Chapter 9. Problem number 1!

Gason sat with his closest Griffins around a table with a map of Equestria on top, showing areas of value and areas of danger. There were twelve in all—all of which represented the twelve kings of old. None of them were in a good mood, especially after learning the success of the mission Mendez was sent on.

When she came back empty handed with blood on her armor, one would assume the worst of the situation she was in, but what she said didn't make sense. What did she mean that the True Prince of the Griffins has returned? What did she mean that he was alone and had a weapon that killed with a flash of lightning, a boom of thunder and it couldn't be blocked? He was forced to push it aside as one of his scouts had returned to tell him that one of his bases was ransacked by the sun tyrant and her minions.

He chewed his jaw as he listened in on the reports of his rebellion and all of them were not what he was suppose to hear.

Hideouts erased, supplies destroyed, soldiers captured and weapons missing. He watched as the map was updated and he didn't like the results either. In just a matter of hours after the failed train heist, he lost one-fourth of territory back to the royal guard. Hundred of griffins and pony supporters killed or in a dungeon for torture. The White Claws were being pushed back to the old border at an alarming rate. What was worse is that he lost two of his best warriors to a child on his own agenda.

He knew that the child that called himself the True Princess was going to be a problem and it was starting to show. Gason has his best spies look into the boy and his past and found nothing that they didn't already know. Not even Celestia knows who this Griffin is, nor does she care. This boy was an unknown that was gaining power and knowledge without anyone realizing it. That fact that he got into Fort Thunder without a second look infuriates him to his very core.

That boy that is working with the darkness is going to take his crown from him. Without raising so much as a claw. He is supposed to be the hero, not the dark mage, but how can he stop him? Gason tried to get a read on him, tried to get a paw hold on this Griffin, but each time he tried, Celestia got in his way. That Griffin was using Celestia's blindness as a shield while he plots in the background, whoever this boy is he must be stopped.

"Sir, what do we do? We are losing ground and fast if we don't make the correct move, our cause will all be for not!" Said one of his generals. Gason looked over the map, trying to find a place to fall back on, but the only place that isn't in direct control of the Empress is the Everfree and the Frontier, but one is near inhospitable and the other is too far south that not even Celestia dares to go. Gason sighed, knowing that it was the only way.

"Prep a regroup to the Frontier. We're leaving, tonight."

"Yes, Sir!" they all saluted.

Gason watched his generals leave the room, which left only him and Mendez. She shifted in her armor when he looked at her with scowled. He needed to punish her for her failure, but how? He thought about it for a moment until a grin appeared on his face. 'She can follow that Griffin and give me details of who he is working for and how he does his dark magic.'

"Mendez," Gason said.

"Yes Sir?" she perked up.

"I have a job of redemption for you..."

I groaned in boredom as I finished copying another scroll and storing it in my Hammerspace. I spent the last couple of days, copying maps, reports and weak spots for the fort. In total, I have a few thousand pages of material that will be essential for the inevitable fall of Equestria. Thank Luna that what I needed from the fort was all in one room in the fort and not scattered around the city.

All I needed was the weak points for the walls, which were the flamethrower holes in the walls. One good explosion in one is enough to cause that section of wall to crumble like a Jenga tower. Aside from those plans, I needed the info for how many guards in service. Apparently, there is around five-hundred-twenty-thousand and forty-six in total. The vast majority is earth ponies while the minority is unicorns. Pegasi and Thestrals are in between. I didn't find any diamond dogs, minotaurs, dragons or griffins in the army count. I bet they aren't allowed because Celestia wouldn't like to train the non-ponies to gain an advantage over them.

I don't blame her for thinking like that, one of those races was created for the soul purpose for putting Celestia's head on a stake. Aside from copying everything in the information store room, I copied all the advancements that were being done in the lab, which weren't really that important other than this one guy making a tesla coil with a couple of gems and a lightning enchantment. The rest was things that I already knew how to make.

There were a few times where I was almost caught in the information store room, each time was the same pony glaring into the empty room as I hid in a vent with my shadow cloak activated. The pony even looked into the vent I was in with a glare that would make Hades proud, but he didn't find nothing and cursed the living hell as he left the room.

Talk about an eventful week.

When I wasn't snooping around, I had High Voltage acquire some items for me. Most of the items were empty books and magic ink so I can do an experiment. After I finished the experiment, I was going to fake my death and move on to the old border.

I sat on the cot in the corner of the room with an empty book with a simple, brown binding on it in front of me. Beside the book was a pot of glowing blue ink and a simple quill with a silver tip inside it. I had an idea after looking at a scroll that said that it was possible to imbue a book with premade spells and use said book later. It was an experimental premise that was being studied by a mare called; Sunset Shimmer, a few decades ago before she was sealed inside a mirror.

I thought it was a good idea to try and do as a just in case I ran out of mana while in combat or in an area where magic is rendered useless. Having a spell book at my side was a good idea before I left for the border. If necessary, I could activate it and use it to teleport or enhance my spend without having to use my internal stores in a pinch during my escape. Thus, I tested it out with one word first before I started writing paragraphs.

Volt watched in curiosity as I lifted the quill that was dripping glowing blue ink. In just a few days, Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends were going to be here to visit her Brother who was currently stationed here along with Princess Cadence. Thank Luna that they don't come into the Lab, or care about the information storage room, otherwise, I might have been dead right then and there, but that safety won't last when Twilight arrives. Volt said that she already has a pass to view the Lab and the researchers, which means I have to get out of here and fast.

I thought of the first word that I would use. It was a simple, all-around healing spell that could only fix scratches or bruises. Once I finished writing the spell into the book, I closed the cover and etched in a rune into the face that would allow me to access the spells held within the book. Happy with the way it turned out. I cut myself with a claw and touched the book and focus my mana on moving in all directions of my body, rather than have it focused solely in my wings. To my utter surprise, the spell worked! The cut was gone, but when I looked in the book where the word was. I found that it was gone as well as a small portion of my mana. Excited that this worked and made my Latin magic five times more efficient that say it out loud. I went to work on a bunch of spells that I know I would use in the weeks to come.

Twilight and her friends were just getting off at the port just outside of the massive fortress that was known as Trottingham. Twilight was absolutely ecstatic that her brother invited her and her friends to come and see the marvel of pony engineering as well as to check out the Lab that was responsible for the advancements in Equestria. Here; the train, airships and so much more that was invented by some of the most brilliant minds in the world!

She jumped with joy when she got the letter in the mail and immediately told her friends about it. Rainbow Dash, was the most excited to come to the city as it was the place where the Wonderbolts trained for their military position that didn't coincide with their stunt show. Once Rainbow was finished at the academy, she will be coming here to train like a true Wonderbolt!

The train ride, followed by the boat ride was filled with merriment as they talked about what they wanted to do once they got there. Rarity obviously wanted to check out the fashion, while Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy wanted to see the local animals. AppleJack and Rainbowdash wanted to check out the recruitment center while Twilight wanted to check out the Lab. They all made an agreement to come back to their hotel by evening to tell each other what they learned!

I wiped my sweating brow as I finished the last of the spells that I have written into the book. I was quite proud that I managed to stuff in two-thousand five hundred and fifty-five spells into the book. Each time I wrote in a spell the book would morph a little, by the time I was done writing in the book. The book looked completely different now; the original binding was now black instead of brown, the face had silver, tribal markings surrounding the activation rune and the back had a crescent moon with a star in the center. It was the exact same marking that used to be on my chest.

I looked outside to see that it was midday with the sun at its zenith. I saw that there was some commotion going on by the main gate and decided to see what was what. There was a few guards as well as Captain Shinning armor himself along with Cadence at his side. I saw the gate open and what came through was not apart of the plan! Twilight fucking Sparkle and company were one week early from their original arrival making me reel back in annoyance that I was going to have to get out of dodge in the next few hours without activating any alarms.

I closed my new book that I named Angelus and packed up all my things into my Hammerspace. I grabbed the five scrolls and placed them on the desk next to the box and erased everything that I have done here while Volt helped clean up. I made extra sure to make me look like I was the key to uncovering the secrets of the scrolls, however, I made sure that the six letters that I chose to fake the translations which should make it impossible to finish my work without me.

As I finished my run and burn, I hear a knock on the door. I quickly told Volt to put on the act and waited to see who was giving us a visit. The door opened to my growing worry and Twilight Sparkle walked right in. She instantly saw me and narrowed her eyes in my direction, like I was something that shouldn't be alive in this world.

"Ah! Hello, there your Highness," Volt bowed. "I take it that you are here to absorb yourself in my work?" Twilight shook her head and directed her attention to Volt with a much friendlier smile.

"Y-Yes, that is why am I here!" she chirped. "But I have to ask right off the bat. Why is that Griffin in your lab?" she hissed at the word 'Griffin' as she points a hoof at me.

"That there is my assistant. He is currently helping me out on a few scrolls that Princess Celestia had sent me to decipher. He is absolutely brilliant! Winter here has managed to translate six characters from scrolls that predate the Unicornian Kingdom!" He cheered, causing the mare to narrow her eyes with a twitch in rage. "Here, let me show you." He grabbed the scrolls and my notes and showed them to the princess.

I watched as her utter rage began to grow more and more as she views my fake notes and scrolls. Her eyes were pinpricks that let loose a twitch every now again. She pulled out three more scrolls from her personal hammerspace and began to compare them with Volts scrolls. Just as I was about to go get a snack, I heard Volt pipe up.

"Your scroll's written style is exactly the same. Maybe if you let Winter look over them for a moment then Winter might be able to discover a few more characters to uncover this mystery," Volt smiled. Twilight didn't hide her absolute disgust to that request. "How can that little runt touch such ancient texts with claws that could destroy them!" she shouted.

"Because he is smart and very clever, and since he was in my employ. He has given me a better outlook on the Griffin race," he frowned at the Princess of CDO.

"Alright, fine, but I doubt he could figure out any more than what I already have," she said and handed me the three scrolls.

'Well, if they are similar to the others. I might as well read them and plan out my suicide.'

I carefully grabbed the scrolls carefully while Twilight practically tried to kill me with her gaze. I opened the three scrolls and read the top three numbers that showed the date and read the one with the earliest date.

Entry 314 Date: december 21st, 516.

Today was Princess Luna's 14th birthday, it was also the day that she earned her cutie mark. I, King Mark Borne, celebrated this day along with my fellow Griffins with glee. I, as well as her best friends; SnowDrop and Princess Victoria of the Russian Communist Kingdom, were there with her family at Platinum Castle for this momentous occasion, but not everyone was happy.

I, as well as my guard, were there to protect Luna from the sun tyrant. Tia put on a fake smile that hid her cold, hard gaze from the rest of us. At 18, she was already gaining respect for her ability to move the sun without breaking a sweat, whereas 24 unicorns used to do it in shifts. The young stallion that goes by the name of Starswirl can also see the malicious intent behind her eyes. We both had a brief conversation about what she was planning while I made sure to leave Discord out of it. We both knew she was plotting something, but we can't put a finger on it quite yet.

At least by the end of the day, Lulu was happy with her new, Griffin-sized wolf teddy bear. She did a spell to animated it and road it around the castle with the cutest smile that caused mass fainting around the palace. I only hope we can keep he smiling as bright and beau as her night sky.

"Well, what do you think Griffin?" Twilight seethed. Volt shot her an incredulous stare. I smiled at her, with the thought that I was going to use her as my murderer. "I figured out two more letters Lady Twilight. Master Volt, can you hand me a quill and parchment so I can write them down?"

He quickly handed me my fake notes and I added more lies to them while Sparkle was vibrating with pure malicious intent. "How many more do you think you will be able to decipher?" Volt asked. I rubbed my chin, "These scrolls have a few keys in their structure. I think I might be able to find more in the other two. Give me a second," I said, opening up the other scroll.

Entry 404 scroll not found… Sorry, old dad joke. Date: June 21st, 526.

I can't believe what I just witnessed! Celestia, how dare you use black magic on Luna! On your own sister for fuck sakes! Today was the mark of the first Summer Sun Celebration, it was also Tia's birthday. Luna was depressed and alone in her room with only SnowDrop to give her comfort for her neglect. Tia had a huge following while Luna had very few. All she wanted was some adoration for the beautiful nights she makes, for the dreams she weaves, but her sister was taking all the spotlight while Luna…The wonderfully humble, yet naive princess cries for some sort of acknowledgment for the canvas that is her night. She wept in her sister's shadow long enough and as a result…Queen Victoria encouraged her to take a stand and that result?

She was struck down at the Temple of Light at the top of Canterlot Mountain with a beam of dark magic that turned her into Nightmare Moon. The Thestrals of the Lunacordia fled back to the southern mountains of our continent while Nightmare fled south with her pony followers to take arms against the Sun tyrant. The twelve kings, as well as the regrouping Thestrals, are preparing for war, this is what my father had warned us about. And we all didn't see it coming despite being told decades in advanced. We will figure out how to purify her. The elements should work as her condition isn't as bad as; Groger, Discord, Sombra, or Raven Blackwing. But finding potential bearers will take a while, and time is not on our side.

I practically almost killed everyone in the room after reading that scroll. Volt and Twilight stepped back from the pure rage that I was emitting as my claws threatened to rip apart the piece of paper in my hands. "Calm down Winter, what did you learn?" Volt said warmly. I slowed my breathing and tossed the scroll aside. "Enough to know that I have another character that would allow me to read some of the words and what I found was disturbing," I said adding another lie to my scroll of lies.

"What were those words?" Twilight asked. I sighed, making another lie to throw her off. "Death, to, the sun, long, live, Sombra. Long, live, the, slave, king."

This caused Twilight to and Volt to real back in surprise. In actuality, I made sure it was out of order so that when Twilight read it. It would say, 'Death to Sombra. Long live the Sun, long live the slave King.'

"What?" Volt blinked. "Read the last one, maybe you can add another character to make it clearer," Volt ordered. Twilight just blinked, trying to formulate a response to what I said, while I read the next one.

Entry 626 Date: 533 October 31st.

It's a sad day today. The Thestrals, Griffins, Minotaurs, Zebras and the Loyalist run for the hills as the sun tyrant gloats over her victory today. I can see in the sky, on the moon is a mare, which means Luna lost and 1000 years of so called, 'Harmony' begins. The loyalists ran to the frontier…or what was left of them. Celestia won't dare to go down there as it was a place where dragons ruled…or so she thinks. The Black Knights cleared out that southern continent to start a colony for the Lunar Republicans. Which was a boon for our resistance.

The Thestrals have closed off their borders into Lunacordia and I, and the Twelve Kings stand at the ready for retaliation of the sun bitch. Luna, if you can hear me. I'm sorry that we were too late.

I am sorry.

I frowned at the last paper as I went through the last notes of how I was going to fake my death in my head. I was frustrated that the sheer numbers of warriors lost to Celestia. If they were to push forward after Luna fell, then they could have won. They could have sent the Sun Tyrant running for the hills, but yet? Luna fell to a corrupt weapon that was meant to bring peace to the land. I bet Discord lost on purpose to aid the next generation in the future. I wondered who was Raven Blackwing? I wondered how in hell Princess Celestia could use dark magic without being taken by its embrace? More questions for later I suppose.

I placed the scroll down and finished my scroll of lies. I told them what I thought about the scrolls and how I could finish translating them if I had more while I prepped a golem spell in my hammerspace. I made sure the golem would have my magic signature to make sure that no one could make it look like it was a fake while Twilight and Volt argued that I was smarter than the CDO book freak. I gave a yawn and prepped my servant spell and aimed it at Twilight to begin my escape.