Author's Note

So this was a idea for something that would be cool for one or two paragraphs but it kind of got out of hand.....

You'll see.....

also Jot Notes was kind enough to do the editing for this chapter!

Magic

There was a mountain there....

As you stare out the window into the field of rubble and fire you begin to wonder just how much political bullshit you are going to have to deal with. The miner in you begins to wonder just how much ore you can recover from the blast site. In your current state not much can really faze you, but a hole in a mountain range sure can do the trick.

Now would be a good time to get some rest wouldn't it?

Knowing full well how sore you are going to be tomorrow you lift yourself off the ground and lead yourself towards your bed. Even with the sun out and an inferno where a mountain used to be, you still fall asleep very quickly.

~~~

“Sir? The residents of Ponyville seem to be trying to attack the ship.”

“...what?” Onyx replies.

“We have reports from multiple observation decks that civilians from ponyville are firing cannon at us” the communications officer pauses and lets out a deep breath “The Royal Guard is actively trying to quell this behaviour.”

“What?! Where the fuck did they get enough cannons to make this relevant?!”

“Never question ponyville, Onyx” Artorias calls from another room.

“Understood.”

~~~

Princess Twilight is unsure of what to believe anymore. First she was told to board an unreasonably ship then that ship fires an unfathomably large cannon that permanently altered Equestria’s geography. Between Discord, Ponyville and the Gryphon Kingdom, she has had to deal with increasingly outrageous disasters.

The throne room really did have a sense of panic as countless officials, guards, vassals, nobles and other ponies prepared for the terrifying ship to dock in the mountain. Strangely, for every terrified noble that wants to cancel their ride on the ship, there are at least three others who are now requesting an invite.

Twilight dismissed the size of the warship, believing it just to be boasting from a barbaric warmonger, that was until she saw it over the horizon from her Ponyville home three days ago. She had met the Admiral Abysswalker before and saw him as an incompetent and unprofessional military leader with a barbaric plan to bring safety to his homeland.

Twilight always thought the Gryphon Kingdom was an odd place. Firstly because they don’t have a monarch and are governed entirely by the military. Along with that, they had a nationwide denial that Celestia and Luna’s powers are real and that the Sun and Moon move on their own. In addition they had many orders of knights such as The Warriors of The Sunlight or The Valkyries who handle homeland security. Twilight had never been to the Gryphon Kingdom or really stopped to talk to a Gryphon but she had difficulty imagining an entire country as wild as the Everfree and twice as dangerous. They didn't even have a capital city.

Twilight mentally smacked herself for focusing in the cultural oddities of the Gryphons just before meeting with one of their most important leaders. Twilight only had fifteen minutes before her train to the Ceaseless Discharge’s landing zone departed, so she decided to get a move on.

Twilight made her way through the crowded and panicked castle to her destination of the Canterlot Castle Train platform. The ponies boarding the train along with her had a mix of excitement and fear on their faces, with the odd military buff who was bursting with enthusiasm. The steam train lurches to life and begins its journey just like it would anyday with the sole exception that it is in the shadow of a flying behemoth.

Twilight passed the time by simply staring at the behemoth that is slowly approaching land. It had a significantly smaller balloon that one would expect from an airship that size. She could only suspect they used some of their magic blacksmithing techniques on it. The large cannon that destroyed the mountain was some sort of magical catalyst combined with a traditional cannon that was half as long as the ship. It also had a strangely smooth and egg like appearance it, Twilight assumed this was the ships armor.

The ship stopped at a makeshift platform in the middle of the Canterlot Valley where all the passengers pour out onto the field. The Ceaseless Discharge’s shadow was cast over the valley and some Gryphon Kingdom soldiers were setting up a stage and lighting torches. No one dared even approach the soldiers as they proceed with their menial tasks, that didn't stop one soldier from approaching her.

“Aren't you a little early for a princess?” A rather straightforward red crested gryphon said.

“I like to be punctual.”

“Then wouldn’t you arrive on time in you personal chariot?” The Gryphon asked quizzically.

“I don’t like that part of being a princess.”

“Bwahahahaha!” She seemed to burst into laughter for some reason, her outburst caught the attention of the other soldiers.

“Nothing.. I just never thought a princess would act so down to earth”

Twilight sighs, her hoof finds its way to her face.

“By the way, my name is Rosetta”

She talked for a short time before she had to go back to her job. What she thought was a stage was just the beginning of construction for a staircase that would apparently lead onto the ship. It had sprouted several brethren during the span of the conversation. Some other Gryphons had already began digging pits for a reason that evaded Twilight.

The ship while it was still quite a distance away fired a volley of anchors into the air. The Soldiers began to move the crowd away from the construction site while some of them affixed some device in each pit. The soldiers soon cleared the area themselves and simply sat and waited.

The anchors hit the ground like bombshells but they were too far away to blast anything but sound at the audience. Some dirt particles were caught by a magical force field that Twilight didn’t notice someone had put up. Every single one of the mammoth anchors slammed perfectly into the holes dug for them.

Twilight was really beginning to build some serious respect for the Gryphon magical blacksmiths. She makes a mental note to try to talk to one of them when on board the ship. Another train pulled into the station and a very welcome party of five arrives at the station.

“Twilight!” A synchronous cheer erupted from the Elements of Harmony.

It has been years since the bulk of their adventures but their friendship remained strong. The girls soon gathered and caught up with each other, completely forgetting about the giant ship in their midst.

Time flied and the Landing was soon upon them.

“Do you think I’d meet my old friend Gilda?” Rainbow asked.

“A’h don’t know sugarcube” Applejack answered her.

“The Gryphons really put Canterlot to shame when it comes to the outfits of their fighters” Rarity commented while observing a troop of the Silver Herald's Order.

"They all seem so much closer to nature than even some earth ponies” Fluttershy commented.

“But they all look boring!” Pinkie commented.

A huge platform being suspended from the ship begins to descend from the bottom of the ship, with a slight delay the platform begins to descend and soon the one after that. The mass of steel slowly fell onto the wooden platforms built earlier, the platforms formed a staircase onto the vessel.

Five Gryphons stepped off the platform, the first one Twilight recognized as Artorias. There was a heavily armoured one carrying a sword on it’s belt who had a heavily scarred male following behind her. The fourth was a young but decorated female who had a rather large looking and heavily armoured male following her. After them a regiment of soldiers in matching uniforms appeared from the platform and began to to take formation.

“Princess Twilight your safety is now my responsibility” The armoured one approaches Twilight along with the scarred one. The armoured one seemed familiar somehow.

“Hey G......Ewww!” The young scarred tried to silence her by placing his talon on her mouth but out of reflex she struck him, and he is knocked to the ground. A note he was carrying got caught in the wind and disappeared into the sky.

“Don't touch him!" The armoured one didn't move from her spot but her voice carried authority that shook everyone but Rainbow.

“Getting your marefriend to do all the fighting pipsqueak?” Rainbow raised her hoof to threaten the young male who was still on the ground.

“Rainbow!" Applejack shouts.

"Silence!" The armoured one speaks up.

"Shut up! I'm the one who always won!" Rainbow lashed out.

The scared pulled himself to his feet.

"You really don't know who you're dealing with." The armoured Gryphon took a few steps towards Rainbow.

"Really? Just the girl who is always in second place!"

"We never fought."

"We both have wings. A fight would be in the air and you were always slower!" Rainbow took a step forward.

"Princess Twilight" The armoured one approached her "Under Gryphon law I have the right to challenge her to a duel. May I have your permission?" She may have been acting calm but anypony could tell she was barely keeping control of herself.

"I will not condone any violence!" Twilight stamped her hoof down. "I will deal with Rainbow personally." Applejack was physically restraining Rainbow at that point.

After some time the Rainbow had calmed down but she was refusing to tell anyone why she was so angry. Artorias who had just watched the exchange decided he should do something to cut the tension, in his own way.

"Now that the class has calmed down can we at least get to introductions." Admiral Abysswalker said while looking at Rainbow more than others "We can start with.... You!" He pointed at the young female.

“Admiral Onyx!” she stood at attention.

“Vercingetorix Kiteshield! Captain of the Knights of the Holy Shield!” he stood at attention.

“Gilda Auditore! Captain of the Valkyries!” she stands at attention. Twilight visibly shook at the name Valkyrie.

he holds up a sign.

“And I am your host the lovely Admiral Abysswalker” he is acting like Discord “but you six can call me Artorias” the girls giggle at his bizarre yet familiar showmanship.

~~~

The first elevator made its way aboard the ship, carrying Twilight, her friends and a host of other VIPs. The edges of the platform did not have any sort of barrier keeping anyone from falling, although everyone was keeping their distance. All the high-ranking gryphons except Gilda and Surtr had left the group.

Twilight was almost entirely focused in the magical complexity of Gilda’s armour to really be paying attention to anything else. Rarity, as a unicorn, must have noticed it but she was too busy swooning over the soldier’s uniforms. Twilight can see various forms of magic flowing inside the armour, many seem to be tied to the user’s nervous system. The armour also emits several types of magic she has never seen before and some she thought were lost long ago.

“Gilda?” Twilight asks

“Yes M'lady” Gilda responds

“Who made that suit of armour for you?”

“I honestly don’t know who made it. Artorias just gave it to me.” Twilight made a mental note to talk to Artorias later.

“Okay than does the word 'Pyromancy' mean anything to you?”

“Pyromancers..... I don’t know anything about them other than it is a magical technique taught by those who live in the mist” Gilda paused for a moment “Ask Surtr he went to a pyromancer to repair his body after his accident” Surtr cringed at her words.

Surtr gestured before pulling a notepad and a pen from his pocket and began to write at a blisteringly fast pace.

Out of the corner of her eye Twilight had noticed her friends had all wandered off and began to mingle with the others on the platform. Rarity in particular was very clearly flirting with a grey owl-headed Gryphon with an unusual uniform. Twilight sighs.

This is going to be interesting isn't it?