The Cloud in the Wind

“If they hope to fulfill their duty, the Serme must concern themselves with only one thing : to serve their master. Whether it be on the battlefield, with claws, talons and beak or running an errand, or carrying a trivial message, you must always strive to accomplish your master’s commands.

This does not mean that you should ignore your own well-being. On the contrary, if you have no orders to follow at a time, the way of the Serme dictates that you must take care to maintain your health and skills, so you can be called upon at any moment. Being unable to answer the call of one’s master, be it because of alcohol, tiredness or illness, is a failure on your part.”

The western parts of Equestria were far from being populous. Tall mountains, surrounded by thick forests were definitely not the kind of environment that most ponies would want to live in. Only a few eccentrics, hermits or outlaws hiding from the authorities ever made it their home. The region, however, was fine for gryphons.

One mountain bore the name of “Mount Saddle”. The summit stood like a pommel at the front of a relatively flat plateau that went up again at its other end into another peak. Seen from the right angle, it seemed that the land had been carved so that a gigantic rider could sit there, hence the name ponies had given the mountain.

Through what would have been the seating portion of that saddle, a river ran down the gentle slope. In the cold water, a lone female gryphon was standing, one of her eagle talons held in the air.

Her eyes were the only moving part of her body and not even her tail twitched when small drops of ice-cold water splashed against the rocks and reached her belly. She kept her gaze on the water, smiling softly at the reflection. In the clear blue sky above, a small cloud was drifting, looking like it was slowly reaching out to her. What amused her was to see that its color matched hers almost perfectly : both her feathers and the fur on her rear half were completely white with only the slightest trace of blond. If it hadn’t been for her golden eyes and pale yellow beak, she could have been mistaken for a cloud entirely.

Movement in the stream caught her attention. Staying still, she waited until her prey was in the right position. As soon as it swam in front of her, she brought her paw down, her talons spread out like a trident and skewered the fish on her first try. She beat her wings to fly out of the river, holding the fish tightlly in her talon. While in the air, she flexed her other paws to relieve the numbness gained after so much time spent in the cold water.

Half an hour later, the gryphon was sitting in front of the small cavern she had claimed as her own, with a small fire both warming her up and roasting her catch. She smelled the air near the fish and estimated that it was good enough. Grabbing the stick holding it in one claw, she used the other to cut it open so she could check if the inside was cooked properly. Satisfied, she bit on it directly with her beak.

A small mewling noise made her look down.

“Salut, le chat.”

A dark grey cat was sitting a few paces away from her. That was not a new development for the gryphon : the cat (which she never properly named, considering that “the cat” was good enough since it was the only one she had ever seen around) was watching her with intense blue eyes. She always wondered if it was attracted by her bird or her feline half... Of course what really interested it was free food first.

She tore a little piece off of the fish and held it in a talon in front of her. Already licking its lips, the cat approached and nabbed the food. It was quickly done with it and proceeded to lick her talon thoroughly afterwards. It sat down, looking her with the same expectant eyes and mewled again. The gryphon chuckled and took another little piece. She put it on the ground this time, so that her hands would be free to let her eat. If she didn’t, the cat would end up begging until she gave the whole fish away.

The meal finished, she lied on the grass to relax and the cat quickly took its place next to her. She petted its head with a talon, eliciting a purr as it snuggled against her. She laid her own head on her crossed arms and snoozed off.

A little later, a flash and pop of magic brought her back to full consciousness. As she expected, a rolled up scroll had appeared in the air and dropped to the ground in front of her. The gryphoness picked it up and with a quick swipe of her talon, broke the wax sealing.

Nuage,

Meet me in my study.

Papyrus

The writing seemed rushed, but it wasn’t any indication with Papyrus. That old pony hated wasting his time, so his messages were always short and to the point, written and sent in under a minute. That was something that Nuage actually appreciated, in any case. He would explain what she needed to know once they would meet and thus, there was no reason to say anything more than “meet me”.

Nuage stood up, making the cat scamper away with an annoyed meow and walked into a cave in the mountain’s wall that she had claimed as her home.

Without wasting a second, she grabbed the backplate of her leather cuirass and, standing on her hind legs, slid it over her shoulders. The breastplate quickly followed and she tied the straps with expert talons. She squirmed a little to finish getting the armor in place, making it squeak and groan as the old leather resisted the treatment.

The gryphon then tied her belt around her waist, making sure it kept her armor well in place. She slid a broad knife in the sheath waiting for it on the left side. On the right side, a loop was similarly fitted with her weapon of choice : a flail. Its handle was a simple sturdy bit of hard wood, connected by a chain to the heavy steel head. The business end of it was almost rectangular, but had been given a concave shape that resulted in four sharp ridges. A crude weapon, but one able to injure any creature when used right, with or without armor.

Finally, Nuage dropped back to all fours and took a pair of gauntlets. The right one was almost plain, a basic chainmail glove with a few hard plates on the upper side. The left one however, was much more ornamented, with some gemstones embedded in the metal and a golden filigree drawing complicated patterns over her talon. Once they were tight and secure, she clenched her left fist and the enchantment activated.

Designed by Papyrus especially for her, the magical gauntlet reacted by creating a translucent, pale golden disc, centered a few centimeters in front of her wrist. It may have looked like a simple light show, but it was based on the same shield spell that unicorns had used for generations to protect themselves, giving Nuage a buckler sturdier than any metal could hope to be. She opened her talon again and the magical shield dissipated immediately.

Satisfied that everything was in place, Nuage stepped outside of her cave, spread her wings and took off.

“Every intelligent creature knows honor. Not every intelligent creature understands honor.

Some will act honorably in front of others, but abandon all pretense as soon as they are certain that they will face no retribution for their actions.

If one takes advantage of these opportunities, he will become lazy and eventually lose his focus. When no one is around is when one must be the most wary of his behavior.”

Nuage flapped her wings rapidly, gaining a lot of speed as the wind pushed her forward. Flying down from the mountain, the land below her progressively changed. Rocky plateaux covered in short grass and hardy flowers gave way to pine-covered slopes. These eventually turned into a regular deciduous forest as she kept losing altitude.

The earthy smells of the woods filled her nostrils as Nuage flew only a few meters above the canopy. Her destination soon appeared in the distance : the tallest tree in that part of the forest. It was the middle of summer, so seen from afar it looked like a gigantic mass of leaves towering over the rest of the forest like a small hill in the middle of a plain. Chestnut trees usually couldn’t grow this big, but then again, chestnut tree were usually not the residence of a powerful unicorn.

Papyrus had used his magic to accelerate and control the growth of an already impressive tree, turning it into his personal tower. Why anypony would want to live inside a tree, Nuage had trouble understanding. Papyrus had said that it was faster and more convenient than building a regular tower and that a living tree had some interesting properties from a magical standpoint. She remembered asking if the chestnut tree had any arcane advantage over the other trees. Papyrus’ answer was disappointingly simple : “No, I just like chestnuts.”

Flying over to the southern side of the tree-tower, Nuage spotted the large branch that had been grown as a sort of balcony, which led through a clearly artificial, circular opening. Every time she used it, the gryphon couldn’t help but feel like a sparrow going in a birdhouse.

Passing next to some telescopes and star charts, Nuage went down a flight of stairs, past one door and knocked on the second. A grumble in Papyrus’ voice let her know she could come in. She opened the door and entered the organized chaos of his study.

In the center of the room, standing in front of his lectern was Papyrus himself. The old unicorn was showing his years : his fur was still a pale brown that had only slightly dulled over time and turned a bit closer to yellow. His mane and tail were another story : once a bright green they were now completely gray. Sometimes Nuage was thankful for her own white coloration. At least it would never get any whiter.

Papyrus’ flank bore three scrolls for his cutie mark. Two of them rolled up and lying near the third, unrolled one. The match between his mark and his passion was obvious here : like on his sides, Papyrus’ study was filled with scrolls. Knowledge was his craving and the room was both the source and the unfortunate victim of the unicorn’s researches.

Every available surface was covered in scrolls, books or parchments bearing some scribbled notes. The large round table in the center of the room was hard to identify since all the equipment and papers that Papyrus tried to store on it had long gone beyond the edges and piled on the ground near it. Strange and frightening machinery, enchanted gemstones, amulets, jars with or without labels and containing variously colored powders, even a few bones of creatures that Nuage couldn’t identify... Papyrus’ workplace was the worst mess that she could have ever seen. Amazingly enough, the unicorn still knew exactly where every single thing was at all times.

As long as no one else moved anything, of course... Nuage had learned long ago that she shouldn’t touch a single object or risk throwing the unicorn in a state of complete confusion as his “organization” was ruined. She simply stood in a clear section of the room, where no piles of papers had found their way to the ground yet.

Papyrus turned around to greet her. As wrinkled and saggy as his face was, his green eyes still retained the glint of the brilliant mind behind them.

“Nuage. You’re here. Good.”

She bowed in respect. “Master.”

“I’m going to need your help,” he said, turning back to his lectern while levitating a piece of paper and scribbling some notes on it. “I am fighting a losing battle here.”

Nuage furrowed her brow. “What’s wrong, master ?”

“No matter how much magic I learn, there is still so much I don’t know. So much power... After almost seventy years of study, I feel like I’m only beginning to scratch the surface of magic. True magic. Not petty tricks and convenience spells. The kind of magic that can reshape the world and change destinies...

“But I am growing old,” he said with a sigh. “Too old. At this rate, I will die before I can accomplish my goals.”

“Isn’t the study of magic your goal ? This is what you have been doing for... as long as I have known you.”

Papyrus grunted. “It is a mean, not an end. Knowledge is pointless if it is never applied to anything. Like a book that no one would ever read...”

“Then,” Nuage asked, “what is your goal ?”

“Power,” he said simply. “But we can discuss this another time, there are more pressing matters to take care of.”

Papyrus faced her again, levitating a few scrolls and books from three different stacks all over the room. “I have identified some artifacts that I need,” he said while checking the books. “I need your help to retrieve them.”

Acquiring unique or rare arcane items was one of Papyrus’ main activities and one where Nuage’s talents were the most useful. Over the years, the two had found dozens and dozens of mystical objects, sometimes taken from the clutches of dangerous beasts, sometimes “repossessed” from grave-robbers. At other times, they were the ones robbing graves or ancient sacred sites.

Ponies living all the way in that forest were either eccentrics, hermits or outlaws... Papyrus was a bit of each. He would usually try to obtain what he wanted honestly or at least subtly, but when that wasn’t an option he had no qualms about resorting to more brutal solutions. Brutality was often left to Nuage in those cases.

“Where are we going ?” she asked.

“Not far. Everything I need is in Equestria. We will certainly need to push a few ponies out of our way, unfortunately. I will-” The unicorn was interrupted by a coughing fit that seemed to last forever. Nuage rushed to him and patted him on the back, but that was mostly a symbolic gesture. Papyrus’ breathing eventually settled down. “I will succeed,” he said in a raspy voice, “at any cost and you will help me.”

“Of course, master.”

“Desperate times call for desperate measures...” He smiled at her. “It’s good to know I can count on you, Nuage.”

The gryphon bowed her head. “I will never go back on my pledge, master. I will always serve you.”

Papyrus nodded and ambled out of the room, still coughing slightly at times while Nuage watched him sadly.

“Jusqu'à la mort,” she whispered to herself.