Far to the east and many moons ago, in the Griffon lands, life was simple, practical, and rigidly enforced.

The griffon race had only formed the town of Griffonstone out of necessity. At first, it was a small group of griffons who had formed a mountain camp together, for gathering food and for defense against dragons.

As time went by, the town grew in size and complexity. Still fiercely independent, the average griffon only used the place in early childhood and to settle down if they found a brood-mate. Most griffons left for the wilds once they could fly. This behavior left the town in disrepair, and badly hindered development of culture and new invention.

Of the few griffons who remained in or near the town through their lives, Swiftwing the blacksmith was perhaps the most loyal. Half lion, half eagle, he had front talons that offered some rudimentary dexterity with which he forged hot metal into useful implements for his town.

From his sweltering shop, Swiftwing observed the ebb and flow of the populace of Griffonstone. It was a depressing sight. The structures around him would collapse and rot. An aspiring griffon built a fountain, which went uncared for when he left to live out in the wilderness as any self-respecting griffon should.

The griffons who settled in town were all, without exception, very old or injured and couldn't survive on their own any more. They didn't have the strength to assist with much.

Something had to be done. Swiftwing would gather together as many griffons as would listen to him, and describe organizing a system of leadership to make sure their whole town didn't fall apart. The response was always the same. 'It will never work!', they would say to him, and they were right. Griffons didn't stick around long enough.

The last straw was when the well collapsed. Swiftwing gathered shovels and tools from his workshop, and went in search of able-bodied helpers. He found only two. It took them a week to rebuild the well. The decrepit elders of the town only had water to drink once that week, when it rained.

While narcissistic and proud, griffons weren't stupid. Swiftwing rallied together a group of loyal followers by exploiting their desires. Wealth, luxury, power! Status as elite griffons in the new regime.

He equipped the griffons loyal to him with armor and weapons from his forge. Together, they dug into the mountainside where gold gleamed. They mined stone blocks, veins of gold, veins of coal. A few young griffons, rather than leave for the horizon, chose to stay and help in return for some of this shiny gold.

Swiftwing could form the gold into whatever articles of jewelry were desired. His work force grew yet more. Now with over thirty griffons happy to listen to him, he instructed some of them to craft nets and haul in fish to feed his growing army.

A fortress was built and met no resistance. The elderly griffons were too feeble and busy rearing young. The young griffons were entirely apathetic to events that didn't concern them, or else happy to help construct a stone building in return for food and shiny gold.

Block by block, each hauled up by two mighty griffons flying it into place together, the mountain citadel was built against a cliff at the back of town. Swiftwing crafted each and every iron component of the entire fortress. Furnishings were made by a fellow griffon and woodcutter who had discovered a love for carpentry. Between this carpenter and Swiftwing, they built barrels, tables, stockpiled weapons. It took them many moons and long days of hard labor, from dawn to dusk, but at last it came together and they had inspired the majority.

When the fortress was finished, Swiftwing took initiative and forced his town to prosper, rather than seeing it fall into decay. He seized power, declaring himself King of the Griffons, and offered a display of cold-blooded brutality to seal his place among such independent creatures.

By now, over fifty griffons--more than half of all in Griffonstone--were loyal to his cause and willing to obey his orders, in return for their promised wealth and status.

The first official decree: Let all griffons who desire the wilds flee now. They may expect to never have help from Griffonstone if life becomes hard. Let those who desire a time of wealth, happiness, full-stomachs, and culture remain and obey their king, Swiftwing.

Very few of the young left. Swiftwing and Splinter the Carpenter had each remaining griffon come to the fortress to be assigned a task for the benefit of Griffonstone.

Each griffon was given a family home which would be kept in good condition. Swiftwing rationed out food, textiles, furnishings, tools, and gold to each of his subjects, reserving a bigger and better cut for him and his followers.

Some griffons feared this system of rule and tried to leave. They were captured and had their wings cut so they couldn't fly. Other griffons insulted their rulers, saying it wasn't fair they got luxury by virtue of being in charge. These griffons had their wings tied, and were tossed into the deep, windy crevasse near town.

Twenty griffons were paid well with quality food and a harem. These twenty became the guards, defending the town and carrying out the orders of their king. Others of the original fifty were placed as elite families, and were allowed to select their family's desired role in Griffonstone.

Swiftwing found a mate to be his queen, by which he had two sons and a daughter. The first born son was raised to replace his father as the next king of the griffons.

To manage the continued populace, arranged marriage was enforced. To ensure the fortress itself would be kept in good condition while the two leaders continued to ply their unique trade skills, any griffon unhappy with the family occupation could become a fortress servant instead. Rather than waste resources building a prison, disobedient griffons were either exiled or forced into the worst labor.

On the outskirts of Griffonstone, and living in an adobe house on the mountain itself, were a family of griffons whose assigned work for their town was mining and gathering meat and firewood. Generations passed. The harsh system of dictatorship functioned with cold efficiency. Then one day in this mining family, a griffon was born who had white fur and dark blue feathers. She was named Cobalt.

The Forbidden Mines. This was the name on the rare maps of pony-kind that contained lands east of Equestria, with a firm notice in glowing magic red that trespass meant death.

It wasn't as though a pony couldn't visit Griffonstone, that was fine. Ten bits to get past the town guard. You aren't welcome, get the hell out soon as you've seen the place, not much to see. Check out the Windy Crevasse, be sure to fall in.

What was strictly and firmly forbidden, on signs written in both pony and griffon language, was attempting to mine for gold. All gold, marble, and other materials on the mountains were property of the griffons. Ponies had their own damn gold deposits in Equestria, and attempts to mine the exceedingly rich deposits here would be dealt with brutally.

Despite this, some still came and mined in the dead of night. Greed was a word which could also describe some pony-race adventures.

Cobalt lived in the adobe house on the mountainside. It was only accessible by flight, much like the main town of the pegasi. She was the daughter of her mother Poisonclaw and her father Featherheart, an arranged marriage. Cobalt lived alone now. Her mother had been thrown into the crevasse for suggesting a better system of rule by popular vote. Her father had died in a collapse while mining gold.

Cobalt's task was to gather wood and meat for the griffons. Meat came in the form of fish, rabbits, small deer, and mining ponies.

Mining in griffon territory was forbidden, and was dealt with brutally.

Cobalt had doubts about her own race and society, and wanted to know how life was for ponies. If she had only been born in the forested land outside of Griffonstone instead of within it, all she would owe was a seasonal tax to the king, not her entire way of life. It just wasn't fair. Other griffons--Oakwood, Gilda, Ivan, to name a few--were born outside of town and could visit Griffonstone all they wanted and even sell goods, but they weren't stuck living in one place!

She had enough and was ready to do what she had to. The time came for her arranged marriage and furthering the family; she declined, and was exiled. In a dramatic facade of misery, she simply left, taking nothing with her, to see if the damn ponies were really as accepting and nice as everyone said they were.

She ate a good meal of fish and gathered some into a knapsack before a flight across the sea to the East coast of Equestria. The salt air stung her eyes, and she flew above the clouds for a time where the air was clearer. She flew for nearly the entire day before a distant shore appeared. Part eagle, part lion, all gruff and cynicism, Cobalt began to descend as she saw land below.

As the last puffs of cloud swirled past her body and the patchwork ground far below became visible, she gasped, at a loss for words. It was a pony city, but a big one, with all sorts of huge buildings and a massive bridge of metal connecting the island to mainland. She approached as a pegasus launched off a cloud, closing the distance with alarming speed.

"Halt there!" he yelled, "Griffons have no place in Manehattan!"

"Did I hear you right," answered Cobalt, "This is you ponies' main city then, Mainhatten?"

"No you dunce, like the thing on our heads. Y'know, a mane?"

She was visibly affronted, "Is every damn place in your land a pun?"

"Excuse me miss, but this happens to be the foremost urban center for culture and forward progress within our entire kingdom. And a griffon is most certainly not an element of culture. Go the Tartarus away from here before I summon the rest of the aerial guard."

"Okay, maybe I will! Look. I just want to settle down, live in peace and love and whatever the hell it is you ponies have going for you. Find a better way of life. Is a big mean griffon like me allowed to do that, anywhere?"

"Why don't you go to the Everfree Forest? It's really popular with monsters. Like you."

Cobalt bristled and roared at the pegasus, who nearly fainted and sped back towards town to summon his fellow guards or whatever. She promptly made her own show of speed, high-tailing it to the west, a number of distant pegasi specks in pursuit.

The landscape below turned into mountains. Some weird parallel lines of metal disappeared into a hole in the cliff face. Cobalt was starving and exhausted; this was the longest in her life she had ever stayed airborne. She had to land soon, whether or not intentionally. She made a dive for it as the faster pegasi closed in. Arrows started to rain around her. How were they even shooting them?!

She reared back, using her tired wings as air brakes. It was all the last strain they could take as her whole body shivered with exhaustion, and she plummeted the last dozen feet into the bushes. Unharmed, she quickly got back up and ran into the tunnel in the cliff.

It seemed to work--for some reason the pegasi stopped chasing her. She walked, holding her wings limply, sore all over from the long flight. Towards the middle of the tunnel, the weird metal and wood path she was on became a bridge and crossed through a natural cavern. An underground lake glittered off of crystal formations. The weird bridge began to rumble and Cobalt heard an odd, loud noise she couldn't place. A light appeared on the bridge ahead; she squinted, and saw some kind of machine rushing towards her that was not about to stop. With a scream she hurled herself off the bridge and opened her wings to fly. Sharp needles of pain wracked her entire body, her exhausted wings failed her, and she plummeted into water colder than she could ever imagine.

Cobalt dragged herself onto a shore of razor-sharp rocks, curled up, shivering and bitterly cold, an arrow lodged in her leg, in pain, angry and outraged at the treatment she had gotten just for who she was, and for the first time in her entire life, she cried.

Author's Notes:

This interpretation of griffon society isn't really based off any elements of canon. It just factors in the behavior and personality of a typical griffon and how unlikely it is that they would form a city and social structure together.