A Renewed Ending

Friday, December 31, 1007 A.L., Gryphonia

When the group left the Green Dragon Inn, Cadance saw that the snowfall had only increased in intensity and a slight wind had begun to blow. The clouds in the west over the ocean which were approaching were darker than the clouds above. She frowned and turned to her husband. “Shiny, I think we should head back to the Eyrie,” she said, “those clouds feel ominous.”

Shining looked in the direction where Cadance was pointing and frowned himself. “Yeah, looks like a nasty storm’s coming. We should get back before we can’t see in front of ourselves.”

Gregory looked as well, then turned and spotted a gryphon flying towards them. “Excuse me,” he said, catching the attention of said gryphon, “but is that a nor’wester coming?”

The gryphon, an older female of the species, paused and nodded. “Storm’s coming up, Bearer. You’d better get home, quick.”

“Well, shit,” he said as the older gryphon headed away. Turning to Cadance, he said, “Looks like you and your family may be staying here for a while unless you really want to risk heading down to the train station in this kind of stormy weather.”

Cadance looked back at the incoming storm, the pegasus part of her feeling the incoming intensity of the storm. Shaking her head, she turned back. “We should head back to the Eyrie as fast as we can while there’s little wind,” she said.

That was when life threw them a curveball. As they headed down the street towards the Eyrie, Cadance heard a very familiar giggle from in front of them. Looking down, she saw a patch of snow moving like there was somepony buried inside it and moving around like they were swimming. Immediately after spotting it, the snow erupted upward and a giggling Flurry Heart burst out. “Mommy! Daddy The snow is so deep!” She opened her mouth and caught a few of the heavy snowflakes in her mouth. “Yummy!”

“Flurry, what are you doing out here?!” Cadance said in alarm as she rushed over to wrap her daughter up in her wings. “You should be napping!”

“I finished my nap and then decided to play hide and seek with the guards,” she said innocently.

At that moment, several crystal guards rushed up, panting heavily as they saw the princess being held by their empress. “Hah…hah…forgive us…your majesty,” the lead guard said, “but she…gave us the slip…” Behind them, Cadance could see Fauna Spirit rushing towards them as well, wrapped in a dark green cloak.

“Did you forget to put the magic ring on her horn?” Shining asked sternly.

The lead guard shook his head. “No, your majesty. She somehow broke it.”

That caught Cadance by surprise. “Broke it?! How?!”

Before anypony could respond, the distant sound of thunder caught their attention. Gregory, who was wrapping Silica in his cloak to keep her warm, spoke up now. “Now’s not the time to argue,” he said as the wind and snowfall suddenly picked up. “Come on, let’s try and get you back to the Eyrie before-” A gust of intense wind blew up the street, nearly causing the unprepared to fall. “Nope, new plan,” Gregory said, “my house is closer!”

Cadance made a snap decision and turned to her guards. “Follow him,” she ordered, indicating the human who now trudged with all possible speed through the snow drifts that were quickly forming in the street.

To her relief, none of them argued, and soon they were heading towards the upper section of the city. The snow only grew heavier and the brief gusts of wind that blew through the streets became more frequent as time passed. Eventually, they came to a gate which Gregory unlocked. When Cadance saw the massive tree house in front of her which reminded her of the Golden Oak Library, she almost paused in shock, but a huge gust of wind forced her to go onward, trudging through the snowdrifts until they reached the large doors.

The moment they stepped into the house, a blast of warmth nearly shocked her and everyone else, but they soon piled in and the door was quickly shut. Gregory, brushing his clothes off, quickly stepped in before them and looked back. “Sit down in front of the fire and get warm,” he said, “and I’ll see about getting you all some hot tea or hot chocolate.”

“With shmallows!” Flurry Heart said.

Gregory chuckled. “We don’t have marshmallows here,” he said, “but I’ll make some hot chocolate for you if your mom approves.”

Cadance looked down at her daughter, who was giving her the traditional pleading puppy dog eyes. The older alicorn mare sighed. “I really shouldn’t be spoiling you after you disobeyed what I told you last time you played hide and seek with the guards,” she said.

“I promise I won’t do it again!” Flurry pleaded.

“You said that last time too,” Cadance said. “Fine, you can have one cup of hot chocolate, but that’s it.”

“Thanks, mommy!” Flurry flew up and hugged her mom tightly before she let go and began exploring the large living room. “Oooh, what’s this stuff?” she asked, approaching a strange looking piece of metal on a nearby table.

“Please don’t touch that,” Gregory said hastily, “it’s a piece of advanced technology from my home that I can’t replace.”

Cadance wrapped Flurry in her magic and pulled her back to the rest of the group who were all around the fire, warming themselves up. “Flurry, you know the rules for visiting another pony’s house,” she said sternly.

“Be polite, don’t touch anything, and if you break something, you pay them back,” Flurry said with a roll of her eyes. “I won’t touch anything, I promise.”

“If you do and you break it, it’s coming out of your allowance,” Shining said.

Flurry groaned. “But Daaaaddyyyyy-”

“Don’t ‘but’ me, young filly,” Shining said sternly. “You’re a princess, and you’re in somecreature’s house as a guest. Act accordingly.”

“Yes, Daddy,” she huffed.

“For now, you should get warmed up,” Cadance said as she pushed the alicorn filly to the front of the fire. “You’re a little wet.”

“Here, wrap her up in this,” Gregory said before holding out a blanket he’d retrieved from the back of a couch in the living room.

“Ah, thank you,” Cadance said as she grabbed it with her magic and wrapped her daughter up in it.

“I’ll be right back with some tea and hot chocolate,” he said as he headed through another door, Silica following close behind him.

When they were alone, Fauna Spirit approached Cadance. “Your majesty, I’m so sorry that the princess escaped from me,” she apologized profusely. “She apparently really wanted to see the ‘nice singing human’ as she put it.”

“I wanted to hear another song,” Flurry whined as she struggled to escape from the blanket.

Cadance, however, held her in place. “Sit still until you’re all warm and dry,” she said sternly.

“Aww…” Flurry stuck out her lower lip in her signature pout.

Shining shook his head and smirked. “She gets that from you,” he whispered to his wife before giving her a quick but affectionate lick on her cheek.

“Sh-Shiny, not here,” she replied with a blush.

Shining chuckled and stepped back, the smirk still on his face. There was silence as everypony there warmed themselves by the fire. That was, until the sound of three pairs clopping hoofsteps was heard from the stairs behind them. Curious, Cadance turned around to see who was coming down, only to freeze in alarm when she saw who stood on the steps. Three ponies stood on the stairs, both looking with concern at the third pony. A pony Cadance recognized immediately. Slowly, so as not to hurt Flurry, she floated her daughter over to her husband then slowly stood up. “Sunset Shimmer…?” she said in a whisper.

Sunset, meanwhile, wasn’t staring at Cadance with shock, but with a hint of anger in her features. Anger which slowly vanished when the light blue unicorn put a hoof over Sunset’s withers. “Sunset…take deep breaths, okay?” she said reassuringly before turning to face Cadance. “You’re Empress Cadenza, correct?”

“Um, yes,” Cadance said, a bit confused.

“A pleasure to meet you. I am the Great and Powerful Trrrixie!” she exclaimed with a flourish, her cape shoved back dramatically as it made a fluttering noise.

Nopony moved for a bit, not until Flurry clapped. “Great and Powerful! Great and Powerful!” the alicorn filly repeated with a giggle.

Trixie bowed, then indicated the third unicorn, a purple one with a darker purple mane with an aquamarine stripe. “This is Trixie’s other friend Starlight Glimmer. We’re staying with Gregory.”

“That’s correct,” Gregory said from the door to the room he disappeared to as he walked in, clearly having heard the conversation. “Beatrix Lulamoon, Starlight Glimmer, and Sunset Shimmer, may I introduce Empress Mi Amore Cadenza, Emperor-Consort Shining Armor, and Princess Flurry Heart of the Crystal Empire.”

“Oh, I’m very well aware of who she is,” Sunset said, giving Cadance a wary look.

“Oh?” Gregory looked at Sunset with a curious expression. “I take it you knew her when you were Celestia’s student?”

Cadance looked at Gregory with astonishment. “You knew who she was?”

“She’s been living with me for a while,” Gregory replied as if it was no big deal, “and she’s one of my friends. She’s told me a bit about her history, but I didn’t realize she knew you, Empress.” He turned to Sunset. “Hey, if there’s some bad blood between you two, I’d like to know, seeing as though everyone here will probably be staying here.” He gestured towards the window. “We’re having a nor’wester outside.”

“I saw,” Sunset said as she looked out of the window. “As for me and Cadenza? There’s a rather…colored history there, but there’s no problem with her staying. It’s not like there’s a choice in the matter. Pardon me. I just came down here for something light to snack on. Oh, and Gregory? Are we still celebrating New Year’s Eve?”

“Yep,” Gregory replied. “I just hope everyone else can get back here safety. It’s getting worse out there.”

New Year’s Eve? That was something Cadance had never heard of. Sure, this was the last day of the year, but the way she said it made it sound like it was some kind of holiday. Turning to Gregory, she asked, “What is this New Year’s she’s talking about?”

“It’s a human holiday where everyone stays up until midnight to welcome in the new year,” Gregory explained as Sunset hurriedly rushed past him towards the kitchen, followed closely by Trixie. Starlight Glimmer, however, stayed behind and stood beside Gregory. “We’re a mixed household,” he continued to explain, “and as such, we’re all attempting to celebrate holidays of each culture at least once.”

“Earlier, you said you were celebrating Haynukkah,” Shining said, “but you’re also celebrating this New Year’s Eve holiday?”

“Hey, with the weather like it is, it gives us an excuse to have a good time,” Silica said with a chuckle.

Cadance couldn’t help but giggle. “I can agree with that. Also, Mr. Graystone, you just said you would be willing to host us for the evening. Are you sure?”

He nodded. “I wouldn’t feel right if I sent out a royal family in that storm back to the Eyrie, especially your daughter.” He turned and gave Flurry Heart a warm smile.

Said filly leaped into the air and flew up to hover in front of Gregory. “Do that thing with your claws again!” she said with a giggle as she pointed at her mane.

The unicorn named Starlight looked up with a grin. “Did you ensnare another pony with the power of your head scratches?” she asked teasingly.

Gregory held up both hands, one underneath Flurry to support her and another to run his hand through Flurry’s mane. The alicorn filly smiled wider and stopped flapping her wings, causing Gregory to catch her smoothly and continue giving her head scratches. “One of humanity’s redeeming qualities,” he said with what Cadance saw was a self-deprecating grin, “we give amazing head scritchies.”

“And belly rubs,” Starlight said, although there was a small blush on her face when she said so.

Cadance stepped forward to watch Gregory give her daughter these ‘scritchies’ as he chuckled. “Who knew having hands could be such a boon?” he said as he continued to run his hand through Flurry’s mane. Looking back at Cadance, he smiled again. “Your daughter is a lively one.”

“She’s a bundle of joy and energy,” Cadance agreed as she smiled back then observed his hand carefully. “I wonder if I can replicate what you’re doing with magic?”

“Believe me, your Majesty, you wouldn’t be the first to try,” Starlight Glimmer said with a small chuckle. “Sunset, Trixie and I have tried to figure out how to replicate it, but I think we’d need a magic rich environment to do that.”

“I did know that Gryphonia is lower in magic than Equestria and the Empire,” Cadance mused.

From behind Cadance, Fauna Spirit came forward, looking a bit worriedly at the princess. “Sir, are you sure you are comfortable holding a filly?” she asked.

“This isn’t the first time I’ve held a foal, or a gryphon cub for that matter,” he said. “I’ve held a human infant before, too, and the principle is similar.”

“When have you held a pony foal?” Shining asked.

Gregory chuckled a bit. “At one of Trixie’s most recent shows, there were a few pony foals watching. Some newcomers. One of them was a filly newborn and she was crying because she was startled by something, so I asked her aunt if I could hold her. Thankfully the filly calmed down and fell asleep soon after.”

“Trixie still feels bad about that,” the aforementioned mare said as she came out with a bowl of some sort of crackers in her magic. She looked a bit downcast at that. “She doesn’t like seeing foals or cubs crying.”

“Hey, Cozy Glow’s aunt was completely understanding,” Gregory said with a reassuring smile. “Perhaps later, and if her parents allow it, you can show Flurry Heart some of your tamer tricks?”

Trixie brightened at this. “Trixie would love that!” she exclaimed happily.

“Cozy Glow?” Cadance asked. “Is she a refugee from Equestria?”

Gregory nodded. “She’s a newborn filly I saw a little while ago. Her aunt brought her here to escape from the economic depression over there,” he said. “They’re staying in the Eyrie for the winter until springtime comes around and we can construct more housing.”

“I haven’t heard much news from Equestria as of late, so I had no idea,” Cadance said. She wondered if she should begin establishing places for Equestrian refugees to live in.

“Well, with how their borders have been closed recently, that makes sense,” Silica said as she reached down to extend a single talon towards Flurry, who grabbed it with her hooves playfully.

“Please be careful,” Fauna said to the dragon with a worried look.

“Don’t worry, I’m well aware,” Silica said.

“Hot beverages for everyone,” a voice said from the kitchen door. Everyone turned to see Amira walking through with a large platter of teacups and mugs of hot chocolate. There was even a small foal-sized one with marshmallows inside.

Flurry leaped up, sniffing the air. Gregory paused what he was doing and smiled when the filly leaped out of his arms and towards the small mug. “You said you didn’t have marshmallows!”

“These aren’t marshmallows,” Amira said. “They’re a similar product from Saddle Arabia. We call them fluffel. Try one.” She held out a small white squishy cube. “Oh, but with your parents’ permission, obviously.” Amira turned and inclined her head towards Cadance and Shining.

“May I try one?” Cadance asked, genuinely curious about what these fluffel tasted like.

“Of course,” Amira said, giving her another of the small cubes.

Cadance put it in her mouth, and was instantly hit with sweetness. It was like white fluffy honey with a hint of sugar in it. She nodded in approval. “What is this? It’s incredibly delicious! I’m tasting honey!”

“Fluffel is made with mostly honey,” Amira explained as she helped pass out the tea and hot chocolate to the pony guards, “and its recipe is a closely guarded secret for the moment.”

“Can I have that hot chocolate with the honey mallows?” Flurry asked eagerly.

“Just the one cup,” Cadance reminded her daughter, “and make sure it’s not hot.” As her daughter turned to grab the mug, the empress turned to Amira. “How much would it cost if I wanted to order some more from the manufacturer?”

“I’ll see what I can find,” Amira said.

At that moment, the door was flung open. Three gryphons came bursting in, one quickly shutting the door behind them. “Sweet Tartarus, it’s getting bad out there!” a gruff sounding female voice said as the group began to discard their hats and scarves.

“Glad to see you three made it back in one piece,” Gregory said as he walked up to them. “Gilda, please keep your language to yourself for now. We have guests, and one of them is a filly.”

Cadance saw the three gryphons, two females and a male, looking at the ponies in the living room gathered around the fireplace. One of them, a light gray female with blue eyes, smiled and raised her claws. “Hello there! My name’s Gabriella, but you can call me Gabby! This is Gilda, one of the best scone makers in the city, and this is Gallus, a jack of all trades!”

“Hello there, Miss Gabby,” Cadance said, a bit taken aback by the gryphon’s excitement which reminded her a bit of Pinkie Pie, but at the same time her type of excitement was different from Pinkie’s. It felt more mature. “And hello to you as well, Miss Gilda and Mr. Gallus.”

“Miss Gilda?” The aforementioned gryphon female snorted as she brushed some snow from her plumage. “You’re not what I expected from an Empress.”

That caught Cadance’s attention. “You know who I am?” she asked.

“We’ve heard about a pink alicorn pony ruling over the Crystal Empire,” Gallus said.

“Whoa! Your wings are bigger than mommy’s!” Flurry exclaimed as she flew over to Gilda, poking at the wings with a foallike eagerness.

“Flurry Heart!” Cadance pulled the filly away in alarm and held her there with magic. “I’m sorry for my daughter’s precocious nature.”

Gilda waved a dismissive claw. “Eh, don’t worry about it. It’s all good.”

“What brings you all here?” Gabby asked.

“Well, we got caught in the storm, and we couldn’t risk leaving in this storm,” Cadance said sheepishly.

“Pardon me, your majesty,” one of the guards said, coming up behind her, “but request permission for all but two of us to leave and head back to the Eyrie and report on the situation.”

Cadance turned back to the guard with a raised eyebrow. “Will you be safe?” she asked with concern.

“We’re used to harsh winter weather, your majesty,” he said. “We don’t want the other guards there to worry. We’ll be safe.”

“Well, if you’re sure you’ll be safe, then go,” Cadance said. She looked over at Gregory, who was talking with an animated Gabby.

That was when she felt it. She was no changeling, but being the princess of love and with her cutie mark allowing her to read emotions better than most. And she was certainly reading something on the faces of Gabby and Gilda. There was something in their faces, but the thing was that she didn’t quite know gryphon body language or facial expressions. She was an expert on pony body language, but other creatures were more of a mystery to her.

All but two of the guards began preparing for the trip back. When Gregory saw this, he paused his conversation with Gabby. “Hey, what’s going on? Are you leaving in that storm?” He had directed the conversation to Cadance.

She chuckled and shook her head. “No, the guards are going back to the Eyrie to report on what’s happened. They’ll be fine.”

“I guess that makes sense,” he said. “Just be safe out there, okay?” he said to the guards.

“Don’t worry, sir,” the lead guard said, “we’ll be alright.”

A few minutes later, all but two guards, a mare and stallion, had left. The wind was blowing fiercely now and snow was piling up outside with flashes of lightning and rumbling of thunder passing by overhead. Gregory’s pony guests were still sitting by the fire as they finished warming up. Gregory decided to go and prepare some sort of dinner for everyone. He, Gabby, and Gilda were in the kitchen cooking while Gregory was listening to Gabby talk about her day. Gallus had gone upstairs to shower, and the three ponies had also left. Silica and Amira were in the living room talking with the remaining delegates while Flurry was resting near the fire.

“That much in a day?” Gregory was saying as he stirred the pot that was full of veggie broth. He was planning on making a healthy but delicious vegetable stew for everyone. The oven was preheating so he could head up some of the bread as well. “That’s a lot of donations. You may need to quit the post office to focus more on your work.”

“I’d hate to do that,” Gabby replied as she sliced up potatoes. “They don’t have much help.”

“You could cut back on your hours there like I did,” Gregory suggested.

“Maybe…but I like both jobs. Still, the Salvation Army could use more help, too.”

“You’ll get more, I know it,” Gregory said, reaching down and putting a hand on Gabby’s head, smiling warmly down at her as he ran his hand through it. Gabby closed her eyes and relaxed, making a small purring noise. He then turned to Gilda. “How was your day? Did you find a location yet?”

Gilda, who was fixing up some of her new cream puff products, looked up. “I found three possible places for my new store,” she said, “but none of them can be refurbished until spring.” She looked up as the sound of thunder rolled overhead. “Damn it, with this storm, I won’t be able to do any sort of work at the stall.”

“I’m still surprised you were able to bring it home in this weather,” Gregory said. After they got home, he had opened the garage door and pulled the cart in with Gilda’s help, placing it right next to his truck and camper.

“I’m not losing my only source of income,” she insisted with a frown. “And there was no way I was going to leave it out there to be torn apart.”

“That nor’wester looks like it’s gonna be a nasty one,” Gabby observed. “It might last a week.”

“I hope we have enough food to last until then,” Gregory said worriedly. He didn’t like the idea of dipping into his earth food reserve, but he would if it meant that his houseguests wouldn’t starve.

“No worries there,” Gabby said, “I went shopping for the house yesterday and bought a bunch of food. I thought I could smell a nor’wester coming, so I bought heavy.”

“That explains why the pantry was so full when I got back from my house shopping yesterday,” Gilda said. “I had to store some of the food in the basement. Hang on, I thought yesterday was my day for shopping if we needed it?”

Gregory watched as Gilda stood and went to a piece of paper nailed to the wall. With so many people living in the house, they had come up with a chore chart where each day of the week everyone was responsible for doing something. Shopping was something that was done when needed, not every day, but checking food supplies was a part of the daily chores. To make sure everyone did something of everything, the chore chart for one day had one person doing a few chores, then the next day their chores would be switched. This only applied to houseguests, but Amira and Silica still insisted on helping when they could. Many hands, or hooves/claws in this case made light work.

Gilda’s jaw dropped. “Aww damn, it was your day yesterday…” she said, deflating slightly.

“Hey, it won’t go to waste,” Gregory said, walking up and putting a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. “We have unexpected guests, and from what Sunset’s told me, alicorns tend to have big appetites.”

Gilda snorted at that. “I’d love to see that pink pony stuffing her face,” she said with a laugh. “Well, I gotta finish these cream puffs.” She went back to the table and resumed her work.

“You know,” Gabby said as Gregory returned to begin adding ingredients to the pot, “if the Tunnels were real, then we wouldn’t need to worry about stocking up for nor’westers.”

Gregory chuckled at that. The Tunnels were a local legend in Gryphonstone. Apparently, long ago, there was a vast tunnel system that was used by imperial Gryphonstone residents during storms, but the entrances were invisible when closed. Said entrances had been lost according to the story hundreds of years before the fall of the Imperium. They were also useful as potential escape routes in case the city was attacked. When he had asked Gwendolyn about it, she said that she had no information about anything like that. “I’d love to see what the Tunnels look like if they’re real,” he said.

“That would be a fun adventure,” Gabby giggled.

There was silence for a bit, then Gilda spoke up. “Gregory, are you sure having these foreign ponies around is a good idea? I get that we can’t send them back in the storm, especially that filly, but where could they sleep?”

“There’s the office room, and the guards did say they would be completely fine sleeping in the living room,” Gregory said. “If they want more privacy, we could let them stay in the camper.”

“I suppose…” Gilda said with a shrug.

“I know it’s going to be a bit crowded in here with all the guests,” Gregory said, “but we can handle it. We’ll be fine.”

Gilda smiled slightly and gave a thumbs up. “Sure thing.”

Flurry was stuffed. She hadn’t eaten that much in a while. The food that the singing human made with the gryphons was super duper yummy! And the delicious cream puff things that gryphon made were sooo yummy! Of course, her mommy told her she couldn’t have too much or she’d not be able to sleep, which was so not fair! Mommy and Daddy always got to stay up later. So, she begged and begged to stay up late when she heard that everypony else was going to stay up. Finally, to her delight, her mommy and daddy said she could stay up.

She was sitting and watching the human who was messing with the metal thing she touched earlier, the one her mother scolded her about. Everypony else was sitting down, the nice gryphon telling the others about this ‘movie’ that they were about to watch. The nice singing human said that it was like a play but much better. The movie or whatever was called Beauty and the Beast.

A bit bored, the filly flew over to the nearby window to look outside and watch the storm. She’d never seen so much snow in her life. She wanted to go outside and play, but she remembered promising her mommy that she wouldn’t during this storm unless she was with somepony.

As she pressed her face against the window, she saw something. There was a small kitten lying with its eyes closed on the snowy windowsill. With an excited smile, she turned back to the others. “Mommy! There’s a kitten on the window here!”

Her mommy stood up, a look of worry on her face which confused Flurry. Her mommy loved kittens. Wouldn’t she want to play with the kitty like Flurry wanted to?

The singing human acted faster. He ran out of the house, then she saw him pick the sleeping kitty off of the windowsill before bringing it in. “Someone get a warm blanket and some extra wood from downstairs!” he shouted as he brought the kitten to the fire.

“Is…is the kitten okay?” Mommy asked.

The human put the cat to his ear. Everypony was silent. After a bit, he brought the kitten to the fire. “There’s a heartbeat, but its faint,” he said.

“Here’s a blanket!” the happy gryphon said, tossing it to the singing human.

He caught it and quickly wrapped the kitten up. Her mommy began using magic on the kitten while the nice human wiped it with the blanket. “The poor thing’s probably dehydrated,” the human said.

“Where’s the mother?” Mommy said.

“They could be nearby,” the nice gryphon said. “Cats are rare, here.”

“Come on,” Daddy said to the two crystal ponies who stayed behind, “let’s go looking for the mother!” With that, the three rushed out of the door.

“I’ll come look with you,” the human said as he stood and ran after them.

Flurry walked up to where Mommy and the nice gryphon were still with the kitten. Flurry now had a vague sense that something was wrong. “Mommy? Is the kitten okay?” she asked, tugging at her mommy.

Mommy gave her a smile that made all of Flurry’s worries go away. “Yes, sweetie,” she said. “The kitten’s just cold and needs to be warmed up. It spent too long outside.”

“Oh, okay,” Flurry said, sitting down and watching Mommy and the nice gryphon continue warming up and wiping the kitten.

Nopony spoke for a while until the singing human came back inside. He set down his coat. Inside was a larger cat with two other kitties. All of them were sleeping as well. The grumpy gryphon, who had been putting more wood on the fire, saw this. “Shii-oot,” she said. “I’ll get some more warm blankets.” She flew out of the room fast.

Daddy and the other two guards came back in after the cat and her kitties were all snuggly and warm next to the fire. “We found where the mother must have been living before now,” Daddy said as he came up and surrounded the mommy cat and a kitten with his magic while Fauna Spirit, the nice human, the happy gryphon, and the grumpy gryphon were wiping them down. “I think we found them all.”

“When are the kitties gonna wake up?” Flurry asked, wanting to hopefully play with them.

“They’re very tired, sweetie,” Mommy said.

“That’s right,” Daddy said, “so we should let them rest.”

“You can watch the movie now if you want,” Gregory said. “We’ll make sure these kitties get the rest they need.”

“I can take care of them,” Fauna Spirit said. “Unless you want me to watch over Flurry Heart, your majesty?”

Flurry watched as everypony in the room looked at each other. Finally, Mommy turned to Fauna. “Are you sure?”

“I can keep them warm and clean them,” Fauna said before turning to the nice human. “Mr. Graystone, do you have food that the mother can eat and milk I can heat up?”

“There’s some tuna and milk in the fridge,” the human said.

“Okay, then yes, your majesty, I’m sure,” Fauna said

Mommy smiled. “Alright, we’ll leave them in your care.”

Several minutes later, Flurry was sitting in the nice human’s warm lap with a blanket over her as she watched this movie that the human promised would be fun to watch. Still, part of her hoped that the kitties would be awake tomorrow so she could play with them. Still, Mommy said they’d be okay, so she trusted those words and paid full attention to the movie.

The storm raged on outside, but for the inhabitants of Gryphonstone, that didn’t matter. Everyone was inside, either in their homes, the various inns in town, or in the Eyrie. Everyone was warm and cozy, enjoying good food, a warm hearth, and a reviving city spirit.

All but one.

Two animals, a squirrel and a small kitten sat on a windowsill that was almost covered with snow. With intelligence that belied its species, the squirrel brushed away the snow. The kitten sat there, mewing pitifully and shivering. The squirrel glared at the kitten, gesturing for it to leave, but the kitten refused.

Then, the squirrel did something no squirrel should be able to do. It spoke. “Go away, cat!” a male voice hissed.

The kitten ignored the squirrel and clawed at the window, pressing against it to try and absorb as much warmth from the inside as it could. The squirrel was about to push the kitten off when a voice in his ear said, “Leave the cat alone.”

The squirrel stiffened, saluting. “Y-Yes, my Emperor,” he said.

“What can you see?” another voice, a female voice, said.

The squirrel looked inside, his eyes starting to glow slightly. “It seems like Gregory is hosting the Empress of the Crystal Empire and her family,” he said.

“How’d they get there, ~nyoro?” another female voice said. The squirrel tensed up in irritation. The owner of that voice, Cheery the changeling, had grown even more annoying since he’d last met her. Especially since she recently started adding that strange word to the end of some of her sentences.

“Seems like they couldn’t get back to the Eyrie before the storm broke,” the squirrel said.

The kitten on the windowsill pawed at the window, then let forth a louder meow before suddenly collapsing onto the windowsill. The squirrel looked inside, and jumped back when he saw a face at the window. The face of the filly.

“Mommy! There’s a kitten on the window here!” a muffled filly’s voice shouted.

The squirrel, who was now on the ground, dove into the snow and watched as the front door opened. He watched the human rush out, holding his hand up to shield him from the wind and snow as he trudged through the snow fast towards the windowsill. “Oh no,” the human said in a horrified tone as he picked the kitten up and rushed back inside. The squirrel heard muffled shouts from inside.

“Get back up there and see what’s going on,” Emperor Jason ordered.

“Yes, your majesty,” the squirrel said as he jumped up to the window and peered inside. A group was gathered around the kitten which was now wrapped up in a thick blanket. Empress Cadenza was wrapping it in a magical aura. The kitten was in the human’s arms as he wiped it down.

“The poor thing’s probably dehydrated,” the human said.

“Where’s the mother?” the Princess of Food wondered.

“They could be nearby,” the gryphon named Gabriella said. “Cats are rare, here.”

“Come on,” the pony named Shining Armor said to the two crystal pony guards, “let’s go looking for the mother!” With that, the three rushed out of the door.

“I’ll come look with you,” the human said as he grabbed a thick looking coat and rushed out after them.

The squirrel sat there and watched with its enhanced vision. He saw everything as blue save for the outlines of the four creatures outside, which gave off red. His infrared vision also saw a faint hint of red near where the human was searching.

“I hope he finds those poor cats,” Cheery said.

“Over here!” the human shouted into the storm as he stopped where the dull red blur was. He watched as the human removed his coat and began scooping the cats into the coat. The other three ponies converged on him and helped gently move the others. “I’ll take these ones inside,” the human said.

“We’ll keep searching just in case we missed anything else,” Shining Armor said.

The human rushed back, the cat and what looked like two other kittens wrapped up in his coat. The squirrel watched as the human put the cats and kittens down, then rushed outside to search again. However, the squirrel couldn’t see anything else that was giving off heat. “My Emperor, should I remain here or turn into a kitten?” he asked.

“Fall back for now,” the emperor said, “and depending on conditions there in the morning, you can go back. Just don’t push yourself, any of you. That’s an order.”

“Yes, your majesty,” the squirrel said as he jumped off of the windowsill and scampered away, heading to the gate where he was surrounded by a dim green flame that slowly formed around his body, changing him into a gryphon who began moving through the streets. Like any changeling, he blended into the background, making his way slowly but steadily through the streets. All he wanted to do now was sit by a fire and warm up, but he had a report to make.