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The gryphon kingdoms were expansive, so much so that it was hard for one Gryphon to rule everything within, just like how the old realms from long before Equestria's founding were not under Celesta's banner. Aeolus was working to re-unite the kingdoms whose alliances had dissolved when King Guto stepped down as ruler of Gryphonstone, the old capital, leaving no successor and leading to the once great capitol's fall to ruin and disrepair. The Far East and oldest gryphon territories were of little help due to this, but leaderless or not the looming threat was enough to get some reaction out of them. I now understood what I had been told, the time of the Gryphons was long past and they might never reclaim their old glory.

I had been back at The Nest for a day now, being constantly exposed to the politics between the king of the new gryphon realms, Aeolus, and the other minor factions whom thus far had remained kingless and independent. But despite the constant bustle of war preparations and diplomatic meetings I was invited to attend and pretend to understand things had been mostly uneventful. Zandria's arrival with her fleet had temporarily shredded that calm, but when her intentions were announced as friendly things calmed back down. She hadn't made many demands, at least many that I heard about, but she did insist on having her luggage moved into the room I had been given.

At the moment I was outside, trying to clear my head of her influence. And speaking of crazy bitches, Celestia had sent a lovely message to Aeolus insisting that I be turned over to her immediately. Instead of giving into her demands he sent back another letter.

"Ike has been an invaluable resource to the Gryphon kingdom, I see no reason that he should be returned to a society that does not fully appreciate him. With Ike's recent change in status, I speak to the removal of his royal title; it is no longer a conflict of interest if he were to become a servant for My kingdom. Therefore as long as relations between our people stand I trust he will receive full diplomatic immunity if he should set hoof upon Equestrian soil. This land is in more danger than you can comprehend, put aside your petty squabble and assemble your armies. If The Nest falls, the rest of our world follows."

I was glad Aeolus was defending me, even if I didn't deserve it. I watched as a cartload of raw metal upturned on the street, rushing over to help. I received a quick thanks as I quickly cleaned things up with my magic, the gryphon continuing on his way.

I thought back to the mission I had just been sent on. Apparently it was supposed to make me feel better, but now that it was over I was left with too much time on my hooves to think. I had watched a friend die, how was bringing Zandria back to The Nest supposed to help me in any way? Did Aeolus and Echelon think her spirit of lust would ease my mind and help me forget? If that was it they were sorely mistaken. Every time Zandria took a pass at me my mind flew to Kira and Lust's hold was shattered. I couldn't stop worrying about if she was recovering or not.

Looking over the city I skittered back as my gaze fell on the impossible. "Xane?! You died, I saw!" I exclaimed, at the gryphon who had appeared just feet away from me. I had never believed in ghosts, but this shook my beliefs right to the core.

"I... Uh... Its good to see you made it out alive." Zane stopped and sighed. "I suppose I should finally start giving more than partial truths. But first, does Sentry know about what happened on the isles? I was able to hide the last death, from when I stopped you from touching the pillar of fate, but this one was a little quicker and public..."

Last death? His words were a little confusing but I was going to give him a chance to explain before asking any of my own questions. "Sentry wasn't speaking to anypony, especially me." I replied, "He feels like I am to blame for your death since I sent him back to Equestria instead of letting him come on the mission. You meant a lot to him..."

"I'm glad he didn't come. You weren't deceived; I did die on that island. I can still almost feel the blade sliding across my neck." Sentry shuddered, rubbing his throat as if to check if it was still all right. "But I am alive and well, could you touch a ghost? Xane extended a clawed hand.

"Then, how?" I trailed off as I felt the proof of life in the warmth of his touch.

"I have alluded to strange 'artifacts' and my strained familial ties, yes?"

"You have told the story and muttered some things before."

"Of course not all of that was truth. I... I am an abomination of magic, never meant to exist." Xane quickly unloaded.

"You can't mean that, n-" I tried to console him but was cut off.

"No, let me finish my explanation." Xane insisted. "Zandria was sent on her first mission by my father. She was meant to simply visit the sites of power in Equestria to ensure all was well. But an ancient and malignant spirit had also been drawn to the power. When she arrived at the mirror pool Zandria was enticed by the charms of the spirit. Lust is what it calls itself, the embodiment of one of the seven deadly sins.

Lust told her that to bathe in the waters of the mirror pool was to gain infinite knowledge. Lust seduced Zandria to do so, the temptation too great to resist. Touching the waters of the mirror pool changes you; it fragments a soul and creates a copy... But Lust's presence had altered the rules. When Zandria's soul split Lust took hold of the empty space, worming its way into Zandria as its new host.

Now the mirror pool is supposed to make copies, it does not have power over intangible beings. What came out of the pool was something unexpected, not a copy but a refraction. The polar opposite of what Zandria had become.

I was created, a frail, weak being, barely capable protecting myself. What was done could not be reversed, Zandria's half of a soul has nowhere to return to as long as Lust fills her. So even if I die I cannot ever rest, not until Zandria's time comes. I suppose I have you to thank for returning me to life by brining the items required from Zandria, father has kept a sample of the mirror pool's water ever since the... Incident."

"I- Uh, I don't know how to respond. But how did your father know that you could be brought back?" So he wasn't a ghost, but it was still one of the strangest tales I had been told.

"I thought that if I could free the part of Zandria trapped inside of me that it might fix her." Xane paused, shedding a tear. "I- did it to myself, and it was only a side effect of research that forced me back into the world. I would have given anything for her, even my life. I was finally accepted into the family fully when it became evident Lust had begun to take control of Zandria. Aeolus needed a successor, but was sadly infertile."

"You killed yourself in the off chance it might have saved her? That's..." I cleared my head of the thought. "You may think yourself weak, but you are noble and kind to a fault. I don't know what my decision would be in that situation."

So that's what my quest had truly been about, to resurrect Xane. I understood what the Nestking wanted, for me to stop feeling like I had failed everyone because of a death I couldn't have stopped. It just so happened Xane was a unique situation, but if Kira had been the one to take the knife...

"You are too kind to that abomination." Zandria spoke, striding into view. Xane cringed in fear.

I took a deep breath and steeled my thoughts before looking her dead in the eye to speak. "You are far greater an abomination than him, Lust."

Xane gulped. "It's still Zandria in there somewhere, just broken and twisted beyond recognition."

"Not as broken as your spine the time I snapped your wings and threw you off the roof. What were your last words again?" Zandria taunted.

"No matter what, I will always remember what you were before." Xane reminded her, looking to me. "Father used to send me to check up on her, but that was before Lust had twisted her to this point."

"I'm sorry... I convinced her to help, she is lending the kingdom her fleet for protection against the new Imperium."

"Help, Ha, it won't help. My ships, my men, they are nothing but kindling for the fire as I watch the world burn. Lust knows who is destined to win."

"We will see, the Imperium army must first go through our navy before even attempting to attack the city." Xane assured me.

Zandria snorted and waltzed off, likely to go terrorize some poor, or lucky depending on how you looked at it, gryphon to pass the time.

"Xane," A thought came to my head, "I know somepony who could use cheering up, lets find something reflective."

~

"Oh dear, I'll most likely be punished for this one." Discord mumbled as he used his magic to form a barrier between himself and a pissed off looking Celestia as Sentry stared dumbly at Xane through the mirror. "Oh go on lovebird, go to him. Discord picked up Sentry and slotted him in a big pink bow adorned with golden hearts, drawing back before shooting him as the arrow into the portal, causing him to come tumbling out on our end moments later.

"How is Kira doing Discord?" I asked coming back into view after avoiding the pony projectile that he had just launched.

Discord frowned at the question, knowing his answer was less than I desired. "She is recovering, but slowly. I think the only reason you did so well was because you could technically hold the exact same power if you became possessed. I can tell she misses you, which makes this next part harder... Celestia has learned how to reliably 'borrow' my powers, and she could easily do something regretful if she manages to get through the portal in the state it leaves her. I'm going to have to sever the spell on this end and wait for her to calm down.

If you need to contact us in the meantime you are going to have to work something else out. There is some good news at least; the renewed gryphon ties with the crystal kingdom have altered the balance of power. It seems without the oath of allegiance binding them; the equestrian troops are more loyal to their commanders than their royalty.

Shining Armor stole half of the Equestrian military with a single speech and has combined them with Crystal Kingdom troops. It looks like Cadence is preparing to re-establish the old crystal empire separate from Celestia's rule. The reinforcements from them might be able to help if the gryphons can hold out long enough.

Celestia let out a powerful blast, Discord's barrier wavering for a moment. " Sorry, I've been a little tired lately and I'm going to have to cut this short. Ill see what I can do here, you worry about your end."

"Thanks Discord, do what you have to do." I spoke, watching as Discord nodded before reaching out with his chaos magic, the image on my end going dark.

I had missed most of the happy reunion between Sentry and Xane in my talk with Discord; but what was left of it made me wish I had been able to see Kira's face, if only for a moment. I could only hope she was recovering quickly.

A chill crept up my spine and I looked back to the mirror, a cloudy image shuddering to life on the surface. I would have been convinced the face I looked upon was a reflection had it not smirked tauntingly at me. No one seemed to notice as I stared at the darkened reflection, it's eyes boring into mine. This was the reflection of a monster, the demon possessed copy of myself. I wasn't surprised that he could tap into and understand my magic; he shared my mind and most of my experiences except for recent ones.

I severed the spell to banish his image, the unique magic needing both ends to function. My own hate filled glare replaced his smirking image, but I could hardly see the difference.

Author's Note:

~Thanks for reading!

Finally had the time to watch the newest season's episodes. What were they smoking when they wrote up S5 E9 and can I have some please? (laughed so hard during parts of it.) It is always great when they cater to the fans. The only thing I didn't like is that if I ever write any continuation with Dr. Whooves (10% probability) I will have to explain away his behavior in the episode with his classic john smith forget I am a timelord thing he has done in the past (I'm not really a Derpy x Dr. kind of fan either).

Take mind that everything in this story does happen, and will conclude, before the Tirek portion of last season. Although the new information about the Gryphons in one of those new episodes was slotted in for a bit of explanation in the first paragraph this chapter.

Probably 4-5 more chapters before I wrap things up for good. Sorry, but I need to move on to something different so I'll be heading full steam to the end rather than drag things out much longer. Need to either find something new to write or give writing up for a while as I have not had 'the muse' with me for quite some time. As I keep promising, I will finish this story, unless I die or something before hand.

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