The ship entered the harbor and stopped, the guards on deck tossing ropes to the griffins waiting for them on dry land. The bird creatures bound the ship to to the docks and then helped the ponies with pulling out the wooden platform used to board the ship.

Nathaniel watched it all from the cabin door, Luna getting ready to meet the griffon king. She had requested that all her guardians were to clean themselves up and look presentable, which was why Nathaniel was no longer wearing his self made clothes but rather a pair of white robes over armor-like pants and clothes.

The princess must have taken notes on the clothes he had been wearing and used her magic to measure him somehow, as the human had never agreed to model for someone that could make him new clothes. Rose and Osiris wore similar get-ups but for their size and stature with a silver helmet on top of their heads.

Luna had told him she hadn't gotten any time to make him a helmet, leaving him with his black hair and beard free in the wind. That was another thing the alicorn had wanted removed, his beard having grown out in the wild and looked messy like his hair, leading to Star Swirl now shaving him expertly using a knife.

Once the wizard was done with shaving him the human's hair was cleaned as well before being tied back into a pony tail, making Nathaniel look much more like his old self with the difference being a scar here or there from his time in the Everfree. But he looked more professional now, which would most likely help him here in the capitol of an empire.

The human looked to his right as the cabin door opened and Luna stepped forward, a silver crown with eight spikes on her head, a slack dress hugging her body and her normal royal regalia replaced with a silver collar. She looked much more like a ruler in that costume, much more like a queen than a princess.

She walked past him and headed towards the wooden platform, spreading her wings wide as a signal for the guards and her guardians to follow her. Nathaniel and Blaze walked behind her as Rose and Osiris took positions in front of her, eyeing the griffins that waited on the pier with suspicion. The young man was bust with holding the wolf back from the large sized chickens in front of them, Blaze growling and snapping his jaw at them.

"Princess, welcome to Griffonstone harbor. I am captain Steelbeak, chosen to be your guide and protector through our streets" A white feathered griffon said, his red eyes following the human behind the alicorn.

"Thou are not needed captain, we are safe and know these roads" Luna said and walked past the griffin warriors only for the captain to hold out his spear in front of her, making Rose glare at him.

"The roads are not safe these days princess, we need to guide you to the castle, king's orders" Steelbeak said and then pointed to the human, a griffon dressed in red robes motioning for him to step forward.

"This creature you brought needs to be searched and checked for possible diseases. We cannot have a epidemic because of a pet you brought with you" The griffon captain said, his silver armor giving of a clang as he stomped his front claw into the ground.

"We brought with us our bodyguard, thou will treat him as such and not as a common beast" The princess said with a frown.

"I'm sorry your highness, but King Guto has made it law that all new creatures will be examined. I am simply following orders" The red eyed griffon said and the human was prodded with the butt of a spear, lead towards the griffon in red.

"We want Guardian Sol back in full health, is that understood?" The alicorn told the griffins who nodded as the human went along with them, not feeling like he should take on fully armed guards.

The griffoness (as Nathaniel noted when he got closer to her) lead him towards one of the buildings in the harbor, the warehouse marked with a red cross. It was one of seven in the location they had all arrived in and it stood out with white walls and black roof while the others were only grey.

He was lead into the warehouse and frowned as he saw what the inside looked like, a large animal storage facility. There was cages stacked on each other everywhere with all sorts creatures inside them. The human could see a few wolves, apes and feline animals in some cages while monsters in others. So far he hoped they wouldn't try to poke him with a needle, this place looked as clean as a drug addicts outhouse.

"What exactly do you need from me?" He grumbled to the female griffon who looked at him in surprise before pointing to a clean corner where a metal table sat.

"Take of your clothes and sit down on that table" She told him and Nathaniel looked to the side and grumbled.

"Is that necessary? I'd rather not remove my clothes thank you very much" The young man said and the female shook her head.

"If you want even near that castle then you will do as I say, is that understood guardian?" The red robed griffon asked and Nathaniel growled, but slipped out of his robes and armor, setting the folded pile of clothes on the table before he himself sat on it.

The human had decided to keep his underwear on, giving the vet(?) a glare as she brought out a few weird looking instrument. The things reminded him of normal doctors equipment, if it had been given a paint-job from the middle ages. There was a glowing blue rock that she put against his chest, his heartbeat sounding amplified from the rock.

She wrote down what she learnt from her observations and what the tools told her, like his heartbeat. She forced him to get into a harness by punching him (so much for not hurting him) and checked his weight by having him hang from an old school scale. Once she had written that down she asked him to stand by a lined wall so she could see how tall he was, noting that down as well.

When she pulled a rubber glove over her talons and pulled out a liquid which reminded him of slime Nathaniel just ran for the door trying to use his magic. But for some reason was he unable to cast a single spell, which meant he ended up decked to the floor with the Griffoness checking everything before letting him back on the table. The human felt defiled in more than one way. (How did they even have a rubber gloves here!? Wasn't this like the middle ages!?)

After that was he forced to drink a potion that tasted horribly which would make his glow belly glow if he carried any disease. Thankfully for the human he didn't carry anything, which meant the young man was not forced to drink anything to get rid of viruses or similar things. If anything he was surprised he didn't carry some disease from earth that could wipe out all of pony and griffon kind.

Well, he didn't carry anything dangerous she later shared with him. He had been carrying common diseases but nothing that really made it worth wasting potions on him. So once she had made sure he would not contaminate the city the red feathered griffon had his strength measured as well as cheek how heavy objects he could pick up with his magic. For some reason she seemed to decide when his magic worked, maybe there was some sort of machine in here?

"The magic in your body is different to a unicorns, it's more like the princesses alicorn magic but at the same time it's not? These readings are strange and doesn't give me much clearance on if you should enter or not" The vet said and eyed him with a bulbous eye.

"I will allow you into the empire's soil, but do anything out of line and we'll put you down like one of the apes we send to the slaughter house" The griffoness growled and backed off, letting Nathaniel get dressed.

The human could already tell that this week would not be the best one ever, having barely avoided getting a glowing rod shoved up his rectum. If this is how they treated the animals here then he wanted to disgusting himself from a common ape as soon as possible, he did not want to end up as lunch.

When the young man was lead out he saw that only Blaze and a few griffon warriors remained, watching him as he headed towards them with the two griffin scouts flanking him. The wolf had most likely stuck around for his master out of sheer loyalty while the princess headed up the trail to meet with the king as soon as possible. They only had a week after all, which spoke more about how long these talks would take rather than a narrow time constraint.

Once Nathaniel reunited with Blaze the wolf was overjoyed and licked his face as the warriors looked at the two with either disgust or mistrust, holding their weapons close. So they were perhaps even more aggressive than the guards back at the castle, lovely.

After the wolf was done celebrating the warriors lead them towards a path heading up into the mountains, grey spires and towers rising out of the rocky landscape with egg like shapes at the tops. Some of the towers they noticed as they walked the path up towards the mountain city had bird nest like qualities, acting as open watch towers to watch the sky and as a landing platform for griffins in the air.

The road towards Griffonstone was carved out of gold, that was no joke. The entire thing glowed in the sun and looked extremely expensive, most likely taking a few ton gold to start from the top to the bottom, why no one had dug up all the gold seemed to be because of heavily armored griffin guards that stood by the trail. So no one robbed it because of fear, made sense, why risk your life over gold that would be hard to carry away.

The warriors that guided him soon walked over a rather step part of the trail and Nathaniel followed only to be mesmerized by what he saw next, a city of towers. Griffonstone was truly an open city, the towers all having platforms for flyers on them and the ground having so many stairs the city became just a single maze.

He enjoyed how white the city was, the streets made out of white marble and the towers out of the same material. Whoever built this city deserved some place in legend, the white city sparkling in the grey snow covered mountains. Not many could tear their eyes away from the castle though, the building reminding him of a Greek temple. All statues in and outside the thing was made out of gold, same went with the panels for windows and the frame for the red gated guarding the inside og the castle.

The pillars and stairs outside the two red doors where clearly Greek, or whatever Greek was in this universe. The roof was more Nordic however, giving the castle a very strange feel of being sophisticated yet savage at the same time. Surrounded by towers it was clearly one of the most protected buildings in the city if not the most protected building in the city.

"You will adress King Guto with "your highness" and my "lord". Failure to do so will result in me or any other guard nearby giving you a beating beast, is that understood?" The head warrior that had been leading Nathaniel and Blaze up the path said and the human nodded.

"Just get me back to the princess I'm supposed to protect" He mumbled to the guard who scowled and walked towards the red gates of the castle.

"Why would the princess hire a stupid ape to guard here.." The griffon mumbled before opening the red gates with two heavily armored ponies standing guard, the two seemingly serving the Griffon King if the silver feather crest was to be believed.

It was good to see that the ponies and griffins got along well at least, they could both insult him now. With that though he entered the castle and once again was awestruck, every little surface covered in gold or having been gold plated. The only true things that wasn't gold was the white marble pillars, roof and floor. He could already see something similar to the stained glass windows back in Equestria here in the main hall, large banners.

The banners had been sown to show the victories of the Griffin Empire, showing battle after battle that they race had won against an assortment of different foes. The human was glad that they were allies with the two alicorn princess, the amount of blood depicted on different banners even made him a little uncomfortable. These were birds of prey and he had just walked into their lair without protection.

As Nathaniel walked down the long hallway he looked at each art of work displayed on the tall walls. Where there was no banners there was paintings of weapons, griffins wearing a crown or riches. Everything screamed that the economy here revolved around the large amount of gold the griffins seemed to mine, and countries who normally only had one resource to sell had poor populace. So where was the beggars and poor people? The city outside didn't seem to have any as he passed the streets.

Thinking about the new kingdom the human didn't realize that the guards had lead him to two big red doors that clashed with the white and gold of the palace. The the right and the left he could see long corridors leading into the palace, maybe he could just run away and find someone who could get this spell off him?

No, he couldn't run away. There was guards everywhere and Luna had promised him to have the spell removed after this political trip was over. He wanted to trust her, the words she spoke having sounded so sincere. But the young man was uncertain, would she keep her word? Did he have any choice but leave his fate in her hooves? Did it really matter?

Blaze growled as the two large red doors opened and Nathaniel looked upon a throne room, seeing Luna, Rose and Osiris stand by the king of this entire empire. The griffin's feathers were a light grey with his wings being black. The monarch was wearing a cloth wrapped around his body with a golden band around his neck, the band kept together with a golden pin bearing the crest of two wings.

The human stood there awkwardly for a while as all eyes were on him and the wolf, said wolf being very angry at anyone looking at him the wrong way. King Guto's golden eyes watched Nathaniel's green ones before giving a polite nod, settling down on his throne.

"I see you speak the truth princess of the sun, your new guardians are truly unique" The griffon said and smirked amusingly at the alicorn who gave the new arrival to the talks a nod.

"We art sure you will find Guardian Sol a good creature" She said and the human couldn't help but shy away from the new royals look, there was something hungry in those eyes.

"So far you have yet to tell me much of him, seeing how he is an unknown species" The griffon king said, his gruff voice still holding a hint of cleverness.

"We are not sure if Guardian Sol's background is important for these talks" The lunar monarch said as the human walked up to stand next to her, giving Rose a nod.

"This "human", as you said he was called, is a prime example on what we could accomplish if we experimented on the beasts of the woods with your magic dear Luna" Guto said with a small grin and jumped of his throne, walking up to the human and the princess.

"Strange magic, bound by a servant spell and eats meat. You found yourself quite the unusual bodyguard princess. If we were allowed to keep him then we could do wonders with his genes, just think what kind of offspring a specimen like this could produce!" The king of the griffins said with glee, sounding more like a mad scientist than a monarch.

Wait, did he just say he wanted to guy Nathaniel like he was some kind of animal? Fuck this guy, seriously. It wasn't enough with that air of authority that never left him but he wanted the young man as a slave? Fuck this king, he would be nothing but a pain in the ass wouldn't he?

"We art sorry to say that thou cannot purchase Nathaniel, he is not for sale to anypony" The alicorn said with a poker face as the griffon deflated slightly.

"Very well, let's discuss why you are really here" King Guto said and flew back to his elevated throne, sitting down on it and looking at the princess with curiosity.

So far was this king not very impressive. Yes he had this air around him that made anyone snap at attention whenever he was close, mostly due to the Idol Of Boreas sitting next to the throne on a golden pedestal. Guto had also forced him to go through a check up like he was at the vet and then wanted to buy the young man for breeding? With what!? He was the only fucking human here!

"Yes, let us begin" Luna said and pulled out a big map displaying the borders of Equestria and the Griffon Empire.

The two monarchs started to speak about things Nathaniel couldn't care less about and he looked to Rose who eyed the room with suspicion. The human couldn't blame her, this entire thing was so far uncomfortable and dull. Even if Luna and Guto had been speaking for like half a minute tops.

"What happened to your face?" The bat pony asked the taller being next to her, eyeing the bruise he had been given.

"I got a little wild during the examination, had to calm me down" He responded, mirroring what the red feathered griffoness had said to the guards outside.

"I knew we should have waited, the princess didn't even wanna start the talks without you but the guards were adamant to bring us here" The sanguine mare growled, keeping her voice down.

"Well they did treat me like an animal, with the difference of giving me a choice for the check up" He muttered as the Lunar Princess mentioned something about watch towers on small islands and pirates.

"If I see that griffon she'll regret hurting a guardian of the princess when ordered to not touch you" Rose growled and king Guto laughed at something Luna had told him.

"Just let it go, it's just a bruise and I doubt we have much power in this place" Nathaniel said and Rose grumbled.

"Princess Luna gave clear instructions on not hurting guardian Sol, that bruise will cause her more trouble than you know" Osiris said as he observed the discussion between Luna and Guto.

"We need to set an example if any griffon in this city will listen to our order. Luna made Nathaniel a guardian to keep an eye on him so he doesn't get hurt or hurt anyone, meaning she'll not be pleased" The bat pony said and turned to the princess as Luna pointed to a small island on the map.

"I don't enjoy the fact that the princess would trust this being, but hurting him is a direct retaliation against Luna's orders. I will not stand for anyone disrespecting the princess of the night" The golden furred stallion said with a huff.

Nathaniel ignored the fact that Osiris spoke about him like he wasn't right next to them and he met Luna's eyes for a brief moment, the alicorn looking at his cheek and frowning. So she did care, would that be enough to punish the griffon for hitting him? The young man hoped she would tell the king about the small indecent.

"Could all others leave the room for what we are about to speak about? I need some lone time with the princess to explain the problem we'll face with these constructions" King Guto said and every guard in the room, pony or griffon, looked uneasy upon hearing that.

The princess of the night looked thoughtful for a second before nodding, waving her hoof to send the guards outside. The human was new to these ponies and really didn't care if one of the guards hurt themselves, but Luna was one of the few ponies that had been kind to him, so leaving her in a room with this king made him feel a bit uneasy as well.

When they left the room (Osiris trying to desperately stay) they all saw how the dismissed griffon guards followed behind them, scowling at leaving their king alone. Why did it feel like these border talks had just gotten a bit more serious? Nathaniel could see Rose speaking with a guard about the talks only to get a shrug. That meant that for whatever reason they had been dismissed it had not been planned, so what were they speaking about in there?

Luna's POV

Once Nathaniel and the guards left the room could I only frown, why had been dismissed? So far had the talks been going rather well, my fellow monarch's idea of watchtowers and minor fortresses on islands to protect the Celestial Sea was a good idea. There was many islands out there that could be used for protection against pirates but to make the ground ready for something like a fortress would take time, which Guto seemed to have lots of.

"Why did you ask them to leave my lord? These talks do not need to be kept a secret" I told the griffon who looked at me with a small grin.

"I didn't ask them to leave to speak about reinforcing the sea, I asked them to leave so I could talk to you about your new guardian" Guto said and walked up to a table with a large map on it.

"I have three new guardians Guto, which one is it you're referring to?" I asked coldly, knowing full well who he was talking about.

"The human of course! I am truly impressed in how you had him bend the knee for you, that sort of raw magic is normally only found in your kind. So you having him as a slave is simply impressive princess" He said and stabbed a knife on a larger island near Griffonia.

"He is not my slave, I do not treat him like one" I growled back, this monarch had always had a way to push my buttons, almost like Discord.

"Maybe not, but my animal handler know what she saw in her finds. That is a servant spell, he does not have a choice in this princess" Guto said with a grin and I looked away in shame.

So the equipment they had was better these days, dammit. I had hoped they would not find out about the spell my sister placed upon him, it was not making us look any better than the Minotaurs or the changelings. The fact that this glorified chicken had dared to ask how much I would sell Nathaniel for was really making me angry.

"My sister placed it upon him as a precaution, as a ruler you know we cannot be too trusting of new creatures" I said, sitting down on a chair by the table.

"Yes, ever since the Discord incident have your sister doubled down on all security, including along the borders. The dark kingdom is getting worried again and the dragons are getting agitated with Equestria. So tell me how it is Luna, these talks are more than just securing our borders, you're here to make peace" The Griffon king said and looked over the Celestial Sea on the map.

"I will humor you. Yes this is more than just speaking of our borders, even if that is important. I need to show you that we are not here to start a war, my sister simply needs more control after what happened" I said and looked over the map, there was model of a bridge leading from the mainland to an island in the middle of the sea that looked new.

"I hold no worry over your nation princess, you are soft creatures who do not strike out in fury. It's the crystal empire that all the major players look to these days, that place has much potential to become a ruling nation in the north and hold monopoly on all crystal weapons" He said and I nodded slowly.

"So if we can leave my guardian and the crystal empire for a few seconds I'd like to talk about the watchtowers, why are they needed along the coast line? With the amount of ships we have guarding those waters it will not be necessary" I said firmly, not to keen on the idea of spreading out our forces that much.

"You need more protection against the lowlanders, they have stopped bothering the Dark Kingdom but they are now moving up north to our waters. This unified project could help us both snuff out those mutated freaks once and for all" Guto said with a another grin, pointing to the desert beyond the Dark Kingdom labeled "Unknown".

The lowlanders had shown up a few years ago, tribes of half-breeds and mutants having untied under a green and black flag and taken the dessert as their kingdom. The problem was that that dessert belonged to the Dark Kingdom and the Griffon Empire, meaning that this new nation was swiftly met military opposition.

I had only seen on lowlander in my life, and even then it had been in the dreamscape. They along with the Dark Kingdom's inhabitants knew how to mask their dreams from me and anyone that would try to enter their mind. I had been lucky to run across one of their children having a nightmare so intense he could not hid himself from me.

I had soothed his fears and given him a calmer dream before I was violently thrown out from his dreamscape, the colt having put up his mental shields again. But one thing that had made the colt stand out was the snake tail and poisonous fangs he had been carrying, marking him as one of the mutants.

"I see your point Lord Guto, but I will need to discuss this with Celestia before deciding on something. We have a week either way to speak about this, so we should be fine" I said and looked at the king who nodded slowly.

"Very well, you can either return to your ship or take the room I've prepared for you princess. We can discuss more during the dinner" Guto said with a smirk and flew back to his throne.

I gave a small bow and stood up, walking towards the two red doors with the Griffon King's eye starring at me. I was getting a bad feeling from our stay here but I was unsure to why, as Guto had been a loyal ally since the beginning. Yet his behavior today didn't really fit with what I had seen before, the normally formal and slow spoken Griffon replaced with someone less royal. Perhaps it was just stress, or maybe his ego had finally taken control.

King Guto's POV

As the mare left the room could I only stare at her flank as she closed the door behind her, saving the mental image for later. She knew nothing of the power I truly commanded, but with the idol and all noble houses behind me could I finally set my father's plan into motion.

The lowlanders were a perfect excuse for the increased military presence, the dirty creatures having actually started to attack ships up north. Yet they were not even close to the coastline, still only acting on the open sea. Luna didn't need to know that however, the alicorn to trustworthy for her own good.

With the idol's power I could simply make my lies seem like the truth, the princess own thoughts turning away from reasoning to trust. At times I found it almost to easy to lie, to keep up the facade of a calm king. But I was so close to my goal I didn't even need to keep acting anymore, I didn't need to fake a smile at the princesses or any monarch for that matter. I would soon have them bowing to me.

The idol's orb glowed a bright purple and my eyes did the same as I grinned, feeling my power grow. Soon the sister would be wearing collars with my crest, they would be my broodmares as their kingdom burned. I just needed a little more time and to get rid of this new creature, the idol whispered this to me as its golden glow filled the room.

This human, this "Guardian Sol" was something that complicated things. The readings Scarlet had given me on the being told me all I needed to know, he held great power, even if he was maybe new to magic. My guards had reported the Equestrian Arch mage's presence, which had always meant he was tutoring someone.

This Nathaniel was a inconvenience, but a possible ally. So far he seemed to be rather indifferent to the ponies, the only two he seemed to be at ease around was that sanguine and the lunar princess. The servant spell placed upon him had made him more angry it seemed, his eyes filled with annoyance and caution.

With the right words and with some false promises could the human be turned easily from his pony masters. But I do not have the time to fully manipulate the new creature, but with the idol could doubt and new trust be made. All I need was more time, then the idol would be pleased, and my empire would stand alone and mighty on Equus.

Nathaniel's POV

The human was awoken by a hipogryph dressed as a butler the next day. He was told that the date was January nineteenth and that it was nine in the morning. The now eighteen year old man grumbled a thank you to the butler before he got up and got dressed, pondering over the fact that he was celebrating his eighteenth birthday on another planet as a servant to a pony princess.

He had been given some change, there was no denying that. Nathaniel had asked for a new and better life, and to an extent he had been given this. Did the man still like the fact that he was a servant to some ponies and currently being talked about like some breeding stock? No, no he did not.

The king's comments had gotten to him, like he was viewed like some sort of animal by these creatures. It was ironic if that was the case, as back home these ponies would be wearing a saddle to be used for work or being used to give children lessons in riding.

While the dark haired man amused himself with imagining Celestia being used as a normal horse the butler told him to meet with the king, the griffon having summoned him. Nathaniel was not thrilled to hear this, the king having not made a good first impression. But he did not have much of a choice as the teen was meant to obey.

As the green eyed man left the room two guards escorted him down the hallways and towards the red doors leading into the throne room. When they had reached the two large doors the guards saluted and walked off, leaving the human alone outside the room.

Once the man had collected himself he opened the two doors and was met by the sight of King Guto dining by himself, sitting at one end of a long table. Unsure what he was supposed to do Nathaniel just walked over to the chair at the opposite end of the long table and sat down.

The food on the table was no small thing, King of the griffins having spent no expenses on it. There was meat of all kinds on the table and mixed in with it was the classical breakfast with pancakes and eggs. The human could feel his mouth water as he watched the amount of food stacked on the long table, tens of plates from him to Guto.

"You requested me your highness?" The man asked and clasped his hands together, eyeing the griffon chewing on some sort of bone.

"Ah yes! I wanted to apologize for what I said yesterday. I saw how it angered you and I would not like to start out a relationship with a guardian badly" The griffon smiled and a plate was given to the black haired man, filled with meat and other goodies.

The teen couldn't help but grin at the amount of meat he was given, his plate overflowing with the juicy good stuff. If there was one thing he would not let go of it was the meat. The human had survived for months thanks to meat and he would not become a vegan just because the princesses didn't eat meat, who would even agree to something like that without thinking?

"Well you're starting out strong your majesty" Nathaniel said and took a bite from one of the pieces of meat, it tasted like salmon.

"I would also gladly discuss your employment under princess Luna, how you came to become her bodyguard and all. It is a great honor, a even greater one to be given the name "Sol" from the solar princess" The king of Griffonia said with a grin.

The human stopped the fork heading for his mouth and put it down, thinking about his response. Did this king care enough to even help him? This griffon seemed to hold power but had he what Nathaniel would need to break free from these magical chains?

"I am not a willing servant my lord, I was brought to the princesses and made a slav.. servant to princess Luna" The green eyed man responded.

"Ah, so they have mistreated you I see. I am sorry to hear about things like this, it breaks my heart" The king said and took a bite from a fish.

"I just want to go back to the woods at the moment, I felt free in there. Sure I have a bed now but if I have to wear chains to have some comfort I will not take it" The human frowned and looked to the side in thought.

"There might be a few ways to break you free from this spell that holds you, but you will need a powerful mage to create those chains in the first place, and even more power to break them" Guto stated, Nathaniel happily taking in the information.

"I could maybe see if there is anyone in my empire who knows how to break those chains, after all I need to keep all my allies close. Helping you out will only increase the amount of friends my land has" The monarch said with a smile.

The man was surprised at the king's sudden change of character from the day before. This griffon had talked about him like Nathaniel was a common animal the day before but now Guto was offering him help with the servant spell? It was suspicious, but it might be true.

Yet Luna's promise still rang in his mind. By the end of this trip he would be freed from the spell, and so far she had done everything in her power to treat him with respect. If it turned out that she was a liar then he could always take the king's offer the next time they would be coming to Griffonstone.

"Thank you your majesty, but I already have someone who can free me. I simply need to wait" The human told the griffon who frowned for a second.

In a split second had the calm griffon disappeared, his eyes almost glowing as he looked at Nathaniel. The green eyed man didn't know why, but he felt the urge to bow before this creature, to submit and lay down his life if needed. The urge was clawing at his mind but he shrugged it off with what defiance he held in his bones. The man wished for freedom, not any kind of servitude.

"I am happy for what you have offered me today my lord, and if my.. friend fails then I will gladly take your proposal. I have to go, my liege is most likely expecting me before the talks continue" He said and walked away from the table, not looking back at the angry griffon who glared at him as he left the room.

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Nathaniel was getting annoyed with Osiris and Blaze constantly annoying each other. The wolf had left a bloody head of a large squirrel on the stallion's bed during the night and it had resulted in a screaming pony and a laughing wolf (could normal wolfs laugh?..). When the raven haired teen had heard about the wolf's prank had he felt both amusement and disapproval.

The pony and wolf didn't like each other, that was clear, but if they were gonna constantly pester each other than it could turn violent again. Both of them were part of his squad now (who was their leader really? Luna? Rose seemed to call most of the shots) and that meant the green eyed man didn't want them to fight.

Osiris had later gotten his revenge on the wolf two hours after Nathaniel had been talking with king Guto, the stallion having rubbed cinnamon into the meat served to Blaze (how he had handled that but not a dead squirrel head was mind boggling for the human) and the poor wolf had been drinking for ten minutes straight before he calmed down.

It wasn't until Luna ordered the two to stop, or at least to stop while they were in Griffonstone, that the wolf and stallion called to a truce. Nathaniel knew that this would be a reoccurring event, the two never going to get over their introduction in the Everfree.

The three guardians, plus wolf, were now sitting by a table. With the rest of Luna's guards allowed into the throne room during the talks now had they all been dismissed. For some reason it was almost like Luna was cutting him some slack today, yet why she would do that was lost to the human.

Rose had pulled out a deck of cards and started to a game with Osiris they called high mare. The game made little to no sense for the green eyed man but for the two ponies it was as easy as breathing. A mare with a crown, which was named princess or defender depending on what game they were playing (he was picking up on a few things), was worth the most unless the lord protector card was given a boost by a crystal heart card? He had lost track of the rules Rose told him after two minutes and just focused on the expressions the two equines were making.

Rose being a bat pony always meant that whenever she nervously bit her lip one could see her fangs. Osiris often glanced at her for that obvious calling card and always played boldly whenever the sanguine allowed her blood suckers to show. So far the ponies had both put a bag of bits on the table which was passed around to whomever won the game.

After an hour of playing had Osiris both bags and a shit eating grin on his face as he played five cards which were all of unicorn battle mages. What this meant was lost to Nathaniel but the fact that Rose threw her cards at the table and hissed in anger was enough for him to understand that it was victory for the earth pony scout.

"Cough up more bits Rosey, brothel won't pay for itself" The golden furred stallion said with a grin and the mare growled before throwing him another bag of bits.

"You are a creep Osiris" Rose said and the stallion only grinned in response.

"So why did we get free time while the others are guarding the princess?" The man asked the two as he petted the wolf next to him.

"The princess reasons are her own, we are not supposed to question it" The earth pony said and Nathaniel rolled his eyes.

"It just seems weird, that's all" Nathaniel said and Rose nodded.

"I agree. Luna normally don't dismiss guardians without a reason. She said she was giving us some time of to enjoy Griffonstone but.. I just don't like it" She said and they all went quiet for a moment, thinking.

"Maybe we should do as she suggested, I mean, this is a very beautiful city after all" The dark haired man said and the other two guardians in the room shrugged before nodding.

"I guess we could, the princess did tell us to see the city and I need to convert some bits either way" Osiris said and jumped of the chair he was sitting on, heading for the door.

Rose, Blaze and Nathaniel followed the earth pony out from the room they had been staying in and soon they had left the castle and was walking around Griffonstone. The city that was mostly made of towers had a few markets the group passed through and they would walk past grounded houses where ponies lived.

The roads were covered in gold, similarly to the path leading up to the city, yet it seemed to not run as deep as the mountain road. It was probably less expensive with a shallow layer of gold instead of a deep one. Nathaniel and Rose watched the ponies, hippogryphs and griffins in the city walk around and mingle while Osiris converted some bits to geld beaks (as Luna had called the currency here).

The golden furred stallion kept a bit of distance to the human as they walked, which Nathaniel was used to by now, but it was still a bit annoying to find Osiris giving him a cautious look each time a child ran past laughing at something or when a old griffon tried to get past in the crowd surrounding the market district.

Yet as the day passed they all started to have a god time. Rose and Nathaniel "borrowed" some money from Osiris when he was not looking and bought a snake like creature on a stick. It was spicy and tasted horribly but the amount of laughter the two got out of seeing the faces one would do by biting into the damn thing was well worth the price for the thing (not that the scowling Osiris had agreed).

When the sun started to set had the guardians found a bar somewhere in the city. Nathaniel had let it slipped that he turned eighteen and after a few bags of money had been thrown to a griffon behind a desk had the man the most hard challenge he would ever face in front of his face, alcohol.

"I do not want to do this" The human said firmly to the grinning sanguine and smirking stallion.

"Kid, you are now of legal drinking age and that means you are gonna go back to your room piss drunk and happy that you can do it again" Osiris said and the wolf slowly rose up from the floor to stand next to the ponies, a grin on its face.

Well that was a terrifying union of opposing personalities. Even the fucking wolf wanted him to stumble back and puke his guts out. So far this was the most interesting birthday he had ever had, and the only birthday party he had ever really had. Was it depressing or amusing that he was celebrating it with a bunch of animals?

"I can drink a little, but I am not drinking that" The man said and pointed to the red bottle on the table.

It had been bought by the two grinning ponies and brought to the booth the four were using in the small bar. It had a red colour and a what looked like a succubus mare on it's label. It was named liquid courage (even if he was certain that is what the kind of courage one needed to ask someone out rather than the kind one needed to fight). So far it was not making him feel very encouraged to drink it.

Nathaniel had never even touched wine back home, the smell alone being enough to keep him away. But now the ponies (and wolf) wanted him to drink from a bottle which just seemed to spell death and destruction, or at least it did to him. Yet even with that in mind he still took the glass given to him by Rose.

"It gets easier after the first glass" She said and pressed the bottle to her lips and tilted her head back, chugging down a large portion of the bottles content.

From the way Osiris looked at the bat pony with disbelief could Nathaniel only think that she had done a feat worthy of a trophy. So how bad could this drink be? He could just take a small sip and hope that he would not die from it. So with a deep breath a quelled his fears and pressed the glass to his lips, swallowing down the content of the glass. That had been a bit more than a sip.

For the first second he felt nothing, confusing him. But the burning that appeared in his lungs and throat made him cough badly. It was like he was being set on fire and he slammed his fist into the wooden table that was between him and his three companions. His eyes teared up and Nathaniel tried to desperately gulp down air that the drink seemed to turn to ash.

Once the burning soften and the man could finally breath again was his head woozy. He had had a glass of the stuff, a small one mind you, and he was already feeling like he had raided his father's wine-cellar, if the old man had one in the first place. The human was uncertain, his memory was becoming fuzzy.

"Holy Faust, he didn't pass out from it! I have to say kid, you have gained some respect from me" The scout said and Nathaniel groaned in response, making Rose giggle before having a hiccup.

"I wanna die so badlyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy" The human slurred as the burning didn't go away, leaving him hot and his mouth filled with the taste of ash.

"Maybe we should have started with ale or something, he's already drunk from big red" The stallion said and the mare shrugged.

"Eh, he'll be fine! Natey, take another one! It'll make it feel better!" She said and gave him another glass, the human swallowing it quickly only to cough again, though not for as long this time.

"Will he be able to walk once we're through with him?" Osiris asked and Rose grinned.

"Nope!" She said cheerfully.

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Life was agony, could someone please just end it all? Nathaniel was currently clinging to a bucket that held a lot of alcohol his body had decided to not keep, meaning he felt empty as well as sick. Why had he taken that first glass? It had just went downhill from there and he couldn't feel his left ear. Why couldn't he feel his fucking left ear!?

The human sighed and looked around his room, the bed a mess after he had been tossing and turning trying to fall asleep while the nauseous feeling wouldn't leave him. For some reason had his mind decided to come back to him after Rose and Osiris had dragged him back from the bar, making him feel every ounce of pain the alcohol had brought him.

The sudden knock on his door just made him groan and he stood up, placing the bucket in the bathroom and opening the door slowly. The sight of princess Luna giving him an amused smile made him do a double take and the man backed off, the alicorn walking into the room.

"I see that you spent your birthday eating and drinking. You remind me of Tia" The princess of the night giggled and walked to the balcony, Nathaniel following behind with a stumble or two.

"Why are you here?.. Or a better question, how did you know it was my birthday?" He asked and she looked up at the midnight stars and smiled.

"From what you have told me your parents didn't sound like the type to give you a good birthday, so I gave you and the closets things you have to friends the day off to celebrate it. While I had expected you to ask for more festivities I understand that finally being able to drink was alluring" The blue furred mare said with a smile and the green eyed teen shook his head.

"I was forced there by those two deviants" He huffed and she just giggled.

"Either way, I wanted to give you a birthday gift. It's one I do not give often nor lightly but as a sign of trust and that I will keep my promise I am giving you a constellation" She said and Nathaniel's mind broke for a second.

"What?.. How can you even?.. I am grateful! Extremely grateful! I've never received a true gift on my birthday before, but how?" The human asked and Luna smiled, lighting up her horn as the the stars across the sky blinked in response.

He watched in awe as a dark patch of the sky started to draw stars to it and form toghter to create a shape. It was the mark on his hand that she was forming in the sky! Using freaking stars! Screw moving the sun, Luna was moving stars light years away! How powerful was she? Was this alicorn a true goddess? Did he need to bow? Nathaniel felt more than honored to have his mark in the sky.

"I can see your disbelief my young friend, but I assure you, this is a gift from me to you" The princess said and the man bowed deeply.

"Thank you for this princess! I.. I don't know what I could do to repay you" He started and she raised a hoof to silence him.

"This is your gift from me, this is your birthday. Do not bow and don't call me princess on this day, you deserve as much" Luna said and the dark haired man slowly rose, looking at her with a small smile.

"So tell me, have you ever tried Moonshine?" The mare asked with a grin and the human's eyes widened.

Celestia's POV'

I looked up at the sky in awe as a new constellation was born upon my sisters midnight sky. Yet that awe turned to anger and disbelief rather quickly as the stars took the shape of the creature's mark. So what had he done to earn this? One of the greatest honors any creature on our planet could receive had just been given to him. When they returned I would have to ask Luna why that was up there along with our mother's cuite mark and our fathers eye.

I sighed and looked down on the garden around me, the snow crunching under my hooves as I walked among the protected trees. I knew that the snow was most likely removed from Griffonstone, meaning Luna and her guards didn't have to freeze because of the mountains being so high up in the sky.

I walked up to the only statue in the garden which had a spell of warmth around it. I wondered if it did anything for him, if he could even feel anything as a statue. But I had placed it upon him either way, not wanting him to suffer. I was sure he was still alive, that this statue was a mere shell keeping him in place. I had to believe so, believe that he was still alive in there, if I didn't my heart would shatter.

The sad sigh that escaped my lips made me look upon the laughing face of Discord, his expression of amusement forever frozen on his face. He would probably have wanted that, to have his last expression being that of him laughing at something he found silly. I hoped he was asleep, that he was not awake in there, the mere thought forced a sob out of me.

I had to move away from the statue before I broke down crying, I couldn't show weakness these days. I wasn't like Luna, I couldn't simply travel with companions and work it all out on a road. She had gotten back her smile, that sweet smile and laughter that always brought peace to my mind. I have to make sure that nothing ever happened to her, meaning that Nathaniel had to be watched, she was always way to trusting.

"Everything he will touch, will burn" A voice filled with dark laughter called out over the gardens and I spun around, my breath hitched in my throat.

That had been his voice, that had been his laughter. I looked to the statue standing in the middle of the garden, fear flowing through my veins as I slowly backed away and ran into the castle, I needed to write a letter to Luna immediately. His warning had been more than enough to trigger all my fears about the human again, making me hyperventilate thinking that she was alone with him so close.

Star Swirl was with her and so was her two other guardians, but even with that I couldn't help but worry for my little sister's safety. Discord had somehow said something, through the thick magical stone that bound him, and it had been enough to make me fear for my entire country once more.

I was not getting much sleep tonight, was I?

Sombra's POV

I smiled upon the black crystals that covered everything in the room, reaching up the walls to cover the ceiling. I had spent a lot of time on making these crystals grow strong and hard. The maid mare in the corner of the room was panting and curled up into a ball, her tail now more that of a succubus with a heart shaped tip.

The spells I had used to change her had been draining but still informative, as I know knew how to change the biology of those around me. The two ram horns on her head and her yellow eyes stuck out more than her now black mane (dyeing it had been easy) and her now permanent red coat. With my transformation had her cutie mark changed, now being a pink heart with a book in it's middle.

It was funny knowing how much power I held over her, the black crystal collar around her neck making me lick my lips. Her rump had grown to accommodate her new half breed body and her wings had yet to respond to my spells, leaving them a normal red pegasus wing. Perhaps I should offer her deserts, as normal food wouldn't sustain her for very long.

I bit down on her ear and she whimpered, covering away from me. It was cute that she still thought there was anywhere to hide from me in this room. She was my pet and my Guinea pig, the pony that I could use to see what the corruption would do to living creatures.

She gave of a soft whine as I let my hoof slide down her flank, grinning at Silver Page as she whimpered. I was interrupted by a knock on the door to the study room, making me growl. I stood up and the mare looked at the door hopefully, getting up only to be frozen in fear as crystal ring formed around her muzzle to keep her quiet. Her hooves were soon stuck to the floor as well, crystal forming around them to keep her in place.

Drawing upon my new power I let my now dark grey mane and grey fur regain their original red and black colour, using a powerful illusion spell to hide my new appearance. The room filled with corruption was hidden by a illusion spell as well, regaining its pinkish and red colour to hide what I had been doing, for now.

I opened the door and looked at my son, Crystal Sword looking at me in concern. Was my illusion strong enough for him to not notice it? Of course it was, I was more powerful than he could ever dream of becoming, more powerful than his mother had ever been.

"Father, are you ok? You haven't come out from this room in over three days, you have barely eaten anything. I think you need to come outside for a bit, maybe enjoy the city? If we're lucky maybe we can find a nice mare along the way" Crystal smirked and I couldn't help but see a little bit of myself in him, it was a shame it had gone to waste.

"I am not done with my research, but I am close. With a day or two I should know how to finally keep the realm safe" I told the unicorn in front of me who nodded.

"Very well, I just want you to find a new mate father. Ever since mom passed and Discord was put in stone have you acted so coldly. I think it's time we finally move on, that we let her go and allow her to find rest" My son said with a small smile.

He had always been a fool, but to suggest any mare could even come close to high queen Crystelia when she had been alive was ludicrous. I was not gonna replace the goddess of darkness with some mere mortal unicorn who could lift her rump just to get a child with high status.

"I will move on when I'm ready, until then I will be protecting my kingdom" I said and walked back inside the room, Crystal's face turning from hopefulness to confusion and caution.

"There is corruption in this room father, you are careful right? If you allow it to touch your mind it'll warp every thought you have ever had. It'll turn what was once good intentions into corrupt and hate filled wishes for lust and conquest" The crystal king said and I could only roll my eyes, my head was completely clear and I had still the same goal as I have always held, to protect my kingdom.

Wait, had that always been the goal? My mind was a bit fuzzy for some reason, but I was sure it was just from focusing on keeping up so many illusion spells at once. I hoped my son would just leave soon, I had been busy with a mare and intended to test out just how fertile a lust demon was.

"I know my son, I am always careful. Trust me, like you always have and should" I said with a fake smile, my son smiling back at me.

"I will father, just.. come out to the garden later? I built a shrine for mother a few months ago I'd like for you to witness" He said and moved out the room, smiling slightly at me.

"..we'll see" I responded simply and closed the door, waiting for the sound of Crystal walking away.

"Now then~" I purred as all the illusions in the room dropped, reliving a crying and afraid Silver Page.

"Let us see how many foals a demon whorse can bear~" I grinned and the currently gagged mare could only cry in despair and fear.

King Guto's POV

I looked up at the midnight sky and I felt a cold fury grip my heart as I saw the human's mark appear on the sky. So the princess thought that beast was worthy the honor of forever being a part of Equus sky? I could feel the Idol humming in annoyance at my failure to turn the new being from the princess, this gift most likely softening him up to trust that damn alicorn.

"This makes my plan even harder, why did that annoying ape have to come here at all" I growled out as the Idol's melody played to soothe me.

"I need more time, the towers must be built to complete the snare. They must have noticed our fleet was nowhere near the capital, and I cannot have them realize what is happening until it is to late" I told the key to my victory, its pearl glowing softly as I felt its power fill me.

"You're right, why does one human matter. Powerful or not, he will bow or die like the rest of that pathetic kingdom" I sneered and the Idol hummed in agreement as I grinned at the new constellation in the sky.

"I hope you enjoy your time as a servant Guardian Sol, because the next time I see you you'll be nothing more but a lowly slave" I said with a laugh, the Idol Of Boreas increasing its glow as my laughter continued.

Nathaniel's POV

The rest of the week passed quickly. The human was busy for most of the time with standing around and occasionally glancing at Luna as the talks went on and the cost and height for towers and fortresses were made up between the two countries. Apparently would the defensive measures have both pony and griffon soldiers within them, another sign of trust between the two nations.

It was all rather boring as after his birthday had the man been close to Luna almost all of the hours during the day and night. He wasn't complaining, the princess always managing to lighten his mood ever since she had made him pass out from two bottles of Moonshine (how was he even alive?).

The thing that had been the most interesting was the griffon captain that had meet them at the start of their stay had been giving Nathaniel some lore on the griffon's rise to power. The white feathered griffon had spoken about great battles between the griffin tribes that had threatened the races survival two hundred years prior. The only reason the tribes had in the end united was thanks to the first Griffon King, Grover, who had used the Idol Of Boreas to unite them all.

From what the dark haired teen had gathered was the families that once lead the tribes now the noble houses that ruled under the king. There was twenty of them but only six of them had any real power in the land while the others simply had a fancy title and owned land.

While he found the griffins history interesting, they had been in so many civil wars it was considered abnormal if there wasn't an uprising every five years or so. The art of battle had been integrated into the griffins culture for a long time, something he had noticed as there was duels every day to settle disputes or to honor some god the winged creatures worshiped.

In Nathaniel's search for knowledge about the griffins had the human discovered that King Guto had heirs, yet not one of them had been with a griffon or pony (as ponies could reach noble statues in the Griffon Empire if they proved themselves) which meant they were all considered bastards, a possible maybe if all other options ran out when it came to choosing a new king.

Yet with all the information that he could gather it impossible for the man to learn all the lore of the griffins in one week, meaning the day they left the castle with King Guto waving them goodbye had the human still very limited knowledge of this other race. The man was so caught up in his new knowledge and the fact that Star Swirl had given him a new lesson in how to cast a shield spell that he never saw the cold glare the griffon king gave him as they left the city of Griffonstone.

When they walked down the golden path and saw their ship almost glow in the sun could Nathaniel only feel a bit at peace. After Luna's gift and his two fellow guardians joining him for his first drink was he feeling a bit more secure around them. Sure, the other ponies still gave him glares but the human started to get used to it, he had a group he could fall back on now if things got hard.

Was he still unhappy with the spell that bound him to servitude? Yes, it still pissed him off and just thinking about the judgmental tone Celestia had spoken with made his blood boil. But Luna would keep her promise, he just knew it. Nathaniel just had to keep her safe during these weeks to come. How hard could it be? They were just gonna speak about borders and things like that.

Yet, when they boarded the ship and took off from the harbor couldn't the man feel like there was something wrong. It was like they were missing something crucial and no one could put their mind to what it could possibly be. Rose was happily petting Blaze as the wind picked up and carried them out to the sea, but Osiris looked back at the harbor that grew smaller and smaller with the same expression. Whatever they had missed, it had to be important, but as they were already leaving the country there was nothing they could do but hope that they would return to the two sisters castle by the end of Mars.

Author's Notes:

Oh my fuc*ing god this chapter is 11k words someone please help me

Ok but in all seriousness this is the longest chapter I have ever written and I still feel like there are things I want to add to it, but it is already too long, so I'll visit those plot points in the future. Thank you for reading this long chapter and I hope you're having a great day