Victorian Equestria: The Corps of Discovery

This text is translated to English after its appearance in the Unicorn Novel, "The Discovery of Disharmony," by Sunny Day. A version in Equestrian is available at . Any issues with the translation must be taken to the archivist's office.

Authenticity remains debated among Unicorn scholars.

Wednesday, September 25th, 1805

I am alone in a city of Griffons. Last night I asked the King's steward if there was a library of some sorts so that I could learn more about the Griffons and their history, but he only said that he'd have some books sent up. I had no idea why but he seemed nervous, actually uncomfortable near me. Either way, the books I had been given were focused on the make-up of Griffon society and social norms, which were certainly helpful but weren't exactly the history of the Griffon Realm that I wanted to read up on.

- John Mayor

After ten minutes of reading on proper Griffon grooming in the courtyard, John saw a petite Griffon, much slimmer than the gigantic hulks that he'd become used to, enter the courtyard and walk towards him.

"Hello, I'm going to guess that you're Sir Mayor, right?" the female Griffon said once she reached him, her eyes level with his.

"Please, call me John, and may I assume that you are Princess Gilly?" John reciprocated.

"You may indeed," GIlly smiled, "So you are my tutor then?"

"On the subject of humanity and human convention, yes, yes I am," John answered.

With their introductions out of the way, and John taking a moment to gather his parchments, Gilly then asked what they were going to start with.

"Well, what do you know of about humanity?" John asked thinking about how young she was to be a representative of an entire species.

"I only know about the old tales," Gilly answered. When John asked if she could tell him, she then said, "Alright, but just know that Griffon history has some dark spots."

Once, a long time ago, Griffons lived in lands far to the east, east of the Ocean of Legends even, in a great era of heroes. It is in these lands that some say that the Idol of Boreas was forged. Griffons were cared for and had few needs in these lands, but then a race of tan-skinned two-leggers entered the lands of the Griffons. These two-leggers were aggressive and hunted all the animals of the land and even the Griffons.

It was then that the legendary Emperor Groot had the Griffons leave their homes in search of a safer land. They crossed the Ocean of Legends, avoiding many a sea monster and outwitting scurvy, to the eastern reaches of the lands.

Once hitting land, Emperor Groot had the Griffons build a new empire, but when he died shortly after, the Griffons fell and could only organize into city-states. These city-states spread throughout the land, suppressing the darker two-leggers that lived here originally, and even founded the great city of Griffonstone. But then the two-leggers united against their overlords, two-leggers who built earthen mounds over their conquests, and destroyed all evidence of Griffon civilization in the east.

The only Griffon city-states that remained were west of the Crystal Mountains, away from the influence of the mound builders, and the lands were purged of two-leggers in the time after the uprisings. It was a very long time before the Griffons were united with the Idol of Boreas, with King Grover at the helm.

"Absolutely amazing," John said, writing everything down on a blank piece of parchment and trying not to think what the purging meant.

"Yeah it was, but unfortunately, after thirteen great rulers, the weak King Guto lost the Idol to the monster Arimaspi, and Griffonstone lost its influence over the rest of the Griffon realm. It was only when the Idol was recovered by King Griff, that he was able to unite the realm."

"That story certainly explains the looks I get from all the Griffons here, but why are you so friendly to me?" John asked.

"I learned from a peasant Griffon about this thing call 'friendship,' GIlly replied, "She said that if I made friends instead of enemies, then if I ever got into a situation where I'd need help, then I could easily call on my friends. Father personally disagrees if this friend-making doesn't personally benefit the realm. He always tells me that 'friendship didn't build the new Griffon Kingdom, the Idol and grit did.'"

"I can't blame him, its a dangerous world out there, full of deceit," John said.

"It was after taking Griffonstone as his capital that my father renamed it to Seaddle," Gilly continued, "He said that the city's attempts to rebuild the realm through friendship 'tainted the once proud name of Griffonstone.'"

"Did anyone even object to what he was doing?" John asked.

"He has the Idol of Boreas in his possession, and Griffons in the end view the Idol with the utmost importance," Gilly replied matter-of-factly.

"I guess I can see how such an object might be the symbol of a legitimate leadership, it reminds me of how humans view crowns," John said before then talking about the importance and history of the crown and monarchy before then saying, "At least that is what was originally thought. In my home country, we have no kings nor crowns. The United States are the first true republic since the Greeks and the Romans, a nation of the people, by the people."

"So your peasantry discusses manners of law and the realm with the same authority of Lords?" Gilly asked, the concept of peasants having such power being so strange to her.

"Not exactly," John replied, "In a republic, the citizens vote people to represent them in the Congress, our legislative body. Even then, only free landowners are eligible to vote."

"Free?" Gilly asked perplexed.

"The United States have a... peculiar institution that has African men and women in bondage in the Southern parts of the nation. These... people work for their plantation owners and don't have rights like white folk."

"Peculiar institution? Bondage?" Gilly asked, still not really getting the implication.

"Lessons for the future," John said shutting down any discussion of THAT part of human history, at least for now, "Now how about we move from history to human formal etiquette?"

It took a couple of years to get Gilly ready for when the time came. When a Griffon entered the King's solar and handed him a piece of parchment. In it, Lord Guff wrote that the humans had sent a messenger who asked that the Griffons send an envoy to Washington DC to prove their existence.

King Griff had entertained the notion of ordering Guff to execute the messenger, executing that human who his daughter grew so attached to, and hope that those humans never came back, but he knew that it would only delay the destruction of the Griffon realm if he decided to turtle up and isolate the realm.

After a moment of thought, King Griff decided to write back telling Lord Guff to tell the messenger that the King, Princess Gilly, and the King's handpicked ambassadorial staff -- including that pesky human that his daughter had begged to have on the staff -- would travel east to treat with the humans.