The night shift was easier than Gilda had expected. She just stood there, trying not to sleep, with the other soldier dude. Grunhilda sat there too. Awkwardly bending to the side next to her. Sleeping with her head on Gilda’s shoulder that was lower than her own. But that didn’t seem to bother the Big Girl.

The soldier guy didn’t even mention it. They mostly held hushed and short conversations with periods of silence. Mostly to pay attention to anything they might hear in the night. Gilda’s mind immediately jumped to those bandits hiding in the cloud, but nothing ever happened. The soldier dude told her that they might have scouted out their camp in the cover of night, though.

Which was kind of dumb… Griffons couldn’t see much better than most creatures in the dark, but with the moon and the stars providing light, they could see for miles beyond the borders of the mesa.

But she supposed that if they were smart, they wouldn’t be bandits.

Before she knew it, the sun appeared on the horizon, but they kept watching until the first started waking up. It happened, eventually. Lazily, the camp became active. Someone dropped a pan that clanged loudly in the stone and that startled awake everyone.

Grunhilda startled awake too. With a gasp, and she stood straight as a pole, “No! That’s not true! I was just resting my eyes!”

“Good morning, Grunhilda.” Gilda chuckled and the other didn’t answer, but Grunhilda cast her eyes downwards uncomfortably while her cheeks turned to an adorable shade of red.

“I’ve seen worse in the army.” Their nightly companion laughed curtly, but Gilda didn’t think he meant it in a bad way.

Breakfast would follow and then they would take to the sky again, but the others took care of it. Gia and Geary woke up too, and her mood had improved. “Hi, Gilda. Peaceful watch?”

“Yeah.” Gilda smiled a little at Gia’s attempt at small talk. Reading her was a bit of a challenge though. Last night she was jealous, but in the morning she was friendly. Maybe Gia herself was having trouble dealing with her own situation. Anyways, the small talk was nice. “So, the journey up north is supposed to be difficult?”

Gia nodded calmly and grinned. “Yes, but it’s not impossible. If it was, then Lady Gwendolen wouldn’t be getting her precious little followers now, would she?”

Gilda chuckled. “I guess not. Do you know her?”

“Yes…” Gia sighed and frowned. “I was pretty much in love with her for a while.”

Her eyes shifted to the side for a moment. “In all the worst ways possible… I suppose her speeches about how great The Harpy is, and all the rewards she had for me got to my younger self… Also, just how beautiful and powerful she is.”

“But… Maybe…” Gia went on, a little saddened, with her eyes turned down and a small sigh. “Maybe, if The Harpy had chosen to reveal herself to me, I would have been a better trooper.”

Gilda thought for a second. That was a part of what had gotten her involved too, but it was mostly the fact that she didn’t really have a choice. From the start, she was flung into it by other griffons being asses to her. She wasn’t going to complain, though. She liked having a place at the top, for once.

That said, Gilda also didn’t try to steal money from Lady Gwendolen. Money that was ultimately meant to help griffons.

Maybe she was naïve, but Gilda believed that The Harpy was the best for griffons. She might have a biased view on that, but from her perspective it was clear. And doing the same as ‘the enemy’ was not helpful.

At the same time, she didn’t fully condemn Gia. Lady Gwendolen didn’t either. It seemed that in Gia’s eyes, she hadn’t really done anything wrong. At least she didn’t steal from the common population, and she meant to advance their side’s goals along the way. That was probably why Lady Gwendolen didn’t have her murdered, or something.

At the same time, some of the stuff that she had noticed poked at the back of Gilda’s mind. Stuff like the pony she saw in Griffonstone… He likely wasn’t there on his own will. And some of the things that The Harpy liked were not particularly nice. But she supposed that she couldn’t help it. She was stuck with the northerners. She hoped the kinks would eventually work themselves out.

Better not to think too much about it because the alternative was just too scary to contemplate.

Then the lime colored, young griffonness approached them. “Good morning! We’ll be having breakfast in a jiffy! Uh… Bathroom is on the other side of the carts…” She pointed with an awkward grin. “Boys to the right and girls to the left.”

Yeah… Bathroom was a good idea after all that coffee and a whole night.

After taking care of that Gilda rejoined the others. As did Grunhilda, but the Big Girl had her book with her while Gilda was more interested in engaging in conversation. She approached the female sibling of the pair as she let out a giant yawn behind her rosy colored paw.

“Hey.” They greeted each other with friendly smiles. “I never got your name. Did I?”

“Oh!” The other let her eyes go wide. “I’m Gertha. My brother is Guile”

Cool. Gilda supposed Gertha knew who she and Grunhilda were and just laid in the stony ground with her. They waited for breakfast that came soon after not only her brother and the pony joined them along with Gia and Geary, but also all the others. It seemed that they were all a happy group of traveling griffons, and pony, now.

Humors were high and conversations bubbled up naturally with a few chuckles and laughs here and there while the lime-colored griffon girl brought them breakfast. Eggs, bacon, sausages, and slices of ham to eat in wood plates and some more coffee. They ate with simple iron forks and knives, and it wasn’t fancy, but it sure was tasty and festive.

Everything seemed perfectly fine until she noticed the pony awkwardly avoided staring at anyone. He laid quietly on his spot and didn’t talk, or really do anything other than take a small bit of his green sandwich every now and then. He just looked generally uncomfortable with something, and it made Gilda uncomfortable too. Her initial fears reared their head again.

“You okay, pony?” It was Guile that spoke.

He caused the pony to look up with a startle and shifty eyes. “Oh… It’s nothing.”

“Yeah…” Guile didn’t believe him, letting go of his fork and knife with a glare. “Nothing doesn’t make a normally cheery and easy-going dude mope after a night of sleep. Spill it out, pony. If something is bothering my travelling companions, I need to know.”

That Guile dude made a good argument, and spared Gilda having to ask the pony. She paid attention, though.

“I wasn’t entirely honest about why I’m here.” He mumbled and Gilda tensed up to jump at his throat, but then he spoke further. “There’s something about griffon history that doesn’t add up.”

She did her best not to show how hearing that relaxed her, but she let escape an involuntary sigh. At the same time, it was curious, because that was just how she felt about ‘griffon history’.

“A good few years ago I went with Miss Daring Do on an expedition to the Saddle Arabian desert…” The pony started. “Do you know her?”

“Yeah, duh…” Gertha rolled her eyes and the others grunted positively. “Everyone knows Daring Do.”

“You said the Saddle Arabian desert?” Gilda asked with a frown. The Hader.

“Yes…” He hoofed nervously at the rocky ground. “We found the ruins of a city under the sands. I calculated it had been there, untouched, since before the Age of The Sun.”

“What is the Age of the Sun?” Guile turned to his sister.

“The time between Nightmare Moon being banished to the moon and the present age when Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends started using the Elements of Harmony.”

“Oh…” He turned back to the pony. “Somewhere past a millennia ago?”

“Yes,” Lost Temple nodded sheepishly. “But I couldn’t decide on a clearer date. Anyways, the important thing is that it seemed to be a griffon city that wasn’t on the records.”

“I feel like I’m ponysplaining…” He scratched the back of his neck with a hoof. “There shouldn’t be a griffon city in the Saddle Arabian desert, so it was quite a discovery. Anyways, while she went back to Canterlot to register our find, she left me in charge of the excavation team. We mapped the whole thing, and we found evidence of a sophisticated irrigation system, housings and several buildings such as public baths and something like an amphitheater, a market and even a mailing office.”

“And it was strange…” He concluded with a frown.

“Why?” Mister Gillian asked. “What’s so strange about a city with a mailing office? Every city is supposed to have one.”

“Yes… Today.” The pony agreed with a serious, professorial expression. “But that is because we live in a unified federation of nations with well-defined regulations. That city was from a time where griffons were divided into independent feudal states. There were no regulated institutions such as a postal service. If you needed communication sent somewhere, you would have your own servant take it, pay a messenger, or leave it with a carter.”

Gia remained quiet, pretending she wasn’t listening, and Gilda decided she’d do the same.

“What you’re saying is that there was something off in the ruins.” Gertha asked, gesturing excitedly and curiously. “Go on!”

“Yeah. That pointed towards the city being part of a larger kingdom, or something. One that was capable of organizing such a service.” Lost Temple went on with a bite on his grass (or whatever it was) sandwich. “We got excited. It appeared we were on to something new and started scouring the place for anything.”

“We found engraved stones in what I now know was High Griffonese. Someone found a set of enchanted steel surgical instruments in what looked like an operating room. There was a sort of sacrificial chamber that we identified thanks to one of our Diamond Dog colleagues. It correlated to his race’s own history.” The pony added. “From it all we surmised that the griffons in that area held some sort of sacrificial ceremonies. It’s just something that had never been heard of.”

“Doesn’t that bother you ponies?” One of the cart pullers raised an eyebrow. “I mean… Uh… I’m not sure what I think of it myself.”

“I don’t like that sort of thing.” The pony frowned and cocked his head, leaving his sandwich on his plate. “No. But that is not how one deals with History. You’re supposed to be impartial and not argue with facts. Those griffons shouldn’t be there, but they were. They also did things that weren’t common practice among their kind. There is no changing that, and it’s intriguing.”

“But I suppose that something went wrong?” The lime-colored griffon girl urged him on with a gesture.

“It did.” The pony frowned further, letting frustration through. “Daring Do returned with a squad of Royal Guards and a Justiciar. They confiscated all the artifacts and we had to leave.”

“I’m pretty sure this is an abuse of power.” Another griffon grimaced.

“Not really…” Gia interjected calmly. “Princess Celestia has a royal prerogative that allows her emergency powers above the Hall of Friendship. She can invoke it whenever she feels there is a threat that supersedes subject powers. Most importantly, nobody ever questions it.”

Since griffons and pony, Gilda included just stared at her with unmitigated confusion, she went on, rolling her eyes and sighing arrogantly. “There is this agreement called the Alicorn Concordat. It originally forbade Princess Celestia and Princess Luna from using their magical powers to intervene in warfare. You know, considering they could end life as we know if they wanted. They used it to force Princess Celestia to deal with her sister when she became Nightmare Moon. Later the concordat included forbidding the Princesses from meddling with the internal political affairs of the individual nations. Recently, it included Princesses Cadance and Twilight Sparkle.”

“But paragraph Zeroth of the accord states that Princess Celestia is allowed to act against it, if she decides there is enough of a threat to the Equestrian Federation that she can solve by herself.” She rubbed her forehead with her fingers and groaned. “It’s the sort of thing that makes me doubt that creatures have any sort of intelligence whatsoever… The agreement that was supposed to limit her powers literally gives her limitless powers.”

Gilda couldn’t decide if that was funny or tragic.

It is an example of just how cunning and dangerous she is.

Yeah… That too, probably. Although that never kept Chancellor Gail from doing all his bullshit. What the hell? What if Celestia was in? Getting a piece of his money for turning a blind eye? It was possible, even if most ponies wouldn’t ever dream of questioning her decisions.

“Alright. We understand.” Gertha urged the pony on again. “What happened after that?”

“Princess Celestia ordered the whole thing shut down. Canterlot and the university wouldn’t touch it with a ten-hoof pole.” He scowled and hoofed forcefully at the ground. “That was going to be the discovery of a lifetime! For me! For Miss Do and for everycreature involved!”

Take this pony, unharmed, to Griffindel.

What? How the heck was she going to do that? She thought it was going to be enough drama getting herself and Grunhilda there!

My Children thrive in adversity. You will find a way. Explore the resources you have access to and do not fail.

What resources? All Gilda had was Mythical and Grunhilda!

She almost lost her composure and allowed her frustration to manifest outwardly. But with a second of inner thoughts, she realized she did have access to many resources. Her eyes scanned the griffons gathered around her. Mercenaries, ex-military looking for a way in. The brother and sister. A company of travel-hardened griffons whose profession was getting stuff across the wild.

Her grin did escape her control and she stood on her fours, pointing a talon at the pony. “Dude, I’m taking you to see Lady Gwendolen.”

“I think she’s likely to make a barbecue out of him.” Gia deadpanned.

For fuck’s sake, shut your beak… Gilda simply glared at her. “You’re wrong. She’ll be interested in his findings.” Then she turned to the pony with a gleeful grin. “Once she’s queen, she’ll challenge Celestia’s decision and get you access to the place.”

“Hum… Thanks…” He fidgeted with his hooves. “But… Uh… Saddle Arabia is outside of Griffonia’s kingdom. I would need the Saddle Arabian Sultan to support me.”

That was a sound argument, but Gilda knew something he didn’t! That the whole of Equestria didn’t know. But that Lady Gwendolen did, and so did all the northerners!

“Nope!” She shook her head exaggeratedly and grinned at him. “With The Lion, Griffonia has a claim on the Saddle Arabian desert because it used to be part of the Holy Griffon Empire. We will have the right to explore archeological sites. At the least.”

“Wait! What?” Lost Temple almost lost his mind too.

“Whoa, whoa!” Gia stood in a panic. “Shut your beak! This is too much!”

“You shut yours, Gia.” Gilda snapped back with a fierce scowl that scared the other into submission. Then she turned back to the pony and the other griffons. “Princess Celestia and King Grover lied about our past. We were not divided, small kingdoms. The griffons had a sprawling empire that went all the way from the Frozen North to the south. East to the Strait of Dove, and all the way west of the far shores of Saddle Arabian desert.”

“This is insane!” The pony gasped and stood so fast his sandwich flew all over from his magical telekinesis. “Are you sure of all that?! How do you even know that?!”

Gilda just grinned at him. “Dude, let’s go to Griffindell.”

“I’m not taking a pony with me through the Whitescape.” Gia whined. “The Windigos will go nuts! Like dragging a chain of sausages in the middle of rabid dogs! He’ll slow us down! They’ll dig up our bodies, frozen solid, from under five cubits of snow!”

“You know…” Gilda decided to try some ‘griffon psychology’ with Gia. “You don’t have to go. But then, what would Lady Gwendolen think?”

Gia sat with a petulant scowl and crossed her forelegs. “Do you even know the way? Do you really think it’s as simple as ‘go to Frozenlake, then Brokenhorn and then north all the way to Griffindell’?”

Gilda didn’t let that intimidate her and she just gave her a superior smile. “I won’t be alone. The Harpy will help me through, not only because I’m Her chosen, but because she hates Princess Celestia. And this pony knows of stuff that she would want Lady Gwendolen to use against the princess.”

Lost Temple startled at the mention of him under those terms and sat quickly. He opened his mouth but said nothing. His scared equine eyes told Gilda everything, though. She pointed a talon at him and spoke seriously. “You are going, aren’t you?”

“I… Uh…” He mumbled.

“You sure are!” She gave him an encouraging, and at the same time threatening grin while walking to his side and putting a leg around his shoulders. A talon poking his chest for emphasis. “You’ll set right that whole mess that Princess Celestia made ruining Miss Do’s expedition and your work, won’t you dude?”

“Yeah. Sure… Uh… Yes, but…” He still mumbled.

“Awesome!” She let go and punched his shoulder. “Me and Grunhilda will take care of you. I just need some days in there to get someone to train Grunhilda in how to use that thing properly.”

The others around her were silent. Maybe they recognized that the pony wasn’t really given an option. Maybe it was not the sort of cheery conversation they expected for breakfast. Or maybe it was the mention that Grunhilda didn’t really know how to use her bow.

“Are you out of your mind?!” Gia shrieked and put up her paws. “She can’t learn archery, much less with an ancient legendary weapon, in a couple of days! You’re dragging them to their doom! The frostmanes and the draugr are gonna eat you alive!”

“Gee…” Gilda approached her and put a paw on her shoulder. “Sounds like we need a guide. You know, someone that knows stuff.”

“Not gonna happen.” Gia shoved her paw away. “I’m not putting my cute ass on the line so that you can be the big hero.”

“Come on, Gia!” Gilda whined. “You’re seeing this the wrong way. I mean… Come on… Do you seriously want to show up in Griffindell after that stunt you tried to pull and then tell Lady Gwendolen you didn’t want to help me get there with the pony? I thought we were friends. Now we’re all friends here!”

“None of you are my friends.” Gia was not impressed.

“Well, certainly not with that attitude.” Gilda grinned at her. “I’m just saying that Lady Gwendolen is bound to reward handsomely someone helping me get there with this pony.”

Then Gilda made a serious expression to cover her actually giddy mood. “And you kinda need it. Just saying…”

Finally, Gia relented and closed her eyes, giving off a lough and frustrated sigh, pressing her lores with her fingers. “Fine. Fine!”

She stared back at Gilda. “I suppose that I might as well help, since I’m going the same way and I don’t know what Lady Gwendolen is bound to do with me… I guess I should make myself useful…”

Mister Gillian finally hummed loudly, stood, and cleared his throat. “We should be moving soon. Our destination is still a day’s worth of flying and I would rather reach Wayfarer’s Rest before nightfall.”

Assembled griffons simply agreed silently with nods, grunts, or simply standing up to get things done. Gilda believed that she had managed to reach her goal of putting an idea inside their heads. She supposed she would be sure later.

In the meanwhile, griffons quickly grabbed all the trash and camping stuff, stashed it away in the carts and they were off to the next leg of their journey.

The morning flight proceeded without incident or lurking bandits. They covered a lot of ground as the vegetation slowly shifted back to the stubby bushes. They flew high above a yellower shade of green for grass and black dirt ground underneath it. Rocky outcroppings became more numerous, and a respectable mountain range greeted them from the horizon. Black, rocky, and covered in snow after an endless procession of rolling hills.

That stream where they had lunch the previous day was below them, but from the height they flew she could see all the tributaries that joined in forming it closer to the mountains. Fast and shallow streams that came from the mountains and surrounding areas, braving the rocks and carving an intricate pathway in the landscape.

She wasn’t big on geography. But following the waterways with her eyes to the south, she supposed they would eventually join with other rivers and converge into the river that flowed around Griffonstone.

A more poetic or mindful griffon might find a meaning in that. Much like the river, griffons had come from the north. Something, something… Returning to their source of life… Yadda, yadda…

Keeping her eyes on possible threats concerned her more, but the meaning of it all didn’t fully elude her. She didn’t have the time or interest to fully analyze it though. It was sufficient that she had recognized it, and The Harpy was pleased with her. She could feel it in a similar way, her mind shared in Her thoughts.

Soon after they landed for lunch again, the lime-colored griffon lady offered their pre-packaged lunches in the form of more roasted beef and pickles sandwiches. Once she was done with hers, Gilda went to the stream that rushed nearby.

It was fast and noisy for such a small stream above a rocky bed. Clear to the eyes and cold to the touch, its waters flowed with magic. She could feel it in that subjective way she had learned.

Truly, it was everywhere. Gilda’s quickly sharpening magical senses could feel the magic permeating all around her. In the air she breathed. In the cold of the chilly breeze. In the warm sunlight. But it was particularly noticeable in the fast-running stream.

She dipped her beak in the water and gulped in as much as she could, then shook off the wetness. The water was cold, and it felt like it was full of life. Whatever that meant, it sated her thirst from several hours of flight. The feeling that washed over her was deeper, though. She closed her eyes and savored it for a moment. She let the breeze that came from the north wash over her and flutter her feathers.

It was like inspiration, or maybe a simple realization. But it dawned on her.

Didn’t that tale Grunhilda spouted at Grahan, in his airship, mention that everything ended in Griffindell’s walls?

The Windigos had tried to destroy her race when they took over the Stormy Eyrie. Griffons survived, though. In a similar way, Celestia tried to destroy the Empire and it had survived in the northerner griffons that refused to give in. Nightmare Moon attacked it, and so did Discord. None of them made it past the city’s walls.

She didn’t know the details, and she supposed she would learn in time. But… That place was the last stand once again. It was the place where the unbridled hate of the Windigos met pause and it was where Celestia’s Battlehorns stopped. That city she has headed to was supposed to be the place griffons went to because of the storms that messed with their heads. It was the place where the pony culture that assaulted her kind failed.

Maybe a more literacy-oriented griffon might come up with a better word, but to her it was ‘griffon-ness’ the word that defined it. It flowed in the air with the breeze that came from the mountains. It flowed in that water, and it was in the air she breathed.

There was something special in that land. Something she couldn’t quite put a talon on, but it was there. It survived the Windigos’ hold on their land and it thrived. As did the Children of The Harpy. It was right there, beyond that first taste of the Snow Mountains hold.

She felt like she was coming home for the first time in her life, even though she had returned home countless times before. And it was rejuvenating.

She turned to see the other griffons milling about in their hastily assembled camp. Did they feel that too? Maybe she was impressionable because of all the things that happened to her. Or maybe ‘impressionable’ was the wrong word. Rather, she was open to it.

“You know… It’s not really safe to drink straight from the stream like that…” The pink griffoness in leather and ringmail armor approached her with the jingling of the chainmail links and an awkward grimace. “You’re supposed to boil it first.”

Griffons have civilized themselves too much. They forgot their souls and their bodies became lame. This water will not harm you. It is the proximity with the equines that will.

The voice in her head grumbled with annoyance. But despite what She said, Gilda’s first thought was how cool the griffoness looked with her gear. Maybe Gilda should find something of the sort for her. Or, better yet, Grunhilda could make her something like that, once she’s good enough!

Anyway, that griffoness had told her a thing. “Yeah… Uh… I guess it shows it’s my first time doing something like this.”

“So… Uh…” Gertha started but stopped talking before pretending she hadn’t and proceeded to fill a canteen with water. Which Gilda hoped she would boil later. What the heck? When had she become one of those griffons others had trouble talking to?

“Hey, spit it out!” Gilda barked at the other with a scowl.

“Sorry! It’s awkward.” Gertha squeaked wide eyed, in a most uncharacteristic way for a griffon of her kind. Then she belted her canteen. “I mean… Is this Harpy of yours interested in non-northerner griffons? Uh… Besides the monetary rewards that Lady Gwendolen might be offering us? I’m kinda looking for some stability… And I’m not that interested in working for the future king, but there seems to be something else going on in the north. You know?”

That was a good question. And Gilda felt like talking about one of those things she didn’t usually talk about. Not to mention talking on behalf of someone else, but she supposed that she had come to a point it was actually her job to do so. “It’s not about northerners… Every griffon should side with The Lion. Because siding with him is siding with The Harpy.”

She gave Gertha an earnest stare. Probably because she liked her and wanted her to be okay in the coming years. Because it didn’t take a particularly smart griffon to see a few things cresting the horizon. “Things are going to change. And smart griffons will want to be on the right side of those changes.”

“Right…” Gertha squinted a little and frowned. “I would really appreciate it if there was a place for a brother and a sister in your happy little whatever you have going on with the Big Boss Lady of Griffindell and her future king…”

“Trust me…” Gilda flashed her a knowing grin. “By what I know of her, and who her actual boss is, she will always have some use for skilled griffons willing to lend a paw. If you guys want to stick with me, we can work something out.”

“Awesome.” Gertha grinned and winked. “So, I guess we are going to Griffindell. See you later, boss.”

‘Boss’. Another word Gilda liked to be associated with her name other than ‘Lady’.

That stop didn’t last and they soon took off again. Mister Gillian stood at the front of the formation, like a leader should. Gilda knew a thing or two about flying and surmised he probably navigated by the terrain, as she would. And that was why joining the caravan paid off. She would be lost. Their destination was deceptively far, and the reason they were soon to arrive was Mister Gillian’s knowledge of the air currents and how good his guys were. Experienced flyers, all of them.

She could only imagine the drama if it had been only her and Grunhilda because the best she could have done was to navigate by the sun. It could be done, but they would likely miss their destination if she failed to see it from a distance. And Grunhilda wasn’t a particularly good flyer.

Soon enough they shifted further towards the northwest and they flew faster still, following in a strong current. They flew and they flew way into the afternoon before something happened.

“Hey! We got flyers!” One of the soldiers bringing up the rear, to the left, cried. “Flying low from the north!”

Gilda knew where the north was and promptly set her eyes in the direction, losing a little altitude to see under the carts. It was a formation of some ten griffons in heavy armor. How in the ever-loving world they managed to fly with those things she had no idea. White and mint with the black plates of their armors, all of them with the same red scarves that Gilda also wore.

“Sky sentry.” Gia shouted from the cart she was riding. “From Wayfarer’s Rest.”

Gilda had thought it was just a small inn along the way. Anyways, as the griffons drew closer she could see that they wore the same armor as Gandolf and the other Sky Sentries that had shwon up in Thunderpeak. The same weapons too, including that fancy firearm they all carried.

The group of (she had the time to count them) twelve griffons approached and Gillian called for a halt with a raised fist. Griffons just stood there, hovering, and waiting.

“Hail, travelers.” The one leading the armored griffons called with a raised paw. “What is your business in the area?”

“We’re hauling foodstuffs, arms and armors to Wayfarer’s Rest, sire.” Gillian explained as the armored griffons spread and inspected the carts and griffons. “We also have three passengers.”

“Lieutenant!” One of the armored griffons flew a wingbeat back and pointed at the cart Lost Temple sat on with a hopeless expression.

At that their leader flew to the cart and his armored paws on the railing clinked against it. “You’re far from home, pokehead.”

“I am a researcher with the University of Canterlot.” He did his best to remain calm, Gilda noted. “I am here to study the northerner griffon culture.”

“We don’t like your kind here, equine.” The lieutenant’s wings kept beating to keep him hovering. “We’ll escort you back to Thunderpeak if you wish. I can’t guarantee your safety here.”

‘Nor do we really care’, he left unsaid. But, before the pony could answer, Gilda lunged forward. Tense reactions from the armored griffons told her aggressive move was only tolerated because she had a red scarf wrapped around her neck.

“No way.” She said calmly, despite the way her forelegs trembled out of nervousness. “I’m taking him to Griffindell on behalf of Lady Gwendolen.”

The lieutenant dude took a good look at her scarf with gray eyes from inside his helmet. “I apologize, ma’am. I didn’t notice you were a member of the Court before. It was my mistake. Do you wish to declare anything regarding this pony?”

Names… They opened doors.

“Nah.” She shook her head. “He’s just a cool pony I found when I joined the caravan. He knows stuff that Lady Gwendolen is interested in learning. So, he’s gotta get to Griffindell with me.”

One of his grunts approached and said something to his ear. The Lieutenant nodded once and talked to Gilda again. “Are you Lady Gilda? The one from Griffonstone and from Thunderpeak?”

“Yeah.” She spoke in the most natural and bland way she managed, but inside her chest warmed with pride. “I am the Swordmaiden of the Shaddani.”

She was sure Gia rolled her eyes, or something, but she was too busy enjoying the amazed stares she got from the soldiers. It was when the Lieutenant removed his helmet to reveal a light gray head with young, but rough, features, such as a stern stare in his gray eyes and a large, sturdy aquiline beak.

What was it with the northerner dudes looking so freaking hunky?! She hoped to The Harpy that her feelings didn’t externalize, but her tail tucked itself in between her legs and The Harpy only knew how bright her blush was!

He didn’t react, however. Instead, he talked normally with her. “I see. I have had a few caravans harassed by a particularly sizable and cantankerous roc. We will escort your company to Wayfarer’s Rest. If that is acceptable.”

“Yes.” Gilda donned her best ‘expensive bitch’ pose. “That is acceptable.”

With that the lieutenant barked some orders and his griffons fell in formation with the others and to Gilda’s surprise Gia hopped off her cart and flew next to her.

“Nice show, rising star…” She grinned with a pro-class ‘expensive bitch’ stare that made Gilda ashamed of her own. “You just forgot to stop working for Mister Gillian.”

Gilda cocked her head with a petulant huff and lidded eyes. “Well, I am simply not lazy.”

Gia simply snickered and body-bumped Gilda playfully. But next thing Gilda knew, Grunhilda flew next to them and shoved Gia away with so much force she almost sent the other flying off course. While Gia reacted with a squawk and huge eyes, Grunhilda stood next to Gilda.

“You are distracting Miss Gilda from her flying!” Big Girl complained with a jealousy-ridden ramble.

While Gilda needed a moment to get her bearings over what had just happened around her, Gia laughed heartily and spoke with pure mirth. “You should discipline that thrall of yours, Gilda. Pretty soon it’s gonna be her owning you!”

Part of Gilda was sad the roc never showed up. She had never seen a roc before nor the Sky Sentry fighting a monster. Not to mention the handsome lieutenant fighting! What she got instead was a great view of Wayfarer’s Rest and the mountains against the setting sun.

The best way she found to describe that place was a ‘piece of the north that spilled into the south’. The whole border thing really made it a curious affair. There was a soft transition, but it was very clear. The snow mostly ended north of the border, shifting into the wet grass and dark ground with many small streams. The place was wet and cold because of that, and the mountains nestled the small city in a valley. It was open to the south and in between the mountains to the north, complete with streams that cut the city in two and joined the others to the south.

That was a border if there ever was one. And Gilda liked it. It looked like a transition and just staring at it, thinking of crossing it felt like leaving something behind in a good way.

The clouds were even more interesting. If the transition between snow and wet ground was soft, the clouds marked the borders quite clearly. At least until the point they came from the north and covered the city and the mountains, ending abruptly with rolling edges.

The city was tiny compared to Gilda’s main reference of city sizes, Griffonstone. At the same time, it also seemed much cleaner and comfy. Little stone houses inside a palisade with a gate that allowed for the water from the mountains to leave the city. A few watchtowers made of wood, but sturdy and well maintained.

The surrounding area had a few small farms and a large building across the cobblestone road from the city. It looked like a large hotel. Or rather, an inn. It even had a wide-open area nested by the road that came from the east with several carts parked. The small stream followed the road and the space in between held a market.

An extension of the walls embraced all that with thick protection and more watchtowers. It was an unobstructed area between the market, farms, inn and lumps of houses that allowed a passage from the easterly gate around the city to the north gate and into the passage between the mountains.

And it was cold. It took Gilda some time to realize amid the exertions of flight, but the air was cold. Colder than it ever was in Thunderpeak.

But before she could gather her thoughts on that they started descending. She didn’t ask though. It was the pony. “Uh… Aren’t we going to land in the city?”

“We’re gonna land nearby.” The griffon pulling his cart turned his head back to speak. “In the northerner cities, flying inside the city or too close to the walls will get you shot.”

“Why?!” The shocked pony gasped.

“Because northerners are actually jerks.” The lime-colored lady grumbled. “Or at least their guards are.”

Gia rolled her eyes. “It’s because they gotta keep the city clear of monsters. Since the walls will keep the crawling or walking ones out, the flyers are a problem. At some point, someone decided that allowing citizens to fly around leisurely was not worth the risk of some roc flying in, grabbing someone, and flying off. Orders are to shoot flyers on sight.”

“You can fly…” Gia added. “Just not above the buildings.”

“Most of the time, if you’re on the outside, they’ll order you to land. Once.” The cart-puller added.

“Yeah…” The griffon lady agreed sarcastically with rolling eyes. “Plus, newcomers gotta see the displayed executed criminals in the entrance.”

“Ma’am.” One of the armored griffons took offense. “Do you have a problem with removing evil for our community?”

“She doesn’t.” Gillian shut the conversation down with a glare to the younger griffoness.

Yeah… Gilda doubted she would be worrying about a thug or two being hanged by the entrance of town.

Next Chapter: First Snow Estimated time remaining: 21 Hours, 30 Minutes