Chapter Twenty: The Ending Mountain

"Robert!" Mary exclaimed.

"Emergency life-support systems engaged," the teleporter reported. A bubble of pink material quickly formed, trapping some of the remaining oxygen and adding its own. "Estimated time until death: 1 hour."

"That's very helpful," the scientist sighed.

***

Luna soared past the many-legged bird. It passed her moments later in a pursuit gone wrong. With a roar, the bird spun wildly in the air. The night princess dove towards the canopy, magic spiraling from her horn into the trees. As the monster approached, she triumphantly pointed her face at it. A wall of leaves surrounded the beast. Luna quickly teleported to join the others. "That's how you fight a bird!" she said triumphantly.

"Sorry, I din't see nothin'. Too busy running."

"It's going to be okay, right?"

"I thought you were cool!"

"Thank you, Pinkie."

***

The air around the fountain sizzles, and ponies look on in slight amazement as the Princess of Friendship appears with several guests in tow. A few stomp their hooves in recognition of the feat. "We're finally back," she sighs. I do the same, though my utterance is more melancholy. "Cheer up! We can go to the boutique and finally get you a suit," she offers. I start walking.

"Very well. It will certainly make my time here more bearable. You'd best return to the castle, a rest is well deserved." I levitate the monitor prototype, but it suddenly stops.

"I'll rest when this guy is banished, then thrown into a dungeon in the place where he's banished to! Clearly you can't be trusted."

"Flag flag!"

"You were supposed to be on my side," I complain to the flageye. "Alright, you may banish prototype 626."

"No you may not! I've never been in a dungeon, and I don't care to change that!" the prototype protests. He seems unaware of his lack of agency. I grudgingly let go and head towards the boutique. Twilight follows after me, but I pay her no mind in my malaise.

***

Rarity woke up with a perfectly practiced ladylike yawn. "Goodness," she remarked sleepily, "has it really been a whole day?" Rainbow and Dawn walked into the throne room.

"You slept on the floor?" the pegasus inquired.

The unicorn huffed. "I certainly wasn't about to abandon my friends, unlike a somepony I could mention!"

"I haven't even known her a week!"

"Excuses excuses-" Rarity stopped. "Oh that's right, my apologies, miss..."

"Dawn! Dawn Twinkle!"

"There's no need to shout," she reproached.

"Je suis furieuse! Mon ami noveau...I don't even know where he is, and there's nothing I can do to get him back!" Dawn exclaimed.

"I'm sure your friend wants to see you again," Rarity placated, "he'll be back quite soon."

"Whoever he is..." Rainbow promised softly. Somepony knocked at the door.

***

"Sorry, since the leavening we've been limiting customers to one glass," the milk cart griffin explained, "we just don't make enough money charging these prices to pay our staff for full shifts."

"That's great, but I need more milk!" Aria shouted. "I can still feel it on my tongue!"

"Sandwater, huh? Let me check with my manager," he sighed, pulling a tarp over the cart and locking it. "Don't even think about stealing it!" he yelled as he flew away. As soon as he was gone, Ritornello emerged from the inn.

"So, did the milk help?" she asked. Aria glared at her. "What?"

"He gave me this tiny glass of milk, and I didn't even get to keep the glass!"

"Sounds like the griffins are in a bad economic situation. Want to take a trip to their central bank and find out more?"

Aria groaned. "I want a million glasses of milk. Maybe the bank can give me money to buy them."

Ritornello shrugged. "Maybe the sandwater will wear off by the time they're done explaining what's going on." She set off, and the siren followed.

"Why do you care so much about the griffins? They aren't exactly...friendly."

Ritornello waved at the street urchin from yesterday, who waved back with aplomb. "They're just like ponies! There are good ones and bad ones."

"Sure, but if you help all of them, the bad ones don't deserve it." Aria glanced at a shop window, where empty mannequins surrounded one wearing a threadbare straw hat. Ritornello didn't say anything for a moment; the only sound was her thudding footsteps on the cobblestone.

"They might not," she conceded, "but it's enough for me to hope that my help will make them think about being better griffins." Aria thought about that. She watched her hooves on the pavement for a while, then looked up at the clear blue sky. When she looked down, the street urchin was waving at her again. She stopped walking and waved back hesitantly. They kept walking.

Aria hummed. "Being better...wait!" They stopped. "We've passed that shop before! I recognize the hat on that mannequin!"

"I don't really know where the griffin central bank is," the manticore conceded.

"Why didn't you say so?" the urchin chirped. "Just take Pyrite street until you reach Baker's lane, then take a left. You can't miss it!" Ritornello covered her mouth with both paws. Aria raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, thanks kid. Give him another goldo," she said. The young griffin beamed at them.

"You guys are the best!" he squeaked, skipping away.

Aria smiled. "Nothing bad has happened. You could stand to loosen up a little bit, Ritornello."

Her friend shook her head. "If you were raised by manticores you would understand," she whispered.

"Why don't you guys talk or have names, anyway?"

"It's a long story. I'll tell you another time."

"Alright, but I won't forget!" Aria promised. They walked down Pyrite street, which was lined with shops selling strange curios. One shop was entirely dedicated to pocket watches, while another promised wealth and good fortune through the use of magic crystals. A few barkers promised fabulous success from under their awnings, but their seminars looked far too pricey to be worth it. The intersection with Baker's lane was notably crowded. Griffins stood in lines out the door of every bakery, and bread-related seminars were likewise packed. Each bakery was more ostentatious than the last as they headed towards a roundabout with a modest two story building in the middle. Compared to the golden gargoyles standing watch at Galen's Gruel across the street, it looked downright shabby. Tiny circular windows were set on either side of an unassuming wooden door whose whorls and lines were clearly visible through a thin layer of paint, somewhat resembling a shocked old face. A sign propped up next to the door subtly stated Griffonstone Central Bank. "What a dump," Aria commented. Ritornello sighed and pushed open the door with a creak.

"Welcome to the Griffonstone Central Bank, where official interviews are granted by appointment only. We do not offer loans to the general public. Neither bread nor goldos," an exhausted looking griffin with maroon plumage said from behind a slipshod wooden desk.

Aria stuck her head through the door frame, but the rest of her wouldn't fit. "I want to make an appointment." The griffin looked up in shock. Eyes wide, he frantically dug through the mass of paper on his desk for something.

"Really?" he asked.

"Yeah. I'm basically free all day, what about you?"

"You wouldn't be interviewing me," the clerk snorted, "I just schedule everything. You want to talk to Gerben Golem, the head of the bank." He pulled out a planner and flipped through it. "Looks like he's got a cancellation...right now. I'll see if he wants to speak with you." The griffin walked up the stairs.

Ritornello grinned. "I can't wait! You have to ask all my questions, it's just so interesting what's going on here. We've never had an economic crisis like this back home."

Aria sighed. "Fine, grab some scratch paper from his desk and write 'em down." The manticore glared at her. "Okay, I'll ask for some scratch paper when he gets back."

"Now you're getting it," she smiled. They heard the clerk's uneven footsteps on the squeaking stairs. His front talons clicked and scratched, while his back paws padded pleasantly. After he reached the bottom, a second griffin began to descend as well. Ritornello caught Aria's eye and gestured towards the desk.

"Oh, right. Can I get some paper and a...quill?" the siren asked. The clerk nodded, pulling both from his desk and giving them to her. She passed them to the manticore, who began frantically scribbling. The next griffin to come down the stairs looked wildly between them, before glaring at the clerk.

"Why are there a couple of monsters in our lobby?" Gerben Golem asked.

"It would be most unprofessional to turn away any creature who wants to learn about our role in the economy of Griffonstone," he replied.

"Could you not call us monsters?" Aria added.

"You can talk?!" Gerben shouted shrilly. The clerk sighed. "How did you know I had a cancellation?" the banker demanded.

"I asked for an appointment?"

"Alright, alright, I give up! Ask your questions," Gerben entreated, sinking to the floor. Ritornello passed Aria the paper. The siren read the first question aloud.

"What happened when griffins discovered the method for turning gold into food?"

"A better question would be what didn't happen," Gerben growled. "First the bright bird who came up with it started selling lessons for outrageous prices. That's not unusual. Then most of his students started up their own courses in secret, charging just a little bit less. By the time the teacher found out it was too late. Griffins all over the kingdom were turning their gold into bread, and it looked like our bakeries were going to go out of business." Ritornello nudged Aria and whispered in her ear.

"You don't seem to have that problem anymore," Aria repeated.

"No, the bakery crisis was solved, if nothing else," he huffed. "One of the bakers hatched the idea of converting griffins' money for a small fee. With our currency constantly gaining value due to increased scarcity, those small fees piled up quickly. Other bakers soon followed. Meanwhile, I had to deal with the logistics of designing and issuing smaller denominations."

"Sucks for you!" Aria gloated. She winced at Ritornello's glare. "I mean, I'm sorry that happened to you?" The manticore grinned.

"Thanks," Gerben grunted.

Aria looked back at the paper. "What is the smallest fraction of one goldo that currently has its own coin?"

"You ever try and get a bunch of griffins to say one three-hundred-thirteenth?"

"No?"

"We had to invent new units just to make things easier to keep track of," he elucidated. "One goldo is one hundred silveros. One silvero is one hundred bronzeos."

"Let me guess, one bronzo is one hundred nicklos."

"No, one hundred nicklos is a gimme, don't be ridiculous."

"But at the tollbooth yesterday, she asked for half a goldo. Why not use silveros?" Aria wondered.

Gerben shrugged. "Just because there's an official name for something, it doesn't mean all the griffins will use it. They're too busy destroying value to listen to me. Even the bankers I meet with don't listen. If the griffins who work across the street from me don't use my units, how can I expect the ones across the city to be any better?"

"There are banks across the street? I thought they were bakeries," Ritornello said.

"No, those are bankeries," Gerben replied absently. Aria raised an eyebrow. Ritornello shrank into the floor. Gerben looked between them in confusion. The building creaked. "A talking manticore?!"

Author's Note

"The Everfree Forest wasn't always as small as it is now. Long ago, we negotiated with the ponies from a position of strength: our territory stretched from coast to coast, and they needed a home beyond the first town they'd founded. We granted them a parcel of coastline under the condition that they find ways to support more ponies in one city. That's why Manehattan has so many skyscrapers. Celestia and Luna promised they wouldn't expand unreasonably. It was a promise that they kept, but that city didn't spring up overnight. Construction on the first buildings took long enough that impatient ponies struck out on their own, building Fillydelphia and Baltimare in open defiance of the agreement. The princesses called a summit, and we struck another agreement. They could keep their cities, but only if the boundaries were clearly marked and never built past. Then ponies broke that agreement. We could not win in a direct confrontation with the alicorns, and had almost lost hope when Starswirl the Bearded came up with a magical solution. He planted a set of powerful enchanted stones at the boundaries of our largest city that would cause others to invent excuses to never settle too close. Thus, we too became acquainted with space-saving city planning out of necessity. To keep the spell effective, we don't speak to outsiders, and instead of names we receive designations based on our place of birth and residence."