Chapter 18: The War's End

Gilda's father glared at his daughter as she smiled triumphantly. Gilda was now certain that the war was over. There was now way the Grifforia could fight against Equestria anymore. There was nothing that her father would be able to do aside from surrender. Grifforia's soldiers looked disheartened at their loss but they didn't seem to care that much. Gilda knew that the war was over and Equestria had won. Her father however begged to differ with Gilda's sentiments.

"You really think this is over?" he asked. "This war will never end! Grifforia will be victorious!"

"And just how are y'all plannin' on fightin'?" Applejack asked.

"There is no further point in fighting anymore." Rarity agreed.

"No more fighting!" Pinkie Pie yelled.

"Finally this fight will be over." Fluttershy whispered.

"You fools!" Gilda's father snarled. "This war is not going to end. We will keep fighting and Grifforia will win!"

"How?" Twilight Sparkle asked. "Your army was beaten."

"We trashed your secret weapon." Lightning Dust added.

"And you just got your tail kicked by Gilda." Rainbow Dash said proudly.

"You can't fight anymore." Gilda said.

Gilda's father looked like he was about to speak again but he was cut off by a new unfamiliar voice.

"They're right." a male voice said. "The war is truly over as it should have been years ago."

Every creature in the area turned and the griffons were stunned at who was speaking.

"Your Majesty?" Gilda's father asked with surprise and a hint of fear in his normally arrogant voice.

"Uhhh G?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Who's that?"

"Dash that's the King of Grifforia." Gilda told her in an extremely astonished tone. "But what's he doing here/"

The King of Grifforia approached Gilda's parents who were now trembling with fear.

"I will deal with you later." he said in a low and threatening tone as the two griffons cowered before him in fright. Then the King of Grifforia turned to the mass of ponies and spoke.

"It pains me to see what has happened here today." he said in a mournful tone. "I wish to assure you all that this war was not approved by me. I did not want to start something like this."

His sorrowful gaze traveled over the many ponies and griffons that made up Equestria's army. His facial expression was filled with regret about the day's events. Suddenly he spotted Princess Celestia who had returned from the place where she had been hidden for safety reasons.

"My dear Princess Celestia." The King of Grifforia said. "I am terribly sorry for everything that has happened. This war was unacceptable and I wish to offer my apologies to you and every pony that was forced to fight."

He bowed his head in shame as The Sun Goddess looked down at him. The griffons in the crowd looked on with a bit of shame on their faces. Clearly they hadn't realized that this war hadn't been authorized by their king. They glared at Gilda's parents who were desperately trying to avoid getting any attention.

"It is quite all right." Princess Celestia told him. "Nopony was seriously harmed so all is forgiven."

"You are very kind Your Majesty." The King of Grifforia replied. "Perhaps we could work out a peace treaty so that nothing like this will ever happen again."

"That would be most welcome." Princess Celestia told him. "I have wished for the day to come when Equestria and Grifforia could put aside their rivalry and become allies."

"I waited for that day too." The King of Grifforia responded. "Once again I apologize for any harm that has been done to you or any of your subjects."

The King of Grifforia bowed to Princess Celestia and the army of griffons followed his example. The only exceptions to this were Gilda's parents who were both stunned and infuriated by what they were seeing. The King of Grifforia looked at them and his gaze turned to one of anger and hatred. He approached the two griffons and they shrank before his gaze of fierce hatred in fear.

"What you two have done today is unforgivable." he said. "Not only did you start a war without my permission but you also created a weapon to destroy Equestria. As of today the two of you are hereby banished from Grifforia forever."

Gilda's parents were stunned by this announcement. They were extremely proud griffons and now they had been forsaken and removed from their homeland. The two griffons walked away in shame as they were glared at by ponies and griffons alike for the terrible deeds they had done. Gilda watched her parents go with a bit of regret inside. Despite what they had done Gilda wished that she could have forgiven her parents. However she knew that her parents were not going to change themselves. Finally The King of Grifforia had his army return to Grifforia after they all made their apologies to Princess Celestia and all of Equestria. The crowd of ponies watched their former enemies fly away and then they cheered, The war had finally ended and now Grifforia and Equestria would be at peace.

Shining Armor then approached Grayback and his team of thieves with a stern look on his face. The foursome were upset that they were being taken back to prison. Suddenly Gilda stopped the unicorn from his duties.

"Do ya really have to arrest them?" she asked. "They saved our lives on this one."

"They're still criminals." Shining Armor replied. "I can't set them free."

"Perhaps you could." Princess Celestia said. "That is if our general agrees?"

Gilda looked at Princess Celestia and she understood. The Sun Goddess was giving her the choice on whether or not Grayback and his team should be arrested. Gilda looked at the clock and saw that it was six hours to midnight. She looked at the four thieves before her and spoke to them.

"You guys are criminals." she said.

The foursome looked down in shame as they waited to hear their sentence.

"But you guys did help us." Gilda said as a grin grew on her face. "So I think we can give ya thirty hours' head start."

The heads of the four thieves perked up as they looked at Gilda. They couldn't believe what they had heard. Gilda was giving them freedom for the next thirty hours. They thanked the griffon as she told them that if they started any trouble then she wouldn't stop Shining Armor from arresting them. With that matter settled, Rainbow Dash walked up to Gilda and spoke to her.

"So what now G?" she asked curiously.

"Well we won the war." Gilda said. "We took down a weapon. I think there's only one thing to do."