Author's Notes:

Our heroes now arrive on the shore of the Griffon Kingdom, a country that is rich in minerals and the first country in order to industrialize new forms of technology that have not been seen before in other parts of the world. However, as of recently, monster incursions have begun to rise and some of those who live in the kingdom have seen themselves at higher risk at getting attacked by monsters. Now, with the help of a very skilled griffon engineer, Rain and his comrades begin their trek towards the shrine of the next crystal.

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On a more serious note, this version of the Griffon Kingdom is not like the one that we are all familiar with in the show/comics. Sure, there are similar elements to the Griffons and locations, such as most locations and names starting with the letter G, but I decided to expand on it some more by picturing the griffon kingdom as a country that's rich in minerals and where parts of the country are always changing and introducing new technology and ideas. So, I really do hope you like what I have in store for you as Exvius: Rainfall goes into it's second arc.

Also, I really do think you'll like Rain's new companion. Just wait and see for yourself.
-Frost

Crossing the ocean in a ship that was made to brace the waves was one thing that Rain and his companions were familiar with, despite only having traveled once. However, when it came to their current trek across the seas, there were a couple of things that made this trip much different than the original trip.

For one thing, the boat that they were using to traverse the ocean was much smaller than the big trading vessel from before. Around the size of a lifeboat if one was to be really specific. Secondly, this one was powered by a motor that’s being fueled by crystals, a contraption that they had not entirely seen before. Despite the fact that the transport ships that are normally seen in Canterlot used engines too, those ones mostly relied on that from other sources and did not use crystals because such a technology was still in the production stage. And there was not much evidence on how it can be able to make things easier for ponykind in Equestria.

As for the three travelers, going across the seas with this was… well, actually rather simple given how fast it was. Trying to stop it, on the other hand… became much more of a problem once they were getting closer to shore. Because of the fact that this form of technology was rather unfamiliar with the unicorn, he did not know what exactly he could do in order to stop it. And when he did, it was already too late. Because the speeding boat had hit a rock that was sticking out of the waters and sent the three of them flying onto the beach. Causing debris and pieces of the small craft to fly off everywhere and for the engine to explode in the water.

To Rain though… crashing a ship this time… and one that was entrusted to them by Gabby, was not something that he was entirely thrilled about. Because it was not like the last time, where they could just blame what happened on a Leviathan. “Ugh… and just when I’ve really wanted to not end up crashing on a beach again…” He rubbed his head, getting to his feet as he began to brush the sand off his clothes. Nearby him, he noticed that Luna was beginning to stand up on her own.

At first, it looked like she was rubbing her head… almost like the alicorn had some form of headache. Concerning Rain as he approached her. Shining himself also caught up with him from the other side as he looked at the two of them. “Hey, Luna? Are you okay-?”

“Hold on…” Shining interjected as he walked over to Rain’s right hand side. “Something’s not right…”

“What do you mean by that?” Rain asked. But his question was soon answered when a magical purple colored aura began to surround the alicorn as she looked towards him. And even though she still looked the same… her tone was much different than before. “Heh heh… It’s been a while… hasn’t it Rain?”

The voice caught the knight off guard as he looked at Shining Armor before looking towards him. “What the…”

Of course, before Rain could be able to finish his sentence, that was when Luna kept on speaking as she smirked now. “So the young child that was left to die in the forest has now grown…”

“W-what are you-? Luna, just what are you talking about?” Rain tried asking her, before the alicorn closed her eyes and spoke once more to him.

“If you remain to fight alongside me, then you will soon need to make a choice…” She now told him, before turning around. “Aldore… or Hess. Which will it be?”

Both knights were now equally puzzled by the Alicorn’s remarks, but it was Shining Armor that was the first one to speak. “Aldore? Hess?” In his mind, both of those names sounded like the names of countries… but the last time that he looked at a geographical map of Equestria, he could not recall either country being named Aldore or Hess.

“Luna, what’s going on? You’re not making any sense at all!” Rain asked now, really hoping that the alicorn could snap out of whatever trance this exactly was. All before he heard her say one more thing.

“I hope you don’t start whimpering like a foal again. When you know of the truth, that is…” After that single statement, Luna’s eyes widened as the magic that was originally around her began to dissipate. Returning the alicorn to her normal self… before dropping to her knees and crying out in pain before collapsing on the beach.

“Luna!” Both knights immediately raced to the Alicorn’s side as Shining placed two fingers underneath the alicorn’s chin. Holding it there for a moment before letting out a sigh of relief.

“It looks as if she’s just unconscious…” The unicorn told his partner as Rain looked back to her. Shortly before picking her up and placing her on his shoulders. “But…”

“But what?” Rain then asked, holding onto her legs as Luna was placed on his back.

“What she said just now… before she passed out,” The azure knight spoke up. “Do you think her memories are… well, returning to her?”

“I don’t know Shining… besides, that did not entirely sound like her at all,” The knight responded as both of them began to walk off the beach. Finding themselves on a dirt road that was surrounded by what looked like rather dry grass and trees that did not have any leaves at all. In fact, there wasn’t really a lot of natural life around them as they were traveling through the empty valleys and occasionally fighting any monsters that happened to come at them while they were traveling.

Though, this time around, it was Shining having to do most of the fighting because Rain had his hands full with carrying Luna. Of course, Shining himself did not mind because he was able to call on the visions that he had summoned before to assist him in combat for the time being as they made their way through a forest with barely any trees and… approached what looked like a stairwell that was etched into the rocks along with seeing what looked like mining equipment along the outside of it.

It was also in that moment when Rain soon heard Luna begin to wake up as her eyes fluttered open. “H-hunh? W-what happened?”

At that moment, Rain set the alicorn back on her feet as she looked at both knights in confusion. “Luna, are you alright? You kind of made us worry earlier…”

The alicorn nodded her head as she looked back at the two of them. “Really? Why would I do something like that?” She asked, surprising the two of them as both knights looked to each other.

It was around now that both of them explained to her about the events that occurred earlier in the day. Going as far as to try and tell her exactly what she said before passing out. Unfortunately though, this didn’t seem to ring any bells for the alicorn as she looked back to them, letting out a low sigh.

“So wait… you don’t recall anything that Rain and I just told you about?” Shining then asked her.

In response, Luna shook her head both ways before having her head hang down for a moment as she began to speak. “No… I’m sorry, but I don’t remember anything like that at all. It was… almost as if I had a dream,” She explained to both of the knights as she raised her head to look back at both of them now. “A dream that I know is rather important, but I can’t remember anything else about it.”

“Well, don’t beat yourself up over it,” Rain advised her as he had a smile on his face. “I’m sure it’ll come back to you.”

As for Shining Armor, he was looking around for a moment as the unicorn looked back at both of his companions. “In the meantime, I believe this is the mainland for the Griffon Kingdom that we’re currently standing on…”

“Hopefully it is… because so far, our track record with overseas travel has not exactly gone well for us so far,” The knight said, before noticing Luna move closer to the supplies and up the stone stairs as he turned around. “Luna?”

“Hey, look over here!” The alicorn pointed out as both knights reached the top of the stairwell in order to see what she was looking at. “That cave should lead us somewhere, right?”

“That’s no cave,” Shining Armor corrected her as he pointed out some of the items and provisions that were lying around the entrance that Luna found. “With this amount of supplies out here, railroad tracks and pickaxes? This isn’t a cave, it’s a tunnel… and it leads somewhere.”

“If somepony’s making tunnels, then it might mean that something must be on the other side, right?” Rain then suggested as he looked back at his companions. “Perhaps we’ll find that town that Gabby told us about? It’s worth taking a look.”

“It’s not like we got any other place to go.” Shining Armor added as the three of them began to go through the entrance of the tunnel. At first, Rain thought that he needed to bring a torch from some of the supplies outside so they could see… only to find out that whoever was here first had set up mini-torches throughout the tunnel that illuminated the passageway.

However, any thought of the tunnels being seen as easy to navigate was immediately extinguished. The tunnels themselves were huge and there was no real straight path for them to exactly follow. Not to mention the fact that there were also monsters that were lurking in these abandoned passageways, which of course made it harder for them to wrap their heads around where exactly where they were going when various monsters, such as gloom widows, headstones, steel bats and many other nasty monsters were trying to block the way forward.

As they were traversing the tunnels though, that was when they began to feel some rather strong and powerful winds rush through the underpass. Which, lead to Shining Armor saying something. “For a mining tunnel, the winds that have been blowing through here have been quite strong,” The Unicorn then looked towards Rain and Luna. “Perhaps it’s possible that we have reached the griffon kingdom after all. It is the home of the wind crystal.”

“It will be tucked away in a shrine right? Just like the earth crystal in the Everfree?” Rain then asked his companion as the Azure Knight looked back to him.

“Given what we know, it is the only likely possibility,” The unicorn told him. “And that’s where we must head… and we need to reach it before the Veritas get there first.”

“Alright, but we can’t reach the shrine unless we find our way out of the tunnels,” The crimson knight responded back. “And based on how long we have been walking in here already, it feels like we aren’t really getting anywhere.”

“Well, it is difficult to keep your bearings while underground-” His friend responded, taking a moment to wipe the sweat off his forehead. However, before he could be able to continue speaking, that was when they heard Luna interject and point out something to them.

“Rain, Shining! Over here!”

At first, both of them seemed confused. But when they noticed that Luna was beginning to walk off in the direction where she was pointing, that was when Rain soon spoke up. “Woah, hold on Luna. If you wander off on your own, you’re going to end up lost-” Of course, it didn’t stop Luna from beginning to continue on walking that way, shortly before turning around and trying to assure both of them that she knew what she was doing.

“I’ll be fine! You see, since we’ve been walking, I’ve been feeling this rather odd breeze flow through here,” The alicorn explained. “I’m sure that it’s this way! It’s like something is calling us. Come on!”

Of course, it didn’t really help that around now, Luna had already got a head start and was leaving both Rain and Shining Armor behind. Even with Rain calling out to her. “Hey!! Luna, wait for us!” The two of them were able to eventually catch up with her, but it was also around this time that… they did happen to notice the breeze that Luna was talking about. And it was getting stronger the more that they continued to follow the path.

While they were following it though, that was when Luna asked them a question. Not about the path they were on… but about a different subject. “Um… so this crystal we’re looking for… Veritas is trying to destroy it?”

“Yes…” Shining Armor replied simply.

“But why…?” That single question was the first of a few that Luna had on her mind. And something that both of the knights have not actually thought about. “Why is he trying to destroy the crystals though? What could he possibly gain from doing such a thing? And what would become of the world if they are all destroyed?”

“Other than what we know…” The unicorn thought, recalling the text from the books they read in Canterlot before setting on this adventure. “This is something that I don’t have an answer for… All I know from the sounds of it is that these crystals are seen as sacred, but that’s all I know about them.”

In Rain’s mind, he began to think that finding a way to protect the Wind Crystal from harm was of top priority. But first, they need to find out where exactly it is. And trying to find one crystal in such a big continent as this one was one rather big needle… in an even bigger haystack. Though, it was as he was thinking this that he and his companions happen to notice something beaming along the walls of the cave.

It was sunlight… “I think you were right, Luna. We’re getting close to finding a way out of here.” Rain told her, just as they found that a boulder was blocking the exit as he began to charge up the Crimson Saber with his magic. Once fully charged, he sliced at the rock that was blocking their path as it began to crumble into a heap of stones and sunlight began to pour through the tunnel. Allowing for them to leave the winding passage and finally step outside to get some fresh air.

“There we are! Finally, some fresh air…” The knight let out a huge sigh of relief as he and his companions walked out onto an open plateau that was not far from where the exit of the passageway was. “Dear Celestia, I’m glad we’re no longer stuck inside that tunnel anymore.”

“So am I.” Shining Armor replied in agreement. Before adding on something else. “And I think we have proof that we are in the Griffon Kingdom now.”

That had both Rain and Luna look back at the stallion with a confused glance on both of their faces. “Really? How?”

“Look over there,” The unicorn replied back as he pointed past the both of them. Through the mountainside ravine that was behind them, they could now see one thing that really stood out amongst everything else. Airships. And not just one or two… but several. Some even going into port at what looked like a massive city of metal not far from their present location. “Those are airships.”

“Air… ships?” Luna asked, sounding confused.

“Vessels of the skies,” The azure knight clarified for the alicorn. “Only in the Griffon Kingdom do they have the means to be able to build them. Even though there are workshops that build airships in Fillydelphia, the ponies in those shops were taught how to craft them from griffon migrants that were granted a place to call home in Equestria.”

“Wow Shining… I didn’t know that you were that much of a geek on airships.” Rain chuckled as his friend shot him a glance.

“I know about these because my father once met someone from Griffonstone.” Shining explained, before looking back at both Rain and Luna once again. “If we are seeing airships now, than it’s possible that we are either close to the town that Gabby had told us about or the capital of Griffonstone.”

“I would love to see one of these up close!” Luna said with glee in her voice before looking back at both of the knights. The trip down the ravine was a rather simple one for all three of them because instead of having to go through any particular tunnels again, all they needed to do to reach the nearest town was stick to the path. And the path itself was just a straight shot to the town at the end of it.

Once they reached the town of Granitebeak though… that was when things got really interesting. Because unlike some cities in Equestria, Granitebeak was a sprawling industrial capital that was almost like a huge tower or skyscraper. The entire city, shops, inns, airship docks and ports were all built out of metal and steel. Not to mention that a lot of the griffons that lived in the city looked like they had some form of mechanical contraption on hand. Whether they were part of the city’s military or they were engineers doing repairs on the ships.

And given all of this, it meant that trying to find the primary airship docks was more or less challenging for the three of them. Not to mention the fact that trying to ask for help lead to them getting stood up unless they paid up any bits they had in exchange. So, instead of doing that, all three of them just decided to proceed up the stairs to try and reach the docks on their own. Which, took a little while… but eventually the three of them made their way up to where the first set of airship docks were, seeing several griffons that were there. Including one that had white colored feathers on her face, neck and body, but the feathers on her head were a bright red and tied up in the back like it was a ponytail. Her clothes matched the same color of her toolkit and she was wearing red clothes, but a pair of yellow overalls over them and she wore a pair of goggles that matched the same color as the overalls.

And that griffon was the first one to notice them once Shining Armor began to speak up. “Excuse me, but I would like to speak to the griffon in charge here… my companions and I are in need of an airship.”

Immediately, the griffon turned around to face Shining Armor and his friends before letting out a sigh. “Then I’m afraid that you’re fresh out of luck, unfortunately,” She told them, placing her right claw on her hip as she shook her head while she was speaking. “These ships are military property. So we can’t just lend them out to just anybirdy, unfortunately.”

That surprised both Rain and Shining. But the first one to comment on the matter was Luna herself. “B-but, why not?! You have so many here!”

Which was followed by Rain asking a different question. “May I ask who I’m talking too?”

The griffon looked back at Rain and Shining, shortly before telling them an answer. “My name is Gadget… but my friends call me Fidget,” The griffon told them, “I’m the one who’s in charge here and for a good reason. I’m the best engineer that Granitebeak’s got right now. Why they’ll be calling me Cid in no time flat with the shift I’m running around here.”

At that boast though, Rain and Luna thought two separate things. For Rain, he was the one that was beginning to realize that this griffon was actually the friend that Gabby was talking about before they left. As for Luna… well, she voiced her thoughts through a question. “Cid? Why would they call you that? Isn’t that a boy’s name?”

Before the griffon could speak though, that was when Shining soon interjected. “From my understanding, Cid is a name and title that they bestow on all master engineers. One that dates back generations… At least, that’s what father told me.”

“Well, looks like somebirdy knows their history,” Fidget replied back, smirking at Shining Armor. “Not bad for a sword-swinger such as yourself.”

However, Shining was quick to make her tone change in a heartbeat. “So even the future Cid and Gabby’s friend can’t just lend us one little airship?”

“H-hold on there,” The griffon urged, backing up for a moment. “I’m not exactly Cid just yet… Wait, you know Gabby? Last I heard, she was returning back to her hometown to help out the creatures there.”

“That’s right… and since we were in town, we thought we could ask you for help,” Rain sighed, before turning to Shining and Luna for a quick moment. “Well… I guess we’re out of luck then. Looks like we’re going to be walking over to where that shrine is on our own-”

Immediately after saying that, Fidget rushed to the three of them and interrupted the crimson knight. “H-hold your chocobos for a moment… Did you say ‘shrine’? As in the Galewing Shrine?” That left Rain and his friends equally confused… but not before the griffon noticed the sigil on the knight’s clothes. “That sigil you're wearing… The two of you are knights of Canterlot, aren’t you?”

Then… came a bold declaration. “In that case, I’m going with you!”

“Wait…” Rain blinked, before looking at Fidget. “Coming with us…? Just what are you talking about?! I thought you said that we were fresh out of luck?”

“Well, the crystal’s that I need in order to get my latest masterpiece off the ground are inside that shrine,” The engineer explained to them. “If you fight off any nasty monsters that we come across, I’ll show you the quickest way to reach the shrine!”

That statement… soon had Shining think of something as he looked back to Rain. “These lands are still a bit foreign to us. If we are going to travel on foot, we can use a guide.”

“What about everyone you’re watching over though?” Rain then asked.

“I can just have Gillian watch over them for the time being. Besides, everybirdy here knows just as much technology with airships as I do.” Fidget said confidently. Leading to the crimson knight to soon make a final decision.

“Fair enough. You show us the way and we’ll be able to keep you safe.”

“Sounds like a deal to me,” The engineer grinned as she shook one of Rain’s hands. “Let me grab my toolkit and I’ll be ready to go.”

It took only a few moments for Fidget to grab the things that she needed for the trip and in that short time, Rain himself found that he needed to stock up on their supplies too. Though, unlike Canterlot, where food, water and medicine were sold relatively cheap, the same items in the griffon kingdom actually costed more. And he wasn’t sure if this was a trick for the griffons to get more money out of travelers or the effects of possible trade tariffs that made certain valuable items a lot more expensive.

Eventually, they were able to meet back up with Fidget… and it was when they did meet back up with her that Luna happened to noticed something peculiar. “Fidget, what’s that thing behind you?” Rain too… was also a little bit curious. Because throughout the time that they were with the griffon, she had a little mechanical bird follow her wherever she went. One that almost looked like that of a chocobo if you looked carefully at the paint and also its appearance, except for the sight of what looked like conveyor belts instead of talons.

“Oh this little guy?” Fidget pointed towards it as the metal bird chirped… almost like that of an actual chocobo as Shining Armor now looked to see what they were talking about. “Ain’t he adorable? This is mechabo, my own mechanical chocobo! I made him myself.”

“Y-you built him y-yourself? T-that’s amazing!” Luna complimented Fidget as the mechabo gave a small happy chirp.

Yet, for Shining Armor… he didn’t really seem entirely impressed. “So… if I’m getting this right… you essentially built a toy chocobo.”

Hearing the azure knight’s comments did not really settle well with the engineer. “A toy!? You think that my creation’s a toy to you?!” She growled, before looking at mechabo and getting out of the way. “Mechabo, teach this jerk a lesson!” Immediately, the mechabo began to push itself at Shining. Poking at his clothes as its sharp beak almost tore through them.

“O-ow! Hey!! That hurt!!” Shining winced, before realizing that the mechanical chocobo was not going to let up anytime soon. Which… lead to the unicorn being chased by the mechabo as he was trying to get away from it. All while Rain, Luna and Fidget were watching. Eventually… Shining was able to finally outrun it, but not before getting lectured by the engineer when he returned to the three of them.

“Well, I do hope you learned your lesson now,” She told him, before smirking as she looked back at the exhausted stallion. “Make fun or insult my mechabo and you’ll be in for a world of hurt. Got that?”

“I-i’m sorry…” Shining coughed, just as the mechabo finally returned to Fidget’s side. “It is no toy… It’s… an remarkable technological accomplishment.”

“You’re dang right it is.” Fidget smirked. But just as things were about to calm down, that was when the three of them heard a different voice speak up.

“Fidget, there you are! I’ve been looking all over for you-” They all turned around to see another griffon. This time one that looked to be wearing what looked like some kind of leather armor and had a red scarf around his neck. Not to mention he had what looked like an axe of some kind on his back that looked to have similar functions to that of Rain’s own Crimson Saber. “Oh… I’m sorry, did I interrupt something?”

“No Gillian. Actually, you were the griffon I was looking for.” Fidget spoke up as she looked back at them. “I was going to head outside of Granitebeak for a bit.”

“H-head out?” The griffon cautiously asked. “Aren’t you aware of the rise of monster sightings outside the city?” It was also in that moment that he looked towards Rain, Shining and Luna as well. “And who are these… foreigners?”

“Well, I’m Rain,” The crimson knight soon spoke up. “And my companions are Fina and Shining Armor-”

“Hold on… Shining Armor?” He said, blinking for a moment. “As in the son of Night Light?”

Now Shining’s attention was focused on Gillian as he raised an eyebrow and looked back at him. “You knew my father?”

“Well, of course I do…” The griffon added on, looking back at him. “When I was younger, I went to Canterlot in order to learn how to better serve the people here as one with the military. Your Princess introduced me to the captain of the guard at the time and he helped train me. Night Light told me about you during the time I was there and even showed me a picture… but I didn’t think there would be the day that I get to meet you myself. And all grown up, no less…”

After saying that though, Gillian soon had a new question for them. “So… what brings you all the way out to Granitebeak?”

That… had both Rain and Shining Armor look at one another for a moment before the crimson knight soon began to speak. “Well… originally, we were looking for someone to help us reach the Galewing Shrine. Fidget was going to help guide us over there in exchange for protecting her against any monsters that we might come across.”

Gillian, after hearing that, began to scratch his chin before looking back at Fidget. “I see… So, you were going to ask me if you can be able to keep an eye on everything here while you go help them?” Fidget herself, nodded in response to his question as Gillian let out a deep breath before speaking. “Alright, I’m okay with it-”

“Thank you very much-!”

“On one condition,” Gillian interrupted Fidget mid sentence as he looked back at the four of them. “If you’re going to the shrine, then there’s something I need for you to do along the way… Can you check on the dwarves at the Graphite Forge?”

That… had Rain and the others blink for a moment before the crimson knight asked for some clarification. “Uh… Dwarves?”

“Ah... right,” Gillian realized his blunder in not properly explaining it to the knights and their companion and began to try and quickly fix that. “The dwarves are a race of diligent and sincere beings that mostly live underground, primarily in the griffon kingdom. In fact, they help us with producing airships by creating the important pieces we need to build them… Primarily, they work in the Graphite Mines west of here and deliver to us parts every few days. But with what’s been going on recently, we haven’t received any new shipments in the last two weeks… and with the recent monster incursions, I’m worried that there might be some monsters causing problems for them at the forge. Even though they can forge weapons, not all of the dwarves in the mines are fighters. I would go… but we don’t have a lot of griffons here on duty to protect the citizens in case if monsters came into the city. Can I count on you guys to look into it and see if there’s anything you can do to help?”

“The mines are on the way to the shrine,” Fidget herself added as she looked back at Rain. “They even serve as a shortcut so you don’t have to go over the mountain peaks.”

After thinking it over and looking back at his companions, Rain smirked as he nodded his head. “You can count on us. As a knight of canterlot, I’ll make sure not to let you down. You have my word.”

The journey over to the Graphite Forge was supposed to be easy… again, supposed to. But, as the four of them began to set off on their travels, they began to find themselves tested against several different monsters on the way over. Both outside on the path towards the entrance… and inside the mountain as well. Though, Rain and Shining Armor saw it as a chance in order to be able to practice their swordsmanship against monsters that they haven’t encountered before. Especially since some might have been native to only the griffon kingdom and not anywhere else.

Eventually though, after fighting through several different types of monsters, they were able to eventually catch a break once they were further inside the mountain. And judging from how warm the air was getting, they seemed to be getting closer to the forge. And with it, Fidget herself soon turned around to face Rain, Shining and Luna. “Just wait here… I got this.”

“Is… this the forge?” Luna then asked as she looked around. “It’s so… massive.”

“Well, this is where the dwarves help with crafting our airship parts… but something’s not right,” The griffon replied back, pointing out that some of the contraptions in the dwarven workshop were not even moving. “Normally, the forges here are constantly being used around the clock. They’re not supposed to go cold like this unless if something happened…”

Of course, that was also when the griffon heard a familiar voice as Rain noticed what looked like a rather… short person with a long beard speaking up. “Lali-ho! Hey, everyone! Fidget’s here!!”

The griffon turned around, just as all four of them began to see other dwarves emerge from behind some of the anvils and contraptions in the workshop. Of course, to Fidget… she just smiled, relieved to see them as she greeted them the same way they greeted her. “Lali-ho to you friend!”

“We’re really glad to see you here,” The dwarf that was talking to her spoke up. “But me wish that it was under better circumstances.”

“I was going to ask about that… Gillian was getting concerned about you and was wanting to know what happened,” She asked, before looking back at everything. “You don’t normally stop production unless there’s a huge problem.”

“And that is the problem,” The dwarf then commented. “These damnable monsters are preventing us from working!”

Of course, Fidget herself was caught off guard by that. “Monsters?! Gillian told me that there have been monster incursions recently, but what would they be doing here?”

“Yer guess is as good as mine,” The Dwarf responded. “What’s worse is that some of me good friends are trapped on the other side. And we can’t get any work done without them.” Of course, that just lead to Rain looking back at Shining Armor as they looked back towards the dwarf.

“All the more reason to let us pass,” Rain then spoke up, catching the attention of both the dwarf and the engineer. “Just watch, we’ll free your friends. I swear on my honor as a knight of Canterlot!”

Despite the proud boast from the crimson knight though… the dwarf was not so easily convinced. “Yeh know not of what yer saying, boy. These ain’t ordinary fiends… They’ll eat you up and spit you out.”

Then, it was Shining’s turn to speak up. “A knight that cowers in the face of danger is no knight at all,” The unicorn said, before looking towards Rain for a brief moment. “Besides… Rain is not one to listen to common sense. Or even comprehend it.” That just got a brief smirk out of the Crimson knight as both Rain and Shining Armor passed Fidget and the dwarf. Descending deeper into the territory of the monsters that lurked inside it as the bewildered griffon looked towards Luna.

“Whoa… Talk about hitting below the belt,” Fidget stated. “You would think that knights of their caliber would be a little more… courteous.”

All Luna personally did though was just smile as she summoned her bow and looked back at the griffon. “You would think that, but then again, you’d be wrong… That’s about as civil as they get.” And before Fidget could even ask a follow up question, Luna chased after them, arrows drawn and at the ready in order to assist Rain and Shining with any challenging foes they might come across.

“Y-you can’t be serious!” Fidget finally said, only to realize that Luna was way too far away in order to hear her as the griffon shrugged her shoulders. “Dear crystals, please give me patience… I think I’m going to need it.”