From the ashes

2 hours past dawn a lone griffon could be found sitting on a well camouflaged tower overlooking hayville.

‘Well this is boring’ thought Mieldar ‘I mean common how could these lame ponies even earn a watch?’ she wondered not for the first time. As she looked below ruffling her grayish yellow plumage ‘they don’t even fight, not to mention that they don’t even eat meat.’ She began reminiscing about the vegetable swill the ponies ate, with a shiver she went back on topic ‘ok stop imagining things and watch the lame ponies.’ She watched carefully as the ponies inside the town followed their normal daily routines for a few more hours. She also watched as the common duo of pony filly’s entering town from the forest. ‘Now I know it’s going to get real lame how those two are able to stir up the towns foals I know not but, ancestors ashes they are lame.’

A few hours later ‘well that’s interesting what are those foals doing!?, never seen em play a game like that! Looks like their trying to kill the rabbit…’ the thin griffon started chortling at her own joke. When the rabbit escaped a bit later she resumed her board watch keeping an eye on the ponies, after eating her swift meal of broiled fish and squirrel chunks. ‘Damn, it’s soo boring watching these ponies.’

It was about 3 hours since the rabbit incident and Mieldar could barely keep her eyes open having watched the activities of the ponies below was slowly grinding away at her will to stay up, Slowly she lowered her face then in a flash she jerked awake.

Just below her was one of the stupid ponies. As she watched it the ponies head moved slowly as if to track something off in the distance with a serious expression. ‘What the hell I should’ve noticed that pony before it got even this close, how did it do that?’ she continued watching the small leaf-green unicorn below, she noticed the attitude of detached watchfulness that she’s never seen before on a pony. ‘That’s strange aren’t ponies supposed to be more expressive? Anyway this one’s too close, need to take it down before it can get information back to the other ones.’ And with that she charged down at the pony on the ground and gave a sharp war cry as she neared her target.

having only seconds to decide on how best to dodge the charging griffon ultimately it decided non-lethal melee until it had more control over its magic, the creature quickly ducked and rolled out of the griffons trajectory, as the creature got to its feat it quickly jumped in and gently tapped the griffon right between the ridges snugly in the middle of the wings causing both of the griffons wings to fall limp. The griffon then twirled around eyes wide looking at the now terrifying pony before it ‘hmm unlike the others I’ve met before in my travels this one at least shows some kind of intelligence maybe it speaks? If it does I’ll have a chance to figure out more information’ the creature thought within milliseconds as it eyed the tawny golden feathered griffon before it gauging  how much It could do and what moves would leave it disabled but ultimately not kill it.

Mean while the griffon looked at the pony in front of her in disbelief ’20 second in and already my wings are disabled how the hell does a pony get so skilled?... ’ “How do I defeat this unicorn if I can’t even fly” she muttered under her breath while backing up trying to get some distance from the cold, emotionless pony in front of her.

‘It spoke?!!’ the creature blanched mentally only giving away its emotion in that it flicked an ear to listen in on the birds speaking. ‘Hmm so that’s the form of pony I’ve taken? Ok I’ve established that it can speak and... I’m not gonna try that just yet. Ok I understand the language so I guess now as good a time as any’ the creature cocked its head to the side and swished its new equine tail softly from side to side looking at the griffon with a disarming smile “Hello.” It said in a warm voice.

The griffon gawked ‘how can this pony be so calm after nearly being eviscerated? What’s it trying to do? Calm me?’ “Wh-wh-who the buck art thou?” she asked timidly.

The creature chuckled somewhat then answered “I’m Sylvack, and you are? “ Then Sylvack asked calmly.

“Mieldar.” The griffon responded in kind. “Sylvack? That’s a strange name for a pony!”

“I guess you could say that tho what are you doing here?” the creature gave her a quizzical smile, as the two started circling each other.

“I could’ve asked thee the same. Shouldest thou be in the town playing with the other lame ponies?” her confidence built back up she pulls her beak back into a slight smirk. ‘Maybe if I move fast enough I could take this pony out.’ With that thought she pulls back to lung.

However what she wasn’t expecting was the unicorn in front of her to instantly break into full gallop instantly straight towards her effectively knocking her down without warning and completely cutting off her attack.

“That was too easy” commented Sylvack as the griffon was mercilessly poked in her more vulnerable regions causing her to remain on the ground howling in laughter. “Try harder, but I’ll tell you why I’m not in the town talking to the ponies its quite simple really. I’m not from their and before you tried to… play with me I was studying them trying to gauge how best to introduce myself to them.”

After a few moments Sylvack let up the assault on her but still held a defensive stance watching her carefully knowing full well that the griffon was the aggressor. Mieldar slowly got back up then gave a bale full stare at the somewhat grinning unicorn before her. “If you’re not from their then where?” The griffon asked incredulously.

“if you wish to know so much then I’ll tell you, but only on one condition”

“And that is” the griffon tapped her talons on the ground in brash annoyance.

“Hit me” Sylvack declared calmly “hit me at least once and I’ll tell you where I came from” and with that he grinned and dodged as Mieldar not wasting any time took a swift swipe at his face only to trip as Sylvack ducked and lifted underneath the back of Mieldar’s legs unbalancing and knocking her over, then just as quickly jumped out of the way as the disgruntled griffon tried to swipe him with her back claws, and easily dodging out of the way.

“you’re going to have to be more swift than that if you’re going to hit this one” he poked at the fuming griffon who then proceeded to throw a fury of swipes which he dodged with ease while backing into a tree which he then touched off of doing a flip over the surprised griffons head then proceeded to land then take a swift swiping kick knocking the unprepared griffon off her feet.

“RAAAAAAAA-” her war cry coming loud and strong served to only inform the pony she was after to her presence “I shall catch thee be it the last thing I do!” with that she quickly stood up and charged the infuriating pony standing before her with a grin plastered to its face.

Ducking another swipe the forest green unicorn spoke up “it just might be the last thing you do, truth be told I still have plenty of energy left… maybe if you calmed down you’d figure out how to hit me I’m actually being easy on you.” At that the griffon guffawed and did a double take at the pony’s words.

“I don’t believe you, there is no way thou couldst keep dodging me like that without tiring.”

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-Hours later-

“b-b-but how” the griffon was dumbfounded ‘how did this welp of a pony best me, I’m the fastest griffon in the area’

“Simple you didn’t figure out the pattern I gave you, all you needed to do was figure it out then strike me when I was left vulnerable” the pony laughed, tail swishing back and forth in amusement ‘this is always fun maybe she could be an ally but first I need to convince her to hit me then I’ll tell her otherwise I’ll find another, joining the town can wait.’ He gazed over at the tired griffon “Well go ahead and try a few more times, maybe you can hit me if you try a little harder.”

Mieldar not needing any goading immediately realizes what she’s been doing wrong and immediately realizes what she needs to do to end this quickly. She quickly starts by throwing a set of three swipes and an upper-cut, then she promptly bites upward trying to catch the pony jumping over her head then kicks off the ground as Xaldon lands to do a sweeping kick then does a back flip to escape a hind claw swipe that never comes. Instead Mieldar jumps forward then uses the tree as a spring board to increase the speed of her attack as she kicks off and does a flying tackle to knock the still landing unicorn sending them both flying across the ground and finally landing on a soft patch of grass leaving a few crimson stains as they both separated.

The unicorn was the first to speak up “it’s been a long time since I’ve ever been hit you must be quite the griffon! Most I’ve met have either been unrequited dumb bruits or were underneath someone else’s claws, but I digress you’ve finally managed to hit me there for I shall keep up my part of the bargain and tell you where I came from plus a few extra tid-bits.” He smiled unphased by the smell of blood and the red flowing gashes on his flanks. “the question is where should I begin for I see you have many a question yes?”

The griffon was dumbfounded “what?!!” her eye twitched “just like that?” the unicorn nodded “ok then I guess I shall start with where thou comest from.” She looked at him as if expecting him to try and weasel his way out of the bargain.

Instead his wounds healed within seconds of a greenish glow starting at his horn completely encompassing the body then he responded in a soft but steady voice. “What I say here stays between us and goes no further unless I allow it, is that understood?” the griffon shook her head in agreement. Not noticing the briefest of flashes as the unicorn’s eye’s brightened a little “Then the bind is made deviation from this agreement shall result in the offender being unable to articulate sensible actions, sorry” he said the last softly “I wish I could trust you with such information freely but anyway I’ll tell you now. I came from a place known as Telanya, it was … a beautiful place. I can tell you all about it later what else do you wish to know?” he looked at her expectantly.

“Ok tell me who thou art truly and why thou hast cometh here, also how didst thee sneak up underneath mine tower like that?” she asked these questions perplexed but now fully expecting the truth from this creature.

He laughed at the end of her questions “sneak up on you? Really I didn’t notice you up there till you tried to pounce on me.” He prodded. She just rolled her eyes eliciting a chuckle from the green pony “I am Sylvack of the wind-swept, my purpose for coming to this world is so I could start a new life and begin anew.” He looked at the griffon and eyed her carefully then spoke reassuringly “As for now I shall remain within this unicorn form it seems to allow a little bit more control over my magic than my previous form,  Tho if you wish to see it all you need to do is ask.” He gave a wistful smile after that.

“Ok now thou art surly jesting, how can thee be anything but a pony?  It is … impossible!” she gave him a scalding look then took a swipe at his face for good measure.

He laughed at her antics “you ‘honestly ’think I’m joking?”

She gave no response and swiped at him again. a swipe which he barely dodged.

“Wow and I thought you were just dense, this is just retarded. Anyway do you want to know anything else or are you finished with your simple ‘one-sided’ questions?” he turned and began to walk to the edge of the clearing in a faux haughty gait.

“Wait I still have questions for you glue-stick.” Mieldar blundered angrily. Sylvack spun around and landed on his haunches waiting patiently as if to say ‘well I’m waiting’. “Ok if thou art not a unicorn then what art thou?, And secondly what doest thou know about the ponies in yonder town?” her tail flicked impatiently.

“to answer your second question they are led by a counsel of sorts and they seem to be very relaxed about rules considering how peaceful real ponies are, to answer the first my race is extinct so technically you could call me a dragon since that is what my true form looks like in essence but truth be told I no longer remember what we called ourselves it has been a long time since I left around two thousand millenia ago”.

She balked "Tis not possible that thou art that ancient!" she points a claw at herself. "What do you take me for? a fool!?"

"No. No I do not" the unicorn returned calmly "However I do speak truth my age tho is of no importance all it speaks of is just greater intelligence."

Mieldar huffed in acceptance of the explanation "Fine then, but still thou said thin form was similar to that of a dragon... i would like to see for myself if thou wouldst accept and reveal it to me."

He eyed the griffon carefully “Are you sure you wish to see?”

“YES” she returned shortly.

He sighed “Ok but don’t say I didn’t warn you!” he returned calmly, then he started glowing then in a flash he broke the spell holding his changed from reverting him back to his original state.

The griffon did a double take at the creature standing before her then promptly fell over onto her back crying her eyes out in laughter. The creature looking at her sighed in contempt. The griffon after being allowed a few moments to compose herself spoke “Hah thou thought thou wouldst scare me with that puny form? Oh this is rich thou art also a paw shorter than I too.” Then without warning she was lifted into the air by an invisible force “WHAT!!?” was all she could say before she was dropped back down disgracefully.

The creature releasing its telekinetic grip on the griffon lowered its arm and lifted an eyebrow towards the still shocked chick “I should have warned you, in this form I have much more power in magic, Not to mention that my magic is also superior to that of the ponies, not that it matters really. So I do have a question for you”

“What dost thou ask?”  She answered politely having been roundly trumped.

“If you are willing I could train you beyond the bounds of your current mortal abilities. It’s your decision, what do you think? You’ve already seen what I can do even in an unfamiliar body but still the choice is ultimately yours…, you have a week to decide.”  With that he turned to leave but not before answering her unvoiced question “if you wish to find me at any time I’ll be watching over this town from the broken ridges to the east of this position” with that said he disappeared into the underbrush like a ghost on mid-summers eve.

Mieldar stood there gawking for a few minutes then realized that her shift was almost up and she’d have to get back on the watch or it wouldn’t look good for her and she’d have to pick-up a ‘shivers’ wing mate. And with similar thoughts floating throughout her head she flew back up to her position on the watch tower watching the ponies below half heartedly due to the past hours of fighting and revelation. ‘wonder what he could teach me or what he knows?, hope the trainings quick. Hmm you know what I don’t care what my old man says that half pint definitely knows how to fight maybe nah but I will be a lot stronger than the rest of these pipsqueaks by the end of the training… you know what buck it I’m taking his deal next watch when I get the chance.’

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-3 days post-altercation… at sunset-

“Hay lulu!”

“Yes tia” Luna yawned looking at her sister sleepily as she prepared to raise the moon.

Celestia looked over Luna with a soft but worried smile “have you noticed anything strange over the past few days?” she said a little worriedly.

“Other than that magical rabbit” she started “I hath not noticed anything much, other than the constant watch the griffons are giving us, nothing new” she sighed again now raising the moon the sun having fully set.

“Ok” Celestia spoke quickly ‘I know I shouldn’t be worrying but something is bothering me it feels like were being watched by something …’

just then there was a crunching sound just to the east of the plain the two pony sisters were resting in, and out from the shadows of the trees stepped a creature they had never seen in all their years of living in this valley they so lovingly tended, on a world Celestia had spent several millennia creating and propagating life allowing the world to become the beauty its become today with the exception of the new violent creatures that have been strangely showing up over the past few hundred years. Now this new creature walks calmly into the clearing both alicorns rested in. not showing even a smidgen of emotion to either of the sisters. Celestia and Luna both respond by waking up immediately and jerking out of habit to face the direction of the strange visitor so as to not allow it any chance to catch them by surprise, they were prepared for combat within seconds that is if the diminutive pony heighted green and black scaled creature was even inclined to fight them.

As the draconian slowed to stop twenty-meters from the sisters it looked at them and laughed in a calm friendly manner. ‘Surely they wish not to fight’ externally “hello I am sorry if I interrupted your sleep how are you?” Sylvack asked, after watching their actions and schedules over the past few days he decided that just after sunset would be the best time to greet them also considering that he really didn’t want his presence widely known throughout the region meant he needed to keep a low profile and only communicate with those of interest, of course all of this running through his mind while he continued speaking in a jovial and calm tone “you two look quite adorable in those combat positions but seriously I have no quarrel with you, however I only wish to speak with you before going to sleep tonight. Would that be an acceptable proposition?” he looked at them then closed his eyes and breathed for a moment letting the two before him relax from their battle stances.

“What is it then that thou dost wisheth to speak of? Who art thou,? And art thou the presence we have felt watching my sister and I these past three days?” she eyed the draconian carefully as if to say ‘I dare you to try and lie to me’.

‘No need to lie, the only thing I won’t tell them is that I’ll still be watching them afterward otherwise I will divulge only what they ask, I only ask the same from them’ with that thought shooting through his head within only the space of a millisecond he nodded and began “you two are so cute when you try and be serious, anyway to answer your first question I wish to share information that both of our parties could benefit from also to let you know that I wish to hopefully be your friend and ally, second I am Sylvack as of now I am a … watcher, and third … yes I have been the one following you recently I was making sure of a few things.” He nodded silently to himself. “Now I wish to know your names I already know you are the harbingers of both the dawn and the night. But I wish to know where did the violent creatures come from I know for sure that you didn’t create them it would be completely against your wills. And before you ask I did visit you two personally while you were playing in the fields with the other foals I came in the form of that rabbit you all cuddled so much I was able to thoroughly scan the magical signatures of you and those mortal friends of yours.” The creature then sat down signaling the end of his speaking.

Luna answered before her older sister could even formulate her response “I am Luna and this is mine sister Celestia. We know not where such malevolent creatures came from.” Luna looked pointedly at her peeved sister whome assented to the truthfulness of the statement with a noncommittal grunt.

“Wait you scanned us? How? And why?” Celestia asked with caution to her interest.

The Sylvack laughed then decided rather than answer vocally he’d just show them the results. He started glowing softly then his wings began to retract and his arms and legs began to become thinner as his midsection grew his head and neck thickened as a green-yellow flecked mane started growing in place of his spines and finally a large emerald horn grew out of his forehead, he finished his transformation within seconds and came out a dark forest-green unicorn with a flowing mane that was a little bit brighter than his coat with bright yellow highlights. He spoke while the sisters were still stunned from his performance.“Of course I would need a disguise if I were to even hope to become a part of your community but I wanted to know you two better before I even tried that avenue also the scanning was so I didn’t get any nasty surprises like say if I entered town and found out you weren’t really friendly.” the unicorn sighed then spoke again in swift calming tones “I do truly wish to be your ally but also I came for another reason I wish to offer my services as a guardian in case there are dangers that have yet to reveal themselves. Not to mention that you are part of a select few I will truly try and make an acquaintance with.” he smiled as the sisters regained their composure.

The white alicorn spoke quickly “it thou art truly speaking these things, then art thou sure about thin choice? If thou art then I accept your assistance but we wish that thou wouldst play with us often but we should speak of this at some latter time I wish to rest for Luna’s night, Luna art thou tired as well?”… ‘hnzzzzzzzzzzzz’ celestia sighed then looked at the unicorn standing before her “ok before thou dost leave I wish to know how to contact thee.” She said in a commanding tone that brooked no dissention.

The unicorn blinked than gave a small chuckle “if you wish to communicate then…” with a gesture he summoned his magic to gather some dust from the ground then solidified it into two separate stone coins each the size of a hoof. The tablets as Celestia realized were made from lunar dust “take one of these and I’ll be just a word away.” With that he nodded and turned to reenter the brush he came from but stopped at the entrance and turned to face the child “the  word is 'Exsto'” the runes started glowing a pale yellow light and instantly a image of Xaldons true form along with a copy of herself were shot from both runes her copy from the rune held in the unicorns magic and the draconian image from the one Celestia was holding. The sudden appearance of these two images caused her to flinch back a few steps almost whinnying in fear eyes widened. “Sorry I do guess the magic used here is a little bit more advanced than what your used to, anyway as I said before I am only a call away ” and with that the runes stopped glowing along with the disappearing images, as he turned and exited through the brush leaving a somewhat confused but content Celestia behind.

‘Exsto… Exsto hmmm how much does he know’ she shook her head trying to clear her thoughts before laying down and trying to sleep ‘maybe I can ask him to teach me some at a later time’ and then drifted off to sleep after a few moments cuddling right next to her sister.

Unbeknownst to her a pair of pale yellow reptillian eyes was watching her. ‘One of these days I and my brothers will rise and then you shall know who truly rules this world.’ The mismatched patchwork creature smiled malevolently. Its one tooth jutting out from yellowed teeth ‘we’ll give you a few hundred years to make your dull peace before we really crank up the chaos.’