The night was freezing, as was to be expected in the deserts of Southern Griffonia. Ulric found this to be much more desirable than the scorching heat of day, for it reminded him of his home in the North. He had come to attend a meeting with the other Griffonian leaders, and he was terribly late. Of course they would want me to attend, he mused to himself. I'm the only one who could even fathom the idea of getting their claws dirty! And so it was, as he hurried through the dark alleys of sandstone walls and wooden pillars. Ulric Goldfeather, a soldier from Windrun, had been called to a meeting with kings, queens, and lords.
After a good few minutes of looking around, it was quite obvious that he was lost. He had been told to look for a red mark on the doorframe, but he couldn't find it. Perhaps a quick flyby would help, he thought. A few flaps of his wings, which were large and muscular (even for a Griffon), and he was up in the air. He began to glide around the city, searching for the mark he was supposed to find. "This is what happens when you aren't provided with a proper route," he grumbled in frustration. He soon began to calm himself by calling upon some memories.
The first one was how he had become so famous; the Battle of Cloudtree. He had been arriving to defend the city's walls when a group of wyrms-- flightless dragons-- began clawing their way up the walls. They began decimating the unlucky guards with blasts of dragonfire, and then he came up the walls, armed with a sword and shield. He started yelling out in a language he did not understand, and out of his mouth came fire. The griffons of Cloudtree won that day, and Ulric was now known by a new name; Dreki, which being interpreted to Equestrian, is "dragon".
The soldier was stirred from his thoughts as he saw the mark he was looking for. He swooped down to the house and knocked on the door. Just as soon as he did so, a view-port swung open. "Who goes there?", called out a griffon behind the door. Slightly annoyed, he replied indignantly, "It's me, Ulric! Open the damned door, for the love of Otec!". The guard's eyes widened in surprise, and the door swung open. He didn't want to face the wrath of someone like Ulric, certainly. As he walked in, the other guests glared at him and he was met by the penetrating stare of the leader: the Seer.
"You're late. If we plan to find Roac and defeat Equestria, this cannot happen again. Do I make myself clear?" If it were any other, Ulric would have flown into rage and surgically altered their face. But the Seer was not a simple mortal- she was something else. Something more sinister, and it could told simply by being in a room with her. So, as one might imagine, he nodded. Humbly.
"Good. Now, let's continue with the meeting."
Chapter 1: It's a Wonderful Life
Roac awoke quite peacefully on that morning. The nightmares that normally haunted his dreaming had left him alone, giving him a much-deserved night's rest. As he started to wipe the sleep out of his eyes, he took in the scene before him. The sun filtered through the windows of the apartment bedroom he had slept in. He was in... Gallopston. Gallopston; a small frontier town in Equestria, known for it's relative peace and small-town charm. It reminded him of Appleoosa, but not quite as sandy or hot.
He looked over to see a mare in his bed. She had a scarlet mane and tail and a coat colored like cream. Her coat also sported stripes as a tiger's, and her eyes were golden with vertical slit pupils, also like a cat. Zu'urach was her name-- it meant "flower"--, but the foals who she spent so much time with simply called her Striper. Roac was not surprised to see her next to him, as he had taken her for a wife many years ago. She hadn't aged a year since the day he had met her...
~~~~~~
In the southern part of Griffonia, in the city of Isalhem, Roac had gone to a traveling carnival with his father-- adopted, mind you. Anyways, they had taken a seat in one of the private booths, and began to watch. After several cheap "magic tricks" and disappointing work by clowns, they brought out their "freak show". Out of the curtains was drag ged a cage that, apparently, held a simple white tigress-- beautiful, but not that interesting. But, right as the spectators were about to leave, the tigress turned into a beautiful mare. The audience was shocked, and began throwing stones and food at her, shouting out names like "devil" and "monster". All except for Roac.
After the show was over, he snuck into the holding pens of the carnival, desperate to meet the tiger-mare he had been so enraptured by. And he found her, sitting by her lonesome with a depressed expression in her face.
"H-hello?.." he whispered to her. Gaining her attention, she seemed scared at first, and replied in broken Saddle Arabian,
"Please leave me alone..."
"I'm not here to hurt you... what's your name?"
"I don't have one... who are you, griffon?"
"My name is Roac... Roac Ironclaw."
"... hello Roac..."
The griffon looked around. The ringleader had treated the performers horribly, practically like slaves. "Do... do you want me to take you away from here?", he asked with a quiet nervousness. She nodded earnestly in reply, desperate to escape her plight. So Roac went and bought her from her owner the next day, and he set her free. The tigress stayed with him anyways, partially out of gratitude and partially out of an interest in him that she could never explain. And so they were wed, and Roac took to calling her Flower, out of her exceptional beauty.
~~~~~~
But that was years ago. They were still happily together, and they both taught each other a great many things. Striper began to speak the languages of Equestria and Griffonia more fluently, and she taught Roac the language of the animals; a silent, expressive language of looks and gestures. And while Roac changed with the scars of many battles, and the loss of his wings, she never changed. She was always as beautiful as ever, and she always remained with Roac, even when he fled to Equestria.
As his companion began to stir, Roac went about on his daily business. Today was a vacation day-- Hearth's Warming was in just a week, and the land was covered with snow, while the town was covered in festive ornaments. The two of them ate eggs, just like they have for they past 4 years-- they would eat fish, but eating meat is "socially unacceptable" in Equestria. And so they ate, while Roac checked the newspaper. To the uneducated listener, they would have appeared to be ignoring each other, but in reality they were carrying a silent conversation, broken by an occasional laugh or smile. And so it was, they spent the entire day enjoying each other in happiness and silence, like a literal "moving picture".
Ulric stepped out of the house after the meeting was over, with a ticket to a boat to Baltimare in his claw. Find and kill *you-know-who**, he had been commanded. And after Ulric had done his job, the griffon's father would join him. *How poetic. But first, he had to deal with the task at claw;
There were spies in Isalhem. Men, working for Equestria. He needed to find them and... silence them.
It was morning by now, and Ulric did not feel tired whatsoever. That odd concoction was doing it's job; he recalled the representatives of Mooscow calling it "coffee".
Ulric slipped into the crowds of the day, pulling his cloak up over his head. Although Isalhem was a diverse city, filled with equal amounts of many different races, the Men would stick out like festering wounds.
Ulric flitted from crowd to crowd, blending perfectly in his new outfit. It was also much more comfortable, as the robes were more attuned towards the extremes of the desert. He spied the first target in the corner of his eye, sitting with some guards. He was well-protected, and Ulric needed to lure him out somehow. But, he was not as subtle as his other allies. He broke from the crowd and drew his sword. The Human saw him, staring at Ulric and his sword with a face of utter panic, and whipped out a schiavona. Ulric picked up his speed and activated the longsword's enchantment, causing it to glow bright blue with energy. As the first guard drew his sword and attacked, Ulric denied him with a quick swipe.
The magical blade cut through the falchion's thick iron blade like a hot knife through butter, rendering the guard defenseless to the next attack. Blood spattered the room as the unlucky griffon was executed with his own sword, and the other guards couldn't seem to abandon the Man fast enough. He dropped his sword and went to his knees, pleading to Ulric, "Please, spare me! I'll give you anything you want! Gold, mares, anything!"
He was deaf to the spy's begging, and cut his cries short with a wet "SHLOCK".
