The Elder Scrolls: Equestria

“…I, as Master of this Guild, find you guilty of treason! You betrayed your brothers and sisters in shadows, and there is only the one punishment for it…”

“No! I don’t want to stay; I want to come with you!” Rose shrieked as she clung desperately to my foreleg. It all worked out so much better in my head. I’d explain to Rose that she had to stay in Fetlock for a few days while I finished up in Canterlot, she would be sad and a little hurt but in the end she would agree.

That wasn’t how it happened.

Rose reacted in much the same way that she had when that changeling had her cornered in Applewood. She had tears pouring from her eyes, she was shaking terribly and her face was fearful.

“Please don’t make me stay! I don’t know what I did wrong but I’m sorry! I love you mommy, please don’t leave me!” Grover, my parents and Quill watched with shocked expressions. I had expected her to be depressed and even a little scared, but her words cut my heart like a knife, almost entirely shattering my resolve.

“Rose… you didn’t do anything wrong!” I pulled her into my forelegs and hugged her tightly; tears building in my own eyes. “I just want you to be safe. I swear I’ll only be gone a few days, I’m coming back.” She sniffed loudly.

“But my old mommy and daddy didn’t!” that caught me off guard. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed my parents gasp. I had asked them to never talk about Applewood or what happened there; especially in front of Rose; but it was clear from the tone of Rose’s voice that she wasn’t sad, or angry. She was scared.

She’s was very scared; scared of the same thing happening to me. I dragged her across Equestria into the most dangerous city in the country, and she had almost been killed more than once. What if Grogar had hurt her? I thought for the umpteenth time since leaving Whitetail. What if the Nightstalkers got her? Or some assassin Shadowmark sent after me?

That was yet another thing weighing on my mind as I held Rose. I left Canterlot without telling Shadowmark in person; that alone would really piss him off. Not only that, Windsheer asked if I was going Platinum; basically calling me a traitor in front of everypony. No doubt that word would carry to Shadowmark, and I had no doubt that he would have Rose harmed, or even killed, just to hurt me. But as I held Rose in my forelegs, I knew that now wasn’t the time for silence.

“Rose,” I told her sternly, (though not unkindly) looking her straight in her big, blue eyes. “I will come back. I’ll be two, or three days at the most. I just don’t want Celestia to take you. If it looks like it will take any longer than three days, I’ll come back early. I swear I’m coming back.” She sniffed and wiped some of the tears from her check.

“D-do you promise?”

“Promise.” I nodded firmly and hugged her closer to my breast. It still took another ten minutes to get Rose to stop crying, but at last she seemed to understand, believing in my word that I wasn’t going away forever.

Not that I had much choice in the matter if fate decided to be a dick.

We spent three days at my parents, and I have to admit, I didn’t want to go. Three days of relaxation; playing with Rose, showing her how to pick locks around the house (something my parents would not have been happy with if they found out) and for the first time in a very long time; I put a quill to paper. Not that I hadn’t used a quill in years, I just hadn’t written anything since leaving home. My parents had given Quill some scrolls, a few quills and some ink once they found out she liked to write poetry. We spent the first night huddled around the fire, listening to an epic poem that Quill just seemed to pull out of nowhere, and seeing the way she enjoyed simply reciting them to us inspired me to pick up a pen.

I hadn’t written much, mostly just rewriting what Grover had told me about Griffonstone (and what I found out about Griffonstone from his journals). Still, it made me feel…normal. No, that’s not the word. It made me feel…

Right.

With a final ‘I love you’ and a hug I parted from Rose, Grover following closely behind. Quill and her kids would be staying with Rose and my parents for the time being and for the first time in my life I planned on sharing my wealth. After everything that happened to them, I decided that I would give them whatever gold I got from Celestia. If she didn’t just have me arrested that is.

Grover stopped by Rose before we left and scooped the filly into a rough embrace. “Stay out of trouble Rose, you hear me?” she nodded and hugged him tightly.

“I love you Mister Grover.” Grover blushed brightly under his feathers. “Please take care of my mommy.” She kissed him on the cheek and he set her down gently.

“D-don’t worry. I’ll keep her safe.” Rose smiled warmly, her eyes still showing apprehension and fear. But with my parents staying close to her side and my promise of return fresh in her mind, she didn’t try to stop or follow us as we left Fetlock.

                         **********************

“Finally.” The great white city of Canterlot loomed before us. Grover flapped his wings hard, keeping both of us airborne as we slowly made our way towards the castle. And I have to say, I was rather proud of myself that I hadn’t vomited once on the flight. Not that my stomach hadn’t tried, but if anything that makes the small victory all the sweeter.

Grover and I hadn’t talked much at all on the flight or even during our stay at my parent’s. Soon after waking he asked what had happened in Whitetail. Begrudgingly, I told him how his fight with Grogar ended, and while I made sure to emphasize how brave and strong he had been, he only seemed to register one thing.

He lost.

I had seen Grover sad, angry and even happy once or twice. But the most powerful emotion I had ever seen him display was his self-loathing. I had first seen this in Whitetail’s treasury, lamenting having killed his own Brother and again when he was so desperate to face Grogar. But when I told him how easily he had been beaten, he seemed to not only find it shocking, he found it unacceptable. He berated himself openly for hours, and only fell silent when he noticed that he was upsetting Rose, though I still think he was yelling at himself mentally. To Grover, the worst possible thing was failure.

At least he can tell Celestia that we were successful.

I had never seen Canterlot from the sky before. Grover wasn’t flying very high over the street, maybe twenty feet, but it still made the city look drastically different. The ponies seemed smaller and they rarely noticed us. But I noticed them. I saw the mare that I’d asked what was going on at the palace the day I left. I saw the guard that I tried to bribe with sex to get out of prison walking by a café. I even noticed Windsheer and Sunshine, sitting at the same café that the guard was at. They looked up and their eyes widened at the sight of me. I guess they didn’t think I was coming back. I gave a weak little wave.

Grover landed stiffly at the doors to the palace less than a minute later. The guards around us stared in shock at his missing eye, and the several new scars adorning his unarmored body. I had tried to repair his armor. I tried very hard, but Grogar’s magic had made the damage irreversible. The same went for Grover’s sword, which I was dismayed to learn, had originally belonged to Gilgamesh. Upon leaving the arena I retrieved his blade, as was my right as champion of our contest. It didn't feel right leaving it to Gunther, or any other griffon that decided they wanted a new sword. His words echoed through my mind even as we walked through the throne room doors. Inside, Princess Celestia of Equestria and her bitch niece stood by the throne, a surprised look on Ambrosia’s face. Celestia herself looked entirely calm. Almost eerily calm.

“I see that I have underestimated you Silver Scroll.” She stated, striding towards us. “I should have thought that the spell I placed on you would compromise your ability to get into Whitetail undetected. I am impressed that you simply disabled it yourself instead of trying to contact me.” Funny enough, that was the excuse I was planning on giving her when she asked why I disabled her spell. Huh. Hindsight is twenty twenty…kinda?

“It’s done Celestia.” I told her simply, depositing the missives and bag of magical scrolls on the throne room floor directly in front of her. “Here’s the scrolls and the missives.” She floated them to eye level and expected each one before returning them to their bags and floating them to Ambrosia.

“I see that their magic has touched you.” She observed, looking at me critically. “I had felt Grogar’s rage from here. It seems that the two of you gave him quite the…” she topped mid-sentence at the sight of Grover. New skin having grown over his empty eye socket and the wicked scars covering his body where Grogar’s magic had touched him seemed to shock her. Her eyes widened, but only for a moment.

“Oh Grover, you need to stop pushing yourself so hard.” She said, sounding concern…wait. I thought. It was subtle, very subtle, but there was a change in her tone. I thought I was just imagining it at the time, but it sounded like she was feigning concern, instead of actually being concerned.

“It is nothing.” He said dismissively. Celestia opened her muzzle to argue but I cut her off.

“Listen, I have places to be. I’d like my payment.” Ambrosia’s eyes narrowed and she scowled darkly at me, but Celestia seemed unfazed.

“Done.” She said simply, floating over a massive bag of golden bits. A quick spell told me the count was fifty thousand even. “the sum that was agreed upon and your pardon.” She then floated a single scroll over to me. I unfurled it and read it.

By order of her Royal Highness Princess Celestia of Equestria, the convicted thief by the name of Silver Scroll is officially pardoned for all crimes, thanks to her service to the kingdom.

There was a royal seal at the bottom of the parchment. It was a simple message, but it spoke volumes. I’m really free. Wanting to stay in Celestia’s company for as little time as possible, I nodded to her then turned to Grover. Much to the Princesses surprise, I threw my forelegs around him and hugged him tightly. “Stay safe damn it. Please stay safe.” the little pony in my head scowled darkly. Oh what do you want!? Rose isn’t even here! After a moment’s hesitation, casting a glance at Princess Celestia, Grover returned my hug. “Thanks for everything.” I released him and he shrugged.

“It was nothing, I was just doing my job.” I felt tears starting to build up my eyes, so with a final quiet goodbye I placed my gold and pardon into my bags and left the throne room; closing the doors behind me. I felt bad for making my goodbye so short, but it was just like ripping off a leech. The sooner you did it, the better you felt.

Except I didn’t feel better. My mind flashed with images of Grover fighting Legionnaires on a massive battlefield around Arcadia. He held only one sword and he was slower than before, soon he collected dozens of minor wounds that stopped him from fighting. A moment later, he hit the ground bleeding and torn with more wounds than I thought anypony could suffer without dying, but Grover held on. He held on until Grogar himself found him, raised his staff once more and brought it down on my friend.

I burst out sobbing and galloped into the castle gardens, weaving between the statues until running head first into the Discord statue.

After my head stopped spinning I sat down on my haunches and cried as quietly as I could. But with nopony (or griffon) around, I didn’t know why I was bothering to keep quiet. And with that realization, I openly sobbed at the foot of the statue. After everything we’d done together, it was over. I had been more subtle about it on our trip to Canterlot, but I still wanted him to come with Rose and I. I even suggested that we come with him to Griffonstone, but he refused. He had a wife and children of his own and they were his number one priority. Before Rose I would have scoffed at the idea, but after being with her, comforting her, letting her sleep in my bed, getting to know her and…getting to love her, I understood why he chose them over me. But that didn’t stop the little pony in my head from crying her eyes out whenever I thought about it.

You should really tell her to shut it, I can’t stand crying. It’s so boring.

I blinked and raising my head, looked around the garden. But nopony was there.

Of course there’s nopony. Damn it Silver Scroll you’re supposed to be smart!

Once more I looked around the clearing in confusion, only for the voice to return sounding extremely irritated.

For fuck’s sake you stupid mare! I’m right in front of you!!! I looked forward to see only the Discord statue. Is the statue talking to me? I thought, beginning to think I’d finally lost it.

Not yet my dear, but you’re getting there. I shrieked (feeling extremely thankful that nopony was there to witness me doing so) and backpedaled away from the statue, only for the voice to scold me. Really? That is so rude, I just thought you’d like to know why your body has changed, but if you don’t want to know… my fear melted away almost instantly, being replaced by a burning curiosity.

“What do you know about it?” I asked quickly, keeping in a gallop ready stance just in case.

Oh my dear Silver Scroll you are just too adorable. I know everything about the Elder Scrolls and their effects.

“How?” I asked, feeling the last of my fear draining away. It was clear that he wasn’t free. He was still trapped, (would have been nice to know that he was there in the first place but what can you do?) and he didn’t seem to be able to harm me, though, I didn’t think he’d even tried. Discord laughed heartily at my words.

Because I made them you stupid tart. The Elder Scrolls are mine. They have always been mine. Celestia just wants to use them for war, not that I really intended for them to be used for anything in specific, but the thing that matters is that they are mine! I scowled at the statue, watching it (him?) suspiciously.

“How do I know you’re telling the truth?” I asked coyly, adjusting my tone so it had just enough interest as caution. The statue was silent for a moment before answering.

I take it back, you are good. I admit, despite the situation I felt my ego inflate a little. If you want to know the whole story I suggest you take a seat, this may take a while. On one hoof, I really wanted to get back to Fetlock. To get back to Rose. But my curiosity was demanding that I stayed. With only a moment’s hesitation I sat down near the statue.

Very good, I knew I liked you for some reason. Now, as for my Scrolls. Before Sun Butt and Lulu imprisoned me in this stony prison I was having the most wonderful time. Equestria was quite perfect in its chaotic state, and I felt content. Still, I could only cause so much chaos without fiddling with free will and to be honest, I try to save that as a last resort. As Fluttershy will find out…

“What?” I asked, my ears dropping. Who and or what is a ‘Fluttershy?’

Never you mind. Anyway, I was bored one day and decided to throw all the knowledge in the universe into a bunch of scrolls I was saving for a midnight snack. Then I spread those scrolls around Equestria and enjoyed quite a show while ponies fought over them, abused their power and overall just had a fantastic time. It was quite entertaining until Celestia and Luna stuck me in this statue, and then stuck me in this garden where ponies goggle at me and birds shit on my head. It’s a real sham how those mares turned out; I should have just left them as unicorns.

Hubbazawa? It felt like my brain broke a little.

That’s a funny word; I’ll have to add that to my lexicon. Oh wait, did you not know that Celestia and Luna were unicorns? He asked condescendingly. Quite the sordid affair. Poor little Luna was sick and Celestia desperately wanted to save her, so she came to me. It had taken all of two minutes of conversation to get a major headache from listening to Discord. But if what he said was true…

Oh it’s true my little pony. I’ll keep it short for the sake of that nasty headache of yours (I mean really, complaining to the readers?) Celestia came to me, I saved her sister and in doing so I turned them both into alicorns.

“Why both of them?” I couldn’t help asking, and even though he was still a statue (or he was just messing with me) I could feel a cold glare emanating from him.

I am Discord! Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony! If the name doesn’t tell you, then I will. I can be a bit random at times. I had to forcibly hold in a chuckle.

Now that the history lesson is over let me tell you about my scroll. You read the Elder Scroll of Magic; contained within is all knowledge of magic in the world, and when you read it, or rather just looked at it, all that knowledge flooded into that adorable little pony body of yours. In a fraction of a second you have become the most powerful unicorn in Equestria. Good job! I rolled my eyes and mulled over what he had said. What he said about the princesses surprised me, but not as much as it would have when I was younger. I always thought it was a little weird that Celestia was the only alicorn in Equestria. Then there was the Elder Scroll, if what Discrod was saying was true…

Oh dear. The spirit said, snapping me out of my reverie. It appears that our chat must end my dear. I have a few lines of dialogue to write for a future event. I suggest you go into the castle along the eastern corridor and wait behind the statue of Star Swirl the Bearded…oh. I miss that stallion! His beard was so wonderfully chaotic! Anywho, goodbye.

And with that the voice of Discord was gone. It was the strangest conversation I had ever had in my life to say the least, but what he said at the end bothered me. Go into the castle along the eastern corridor and wait behind the Star Swirl statue? I had first dismissed this as idiocy, just some crazy thing he said to bother me. But just as my curiosity prompted me to sit and listen to Discord’s ramblings, it was prompting, no, demanding that I followed his instructions.

So I did.

I snuck back into the castle under my cloaking spell and followed the eastern corridor to the Star Swirl statue. It was easy, most of the guards were outside or in the city; making the castle seem oddly quiet. At the very least I thought I’d see a servant or two.

Just moments after slipping behind the Star Swirl statue the magnificent form of Princess Celestia came walking down the hall, deep in conversation with that bitch Ambrosia.

“Are you sure it’s worth it?” the orange maned alicorn asked, sounding…wow! She sounded kind of guilty. “He lost an eye! Maybe we shouldn’t be using him anymore.” I felt an unholy rage build within me. They were talking about Grover, they had to be, and from the sound of it Celestia wanted him to do something so dangerous that even Ambrosia thought it wasn’t worth the cost.

“He is the most powerful weapon I have. I will see if I can restore his eye, but if cannot be done he will need to return to the front without it.” She said, shifting her hooves as the two came to a stop right in front of me. “I do not like it, but I will do what I must to protect my ponies, and you need to do the same.” Ambrosia looked shameful. Glancing between her hooves she muttered,

“But what if we win and he finds out we can’t help him?” I felt my heart drop like a rock. Can’t help...? Celestia’s expression turned somber.

“I will do what I must. The ponies of Equestria are my concern, not the griffons. If we lose this war, Grogar will conquer the griffons as well. Our victory will just have to be enough for Grover.” Her answer had finality to it, as if no further discussion would be tolerated. Ambrosia, after a few moments of doubt, nodded slightly, and then turned to continue down the hall. As Celestia began to walk by I noticed the saddlebags floating beside her. She isn’t going to help him!!! I felt anger and hatred unlike I ever had before. After everything that he did for her, after everything that he sacrificed, Celestia, apparently the kindest pony in the world, was going to let him either die fighting her war or deny him the help she promised once they won. I used my magic to float all the scrolls out of the bags and replace them with blank rolls of parchment.

When Celestia was a good distance away, I left out from behind the statue and trotted down the hall at a brisk pace.

As soon as I tell Grover about this he’ll have to come with me. Fuck it! I’ll find a way to help the griffons if it’s the last thing I do!

“Silver Scroll.” Somepony hit me hard in the gut and clamped a brace to my head. Oh fuck me galloping!!!

                     *************************

I don’t know how long I was unconscious, but it couldn’t have been that long. I didn’t feel the need to relieve myself and despite being chained to the floor with an anti-magic brace strapped to my horn I was fairly comfortable. It took me a minute or two for my eyes to adjust to the light in the room; which I recognized as the Cistern. The heart of the Guild. Dozens of ponies in the standard black Guild armor were sitting in the rows of seats that circled the walls of the Cistern and they were watching the center of the room with expressions ranging from outrage to delight.

The center of the room was dominated by a medium sized table that normally held scrolls and books. Now however it held the beaten and abused form of Brutus. The large earth pony stallion was strapped to the table with thin wire that cut into his skin. He was covered from head to hoof in bruises, cuts and small burns and his head was inside of a blacksmith’s vice. Standing around him were three ponies. Two mares and a stallion. The stallion’s dark gray coat blended into the shadows of the room, but his glowing golden eyes betrayed his identity. His bat wings shuffled in agitation as he stared down Brutus, who stared back, his expression as stoic as a special griffon I knew.

“I don’t want to hurt you Brutus,” the slimy, charismatic voice of Shadowmark echoed softly throughout the room. His voice was calm, even. But his face was contorted in rage and every time his wings shifted the dagger like black blades sparked against each other. “just tell me where she is and I’ll forgive your treachery.” In response Brutus spit in his face.

“Fuck you…” he said weakly. If Shadowmark looked angry before, it was nothing compared to the fury that now dominated his features.

“Fuck me? Fuck me!? Fuck me, you mother fucker, fuck my mother!!!!” he foamed at the mouth as he tightened the vice until Brutus cried out in pain. One of his eyeballs exploded into red and pink paste that splattered onto the faces of Shadowmark and the mares near him. The mares cried out in disgust while Shadowmark smiled and licked a piece of flesh into his mouth.

“Tell me where the cunt is!!!” Shadowmark snarled, only for Brutus to once more spit in his face and this time, Shadowmark had enough. He jumped into the air, unfurled both of his wings and impaled Brutus’s chest. The blades struck him right in the heart and he died instantly.

“Brutus!” I cried and the brutal thestral that was the master of the Guild of Thieves turned around.

“Hello, Silver Scroll.” He strolled over to me, hooked one of his wing blades into the brace on my head and lifted me off the floor like I weighed no more than a kitten. “I dare say you slept through most of our fun, how about I bring you up to speed, shall I?”

With a flourish he spun and bucked me in the chest, launching me across the room until my chains forced me to slam into the stone floor. Some of the ponies around us gasped, while others cheered. Much to my surprise though Sunshine galloped to my side, with a worried expression on her muzzle.

“Guildmaster…” she was cut off by three lightning fast bucks to the chest and face. Sunshine crumbled to the floor of the cistern, whimpering in pain as Shadowmark stepped on her like a doormat.

“So, my dear Silver Scroll, how are you feeling? Are you thirsty? Hungry perhaps? Do you need to use the latrine?” his voice was calm, even pleasant. With an apprehensive look at Sunshine and her battered form, I felt myself bristle. In response, Shadowmark looked at me and smiled brightly.

Even Grogar hadn’t been this terrifying.

“Let’s get down to business,” he said lifting me off the floor again. “Silver Scroll, you are hereby charged with treason against the Guild. You turned against your brothers and sisters in shadows, do you deny it?” I stammered for a second before finding my voice.

“Yes, I deny it! I didn’t betray anypony!”

“Is that so? For starters, you left the city without informing me of your mission. You instead delegated those two to inform my second in command.” He hissed, pointing at Windsheer, holding Sunshine in his forelegs. “Secondly, you lied about the sum in an attempt to steal the Guild’s due percentage.” One of the mares brought my bags over and dumped the massive sack of gold on the floor by Shadowmark.

“That’s not true! It was five thousand, but she offered a bonus if I could cause some extra mayhem out west. I just didn’t want to set you up for a disappointment if I failed the extra objectives, and you would have been pleasantly surprised if I came back with more than expected anyway.” I am good. Almost all of the ponies in the room nodded and smiled, clearly accepting my excuse. Even Shadowmark seemed to at least think about it.

“You are truly charismatic my dear, but that won’t work on me. You lied and I know it and only my word matters!” he said the last few words to the room, causing everypony to wince and bow their heads. “Besides, even if you hadn’t done this, your treason still stands. You conspired with Platinum to remove me from my position and destroy the Guild!!!” I gasped, along with everypony else. P-P-P-Platinum is back..?

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” I said, beginning to shake. If she’s really back…or in the Guild!? “I swear, I’m not helping her. I didn’t even know she was here, what happened?!”

“What happened?” he grinned maniacally at me, bearing his wicked looking fangs. “Dear Miss Platinum strolled into our tavern three days ago, and murdered a dozen of our compatriots. Then her Nightingales stormed the sewers and went on a killing spree. Your treachery led to the deaths of nearly a hundred of my ponies.” A hundred…a whole hundred!!! The Guild had around a hundred and fifty members at its largest. There must have been some serious fighting in the tunnels.

“A-a hundred? Who died!” I looked around the room and saw plenty of familiar faces, but with the prevailing darkness I couldn’t make them all out.

“Besides Brutus here? Just about everypony and it’s entirely your fault!” before I could defend myself further a massive rumble shook the Guild, causing the walls of the Cistern to crack in places. His expression unchanged, Shadowmark turned to the mares next to him and ordered them to check the eastern corridor.

“Is it time for me to decide your sentence Silver Scroll.” He said wickedly as the mares climbed the stairs to the rows of seats overlooking the chamber, and then proceeded to leave through a large wooden door. I tried to argue but he smacked me hard across the muzzle.

“Silence!! as Master of this Guild, find you guilty of treason! You betrayed your brothers and sisters in shadows, and there is only the one punishment for it…death!” he raised his wings and I felt like I’d been pulled back in time.

I was a lot younger, and extremely nervous. I stood in the Cistern with a few other new recruits as Shadowmark circled us, his blades raised. “Defend yourselves!” he dashed forward and swept his wings at the daggers we held in our teeth, (Shadowmark insisted we didn’t use magic.) knocking our blades away in a fraction of a second and knocking us onto our backs.

“If I were your enemy, you’d all be dead!!!”

That was it, I was finished. I personally gave myself better odds of surviving a fight against Celestia. At that moment I felt a strange feeling. It wasn’t sadness or anger, denial or even fear. I felt…at peace, I suppose. I mean, I had a pretty good run, and Rose was safe…and then I felt my heart drop. Rose…I’m so sorry I broke my promise.

I felt tears build in my eyes as Shadowmark leveled his wings at my neck…

and that’s when everything went to hell.

The door that the two mares left through exploded in a ball of green fire, sending shards of wood across the room, followed closely by the burning remains of the mares. Shadowmark scowled as he dropped me to the floor.

“I’ll deal with you later. Besides,” he came close to me and ran his tongue up the side of my neck. “you’re so much prettier now. It would be a waste not to sample you before your execution.” I shivered as Shadowmark turned towards the now open doorway. Several ponies in armor almost identical to the Guild’s (except that it was solid white) rushed into the room holding daggers and other small weapons.

The Guild responded to these attackers in three different ways. Some yelled battle cries and charged into the fight, some took to the shadows, trying to hide and some defected outright and turned on Shadwomark’s ponies. In seconds, the Cistern turned into a war zone and not lie the warzone in the west, where there were battle lines and commanders. It was everypony for themself. Shadowmark’s ponies slashed out against the Nightingale invaders with speed and precision, but the Nightingales were a cut above the remaining Guild ponies. They were outnumbered, but they were faster and their strikes were more powerful. In minutes, the Nightingales either killed or subdued Shadowmark’s fighters.

Shadowmark himself just stood by and watched as more and more of his fighters fell, watching with a bemused expression. The only ponies who weren’t involved in the fighting were Sunshine and Windsheer, who were sitting near me; Windsheer was pouring a potion down her throat.

“You’ll be okay Sunshine, I promise.”  After he spoke the room went quiet, everypony who was still fighting stood completely still as a mare in Nightingale armor landed in front of Shadowmark with a flourish of her bat wings.

“Platinum…” I whispered, not wanting to be noticed. Shadowmark regarded her coldly, his eyes looking her over. She looked nothing like the other bat pony in the room. He coat, mane and tail were all the same flowing gold, with silvery highlights in her hair. Her eyes were also gold, only a slightly darker color. Just like Shadowmark, she had a wicked looking blade on the tip of each wing, except hers were made from solid gold.

“Brother.” She said coldly. It took every ounce of will I had not to gasp.

“Sister.” The two began to circle each other while the Guild ponies and Nightingales took various seats in the rows above. It was nothing that they were just killing each other moments before; now there a real fight was about to take place.

As the two circled one another, bearing their fangs and wings threateningly, I was strongly reminded of Grover and Grogar. Only this time, there was no way it would end so one sided.

Shadowmark lunged with a flap of his wings and struck out at Platinum’s side faster than I could follow. Either one of them could have stood blade to blade with Grover at his peak, and very suddenly, a new thought came to mind. Everypony’s watching these two go at it. I smiled and waved my hoof in front of Windsheer.

“Windsheer! Get this thing off me and we’ll get out of here.” I whispered. He looked skeptical at first, but with a stroke on the cheek from Sunshine he nodded. The two of them quietly made their way towards me and began to undo my shackles.

Meanwhile, Shadowmark and Platinum hissed and growled at each other in rage, the sparking of their knives lighting up the room like a crackling fire. Sunshine finished the shackles on my forelegs and proceeded to remove the brace from my head while Windsheer struggled with the shackles on my hind legs. He wasn’t as good as Sunshine.

“Enough!” Shadowmark yelled out before spinning and bucking Platinum in the chest. She was knocked back several feet, panting heavily from the exertion and the pain in her breast. “I’ve had enough of this, kill her!” several ponies got up from their seats only for the Nightingales to block them. Just when I thought the whole room would erupt into fighting again a door on the bottom floor of the Cistern was thrown open. A half dozen ponies in Guild and Nightingale armor burst in then slammed the door shut.

“BAR THE FUCKING DOOR!”  Both groups pressed themselves against the door and a second later something slammed into it with enough force to knock a couple of them onto the floor.

“What’s going on?!”

“What’s going on?!” Shadowmark and Platinum asked their respective fighters. Both groups had more interest in keeping the door shut than answering, but one of the ponies that was knocked off the door, a mare in Nightingale garb, answered for them all.

“We don’t know! We were fighting in the western tunnels when some psychotic fucking griffon broke through the doors and started tearing the place up. He killed everypony except us!”  the eyes of both thestrals widened.

“There’s only six of you!” platinum almost shrieked. (I noticed a smirk from Shadowmark) “There were twenty of you in those tunnels, without my brother’s ponies! How could a single griffon possibly kill so many of you?” I couldn’t help it; I busted up laughing as soon as the brace was off my head. I got to my hooves and shrugged the chains away.

Shadowmark and Platinum stared at me in confusion. “Just what is so funny?” Shadowmark said threateningly.

“Oh nothing,” I said as sarcastically as I could muster staring down those blades. “It’s nothing really. Just that the griffon that happens to be tearing his way through that door happens to be a friend of mine.” Platinum’s jaw dropped and with a cautious look at her brother, she waved a hoof for her Nightingales to come with her. Two ponies detached themselves from the door leaving only two ponies holding it shut.

“To the shadows!” She cried, and all of the Nightingales disappeared. Shadowmark smirked.

“Coward!” he turned to the door and told the bucks holding it to move.

“Are you crazy!? He’ll kill us OW!” a very familiar blade pierced the door and cut the buck’s ear in half.

“Here’s Grover!!!” with one final thrust the door was blasted off its hinges, crushing the Guild ponies beneath it. Grover landed on the door (and the ponies groaning beneath it) with murder in his eye. “Where is she!!?” he held his sword in his right talons and a royal guard sword in his other. He was dressed in simple light weight armor that reminded me of Royal scouts. His eye fell upon me and instead of filling with happiness or relief as I thought it would, it filled with pure rage.

“YOU COWARDLY TREACHEROUS SNEAK THIEF!!!” he rushed towards me and wrapped his left claws around my neck. “After everything I’ve done you stole the scrolls?! How could you?! “

“Grover…I need to tell you something, please listen…” I said, fighting for breath.

“Well, well, well.” Shadowmark began sarcastically. “A friend of yours eh?” he shook his head. “It doesn’t matter, what does matter is that I’ve found an ally.” Grover’s eye widened and he dropped me on the floor, turning to Shadowmark he growled.

“And just what does that mean you freakish creature?”

“It is simple. I would love nothing more than to kill Silver Scroll myself,” he pointed at me. “but it seems you have a vested interest in doing it yourself. I’ll make you a deal, help me eliminate my sister and her bothersome minions and not only will Silver Scroll be yours, but all the gold in that bag as well.” He finished by pointing at my gold on the floor. Grover stared at Shadowmark for a moment or two, but it felt like an eternity.

“And what, pray tell, would stop me from just killing you all and taking her myself?” the drake said, low and dangerously. For the first time in my life, I saw Shadowmark surprised.

“How dare you! I will…” faster than I thought possible Grover closed the distance between them and slashed the thestral across the face with his talons. Knocking him off his hooves and sending him flying several feet. Shadowmark landed nimbly on his hooves, hissing as blood poured from four long gashes on the right side of his face. “Oh it, is, on!” he growled and charged Grover, his wings outstretched. Just as he had minutes earlier with his sister, Shadowmark began striking out with speed and ferocity that I had only seen in Grover.

Except when Shadowmark fought Platinum, the two seemed equally matched. Now it was the opposite. Grover was faster and more skilled than Shadowmark, and Shadowmark knew it.

“Guild! To me!” to their credit, it took some serious loyalty and courage for the three ponies that actually tried to help Shadowmark fight Grover. But it made no difference. In second Grover had killed two and injured the third. Even with a single eye, Grover was still as deadly as ever.

Shadowmark wasn’t done however. He fought harder and harder, and focused more on avoiding Grover’s strikes than deflected them. Even with the adjustment in his fighting technique Shadowmark just couldn’t overcome Grover. I dared to look around the room and saw that all the remaining ponies, Nightingale or otherwise, were watching Shadowmark begin to falter with varying degrees of glee.

Apparently murdering your own ponies doesn’t earn you loyalty.

I even saw Platinum watching her brother being forced towards the wall with a strange expression. I couldn’t quite place what it was.

With one final burst of strength Grover caught each of Shadowmark’s blades on his own then headbutted the master of the Guild right in the muzzle. His muzzle broke with a sickening crack and he crumbled to the ground. With a final flourish Grover brought both his blades down onShadowmark…only to stop mere inches from his neck.

After a moment, Shadowmark looked up at Grover with a shocked expression. Then the griffon turned his gaze from his opponent and looked at the ponies around him. Most were cheering and chanting ‘KILL HIM!’ over and over. Grover took a deep breath, sheathed his blades then bared his talons at the thestral. Shadowmark flinched but Grover didn’t touch him. He simply removed the blades from his wings then stepped away.

The ponies around us gasped in shock, they had been expecting a bloody and violent end to Shadowmark and his lunacy. But Grover, in a rare instance, gave mercy to a foe. To anypony that didn’t know Grover like I did, this would confuse them. But even though I was hoping he’d cut Shadowmark’s head off, I couldn’t help but feel immense joy that he hadn’t. my mind flooded with various journal entries.

I remember the feeling as my blade pierced his torso. And I remember the cheers. Every griffon watching the match cheered for me. My victory.

Grover had already killed someone in cold blood, with onlookers who cheered him on and he didn’t want to repeat it.

I galloped forward and wrapped Grover in a tight hug. “Oh Grover, you were great!” he pushed me off him and slapped me across the face. Not very hard, but it still hurt.

“Where are the scrolls?” he scowled darkly, and I watched as Platinum flew down from the stands and landed by her brother.

“Grover! I didn’t steal them for money, I swear! Celestia is lying to you, she doesn’t care about Griffonstone she just wants to win the war!” Grover looked at me in disbelief.

“That’s a lie!! I know that you’re a selfish pony but I never thought you would lie about that to get me to come with you. Now give me the scrolls!” he shouted, holding out his talons. With a shriek Platinum stabbed her wings into Shadowmark’s chest. The bat pony stallion jumped up and sank his fangs into her shoulder. Grover turned flew over to them and pulled Shadowmark off her.

“I’ll see…you all in Tarterus…” with those last scornful words, Shadowmark, one of the deadliest warriors in Equestria, drew his last breath. Platinum straightened up, tears in her eyes as she strode over to Grover.

“Thank you.” Grover blinked in confusion at her words.

“For what?” he asked, but I thought I knew what she meant.

“For showing my brother mercy. I don’t think I would have if I were in your place, and that has given some things to think about.” She used her teeth to pull the blades off her own wings, and then presented them to Grover. “My father made these blades for me when we were young. I want you to have them.” Grover took the golden daggers in his claws, then he took Shadowmark’s blades and presented them to her.

“When I was young, I wielded my own brother’s blade. Perhaps you should do the same.” Though it kind of bothered me that Grover was being so pleasant with her, the gesture was very kind. Platinum took the blades and strapped them to her wings before turning to the room and addressing the survivors.

“The pretender is dead and the Guild reunited! We got work to do, chop chop! And somepony get Silver Scroll’s things now!” everypony, Nightingale or otherwise, followed her instructions without question.

Grover turned back to me and held scowled, but before he could speak, I touched the tip of my horn to his forehead and used my magic to force my memory of Celestia and Ambrosia into his mind. Grover’s eye glowed white for nearly a full minute as he experienced the memory first hoof. During this time Sunshine brought my bags to me, being careful to stay out of reach of Grover. I looked down at the blades still grasped in his talons and I got an idea. I took them, and after a moment of searching through his pockets I pulled out the hilt of his broken sword.

“What are you doing?” Platinum asked with a curious look.

“Paying back my friend.” My horn glowed with energy and my eyes turned sold white as my magic flowed into her daggers and then into the hilt of Grover’s broke sword. The three items melted into a blob of metal in the air before reforming into a perfect sword. The hilt was steel, while the blade was solid gold. It was even the same length and thickness as it was before Grogar shattered it.

Grover snapped out of the memory and with almost unholy strength he roared at the top of his lungs. Everypony in the Cistern either dropped what they were doing and ducked into the shadows or simply ran out of the room in terror. Even Platinum flew up against the ceiling and held onto a support beam.

“THAT DOUBLE CROSSING WRETCH!!! I’LL KILL HER, I’LL KILL THEM ALL!” at the sight of me shaking like a leaf and holding the new sword in the air next to me he calmed down enough to stop yelling.

“I know it can’t replace your brother’s sword entirely but it’s still got the hilt…” he took the new blade in his claws and smiled.

“Perfect to remove Celestia’s head.” He said darkly, making everypony in the room (including myself) gasp.

“Grover, you can’t fight Celestia! It will be…” I was going to say ‘Grogar all over again’ but a new thought crossed my mind. what if he didn’t need to kill her? Just subdue her, or force her to capitulate? When I voiced my thoughts Grover scowled darkly.

“It would be harder to make her give up then it would be to simply kill her.” I shook my head and went to my saddlebags. I looked through the various scrolls until I found one with a single blade etched into the clasp.

“Grover, you can’t beat her the way you are now, but if you promise me that you won’t kill her, I think I can make you stronger.” He looked at the scroll in confusion, but it only lasted a fraction of a second. Personally, I didn’t care much about Celestia, if at all, but if Grover killed her, we’d have to fight our way out of Canterlot, then through half of Equestria before we got away.

In a single fluent motion he took the scroll from my grasp, slowly undid the string keeping it shut, then unfurled it.

The next thing I knew, Grover was screaming.

Maximum Level Reached.

Quest Perk added: A friend in Mind: Look at that, the Lord of Chaos is watching over you, you gain an additional point of luck. Sometimes.