In Canterlot, Orion Shadow climbs out of the carriage provided for him and makes his way toward the palace at large, submitting to a routine scan by a couple of guards ponies. Beside him is Steno Pad, his assistant and changeling friend.
" And we should be able to manage things at the manor until you return," Steno says, closing his day planner. "Do you have any further instructions before I go back to Ponyville?"
The unicorn noble shakes his head, smiling. "Everything seems to be in order, Steno. Thank you again, I'll be seeing you again soon." He gives the changeling a warm hug.
Steno hugs Orion, and whispers, "You better come back safe, take care of yourself." Steno releases the hug and returns to the carriage.
"I will, say hi to the other drones in town for me!" Being the ambassador to a race of insect ponies had its perks. With a last wave, he turns and heads into the palace, trotting straight toward the throne room.
Both princesses would be waiting for Orion upon his arrival, Celestia seated on her throne, Luna trying not to look nervous about what would be her first espionage mission. "Prompt as always, Sir Orion," Celestia said with a slight chuckle and a grin.
"Huzzah, Orion has arrived and we can begin!" Luna said, abandoning all decorum and hugging the unicorn.
"With a cutie mark like mine your highness, it would be a disgrace not to be!" He smiles at the white alicorn and bows, then is hugged by a certain moon princess. He laughs and hugs her back. "We certainly can! The family has been informed, and my assistant Steno will be looking after Shadowfall for me while I'm gone. For now, I am all yours!" He smiles brightly at the blue alicorn.
The day in Grifopolis is a warm one, to be sure. Whitewing, an all-white griffon with orange eyes and quite a fearsome beak, was leading his two charges toward the border it shared with Equestria. In the distance were the vague silhouettes of griffons, flying all about going about their day.
Flanked by four of the most able Lunar Guards, Princess Luna and Orion approached the border. Luna sized up the griffon envoy carefully, a neutral expression on her face. She stopped and stood, motionless, her etherial mane flowing in unfelt winds, creating quite the regal appearance. "Greetings, I trust thou art the griffon envoy called Whitewing?" Luna said, in a softer approximation of the Royal Canterlot Voice - authoratative, but not quite at the volume to shatter stone at 1500 meters.
Whitewing gives a nod, bowing to the two ponies, "I am. Welcome to Grifftania, good Princess and Baronet. Come, I shall show you both to your hotel." He turns around and takes flight, paying no mind to the guardsponies. Not being capable of flight, Orion climbs onto one of their backs, and together the group sets off toward the cloud-city. The baronet had cast the cloud-walking spell on himself, however.
Luna checks to make sure Orion is secure on her back, and with a smirk and a wink, lifts off with one flap of her powerful wings. She flies effortlessly along, catching up to Whitewing, her guards trailing at a discrete distance. "When are we scheduled to meet? We would desire a day to refresh ourselves prior to doing so, if that would not be too much trouble." The tall spires of the cloud city come into view in the distance. "Our journey has been long, though uneventful."
Whitewing nods as he flies alongside the Princess. "Of course you may relax," he says at last. "It is my king's request however that you remain as covert as possible. Anti-Equestrian sentiment has reached a fever pitch as of late, so you would do well to disguise yourselves as best you can. I trust you are familiar with the proper illusory magics?"
Before Whitewing could finish his question, he was suddenly flying alongside a lavender and white griffon. With a flick of her lion-like tail, she looked over at Whitewing. "I trust this hast answered thy question, good sir?" she said, a playful smirk playing across her beak. She turned back to Orion. "Thou wouldst do well to begin thy transformation, for our arrival is imminent." Returning her attention to Whitewing, she stated matter-of-factly, "It is our hope that we can prevent hostilities and preserve the peace we have enjoyed. Can you tell us when such anti-pony rumblings started?"
"Precisely three months following the attempted coup by a stallion known as Lager Hops," Whitewing responded, as Orion's horn began to glow. In mere moments, fur had transformed into plumage, hooves became eagle talons and feline paws, his equine muzzle a beak... where a grey unicorn pony once remained, there was now a dark blue griffon with grey eyes. He swishes his own tail, and flicks his wings as he listens to the two chat. "Many of my race do not approve of the influence you and your sister hold upon the surrounding nations, some have said that King Swiftwind is nothing more than a puppet."
Luna mutters a curse under her breath. Had she known sooner that Lager Hops was attempting to start a full-blown war she would have had him crushed, literally. "Neither my sister nor I have any designs on any lands save our own. It was always our intent to foment a fair and equitable partnership with the other races, be they griffon, minotaur, or dragon was of no concern. Our goal was peace with our neighbors, and mutual benefit for all." Her gaze turned stony as she eyed the cloud city rapidly approaching. "King Swiftwind has been an ally and nothing more. We do not exert any influence in his rule."
A third griffon was also enroute to the cloud city. Steno Pad, Orion's assistant, flew along at a rapid pace, having converted his form to that of a regularly-coloured griffon, with a brown-and-white coat. Slung along his side was a pouch bearing the seal of Princess Celestia and Equestria. He functioned as a diplomatic courier, and as such the lunar guards allowed him to fly in formation.
Whitewing leads the two transformed ponies to their hotel, landing on the balcony of their room. "You have already been checked in," he informs them. "Under assumed names, naturally. Princess, you are Saliunca. Sir Orion, your name is Sirius." He unlocks the balcony door to let them in. "We shall meet in three days time. Farewell for now."
"We thank thee, Whitewing. Farewell." Stepping inside the suite, Luna closed the balcony doors behind her. She began silently looking around the rom with her magic, not uttering a sound, until at last she breathed easy. "We will be secure here, the griffons have not installed any listening devices." She dropped her facade, and sat down on a pile of cushions. "Sir Brownmane, please be comfortable. Our real work will commence on the morrow." She indicated a pile of cushions next to her.
Orion lets his own illusion fall, and nods, flopping onto the pile of cushions beside Luna. "I will admit, having heard Whitewing's description of things it all seems worse than I feared. I only hope we can make it out okay."
A knock on the interior door of the suite interrupts the calm, and one of the lunar guards opens the door. Griffon Steno enters, shedding his griffon disguise for that of a pony. He bows to the princess, and addresses them both. "Please forgive my interruption, but I was dispatched here with a very important message from Princess Celestia. It's addressed to you, Orion." He turns over the entire pouch. "It's been enchanted so that only your magic may break the seal. Even I don't know what the contents are."
"We'll soon find out... thank you, Steno." He smiles a little at his changeling friend, then takes the pouch and opens it with his magic, the seal coming apart quite easily. He inspects the contents. Inside is a scroll, bound with a red ribbon and the royal seal. Opening the scroll, it reads: "My dearest Orion, it is with a very heavy heart that I must inform you that I have learned of the abduction of your lovely wife and foals. They were taken in a daring daylight raid at the open-air market in Ponyville.
The perpetrators were identified by multiple witnesses, and we have verified that one of the culprits is Blackclaw, reputed to be the leader of a particularly vicious Manehattan gang, against whom I have learned through official channels you have been working to eradicate. He was assisted by a changeling, one that is not familiar to us through our outreach and integration programs, and therefore we suspect that this changeling may be working with a rogue faction.
I have the best investigators, and members of my personal elite guard, working around the clock to find their whereabouts. We have reason to believe that they might have retreated to griffon lands, which brings me to the secondary purpose of this letter. Under NO circumstances are you to take any kind of retaliatory action should you happen to spot either of these perpetrators. I fear that doing so would be construed as an act of war, and as such, it would be best to work with the local authorities to bring these miscreants to justice. As I learn of further developments, I shall surely let you know as quickly as possible. Princess Celestia"
Orion reads the letter once to himself, then again, and then aloud to the other two, struggling to keep calm. By the end, he is in tears. "No... no no no no! Why?! They had nothing whatsoever to do with this, those cowardly fools..." He cuts himself off at that, and gulps, holding up a hoof. "Both of you... leave me be, I need to think." Then he closes his eyes and calms himself as best he can, taking deep breaths.
In his mind's eye, an image swims into view. It's a large, brightly lit circular room, with coral pillars here and there, a grated metal floor, a ramp leading from a door and to a large, organic looking console of some kind that glows a blue-green color, and a long tube that extends into the ceiling. He is alone, save for a low ambient hum. He's sitting on a worn out bench by the console, staring pensively at the many buttons, levers, and switches. "Now then... what to do?" he asks himself, voice echoing in the cavernous room.
A dark mist swirls around his hooves, staying low to the floor. "Hm... it really is bigger on the inside. Imagine that." The voice practically purrs, as smooth as molasses. "Why, Orion, I believe you already know what to do. All you need to work out os the 'how.' " A low chuckles resonates through the room. "And that, my dear stallion, is where I come in."
Orion's mouth falls open, and he glares at the dark mist. "How can you be here? This is -my- mind palace!" Then he thinks about the voice's words. "No. I am NOT using you. I know what you did to Luna, you can't fool me!"
A tendril of black mist tickles along Orion's chin. "I can be everywhere and nowhere, and all at the same time. I'm a part of everypony, whether they want to accept that fact or not." The mist manifests into the shape of a non-distinct pony. "Luna was a fool. She was on the verge of victory, but then-out of nowhere, remorse." The voice rises, sounding both bitter and angry. "Had she not felt that we would be ruling all of the lands now. And such petty squabbles would have been crushed under our mighty hooves!" A pause, and the ghostly pony walks over to Orion. "I know you're smarter than that. All you want is your family to be safe. But you're soft, Orion. You'd hesitate at the moment of truth, not only dooming yourself, but dooming them as well." A misty hoof wraps around his shoulders. "That's where I come in. Turn yourself over to me, your family is released unharmed, and as for the kidnappers... " An evil chuckle echoed through the chamber. "Let's just say they'll get everything they deserve."
"And then I become a dark shadow of my former self," be says in an annoyed voice, trying to brush the misty hoof off his shoulder. "And destroy everything I hold dear in the process." He moves to the controls and pulls the door lever. The door at the other end of the ramp opens, exposing the blackness of space. "But you're right, I -am- smarter than that. And I would never submit to you!" he shouts, as a wind begins to blow. "It'll take a lot more than whispered words to bring me over to the dark side!" he shouts, holding onto the console for dear life. "Get out, monster!"
A ghostly smile spreads over the misty apparition, brushing by as it starts to be pulled out of the room into the blackness of space. "We'll talk later, dearie... think it over for now." As quickly as the blackness appeared, it vanished, leaving Orion alone once again with his thoughts.
In the real world, Orion jerks awake with a start, and a gasp. He looks around wildly for a moment, then remembers where he is, why he's there, and what has just happened. "No... I want to save them, but not like that…"
Luna, who had been sitting nearby, rushes over to Orion's side upon hearing him awaken. "Orion! What is troubling thee, my friend?" She wraps him in a protective hug. "Tell us, that we may assist you. What news has disturbed you so?"
Orion hugs the moon princess in return, tighter than usual. "Raven and the foals were kidnapped... by a griffon Raven used to work for, and a rogue changeling. I went into my mind palace to think about how best to save them, when..." He tells Luna all about the encounter with the inner darkness.
Luna listened carefully to Orion's description of the events that transpired. Her expression grew stern as he recounted how the darkness tried to overtake him, then visibly relaxed as he told of how he resisted. She raised his muzzle to look him on the eyes. "Friend Orion, thou art wise to resist the temptations of the blackness. But, I would caution thee to not attempt such feats alone in the future. The darkness grows stronger with each attempt until it overwhelms even the strongest-willed of ponies." She casts her eyes downward. "That is what happened to us. We fought against it diligently, until it became so powerful it completely took over. Thou knowest the aftermath." She looked at Orion again. "We will keep watch over thy dreams, and can be summoned to thy mind with but a thought. Will thou be okay this night?"
"I can only hope," Orion says with a sigh. "If I need you, I'll let you know." He remains in Luna's embrace though, feeling safe. "Thank you, Luna... you're a true friend." He yawns a little, then closes his eyes, allowing himself to drift off into sleep.