Buying Time

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".