Feathers
Equestria was enduring a thirty year war between equines, Changelings, and griffins. This war was set off by a chain of events nopony had expected. Twilight Sparkle and her friends had defeated many enemies. The more they did the more tensions grew within species. The war had started when nopony expected it; in the beginning the war was between only Equines and the changelings. When Equines had attempted to withdraw from the fight, the changelings grew angry. They ruthlessly attacked the home of the griffins. A species once close to the equines, that changed after they were attacked due to the equines attempted to withdraw. Thus the Griffins entered the war of now three species. The layout of ownership of land in Equestria shifted dramatically as the war raged on.
Land that once belonged to the equines alone was now mixed into a cesspool of species. Ponyville is a stronghold that belongs to the equine nation.
This is the first line of defense to Canterlot The Changeling race was the most ruthless and soulless in the war. They gained numbers daily, they breed much like rabbits. They’re leaders were Queen Chrysalis and her sisters. There was only one changeling queen whom was older than Chrysalis. Thus naming this changeling queen the master and full time leader of the changelings during the war, that was until she dropped off the map. Upon the Disappearance of Tamera, Queen Chrysalis took over. This marked a period in the war where the changelings became a very dangerous threat. Tamera had ruled them in a ruthless and strategic manor. Chrysalis took over and used the army much differently. She ruled it in a ruthless and powerhouse manor.
Tamera’s disappearance did not go by without some hoof pointing. Chrysalis and her sisters pointed the blame at the Equines at the head of state, while the Equines dropped the weight of the blames onto the griffins. Celestia continued to stand her ground, she had no idea what had become of the Changeling leader Tamera. The griffins groveled angrily as the blame was pinned on them. Names like greedy bird bustards were thrown at them. Equines swore it had to be the griffins that had stolen and probably killed Tamera. The griffins, like the equines, denied any involvement in her disappearance. Tamera’s disappearance had caused many battles to happen. Canterlot had been under attack for three years. The changelings were not powerful enough to take on the big head of the Equines. Canterlot was home base, the ponies there were not about to lose the place that commanded the army. The war rages on and seems to have no end in sight. Present day was no better. Canterlot faced constant threat even though it had not been attacked in years. The princesses constantly in their full war uniforms of armor, a close friend of Luna was on her way to visit her today.
Opal walked the stocked halls of Canterlot. The walls were stock piled with food, water, and weapons. Guards were there twenty four hours a day stocking it more and more. Opal was a very timid delegate of the Equestrian army. She helped make plans for attacks and met with Princess Luna daily. Opal was a pearly white color, her mane a mixture of blues and violets. Today she was wearing the proper military retirement uniform. She was a delegate that had withdrawn from involvement battle decisions. She didn’t want much of anything to do with the lives that were being lost. She simply came around to see what was going on. She entered Lunas courters to see her meeting with several generals of military groups. She was looking down at a map when Opal entered.
“Dear Princess Luna, I hate to interrupt your meeting but I stopped by to see what’s going on in Equestria today?” Opal said as she used her Magic to remove her own jacket. She quickly noticed the state of Lunas facial expression. She seemed worried as she tried to keep her casual stern expression.
“Oh, hello Opal, a pleasure to see you here today.” Luna said as she used her hoof to gesture the generals to leave the room. She removed her hooves from the table she had them on. Her lapis colored armor chimed a clanking sound as she was let her hooves clap the ground. She stood in a very strong pose. “Can I get you anything my dear?” Luna said as she looked into the raspberry eyes of Opal. “Or have you already fitted yourself with a meal before your arrival at my courters?” Luna fluffed her uncomfortable wings as she spoke. Her armor causing much stress on her body, She mostly only took it off when she laid down to sleep.
“My gullet is fed well, though I thank you for your offer. May I ask why you seem so worried? I haven’t seen you this stressed since the accusations against equines for the disappearance of Tamera.” Opal said as she made her way to take a seat at Lunas table. Her eyes shifted to take a look at the map. She saw many battle plans that had been made like a drawing board on the map.
“Well, my stresses are caused by worthy opponents. We suspect that there is a group of Changeling spy’s using guises to hide amongst our army here. We presume they are here to gather Intel. Unfortunately for us, Canterlot has thousands of troops and looking through them for a small group of spy’s would be more time consuming then it would be productive.” Luna stated as she took a seat across the table from Opal. “This is the cause of my stress. We simply can’t afford the Changelings knowing our battle plans. If they know it they will know exactly how to counter it.” Luna said as she pressed a ceramic cup to her lips, taking a sip of her tea. Luna then looked out the decretive window that added vibrancy to her dull room.
“This is more than enough of a reason to be filled with anxiety. Changelings are becoming increasingly hard to predict. As for the Griffins, Any news on the team you sent out last month to gather Intel?” Opal said as her eyes subconsciously begged for a cup of tea. Luna quickly reacted to Opals eyes and used her graceful and beautiful magic to levitate a cup of tea to her. The tea cup was of the most expensive. Gold painted the lip of the cups top. Decorative art of harmony days painted the side.
“They returned yesterday afternoon, the griffins made sure they returned in body bags. Those rotten rats had stuffed their own weapons inside their corpses and shipped them to our front door under the cover of the night.” Luna said as she sipped her tea once again. Her feathers shuffled as she felt the warm liquid run down her throat.
“Those Griffins sure do know how to send a thank you note. Do you think they plan on an attack now that we have shown interest in their plans?” Opal asked as she used her magic to hold the tea cup. “Griffins are known for their aggressive nature. They kill their own numbers from time to time due to it.” Opal stated as she looked into Lunas eyes. Before Luna was able to respond to the question her door swung open and The mulberry colored princess walked in removing her helmet that had blood splattered all over it. Princess twilights golden armor painted a now shade of red.
“They flanked us, Like they knew we were coming~!” Twilight sounded angry. “You sent me and my men out to die~!” Twilight tossed her helmet in the corner of the room. It chimed a loud crashing sound as it hit the hard marble floor. She made it to the table immediately slamming her front hooves on the table top. “I think I deserve an explanation for the loss of lives I had experienced.” Twilight said as she shifted her gaze to Opal who sat and listened. Twilight had become less mild tempered due to the war. After the loss of Pinkie pie she had never been as high spirited. Twilight had so much anger in her eyes. Something clearly bad had happened to the group they had sent out.
“I shouldn’t have sent you and your team out there. We were certain the Changeling spy’s hadn’t gathered the Intel they required. Clearly we were wrong.” Luna shook her head as she let out a deep sigh.
“You mean to tell me there were changeling spies and you did not make me aware of this. Luna I am getting real tired of you hiding this kind of info from me and Celestia. We deserve to know about those rats and there tricky guises.” Twilight rolled her eyes as she used her magic to levitate the tea pot to her lips. She began to chug what she could to quench the thirst that consumed her train of thought. Opal could clearly see she was angry and decided it might be best to let the two sort this problem out. She wanted nothing to do with the battles that took place. Luna ran her own side of the equine army. 30 years ago Twilight was asked who see would take sides with. She hated working in the dark where changelings blended in without their guises. so she had sided with the army of the day. Both armies were of one purpose and one side. Only difference was one handled affairs at night. and the other handled the day.
“I hate to interrupt you both but if you don’t mind I will be shoving off for now.” Opal said in a kind tone of voice. This was the tone she usually spoke with. Both Luna and Twilight nodded to her as she began to leave the room. Opal used to be a huge part in the decision making that happened around here. For some reason she had a mind for it. She was ruthless and strategic, a good asset in some situations the army had to face. She resigned from the duty because she was tired of the fate of others resting on what she said.
Opal had now entered the hall to see the guards were still stalking the walls with more and more stuff. She walked over to a window to see how the state of the wall was. The wall was a structure built around Canterlot. Many catapults were resting on top of this thick wall. The wall was constructed because of the massive attacks that had nearly crumbled the stronghold of the base. The defenses were constructed by every Unicorn and Alicorn that occupied the city. The Defenses were increased after the Crystal Empire was overthrown in the north. The Crystal heart had managed to be recovered and modified here in Canterlot. It was used for a constant magical shield around Canterot. Ponies thought it would also disrupt the guises of Changelings. Unfortunately it was damaged and was unable to disrupt such things. Opal looked away from the window to start her way to her room.
The Griffins marched their own streets causing loud and disruptive noises throughout their city. They had begun marching more often to prevent anypony or any Changelings from entering their homes.
“Sir the Equines have received the message by corpse. We lost no birds last night so I humbly come to congratulate you on your perfect plan.” General Peacock said to the Griffin leader. The griffins were to refrain from calling their leader by name.
“You accidentally called me sir again?” Sapphire said as she looked down upon Peacock. “I thought I told you to address me in the proper language of tongue?” Sapphire said in her usual tone of voice. She wasn’t always so cranky, after her father’s death. She had become much more like him, Both mentally and physically.
“Sorry mam, I am used to addressing your father.” Peacock said as he bowed slightly in gratitude towards her. “I wish to congratulate you on the job you had done making those ponies strung up the way they were.” Peacock said as he used his right talon to adjust the vest he was wearing. Sapphire chuckled slightly at the compliment on a job well done.
“Your compliment is taken to heart, now if you will gather troops for our meeting with Chrysalis that would be much more obliged. I do not trust a snake like her, I would like to feel protected as we try and come to a deal.” Sapphire said as she used a talon to pry something out of her beak that she had gotten stuck. Sapphire was wearing the most gold out of every griffin there. The more gold you were wearing the higher ranked you were in a griffin community. She was leader so she was a sparkling gem. The white based colored griffin enjoyed the accents. Though she wished they had remained on her father before his untimely death. Her father had been leader since the beginning of this war, Taken out by a band of ponies. In her opinion and in many other griffin minds, he had died an honorable death.
“Will do, I hope Chrysalis actually wishes to come to some kind of impasse. The last thing we need right now is another battle with her. We lost way too many griffins to her last month.” Peacock stated in a worried voice. “We can’t gain numbers as fast as she can.” Peacock said as he adjusted his lose vest once again. He was beginning to get on Saphs nerves.
“I hope more than anyone that we can come to some kind of impasse. Knowing Chrysalis she will probably not even show, instead she might send her ungrateful sister Miasma instead.” Sapphire rolled her eyes as she thought about the black and purple queen Miasma. Miasma was not as ruthless as Chrysalis, on the other hand she was hard to please or convince on anything. Sapphire looked at her wrist and adjusted a gold band that was on it. She looked at her reflection as she gave a soft sigh. “We are losing this war and I would rather come to an impasse with the bigger numbers. Help us recover from what we have lost.”
“We hope to come to an impasse as well dear griffin princess.” Miasma said as she landed at the entrance to her courters. Peacock back away slightly scared and bedazzled by the changeling queen miasma. “Hopefully we can both reach each other’s demands.” Miasma said as she blew some of her own hole filled mane out of her face. She fluttered her bug like wings creating a very irritating buzzing sound. Miasma looked at the princess with her dark purple eyes.
“Miasma , what a surprise to see you. Could have sworn I had requested to meet with Chrysalis herself today?” Sapphire said in a deeper and angry voice. “Why does she always send you to attend her meetings~!” Sapphire said as she had more of her own guards come close to her for protection. Miasma chuckled and entered. She looked around before taking a seat. Miasma also didn’t take griffins very seriously. She more or less saw them as some kind of plaything.
“Chrysalis has more important things to do than meet with you.” Miasma said as she looked the griffin princess dead in the eyes. Her wings fluttered once again as she was giving off a very irritated vibe herself. Miasma was not one who was normally angry, when she was it was a very bad idea to mess with her. “Now about the demands we changelings have. We understand you wish for a cease fire like demand. You wish for us to withdraw actions against you, for the time being? If this is the case all we changelings desire is a regular income of some of the gold you griffins mine.” The demands seemed very unfair to the griffins. They loved nothing more than gold. Giving it to some bug was something they really didn’t want to do. Sapphire was placed with a very hard decision.
“Are you sure there isn’t something else you could use more than gold? There must be something else we can trade in for a cease fire?” Sapphire said as she had a pleading look in her eyes. She wanted to keep her riches and her griffins safe. Giving gold away would be hard for her to do. She will do it if there is no other way to trade in for momentary safety. She shuffled her wings as she waited anticipating an answer from Miasma. Miasma sat and thought for a moment’s time. She slowly looked at the griffin princess and then to the other griffins in the room. Miasma clearly had something wicked brewing in her mind. It was making saph very uneasy. The guards around her were getting very spear happy. They deeply wanted to stab the beast through her wicked black hole of a heart.
“There is something else you could trade in.” Miasma said as she fluttered her wings once again. She opened her mouth in a smile, Saliva dripping from the holes on her cheeks, “for every month of safety you owe the changeling ten griffins for free harvest.” Miasma said, the harvest was something changelings said to refer to the transformation from regular species to changeling. Miasma had made the stake a little hire by putting forth the option of either half the gold or ten griffins to be sent to have their emotions fed on and bodies transformed into one for the changeling army. Miasma was not playing very fair; she knew that safety was something the griffins desperately needed. She knew that they would give something for that.
“Fine I will take your second offer.” Sapphire said with tears in her eyes. “Ten griffins for a months’ worth of safety,” Sapphire said as she felt she had let her griffins down. She was to selfish to just let a little gold go. Miasma had a pleased look on her face.
“Finally you come to an agreement with us. A shame you choose gold over lives though.” Miasma said as she started to stand up. Miasma was causing sapphire to be filled with deep anger. “Now I request to see you city and choose the ten ponies.” Miasma said as she turned away walking for the exit to sapphires courters. Sapphire felt disappointment in her self. She only wanted safety. She gave up ten of what she was trying to protect in order to gain what she wanted.
“No, I will not accept this. No deal, you’re not worth my feathers.” Sapphire said as she stomped her right paw against the ground. “I would rather fight then give up anything to you and your bug buddies. There is no deal, get out of my city before I dispatch of you myself” Sapphire said as she drew her holstered sword. Miasma stopped in her tracks and shook her head.
“You griffins are foolish and stubborn; you had a change at mercy. I will make sure Chrysalis knows of your ungratefulness.” Miasma started to flap her wings to fly off. Sapphire had enough of this purple queen. She was being kind enough to let her go to begin with. Now she was not going to show such kindness.
“Men attack now~!” Sapphire said. Peacock reacted immediately as he aimed his crossbow. Time seemed to slow down as he focused the sites on the soon to be out of view queen miasma. This attack relied on how he handled this very second. The griffon put a talon on the trigger. He let out a breath the moment he pulled the trigger. The string shot forward sending the arrow flying in Miasmas direction. She was in midflight and so was the arrow. There was a thump sound as the arrow collided directly behind her shoulder. Miasma’s wings stopped flapping and she spiraled to the ground. The griffin felt the adrenaline begin to flow. The forest soon filed with the clicking cries of changelings who had been waiting in ambush. Fear washed over many of the griffins as the impending attack was Nye. Peacock was loyal and he wasn’t going to back down. He had fired the battle causing shot. He was ready to take the possible death that faced him.
“Men ready your weapons. Purple changelings are now at our doorstep. Stand your ground and show these bastards our advances.” Peacock said to his men. “This is the battle you were born to fight~!”