Disclaimer: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is the property of Hasbro. I make no legal claims to it whatsoever, only to the original characters created for this story.

Author's note: This chapter was posted on both FIMFiction Dot Net and Fanfiction Dot Net on 2017-12-13.

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Chapter Fourteen

Xvital

Xvital was annoyed as she made her way back to the hotel. It was far later in the day than she had wanted to leave but with the riots breaking out from the wild celebrations that had sprung up, Tizoc's minister of security had flatly refused to let her go outside on her own, and Tizoc had backed him on the matter out of concern for her safety. She also had to stay and listen to his entire meeting about the matters of state, something which frankly bored the living daylights out of her, while one of her best friends was out there dealing with this insanity, a fact that she was most displeased by. She could only hope that he wasn't handling it alone; the thought that one of their other friends had accompanied him was all that was keeping her from snagging one of the guards and going out early to find him herself.

Despite this, she knew how important this was and did her best to keep her focus during the entire meeting, presenting that she was taking this seriously. She made sure to ask the right questions and for some clarifications on stuff she didn't know, and did her best not to get annoyed when they told her she did not have clearance and had to stand outside for a bit.

And now that they were done, she had this group of Cuanmiztlan guards surrounding her as she moved around the city. On one hand, it made things so much easier as they could easily force away anyone that came too close and the Cadenza Guards left them alone. On the other… well, it was annoying that she couldn't go anywhere by herself, even if she did understand the reasons why. And her old criminal instincts were just screaming at her to get away as fast as possible, forcing her to clamp down on herself so as not to make a scene.

Still, even with all these headaches, it would all be worth it when she finally got married to Tizoc.

Turning her head to her guards as she approached the penthouse door with the Royal Guards outside, she cleared her throat. "Dismissed."

The Cuanmiztlan guards exchanged glances. "With all due respect, my lady," one began, before Xvital cut him off.

"I said, dismissed," she barked. "I'm not planning to go out again tonight, and despite our past differences, the guards here are fully capable of keeping an eye on things. So return to your posts at the embassy."

After a moment, one of them bowed. "As you command, my lady."

Despite his words, they were still there as she entered the room, and she had the feeling that they'd be doing their best to stick around without being seen.

Turning her thoughts from the guards, she entered the main room of their suite, and smiled at the sight in front of her.

All of her friends were in there and none of them seemed hurt, though Wind Breaker did look somewhat shaken up. "What's been happening?" she asked as she went over and took a seat with Night standing by the phone, looking increasingly annoyed.

"Besides the obvious with the Hatcheries?" Wind Breaker took a deep breath. "Well, I found out some things about my origin that startled me quite a bit."

"How bad?" she asked while noticing Vix-Lei was pacing tensely with Rex gripping the arm of his chair tightly, though somehow doing so in a way that his claws were not against it, and Page had her eyes closed and her lips were moving softly in a way that told Xvital she was speaking to another Changeling through the hive mind connection and it was something big if Page was being this obvious.

"Apparently, I was born in the Griffish Isles," Wind Breaker said heavily. "And then I was stolen and brought here to Canterlot by some… I don't even know what to call them, but the point is, I was born free and forced into Hatchery status, all to satisfy somepony's greed!"

"Holy Mictlan," Xvital swore, her eyes bulging. "I didn't think things were that bad; no wonder the city is going nuts."

"Yes and it is making getting through the phone line a real pain in the-Blade Manor for the fifth time!" Night shouted. "This is Night Blade, their third son-yes I know how old they are, they are my parents- yes I am that Night Blade!" He threw up his hooves in disgust, and Xvital guessed that the operator must have said something about his moniker from the papers. He waited a brief few seconds before snorting loudly. "Yes, you… pony," he spat, clearly resisting the urge to swear. "Can fine me anything you like if they complain and don't you dare put me on hold again or I will find you and-finally!" Night shouted, rolling his eyes, with his hoof tapping the floor.

"What's going on-" Xvital tried to ask, only for Night to hiss at her, holding a hoof to his lips and then to the phone.

"Yes, hello?" Night said to the phone. He paused. "Yes it is me, Mother." Pause. "I'm fine and so are my friends, Mother." He paused again. "Thank you Mother," he said as he shifted on his hooves. "Mother, there is a reason why I called you." He listened. "Well, Wind Breaker, my friend, recently learned of his roots and I was hoping we could borrow the family skimmer so we could all go find his family. The thing is, they're overseas, so…"

At her response, Night stared at the phone, shifting a bit before saying. "And?"

Xvital saw his expression change to one of relief. "Thank you Moth-" Then his eyes widened, and he blinked. "Huh?"

He listened for a moment. "Umm," Night put his hoof on the phone before looking at Page. "You are coming with us, right, Page?"

"I can't; I need to stay here for my hive," she said, shaking her head.

"Right, right," Night said to himself before moving his hoof off the phone. "No Mother, Page is unable to come; she has other commitments in Canterlot at the moment."

Whatever Sweet Dagger said next, it made Night Blade's eyes bulge. "Excuse me‽" He stared at the phone "I am of age, and-" cutting himself off, he listened to her response. "What-"

He was quiet for a moment as Sweet Dagger spoke, then looked at the phone again. "Oh." he said dimly, blinking before coughing. "That makes a lot of sense, Mother. I will have to ask Page about this but-"

"I guess it's okay?" Page said loudly enough so it should be heard over the phone. Xvital winced at the volume, then watched as Night nodded his head. "Yes Mother." Pause. "Yes, Mother?"

His mouth twitched a bit. "I understand exactly what you mean, and that was already part of the plan, Mother," he said. "In fact, I was going to ask who might be available to serve as our pilot for the trip." He paused again. "Yes Mother?"

Xvital winced again as he squeaked out a surprised "What?", then shook his head to clear it. "Ahem. Actually…" Pause. "Well, as it happens, Matron Hush Tone has already asked us for exactly the same thing," he said. "This is the first time I have spoken to you or Father since I was informed of her request, and it is one of the things I was meaning to bring up."

He paused again and looked at Page. "Once we get back, Mother. Alright, Mother. Thank you, Mother," he said before hanging up the phone and turning back to all of them. "Good news, we'll be able to head out tonight."

"That fast?" Xvital blinked.

"When Mother wants something done, she gets it done," Night said. "Although there were a few things I had to agree to."

"Such as?" Rex asked from his seat.

"Well, as you can probably guess, my parents are just as interested in having a meeting with you and the Matron as she is with them and I," Night said, directing his words toward Page. "And the other is…"

"Let me guess," Vix-Lei broke in. "Sometaur other than me as your driver?"

"Er, yes." Night Blade coughed. "Your reputation being what it is…"

"Nah, I understand." Vix-Lei waved it off. "As long as they don't mind me just being aboard."

"That shouldn't be an issue," Night replied.

"Anything else we should know?" Page asked, looking up at him.

"Er, yes…" Night Blade coughed nervously. "She said something about she and Father wanting you and I to be… chaperoned?"

Page gave him a look. "Explain. Now," she said in a dangerous tone that caused Night to gulp.

Xvital winced at that, then watched as Night Blade began to hurriedly explain.

Sweet Dagger

"My love?"

Sweet Dagger looked away from the window she was gazing out of. "In here," she called.

A moment later, Lethal Blade walked in. "Is it still as wild out there as it was earlier?"

"Absolutely," Sweet Dagger replied, her eyes still on the griffons that filled the skies that had only the Cadenza Guards chasing them, the Royal Guards oddly absent. "The way things are going, I'll be surprised if this doesn't last for a week."

"I'd tend to agree with you," Lethal replied. "While I can't say as I object to the King's deciding to end the Hatchery system, I can't help but wonder if he didn't think the immediate consequences all the way through."

"I am just worried about our children and grandson; I know Crooked and Striking were assigned to one of the Hatcheries today," Sweet Dagger said. "And the Warrior only knows where Hidden, Deep, Serrated and Night are… I certainly hope they're staying safe. And Night's friends too." She glanced at Lethal. "Come to think of it, wasn't one of them a griffon?"

"You're absolutely right," Lethal said. "And I think the papers said he was a Hatchery Griffon too…"

Brrr-ing!

The two ponies exchanged glances as the phone cut off whatever Lethal was about to say next, then Sweet Dagger hurried over to answer it. "Hello?"

"Yes, Blade Manor?" the operator's voice said. "You have a call from a Night Blade."

Sweet Dagger's heart skipped a beat. "Put him through, please."

"Transferring now."

A moment later, she heard a very recognizable voice. "Yes, hello?"

"Night, is that you?"

Lethal Blade looked at her wide-eyed, but kept quiet as she spoke. "Night, are you okay? We heard everything that is happening right now and we were worried about you and your friends."

She listened, then mouthed 'They're okay' to her husband. "That's so good to hear Night."

She listened again, then nodded. "I would expect as much, Night. What is wrong?"

Her eyes widened, then she nodded once more. "I see." Pause. "Well, of course you can borrow the family skimmer," Lethal Blade's eye twitched at that, "On some conditions, Night."

She glanced at Lethal for a moment. "Firstly, is your marefriend going to come with you?" She listened for a bit before nodding her head. "Well, once you do get back, we, your father and I, would like you to have a chaperone when you are out with her."

Both ponies winced at the blast of volume that came from the phone, but Sweet Dagger shook it off. "We know that Night, and that is why we are asking you two to do this to help." At his startled response, she continued. "Listen Night; we know that we have little right to ask this but we are doing this for you. Ponies of the other noble houses will see you together and will begin to poke at things that don't line up. If they see you two with a chaperone, it would give the situation some sign of normality and less reason to openly pry."

Night started to answer, but in the background she heard a voice saying "I guess it's okay?"

"Was that Page?" she asked. "Well, good. Now, to the next thing, Night." Pause. "I will have to insist that you get somepony other than your minotaur friend as your driver… we did see the article about that skimmer chase, and, well..."

Catching Lethal's eye again, she gave a friendly smile, then turned to the phone again. "I'll let you know as soon as possible. And one more thing, Night." She listened for a moment. "Your father and I insist that we meet you, your marefriend and her guardian for dinner."

At his loud squeak of a response, she winced, then spoke again. "Yes?"

Her eyes widened at his reply. "I see." She paused and thought for a moment. "When should we meet?" Pause. "Good; we will meet at the Glass Jewel as soon as possible after you return from your trip." Pause. "And we will have the skimmer ready for you by tonight."

After she had hung up, she looked at Lethal Blade. "Well. That was certainly unexpected."

"Is there a particular reason he wanted to borrow the family skimmer?" Lethal asked.

"Well, apparently, one of his friends recently found out he has family overseas, and they want to go see them," Sweet Dagger replied. "And before you ask, he's already agreed that they should have a driver who isn't their minotaur friend."

"That is a relief," Lethal said. "I doubt we could cover her on our insurance…"

"I wonder where she learned to drive?" Sweet Dagger mused.

"Probably back in her homeland," Lethal Blade replied. "But I believe you promised our youngest that the skimmer would be ready by nightfall?"

"Of course." With that, Sweet Dagger picked up the phone and began to dial again. "And once our son comes home, we get to meet his marefriend."

"Quite." Lethal Blade looked contemplative. "What do you think she's like, anyway?"

"Well, I can make a few educated guesses," Sweet Dagger said. "We know her name is Page; we know they first met at the Grand Library, and from what Night just said a little while ago, apparently she is a ward of the library's Matron Hush Tone."

Lethal's eyebrows rose. "Really?"

Sweet Dagger nodded. "And apparently the Matron is just as interested in meeting us as we are she and Page."

"Well, that should make things easier," Lethal said with a satisfied smile. Suddenly, his eyes widened as he had a thought. "Hold on a minute, I'll be back."

Sweet Dagger looked curiously as he left the room, and returned a few minutes later, a grim look on his face. "I'd almost forgotten about this," he said as he held a newspaper out. "This is the article about their battle in the Everfree Forest."

Accepting it, Sweet Dagger studied it, reading the article briefly, then dropped it in shock. "Page Turner," she whispered as she turned to her husband. "A changeling?"

"Apparently so," Lethal Blade replied. "And from the sound of things, she's been hiding in the form of a unicorn for years; it's clear that he knows about this, but for how long, I can't begin to guess."

"We'll have to ask the next time we see him," Sweet Dagger said softly. Turning her attention back to the phone, she pursed her lips. "But in a relationship with a changeling or not, I promised him we'd help out with their trip overseas."

"Of course." Lethal Blade let out a sigh. "I just hope he knows what he's getting into with her."

"We will support him regardless of the fact of course," Sweet Dagger said.

"Absolutely," Lethal replied. "Still… I hope that we can get some answers soon."

Sweet Dagger nodded, then as she heard the operator speaking, she asked to be connected to the shipyard where the family skimmer was kept, and was soon giving the orders for it to be prepared for travel.

Wind Breaker

Some hours later in the night, the group of six were at the shipyards, staring up at the skimmer they'd be taking to the Griffish Isles.

"Boy, when you said this was a luxury model, you weren't kidding," Vix-Lei remarked with awe in her voice. "That's a ZRX-29 Nova, if I'm not mistaken."

"You're not," Night Blade replied. "My family's owned it for years, and it's large enough to fit my entire family comfortably along with some room for the cook, the pilot and a few others of our staff… not that all of us have ever used it at the same time."

"Ahoy there!" a voice suddenly called. "Lord Blade, is that you?"

"Absolutely, Cloud!" Night Blade turned and nodded to the batpony who was now approaching. "Everypony, I'd like you to meet Gray Cloud. He's been with our family for years, and he'll be our pilot on this excursion."

"Pleasure to meet you," Vix-Lei said as she stuck a hand out. "Always nice to meet a fellow pilot."

"Though from what I understand, I'm not nearly as crazy in the air as you are," Cloud replied. "Where'd you learn to fly like that, anyhow?"

"Most of my teachers worked part time driving passenger chariots when they were in college," Vix-Lei replied with a grin. "I picked up a lot of tricks from them."

"That'd explain it," Cloud replied with a chuckle. He then looked at their luggage, and looked at Night again. "Not everypony is coming?"

"I can't go," Page shook her head. "I have things I need to do here."

"Same," Xvital said while clearly relieved that she was staying on the ground. "Those guards over there are waiting to take me to my classes so I can learn how to do certain things."

"Regrettably I will not be there to keep an eye on my friends either," Rex said. "I have just recently got an interview with the Academy and I need to be here for it."

"That's why I'm going," Vix-Lei said with her thumb against her green vest. "I can keep an eye on these two."

"I thought the reason you were going was to avoid Mom, big sis," Herakles said as he and the rest of Vix-Lei's brothers called out from the ship they were working on.

"Excuse me for a moment; need to go kill, or at least maim, a little big twerp," Vix-Lei said as she started to swing Lady Kabonk overhead, and everypony rushed to stop her except for Xvital who was giving him some looks.

"Hey Wind," she said softly. "How are you doing?"

"Still in shock, to be honest," Wind Breaker said numbly, watching Night try in vain to pull Vix-Lei away from the taller, laughing minotaur while wondering if he had any siblings that he could be teasing like this right now. "But hopeful, I guess."

"Right…" she trailed off before letting out a sigh. "Okay don't hate me for this but have you been drinking again?"

Wind turned his head sharply at her, insulted for a split second and sighing as he responded to her. "No, I haven't. When I meet my real family, I don't want to them to see me as a drunkard or an alcoholic or… well, you know what I mean."

"Yeah, I know, but…" Xvital looked concerned. "Just checking, you know?"

"I know." Wind Breaker sighed again. "One of these days, I am going to kick this habit, and then none of you will be able to hold it over me."

"And we'll be very glad for you when you do it," Xvital told him.

Wind Breaker gave her a faint smile. "Thanks."

"No problem."

A minute later, as Vix-Lei had finally been persuaded to not chase her oldest younger brother around anymore after she had quote unquote 'evened the scores', the group began loading their luggage onto the skimmer with Night and Gray Cloud showing them around, and Night taking the key to the liquor cabinet away, although he gave a guilty look when he saw Wind looking at him as he did so. When they had finished, Wind Breaker saw Night Blade giving Page a final hug, before the trio staying behind left the shipyard with Xvital's guards leading them away.

"Everypony please prepare for take off," Gray Cloud announced as he began powering up the skimmer. "And here we go."

And with that, they took to the sky, with the bat pony moving around the ships in the air before he cleared the airspace and took off to the Griffish Isles.

Several minutes later, peering out a side window of the aircraft, Vix-Lei had a massive grin on her face. "Feels great to be back in the air," she remarked.

"I know the feeling," Gray Cloud said from the pilot's seat as he reduced the skimmer's speed. "I always wanted to be a pilot, ever since I was a colt and got my talent emblem for flying; when the Blade family hired me after I'd finished my training, it was like a dream come true." He chuckled, looking at Night. "And I have to say, Night here is the only Blade child who has not taken any of the ships for a joyride."

"What?" Night blinked at the older stallion.

"Yeah, when your siblings were younger, they would take out your family ships all the time," he chuckled. "They didn't get caught until either Crooked or Hidden crashed the old skimmer while they were in Los Pegasus on vacation and crashed into the base of that one tower, the mini replica of the one from Mareis, Prance in front of that press set your parents had going then," Cloud laughed harder. "Your parents were so furious with Crooked after everything that happened."

"Wait, how did they mistake the two-oh wait, twins," Vix-Lei facehoofed, shaking her head. "Sorry, I forgot."

Night, meanwhile, was staring at him, looking utterly stunned. "They really did that?" he said.

"Oh yes; they never told you that, I suppose, Mister Night," he said, scratching the back of his head with his wing. "And both Deep and Serrated have had their own misadventures too."

Wind Breaker turned his head to see Night looking very awkward and uncomfortable. "I guess that is something you can ask your family once we get back to Canterlot, right Night?"

"Ye-yeah," Night said, eyes on the ground with Wind wincing as he realized his words were hurting his friend. "I guess I can do that."

"That's good Nighty," Vix-Lei said, slapping Night on the back.

"So where exactly in the Griffish Isles are we heading to?" Grey Cloud asked them.

"The Essex region," Wind Breaker spoke up. "That's what my papers say I am from."

"From? So all that talk about griffons being stolen was true?" Cloud winced. "Sorry to hear that; never actually believed those rumours until just now."

"At least some of them are," Wind Breaker replied with a sigh. "I don't know how many other young griffons besides me were stolen from their homes, but…" He shook his head. "I just hope we can actually find my family when we get there."

"We all do, Windy," Vix-Lei said before giving him a light punch on the arm. "Besides, no offense Wind, but you do stand out with your eyes and coat colours being all odd and different. Shouldn't be that many griffons that have your mixed up eyes and darker colours, right?"

"Yeah," Wind said, a smile forming on his beak. "Never thought of it like that; I never saw another griffon with a pair of mismatched eyes like me here in Canterlot."

"There you go, Windy," Vix-Lei said as she stretched out before shaking her head and letting out a jaw-cracking yawn that made Wind cringe. "I hate to say this, but late as it is, I gotta hit the sack. About how long until we reach where we're going?"

"Manehattan is the last city before we reach the Celestial Sea," Grey Cloud told her. "The Griffish Isles are further north of there, about halfway between Equestria and Griffonstone. So you should have plenty of time to get some rest."

"Sounds good to me. Night all." With that, she headed out of the pilot's cabin and made her way to her cabin. Night turned his head and gave Wind a look. "We should go to our cabins if you want to be awake when we get there," he said softly.

"Yeh." Slipping out of his seat, Wind tipped his head to Gray Cloud, who nodded back and shut the door to the pilot's cabin behind him, and the two stallions headed towards their own cabins when Wind Breaker stopped Night.

"Night, again," Wind Breaker looked at the pony's face. "I cannot begin to say how thankful I am for this."

"Wind, I am just happy that I can do this for you," Night said, smiling at him. "It's been a very long day, Wind; try and get some sleep, okay?"

"Right," Wind Breaker said, walking into the luxurious cabin, feeling almost out of place in all this finery but he made his way to the bed and sat down, almost sinking inside of it. Looking around as he moved under the blanket, he knew in the morning he would be where he was born, maybe even his home.