A Renewed Ending

Saturday, January 1, 1008 A.L., Equestria

“It would seem as if the Empress of the Crystal Empire has made an appearance in Gryphonstone,” Blueblood said to the rest of the Harmony Council. “Our contacts there are unfortunately unable to tell us more than that because a massive storm has struck the city and will last for a few days at least.”

“We can only assume that the storm forced the Empress to remain for longer than she intended,” High Life added, displaying a recorded magical projection of Empress Cadenza and her entourage, including her husband and daughter, as they walked through the city of Gryphonstone. “This recording was taken upon the Crystal Empire Envoy’s initial appearance in the city.”

The rest of the Harmony Council watched this with looks of revulsion as they saw the disgusting state of Gryphonstone. Blueblood, however, could see things that the others could not. The city, once a cesspool, was quickly rebuilding, and the citizens were a lot happier than they apparently had been before. The gryphon sycophants he had conditioned had given him reports on the past conditions of the city. That was, before they disappeared a couple of months ago without so much as a trace. Whatever was happening over in Gryphonstone was definitely worth some concern if it could break his conditioning.

The newest member of the Council, Filthy Rich, was swirling the expensive wine he had brought for everypony. It was tradition that new members would provide refreshments for the Council for the trial period. Blueblood had to admit that Filthy had good taste, although he knew of better vintages. “What on Equus is she thinking?” Filthy sneered as he took a sip of the wine. Turning to Blueblood, he asked, “Your grace, wasn’t the Empress once a pegasus?”

Blueblood bristled slightly, but he felt High Life graze his rump with her hoof. He turned to her, and she was giving him a reassuring glance. He nodded and turned back to Filthy. “She was, yes. Just a commoner at one point, but my aunt decided to take her in after she became an alicorn.” He scowled. “And now, she is the ruler of an empire.”

“Be at ease, my prince,” High Life cooed. “Your time will come, I can assure you of that.”

“She’s right, your grace,” another member of the council, an older noblemare named Zesty Gourmand, added. “Everything is going well so far.”

“Better than we could have anticipated, to be honest,” High Life said with a chuckle. “It would seem as if the Royal Sisters have discovered that a second human is a member of this Convocation.”

That caused everyone to erupt in chaos, most saying that this was a disaster despite High Life’s words. Blueblood knew that the others here were fools, but he didn’t think they were this foolish. He exchanged a look with High Life, who simply shrugged and waited until the shouting reached a crescendo. He raised his hoof and brought it down hard on the table. This caused everypony there to stop immediately, looking at him with wide eyes. “Listen to Councilmare High Life,” he said, “because there’s more.”

“Thank you, your grace,” High Life said with a bow before turning back to the council. “Listen to me, everypony. It would seem as if the princesses may be planning a royal visit to Gryphonstone. Both of them will be going in person. Nothing is confirmed because they’re keeping things close to the chest, but if they do engage in negotiations with Gryphonstone, we're going to need to act.”

“Act how?” one of the nobles asked.

“I don’t know yet,” High Life lied smoothly. In truth, Blueblood and High Life did have a plan, but with the inclusion of a new member, they needed to know if they could trust him implicitly before revealing everything. “For now, we should watch and wait.”

“Have our spies found out anything else?” another noble asked.

“Only a few things about the new alliance that Gryphonstone has with other nations,” Blueblood said. “Gryphonia may have less magic than the rest of the world, but they have some interesting items that they can offer to the other nations. And in return, they are receiving benefits from the other nations in this new alliance.”

“We need to stop it!” Upper Crust snarled angrily. “They could very well become a new power in the world and destabilize everything we’ve worked for.”

You mean that others beside you have worked for, Blueblood thought with an inner smirk. “We can’t act rashly, Councilmare Crust,” he said, “we need to figure out just what is happening over there, and with that storm blanketing the entire mountain with snow our operatives can’t do anything.”

“You said that the princesses are planning a trip to Gryphonstone?” Jet Set asked.

“Correct,” High Life said.

“For what purpose?”

Blueblood sighed. “Isn’t it obvious?” he asked. “Princess Celestia in particular wants to get on the human’s good side and on Gryphonstone’s good side as a result. He is a member of their government, just like Jason Wright is now the Changeling Emperor. In short, she plans to bribe this new human.”

The response was one of disappointment from most of the Council. Many shook their heads and he heard murmurs of disagreement pass through them. “That will make us look weak,” Filthy Rich said, leaning forward with a frown. “What is her highness thinking?”

“Whatever it is, it can’t be good,” another noble said. “We’ll be seen as weak!”

“Please calm yourselves, councilponies,” High Life’s soothing and somewhat seductive voice said as she raised a hoof. “This can work in our favor, if we play our cards right.”

“How is selling out our nation to a race of backwater catbirds a good thing?!” the same noble shrieked.

Blueblood finally paid attention to the unimportant noble. Cash King, of course it was him. That fool. He was about to berate him but High Life held up a hoof. “There are plans in place we can use.”

“What plans?” Cash Cow asked, trying to calm her brother down.

“Ones we can’t share at the moment, but we will in time,” Blueblood said, “and trust us, this can only benefit everypony here.” He kept himself vague because he still didn’t trust Filthy Rich. Information security needed to be maintained.

The Council grumbled, but they had grown used to Blueblood and High Life keeping secrets from them. Filthy Rich, on the other hoof, was new, so it was inevitable that he spoke up. “Benefit us how?”

“Oh, my dear Richy,” High Life crooned, “you’re new here, so you can be forgiven, but this council is meant to maintain the balance in Equestria. We work to benefit all ponies.” Another lie, but a honeyed lie that could be told if they were ever found out, which hadn’t happened ever. “You and your family were left homeless after that monster razed Ponyville to the ground. This plan will ensure that nothing like this will happen again. Our nation will be secure and stronger than before when this plan is complete. Trust us.”

That seemed to satisfy the new member and he leaned back, closing his muzzle like a good new noble. Blueblood turned to the Council again. “Changing topics to something a bit closer to home, opening the borders again has changed little with our trade with other nations…”

“Are you sure that you are not packing too much, sister?” Luna asked as she watched a couple servants packing another chest full of various treasures from Celestia’s personal treasury. “Surely, you are bringing enough to bankrupt the nation.”

“Oh, those aren’t for the nation,” Celestia said as she watched the three chests full of old gold coins, jewelry, and various pieces of food. “Those are for the human. Those are for the nation.” She pointed to a larger number of chests that Luna had somehow missed sitting in another corner.

Luna turned and her eyes bulged. She counted twenty chests, but since there were servants moving them out of the room already and the indents on the carpet, it was clear there had been more there. Turning to her sister, she asked, “Hast thou taken leave of thy senses!? Thou wouldst empty thy coffers for a foreign nation?!” Whenever she grew frustrated, she would fall back into her former speech patterns.

“I know what I’m doing, Lulu,” Celestia said as several more servants came in and hoisted the chests away. “Trust me, I do.”

Luna took a few deep breaths, a technique she had learned from young Twilight Sparkle to help calm her down. Part of her wished she had used that technique before becoming Nightmare Moon, but that was in the past. She walked over and opened one of the chests, seeing ancient coins inside. Coins that were not bits. “Are these…gryphon talons?” she asked, turning to Celestia as she held up a coin in her magic.

“Almost all the talons I could find are in these chests,” Celestia said. “I almost forgot I had them until our contact told us the news about the new human.”

Luna almost facehoofed. “At least tell me you are keeping some in reserve just in case.”

“Of course I am,” Celestia said, sounding a bit annoyed now. “I’m no fool.”

Luna didn’t reply to that. Instead, she looked at the closed door next to the now open door to Celestia’s personal treasury. It was similar in size and shape to Celestia’s own, with a simple emblazoned cutie mark on it, her cutie mark. “Then perhaps I should prepare some gifts as well. It is tradition, after all.” She turned to a shadowy corner of the room and nodded. Several chiropteran ponies came out of the shadows and approached as Luna unlocked her treasury with her magic. “Gather five empty chests and bring them hither at once,” she ordered her Lunar Guards, who nodded and slipped away.

A few minutes later, Luna was searching through her treasury, her own personal secretary Folio Leaf helping her to find several key artifacts and some of her own collection of Gryphonian talons. As Folio and her own personal guards searched through her treasury, Luna decided to have a conversation with her sister that felt was necessary. “Sister,” she said softly, approaching and standing next to Celestia as they watched their servants pack their gifts, “the nobility has begun showing more and more of their discontent with our recent decision to reopen the borders. Are you sure that now is the right time to leave and present ourselves to this new Convocation in hopes of some alliance?”

Celestia sighed. “Right now? No, it’s not ideal, but it’s necessary. Lulu, we are in a severe economic depression. The borders being opened has done little to ease that financial burden, and that is our fault. We have become known through the world as a nation of supremacists. All ponies here are equal, but that’s just it. All. Ponies. With very few exceptions, nonponies in Equestria are treated as lower than lower class. They work for less than is optimal, or they did before the invasion. Seems they’ve had enough.”

“Then make a law that grants them rights and citizenship identical to ponies,” Luna said, not seeing what the issue was. This was the land of peace and harmony, so why was it that nonponies couldn’t enjoy it?

“Believe me, when we get back from Gryphonstone, I intend to make a slew of changes,” Celestia said with a scowl. “One of them being to limit the power that the House of Lords has over the Crown.”

“That…could be a double edged sword,” Luna said. “We do not wish to become a dictatorship.”

“We won’t,” Celestia said stalwartly. “Things will become much different in the months and years to come.”

“How so?” Luna asked. “We cannot become an autocracy, either.”

“The kingdom will still be ruled by us,” Celestia said, “but the influence of the House will be changed. The current nobility are incompetent and greedy fools who think not about others, but themselves. They are a stain on this kingdom and must be cleansed.”

“I do not like where this is going,” Luna said nervously.

Celestia waved a hoof dismissively. “Don’t worry, I’ll bring you up to speed on the train ride to Gryphonstone. I don’t intend on getting rid of the House. I remember a time when nobility earned their titles instead of having it passed down through families. Sure, some new nobles are created every so often, but only due to their monetary and business status. Nobles became less noble over the centuries, and I blinded myself to it.” She closed her eyes and sighed, then looked up at the ceiling. “Star Swirl…I wish you were here to guide us…”

Luna smiled sadly at her sister. “Cellie, he’s gone. They’re all gone. If we could get them back, I would be the first one to help, but he helped us to become the rulers of Equestria. We cannot let his teachings go to waste.”

“I know,” Celestia said somberly as she turned and looked at the one remaining chest. “I know…”

Sunday, January 2, 1008 A.L., Gryphonia

Gregory slowly woke to the sound of high force winds coming from the windows along with the sounds of branches striking the window occasionally. Opening one eye, then the next, he looked up at the high ceiling of his canopy bed. The curtains were drawn, but the crack let in a bit of early morning blue light.

He slowly sat up, the blankets falling off of him as he pulled one curtain away to peer at his bedroom’s personal fireplace. The fire had long since gone out, but the large basket was still there along with the mother cat and her three kittens. She was curled up and the kittens were nursing eagerly.

As he listened to what sounded like quite a storm blowing against the house, he looked at the cat. It was a miracle that anyone had found them in the storm two nights ago. All of them were pure white with bright blue eyes. There were two female kittens and one male kitten. He was tempted to name them after the cats from The Aristocats movie, but put that decision off. Slowly, he stood and approached. The mother cat instantly looked up, eyes narrowed. He paused and slowly got onto all fours, approaching on his hands and knees so as not to seem dangerous. The mother cat watched him passively while he slowly blinked his eyes. After a little while, the mother cat blinked back before moving to bathe one of her kittens.

When he reached the basket, he moved past it, grabbing some kindling, a few logs, and the matchbox. In a few minutes, a new fire was beginning. All the while, the kittens were mewing slightly while their mother groomed them. He sat next to them, watching patiently while the storm outside raged on.

He yawned, having not gotten much sleep the night before because he was worried about the cat and her kittens. What he was surprised about was how the gryphons seemed to treat the cats with reverence. When he asked Gabby about it, she explained that it went back to Ancient Egrypt. Gryphons held a special place for cats, considering them to be a good luck charm in the modern day. They were worshipped in Egrypt as messengers of their ancient gods. Pure white cats? Those were signs of extra good luck.

Fauna Spirit, Flurry Heart’s nurse, took care of the cats by keeping them warm until they recovered, which was surprisingly quickly. Cadance cast minor healing spells on them, but cautioned that they would still need to rest before anything happened. They did watch the Beauty and the Beast movie before Amira led them in the traditional celebration Haynukkah. After that, Gregory was about to prepare a place for the family, but Silica offered up her bedroom for the time being. She was okay with sleeping on the couch bed in the living room or even on the floor. After much convincing, Gregory reluctantly agreed.

The first day of the new year came and went, and since the storm didn’t go away, the entire household was forced to stay inside. There was a bit of tension in the air, especially in regards to Cadance and Sunset who avoided each other all day, but mostly everyone relaxed. Flurry was allowed to watch a couple of movies, they all played a couple of board games that Gregory had brought from Earth, and they talked about random topics. Nothing of consequence.

He stood and looked down at the mother, who was now just ignoring him like any preoccupied mother. She looked up sharply a few seconds later, however, looking at the door. There was a knock at the door moments later, and Gabby called out, “Gregory, are you up? We’re just about to start making breakfast for everyone.”

“I just got up,” he said as he walked over and opened the door. Gabby was standing there with a plate of warmed up tuna and a bowl of water in her claws. “For the mom cat?”

She nodded and looked past him. “Is she doing okay?” she asked.

“She was nursing her kittens when I woke up, so I think she’s going to be just fine,” he said as he took the plate and walked back to the cat.

Gabby flew in and approached the cat, who watched the gryphon with a cautious gaze. However, she began sniffing the air when the plate was placed down near the basket. The kittens were done nursing and were now just crawling around, mewing. The mother got up, sniffed the warm tuna before beginning to eat heartily. Gabby then headed to the bathroom where they had set up a makeshift litter box, which considered of a basket of dirt. “Oh, thank the Maker,” she said, “looks like she’d digesting her food properly.”

“That’s good,” Gregory said. He walked over to the fireplace and put on another log before putting the gate up to keep the kittens from accidentally wandering into it. “Well, I’m going to get changed and ready for the day,” he said.

“I’ll go and start making breakfast,” she said as she flew out of the room, closing it and leaving Gregory alone.

After freshening up for the day with washing up, brushing his teeth and changing into some very warm around the house clothes (there was no way he was going out barring an emergency) he went downstairs and after starting a fire in the main living room’s fireplace he joined Gabby and Gilda, both of whom were making a warm breakfast for everyone there. “Morning, you two,” he said as he sniffed the air. “French toast, huh? Nice choice.”

“Prench toast,” a familiar voice corrected him. Looking towards the source of the voice, he saw the fridge door close. Sunset Shimmer stood there, a carton of eggs in her magic as she brought it to the counter.

“Right,” he said with a smile as he reached out towards the eggs. “I’ll get started on some scrambled eggs.”

“Actually, could you let me?” Sunset asked. “I want to…make a special type of scrambled eggs.”

That caught Gregory’s attention. “Oh? What kind?”

“They’re…an apology kind of scrambled eggs,” she admitted, looking down at the floor with a guilty expression on her face.

Sensing that there was something deeper going on, he took the eggs out of Sunset’s magical grip, set them on the counter, then gestured for Sunset to follow. She did without a word, and soon they were standing next to the big window in the living room. The fire in the fireplace was roaring now and heat permeated the room. Sunset was avoiding looking at him, and the two stood in silence for a bit. Eventually, Gregory said, “Does this have anything to do with the Empress being here?”

She flinched a bit when he mentioned Cadance, but slowly she nodded. “I…when I was Celestia’s student, she lived there after she ascended. I…I hated her because of what she represented. She made ascending to alicornhood look so easy. And she…she’s younger than I am. I treated her like she was garbage…”

The poor mare looked like she was trembling, so he walked over, knelt, and wrapped her up in a hug. If there was one thing he’d learned from living with four pony mares, it was that they loved giving and receiving hugs. Each one of them hugged differently. Trixie’s hugs were always tight, but not overbearing, especially when she’d first hugged him too tightly and had almost choked him. Starlight’s were always warm, and Sunset’s were more reserved, but still enjoyable. Amira didn’t hug as much, but when she did, she did it with not just her forehooves but her wings as well. Hers were all encompassing.

This time, Sunset’s hug back felt like one of desperation. He held her as tightly as he could, which he knew wouldn’t harm her because ponies were physically stronger than humans. “This is really eating you up, isn’t it?” he asked.

“I don’t know how to face her,” Sunset admitted with a tremble in her voice. “She never deserved anything I did to her. She never stopped smiling. I was a monster to her.”

“I forgave you long ago, Sunset,” a new voice said from the kitchen door.

Sunset flinched, burying her face into Gregory’s chest. This felt out of character for her, but he didn’t want to get into the way of any sort of reconciliation, so he gently pulled Sunset off of him, looking down into her cyan eyes. “I think you should talk with her,” he said as he turned her to face Cadance before he began moving away. However, she wrapped her tail around his waist, stopping him. Looking down, he frowned a bit. “Sunset, I-”

“Please don’t go,” she said with an even voice, but even he could sense the plea behind her words.

He nodded, standing next to Sunset. “Sure.”

That made Sunset relax her grip on Gregory’s wrist. She took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, then seemed to steel herself before looking up at Cadance. Her expression now was one of determination. “Empress Mi Amore Cadenza, I just-”

“Please, call me Cadance,” the alicorn said with a kind smile.

That seemed to throw Sunset off for a moment, but she steeled herself again and nodded. “Okay, Cadance then. I know this is too many years in the making, but the way I treated you back when we both lived in Canterlot was inexcusable. I was a horrible pony back then, and you did not deserve anything that I did to you. I’m truly very sorry.”

Cadance gave her a soft smile. “Sunset, like I said, I forgave you long ago. That hasn’t changed. Celestia told me about how things ended with you, and you might like to know she regrets how things went between you.”

Sunset looked down, taking a couple other deep breaths. Gregory walked over and put a reassuring hand on her back, rubbing it gently. “I see,” she said with a shaky tone before she stood back up straight. “Thank you for your forgiveness. I really do appreciate it.”

Cadance smiled wider, then approached, wings extended. “May I?” she asked.

Sunset broke at that, and tears began forming in her eyes as she leaned into the taller pony for a hug. Cadance, despite being younger, comforted the teary eyed unicorn mare. She looked up at Gregory and nodded. “I can take it from here,” she whispered softly.

Gregory nodded back, ran a reassuring hand through Sunset’s mane, and headed back into the kitchen. When he came back, he saw that Flurry Heart was sitting on top of Gabby’s head while she was making some Prench toast. Shining Armor was there, standing out of the way but keeping an eye on his daughter while he drank a glass of bliss. When he saw Gregory come in, he raised a hoof in greeting. “Mr. Graystone, good morning,” he said.

“Good morning to you too, Emperor Armor,” Gregory replied. “Hope you slept okay.”

He smiled. “The bed that Silica lent to us is really comfortable,” he said. “Put Flurry right to sleep.”

“I’m sorry we don’t have anything more for your family and your two guards,” he apologized as he began cracking eggs into a mixing bowl.

“The cots you gave to the guards are more than enough for them,” Shining said. “Royal Guards undergo rigorous training to be able to sleep anywhere. I tried one cot, and it’s plenty comfortable, especially with the blankets you loaned to us.”

“Glad to hear it,” he said. “Speaking of, are the guards still asleep?”

Shining nodded. “I told them to get some rest. Walking through the storm yesterday to report back to the others took a lot out of them.”

Gregory nodded. He couldn’t imagine just how badly things had been for the guards who had insisted on going back to the Eyrie to report to their comrades on the state of affairs at the house. They had been gone for nearly the whole day and had practically collapsed into their cots in the office upon returning home. “Let them know they can use the downstairs bath or my personal one if they want to warm up,” he said. “Same for you and your family.”

“Thank you, I will,” Shining said.

“Gregory, do we have any of that powdered sugar left?” Gilda asked.

“It’ll be on the third shelf up from the floor in the pantry if so,” he replied. “It’s in a copper container.”

“Got it,” the gryphon said as she walked into the pantry.

“Hey, Mr. Graystone!” Flurry said as she flew over and landed on his shoulders, wrapping her forelegs around his forehead. “Whatcha doooin’?”

“I’m making some delicious scrambled eggs for breakfast,” he replied as he began shaking some salt into the scrambled egg mixture.

“Can I have sunny side up eggs instead?” the precocious tyke asked.

“Flurry, you’re a guest in this stallion’s home,” Shining said, “so be polite.”

“Sorry, Daddy,” Flurry said, sounding chastened.

“No, it’s no problem,” Gregory said as he picked up two eggs and set them aside. “I’ll make two sunny side up eggs for you.”

“Really? Yay!” Her wings flapped behind her excitedly.

“Mr. Graystone, there’s no need for that,” Shining said.

“Call me Gregory, please,” he said, “and I don’t mind. It won’t take too long to make.” He looked up at Flurry. “Do you want to help make your eggs?” Flurry’s eyes bulged at that and she nodded eagerly. Gregory smiled, grabbed a stool and set it next to the counter. “Okay, so let’s begin by putting the pan on the stove, okay?”

Several minutes, and a few cracked eggs later (she had to crack more than two so the yolk didn’t break) Gregory was helping the young alicorn filly make her own breakfast. Gilda had taken over with the scrambled eggs and was also making some bacon in the oven for the meat eaters. Cadance and Sunset had come back into the kitchen, talking with smiles on their faces. Shining joined in, although he mostly listened to the stories that the two of them were telling each other. By this time, others were getting up. Silica, having gotten up earlier, had showered and was wearing a pair of thick black sweatpants, a pink t-shirt and a dark blue hoodie. It always made Gregory smile to see the human obsessed dragon wearing clothes based off of his style, which he considered to be comfy.

Starlight and Trixie came down after a while, talking with Gallus about something. Amira came in a few minutes later, yawning slightly as she sat at the dining room table with the other three. Everyone else joined them later, breakfast already having been finished. There were pieces of Prench toast, scrambled eggs, bacon, and a pitcher of bliss, a pitcher of water, and some tea to drink.

“I have to say,” the mare guard, whose name was Rose Quartz, began, “those cots are rather well made. Where did you get them, Mr. Graystone?”

Gregory saw Shining give him a look that basically said ‘I told you so.’ He chuckled. “There’s a small shop in town run by a gryphon named Goldy,” he said. “It’s sort of like a camping/disaster prep store. I bought them from her. She and her employees make most of their products themselves.”

“Can somepony show us there they are when this storm is over?” the male guard, named Lapis Lazuli, asked.

“Sure, someone can show you,” Gregory said.

“Mr. Graystone,” Cadance said, “is it really true that this houseoak was built in a matter of minutes instead of months?”

“That’s correct,” he said.

“I still find that hard to believe,” Shining said.

“It’s the truth,” Gregory replied.

“It’s not that I don’t believe you,” Shining quickly amended, “but it’s just…this is something that could be life changing. Creatures who have lost their house can just design a new one and move in by the end of the day.”

“From what I saw when this house and others were built, it’s not that simple,” Gregory said as he pulled out his phone. “I took a video of Gryphonville’s local apothecarist and her apprentice growing these houses before the weather became bad enough that construction wasn’t viable. It takes some time to get all of the materials needed. It’s a complicated process. Honestly, it took a full day for Miss Zecora and Miss Ladybug to get everything ready for my house. It took about half a day to gather everything for the houses they made for some of the homeless people in the city. The more complicated the way you want the houseoak, the more materials you need and the more specific houseoak plan.” He took a breath. “Honestly, I’m not the person you should talk to about this. It’s her.” He held up the phone and hit play.

Everyone watched as, on the screen, Zecora and Ladybug stood in front of an empty street. Behind them, Trixie, Starlight and Sunset stood in front of what looked like a circle of various objects. Zecora nodded, and all four raised their horns, pouring magic into the piles in front of them. The ground began to rumble, then sink in. Eventually, four nearly identical houseoak trees grew from the ground. The camera turned and focused on a few other unicorn ponies on the other side of the street who were stumbling back from the houses they had helped newly build. A couple of them were approached by what looked like their families, helping the unicorns up before moving towards the others, proud smiles on their faces.

Gregory paused the video and put the phone away. “Building these houses requires magic to work. Otherwise, it takes a much longer time for the tree to grow naturally. Fortunately, these trees can grow at a remarkably fast rate without magic, but with magic it only takes a day for the growth. Zecora is the only one I know of who knows the intricacies of the spell.”

“Zecora…why do I know that name…?” Cadance asked.

“She once lived in Ponyville before Jason Wright’s invasion,” Gregory explained.

Cadance’s eyes widened in recognition. “Twilight told me about her…”

“Princess Twilight Sparkle knew her, eh?” Gregory said. “Guess that makes sense. She lives in Ponyville, from what Zecora told me.”

The air was tense in the room at the mention of the now destroyed Ponyville. That was, until Flurry Heart, a bit oblivious to the mood, burped loudly. Shining and Cadance looked at her, horrified. The filly wiped her mouth with her hoof before looking up at her stunned parents. “Um…excuse me?”

Gregory laughed at that and smiled. “Good girl,” he said. “It’s always polite to say that.”

Flurry beamed with a childlike pride, and the tension eased considerably.

It was late afternoon when things took a turn for the unexpected. Everyone was watching another movie from Gregory’s homeland, this one called Sleeping Beauty. Cadance had loved each and every movie that she had watched. It was an entertainment she could get used to, and the stories were entertaining for her daughter. That was the most important thing to her.

They were at a scene which depicted the villain Maleficent, who reminded Cadance of Chrysalis in a way, when there was a hasty knock at the door. “Wonder who that could be?” Gabby asked.

“I can go check if you wish,” Rose said, standing.

“No, it’s my house,” Gregory said, “I can go get it.” He stood and rushed to the front door. Whoever had come to visit him was likely freezing cold, Cadance reasoned, and would want to get out of the storm as fast as possible. She watched as Gregory unlocked the door and flung it open. Snowflakes began flying in at an incredible rate. A hooded gryphon stood there, but despite that she recognized the gryphon. “Get inside, hurry!” Gregory said as he gestured for the gryphon to enter.

The gryphon did so, and Gregory closed the door quickly, locking it back up and taking the cloak off of said gryphon, revealing Gwendolyn from the Convocation who immediately rushed over to the fire and sat in front of it, rubbing her claws together to help warm her up. Cadance grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around her shivering form. “Th-th-thank y-you,” she shivered.

“Of course,” Cadance said.

“I’ll get her some tea!” Gabby said as she rushed into the kitchen, returning moments later with a mug of steaming tea, which she held out to her fellow gryphon. “Here,” she said.

After Gwendolyn accepted it, Gregory put another log on the fire before turning to the gryphon. “What are you doing here?” he asked worriedly. “Nobody goes out in a storm like this.”

“S-Sorry, but it’s an e-emergency,” she said. “W-We had some un-unexpected v-v-visitors.”

“Who would visit us in this weather?” he asked incredulously.

“They’re in Gryphonville right now,” she explained. “Th-the storm’s not s-so bad down there. We j-just received word.”

“Who is down there?” Gregory asked.

The next four words made Cadance freeze in alarm. Because what came out of Gwendolyn’s mouth were the words “Princesses Celestia and Luna.”