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

by Spilt Ink

Rating: mature
Tags: Adventure, Discord, Princess Celestia, Human, Princess Luna, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Princess Cadance, Alternate Universe, Romance, Sex, Tragedy
Length: 6469

The land of Equestria may be a serene place today, but a thousand years ago, when Equestria was freshly made, it was a far different story. Wars were fought, and many, many men and women died. Through the pain and heartache though, love flourished.

The land of Equestria is a majestic and proud land, steeped in history. It is the pinnacle of science, the arts, and magic. A thousand years ago, though, Equestria was a different place. The country is small, new, and in the middle of the greatest war of its time.

Eight years ago, King Terra's wife, Queen Thetis, was murdered by an assassin from the Gryphon Order. Since that tragic day, King Terra has been in a war with the Gryphons and their allies, but the King is not alone. He has his allies as well, including a small country situated on an island in the middle of the sea. A country whose inhabitants are very different from the ponies in Equestria. A country named Draconeia, where a young draconequus soldier named Discord lives. And fate seems to have an interest with Discord's personal life. Namely, his relationship with a certain princess.

Inspiration for this story was drawn from the story Chaotic Love by Mr101.

Published 2013-04-26 21:10:02 UTC
Last updated 2013-05-07 00:55:15 UTC

Prologue: Eight Years Ago

A millennium or so ago, Equestria was a small, recently formed kingdom. It was ruled by King Terra and Queen Thetis, the first Alicorns. Terra was king over the earth. Not only could he control the ground his subjects stood upon, but was skilled in agriculture and the nurturing of animals. His wife was his polar opposite in power, though. She was the Queen of the sea, and where her husband excelled in all things relating to the land, she did as well in the sea. She communed with animals of the sea, grew great fields of aquatic plants, and held dominion over the surf. She was so powerful her will could cause the low and high tides. Together they controlled the only two things that people really paid attention to, but their children would increase the scope of power the royal family possessed.

Their first child was a boy, the Crown Prince Comet. Comet showed early signs of greatness, Not only was he able to wield a sword with the greatest skill possible, but he excelled in magic and learning. He was truly a worthy successor to the throne, but this was not his only destiny. He also had a fascination with the night sky from an early age. His mother would often take him out to the astronomy tower and they would sit together, star-gazing. This led to him finding his destiny as the architect of the heavens. He turned the night sky from a jumbled mess of light into a tapestry of beautiful power. His powers included the stars, comets, asteroids, and even the deadliest thing in the night sky, the black hole. His power, however stopped short at the two greatest celestial bodies of that world, the sun and the moon.

Terra and Thetis now had some idea of the power that their children would hold. Their second child was a girl whom they named Celestia. Celestia was most certainly their child, but she looked so different from Comet that many doubted it. Comet was a tall yet slender young man. His skin was was pale at night but a light brown in day and his hair was black as the night sky, yet dark blue hid in his mane. His eyes shone with the light of the north star. Celestia, however, had a mane of pink, though as she matured her hair took on the hues of the rainbow. Her skin was as the sun's rays. Pale, but with the light of many other colors within. Her eyes shone with kindness and compassion. She was similar in build to her brother though, tall and slender.

Celestia was much like her brother in attitude and personality though. She was strong and unwavering. Her conviction never faltered and she constantly put people in good moods. Just being around the princess placed a smile on ponies faces. The major difference between her and her brother,though, was their interests. Comet loved the night. He knew the cool embrace and comfort it brought and treated his stars as friends. He gave them names and titles and they grew and blossomed under his care. Celestia did much the same when she discovered her special talent. She could control the sun. She could influence its speed across the sky, the heat it gave off, and its trajectory as well. She named the sun Sol and he was her constant companion. The sun was, in a way, her child. She cared for it, set it to sleep and nurtured it to give its most every day.

The third child to be born to the King and Queen was a girl. She was born 2 years after Celestia and 6 years after Comet. Her name was Luna. Luna was remarkably similar to her brother. They both relished the night, spending time together for him to teach her about his stars. This led to Luna discovering her talent at an early age. When she was 7 years old she found she could control the moon. Just like how Celestia and Comet made bonds with their wards, Luna discovered the moon. She found that the moon was a female spirit, and because she was so young, she named the moon after herself. Luna then taught Luna about her brothers and sisters in the sky.

These were Terra and Thetis' children. Comet, Celestia, and Luna controlled the heavens. Terra and Thetis controlled the land and the sea. Together they controlled the aspects of life in their land. There was, however, more aspects of alicorn magic. Namely, the emotions.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Far in the south of their kingdom, the same year Luna was born, a child was born. The infants parents were a pegasus father and a unicorn mother. Together, they produced an alicorn. They named this child Cadence. Cadance was a beautiful child. Her hair was purple and gold and pink, her wings pink with purple tips, her horn was pink as well. Her skin was rosy, and her eyes were a light shade of purple.

Cadance and her family quickly fell under he attention of the King and Queen. They shipped the family to their castle in the Everfree as soon as they found out about her. They wanted to keep a close eye on Cadance and her family and to find out how she was born from two normal ponies. Cadance and her family quickly adapted to castle life and became like an addition to the family. It was in the castle that Cadance found her talent of finding and causing love. When the King and Queen found out about her talent they christened her with a new name and formally made her a princess. Princess Mi Amore Cadance, My Love Cadance. Cadance and her family lived in the castle for 12 happy years. But all god things must come to an end at some point.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

On a quiet summer night, as the royal family lay in bed ( except for Luna and Comet, of course) a lone, winged figure crawled into a window on the third floor of the castle. The shadowy figure crept through an open window and into the room of the young Princess Cadance. His intent was to take her away, for reasons known only to himself and his master. He crept towards the bed. As he reached the edge of the bed, the princess facing him as she slumbered soundly, he stubbed his toe against the bed post. Though small, the jolt was enough to startle the Princess awake from her soft sleep. When she saw the dark, looming figure above her, a knife in one hand and a rag in the other, she did the only sensible thing that she could at the time. She screamed.

The kidnapper leapt towards her, intending to quickly knock her out and take her, but she resisted. She proved so much of a problem as she kicked, screamed, and hollered, that she gave enough time for both her parents to rush from their room across from the hall and into hers. As Cadance finally succumbed and the kidnapper knocked her out with the chemical covered rag, her parents burst into the room.

At first the assassin and the couple looked at each other in shock. Then the assassin acted, he gripped the prone body of Cadance around the waist and leapt towards the window before either parent had time to react. In his flight towards the window, though he crashed into a dark figure. A tall, dark, angry figure with eyes that gleamed in the night like stars.

The kidnapper knew that he could never match the Crown Prince in open combat so he knew that he had to flee. The kidnapper may have been a craven, vile being, but he was smart, and he knew when to retreat. His cowardly mind quickly came up with a plan. He raised Cadance above his head and threw her at Comet. Comet leapt to catch her and as he did the would-be-kidnapper ran in the opposite direction. The father reacted first and lunged at the intruder. He grabbed him around the waist and knocked him to the floor. He then sat on his opponents chest and proceeded to rain blows upon the man. He threw punch after punch in his anger, but he failed to realize that the man had a knife.

He stabbed the father as he drew back his right fist to strike another blow. The knife found its home in the mans stomach and he grunted in pain, but he was too angry to stop his assault. He kept punching and for every punch he landed on his enemy, the enemy got another hit in with the knife. Soon enough the father was covered in his own blood. His stomach was slashed open and his internal organs lay on the floor. His wife screamed at the sight and cowered where she stood in the doorway. The father was now in a haze from blood loss. He slowly slid off his enemy and onto the floor. The man stood up and looked in anger at the pitiable form that lay on the floor in front of him. He made one last cut with the knife, right across the father's throat.

The mother had seen the fight and was horrified by the sight. She watched as her husband slowly succumbed to blood loss and watched the man she loved be killed. Then she snapped. She charged the murderer in a fit of rage, but was unlucky. The hapless widow slipped on the organs of her beloved and fell right into the murders knife. The murderer left her to die next to her husband and he fled the room.

Comet had not been able to help the father and the mother in their fight. He had been too preoccupied with catching Cadance and when he finally ensured her safety he saw the mother charging the murderer. He stared in shock as he witnessed her die, but steeled his mind as he saw the coward flee. He carried Cadance outside the door of the room and chased the murderer.

~~~

When Cadance had screamed, Comet had been with Luna in the astronomy tower. They had been in the middle of a lesson about the personality's of their celestial bodies when Cadance screamed. Normally, Comet would have written this off as a nightmare, but the way Cadence had screamed told him otherwise.Comet had then ordered Luna to go to their parent's bed chambers and wake them up.
She flew as fast as her wings could take her and slipped onto the her parent's balcony. She tumbled forward and smashed into the double doors, opening them and she landed on her stomach on her parent's carpet.

Slowly, she got up. She couldn't remember the reason she had come there at first, but it quickly sprang to mind. Luckily, her spectacular fall woke her parents, saving her from the hassle of doing so herself. She rushed to their bed, inundating them with an incoherent mess of words. She spoke as rapidly as she could to get it all out in time.

Every pony, however, needs to breath. As she drew a breath to continue her report, her mother reached forward and placed a hand over her mouth. She slowly instructed Luna to begin again, from the top, and slower. Luna calmed down enough to follow her mother's commands and told her parents about everything that had happened. She told them about the scream and she placed great emphasis on Comet's reaction. As she finished her story, King Terra got out of the bed and walked to his writing table. He picked up a sheet of paper and a quill and quickly jotted down a message.

Terra then walked to the door and handed the sheet to the guard positioned outside, ordering him to head to the barracks with the utmost speed and give the letter to the captain of the guard, then to return immediately. As the guard carried out his orders, Terra walked to his closet and opened it. He quickly donned his armor and retrieved his sword. He had just finished putting on his armor when the captain arrived with 20 pegasi. The King gave him the shortest possible version of the situation and headed out to search the castle for Cadance. He ordered the door guard to fetch Celestia and as he left, he instructed Thetis to keep Luna there and to not leave the room.

~~~

While the king made his way to the Princess' room, Comet had followed the murderer through the castle. Comet had not lost the trail of his quarry once, always a few steps behind. The murderer was tiring though and knew he would soon be caught. The training he received did very little to increase his stamina, focusing almost solely on his problem solving abilities, and those long hours of training were about to come in handy.

The murderer reached in his jacket pocket. He brought out a small blue vial. The liquid inside glowed faintly with the impact of his feet against the stone floors of the castle. This was his backup plan. The potion was brewed by a witch doctor that lived some miles away. It was a simple brew with one purpose, to explode in a violent and fiery manner. As he ran, he silently hoped he would never have to use it.

~~~

Celestia had just arrived in the room. Queen Thetis had explained to her the situation when she had arrived and now she paced on the other side of the room while Thetis comforted Luna on the bed. Abruptly, the quiet in the room was shattered as the murderer ran into the room, the guard and Comet following.

For a second everybody in the room was still. The murderer stared at Thetis and Luna and they stared back. The shock would have lasted for longer if men of action had not been in the room. The guard outside the door was ahead of Comet and charged the murderer. Together, they crashed to floor, the murderers wings breaking from both the force of impact and the weight of the guard, He gasped in pain and, without realizing it, released the bottle.

Thetis saw the bottle fly out of his hand and her maternal instincts took control. She grasped Luna and wrapped herself around her as tightly as she could, holding her with both limbs and wings. Comet just as quickly realized that the vial meant danger. He bolted towards his younger sister Celestia and just reached her in time, dragging her to the ground, when the bottle hit the floor.

Comet and Celestia were far enough away from the blast to only be blown backwards by the force. Comet suffered Slight burns on his back and shrapnel damage. Celestia only suffered a slight concussion, but not everyone can escape from such catastrophes as easily as they did. Thetis had wrapped herself so tightly around Luna that she suffered no damage from the blast at all. Thetis, however, took the full brunt of the explosion. Her back was covered in third degree burns and she had heavy amounts of shrapnel embedded in her back and neck. She died immediately in an intense, but thankfully short, burst of pain.

The guard had suffered the worst of the damage. His body was strewn around the room, and it was all burned beyond recognition. His body kept the assassin's body from the same fate, though it did not save him.

Comet still lay over Celestia, half in and half out of consciousness. He eventually found the strength of body and will to stand up and assess the damage. He saw the wreckage and acted as quickly as he could. He picked Celestia up and carried her into the hall. After waking her up he told her to find their father and to find a medic, repeating himself over and over in her addled state. He was thankful, though, that he did no have to address their mother's demise at that moment.

As Celestia ran off, Comet went back into the ruined room. He walked over to his mother and slowly lifted her up, taking care not to look at her face. He didn't think he could take it. He picked Luna's shell shocked body out of the last motherly embrace she would ever have and carried her into the hall. A whispered word and a glow of his horn were all it took to set her into a soft sleep. He set her on the floor and leaned back against the wall next to her, allowing himself to pass out as he heard boot steps rushing towards him.

~~~

Hours later, King Terra and a crew of investigative unicorns were assessing the damage of the room. His wife's body had already been removed. Terra walked over to the body of the dead guard. He slowly lifted the remaining torso and head up and off of the body of the assassin. His eyes widened as his slightly burned face came into view. The assassin had a beak! There was only one sentient race in the world with a beak, Gryphons.

The Gryphon Order had never been friendly with Equestria, but he never though they would resort to murder and kidnapping as a way to vent their hatred for the nation. The king reminded himself, though, that this could just be a rogue gryphon. There was only one way to check though. He turned over the assassin and moved the clothing to look at his back. The King's eyes grew wide and his heart started to hammer in his chest. There, on the gryphon's back left shoulder, was a brand. The brand of the Gryphon Order that was a mockery of the cutie marks only ponies had.

His moment of anger and brooding was interrupted when the head of the Equestrian Council came to him. " My lord, we need you to make an announcement of the current events. It's almost dawn and there are ponies lined outside the castle"

The King took a moment to master his anger before rising to speak. " Take a note Counselor, we are headed for war."

Author's Note

Thank you for reading my story. Please feel free to criticize as harshly as you can. You can never stop improving in my opinion.
Give me everything, from grammar mistake to problems you had with reading it, and any questions you have about the story. Thank you.

Chapter 1: War Council

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.