Author's Note

Those of you who haven't read NaterRang's excellent web-comic, I recommend you do. It's not necessary to enjoy the story, but it puts everything in a better context. You can find the link in the description.

Prologue: Life on the Equestrian Frontier

“There you are. Master of the sky.”

One claw held the binoculars to his eyes while the other worked a pencil, writing notes in a little book.

Yantzen Van Pelt watched the Roc circling in the distance. Whoever had known the griffon from years before would not have recognized him today. While not elderly, he was considered by those of age to be young and by the young to be old.

Once upon a time, he had been one of the most feared soldiers in the Griffonian army. The so-called Crimson Major. That name still struck terror into the hearts of those that heard it and his exploits were still recounted in hushed tones.

But the idealism of his youth had not weathered the reality of life well and he soon grew tired of war. Unexpectedly, he had vanished. Some said he had been captured and imprisoned, some said he was dead. Yet, here he was, living in a tiny cabin on the Equestrian border, observing nature and content for the first time in memory.

“Fourth sighting in two weeks.” He muttered, scribbling this information down. He closed his little book and dropped it into his bag before swinging the entire package onto his shoulder. “Not bad. Not bad at all.”

He gazed at the river that bordered his home, thinking of fishing later. Though he had found his taste for meat had waned, fish was still a nice treat. It was more for the enjoyment of the experience rather than the actual food he probably wouldn't catch. Despite the effort he put into it, he still wasn't much of an angler.

He caught a glimpse of something unusual at the river's edge, gently bobbing in the current and, with a single flap of his wings, he settled down by it. Wrapping a claw around it, he strained to drag it up onto the bank. It was much heavier than it looked, but, now that it was clear of the water, he could see it was an earth pony mare.

She must have been very beautiful, but now her cream-colored coat and rose-tinted mane were a matted mess from the water and blood. All four of her legs were badly broken and, as he pressed his claws along her flank, he could feel the grinding of broken ribs. Both of her eyes had swollen shut and her muzzle appeared to be broken.

“You poor thing. How did you end up all the way out here?” He sat up and looked about for a search party. Somebody had to know who this little pony was. Her family had to be worried. This was somebody's daughter. Actually, she was old enough to be a mother. Yantzen's mind turned, unexpectedly, to her babies. They would be waiting for her to return, wondering where their mommy had gotten to.

He knew that he was exceptionally isolated. That was the reason he had chosen to live out here, in solitude. There were no neighbors and the nearest town, a tiny hamlet where he sold what he grew and purchased what he couldn't grow, was a half-a-day's journey to the west. This mare must have fallen in somewhere upstream and rode the river down. If that was the case, nobody would know where to look for her.

So, it had fallen to him. He couldn't go out and find this mare's family without any knowledge of who she was. He would carry her up to the house, find something to wrap her in, and lay her to rest somewhere where she wouldn't be disturbed.

As he lifted her up, she let out a groan and gave a feeble kick. Yantzen froze, wondering if he had seen what he had actually seen. It wouldn't be the first time something survived more than he expected. He laid her back down where she whimpered and shifted slightly.

“You're alive?!”