The Gryphon War: A Story of Romance, Adventure, and the Elements of Harmony.

The morning sun was just starting to shine through the windows of the Everfree castle. The bright rays mingled with the shadows of the night, casting a purple hue over the land. As the sun rose higher into the sky, it's rays pierced into the eyes of its best friend, Princess Celestia.

"Celestia? Wake up Celestia. Its morning and I'm having trouble with the cloud cover," spoke a deep masculine voice.

"Mmmmmmm..."

"Celestia."

"MMMMMMM..."

The entity sighed, then drew in a deep breath, "GET UP YOU LAZY COW!"

"WAAHHH!" Celestia hit the floor as she flew out of bed and hit the floor. "What the hell Sol!"

Celestia waited a few moments for a reply until she remembered that Sol couldn't hear her if she spoke out loud.

"Why in the world are you yelling at me this early in the morning Sol? And what did you mean by cow? I'm not the one that's so big he has his own gravitational field."

"You will if you keep raiding the castle pantry for food in the middle of the night."

Celestia paused a few moments, "How do you know about that? You're supposed to be resting when I do that."

"I have my ways Celestia, I have my ways. Now get up. I'm having trouble getting past this cloud cover. And you still have that council to attend today."

Celestia groaned internally. She had to attend one of her father's war councils every month ever since she had joined the war. She had been tasked with protection of the city with Luna. She hated the councils, they were so drab that she would be more willing to walk into a shower of enemy arrows than listen to Star Swirl go on about the protective barrier over the city for the thousandth time.

There was one good thing about the war councils though, she got to see her brother Comet whenever he got called in from the front lines. So Celestia decided against blowing off the meeting (It wouldn't be the first time either) and started to get ready.

As she cleaned up she used her magic to propel Sol through the clouds and into his daily arc. While she multi-tasked she had a quick mental conversation with Sol.

"So Sol, how did you find out about my midnight raid. Have you been talking to Luna again?"

"Which Luna?" He asked as innocently as he could, but he couldn't quite pull it off.

"You know which Luna. The on you share the sky with? Has she been spying on me again?"

"Of course not, Luna is much too honorable to do such a thing. Luna told her."

"Hmm... I'll have to have a talk with her about that."

Celestia finished her shower and dried herself, finishing her conversation with Sol. As she finished toweling her hair she heard a quick rap at her door, followed by a thump. It was Luna.

"Are you awake?" she called, "More importantly, are you decent?"

"Yes and Yes. Come in."

Luna stepped in, making sure that Celestia was not naked before coming in and sprawling out on her bed.

"Unhhhh," she groaned, her back popping as she stretched out on the bed, "That feels so good! I'm glad you're not in bed with another man today. Last time was disgusting, I could see everything!"

Celestia pouted a little and rolled her eyes, "Come now Luna, he wasn't that ugly. You're so immature sometimes."

Luna gave a little smirk at Celestia into the mirror as she said, "I wasn't talking about him."

Celestia paused a moment. She knew how much Luna loved to tease her. Usually she just let it go, but she thought it time to teach Luna she was not one to mess with.

Slowly, she picked up the face powder lying on her nightstand with her magic and crept it toward Luna without turning around. Luna, of course, couldn't see the powder behind her until Celestia tipped it over, spilling it's contents all over her.

Celestia then lunged at her sister, pushing her down on the bed and grabbing a pillow. She swung it around and gave Luna a light tap on the bottom. Luna jumped up a little bit and her face turned red. She grabbed a pillow with her magic and thumped Celestia behind the head. They then proceeded to have an outright pillow fight, falling onto the floor in a mess of giggles by the end.

As Celestia struggled to regain her breath from the mad fit of giggles that had gripped her, her mind latched onto a thought that she had to ask Luna.

"Has Comet arrived yet?"

Luna started to hoist herself up off the floor, the powder still latching itself in her dark blue hair, "Oh yes. He arrived last night. Barely had time to talk before he gave his report to father."

"How is he? How are thngs at the front?'

"He seems fine. A couple new scars, but nothing serious. He just seemed eager to see father so he could see Cadance right after. I didn't manage to squeeze much out of him."

"I guess we'll hear about it at the meeting anyways. Did he tell father about him and Cadance yet?"

"Of course not. If father knew there would either be celebrations about it or Comet would be in serious trouble. Either way, we'd know by now."

Celestia turned her head towards the big grandfather clock on the other side of the room and started to panic. She only had thirty minutes left to get ready before the council. She leaped up and pushed Luna into the bathroom, telling her to wash her hair. She then frantically ran over to her closet and grabbed a white and blue dress and slipped it on. She was glad that it was a closed doors meeting and wasn't open to the public, so she could forgo the makeup and corset that she wore during public events.

Luna exited the bathroom as Celestia slipped on the dress, Luna lacing the back for her. Together, they ran out of the room and into the hall, sprinting down it to reach the council chambers with five minutes to spare.

On the way they passed Comet, just standing in the hall outside the chamber doors. With a quick greeting and an even quicker hug, she sprinted into the council chambers and sat in her seat. Luna followed her and Comet right behind Luna, closing the doors after him.

Celestia's father rose and all the other ponies in the room rose with him. Celestia's father was an imposing man, standing six and a half feet tall and the crown on his head adding an extra four inches, he stood over every person in the room.

"Now that everypony has arrived, we can begin. Our first order of business is the recent diplomatic mission to the Crystal Empire by Princess Cadance. Would you please give us the report Cadance?"

Cadance stood up from her position at Celestia's side. She walked to the center of the amphitheater-like room and spoke to the assembly, "King Sombra has agreed to send more troops to the front line. He also reports that the morale of the the people is fading. He doesn't know how long he can keep up the crystal heart's powers before it runs out. "

From the left side of the King, directly opposite from Celestia, a mid-sized unicorn stood up. He couldn't have been older than 30, but his hair was beginning to gray and he had a full goatee of the same color. On his head he wore a purple hat, adorned with stars and bells.

When he spoke, he said every word with the air of a wise old man, "If I may, your majesty?"

"You may Star Swirl."

Star Swirl walked to the floor of the amphitheater and stood next to Cadance. She bowed respectfully to the wizard, giving him the floor, before returning to her own seat.

"Thank you Cadance," he said, giving her a slight head nod, "As you all know, the protective barrier around the city is fueled by the power of both myself and the power of the crystal heart."

"Here we go again," thought Celestia

"If the crystal heart's power is fading, then I can no longer maintain the barrier surrounding the city. We would have to forgo the barrier, which would open us to air raids from the Gryphon's forces. We'd be under the same threat as the smaller cities in Equestria and the damage done during these strikes are disastrous. Just look at what happened to Manehattan last month!"

A voice rose from the council. "What would you suggest then?"

"The only ponies with enough power to rival that of the crystal heart are the royal family. Your majesties possess far greater power than any unicorn today. If all of us work together, both the princesses, the prince, and myself, then we could fuel the spell."

"If this is the only plan of action then we will begin immediately. Take Comet and the Princesses with you to perform the ceremony later today."

"Yes my King. Also, you realize that this will require them all to remain in the city, correct?"

Comet stood up in a rage, his face was flushed and veins popped out on his neck. "WHAT!" he yelled. "This is an outrage! I can't stay here! I belong on the field with my men, not maintaining a shield."

He turned on his father. "Can't you supply the power for the shield? You must be able to."

"His majesty must maintain the shifting mountains. If he were to supply the shield with power then his power would be too limited for him to operate."

"I didn't ask you Star Swirl!" Comet stormed out of the council, leaving the large double doors swinging behind him.

"Meeting adjourned" rang out the voice of King Terra. "We'll continue the meeting in an hour. He needs time to cool off."

Once King Terra had made his announcement, everyone got up together, except Cadance, who had rushed out after him as soon as he left.

~~~

Cadance found Comet in the astronomy tower. Books littered the floor and he sat in the middle of a circle of them, his back turned to her. As carefully as she could, she stepped up to him. She was halfway there when she stepped on a loose floorboard.

Comet whipped around to face her. His face was ablaze for a moment, but softened when he saw her apologetic expression. He turned around before speaking. "What do you want Cadance? I'm busy."

She walked over and sat on the floor behind him, draping her arms over his tense shoulders and laying her head against his knotted neck. "Busy with what?"

"...Things."

"What types of things?"

"Important things."

"Like what? Brooding and pouting?"

When she didn't get a response from him she pressed on the point. "Comet, pouting up here won't do anything to change your situation. Now come on, tell me what the problem is."

"There isn't any problem Cadance. I just want to be on the front lines. I can't leave my men."

Cadance knew that Comet was hiding something, but she also knew that if he didn't want to talk about, he wasn't going to talk about it. She had known him for 20 years, her entire life, and she had never once gotten something from him he didn't want to give up. Not even when they started their relationship the past year had she been able to.

So, instead of pressing him into an uncomfortable situation she just snuggled closer to him and ran her hand across his back. "You know, there's one good thing about you not being on the front lines. And its a really good thing too."

"What's that?"

"We can spend alot more time together, every day if you want. No time limits, no 'I gotta go's' , just you and me."

Comet paused a moment, his head cocked to the side, before he answered."I guess I could live with that," he said as he scooped her up and planted a kiss on her lips, which she enthusiastically returned.

~~~

Celestia was outside the council doors. She sitting on the floor, head in her hands, as she stared at the wall across from her. Luna mimicked her perfectly on the opposite side of the door frame. They had been kicked out of the council room when a courier had arrived with a message from their father.

Now they heard footsteps from inside the room and the doors burst open. Celestia slid away from the door before it hit her, but Luna got smacked full in the face. The courier exited, bowing to Celestia before hurrying away to another part of the castle. Terra left the room right after the courier, his face as grim as ever, but a hope sparkled behind his eyes.

"Come in girls. The council will be reconvening momentarily."

Celestia and Luna followed their father into the amphitheater. It wasn't long before the council members came back, Comet included. He seemed happier than before and Celestia thought she knew why. Smirking to herself, she leaned back in her chair and listened to her father speak.

"Now that we have all arrived, the council will reconvene. The first order of business is that of Star Swirl's plan. I have decided that Comet shall remain in the city and give power to Star Swirl's barrier. He will also assume control over the city guard and join the Council of Generals to aid the war from home."

Celestia saw Comet relax a little upon hearing their father's words. His face was still grim, but he seemed to be pleased that he could still play a part in the war, even if he couldn't be out there, risking his life.

"Now, before we adjourn, I have one last piece of news, but first, I must ask, have any of you heard of Draconeia?"

A murmur went through the council. Many of the men and women there had never heard of the term before. Celestia, though, had. She knew that it was a newly formed country in the middle of the Western Sea. Nobody had ever met it's inhabitants and it remained a mystery.

Now Celestia leaned forward in her seat and could feel Luna, to her left, and Comet, to her right, lean forward as well in anticipation for the news.

"Its seems many of you have not, so I will take the time to explain. Draconeia is a small new country. It was formed over 20 years ago, after the fall of the Changeling Empire to the north. We believe that it's inhabitants were captives of Queen Arachne, before her downfall."

"Who are these people then? Are they ponies?"

"They are not ponies General Bright Steel, they are test subjects. They were once many races; Gryphons, Zebras,Dragons, and yes Ponies. Arachne has changed them though, she performed experiments for her own sick reasons."

Celestia piped up, " I don't understand father, you're not telling us everything. What did she do to them?"

"She combined them. From what i can ascertain, she extracted elements from all of the races she used and created the entire race. They are known as Draconeqii."

"So why are you telling us about them now? Have they joined the Gryphons?"

"I don't think they will ever join the Gryphons. For the past twenty years they have stayed silent, but since Queen Chrysalis added the remainder of her mother's forces to the Gryphon Order's army, they have contacted us, requesting an alliance."

Murmurs broke out amongst the assembly. A new force to join the war could turn the tide. Ever since the war had started, new forces had joined both sides. Many of the southern countries had joined their neighbor, Equestria, and the same went for the northern countries and the Gryphons.

However, many of Equestria's allies initially believed the war to be a grand scheme of Terra's and they had banded together to stop Equestria. For the first year of the war, Equestria was besieged on all sides, they're only allies the Crystal Empire, which was ruled by Terra's closest friend Sombra.

This went on until the Gryphons had tried, and failed, to enact their plan too soon. It turned out that the Gryphons had dreams of domination. They wanted to take all the southern nations for unknown reasons. They tried to wipe out all the southern armies in one fell swoop. They were almost victorious until Terra came into battle.

His armor shining gold, he fell upon the Gryphons, surrounded by a contingent of soldiers. His fury at the Gryphons drove many to scatter, his sword alone killed almost 100 Gryphons that day. That day, all races saw the power of Alicorns. He and his son almost single handedly wiped out the main Gryphon attack force.

As the enemy forces scattered, retreating to lick their wounds, the southern nations pleaded for forgiveness from Terra and pledged their fealty. Now Equestria held sovereignty over the Zebra Alliance, Saddle Arabia, and CattleOn.

General Bright Steel raised his head again, his unicorn horn standing over a foot from his forehead. "So why are we just hearing about this now, Your Majesty?"

"You are hearing about it now because we have come to an agreement. In a weeks time a war force will be arriving at the sea port in Buckston. I just received word from one of the messengers that they have agreed to join the war on the condition that they are recognized as a their own country once we win this war."

Celestia took a moment to reflect on her father's words. This was one of the reasons he was such an effective leader, he always acted as if there was no doubt that he would win. That and his presence always inspired hope in the people, no matter how dire the situation. The people loved him for that.

"I am sending Celestia and Comet to greet the war forces. There will be emissaries and ambassadors with the party, so Celestia will lead them directly to Everfree City. Comet, you will direct the main war party to the city. They will spend a week furlough in the city before heading to the battle. Do you understand?"

Celestia and Comet nodded their assent. "Good, now before we adjourn I would like to remind you all that their presence and their existence are to remain a secret, No one outside this chamber is to know. Is this understood?"

The Council stood as a whole and stated their understanding. "Good, then we will adjourn," the King turned his attention towards Comet then. "There is a Meeting of the Council of Generals at four O'clock tomorrow, I expect you to be there Comet. And you too Celestia."

"Yes sir."

"Meeting adjourned."

~~~

Celestia exited the Council chambers last, stretching her arms. The final assembly had taken a little over two hours. As she walked out, her legs cracking slightly, she ran into Comet.

"I need to speak with you Celestia."

Wasting no time with any other words, he walked towards the main hall. Celestia followed as he opened the doors to the balcony and he gestured her in, closing the doors behind him.

"I need to talk to you about this mission of ours. I want your opinion on these Draconeqii. Did you hear about them beforehand?"

"No. This was the first i've heard of the race, but i've heard father mention them in private before. He said something about them having huge amounts of magical power. Enough to rival ours."

"I don't like that. We don't have any assurance we can trust these people."

"Well, from what dad said, it seems like they have a lot of bitterness towards the changelings. I doubt they'd betray us."

"That's not what I'm worried about'" before she could ask him what he meant he turned and opened the doors, leaving without another word.