A Story of Freytara

"My King!"

In an ornate throne room, built with marble and laced with gold, a shady griffon, clad in a cloak, approached a gilded throne, where a silvery griffon sat, wearing royal purple and donning the Griffon Kingdom's crown. The aged bird leaned forward and asked, "Is it done, Spymaster?"

The Spymaster bowed to his talons and paws and said, "The assassination has gone off without a hitch, noble Silverfeather. The East remains in anarchy."

The King sank into his cushions, releasing a sigh of relief. It was always tedious, having to cull upstarts in East Freytara, but rivals had to be under control while he furthered his plans in the West. Speaking of which...

"How fares the diplomacy with the Saddle Arabians?"

The Spymaster rose onto his hind legs and said, "The last friend of the Equestrians are extremely hesitant to leave their long-time ally, my Liege. The administration has hardened their hearts against us, but we've received word of insurrection within the heavily-taxed rural areas."

The King stroked his silvery beard, clicked his beak, shook his head, and said, "No, that will not be good enough. Their cause is not our own. If we support these rebels, it may be discovered by the Sultan and the Equestrians and we'd face a two-front war. What else do you have?"

The Spymaster rubbed his talons together contemplatingly, and hummed. He finally answered, "The Sultan's son."

The King sipped from his goblet, and asked, "What of him?"

The Spymaster made gestures with his claws and reported, "The son of the Sultan has been raised all his life in their Royal Palace. He has known only peace and comfort his whole life, and it is well-known that he shirks his studies to play and relax."

The King thought about this and said, "That makes him slightly more loyal to the temptations of the flesh than to his father and his kingdom."

"Yes, my Liege,” said the Spymaster. “We will not vassalize the father, but the son."

The King grinned wide and said, "Good. We work on the son, but we have to do it slowly. If we ask him now, he'll refuse us, and we will have made an enemy. We'll have to cater to our noble prince. Get him away from his father's court and into our own. But how to do it?"

Both griffons thought on this for a minute. The only sound in the empty throne room was the footfalls of the Spymaster as he paced and paced.

After a while, the King spoke up.

"What if we offer to school the Saddle Arabian prince?"

The Spymaster looked up to the King and asked, "My Liege?"

The King tapped the tips of his talons together and said, "Yes, that's what we'll do. An exchange program. We'll send our adventurous Prince Foxhale to the Saddle Arabian court to learn their ways, and we'll receive their prince, Prince..."

"Hoofendale."

"Prince Hoofendale as a gesture of good faith. We'll spoil the prince, and he'll learn to appreciate us just a little more than his father."

"My Liege, won't exposing Prince Foxhale to their influence be a danger?"

The King waved off the notion and said, "He knows better than to betray us and our people. I've assured his patriotism."

The Spymaster bowed low. "Very good, my Liege."

The King pointed above the Spymaster and commanded, "Summon Foxhale and a messenger."

The Spymaster said before departing, "At once, King Silverfeather."

After the Spymaster had left, King Silverfeather walked to an open window. He then said to himself, "The imperial dreams of my fathers, passed onto my sons, will one day come to fruition.

“I'm sure of it."

“Princess Celestia!”

A guard trotted up to the Equestrian throne with a scroll. The Solar Diarch took the scroll in her telekinetic aura and dismissed the guard. She read the report as such,

“

Princess,

The mission you sent Ty on is a failure. A griffon assassin arrived in Ty’s abode in the dead of night and stabbed him with an accursed blade. The people of East Freytara lack a leader once more.

Awaiting instructions.”

Celestia read the letter, and then re-read it. She looked over it again. A heavy sigh escaped the princess. Her hasty ploy had failed. New doubts entered her mind.

‘You shouldn’t have done it.’

‘You should have trained him.’

‘You should have anticipated what the griffons would do.’

‘You should have chosen another.’

Her feelings manifested in the form of a song.

“Heroes are sand in the hour glass...

all must eventually die...

each must return to the darkness...

even a princess like I.

All we can do is keep true to all the plans we have made...

all we can do is continue to shine and wait for the day we will fade.”

Celestia waved her head and cleared it of all of those thoughts. Still, only a nagging doubt remained. She would not attempt that again.

"We are gathered here today to mourn the loss of a noble leader."

It was a somber, overcast day in Dogetown. Bullheart stood in front of a town, the crowd composed of citizens of every race that had settled in Dogetown. Diamond dogs, ponies, minotaurs. All were in attendance for this day. Bullheart put his hands back on the pulpit and continued.

"As it is with many who aspire to lead the Freytaran East, Ty's life and reign were cut short by an assassin. Out here, there are no laws. No peace. No security. No civilization. Like many, Ty came to bring us to greatness. Like many, Ty fell to the accursed blade of the griffon assassin.

But Ty was different."

Barely composed, Bullheart gripped the edges of the podium. Tears welled in the corner of his eyes.

"He, being the only one of his kind, saw past the boundaries that we have made between ourselves. He wasn't a charismatic leader just for dogs, minotaurs, or even ponies. He was looking to include all of us as citizens.

What he said to me when we were training, I'll never forget. In a way, I think Ty was grooming me to be his second-in-command or even his heir. In a way, that was true. In another way, that was false."

Bullheart stepped from behind the podium to allow Bronzehoof onto the podium, and he spoke,

"I thought he was also grooming me for the honor, but that's simply not the case. He was training us all."

Bronzehoof also stepped down, letting Bigpaw speak.

"I liked Boss Ty. Boss Ty took care of Bigpaw and all diamond dogs. Boss Ty also took care of ponies and minotaurs. Boss Ty told me, 'Leaders can lead followers to great things.' Boss Ty dead now, but we here now."

Bigpaw stepped down and let Bullheart speak, his rage creeping into his speech.

"They think that murdering Ty like some animal will keep us cowed."

The crowd started to get more lively-looking. Some even wore faces of determination.

"That they'll keep us under the yoke of their tyranny!"

The anger swelled among the crowd.

"They don't know that for the first time, We've known a better way. A way that favors no one. A way that offers freedom and security for everyone. A way that we will continue to uphold!"

Fists, hooves, and claws now pumped up and down in the crowd.

"A way that Ty died for! They killed him because they were afraid of him, and us! We, the people of East Freytara!"

The cheering started to hit a high pitch.

"We, the followers of this new way, shall overcome all the assassins and treachery the West sends against us! We will rebuild Freytara on the ashes of tyranny, and it will have been an outsider who started East Freytara on this path! We salute you, Ty the Martyr!"

A new nation was formed at the funeral of its first leader.