I sat motionless in the alley, Snow drifting in the stagnant air . One might have mistaken me for a heap of feathers, or waste, thrown away like so much rubbish. I might as well have been, for no one seemed willing to pay me any mind, except to curse me out. Trash I was to them, trash I will always be. My wings were frozen stiff, my fur held clumps of snow, what little clothing i had was swathed around me like rags, all I was, exposed to the world. Yet not colt nor filly would pay me a inkling of their time, not to offer clothes, not to give a bit out of sympathy, not to even to force upon me the... no, nothing. And why? A bird's black beak, a loin's tail, and a falcon's wings. At this time of year... I felt it might be better to throw myself off Canterlot's highest balcony, or simply drown myself in the old town square fountain. Though I was sure the former would draw more "positive" attention, something I did not have the pleasure of knowing in life. The nobles make such a fuse when an "unspeakable horror" happens in their districts, though, most likely, the horror would not be in the sad death of a young gryphon girl, but in my muddy foot prints or scanty cloths. Foolishness I would never get tired of giggling at, along with the rest of Canterlot's most unfortunates, though even among them, I could not share mirth. Love and business and family and religion and art and patriotism are nothing but shadows of words when a man's starving, a truth I had come to except, but it seemed as though one word never grows dull: fear...
Even the homeless hated me... the colts would throw rocks, the fillies would scream, old men spit sprays of precious whisky and women beat me with rags, some of which I was currently wearing. For thirteen, going on fourteen years this has been my life, thievery is my only way to survive. But right now, on a bed of flattened filth, snowfall a freezing constant, I felt I was not in the condition to move, much less steal from under the weary noses of the shop-keeps. The alleyway, once dark, now shined with light, my surprise was calmed by the memory of six years previous, today was the Festival of Twilight. I looked up, the sky now filled with so many twinkling stars, so thick and bright that the darkness was almost driven away. This would last the entire night, with one star at the center of it all, a bright. Today was a day of wishes, and I knew what mine was:
"Please do not let me be alone." I muttered to myself, though I was not foolish enough to place my faith in a star, it was not as if it could do me harm. I sat, starring at the sky for a bit, till my hunger drove me forward, perhaps today was my lucky day, most eyes would be on the sky, spattered with all the colors of a sky-encompassing rainbow, red, blue, purple, green, pink, I myself could barely keep mine from wandering upwards. I stumbled forward, holding my stomach, which gurgled in protest, down the alley. Coming to a stop at one of the outcroppings of a building near the exit. Wiggling my claws, I stuck them into the holds I had gotten so used to climbing, and away I went. Up and up, fifty feet till I came to the roof, where I hopped out, clutching edge of the gutter and flapping a few times to gain altitude. Once I had scrambled onto the roof, I turned, looking out over the lower Platform, the massive pony-made outcropping which held most of the new city, old town being the smaller outcropping directly above, and exactly where I needed to go. So, I began to run, and run I did, from roof to roof, house to house. Slowly gaining ground, inching forward, soon i'd have to fly, they never let anything other than Unicorns, humans, and demi-humans through the official gates, and getting there in a hurry was my priority, which would not be what I was doing if I tried to sneak in, better to speedily take the direct route.
I landed a short while later near the closest market, my stiff wings aching from the brief but speedy flight. My steps as silent as a mouse's, my breathe controlled and easy, despite the cold air and frozen stone (not to mention my stomach). I slowly made my way through the alleys, my eye focused on one stall, a meat stall, placed mostly for the pleasure of the humans, and run by a older gentlecolt and a faun girl, their stall was almost directly behind the alley, facing off the the side a little bit, with some boxes and barrels in the front. If I could just get in between the boxes and stall, I could quickly snatch some meat from the large iron cutting board. I slowly made my way, sprinting into safety at last second, sliding into place between the barrels, boxes and stall. I hunkered down, my back against the hard wooden frame of the stall, my view of the rest of the market cut off. I looked right, only a few unicorns and humans stood on hooves and feet, looking up at the bright sky in awe, had to do this fast. I then looked left, back the way I came to make sure.... is that my shirt? Oh, come on, really?! why must even the gods toy with me?! I turned my head back towards the people on the right, still looking at the sky, good, now-
The stall bent a bit as someone rested themselves on it, I looked up to see the chin and bushy mustache of the older stallion, pushing my heart into overdrive and causing my face to flush with embarrassment. Had to wait now.
"Ah, what can I do for you mate?" his strong accent giving him away as a northern earth pony, funny considering he had a horn.
"Oh, just come to look at your stock," a young man replied, probably a peasant, no sophisticated accent or edge to his voice and most defiantly human, considering his wretched smell.
"Well, we ave' beef, pork, venison, rabbit leg... eh, sorry, but that's all right now, we're runnin' a wee bit low on bits this year, and me' lads took all the poultry an' good ham for tonight's supper."
"No problem at all old timer, just came for some pork," the man tossed a few bits over the barrels, I watched the two gold beauties fly over me, money that could probably feed me for a week, flashing before my eyes, If right now I wasn't naked on the upper half i'd have grabbed them out of the air and made a run for it, I may be a gryphon, but no one in new town ignores two gold bits when you ask for something.
"Alright then, five pounds," *Clang!* the stall began to shiver and quake as the butcher did his work. Cleaver rhythmically ascending and descending, hitting the iron board with enough force to break through bone. "Lovely night ain't it?" Now! I shot out, grabbing the torn rag that I called a shirt and zipping back as fast as a striking snake.
"Yes indeed, I understand it hold some sort of religious value for the ponies?" Seems no one noticed me, good...
"Em, not from around here are you?"
"You could defiantly say that."
"Yes, an old legend of our folk, back when the tribes where one big nation..." and on he went, still chopping away. I slid the cloth on and turned around, I had to get that meat and get out of here. It didn't matter if they saw me, I needed to eat so badly, I would ether get the pork or die trying. I placed my claws on the sides of the stall, preparing them to jump up and retrieve my supper. 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... *Clang!* I sprang up, ready to grab the pork and book it, but my body had other plans, turns out not eating for five days can really do a number on your bodies' ability to do stuff, like move. My vision grew dark and I collapsed, falling face first onto the iron cutting board, surely this was the end. "Holy Bari'le!?" the butcher shouted, his hands flying upwards, the shock almost leaking from his face, "What on earth? A Gryphon?" I shut my eyes waiting for the inevitable. but it didn't come, aside from a few surprised yelps, nothing happened, until the butcher tried moving me. "Aye! Come on lass! Pry those lids open and look me in the face." I did, and what I saw nearly scared the piss out of me, his mussel was huge! The gray fur with black spots seemed to compliment his aura of imposing size and physical strength, the close cut ink black mane and obsidian horn spotted with grey were added packages, I'd never seen him up close before, mostly because I liked to stay away from this particular market, the reason being the faun the big unicorn brute worked with, stories about a faun's anger may seem funny, till it happens to you. He continued to pull at me, but apparently, my tongue had froze to the iron with my drool. With his hands around my head, this predicament didn't seem like it was going away any time soon. "Ah... Come on! Uh, dagnabbit! Mara!" He called, when he was unable to get me... unstuck. I heard little hooves steps on the stone, and soon a silky new voice, as well as a beautiful human face came into my blurred vision. Long red hair, high cheek bones, and big eyes. I was going to die here.
"Oh my! What happened?" ... huh, not the expected reaction.
"Lassie got her face stuck ta' me board trying to swipe some pork, could you get some-"
"Hot water, right away!" The butcher continued to pull at me, all the while the man remained silent, I thought he had probably ran off, until a guard came up to us.
"Sir? do you need any help with that?"
"Ah, no... not... um."
"Cause I have knife you could use." No! Please, Don't!
"Um, no thanks, I'm already well fitted-" The butcher began, only to be cut off by his partner.
"Officer, we have this under control. We do not need to resort to such drastic measures." Mara said, reentering my vision with a large pot of steaming water.
"Mam, it's only a Gryph-"
"Officer, we have this under control," she repeated, expression growing dark, " and we do not need your help."
"Mam, Gryphons are a barbarian species, and they are under military and law enforcement's jurisdictions," he cleared his throat, unsheathing his knife, "That means that that thing is a wanted criminal based on political affiliation, and as such you are hindering my ability to enforce the law. I have the right to force myself into any situation I deem dangerous to the public." to this the young man that had been buying the meat I'd tried to swipe finally spoke up, much to my shock, I thought he had already left.
"Sir, do you see the lady right there?" he said, he guard acknowledging his question with a grunt and a smart reply,
"The one I've been talking too? Yeah, sure kid." The guard said, growing irritated.
"Do you understand what she is?" At this, the guard had no smart reply, it seemed stereotyping had its perks too.
"A-a... a faun..." he said after a slightly prolong duration of time, finally.
"Exactly, and do you know what could happen if you make a faun mad?" The fear could be felt, the young man certainly had a way with words. "Let's hope she only thought that you didn't know what she was, and will have mercy on you." the guards clattering gear broke a stillness that had settled into the market, his fear was now the only sound that could be heard, and smelled. "I mean, if you don't push your luck." and just like that, with a clip and a clop, he was gone, and I was relieved. Quite thankful too.
"I thought you said ya weren't from round' ere' boy." Cutter said, looking at him with, what I assumed was an expression of suspicion, my vision was still blurry.
"I'm not, I just know what it's like to tick off a faun. Rats never really seemed that dangerous till then." A mistake he made when he arrived? Wow, poor fella was down on his luck. Couldn't even get a couple pounds of pork without someone trying to steal it.
"Cutter, help me with this will you." Mara said looking at the young man with an eyebrow raised darkly, honestly, I could completely understand why.
"Sure thing."
"What about you young man? Are you going to help, or stand around?"
"I think I'll just watch how this plays out, Besides, I think sticking my neck out with the Guard was help enough." he said, the man certainly had balls.
"Very well," They placed the pot near me, and readied a ladle. But this was not the focus, my focus was on the meat, I felt like would die without it. Mara seemed to notice, she leaned in close, putting her head near mine and whispering, "Stay still, be brave and I can give you some." an offer too tantalizing to resist, So I just continued to stare at the meat. A few moments passed, and another, and another, and- holy mother of the gods!? the apparently boiling water sizzled on my tongue like molten magma, Oh, war maidens of Valynhall that hurts! "There! that wasn't that bad, was it?" I looked up at her, eyes narrowing.
"Cruel..." I muttered, lifting my head from the board and stoking my now numb tongue.
"Well, a trick that'll end with a feast for you." Cutter said, picking me up and flinging my limp body like a sack of potatoes over his shoulder, despite my feeble protests. "What a lucky star that sent you to our stall, eh Mara?" he rolled his eyes as the Faun folded her arms.
"A thief of jewels and gold is one thing, but a thief of meat and food? An individual likely lost of luck, and as they say, lucky is the man who gives it." She followed us as did the young man, though he always stayed well behind us, probably wanted a refund. We made our way through the streets, arriving a few blocks away at a small cottage tucked between two massive Buildings, apartments or some other living quarters. I looked up at it wearily, normally I may have been freaking out, but right now i was too hungry to care. But, I suppose there was one thing that held my concern, or rather, my excitement. For better, or worse, Today...
I wasn't alone.
Author's Note
A (late)Thanksgiving inspired story, did this in a hurry, and may change some things later.
Also, I have no excuse for the "losing the shirt" part, no idea where that came from, but wherever it did, I am so sorry.
Edit: So, I've decided to make this into a fully fledged fantasy story, with multiple sub-plots, a massive world, and a story vaguely tying in with the Equestria girls films, why? The idea grew on me, okay...
