- Location
- Maryland
Everything seems to be showing fine for me?
Who Needs Harmony?: An MLP Empire Quest
- Thread starter Questor
- Start date
Everything seems to be showing fine for me?
Warmach1ne32
Machine of War and Quests
- Location
- Indonesia
I'm on mobile so maybe that is why I can't see it?
Have just checked with my laptop, the top image still won't show up, somehow.
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- Location
- Maryland
"THINK, TIA! WE'LL OUTLIVE EVERY FRAGILE, INSIGNIFICANT CREATURE ON THIS PLANET! WE'LL LIVE TO SEE THE ENTIRE WORLD CRUMBLE TO DUST AND BLOW AWAY!"
"WHAT WILL YOU HAVE IN A THOUSAND YEARS!?"
"You sister....I'll still have you."
- Location
- MN
Fixed that for you
- Location
- Poland
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Ah, so that's the moment she sees the blood on her hooves, then flies off to the moon for a 1000 years?
I'm still certain that during the crystal war Sombra managed to afflict Luna with something as a last fuck you before he hid the crystal empire away OTL.
Since that event isn't going to happen ITL her going completely apocalyptic insane isn't likely.
Since that event isn't going to happen ITL her going completely apocalyptic insane isn't likely.
- Pronouns
- He/him
It could have also been a timebomb left by Discord as a final fuck you as he was turning to stone.
Not likely a dead world is not chaotic.
He's eternal he'd get loose eventually so why bother.
- Location
- MN
I heard somewhere that the reason Luna fell was because the two sister fought a lot of things before getting to Sombra and after they fought him Luna was exhausted and went to rest after all there ordeals but because of that Celestia got the lion's share of the credit since she stayed active and as such become the center of attention and got most of the recognition which started Luna on her fall. Granted this might just be a fan theory I'm thinking of so take it with a grain of salt but it's what I heard.
Think it definitely is a theory. Though the luna being overshadowed by Celestia is one held by so many people it might as well be canon considering there is no official canon.
And thus begins the rise of Daybreaker!I mean, Celestia might have a point here. Tea is pretty good. Not too sure about the cake, but that tea just might be worth the world for
"THINK LUNA! ALL THE TEA GROWS ON THE OTHERSIDE OF THE CONTINENT! WE HAVE TO CONQUER THE WORLD! YOU ARE FIGHTING SO YOU CAN WATCH EVERY TEACUP WE HAVE GO DRY!"
"WHAT WILL YOU DRINK IN A THOUSAND YEARS!"
"... I don't know tia ... but I'll do it with you ... and you know I prefer coffee."
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Meeting the Princesses, Part 2
- Location
- Maryland
The discussion between the Imperial delegation and the Princesses carried on for quite some time, as Gawain and his companions sought to enlighten the Alicorn sisters and answer all of their questions about the Empire and it's people. Once it became clear that their conversation would take a significant amount of time, the Alicorn sisters invited their guests to adjourn with them to one of the Castle's lounges, the three Monarchs and the two expedition leaders seating themselves upon plush floor cushions, a servant soon arriving with a tray of assorted fruits and pastries gripped in the glow of Unicorn magic. Gawain gave the Stallion credit, he didn't seem at all flummoxed to be serving foreign royalty, nor members of another race entirely. The Imperial Knights and the Princesses' guards took up positions around the room, stoically eyeing their foreign counterparts and keeping a close watch upon their charges.
As the seated Ponies and Griffons sampled the provided refreshments, Gawain began his lengthy explanation of the Empire and it's history, Snowdrop and Captain Dawnclaw sitting quietly as their lieges spoke. The Princesses listened attentively as he spoke of the first Empire that had existed in the age before Discord, how it had fragmented in the era of chaos into numerous petty kingdoms and city-states. How his father, the King of Griffonia, had reforged the Empire in the years following Discord's disappearance (he saw the two exchange a meaningful glance at that, but wasn't too sure what to make of it). They had nodded along in silence, asking leading questions when appropriate. They seemed unsurprised by his mentions of the Unification War, stating that similar, albeit smaller conflicts had occurred amongst Ponies in the days before Equestria could be properly solidified as a reunited Kingdom, as Counts and Dukes had engaged in small battles and skirmishes for territory and political influence before the sisters could clamp down on such behavior.
"Now they restrict such rivalries to court and battles of intrigue."
Gawain couldn't tell if the tone of disgust that Luna used indicated a distaste for the nobility's pursuit of power at the expense of others, or a dislike for the clandestine, two-faced way they went about it. Probably both.
It was not until the Crown Prince began to describe the integration of the Diamond Dog packs into the Empire that the Alicorn Sisters began to show any manner of surprise
"Thine count Gem Hounds...amongst thine subjects?"
The princesses glanced towards Sir Granite, the armored canine stoically returning their looks of muted surprise. Celestia spoke carefully, glancing between the Prince and his bodyguard, as if quietly fearful that her words would offend.
"Forgive our surprise but...the canines that our little Ponies have encountered have been invariably hostile, either attacking or fleeing whenever they are spotted."
Gawain's heart sank.
"Do these Diamond Dogs behave in an almost feral manner? Attacking with claws and teeth, showing no sign of tool use?"
Celestia nodded hesitantly. Gawain sighed, eyes briefly closed in mourning.
"It would seem that the Dogs in your lands are afflicted with the mind-killing sickness."
The Princesses blinked in confusion before, to the surprise of all those present, the Imperials especially, Sir Granite spoke up, his deep growl interjecting.
"One of Discord's cruel jokes. A disease spread through blood and bite that leaves the body whole but the mind ravaged. It reduces Dogs to nothing more than snarling beasts."
There was something almost mournful in his voice, another surprise, as all those who had ever met Granite knew him to have the emotional range of his namesake. He looked the Princesses in the eyes, his even stare giving no hint to his inner thoughts or feelings.
"If your subjects killed them…what they did was mercy, not murder."
There was a silence, none entirely sure how to react to that.
Gawain picks the conversation back up, continuing his tale of the Empire's history, quickly reaching the Empire's first encounter with a foreign nation: the Yaks of Yakyakistan. His descriptions of the northern nomads prompts noises of amusement from the Princesses.
"We have had a very similar experience. The Buffalo to our south sound like they could be the cousins of these Yaks, though inhabiting a more arid land."
Gawain hummed thoughtfully, resolving to ask more about these Buffalo later.
His recounting of his people's first encounter with the Dread King Sombra, his army of slaves and twisted abominations, quickly wipes the looks of amusement off of the Princesses' faces. He does not pause, detailing the events of the Winter War, from the return of the few survivors of the disastrous southern expedition, to the year without a summer and the battle of Redstone Pass, where Sombra met his first defeat. He describes the Battle of the Peregrines, the raids into the Crystal Empire that freed hundreds of Crystal Ponies (most eyes in the room had glanced towards Sir Saphire Lance at that point in the story), and finally the Liberation of the Crystal City and it's enslaved inhabitants.
The Alicorn sisters are shocked into silence. Luna was the first to rally.
"In our time, we hath encountered Unicorns who dabbled in forbidden magics…mind manipulation, fleshcrafting, necromancy…but such villains were always found and brought to justice swiftly, fore' they could achieve their mad dreams of domination. To learn that an entire kingdom could fall under the sway of a single mad stallion…"
She trailed off, processing this new knowledge. Celestia nodded solemnly.
"You have our sympathies, and our thanks for removing such a great threat from the world."
Gawain nodded politely, quickly moving on to describe the events that had occurred in the wake of the Winter War, focusing primarily upon the numerous technological advances the Empire had made. He only had to gesture out the window to demonstrate the significance of their newly developed airships, and his descriptions of the Imperial Rail Network and Gas lamps seemed to elicit some interest, though they didn't seem as impressed as he had expected them to be. He supposed that, to a society with such casual access to magic, the mechanical marvels of Gryphus were not quite as jaw-dropping.
For obvious reasons, he decided against describing the numerous advances the Empire had made in the realm of weaponry. That didn't seem like a polite topic of discussion at First Contact with foreign heads of state.
Gawain then went on to describe the other, less hostile nations that the Empire had encountered.
His descriptions of Neighpon and it's draconic Emperor, Canterbury and it's Queen, the Emerald Isles and their Canine inhabitants, the Caribou of Olenia, the Minotaurs, and the pirates-turned-profiteers of Libertalia elicited a great deal of interest and surprise from his equine hosts. Gawain resolved to offer an exchange of maps once the story of his people had reached its end. He could only imagine how the Princesses felt. To be given knowledge of so many other nations at once, some of which were inhabited by fellow Ponies…well, he could hardly fault them for the occasional looks of disbelief, though they never expressed doubt of his word.
Finally, with some hesitation on his part, Gawain spoke of the last nation his people had thus far encountered…Maretonia.
He hoped that the relief he felt at the look of disgust and revulsion on the Princesses faces when he described the Maretonian system of slavery did not show in his posture.
Luna looked almost personally insulted.
"Such barbarity! We hath thought such things rightly abandoned in the days of antiquity! To think that Ponies could inflict such cruelties and injustice upon thine own fellows…tis an outrage!"
Celestia hid her anger better, but it was clear that she too, was greatly upset by the revelation that such a practice still existed.
"We are...greatly disappointed in our fellow Ponies. Who rules this Kingdom of Maretonia? I believe I would wish to have words with them."
Gawain awkwardly hissed air through his beak. His description of Queen Mareia's assassination and the ensuing civil war that still raged within the borders of the former slave kingdom served to take much of the wind out of Celestia's sails. Luna, on the other hand, sounded almost pleased when he mentioned the abolitionist movement taking up arms against their former masters...though that look swiftly turned to muted horror as he described the numerous atrocities that had been committed by the warring sides.
He hesitated before sharing the most recent bit of history regarding Maretonia...history that was likely being made as they spoke.
"After the...destruction of Roam, my father deemed it necessary to intercede in the conflict. He marches on Maretonia as we speak."
Neither of the Princesses seemed to have any emotional reaction to that. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Celestia simply nodded silently, still processing the thought of so many Ponies dying due to the whims of a few power-hungry nobles. Luna seemed more interested in Gawain's words, however.
"Thine Emperor...he believes that he may resolve this...catastrophe that hath fallen upon our fellow Ponies?"
Gawain responded in the affirmative. Luna stared back at him, and the Crown Prince couldn't help but feel as if he was being assessed. Finally, the Lunar Princess nodded, apparently satisfied.
"I wish him luck in his attempts to restore the peace."
That was better than Gawain had expected.
____________________________________________________
Gawain's explanations to the Princesses had not ended there, of course. They had had many questions, most concerning the finer details of Imperial History that he had glossed over for fear of boring them. He was pleasantly surprised by the level of interest they seemed to have in him and his people. Then again, he supposed that he would as well, were he in their position.
Eventually, refreshments having been exhausted, the Princesses invited their guests to join them in the Castle gardens, to continue their conversation as the day slipped into the later hours of the afternoon, the Equestrians and their Imperial Guests making their way through the rows of trees and hedges.
Gawain was quite impressed by the carefully cultivated plant life on display. He didn't think it had anything on the Palace gardens back home of course, but then he did have a bias. Gwyndlyn would probably love this place.
"Thank you for indulging our curiosity."
Gawain gave Celestia a small smile and a shake of his head.
"Think nothing of it. I am always happy to share the story of my homeland with others."
The white-coated Alicorn returned the smile with one of her own before gesturing to her sister.
"I assume you have many questions for us as well?"
Gawain nodded.
"A few, yes. The members of your expedition were quite informative as to the nature of your Kingdom, but there were a few questions I would like to ask of you. To begin: how did your Kingdom come to be?"
Celestia sighed nostalgically, gazing into the distance.
"Equestria, much like your own Empire, had existed long before the rise of Discord. It was formed from the union of all three tribes of Pony: Earth Pony, Unicorn and Pegasus. In the days of Chaos, much of the Kingdom was reduced to ruin, and more than one Count or Duke sought to secede, forming their own independent lands, many of which were not brought back into the fold until fairly recently. After Discord's defeat...well, I imagine your own people went through a similar period of rebuilding and reconsolidating."
She smiled.
"Truthfully, your arrival has been the most exciting and unexpected event to occur in decades. The only other race of sapients we have thus encountered have been the Buffalo, and they largely keep to themselves."
Gawain raised an eye ridge.
"Yes, you mentioned them before. Can you tell me anything more about them?"
The rainbow-maned mare shrugged.
"I'm afraid we don't know much. We first encountered them only a few years ago, and as I said, they largely keep to themselves. Not out of a sense of avoidance you understand, but a lack of concurrent interests between us and them. They have little interest in trade, and we have no mutual foes. In many ways they greatly resemble the Yaks you spoke of when your people first encountered them: nomadic, divided into numerous tribes, spiritual and culturally conservative. They inhabit the plains and deserts to our South, at the very reaches of the land we can honestly stake claim to."
Gawain hummed, mind churning. The Yaks had only begun to re-evaluate their insular, nomadic nature once they had seen the potential dangers the outside world posed in the form of Sombra. Without such a push, they likely wouldn't have sought to modernize the way they were now. He supposed that these Buffalo would likely behave in a similar manner. He shelved that line of thinking for later, continuing to question the Princesses.
"Forgive my bluntness, but what exactly is an Alicorn? I understand that you are a fusion of all three types of Pony, but I feel as if there is more to it that I am missing."
Celestia chuckled.
"While that is an accurate summation, it does not fully encapsulate what we are. As Alicorns, we possess both great magical power and great longevity."
Gawain nodded in understanding.
"Similar to a Draconic lifespan? I am familiar with the concept of an ageless being. Is that how you would describe yourselves?"
Celestia paused, as if considering. Gawain noted Luna had also stopped, exchanging a glance with her sister.
"We are...not certain of the nature of our lifespan. We are both well over a century old, and this far we have not suffered the rigors of time. We do not know if we do not age or simply age very slowly...I suppose we shall see."
Gawain quickly sought to change the suddenly uncomfortable subject.
"And you are the only Alicorns?"
Celestia nodded, looking marginally less uncomfortable at the change of topic.
"That is correct. As far as we are aware, we are the only ones...Alicorns are not born, you see. We were born as ordinary Ponies and...metamorphosed into our current forms."
She sighed, glancing at the ground.
"Sadly, we have been unable to replicate the circumstances that led to our ascension. For the time being, we remain the only ones of our kind."
Gawain mentally filed away that information for later.
"And, forgive me for asking but, why are both of you called Princess? Were you children of Royalty?"
The sisters surprised him by bursting into laughter, exchanging a knowing glance. Luna shook her head.
"Neigh, 'tis not a matter of birth that decides our titles, but equality. To call one of us a Queen would be to lessen the importance of the other. We rule together, and so we both share the title of Princess."
Had Gawain blinked, he would have missed the sudden glance the dark-coated mare gave her sister, her lips twitching downwards into a look of uncertainty. But it was gone as quickly as it had come, the diplomatic smile plastered back onto her face in an instant.
The Crown Prince blinked, not quite sure what to make of what he had just witnessed. Deciding it would be a poor idea to pry, he voiced his final question for the day.
"You mentioned before how Discord was 'defeated'. Do you know what, exactly, happened to him?"
The Princesses exchanged another look, a silent conversation occurring between the two. Celestia glanced towards a hedge maze on the edge of the Castle grounds, tall walls of greenery blocking the view of whatever she was looking at.
"It's probably easier if we show you."
Gawain blinked.
"What?"
____________________________________________________
Gawain stared, not quite able to believe what he was seeing, an action mirrored by Captain Dawnclaw, Sir Sapphire Lance, and, surprisingly, Snowdrop. But the sight before them was undeniable: Discord, exactly as the stories of his parents described him, petrified.
"Is...is he dead?"
Luna snorted.
"If one could honestly refer to a being such as him as alive in the traditional sense..."
She shrugged.
"Truthfully we are not certain if a being of Chaos such as him can die. But he most certainly is no longer a threat, in his current state."
Dawnclaw cautiously paced around the mad-god-turned-statue in a circle, examining it from every angle.
"How did you do it? Force him to stare into the eyes of a cockatrice? I had heard tales of some attempting..."
He trailed off as Celestia shook her head.
"No, I'm afraid his current state is the result of incomparably powerful magics, the sort that are not to be used lightly."
Gawain finally tore his eyes away from the terror of the world, now reduced to a garden ornament.
"Why keep him in your garden though? Why not simply reduce the statue to rubble?"
Luna sighed.
"Much as we wished it otherwise, it is not quite that simple. We are fearful that causing damage to the stone construct he has been reduced to may actually release him from his current imprisonment."
Celestia gestured with a hoof to the surrounding hedge maze.
"As to keeping him in our garden...a garden where nature is kept in order, where green and growing things are constantly cultivated and kept in order..."
She smiled.
"I dare say that this is a better prison for a being such as him than any dungeon."
Gawain nodded dumbly, still staring at the statue of the most hated and reviled being in all creation.
His parents were going to flip.
____________________________________________________
After that emotional rollercoaster, Gawain had decided that, while the Equestrians had proven themselves to be gracious hosts, it was probably wise for him and his fellow Imperials to return to Gryphus. They had learned a great deal that they would have to convey to their colleagues back home, and the knowledge that his parents were on the warpath at this very moment made Gawain anxious to return.
He thanked the Princesses for their hospitality, graciously accepted their expressions of gratitude for the return of their people, made arrangements for further diplomatic communications in the future, and bid the Ponies of Equestria farewell from the deck of his Airship as it lifted back off, bound for Gryphus' Peak and the Imperial Palace.
It had been an eventful day for all parties involved.
It was not until after the Imperial delegation had departed that Princess Luna turned to Snowdrop, her diplomatic smile fading as she regarded the arctic-maned Earth Pony.
"Now, Lady Snow...what is thine true opinion of this Empire?"
The Artic-maned Earth Pony blinked in confusion.
"I-I'm sorry your highness, but I'm not quite sure what you mean?"
Celestia stepped forward, giving her sister a pointed look.
"What she means, my little pony, is that we are curious what your overall opinion of our new friends is? You spent a great deal of time as their guest, you likely know more about them than they ever could or would seek to coney to us through simple words."
The Solar Princess paused meaningfully.
"And it may be that you wish to tell us something which you would rather not say where they might overhear."
Snowdrop stared at the floor, silently considering her answer while the Diarchs waited patiently for her response, her overall assessment of Gryphus and it's people. Finally, she looked up.
"Obviously I have a bit of a bias..."
Both Alicorns nodded, the elder smiling a bit at the brief moment of levity.
"But after everything I've seen of them, I truly believe that they can be great friends to us. They have honor, and courage, and a willingness to show kindness and generosity to even complete strangers, simply because they know it is the right thing to do. They believe in making the world a better, safer place, and are eager to work with others to achieve that goal."
Celestia's smile grew more prominent, Luna nodding along stoically as Snowdrop offered her praise of her saviors.
"But even if it weren't for those positive qualities...I would still advise you to go to any lengths to ensure they view us favorably."
Celestia's smile faded, even as Luna's eyes narrowed, focusing intently upon her subject.
"Go on."
The Earth Pony complied, her tone dead serious.
"Princesses, Gryphus is strong. And they have the potential to become even stronger."
"Their country could easily be described as one gigantic system of fortifications, both natural and artificial, from it's forests and mountain ranges to the walls that surround every city and village. While their land is poor in terms of gold and silver and gemstones, it is rich in iron, timber and stone."
She began to pace, her hooves quietly clopping on the stone floor as she spoke.
"Though the vast majority of their people possess no magic to speak of, their technology serves as an effective substitute, in some cases being more reliable and effective than any arcane equivalent. And over the past few years, they've been doing their utmost to remedy their lack of knowledge of the arcane arts. That talisman you saw around the Crown Prince's neck, that translated his speech? They started making those just a few years after figuring out the very basics of Thaumaturgy. And if the Hippogryphs possess even a fraction of the magic that their Pony parents do..."
She shook her head.
"We have a monopoly on magic for now, but we can't assume we will forever."
Both of the Princesses took a moment to digest that analysis. Luna shook herself free of her thoughts first.
"And what of their strength of arms? The Knights that accompanied Prince Goldenfeather seemed to be of strong mind and body, but twould hardly be fair to compare them to our own Royal Guard."
Snowdrop surprised the Princesses, and herself, by chuckling.
"While I'm in no position to judge the comparative strength and quality of the Empire's Knights, they are only a fraction of Gryphus' military strength."
Both of them blinked at that, even as the Earth Pony Mare continued.
"They possess not only several knightly orders comparable in size, equipment and training to our own Royal Guard, but a permanent standing army of professional soldiers that numbers in the tens of thousands."
Both of the Princesses physically reeled back in shock at that proclamation. Luna stammered.
"S-surely thou art mistaken! The costs of simply raising such a force, let alone maintaining it, would be astronomical! For what purpose would such a massive army be necessary to keep at a state of readiness year after year?"
"War, your Highness."
A silence fell, Snowdrop's blunt answer giving the Alicorns pause. Seeking to elaborate, she continued on, having almost forgotten that she, an Earth Pony commoner, was speaking to the Princesses of all Equestria.
"The people of Gryphus have come to expect threats to themselves and their homeland to materialize suddenly and without warning. Pirates, brigands, monsters, slavers, warlords and tyrants, every few years brings a new foe for them to face. And the Griffons have adapted accordingly. Each and every able-bodied citizen is not only prepared, but expected to fight in the defense of their homeland should the need arise. The reason they are willing to expend vast sums of treasure and effort on a massive army is because they fully expect that they will need it in the near future."
"But it is not the size of their army which, I think, makes them such a formidable force. Nor their technology, or the skill of their knights. It is the way they think, the attitude they have towards conflict. It..."
Snowdrop paused, fumbling for words, trying to find a way to effectively convey her message.
"Your Highnesses...during our year as guests of Gryphus, we were taken on a tour of the Empire. We saw their cities, their ports, their centers of trade and industry."
Both Princesses furrowed their brows in puzzlement, confused by the sudden turn in the conversation. Luna opened her mouth to question the odd segue, but a pointed look from her sister told her to still her tongue. She complied, reluctantly, as they listened silently to the Earth Pony.
"One of the cities we stopped at was called Griffonstone. It apparently used to be the capital in the days before Discord...the largest structure in the city was a massive stone building the size of a castle."
The Celestial sisters quirked their eyebrows, curious to see where this was going.
"At first I thought that it was some kind of temple. There was writing carved into the walls and ceilings, a massive burning torch at the center of a grand chamber, every Griffon and Dog or Crystal Pony present seemed to treat the place as if it were hallowed ground. Then I actually read the writing on the walls."
"They were names. The names of every Griffon, every Dog, every Pony or Yak or Qilin who had given their lives in the defense of the Empire. There were thousands of them, painstakingly carved into the stone. It was a memorial, a tomb for every Imperial soldier to ever die in battle."
Luna nodded stoically as her sister, ever empathic, briefly closed her eyes in sympathy. The starry-maned Alicorn again opened her mouth to speak, only to close it when she realized that Snowdrop was not yet finished, the mare continuing to recall her experience at the Imperial War Memorial.
"But outside the building, on the land surrounding the memorial, there were dozens of walls of polished stone, blocks of granite that stretched on for as far as I could see. I asked one of the Griffons what they were there for."
"'The future', he told me. 'For the wars to come.'"
Snowdrop stared up the Alicorn Sisters, an unreadable look in her eyes.
"Princesses, there was room for over a million names."
The silence that fell over the room in the wake of her statement lasted for a period that felt much longer than it was. Sensing that the Princesses did indeed understand the message she was trying to impart, she spoke one final time, her tone making it obvious that this was her final assessment.
"The Griffons see the world as a dangerous place. I think they believe that the only way to ensure peace is to be prepared for war, to face the threats the world holds head on."
"I do not think it would be wise to make them see us as one of those threats."
Equestria and Gryphus have officially made first contact, and several revelations have been had by both parties. New Actions Unlocked.
As the seated Ponies and Griffons sampled the provided refreshments, Gawain began his lengthy explanation of the Empire and it's history, Snowdrop and Captain Dawnclaw sitting quietly as their lieges spoke. The Princesses listened attentively as he spoke of the first Empire that had existed in the age before Discord, how it had fragmented in the era of chaos into numerous petty kingdoms and city-states. How his father, the King of Griffonia, had reforged the Empire in the years following Discord's disappearance (he saw the two exchange a meaningful glance at that, but wasn't too sure what to make of it). They had nodded along in silence, asking leading questions when appropriate. They seemed unsurprised by his mentions of the Unification War, stating that similar, albeit smaller conflicts had occurred amongst Ponies in the days before Equestria could be properly solidified as a reunited Kingdom, as Counts and Dukes had engaged in small battles and skirmishes for territory and political influence before the sisters could clamp down on such behavior.
"Now they restrict such rivalries to court and battles of intrigue."
Gawain couldn't tell if the tone of disgust that Luna used indicated a distaste for the nobility's pursuit of power at the expense of others, or a dislike for the clandestine, two-faced way they went about it. Probably both.
It was not until the Crown Prince began to describe the integration of the Diamond Dog packs into the Empire that the Alicorn Sisters began to show any manner of surprise
"Thine count Gem Hounds...amongst thine subjects?"
The princesses glanced towards Sir Granite, the armored canine stoically returning their looks of muted surprise. Celestia spoke carefully, glancing between the Prince and his bodyguard, as if quietly fearful that her words would offend.
"Forgive our surprise but...the canines that our little Ponies have encountered have been invariably hostile, either attacking or fleeing whenever they are spotted."
Gawain's heart sank.
"Do these Diamond Dogs behave in an almost feral manner? Attacking with claws and teeth, showing no sign of tool use?"
Celestia nodded hesitantly. Gawain sighed, eyes briefly closed in mourning.
"It would seem that the Dogs in your lands are afflicted with the mind-killing sickness."
The Princesses blinked in confusion before, to the surprise of all those present, the Imperials especially, Sir Granite spoke up, his deep growl interjecting.
"One of Discord's cruel jokes. A disease spread through blood and bite that leaves the body whole but the mind ravaged. It reduces Dogs to nothing more than snarling beasts."
There was something almost mournful in his voice, another surprise, as all those who had ever met Granite knew him to have the emotional range of his namesake. He looked the Princesses in the eyes, his even stare giving no hint to his inner thoughts or feelings.
"If your subjects killed them…what they did was mercy, not murder."
There was a silence, none entirely sure how to react to that.
Gawain picks the conversation back up, continuing his tale of the Empire's history, quickly reaching the Empire's first encounter with a foreign nation: the Yaks of Yakyakistan. His descriptions of the northern nomads prompts noises of amusement from the Princesses.
"We have had a very similar experience. The Buffalo to our south sound like they could be the cousins of these Yaks, though inhabiting a more arid land."
Gawain hummed thoughtfully, resolving to ask more about these Buffalo later.
His recounting of his people's first encounter with the Dread King Sombra, his army of slaves and twisted abominations, quickly wipes the looks of amusement off of the Princesses' faces. He does not pause, detailing the events of the Winter War, from the return of the few survivors of the disastrous southern expedition, to the year without a summer and the battle of Redstone Pass, where Sombra met his first defeat. He describes the Battle of the Peregrines, the raids into the Crystal Empire that freed hundreds of Crystal Ponies (most eyes in the room had glanced towards Sir Saphire Lance at that point in the story), and finally the Liberation of the Crystal City and it's enslaved inhabitants.
The Alicorn sisters are shocked into silence. Luna was the first to rally.
"In our time, we hath encountered Unicorns who dabbled in forbidden magics…mind manipulation, fleshcrafting, necromancy…but such villains were always found and brought to justice swiftly, fore' they could achieve their mad dreams of domination. To learn that an entire kingdom could fall under the sway of a single mad stallion…"
She trailed off, processing this new knowledge. Celestia nodded solemnly.
"You have our sympathies, and our thanks for removing such a great threat from the world."
Gawain nodded politely, quickly moving on to describe the events that had occurred in the wake of the Winter War, focusing primarily upon the numerous technological advances the Empire had made. He only had to gesture out the window to demonstrate the significance of their newly developed airships, and his descriptions of the Imperial Rail Network and Gas lamps seemed to elicit some interest, though they didn't seem as impressed as he had expected them to be. He supposed that, to a society with such casual access to magic, the mechanical marvels of Gryphus were not quite as jaw-dropping.
For obvious reasons, he decided against describing the numerous advances the Empire had made in the realm of weaponry. That didn't seem like a polite topic of discussion at First Contact with foreign heads of state.
Gawain then went on to describe the other, less hostile nations that the Empire had encountered.
His descriptions of Neighpon and it's draconic Emperor, Canterbury and it's Queen, the Emerald Isles and their Canine inhabitants, the Caribou of Olenia, the Minotaurs, and the pirates-turned-profiteers of Libertalia elicited a great deal of interest and surprise from his equine hosts. Gawain resolved to offer an exchange of maps once the story of his people had reached its end. He could only imagine how the Princesses felt. To be given knowledge of so many other nations at once, some of which were inhabited by fellow Ponies…well, he could hardly fault them for the occasional looks of disbelief, though they never expressed doubt of his word.
Finally, with some hesitation on his part, Gawain spoke of the last nation his people had thus far encountered…Maretonia.
He hoped that the relief he felt at the look of disgust and revulsion on the Princesses faces when he described the Maretonian system of slavery did not show in his posture.
Luna looked almost personally insulted.
"Such barbarity! We hath thought such things rightly abandoned in the days of antiquity! To think that Ponies could inflict such cruelties and injustice upon thine own fellows…tis an outrage!"
Celestia hid her anger better, but it was clear that she too, was greatly upset by the revelation that such a practice still existed.
"We are...greatly disappointed in our fellow Ponies. Who rules this Kingdom of Maretonia? I believe I would wish to have words with them."
Gawain awkwardly hissed air through his beak. His description of Queen Mareia's assassination and the ensuing civil war that still raged within the borders of the former slave kingdom served to take much of the wind out of Celestia's sails. Luna, on the other hand, sounded almost pleased when he mentioned the abolitionist movement taking up arms against their former masters...though that look swiftly turned to muted horror as he described the numerous atrocities that had been committed by the warring sides.
He hesitated before sharing the most recent bit of history regarding Maretonia...history that was likely being made as they spoke.
"After the...destruction of Roam, my father deemed it necessary to intercede in the conflict. He marches on Maretonia as we speak."
Neither of the Princesses seemed to have any emotional reaction to that. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Celestia simply nodded silently, still processing the thought of so many Ponies dying due to the whims of a few power-hungry nobles. Luna seemed more interested in Gawain's words, however.
"Thine Emperor...he believes that he may resolve this...catastrophe that hath fallen upon our fellow Ponies?"
Gawain responded in the affirmative. Luna stared back at him, and the Crown Prince couldn't help but feel as if he was being assessed. Finally, the Lunar Princess nodded, apparently satisfied.
"I wish him luck in his attempts to restore the peace."
That was better than Gawain had expected.
____________________________________________________
Gawain's explanations to the Princesses had not ended there, of course. They had had many questions, most concerning the finer details of Imperial History that he had glossed over for fear of boring them. He was pleasantly surprised by the level of interest they seemed to have in him and his people. Then again, he supposed that he would as well, were he in their position.
Eventually, refreshments having been exhausted, the Princesses invited their guests to join them in the Castle gardens, to continue their conversation as the day slipped into the later hours of the afternoon, the Equestrians and their Imperial Guests making their way through the rows of trees and hedges.
Gawain was quite impressed by the carefully cultivated plant life on display. He didn't think it had anything on the Palace gardens back home of course, but then he did have a bias. Gwyndlyn would probably love this place.
"Thank you for indulging our curiosity."
Gawain gave Celestia a small smile and a shake of his head.
"Think nothing of it. I am always happy to share the story of my homeland with others."
The white-coated Alicorn returned the smile with one of her own before gesturing to her sister.
"I assume you have many questions for us as well?"
Gawain nodded.
"A few, yes. The members of your expedition were quite informative as to the nature of your Kingdom, but there were a few questions I would like to ask of you. To begin: how did your Kingdom come to be?"
Celestia sighed nostalgically, gazing into the distance.
"Equestria, much like your own Empire, had existed long before the rise of Discord. It was formed from the union of all three tribes of Pony: Earth Pony, Unicorn and Pegasus. In the days of Chaos, much of the Kingdom was reduced to ruin, and more than one Count or Duke sought to secede, forming their own independent lands, many of which were not brought back into the fold until fairly recently. After Discord's defeat...well, I imagine your own people went through a similar period of rebuilding and reconsolidating."
She smiled.
"Truthfully, your arrival has been the most exciting and unexpected event to occur in decades. The only other race of sapients we have thus encountered have been the Buffalo, and they largely keep to themselves."
Gawain raised an eye ridge.
"Yes, you mentioned them before. Can you tell me anything more about them?"
The rainbow-maned mare shrugged.
"I'm afraid we don't know much. We first encountered them only a few years ago, and as I said, they largely keep to themselves. Not out of a sense of avoidance you understand, but a lack of concurrent interests between us and them. They have little interest in trade, and we have no mutual foes. In many ways they greatly resemble the Yaks you spoke of when your people first encountered them: nomadic, divided into numerous tribes, spiritual and culturally conservative. They inhabit the plains and deserts to our South, at the very reaches of the land we can honestly stake claim to."
Gawain hummed, mind churning. The Yaks had only begun to re-evaluate their insular, nomadic nature once they had seen the potential dangers the outside world posed in the form of Sombra. Without such a push, they likely wouldn't have sought to modernize the way they were now. He supposed that these Buffalo would likely behave in a similar manner. He shelved that line of thinking for later, continuing to question the Princesses.
"Forgive my bluntness, but what exactly is an Alicorn? I understand that you are a fusion of all three types of Pony, but I feel as if there is more to it that I am missing."
Celestia chuckled.
"While that is an accurate summation, it does not fully encapsulate what we are. As Alicorns, we possess both great magical power and great longevity."
Gawain nodded in understanding.
"Similar to a Draconic lifespan? I am familiar with the concept of an ageless being. Is that how you would describe yourselves?"
Celestia paused, as if considering. Gawain noted Luna had also stopped, exchanging a glance with her sister.
"We are...not certain of the nature of our lifespan. We are both well over a century old, and this far we have not suffered the rigors of time. We do not know if we do not age or simply age very slowly...I suppose we shall see."
Gawain quickly sought to change the suddenly uncomfortable subject.
"And you are the only Alicorns?"
Celestia nodded, looking marginally less uncomfortable at the change of topic.
"That is correct. As far as we are aware, we are the only ones...Alicorns are not born, you see. We were born as ordinary Ponies and...metamorphosed into our current forms."
She sighed, glancing at the ground.
"Sadly, we have been unable to replicate the circumstances that led to our ascension. For the time being, we remain the only ones of our kind."
Gawain mentally filed away that information for later.
"And, forgive me for asking but, why are both of you called Princess? Were you children of Royalty?"
The sisters surprised him by bursting into laughter, exchanging a knowing glance. Luna shook her head.
"Neigh, 'tis not a matter of birth that decides our titles, but equality. To call one of us a Queen would be to lessen the importance of the other. We rule together, and so we both share the title of Princess."
Had Gawain blinked, he would have missed the sudden glance the dark-coated mare gave her sister, her lips twitching downwards into a look of uncertainty. But it was gone as quickly as it had come, the diplomatic smile plastered back onto her face in an instant.
The Crown Prince blinked, not quite sure what to make of what he had just witnessed. Deciding it would be a poor idea to pry, he voiced his final question for the day.
"You mentioned before how Discord was 'defeated'. Do you know what, exactly, happened to him?"
The Princesses exchanged another look, a silent conversation occurring between the two. Celestia glanced towards a hedge maze on the edge of the Castle grounds, tall walls of greenery blocking the view of whatever she was looking at.
"It's probably easier if we show you."
Gawain blinked.
"What?"
____________________________________________________
Gawain stared, not quite able to believe what he was seeing, an action mirrored by Captain Dawnclaw, Sir Sapphire Lance, and, surprisingly, Snowdrop. But the sight before them was undeniable: Discord, exactly as the stories of his parents described him, petrified.
"Is...is he dead?"
Luna snorted.
"If one could honestly refer to a being such as him as alive in the traditional sense..."
She shrugged.
"Truthfully we are not certain if a being of Chaos such as him can die. But he most certainly is no longer a threat, in his current state."
Dawnclaw cautiously paced around the mad-god-turned-statue in a circle, examining it from every angle.
"How did you do it? Force him to stare into the eyes of a cockatrice? I had heard tales of some attempting..."
He trailed off as Celestia shook her head.
"No, I'm afraid his current state is the result of incomparably powerful magics, the sort that are not to be used lightly."
Gawain finally tore his eyes away from the terror of the world, now reduced to a garden ornament.
"Why keep him in your garden though? Why not simply reduce the statue to rubble?"
Luna sighed.
"Much as we wished it otherwise, it is not quite that simple. We are fearful that causing damage to the stone construct he has been reduced to may actually release him from his current imprisonment."
Celestia gestured with a hoof to the surrounding hedge maze.
"As to keeping him in our garden...a garden where nature is kept in order, where green and growing things are constantly cultivated and kept in order..."
She smiled.
"I dare say that this is a better prison for a being such as him than any dungeon."
Gawain nodded dumbly, still staring at the statue of the most hated and reviled being in all creation.
His parents were going to flip.
____________________________________________________
After that emotional rollercoaster, Gawain had decided that, while the Equestrians had proven themselves to be gracious hosts, it was probably wise for him and his fellow Imperials to return to Gryphus. They had learned a great deal that they would have to convey to their colleagues back home, and the knowledge that his parents were on the warpath at this very moment made Gawain anxious to return.
He thanked the Princesses for their hospitality, graciously accepted their expressions of gratitude for the return of their people, made arrangements for further diplomatic communications in the future, and bid the Ponies of Equestria farewell from the deck of his Airship as it lifted back off, bound for Gryphus' Peak and the Imperial Palace.
It had been an eventful day for all parties involved.
It was not until after the Imperial delegation had departed that Princess Luna turned to Snowdrop, her diplomatic smile fading as she regarded the arctic-maned Earth Pony.
"Now, Lady Snow...what is thine true opinion of this Empire?"
The Artic-maned Earth Pony blinked in confusion.
"I-I'm sorry your highness, but I'm not quite sure what you mean?"
Celestia stepped forward, giving her sister a pointed look.
"What she means, my little pony, is that we are curious what your overall opinion of our new friends is? You spent a great deal of time as their guest, you likely know more about them than they ever could or would seek to coney to us through simple words."
The Solar Princess paused meaningfully.
"And it may be that you wish to tell us something which you would rather not say where they might overhear."
Snowdrop stared at the floor, silently considering her answer while the Diarchs waited patiently for her response, her overall assessment of Gryphus and it's people. Finally, she looked up.
"Obviously I have a bit of a bias..."
Both Alicorns nodded, the elder smiling a bit at the brief moment of levity.
"But after everything I've seen of them, I truly believe that they can be great friends to us. They have honor, and courage, and a willingness to show kindness and generosity to even complete strangers, simply because they know it is the right thing to do. They believe in making the world a better, safer place, and are eager to work with others to achieve that goal."
Celestia's smile grew more prominent, Luna nodding along stoically as Snowdrop offered her praise of her saviors.
"But even if it weren't for those positive qualities...I would still advise you to go to any lengths to ensure they view us favorably."
Celestia's smile faded, even as Luna's eyes narrowed, focusing intently upon her subject.
"Go on."
The Earth Pony complied, her tone dead serious.
"Princesses, Gryphus is strong. And they have the potential to become even stronger."
"Their country could easily be described as one gigantic system of fortifications, both natural and artificial, from it's forests and mountain ranges to the walls that surround every city and village. While their land is poor in terms of gold and silver and gemstones, it is rich in iron, timber and stone."
She began to pace, her hooves quietly clopping on the stone floor as she spoke.
"Though the vast majority of their people possess no magic to speak of, their technology serves as an effective substitute, in some cases being more reliable and effective than any arcane equivalent. And over the past few years, they've been doing their utmost to remedy their lack of knowledge of the arcane arts. That talisman you saw around the Crown Prince's neck, that translated his speech? They started making those just a few years after figuring out the very basics of Thaumaturgy. And if the Hippogryphs possess even a fraction of the magic that their Pony parents do..."
She shook her head.
"We have a monopoly on magic for now, but we can't assume we will forever."
Both of the Princesses took a moment to digest that analysis. Luna shook herself free of her thoughts first.
"And what of their strength of arms? The Knights that accompanied Prince Goldenfeather seemed to be of strong mind and body, but twould hardly be fair to compare them to our own Royal Guard."
Snowdrop surprised the Princesses, and herself, by chuckling.
"While I'm in no position to judge the comparative strength and quality of the Empire's Knights, they are only a fraction of Gryphus' military strength."
Both of them blinked at that, even as the Earth Pony Mare continued.
"They possess not only several knightly orders comparable in size, equipment and training to our own Royal Guard, but a permanent standing army of professional soldiers that numbers in the tens of thousands."
Both of the Princesses physically reeled back in shock at that proclamation. Luna stammered.
"S-surely thou art mistaken! The costs of simply raising such a force, let alone maintaining it, would be astronomical! For what purpose would such a massive army be necessary to keep at a state of readiness year after year?"
"War, your Highness."
A silence fell, Snowdrop's blunt answer giving the Alicorns pause. Seeking to elaborate, she continued on, having almost forgotten that she, an Earth Pony commoner, was speaking to the Princesses of all Equestria.
"The people of Gryphus have come to expect threats to themselves and their homeland to materialize suddenly and without warning. Pirates, brigands, monsters, slavers, warlords and tyrants, every few years brings a new foe for them to face. And the Griffons have adapted accordingly. Each and every able-bodied citizen is not only prepared, but expected to fight in the defense of their homeland should the need arise. The reason they are willing to expend vast sums of treasure and effort on a massive army is because they fully expect that they will need it in the near future."
"But it is not the size of their army which, I think, makes them such a formidable force. Nor their technology, or the skill of their knights. It is the way they think, the attitude they have towards conflict. It..."
Snowdrop paused, fumbling for words, trying to find a way to effectively convey her message.
"Your Highnesses...during our year as guests of Gryphus, we were taken on a tour of the Empire. We saw their cities, their ports, their centers of trade and industry."
Both Princesses furrowed their brows in puzzlement, confused by the sudden turn in the conversation. Luna opened her mouth to question the odd segue, but a pointed look from her sister told her to still her tongue. She complied, reluctantly, as they listened silently to the Earth Pony.
"One of the cities we stopped at was called Griffonstone. It apparently used to be the capital in the days before Discord...the largest structure in the city was a massive stone building the size of a castle."
The Celestial sisters quirked their eyebrows, curious to see where this was going.
"At first I thought that it was some kind of temple. There was writing carved into the walls and ceilings, a massive burning torch at the center of a grand chamber, every Griffon and Dog or Crystal Pony present seemed to treat the place as if it were hallowed ground. Then I actually read the writing on the walls."
"They were names. The names of every Griffon, every Dog, every Pony or Yak or Qilin who had given their lives in the defense of the Empire. There were thousands of them, painstakingly carved into the stone. It was a memorial, a tomb for every Imperial soldier to ever die in battle."
Luna nodded stoically as her sister, ever empathic, briefly closed her eyes in sympathy. The starry-maned Alicorn again opened her mouth to speak, only to close it when she realized that Snowdrop was not yet finished, the mare continuing to recall her experience at the Imperial War Memorial.
"But outside the building, on the land surrounding the memorial, there were dozens of walls of polished stone, blocks of granite that stretched on for as far as I could see. I asked one of the Griffons what they were there for."
"'The future', he told me. 'For the wars to come.'"
Snowdrop stared up the Alicorn Sisters, an unreadable look in her eyes.
"Princesses, there was room for over a million names."
The silence that fell over the room in the wake of her statement lasted for a period that felt much longer than it was. Sensing that the Princesses did indeed understand the message she was trying to impart, she spoke one final time, her tone making it obvious that this was her final assessment.
"The Griffons see the world as a dangerous place. I think they believe that the only way to ensure peace is to be prepared for war, to face the threats the world holds head on."
"I do not think it would be wise to make them see us as one of those threats."
Equestria and Gryphus have officially made first contact, and several revelations have been had by both parties. New Actions Unlocked.
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Notes on Equestrian and Griffon Culture
- Location
- Maryland
It is important to realize that the differences between Griffons and Equestrians are not limited to biology or magical ability. The two groups possess very different views of how the world works.
To the Ponies of Equestria, the world is naturally peaceful and harmonious. If something or somewhere in the world is not in a state of peace and harmony, it is a result of outside tampering or some manner of corruptive influence. Discord is so horrifying to them (essentially an Eldritch abomination in the purest sense of the term) because in their eyes he was a violation of nature, an aberration that turned the world into a dangerous and chaotic place.
To get an idea of what this looks like in practice, one only need watch the very first episode of the show. The Mane Six describe the Everfree Forest, a place where the weather can't be controlled, plants grow on their own, and the animals take care of themselves, as unnatural.
Yet almost paradoxically, they possess a great respect and veneration for nature, albeit in what appears to be a very simplistic manner (trees good, polluting industry bad). When Twilight was traveling through time and witnessing all of the horrible futures that would have befallen Equestria had the Mane Six never met, one of them was one where the Flim Flam brothers had (apparently, we only got an eight second look at this particular future) constructed an economic empire. Twilight (and we, the viewers) witness heavy machinery being used to uproot and cut down whole forests, while in the distance, the smokestacks of factories fill the air with smog.
Consider that this timeline is shown alongside ones where Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon conquer Equestria. Implying that, in the eyes of Twilight, an Equestrian, that such an industrialized future is comparable to ones where her people are ruled over by tyrants.
The Griffons, by contrast, would look upon such an industrialized world with approval. This is because they see the world as dangerous and chaotic by default. Discord was not an aberration, he simply turned the unforgiving hostility of nature up to 11. To the Griffons of the Empire, the natural world is a thing to be combated, the cultural result of their homeland being filled with vicious predators that preyed upon them for countless generations. If something is peaceful or harmonious, it is only so because sentient beings made it that way through deliberate effort.
A bunch of Griffons leveling a forest to make way for a new rail line are not simply laborers working to earn their pay, or even industrious workers engaged in a beneficial act of construction, but soldiers in a war against a hostile, uncaring universe, destroying a potential haven for the monsters that used to prey upon them and their children.
Now, this is not to say that Griffons are a bunch of Captain Planet villains who will dump toxic waste into the ocean or choke the skies with smoke to "stick it to Mother Nature." In fact, the Empire has numerous laws that regulate how industries conduct themselves, from fishing quotas to a ban on the dumping of industrial byproducts into the nation's rivers. However, these laws only exist for the sake of the Griffons themselves. The fishing quotas are there to ensure they do not deplete their food supply, and they do not wish to drink from rivers tainted by toxic chemicals, or fly through skies choked by smoke. If there existed an action that would severely harm nature, but would be exclusively beneficial to sapient beings, Griffons would not only perform it, but feel a moral obligation to do so.
If it were announced that Manticores had gone extinct, Ponies would mourn the loss of an entire species, the death of a piece of the natural world that they could never get back. If any Griffons would be saddened, it would only be because they couldn't hunt the things anymore.
One must also remember that while Ponies are herbivores, Griffins are predators: half-lion, half-bird of prey. And their mindsets reflect this. Griffons tend to be quicker to consider violence as a potential solution to perceived problems, and tend to behave more individualistically than Ponies, with a higher rate of loners and introverts than the community oriented Equestrians.
With all of this in mind, it is perhaps unsurprising that Griffons possess a more martially inclined culture than Ponies. They are literally born with weapons built into their bodies, their talons sharp enough to sever an artery or tear through flesh. It is a common joke amongst soldiers and mercenaries that the only way to completely disarm a Griffon is to literally dis-arm them.
Hunting, a common pastime of Imperial Nobility and a means for citizens in rural areas to add extra food to their larders, is an almost foreign concept to most Equestrians. On occasion mobs of ponies or, in recent days, platoons of Equestrian Royal Guard, will sweep the wilderness to put down a manticore, cockatrice, or hydra that has been responsible for the deaths of their fellow equines, but the idea of doing such a thing as a form of recreation is completely alien to them.
Both Imperial Law and Equestrian Law hold murder to be among the worst crimes, but the courts of Gryphus tend to view acts of non-lethal physical violence more leniently than their Equestrian counterparts. Bar brawls and fistfights, not uncommon occurrences in the cities of the Empire, often aren't even prosecuted by the state if no citizens express the desire to press charges, which typically only happens if the fight in question resulted in a permanent, crippling injury. Griffons who press assault charges over a black eye are typically viewed with the same scorn as humans who sue a restaurant because a waiter spilled soup on them. To Griffons, theft is generally regarded as a greater crime than assault, while for the Ponies, the opposite is true.
And while neither Griffons nor Equestrians see war as something to be glorified or celebrated, with many Ponies seeing it as a last resort that should only be considered once all other options have been exhausted, only the Griffons see armed conflict as both inevitable and ultimately unavoidable. And despite, or perhaps because of so many Imperial families having lost loved ones to the fires of war, there does exist a certain romanticization of war and combat in Imperial Culture. Those who serve, be they knights, sailors or common soldiers, are adored and seen as heroes by the civilian population, and even the idea of dying in battle is looked upon with a certain degree of fondness. If the best way to die is of old age surrounded by loved ones, then the second best way is on the field of battle surrounded by your brothers and sisters in arms, giving your life for the nation and those you fight to protect, be they your family, your comrades or the Emperor.
While this is also true to a lesser extent in Equestria, they have not yet had this belief challenged by a massive, nation-spanning conflict like the Winter War. Any armed clashes they have witnessed were between individual Counts, Dukes and Barons in the days before the Alicorn Sisters unified the nation, with skirmishes smaller in scale and scope than the Battle of Wingbardy, codes of conduct between the warring factions, and casualty counts that never exceeded the low hundreds. Their understanding of war is thus quite limited.
The two nations even have differing ideas regarding the divide between the Nobility and the Common people.
The Griffon view of nobility, like so many other things, was irrevocably changed by the Winter War. At the Battle of Redstone, and the Peregrines, and the Storming of the Crystal City, nobles and commoners fought and bled side by side on the front lines. When the battles ended and the dead were accounted for, many nobles, officers and knights alike, were among them. They were cremated upon the same pyres as the lowest enlisted soldier or militiagryph, and when it came time to promote surviving non-commissioned officers to replace them, many commoners, battle hardened veterans, suddenly found themselves possessing equal or greater ranks in the military than members of the nobility. At first, this chafed at their sense of superiority...but as the war dragged on, and the promoted commoners proved themselves equal in skill and bravery time and again, in some cases saving the lives of their noble counterparts, the commoners earned their respect and admiration, if grudgingly.
This, combined with the settlement and establishment of the new province of Kestrella necessitating the elevation of numerous commoners to the ranks of the nobility to administer it (more than one of which was a Diamond Dog), the Post-Discordian economic boom leading to many merchants and bankers building up levels of wealth previously only held by Nobles, and rapid industrialization producing a burgeoning middle class of city-dwelling burghers, resulted in many of the social barriers between the Nobility and the common people being greatly weakened. There still exists a social divide, but it is much less than it was a few decades ago.
By contrast, the Equestrians, who have not experienced an equivalent war, sudden economic boom or rapid industrialization since the end of the Discordian Era, are still very much an agrarian, feudal society divided along class lines, with fewer opportunities for social mobility.
These are just some of the differences between the Empire and Equestria that are likely to result in confusion and culture clash at some point in the future.
To the Ponies of Equestria, the world is naturally peaceful and harmonious. If something or somewhere in the world is not in a state of peace and harmony, it is a result of outside tampering or some manner of corruptive influence. Discord is so horrifying to them (essentially an Eldritch abomination in the purest sense of the term) because in their eyes he was a violation of nature, an aberration that turned the world into a dangerous and chaotic place.
To get an idea of what this looks like in practice, one only need watch the very first episode of the show. The Mane Six describe the Everfree Forest, a place where the weather can't be controlled, plants grow on their own, and the animals take care of themselves, as unnatural.
Yet almost paradoxically, they possess a great respect and veneration for nature, albeit in what appears to be a very simplistic manner (trees good, polluting industry bad). When Twilight was traveling through time and witnessing all of the horrible futures that would have befallen Equestria had the Mane Six never met, one of them was one where the Flim Flam brothers had (apparently, we only got an eight second look at this particular future) constructed an economic empire. Twilight (and we, the viewers) witness heavy machinery being used to uproot and cut down whole forests, while in the distance, the smokestacks of factories fill the air with smog.
Consider that this timeline is shown alongside ones where Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon conquer Equestria. Implying that, in the eyes of Twilight, an Equestrian, that such an industrialized future is comparable to ones where her people are ruled over by tyrants.
The Griffons, by contrast, would look upon such an industrialized world with approval. This is because they see the world as dangerous and chaotic by default. Discord was not an aberration, he simply turned the unforgiving hostility of nature up to 11. To the Griffons of the Empire, the natural world is a thing to be combated, the cultural result of their homeland being filled with vicious predators that preyed upon them for countless generations. If something is peaceful or harmonious, it is only so because sentient beings made it that way through deliberate effort.
A bunch of Griffons leveling a forest to make way for a new rail line are not simply laborers working to earn their pay, or even industrious workers engaged in a beneficial act of construction, but soldiers in a war against a hostile, uncaring universe, destroying a potential haven for the monsters that used to prey upon them and their children.
Now, this is not to say that Griffons are a bunch of Captain Planet villains who will dump toxic waste into the ocean or choke the skies with smoke to "stick it to Mother Nature." In fact, the Empire has numerous laws that regulate how industries conduct themselves, from fishing quotas to a ban on the dumping of industrial byproducts into the nation's rivers. However, these laws only exist for the sake of the Griffons themselves. The fishing quotas are there to ensure they do not deplete their food supply, and they do not wish to drink from rivers tainted by toxic chemicals, or fly through skies choked by smoke. If there existed an action that would severely harm nature, but would be exclusively beneficial to sapient beings, Griffons would not only perform it, but feel a moral obligation to do so.
If it were announced that Manticores had gone extinct, Ponies would mourn the loss of an entire species, the death of a piece of the natural world that they could never get back. If any Griffons would be saddened, it would only be because they couldn't hunt the things anymore.
One must also remember that while Ponies are herbivores, Griffins are predators: half-lion, half-bird of prey. And their mindsets reflect this. Griffons tend to be quicker to consider violence as a potential solution to perceived problems, and tend to behave more individualistically than Ponies, with a higher rate of loners and introverts than the community oriented Equestrians.
With all of this in mind, it is perhaps unsurprising that Griffons possess a more martially inclined culture than Ponies. They are literally born with weapons built into their bodies, their talons sharp enough to sever an artery or tear through flesh. It is a common joke amongst soldiers and mercenaries that the only way to completely disarm a Griffon is to literally dis-arm them.
Hunting, a common pastime of Imperial Nobility and a means for citizens in rural areas to add extra food to their larders, is an almost foreign concept to most Equestrians. On occasion mobs of ponies or, in recent days, platoons of Equestrian Royal Guard, will sweep the wilderness to put down a manticore, cockatrice, or hydra that has been responsible for the deaths of their fellow equines, but the idea of doing such a thing as a form of recreation is completely alien to them.
Both Imperial Law and Equestrian Law hold murder to be among the worst crimes, but the courts of Gryphus tend to view acts of non-lethal physical violence more leniently than their Equestrian counterparts. Bar brawls and fistfights, not uncommon occurrences in the cities of the Empire, often aren't even prosecuted by the state if no citizens express the desire to press charges, which typically only happens if the fight in question resulted in a permanent, crippling injury. Griffons who press assault charges over a black eye are typically viewed with the same scorn as humans who sue a restaurant because a waiter spilled soup on them. To Griffons, theft is generally regarded as a greater crime than assault, while for the Ponies, the opposite is true.
And while neither Griffons nor Equestrians see war as something to be glorified or celebrated, with many Ponies seeing it as a last resort that should only be considered once all other options have been exhausted, only the Griffons see armed conflict as both inevitable and ultimately unavoidable. And despite, or perhaps because of so many Imperial families having lost loved ones to the fires of war, there does exist a certain romanticization of war and combat in Imperial Culture. Those who serve, be they knights, sailors or common soldiers, are adored and seen as heroes by the civilian population, and even the idea of dying in battle is looked upon with a certain degree of fondness. If the best way to die is of old age surrounded by loved ones, then the second best way is on the field of battle surrounded by your brothers and sisters in arms, giving your life for the nation and those you fight to protect, be they your family, your comrades or the Emperor.
While this is also true to a lesser extent in Equestria, they have not yet had this belief challenged by a massive, nation-spanning conflict like the Winter War. Any armed clashes they have witnessed were between individual Counts, Dukes and Barons in the days before the Alicorn Sisters unified the nation, with skirmishes smaller in scale and scope than the Battle of Wingbardy, codes of conduct between the warring factions, and casualty counts that never exceeded the low hundreds. Their understanding of war is thus quite limited.
The two nations even have differing ideas regarding the divide between the Nobility and the Common people.
The Griffon view of nobility, like so many other things, was irrevocably changed by the Winter War. At the Battle of Redstone, and the Peregrines, and the Storming of the Crystal City, nobles and commoners fought and bled side by side on the front lines. When the battles ended and the dead were accounted for, many nobles, officers and knights alike, were among them. They were cremated upon the same pyres as the lowest enlisted soldier or militiagryph, and when it came time to promote surviving non-commissioned officers to replace them, many commoners, battle hardened veterans, suddenly found themselves possessing equal or greater ranks in the military than members of the nobility. At first, this chafed at their sense of superiority...but as the war dragged on, and the promoted commoners proved themselves equal in skill and bravery time and again, in some cases saving the lives of their noble counterparts, the commoners earned their respect and admiration, if grudgingly.
This, combined with the settlement and establishment of the new province of Kestrella necessitating the elevation of numerous commoners to the ranks of the nobility to administer it (more than one of which was a Diamond Dog), the Post-Discordian economic boom leading to many merchants and bankers building up levels of wealth previously only held by Nobles, and rapid industrialization producing a burgeoning middle class of city-dwelling burghers, resulted in many of the social barriers between the Nobility and the common people being greatly weakened. There still exists a social divide, but it is much less than it was a few decades ago.
By contrast, the Equestrians, who have not experienced an equivalent war, sudden economic boom or rapid industrialization since the end of the Discordian Era, are still very much an agrarian, feudal society divided along class lines, with fewer opportunities for social mobility.
These are just some of the differences between the Empire and Equestria that are likely to result in confusion and culture clash at some point in the future.
- Location
- USA
That that is fucking evil and I FUCKING LOVE IT.
Luna we are going to get along fine, not sure about your sister yet.
- Location
- Florida
God the update and info post giving us that in depth analysis and viewpoints on each other.... I could read about that all the doo dah day. Really enjoyed reading through it, and I'll probably reread them both while waiting for the next update lol.
Well, we did manage a level of acceptance between species that the sisters failed to achieve in Canon, through their whole rulership, with only the element bearers managing to start bridging it long after the sisters ascended the throne.
And the problems between the sisters are starting to surface, with Luna seeming to be uncertain of the words here.
ConfusedCanuck
Where did it all go wrong?
- Location
- Neverland
Well that was a nice update and I can't help but chuckle at the names of there city's!
But I have to say I agree with the Griffon mindset(and not just because we're playing as there nation) because while war should never be the first option if we truly want peace we need to be prepared for war. And as shown in quest there have been several threats(mainly sombra) to that peace and our nation. And who knows what grave threat will appear in the future, so let the Pony's of equestria live there peaceful lives while the Empire prepares for the worst but hopes for the best.
And also I like the idea of our nation being that weird highly militarized nation but surprisingly peaceful until someone screws up.
But I have to say I agree with the Griffon mindset(and not just because we're playing as there nation) because while war should never be the first option if we truly want peace we need to be prepared for war. And as shown in quest there have been several threats(mainly sombra) to that peace and our nation. And who knows what grave threat will appear in the future, so let the Pony's of equestria live there peaceful lives while the Empire prepares for the worst but hopes for the best.
And also I like the idea of our nation being that weird highly militarized nation but surprisingly peaceful until someone screws up.
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- Location
- United States of America
Oof that equastrian diamond dog info poor dogs also haha that Discord revenge . Reads Snowdrop opinion and culture comparison well if you put it that way yeah Gryphus is a scary nation we just want peace but things just keep going to crap war,disease, criminals and the Changeling situation.
. Reads Snowdrop opinion and culture comparison well if you put it that way yeah Gryphus is a scary nation we just want peace but things just keep going to crap war,disease, criminals and the Changeling situation.
More than likely such a shift would be limited to within their borders.
Though keep in mind that a single caster such as her could probably shred a mostly conventional army such as the Empire will have. Doubly so through the more esoteric methods she will have at her disposal.
This newest chapter update and subsequent information was amazing, I'll just say it right now. The second part was especially good, I really enjoyed the contrast between the Empire and Equestria. There already seems to be a crack between the sisters, I wonder if spending time in the Empire will help Luna overcome her troubles. Celestia herself might reconsider how Luna has been treated if her sister ends up spending more time in the Empire due to more favorable treatment from the citizens.
Had an idea for an omake if anyone wants to try it. Twilight discovers a spell that can temporarily summon the shade of someone who has passed on and decides to help Cheerilee by using it during a history class. Things get interesting when a shade from an alternate Griffon Empire is chosen...(Garrick, Hardbeak, Gabriella, etc.)
Had an idea for an omake if anyone wants to try it. Twilight discovers a spell that can temporarily summon the shade of someone who has passed on and decides to help Cheerilee by using it during a history class. Things get interesting when a shade from an alternate Griffon Empire is chosen...(Garrick, Hardbeak, Gabriella, etc.)
- Location
- Florida
If Nightmare Moon rears her head and targets us even accidentally, well then...our Space Program is going to get a massive shot in the arm.
We'll drown her in a tide of Anti-Magic ICBM's. All the Orichalcum/Black-Steel for her!
True
But considering the effects that eternal knight would have on their crops, amongst other things, I could easily see the Griffons stopping at no expense to vanquish such a threat.
Also, keep in mind that we're a good bit away from that, so Griffon Weapons still has the chance of evolving quite a bit more.