Woods of green and light creek in a summer breeze

A mare I once knew hides behind a tree, she is dressed in red

My lungs struggle to find breath

the sky's cloud with darkness

A shadow of black

Death

The night, dark and dreadful, stole whatever dream the elderly griffon, Eros, was having. He labored over breath as he looked around the impenetrable abyss. Stillness was all that greeted him. A large oak hung its branches over Eros's bed, grown into the far side of the wall. Day had yet to come, but Eros knew it would only take but a few hours for it to arrive. With nights black still hanging over the sleeping world, there was no need to leave his room quite yet. But it was too early to resume sleep, the day will rise soon, thus sleeping now would only cause him to be more tired when he reemerged from slumber. Besides, one who wakes early to meet the day will be more capable of seeing it through.

Slowly and methodically Eros gathered his clothing and the sheets from his bed pit, placing them folded near his door to be gathered with the rest of his laundry when morning came. Once finished disposing of the laundry, he set to completing his morning routine. After so many years living what is considered a normal life, for the most part, it still astonishes him how his routine has hardly changed since his time in the military. He started by stretching, a feat that took far longer then it had used to. Every muscle needed attention, especially at his age. The last thing anyone wanted was an elderly griffon whaling into the early morning.

After his body felt loose and limber, he set to the first portion of his routine. By the base of his oak were two fifty pound logs, both secured to individual harnesses. Along with his routine, these logs have seen many years of use by Eros, and their exterior showed it. Putting them onto his sides was almost second nature. Every buckle found its proper place, every strap where it needed to be, even the bark settled where the most callus had developed on his body. They felt to him like a morning robe, only not as warm, and the weight barely registered in his mind. Once sufficiently secured to his sides, the casual flight to the ceiling began, a decent two bodies length above the tallest branches. Slowly and steadily he began his laps.

Most mornings, all he focused on while making his laps was what he had to do for the future. Meals that needed to be cooked, mouths that needed feeding, and preparations for rescues needed organizing. But this morning was unlike others. It was rare that he ventured into his past and questioned his place in the present. Was everything he has done for the good of everyone in vain. Had he done enough.

He had gotten to two hundred thirty-seven laps when he heard his door creek, slowly opening to let in an unknown body. With trained silence and speed, Eros dived into the thickest part of the oak, grasping a spear made to look like a branch in his hurried decent. Whoever had the nerve to enter unannounced into his chamber will soon never do it again. Which would have been true, if he did not recognize who had entered. The breath that he hadn't known he was holding was released, and the spear quietly stashed back into the tree.

A small pegasus filly cracked opened the door, but only enough to poke her head into the bedroom. She had a soft floral white coat complimented by a deep sky blue mane that had a single stripe of light cyan, quite cute for a filly. A quilt made of material gathered from every thinkable place was tightly wrapped around the young filly, which she held onto with equal tightness. Her mane was a tangled mess, a clear sign she had recently awoken from slumber.

"G-Grandpa E? are you awake?"

Her words came in a hushed, nervous tone, the kind only a scared child knows how to muster.

"Glade? is that you my dear? Are you ok?" Asked Eros, who had landed quietly back into his bed pit, his logs left in the tree.

"G-Grandpa E, can I come in?"

"Yes, yes my dear, I'm merely laying in my bed, come lie next to me."

Quickly Glade did just that, dragging the quilt along the way. She hopped over the edge of the bed, and bounced once or twice before laying down next to the Griffon, earning a chuckle out of him. She snuggled close to his side, enjoying the warmth of his body, but stopped just a moment before she was fully settled, taking a moment to smell the air.

"Ewwww- Grandpa E, you smell bad."

"Smell bad?! I do not-" He took a sniff of the air, and indeed he smelled strong of sweat from his laps. "Ok maybe I do smell a tad sweaty."

"Where you running in your sleep again, grandpa E?"

"oh yes, I remember running a lot in my sleep. Chasing dragons, battling changelings, escaping the military, and saving little princesses. Like the one right. HERE!"

He began to tickle her side with his wing, sending the filly into a bout of laughter.

"AHAHAHA! Stop it Grandpa, stop!"

"Oh no, not till I have saved the little princess!"

"Please stop AHAHAHA! Please!"

"Are you saved my little princess?"

"Yes, I'm saved, please stop AHAHAAHA!"

Eros stopped his feathery assault, just as he promised.

"Ah yes, now that all the little princesses in the land are saved, we shall have a royal banquet! wouldn't that be lovely?"

Eros proclaimed his plans for food with a fore arm raised in the air, as if it was a challenge to god to defy him. But when an answer didn't come to continue the merriment of the game, he looked down at the little filly. With the tickle assault over, Eros noticed that Glade was on the brink of tears. Something was clearly bothering her, and he was not the griffon who would let that stand.

"Glade? whats wrong?" Eros asked, all his thoughts becoming concern for the young one beside him.

Glade began to openly cry into the griffons side.

"Oh no, shh shh, its ok Glade, Grandpa E is here to help."

He began to consul her, holding her tightly against his side. She in return began to press harder into his side, her tears flowing freely into the griffons feathers. Every time the storm seemed to come to an end, only brought forth a new wave of tears. Through all of it, Eros held her tightly, comforting her as much as he could. Finally, after all the tears were gone, and the sobs had subsided, Eros spoke warmly.

"My child, whats the matter?"

"G-Grandpa E, I h-h-had a bad dream."

"Oh, a bad dream you say? What happened in the dream?"

"I-i-its to scary, I don't want to."

"It's ok my child, I'm here to protect you, with me here, nothing can hurt you."

She was quiet for a minute. Eros patiently waited.

"Do you promise?"

"I promise my dear, let my soul be sealed far away if I lie. Now my child, what happened?"

"I-I-I was in a dark room."

"yes?"

"There were other fillies and colts with me, and I tried to play with them but they all were scared of something up. I looked where they looked and I saw a mare with the best mane I had ever seen!"

"What was it like?"

"It was every color I can think of!"

"So it was a rainbow?"

"Ya it was a rainbow. But there was something wrong with the pony, she was very mad at an orange filly next to me, and yelled at these scary ponies up where she was. They were all white with sticks like lightning. Then they started pushing us toward a floor that moved."

"It moved?"

"Ya, it moved and I thought it was a ride until ponies started running away from where the floor was going..."

"Why where they running?" Eros asked curiously, a sense of recognition in his face. He thought to himself that it sounded a lot like the assemblies the military forced ponies onto. The ones that went to a furnace. He had a feeling he was not going to like where this dream was taking them.

"I dont know where, I got pushed away with the other fillies. but then. but then...."

"What happened my child?"

"I cant, it was too scary!" Glade said, her young voice filled with the most primal of fears.

"Its ok I will protect you from the monsters, I will always protect you."

"I cant!"

Eros held her tight against his side, she began to cry again. He knew without a doubt what happened in the dream. In the military, sometimes you see things you wish you hadn't, things that will never leave you. Eros hoped Glade did not have these phantoms haunting her, but with her situation, you never knew. When she had finally settled down enough for him to talk again, he began softly.

"Have I ever told you of the sky sisters?"

"Snif-Snif- no."

"Would you like me to tell you their story?"

"... yes."

"Once upon a star, a long long time ago, there were two sisters. One bright as day, and the other, beautiful as the night..."

Author's Note

Revision of a previous inferior version that I never really liked.

(I WILL NEVER SHOW! I am a gentleman.)