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Story 4

Chapter 1: A New Start

By: SleeplessScribe

After a few days in the dweeb- I mean, Fluttershy’s care, my gashes and burns were completely healed up, and my bruises were all but gone. How I managed to even end up so injured in a place so close to Ponyville still eluded me, but I never thought I’d be so glad to have these ponies nearby. After I was fully coherent, they all gathered around to hear the story of what happened. Except for Nova, he wasn’t there for some reason.

I’m normally not afraid of anything, but giving details to the events that led to my story was the last thing I wanted to do. However, I made a promise to share my tale at a decent starting point as an attempt to not only show my thanks, but begin my apology. My last visit here ended in a fit of rage at both my best friend from flight camp and a crazy pony who was just trying to have fun, and while I didn’t feel that way back then, I knew I owed them an apology. Somehow, they managed to convince me to go around to most of the town and give my apologies to them, and for the most part, they we accepting. A few ponies slammed doors in my face, but I really didn’t care if they wanted to be too thickheaded to accept a sincere apology. It was the first time I had been out of that bed since I was freed, but I was immediately sent back to it and forbidden to leave after we had gone through the town.

Certain… events in my life gave me kind of a change of heart. While I still thought a lot of the ponies were lame dweebs, I at least learned to appreciate what they did for me. In time, their kindness finally got to me, and I learned to stop calling them dweebs and got to know their names. Then the day came where I had to tell them my story, and they all huddled around the bed I was in, which I later found out was Fluttershy’s and she had been sleeping on the couch for me.

None of them said a word, leaving me to start. “Alright, I’ve been thinking about it, and there are some things I just can’t tell you, but what I do tell ought to be good enough. Not too long ago, maybe a few weeks before I first ended up in this mess, my dad had been acting strangely. He was doing some digging around our village, and he came upon this weird crystal thing. About a day after he hung in up in our hut, he started changing. We first noticed that his body was darkening, and he was getting a lot bigger. Then he started getting more… abusive. I mean, he was always kind of hard on the daughters and our mom, but he was hitting my mother a whole lot more and roaring at my sisters and me for nothing.”

All jaws dropped when I mentioned the abuse, but I didn’t give them a chance to speak. “Then he started with these clouds. I would find him at our altar to Jäger making those things just by rubbing his claws together. After that, he finally decided to carry out my punishment, and before you ask, no I won’t tell you why I was getting punished. He decided to test his abilities with me, and trapped in that monster. That is, after he beat me within an inch of my life to make sure I wouldn’t resist. I’m sure Fluttershy noticed, but he broke both of my wings and my hind legs in addition to the obvious injuries.”

Given what I had learned about each of the ponies, I would have expected brainy little Twilight to be the one to ask, but it was actually the pole-up-her-butt Rarity that piped up. “Dear, if I may ask, why exactly did he trap you in it? I’m not asking what his reasoning is for using you, but why did he need to cage anyone?”

Twilight and I both spoke at the same time, leading me to believe that Rarity either wasn’t there or wasn’t paying attention. “Because that’s what held those monsters together.”

I gave the smart pony a nod and turned back to Miss Fru Fru. “I’m not sure if you’d call it a spell or a ritual, but whatever it was, it required a sacrifice. Those monsters slowly drained the life out of whatever was used as said sacrifice. That being said, I’m lucky to be alive right now.”

It was again time for the brainiac to start chattering. “Gilda, you said all this started happening when he found a crystal, right? Do you know if he still has it?”

The only way to know for sure would’ve been for them to actually go and see, but there was no way I was going to tell them that. “Probably not. My mother was suspicious of the thing ever since Krieger found it, so once all this was over with, I bet she destroyed it.”

Admitting it now wouldn’t be a problem, but at the time I would have never wanted anyone to hear me say that I thought that farmer pony was… just a little bit cooler than the rest. Regardless, my words did nothing to keep them here as Applesmack… or was it Applejack… as the earth pony with the cowboy hat spoke. “Well then, looks like we’ll have to see for ourselves then, won’t we?”

While they disregarded my warnings about returning, they did agree that only three of them would go. They decided on Twilight, Rarity, and Fluttershy, which were pretty good choices. Dash was way too aggressive and impatient, I didn’t know much about Applejack, and Pinkie Pie… most that know me know I just don’t like her.

I had that crystal destroyed the moment I was able to walk again. The embarrassment of falling under such a possession destroyed me, and my people now feared me more than I would have liked because of what I had done while I was not myself. Not only that, but my youngest daughter had escaped, and while I had no knowledge of her fate, something told me that she was still very much alive, and that needed correction.

After many weeks of recuperation, I finally regained my full range of motion, flying ability, and most importantly, my reflexes. While my knowledge of the land beyond this forest was limited, I did know that there was a small town that bordered the other side of these woods. Against the advice of my people, I chose to make the journey to said town.

Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, I couldn’t say, but I did not even manage to step beyond the walls before I was met with three of the ponies that I owed my life and the lives of my people to. I stood before the two unicorns and one Pegasus, putting as much effort as I could into trying to look the least intimidating as I could. “Ponies, normally I tear the throats of those who enter my land without permission, but you have done my village a great service, and I owe you my gratitude. As chief of this settlement, I speak for all of us when I say ‘thank you for saving our lives’.”

My efforts seemed to have worked, at least to some extent. While the two unicorns seemed unfazed by me, the Pegasus that accompanied them had curled herself into a ball, cowering behind the purple pony. She must have been the leader, as she stepped up and spoke with great confidence without seeming aggressive at the same time. “Good day, chief. My name is Twilight Sparkle, and my friends and I are here to request entry into your home. Gilda has told us that the recent events started occurring after you retrieved some strange crystal, and we would like to see if you still have it.”

At the mention of my daughter, I found that it took even more effort to keep my voice at a reasonable tone. “I had that crystal destroyed, you need not worry. However, do know that you are harboring a criminal whom has been sentenced to death. My little ponies, while I may be a griffin bred for war, I am not unreasonable. I owe you all a tremendous debt, so I can only request that she is delivered to me.”

It was now the white one’s turn to speak. I must admit, though my opinion of these ponies, aside from the royalty of Canterlot, was very low to say the least, this particular pony was quite a sight. She even spoke with regal authority, and I found myself somewhat compelled to respect her. “I am sorry, chief, but we cannot do that. Gilda has done some horrible things in the time that we’ve known her, but handing her over to be killed is the next closest thing to murder, and we shall not be responsible for ending such a young life.”

Our argument continued for quite some time, and I found my patience wearing thin. Just as I began to feel that I could no longer resist slashing the both of them into ribbons, we all fell silent as a small peep interrupted us.

The little Pegasus spoke softly, stuttering as she did, but her words struck me like a sledgehammer. “Um, you can repay us by letting her go. You did say you owed us a debt.”

Many thoughts ran through my head and many memories came back to me. Memories of the pain and torment I had caused, and of how little I cared about how I treated my females in that time. Flashbacks of beatings and angry words, and all of this at once caused me to turn my back on the equines. “She will not be hunted. The girl may go wherever she wishes, but should she ever return to this village, ever return to this forest, she will be killed on sight. Tell her she has until tomorrow morning to leave. My people and I will be at the edge of the forest, looking for her. Should we spot her within the hour, she is ours.”

“He’s… letting me go?” I was almost speechless when Twilight gave me the news.

She gave me a nod, looking out the window that was right near the bed. “Your father said you were free to leave without being hunted. However, we have to get you out by tonight, because he will be waiting for you in the morning. That being said, do you think you’ll be able to fly any time soon?”

After rolling my eyes, I slowly pushed myself out of bed and spread my wings. It was kind of a small space, so I couldn’t open them completely, but it was still enough to get my point across. “I’m completely fine. When can I go?”

Before anyone could respond, I suddenly found myself with a bag at my side with a strap across my chest, and a pair of green eyes in my face. The shy pony motioned to the bag after I cocked a brow at her, picking it up to show me.

“I started thinking about it as soon as we were told you could leave. I figured it might take a while for you to find somewhere to live, so I packed a few days’ worth of food, some spending money in case you need to sleep at an inn, a compass, a canteen, and a very detailed map of Equestria that not only shows you all the major cities, but a bunch of smaller cities and towns as well.”

When she pulled out the map, Twilight looked at it for a moment before turning to her friend. “Fluttershy, that was in my library! When did you get that?”

Her face turned a light pink as she backed away a little. “I went to your library instead of back here. You didn’t seem to mind, so I thought it was alright.”

The purple hoof met its owner’s face and slid down slowly. “That’s because I didn’t even know you were gone. Well, it’s alright, I probably would have given it to our new friend anyway.”

I jumped slightly at her words, raising my brow again. “We’re friends now? Since when?”

Much to my dismay, it was Pinkie who responded as she nearly knocked the unicorn over by hopping on her. “We all decided to make you our friend after you carried out your apologies! That was real swell of you to do, and I must’ve taken a lot of pride swallowing to do that!”

If I had a bottom lip, I probably would have bitten it. Before I knew it, all the ponies were on me, their front legs around me as well as they could be in a massive hug. A part of me felt like pushing them all away, while the rest honestly felt like crying. I think the latter came out on top, but my eyes just started to water a little, and I managed to wipe them before anyone noticed. When I looked out of the window, I noticed the sun was starting to go down, so I nudged Dash a little so they could all get off of me.

I made my way down the stairs in silence, but the fact that none of the ponies were talking actually made things worse for me. Once I opened the door, I thought of taking off without a word, but I couldn’t help but turn around with misty eyes, just to say one thing, “Thank you all. For forgiving me, for befriending me… for saving my life.”

There was nothing I wanted less than to hear their responses and cry in front of them, so I flew off as fast as I could before the tears started falling, though I’m pretty sure they knew I was crying already. Once I was out of the town, I had to stop and rest on a cloud to calm myself down and dry my eyes. After I got it together, I took out the map and looked over it. A few of these places, such as Vanhoover and Las Pegasus, I had already been to a few years ago. It was a time in my life when I was trying to escape my past, which is also the whole reason I enrolled in Junior Speedsters, but no matter where I went, I was either treated like shit and shunned beyond belief, or I was denied entry altogether. One griffin could cover a lot of ground in a year, so I decided to pluck one of my feathers and poke it in the cloud.

Since the insides of clouds are normally saturated with water, the feather was soaked when I pulled it out, and I used it as a quill to mark off places I had already been in my year of traveling. After I was done, I found that quite a few areas between Canterlot and Equestria’s west coast were out of the running. Holy crap, I did a lot of traveling.

There was good news, and that very fact gave me a little hope. Most of the areas left were on the western side of this country, and the bulk of the griffin population actually lived on a continent that was west of Equestria, and so it was quite possible that trade between the two places gave the ponies of these cities a bit more tolerance for my species. In that year I had mentioned, I found that big cities really weren’t my thing, so I scanned the smaller locations. I found one in a location I really liked; there were two large areas labeled The Crystal Empire and the Crystal Mountains. Right in between all these things was Meadowbrook, and it looked perfect. It wasn’t that large, and the only thing between in and the empire itself were plains and a few high hills or low mountains, which probably meant it was a pretty wealthy city. Not that I was money hungry or anything, I just didn’t want to end up in a poor town where starting a new life would be more difficult than preening wings with a broken beak. That did mean it was more close to the center of Equestria as opposed to the east, but it was still eastern enough for me to consider it relevant.

The map was also misleading, Equestria was a lot smaller than it looked as well. The Crystal Empire was slightly northeast of Canterlot, which was northeast of Ponyville. It didn’t take me long to get to the massive city, and I immediately made my way further north, following a road that led right into the mountains. I did a fly-over to see what it looked like, and it wasn’t that different from Ponyville aside from its size, and the fact that it was surrounded by a stone wall. I also noticed that there were a lot of stone roads as opposed to dirt, but overall it still seemed like a very green, natural city. It was strange how… warm and green it was despite being so far up north, but the Crystal Empire was just as Springy.  The wall actually came out of the foot of the mountains and formed a hexagram around the city with two sides that met with a large gate, and quite a few buildings were actually build into the mountain. When I returned to the front, I saw that the gates to the city were closed, and I really didn’t want to go through the hassle of having someone open them for me.

Instead, I found a nice cloud to sleep on for the rest of the night, and in the morning I decided I would give this city a shot and see how I liked it. I found myself smiling as I drifted off to sleep, incredibly eager to start my new life.