A Tale Told

Like all pegasi born in Skyroost, I was taught to be an excellent flier from a young age. And while that was mostly true I never was very good, not the way other foals were. Like all of us raised in the remote mountain town I was raised in a common area with all the mothers that were alive caring for all the foals.

I should mention that Skyroost was a very small settlement close to griffin territory. When we were old enough, all colts were to train as warriors to protect the mountain village. I wasn’t large enough, strong enough, or a good enough of a flier to defend anything from a hungry griffin. As such, while I grew up and the other colts went to learn war, I was left behind.

The aesthetics and amenities of home weren’t much. It was a small dip near the top of a mountain with many spikes and spires upwards. This was where we all slept. It was open and high enough so a griffin couldn’t sneak up on us. We spent our day’s further down in a series of shallow caves. There too was an open courtyard, but it was only used to dart from cave to cave. This was closer to where they hunted. I lived here too; where the old and the young went about their lives. Further down, Colts learned war. I never knew where; that took the entirety of everyday.

The fillies, really young mares at this point, all stayed behind to learn a variety of domestic, historical, artistic, and scientific trades. I wasn’t interested in any of it. I was often staring wistfully out at the skies when the shriek of a griffin was heard. One day I was sick of learning to record the history of the village. I galloped out of the small hut to come face to chest with a large, bleeding, enraged griffin that had slipped through the chaos above.

Before I could even scream for help, or the griffin had a chance to slash my neck, a large black warrior came screaming out of the sky crashing full force into the beast. There was a sickening crack on impact and a few more until it tumbled off the edge. It didn't fly back up.

"Watch yourself little filly." The warrior placed his hoof on my head before taking off.

That was the last day I spent in Skyroost. The next morning I grabbed my saddlebags, and packed the few personal possessions I had. I wrote a small note and left. I may not have been a good flier, but I was fast as long as it was a straight line. Which for a long time it was, long enough to have any griffins go back to their roost. I didn't know where to go, the only place I had ever lived was where I had just left. I didn't even know where another town was.

I flew for as long as I could. After many hours I still hadn't seen anything but forest, mountains, plains, a swamp and an Island. No settlements of any size. Slowly I felt the energy drain from myself. Mile after mile, hour after hour, I flew until I could fly no more. I basically crashed into a small island just off the coast; I figured it was the safest place. If there was one thing griffins avoided it was bodies of water since they can’t fly well when wet.

I awoke to a sharp kick in my side. As I rolled over and jumped to face what was surely a starved griffin, I noticed the shining armor and vertical mane of a bright white pegasus stallion. I almost collapsed again, relieved I saw a pony and not a griffin.

"Are you ok?" the armored pegasus said, stepping back.

"I... no." I had never been particularly good at lying face to face. On the other hoof, I could get away with the most farfetched lies if the pony never saw me face to face.

"This is remote, where are you from?" The guard stated harshly.

"Skyroost." I said laying down again.

"Never heard of it, must be a nice place." He sounded disinterested.

"Yeah, I guess." I matched his tone.

"Fillydelphia is the closest place I know of.” He didn’t seem to like that much. “You don't look in good enough shape to make it anywhere else."

I muttered something and followed the armored stallion as he launched into the air towards this Fillydelphia. He was a good flier, good enough to be a guard in Skyroost I figured. “So where are you from?” I asked, wanting to pass the time in something other than silence.

“Canterlot.” He curtly replied.

“Oh...” I didn’t know anywhere besides home, so that did me no good. “What's it like there?”

“Busy.”

He really must not like being this far from home, and the sun was setting over the ocean, it ever so briefly flashed the most beautiful jade; then twilight set in. “So are we safe from griffins here?”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure? Because I can’t fight one now.” I thought for a bit coming to a simple conclusion. “Or ever.” I muttered. I thought I heard him mutter the same thing.

“Positive.”

The rest of the flight was in silence. Thankfully it wasn’t long. As the town crested over the hill, I saw it was dozens if not hundreds of times the size of Skyroost. It wasn’t caves with fabric for doors, it was buildings. It wasn’t dirt piles for gardens, it was actual fields expanding for longer than all of Skyroost. And trees, there were never any trees in the mountains, but here they were in the city. Everything was so different.

"Won't the buildings and trees prevent the guards from seeing a griffin?" I asked with worry.

"A griffin? I have never seen a griffin. Not even close to where I found you. I'd have to fly for another hour to get to even see the mountains where I heard an outlying group of griffins roosted." The guard said quickly.

"But..."

"Trust me colt," the armored guard said angrily "There are no griffins here."

I sighed deciding to trust the armored pegasus. I flew down to what was one of the many courtyards of Fillydelphia, and curled up like I had done at home. It was just like home, a bit larger, and a bit less rocky, but it would do. I curled my legs together and stretched my wings out. As I drifted off to sleep, I was again awoken with a kick to the flank.

"What in the name of the Royal Pony Sisters are you doing trying to sleep in public?" He asked with a sharp glare.

"I was trying to sleep, as you saw. Why kick me?"

"I don't know what backwoods hole you crawled out of but we have places we do and places we do not sleep. The public areas are not one of them."

"You don't sleep together? What if a...." The armored pegasus cut me off.

"If you mention another damn griffin I'll buck you so hard you'll drink hay for a month.” He snapped. “You must be damaged or something. See that building with the image of the sleeping pony, go there. Tell them you are covered for a week by the Royal Guard. And leave me alone." As he flew off I could hear bits of complaints about my nature.

The building the Guard had motioned to depicted a beautiful mare curled up very cutely on a small bed. The color had faded and the wood was worn on all of the building except the door. The windows showed a teal unicorn in a starry robe walking back stage. There were a bunch of cheers from mare and stallion alike. This didn’t seem so bad; it wasn’t home but again, it would do.

Upon attempting to enter the establishment I was immediately trampled by the same unicorn. She seemed to be fleeing the building. As she ran over me I heard a snap, and felt my head impact the ground. I quickly felt less and less of anything.