Long ago, the land of Gryphonia was changed forever by the God of Chaos, Discord. He placed upon it an affliction of Seasons. Ever since that time, summers and winters became longer, some lasting a decade, and autumn and spring became almost non-existent.

The gryphons that live in this cursed land have learned to adapt. In the North, where even summers bring snow; castles, keeps, and eyries are built over hot springs and volcanic vents, and great swathes are cut into the forests for firewood that is traded all over the Five Kingdoms. In the South furs are collected, traded, and hoarded during the summer years.

For the South, summers a hot and humid, and ice is imported from the North to cool baths and keep food from rotting. In the North, summers are still relatively cold, with summer snows not being uncommon.

Gryphons in the East and West are treated with temperate winters and summers, almost like a spring or an autumn, but not quite. They still need the commodities provided by the North and South, but in their state of transience they have things neither of the others have, including rare herbs, spices, and flowers which are shipped both within the Gryphonian borders and into Equestria.

Gryphonia is split in four distinct kingdoms, each one led by it's own royal family. The four kingdoms divide the land in the four cardinal directions, North, South, East, and West. The four kingdoms are situated so that they leave space between them for another kingdom, known as the Seat of the Emperor. The Seat is the central government of Gryphonia, from which the Emperor rules the four other kingdoms. While the Seat is the body of the government, where universal laws for all five of the kingdoms are made and passed, each of the other four kingdoms are self-reliant and rarely interfere with the Seat. However, when a time of war is upon the kingdoms, the Seat calls upon the four kingdoms to put up a unified front of defense. For inter-kingdom warfare, the Seat is an independent party, never interfering and only keeping an eye on the conflict in case it is attacked.

Equestria's role in present-day Gryphonia is that of an older brother, keeping an eye on it's younger sibling but not getting involved in its affairs to save face with it's friends and to keep the younger one independent. The Seat's position on the matters of the Equestrian government is that of any neighboring governments, they keep the peace through negotiations and the Emperor sits upon the Council of Nations led by Equestria's crown-princess Celestia.

Our story starts in the dead of Winter, in the North.

In a northern castle known as Wingfell Keep, the Grand Duke of the North, Red Wing, oversaw the packing of his firstborn son's possessions. With him stood the juvenile in question, Duke-in-training Silver Wing, and his friend and protector, Rome Silvanus, a pegasus who was once the Right Hoof to the Equestrian leader, Celestia, and current ward of Red Wing. They were standing in Silver's room, watching as servants packed away everything of importance that the young gryphon would need on his journey to Equestria.

Silver stood there and watched as all his things were packed into trunks. He was being forced to go to a cloud-city in Equestria named Cloudsdale to join with young gryphons and ponies from the two countries in a year-long Flight Camp.

"Father, tell me again why I must leave my training and go to Equestria," Silver asked, hating the whole idea of leaving the North and traveling away from home for the first time in his young life.

Red looked down at his son, considering him. He had grown from a small and unassuming cub into a fine young gryphon. He was relatively proud of his son, with his mothers silver feathers, and his fathers grey fur. Sometimes, however, he couldn't help but be frustrated with him. Silver had asked the same question five times, and he had given practically the same answer every single time. He was about to answer once more when Rome interjected with his own answer.

Rome spread out his left wing and brought it across Silver's middle and pulled him closer, away from Red, whom he could see was getting visibly frustrated with his son. "Do you know how annoying it must be for your poor father to be asked the same question over and over and over again? Based on my own experiences, I can tell you that it is very annoying, and you should probably stop before he gets too mad."

Silver pulled away from him, back towards his father and looked at the pegasus. "I just think it's stupid. I can already fly and Equestria is too damn warm."

At this point, Red interrupted them, having had enough of the argument. "You would do well to acclimate yourself to the warmth of the equuish sun. While it may seem this winter will never end, it will, just as every other winter has ended, and summer will come once more, just as those in the South say. Hopefully when you return you will be greeted by your first summer." As he spoke, he walked around to stand in front of his son. Once before him, he continued; "Furthermore, at this 'Cloudsdale Flight Camp' you will meet and become friends with the next generation of Equestrian nobles and aristocrats, as well as commoners, and I believe that it would do you good to meet others your age. You will also learn their language faster and better than Rome or your tutors could ever teach you here. And do not worry, for you will not be going alone. During your journey you will be accompanied by an entourage from this very keep, which will meet with other young gryphons and their retainers closer to the border. Rome, here, will also accompany you to Equestria, as he knows the land better than any of our own. However, I expect you won't have much time for him during the camp, as you'll probably be focused on the activities and competitions."

As Red finished his speech, Silver looked down at the ground for a moment before raising his head and looking into his father's eyes. "Alright, fine. I'll go to Equestria and take my place in the activities of this 'flight camp', but know that I would rather stay."

His father smiled at him, then, and nodded. "That is fine. I'm sure you'll find yourself having fun before long. Now, go find your mother. I have to have a talk with Rome. Go on."

Rome watched as Silver turned and walked out from his room before turning to face Red. "Well, you handled that better than I expected you would."

"Did you expect me to get angry at my son simply because he does not understand what is happening to him? If I were to do that every time he was confused, then I don't think he would like me very much." Red said, looking to the black furred pegasus. He stood at least three feet taller than him, with rust colored feathers and grey fur, looking down, frowning slightly.

"Well of course not," Rome said, smiling up at him cheekily, "But you didn't even seem a bit annoyed that time… but I take it you didn't want me to stay just so we could talk about the way you act towards your son. What's the reason for this."

"You would be correct in your assumption," Red continued, "While you and Silver are in Equestria, you must protect him at all costs. Stay nearby always, but do not interfere too often. I want Silver to get the full experience of being a regular hatchling, spending time with ponies and gryphons his own age, not having to worry about which family does what, or how to properly run a castle. But, no matter what, keep a close eye on him. There is no telling what lengths my enemies will go to to hurt me."

Rome nodded, he knew through years of service to both Equestria and to Red and the Wing family that opposing political leaders would go to any lengths necessary to gain an advantage over their rivals, especially when it came to the gryphons in the Five Kingdoms.

"So, what you're telling me is that you basically just want me to do my job. But I have a question."

"And that would be?"

"Right. How am I supposed to… blend in? I don't think seven years is a long enough time for Celestia to forgive my crimes. She has quite a long, memory you know. A couple thousand years, at least."

Red looked down at the pegasus with a disapproving look.

Seeing this, Rome quickly continued. "I'm not saying I wouldn't go either way, I owe your family my life for taking me in after I left Equestria, but how much help can I give Silver if I'm arrested the moment I set hoof in Equestria?"

Red considered the pegasus for a moment, before answering. "I see your point… during your stay in Equestria you will go by the name Romanus, and disguise your voice with a southern-Equestrian accent. You will arrive a day ahead of Silver and the rest of the travelers and set yourself up as a camp counselor. I will send a letter ahead by raven to tell my contact in the Cloudsdale Council to make sure you get the job."

"Hm…" Rome thought about the plan for a few moments before deciding it was the best they could come up with on such short notice. "Sounds good enough. As long as the message gets there, it should all work out fine."

"Very good." Red nodded to the pegasus once more before turning back to the servants who were just putting the last of Silver's things in the trunks.

"All right," He boomed, and everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to face the large gryphon. "Move all the trunks down to the gates and get everything else ready to go. We leave in an hour!"

With that announcement, Red turned and strode out of the room, wings shuffling, leaving Rome and the servants standing there.

"Come on, you heard the Duke, get all the trunks out of here!" Rome shouted when nobody moved, "We don't have all day!"

End of Chapter One! Next Chapter on THIS page! To be started tomorrow. I will be creating the Fimfiction story now and it should be up later tonight. I'll link it when it's up.