A Renewed Ending

Wednesday, November 24, 1007 A.L., Gryphonia

The rain around the area was bitterly cold, as the temperature was only a hair above freezing. Fortunately, in the early morning, it was only a mist and it looked like it would clear up soon, if the view of the clear sky in the east was any indication. Gregory was taking care of some of the buckets of water from the precious night’s downpour, removing the splatter screens he’d put over them and shaking off the little bits of debris on them.

After placing the buckets on a nearby outside wooden picnic table that an anonymous gryphon had given to him, he walked over to where his water tanks were, opened the side panel, opened the clean water tank, and looked inside. As he expected, it was only a little over halfway full. The gray and black ones were a lot fuller than the clean tank and needed to be drained. So, he set to work, pouring the rainwater he’d collected overnight into the clean tank. When he finished, it was up to the recommended level. To his delight, there was water left over.

Next, he grabbed a larger and older bucket that he’d bought in his first week in Gryphonstone. Wrapping his mouth and nose up in an impromptu mask, he began draining the gray and black tanks, carrying their contents over to the forest nearby where he had been digging holes and covering them when they got too full. After that, he put on a pair of gloves and began cleaning out the gray and black tanks with some towels he’d bought in Gryphonstone specifically for that purpose, using a small bucket with some of the leftover clean water to rinse both tanks then to clean the towels as best as he could.

When he was satisfied with his work and after he washed his hands despite having worn gloves, he began filling up discarded water bottles with the remaining clean water, getting about seven and a half bottles full after he filled up his own insulated metal water bottle. He immediately placed the plastic bottles in the shelf where he stored the bottles. Part of him was glad that he’d gotten packs of bottles with sturdier plastic than others.

As he was finishing up, the door to the camper opened. He turned, expecting to see Gabby as she always came by before the two of them started work. Instead, however, he saw Gilda standing there, wearing one of the hooded cloaks he had begun seeing the gryphons beginning to wear as rain began falling. She removed the hood. “Hey,” she said, lifting a bag up and placing it on the counter. “Brought some breakfast.”

Gregory raised an eyebrow at that, but smiled moments later. “Thanks, Gilly, Gilly, Bo-Billy,” he said as he looked into the bag, smiling more as he saw that she’d gotten some of the newly formed breakfast sandwiches that were being cooked. The ones she got consisted a sausage patty and one fried egg between two slices of bread. There were four inside, so he took two out, set the table, and gestured for Gilda to sit.

As she did so, Gabby arrived, carrying a similar bag to Gilda’s. She removed her own hood, looked at the two who were getting ready to sit, and made a pouting face. “Gilda, did you get those from Gerald’s Shack?” she asked.

“Yeah, so what?” Gilda asked. Gabby reached into the bag and pulled out another sausage and egg sandwich. Gilda saw this and smirked. “I thought I saw you there.”

Just then, the door opened again. Gallus walked in, carrying yet another bag. He paused after he removed his hood and looked at the sandwich that Gabby held in her claws and the other two sitting on the table. “Oh, Tartarus,” he grumbled.

Gregory couldn’t help himself now. He burst out laughing at the absurdity of the coincidence. He snorted as he said, “Guys, Th-Thanksgiving is tomorrow!” while simultaneously busting a gut.

Gabby was the first to join in, then Gilda began to chuckle. Finally, Gallus stepped inside, closed the door, a blush and a smile on his own face as he set his own bag down. “Guess great minds think alike, huh?” he asked a bit sheepishly.

That got another round of laughter, along with some clapping from Gregory. As the laughter was dying down, he stood. “Well, le-let’s get to eating these before they go cold,” he said as he stood and went to the fridge. “I have a surprise for you all for a drink.” Reaching into the fridge, he pulled out a pitcher full of opaque orange liquid which he poured into four tall glasses before setting them on the table. “I had enough water after yesterday’s rainstorm that I decided to make some orange juice.”

That got the attention of the three gryphons in the room. One thing he’d learned about recently was that gryphons loved oranges. He wasn’t entirely sure where that love came from, especially since there were no plots of land in Gryphonia that were able to grow them. It was an incredible coincidence, then, that some of the food that he’d brought from Earth were a few cans of frozen orange juice concentrate. This was the first time since his arrival on Gaia when he’d made it. “You’re not shitting us, are you?” Gilda asked as she stared at the orange juice in front of her.

“Not shitting you at all,” Gregory said as he put out eight of the twelve breakfast sandwiches on a larger plate in the center of the table while the remaining four went onto the four plates at each of their spots. “I added water to frozen orange concentrate last night and put it in the fridge.”

Gabby was the first to take a sip. Gregory could almost see the hearts in her eyes as she swallowed the bit in her mouth. She shuddered as she put the glass down. “I…I have no words…” she said, sniffing.

With that, Gilda and Gallus exchanged a look before both of them took a sip of their own. Gregory was satisfied to see their eyes both widen as they gently placed their glasses down. He even thought he saw a glimmer of a tear in Gilda’s right eye. “I’m…right there with you,” she said.

“I haven’t…haven’t had an orange in so fucking long,” Gallus said.

“Well, I was actually talking to Zecora about that the other day,” he said, referring to the previous Saturday when he’d gone down to see her and Ladybug. “She mentioned that there are potions that can help certain plants grow in environments that they were never meant to grow in.”

“You think she’ll share it with us?” Gabby asked, stars in her eyes.

“She says the ingredients are a bit harder to come by than most,” Gregory explained, “but it’s not impossible. In fact, that’s why I took today off from work.”

“I thought you took today off to prepare for that human holiday tomorrow?” Gilda asked.

“That’s part of it,” he said, “but there’s a special Convocation meeting today that’ll be longer than most, and every member has to attend.”

“I did hear rumors about that,” Gallus said. “Some sort of visitors from out of town?”

“Try out of the country,” Gregory replied. “Hell, the continent.” He took a bite of the sandwich and shuddered in pleasure himself. “Mmm…”

“Who’s coming to visit?” Gabby asked.

“I can’t tell anyone yet,” Gregory said, “but it has to do with our first attempts at a trading alliance.” He took a deep breath and exhaled. “God, I’m nervous.” He took another big bite of his first sandwich.

Gabby, who normally sat to Gregory’s right, put a claw on his back and rubbed it gently. “You’ll do fine,” she reassured him. “You’ve been kicking ass so far.”

He almost coughed up his sandwich at the unexpected cursing from his first friend. He swallowed some of the orange juice in front of him to stop said coughing. “Goddamn, Gabs, I did not expect to hear that come out of your beak.”

Gabby simply gave him an innocent smile while Gilda and Gallus both stifled laughter of their own. “Whaaaat?” she asked.

Gregory rolled his eyes, then rubbed Gabby’s back. “Never change, you delightful woman,” he said before taking another bite.

A few hours later at the Eyrie, Gregory was glad now that he had saved the two sandwiches he hadn’t eaten for breakfast for a later time. He was sitting at his place in the throne room, which by now was sealed up with temporary wooden planks against the holes in the walls and windows. Fortunately, it seemed as if the weather for that day would be a lovely late autumn sunny day because the sun was shining outside. The fireplaces in the Eyrie, having recently had their chimneys cleaned, were now almost constantly lit. Many homeless gryphons, mostly the displaced colonists, were now living in the intact rooms while other rooms that were still exposed to the elements were being patched up as best as was possible. He could hear the sounds of distant hammering on the other side of the Eyrie. One of those hammers, he knew, belonged to Gallus, who had become quite well known on the impromptu construction team.

He looked around at the other Convocation members. Grandpa Gruff looked about as gruff as his name declared him to be, Ambassador Geoffrey was sitting stoically, claws clasped around the glass of bliss in front of him, Ginna, Gael, and Georgina were all waiting with varying degrees of nervousness, and Gwendolyn, who had taken to sitting next to Gregory at each meeting, was looking over some papers.

Curious, Gregory leaned over to look at what she was reading. She looked up at him, smiled, and leaned over his way to show him the papers she was currently reading over, which were some reports from outlying cities. Silently, she offered him one, and he took it, reading it over carefully and quietly while everyone else waited. Five chairs remained empty at the table while he read the report from a town called Grimfeather, one of the nearer towns to Gryphonstone. This town, a midsized town by the population number he saw, was in better shape than most, and had even started accepting some of the displaced colonists from the abandoned Badlands colony into their town for the winter until new homes could be built for them in the springtime. It was encouraging to see some good among the number of bad reports coming in from Gryphonian towns.

As he was finishing the report, there was a knock at the door. Everyone looked up, and Grandpa called out, “Yes?”

The door opened slightly and a younger gryphon member of the city watch poked his head in. “The first of your guests have arrived.”

“Send them in,” Geoffrey said, standing and brushing his plumage carefully. Everyone else did the same, so Gregory stood and straightened the suit he now wore. Normally, he wouldn’t have done such a thing, but since their visitors were rather important, he wanted to provide a good impression.

The guard nodded, pulled back, and then the doors opened, revealing two tall equine figures. To Gregory’s eyes, they were the size of small horses, but they were definitely taller than the ponies he knew, who came up to about his waist. These ponies came up to about his head. The first one was a dark brown stallion with golden mane and tail and light purple eyes. He wore a gold and blue headpiece and a saddle-like article of fabric on his back with a golden crescent moon and star. The second was light purplish mare with Persian blue mane and tail, a light greenish-blue pair of eyes, and a purple and light blue headpiece with a saddle-like article of clothing over her back with white stylized spirals on the sides. Both of them wore gold and blue fabric around their lower legs respectively. He recognized these ponies right away as being the very same Saddle Arabians who visited Ponyville in Magic Duel. However, one thing that stood out to him was that these versions of them were actually a unicorn and a pegasus. Behind the two Saddle Arabians, he saw a group of Saddle Arabian guards wearing light armor.

The Saddle Arabian unicorn stallion stepped forward and looked around the room at the gryphons, pausing only briefly and letting his calm expression falter only slightly as he looked at Gregory. “Greetings from Saddle Arabia,” he said in a deep but somewhat Arabic accent. “My name is Haakim, and this is my sister.”

“My name is Amira,” the pegasus Saddle Arabian mare said, and to Gregory’s slight surprise, she had a more neutral accent. Her voice was also rather charming and deep, but still plenty feminine. “Our sultan received your invitation and sent us to speak with this Convocation.” She looked at Gregory, and her eyes twinkled as she smiled warmly at him.

“He was quite surprised when he heard that there was a nongryphon on your Convocation,” Haakim added, “and was curious to see what sort of requests you might ask for from us and what you could return in kind.”

Gregory smiled at them both, then walked over to the empty chairs. Ambassador Geoffrey, joined him and as one they pulled out two of the five chairs, one of which was actually directly next to Gregory’s. “Please, have a seat,” Gregory said, “we’re waiting on one more to join us.” This was something he had learned was an old tradition from long ago. Gryphons did have pride, and one thing they prided themselves on was good manners, which they were starting to relearn now. A palace tradition dictated that visitors would have their chairs pulled out for them upon their initial arrival to any sort of meeting, specifically, important meetings. It had explained why Gwendolyn had done it for Gregory and his friends when they gave him their gifts and the offer to join the Convocation.

Haakim took the seat that Geoffrey had pulled out, while Amira walked behind Gregory, giving him a wide smile, then saying, “Thank you, good stallion,” before sitting down in the chair directly next to Gregory’s own. “My, are these chairs made specifically for us?” she asked when she had gotten seated.

“We had them specially made when you replied to us,” Geoffrey replied as he returned to his seat as Gregory did the same.

“The gesture is appreciated,” Haakim said before turning to the four guards. “You’re dismissed,” he added, waving them away.

As the four guards walked away, being led by one of the city watch to the two sets of quarters where they and the ambassadors would be staying, Amira looked around the throne room. A saddened look appeared on her face. “It’s really such a shame that such a magnificent palace has fallen into such ruin,” she said.

Gregory almost said how they were doing temporary repairs for the homeless for the winter, but a warning look from Geoffrey stopped him. Instead, he nodded in agreement. Grandpa Gruff spoke up, clearing his throat before doing so. “Yes, it is a shame, but things are changing.”

“We noticed on our way here,” Haakim said, looking at the glass of purple liquid in front of him curiously. “What drink is this?”

“It’s called bliss,” Geoffrey explained.

“It’s actually really good,” Gregory added.

Spreading one of her wings, Amira used it as an appendage as she picked up the glass, lifting it up like he’d seen Equestrian pegasi do in the show, then took a tentative sip. Her eyes widened in surprise, then she took a deeper sip. “Brother, you should try this,” she exclaimed.

Haakim, looking a bit disapprovingly at her, nodded, then used his light purple magic to do the same. He too looked surprised, but unlike Amira, was more restrained. “This is a delicious drink,” he said, “is it sold in town somewhere? I would very much like to purchase some for our return trip. I hope you take shekels.”

“I’m sure something can be arranged,” Geoffrey replied.

At that moment, there was another knock at the door. When Geoffrey called out for whoever was knocking to enter, the same watch member stuck his head in. “Your last guests are arriving.”

“Show them in,” Geoffrey said.

The gryphon watch member nodded, then the door closed. Haakim looked at Geoffrey and asked, “Do you have any idea who they might have sent?”

“I don’t,” he replied.

The doors opened a few moments later, and to Gregory’s shock, as well as the shock of everyone else, a very familiar light blue scaled dragon with downward pointing white horns and red eyes, stepped in, flanked on either side by two taller and somehow important looking dragons. She held a rather familiar looking scepter in her claws. The other two were taller than the first. One was a tall dark green scaled dragon with curved elbow spikes, yellow eyes and bright green fins and wings. The other was a taller purple scaled dragon with blue eyes, curved horns that resembled ram horns and a similar set of elbow spikes to the other dragon. This dragon also had a pair of bright aquamarine glasses hanging around her neck.

“Hello,” the shorter blue dragon said, and the moment she spoke, Gregory was absolutely certain who this was. “I’m the Dragon Lord. Name’s Ember.”

The green dragon stepped forward and gave a bow. “I’m General Rhyo of the Dragon Grand Army,” the dragon said in a male voice.

“My name is Scoria,” the purple dragon said with a female voice, “I’m a chronicler.”

From behind the group, the sound of someone nervously clearing their throat could be heard. At that, Ember sighed, then turned around to face whoever had done so. “Silica, you snuck onto the airship with us, so you don’t get to come in!”

“Come on, just for a little bit?” a pleading female voice begged. “I just want to meet-”

“You can do that after this,” Ember said, sounding exasperated.

“Just five minutes?” the voice begged again.

“Is there something wrong?” Geoffrey asked, looking just as confused as the rest of the Convocation along with the ambassadors from Saddle Arabia.

Scoria gave the ambassador an apologetic look. “I’m sorry about this, but we had somedragon stow away on our airship in order to meet, well, the human on this Convocation.”

Gregory raised an eyebrow at this. “Me? Why me?” he asked without thinking.

He heard someone gasping, then he saw a bright teal dragoness with a satchel slung over her shoulder flying over the other three, landing right next to Gregory and staring at him with golden eyes, which were wide with awe. “No…way…” she said. Gregory, startled by this sudden development, had jumped out of his chair. Gwendolyn was by his side immediately, one wing out to protect him. A couple of the city watch also flew in, standing in front of Gregory protectively. There were a few tense seconds of silence before this new dragon seemed to notice what had happened. She immediately took a step back, looking quite chastened. “I-I’m really sorry,” she said, giving Gregory a sorrowful glance. “I just…when I heard that there was a human on the Convocation, I knew I had to meet you!”

That caught Gregory off guard. “You…know what I am?” he asked, looking nervous now.

“Of course!” she said, bursting into a smile. “I’ve studied the myths about your species for years, and nodragon believed me when I said that humans were real! Now here you are, living proof that humans exist!” She gestured to him excitedly.

“Please forgive my daughter,” General Rhyo said, walking up and putting a pair of claws on her back and beginning to pull her back. “She’s not a bad dragon, simply…driven.”

Gregory relaxed, but was still intrigued by this dragon. “It’s alright,” he said, “but I would like to speak with her later.”

That seemed to get the dragon named Silica even more excited than before, and she pumped a fist excitedly. “Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yeeessss!”

Gregory was slightly amused by this as he took his seat again. Somehow, she reminded him of the fandom interpretation of Lyra Heartstrings, especially since she had Lyra’s same color palate. Silica was about the same height as Ember, with the aforementioned bright golden eyes and two dragon horns that were striped with a light teal and white. She was also, unlike any of the other dragons, wearing what looked like animal furs in what he assumed was an imitation of clothing. The clothes, if one could call them that, had the look of a prehistoric collection of furs. Turning back to the other dragons, he said, “Honestly, I had no idea humans were even known about here.”

“We have some obscure myths about them from thousands of years ago,” Amira admitted, “but now that we know that your kind are real, we may have to…reconsider the veracity of these myths.”

“We certainly don’t know anything about humans,” Geoffrey added.

“To be fair,” Ginna replied, “we probably forgot.” She pointed her thumb at a closed door which led to a room where the books from the former Gryphonstone Library were now being kept.

“As much as I would love to learn more about this,” Gregory said, raising a hand, “we’re getting off topic.” Once more, he stood and walked over to the chairs. Geoffrey and Gael both stood and pulled out the chairs for their new guests. “Please, have a seat.”

As the three took their seats, Gregory glanced back at Silica. She had a hopeful expression on her face, almost like she wanted to join in. He had to dash her hopes. “Miss Silica, I’m sure we can find you a room where you can stay for the night,” he said, “but what we have to discuss here is all politics.”

Silica, apparently not one to be denied, straightened. “I didn’t just come here to see you,” she said, suddenly sounding very serious. “I’m not just some human crazy dragon like my half-siblings seem to think I am. I can help. I know a lot about the Dragon Lands. I’ve seen almost every part of it, and even some parts that nodragon has ever gone to, including a few dozen islands with some pretty unique vegetation. I can help with whatever trade agreements you want.”

Rhyo’s eyes widened and he looked at her. “You heard us talking?”

Silica looked chastened at this. “Well,” she said a bit sheepishly now, “I heard you say human, father, so I was curious.”

Scoria took in a breath. “Dear, this is a serious meeting we’re about to have.”

“I can be serious, mother,” Silica promised.

Not wanting things to get out of hand, Gregory interjected. “These are, hopefully, the first steps our three nations will take in forming a bond. I personally don’t have an issue if she stays, and if she has flown around the Dragon Lands, perhaps she can be helpful here.”

Everyone else looked around at each other, then many took on a thoughtful expression. Amira was the first to speak. “I don’t mind if she stays,” she said warmly, giving Silica a kindly smile.

“Look, if everyone here doesn’t mind that she stays, that’s fine,” Ember said, “but if things get out of claw and it’s her fault, she needs to leave.” She gave Silica a withering glare.

“I think we can accept that,” Geoffrey said. “Does everyone else agree?”

When the consensus was agreement, Gregory walked over to one of the walls where several other chairs were, picked up the best one, then carried it back to the table, only to see Silica standing between his chair and Gwendolyn’s. Looking at Gwendolyn, she had a bemused expression on her face, then moved her chair aside to make room for another one. He inwardly rolled his eyes, but moved his own chair slightly to the left, then moved the new one between him and Gwendolyn’s. Silica immediately sat and pulled her chair in, her mood vastly improved. After he poured her an extra glass of bliss, he sat down. “Alright, so are we all ready to begin?” he asked. When everyone nodded, he looked over at Geoffrey and nodded.

The ambassador nodded back and picked up a piece of paper in front of him. Putting on a pair of old looking glasses, he looked at the paper. “Well, first of all,” he said as he put it down and faced the delegates, “thank you all for coming. I’m sorry that this is the best place for us to meet at, but when we next meet, we will have a place better fitting for you.”

Haakim waved a hoof. “No need to apologize,” he said, “this place will be more than sufficient for our talks.”

“Definitely better than a lot of caves in the Dragon Lands,” Ember commented before she looked at Geoffrey. “Can we cut to the chase and you tell us what you want from us both and what you will give us in return?”

“What our new Dragon Lord means,” Scoria said in a placating tone, “is that she is rather curious why the gryphons would ask us for a trade negotiation.”

“You mean ‘cause we were enemies once?” Grandpa Gruff asked without a hint of regret.

Rhyo winced a bit at that, but nodded. “There is…some bad blood lingering among some of our older dragons who were told tales of the wars between our kinds.”

Geoffrey spoke up next. “Those wars were waged by our ancestors,” he said, “and we aren’t our ancestors. We are not even an imperium like we were.”

“We’re hoping to build a brand-new relationship between our two peoples,” Gwendolyn added, “one that can begin healing our relationship. Dragons and Gryphons once were the strongest of allies until the Mad Emperor Gamigin attacked your people.”

Gregory remained silent, surprised that Gwendolyn would say that, but judging from Geoffrey’s expression, he wasn’t upset by this. Then again, he wasn’t an ambassador for nothing, and could easily be hiding his emotions. He looked over at the dragons, waiting for their response. Ember’s eyes flashed with determination and she leaned forward, taking on a surprising pose that reminded him of the Gendo pose from Evangelion. Her eyes were narrowed as she asked, “And what, will you offer us, in return for whatever you’re wanting from us?” she asked.

Gael spoke up next, leaning forward as well. “We can offer a number of things,” he said, “and to show we’re serious, we have copies of a list of items we will be willing to trade with both nations. Gwendolyn, if you would?”

Gwendolyn stood, then reached under the table and brought out a large portfolio. She pulled out several leatherbound packets and walked around, passing them to each member of the meeting. Gregory offered to share with Silica, and she gratefully accepted, reading carefully over the offers.

The room was mostly silent as the five representatives looked over the papers. Gregory read the papers over as well, refreshing himself on what they had come up with. For the dragons, they had offered a substantial export of fish from their coastal fisheries, exports of their best wine and alcohol (despite everything, the gryphonian alcohol industry was booming), and future exports of the various yields of crops and livestock from farms in the next ten to fifteen years depending on how fast these proposed farms could be established. There were also gemstone mines in the Hyperborean Mountains to the west of Gryphonville which the Dragon Lands didn’t have that they considered delicacies and precious. With gems developing on Gaia much faster than on Earth, a gem trading agreement was much more mundane here, but not any less lucrative.

As for what they could offer to the Saddle Arabians, they had offered them a large supply of houseoak seeds along with a magical solution to having them grow extremely fast. Gregory had been the one to convince Zecora to share the instructions with him, although it hadn’t been too hard. Zecora believed that the sharing of knowledge like this could help improve the spread of true harmony and friendship throughout the world. They could also provide the Saddle Arabian ponies some of their food and wine exports as well as lumber and, much to Gregory’s surprise, fish.

Something that he had learned from Gwendolyn was that Saddle Arabian ponies, specifically pegasi, could have a pescatarian diet unlike Equestrian pegasi. She’d explained that once, in the past, Saddle Arabia had an inland sea, but in the distant past it had begun to evaporate and created the Deadly Valley, a vast desert in the center of the nation where little life, if any at all, could survive. Apparently, Saddle Arabian pegasi had once lived in a large cloud city similar to Cloudsdale and they adapted to eat fish from the ocean.

Silica gently nudged Gregory, and when he looked over, she was pointing at the list of gems they could offer to the dragons. There was a look of excitement as well as some actual drool coming from her mouth. She didn’t say anything, instead looking questioningly and hopefully at Gregory, who simply nodded. This made the excitement on Silica’s face grow even more as she looked back down at the papers, only this time with renewed interest, focusing on the Saddle Arabian list. This was a ploy by Geoffrey as a means for everyone to see what was offered just in case one side wanted something that the other was being offered.

After about five or so minutes, Haakim spoke up. “Before we discuss these, what are your requests?”

Geoffrey took the lead again. “We are looking to repair and improve some things around here,” he said, “and one metal we’re requesting is copper. I understand that the Dragon Lands possess this in large quantities.”

Ember made a disgusted face. “Bleh, that disgusting ore? That stuff is worthless to dragons.”

“The quantities you’re requesting are quite a lot,” Scoria said quickly, clearly trying to cover for Ember’s careless remark. “Are you planning on making new weapons with this copper?”

“We have no reason to make weapons,” Geoffrey said, “unless it’s to defend our continent.”

“And besides, copper makes for terrible weapons,” Gregory added.

“It will be a part of our rebuilding process,” Geoffrey concluded.

“And if it’s worthless, then this should be an easy transaction, right?” Gael added.

Gregory winced inwardly. He might not know much about politics, but one thing he knew was that one didn’t just reveal weakness in a negotiation, and Gael had just revealed that they were more than eager for the copper. Rhyo and Scoria exchanged a quick glance then the latter spoke. “Still, this is quite a lot of copper you want. We’ll have to consider-”

“For the love of the First!” Silica shouted, slamming her fist down on the table, catching everyone off guard, especially her parents. She then turned directly to Geoffrey. “Ambassador, I have a massive cave full of copper back home. I don’t have any use for it aside for hoard storage! You can have all of it!”

That caught the ambassador and the other members of the Convocation, including Gregory, completely by surprise. Rhyo gave his daughter a harsh look as he spoke. “You don’t have the authority to do that, daughter of mine,” he said, a hint of an edge to it.

Silica shot him a glance as well. “And hiding how much we need food and can take advantage of this nation is something our ancestors would be ashamed of,” she retorted.

Scoria visibly winced. Gregory knew things were getting off to a bad start, so he stood and raised his hands. “Please, let’s not let things escalate so quickly,” he said in as calm a voice as he could muster.

“This isn’t a contest to see who can piss each other off the most,” Grandpa Gruff announced with clear frustration, “this is a damned negotiation. Look, you have something we need, we have something you need,” he added, pointing to the dragons and the Convocation in turn. “Let’s skip the shit and figure this out like grown adults. Enough of the damned politics.”

Gregory sat down in shock at Grandpa Gruff’s straightforwardness. Ember raised both eyebrows at this, then turned back to the others older dragons. “I like this guy,” she said. “He doesn’t beat around the lava.”

Gregory thought he saw Rhyo and Scoria deflate slightly at this, before slowly nodding. “No he doesn’t,” Rhyo agreed, a small smile forming on his lips.

“And what about this that you’re asking for?” Scoria asked, pointing to another item on the list. “A small amount of…” she paused and had to read it over again. “’The red crystals that are scattered everywhere in the Dragon Lands’?” She looked up in confusion. “Do you mean élanite?”

Gael snapped his claws. “That’s what it was called!” he announced. When he saw the confusion on the dragons’ faces, he cleared his throat. “I once had a dragon girlfriend and I’d spend time at her cave. She showed me around her corner of the Dragon Lands, and she told me about how much élanite you have.”

“If I may interject,” Haakim said, raising a hoof, “élanite is useful to those of us who can manipulate magic. Not just to Saddle Arabian unicorns, but to our Equestrian counterparts.”

“I have a ton of that stuff in my cave too,” Silica announced without being prompted. “It’s useless to us and tastes worse than copper.”

Rhyo and Scoria both looked mildly upset, but Ember leaned forward. “How…much fish are we talking?” she asked, directing the question at Geoffrey.

“I’m sure we can come to a reasonable number that satisfies both of us,” Geoffrey said, “but suffice to say that our fisheries are very successful.”

“Good,” Ember said, actually licking her lips.

Geoffrey smiled, then turned to Haakim and Amira. “What about you? Do you have any questions for us?”

“Only this: what exactly are houseoak trees?” Amira asked. “The explanation in here is somewhat brief.”

Geoffrey turned to Gregory, who nodded in understanding then turned to the Saddle Arabians. “I don’t know too much about them myself, but I can tell you this: with the right amount of preparation, and a proper casting of a spell, these trees can grow to become actual homes for a decent number of individuals. If a unicorn casts a certain spell, these trees can grow to become homes fasts than anyone can build anything. With the proper spell, they can grow within even the Deadly Valley, according to my sources.”

Ember shot up and gave Gregory a glare. “Why didn’t you offer this to us?!” she demanded.

Gregory calmly looked over at the Dragon Lord. “To be honest, we weren’t sure if you would have wanted them,” he explained. “Without unicorn magic, they wouldn’t be fully grown matter of years, not weeks or even days. Not only that, but from what I’ve heard about how big dragons can be, many of your older ones won’t fit inside even the biggest houseoak possible.”

“And then there’s the fact that we breathe fire,” Silica added, stating what Gregory had been avoiding.

“We can discuss these houseoaks at another time, Dragon Lord,” Rhyo said.

Ember scowled, but simply nodded and leaned back. Haakim looked between Ember and Gregory before speaking. “I am quite curious as to the nature of these houseoaks,” he said. “Is there one in the city we can visit?”

“In Gryphonstone, no,” Gregory said, “but there’s a town at the bottom of the mountain where almost half the buildings are fully grown houseoaks.”

“Perhaps sometime this week, we can visit one,” Geoffrey offered, “so that both groups can see just what they are like.”

“That would be lovely,” Amira said, looking excited.

“You say that these houseoaks can grow almost anywhere, but they’re still trees,” Haakim said, “so would they not need to be watered? We do have jungles, but the majority of our sultanate is desert.”

Gregory had come prepared for this question. “From what I know from my sources,” he began, “these trees can draw in water not just from rain or from being watered, but also from the air and possibly even from underground aquifers. Unlike most trees, though, they don’t need as much water.”

Haakim and Amira exchanged looks, and there was silence for a while. Finally, Amira spoke. “You ask simply for a decent supply of fruits from our jungle farms in return?” she asked, “specifically oranges?”

Geoffrey maintained his composure as he nodded. “Correct,” he said.

“We will have to consult this with our sultan, but I believe we can come to an agreement on this,” Haakim replied.

“Then let’s get down to it,” Grandpa said in a voice more gruff than normal.

“Agreed,” Haakim said.

“Sure, let’s get this ov-done,” Ember added.

Five hours later, Gregory was standing out on a balcony in the Eyrie overlooking the city. The sun was out and shining down on the land below. In the east, he saw a number of dark clouds, meaning rain was coming. He had already placed water buckets out to catch any rain that fell that day to restock his own supply. In his hand he held his metal water bottle which he sipped at while eating a now cold breakfast sandwich he was using as a lunch.

Five long hours of negotiation, but to Gregory’s surprise, it seemed like they were making progress. There were even some items that had come up that no side had considered trading, including some mushrooms that were apparently good for making a specific medicine in Saddle Arabia.

He took another bite of his sandwich, chewing thoughtfully. He was trying to think about other things that might benefit this regrowing nation, and was so lost in thought that he didn’t hear someone coming up beside him until they spoke. “Something on your mind, Mr. Graystone?”

Startled, he looked to see that Amira was looking at him with some concern on her face. He swallowed his food, washed the remaining food down with some water, then looked out at the city. “Just doing some future thinking,” he said.

Amira chuckled softly, then looked out at the city with him. “You do realize you’re not alone in that, right? The entire Convocation cares about Gryphonia, and hope to get things fixed up.”

He nodded with a bemused smile. “Doesn’t make it any easier,” he admitted.

“Tell me about it,” a new voice said from behind the two. Amira and Gregory turned to see Ember leaning against the door, arms crossed as she looked up at the archway. “I swear, if I’d known what a pain in the butt being the Dragon Lord was, I’d have stuck with being a princess. I’d rather be out there doing something that’s useful than having to learn all of this…politicking.” She walked over and leaned on the railing overlooking the city. She sighed, then looked over at Gregory. “You get where I’m coming from, right?”

Gregory nodded, then smiled a bit. “I don’t like it either, but it’s necessary for any civilization.”

“So they tell me,” Ember grumbled. She threw up her claws. “Why is everything so complicated?”

Amira gave the two of them an understanding smile. “As someone who has been in politics for years, I know it’s not all wine and roses. But view it as an opportunity.”

Gregory and Ember faced her, and Ember spoke. “Opportunity to do what? Sit around on my butt and listen to everycreature talk back and forth until they come to the painfully obvious solution?”

“That is an unfortunate side effect of certain political maneuvers, yes,” Amira admitted, “but you are young. Both of you. You have brighter minds and even if you are from far away, Mr. Gregory, you have knowledge from your own people that others might not have. Something that could very well help your Convocation.”

Gregory nodded. He had shared a bit about his world during the meeting without revealing they were separate worlds, simply referring to his home as a vastly distant land. He hadn’t revealed much else, but others had inferred that what knowledge he possessed could be helpful. “Hopefully any knowledge I can use will be useful for the future of this rebuilding continent,” he said.

Amira nodded, then turned to Ember. “Ember, you strike me as a no-nonsense Dragon Lord. Your mother is a lot like that in that regard.”

Ember shot her a glance. “You know Mom?” she asked.

“Blaze? Yes, I do,” Amira said. “I met her when she and your father came to Saddle Arabia a few years ago before the Gauntlet of Fire. You remind me of her.”

Gregory saw Ember smile slightly. “I always admired how she didn’t take shit from anyone, not even Dad.”

Amira laughed. “I saw a glimpse of that when they visited. But back to the subject at hoof.” Her smile became a knowing one. “You have a lot to offer to your kingdom, Dragon Lord, and you have a lot to offer to this continent, Mr. Gregory.”

Gregory felt himself smiling at the compliment, and he exchanged a look with his fellow inexperienced government leader. It began to dawn on him that he was part of the pinnacle of the budding government of this rebuilding land. It filled him with a deep sense of responsibility, awe, and a hell of a lot of fear. What if he screwed up? What if he did something that screwed the pooch.

Ember nudged Gregory. “Hey, I see that look in your eyes, human,” she said. “None of that! Don’t look back. Face forward and spread your wings!” Quickly, she seemed to realize what she’d said, because she quickly added, “Well…you know what I mean.”

“I do,” he chuckled, feeling a bit better about it. “Yeah, those of us with the world on our shoulders need to stick together and work to try and make a better world for those we want to protect.”

Amira looked at him with a warm smile. “Exactly, Mr. Gregory.” She turned to the city, then smiled. “I know you’re there, young dragoness. Come on out and don’t eavesdrop. It’s very rude.”

Silica came out, looking quite sheepish and nervous. Like before, she had a satchel slung across her back. “Ah, I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I didn’t mean-”

Ember scowled at the other dragoness. “Are you really that eager to talk to a human?” she asked. “He’d not a damned toy you can play with!”

Silica looked hurt by those words. “I never even thought that,” she insisted.

“Dragon Lord, it’s alright,” Gregory said, not wanting things to get too out of hand. “I did promise I’d talk to you,” he added, turning to Silica, “but after being in that conference for five hours, I needed a break.”

She gave Gregory an understanding look. “I can understand that,” she said, walking out slowly to the rest of the group. “I just wanted to give you something.”

That got Gregory’s attention. “Really? What is it?” he asked.

She reached into her satchel and pulled out a small box. Looking at it with reverence, she turned to Gregory and held it out. Ember and Amira watched as Gregory took it and lifted the lid to look inside. What he saw confused and shocked him because inside was a pair of metal gauntlet gloves.

He put the box down, then took one of the gauntlets out, examining it curiously. It looked ancient enough, but it also looked clean. Looking back at Silica, he saw that she had an expectant look on her face. Even Ember and Amira looked curiously at the gauntlet and his hands. Shrugging, he carefully slipped the gauntlet over his right hand, making the fingers move for the first time in who knew how long? Silica clapped for joy at this.

Gregory removed the gauntlet after a few more clenches of his fingers and put it back, stood back up, only to see that Silica had something else outstretched to him, a long object held in a leather wrap. “Something else you wanted to give me?” he asked.

She didn’t say a word, simply passing it over to him. He took it, and was immediately startled by how heavy it was. Not only that, but he heard what sounded like a clink of metal on metal. Confused, he undid the strap tying the wrap and let it drop, only to reveal a sword with an elaborate looking sheath.

Ember whirled on Silica. “Why are you giving him a weapon?!” she hissed.

“It’s a weapon made by ancient humans!” Silica insisted.

“Dragon Lord, this is a gift freely given,” Amira added. “Isn’t it a tradition among your people that any gift can be given regardless of species?”

Ember scowled, but nodded. “Yeah…” she grumbled.

Gregory looked at it up and down. The sheath had a number of gems embedded in it and it looked like some parts were gold plated. Upon further inspection he spotted small scenes that had human figures carved into them, interacting with dragons, gryphons, and even ponies. The hilt itself looked like it had been freshly wrapped in leather, and when he looked at Silica, she nodded. “The old leather was too far gone when I found this, so I did my best to wrap it up with new leather.”

He nodded, then grasped the hilt and unsheathed it partway, noting that it looked like it was made of Damascus steel. It looked incredibly sharp, as well. There were ancient writings on the blade itself of a letter system he didn’t recognize. However, it was a flowing, beautiful script. Sheathing the sword, he looked over at Silica. “Thank you very much for this…rather unprecedented but magnificent gift,” he said honestly as he wrapped it back up in the leather bindings. “I appreciate it.”

Silica’s wings actually buzzed as she clapped her claws happily. “Ooooh, I can’t wait to talk later! My brother and sister are gonna be soooo upset that they missed this meeting!”

“You have a brother and sister?” Gregory asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh yes! Well, technically they’re my half siblings. They’re in town with some of the guards looking around,” Silica said.

“Well, I’m sure I’ll meet them eventually,” Gregory replied. “What are their names?”

Her answer threw him even further for a loop. “Garble and Smolder.”