Chapter Four - The Griffon Kingdom

"Pinkie Pie, are you awake?" Rainbow Dash asked, nudging her unconcious friend.

"Five more minutes, papa," Pinkie replied groggily, a bead of drool sliding down the side of her face, "then I'll go rotate the rocks."

"Pinkie Pie!" Rainbow Dash shouted, jolting her friend awake.

"Morning, Dashie!" Pinkie yawned, sitting up and wiping her mouth.  "So today I was thinking we could check out the-"

"In case you haven't noticed, we're not in our hotel room," Rainbow Dash said, gesturing to the area around them.  Pinkie scanned the room they were in carefully.  The unpainted stone that comprised the walls and floors of the large room all had a feeling of grit tot hem, being covered by a layer of dirt.  Their sleeping space, Pinkie noted, had been partitioned off by a wall of metal bars, and it was one of several spaces in that room constructed in a similar way.  The only comforts she could see in their small holding area were a chamber pot and a pair of concrete slabs suspended with chains against the wall, one of which Pinkie had been sleeping on.  Finally, her eyes settled back upon Rainbow Dash who, upon closer inspection, was wearing some sort of brace around her torso that kept her wings locked to her sides.

"Hmm, I think you might be right," Pinkie said, scratching her chin, her eyes only narrowly open.  "What'd we do last night after we drank that cider?"

"I don't think we did anything," Rainbow replied, standing on top of her own makeshift concrete bed and hoisting herself up to a small, barred window above it.  "Nothing to get us thrown in a place like this, at least," she added, gazing out through the bars.

"Ooh, ooh!" Pinkie exclaimed, jumping up and down.  "Whadaya see, Dashie?"

"I see... a lot of mountain tops," Dash replied, squinting as she tried to see beyond them.  "We're pretty high up.  And way, way below us, a lot of desert.  None of this looks familiar.  We need to see if anypony is around."

"Hey, is anypony here!?" Pinkie shouted, causing Rainbow Dash to jerk backwards and fall to the floor.  As Dash stood back up, massaging the back of her head, a loud creaking sound signified a large door being opened.  They were approached by a Griffon in a suit of armor.

"Finally awake, eh?" the Griffon asked, stopping in front of their cage.

"Where in the hay are we?" Rainbow Dash asked, tilting her head to the side.

"We didn't damage any public property, did we?" Pinkie asked, frowning.

"Pinkie, we were not drunk and disorderly," Rainbow replied, squinting towards her friend.

"How do you know?  Do you remember how we got here?" Pinkie asked, turning away from the guard and back to her friend.

"Well, no, I guess not, but come on, I think I'd know if that's what was going on here," Rainbow replied.

"Unless you were so drunk that you blacked out and forgot everything!" Pinkie gasped.

"That didn't happen!" Rainbow Dash yelled, leaning towards Pinkie authoritatively.

"Dashie, the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem," Pinkie said, gently placing a hoof on Dash's shoulder.

"If we're in here for drunk and disorderly conduct, it means you have a problem to!" Dash replied.

"Omigosh, you're right!" Pinkie said, her eyes widening.  She fell to her knees.  "I've let myself slide down the slippery slope!" she sobbed.

"No one got drunk!" the guard shouted, grabbing the bars with his talons and practically grinding his teeth.  "What's with you two?  I'm standing right here, just ask me what's going on!"

"What's goin' on?" Pinkie asked abruptly, giving the guard a wide, toothy smile, her eyelids half-open.  The guard, in turn, smacked his forehead with the palm of his talon.

"You're in the Griffon Kingdom, in the palace dungeon.  We've been waiting for you to wake up," he answered, taking a step back and standing up straight.

"The Griffon Kingdom?  That's a long ways away from where we were," Rainbow Dash replied.  "How did we get here?"

"After you were neutralized by our undercover agent, a pair of knights brought you here," the guard replied, his posture unchanging.

"Agent?  Are you... talking about Gilda?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Yes, now come with me," he said, producing a key and opening the cell door as Rainbow Dash lowered her head, "His Majesty demands an audience with you at once."

"Might as well find out what this is about," Rainbow Dash muttered as she and Pinkie followed the guard, Pinkie skipping as she always did.

"Who's Majesty and who does he belong to?" Pinkie whispered to Rainbow Dash.

"No, Pinkie," Dash replied, "he's talking about their king.  We're going to meet... the King of the Griffons."  The realization suddenly overtook her.

"Who's the King of the Griffons?" Pinkie asked, as the guard closed the dungeon door behind them.

"I can't remember his name, but they say he's huge, even for a Griffon, and that he's some kind of legendary warrior."

"Cool!" Pinkie exclaimed, emphasizing the sentiment with another hop.

"Yeah, I guess it is pretty cool," Dash replied, feigning a smile for the benefit of her friend.

...

"Your Highness," the guard declared as they entered the large throne room, "Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie of Equestria are here!"  The throne was visible at the other end of the chamber, the to it paved with a long, red carpet laid across a bare stone floor, reminiscent of the dungeon floor.  There were no walls here, merely a long chain of pillars connecting the floor to the ceiling, the room itself exposed to the open air and overlooking a vast mountain range.  Rainbow Dash couldn't help but marvel at the view.

Once the two ponies were close enough to the throne, they beheld the King of the Griffons.  True to the rumors, he was the size of a full-grown grizzly bear, and perhaps even more muscular.  Battle scars adorned his body, and a small chip near the tip of his beak gave it a jagged appearance.  His eyes were golden, and his brow was low and imposing.  Surprisingly, Dash noted, no crown adorned his head.

"I am J'aggerdov, King of the Griffons!" he said, rising from his throne and walking towards them, each step echoing loudly.  He spread his wings, their span appearing to be almost triple what was considered average for a Griffon.

"I'm Rainbow Dash, future Wonderbolt and world-class athlete," Rainbow replied.

"And I'm Pinkie Pie, can I use your bathroom?"

"Pinkie!" Rainbow hissed, glaring sideways at her friend.

"What?" Pinkie replied, recoiling from Rainbow's tone.  "I haven't gone since yesterday!"

"That is not the kind of question you ask a king!" Rainbow whispered, covering the side of her mouth that the king could see with her hoof.

"I've asked Princess Celestia that question before.  She always just says 'yes'."

"Oh, really?" Rainbow asked, lowering her hindquarters to the ground and taking a seat.

"Yep!" Pinkie replied, smiling.

"Huh, maybe it is an okay question, then." Rainbow said, stroking her chin.

"Silence!" J'aggerdov barked in what could only be described as speech combined with a dull roar.  "I don't know how your Princess does things, but in my presence, you will speak only when spoken to, and you will mind your tongue!"

"Now wait just a minute," Rainbow said, stepping forward, "we didn't ask to be here y'know?  You kidnapped us, and since you're gonna be such a jerk about it, now I just wanna know why!"

"My patience is tested," J'aggerdov replied.  "Guard, if she acts out again, kill her."

"WHA-" Pinkie began to shout as Rainbow quickly placed a hoof over her mouth, her face growing pale.

"That's better," J'aggerdov said.  "As for why you are here, you're prisoners of war."

"...of war?" Rainbow Dash asked softly.

"Indeed," J'aggerdov replied, nodding.  "The day is fast approaching when Equestria will belong to the Griffon Empire."

"Why you-" Rainbow cut herself off when she saw the guard reach for his dagger.  She clicked her tongue and stared at the floor. "Okay, so why bring us here?  Why tell us this?"

"I would think the answer to your first question would be obvious," the king replied, raising an eyebrow.  "You two wield Elements of Harmony, and it would make things far more difficult for us if you were to use them during the invasion, so you've been preemptively removed from the conflict.  As for why I'm telling you, I believe it's only polite to tell a prisoner why they've been imprisoned."

"And what happens to us now?" Rainbow hissed, beginning to grind her teeth.

"You'll remain in my dungeon and behave yourselves.  So long as you do that, you'll be fed three times a day.  Make any trouble for us, and you will be eliminated.  Is that clear?"

"If you think I'm just gonna sit by and let you take over my home-" Rainbow said, raising her voice and reestablishing eye contact with the King.

"Guard, if she makes one more outburst, kill her friend," J'aggerdov said very matter-of-factly.

"...Yes, it's clear." Rainbow said, flinching and averting her gaze again.

"Good, then we have nothing left to discuss," J'aggerdov said.  "Guard, return them to their cell."

"Yes, your highness," the guard replied, motioning for Rainbow and Pinkie to follow him.

"Well he wasn't very nice," Pinkie Pie pouted, once they were out of J'aggerdov's earshot.

"This is really bad, Pinkie," Rainbow said, her voice shaking.  "I don't know what we're gonna do."

...

"Where did you even get that?" Rainbow asked, stretched out on her stone bed, her head resting on her folded arms, as Pinkie continued playing her harmonica.

"I keep harmonicas stashed all over, in case of harmonica emergency!" she replied before raising the harmonica to her lips again.  Rainbow Dash shook her head softly, but smiled.

"We need to find a way out of here," Rainbow said, sitting straight up and leaning forward, supporting her head with her hooves.  "We have to warn the Princess."

"Sure we do, but how are we gonna escape?" Pinkie asked, mimicking Rainbow's sitting position.

"Visitors aren't permitted!" said a nearby guard.

"Visitors?  Didn't you hear?" a familiar voice called out.  "I was named personal assistant to King J'aggerdov, now step aside!"

"Ah, my apologies, Lady Gilda."

"Gilda!?" Rainbow and Pinkie shouted in unison, jumping to their feet and approaching the bars.

"Dash, Pinkie, 'sup?" Gilda asked, smiling.  "Are they treating you alright?  Do you need anything?"

"Don't talk to us like we're buddies," Dash replied, wrapping her hooves around the bars.  "You're the reason we're here in the first place!"

"Look, it's not like I wanted to kidnap you," Gilda said, shrugging, "plus they promised me you wouldn't be harmed."

"I do not appreciate being abducted without my consent!" Pinkie shouted.

"Look, I came down here because I figured I owed you two an explanation," Gilda said.

"Well thank you for taking time out of your busy day to explain things to us lowly prisoners," Rainbow replied, clenching her jaw.  "Why don't you get back to your fancy new job and leave us alone!"

"Don't be like that," Gilda said.  "With my new title, I've got a lot of extra pull.  I can get you two all kinds of cool stuff!" she added, leaning back and scraping her knuckles against her chest as though wiping away non-existent dust.

"You can start with our freedom," Dash replied, narrowing her gaze and slanting her brows.

"C'mon, Dash, you know I can't do that," Gilda replied, shaking her head.

"Then leave."

"I don't want this!" Gilda shouted, slamming her fist against the floor, causing the guard to look over at her in alarm, while Pinkie and Rainbow leaned back, eyes wide.  "I didn't want to have to choose between my country and my friends, but you know what!?  I had to!  Put yourself in my place, if Princess Celestia told you to kidnap me for the good of Equestria, you know you'd do it in a heartbeat!  You're always going on about how loyal you are!"

"I'm loyal to Princess Celestia because she would never ask me to betray a friend," Rainbow Dash replied, regaining her composure.

"That may be," Gilda replied, hanging her head, "but my king still did, and he literally put my family's life and honor on the line.  Plus, it's not like our people aren't in trouble.  It's always been tough growing anything here, and what little fertile land is in the Griffon Kingdom has been shrinking."

"So is that what this war is about?  You want to steal our food or something?" Dash asked, raising an eyebrow.

"If we don't do something, our people will starve," Gilda replied.  "My family got banished a long time ago, and I grew up away from here, so I had no idea how bad things were until I was brought back and saw it for myself.  We have no other choice, Dash, this is just something we have to do."

"And you know that Equestria would help the Griffon Kingdom if they just asked," Dash replied as Pinkie Pie nodded.

"I'm sure King J'aggerdov tried that, first."

"Somehow, I doubt he's the type," Rainbow Dash replied, as Pinkie Pie shook her head.

"I'm going to go see the king," Gilda said, backing away from them.  "Maybe I can make you two more comfortable or something."

"Gilda," Rainbow Dash said, grasping the bars again as the Griffon began to walk away, "you know that what you're doing here is wrong.  It isn't too late to make it right."

"I'll see you guys later," Gilda replied, keeping her face straight ahead and exiting the dungeon.

...

"Still don't get why you promoted your spy girl," Clarion said, standing next to the occupied throne and off towards the setting sun.  "Doesn't seem like her heart's really in this."

"It isn't," J'aggerdov replied, tapping his fingers against the arm rest and staring straight ahead.  "That's precisely why I promoted her.  I'm going to keep a close eye on her so that she doesn't do anything stupid."

"Well, that's your deal.  Seems like everypony picked up their targets with no problem," Clarion said, grinning.

"And how are things on your end?" J'aggerdov asked, turning towards Clarion.  "The invasion can't start until you find that little trinket."

"Yeah, I've been asking around, getting some leads, you know how that can be.  Should have it pretty soon, don't you worry," Clarion replied, turning to J'aggerdov.

"And where is your master?"

"I left him back in Equestria, he has some business of his own to take care of before the horseapples hit the fan."

"He's a strange fellow, isn't he?  I can't help but wonder what he has to gain by helping us all like this.  He asked for so little in return," J'aggerdov noted, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't know, he's crazy," Clarion replied, shrugging.  "Probably just gets off on making trouble.  It's working out great for you guys though, huh?"

"Yes, I suppose it is," J'aggerdov replied, "though I can't say I relish the idea of non-lethal warfare all that much.  Having to spare all of our enemies will make the battle that much more difficult."

"Well, you know how it is," Clarion answered.  "The Changelings demand that every single Equine go into their nasty feeding pods, and Mahugpin's a big softie, wouldn't let you kill anypony, anyway."

"I know, and I suppose that with our combined efforts, things should go smoothly enough regardless.  The land, at least, will still belong to us," J'aggerdov said, allowing himself a rare smile.  "That will be all, Clarion Call."  Clarion nodded and vanished without a trace as Gilda entered the chamber.

"Your Highness," Gilda said, bowing her head.

"You can dispense with the formalities when it's just you and I, Gilda," J'aggerdov said softly.  "What's on your mind?"

"It's the invasion," Gilda said, glancing sideways.  "I just... need to know that it's really our last resort."

"Of course it is," J'aggerdov replied.  "We tried to grow enough food to feed our people, but we aren't, so we're expanding our reach to include territory that's more fertile."

"I get that," Gilda said, nodding, "but why would Princess Celestia refuse to aid us?"

"Aid us?" J'aggerdov asked, raising an eyebrow.  "As if I would stoop so low as to beg for the scraps of another nation."

"But then..." Gilda said, "do we really have the right to just take something that doesn't belong to us because we want it?"

"You're thinking like a pony, Gilda.  No doubt a result of the time you've spent living among them.  We'll have to work on that.  We must put the Pride before all else, for the sake of both our well being and our dignity.  I assure you, this invasion would not be taking place if we did not absolutely need Equestria's resources to stay alive.  We've never relied on the pity of others, and we're not about to start now.  We can rely only on ourselves, and only if we're strong."

"But aren't we accepting the help of the Changelings and Diamond Dogs?" Gilda asked.

"We are using their resources, just as we intend to use Equestria's.  The success of our campaign hinges on the correct usage of all resources.  In the end, it still falls to us."

"I... I see.  I need to think," Gilda said as she looked away and quickly departed from the throne room.

"Take all the time you need," J'aggerdov said quietly, relaxing in his throne.