The Griffons Rise
Chapter 22: Intermission: Canterlot News
Previous Chapter Next ChapterIt was early morning in Equestria while our certain human was getting his knighthood, addressing the general griffon public in Griffonstone, across the border and an ocean. Equestria was just barely getting up from their comfy beds to greet the day.
With the exception of one mare in particular that is.
Waking up far earlier than any day-walking pony in existence at the unholy hour of four in the morning, Celestia Dawnbringer, Princess of the Sun, Ruler of the Day, Devourer of Cakes and Slayer of Donuts, was sitting on the balcony in her room, waiting for her sister to lower the moon so she can assume control over the day once more.
While she was sitting and waiting, the princess of the sun started to think of all that has transpired recently, notably with what has been happing to their neighbor in the east.
'To think that after so many years, somepony was brave enough to dive into the abyss to reclaim their sacred relic...such bravery must be commended for a race that holds honor and pride above all else.' the aged monarch thought to herself as she felt the celestial body in the sky lower towards the horizon and saw the tiny specks of orange and yellow in front of her.
'It is such a travesty to see a nation fall on such hard times, even harder to see when they have refused any and all aid that we have offered them. Their stubborn pride won't allow them to accept any form of help as they always saw it as a form of charity. I know I had to try to help them but time and time again they refused to accept my help...to see them starving and fighting amongst themselves over scrapes...'
'But it seems that isn't the matter anymore, to think that the old griffon I knew so long ago was the one to swallow his pride and hired outside help. Outside help that turned out to be somepony that looks like a mix of a diamond dog and a minotaur...not the most likely of heritage but it is all that I have at the moment.'
The solar princess was in deep thought but the moment she felt her sister ease her control over the moon she saw that it was now her turn to take over the sky and usher in the new day. Reaching out over the horizon with her magic, the solar diarch grabbed hold of the colossal ball of plasma and radiation and gently pushed it over the horizon along a set path that she and her sister have designed over a thousand years ago.
As soon as the sun began to gently make its way across the sky, the morning light began to shine through the windows of the castle before cascading down onto the rest of Equestria.
Stepping away from the balcony the solar princess went about her daily routine of cleaning herself up and making herself presentable to the public she donned her golden regalia and stepped out of her room.
Upon exiting her room she saw that her escort of guards were already assembled and waiting for her, and with a nod from their princess that got into formation around her and began to follow her towards the royal dining hall.
To the royal guards they feel it is a huge honor to be their princess's side, to be the one to protect her should anything try to do her harm. An honor to be in her presence for many but to be hoofpicked by their captain, to be thought that they have excelled above all others and to be worthy enough to be the ones to safeguard her life.
But for the alicorn of the sun, it was nothing more than a burden, to be the one that the entire country looks upon for guidance and as the perfect shining example to look up to. For Princess Celestia, holding the lives of the thousands upon thousands of ponies and other non-pony species in her hooves to protect and lead, sometimes it is too much for her to handle and that she wished to just leave it all behind.
Deep down though, she knew that she couldn't simply abandon her crown and her ponies, she had to grin and bear it all, to endure it to keep her precious little ponies safe. She always thought that there would come a day where her ponies would finally be strong enough and smart enough to be able to guide themselves, to no longer need her presence only to raise and lower the sun, to give her the break that she clearly needs, but sadly that day isn't today nor would it arrive for the foreseeable future.
With a withering internal sigh the princess of the sun raised her head high and with an unbreakable conviction she trotted to towards breakfast, knowing that as long as she had her sister, her beloved student and her friends, that nothing in this world could break her!
Entering the dining hall the solar princess sat in her favorite seat and saw that today's newspaper was already there waiting for her along with a cup of tea and a small plate with golden brown toast beside it.
Smiling to herself the ruler of the day sat down and with the flick of her horn, she levitated the newspaper into the air and opened it up, already reading the first line when she saw a picture beneath the first article and read its title.
Griffon Royalty welcomes a new Knight into their ranks!!!
"Earlier this month all of Griffonstone was in uproar when they had heard that a mercenary hired by a local griffon has retrieved their sacred relic, the Idol of Boreas, and returned it back to where it belongs. We do not know who this mysterious savior is but what we do know is that this lone being has done what no other griffon could in over twenty years of their holy relic being lost. The Idol of Boreas, a solid gold sacred relic that predates the beginning of Griffonia and her outlying colonies, what we know of the Idol is that it contains a power that only works when its people are united and with their unity it unlocks their true potential, whatever that could be."
"We tried to get a word with the mysterious mercenary but we were unable to due to them receiving grievous injuries when they attempted to rescue Princess Eraclea from a rogue griffon baron who tried to usurp the throne earlier this month. The suspect in question, one Tazul Brune of House Argos, is the mastermind behind the attempted usurpation of the griffon throne, most of his accomplices have been apprehended by griffon authorities but a few are still at large. From what we were told by the griffon authorities, the traitor in question has kept his beak shut and isn't willing to tell anypony or anygriffon any thing regarding what he was trying to do nor would he tell us the names of those that have escaped capture and arrest."
"The griffon princess, Eraclea, has come out from this horrible ordeal unscathed and is sound of mind thanks to the efforts of the mysterious mercenary and his assistant, a diamond dog by the name of Scrawny. Princess Eraclea has spoken to us and she has told us that she is eternally grateful for her mercenary who not only saved her from traitorous noble and his band of unsavory bandits, but also for retrieving the Idol of Boreas from the Abysmal Abyss."
"For rescuing both the griffon princess from harm and for retrieving their lost relic, King Guto of the Griffon Kingdom has declared for his service towards the griffon nation and for rescuing his daughter and stopping Tazul Brune from taking his throne, the mysterious mercenary will be given a knighting ceremony and be welcomed amongst their ranks!"
The knighting ceremony is said to be taking place this week and that almost all of Griffonstone will be attendance to bless this rare occasion. More on this story on Page 02 --
Putting down the newspaper the celestial princess of the sun closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm her nerves as her eyes had caught the name of the second title on the newspaper, something that made her wings twitch in agitation and her spine quiver in fear.
Equestrian Princess leads legion of thestrals into Griffonia!
"Earlier this month, Princess Luna took the second legion of thestrals and marched under the cover of night along with the false story that it was a training exercise but from the an inside scope we learned that it was not a training exercise that our princess of the night was leading us to believe. Instead it being a training exercise, we found out that Princess Luna led one thousand lunar guards into Griffonia to rescue a single thestral guard that was seen in the company of Princess Eraclea of Griffonia."
"We do not know why the our beloved princess of the night took a thousand ponies into Griffonia for the rescue of a single pony, but what she did was entirely overkill in the sense that the griffon king could have seen this as a sign of invasion and declared war on all of Equestria over this act. Now we all know here at The Canterlot Times that Princess Luna is still getting used to the modern times but what she has done has put Equestria in a precarious position that might led to thousands of ponies and griffons dying. We here know that we couldn't leave one pony behind to be a prisoner to a bunch of diamond dogs, but to take so many ponies and without receiving the permission from both Princess Celestia to authorize the use of that many ponies for a rescue operation and King Guto of Griffonia to allow military access."
"Will this sour our relationship with the griffons because of this poorly thought-out plan of action and result in all of Equestria going to war due to one of our beloved princess's outdated diplomacy tactics, or will this be overlooked by our western neighbors and that harmony will prevail? More Info on Page 3--"
Slowly putting a hoof to her forehead, Princess Celestia ever so gently rubbed her head as she fought her hardest against a rising headache as what she read just sank in.
Her little sister, loved with all her heart and then some, took one thousand of her ponies and marched them westward and that action might have sparked a war with a nation that is on the verge of rebuilding itself and might be more than willing to revert to savagery due to their dire situation.
Closing her eyes and counting to ten, the older sister waited until the ten seconds have passed until finally allowing herself to blow off the built up anger that has just recently been created by reading the newspaper by shouting to the heavens in absolute unbridled rage.
And it was from that day forth did the city of Canterlot feel the very foundations of their homes quake to the point of everyone thinking in fear that their beloved city was going to collapse and fall into the lake and forest below them.
"LUNA SELENE DUSKBRINGER! WHAT DID YOU DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
And it was also in that moment did Luna find out, that she fucked up.
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