"Jack was a friend to us all, a griffon we could go to if we needed a warm bed or something in our stomachs. The griffon who had no family but our entire village considered to be our uncle..." Droned on the beige colored pony to the mixed crowd of differing species in front of him, all of whom were sniffling as they all looked at the dead griffon in the casket, while the sun baked us all alive. My only question is where'd the griffon get that name, as my taloned hands clicked against the handle of my shovel as I stood off to the side, waiting for the multiple peop--err pon-- what the hell do you call a crowd of griffons, ponies and thestrals? Oh who cares, either way I had to wait for an hour before I could finally start lowering his body into the ground.
It wasn't that I hated this Jack guy, or that I'm indifferent to death. I just accepted death as a part of life and I have absolutely no idea who this Jack dude was on account of the fact I only recently started having somewhat of a life in the village by taking on the job of Groundskeeper/ Grave digger. It was kind of nice to see strangers sad over a corpse though, reminded a person that there truly is love and whatnot out there, regardless of past experiences. Nevermind the fact I know for a fact half these people weren't related to him, yet they still came out here in a hundred degree plus weather, clad in suits and all to pay their respects, sweat clearly visible through some of their outfits.
Why couldn't I have something like that?
Shrugging to myself I watched with feigned interest as another pony walked up to stand behind the podium, another speech to go. Then another, and another and so on and so forth, all the while everybody was sweating to death practically. Even me, the one griffon who wasn't wearing anything other than a baseball cap, was sweating.
About an hour later, after somebody fainted from a heat stroke or whatever you call it, they decided to get onto the actual burying. At this I stepped forward and did my job, the crying renewed as I lowered the coffin into its grave, flowers and all.
Once it hit the bottom I picked up my shovel and walked over a few steps to the pile of dirt beside me and started shoveling it in, a few members of the crowd wandering off as the pile got smaller and smaller and the grave grew fuller. A pony or two asked if they could help and I gestured to the shed in the distance and told them they could grab a few shovels if they wanted to help.
A minute later I had four helpers shoveling it all in, their faces sad and long at burying their friend. Four minutes later the pile of dirt was gone and a majority of the crowd left as I tidied up the grave a little bit. Ten minutes later and all but two or three had left, me not leaving until they did, so I stood in the shade of one of the trees.
As they left I did too, satisfied with my weekly outing to interact somewhat with people, ponies, griffons whatever you use for the plural of them all. Spreading my wings I flew up and away from the graveyard and over the crowd that was walking below me, past the town that was on the border between the Griffon Empire and Equestria, full of towers that griffons used for roosts and the cottages that ponies liked for some reason.
I flew up and over all that idly waving to a pegasus who was racing a griffon, who waved back via his tail, and headed towards the mountains, a clear winding road below me. The wind flew in my face as I went against the wind current and headed to a manor that was set at the base of one of the mountains.
It was far from humble, with its 10,000 sq. ft. area, twenty surrounding acres and two stories. Not to mention the fountain in the front yard and the naturally occurring garden that I occasionally landscape, not that I really needed to,nobody comes up this way. Well besides the movers I hired a couple years ago, and the various engineers and whatnot to keep my house decent from a few rogue storms over the years.
I ignored all that and flew down to the front door and opened it, not needing to lock it because again, nobody comes up here. Walking into my house I was greeted again by my magnificent red rug, and the dozens of pictures that I had collected over the years, lining the walls. With a slight spring in my step I walked past all my doors, the stairs and into my kitchen, where the sunlight poured in through the open windows.
I did my usual routine of meditation, crossing my legs Indian style as I sat down on the Hardwood floor. Many things that had long since past, from the world of Superheroes and Supervillians I had come from, my last job, that one mare that I think has a crush on me in town. Most people meditated for peace, I did it so I could think about my problems and like always it took me a while to think of excuses as to why I had done the things I did.
By the time I opened my eyes again, the sun was setting throwing a magnificent array of purples and oranges everywhere. Sighing with self-content I returned to my feet and walked over to the fireplace that was three rooms over and lit it with a match I kept beside it. After poking and prodding it to keep the flames alive and to make sure it feed on the logs I went back to the kitchen and turned on the brewer, placing a cup underneath it.
The moon started to rise as I pulled out a chair and set it beside the table, where my paper was at. Holding one of my claws up to my face I looked it over, sometimes wondering if any of this was real, before shaking it off and sitting in the chair, my legs propped up on the table.
My talons clicked against the table as I waited for the coffee brewer to finish with its current batch, the Sunday newspaper on the hardwood table beside me. Humming a quiet tune to myself it seemed to fill the empty building, the brewer finally stopping with its whistling noise and with a glance and gesture of my hand, the kettle started floating towards me as I held up my cup in my right hand, the kettle pouring itself.
I raised it to my nostrils and took in a deep breath and smiled, before setting it down next to me. I didn't like the taste at all, in fact to me coffee was quite disgusting, I just loved its earthly smell. With that done I set the floating kettle on its way with a dismissive wave of my wand and took the paper in my hands, hunching slightly out of habit.
Outside the moonlight peeked in through my windows, barely enough to read with, but that was alright for I had the roaring fireplace in the main room to give me light, even though I was two rooms away, it was still enough.
With the only sounds around me being the crackling of the fire and my humming I snapped the paper open and began reading, my wings twitching slightly as I haven’t used them for a long time. Apparently Celestia’s student was a even more of a prodigy than a month ago, passed the royal exams at the age of seventeen, fourteen or something, considering all the crap about Celestia and her like whenever I read those parts I just skimmed over them. I liked news about my lands, not some foreign Sun-god horse thing.
Flicking a finger the page flipped and showed things more to my liking, apparently another griffin had been exiled by the Emperor, of course though they didn't release the name again. Flirting with the Emperor’s son, a big no-no these days. Shaking my head I went to the more local part of the newspaper and read up on the town that I ‘lived’ in, despite being a good hours walk from it.
Still though that newspaper kid was always happy to make the walk, since I left a major tip for him a little gift for his trouble of course. As I flipped to the last page, the multiple clocks in my house struck midnight, me freezing as it did. Then as they all stopped chiming I flipped the paper closed, folded it and put it on the table. It was apparently that late already and here I was hoping to do Sudoku.
As I started to push my chair back in, my doorbell chimed. I growled respectively at that noise, only a few griffons from the town below know I even exist much less where I live, and those that did know made it clear they didn't want to visit me. There were only seven other beings that knew where I lived, three of whom had gone their own ways citing different reasons, the other four accepted my resignation when I told them I was growing tired of all of this, knowing better than trying to force me to stay.
So who in the hell was at my door? Again it rang and I lowered myself back to all four appendages, my talons scraping against the white floor as my knuckles tightened. Even my feathers were starting to stand up, it wasn't because I was afraid, I'm not afraid of anything. It was more out of anger because I know for a fact that none of the three that I considered family would show back up here after they left.
Moving forward I walked out of the kitchen, ornate swords decorating either side of the doorless frame, out into the hall were a dozen doors were spaced up and down the hallway. Again it rung that sound piercing my ears, so I picked up the pace, practically gliding over the long, draconic rug that lay in the hall.
I paused slightly as I passed by my room, before throwing the door open with a flick of my hand and with another flick, two small metal objects came up behind me, suspended by an invisible force. I shut the door as I continued on my way down the hall, the doorbell ringing more urgently now.
With the two small L-shaped objects behind me I finally came to the front door, the door which behind lay somebody more than likely asking me to kill again. I snorted as I thought of that, whoever this was they'd get a demonstration of what I could do that's for sure. Clasping my taloned hand around the golden doorknob, I yanked it open the two objects in clear view behind my head, pointed straight at the grey mare’s tired face.
“You mind putting the guns down? Not in the mood for your shit.” She stated matter of factly as they hovered in the air pointed at her face. Stunned slightly I stood aghast, my mouth hanging open before I snapped out of it and sent the guns flying back to my room.
She muttered a thank you as they disappeared behind my doorframe and walked past me, that's also when I noticed the sleeping filly on her back. With a frown I shut the door before running ahead of them, her being forced to stop as I planted my feet in front of them. “You mind telling me what you're doing here Amazonian?”
Her otherwise cute face twisted in disgust and her eyes grew dark as I said that. In one quick movement she closed the distance between us, her eyes alight with fiery rage, as she stared me down. “I will tell you one last time. Do. Not. Call. Me. That.”
With a tug at the edge of my beak I almost smiled. “Fine then Derpy or whatever your name is now, why are you here? You made it pretty clear you wanted nothing to do with our little group those couple of years ago."
“Talk in morning. Sleep now.” She muttered as she down my hall, “Where's the bed or couch?” and without waiting for my answer she homed in on the sound of my roaring fireplace and saw my living room. Or more exactly my couch as she trotted over to it and, somehow managing not to wake up the child, jumped onto it and immediately fell asleep.
I frowned from the doorway as the two uninvited guests made themselves comfortable on my couch, an annoying snore joining in the rhythm of the fireplace. Why in the name of every one of her bloody gods was she here? Shaking my head I went back to the door and made sure it was locked, this time putting a bar in front of it to keep it from opening. As I walked back down the hall I noticed a slight crinkle in the carpet and corrected it before heading into my room.
With a flick of the switch my room was illuminated and shown to be decorated with a few tapestries of battles of good against dark, a dragon-head mounted over my bed, two dressers taking up the entire left wall, mirror taking up the right wall and my bed in the back-right corner right next to the closet. All in all a wonderful room, but my eyes were focused on the two guns on my bed. I walked over to them and grabbed one in my hand as I hopped onto the bed, hunched over slightly as I inspected it. I popped out the magazine and cursed under my breath at my stupidity when I realized that it wasn't even loaded, repeating the process with the other one I slapped myself in the face for such a stupid mistake.
I could've went face to face with a former disgruntled employer and gotten killed for it. Gathering both the guns in my hand I tossed them into the corner by the door, or more exactly behind it. Not like I was even a good shot anymore, four years since I had a reason to pull the trigger and counting.
Sighing I fell backwards onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling as I tried to come up with some reason for Derpy, Amazonian or whatever the hell her name was, came back. But alas I couldn't come up with one, especially since she was so prideful and stubborn that she would never ask me for any type of help. I could question her in the morning.
Rolling over I held my hand out to the dresser and one of the drawers popped open, an alarm clock flying into my hand shortly after. I set the time for six in the morning, and waited for sleep to take me away to my dreams, staring at the ceiling for God knows how long.