The Legacy of Little Dipper

The bright afternoon sun bares down on the citizens of Saddle Arabia. Bells echo in the streets. Crowds gather at food stands and on the roadsides. The crisp smell of fresh apples fill the nippy autumn air. Mares and stallions, fillies and colts, ponies of all races pour into the guarded walls of the town. Many with apple sweets of all kinds. What ponies can't use magic, improvise. The colts play games such as hopscotch or ring toss. The fillies get face paint, many wanted their side painted to look like a cutie mark.

Are you wondering why all these ponies are so happy? Today is the day of the Apple Parade, where the fair, young maidens, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna ride all dressed up on a float next to their mother and father, the rulers of Saddle Arabia. Plus, today is the legendary "Devine Apple Day", where the town celebrates the sweets that apples make. Nothing but apple sweets are eaten on this day.

Suddenly, trumpets start blasting, drums start beating, the crowd starts roaring from down the street. Many shove and pull to turn their heads. A golden carriage rolls slowly down the road. Smiles fall upon the faces of all the different types of ponies. Pegasi fly up high to get a sky view. Unicorns and earth ponies look down from balconies and shower the royals with happiness and smiles. Laughter and cheering rings through the town. As the rulers and princesses pass, many royal guards are smiling and waving, just like their superiors. Every kind of flower, whether its roses, tulips, lillies, etc., is being gently thrown to the ravishing family. The radiant younger princess, Luna, gets up from her post, and flies by the ponies, doing tricks in the air, catching flowers. Celestia even moves to join her in aerial acrobatics. Smiling, their father takes a bite out of a apple fritter, then lays it back down on the plate next to him.

When the float comes to a halt, the mother gets up and walks onto a giant red stage with velvet curtains hanging behind her. The subjects circle around the stage, fighting to be the closest pony there. The mother raises her hoof, her golden armor shining in her glorious sun, silencing the crowd. Her husband stands to her left, and her children to her right.

"Dearest ladies and gentlecolts," she booms. Her voice reflects off the tall buildings. "another wonderful year has dawned upon us. No war, no rivalry. Just pure happiness, love, and our undying dreams. I am proud to say that another year means more success. We have had our share of troubles and hardships, but we still pulled through. No thing, pony, or any being will ever take our joy from us. Not even death. Happiness will always live within our hearts, and our future family with always carry on our legacy. Dreaming is how the strong survive, dearest subjects, dreaming is how everypony is motivated."

While the mother was giving her speech, nopony saw the white and gray griffon climbing the wall above the stage. Why was the griffon climbing, you may wonder. Bandages covered the soft, gray feathers of it's wings. In a fight for food, the griffon had fallen from atop a roof, smashing into the ground, shattering the bones within its wings. The griffon is also scaling the wall to simply listen. The griffon had no respect for the mother. She thought she favored the ponies more than the griffons, since more griffons were homeless than ponies. But she still loved listening to the sweet and inspiring speeches given by the ruler, or tyrant, as the griffon always heard. She grips the brick wall tightly with her claws, and digs her clawed feet into the roof. She turns, and looks down at the tiny specks that are the rulers.

"Dreams are sweet. Dreaming makes you feel sweet, it makes you feel special. As does these wonderful Apple sweets. A couple generations ago, our ancestors brought these fruits over from the seas. They have been a delicious sensation to us ever since. So, why not celebrate this feeling? Today, we dine on apple sweets. Does everypony have something to bite?" she asks. Ponies hold up their foods, everything thing from pieces of pie to fritters to caramel apples. She smiles at them all, and looks at her husband. He takes over. Leaning in to whisper into Celestia and Luna's ears, he asks quietly, "Have something dearies?" They nod and use their magic to show him a couple fritters. She smiles at them, then turns his head to his subjects. His eyes, armor, and crown shine with grace as he counts down from five.

"Five....four....three....two...." A silence falls over Saddle Arabia. The ponies hold their breath. "ONE!" The father, mother, Celestia, Luna, and the subjects bite into their foods. A loud crunch come from the crispy foods, and the sound of chewing is sent through the air. The griffon closes her eyes and smiles slowly. She listens to the sound of chewing and crunching. She plays it over and over in her mind. "What a wondrous life they must have," she whispers to herself. "They must be rich to afford the sweets and pastries." Suddenly the griffon's eyes shoot open. Her claws....they were....SLIPPING. She forced her feet into scratch the roof, her claws burying deep into the paint. Yet her claws on her hands were pulling away from the bricks. She was slipping. And she was going to fall if she didn't hurry.

"I wish I had my wings," she told herself nervously. They ached every time she was about to get hurt. And they were aching extremely now. She lost her footing, and with a slip, she falls several feet to the small stage below, it growing as she came nearer.

SMACK! SNAP! CRASH!

The stage brakes as she smacks it. A striking pain is sent through her stomach and head. Everything she looks at has several twins. She can't even grip the stage to get up. Everyone is gasping and some screaming. Her vision finally clears. She very slowly gets up, her wings burning in pain. She wants to cry, but can't. She'd look like an even bigger fool than she did now, especially in front of the royals. But the royals weren't focusing on her. No, they all were surrounding the mother, who was lying on the stage, not moving a muscle. Everypony suddenly turns chaotic.

"She killed our Queen!" one pony says.

"No! She choked her!" another shouts. The once happy crowd turns into a mad mob. They walk toward the griffon, accusing her of murder and yelling and screaming. Still slightly dizzy and shocked from this unfortunate turn, the griffon falls backward and onto her hind end. She scurries off the stage, with mixed feelings. She was slightly happy she killed the tyrant. Yet angry, scared, sad. She ran all the way out of town, running, running, running, until she had to finally stop to breathe. She looked back at the once happy town that was now screaming with angry citizens, and collaspes on the tall grass. She won't be noticeable there. Maybe if she just laid there long enough, everypony would just slip away, and disappear. Then she'd never wake up. It would just be an endless dream.

So there, hidden in the grass, the griffon slept. But not so well. She dreamed of shackles and rattling chains. She saw herself getting slain for treason. A horrible nightmare, that maybe would turn endless. A grave mistake is what the griffon made. And this time, she couldn't fix it.