Fólkvangr

Gilda sat on the bow of the airship (Sparkly Chew had told her the name of the airship’s front) and let the wind caress the feathers on her crest. I felt like flying, only more annoying because the airship’s magical engines did something weird to her wings. They itched all the time, though barely enough to notice. Enough to drive her crazy but vanish as soon as she tried to do anything about that.

She flapped her wings slowly and let the wind take care of the problem for her. She noticed the unicorn approaching her but pretended not to.

“Are the ship’s magical engines bothering you?” She turned to see the unicorn standing behind her, holding the cage with the rats with her telekinetic magic. “They radiate a lot of background thaumatic radiation, but you’ll get used to it in a few hours. Just be glad you don’t have a horn. Some unicorns just can’t take it.”

“The airship I traveled to Haybale didn’t do that.” Gilda countered.

The unicorn shrugged. “Commercial airships have a lower power to weight ratio and the engines are better shielded. Regulations, regulations…”

Then she showed Gilda the cage with the rats. “We’re gonna declare the rats as payment if that’s okay. It’s gonna raise a few eyebrows, but the Dockmaster should have more important things to worry about. It would be worse if we were transporting someone to Canterlot for nothing.”

“It’s okay.” Gilda nodded calmly. She would rather keep them, but she understood and didn’t want Grunhilda walking around Canterlot carrying a cage full of rats.

“Yeah, so… Hum… We can’t feed them, and thus we can’t keep them. I’ll make dinner with them.” The pony’s ears flopped as she talked.

“You don’t mind?”

“Well, I don’t like it, but I live with a griffon. You know. Usually he eats fish, and they’re already dead and cleaned from the market, but I know how to do it.” The pony looked at the rats sniffing about in the cage.

“Do you want me to help you?” Gilda rose an eyebrow. Not that she had a lot of experience, but she wasn’t squeamish about it.

“Ah, no. I’m just telling you what’s for dinner, and if anypony asks, that’s how you paid us. Say, did you like the room? We usually have passengers that want to get to places discreetly, so it’s not very cozy or luxurious, but it’s a place to rest.”

“I haven’t seen it yet. Grunhilda’s there but I stayed here.” Gilda explained. “To think.”

“Well, just tell me if you need more hot water.” The unicorn went on. “The engines heat a lot of it.”

“Wait… You use water from the magical engines to bathe? Is that safe?” Gilda grimaced, but the unicorn just shrugged. In the end, Gilda didn’t know the first thing about how those things worked. “Fine. I’ll let you know.”

As the unicorn turned to leave, Gilda noticed Grahan at the ship’s helm. She stood and made her way to the ‘aftercastle’, as Chewie had called it. She met him in the small living area, sitting on the biggest and comfiest couch. He smiled at her and patted the cushion next to him.

Gilda made a point of giving him a blank expression and sat on one of the leather armchairs in front of him.

“Are we gonna have any trouble when we arrive at Canterlot?” She asked, ignoring his sad puppy expression.

He sighed. “If he’s suspicious, the dockmaster will want to know what you’re doing in Canterlot and why did you hire a private airship. I recommend saying that you were in a hurry for private reasons and that there are no commercial lines from Haybale to Canterlot. I recommend high tailing it out of there ASAP. They’ll take a few days before they figure out what’s going on with you. You should be fine if all you want is to find your friend and have a quick chat.”

“The problem is that my ship is gonna get locked to the dock…” She concluded with a sigh.

She intended to be entering Snow Mountains in a few days, certainly using Canterlot’s teleporter to get as close as possible as soon as she’s checked out on Gerdie.

“So, what’s the plan?” He asked her so innocently she figured he knew she meant to ditch him… “I’ll have to vanish before Blueblood’s goons realize I’m in town. It’s gonna suck.”

She sighed… “Do you think you’ll be in danger if you have to stay in Canterlot for a while?”

"Yeah…” He actually seemed pretty chill about the idea, though. He probably anticipated the situation. “Blueblood is gonna have the Century Hawk chained to the airdock and will eventually impound her. Once in Canterlot, she’s not taking us anywhere until Blueblood’s been paid.”

But… “What the heck is a Century Hawk?”

“Airships’s name.” He offered an open paw.

“That is one of the dumbest names I’ve ever heard.” She frowned.

“Hey, it’s a great airship.” He grumbled, all offended. “I won her in a bet in Las Pegasus.”

“So, what is your brilliant plan?” He finally asked again after a few seconds of silent glaring.

“I need to find my friend, and then, I’ll teleport from Canterlot to Griffindell.” She didn’t want to give him too many details, but then again, her plan didn’t really have a lot of details…

He chuckled with a playful grin. “There are no teleporters in Snow Mountains, babe. Closest one is Thunderpeak, frontier city in the south side. And there are no teleporters in Canterlot either. Closest one is Ponyville.”

Then he gave her a cocky smile. “You don’t really have a clue what you’re doing, do you?”

“It’s complicated, alright?” She growled at him, but he only laughed.

“Well, since I’m stuck with you, might as well help you. Why don’t you open up a little?” If she didn’t need him, she’d leave at that asshole smile he kept in his face.

“Fine.” She growled. “As I told you, I need to find someone and then report to the northerner griffons. Eventually make it to Griffindell because my life got fucked in Griffonstone. I punched a jerk and turned out his parents were powerful. They burned my house, threatened my friends and I had to flee because they were going to kill me. On the way I killed two lowlives they sent after me, hooked up with Grunhilda and eventually got into contact with the northerners. They want me to go to Griffindell after figuring out what happened to one of them.”

“Let me guess, she was involved with that mess with the military airship…” He rubbed his beak. “Damn, sweetheart. You don’t have a clue what is going on and you just dove headfirst into history in the making. I’d be scared if I were you.”

“Yeah… I didn’t have a choice.” She remained as calm as she could. “Why don’t you educate me?”

“A few days ago, Princesses Twilight Sparkle and Mi Amore Cadenza went to the Changeling Rock and had a chat with Queen Chrysalis. I don’t know what they found in there, but the queen went to Canterlot and Princess Celestia freaked out of her mind. She’s ordered Ponyville’s local militia to apprehend both of them, but they escaped. The very next day a group of northerner griffons hijacked Baltimare’s freight teleporter and ‘ported in a warship from feathers know where. The airship went to Haybale, where some Gerdie gal was meant to meet the princesses with information about their research. Name rings a bell?”

Gilda simply nodded and he continued. “But the griffons didn’t find them in Haybale. The Prince-Consort got there first with a Royal Guard frigate and shuffled the princesses out of there. Then they set out to chase the princesses. Word around the street is that Celestia mobilized the First Equestrian Armada along with her monster new airship and probably engaged the griffon’s own monster somewhere between Haybale and Manehattan. But, Gerdie was taken to Canterlot to have a conversation with The Mare.

He took a second to sigh. “The good news is that the Royal Guard uses a private hotel where they stash that sort of creatures until the Princess has decided what to do with them. It’s a simple hotel, nothing out of the ordinary. They’ll be curious about some griffon gal wanting to meet the griffon that was involved in that mess, though.”

“So, do you want my professional opinion?” He asked, making himself comfortable on his couch, setting his back against the soft backrest and his paws behind his head. “As in professional scoundrel that hasn’t done a day of honest work because I can’t stick to a place?”

“Let go of that mess. I don’t really know you, but greeting cards aren’t common in my business… You got yourself out of some muddy waters, and that takes some oomph. You and your friend can learn your way around the airship, and we can work something out. I mean… The airship is a bit too big for a pony and a griffon. And Chewie isn’t into griffon guys, you know?”

“You wouldn’t understand.” She told him. “I gotta do stuff. It’s not that simple. Not to mention that I don’t feel like integrating your own personal pride with Grunhilda.”

He sighed, frustrated. “Geez. Come on! Don’t tell me you buy into the Lion’s bullshit!”

“You really don’t understand. I don’t have a choice.” She glowered at him.

He sighed again, even more frustrated. “Come on, girl… The Lion’s bad business.”

“Just get us to Canterlot, will you?” She grumbled at him and walked out the door, back to the airship’s deck.

She found herself a spot at the safety railing in the back of the ship, above the aftercastle, and propped herself on it. She stared down the green prairies and spots of trees along the soft hills. Soon the princesses would change the day for night.

“This douchebag is gonna betray me!” She growled to herself, and her paws held the railing harder than she wanted. “There's no way his ship was just sitting there without a job!”

Maybe she was paranoid, but she had no reason to trust that griffon and even then, she had thought she could trust Gary. She worried about Grunhilda and feared without her the big girl would get herself into trouble. Gilda hadn’t suddenly become great at decision making, but she could swear there something was wrong with Grunhilda. Something that made her vulnerable. She had to be careful, not only for herself, but for Grunhilda too. The Harpy’s words about Gilda deciding Grunhilda’s fate returned.

Maybe it spoke poorly of her, but she rather beat him to the punch and come up on top. Although she doubted she and Grunhilda could get the airship to work, or that they could force his unicorn friend to reliably work for them if she got rid of Grahan.

She could only deal with Grahan after getting done with her deal with the northerners. Then again, she might not even need him at all. She needed to think on it some more, but other thoughts intruded into her head.

Rainbow Dash… She had worried but it seemed she never needed to. How silly, Rainbow Dash ever needing her help… Maybe Rainbow could afford to worry about Gilda a little? In reality, she didn’t know if her letter had even reached her friend.

On another note, she doubted the Harpy would appreciate her friendship. A griffon friend would be more appreciated. In fact, did she… Watch? Like, right as Gilda stood there on the airship?

She listened for a while. Paid attention, eyes shifting one side to the other, but The Harpy never responded. Rather than calming her nerves, it made her even more nervous. Gilda probably was under near constant observation… Somehow. The Harpy had said she would evaluate Gilda.

She sighed to herself. She could only keep going forward. If she stopped, Shatteredrock would catch up to her and she couldn’t let it happen. Or maybe even worse.

Her muscles complained and se stretched her neck up with a groan. It would be a great time to check the room her hosts had for her and Grunhilda.

She went down the stairs and to the front of the vessel. As a converted seafaring vessel, the airship had some significant space under the deck. She walked past a galley where the unicorn had left the caged rats and busied herself with something else. Next Gilda found a small office of sorts, and then a small cargo area ending in a plain wall of planks with a door.

Beyond she entered a wedge-shaped little room within the hull forming the bow. It had a bed and some storage space up top in the form of small cabinets filled with ‘airship stuff’. At least Gilda and Grunhilda had no luggage to concern themselves with. And thinking of the big gal, there she sat, next to a small tub and with a big goofy smile.

“I’ve prepared a bath for you, Miss Gilda.” She declared with all the joy a small child might show at some minor achievement.

Yeah… Gilda hadn’t asked, but a nice bath would be sweet! She’d ignore the origin of the water for the time being.

“Thanks a lot, Grunhilda!” She pulled the door closed with her tail and approached with a grin. “Good call!”

Without thinking about it, she climbed into the tub and relaxed with her back to the edge, letting out a long sigh. The hot water soaked into her coat and her feathers, and it would be a pain to dry, but she didn’t care. The relaxing effect on every single muscle in her body just made it worth it, as though worries evaporated with the steam rising from the water.

Then Grunhilda’s paws reached for her shoulders and neck, massaging her muscles before Gilda could complain or tell her to stop. She let a moan escape and immediately her cheeks turned hot. Gilda had no idea if Grunhilda knew what she was doing, but she had some strong paws, and her massage melted the muscles into relaxation.

Her talons prickled at Gilda’s skin under her plumage, but not enough to be uncomfortable and Grunhilda didn’t seem to have a lot of experience, or anything. Just another schmuck like Gilda trying to do something nice to her friend. It made her blush even more.

Maybe she should retribute, somehow?

A soft aroma of sandalwood rose with the steam. Her friend’s attentions almost made her forget she traveled on an airship with a shady griffon and a talkative unicorn. She yawned.

She yawned again and Grunhilda seemed happy to help.

***

Gilda occupied Ghadah’s body again, and the relaxing touch of water felt familiar, though the young griffoness of millennia ago appreciated it far more. A pool of running water was a literal luxury in the Hader.

Under the stars and the moon, the cool air of the desert night rushed over the stepped pyramid and carried the smell of sand and the plantations bellow. Despite the incense and the heavy ceramic mug filled with fine beer by the pool’s edge.

She laid on her back with her head on a pillow against the edge. The soft smell of the lubricating oils also made themselves present as the servant by the edge of the pool oiled and cleaned her sword, ‘Commandment’. A young and cute griffon on his way up the steps to become one of the Emperor’s own. Eager to please his superiors, to show industriousness and diligence, happy to earn a smile from one of the Harpy’s Chosen. A free griffon, as some things one would just not trust a slave to do.

Most of her sisters had to prove their skills in some spectacular fashion, and for a pair of seasons, Ghadah fought with The Emperor’s Golden Guard. They dealt with a few bandits here and there and helped deal with a small rebellion. She also participated in a raid to a tall pony city.

She hadn’t done anything truly special in her own eyes, but she had garnered quite a lot of prestige for herself. Being her parents’ daughter, and with her dedication to her training, but also in accounts of her ferocity and skill, wielding Commandment in battle. She didn’t think it so amazing, but she trusted the one doling out privileges and prizes.

She merely followed rules and a training regimen. She couldn’t see herself making any excuses as to why she might have failed when it literally her whole life. But apparently not all Sisters did so. Even among the blooming Loremasters, supposedly smarter and wiser.

Life in the Harpy’s Garden implied privilege. The Emperor had built it for the Harpy to remind Her of the mountains in the Stormy Eyrie. The running waters and the cold desert nightly breeze certainly seemed to emulate the temperate climate She described from the birthplace of their race before the Windigos. So did the flowery gardens and berry bushes. Things which wouldn’t exist in the desert and only came to be thanks to the ingenious Shaddani, the plains griffons.

As an added note, Ghadah couldn’t wait for the day the Emperor would lead a host of millions against the Cold. Griffons from all the regions of the Empire, joining together and marching as one behind him… It gave her warm feelings. She hoped she would live long enough to see the Allmother fighting the Windigos, unleashing all of her power at his side.

Quiet chuckles and hymns to the garden’s mistress filtered above her thoughts. Eventual laughter over the rustling of the leaves in foreign trees and fruitful bushes. The running water cascading down the many pools in each step towards the irrigation system where the slaves were allowed to plant their grains and grasses.

Her gift for their subservience. Some of them, even if most rebelled, understood that life became easier when they accepted their place in life and served their masters with diligence. Why, the Allmother even commanded masters should not abuse subservient slaves. So wise and benevolent when one deserved it.

The Allmother’s residence meant even more. A bustling place, home to all of Her Chosen and a place visited by many nobles and residents of the Holy City. The sounds of life spiced the solemn atmosphere, as She desired it. The Loremasters said in hushed voices She hated being alone.

Sometimes the gasping sounds of lovemaking because the legendary beauty of Her Servants often attracted their lovers to their home.

Other times cracking whips and sobbing, because apparently not all Her Chosen could be as diligent or even had a balanced common sense as Ghadah. Noble girls who thought they’d have it easy because their dad and mom were some important merchant or local governor. No, Allmother wanted results, especially from the privileged.

Discipline shaped them soon enough. The Harpy held Her Chosen to a higher standard. She expected nothing less than perfection from Her Swordmaidens and Loremasters and those who managed owned a place in Her home.

The Harpy called it ‘an empire of the senses’. She expected it of griffons. She accused the hooves ones, and their traitorous griffon sympathizers of wanting lives too long and dull. She loathed shyness and indolence, cowardice, and meekness; while she exalted griffons who indulged in the pleasures they reaped from their industriousness. The Emperor had a literal harem of the most beautiful and skilled servants She could produce for him. They gorged in fresh meat, beers and wines after the exertions of their labor. Be it in the bureaucratic machine of the Empire or the meat grinder of the Emperor’s finest.

Finally, Ghadah allowed herself a small smile at the sound of the whip and sobbing. Because some griffons just didn’t measure up to her.

In the middle of Ghadah’s thoughts Gilda wondered if she would make the cut. Ghadah’s mother, Gulsana, and her own mother had raised them in such different ways. Her mother allowed Gilda to express herself and, in the end, not be anything other than herself. Gulsana never allowed Ghadah much space to do anything other than prepare. Prepare for the day she would present her sacrifice to The Harpy. Prepare for her training. Prepare to fight. She even expected Ghadah to be ready to get laid and make an impression with The Emperor.

In the present day, such a thing would sound alarms all the way to Canterlot.

Gilda just couldn’t imagine herself and her mother having many of the conversations Ghadah had with her mother. Much less sharing in many of the things they had, from opening up slaves and scooping out their hearts to megalomaniacal orgiastic festivals. So much food and beverages one might wonder the world would be out of both for the coming years.

To Gilda the most amusing thought had to be Ghadah’s frustration over being relegated to merely watching for so long, disallowed to participate for being uninitiated. It made her think she and the girl really were cuts from different cloths. Products of such different times. Gilda’s stomach turned just at the idea of slavery.

Who was to blame? Was anyone to blame? If so, it would certainly be the griffons who decided to ruin her life for a petty reason.

Yet, as Ghadah and Gilda both appreciated the warm bath and sandalwood, the later also figured The Harpy had once again enamored herself to her. They lived in different worlds. Despite the gossiping about the Bordello of Candy in the Crystal Empire, Gilda doubted they reached the same levels of indulgence of the Empire in its peak. Of course, Gilda never reached the levels of prestige necessary for an invitation to the Bordello anyways.

Then something which had been festering for quite a while seemed to take root. Rainbow Dash was her friend and even though they even went to the same school in their early childhood, their lives turned out so different. Gilda certainly couldn’t blame Rainbow Dash for her life amounting to nothing. She never cared until recently, but while she baked scones, Rainbow Dash became known around the world. She had accrued for herself quite the fortune and a comfortable life due to her position in the pony nobility, even if she didn’t care about it. She became so important the most powerful creature in the world would invite her for all the balls and parties in the capital of the world.

Even if she didn’t care, Rainbow would still eat the best foods and share those with the most important ponies, and even other creatures in the world. Gilda came to a point she ate stale fish and tomato sauce.

Ghadah’s mind pulled her own in a direction and Gilda had to agree. Gilda actually believed the title for the most powerful creature in the world had just been contested… And it meant a lot to Gilda.

Anyways, she had never thought in such a way… But Rainbow not only received a good life on a silver platter for doing what she liked, but she thrived in such life. Her parents gave her all the support, encouragement, and praise to the point that she felt overwhelmed by it.

Truthy, Ghadah had ended up burning alive after being raped and tortured, but because of things which didn’t relate. Right? But, damn, did she lay down the words at her torturers before she died. And even then, Gilda, after the lame life she once thought so awesome, still worried about ending locked up in Shatteredrock. Because she punched a jerk who deserved to be punched.

She half expected The Harpy to talk to her in her head and explain things, but the only sounds were the running water, the rustling leaves. Someone fucking in one of the rooms inside the Garden and some loser getting whipped because of their incompetence. All along with Ghadah’s smug thoughts of superiority.

Holy crap! Ghadah, despite being quite a few years younger than Gilda had fucked the feathering Emperor of the griffon race. She got laid a heck of a lot more, actually was competent at something… She was paws down awesome! And griffons looked up to her, like the dummy with her sword, ogling her teats in the water.

And, once again, old Master Gabriel’s words came to Gilda’s mind. The Chancellor didn’t rule for the griffons. That Gilda was a prisoner and her race had forgotten what it felt like to be free.

Maybe she didn’t believe the ponies unleashed the Windigos as a weapon against the griffons, as Gladys had told her, but she remembered the Stormy Eyrie. She remembered the exultant joy when The Mother of Storms called her kind out to hunt. To dance and celebrate in the rain. She remembered the humbling fear of being Her presence and witnessing Her power.

Ghadah was right to anticipate… Seeing the Mother of Storms unleashing on something would be… Similar to what the nameless cavegriffon had felt witnessing her power in the lightning. Divine.

Gilda remembered the unyielding strength she summoned when she surrendered to her instinct and ended those lowlives in that dirty alley back at Griffonstone. It felt no different to when Ghadah unleashed her sword on those brutes in that awful dream. Even when she knew she wouldn’t win, something inside of her refused to let them win. Even when the flames burned her skin. A pride. A righteousness. Like a predator refusing to be prey. It was the Harpy’s gift… It made her kind into killing machines.

Or at least those who would open themselves to Her gift. Maybe there was a lesson in all that.

Gilda got herself in trouble when she let go of all the ponies wanted her to be. But doing things their way didn’t work either. She would have gotten herself to the most infamous prison in the world, gotten her friends in trouble. Her new friends from the hospital would’ve ended in trouble too. She didn’t even want to think about what would have happened to Grunhilda.

Only after she snapped things worked out for her.

Maybe it wasn’t her mind that had snapped, but her shackles.

Maybe the lesson was that Gilda should become more like Ghadah. Surrender to the Harpy’s might, indulge in her gifts. Make ‘them’ remember a caged predator was still a predator. A hunter that negotiated in blood.

Nevermind the whole political stuff attached to The Lion, the Cult of The Harpy and the civil war threatening Griffonia. Maybe that was not ideal, but that was the right way for the griffons. For once, she was lucky to be able to benefit from it.

Maybe Celestia wasn’t bad. Nor Luna. Maybe it was a difference in mentality. Some things worked for ponies and other worked for griffons. And Gilda was a griffon, not a pony.

A storm approached, and she would get drenched in it either way. Might as well go in headfirst into the dark clouds… For her sake and her friends. She wanted Greta to share in any freedom she might have. Gertrude and Griselda too. She would protect those she loved, and if she could sway The Lion, she would have a few heads rolling too.

Yes… ‘Love your friends infinitely. Hate your enemies infinitely’ sounded right.

The kid dropped her sword with an intrusive clang and interrupted her thoughts and Ghadah’s relaxing mindlessness. Ghadah glared at him but turned to the door once she saw his shocked expression. She gasped.

A large griffoness entered the room. Not as large as The Harpy herself, but big enough she certainly had ancestors in the northerner lands. A fair face and elegantly shaped body covered in all shades of metallic pink, wearing a wondrous multicolored cape flowing about in the breeze.

Gilda recognized her from her very first dream, and Ghadah knew exactly her too. Standing on her four legs in the wather, and letting her wings flare, Ghadah lowered her head in deference.

“Your majesty!” She softly acknowledged the other female, and the boy cried his greeting, much less in control of his nerves.

“Greetings Ghadah. Do you mind if I join you?” She had a strong voice, even she showed a soft smile and her diction flowed elegantly mellow.

“Not at all your majesty!” Ghadah said with all the composure she managed to retain at the visit. She watched as the elegant and older griffon lady undid her cape and wrapped her own clear steel longsword with it before leaving it on the floor. She let all the glory of her lean, yet strong, beautiful body under the metallic pink fur showing.

Ghadah recognized in her all the racial traits of the Shaddani lineage hailing from the central and coastal areas of the Empire to the west of the Hader. Looking at the Empress the rumors about the beauty of griffonesses from the area certainly seemed factual. No wonder she became one of the Harpy’s Swordmaidens before she mated the Emperor. She had sharp facial features, a symbol of the great purity of her ancestors. Alluring cyan eyes to go with the natural highlights of the feathers in her backswept crest.

She walked into the pool and settled laying on her belly, with her head out of the water, relaxing with her calm superiority and eyeing Ghadah playfully. “What is the point of a servant if you won’t have him massage you?”

Ghadah blinked dumbly at her. “He is not my servant… He’s just one of the cubs who follow he soldiers around. He’s oiling my sword.”

Then Ghadah frowned and a series of imprecations rushed past the mind she shared with Gilda. “Mom doesn’t share her servants with me… And I don’t have the money…”

“You need to learn how to lean on your position, Ghadah. I remember Gulsana would always lay with some handsome young soldier after a day of learning the Loremaster arts. That is free.” The empress giggled a little at Ghadah’s helpless expression, but then turned to the kid and frowned at him. “Leave us.”

He rested Ghadah’s sword by the floor as quickly as he could while still being respectful and flew away as promptly as he could.

Ghadah’s thoughts, which ranged from the absurd to the comical to the lewd silenced as soon as Empress Geneviere stared down at the softly sloshing water. “Griffonstone has stopped responding to missives and tribute is not coming anymore.”

Ghadah’s beak dropped open.

“I fear my brother is preparing a rebellion.” She confessed as though she had done something wrong, but at the same time seemed so angry.

“Why would he do that?” And also, why did she come to Ghadah with that?! Both she and Gilda were stumped.

“Gaven has decided he will go there personally.” The other stared back into Ghadah’s eyes.

Gilda knew, through Ghadah, Gaven was Emperor Grigor’s first name, but it didn’t leave either of them any less confused as Ghadah all but whined with a worried frown.

Empress Geneviere frowned too. “Gaven trusts my brother too much and… There are details which make the situation special. But I believe you have impressed your superiors enough you should be made aware of those. Also considering both your mother and your father will be involved.”

She smiled at Ghadah. “Not to mention how much Gaven has endeared himself to you, and so have I.”

Ghadah’s thoughts ground to a halt like a crashing train.

The Empress looked to the sky. “Before the Mad God, but after the Windigos had claimed the Frozen North, ponies ruled their mighty republic from Central Equestria. His arrival upturned everything, and he engulfed the world in His madness. Insane creatures, named by the ponies as the Lost Herd threatened to end civilization. All races found themselves struggling against the Lost and they threatened to end creation for the sake of the Mad God.”

“We all resisted as we could and when their onslaught ended with the Mad God’s defeat, little remained untouched. The Republic’s Mage’s Guild never provided a clear explanation to what had happened. It is possible not even they have a clear record of those events. Many ponies claimed, extra-officially, their Creator Goddesses vanquished Him, but they forced into slumber after the battle.”

“I know the history, milady.” Ghadah shook her head softly. “My mother gave me all the books to read. It is believed the Mad God tried to end Creation for the sins of the hooved. Throughout the months, even the mightiest armies in the world, the Battlehorn Legions were destroyed, one by one, battle after battle. Until only the First and the Fourth returned to the Capital, where they fought again.”

Ghadah frowned a little. “They claim their Goddesses defeated Him, but not before the Mad God ripped out Amore’s heart and crushed Amicizia’s. The Goddesses Sol-Estia and Luccenotturna managed to subdue and turn Him to stone. During that time, The Harpy first walked the realm of the mortals. But She refused to assist griffons in their struggle, for they were too weak, and their weakness disgusted Her. She left for the Stormy Eyrie, where the Emperor later found her, past the Windigos, and brought her here.”

“Also…” Ghadah added with a frown. “The ponies may believe whatever they want to, but The Harpy is the only true god there is.”

Empress Geneviere nodded, pleased at Ghadah, but Gilda’s thoughts stalled at ‘what the fuck?’

Then Geneviere went on. “You were too young to remember, but there was a time after the Mad God when the night was a starless void and the sun became enlarged, bloated, and hotter than it should. Days became hotter and drier each new morning, threatening to bake us alive. Gaven sent the First Airborn Army to Everfree, the city that born out of the ruins of the Capital and where the Mage’s Guild still operated and should care for the sun and moon.”

“I trust you read about the events that followed?” Geneviere tilted her head just a little.

Ghadah nodded. “It is said unicorns gradually lost control of the heavens, until whatever magic they used finally broke and some blamed residual magic from the Mad God. The sun turned black and, for lack of better words from the chronicler, ‘reality began to break apart’. I am glad I was too young to remember. But there was one who put it under control. A winged unicorn who called herself Sunny Days. Daughter of a couple of poor bakers from Everfree. She, and her sister, Moonlit Nights claimed to have the heavens under control. The equines called them Sol-Estia and Luccenotturna, after the goddesses they claimed had been reborn in them.”

“What else do you know?” Geneviere nodded positively at her.

“General Gorhan Blacktalon of the First Airborn Army arrived soon before the event and put the city under occupation as things settled with a new day. He had assistance from both the ruling families, the Bluebloods and the Brightmanes. Archmage Star Swirl protected the two sisters with assistance of Matriarch Cinnamon Flameheart, Legate of the Fourth Battlehorn Legion, supposedly the only Legion which survived. Eventually occupation ended with the return of the First Battlehorn Legion, previously thought destroyed in the battle which occurred in the Capital. Our occupation forces were thus destroyed, and the Emperor’s advisors considered those lands to be too distant to effectively rule, and had nothing of use to us.”

Then Ghadah frowned at the stupid pony nonsense… “Additionally, uneducated pony commoners misunderstood and mispronounced their names and titles. Instead of ‘priestess’, they called them ‘princess’, mispronounced Sol-Estia as Celestia and couldn’t even pronounce Luccenoturna, so they called the younger sister Luna.”

Seriously… Ponies were retarded. Gilda would have sighed if she could and didn’t know if she should laugh or cry.

“I will tell you what you don’t know, then.” Geneviere stared so seriously at Ghadah and Gilda. “The Harpy forbid another occupation. She commanded the Empire prepared for war against all races. To prepare even against those we had already subjugated. What I will tell you, must not leave this pool. Understand?”

“Yes, milady.” Ghadah bowed as much as the water allowed her.

“The world we live at is one of many. Not that there are copies of it, but it has existed countless times before. Every time the powers that be decided Life had become unsustainable, the Black Sun would end it all and Creation began anew. The world first belonged to us, but Creation rebelled. The Children of the Sun led our servants in rebellion, and she destroyed the Allmother, which brought the world to end. But when it began anew the Dawnbringer ruled over the world and remade it so her children would rule it.”

Ghadah frowned and the Empress went on. “The Allmother has withheld the details from us; but elevated to actual godhood, the four goddesses worshiped by the ponies were supposed to remain distant from the realm of the mortals. Much as Our Mother Harpy, neither ever allowed a presence among mortals other than their subtle influence. It was the Mad God’s tampering of magic on the worldwide scale that brought them to walk the world among us.

“So… The ponies are not wrong in claiming… But… The Allmother is the only god…” Ghadah’s didn’t take that well, at all.

“Stay with me, Ghadah.” The Empress urged her. “It falls upon Gaven to destroy the Dawnbringer and her Sister. But for such, the Allmother has proclaimed she must have the unyielding support of all griffons, or She will not be able to lend Gaven the magic to destroy her.”

“But… Grover!” Ghadah growled.

“My brother must be brought to submission, or his rebellion destroyed entirely if we are to survive this.” Geneviere frowned and spoke with such a cruel whim it scared Gilda. “If he has any thoughts of rebellion, Gaven must end Grover and reconquer his subjects, through terror if need be.”

“This is the most important moment in our history. The most important moment in existence.” The empress insisted. “We must keep our race united under the Harpy or the Dawnbringer will again steal the world from us. Therefore, Gaven and the Golden Guard will travel to Griffonstone to put some sense into my brother. Or to bring him to Imperial Justice. I will accompany him as it behooves his imperial consort, and so will our oldest sons. Your father will personally command our escort and your mother will counsel The Emperor. I wish for you to come with us.”

Ghadah blinked at her. “Absolutely, your majesty.”

Ghadah blinked again. “Why?”

“Because your reputation speaks of the necessary skills and maturity.” Geneviere grinned at her surprise. “The Harpy has decided you are to be made a fully-fledged Swordmaiden, and it is now your duty to accompany the Emperor in his journeys. You and the others will be under my command during this journey, as is the norm. And I, with Gulsana, will teach you all you will need to fulfill your duties, as The Harpy commands.”

Ghadah’s beak hung open for a few seconds before she managed to gather her wits. “As The Harpy commands.”

***

Gilda woke calmly and rested, her head cleared and focused. Her coat and feathers had mostly dried off naturally. She felt Grunhilda’s weight and warmness next to her, laying on the small bed. She didn’t know for how long she slept, but it seemed to have been enough to get her rid of the stress of the last day. She held Grunhilda’s paw, draped over her shoulder and softly inhaled the smell of sandalwood.

The big girl mumbled something as Gilda rubbed her cheek softly on her paw. Then she got up slowly and roused the other slightly.

“Chill… Just sleep. I gotta see to a few things, but I’ll be back soon.”

“Okay…” Grunhilda mumbled in her sleep.

Gilda petted her head and then carefully opened the door to leave the room.