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// Chapter 12: Shades of Grey Clouds (Part I)// Story: Sunshine and Fire// by BornIn1142//------------------------------//

Chapter 12: Shades of Grey Clouds (Part I)

The longest span of space Twilight had ever teleported was somewhere in the range of a few miles. The trip from Trottingham back to the border of the Griffon Kingdom was several hundred miles as the pegasus flew. To add to the challenge, she was going to have Fluttershy and Spike along with her. The learning curve was such that Princess Celestia had decided that Twilight should make the journey in four jumps, just to make sure she wouldn't be over-taxed or get lost along the way.

The Princess had seemed vaguely distant and distracted throughout their short lesson, but her teaching was impeccable as always. Twilight was reasonably familiar with the theoretical underpinnings of teleportation already and she'd been a passenger on a number of long jumps; Celestia helped her put the pieces together. Much of the impromptu lesson was spent on stressing the importance of maintaining focus.

A lot went into teleportation: expelling the appropriate amount of magical energy, maintaining perspective on topology, finely calibrating two calculated rips in space-time, and so on and so forth. The most complicated part of the procedure – and also the most unpleasant – was the lack of sensation. On a short-range jump, the time-lag involved was practically imperceptible. On a longer journey, several seconds could pass in an empty void between arrival and departure. Twilight could neither see nor hear nor feel – and disconcerted like that, a few seconds could seem like an eternity. It was easy, then, to lose your head and also your sense of direction, ending up somewhere you didn't intend to go as a result. Twilight had to ignore instincts she'd honed for years in order to teleport to a place she wasn't completely familiar with.

Twilight made one jump, she made another, and then a third, and still she didn't get used to the process. Even when she appeared in the thin grass of the northeastern frontier, she instinctively gasped a deep breath she didn't need. A moment later, she felt a wave of fatigue hit her like a mule. All of a sudden, she was exhausted once again – mentally if not physically. She felt much as if she'd just spent an entire day doing exams. Fluttershy and Spike were both there with her, holding onto her tail for dear life.

"Are you alright?" asked Twilight, "Everypony still has all their parts?"

She was trying for some levity, but only caused Spike to pat himself over to make certain. Fluttershy, looking paler than usual, did not respond. She let go of Twilight's tail and inched away into her own personal space. She'd been just as awkward bunching up close to Luna with the others for the trip to Trottingham.

They'd landed several miles further northeast from Fluttershy's hometown, just at the edge of where the hills were becoming mountains. Up ahead loomed sharp inclines and cliffsides. The grass was already noticeably thinner, and the earth was caked and spotty from intermittent rainfall. The remains of Luna's giant storm cloud lay scattered in the sky above them. Much of it had come down in the mountains, either obstructed by the higher ranges or evaporated by the heat, and some had remained drifting aimlessly in the borderlands, but the magic of the cloud had allowed the rest – against all odds and meteorological sense – to pass beyond and provide shade for the Griffon Kingdom. Twilight could only see occasional glimpses of sun on the horizon, with impossible gray clouds swirling around underneath it to block out the light. They were safe from the sunshine, at least for the moment.

"So now what?" asked Spike, "We're just going to wander around and hope we come across some griffons?"
"They should have a defensive perimeter somewhere around here," said Twilight, still running her eyes over the surrounding countryside, "If we don't find it soon, we can head further inland and look for a settlement, but I'm worried that might leave a rather hostile impression."
Fluttershy mouthed something wordlessly, then turned her head away.

Twilight suppressed a sigh. "It's all right, Fluttershy. What were you going to say?"

"I was just wondering whether the griffons would recognize you..."

"Well, I don't think so. The border's been closed off for a while now, right? So, I imagine the average griffon wouldn't be up to date with the newest political developments from Equestria, like who Daylight Sparkle is. I suppose they're bound to have an intelligence community that would keep track of these things though."
"You mean spies?" said Fluttershy, "I'm not so sure about that..."
"What do you mean?" asked Twilight.

Twilight hadn't had nearly as much time to familiarize herself with the Griffon Kingdom as she would have liked. She only really knew the basics – that it was a hereditary monarchy in which the king or queen usually governed in concert with a parliament, but had control of the military and other emergency powers during wartime. The current King of the Griffons was Humphrey the Third, the latest in a dynasty that supposedly reached back to before the dawn of the Eternal Day. Twilight also knew that the griffons had a proud military tradition, but even that wouldn't be enough to make up for their immense numerical disadvantage.

"The impression I've always had is that they'd be too honorable for spies. But, um, I'm not an expert or anything. I'm just going by what I've heard."

Twilight nodded, pondering over her words. Fluttershy stepped back from her in a clear attempt to end the conversation. Twilight didn't push it, only cast a worried glance at Spike, who shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, we better head on," said Twilight, "We might not have a whole lot of time."

They had to walk uphill, of course. Even if they wouldn't have had to split their attention between scanning the surroundings and keeping an eye on the ground due to the difficult and potentially treacherous terrain, the environment didn't make things easy for them. It was hard to get a good overview with so many nooks and crannies that could have been used as hiding places, and it was really only a matter of time before the crags and cliffs made further passage by hoof impossible.

Cantering through the desolate wilderness, it was so easy to get the impression that they were all alone there. For miles and miles, all they could see was raw and empty nature. From time to time, they found some dubious signs of life, like a lost piece of equipment or a claw-mark on rock, but nothing concrete. Even if the area hadn't been swept over by rainfall recently, griffons would probably have stayed airborne often enough that there was little hope for finding any pawprints to conveniently lead them to a hidden camp. Still, finding some griffons was ultimately less important than some griffons finding them.

Perhaps it was the urgency egging her on and making her antsy, but Twilight quickly lost her sense of time. It felt as if they'd been on the move for hours. In fact, she was finding it rather difficult to keep her mind in the moment.

To begin with, she was acutely aware that somewhere on the plains behind them, there was an army on the move: ten thousand earth pony infantry and hundreds of unicorn officers and magician-specialists. Each one of them was, whether willingly or unwillingly, a trained killer. They might have been a hundred miles away or only ten, there was no way to know. The troops had spent days and weeks on the march; they were tired and frustrated. Twilight could only imagine that they couldn't wait to take out their frustrations the only way they could – on the enemy. Thousands of soldiers more were spread across the border, and somewhere further away, the main body of the invasion force was waiting. Their encampment must have been as big as a town. Twilight could barely imagine it, nor dare to speculate how it was all organized or provided for.

Were the ponies there fearful of the coming battle, or were they looking forward to it? It must have been a bit of both. Many of them were no doubt fixated on the danger, or thinking of loved ones back home, or just wanted to do the right thing, but others... others may well have enjoyed the opportunity to shed blood. In the end, all of them would do as they were told and stomp down every single griffon in their path. Twilight knew she wasn't there to do anything about the Equestrian army directly, but it was hard not to worry when that army might come bearing down on them at any moment. The way Spike occasionally turned to glance at the skyline over his shoulder made it obvious she wasn't the only one this matter weighed on. It was odd to think that she was going to walk into the Griffon Kingdom and tell them to ignore this profound existential threat at their doorstep...

This was, however, not the only issue that stuck to her mind. Twilight's thoughts inadvertently kept wandering back to the war council, Celestia's plan and the objections she'd made, and the more she dwelled on what had happened, the more the situation weighed on her. A queasy sense of doubt in her chest that she might have gone about things the wrong way was becoming an ironclad certainty that she'd failed, failed, failed... She'd failed her mistress.

Princess Celestia was acting unlike herself. Twilight had noted that fact and thought it disconcerting, but she'd put no real thought into why that was – so consumed had she been by her moral dilemmas that she'd completely neglected to consider the strain Celestia was under. The Princess had taken responsibility for so much, she was up against the worst possible enemy and had to make everything right while still dealing with allies who didn't understand her and questioned her wisdom. Right now, more than ever, she would have needed Twilight's support. Whatever misgivings she might have had, Twilight should have been ready to raise her voice in support of Celestia's plan instead of second-guessing everything. All the while that Twilight had spent on the road on her quest, she'd expected Celestia to have the answer to any dilemma or question she faced. Now she rejected Celestia's solutions out of hand instead of trusting in her judgment as she always had. In the end, didn't the Princess know best about what was right and what was wrong?

It was maddening. How could she have undermined her mentor like this, on such an important matter? Twilight could only conclude that she'd been a bad student and a bad subject. She'd have liked nothing more than teleport back to Celestia and beg her forgiveness. Since that wasn't an option, she at least resolved to do her very best as the Princess's agent. What other option was there?

Twilight gave her head a shake, trying to clear away the intrusive thoughts. This was neither the time nor the place for deep thinking. It would have been rather silly if she slipped in her inattentiveness and broke a leg or something.

She was finding the journey uncomfortable, especially with her head still fuzzy from the teleporting, but in truth, she was more worried about Fluttershy. The pegasus looked perennially tired anyway, so it was difficult to say how she was doing, but the heavy rising and falling of her back certainly gave the impression of exhaustion. Twilight veered closer to her.

"Can I ask how you're feeling, Fluttershy? Everything okay with you?"

Fluttershy's ears twitched. She responded without turning to face her. "You mean aside from the fact I'm under-qualified outlaw wasting time stumbling around in the middle of nowhere while my love might be having his eyes gouged out this very moment, if he's not already dead? Aside from that, I'm fine."

Twilight and Spike both cringed. Fluttershy didn't even raise her voice, but the bitterness, subdued as it was, was palpable.

"Well, I'm glad you're holding up," said Twilight, "The cloud's not bothering you or anything, is it?"

Fluttershy looked at her impassively. "It's just a cloud."

"Well, yes." Twilight chuckled nervously. "I just thought you might find it a little... disturbing."

"...It's just a cloud," repeated Fluttershy, "I did use to work with them, you know. We had to corral some of these every few weeks when they came floating in from the sea, and then either disperse it or gather it up. This one's just a little bigger. And more willful." She hesitated before going on. "Would... the other me be afraid of a cloud?"

"Well, maybe. She's afraid of a lot of things, but then again, she's also got this enormous reserve of inner strength and always ends up surprising both her friends and herself." Twilight hoped she wasn't being too obvious with the encouragements.

Fluttershy seemed to struggle internally with whether she wanted to express her curiosity, but finally gave in after all. "So what does she do? Doesn't she work in the Cloud Patrol as well?"

"Our Fluttershy's just an associate member. Her main job is taking care of animals. She pretty much single-hoofedly keeps the fauna around our hometown in order. And of course, when somepony's pets or farm animals are sick, she can take care of them."

Whereas Fluttershy had only kind of sort of focused on their conversation so far, Twilight could tell she now had her full and undivided attention. There was a barely-masked gleam of envy in her eyes. "I never really wanted to be in the Cloud Patrol anyway," she said after a moment, "I'm not really much of a flier, and... training in meteorology always struck me as as something with very limited usefulness. But I was lucky to get a position like that, with my family history, so I had to take it." She sighed. "Do I have a lot of animals in your world?"

"Oh yeah, tons," said Twilight immediately. She thought Fluttershy would be happy to hear that, but the pegasus only lowered her head and stared mutely at the ground. Conversing with somepony so melancholy was difficult, but Twilight found her annoyance receding in favor of an ever stronger desire to make Fluttershy feel better.

"She sounds coddled," said Fluttershy quietly.

Based on the little she knew about her parents, Twilight wouldn't exactly have described her as coddled, but she doubted that this was what Fluttershy wanted to hear. "Maybe so," she admitted with a shrug, "But I guess we're all coddled compared to you and others who live in this world, aren't we? We've had it pretty easy." She didn't quite say Fluttershy could feel proud for managing as well as she had, but nevertheless hoped her meaning would be understood.

Fluttershy only twitched. She seemed to pick her next words very carefully. "I can't really look down at her anyway. You know, before Gilda crashed down in my back yard, I was starting to think about... I was starting to wish I could just lay down and-"

"Halt!"

The voice came from the sky. Twilight looked up just in time to see a blur strike the ground ahead of them, perhaps twenty meters away. The griffon was large, and covered head to wing with a bulky armor of leather and plated mail. The emblem of the Griffon Kingdom was displayed on his chest: 14 golden slashes arranged in four ordinal clusters, two groups of three talons at the top and two groups of four claws at the bottom. The uniform must have been unbelievably hot to wear – not to mention heavy, but the griffon didn't show the slightest sign of discomfort. He stood up straight and spoke.

"I am Sir Reynald Oldhome the Reliant." The griffon's voice pierced the air, sounding as loud and clear as if he was standing right next to them. "I hereby declare you to be prisoners of the Griffon Kingdom. Will you resist, lady unicorn?"
It was game time. Twilight cleared her throat. "We're not here for a confrontation, Sir Reynald. We're here on a mission of peace."

Other griffons were touching down around them. The group was an even mixture of male and female, with plumages reaching from white to light brown. Most of them were light and willowy rather than heavy-set and tall like the knight. They were also not armored nearly as heavily; some were only wearing shoulder-guards, half-helms or sharp gauntlets on their forelegs. Several held weapons, mostly lances, but the majority seemed to rely on their claws and talons. Upon suddenly finding herself in a crowd, Fluttershy kept her head down and edged closer to Twilight. They were, after all, in the presence of predators.

Sir Reynald was cocking his head to one side. "Pardon me, but I find that hard to believe."

The knight's voice was polite, even gentle, but his posture gave the impression of a wrecking ball that could start rolling towards them at any moment. Despite his large stature and heavy armor, there was a practiced ease to all his movements that made Twilight feel like he could lunge at them and tear them apart in the span of a heartbeat – and Twilight's heartbeats were getting to be rather quick. They'd never even have seen him approach if he hadn't announced himself...

"I understand that," said Twilight breathlessly, trying to avoid glancing around at the other soldiers, "But we're not who you think we are! We're a diplomatic envoy from Equestria's resistance movement."
"A diplomatic envoy," repeated Sir Reynald, "With whose authority do you speak?"
"Um, my own, I suppose? Ah, you could say I represent Applejack of the Apple Underground."
"Please accept my apologies for interrupting, Sir Reynald," said one of the griffon scouts from the sidelines, a female. "I believe I have heard stories of this Apple Underground. They are said to fight a shadow war against Queen Celestia. They hide in secret bunkers, they disguise themselves and lie to get what they want. They're assassins and pretenders who don't fight with honor." The griffon kept her tone formal, speaking her piece with no malice, hatred or distrust in her words. If anything, she sounded indignant.
Sir Reynald gave a slow nod once his subordinate was finished and turned back to face Twilight. Discerning the knight's thoughts was difficult with a visor covering his face. "Is that true?" he simply asked.

Twilight was at a momentary loss about how to answer a question like that. Yes, she supposed it was true – the Apple Underground did do some underhanded things on their mission – but describing these necessary moral ambiguities as "dishonorable" seemed to miss the point rather badly. Complaining about lying, hiding and secrecy? Wasn't that just a little bit ridiculous? Rebels and revolutionaries didn't exactly have a choice about following the law.

"That's..." Twilight licked her lips before continuing. "...a little unfair. The Apple Underground exists to save and improve lives, and I think that's very honorable. I hope you understand and appreciate the difficulties of fighting against steep odds in what is essentially enemy territory. They – I mean we – need to keep our heads down in order to survive. And survival is why we're here. We have just as much reason to hate Queen Celestia as you do, so we came to propose an alliance to your King Humphrey and offer our aid in dealing with the current troubles."

Twilight expected displays of skepticism or even anger from the group, but the griffons reacted mostly with polite disinterest, as if this sort of thing happened to them on a regular basis. She couldn't tell whether the stiff upper beak routine went along with the local military life, or whether this kind of composure was an aspect of griffon culture in general. Even the scout that had spoken out against them didn't raise her voice as she went on.

"Sir Reynald, I would strongly urge you not to put any trust in these creatures. The hearts of ponies are black and treacherous by nature. Even if they speak the truth, associating with terrorists who know nothing of chivalry would only stain our honor." She then turned to look directly at Twilight and said something absurd. "Please forgive me, I do not mean to offend. You may be aligned against Equestria, but are you really any better at all, in truth?"

Twilight was left so flustered by the seemingly rhetorical question that she almost forgot to answer. "Um, yes! Definitely!"

Sir Reynald stepped up to Twilight, Fluttershy and Spike, humming quietly to himself. The gesture deflated his physical menace somewhat, but every step he took closer made Twilight feel a little bit more antsy. The moment of truth came when the knight raised his talons and slipped off his helmet, revealing a large, curved beak and attentive blue eyes. His face was surrounded by a vaguely leonine crest of feathers – all wild and ruffled from wearing his helmet. His plumage was snow-white and flecked with gold like bright ermine. Twilight had time to realize that Sir Reynald might well have been called rather handsome before the nervous idea that he really would recognize her one of the griffons' worst enemies bloomed into an instant of full-blown fear. And yet he didn't. His eyes passed over her and rested on Fluttershy.

Twilight looked over her shoulder and found that Fluttershy had sunk down to her stomach and was staring up at the looming knight. It was the short of wariness that might have been expected of Fluttershy, and yet... her eyes weren't quivering or tearful, they were focused and clear.

Sir Reynald's aura of big and scary took a conclusive blow when he bent down and graced Fluttershy with an easy-going smile.

"Please, please, milady. There is no need to be frightened. We would never hurt you without due cause. A griffon never strikes the first blow."

Fluttershy opened her mouth and closed it again without saying anything – that was something she did often – but nevertheless relaxed allowed herself to relax visibly. Sir Reynald stood up straight.

"As much as I'd like to believe you, what assurance can you offer me that you speak the truth?"

"There's someone that can vouch for us!" said Twilight, "One of your own scouts. We met up with her some time ago and my friend here helped her get away from the pony forces."

"Indeed?" said Sir Reynald, "And what was that scout's name?"

"That would have been Gilda."

The knight stood silent for a moment, then cocked his head again, and finally leaned back to unleash an ear-splitting screech that made Twilight shudder as if a chill wind had passed over her.

This time, Twilight caught sight of a dark shape taking off from one of the surrounding elevations. She flew perhaps a little unevenly, but nevertheless reached the group in mere seconds, touching down at Sir Reynald's side and deferently bending her neck. Gilda still wore the bandages Fluttershy had fashioned for her, which finally caused the pegasus to speak up.

"You shouldn't be doing field work with your injuries," she quietly noted.
Gilda almost seemed to blush – it was hard to tell. "Don't be such a dork," she said, "I couldn't take a leave of absence even if I wanted to. Not right now."

"It seems there is no need to ask whether you know these ponies," said Sir Reynald.
Gilda stood at attention. "This pegasus is the one that sheltered me and treated my wounds. I wouldn't be alive right now without her. I met the unicorn and the dragon and some others when they came to recruit the pegasus to a rebellion. They helped me find my way back here, and one of their companions provided the pony battle plans I gave you." There was something eerie about seeing her take on such a courteous and correct mold.
"So you think these ponies can be trusted?"
Gilda looked as if she physically had to keep herself from shrugging. "Far as I can tell."
"This is a matter of great import, Gilda," explained the knight patiently, "Give me an answer with conviction or none at all."
Gilda cast a quick glance at Fluttershy. "I'm, um, sure their intentions are benevolent."
"Do you swear to take responsibility for these ponies and their actions?"
"I... swear it," promised Gilda.
Sir Reynald gave a nod of affirmation. "In that case, it is my honor to welcome you to the Griffon Kingdom as guests rather than prisoners."
"Pardon me, Sir Reynald," said the same scout from earlier, "but are you sure this is the right thing to do? I must remind you that Gilda's record is not without blemish."

Gilda seemed to be getting ready for a nasty rebuke, but Sir Reynald cut her off. "Your opinion is noted, soldier. Alas, this is a matter of state, and I am only a knight. This warrants the attention of His Altitude, and I'll do my duty by him." The scout fell back in line with no further comment, whereas Sir Reynald focused all his attention on his new guests. "Before I forget – may I ask for your names, esteemed ladies?"

"I'm Twilight Sparkle." Evidently, the name meant nothing to anyone there. "This here's Fluttershy, and the little guy's Spike."

Sir Reynald and Twilight each raised their forelegs in greeting. Twilight recalled once reading that it wasn't unusual for a griffon to be able to exert 1000 psi of force with their talons, and yet the knight's touch was as soft as silk. Surprisingly, he even bent down to touch his beak to Twilight's foot in a symbolic kiss. It was hardly a gesture familiar to griffons, so he must have done it only as a matter of decorum. He took an even gentler approach with Fluttershy, approaching her as carefully as if he was stepping over a flowerbed and bowing impossibly low. Fluttershy seemed more than a little perplexed at the attentions, but she was also blushing. Knights must have naturally been drawn to damsels...

"Truly a pleasure," said Sir Reynald, "Your dragon isn't going to cause any problems, is he?"
Spike let out a prolonged ruffled groan. "'The dragon' can speak for himself, actually! And if you're wondering whether I'm going to start spewing flame and start hankering for poultry, then the answer is no. Unless someone does something to make me angry."

Twilight quickly grabbed Spike to shut him up and tossed him on her back to get across that he should hold off on potentially causing an international incident.

Sir Reynald looked a bit shocked at the outburst, but recovered himself quickly. "Please forgive me if I've spoken with impropriety," he said, "Now then, shall we proceed? We can get you to the Capitolium Leo and a meeting with the King in less than an hour if you don't mind flying."

"That won't be a problem!" said Twilight, "As long as we get there as soon as possible."

"Gilda, do you feel up for carrying your pegasus friend?" Sir Reynald nodded at Fluttershy humbly. "I don't mean to offend, milady, but I would dare suggest we'd be slightly stronger fliers."

Gilda winced imperceptibly. "I... guess so. Yes sir." Twilight didn't exactly think that would be a good idea what with her recent injuries, but Gilda seemed to think saving face outweighed the discomfort. At least Fluttershy was light.

Sir Reynald addressed the rest of his troops next. "Report to Sir Darlton and explain the circumstances here. I am placing you under his command until such a time as I can return."

Before Twilight could give much of a reaction, the knight already swooped her up on his forelegs and held onto her. Spike wrapped his arms onto Twilight's neck for better support. Fluttershy smiled apologetically as Gilda picked her up. They were set, so off they went.

As they rose up on griffon wings, Twilight realized that she was suddenly brimming with optimism. The encounter with Sir Reynald had gone better than she would have ever dared predict. She hadn't known what to expect of griffons, and was relieved to find them (aside from a few hiccups) to be polite, reasonable and – above all – good. It was as if she'd stumbled into the very opposite of the empire of evil that Daymare Sun presided over. Perhaps the Griffon Kingdom had evolved specifically to fill that void as Equestria's noble opposite number. It only reinforced the feeling that Twilight wasn't just doing all this for ponies, but for the whole world. Whatever the case, she was again coming down on feeling good about how things were going. Hopefully, her meeting with King Humphrey would turn out fruitfully as well...

They did reach the capital quickly, though still not as quickly as Twilight would have liked. She had the feeling Sir Reynald held back from speeding for the sake of his passengers. Perhaps it was for the best, considering the way the air whipped in their faces and how close by the knight weaved through the mountains, but it gave Twilight the impression that he didn't quite understand the urgency of the situation.

The Capitolium Leo itself was magnificent. Even though both its population and land area were substantially smaller than those of Everfree City, there was a palpable sense of scale to the griffons' capitol. Unlike the vast complexes of Everfree, the Capitolium Leo's size reached up rather than around. Most of the city consisted of towers – each a mountain unto itself, together they formed a rough approximation of an even greater mountain. A citadel in the middle of the city took the place of a peak and a series of guard towers arranged on and around the gigantic walled defenses served as the lower reaches. It was an impressive replacement for the ranges that must have been picked apart to provide construction materials.

The city's centerpieces easily dwarfed the spires of Canterlot or even the skyscrapers in Manehattan. Some of the towers were so thin and tall that pony engineering would have declared them impossible, and yet there they were, with tops reaching almost to the swirling mass of cloud-cover hovering above the city. Many of the buildings were in turn capped with enormous statues so high up that anyone on the ground could only guess what they depicted.

The overall architecture was stark and not particularly ornate, but nevertheless elegant. Each tower seemed like the distant descendant of a fortress – the end result of centuries of evolution from something harsh and martial into something sleek and refined. There was a sense of timelessness to the city; most everything seemed well-kept enough not to show its age. The perpendicular pattern of the towers evoked stability and order, especially at a distance.

And yet – of course there had to be an "and yet" – the city was showing signs of decline. The grandeur was almost obscured under makeshift reconstructions. There was a large swathe of tiny, ramshackle wooden buildings outside the city wall, standing out all the more in their slightly pitiful utility clashing against the vast stone backdrop. The area almost had the appearance of a shantytown. Furthermore, some of the towers had enormous canvases reaching down from their tops that were meant to shield the streets below from sunlight. It took Twilight a moment to realize that the towers reached so far up – so close to the sky – that they would have been uninhabitable as long as the sun bore down on the city.

Luna's storm cloud must have been the best thing that had happened to the Griffon Kingdom in the last five years. Even with the protection it offered, conditions were far from hospitable. The air remained hot and heavy, feeling much like a blanket of heat enveloping and weighing down anyone caught underneath it. Whenever the sun did peek through the cloud-cover, it appeared as a bright spear of light driving down into the ground. Twilight did not even want to imagine what sort of living hell the city must have been like just a few days ago.

To Twilight's surprise, Sir Reynald moved to touch down just beyond the city walls instead of flying directly to the citadel. They would apparently walk the rest of the way. As they were landing, Twilight noticed an odd but unsurprising architectural curiosity – there were no gates on the walls. The group touched down on a small plaza leading into a wide-open avenue to the city center. The path must have been bordered by rows of trees at one point as well, but any plants in the city were long since dead and gone by now. In this case though, their absence gave a better view of the seemingly endless series of stone statues that ran along both sides of the street.

Twilight at first thought the statues were all completely identical – a bird of prey with its wings raised, about twice the height of a pony – but as they moved onwards, it became clear that each subsequent pair of statues was subtly different from the ones preceding it. As they walked on, the postures, expressions and bodies of the eagles changed bit by bit, like frames of film shown in three dimensions. The birds flapped their wings and unleashed a screech at the heavens, then folded their wings and turned their eyes to the ground. Gradually, the form of the eagle mixed with that of a lion, finally becoming a griffon at the steps of the citadel.

They were remarkable pieces of sculpture, all the more so for the amount of detail and nuance in them considering they seemed to be carved from granite. Twilight actually recognized the statues, though she wished she didn't. She had seen some of their molten and slagged remains in Canterlot's Museum of the World.

There were griffons in the city. In fact, there were quite a lot of griffons in the city. They could see dozens walking the streets or soaring around between the towers. All of them in total wouldn't have amounted to much of a crowd, but many more must have been inside. The capital was still populated. The more Twilight thought about it, the more baffling this idea seemed.

"I thought for sure the city would be abandoned," said Twilight, addressing both Gilda and Sir Reynald, "I mean, I didn't think it would be inhabitable with the sun so close? And we're so close to the border as well, so once fighting breaks out..."

Gilda was the one who answered her. "His Altitude did try to have the city evacuated a while ago, but the idea fell through."

"Fell through? Doesn't he have complete executive control?"

"His Claws – uh, I mean his bodyguards – managed to convince him that it was a bad idea. Abandoning the capital would have destroyed the morale of the people."

Logical enough, supposed Twilight. Still, it was amazing that the inhabitants hadn't taken off on their own. The discipline and stick-it-to-itiveness of the griffon people was truly admirable.

This turn in the conversation was a welcome reminder for Twilight. There hadn't been much chance for conversation up in the air, so this was her last chance to find out a little more about who she was heading to speak with.

"What can you tell me about the King?" she asked to begin with, only to raise a quizzical eyebrow when the question caused Gilda to stiffen and look to Sir Reynald for guidance. The knight demonstratively ignored them and maintained his distance from the whole subject matter. Gilda was already starting to roll her eyes before abruptly snapping back to a more formal expression.

"King Humphrey is..." said Gilda at last, "very well-meaning."

"Well-meaning?" repeated Twilight in deadpan. As descriptions of monarchs went, that was decidedly less than impressive.

"Don't get me wrong, he's not incompetent or anything," continued Gilda, "When your Queen moved the sun over our capital and Parliament granted him emergency powers, King Humphrey started up a program to store as much of the flood water from the mountains as possible. That and the strict rationing probably kept a lot of griffons alive in the long run, and he moved quickly to mobilize the troops as well. He knows how to keep a country running, it's just that... he might not know how to, umm, keep it running the right way?"

Twilight frowned, but before she could ask for elaboration, Spike already spoke up. "The heck does that mean?" he asked.

"Well, let's just say that..." Gilda glanced over to Sir Reynald once again at this point. "He's not as steadfast in the ideals of chivalry as he could be."

"So King Humphrey is a knight as well?"

"Oh no. Not him. But chivalry is the standard for all griffons, whether old or young, male or female, strong or feeble. Nobility in thought and action is important in all walks of life. It makes sense, right? You don't need to be a warrior to act proper and decent." She sounded like she was reading off a previously memorized script. Funny enough, that more than anything reminded Twilight of the Gilda she knew. She wasn't quite a jerk, but still a little... irreverent.

Twilight hesitated before continuing. Considering how Gilda was dancing around the subject, asking outright how the King had been less than chivalrous seemed like a poor idea. Still, she'd have liked to know as much as possible about the fellow before meeting him.

"But you said he was a good person, right?"

"Oh yes. He might not be as awe-inspiring as one of the old hero-kings, but his heart's in the right place. It's just that he keeps to some... bad company."

"Hero kings?" piped up Spike, before Twilight could inquire further about the "bad company."

"Oh yeah," said Gilda, "His Altitude has some very illustrious ancestors. Did you know that Humphrey the First once killed a dragon in single combat? And then there's Gilbert the Great, the griffon who defeated the ponies at the Battle of the Traps and the First Battle of the Valley, holding back the Equestrian advance. Me, I've always been a big fan of Dolores the Thrice-Crowned. She took her throne back from the Goldwing Pretenders and pretty much single-wingedly kept the country from falling into civil war. Oh, and His Altitude's great-aunt Princess Frieda personally went out with a war party and rescued the royal chicks when the Secret Police abducted them."

These anecdotal bits of history were interesting, but not particularly useful to Twilight. She didn't have the time to ask any more questions before they reached the citadel.

The tower didn't have any sort of main doorway, but rather a line-up of entrances covering its full height, only one of which was on ground level. The inside of the citadel was busier than the streets outside, and that's where griffons finally started noticing the ponies amongst them. None of the griffons they met said or did anything untoward towards them, but Twilight didn't exactly require a lot of social acumen to pick up on the barely-withheld hostility – not that she didn't understand it, of course. It was also obvious she and Fluttershy were only allowed to proceed by the grace of Sir Reynald's presence.

Sir Reynald led the group downstairs. King Humphrey's chambers seemed to be located underground, probably as a necessity due to the heat. It was hard to imagine griffons living beneath the earth if they could at all avoid it. When they reached what must have been the throne room, they found the doors guarded by two armored guards. Twilight at first thought they were equal in rank to Sir Reynald, but the way they bowed down in greeting disabused her of that notion.

"May I ask what this could mean, Sir Reynald?" asked one of the guards while cocking his head to the side, "What are these ponies doing here? Are they prisoners or war?" The other one only glared – obviously while still trying to look prim and proper.

"A diplomatic envoy, actually," replied Sir Reynald evenly.

The guards exchanged mystified glances and then moved to open the doors. Twilight followed Sir Reynald inside, finding the throne room filled to bursting. There could easily have been as many as a hundred griffons in there, making the wide-open hall look tight and cramped. Why ever all these people were there – audiences, reports, inquiries – they had the room completely blocked up. For a moment, Twilight became frightened of the prospect of having to wait in line before she could go on with her mission, but the crowd actually started receding when they noticed the new arrivals. The buzzing of conversation in the room quieted down and the throng split apart to open up a path for Sir Reynald.

The throne was located on an elevated platform at the far end of the room, surrounded by four guards in bright plated mail like Sir Reynald's. An elderly griffon was sitting slouched on the throne. To his left, a large female griffon was floating in the air. To his right stood a dark-feathered shadow. Twilight took a deep breath and stepped forward to meet the King.

Notes:

- Yes, it's another half-chapter. I have some of the rest already down, I just felt like I couldn't keep people hanging for the sake of my own relatively arbitrary standards for self-contained chapters. I've apologized for slow updates before, but this time I genuinely feel there have been enough real-life factors holding me back that I can't really blame myself and my procrastination for this one.

- Speaking of which, I seem to remember swearing up and down that I'd recombine the two parts of the previous chapter... The reason I didn't was simple: wouldn't that mess up the reviews/comments a little? Especially with the formatting.

- You might also notice the chapter doesn't have the same title I promised. I had "The Crowned Knight" in my outline for the longest time, and only once I was actually writing this chapter did realize it was just completely inappropriate to my plans for the character in question.

- I felt a little conflicted about what style to use for the King of the Griffons. "His Highness" seemed obviously more appropriate than "His Grace" or "His Majesty," but then I thought, why not just take it a step further? 

- Oh yes, this chapter features the most obtuse line of description I've ever written (in my opinion). Can you spot it?

To be continued in Part II.