It was an impressive collection of griffons, to be sure. In fact it had been almost twelve hundred years since Luna had seen so many griffon soldiers in one place. The difference there was that they had been on opposite sides at the time, and Luna had been defending Equestria, rather than attacking it. It wasn't hard to say she wasn't defending Equestria now by removing Faust from its throne, but there was still a difference.

None of that was worth worrying about now though. Right now all she had to worry about was taking Griffonstone, for the Griffon Empire unfortunately, and making sure no warning got back to Faust. Their plans would have to remain unchanged if there was a warning, but those plans would become so much harder to go through with.

Luna dismissed those concerns. There were upward of ten thousand griffons here, with more arriving all the time. Only a fraction of them would be participating in the retaking of Griffonstone, but even then they heavily outnumbered the Mareitanians holding the kingdom. If the numbers the Wonderbolts had supplied were accurate at least, and Luna had no reason to doubt that they were.

The Emperor had decided to be present for this part of the campaign. Luna could only imagine he was too excited at the prospect of reclaiming Griffonstone for the Empire not to. She could only imagine his reaction to find that it was in fact a total dump, just as she could imagine him blaming the princesses for that. Griffonstone was allowed to self govern, and it was hardly the princesses fault that they revered a shiny gold thing, then governed the place into a hole when they lost it.

"Ah, there you are," the Emperor said as she entered the command tent on the site they had picked. "I was starting to think you'd gone to get a head start on the Mareitanians."

"There'll be more than enough for everyone once we get started," Luna said back. She nodded a stiff greeting to Commander Lurin, then gave a more friendly one to Twilight and Cadence, the latter playing with Flurry while Twilight sat glumly over a small black stone, sighing and nudging it occasionally. "Any news from Chrysalis?"

"Oh, you bet," Twilight said with false cheer. "I do believe her words were 'the streets are echoing nicely with the screams of my victims.' I can only hope that means she's actually doing as she's told and leaving ponies alive to do the screaming." Twilight pushed herself upright and sighed, "I've dispatched Rainbow and the others to verify that Chrysalis is being a well behaved abomination from the darkest abyss, and to see what Faust's reaction to this apparent crisis will be."

"Hopefully it involves pulling a lot of soldiers away from Canterlot and Ponyville."

"We're going to be asked some very difficult questions about Chrysalis' attack once this is over," Cadence said, breaking her attention away from Flurry for a moment. "I get the feeling that trying to look innocent while saying 'what do you expect from a changeling?' won't work in the slightest."

"No, we will have to issue an official apology for that." Luna made a face, knowing that what she was about to say was stupid. "Hopefully Chrysalis has only killed when absolutely unavoidable."

Cadence shook her head sorrowfully, "Setting Chrysalis on our own subjects as a distraction is very much a low point for us. I hope to goodness that it's not something that needs to be repeated ever again."

Luna sat down, not wanting or needing to argue with that, or about how Chrysalis would behave if she wanted the princesses to honour their agreement. If Chrysalis wanted to throw their agreement away to start executing ponies in the thousands, they were now unable to stop her without using the griffon army and ruining all their plans. Even that was assuming the Emperor would agree to help, because he was well within his right to refuse seeing as how Chrysalis being there was their idea in the first place. Luna doubted she could face the ponies of Equestria again if any of that happened.

"It's a good plan," Commander Lurin said to try and reassure them. "If Chrysalis was to step out of line I'm sure she wouldn't bother staying in touch. Why maintain that kind of pretence if you're going to be found out anyway?"

"You raise a good point," Luna agreed. "However, don't underestimate Chrysalis, or her ability to deceive. Even if she wanted to make a good impression on Equestria's ponies by sparing as many as she could in this attack, do not think that she'll hesitate to kill as many as she thinks she can get away with. I hate to think how many she's killed already."

"We really aren't going to be able to explain this, are we?" Cadence said softly. "Chrysalis will always look like a monster to our ponies thanks to this, and us with her, while the Mareitanians will look like heroes for getting rid of the changeling threat. This was a mistake. A huge mistake."

"It was a good plan, tactically," Lurin offered as a consolation. "We need the Mareitanian army out of the Equestrian heartland, and this can achieve that. Maybe things would be different if you hadn't used the changelings, but it's too late to change that now."

"He's right," said Luna. "We have no way of implementing a perfect plan here, so we'll do what we can. In the meantime though, we should probably get on with taking Griffonstone. We can refine our plan past that once the Wonderbolts have returned with their report."

"I feel like I'm going to be missing out," Trixie complained as Twilight carried her through the air over the mountains between Griffonia and Griffonstone. "Our first big step into Equestria to take it back from Faust, and all I'm going to be doing is sitting in a road making sure the Mareitanians don't get away."

"At least you won't be on your own."

"Oh yeah, I'll have fifty griffons with me, those well known conversationalists. It's gonna be a blast."

"Sorry Trixie. If you had wings it wouldn't a problem. To be honest, if it wasn't for your insistence on being involved you could've sat this whole thing out."

Trixie shook her head firmly, "Nope, I refuse to not be involved. How will I know you're not all getting it wrong if I'm not there?"

Twilight decided to not humour that with a response. Mostly because telling Trixie that previously she's occasionally been one of those things going wrong is definitely insulting, and not totally accurate since it only happened a few times at most, if even that. Now that she was thinking about it, Twilight didn't really know why she'd thought of it in the first place. Sure there was that thing where they fought at High Rock Keep at the end of the rebellion, but that's the only major time. It wasn't like Twilight had spent the entire time being perfect either.

"Anyway," Trixie muttered since Twilight hadn't said anything back, "I'm coming, and that's final."

"Okay."

Trixie raised an eyebrow at Twilight's single word reply. "Are you alright? You seem a bit distracted."

"You do know what it is that we're about to do, right? I mean, not today. Today is small fry, but tomorrow, or the day after, we're actually going to be making an attack on Equestria in the first major move to retake our country. Excuse me for thinking it's a bit of a big deal."

"Alright, no need to bite my head off. I was only asking because I assumed you were worried about what Chrysalis was up to."

"Don't remind me."

Sensing that she wasn't getting anywhere, Trixie decided to stop talking. If Twilight wanted to be in one of her moods, so be it. Trixie wasn't going to waste her energy getting Twilight to lighten up when there was no chance of success.

"There."

"Hmm?"

Twilight pointed into the distance, as the mountain gave away to the lowlands. At their very edge sat Griffonstone. "We're almost there." Twilight looked back at the griffon formations behind her being led by Luna and Commander Lurin. They'd take care of things easily enough while she dropped Trixie off.

Twilight put on a burst of speed, getting ahead of the rest of them and flying straight over Griffonstone, not caring that she was seen. If anything, if they were watching her, they weren't watching out for the real problem. That being the thousand griffons coming from behind them.

Twilight dove and pitched into a right turn that brought her to the single road into and out of Griffonstone, setting Trixie down at a tumbledown gateway that would at least make it easier for Trixie to stop escapees.

"The griffons will be here in a minute, so sit tight and don't let any Mareitanians escape until then."

"I fucking know, Twilight. Just go and get this over with."

Twilight summoned Swordy as the first attackers soared over the city, screaming their battle cries. Not that she felt like she needed to be particularly worried. Considering the disparity in numbers here, the battle to take Griffonstone should be over in minutes.

"See you soon then." Twilight flew back up over Griffonstone, trying to see where the thickest action was to get involved. In reality though, there were that many griffons flying around that it was all but impossible to see. In the end she listened out for the sound of magic as that would at least tell her where Luna was.

Luna was in what could loosely be called the middle of Griffonstone. A group of around ten Mareitanians had rallied around the statue of King Guto, and were shielding themselves from Luna with some success. Even a few unicorns concentrating a shield that small could hold off an alicorn it seems. Twilight was far from writing off Luna's ability to get in there though.

Twilight landed next to Luna as the elder alicorn paced back and forth, in no rush to get those ponies out while they had effectively pinned themselves there. Twilight was about to offer her assistance when she saw what else was around the statue. Ruined bookshelves holding the remains of what had been a library were scattered around, with the books themselves piled in heaps amongst the straw, dirt, and other detritus where they could get ruined by the elements.

"What the heck is this travesty?" Twilight asked out loud, only then paying enough attention to her surroundings to see what Griffonstone was really like. It was a total dump. In fact it was the kind of dump that gave dumps a bad name. Broken and rotting buildings, filth everywhere, and a certain smell that threatened to linger long after you had left. None of it was as her books had described.

"What the hell happened to this place?"

"You mean you don't know?" Luna asked back. "I know, and I'd not even been back from the moon that long when I found out. Their Idol of Boreas was stolen, then lost and never recovered, and-"

"I know that, Rainbow told me. What she didn't tell me was that this place was in ruins, and these poor, poor books... it's a disgrace, and a travesty."

"It's what happens when you have a population that refuses to pay taxes because they're paying it to a king that's dead. It's also proof that you should never build your national pride around things that are easily lost or stolen." Luna shrugged at Twilight, "It's the Emperor's problem now."

"I still think that maybe we should have taken a little more responsibility for this place."

"Has it also been mentioned that griffons are obscenely proud, and hate both asking for, and getting help? Because both those things are true."

Twilight growled under her breath, because Luna might as well be saying that she doesn't care. Admittedly Luna wasn't really in a position to care until a few years ago, so the blame didn't really fall on her, but Celestia should maybe have stuck her nose in to Griffonstone a little more often to see how her griffon citizens were faring without the Idol.

"I can feel you blaming Celestia."

"Tell me I'm wrong." Twilight thrust a hoof towards the Mareitanians still hiding under their shield, "Could we get on with this now?"

"Of course." Luna summoned her two new glaives and slammed them into the shield, cracking it. She then followed up with a blast of magic to the weak point, shattering the shield entirely. Before the Mareitanians could recover, both Luna and Twilight were among them, cutting down half in a few seconds. The others very quickly surrendered.

Luna tore their weapons away and pinned them to the ground using a spell that would keep them immobile while disabling their magic. "I'll keep these contained if you wish to see how the rest of the fight is going?"

Twilight doubted there was much to see now. The battle cries had died down to almost nothing, and the while the sound of fighting could still be heard, it probably wouldn't last much longer. The drop past the statue of King Guto gave her a decent view of quite a bit of Griffonstone, and from there she could see two ponies desperately trying to barge their way into a house for safety. They failed, then moved onto the next, and the next, again and again finding their entry barred.

"Where are all the griffons from here?" Twilight wondered out loud, having not seen a single griffon not wearing the armour of the Griffon Empire the whole time she'd been here, even if that wasn't for very long. Even as she pondered some griffon soldiers flew in to stop the two ponies. A blast of magic took one griffon by surprise, but the Kuua the hen was wearing spared her from any real harm. The ponies gave up after that.

"Yep," said to herself with a satisfied nod. Of course it was rather easy to be satisfied in your victory when you outnumber your opponents ten to one.

Twilight suddenly heard a commotion further away, towards what she thought sounded like the road out of Griffonstone where Trixie was waiting. She dropped off the cliff into a dive and used the momentum to pull up and speed to the roadway. She almost wet herself when the roar of some terrible beast filled the air.

"Trixie!"

Twilight pushed herself as fast as she could towards the source of the noise, hoping to get there before Trixie got hurt by whatever was attacking them. She arrived to something very different to what she expected. A large manticore was blocking the exit out of Griffonstone, facing down a force of up to forty Mareitanians that had chosen to hide behind a shield.

Twilight went blank, with no idea of what to make of what she was seeing. A big, scary manticore was helping them. There wasn't more to say about that, and Twilight was willing to accept it as maybe being feasibly possible. That didn't change the fact that Trixie should be here, and-

Twilight's mind ground to a complete halt as she spotted Trixie hiding behind the crumbling pillar of the gateway, her horn glowing to highlight the devilish grin she was wearing. She twisted her head a little, and the manticore swung a paw towards the Mareitanians. Suddenly Twilight clicked as to what was going on, and she was frankly impressed since all Trixie was doing was messing with them. Nothing here suggested it had to work, but it did.

The manticore roared again, and with it the sound of a number off griffons as those that had been with Trixie attacked from the rear, stabbing their Kuua coated weapons into the shield to quickly tear it down. Rather than watch with them, Twilight joined them, and quickly flew down into a landing amongst the Mareitanians, cutting down two before they even knew she was there.

Between Twilight, the griffons, and Trixie when she joined in, the Mareitanians soon crumbled, with the last dozen surrendering rather than dying for nothing as some suggested when they said this dump wasn't worth that kind of price. Twilight and the griffons quickly disarmed them, and like that it seemed the battle to take Griffonstone was over. All three, four, maybe five minutes that it took.

"I love how gullible these twits are when it comes to magic," Trixie said as she sauntered towards Twilight, a smug smile on her face. "I didn't even think I was trying that hard."

"Well you scared the crap out of me," Twilight complained, but not with any real vehemence. She was still rather impressed, even if Trixie was deciding to brag about it. "I thought there was actually something really nasty here."

"Aww, and you came to save me?" Trixie made a kissy face at Twilight, "How noble of you, saving the poor damsel in distress."

"Yeah, if ever there was a description of you, damsel in distress is not it." Twilight looked around as more griffons flew in and helped to solve the unicorn problem by painting Kuua onto their horns before leading them back into Griffonstone. "We did it though, we took Griffonstone."

"Yeah, woo, what an achievement," Trixie said dryly. "We take back a tiny piece of Equestria just to give it to the Griffon Empire. Worth it."

"It could be worse. Come on." Twilight nodded for Trixie to follow her as they trailed after their newly acquired prisoners as they were led to where Luna had been holding her captives. Several more prisoners had turned up, and between them all there must've been about thirty ponies sat in the square.

"We've scoured every inch of the city," a griffon was reporting to Commander Lurin as they arrived. Behind him were two unarmoured griffons, one of which Twilight recognised as being Rainbow's friend Gilda. "We haven't found any stragglers as yet, but we'll continue searching. Also, these two want to speak to one of the princesses. One of them claims to be a friend of the pegasus Rainbow Dash."

"Yes, I know who she," Twilight said as she quickly trotted over.

Lurin bowed before Twilight, "Then they're all yours. I'll start spreading my griffons out to make sure we didn't miss any Mareitanians. Then we can maybe start thinking about moving onto the Griffish isles and Trottingham once the Emperor arrives with more reinforcements."

"Excuse me?" Twilight said slowly, having not heard anyone mention anything about taking the Griffish Isles before now. "Since when is that part of the plan?"

"Since Princess Luna made it so, I believe."

Twilight turned her head towards Luna, but the alicorn was facing the other direction. "Right, I guess I'll find out about that later. Thank you, Commander." Twilight waited for Lurin to move on, then gave her full attention to Gilda. She held out a hoof and smiled at the griffon, "Nice to meet you again, Gilda."

"Are you sure?" Gilda scratched at the back of her head, "I was kind of a jerk last time you saw me."

"Perhaps, but Rainbow told me you've had a bit of a change of heart since then, so if she forgives you, I do." Twilight extended her hoof a little further until Gilda took it in a claw and shook it. "So what can I do for you, Gilda?"

"Well, that's just it..." Gilda looked around, taking in the sight of hundreds of griffons flying around. "I guess Rainbow really wasn't making it up. Good job too, because after going around sneakily telling everygriff to stay inside today, we'd look like total idiots if you hadn't turned up."

"Rainbow told you to do that?"

"She might've suggested it to us, yes."

"Anything else she might have told you?" Twilight asked nervously, her voice turning high pitched as she asked.

"That the Griffon Empire owns this place now." Gilda narrowed her eyes, "Anything else we should know about?"

Twilight looked to the grey griffon beside Gilda, who was watching Gilda with visible fear. That was enough to tell Twilight that what she said next would have to be very carefully thought out.

"Sorry about that," she said, and didn't follow it up with anything. From the back of her head she could hear Pinkie shouting 'nailed it' very loudly.

"And that's all you have to say about it?"

Twilight sighed, knowing she was going to have to explain this. "Faust needs to be stopped, but the only country with the martial strength to do that is the Griffon Empire. We did our best to get him on our side, including saving his life and foiling a coup, but the one thing he demanded is the return of Griffonstone to the Griffon Empire. That part was non-negotiable, but we did get him down to letting all griffons here remain Equestrian citizens, and to allow free movement between Griffonstone and Equestria. The only difference you'll probably notice is things getting fixed up, because the Emperor isn't going to like what he sees."

"That's not the point! Griffonstone is-" Gilda gestured around at the city, "Griffonstone is Griffonstone! It's- It's-"

"A scruffy, dirty, dilapidated pit full of money grubbing jerks?" Trixie supplied, both helpfully and very unhelpfully.

"Yes! But it's our scruffy, dirty, dilapidated pit full of money grubbing jerks! We don't need ponies, or the Empire, to tell us what we're supposed to be like!"

Trixie snorted a laugh at Gilda, "You guys have some weird priorities in life then. There is absolutely nothing here to be proud about, just like there's no pride to living in poverty."

"I know! But that's not the point! The point is that Griffonstone wasn't yours to give away!"

"I'll think you find it was, young griffon," Luna said as she came over to join the conversation. "Griffonstone has belonged to Equestria since it was taken in the last war between Equestria and the Griffon Empire. That means it is ours to give away if we must, and believe me when I say that I don't wish to give you up lightly. Unfortunately we have priorities, and stopping Faust is first among them."

Gilda growled, but seemed to give up fighting it as she sagged miserably. "Whatever. It's not like I even like this place that much. You said that we're still welcome in Equestria?"

"Very much so, yes."

"Then I might have to take you up on that. I guess I'll have to see how bad the Empire's rule is first."

Twilight smiled, glad that had been sorted out. There was still one thing she felt she had to bring up now that Luna was here.

"So, Luna, what's this I heard from Commander Lurin about taking the Griffish Isles as well?"

"A practical consideration. Where in the world are we going to keep a couple thousand ponies here, hmm? The Griffish Isles will at least give us the space we need to house them."

"True," Twilight admitted slowly, "but it's also further north than here."

"Yes, but the distance between Ponyville and here is almost the same as the distance between Ponyville and Trottingham."

"Maybe it is, but in a straight line it takes us right past Canterlot, and really close to the village where we keep a lot of very important stuff. Both of those sound like places we should avoid for various reasons."

"Then go for Griffonstone, and swing a left when you're over the ocean," Trixie said, shrugging at the both of them like it was obvious. "No Canterlot, no village, and they'll think we've come here, which has been mentioned is a difficult place to attack from the ground, so they won't come rushing in to attack. Sorted."

"That's... actually a good idea," Twilight said sheepishly. "Nice one, Trixie."

"Someone has to think sensibly around here."

Not that Twilight had intended to count, but it was another twenty-three minutes and forty-eight seconds until the Emperor's airship arrived and was secured to the upper branches of Griffonstone. Cadence flew down off the ship first, and grimaced as she landed on the muddy ground.

"Hmm, I knew Griffonstone was a little rough, but I didn't expect this."

"Everyone's a critic," Gilda grumbled from behind Twilight. The only reason she was still there was because she didn't know what else to do, and none of the other griffons here had bothered to show up and meet their new ruler.

"Hopefully the Emperor's reaction is just as muted," Luna said to Cadence as her eyes watched the airship above them. "I rather get the feeling it won't be though."

Twilight shared Luna's feelings on the matter, "We'll see soon enough."

A few minutes later the Emperor flew down from the ship, although flew was a rather strong description for the lazy glide down to the ground he performed. The thought that it was probably the furthest he'd flown in quite some time passed through the mind of at least some of the observers there.

Like Cadence, the Emperor recoiled at the filth he was forced to place his claws into as he landed. "Good heavens, why is this place so disgusting? What have you ponies done with this place?"

"We didn't do anything-" Luna started to say before getting interrupted.

"Clearly! Perhaps you should have! I thought far better of you than to think you'd force the griffons here to live in such a lowly manner."

"Griffonstone was granted the right to self govern," Luna explained. "The state of Griffonstone is the responsibility of the griffons living here, and nothing to do with us, so do not blame us for it."

The Emperor grunted, hearing what Luna was saying only as an excuse. He turned on the spot, taking in the sights, his imagination filling with visions of grandeur as he thought of what to do with the place. Griffonia and Equestria might be allies now, but that didn't mean he couldn't turn Griffonstone into a something grand to show off before all the ponies.

"I suppose it is what it is," he said after a few moments. "Who's in charge here? Is there a mayor or something I could talk to?"

Luna shook her head, "Griffonstone has been leaderless since King Guto died some time ago without leaving an heir. Since then there hasn't been anyone willing to step up and lead."

"Actually, that's not quite true," Gilda piped up in a voice that hinted at mischief. "At times when we do need a leader, the eldest is sort of who we go to."

"Gilda, no," Gabby, Gilda's grey companion protested. "We're supposed to be making a good impression."

"Is that why you're the only two out here to greet me?" the Emperor asked, "To make a good impression?"

"Griffonstone was under attack less than an hour ago," said Twilight. "I might still be staying indoors if I was them."

"Very well," the Emperor conceded grumpily. "Can you bring this elder to me, young griffon?"

"Absolutely," Gilda said gleefully while Gabby hid her face behind a claw. "I'll be right back."

"What a helpful young griffon." The Emperor took another glance around Griffonstone, his expression more thoughtful than before. "So is there anything you want me to sign saying I now own this place? Preferably using ink and not blood this time."

"I don't think so," Luna said, checking to see if Twilight or Cadence had anything to say on it. "I'm pretty sure we included that in the formation of the Union."

"Oh good, in that case..." The Emperor pointed a claw into the distance towards Equestria, "ponies, out."

The three princesses were stunned, and started flapping their jaws demanding that the Emperor explain himself when he started to laugh. "That was too easy. I had no idea you three were so gullible."

"You did have a very straight face," Luna said back in an attempt to be diplomatic. Even if it were a joke, she was still fuming inside. Even so, she had to admit that he really did get them. "Perhaps we're not in a very receptive mood either."

"Well, perhaps not, it has been a busy day."

"I'm telling you now, young missy, I ain't gonna kow-tow to no Emperor that comes here. Griffonstone don't need no king, and it don't need no Emperor!"

All of them stopped at the yelled proclamation of Griffonstone independence that came from the elderly griffon being escorted towards them by Gilda and Gabby. He seemed to be part vulture, and was wearing a rather spiffy fez that complemented his unusual mannerisms. At least, unusual for the rest of the world. He probably fit right in around Griffonstone.

Gilda bowed before the four members of royalty. "Emperor, princesses, may I introduce you to Grampa Gruff, the elder of Griffonstone," she said while Gabby continued to hide behind her claw.

The two sides eyed each other for several long seconds, which was quite a feat since it was eight eyeballs against Gramps Gruff's singular working one, but he held his own with ease. He then cleared his throat and spoke.

"I'm not saying anything until I see my lawyer!"

The three alicorns shared a look while the Emperor tried to figure out what to say. "You're not in trouble, my friend."

"Is that so? Two bits says otherwise!"

"What?" The Emperor shook his head, "Look, elder-"

"Who 're you calling old? I'm still a spring chicken yet!" Grampa Gruff fluffed up his balding chest, losing more feathers in the process, and making something in his back click. "Dang it! Gilda! Do the thing!" Gilda smacked a claw down on his back, apparently fixing whatever had jammed up, but also sending him into a wheezing cough that thankfully lasted for only a few seconds. "That's the stuff."

The Emperor's expression went cold as he stared into the innocent eyes of Gilda. "I'm told you're the impromptu leader of Griffonstone," he said stiffly. "Is that correct?"

"Hah! Only 'cause I keep drawing the short straw! I get the feeling the others might be cheating the amount of times I've ended up with it."

"We haven't drawn straws in years," Gabby said in an attempt to be helpful.

"Really? Then who the heck have I been drawing all those straws with? Why the heck am I still in charge?" Grampa Gruff stopped and stared myopically at the Emperor, "Who 're you again? Wait, don't answer if you're gonna charge me for it."

"I am Hergest, Emperor of Griffonia and the Griffon Empire, and I've met you now to discuss the future of Griffonstone. As of a recent agreement with the princesses of Equestria, Griffonstone is once again part of the Griffon Empire. I wish to see this place returned to its former glory, and as leader of the people here I'm sure you know of a lot of things that could be improved on."

"Is that so?" Grampa gruff whistled as the Emperor nodded, "In that case, I suppose the well could do with a new bucket. The current one has a few holes in." Grampa Gruff pointed at a nearby well with a bucket sat on its edge. The bucket had a couple of arrows stuck through it.

"And that's it?" the Emperor asked after a few seconds of waiting. "There's nothing else you could think of?"

"Someone might want to burn those bodies before disease starts to spread. Dunno who'd leave all these dead ponies lying around anyway."

"Nothing else at all?" the Emperor asked again, his voice sounding more and more hopeless all the time.

"I suppose a lick of paint around the place wouldn't hurt, but we ain't paying ya for it!"

"Of course. I'm... glad we had this talk, Grampa Gruff. I'm sure we'll have plenty more to discuss over the coming weeks."

"Yeah, and I bet you'll be saying them down to me from your fancy throne in the castle. Also, I ain't your grampa. I ain't anyone's grampa! Don't know why I get called it! I'm not even that old!"

"You don't seem particularly young to me," said Luna.

"That's 'cause being poor ages ya! Gimme a few bits and I'll be the handsomest griffon you ever did see." Gramp Gruff cleared his throat, "Non refundable."

The Emperor stepped between them to get the elderly griffon's attention, "You mentioned a throne?"

"No I didn't. You can't prove anything!"

"Yes you di-" The Emperor groaned, deciding to change tact. "Is there a throne room here in Griffonstone?"

Grampa Gruff eyed the Emperor suspiciously, "I might know, for the right price. My memory goes fuzzy without a little coin to keep it clear."

"I think I see why Celestia decided to keep her muzzle out of Griffonstone," Luna commented as the two griffons descended into a haggling war over the price of that information. "Nothing is free. Especially the stuff that is."

"And what's the price of that?" Twilight asked.

"Time, patience, and sanity, if I were to guess."

"Okay, so while we're off doing what we need to, Commander Lurin will lead an assault to take the Griffish Isles, agreed?"

The heads of the various people around Twilight nodded in agreement with what should've been a relatively simple thing to explain. Instead it had started with complaints about the throne room, moved on to arguments about why there was a mouldy tree stump growing a harvest of mushrooms in the middle of the room, which had then progressed into a discussion about the Idol of Boreas, and why it was a really dumb idea. Once past that, they actually managed to get on track.

"Right, good. In that case, we also need to alter the route the airships will take." Twilight placed the tip of her hoof onto the map she had unfurled on the stump, "We can't fly them directly to Trottingham, because it'll take us past Canterlot, and the place we keep a lot of our stuff. I propose a longer route that takes us most of the way to Griffonstone to throw the scent off, then turn north for Trottingham. Any arguments?"

Again there was no arguments. Twilight was still a bit iffy about their location of choice in Trottingham, rather than the far more defensible Griffonstone, but she had to concede that the Griffish Isles did present a lot more space to hide all these ponies, especially with Griffonstone acting as a bit of a red herring for any would be pursuers. Hopefully there wouldn't be any at all, but better careful than not.

"Then we have a new-ish plan, and I hope we're not going to be throwing more last minute additions into it." Twilight rolled the map back up, wondering why that simple, little thing took so much effort. "All we need now is a report back from the Wonderbolts and we're good to go." Twilight withheld her cheer. They were finally going to get her friends back!

"I wish we could also hear from one of our other allies regarding his preparedness," said Luna. "A lot of what we hope is now hinging on him." Her expression went flat, "Oh how I wish it wasn't."

"Him?" Trixie asked. "Are you talking about Discord?"

Luna shut her mouth with a click as Trixie blurted out a name she'd been hoping to keep unsaid. There was surprisingly little protest from those who had been ignorant of his inclusion in things, so feeling optimistic she decided to confirm it.

"That's right. We need him to do whatever he plans to do to the Tree of Harmony, but also to provide a distraction for Faust that she'll never be able to resist."

"Then why don't you just say his name three times backwards to summon him?"

"Because I really don't think that'll wor-"

"Drocsid, Drocsid, Drocsid!"

"-k?" Luna's ears twitched as a sensation of power filled the room, along with a tension as the shadows grew longer and darker. Then they started to crawl across the floor, piling together into the mismatched shape of Discord, who seemed much bigger and angrier than usual.

"Who dares summon Discor- Oh, it's you lot." All of a sudden the shadows were gone, and Discord seemed much more like himself. "Hi, how you all doing? Nice to see you, to see you nice!"

"I can't believe that actually worked," Luna said in disbelief.

"I can't believe you actually consort with this demon," said the Emperor.

Discord rolled his eyes at the both of them, "And I can't believe it's not butter, but no one ever wants to hear about my problems." He turned and checked out his surroundings, "Ah, Griffonstone. I thought I could smell avarice."

"I wonder who else I could summon by saying their name backwards?"

"Don't you dare, Trixie," Twilight said quickly, even though she doubted it would work. That said, it worked for Discord, so that did set a precedent.

"Spoilsport."

Twilight narrowed her eyes at Trixie, then slapped a smile onto her face as she turned to Discord. "So, how are you? Are you ready to do your part in all this?"

"I'd say I was born ready, but I wasn't exactly born. Suffice to say, yes I'm ready to fiddle with the Tree and be Faust's favourite target while you all pretend you're doing the real work in saving the world."

"Your contribution is valued as well, Discord," Cadence said to the draconequus.

"Ahh! A pretty mare is talking to me! What do I say, Twilight?"

"Why are you asking me? Wait, are you implying I'm not pretty? I can be pretty!" Twilight sighed as she heard herself, "Why do I even care right now? The important part is that you're ready, and that we're ready, and that they aren't ready."

"One might almost say I'm... nervouscited," Discord said with a grin at Twilight, knowing that she knew he was quoting Pinkie Pie.

"Still not a real word, even when you say it," Twilight growled. "Especially if you say it."

"I could put that word into every dictionary with a click of my claw."

"Oh please don't. I don't have anywhere near enough time to burn every dictionary in the world."

"If you're quite done," Luna said sharply to the both of them.

"Uh-oh, fun police." Discord held his two upper limbs out in front of him and poofed some shackles onto them. "It's a fair cop, guv'ner."

Luna eyed the strange blue uniform she suddenly found herself wearing. "Amusing. However, there is still things we must do before we set off for Ponyville. Twilight, contact Fleur to let her know to get ready to strike. As soon as we have the Wonderbolts report we shall be telling them to make their attack. Emperor, Commander Lurin, if you'd be so kind as to ready your soldiers and airships. Cadence, you, Ember, and I need to discuss what we will be doing about my sister."

"And I suppose I'm free to go?" Discord asked.

"You are, so long as you know when to do your part."

"Oh ye of little faith." With a puff of smoke, Discord was gone.

Twilight gestured with her head for Trixie to follow her, "Come on Trixie, we should probably go over what we'll be doing just to make sure. We can't afford any mistakes."

"Ugh, I was afraid you'd say that."

The reaction had been slow, but now the Mareitanians were finally getting their shit together to go and defend the eastern seaboard from the dastardly changeling menace. Rainbow wished she could see their faces when they found out how badly they'd been duped. Nothing like a good ruse to put a smile on your face, or to rip it off of others.

Trains were slowly being loaded at the bottom of the Canterhorn Mountain, and it seemed that Faust was taking no risks in defeating this new enemy. She was sending almost everything to secure Manehattan, Fillydelphia, and Baltimare. She intended to put the changelings down hard and fast. Rainbow felt she was underestimating how hard that would actually be, but at the same time Faust quite possibly didn't really know what changelings were. Overwhelming them with numbers won't beat an enemy that can hide in plain sight.

Not that it would actually come to a full on battle for any of the cities. Chrysalis had made that explicitly clear, and none of the princesses had said to go that far either. The changelings only had keep the Mareitanians occupied for a day or two, and that was it. Easy really.

Unfortunately that didn't really answer the question of what Chrysalis had been up to. Rainbow dreaded to think what Lightning and Vapor would report back from Fillydelphia and Baltimare, and she hated what they'd find when they all went to scout Manehattan before heading back to Griffonstone. She supposed she should also warn Chrysalis that the Mareitanians were coming. It was a different matter whether she deserved that warning or not.

Deciding that there was nothing more she could learn from watching the Mareitanians from a distance, Rainbow started to fly for Manehattan. Hopefully Lightning and Vapor would be done by now, and heading for the city themselves.
Lightning and Vapor spotted her first, having already reached the city together before Rainbow did, so they came to meet her first. Rainbow told them what she'd seen first, putting off hearing what they were going to say because if it was bad she didn't really want to hear it at all. Too bad she couldn't actually stop them telling her, although what she did hear wasn't what she expected.

"It was pretty quiet actually," Vapor said, sounding like she couldn't quite believe it herself. "The changelings were all over the city, and there were quite a few captive ponies being held in certain areas, but as far as I could tell most of the ponies living there were hiding indoors, perfectly unharmed."

"And there were none dead at all?" Rainbow asked. She refused to believe the changelings could've done what they did without taking some lives, as much as she wished it wasn't so.

"From what I could see I only found five dead, so unless they were hiding the bodies, I think the changelings actually did okay." Vapor shrugged, "I guess we might've been wrong."

"Yeah, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. What's the story in Fillydelphia, Lightning?"

"Pretty much the same, actually," Lightning said, although it seemed like the admission hurt her to say. "Except I only found two dead ponies, so... yeah, I don't know. I guess that Chrysalis talks a big game, but doesn't actually want to piss us off. Is it bad to say I'd feel better about things if I'd found loads of dead bodies?"

"Yes?" said Vapor. "I'd like to think that's not something you actually want."

"No, of course not, but you know what I mean, right? Rainbow?"

"Yeah, I get it," Rainbow nodded. "I guess we're all going to have to cut her some slack after this. I'm betting that's exactly why she did it too. I suppose we should get on and see what's going on in Manehattan so we can report back to Twilight and the others."

It was only a short flight to get over Manehattan, and much like what Lightning and Vapor had described from the other two cities, things were rather quiet. Well, quiet if you ignored the hundreds of changelings buzzing around. Pony-wise it was quiet. Speaking of changelings though, as soon as they were spotted flying over the city, a couple dozen flew up in what was obviously an attack.

"Wait!" Lightning shouted at them, "We're here to see Chrysalis! I mean Queen Chrysalis! We're on your side!"

The changelings pulled off from their attack, and instead circled around the three Wonderbolts before one of them, indistinguishable from the others, hovered in front of them to speak.

"Ponies are allies of Queen Chrysalis and pony princesses?"

"Yes!" Lightning cleared her throat, "I mean yes. We'd like to see her if possible?"

The changeling changed the tone of its buzzing for a moment, then nodded. "Will take ponies to Queen, but if ponies don't want to caught consorting with a so called enemy, ponies should act like changelings. That means showing respect to Queen, and not using pronouns."

"No pronouns?" said Rainbow. "Seriously? Queen Chrysalis is still doing that?"

"The individual is the enemy of the hive," the changeling said flatly, making it hard to tell whether it was being said with distaste, or if they were just being a changeling.

"Yeah, you're apparently going to become part of Equestria, and we all use pronouns. Pretty sure you're going to have to get used to that."

"If ponies want to not get caught consorting with enemy changelings, ponies must act-"

"Like a changeling, yeah, we get it." Rainbow shrugged at the other two, hoping to convey the message that changelings are weird. "Lead on... other changeling."

They were escorted down into the very centre of Manehattan, into the square that Rainbow could never remember the name of, but had all the fancy light up billboards. There Chrysalis had built up a throne for herself where she was being waited on by a couple of terrified mares. Rainbow shot her the angriest look she could, but given the restraints of having to act like a changeling there wasn't anything she could really do.

"Ah, my loyal subjects," Chrysalis said tauntingly to the three pegasi. "What bring you here?"

"The pri- Hek!" Rainbow wheezed as Lightning elbowed her in the side, and she knew why. She'd almost said princesses, which would totally give away the link between them and Chrysalis to the ponies cowering at Chrysalis' hooves.

"The Mareitanians are coming," Lightning said instead, "as predicted. They are leaving Canterlot as we speak."

"Hmm, a little slower than anticipated, but that's hardly a problem. How are things in Fillydelphia and Baltimare?"

"Much like here, although they haven't had a warning that the Mareitanians are coming, and we won't have the time to give it." Lightning made sure to emphasize that last bit, hinting that they weren't here as messengers for Chrysalis. "Queen might want to tell them herself."

"Yes, yes," Chrysalis said boredly. "And what of our benefactors? Will you be going to tell them as well?"

"Yes, Queen Chrysalis."

"And what will you be telling them?"

"That we have done as asked with minimal casualties," which was true since they hadn't seen any more bodies in Manehattan than anywhere else. "A slight misappropriation of living ponies might be ignored if it were to end now."

Chrysalis rolled her eyes and shooed the ponies at her hooves away to join a number of others being held in the square. "Our benefactors really are bores sometimes, but I suppose I should keep these ponies away from where the Mareitanians can wantonly slaughter them and make me look bad."

"Yes, Queen Chrysalis. We shall go report to our benefactors now, with your blessing."

"Yes, yes, off you go my good little servants, and tell our benefactors that they have forty-eight hours from now to complete their tasks. I shan't bother holding these cities past then, not at the risk of being overwhelmed."

"As you wish." Lightning bowed before Chrysalis and took off with Rainbow and Vapor right behind her. "I hate that bug," she said once she thought they were far enough away.

"Pretty sure she hates us too," Rainbow said back with a snicker.

"And I'm pretty sure we couldn't have been more obvious," said Vapor. "If those ponies tell a Mareitanian about that benefactor business, it probably wouldn't be too hard to work out who we really mean."

"No," said Lightning, "but by the time that happens it really shouldn't matter. Come on, the sooner we get back to Griffonstone, the sooner we can get all of this over with. Especially since Chrysalis has now given us a time limit. That was nice of her."

Author's Notes:

Must remember to press publish button...