“So, what do you think?” I asked Gruff after having finished explaining my plan to him.

“So, you're just gonna walk down the wall and grab the Idol of Boreas? Then you’ll give it to some griff to make ‘em king or queen?” Gruff asked.

I nodded. “Pretty much, yeah. If they’re willing to sign an agreement with me to give me military aid against Chrysalis and her hive. They also need to be able to maintain their position. It’s worthless if they get overthrown in a year.”

“You know this’ll probably make the civil war start back up. Some folks are gonna say the idiot didn’t get the Idol themself and thus they don’t have a right to the throne. Others will say they have the Idol so that makes ‘em the king or queen. Then all Tartarus’ll break loose.”

I frowned a bit. If it wasn’t for the fact I needed to be in my Changeling form to stick to walls, I’d just shape shift into them and make it look like it was them who got it. That would lend them more credibility. But I wouldn’t be able to do that. My best bet would be changing forms into them near the top of the Abysmal Abyss, but there was no guarantee someone wouldn’t fly over, look down at the exact wrong time, and completely ruin that plan. So I wasn’t willing to rely on that. Which meant I had to build my plans around being the one to get the Idol and giving it to whoever.

“I’m aware of that possibility. That’s part of the reason I came to talk to you. Who are the major players who will oppose whoever I give the Idol to? And what can you tell me about them?” I asked, setting some bits on the table.

“Hm… Well there’s a bunch of noble families who opposed King Guto after he lost the Idol. None of ‘em have much power nowadays since the whole darn government fell apart. They tried forming some stupid council to run the kingdom at one point but it fell apart. None of ‘em could agree on a darn thing and the whole thing turned into a mess of assassinations, duels, and open fighting before it was disbanded entirely within about four months.” Gruff explained.

I sighed. “How the hell has this place not split into multiple separate nations by now?”

“They tried that! Their little nations started fighting and conquering each other for about fifteen years until the economy was completely destroyed and they couldn’t afford to keep fighting. So the kingdom was forced to merge back together to try and maintain some kind of economic stability. It was the only way to stop everygriff from rebelling against the nobility, leaving for Equestria or Minos as refugees, or starving to death. And we’ve never recovered since!”

“Holy fuck… Just… Wow… What about criminal elements? Gangs, mafias, syndicates? With the economy as it is, I imagine criminals must have gained quite a bit of power by now. And I doubt they’d be too happy having that power disrupted by a new king.”

Griff shrugged. “Eh… Don’t know. Not my problem.”

“Not your… Do they not try to shake you down for protection money?” I asked.

“Nope! Wait… Maybe? Hm… Do tax collectors count?” Gruff asked.

“Possibly, if it's a gang posing as tax collectors. But why would they bother…? Maybe it’s to make things easier for themselves so people don’t put up as much of a fight. Or maybe the nobles are running the syndicates? It’s something I’ll need to look into… So, which griffons would be able to keep themselves in power if I gave them the Idol?”

“Hm…” Gruff tapped his chin in thought for a moment before shrugging. “Couldn’t tell ya. There’ll be assassins and wars no matter who it is. So I don’t think the ‘who’ really matters a whole heck of a lot. They’ll need to watch their back no matter what. And they’ll probably fail, regardless.”

I sighed and face-hooved. God this was such a mess… I was starting to realize why Celestia never just teleported down to get the Idol then teleported right back up with it. She probably didn’t want to touch this steaming pile of garbage with a ten foot pole for fear of causing further collapse. Unfortunately, I needed more allies and this was my best bet for an easy alliance. “Alright then, I’ll need to focus on identifying the primary threats and removing them from the equation so that doesn’t happen… Son of a bitch… What about you then? Are you interested in the job?”

"Me?! I'm too old!" Gruff all but shouted before breaking out into a cough. "Sure the bits would be nice but being king would kill me, if some other griffon didn't kill me first! I like my job as a historian and ambassador to Equestria. All I gotta do is a whole lotta nothing except go to Canterlot every so often and tell some young whippersnappers history sometimes. Find some younger griffon to be yer darn puppet!”

I rolled my eyes. "I'm looking for an ally I know for certain I can trust. That trust hinges on them owing me for installing them as the ruler, but as long as they help me I don't care what they do from there. They won’t be a puppet. Anyway, you’d have all the bits, fame, and power you could ever want. You’d be a historic figure.”

“Don’t care! None of that matters a whit if I’m dead!” Gruff retorted stubbornly.

I took a deep breath and slowly released it. “Fine. So, if keeping themselves in power is going to be an issue no matter what, who are some other griffons I could trust?”

“With what? Running this dump? Hah! It’s not like they can run this place anymore into the ground, now can they?” Gruff stated cynically.

I frowned, what a positively stunning indictment of Griffonstone. “That too, but I was more referring to upholding their end of the deal.”

“What? The one that makes ‘em your puppet? Then no-griff. Who in their right mind would ever put themselves into that kinda debt?!”

“I keep telling you I don’t want a damn puppet!”

“Minotaur manure, you don’t! Let’s break down what yer askin’. You want to get the Idol of Boreas, give it to some griff to make ‘em King, and in return they give you soldiers to fight your damn war and are in your debt! I think you don’t quite comprehend how lopsided that deal is! The military is nothing! No-griff gives a hoot about that! You may as well be askin’ for a bucket of dirt in exchange for a bucket of gold! So that debt will be a massive point of leverage, at which point they may as well be your puppet!” Gruff told me.

“So… What you're telling me is that I’m asking for too little which would mean I’d have too much leverage over them. So I need to ask for more so I have less leverage over them if anyone is going to agree?”

“Pretty much.” He nodded.

I took a deep breath and slowly released it. “Great. Then I’ll just ask for more than just military aid. As long as I have some leverage I really don't care. Now, assuming I come up with more even terms, who can I trust? Who won’t go back on our deal or screw me over later? Surely there has to be someone.” I drew fifty bits and set them on the table.

He eyed the bits happily and rubbed his talons together. Then he paused and frowned. "Hrmph… Well… I suppose there is Gallus."

"Gallus?" I asked.

Gruff hesitated then shook his head. "Bah forget it!"

I added a few more bits to the stack. "Who's Gallus and why did you recommend them?"

Gruff sighed. "Gallus is… Ah, to Tartarus with it. I'll just go get him and show ya." Gruff got up and started walking over to a set of stairs. "Gallus!" He shouted up the stairs.

"What?!" A young voice shouted back.

"We got a visitor!" Gruff shouted.

"Great! So what?!"

"Get your butt down here! I wanna introduce ya!"

"Ugh… Fiiine!" The voice groaned.

Not long after, a very young Griffon with blue feathers came down the stairs. He paused as he saw me and I felt a spike of fear and uncertainty from him. "Uh… Grandpa Gruff…? We're not about to be kidnapped… right?"

"No, you aren't." I told Gallus before looking back at Gruff. "This is your grandson?"

"No!" Gruff snapped grumpily. "I'm not any griff's grandpa, they just call me that. Gallus here doesn't have any family. But I've taken him in so he isn't living out on the streets. He's the only griffon I can really think of who might work for what yer planning. But as you can see he's too young! How old are you again? Eleven?"

Gallus sighed in annoyance. "I'm twelve."

"Right, twelve." Gruff nodded.

I took a deep breath and slowly released it. "Twelve… The best you can come up with is a twelve year old…"

"Don't blame me. I told ya to forget it as soon as I said it."

Gallus looked at Gruff then back to me. "Sooo… What's going on? What am I too young for?"

"Can you keep a secret?” I asked him.

"Uh… Sure?" He said uncertainly.

"I'm going to take your word for it. I'm already here so it's too late to matter anyway." I stated. The worst that could happen if he spread it around would be a bunch of Griffons waiting to ambush me to take the Idol the moment I climbed back up. I was pretty sure I could handle that. Especially since I'd know they were there in advance when I sensed their emotions. I came here expecting a fight to begin with.

"I'm going to go down into the Abysmal Abyss and grab the Idol of Boreas. Then I'm going to give it to someone to make them king or queen of Griffonstone. They'll owe me a debt for retrieving the Idol for them and making them the king but the only payment I'll ask for is military aid and Griffonstone becoming an official ally of my hive… And something else to not make the debt quite as steep, but I don’t know what yet. I need as many allies who I can trust to not screw me over or betray me as I can get. And right now, other than the Crystal Empire, Griffonstone is my best bet. Gruff recommended you."

Gallus took a half step back in surprise. "Me? King? Huh? Are you sure you got the right griffon?"

"No. I'm not. Gruff, mind telling me why you thought it would be a good idea to make a twelve year old the king of Griffonstone?" I asked.

"Ya wanted someone who'd agree to your terms and wouldn't stab ya in the back. Well he's the best choice you got!" Gruff grumbled.

“I just told you I’m going to be working on more even terms.”

“Such as?” He asked.

“I don’t know yet. Five percent of all taxes collected for the next ten years or something? I’m still thinking. I don’t just want rich assholes as candidates.”

"Uh… What about Gabby?" Gallus suggested.

I lowered my hoof and looked at him. "Who?"

"Gabby. Her full name is Gabriella, but she tells everygriff to call her Gabby. She's the mail courier and Grandpa Gruff's grand niece. She'd probably agree." Gallus told me.

"Oh right… Didn't even cross my mind." Gruff said, scratching the side of his face. "Eh... Gabriella's a weird one… Has a personality more like a darn pony than a griffon! Way too soft for the military or leading the kingdom in a war. She'd be a terrible queen and a horrible commander. But she's probably the best option you got other than Gallus. She's the only griff old enough to be queen who might agree."

I sighed and raised a hoof to my face in exasperation. "Wonderful… So my only two options are this Gabby, who you seem to have sooo much confidence in," The sarcasm was heavy in my voice. "And a literal twelve year old… Those are really my only two options?"

"Yup." Gruff nodded.

"Hey, I never said I'd agree! I might be young but I'm not stupid!" Gallus objected.

“And I wouldn’t ask for anything unreasonable like Gruff seems to think. So if what I’m asking for isn’t a high enough price, fine! I’ll raise the price and lower the debt! I just need allies I can trust against Chrysalis. My life’s on the line here.” I stated.

That seemed to make him stop and think.

"But you're too young. If I did make an agreement with you, we'd need to find a regent to rule in your place until you were old enough to be king. Oh I don't know… Gruff maybe?" I stated.

"Not a chance!" Gruff declared.

"I mean… If that's really all you'd want…" Gallus muttered.

“Whatever. Who are some griffons that are well liked by the public? If staying in power is going to be a problem no matter who I pick, then being able to maintain good PR is what I need to focus on instead. Who can project a strong image, maintain a decent public sentiment, and have an even half decent economic policy? I don’t care if they wouldn’t agree to my terms, I’ll sort that out myself later. At this point the only other criteria I care about is if they aren’t conniving jackasses who’ll stab me in the back the first chance they get and they won’t incite a revolution in a few years of being on the throne. Gabby’s one possibility. I need more.” I put a few more bits on the table.

I was exhausted already and I was trying to find any possible way to make my initial plan work.

Having removed the criteria that they would agree to my terms, Gruff and Gallus finally gave me a list of names to work with. Along with where they lived and generally what they looked like. As well as the names and descriptions of some of the major players who would oppose whoever I installed.

I bought a piece of paper from Gruff and wrote down the names, addresses, and descriptions before rolling up the paper and stuffing it in my saddle bags.

I paid Gruff and Gallus both individually to keep their mouths shut about all of this, then I left to go start gathering information. I turned into a moth and left through a window. I was going to have to be subtle about this until I knew more about the local situation. So I was going to be spending quite a bit of time as a literal fly on the wall.

Twilight and Rainbow Dash exited the train and trekked up the mountain to Griffonstone. “I’m so excited! Bygone Griffons of Greatness was written a long time ago and ended with the coronation of the fourteenth king of the griffons, King Guto. I wonder who’s in charge now. Oh! I heard there’s a statue of King Grover outside the Griffonstone Library! Photo op! And we’re totally going to have to sample some famous griffon scones. They're supposed to be the best! I’m telling you Rainbow, Griffonstone is going to be…”

Twilight trailed off as they walked through the arch signifying their arrival to Griffonstone and saw the city.

Her eyes widened in shock and horror seeing what she had expected to be the greatest kingdom in the world was a dilapidated mess. Buildings had holes in their roofs or walls, garbage littered the streets, there were even a few houses that had crumbled entirely, likely meaning there were plenty of Griffons who were actually homeless. No one was smiling or seemed happy.

“A total dump?” Rainbow finished for Twilight who was staring at the wrecked city slack jawed in horror.

“Wha… Bu… How… No… This can’t be right!” Twilight took out her book again and began flipping through it, occasionally looking back up at the city as if something might have changed as she was reading.

“Uh, Twi…? You okay?” Rainbow asked, looking at Twilight in concern.

“Something’s wrong! This can’t be right! Griffonstone is supposed to be the most amazing kingdom in the world not… not this!” Twilight exclaimed as she scanned the pages searching for an answer. For a reason for why the once great Griffonstone could have possibly degraded to the state it was in now. Something she may have missed before. But there was nothing. The answer she was looking for simply wasn’t there.

Eventually Twilight slammed the book shut and ran into the city. Rainbow followed after her.

Slowing down Twilight approached a Griffon. “Excuse me, sir, this is Griffonstone right? The capital of the Griffon Kingdom?”

The Griffon just walked on by her without paying any attention.

Frustrated, Twilight approached another Griffon. “Ma’am, is this Griffonstone? Please, my friend and I might be a little lost and…”

The griffon just flew off ignoring Twilight entirely, much to her dismay.

“See? These griffons are exactly what I thought they’d be.” Rainbow Dash stated.

“I don’t understand… This is Griffonstone, it has to be! But… if it is, then why is it so…?” A griffon landed on a branch their house was sitting on and the branch immediately broke under their weight causing the house to fall and crash into the ground. The Griffon spread their wings and caught themselves before they could fall, so they were alright. Twilight still winced at the sight. “Run down?”

“I dunno. Maybe the current king sucks or something?” Rainbow suggested.

“We don’t have a king, losers” A familiar voice declared.
Both Twilight and Rainbow Dash looked and saw Gilda standing not far from where they were.

“Hello, Gilda.” Rainbow spat.

“Dash.” Gilda growled back.

Twilight looked between the two uncertainly.

“What are you doing here?” Rainbow demanded.

“Uh, I'm a griffon? What's your excuse, dweebs?” Gilda snarked.

Twilight stepped in between the two of them. “Ehem… We’re looking for somepony. Weaver, the new changeling Queen. She’s supposed to be visiting Griffonstone. Maybe you’ve seen her around somewhere?”

“Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t. What’s it to you?” Gilda said with hostility clear in her voice.

“Well, we’re her friends. Look, I know you and Rainbow may have had some issues in the past but this is important. So if you’ve seen her, could you please tell us?” Twilight pleaded.

“Ugh… Fine, whatever. I saw her go into Grampa Gruff’s house earlier.” Gilda pointed at a particular house. “Never saw her leave. Maybe she’s still there.”

“Thank you, we really appreciate it! Come on, Rainbow.” Twilight said before running off towards the house Gilda pointed out.

Rainbow glared at Gilda for a moment, and the griffon returned the glare. Then Rainbow snorted and followed after Twilight.

Twilight knocked on the door.

“Arg! Just a minute, dagnabbit!” A grumpy old voice shouted at them from inside the house.

After a moment the door opened and revealed an old one-eyed griffon. “Whaddya want?” He growled.

“Hello, sir. I’m Twilight Sparkle, this is Rainbow Dash—”

“I don’t want any!” The old griffon shouted before slamming the door in Twilight’s face.

Twilight reeled in surprise.

“Here, let me try.” Rainbow stated, nudging Twilight out of the way. She proceeded to knock.

The door opened again. Before the old griffon could say anything Rainbow started, “Hey, we’re friends with Weaver. We’re looking for her.”

“Never heard of her!” The old griffon said, about to shut the door again.

Rainbow stopped him, holding the door open. “Hey, Gilda told us she saw Weaver come inside earlier. Is she still around?”

“I don’t know what in Tartarus you’re talking about, now get out!” Gruff shouted.

“Ehem… Rainbow, may I?” Twilight asked.

Rainbow glared at the old griffon but stepped aside to let Twilight talk. “I’m sorry about that, sir. Rainbow can be a bit… assertive, sometimes. We really are friends with Queen Weaver. We’re just here to help her out however we can with whatever she has here. She kind of left in a rush and flew all the way here by herself so we had to take the train to catch up. Is she still here? Please, we just want to talk to her.”

Gruff glared at Twilight, rubbing his chin in thought. Seemingly conflicted about something. “Hm… I’m having trouble remembering… Maybe you could help jog my memory?” He stuck out a claw expectantly.

“Well, I suppose I know a few spells that might be able to help with—” Twilight started.

“He’s asking for money, Twi.” Rainbow Dash said, cutting her off.

Twilight looked at Rainbow in surprise then back at the old griffon. “O-oh… Uh… Okay…?” She took a few bits out of the massive sack of bits she had brought and levitated them over to the old griffon who took them eagerly.

“Yeah, she was here. She left. Don’t know where she is now, and I don’t care. Now go away!” Gruff told them before slamming the door again.

“Hey! We weren’t done talking! Get back out here!” Rainbow objected, knocking on the door again. This time the door stayed shut. In fact Rainbow and Twilight heard a lock latch shut inside.

Rainbow snorted in frustration and backed away from the door. “What a jerk! What the heck was Skitter doing here talking to this guy?”

Twilight sighed and shook her head. “I don’t know. Let’s just go. Maybe if we look around, we’ll eventually bump into her?”

I was currently a moth hiding on the bottom of Gabby’s mail bag. She was the first on my list of candidates who I spotted. So I was trying to see why Gruff had recommended her and get an idea of who I was dealing with.

From what I’d seen so far, she seemed nice. Almost too nice. She wanted to help everyone as much as she could. And as I was finding out, most of the griffons didn’t really seem to appreciate her attempts at being helpful. Her personality really was more like a pony than a griffon, or so it seemed.

Even after only a few hours of observing her I was already fairly confident she would do everything in her power to benefit Griffonstone if she became Queen. But I wasn’t confident in her ability to project a strong public opinion or maintain order. I was even less confident in her abilities as a leader during a war with Chrysalis. She seemed like she would be easily manipulated. If I was looking for a puppet like Gruff apparently thought I was, she would be perfect. However, I wasn’t looking for a puppet. I was looking for a monarch. And in a war with shape shifters with master powers, being easily manipulated was a very bad thing.

Of course, this was all just from a relatively short observation of her. I still didn’t really know her. I’d need to try to gather more information before I decided whether to strike her from the list entirely or not.

I stuck around on the bottom of her mail bag for a while until she was coming to the end of her mail route. I still had to gather info on the other candidates.

However, right as I was about to fly off I heard something that made my blood run cold. A familiar voice.

“Excuse me, miss! We’re looking for somepony. You’re a mail-mare, right? You’ve probably been flying around all day. So could you tell us if you’ve seen her? We have bits!”

Gabby turned to face Twilight who was standing there with Rainbow Dash. “Of course! I’d be glad to help! Who’re you looking for? If they live here in Griffonstone I can definitely help you find them! Oh, I'm Gabriella by the way. But you can call me Gabby since we're friends now! Pleased to meet ya!”

“Oh! Well I’m Twilight Sparkle and this is Rainbow Dash. It’s nice to meet you too, Gabby! We’re looking for a friend of ours. She doesn’t live here but she is visiting Griffonstone right now. We’re looking for Queen Weaver. The new changeling Queen? Rainbow Dash and I were just wondering if you saw her somewhere while you were flying around delivering mail.” Twilight asked.

“A changeling? Here in Griffonstone? Is she nice? Ooh, I hope she’s nice!” Gabby said excitedly.

“Uh, yeah. She’s pretty nice, I guess. So, I’m guessing you haven’t seen her?” Rainbow asked.

Gabby shook her head. “Nope. Sorry. But I’m almost done with my mail route! When I’m finished, I can help you look around for her!”

I was already flying into an alleyway where I changed back into my base form. Stepping out of the Alley way I said, “That won’t be necessary. I’m right here.”

I walked over to Twilight and Rainbow Dash. I had to head this off and take control of the conversation now before this became a disaster. "Heeey, Twilight and Rainbow!" I said in an overly friendly tone with a forced smile. "Funny bumping into you here. I know you two said you were going on vacation but I didn't think you'd be heading to Griffonstone of all places."

"Huh? What are you—?" Rainbow started but I didn't give her a chance to say anything.

Gabby gasped in surprise and rushed up to me. “Oh my gosh! You really are a changeling! Well, I mean, of course you’re a changeling but this is my first time ever meeting a real changeling let alone a Changeling Queen and I’m just so excited and… Oops! Sorry about that. I’m getting ahead of myself! Like I just told these two, I’m Gabriella but you can just call me Gabby!”

“Right… Well, Gabby, it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I’m sorry to cut this short but I have to go have a talk with these two right now in private.” I said, maintaining my forced smile.

"But—" Twilight started.

"In… private…" I whispered with a bit more force, cutting her off.

"Oh, okay! It was nice meeting you Weaver! It's nice to meet you too, Twilight and Rainbow. I guess I'll be going then, but we should totally hang out sometime!" Gabby said with a smile before flying off, waving at us.

"Skitter, what the hay was that?!" Rainbow demanded.

"We'll talk in private. Follow me." I said, letting some of my anger and frustration slip into my tone. I turned and started walking off, leading them out of the city so we could talk without anyone overhearing us.

Author's Note

I wanted to make this longer but it just seemed like a good point of dramatic tension to leave off on. Plus if there's an issue with how I handled this chapter or the direction I'm taking it, it might be a little easier to rewrite it if it's so short.

So I guess you can consider this and Chapter 16 two parts of one singular chapter.

Edit: I've handled the whole Griffonstone situation poorly. I'll try to rewrite it and do it better.

Edit #2: You know... Thinking about it... I think I'm just done. I don't think I can do this story justice. I clearly don't understand Taylor as a character and I keep making mistakes that should be obvious.

Yeah... I'm not sure if I can continue this story.

Edit #3: Sorry for leaving everyone in limbo for awhile not knowing what I'm gonna do. I needed to take a couple days to think.

First, let me just say thank you. I genuinely appreciate all of the support.

Second, let me apologize. Normally I try to take criticism in stride. In fact I genuinely appreciate it as criticism is how I know what I'm doing wrong so I can fix it and improve. It also shows the individual leaving the criticism actually cares about the story too or they'd just leave a dislike or un-watch without saying anything or giving a reason why and moving on, like a lot of people have. Which is also fine, not every story is for everyone. I get that.

This would have been no different but it seems every couple of chapters since chapter 6 I have had some failing in my writing or plot that makes me have to go back and rewrite things. I think that started to eat away at my confidence a bit, at least in regards to this story in particular. Combine that with not wanting to make you guys have to read basically the same chapter repeatedly and the anxiety got to me.

That's not to say I don't want criticism. I do. So if you see something you don't like or that I'm doing wrong, point it out. I'd much rather be able to fix it than leave it like a festering wound on my story. I don't want anything to change. My issue stems entirely from myself so it's something I need to work on with myself rather than anything else.

I will be continuing the story. I'll try to maintain things as they've been, though I'd like to post more regularly/consistently but we'll see on that front.

I sincerely apologize for the commotion and drama, it was me acting rash when my negative emotions in regards to my own failings and ability as an author reached a bit of a crescendo. It won't happen again.

I'll try to see if I can rewrite this chapter. If I can, I'll try to get out the rewrite soon. If not, I'll try to work with what I've already written. Having one weak point in an otherwise okay story isn't that bad.

Tl;Dr: I'll be continuing the story and I'm sorry for being over dramatic.

Edit#4: I've updated this chapter. Hopefully this version fixes most of the mistakes I made originally. You can find the original version of the chapter Here.