Endings And Beginnings

Badlands, The Morning After Gregory’s Banishment…

Jason and the one hundred changeling warriors he had asked Nictis to handpick for this impromptu rescue mission had been on the move all night, following an ancient map of the Badlands that Chrysalis had in her possession that led to an ancient changeling fortress. By the light of the moon, they’d tried to search for the location on said map, but there had been many centuries of change that had either altered or flat out erased the landmarks on the map.

Since Jason had no wings to speak of, certain changelings had taken turns carrying him, but for the most part Chrysalis and General Nictis had been carrying him. Both had attempted to talk to Jason, but he hadn’t really been in a talkative mood. He ignored the slight pain through his body as best he could, and had even accidentally fallen asleep a few times during the night, only to dream. In each dream, he experienced the torture he endured at the hooves of Ponyvillian ponies. Not only that, but he would experience the moment three months prior where he fatally shot Discord. And that nightmare was becoming more and more frequent.

Each time he woke from his nightmares, he would flail about in the grip of whoever had been carrying him. Whenever it was Chrysalis, she would bring him close to her bosom and stroke his graying hair gently. If it was Nictis, the general would ask if he was sure he didn’t want to land and rest for the night. However, Jason was too wound up to even think about resting. At one point, even Chrysalis talked about taking a break, but he’d refused. He reasoned that every moment they spent without searching was a moment that kept Gregory in that God-awful hellish landscape.

Before he came to Equestria back in April of 2014, he’d only ever heard of Tartarus when Twilight had mentioned it in the time travel loop episode. Back then, he’d laughed at how the purple unicorn had mispronounced Tartarus. But now? He’d read up on all of the literature there was to know on the subject from the Hive’s own scant library books. And it sounded like the actual place was a nightmare to be stuck in.

According to the book he’d read, an ancient changeling hive led by a queen named Metamorpha had discovered an ancient gated entryway into the cavernous wastes below their hooves. They had explored it and discovered that it was practically inescapable. Thus, Metamorpha had built a hive in that location. The gate was ancient but anyone caught on the other side would not even be able to teleport out. Metamorpha, who Jason later learned was a relation of Chrysalis, used Tartarus as a prison for any of her hive who broke their laws.

Jason couldn’t find a reason why the old fortress had been abandoned, but judging from the location, he guessed that they had been driven out by old pony settlers who were colonizing the Badlands at that time. Apparently, the now desolate desert had once been green and full of life until some unknown cataclysm had destroyed all life there.

He was broken from his reverie by Nictis, who was currently carrying him, leaning forward to get close enough to Jason’s ear to be heard. “Sir, is that it?” Nictis asked as he nodded his head toward the horizon.

Jason turned and looked in the direction they were heading. Ever since the evening before, they had been heading south, but now that the sun was beginning to rise in the east, the land below was beginning to be easier for his remaining eye to see it below him. Just like most of the Badlands, it almost looked like an analogue of Mars, with red rocks and dust everywhere. But just ahead of them, on the horizon, he saw something out of the ordinary.

At first glance, it looked like a pile of gray stones just sitting haphazardly between two large red hills which looked like a natural forming chair for a giant. However, as he blinked the sleep from his eye and focused as best as he could without any depth perception, he could see some artifice to the stones themselves.

As they got closer, Jason saw more and more details. There were two tall towers, both crumbling, on either side of the former hive. They sat in between what must have been a formally larger ziggurat type building which had fallen into heavy disrepair. There were two large statues of changeling queens situated at the front, each standing up with one hoof out. In a way, it reminded Jason of the Argonath from the Lord of the Rings movies. Each statue, unlike the stones that made up the abandoned hive, seemed to be made of the same material as the current changeling hive’s throne.

Jason looked down at the map and looked over the crude drawing of the ancient hive, then compared it to what he was seeing from above. Turning back to Nictis, he pointed down. “That’s it! Let’s go!”

Nictis nodded, then turned back to the other changelings. Opening his mouth, he released a rapid clicking noise, a form of communication unique to changelings. It was used whenever a group were in flight and normal speech was impossible thanks to the high winds.

At Nictis’ words, the changeling rescue party began to move down in synchronous motion. Beside Nictis and Jason, Chrysalis suddenly appeared and said a few words to Nictis. Nodding, the general passed Jason over into Chrysalis’ waiting arms. She wrapped her arms around his waist from behind, leaned in and said, “You found my mother’s old hive.”

Jason looked back into the anthropomorphic version of Chrysalis’ face in shock. He’d known that Metamorpha was in some way related to Chrysalis, but he hadn’t known she was the Duchess’ mother. To his further shock, there was a look of sadness on the former queen’s face. Nodding slowly, not sure how to deal with this new side of Chrysalis, he looked back down at the approaching ruins. “Yes. The old Metamorpha hive. And the location of the changeling’s doorway to Tartarus.”

He felt Chrysalis’ grip on him tighten. “I never thought I would live to see it…”

Jason wasn’t really sure how to respond to that. He was used to the Chrysalis who was snarky and, lately, a bit seductive. The same Chrysalis who had rescued him from the Everfree Forest and who had taken his suggestions on advanced armaments seriously. He wasn’t used to a vulnerable Chrysalis.

They landed in front of what at one point had been the front gates. The wood had rotted away, leaving rusted iron that had once been nailed to said door. Jason turned to Nictis. “Tell your soldiers to fan out,” he ordered with a sweep of his hand. “You’re looking for a massive iron set of double doors these markings on them.” He held up a picture of an arched double door with red markings along it, a circular emblem with waves inside two concentric circles, and a blue square near the bottom with four other squares carved into their edges. “Search everywhere just to be safe, but be cautious. These ruins are crumbling.”

Nictis nodded, turned to the other changelings and began barking out orders, his unusually sparkling wings fluttering in the early morning cool air as he took flight.

Jason took the time to look around. They were in a large courtyard which had, at one point, had a large fountain in the center. Whatever had been the spout had since turned to rubble. The water had dried up and the massive stone circle had large cracks in it. Around the courtyard’s dilapidated walls, he could see other crumbling statues of different changelings. If there were any identifying markers or nameplates, they had long since eroded away thanks to the dusty winds and occasional rains that would sweep through the Badlands.

However, Chrysalis seemed to know them, or at least some of them. In her human-like form, she walked around the courtyard, looking at them and mouthing what must have been their names with an awed expression on her face. She sometimes put her hands on the statues, wings buzzing behind her.

Jason, having nothing to do since he knew better than to go into rickety old ruin, especially since he couldn’t fly. He knelt and looked at the ancient craftsmanship of this old hive. The main tower loomed over them; the eastern portion now bathed in orange morning light as a few cirrus clouds flew by overhead. The wall around the courtyard blocked out the morning sun, but there was still enough light to see details.

He picked up a whole stone that had fallen out of a nearby wall and examined it. There was seemingly nothing special about it. Just a piece of stone that could have come from any type of medieval castle back on Earth. There were two staircases that led up to a landing which itself was connected to the main tower by a larger staircase. At the end of said staircase, a metal door had been apparently blown off its hinges, at least judging from the scar marks on its surface.

Curious, he gently made his way up the first flight of stairs, then up the second flight. He reached the door and knelt to examine it. It was lying on its side, having apparently been blown in by something. He ran his hand along the metal frame, staring at the fractal patterns that ran along the door. Those same types of patterns ran along his own body.

“Lightning strike,” he muttered as he slowly stood. The Badlands were known for their sandstorms which would occasionally produce static electricity in the form of large bolts of lightning. They were also known for their infrequent and violent thunderstorms.

“You find something interesting?” Chrysalis’ voice was close behind him, startling the human.

Turning, he saw that she was standing with her arms behind her back, leaning forward with a curious expression on her face. He stepped aside and pointed at the door. “Just an old lightning strike that blasted this door off of its hinges,” he said.

Chrysalis walked over and knelt down. He watched her motions in that new form of hers. She moved like she’d been humanoid her whole life. Then again, dragons had bipedal locomotion, so it was possible she’d used that as a base for this weird obsession with imitating his species. She touched the dark marks with her hand, then pulled back and hissed. “No…that’s not a natural lightning strike,” she said angrily as she stood and faced Jason. “It was cast there deliberately.”

“How can you tell?” Jason asked, looking back at the markings on the door. “How is lightning that’s cast different than a natural one?”

Chrysalis stroked her chin thoughtfully. “How to explain…?” she muttered, looking up at the sky as Jason saw the wheels in her mind turning. He’d seen that same expression before, especially during their planning of the invasion of Canterlot. Finally, she looked back down at him. “Natural lightning would not leave any patterns in the strike,” she explained, “just like how naturally forming snowflakes are all unique. But lightning that comes out of thunderclouds that pegasi form tend to leave behind trace patterns just like how all their artificial snowflakes look the same. Look here.” She knelt again and pointed to one of the side fractal branches. Jason leaned forward and followed her finger. “A lot of these marks have the appearance of randomness, but if you see this small pattern?” She pointed to a small line and pointed to three separate parts. “The exact same strike pattern.”

Now that Jason looked closer, he could see three identical markings. Something that was pretty much impossible. Morbidly curious, he turned to Chrysalis and asked, “Are there any patterns on me?” Chrysalis hesitated, but eventually nodded. “I’d like you to show me sometime.”

“Are you sure?” Chrysalis asked with a tone that sounded genuinely worried. “I know you don’t like talking about it…”

He shrugged. “They’re a part of me now. No sense in being afraid or embarrassed about them.”

“If you say so,” she said.

At that moment, they both heard a buzzing noise coming from the door. Standing back, Jason watched as Nictis came out, landed and bowed to Jason. “My Emperor, one of my soldiers has discovered a hidden chamber in the lower levels. There’s a door there matching what you told us to look for.”

“Show me,” Jason said as Chrysalis walked up and wrapped her arms around him again.

Once he was airborne with the Duchess’ help, Nictis and Chrysalis both lit their horns to help illuminate the interior and led them down dark passageways. In its heyday, this palace must have been a sight to behold. There were windows that looked like they had been stained glass, but all of them were shattered, their glass scattered on the stone floor below them. Most of the doors were now either rotted away or looked as if they’d been burnt down judging by the dark marks along the stone where they had once been. There were lantern sconces on the wall, and Jason saw that some of the more intact ones had broken crystals inside.

He saw the same lantern sconces on the wall when they reached a large arched entryway with the remains of two double doors having been pushed inward, pieces of ancient wood scattered along the stairs. Jason could smell the stench of rot and decay and could hear, aside from the humming of the changeling’s wings, the sound of water dripping from down the staircase.

Nictis didn’t even hesitate. He headed down the winding staircase with Chrysalis following. As they reached the bottom, Jason could hear the murmurings of the other changelings coming up the stairs. They were too indistinct for him to hear what exactly they were saying, but the tone sounded anticipatory.

When they reached the bottom and entered the door, Jason found himself standing in a massive but empty rectangular room. Cut into the walls on either side were what must have at one time been cages, but many of the metal bars had rusted away. There were small stalactites and stalagmites on the ceiling and floor, and standing opposite the door he’d just come through was a massive set of doors. It was larger than he’d anticipated, about four times as high as he was. The metal itself seemed untouched by age, but the stone archway surrounding it looked like it could come apart at any time.

He walked up to the spot on the door where a key would be put. He knelt and looked inside, but even thanks to Chrysalis’ light next to him, he could see nothing. Standing, he turned to her. “According to that book I found, this gate needs magic to open. Either that, or a key, but since we don’t have one, magic will have to do. Chrysalis? Think you can open this jar of pickles for me?”

Chrysalis bent down and looked at the hole. “Hmm…I think I can manage it,” she said as she lifted her horn, which began to glow its signature sickly green.

Jason stood back as the dark circle began to glow a bright white. From there, the light seemed to travel along what looked like a circuit board until it reached the four smaller squares, each of which rotated a hundred and eighty degrees. There was a rumbling sound as the ground beneath them shook. Once the squares had finished their rotation, the doors opened outward, sending the changelings moving back. A hiss of air came out of the door, and Jason could smell the slight scent of rotten eggs, and unless someone had thrown eggs down there recently, that only meant one thing. Sulfur.

He put his face covering over his mouth and nose as he looked at the empty blackness before him. This was unlike any darkness he’d ever seen before. Even the darkness of his old cave near Ponyville hadn’t matched this. It was like he was staring into the Void itself. A shiver ran down his spine, one of pure fear. However, he reached down, putting his hand on his pistol before reaching back and feeling the barrel of his new bolt action rifle. That and the presence of the other changelings around him reassured him. Turning to the changelings, he said, “Everyone, cast a filtration spell over their mouth and nose. We don’t know what foul gasses are spewing out down there.”

The changelings all complied, raising their horns and casting a spell simultaneously. A mask appeared over their mouths and noses, each one made of their glowing green magic. Before he could say anything else, however, he felt something forming around his own mouth and nose. Turning, he saw Chrysalis lowering her horn, nodding at him. “That piece of cloth won’t do you much good down there,” she said with a playful reproachful tone. “Those atoms you told me about can fit through cloth, right?”

Jason nodded, then returned his attention to the changelings. All of them were facing him and giving him their full attention. At one point, he’d have been severely annoyed by it internally but would have accepted it as a necessary evil of rule. Now? Now he didn’t mind it as much. He straightened as best he could, fighting through the dull ache he felt in certain areas of his body as he said, “Listen up,” he shouted so he could be heard. They straightened and waited. “We’re going into a place no changeling has gone in centuries. Maybe even millennia. Beyond this gate is Tartarus, a massive worldwide underworld. Nobody knows just what is actually down there, although Equestria has used it to lock up dangerous animals and their worst criminals who they want out of sight and out of mind!” This got a murmur of confusion from the changelings. “But we aren’t looking for any animal or criminal! We’re on our way down to search for and rescue the Chancellor of the Griffonian Empire!”

He nodded to Chrysalis who lifted her horn and projected an image. The changelings all seemed astonished by the form of another human. He was standing in what appeared to be an outdoor marketplace. He wore a pair of gray jeans, black boots, a brown leather jacket and a thick evergreen snowcap. He had the same color of skin as Jason and had long wavy brown hair and bright blue eyes. He was looking down at a gray griffoness and held what Jason identified as a taco. He pointed at the human. “This is Gregory Graystone. He arrived on Gaia only three months ago in Griffonstone. He has become the Chancellor there and has made strides in promoting equality for all creatures. He believes in it so much that he made a law that any creature could become a full citizen of the Empire with all the rights and privileges that entails! That man has been most heinously attacked! Someone in Equestria wants him out of the picture and sent him to Tartarus! We are going to go in to bring him back to his home nation. I won’t lie to you. This is a mission that very well may end up with us finding the Chancellor deceased. If one of our teams find his body, we’ll be returning it to Griffonstone so he can be properly buried.” He then turned to Nictis and nodded.

Nictis stood up straighter, put his hoof on his chest in the imperial salute, and turned to the hundred changelings in the room. “Not much is known about it other than myths and legends,” he began, “but in all that one thing is clear: Tartarus is a harsh and unforgiving place. It isn’t for the faint of heart, but I know you are all the best of the best. I’ve seen you in training and how you fought in the Equestria Venture. Once we are deep within Tartarus, I will be assigning you to five teams of twenty. Each team will have at least four receiver class drones along with fourteen warrior class drones and two master class drones. All five teams will be in constant telepathic contact and relaying relevant information back and forth.”

Chrysalis stepped forward. “Make finding this other human your top priority, my children. And watch out for any creatures within. If you are threatened and in danger of being injured, drain them, but don’t make any aggressive moves. We aren’t like those ponies!”

Jason watched as the hundred changelings all placed their right hooves on their chest in salute. He turned back towards the blackness beyond the door. “Soldiers…let’s move out!”

He took his first steps into the Gaian underworld…

Griffonstone Keep, The Morning After Gregory’s Disappearance…

“How in the beaking blue blazes did the news get out that fast?!” Grandpa Gruff shouted, slamming his fist on the table angrily. All around him, the remaining council members sat, all with worried and concerned looks on their faces. Well, concerned in a griffon’s own way. To any outsider, it might look as if the griffons were just looking like they’d eaten a sour piece of lemon, but anygriffon could tell even at a glance how worried the five griffons were. “It’s all over the rumor mill! Everything from a nonaligned terrorist group to an Equestrian invasion force teaming up with Arimaspi’s reincarnation intent on destroying the Empire! How in Tartarus did they find out about the Chancellor’s disappearance!?”

Outside the castle, the nor’wester continued pounding at the windows, covering the bottom portions of the glass with snow and creating whiteout conditions outside. Despite that, rescue operations for the Ponytown District had continued even overnight, with some dragons using their flames to keep the search areas lit during the night. Even some of the ponies who had escaped injury had joined in the search, with unicorns using their magic and earth ponies using their strength to lift debris and snow and pegasi flying the injured through the storm to the clinic and Griffonstone’s main hospital. Some braver pegasi had even tried to dispel the nor’wester with their ability to manipulate the weather, but due to the smaller amount of magic in Griffonia combined with the strength of the storm, they were unsuccessful.

“Did anygriffon here mention anything about the Chancellor being gone? Because I sure didn’t,” Gwendolyn said. She, like everygriffon else at the table, looked exhausted. She had been trying her best to track down whoever had hired the two ponies who had banished Gregory to Tartarus, and so far whoever had hired them had left it very hard to track. Before the meeting, she had been using the Eye of Osiris to follow a carrier who had delivered the letter of hire along with a bag of bits to another carrier, then another before it had reached the recipient. She knew she was close, however. She could feel it.

“I didn’t mention it,” Ambassador Geoffrey said. “I didn’t even tell my pride.”

“I didn’t either,” Gael said.

“Nothing here,” Ginna said.

“And I haven’t left the Keep since yesterday,” Grandpa Gruff said, “so how by Grover’s plumage are we getting griffons asking where the Chancellor is?! Not to mention the reports of other griffons demanding action because of his disappearance!”

Nogriffon at the table had ever seen the older griffon so agitated, and they were used to his grumpy attitude. Not that they could blame him. As early as sunrise that morning, messengers had come from the Ponytown District with some reports about rumors spreading about how the Chancellor had mysteriously vanished during the first few hours of the search, and the details of most of the rumors were scarily accurate to actual events.

Because of these rumors, many ponies were now being looked at with suspicion and mistrust by griffons, dragons and other non-pony species who called Griffonstone their home. There had already been reports of altercations between ponies and non-ponies, although fortunately no violence had been reported as of yet. The Ambassador had sent out more guards to keep the peace, instructing them to tell anycreature they found involved in an altercation that this would not be what the Chancellor would have wanted. Ever since he’d been appointed to the Council, he had advocated for equal rights for every sapient creature. Nocreature was to be excluded. And because the ponies who lived in the Ponytown District were now Griffonian citizens, violence against them would not be tolerated, and any violence they instigated would also not be tolerated.

“You think it could be our Equestrian visitors?” Ginna asked.

“I doubt it,” the Ambassador said. “Princess Celestia isn’t the type to spread rumors like that. I don’t know enough about that other princess of theirs, though. The purple one. I hadn’t met her until this week.”

“What about the Chancellor’s friends?” Ginna added. “That one changeling might have done it to try and destabilize the Empire.”

“It’s possible one of them might have told somecreature, but we can’t go around making baseless accusations without solid evidence,” Gwendolyn replied stoically. She leaned forward and folded her claws on the table. “If we did that, we’d be no better than the ponies who abused and tormented the Changeling Emperor Jason Wright. And I don’t know about anygriffon here, but I know the Chancellor wouldn’t want that.”

There was silence as the councilmembers absorbed that information. She was right, of course. Gregory was a big believer of gathering all the facts before making any sort of judgement or decision, and the council had begun to adopt a similar stance. While they were digesting her words, Gael turned to Gwendolyn. “Why don’t you use that magical sphere thingy of yours?” he asked. “Figure out if one of those ponies spread the news. Or somecreature who knows, that is.”

“I don’t use it to spy on anycreature who hasn’t committed a crime,” Gwendolyn replied harshly, perhaps a bit too harshly. “Besides, I’m currently in the process of trying to track down whoever hired those unicorns to spy on and banish the Chancellor to Tartarus.”

“How’s that going?” Geoffrey asked. “Are you making any progress?”

“Somewhat,” she admitted. “Whoever hired them went to a lot of trouble not to be caught. It looks as if they have a large network of couriers throughout Equestria.”

“Probably some rich bastard,” Grandpa Gruff growled angrily. He grabbed his breakfast fish and took a big bite of it, not even bothering to use the napkin provided to wipe the juices from his face. “Fucking ponies…”

“Is something I’ve never heard a griffon wanted to do,” Gwendolyn said automatically.

The mood in the room suddenly shifted. Gwendolyn had just quoted something that Gregory had said whenever Grandpa Gruff said what he’d just said. He used it to try and diffuse the older griffon’s anger, and it usually worked. The same thing happened in this instance. The older one-eyed griffon’s expression softened and he looked over at Gwendolyn with a grateful look in his one good eye. “Yeah…thanks.”

“Cat’s out of the bag, now,” Gael said, “and unless we make a statement, non-pony on pony violence may be a real possibility.”

“He’s right,” Gwendolyn said. “Lots of griffons are bitter at Equestria for closing their borders until recently. They may make an irrational leap and start looking at the ponies in Griffonstone with hatred. We should make some sort of official statement.”

“And just how do we spread the message?” Gruff asked, gesturing towards the window. “That storm is one of the worst we’ve had in decades. It could last for days!”

“Maybe we can help,” a familiar voice said from the doors.

Turning, the council saw that Gabriella, Gilda, Starlight, and Gallus standing in the doorway. Gabby had bloodshot but determined eyes, Gilda looked more worried than anyone in the room had remembered seeing her, Starlight had an equally determined look in her own eyes, and Gallus was looking between the council members with his own version of worry and determination. Grandpa Gruff stood. “What are you four doing here? And where’s the changeling Gracie?”

“Her real name is Ocellus,” Starlight said, “and she’s still trying to find the pony who wrote that letter. The spy in our midst.”

“We can go out and tell the city what happened,” Gabriella said. “The entire truth.” She looked over at Starlight, and a look of slight guilt passed over her eyes before she turned back to the council. “I know my Gregory wouldn’t want any violence here because of his banishment. Especially when the ponies here had nothing to do with it.”

“Yeah,” Gallus agreed, “they’re just trying to live their lives here. It’s not their fault.”

“If the council makes a statement and writes it down,” Starlight said, “I can make copies of it with my magic and we can deliver it to everyone in town. That way, there’s no confusion and false accusations.”

“And while we’re at it, we should include a statement urging citizens to remain calm,” Gwendolyn added. “Especially with this storm immobilizing our peacekeeping soldiers. I wouldn’t put it past some angry griffons to try to harm ponies out of some misplaced justice.”

“Revenge is more like it,” Gabriella said, sounding tired. “Unfortunately, I understand.”

Gilda put a claw on Gabriella’s back in a reassuring gesture. Starlight came up as well, but Gabriella initially flinched away. When Starlight looked hurt, Gabriella’s wings lowered and she looked at the unicorn. “I-I’m sorry,” she said, “I’m just…I’ve never felt this angry before…and I hate it! I hate that I’m so angry!” She dissolved into angry sobs as she buried her face into Gilda’s plumage. Starlight and Gilda both hugged her, and she wrapped her wings around her close friends. “I just want him back…” she sniffled.

“We should have demanded that the ponies let a search party go through their Tartarus Gate,” Gael said, fists clenched. “It’s closer than the ancient one in Egrypt.”

“Gael, we all know they use Tartarus as their dumping ground,” Ginna retorted. “You think they’d have let us go through and risk potentially releasing their prisoners and their dangerous animals?”

“Enough!” Gwendolyn shouted, slamming her fist down on the table, getting the attention of everyone in the room. “This bickering is pointless,” she continued, using a phrase Gregory would sometimes use whenever the council broke out into arguments. “I suggest we draft a message to the citizens and pass them out as fast as we can. Nor’wester or not, the rumors will continue to spread if we don’t stop them in their tracks.” She pulled out some paper along with a pen that Gregory had given her. One from his land. She pushed down on the top and the metal penpoint emerged. She put pen to paper. “Now then, let’s work fast. What should we say?”

The Dragon Lands, Cave Of The Dragon Lord, The Evening After Gregory's Disappearance…

Princess Ember, now known as the Dragon Lord, was seated at a simple stone table looking over some official Dragon Lands documents. Currently, she was reading one of the reports the latest roc hunt. The roc flocks had been increasing in activity as of late, so she had been assembling some of the best hunting parties in the Dragon Lands to eliminate the dangerous avians. Most had been spotted around the dragon hatching grounds, presumably looking for a quick meal in the form of dragon hatchlings.

If there was one thing she hated about being Dragon Lord, it was the paperwork that came with it. She had no idea how her father had dealt with it when he was the Dragon Lord, and he wasn’t around for her to ask for advice. He and her mother had gone south towards some of the more tropical islands at the edge of Dragon Lands territory for a second honeymoon.

Beside her, an older dragoness sat. Her name was Feldspar. She was about ten years older than the thirty year old Dragon Lord, but was very good at organization skills. She had dark purple scales with a bright red set of spines and two blue horns. Her eyes matched her scales in color and she was about a head taller than Ember.

Ember groaned as she pushed the set of papers in front of her away and hit her head down on the stone table a few times. “Ugh, this is torture!” she moaned. “Why do we need paperwork anyway?”

Feldspar looked up at Ember with a patient look in her purple eyes. “Miss Dragon Lord, the paperwork is important. Our nation might not be as organized as it once was during the time when the dragons and dragonriders were allies, but we aren’t savages.”

Ember rubbed her eyelids, blinking her exhaustion out of her eyes. “I know, I know…it’s just so…boring.”

“To a leader, boring is a good thing,” Feldspar said. “It means things are running well. Our army is growing and General Rhyo is in the process of training new recruits. The dragons have heard of the Chancellor of Griffonia and have taken it as a sign of the return of the dragonriders.”

Ember paused. When she’d been a hatchling, her mother had told her old stories of how the dragonriders might not have been a part of their history for even a lifetime of a normal dragon, but they had left a large impact on the dragon culture. There weren’t many dragons left who could remember them, but they were remembered fondly. Nodragon knew even now how their human friends disappeared. Still, the atmosphere in the Dragon Lands had changed ever since the news spread about how a human was living in the northern nation of Griffonia. There had been reports of some dragons even searching through ancient outpost ruins for anything that might have belonged to a human. “Yeah…it’s become an obsession with a lot of dragons,” Ember said. “With how many went to live in Griffonstone during this first wave, we might as well ask to join Griffonia and become something like the Griffonia Lands.”

Feldspar snorted in amusement. “One step at a time, Dragon Lord. First, these papers need to be looked over.”

Ember groaned, but stopped the moment she heard the door to her cave burst open. Turning, she saw a dragon flying in. She recognized the dragon as Silica. She was about Ember’s age, with bright aquamarine scales, cyan spines with white highlights, golden eyes and a pair of white horns that were similar in shape to Ember’s own. Silica had more of an obsession with humans than anydragon Ember knew. Ever since she’d heard about the human Chancellor she’d been itching at the bit to fly there and meet him, but Ember had kept on stalling her. She didn’t want to overwhelm the human with an obsessed dragoness.

However, unlike before where Silica had a wide smile on her face, now she had a look of pure unadulterated rage on her face. Ember was immediately on her feet, tense. “What’s happened?” the Dragon Lord asked.

Through clenched teeth, and apparently trying very hard to remain calm, Silica said, “I just…received this from my sister in Griffonstone.” She held out a piece of paper.

Princess Ember took the paper, which had been folded a few times. Unfolding it, she read the contents in increasing alarm:

~To all Griffonian citizens from the Griffonian Imperial Council~

It is our unpleasant duty to inform everycreature that on the evening of December 23rd, while in the process of attempting to save lives in the Ponytown District, a rogue group of three individuals attacked our Chancellor and falsely banished him to Tartarus. Two of the three guilty parties have been apprehended and are being detained, while the third is still missing.

Please be assured that we are doing everything in our power to recover the Chancellor and bring him home. He will be brought safety back to us. In the meantime, we urge everyone to remain calm and to not listen to baseless rumors about the Chancellor’s disappearance. He would not want us at each other’s throats.

The Chancellor once said, “United we stand, divided we fall,” and our beloved King Grover also once said something similar when he stated, “Unity is strongest in times of adversity, for if we are divided, then adversity wins the day.” We as the council urge everyone reading this message to remain calm and not to give into fears of the worst or to call for blood. We are Griffonian citizens. We are not barbarians. And we do not just mean griffons. We mean every other creature who has been granted citizenship of our great empire. We also speak to the dragons, ponies, minotaurs and other species with the capacity of reason who have become citizens and implore you to restrain any anger.

We will do everything in our power to return our Chancellor to our beloved empire. Of that, you can rest assured.

~The Imperial Council~

When Ember finished reading the flier, she was trembling with barely restrained rage. She was seeing red, but then she felt a claw on her shoulder. Turning, she saw Feldspar down at her with a stern expression and shaking her head. Ember took a few deep breaths and felt her anger ease, but not fully subside. Turning to Silica, Ember said, “Thanks for bringing this to my attention. Tell your sister that she’ll be receiving a reward for this. You will too.”

“Just let me at whoever did this to the human,” Silica snarled. “I’ll tenderize them!”

“Calm yourself, young dragon,” Feldspar said with an authoritative tone. “Now is not the time for rash actions.” Turning to Ember, she continued, “Miss Dragon Lord, Griffonia had been negotiating with us for the past couple of months. I think it could strengthen our relationship with them if we offered them help.”

Ember nodded. “Yes…a good idea. Get some paper, ink and a pen. I’m gonna dictate a letter to the Griffonian Council. Silica, go find General Rhyo and bring him here.”

Silica nodded, spread her wings and flew out of the cave. Feldspar quickly retrieved the items requested, sat down and looked up expectantly at Ember. “Whenever you’re ready.”

Taking a deep breath, Ember began to dictate what could very well be one of the most important letters in the history of the Dragon Lands. “To the Imperial Council of Griffonia, from Dragon Lord Ember. It has come to my attention that the Chancellor has been abducted. I am willing to assist in the search and rescue of Chancellor Graystone. We have a doorway to Tartarus near Nova Lake which we can use. I am assembling a rescue party of my own and will be personally leading it into Tartarus to search for the Chancellor. If you want to send your own search parties, you’re more than welcome to use our doorway. Together, we can find and bring the Chancellor back. From Dragon Lord Ember.”

As Feldspar finished writing, Ember walked up to the near wall and lifted the helmet of her gold plated armor off from where it hung next to her suit of armor. She saw her reflection in the helmet and saw the face of intense determination.

I will find you, Chancellor Gregory…I will…

Canterlot, Later That Same Night…

In a dark alleyway on the northern edge of Canterlot, two hooded ponies approached each other. The cloaks they wore weren’t dirty like those of peasants. Instead, each one was made of the finest black cloth with fur inner lining to keep the ponies wearing them warm. Above them, the sky was crystal clear, showing the brilliance of Luna’s nighttime. The winter constellations were out in full force, but the two ponies ignored it.

The first one spoke. “Well? Is it done?”

The second one replied. “Yes. The target has been dealt with.”

“And the delivery system?”

“Heh, let’s just say it looks like we can keep the other half of the reward after all.”

“Okay, then why did you call me out here?”

“Princess Luna is trying to find out who was responsible. Her spies are everywhere.”

“Don’t worry about that. We pay good money to keep mouths shut.”

“But that’s not all! One of the Elements of Harmony got in the way and is missing now too.”

“It’s always something…which Element?”

“Does it matter? Now that one of them got in the way, the Princesses will stop at nothing to find us!”

“What good will it do them? Our tracks are covered, the bits unmarked, and as far as the crown knows, we are blameless. Nothing can be traced back to us.”

“I wish I was as sure.”

“Trust me, my brother, we’re in the clear. Nobody can accuse us of anything. The spells we have cast on our servants will keep them quiet, even if they try to betray us.”

“There’s no way we can be traced, right?”

“Trust me. We’re safe. Not even the Princesses can lay a hoof on us. Just relax, okay? Go use those extra bits we won’t need to spend on some mare of the night. I’m sure that cow of a wife of yours won’t care.”

“Hey! That’s my wife you’re talking about!”

“Quiet down, we don’t want a scene, do we? Just relax. Everything’s in the clear. We’re safe.”

With that, the two unicorns parted ways, each heading back towards the center of the city. The nervous one was still unsure. Then again, he had always been a worrier. It was why he left everything to his extremely confident and talented brother.

Still, he couldn’t help but feel like they would be discovered. So, he did whatever he did whenever he felt this level of anxiety.

He went and got blackout drunk.