The Long Road

The clack of talons against marble echoed throughout stone cavern that had been carved out centuries ago as a palace for the first griffon king. It was a symbol to the Griffon's grit and ingenuity that they could carve out the very mountains and scar the earth. It was a testament to the raw power of the species.

However, Griffons have always lived in the mountains. In the early days they simply made their nests and roosted in the craggy mountains that made up their land, but after the War of Blazing Mountains, the Griffons formed a proper form a government. A representative one at that. Each of the five territories in the kingdom had one representative in the capital.

This specific territory, Hawke, was the first territory that ratified the country's constitution and the first one who used militant force to annex area outside of the griffon kingdom. In the year 600 a large griffon force invaded the Zebraharan Desert to annex and bring culture to the native tribes located there. The griffons stayed in the desert for a little over 500 years, the Zebras finally got tired of their despotic rule and banded together to drive the outsiders back to their own kingdom. Needless to say, the whole affair left some very bad blood between the two countries, and left Equestria to moderate between them. Something both parties despised.

The griffons, always proud of their militant ways, often sent their children out on a pilgrimage to other countries to absorb cultures and observe the customs and weaknesses of said culture. One of the children, who had recently just returned to the fatherland, was lounging about in the ancient palace on a soft couch in her room. Her claws were idly tapping on the marble floor beneath her.

"Madame Gilda..?" The griffon's purple shaded eyes looked up at the intruding voice. It was her personal slave, Nikal. All around the Griffon Kingdom Zebras served as a source of slave labor, usually in palaces and wealthy households.The slaves were shipped from the Zebrahara, taken up as orphans, or simply stolen in the night. When they arrived in the fatherland, they were taken to a processing center where their tribal markings were removed and the were taught Egalian. The language of the griffons. Only after that, were they allowed to serve their griffon masters.

"I thought I told you that I was not to be disturbed." Gilda clacked her beak and tapped her claws a little more intensely  than before. "Need I rake my claws against your back to teach you a lesson?" The griffon princess sneered at the Zebra. Gilda had spent her whole life with the ability to push around and threaten her slaves, something that clearly showed in her attitude towards any creature that resembled Zebras...that meant Ponies as well.

"N-No Madame." The slave's voice still had a little hint of her native accent in it when she was afraid. Regression meant fear, fear meant Gilda was happy. "M-master Gildogar wishes to see you in the throne room immediately." The zebra moved towards the door slowly under the gaze of the predator watching her.  "I-I am sorry for disturbing you.." The slave backed out of the room with such speed that it would make Dash envious.

"Go figure, I'm home for less than a day and Dad already has some stupid task for me..." The Princess grumbled under her breath as she got off of her couch and sauntered over to a glass case on the other side the room. Inside the case was something of great importance: her armor. It was customary to wear it when entering the throne room and meeting with the king. Even if she was the King's daughter.

The armor itself was astonishing. The base material was tempered steel forged in the Falconian Volcanic System that ran deep under the country. The breast plate was scarred from numerous past battles, but still retained its polished sheen. Her battle claws were sharpened to the deadliest point one could imagine, but the pride of the set was the helmet. The helm was coated with pure platinum to give it a brilliant shine, light violet accented the metal around the eyes in order to enhance her natural color, and the feathers of fallen enemies formed a mohawk along the spine of it. It was of her own creation, and it was her pride and joy.

So she went to work putting on the armor. Practiced claws worked worn latches and hinges with ease, taking the armor out of the case and applying it to the young griffon's toned body. Her thoughts were not needed on that work, it was easy. So she let her thoughts drift back to what she was thinking about before Nikal interrupted her. They were of a certain blue mare from flight camp in Cloudsdale. She knew that Dash would never accept her feelings though, the pegasus had said so. That didn't stop Gilda's scheming mind though, she was thinking of how to get Dash. Right now, she was planning on just sending out one of her father's slaver units to pick up the mare for indoctrination and delivery.

Gilda shook her head clear of thoughts, then gently lowered the helm over he head. The cool steel felt right on her head. She shook out her wings and stretched to make sure that the armor was on right. Indeed it was, not a surprise though.  She grinned at her warlike reflection in the glass, in her opinion she looked more beautiful than any creature she had ever seen. Perhaps that was just her opinion though and not fact.

With a wink to her reflection, she turned tail and strutted out of her room and towards the throne room. While each room looked like one that you would see in any other palace, the halls were definitely that of a cave. The rough stone floor, the craggy walls and dripping floors attested to that. It was home to Gilda.

After a few minutes of traversing the ancient cave, she came to the throne room. It wasn't a room per-say, simply the entrance to the cave with a gilded throne that rose high towards the ceiling. The Princess bowed in front of her father's seat.

"Rise." Her father's voice boomed from atop it. Gilda stood proudly in her armor, her wings flared wide. "Do you know why I have called you here, daughter?" Unlike most interactions, Gilda actually respected her battle hardened father. While she had never had a truly face to face conversation with him, she still loved him like any child would lover their parent.

"No father, I do not." Her voice was reserved, her usual rage subsided in the presence of the towering figure above her.

"We have received a report from one of our spies in Equestria. An enemy of the kingdom is on their way here as we speak." Before Gilda could respond, her father came down from his loft. A very seldom occurrence. He had a gilded patch over his right eyes, his feathers on his head were already graying around the edges, but his most magnificent feature were his wings. They were gold at the fringes, and shifted to black the closer they got to his body. She had only seen him this close twice before, and she was in awe.

"F-Father,,?" She instinctively bowed in his regal presence.

"Gilda, rise." He placed a claw on her shoulder. "This enemy is one of my old foes...no, my oldest foe. If he is here, then only bad things can come." Gilda didn't say a word, she was too shocked to do so. "I am too old to confront him, but you....I believe you can do it, Gilda. You have proven yourself in the field of battle, and you are my daughter." He gave a small smile, the scar across his beak making it hard to do so. "His name is Lone, A Zebra tribal. He's been killing our patrols in the Zebraharan for over 40 years...he's how I lost my eye" The smile faded. "He's arriving in Peregrine in a  couple of days."

"Do you wish for me to capture him, father?" She would succeed, not for her ego, not for the honor of her country. But for her father, she wanted his acceptance more than anything.

"No. Kill Him."