The "Tourist"

by Monochrome-1

Chapter Six: The Chancery

It was late evening by the time Zephyr found the chancery. And the moment that he found it the first thing that he noticed was that it seemed nearly half built, with only one wing of the build being finished so far. While there was a thick iron fence enclosure, a statue built in the outdoor courtyard, a series of flags planted around that statue representing what he guessed to be various countries, and more the hustle and bustle of the construction crews making their way inside and out gave it a makeshift feeling. One that was only amplified due to the two story nature of the building given the draconic nature of it’a inhabitants and the strange feeling that he had before when roaming the streets.

“Strange place to say the least, didn’t expect this place to look like a bunch of farmers raising a barn” Zephyr muttered to himself as he made his way up to one of the few gated entrances that wasn’t filled with construction crews and trucks and towards a nearby set of guards that were standing by a gate to get in. “Still though, it looks like they take security somewhat seriously here. Not sure about their outfits though.”

The reason for why Zephyr had his thoughts on it was that guards that stood in front of the entrance were vastly different from those that he saw inside or anyone else in the world for that matter. They were broad shouldered, thick scaled, and both standing at ten feet tall,while being armed with shotguns that Zephyr suspected could obliterate him at the pull of trigger. All the while holding their weapons both with a keen sense of paranoia that could only be matched by a paranoid madman, but mixed with the unfamiliarity of a civilian being issued a uniform and firearm. In the end they looked more like civilians in uniforms rather than trained guards.

Ones who clearly didn’t clean their uniforms or paid much attention to regulation that’s for sure, Zephyr thought to himself as he noticed the misshapen state of their dress. With both of their uniforms being filled with creases, having a non-existent gig-line, and one of them had their pants sloppily put on while the other carried a sword on their side along with a crossbow, but worst of all they didn’t even have their hats on.

Hmph, well, time to get in I guess, Zephyr thought to himself as he went to the guards before raising up a hand and saying, “hello! Is this place open to visitors at the moment? I was wondering if I could get in. “

“No,” the guard on Zephyr’s left said in rough equestrian. “Unless you have some sort of pretense to do, visitors are not allowed.” There was a pause as they looked at Zephyr’s disheveled appearance before quipping, “especially ones in your state.”

“Well thankfully I sort of do,” Zephyr responded with a smile as he pulled out the badge that he was given to him by the assistant and showed it off to the guards. “I was given this by a worker within the building and they said that it will let me inside. I have some questions that I want to ask some people.”

In response the guard on his left opened up a palm to inspect it and Zephyr handed it over. After a brief moment of the guard taking out a set of glasses from their pocket and inspecting it they handed it back.

“It should do,” the guard said, making a quick gesture as the other walked to the gate to push it open by hand. “Please keep your time brief and quiet.”

“Will do,” Zephyr answered with a smile as the gate began to open while he pocketed the badge and asked the guard another question. “By the way do you know where Heiness is?”

“Griffonstone representative?” the guard said with a raised eyebrow. “Yes, first floor east wing, look for room marked with that flag,” the guard said pointing towards the inner courtyard statue within the middle that had a flag of Griffonstone next to it. “Anything else?”

“No, no, not really,” Zephyr said with a bit of a nervous smile, noticing that he was beginning to get on the guard's nerves. “Thank you for your time.

The guard simply grunted and waited for Zephyr to walk through. When he was done they rolled back the gate back in place and continued their conversation.

Rude, Zephyr bitterly thought with a snort as he walked to the center of the courtyard and towards the statue to get a closer look at it. When he did, his first reaction was to reach back into his pocket and to take out the badge that he had before comparing it to the statue.

A bit different, but I'm sure this is what they meant, Zephyr mused to himself with a smile as he pinned it to his chest. Whoever made these badges missed a few details on the badge though.

The statue in the center stood as the centerpiece for the courtyard. Around it Zephyr guessed to be a set of flags meant to represent whichever country was hosted there, but whose contents at the moment to him seemed sparse, displaying only the flags of Griffonstone and the Yale rectorate. Nevertheless, the statue stood tall and proud. Sculpted out of stone and made into the scale of dragons, it towered above Zephyr when he looked at it. Being so high and so tall, that he was sure he would have seen it from beyond the gate, but strangely just as before, he didn’t notice it until he got close to it or focused on it.

Hmm, weird thing, Zephyr thought to himself as he noted the strange effect going on before he refocused his attention to the statue, and of which was a winged creature, a hybrid between something of a lizard and a bird of prey. Its form while juvenile, scarred, and ragged still spread its wings and poised to take flight leaving the discarded remains of its egg behind that once served as its home.

Looking closer, Zephyr could faintly spot the inscriptions and the various depictions of barbarism and sin displayed on the broken remains of the egg: murder, plunder, sacrifice, slavery, and more. All the while a phrase was written below it on a plaque whose words were translated into various languages across the globe so that anyone could read it and understand. With it stating, as the bird breaks from the egg to fly to prosperous lands anew, we do the same as we leave our primitive past behind to join the modern world.

Hmph, catchy, Zephyr thought to himself after he was done inspecting the statue as he made his way in. Best of luck to them with that.

“No, I don’t know where the secondary storage is,” Zephyr stated to a random worker who he was just talking to now and who spoke his language after he had made his way inside desperate for answers. “I’m sorry but you're gonna have to find it on your own.”

The state inside the chancery was much like the outside. Neat, orderly, compiled, but still in a half-built state. With workers, guards, and the occasional office personnel running from place to place, looking for things, organizing them, and more often than not getting lost. The last of which annoyed Zephyr as he had found himself in the strange and sudden role as an information guide.

“But i-”the nervous worker tried to get out before he was shushed by a pat on the back.

“Look, I'm sure that you’ll find it,” Zephyr said in an attempt to sooth the worker’s anxietic temper before he pointed down the hall and towards the western section of the chancery. “You could try looking on the other side of the hall, maybe it’s there.”

“But why would they put it there?” the worker asked him with a confused expression. “The office that my senior is working at is in this part.”

“Why would they not?” Zephyr said, relying on his past experience becoming an errand boy for one teacher or another in his many past attempts to boost his grade. “During times like these nobody knows where anything is, and oftentimes they just put it where they think it’s most convenient to them. Your boss may be working here, but someone probably put it over there because they needed it for a five minute task. So look around there and see if you can find anything. If you find it's no biggie then everythings fine, but if you don't come back to me then I'll try and help you for a bit.

“I-I guess,” the worker said with a resigned look and slumped shoulders, and to which Zephyr patted them on the back.

“Look it’ll be fine alright,” he said with a reassuring smile to the worker. “Nothings going to go wrong, I promise.”

The worker only gave a dismal nod as they walked off as Zephyr smiled at him before he brought out his own travel guide.

Bloody mess this place is, can’t even find some paper clips when you need them, he thought to himself as he turned on his heel and continued on his way to Highness's office. If that’s the situation with the workers, I can’t imagine how it is with those in charge.

As it turned out when Zephyr arrived at Heiness’s office, not well. The outside of the place was littered with refuse and what Zephyr suspected to be government storage such as: boxes, bookshelves, tools, books, and the odd stack of papers filled with entries lay discarded and filled with dust. The only thing that wasn’t there by mistake or accident was a simple flag nailed to the outside of the office door with the flag of Griffonstone on it.

No paper clips here either, hmhm, Zephyr thought to himself after a quick inspection of the clutter outside the office and noting the loose papers around. Wonder if he’s suffering from a shortage as well.

A quick knock on the door eventually resulted in a series of curses, mutterings, and a growled, “come in!” from whoever was within. With a shrug in response, Zephyr entered the door and went in.

When he did, the first thing that he noticed was that the state of the office’s outside resembled very much to the inside. The office was cluttered, cramped, filled with junk, documents, chairs, loose leafs of paper, pens, and assorted paraphernalia. All the while the place ranked with stale air, body odor, and ink.

The man inside and the representative of Griffonstone, Heiness, wasn’t faring any better as he worked away at the desk that was inside of the place with a set of documents in front of him. His face and his clothes were slick with sweat, the feathers that he had along his arms and wings were either misaligned, broken, or dirty, and his eyes were sunken with the telltale effects of sleep deprivation.

“Hey uhm,” Zephyr said, interrupting Heiness while he worked away. “My name's Zephyr and I was wondering if I can ask you some questions?”

“If it’ll take me away from doing this stuff for you, you can give me the time if you want,” Heiness said in Equestrian as he stopped from his work and took a moment to stretch. During which the air was filled with the pop, snap, and crackle of his back realigning in place followed by a heavy sigh of relief.

“Well, what can I do for you stranger?” he asked Zephyr with a tired smile.

“I was just wondering what’s going on,” Zephyr said, accenting what he said with a thumb pointed behind him. “Do you know anything about that?”

“Well as I'm sure that you can tell by the statue outside, the dragons have finally decided to get off their ass and modernize for once,” Heiness said with a bitter snort while gesturing with his head in the general direction of the statue. “But they’ve been having problems with that, nobody wants to sell them anything.”

“Why?” Zephyr asked as he took a seat and put his suitcase next to it. “Aren’t dragon’s rich?”

“They are rich,” Heiness agreed with a nod and a smile, “very rich, rich enough that they could probably buy out an entire nation if they wanted with a single hoard's treasure. But there's a problem with that,” he said, stopping for a moment. “They’re dragons, and nobody trusts a dragon nowadays. Especially once you’ve been raided by them in the past, which pretty much everyone in the world has.”

“Everyone?” Zephyr said with some disbelief at the idea of dragons having gone through nearly every corner of the globe.

“Everywhere and everyone,” Heiness confirmed. “Bloody idiots won’t stop bragging about it and it got them in a mess where they have all the cash in the world but nobody is willing to take it, well, everyone except us,” he pointed to himself with a thumb.”

“Really?” Zephyr said with a surprised look. “What makes Griffonstone different?”

“We’re desperate,” Heiness answered, his smile morphing into a tired and sad one. “Griffonstone is filled with problems, ones nobody wants to fix or has the cash to do so, and with this deal maybe we can start fixing some of them.”

“What problems?” Zephyr asked. He didn’t know that about Griffonstone, but he did know that it was the birthplace of some powerful emperor whose family ruled the majority of the eastern continent, surely it wasn’t that bad, right?

“Bandits, poverty, illiteracy, lack of infrastructure, and an actual government that isn’t an old man trying to keep everyone together,” Heiness said with a dry chuckle. “Heck, it’ll be better to say what don't we have a problem with back home. It’s not a great situation to say the least.”

“But,” he said, tapping on the forms that he was working on. “This can help. It may not be able to fix all of them right away, but it can at least get us a head start or at least some foundation to work off of so we can start doing something. As I mentioned dragons are rich, rich enough to buy out an entire country if they wanted, and this deal might give us enough cash so that we can start fixing ours.”

“I see,” Zephyr hummed to himself in acknowledgment before he voiced his next question. “And what is this deal anyway?”

“It’s a trade deal,” Heiness answered with a shrug. “We sell them machines, vehicles, blueprints, manuals, and anything and everything that we can get our grubby hands on back home that’s remotely close to the modern day. In exchange we get gold, jewels, and any of the old treasures that dragons are willing to throw to us.”

Heiness stopped for a moment as he thought on what to say next before he asked Zephyr, “like uhh for example, you did catch the train that led from the ports to here right?”

“Yeah?” Zephyr said with a nod as he took a minute to adjust himself in his seat.” What about it?”

“That train along with the others were some of the ones that we sold them,” Heiness said with a smile. “We managed to somehow scrape up the parts together for a small fleet of them and welded it together to get it working before we shipped it off. Got us a bit of cash and they got a train in return.”

Zephyr only raised an eyebrow in response as he recalled its dubious condition along with its all too nervous crew working it.

“Hey! The dragons only said that the machines had to work and that they could maintain and fix it if need be,” Heiness said defensively, raising his hands in defense. “They didn’t mention that the things had to be as old as they were or that they couldn't be cobbled together from a hodgepodge of parts. As far as I'm concerned we’re doing fine.”

“Riiiight,” Zephyr said with a bit of suspicion as he scratched the side of his head as a question started to irk his mind. “So where are you getting all of this stuff anyway? My guess you guys can’t manufacture the stuff they’re asking for considering the state you're in?”

“You have that right,” Heiness confirmed with a nod. “Ordinarily we wouldn't be able to even think about doing this deal as we don’t have the industrial capacity for it, but Griffonstone is littered with junk thanks to the many failed attempts of modernization in the past, and while everyone else is wary of dealing with dragons directly, they’ll let us act as a intermediary. We buy industrial junk and old parts from them, we sort it, build it into whatever we can, and then get the manuals for it or write it ourselves. From there we sell it to dragons for a payday,” he finished with a snap of his fingers. “Simple.”

“Good to know,” Zephyr said with a nod as he ruminated on the situation while Heiness waited for a reply. It was an odd one, but one that he supposed made sense. The dragons needed parts, Griffonstone needed cash, and while griffonstone couldn't get the parts, they were willing to scrape them up together for it, simple. The question on his mind then, how did this even start? Wondering about it, he asked Heiness for an explanation.

“Hehm, I don’t exactly know that one,” Heiness admitted, scratching the side of his head. “I’m not exactly associated with any of the higher ups so I can’t tell you that. But I can say that this whole thing probably started way back when we participated in that uhh, school,” he drawled on for a moment as he tried to remember.

“Princess Twilight’s school of friendship?” Zephyr offered up as he recalled reading about the dragons and the griffons from Griffonstone exchanging talks during that time.

“Yeah, that,” Heiness said with a nod and the snap of his fingers. “My guess is around the time when that school cropped up. Not in the way of us starting a deal or anything, but more in the idea of the two of us getting to know one another. Whiteout her and her school this whole thing wouldn't have even started.”

“Well good for her and her school,” Zephyr said with a smile. “I never saw the place myself, but it’s nice to know that her school managed to get something done that wasn't being involved in a scandal.”

“A scandal?” Heiness said with a look of concern on his face. “Did something happen to it?”

“I don’t know much, but I think it was something about guidelines or something,” Zephyr shrugged off as he rattled what little he remembered. “Why? Are you concerned about it?”

“A little,” Heiness admitted. “A part of me always wanted to know what it was like inside of its schools or classes.”

“Really?” Zephyr said somewhat surprised. “Have you sent them a letter yet telling them that you were interested. I’m sure they would have let you take a tour inside of it if you were interested”

“I did, but I never got a reply,” Heiness answered with a slight mix of sadness within it. “My guess is that some random gryphon from the middle of nowhere, one whose an adult mind you, isn’t meant to be inside of that kind of place.”

“A shame though,” he continued, with an expression of slight distress and a sigh. “I would have loved to know what it was like inside. See what was going on, what its purpose was for, and what I could learn on the way out.”

“Maybe if the world was right,” Zephyr said emphatically. “Maybe if you were younger, knew the right people, and who knows what you could have gotten inside.

“Yeah,” Heiness said with a sullen nod. “Maybe”

A sullen quiet fell between the two as they contemplated on what the world could be if they were either younger, smarter, or simply took the initiative when they should have. Eventually however Heiness broke the silence with a sigh.

“But, that’s that, and this is this,” Heiness said, stretching his arms and looking at a nearby clock. “ While I appreciated answering your questions, I should honestly get back to work before I find myself swamped by paperwork. If you want to learn more about what the dragon’s are doing, my suggestion would be to visit those college students on the second floor,” he said pointing out the door. “They can probably give you a better idea on what they are doing.”

“Thanks,” Zephyr said as he stood up and grabbed his things. “Anyone that I should keep in mind?”

“Just look for the professor,” Heiness said with a shrug. “Tell her I sent you to her so you can ask some questions and things should be fine, and if not here,” he said, taking out a coin from his and tossing it over to Zephyr.

Zephyr caught it before looking at it, it was just a simple bronze pin with the icon of Griffonstone on it. Confused, he looked towards Heiness for an explanation.

“Just something that’ll make you a bit more official as you go around,” Heiness explained with a smile. “That and it’s little something from me as thanks for giving me a bit of time to wind down.”

“Thank you?” Zephyr hesitantly thanked the man as he pinned the Griffonstone badge to his chest. It looked a bit out of place, but it suited it when it was next to the one he got before. Looking at it, Zephyr remembered the agreement that he had with the diamond dog.

“Oh right! I was told to give you this by a Diamond dog who is an assistant to a mercenary here when I was done talking to you,” Zephyr said as he reached for the badge and started to remove, “would you want it right now?”

“No, keep it,” Heiness said with a shake of his head. “I’ll arrange the matters so they can have another one made. Now shoo, I have to send a few letters to get an idea of what’s going on back home.”

Zephyr nodded as he made his way out the door and walked through it, but quickly stepped back into the office for a moment as a crew of uniformed students ran by. All of whom were carrying a variety of boxes and bins full of books, tools, weapons, and fabricated objects, and one of whom even had the gall to wear an old bronze cuirass over their clothes.

“My guess those are the students you were talking about?” Zephyr said to Heiness as he gestured towards the crowd of students as they ebbed away.

“Looks about right,” he said as he took a moment to look at them before returning to his work. “Just follow them and you should be fine.”

“Right, thanks for the info,” Zephyr said as he waited for the students to pass and closed the door behind him as he made his way out before following them.

Following the students was an easy talk. They didn’t really pay any attention to who he was, what he was doing, or why he was here. Instead they were more than content to chat amongst themselves about this or that in a language that he couldn't understand while he followed them.

Honestly doing this reminds me of back when I was in college, Zephyr reflected as he followed the students up the stairs while he hung in the back. Going from class to class in groups, chatting with other people, spending time in libraries, ahhh..

A wave of nostalgia riddled with guilt washed over him as he reflected on the past. One that reminded him of the years that he spent there, what he did, and how much money and time he had used up by now. Years of work, tens of thousands of dollars if not hundreds of thousands wasted, and for what? What did he have to show for it? A degree? Awards? Certifications?

Nothing, he had nothing, Zephyr knew he had nothing. Nothing except empty promises that didn’t mean much and the antiquated feeling of someone who could have been something, but didn’t.

“Hehm, yeah,” he mumbled to himself as he tried to close his mind on the thoughts as he continued to follow the students, “yeah.”

From there the trip was largely uneventful, and when he arrived with the students at the second floor Zephyr was as assaulted by a cacophony of noise: objects being moved left and right, the scraping of ceramic and metal on tiled floor, and the muttering and grumbling in foreign languages as students stood around taking notes on various things.

Most of the second floor of the chancery was dominated by the students. With the main halls littered with artifacts, trinkets, and junk. The only thing in the rooms around the area wasn’t filled with it was the odd table or chair filled with notes, pencils, instruments, and antiques to which the former was dedicated to studying. All the while a woman dressed in formal clothes with a varsity jacket thrown on barked out orders in a language that Zephyr didn’t know towards what he could assume to be her juniors, and looking at her for a moment he spotted on her back the icon of Yale. Something of which nobody else had.

Doesn't look like that’s the professor, but by my guess that’s a student judging by her jacket. Zephyr thought to himself as he looked on before making his way closer. She should know where the professor is.

“Uhm, do you mind if I ask you a question?” Zephyr asked her as he approached the jacketed woman. “My name's Zephyr and I'm looking for your boss, the professor for your class I'm guessing. I have some questions that I wanted to ask her?”

In response the senior only raised an eyebrow to him as she replied in a language he didn’t understand.

Right, language barriers again, Zephyr internally sighed as he tried to think of a set of simpler words to use. All the while wishing that he paid more attention in his foreign languages classes.

“Your boss, do you know where she is?” he repeated again in equestrian while he offered up a halfhearted smile.

The senior only sighed as she gave a side-ways glance to the crowd around her and talked to what Zephyr assumed to be one of her juniors.

The junior replied stoically with a shrug pointing to Zephyr’s chest where the twin badges were.

The senior only raised an eyebrow, frowned, and pointed to Zephyr with an index finger before replying again.

The junior only gave a dismissive wave in response to which the senior only sighed with a look of stress visibly on her face. Nonetheless with some reluctance she gestured behind her with a thumb to a closed door that was in a separate room. This one, unlike the others, was the only one that didn’t wasn’t littered with junk around it. Instead a simple and clean path could be spotted that led from the stairs to the room.

“Thanks for the help,” he said, getting an idea that his question was answered as he waved goodbye to the senior before making his way over towards the door, and within a few moments he opened it to see what was inside.

Making his way in the first thing that he was able to notice was just the smell. The smell of nicotine less permeated through the air and more just wallowed within it. On the walls of the office room hung knicknacks of all sorts coupled with diplomas and degrees. Zephyr couldn't read what they said, but he could hazard a guess that their certification meant something beyond what he could achieve thanks to how clean they were. Not a single crease, stain, or even mark was out of place. The room however was in stark contrast to them.

Litter, litter was everywhere. Pens, half written notes hurriedly scrawled in a mixture of languages, ink puddles, stamps, and more littered their way around the room as a woman quietly snored within, entirely oblivious to what was going on outside her office. She was a gryphon with rich black onyx-like feathers that decorated her body, was in her 40’s, and looking at her reminded Zephyr of Heiness

She didn’t carry the same demeanor as Heiness nor did she even look anything like him, but there was still the same tired demeanor that Heiness had, only different this time. This one was invoked by the kind of fatigue that only a teacher or a middle manager could have. Nonetheless she snoozed on with her arms folded neat, at least until a prod from Zephyr woke her up.

“Mmhhm,” the woman grumbled as she took a moment to yawn and rubbed her eyes open. All the while fixing Zephyr with a baleful glare. Something to which he was able to somewhat ignore thanks to a lifetime of dealing with his sister and parents.

“Uhm, hi ,” he started off around the room and idly deposited the suitcase that he had next to the door. “The name’s Zephyr, I was sent to talk to you by a man named Heiness, the Griffonstone representative I suppose. They sent me here so you can help me understand what’s been going on with the Isles lately.”

There was an awkward pause as the woman merely stared as she tried to wake herself up. It didn’t give him pause or fright, like the stares his sister could give him could, but it was nerve wracking and reminded him of what he was doing was possibly a bit wrong.

“Right, uh, sorry for waking you up by the way?” he stammered out as he nervously scratched his forearm with a sheepish look. “Just uhh…yeah.”

“It’s, it’s fine,” the professor mumbled out in fluent Equestrian before yawning and looking at a nearby clock. “Honestly, this is probably one of the better times I guess as I won’t be bothered by my students. Everyone is either too busy running around The Isles doing interviews with elders, working on their experiments, doing archaeology, or arguing with each other.”

Taking another moment to yawn, the professor then rubbed her eyes clear before fixing Zephyr an unsure look before she asked,” what did you say your name was again? Sorry I'm still waking up.

“It’s uhh, Zephyr,” he answered her plainly. “Just Zephyr if you're wondering.”

“Right uhh, Zephyr,” she said before standing up from her seat and taking a stretch and looking around her desk as she idly grabbed a clipboard. “I would love to answer you here, but even during my quiet moments I still have some work I need to do. Would you mind if we walked and talked?”

“Sure if it’ll help,” he said standing up as well before grabbing his things and following her. “Any idea what you're going to be doing?”

“Ah, just doing a few things, checking up on work, and generally making sure everyone is still sane, the usual,” she said as she opened the door and walked through it. “C'mon, you’ll find out.”

“So what do you want exactly out of this?” the professor said as she took a moment to talk with the senior. Someone who patiently relayed the details of her and her fellow students' work to her. “Are you working for a newspaper as a journalist or something?”

“Honestly just trying out what the bloody hell is going on,” Zephyr said as he looked around the main hall. “I heard that you were working with the dragons and I wanted to know how and why.”

“Hmph, well I guess to start, let's go from the beginning,” the professor said as she looked at the senior who took a book that she had gathered through one of the tables and moved it to her attention. All the while she took notes on the clipboard that she had. “A number of months ago the dragons came to us with a request. They said that they were behind in the world and they wanted to learn about it, know what’s going on, the brand new inventions being made, the avenues of military science being developed as we speak, if they can get their hands on it, and all of that jazz. Get a refresher course on the world from some of the brightest minds around.”

“Sounds reasonable,” Zephyr said.

“It does,” she agreed and nodded towards the book while the senior swapped it for a few miniature clay statues . “Better to do it now before it's too late and while you're preparing for what’s next?”

“What’s that?” Zephyr asked her somewhat knowing the answer already.

“War I guess,” the professor hesitantly said as she took one of her nails and idly scrapped a bit of it off before frowning at the green texture it had. “The Isles is rich in resources: oil, steel, gems, and perhaps even aluminum if those prospectors aren’t high on powdered shells all day and night to tell us if that last one is true.”

“Powdered what?” Zephyr blurted out confused.

“It’s just a nickname for a local drug made from a critter around here that can keep you awake for days, don't worry about it,” she brushed it off as she now focused her attention on an iron sword that was bigger than her.

“Anyway,” she continued looking at it while scribbling a set of notes in her clipboard, “we’ve been asked to bring over a few blueprints, modern curriculums, staff, news articles, and whatever we can to help them modernize. In return, they would pay us in gold, jewels, artifacts, and the possibility of interviewing soldiers, mercenaries, and craftsmen that lived in the east thousands of years ago,” she said as she looked at the sword and noted her reflection with a smile. “The possibility of which has never existed before until now .”

“Sounds like an okay deal I guess if you're interested in history,” Zephyr said, putting his spare hand in his pocket while the other still carried his suitcase. “So did you?”

“Not entirely,” she said with a shake of her head. “The dragons were asking too much, their goals were too broad, and they thought that we were a panacea for their problems. We could bring blueprints, that’s easy. Maybe even bring in a few instructors and planners to help them plan out the city, but doing anything more than that would be absurd. You don’t just ask someone to fix your mistakes and modernize your country even if you have all the gold in the world.”

“It’s worth a shot though right?” Zephyr said with some hesitance. “Help those who are in need?”

The blank stare that she gave him in return reminded him of the one’s his sister gave to him on occasion, one that he was used to by now, but one that meant simply one thing. That whatever he said was probably stupid and inane.

“You really are an Equestrian aren’t you,” she said with a grim smile.

“I guess?” Zephyr admitted with some hesitation. “Something wrong with that?”

“Not really,” she responded with a shrug as she continued her work examining the sword. This time paying attention to its edges and the few decorations that it had. “It just means that I have to explain a few things to you.”

“Like what?” Zephyr asked.

“That the entire world doesn't run on good hospitality and intentions,” she started to explain with a scowl as she ran a finger across the edge of the sword to test it. “Imagine just showing up on a complete stranger’s doorstep and asking for them to drop everything that they have to help you. Sure, offering to pay for them to do what you want would help, but what do they have to gain? What would they lose in helping you? Could they trust you?”

“And if you did know them, would you still help them to that extent?” she asked Zephyr before shaking her head. “No, definitely not. For example it took us years of careful diplomacy to get any assistance from the changelings so that we could learn just a little bit from them. And the dragon’s were asking for the keys to everything we had with a single visit.”

“It’s absurd to be honest,” she scoffed with a smile. “Absolutely absurd, even with all of the gold in the world we still wouldn't accept it. Only a harmonic fool would think about accepting something like that.”

“Oh,” Zephyr faltered with a blush of shame on his face. “Sorry about what I said earlier.”

“No need to be sorry,” the professor said as she finished examining the sword with a smile and wrote in her clipboard for a moment. “You just don’t know the world around you and it shows, nothing you can do about that except ask questions, make mistakes and learn from it.”

“Regardless,” she said as she moved towards a set of copper jewelry and began examining it. All the while the senior waited nervously in the background. “There was nothing that we could do for them ordinarily.”

“But,” she said, stopping for a moment and chewing on her pencil as she examined an armband. “The rewards that they were offering were a lot, and I don’t just mean the gold. The chance of first hand accounts from across griffon history was a rare one, especially with the promise of being able to do archaeological excavations, and even having the chance to be willingly loaned artifacts from the hoards of dragons. That was just too rare of an opportunity to pass up because who knows when we’ll ever get a chance like that again,” she said with a smile.

“So you compromised?” Zephyr said as she looked at the armband and noticed that it looked more like a ring than anything else.

“Yep,” she said, continuing to look at the item before putting it away and writing in her clipboard a bit more. “We couldn't do everything that they wanted, but we could do a few things. With one of them in particular being the chance to sponsor and host a field of study that we haven’t ever had the time to fully explore back home.”

“And what would that be?” Zephyr asked curiously.

“Magical studies and inventions, or dweomercraft if you want to be more specific,” she explained, turning towards him with an honest smile this time. “Something we’ve neglected in the east to say the least. Anyone can use gem’s to make inventions or little artifacts, but teaching it is expensive, and hosting a school for it even more so.”

“Why?” Zephyr said, scratching his head in confusion. “Is it because of the gems?”

“That and the expertise,” she said with a snap of her fingers. “Knowledge of dweomercraft is very rare within our world and there's not many people who know how to do it. For every twenty engineers there's maybe one person who knows how to make an apparatus from a gem that lets you make a flashlight out of it. And that flashlight I assure you is probably ten times as much as a normal one thanks to the gem’s used in it.”

“So hosting a school for dweomercraft, much less formal classes, is something that most nation’s just can’t do right now,” she continued with a shrug. “Why host a school for dweomercraft when you can just have ordinary college instead for less than a tenth of the price and trouble?”

“But the dragons are different,” she said as she made her way to a necklace on the table that was made from solid gold, and whose chains were twice as long as her while the width of each individual link was the side of her hand. “They have the cash to afford it, they have the crystals around to maintain the school, and from what I can tell they either remember how to do it or they have the books from the few places in the world that have made such a school before. Offering them the chance to host a foreign branch so that we can send students to it was an easy idea. We get the bragging rights of being one of the few colleges in the world that can host it, they partially get what they want as we can send over a few scholared minds, reduce the prices for any licenses we sell them, and they can even permanently acquire the designs for anything the students make in the school or bring over without our intervention. Everyone wins in the end. ”

“Are you sure?” Zephyr asked her as she began inspecting the chain. “Sounds like they are footing the bill for your benefit.”

“Eh they are still getting something in the end,” she said as she flicked a piece of the chain and watched it glow. “Plus, they agreed to it anyway, so if they thought it was a rotten deal they could have just said no from the start.”

“Mhmh,” Zephyr grumbled to himself as he watched the proceedings around him happen. It didn’t sit well with him, the idea of a nation being taken advantage of just because it was rich and desperate, but it was politics, and he didn’t know much about politics.

Better to just not delve that much into it, he thought to himself as he let loose a sigh and with it his feelings on the matter. Turning back to the professor he noticed that she had finished examining the chain and was writing in her clipboard again.

“Are you done with your examinations yet?” he asked her, gesturing to her clipboard.

“This part at least,” she replied to him as she gave a nod to the senior who let out a sigh of relief before she turned her attention back to her clipboard. “The next part of my duties is inspecting what the inventors are actually doing in the shared lab, wanna see?”

Zephyr simply gave a nod and followed the instructor as she led him through from the hall and into another one, and from there into a long room meeting room or conference hall.

When he arrived, the first thing that Zephyr noticed was cloth cubicles set all around. Nearly all of which were occupied by students, and whose forms along with their works were hidden by the cloth curtains that they had around.

“Feel free to look around for a little bit while I get to work,” the professor said as she grabbed her clipboard and made her way to one of the cubicles. “When I'm done I’ll find you and we can continue.”

“Will do,” thanks,” Zephyr said as he waved goodbye to the teacher as she began talking to one of the students before he looked around the room. What to do, what to do.

Not really knowing what to do, Zephyr simply walked around the room. Looking at either the materials that the students worked with or what they were working on.

The results after a cursory look were easy to tell. Most of the students worked with either copper, bronze, and precious metals. Oftentimes making the shell of whatever they worked with out of dull bronze or iron while the rest of it was made out of fine and filigree decorated materials, but all of which housed a gem core in some way or fashion.Something of which which was in ample supply

Because by looking around Zephyr eventually noticed a small supply room that was set into the hall that was utterly filled with gems. From big ones that were the size of his head to miniscule ones that were the size of a pebble or a fingernail. The supply room had it all and its contents to any thief would be worth a fortune.

“Hmph, so what she was saying was true about the dragons and the gems they had,” he said to himself with a smile as he grabbed a small one and looked at it with a nostalgic smile. “This could probably power my hairclipper if I said I still had it. Shame that it got stolen by some kids for the scrap that it had.”

“Well, heh,” he let out a sigh as he put it back in its place. “One of these days I’m going to get a new one. Hopefully when I do it won’t cost me half a year to save up for it.”

Grabbing his suitcase and leaving the closet, Zephyr continued his inspection and quickly found out what the students were making: prosthetic arms made from gilded metal, intricate gauntlets that created sparks, and toy helicopters or drones that flew through the air. The place seemed almost like a factory rather than a workshop.

And he was just about to look for the professor as he finished looking at a group’s prosthetic work when he noticed something catch his eye. A large cubicle in the back of the room that was left unattended to, but from which he could hear…something come from within.

It was hard to tell exactly what it was. At one moment it was like sparks, the next music, and the other a weird vibration, but it did the trick all the same to get his attention. Walking towards it with a curious look, Zephyr stopped behind the cloth cubicle to look at it.

What he saw within it was a body harness, one that resembled the safety harnesses that he had seen worker’s wear during construction, but that was embroidered with gems, and made from a variety of colored threads: black, white, yellow, and red. It was strange to say the least. The more he looked at it, the more the harness looked off. With the colors that it was made from almost bleeding into space, coloring it, causing small ripples around it, and in turn giving him the strange fuzzy feeling that he had standing in a lightning storm.

“What in the world is that thing?” Zephyr mumbled to himself as he inspected it. “Is it some kind of weapon?”

“It’s a magnum opus,” answered the professor from behind him who now wore a stern look as she approached the harness. “The swan song from a crew of students who are no longer with us.” There was a moment of hesitation before she added, “save for one”

“What do you mean by, no longer with us,” Zephyr said somewhat confused as he looked at the device. “Are they dead?”

“Yes,” she said with a grim nod. “But in their efforts they have created something that the world has never seen before nor ever will. Something which In the right hands could change the world.”

Zephyr only gave a befuddled look to the teacher in response, unsure as to what could possibly be given such a tag.

“Do you remember what I told you earlier about what the dragons were getting out of the deal?” she said with a raised eyebrow. “About them getting the designs for anything the students make or bring to here without our intervention?”

Zephyr gave a nod to her.

“This,” she said gesturing to the harness, “was what won them over and was one of the first things they got. It’s a device that lets anyone that wears it use magic.”

“Really now, use magic?” Zephyr said somewhat surprised as he took another look at the harness before he quickly looked away as it now started to give him a headache. “Like spells and stuff?”

“Mhmh,” she confirmed with a nod of her head. The expression on her face being the same one a museum guide might have as they showcased off the rare fossils that they worked for the hundredth time that day. “When worn, this harness allows the user to slowly gather magical energy from their surrounding environment or via crystals and to store it inside themselves. From there they can use the harness to project that stored magical energy in any way that they wish. For example charging a magical crystal, using a magical item, or by releasing that energy in a form similar to how a unicorn or a kiren might.”

She stopped for a moment to mull over what she said with an unsure look before she added, “the manner in which someone casts spells with the harness is often primitive I will admit, but for obvious reasons. A user with the harness simply does not have the lifetime of formal or informal training and instinct that a unicorn may have. Because of this the effects or the spells that one can produce with it are often primitive such as: basic levitation, wild blasts of magic, and shields that can flicker in and out. A focus can help with this process thankfully.”

“A focus?” Zephyr asked her. “What’s that?’

“A magical item that some spellcasters use to help them with spells,” she answered. “I’m sure you’ve heard of staves that can produce lightning, fire, and light right?”

“Once or twice,” Zephyr affirmed as he recalled the occasional magic shop that sold a few wands. “Never really bought one myself for obvious reasons, but I know they exist.”

“Good,” she said with a nod. “Those items simply do the work of focusing one’s magical energy and using it in a set manner without failure. All it relies on is simply a source of magical energy in the form of the wielder or a crystal.”

“Right, so, side question,” Zephyr said, interrupting her as he recalled something. “Why have I only seen them for kids or as party tricks anyway? Why aren’t they around more?”

“It’s cheaper and less expensive to simply train someone in producing a spell than to carry around a bunch of staves and wands,” she answered before giving a shrug. “That and it’s considered…dirty to rely on them for many spellcasting people,” she said with a bit of apprehension. “Don’t ask me why, I don’t know.”

“Hm well It’s something to say the least.” ” he hummed to himself as he looked at it unsure what to think about it. It seemed almost like a panacea for those that were obsessed with wanting to perform magic, a flawed one, but still one nonetheless. However something about it bugged him, and that was what he learned during an electrician’s course on how batteries worked.

Because if you charged a battery with electricity it would just get hot before eventually melting. You could charge a crystal with magic and electricity, but if you overcharged a crystal it would just explode, but what would happen to a person? Would they explode, would they melt? A sinking feeling hit Zephyr’s stomach as he turned to the professor.

“So..what happens if someone overcharges themselves with magic?” Zephyr asked her while turning to look at her and away from the harness. “You say the harness stores magic in people, what happens to all of that magic in them anyway? I don’t think that a diamond dog or a gryphon can exactly,” he made a gesture, “use it in a meaningful way. Is it just stuck inside of them forever”

“Well that magical energy simply bleeds out of their body naturally to the point where they remain at their previous levels,” she answered him with a shrug. “Simple.”

“But there can still be problems with having that energy inside of someone,” she continued, her voice becoming a bit hesitant in doing so.

“Complicated how?” he said, raising an eyebrow. “Complicated in a bad way?”

“Mhmhmh, sorta,” she said once again with an apprehensive look. “Do you remember what I said about a user not having the natural instincts and training that a unicorn might have?”

“Yeah?” he said with a nod.

“Well that also extends to the internal fail safes that they can have as well,” she said her lips pursing. “Because a unicorn’s magical capabilities can often be compared to a muscle. With them being able to sense the way in which they are able to use magic and use it appropriately through instinct or training from a young age.”

“But someone with the harness doesn't have that,” she continued with a nervous look towards the harness. “They simply don’t have the instincts that a unicorn has or the training to use their magic effectively and safely. And because of it they can easily find themselves pushing themselves to achieve greater magical effects without any knowledge of it.”

“That…doesn't sound safe,” Zephyr said hesitantly.

“No, no it doesn't,” she agreed. “What’s worse is the surges that an individual can have with it?”

“Surges?” he said somewhat unsure. “What are those?”

“Simply magical phenomena that can occur with a spellcaster when they are using magic in an uncontrolled,” she said with a shrug. “It often occurs when someone is either sick, young, or…extremely inexperienced,” she finished with a grimace.

“And…what can happen during that?” he said with a sigh, picking up the intention of what the professor said.

“Oh just…you know, creating phantom music or light around oneself, summoning frost, vomiting ectoplasm, hearing strange voices, self teleportation, and more random magical effects,” she explained before coughing into her hand and adding, “and until recently for users of the harness, mutation and death.”

“D-d-death!?” Zephyr blurted out horrified by the fact and the device that was in front of him that he now pointed towards. “People can die using this?”

“In the early stages of the harness…yes,” she said with a nervous nod. “It was possible for the wearer to gather so much magic inside of themselves that their bodies would simply shut down. Their hearts either stopping, their heads exploding, or their minds and bodies simply being torn asunder by the magical surges that they can have. The project was seen as a failure and a fancy way of committing suicide until the thirteenth came along.”

She gave a shrug towards him. “And the only reason the thirteenth didn’t die was because they had somehow mutated during the first surge they had while using the device, became resistant to magic somehow, and from there worked on it to improve it to its current version.”

“Mutated?” Zephyr said, confused. “What do you mean by that? Sounds like something out of a bad horror movie.”

“Well,” she said, humming a bit to herself as she rustled through her pockets. “If I recall from the reports when they had used the harness they magically surged just like the others, but instead of dying they had developed an affliction that had turned them into…this,” she finished before holding out a picture to Zephyr.

Zephyr looked at it, regretted it immediately, and suppressing the urge to throw up he then asked, “but they’re…okay right?”

The professor stopped at that question. Their faces grimacing, their eyes narrowing, and their lips pursing in an expression of doubt just like before. Eventually however they answered, “yes…physically…if you can say that.”

“P-physically?” Zephyr asked her after he took a moment to pound his chest and to clear some bile that was rising up. “What do you mean by that?”

“Well apart from the mutations they are quite fine physically,” she answered him. “I suspect that the only way that they can die from the harness is by deliberately wanting to kill themselves with it.”

“Right, right,” Zephyr said, nodding to himself still trying to process the information, “that’s good I guess.”

“It is,” she said with a smile while stowing away the picture. “Without their survival I’m sure this project would have been abandoned by now. Nobody else but the original group would have worn it by now.”

“I guess,” Zephyr said scratching the side of his head, “but why didn’t they stop earlier or during the first instance that it happened?”

“I mean,” Zephyr continued scratching the side of his head, “it just doesn't make sense. Why would they finish it if they knew it was going to probably hurt them?”

“Because of the greater good stranger,” she said with a bit too wide of a smile before gesturing over to the harness. “This is not only a magnum opus, but it’s one that can potentially change the world. Why should someone let a few deaths, even their own, get in the way of making something like this?”

With the utteration of the phrase, “greater good,” Zephyr couldn't help but let out a laugh as he removed himself from the conversation in an instant. He already knew more than he could ever want to about the so-called greater good. Why? Because for him it was what was expected of him and so many others to do in this day and age.

Chip in what little you can for the greater good. Join the local organizations for the greater good. Don’t pay attention to what’s going on around for the greater good. Sign up for the military to defend the nation for the greater good, and when asked politely? Die for the greater good. The idea of it all along with self sacrifice just seemed so absurd and stupid to him now. He didn’t want any part of this conversation anymore, it suddenly felt entirely absurd to him now. He already knew what he wanted to know and it was better to make his leave while he still could.

So quickly making an excuse and making his leave, Zephyr walked out of the room and out of the chancery. During which the professor merely gave a sigh, a word of thanks for his time, and returned to her duties. All the while an old scene ran through Zephyr’s head. One in which he was asked a simple question by his sister. How far could someone go for the greater good, and was it okay to do the most terrible and selfish things in the world for it?

He didn’t know back then, in the circumstances that Equestria was in he didn’t know, but he did have a feeling towards that answer now, at least from an outside view and after a bit of time. No. It wasn’t okay to make a weapon that could kill hundreds of thousands to save millions, or to even think about detonating it. It just wasn’t right. The same could apply to sacrificing yourself for something bigger than you.
Don’t think it ever will be, he thought to himself as he passed by a guard and waved goodbye. You just don’t think of those things unless you are willing to do them or your insane.

Author's Note:

As it turns out making friends or allies to help you out when you need help is hard when you've been spending the past several millennia running around raiding everyone, taking what you have for theirs, and generally making a wreck of the place. Who knew?
Moving on, I really like the idea of Griffonstone and The Isles coming together to try to help each other. It feels like a natural development in my head that can grow into a mutualistic friendship and defensive pact between the two. One in which two minor city states try to survive in a world that really doesn't like them because of what they've done in the past.
As for Yale? The idea of a bunch of elder dragons having no idea on the world around them just flying into the nearest city and asking the inhabitants where the smart people are so they can bribe them into being a industrial power to be both hilarious and a great portrayal of draconic ignorance. Something of which Yale, being a renowned college in EaW, takes heavy advantage of when they find out what's going on with the dragons.
Hopefully these ideas and concepts are as intriguing to you as it is for me.