Gregory had been having a magnificent day so far. He’d woken up early to I Have A Dream by ABBA, and hadn’t felt tired. In fact, he’d felt quite rested and refreshed. He’d gone downstairs only to find Starlight making breakfast for everyone in the house. She, too, looked as excited as he felt. And just as nervous. Today was the day they’d been planning for ever since he’d proposed it at Thanksgiving about three weeks prior. The inclusion of non-griffons into Griffonian society.

When he’d brought it up at the next council meeting he’d attended, the other members had raised some valid questions about how it would be implemented, and the potential ramifications that a multi-racial country might endure. Gregory had gone through each question with them that day, and they came up with a first draft for a new law that would allow for the inclusion of brand new races into the country. He wasn’t sure why, but Gregory felt more passionate about this than he had about anything else. Perhaps it was because he, too, was a new citizen of Griffonia and had seen what the country itself could offer.

About a week of hard thinking and many discussions (some of which became heated before Gregory and/or Gwendolyn stepped in to calm everyone down), a brand new law was put into place. On December 8^th, the council unanimously passed the All-Inclusion Act, giving any creature who desired to live in the rapidly improving empire a chance to do so as long as they lived in accordance with the laws of the nation and common decency. It was also on that day that Gregory had, upon the prodding of his new housemates, accepted the role of Chancellor. It had taken a good number of sleepless nights and long talks, especially with Gabby since he found conversation with her to be incredibly rewarding and calming, but thanks to that and the words of the other council members, he became a full time member of the Imperial Council and the chancellor.

His boss at his first job had been sorry to see him go, but Gregory made sure to train a few other jobless griffons to replace him. There’d been a joke going around the mail station that it took three griffons to take his place, but he quickly squashed those rumors, not really feeling comfortable with griffons being compared to someone else. He’d even gotten Gallus a job at that place since the young griffon had wanted to save up some money for his continued dates with Gia.

Surprisingly, it was Geoffrey who proposed the festival on the eighteenth of December to celebrate the inclusion of new members of Griffonian society. By this time, Gregory had already asked individuals like Zecora, Starlight, Garble and Smolder if they wished to become full blown citizens. The latter two, who now were running one of the most successful bars in the city, accepted, but only if they could be dual citizens with Griffonia and the Dragon Lands. The council had agreed to this, of course. Zecora and Starlight were agreeable to the idea as well, and Starlight had actually requested full citizenship, since she didn’t want to be an Equestrian citizen after what had happened to her there. Gregory was hesitant to accept this and had a few discussions with her, encouraging her not to judge an entire nation based off of one town. However, she was insistent, and finally he agreed.

It also came to pass during those last three or so weeks that the city of Griffonstone began accepting refugees from Equestria, and specifically from Ponyville. Gregory had seen a few ponies he recognized from the fandom, such as Roseluck, Time Turner (the two of whom he eventually found out were together), Daisy, Lily Valley, and even Sassy Saddles. The first meeting between him and some of these ponies was rather unusual. There had been a flash of guilt on their faces at first. However, Gregory tried putting them at their ease by welcoming them to Griffonstone in as friendly a manner as possible. The ponies had actually warmed up to him rather fast after that, and it seemed they went out of their way to be friendly to him.

The council commissioned temporary shelters be made for the influx of not only ponies, but dragons who wanted to find new opportunities in the constantly growing city. Gregory had heard rumors that the three flower mares had gotten jobs at a local flower shop run by a griffon named Garter, Sassy had become a manager at Elegant Emporium, and many other ponies had actually found greener pastures for themselves down in Griffonville. The ponies had been granted emergency country passes until their application for citizenship, which many of the ponies had wished for, went through.

After his breakfast with his friends, Gregory had gone back upstairs and gotten dressed. After dressing, he’d gone out and walked around the venue for the speech he’d been asked to give, making sure everyone was doing well with the setup. With the reassurances that everything was going fine, he’d gone back home, ate a quick lunch, then grabbed the suit that he’d be giving his speech in. Said suit had been personally created by Garter, the owner of Elegant Emporium. He had to admit, he doubted that even Rarity could have made a better garment, but when he eventually met her, he would gladly commission some clothes from her. A half hour before the speech, he changed clothes then sat behind the curtain facing the ever growing audience.

After the speech, and the surprising kiss from Gabby, Gregory had found the need to go out drinking with his friends. After dressing back in his more casual clothes and dropping his suit off back home, he and his friends went straight for The Green Dragon. Which itself led to his unexpected first encounter with the ponies he’d traversed an entire universe to see.

Gregory had been having a good day up to that point. Emphasis on had, because the moment he saw the state each pony was in, he could tell immediately that something was wrong. Very little could cause the poof in Pinkie’s mane to go away, he knew, and the varied looks of guilt confused and worried him. Also, the fact that Spike was sitting away from them and that Gracie and Zecora were glaring at the ponies sent off alarm bells in his head.

That, and Rarity’s unexpected swearing.

The entire tavern was silent, watching with bated breath as the question hung in the air. The question that everyone knew the answer to since the pony’s voice had been loud enough to break through the chatter and merriment.

Unsurprisingly, at least to Gregory, it was the princess herself who answered. “Please forgive Miss Belle here,” she said in that very same gentle voice, “she’s had a few too many to drink.”

Gregory looked back at the aforementioned unicorn, and saw her cheeks flushed and her mane frazzled even more than he’d normally seen it on the show. There was a magical glow around her mouth to keep her from speaking. But the glare in those eyes was unmistakable. He shuddered at the hatred and anger there, something he hadn’t even expected from Rarity. Then again, he had to reason that she was pretty plastered, so he turned back to Celestia. “Understandable,” he said in a calm tone. “I’d try and keep it down, though. Today’s a celebration, and the people here probably want to enjoy their day.”

“It won’t happen again, I promise,” Celestia said, giving a warning glare towards the wasted unicorn mare.

Instantly, Gracie was by Gregory’s right side, looking angrily at the mane six. “Chancellor Graystone, I think it’s a good idea to kick them out,” she snarled.

The ponies flinched at the harsh tone, and Gregory looked at the young female with astonishment. He knew she had beef with ponies, but every time he’d asked her why, she would always be very vague about it. The most he’d gotten out of her was that they’d hurt her in the past. “Gracie, I’m not gonna do that,” he said. “As far as I’ve heard, they haven’t broken any laws. They’re free to be in our country.”

“As much as I despise the ponies here, I must agree and to my morals adhere,” Zecora said, walking up to Gregory’s left side, not taking her eyes off of the ponies in question.

This wasn’t new to Gregory either. Ever since ponies, the majority from Ponyville, had been making homes for themselves in Griffonville, his zebra friend had been making herself scarcer in the town. Much like Gracie, she’d been silent about her sudden reversal towards her feelings to the ponies. At some times, though, after their talk about ponies would end, he’d catch her looking down at a small scar located near her stomach. It was hardly visible, but Gregory had managed to catch it. He put a hand on Gracie’s back. “Just calm down, okay?” he said, looking down at the tense teen. “Here.” He reached into his coin purse, then handed her a few bits. “Go grab some of that tea that Smolder brews so well. It should help calm you down.”

Gracie looked up at him, her eyes narrowed and angry still, but Gallus came up and quickly grabbed the angry one. “I’ll take her,” he volunteered.

“Thanks, Gallus,” Gregory said gratefully. As the young griffon gently pulled Gracie towards the bar, he turned back to the crowd. Holding up his hands, he smiled and said, “Go back to your drinks, everyone! It was just a slip of the tongue.”

The tension in the air abated, and the crowd turned away. Soon the conversations had begun again, filling the bar with the pleasant background chatter he’d come to associate with a good time. By this time, Gilda and Gabby, the latter of whom was riding on his back as per the new usual, had joined him. Turning back to the ponies, he grabbed the extra chair at Spike’s table and sat down backwards on it, facing them. Zecora stood beside him, not taking her eyes off of said ponies. “So, I think some introductions are in order,” he said. “I’m Gregory Graystone, Chancellor of the Griffonian Imperial Council. But you can just call me Gregory. I’m not one for titles,” he added with a sheepish grin.

Celestia nodded towards him politely enough, but there was something in her eyes that he didn’t miss. A hidden look of guilt as well. Ever since his first flight with Daenerys, he’d noticed that his vision seemed to have gotten slightly better. He wasn’t sure why, though, and he’d been too busy with work and the rebuilding to look into it. “I am Princess Celestia, the ruler of Equestria,” she said. “And these are the Elements of Harmony.”

Gregory watched as she went down the line, introducing them all. Out of all the ponies, only two even gave him a look, those being Twilight and Applejack. The others did nod his way, but never looked at him.

“And I’m Spike!” Spike said from beside Gregory before Celestia could introduce him.

Gregory turned to the young dragon. Unlike how he’d appeared in the show, Gregory found that the young dragon before him was slightly taller, leaner and had less of the baby pudge than he’d had in the show. Gregory held out his hand and shook the young drake’s claw. “Nice to meet you, Mister Spike,” he said, then turned to the others. “I’ve heard of you all before, and I’ve gotta say, I’m really glad to see you. May I ask what brings you all the way to our fair city?”

The ponies looked at each other briefly before Twilight turned to him, her big purple eyes focused on his. “We, um, were called here to solve a friendship problem,” she said.

Gregory raised an eyebrow, acting confused. “Wait, a friendship problem? What do you mean?” he asked.

“It would take a while to explain,” Celestia admitted, “but back in Equestria, we have a device called a Cutie Map. It can detect problems across the land regarding friendship and can choose certain ponies to go and attempt to solve said problem. And for some reason, the Cutie Map called everyone here.”

Now that surprised him. The only time the Cutie Map had ever involved Spike was when he accidentally invited Dragon Lord Ember and King Thorax to Ponyville on the same day. “Hmm, a friendship problem, you say?” Gregory looked up at Gabby. “Gabby, you’re a mail delivery griffon. You’ve been around. Do you know of any type of problem involving that around here?”

She quickly shook her head. “Nothing that I know of!”

Gregory turned and looked at Gilda, who was looking at Rainbow Dash with a confused look in her eyes. “Gilda? What about you? You get around town. Have you heard anything?”

Gilda jumped a bit at being addressed, then turned back to Gregory. “Um…not really,” she said. “Everygriffon’s been more or less happy and content.”

Not really wanting to, but wanting to cover all of his bases, he looked over at Zecora. “And you, Zecora? Is there anything friendship related that you know of that could be an issue?”

“The only issue I see here is seeing all these pony mares,” Zecora said. The hostility in her voice was not as intense as it had been previously, but it was still there.

Gregory had been patient. He’d wanted to gain Zecora’s trust a bit more before he could find the reason for her hostility towards ponies. Had something happened to her back in Ponyville? Had the events of the first episode involving her not even happened and she’d gotten fed up and left? It was time to find out, he knew. Looking back at Gabby, he said, “Mind getting off me for a second? I need to talk to Zecora for a bit.” Gabby saw the look in his eyes, and nodded as she got off. He stood up from his seat, looked down at Zecora and pointed with his thumb to the door. “Could I speak with you outside?” Turning back to the now nervous looking ponies, he gave them an apologetic smile. “Please excuse me, I’ll be right back.” He turned and headed to the door, Zecora following close behind him. Once they were outside, he whirled on her and got lower so that he was at eye level with the zebra. “Zecora, you’re my friend, and I like spending time with you. Your stories about Zebrica are fascinating and you have a really fun sense of humor. You’re smarter and wiser than most other beings your age, and I respect you as an individual. But I’ve noticed your behavior towards ponies. You’ve been actively avoiding them. Now pardon my language, but what the fuck?!”

“You do not know their crimes. The list is long and without rhyme,” Zecora said with bitterness in her voice.

That gave Gregory pause. “Crimes? This is news to me,” he said. “What do you mean?”

Zecora frowned, then looked directly at him. Then, to his utter surprise, she dropped her rhyming means of talk. “Five years ago, another human arrived in Equestria. His name was Jason Wright. He arrived in Ponyville and was immediately shunned and hated by the ponies. Every pony in Ponyville ignored him, shunned him, he was beaten and starved and forced to live in a cave! I’ve seen the cave, Gregory! It is no place for anycreature to live comfortably! He suffered at the hooves of those ponies who claim to represent harmony the most!” She pointed back at the door to The Green Dragon, presumably indicating the Mane Six. “Now, if that had been it, I would not be as angry as I am now! You want to know why I’ve avoided them as much as I have?! Look here!” She pointed at the scar Gregory had noticed before. “I was bucked in the chest multiple times by three ponies a week after Jason’s invasion! Three separate times! I barely made it home each time!”

Gregory’s eyes went wide. He knew about Starlight’s own experience in Our Town and that it was pretty violent, but he’d always assumed it was an isolated incident. And she was a pony. He knelt and put his hand on Zecora’s withers, trying to calm her down. “Zecora, did you see the details of who attacked you? The leader of the ponies is only a few feet away from us, and I’m positive that once she hears your story, she’ll search for these ponies and bring them to justice.”

Zecora took a few deep breaths, and he felt her calm down. She looked up at him and gave him a grateful smile. “Forgive me for flying off the handle, I do not handle abuse very well,” she said. “For years I was ignored and ponies hid and forsook me, not even to come out and enjoy the scenery. To know that he was so near to my aid, it brings me anger and shame, I’m afraid.”

Gregory raised an eyebrow. “Zecora, if what you’re telling me about Jason is true, and I’m not calling you a liar, then you can’t blame yourself for it. You didn’t know.” However, under the assurances, Gregory’s mind was reeling from this new source of information. Had this really happened? Had Jason really come and been abused by Ponyville so badly? Was that the reason why the ponies he knew from Ponyville were being so nice to him now? Because they were afraid of him? He swallowed his conflicted feelings to deal with later. He needed to find out if this new information was true or not.

“Surprisingly enough, that doesn’t assist me in my feelings of listlessness,” Zecora replied with a sigh as her ears flattened and her head lowered.

Gregory wrapped her in a hug immediately. His own feelings on this revelation aside, it hurt so much for him to see Zecora like this. “Do you want to go home for the day?” he asked. “You look like you could use some time to yourself to calm down.”

Zecora nuzzled his face gratefully, and replied, “My feelings towards them are under control, but I believe I will take a little stroll.” She pulled away and nodded at him gratefully.

“Sure, do what you need to do,” he said as he stood and looked back at the closed tavern door. “I need to see a princess about a few ponies,” he added with a stern countenance. Zecora gave him a grateful look, then turned and headed down the street towards the main festival thoroughfare. Gregory turned, and walked back into the tavern, made his way back to the spot where the Equestrian visitors were, turned the seat around, and sat properly in it this time. He sat up straighter, making his facial expression go neutral and locked eyes with Celestia, who to his surprise flinched a little bit. He took a deep breath, then spoke. “Princess Celestia, I have just received information from Zecora. Some information that is best spoken of in private.”

Her ears flattened but to her credit she didn’t look away from him. “If it’s about what I think it’s about, yes. We need to talk about it in private.”

“I’ll save you the trouble,” Rainbow Dash unexpectedly said from her spot. “If it’s about Jason Wright, then whatever Zecora told you was right. We hurt him really badly. For three years. He nearly ended his own life because of it.”

Gregory’s heart sank at hearing this from the prismatic pegasus mare. A part of him had hoped that Zecora had heard about that part wrongly, and the part about ending his own life? That was new to him. He held up a hand. “I’d prefer it if we discussed this elsewhere. Not here. Griffonstone is celebrating, and I’d prefer they enjoy the day for the entire day.” Standing slowly, he gestured to the entire table. “Would you all please follow me? I’ll take you all to my house so we can discuss this in private.”

“Can…can we at least put Rarity to bed first?” Twilight Sparkle, whose face looked even more downcast than before, asked as she looked pleadingly up at Gregory.

Gregory looked at the purple maned unicorn, who now was passed out with her head in an undignified heap on the table, snoring heavily. He nodded. “Of course. Do what you need to do.”

Twilight nodded, raised her horn, and the two vanished in a bright flash of purple light. Immediately, a presence made itself known next to Gregory. Looking down, he saw Starlight Glimmer looking at the now empty spots where Twilight and Rarity had both been with surprise. “I have got to learn how to teleport,” she said.

Gregory smiled. “What? Flying on Daenerys wasn’t good enough for you?” he asked.

Starlight looked at him and shuddered. “That saddle is not made for ponies! I almost fell off three times!”

“She’s apologized multiple times,” Gregory said. “You know her. She’s a show off. Anyway, I’ve got some business to take care of with our guests here, so I’ll be taking them back to the house.”

“Are you coming back?” Starlight asked. “Everyone here was looking forward to seeing you beat your arm wrestling record with Gilda,” she added.

Gregory smirked. “We’ll see. Just let them know something urgent came up if I don’t come back,” he said.

Starlight nodded, then after giving the ponies at the table a quick glance, headed back to the bar. Celestia looked curiously at the pony in question, then back at Gregory. “Are you friends with that pony?” she asked.

Gregory nodded. “Been friends with her for over a month,” he said.

“You going somewhere, Gregory?” Gabby asked, once more wrapping her arms around him and clinging to his waist with her hind legs. He even felt her tail wrap around his midsection as she leaned over his shoulder.

“Yeah, home for a bit,” he said as Twilight reappeared in a flash of teleportation. “I’ve got some things to discuss with these ponies and this dragon here,” he added. “You and the others can stay here and enjoy the festivities if you want.” Leaning closer, he whispered, “Depending on how this conversation goes, I might get really angry, and you don’t want to see that.”

Gabby’s expression became more serious and she leaned back and whispered, “Want me to come with you?”

Gregory shook his head. "No, stay here. Have some fun. I'll try and be back as fast as I can, but if I'm not, don't worry, okay?"

"That'll only make me worry more," she replied.

He reached up and stroked her feathers. "I'll be alright. I have Daenerys with me in case something happens, but with them? I don't think anything will happen."

She bit her lower beak, then climbed off of him. "If you say so..." She looked deep into his eyes, then leaned in and kissed his cheek gently. “Then you be safe, okay?”

Gregory blushed a bit at this sudden display of affection. He had a strong suspicion that he knew what it meant, but there hadn’t been time after her first kiss on that stage for him to talk to her in private about it. He promised himself that he’d discuss the future of whatever relationship they developed going forward at some point that day. But business came before pleasure. He stroked the wings of the griffoness who he’d grown extremely fond of. Hell, he might even have feelings for her, if his dreams about her were any indication. “I’ll be safe. Tell Gilda I’ll be back to break my record and take more of her money, will you?” Turning to the bar, he waved at Smolder. “Smol dragon girl! Save me a mug or three, would you?? Something just came up and I need to go back home for a while!”

Smolder looked over at him and flipped him off, but grinned at the same time. “Fine, I’ll tell these thirsty folks to go easy on the sauce!”

He reached into his pocket, pulled out the same coin purse as before, and tossed it to her. “Here! Tell these great griffonians here that the next round is on me! I’ll try and be back soon!”

This brought in a large cheer from the crowd as he waved at them, putting on a winning smile. Of course, the last thing he wanted to do was smile. Especially if what he’d been hearing was true. As he headed towards the door, a claw grabbed his arm. Turning, he saw Gilda looking at him with a look of concern. Well, as close of a look of concern as she could muster. “Going somewhere, Greggy?”

Gregory sighed and explained what was happening. "And no, I don't need anyone coming with me," he said before Gilda could say anything else.

She crossed her arms. "Fine. You get your sorry ass back here as fast as you can, hear me?"

"Loud and clear. Gilligan's Island," he grinned.

She glared. "Stop with the references I don't get!"

"Then watch the shows I have and you'll get them," he laughed as she turned away, flipping him off as she did.

Gregory smiled. “No, stay here and enjoy yourself, Gilly. I’ll try and be back soon.”

“Are you sure?”

He nodded. “I’m sure.”

"You'd better." And with that, she turned and headed back to the bar where Gabby was now sitting and talking to Garble and a few other griffons.

Turning back to the ponies and Spike, he leaned his head towards the door. “Follow me, everyone,” he said with as even of a voice as he could muster. “We’ll talk at my place. I imagine we have a lot we need to discuss.” He walked towards the door, opened it and held it open for everyone. He received various mutterings of Thank You from them and an enthusiastic and grateful one from Spike before he followed them out and shut the door. Heading to the front, he motioned for them to follow. “Come along, everyone. I’ll show you to my house.” So saying, he turned and walked down the road.

“Welcome to Griffonstone, you three!” the griffon guard said with a welcoming grin to the three unicorns who stepped off of the gondola. “What brings you folks here?”

The first pony, a dark crimson unicorn stallion with a black mane and fiery red eyes, resisted the urge to glare at the griffon. Instead, he said, with a smile plastered over his face, “Just paying a visit here. My companions and I desperately needed some time away.”

The second pony, a dark yellow unicorn mare with a reddish-white mane and tail and orange eyes, nodded in agreement. “Just needed a vacation,” she said in a deep feminine voice.

“Although, now that we’re here, perhaps we can do a story on what’s going on here. My companions and I are reporters for one of Canterlot’s major papers,” the stallion said.

The third pony, a dark blue unicorn mare with a cloudy gray mane and tail and dark green eyes, just nodded in agreement. The griffon guard chuckled. “Well, you’re in good company here, then! You aren’t the only ponies I’ve seen coming through here today in need of a vacation. Some are full blown citizens today, who’d have thought, huh?”

The stallion, named Dusky Heart, inwardly shuddered, but didn’t let it show. “Indeed? That is news to me. I’d have never guessed something like that would have happened,” he said with an interested smile. He pulled out a pencil and a clipboard with some paper on it from his saddlebag. “Do you have time to answer a few questions?”

The guard shook his head. “Sadly, no. It’s our policy not to talk to any press, not even our own. But I do hope you enjoy your stay. Folks around here would probably be glad to tell you what you want to know. With what the Chancellor and the Imperial Council have done, things have improved drastically around here.”

The dark yellow mare, whose name was Jade Seed, raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t know Griffonstone even had a Chancellor,” she said.

The first guard nodded. “He’s new to the job, but not too new to Griffonstone,” he said. “He’s the Idol Bearer.”

Lady Serenity, the third unicorn, slid up to the guard in a somewhat seductive manner, but making it subtle enough that not even Dusky noticed at first. “Do you mean the Idol of Boreas?” she asked in that silky smooth tone of hers. “I was under the impression that it was lost.”

“Ah, well it was,” the guard said, a bit nervous suddenly, “but when the Chancellor appeared, he had the Idol with him.”

Dusky walked up and put a hoof on Lady’s withers. “Come on now, Lady, leave the poor stallion alone. He’s just doing his job. We came here to get away from the paper.”

Lady gave him a very convincing pouty face, but moved away from the griffon guard and brushed her mane, which covered one of her eyes, aside. “I beg your pardon, sir,” she said in that same silky tone.

“No, i-it’s alright,” the guard said, then cleared his throat and recovered himself. “If you’re looking for a place to stay, I would recommend The Green Dragon. It caters to all creatures.”

“Where is this place?” Dusky asked.

The guard pulled out a map from his saddlebag and placed it on a nearby table. After giving them directions, he put the map away. “If you get lost, just ask anycreature inside. They’ll know how to get there. I just directed a group of ponies and a young dragon there earlier.”

That caught Dusky’s attention, but he knew he had to be careful with fishing for information. “It’s nice to know we’ll be in good company, then,” he said. “How many ponies were there?”

“Seven ponies,” the guard said, which matched up with the information Dusky had.

Jade nodded. “Thank you for your assistance,” she said professionally, causing Dusky to inwardly sigh. Even now, she had a hard time dropping that behavior.

“You’re very welcome! Enjoy your stay!”

As the three ponies made their way through the gate that led to the city, Dusky, who was flanked by the two mares, looked at his two compatriots. “So, it would appear that they really are here,” he said.

Jade nodded. “Orders, sir?”

“Oh, would you relax, Jadey,” Lady chuckled. “You’ll make us stand out like a sore hoof. Act natural.”

Jade glared back at Lady. “Not until we find it,” she said. “I will relax when we’ve achieved our goal.”

“Quit it, you two,” Dusky said with a sigh. It was just dumb stupid luck that he’d been assigned with these two. Polar opposites, like night to day. He found it hard to work with them, but his supervisor had said that he did his best work with the two mares. All he really wanted to do was be back in his home in Canterlot, snoozing on the couch with a Playmare magazine on top of him. “Lady, you’re being too cavalier about this whole thing, and Jade, you’re too stiff. We’re just three tourists looking around the city, got it?”

“Yes sir,” Jade said with a small salute.

“Aye aye, captain mister stallion sir sir captain,” Lady said, giving a mock salute and grinning as she did.

He groaned. “And they wonder why I never smile back home,” he muttered to himself before he straightened up and looked at the two mares on either side of him. “Okay, everypony. Time to get down to business. You all remember the assignment, right?”

Jade nodded. “Yes, sir, we find and capture the-”

“Shhh! Not out in public!” Dusky hissed.

“Oh, apologies, sir,” she said.

Lady snorted. “We all know the assignment, Dusky-Pusky,” she said. “So what are you planning on telling us to do?”

“Everypony has their crystal communicators, right?” he asked.

“Primed and activated, sir,” Jade said.

“Duh, I always have it on me,” Lady said, pointing to a small crystal hanging from her ear. “They make good bling.”

Dusky sighed. “Well, we’re gonna split up and search the town for it. Ask everycreature you see about it.”

“Why is that your go to plan for everything?” Lady asked, sounding bored already.

“Because it’s effective, and we can cover more ground that way,” he said. “Now remember, once you spot it, report back to the rest of us and we’ll converge on your location.”

“So standard…” Lady grumbled, but nodded in agreement. “Fiiine…”

“I will keep a sharp lookout, sir,” Jade said with another salute.

“I swear to Celestia, you’re just impossible,” Dusky said to himself. He cleared his throat. “Okay, Jade, you take the first third of the city, I’ll take the middle third, and Lady, you can take the upper third. Got it?”

“Understood,” Jade said as she trotted ahead with purpose.

“That mare seriously needs to get herself a stallion or three,” Lady smirked as she moved on ahead as well, leaving Dusky alone, to his relief.

He pulled out a map of the city and looked it over. Unlike Canterlot, which was all one level, Griffonstone had multiple levels, all standing on massive solid tree branches. He looked at his section and realized that it included The Green Dragon. So, he decided he would head up there just to see if he could find out anything about their target. An incredibly dangerous creature who needed to have tabs kept on it.

The second human who’d arrived on Equus.

This chapter has been edited to flow better.