Friday, January 7, 1008 A.L., Gryphonia

Gregory sat in the living room chair, stroking the kittens who sat on the blanket which covered his lap. The mother cat lay next to the fire, resting after a long day of mothering her progeny. Outside, the light was dimming, and a light snow shower was falling. He sat with Cadance, who had come to visit for a bit to discuss the sudden departure of the Equestrian princesses, and Sunset, who had joined to give her own account of what she knew about Equestrian government practices, although she had gotten a bit distracted with the mother cat who was lying next to the fireplace.

“How the hell has the Equestrian government survived so long without a real House of Commons?” Gregory asked incredulously as he looked at Sunset.

The aforementioned pony was lying next to the mother cat, stroking her fur with a brush. “They have something that’s a bit like a House of Commons, but it’s called the House of Knights. Traditionally, knights are supposed to come from the common pony, but the House of Lords has systematically taken power from the House of Knights, giving them preferential treatment due to their status as Knights of the Kingdom. You remember when you told me about the corruption of that fictional Galactic Republic Senate from Star Wars? The Knights are just like that. The don’t really care too much about their constituents despite what they say.”

“They’ve been bought off by the House of Lords,” Cadance, who was the only other pony in the room, nodded somberly. Everyone else was getting ready for dinner. “There are some in the House of Lords who have tried to push for change, but they’ve failed for the most part.”

“I’m seriously surprised that Equestria has lasted this long,” Gregory said with a frown. “Do the princesses know about this?”

“Celestia knows, and to her credit she has tried to fix things,” Cadance said.

“A good lot of good that’s done,” Sunset said with an exaggerated eye roll as the mother cat stood and arched her back lazily before rubbing against Sunset before meowing for her kittens.

The kittens in Gregory’s lap sat up, mewing and trying to get off to go to their mother. Gregory set them all down then leaned back, taking a sip of his hot chocolate. “Speaking of Celestia’s decisions, I’m beginning to wonder if it was a good idea letting those two ponies stay behind. After what they did to Jason Wright, how can we trust them not to do anything…unwise, shall we say?”

“You mean stupid,” Sunset said with a smirk.

“I know about Special Agent Sweetie Drops,” Cadance said. “She’s a competent agent.”

“Competent agents don’t lay out abuse on someone just because they stand on two legs and aren’t a pony,” Gregory replied.

Cadance’s ears drooped and she nodded slowly. “You have a fair point,” she said.

“The Convocation has ordered that she and her companion, Miss Heartstrings, are to be escorted around by members of the city watch at all times,” Gregory said.

“A sensible precaution,” Cadance agreed.

“I’d have just sent them home,” Sunset said. “She’s a Special Agent, Gregory. She could be spying.”

Gregory nodded. “She could be, but we won’t be letting her into our inner chambers for sensitive discussions. They are not representatives of Equestria as far as I’m concerned.” He stood and stretched. “Anyway, I’m going to go out for a walk.” He turned to look out of the window. “There’s still some light and an hour or so before dinner, and after everything that’s happened today, I’d like to clear my head. Snow walks are especially relaxing.”

Cadance chuckled and nodded in agreement. “I live somewhere where it snows a lot during the winter, and I can’t help but agree,” she said as she, too, stood. “I’ll head back to the Eyrie. Thank you once again for letting us stay here during the Nor’wester.”

“You’re welcome,” Gregory said, “and say hello to your husband and daughter for me.”

“I will.” With that, Cadance put her winter cloak on, then stepped outside where the two Crystal Guards standing outside of the doors began escorting her back to the Eyrie.

Once she was gone, Gregory walked over to the hanger next to the door and began to get dressed. Sunset, who was now watching over the mother cat and her kittens, looked up at Gregory with amusement. “Going out for a walk, huh?”

Gregory nodded as he put on a thick overcoat, buttoning it over his thick fleece hoodie. “I need it,” he confirmed.

“If you’re going anywhere near the local craft store, do you think you could check to see if they have any of their locally sourced honey jam?” Sunset asked. “It goes so well on toast.”

“If I do go past, I’ll have a look see,” he said as he grabbed his coin purse and opened it to see how much money he had in it. Nodding, he slipped it into his coat’s inner pocket as he put a ski mask and a snow cap before putting a pair of goggles around his neck just in case the wind picked up. “Tell everyone that I’ll be gone for a while, please?”

“Sure thing,” Sunset said as she returned her attention to the cat family, the kittens already nursing.

Gregory’s walk through the darkening city streets showed that, despite the thick snowdrifts that had been piled up on the sides of the streets by the locals, life was still going strong. The evening market was lively and full of gryphons, with a few ponies and dragons around shopping and spending time with neighbors. The snowfall had tapered off slightly, but it was still coming down. The gas lanterns that had not been lit in hundreds of years due to apathy and lack of oil, shone brightly after having been refurbished and an oil source being found.

He was greeted warmly by the gryphons and the dragons as he walked past, while the ponies who saw him waved and gave him nervous nods of greeting. He greeted as many of them as he could, making sure he smiled despite his mouth being covered by the ski mask. Many of the ponies, when they saw this, relaxed. As he approached his true destination, the Eyrie, the massive fortress loomed high overhead, the lights from within illuminating its location quite well. The cobblestone walkway up to the Eyrie’s massive doors had been cleaned of the snowfall from the nor’wester, but the new snowfall since then had covered the stone walkway with another layer of snow. He saw a younger gryphon tom with a broom sweeping the walkway with a thick broom, and the two exchanged polite greetings.

When he entered the Eyrie, its warmth made him immediately begin to sweat. Removing his ski mask and taking off his overcoat and hanging it on a nearby hanger rack after putting his leather gloves in its pockets, he turned and nearly jumped when he saw that Gwendolyn had snuck up on him. “Gah! Jesus Christ, Gwendolyn…you startled me.”

The lovely young gryphon hen giggled. “Our beloved Idol Bearer, scared of a hen like me,” she teased.

Gregory rolled his eyes and waved a dismissive hand. “Startled, not scared,” he corrected.

“Whatever you need to tell yourself at night,” Gwendolyn said with a smile before it faded slightly. “I got your message,” she said, holding out a small piece of paper that he had slipped to her before the final meeting of the day had ended earlier. “I don’t know if I can do what you’re asking. Please remember, I’m only a single Mage. I don’t know of anygryphon else who has my skill set.”

“Well, why don’t we go someplace more private and talk about it?” Gregory suggested, pointing to the stairwell.

Gwendolyn nodded, then turned and began flying towards the stairwell. Gregory walked after her, making sure to not show any urgency. He had said he’d be gone for an hour and didn’t want anyone worrying about him and going out to search for him like the last time he’d gone for a long walk about a month ago. The two headed downstairs, making their way silently to Gwendolyn’s Mage Cave as the Convocation had begun to call it.

Once they were in the cave, Gwendolyn made her way to the bookshelf and began pulling a few books from the shelves. “Using the Eye to look at the past and present one thing, and even that is limited by certain conditions,” she explained as she began putting the books on the table, “but using them to send and receive messages or even objects? I’ve never heard of such a thing before.”

“It’d be even worse if we could use it to alter past events by sending and receiving messages from the past,” Gregory said as he opened the first book she had set down and opened it, only to realize right away that he couldn’t read it. “Damn.”

Gwendolyn paused what she was doing and looked over. Understanding dawned on her. “Here, why don’t you try this?” she suggested, moving over to one of the tables where the magical artifacts sat. She picked up a pair of old style spectacles and handed them over to Gregory.

“Are you sure these will work with me?” Gregory asked as he looked at the spectacles carefully. The frames were made with gold and he saw ancient writing on the frames themselves. The lenses were pristine and if Gregory didn’t know any better he could have guessed that there was nothing there. “Humans have no wings or magic, you know?”

Gwendolyn stopped her own search to look up at him. “They project anything they can see onto the lense into the modern language,” she explained. “You can read our modern language, so it should be alright.”

A bit wary despite her reassurances, Gregory slipped the spectacles over his eyes and picked up the book he had opened earlier. Much to his surprise, she was correct. The words on the page were overlaid with English lettering, much like Google Translate, but much smoother. “It’s working,” he said.

“Good,” Gwendolyn said. “That’s a book I haven’t yet translated.” She, too, had a pair of magical translation spectacles on as she read over her own book.

“You need a secretary or an assistant,” Gregory observed as he flipped carefully through the book, looking for anything on the Eye of Osiris.

”What are you talking about?” Gwendolyn asked in a teasing tone as she looked up at the human. “I have you now, don’t I?”

Gregory gave her a glare then flipped her off. She laughed and flipped him off right back before the two chuckled and looked back down at their respective books. The next forty minutes they sat there, looking through ancient books for any information about the Eye and its myriad of functions.

However, it was Gregory who discovered something. He was reading about the Eye’s history, hoping to find reference to any of its abilities, when he stumbled over something. “What the fuck…?”

“Did you find something?” Gwendolyn rose from her feet and rushed over to Gregory’s side at once, leaning over him.

“I don’t know yet,” Gregory said, “but look at this.” He raised his hand and looked over his spectacles to point at the paragraph he had just read on the page before pushing the spectacles back up.

Gwendolyn followed his finger and began reading, her beak moving up and down as she read silently. Her eyes widened. “How…did I miss that?” she muttered.

Gregory turned back to look at her, and she looked at him. Both had the same question on their minds: What was the Eye of Isis?

Saturday, January 8, 1008 A.L., Equestria

Twilight had not slept well despite having slept in one of the most comfortable beds in Canterlot Castle. She had been going over every possibility in her mind as to what the nobles were up to. She had never liked Blueblood, obviously, but even she hadn’t thought he would go this far.

The previous night, she had been brought to Blueblood’s office, where she found that not only was he there, but so was Marchioness High Life. Twilight didn’t know too much about her, only having heard some rather unsavory rumors about her dealings in the background of the House of Lords. Being one of the House Speakers, however, Twilight had to show the proper respect due to that title despite everything. She thought back to that meeting…

“Prince Blueblood, Marchioness High Life,” she’d greeted them politely enough.

“Princess Twilight Sparkle,” Blueblood said back with brevity, “thank you for coming so quickly. Under the circumstances, I know the contents of the letter we wrote to you much have been shocking, seeing as you have, or had I should say, a close relationship with my Aunt Celestia.”

“It certainly did, your Grace,” she said, giving him the proper address as befitting his station. “May I ask what brought it on? It seems rather sudden.”

Blueblood’s expression became grave. “Not sudden enough, I’m afraid,” he said. “You have not been in Canterlot ever since the second changeling invasion. Marchioness High Life and I have. We’ve observed how my aunt has been slowly deteriorating.”

Twilight’s ears perked up at this and she latched onto it. “Deteriorating?” she repeated. “How so?”

“I’m sure you’re aware of our current economic crisis,” Marchioness High Life spoke now, her voice just as somber as Blueblood’s own.

“Yes, yes I have,” Twilight said, slowly turning her attention to the young unicorn mare. “Is this about that?”

“Only in part,” Blueblood replied. “In my mind, along with the minds of many of the other nobles, this is only one sign throughout the years that Princess Celestia has begun to slip.” Blueblood looked saddened by this, although Twilight was only half sure it was genuine. “I love my aunt despite our…differences of opinion,” he added, “but I can’t bear to see her slowly sinking into making mistake after mistake. She ruled over Equestria for a thousand years with peace and harmony, but with the late developments and discoveries of how certain citizens have been treated under her rule, including your old friend Jason Wright-” and here Twilight saw a brief hint of a smirk forming on High Life’s lips before it was gone, “-then I’m afraid that she may be no longer fit to rule.”

“And there is more,” High Life said before Twilight could reply. “We’ve gathered many other incidents in which Princess Celestia has slipped. She has more magical abilities than most, correct? She can raise the sun and moon on her own, and did so for a thousand years during Princess Luna’s banishment, but she couldn’t defeat Queen Chrysalis during the first invasion.”

“Chrysalis was using the power of all the love she had soaked up from Shining and from other ponies,” Twilight protested.

“Your point is well made,” Blueblood agreed, “and if that were the only incident, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. However, many of her decisions in the past seven years have left much to be desired. Specifically in regards to you and the other Elements.”

Twilight felt her blood run cold at that. “What do you mean?” she asked.

“During your first year in Ponyville, didn’t Princess Celestia order you and your friends to go up a mountain to deal with a dragon who had just begun hibernating?” Blueblood asked, picking up a piece of paper and looking it over. “According to this report, the dragon’s smoke would have caused temperatures to drop in the local area considerably, making areas around the mountain uninhabitable for a couple of hundred years at the very least.”

“Well, yes,” Twilight agreed, “but we managed to deal with the dragon and convince him to leave.”

“All well and good,” High Life said, looking over Blueblood at the paper briefly before looking back at Twilight, “but the fact that she trusted six inexperienced mares to deal with a dragon, a species that none of you had any extensive knowledge of, shows the beginning of a worrying track record when it comes to the dealing of crises in our kingdom.”

“She could easily have sent a group of Royal Guards and a few experienced negotiators,” Blueblood said, “but instead, she sent you and your friends.”

“Now hold on a minute,” Twilight said, raising a hoof, “I had knowledge of dragons.”

“Raising a dragon slave is not the same as knowing about their culture,” High Life said with a scowl.

Twilight’s heart hurt at the accusation, not that she could really refute it. “Well, no it doesn’t, but I knew more than most,” she replied lamely.

“We have skilled negotiators in the castle who could easily have spoken to the dragon,” Blueblood said. “As it was, the outcome there nearly caused an international incident.”

Twilight’s eyes widened in alarm. “It did?” she asked.

“A week after you six managed to get the dragon away from the mountain, a small group arrived in Canterlot and demanded an explanation,” Blueblood said. “High Life and I were in attendance as the representative from the Dragon Lord demanded an explanation as to why one of their own had been attacked by a blue pegasus pony, nearly had his belongings stolen by a unicorn pony, and then finally yelled at by a yellow pegasus. Princess Celestia had to apologize and pay restitution to the dragon who had been attacked without provocation.”

“Without provocation?” Twilight asked incredulously.

“According to your own report,” High Life said, “you went in first and tried to reason with the dragon, correct?” Twilight nodded. “Noble of you, but unfortunately it failed. Then Rarity Belle went in and tried using her charm to convince the dragon to leave. She might have succeeded had she not attempted to steal the dragon’s belongings. Pinkamena Diane Pie then attempted to use her own party charm to convince him to leave, but that didn’t work either. Then Rainbow Dash attacked him without provocation. And in the end, Fluttershy shouted at him, berating him for only defending himself.”

“What other choice did we have?” Twilight asked, her own mind reeling from everything she was being told.

“This incident is not all on you,” Blueblood said in a reassuring tone that made Twilight shudder, “but you should not have been the first choice to go. We don’t know much about dragons, but we do know that they can be dangerous if provoked. And there are other examples of my aunt’s heavy reliance on you and your friends.” He held up a folder full of papers. “The incident with the return of the Crystal Empire comes to mind quite well.”

“The princess sent you six only instead of a group of Royal Guards despite knowing that an ancient evil had returned,” High Life said. “While it did end well, it could very well have easily ended in disaster.”

“And then there’s Discord’s attempted reform,” Blueblood said with a hint of anger in his eyes. “That didn’t work out so well as you believed, did it? Not only did he betray us with the return of Tirek, but he is responsible, at least indirectly, for the second invasion of Canterlot and the destruction of Ponyville because of his abominable treatment of Jason Wright.”

“Now wait a moment,” Twilight interjected, “that was all us. All Discord did was give us a very small push. We might not have treated Jason any better without it.”

“Oh, that may be so,” High Life said, “but even if that was the case, he had a hoof in it, and didn’t even think to learn anything about his species. Does that sound familiar to you, Princess Twilight Sparkle?”

The not so subtle jab at her failing to learn anything about dragons when she was tasked with raising Spike hurt more than she expected it to. Before she could even say anything else, Blueblood added, “the most recent of her decision to abscond to Gryphonstone is worrying as well.”

Twilight’s eyebrows shot up in confusion. “She left for Gryphonstone? Why?”

“From our sources, we’ve learned that another human has shown up in the city,” Blueblood said, “and he has somehow gained a good reputation among the gryphons and is a member of the new government that is being set up there.”

Twilight froze. Another human on Equus? “But…why would Princess Celestia go there?”

“It’s highly possible that she and Princess Luna, who went as well, are attempting to curry favor with the new government,” High Life said. “They were seen bringing many chests to the train station upon their departure.”

“Besides,” Blueblood added, “we have it on good authority that this new government body, the Convocation, have begun negotiations with a few of their neighboring nations, like Saddle Arabia and the Dragon Lands. Not to mention that the city has begun to rebuild itself.”

“Rebuild?” Twilight was confused now.

“Before this second human appeared, Gryphonstone was practically falling apart,” High Life explained. “Nogryphon was inclined to fix everything up. However, since they reclaimed an ancient relic, the gryphons have begun to repair their former capital city.”

Twilight felt some suspicion creeping into her, now. How in the world did they know all of this? She put that aside and sat back in her chair. “I see,” she said. “Still, so far all you’ve done is talk about Princess Celestia. Are you seriously considering taking action against her younger sister, too?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” Blueblood said somberly. “She is still one thousand years out of date, and not only that, but she has shown that she may not mentally be ready to return.” He picked up a report from his desk and read it over. “This is a medical report we subpoenaed from the castle physicians after the tantabus incident. Luna once showed…suicidal tendencies, partly from guilt and possibly from her thousands of years of being conscious while she was in the moon. We’re rather surprised that she has maintained any composure this long despite that.”

“Princess Luna is still learning, though,” Twilight said in her defense.

“An excellent point,” High Life conceded, “but it has been six and a half years since her return.”

“Were you aware, Princess Twilight,” Blueblood began, “that my aunt Celestia was planning on retiring from her rule at some point in the near future?”

Twilight’s eyes widened in astonishment and surprise. “N-No, I didn’t,” she stammered out.

“Why do you think she maneuvered events to make you a princess without even speaking with you about it?” High Life asked.

Twilight’s brain worked quickly to reach the inevitable conclusion. “I…was her replacement…?”

“Correct,” Blueblood said. “She tried once with a pony named Sunset Shimmer, but she failed and was cast out of the castle and has since disappeared.”

“Your highness,” High Life said with what sounded like kindness, “would you have chosen to be a princess if you had a choice? From what I know of you, you would have been content being the princess’ personal student.”

Twilight’s ears drooped and she looked down. She thought back to the time after she and Princess Celestia had appeared in the ascended realm. Being made a princess was a high honor, she knew that, but had she really wanted it? She thought back to every decision she had made as a princess and not just as a pony. Had she even been ready to ascend to alicornhood? Celestia had clearly thought so, but what about Twilight? What about her? “Why have you summoned me here, then?” she asked instead.

The answer had caught her completely off guard. She had never once heard of such a thing, but when Blueblood had shown her the appropriate law, Twilight had begun to feel hopeless. She had two choices, and at the moment, neither one appealed to her. She had excused herself after that rather abruptly, heading to her room and collapsing into her bed.

Back in the present, that had been all that she’d thought about during her hectic sleep all night. She would have been perfectly content to just remain a unicorn. She wouldn’t have had all of the extra pressure on her to be a good princess. She wouldn’t have made mistakes that nearly cost Equestria everything. And she wouldn’t have been a princess that had turned Jason away. She wasn’t sure if that would have made a difference. In fact, it probably wouldn’t have made any difference. Still, her status as princess had made her dismissal of Jason a bit more official in the eyes of other ponies.

She sat up in bed slowly, getting out and moving to the mirror in her room. She looked absolutely terrible, but she also had to get ready for a day in the House of Knights, then the House of Nobles. Just as she was about to go to shower, there was a hasty knock at the door. “Twilight, are you in there?” a familiar voice asked worriedly

Twilight’s exhaustion somewhat vanished as she recognized the voice. She turned and walked over to open the door. Sure enough, Princess Celestia, who looked like she hadn’t slept much at all, stood at the door. Behind her, Princess Luna, who looked a bit more rested, stood as well. “Princess Celestia…I was told you were in Gryphonstone,” she muttered.

Princess Celestia frowned, but nodded. “I was,” she said. “I just got back a half hour ago on the midnight train. I was told you were summoned here as well.”

Twilight nodded. “I was,” she said.

“May we enter?” Princess Luna asked.

Twilight slowly nodded, then opened the door. The two monarchs stepped in, and their personal guardsponies took up posts on either side of the door. When the door was closed, Princess Celestia looked back at Twilight. “Twilight, I’m afraid we don’t have too much time before the first meeting in the House of Knights,” she said. “Have you learned anything?”

“More than I would have liked to,” Twilight said somberly.

Princess Luna looked at her with concern. “Young Twilight, what has transpired?” she asked.

Twilight sighed, then recalled everything she had learned about the charges that would be brought against the two princesses. With her alicorn memory, she repeated nearly word for word the conversation she’d had with Prince Blueblood and Marchioness High Life. When she reached the choice she had been presented with, looks of horror formed on the diarch’s faces. “I was always aware that young Blueblood was conniving, but this is beyond anything I could have dreamed.”

Celestia was looking out of the window, a fire in her eyes that Twilight had never seen before. Her mane and tail were moving faster than normal and the room was warming considerably. She took a deep breath and exhaled, however, and the temperature returned to normal. “Two choices that, if things don’t go well for us, could lead to Equestria’s inevitable demise.”

Twilight sat down on a nearby couch and looked down, the tears that hadn’t come since hearing the news finally coming. Her choices were impossible to make. Either she step down as a princess of Equestria, something she couldn’t afford to do until she was sure Ponyville was back on track, or she had to…marry Prince Blueblood and produce an heir with him.

Author's Note

I'm going to try and go back and forth between my Endingverse stories and two other non-Endingverse stories each week, so this week will be the Endingverse stories and next will be two of my other stories. Variety being the spice of life and all. If that doesn't work, I'll go back to this and my other story once a week until they're done. I even have another Endingverse stories in production, but I won't do anything with that one for a while.