a while. .
"Everyone else pile on to the sled. I'm going to blast a hole and we are going to make a break for Equestria! Take this directly to Celestia when you arrive in Canterlot." Twilight commanded as she levitated the book out of Spike's claw and tucked it into a storage compartment in the sled.
“Hey, that book over there on the floor! It looks like starswirl's book! What if we take that with us to make the griffins think we still have it?" Flash observed the dusty book on the ground next to Twilight.
"Good idea!" Spike replied as he picked it off the ground. He dusted it off and hopped on Twilight's back once more.
The guards had congregated around the humiliated king as the tried to figure out what to do from there. All the king wanted was to get his talons on the princess, no matter how badly his son wanted her for some 'fun'.
King Carloman’s wish was answered with an explosion that rocked the side of the prisoner’s tower, and two groups of ponies flying out in different directions. Carloman's eyes were fixed on the smaller group that consisted of the princess, the dragon, and their guard. He would have cared less about his ransom leaving. The princess was worth more than all of those ponies put together and then some.
"Damn, I hate to see her go, but I love watching her leave," The prince commented, which drew glares from his father and the horde of armor-clad guards.
The prince sighed "Look! The book is secured! There's no way-"
"My liege!" The armored guard wailed as he flew down from the library.
"They took the book, didn't they?" The king asked.
The guard nodded in defeat, the sound of the squeaking joints in the metal reverberating in the crowd.
"Don't just sit here with a claw up your ass. Go get them!" King Carloman ordered.
They had a tailwind in their escape, so they were going faster than they anticipated. In fact, they were probably beating the line of messenger griffins that were no doubt headed to the port town to give orders from the King himself to stop their escape.
"Do you think we are in the clear?" Twilight asked as she looked back ever few minutes, even though Spike was sitting backwards to watch their back.
"Only one way to find out, Twilight! Keep pushing!" Flash commanded, his blood still pumping over his near-decapitation and escape thanks to the Princess.
As they kept their quick pace through the countryside, they passed over the griffon village they came by earlier. Even if they were friendly, they were still servants to their king, so the idea of asking them to hide there was out of the question. Still, a friendly wave or two was exchanged between the ponies and their newfound friends.
Within hours, they arrived with a full tailwind over the port city they first arrived at. They cheered in jubilation, which was amplified with another group they saw flying; the group of pony prisoners they freed. They hovered above the port as well.
"I guess they are waiting for us?" Twilight asked as she flapped her wings harder to catch up to them.
"Twilight, I don't think that's the reason!" Flash said as he tried to catch up with them. In front of them were brown dots surrounding them
When they got closer, the dots became bigger, and eventually griffons. In front of the caravan was the King and Prince of the griffons. The griffons looked at the approaching the Princess and her guard and moved to surround the three, leaving the caravan to themselves, which they continued to fly to Equestria.
"So, I let you trespass into my kingdom, grant you an audience with me, only to be disrespected and attacked. No more talkiNg, no more 'diplomacy!’ You will hand over the book and come back to my capital for your execution or I will order my soldiers to shoot you out of the skies!"
Twilight and Flash gave each other a wink and nod. The king was ready for it and ordered his guards to swarm the two. Twilight and Flash stopped flapping and let gravity do the rest, falling like rockS in midair. the griffons met where their enemies were before and watched as the three made a break for the Equestrian coast, which was a speck in the setting sun.
They regrouped and gave chase, and were catching up rather quickly to the escaping princess and her guard. Twilight and Flash looked back to their pursuers and soared as high as they could, breaking past the scattered clouds. Their acting was stopped when one griffon grabbed Flash's leg but was quickly rewarded with a few hoofs to the face.
"Spike!" Twilight cried, giving spike the signal of what to do next.
"Oh, no! Twilight! The book!" Spike cried in despair as he “dropped” the book in an act that was sub-par at most. The two ponies stopped to see the book fluttering in the free fall right towards Carloman.
From down there, they could hear him and his son laugh, the King relieved that of everything that happened that day that at least something going his way. Getting that friendly bounce that would salvage everything he had been working for.
"They will have to come back to save their precious book!" Carloman cheered as the book landed on his talons. He studied it for a second, and a second in the open was all it took for a purple beam of magic to strike the book, giving the King a front row seat to the book’s destruction. Carloman was shocked and enraged. The griffons looked to the ponies in unison to see that they were already speeding to Equestria, enough so that giving chase would mean entering the Equestrian airspace.
His son studied Twilight's disappearing plot and gave a wry smile. "I hate to see her go, but I love watching her leave."
Carloman observed a surviving page of the book and grabbed it. He studied the words on that page and sighed.
"It’s okay father, we can find another way to get more gold from them." The son assured.
"No, it is not that.... They were carrying the fake book the entire time. The more I think about it, the more I think we just got rused." The king announced.
For Flash and Twilight, they couldn't fly into the sunset together since the sun was setting behind them, but trading symbolism for coming home in one piece was a nice trade off. Twilight was a bit annoyed at the outcome, no cute guard as her special somepony, no fully romantic escapades; but it was an adventure nonetheless. Spike didn't care, returning home meant his own warm bed. As for Flash, the fact a princess expressed romantic interest in him was nice and all, but he got to keep his head on his neck. That was was enough for him.
***
When they returned back to Equestria, Twilight’s friends, family and the Princesses were waiting for them, which beat the hell out of a ticker-tape parade. In his joy, Shining did not give Flash Sentry five hundred laps, but instead got his subordinate a beer and a promotion for literally putting his neck out for his baby sister.
Though the celebration was short-lived, Twilight loved every moment, knowing that her time with her crush would come to an end. When it came to actually say goodbye, Twilight wanted to give him one last kiss. But with everyone watching... a simple hug had to do. She even waved goodbye as the three ponies from the Crystal Empire left on their train, bound for home.
Twilight sat as she watched it chug out of sight and gave off a barely noticeable sigh.
"Y’all messed around, didn't ya?" Applejack asked, to a bewildered Twilight.
The first few weeks after the return from the Kingdom was tough for Twilight. The transition from the excitement of the mission to the everyday life of being the Princess of the Ponyville library. It was a warm, breezy day, but Twilight was busy taking notes on a book that just came in. Her thoughts were still fixated on the pony she spent time with, fighting the temptation to secretly take a train to the Crystal Empire to see him. Her thought was broken by the fluttering of wings and the sound of a predatory bird. She looked at the edge of her desk to see a falcon had landed on her desk, a note wrapped around its leg.
Twilight used her magic to take the note and read it, and her heart skipped a beat or two. It was from Flash. She squealed like a schoolgirl as she kept on reading. In the letter, flash noted that Cadence was behind the letter, giving Flash twilight’s location to start a pen-pal relationship. With a bronze hoof and a letter of commendation, Flash was a sergeant for the guard, with his own small group of ponies to command. He also expressed interest in seeing her again in a more “safer” setting. He closed out by saying that the falcon was his pet, and his name was “Buzz.”
Twilight smiled as she took a blank scroll and some ink. she gave it a thought or two before she began.
