Crimson Trail

by Amber Sky

Chapters

Chapter 1:A Totem Of Magic
Chapter 2:A Flash of Bad Luck.
Chapter 3: Falling Not As Fun As you Think
Chapter 4:A New Place and a New Journey
Chapter 5:Life Goes On

Chapter 1:A Totem Of Magic

Chapter 1

A Totem Of Magic

Edited by The Metallic Dash

“Akilina can you please get the totem and bring it over to the lab bench,” Said a voice from the other room.

“Ok!” I called back.

I quickly slipped over to the room next door inside of which a small metal box lay in the far corner sitting atop a table. As a made my way over to it I could hear the professor a couple rooms away giving some long-winded speech about science, magical theories and other things I could not make out. I can only assume he was talking to the committee of science and magic development. As I grasped my talons around the box and gave it a quick heave up I stumbled around for a second trying to get my balance on my hind paws. After a couple seconds of stumbling around I instinctively flexed out my tail to help counterbalance the box.

“I swear this damn thing gets heavier every day,” I muttered to myself.

I began to canter out into the hallway and after walking a little way down it I nudge the door to the lab open with my wing. Once inside I hurried over to the lab table and gently placed the box on top of it. Then I gave myself a quick shake to reposition all my feathers. Right as I finished shaking the professor came in with a much larger committee then I was expecting.

“Aw Here is my assistant Akilina. She’s a pretty young lad, eager to learn and not to mention this project would not have been possible without her assistance,”

He beamed while gesturing towards me.

A slight blush came over me at the complements but I quickly regained my composure and began to size up the committee. I could tell at a glance who was actually interested and who was just there because they needed to be. I made a mental note that there were about 5 griffins and 12 ponies. And after everyone made it into the lab the professor began telling his story and explaining what we had discovered/manufactured. I slipped past the group heading to the back of the room and spotted a stool against a wall. I walked over and sat down and tuned my ears onto listening to the professor.

“Now as all of you may know magic is classified in the present-day world as two types. Active being unicorns weaving complex spell matrix's, and passive being Earth ponies superior strength. Although these classifications are not very good when it comes to Pegasi because they do not fit in either category. They are able to choose to fly through a cloud or land on top of it. The cloud itself has not been changed in any way but the Pegasus magic changes the way that their bodies react with the cloud. In a way the Pegasus are in fact making a simple spell matrix for themselves,” The professor stopped to take a deep breath and then began more excited than before.

“Here’s the first big discovery that we made. In the case of a griffin the idea of passive and active magic is even more lacking than for pagasi, due to the fact that griffins cannot only fly through or land on top of clouds. But we found that rawjen like effects are always taking place unconsciously.”

“What is rawjen?” one of the ponies asked.

“O yes of course,” the professor cleared his throat and then continued.

“Rawjen is a word from old Griffin tong it means Warriors rage. It originated from stories of long ago battles when griffins were fighting for their lives past the point of rage they would find a calm tranquil feeling overcome their bodies. Well under the effects of rawjen it is said that your talons will never break or dull, minor cuts and scrapes will heal up in a matter of seconds and flight capabilities beyond the sonic rainboom can be achieved. It is the legendary state of combat although most people nowadays believe it just to be a story made up to boost the confidence in Griffin soldiers.”

The pony seemingly satisfied with the answer given, gestured to the professor for him to continue.

“Now this lead helped Akilina and myself with are first big discovery. Which was that rawjen does have a speck of truth to it even if in the stories it was greatly exaggerated. What we discovered was unconsciously the passive magic in griffons body’s moves around to enhance different places. Such as when a Griffin is flying the majority of magic is focused in the wings allowing them to fly much faster than their wingspan should permit. When a griffon is on the ground the magic is focused in its lags allowing them to run great distances and reach superior speeds with less drain on their stamina. And when in combat the magic is focused in their talons and their beaks strengthening and sharpening them. From this discovery we were able to deduce that under extreme emotional conditions it is possible for a massive magic release throughout the body creating a rawjen like effect. We are still working on understanding if a similar thing happens in Pegasi but are currently unsure at this time.”

A couple hooves shot up in the committee. The professor proceeded to dutifully answer the questions.

“How were you able to test your rawjen theory?” A blue unicorn wearing a lab coat and a pair of glasses asked.

“Good question,” He said well walking a little closer to the lab bench

” Akilina did most of the testing by herself. If I remember correctly she did several different endurance tests well putting herself in different physical and emotional states as well as Talon strength tests and several more tests I can’t remember off the top of my head. After graphing out all the results there was a pretty clear the changes happening. The test also showed the difference that emotions caused. The strongest reaction being too the emotion of rage and or the physical feeling of pain. The weakest reaction being with the emotion of guilt and or the physical feeling of starvation.”

He glanced around at the assembly of griffons and ponies in front of himself.

“Any other questions?” He asked.

“How is this helpful in any way, I understand that knowing is important and I’m sure that your findings will make their way into the textbooks of the future. But when you call the committee together you said that you made a discovery that will change Equestra forever,” asked a light brown earth pony.

“I will be getting to that in a minute but before I move on are any other questions?”

The assortment of ponies and griffins shuffled around awkwardly for a couple seconds before stopping at the sign that the professor was about to continue, unhindered by the lack of enthusiasm.

“Well for Akilina and I when we made that discovery the big question in our minds was if we are able to control our inner magic why can we not use spells? And the obvious reason was because we don’t have horns so then that raised the question what do horns do to magic? After several weeks of reading all the reference material we could find about unicorn horns, enchantments, and basic magical theory, we had quite an extensive understanding of the effects of a horn on magic.”

“And what are these effects,” Asked a tall brown Griffin with a black streak going down his back.

The professor seemed a little upset at being interrupted, after a moment to gather his thoughts he proceeded to answer the question.

“The horn itself works like a channel for magic. When a unicorns use their inner magic it adapts and changes the way the magic flows through their horn making the magic receive a desired effect. The closest analogy I can come up with is a river with several pathways for the water to flow, except every path changes the way the water behaves. The point of the spell matrix is to close off certain paths and open up others to allow the magic or in this case water to adapt the desired effects for a spell. In a sense making a miniature version of the spell held inside there horn. after this is done the unicorn can then use their horn like an amplifier they take Equestria’s natural magic and form it into a spell which can then be cast at will.”

“If this is true then, why can unicorns not learn spells if unrelated to their talent?” The same Griffin asked.

“Well that is because certain unicorns may not have the correct channels for specific modification to magic that a spell needs. Some spells are easy like a levitation spell in which the magic only has to go through 20 or 30 different pathways that every unicorn has, although some more complex spells can have thousands of pathways for the magic to go through such as a teleportation spell. Does that answer your question?”

“… Yes,” the Griffin replied a little bit flustered by the answer he got.

“Great. Now back to what I was saying,” the professor said a little bit too cheerfully.

“After we figured out what a horn dos to magic, Akilina and I started to do hundreds and hundreds of tests seeing if we can make a synthetic magical framework… This is when we started to have troubles due to the fact that synthetic materials did not modify the magic in any way. It came out exactly the same way it went in. it took us several months before we finally found a solution to the problem and after several more weeks of experimentation we created this”

The professor quickly spun around, unlatched the two latches on either side of the metal box and quickly reached inside to retrieve what we called a totem framework. From the side it looks like a piece of steel pipe with the radius of 6 inches and the length of 10 inches. Everyone in the committee seemed confused at the site of this and quiet murmurs began to pick up, however they stopped and everyone looked on in fascination when the totem was turned sideways to reveal hundreds of little pegs on the inside. Some stretching the full diameter of the pipe and others going partially out and then stopping. The real mystery was the ominous dim glowing coming from the pegs.

“This!” The professor said lifting it high into the air.

“Is the product of years of research,” he proclaimed.

“Uum what is it?” the unicorn from before asked.

“I’m glad you asked. This is an artificial spell matrix. One that cannot change making it set to a single spell in specific... a light spell,”

The committee watched in fascination as he grasped the pipe on one end with both of his talents closed his eyes and began to focus. After a couple of seconds a dull orb of light began to form just outside of the opposite end. Everyone stared in awe for several seconds before it flickered out and ceased to exist. When the professor was done and opened his eyes to see a looks of astonishment on the faces of everyone in the committee. He gave a smile and then proceeded.

“As you can see I just performed a basic light spell without a horn. I was not able to maintain it very long because my magical stamina is incredibly low but,”

Before he was able to continue a huge flurry of questions came forth the most prominent being. How does it work? After quieting everyone down the professor began again.

“It works in the same way that a horn works. While focusing on it I was able to express my inner magic, which when transferred through the totem retrieve the desired effect of a light spell. The reason I cannot hold on for very long is because I needed to use my inner magic to fuel it instead of the magic of the world around me. But if we were able to harness the power of the world’s magic we could create portable lights for everyone… but not just that we could have Teleporters able to transport people from the Griffin Dominion to Equestra in a matter of seconds. With no need of trains or long flights or if you’re unicorn the risk of magical burnout, but that’s just the start of it. Any spell could be formulated and created for everyday use!”

Another question sprang up from the crowd.

”I thought you said the use of materials to modify magic was impossible?”

“Impossible no. incredibly difficult yes, it works by having each of the cross braces inside enchanted in a different way, the enchantments slowly bleed off into the magic passing through the totem to change the magic’s properties. Although currently we are not found a way to keep the ambient magic from degrading the enchantments. That is why I had to keep this in this magic free lock box when not in use.”

As he said that he proceeded to then place the totem back in the box, close the lid, flip the latches down. Then turn back to the group. Another flurry of questions came up but the professor waved them off and said.

“Please let us go back to the conference room so we can sit down. I can answer all of your questions once we are there.”

As the group shuffled out I slipped off my chair and followed them to the conference room. Then I took a seat and help the professor answer questions over the next 4 ½ hours... when the committee was finally satisfied and had begun leaving the building my throat was sore from all the talking. The professor was thanking everyone for coming, and was showing them the way out. After he was done he came over and sat next to me.

“Well that went better than I expected, and the turnout was way more than I thought it would be.”

“Yes because getting my ear talked off by 17 people instead of 10 is so much better,” I retorted sourly.

“Oh quit your belly aching. We not only got the grant we were hoping for but several other independent sponsors. We now have enough resources to finally put together a test teleporter and then some.”

“Wait… we got the money? I must’ve missed that,” I said excitedly. “When do we start construction, is anyone else interested in joining the team, where will we be going to get the materials,” I began asking only to be cut off.

“Pipe down, and of course I got the money you think I would go throw all of that for nothing? As far as construction goes we begin tomorrow, and this time we have a whole construction team although they won’t be here till next week.“

“That’s incredible,” I said excitedly.

“By the way why didn't you mention the griffon bloodline discovery? I swear you were more excited about that then being able to cast a spell.” I asked confused

He looks back at me with a somber expression.

“We can't tell them about the royal griffon bloodline, and how their inner magic is more powerful making them stronger hence how they got their position. Because in a way if I was to say that, it would make it seem that I could possibly be challenging the emperor. More importantly if we were tell them they would ask about how we were able to make that discovery. And we can’t have anything leading back to you. As far as the world is concerned the first daughter of the Emperor was killed on her solo hunting trip four years ago. That is the way it has to stay unless you want to be taken back home.”

“Thank you. I never thought of it that way, even after all these years are still looking out for me,” I said gratefully.

“That’s what I’m here for. So how is about we go get some chow, I know you haven’t eaten anything since this morning.”

“I would like that.” I said as we walked towards the door.

Chapter 2:A Flash of Bad Luck.

Chapter 2

A Flash of Bad Luck.

Edited by The Metallic Dash

“Akilina it's practice time.”

“Do I have to practice today I was hoping to go to Irus’s birthday party, she is turning 10 you know.”

“I told you the same thing last year. Until you are able to beat me in one on one combat you are not allowed to play.”

“But that is so unfair. Why do I have to train for combat 6 hours a day if we live in a time of peace?”

“Living in a time of peace, where did you hear that nonsense. Anywhere you go, there will always be someone who doesn't agree, someone who wants something, someone who hates you just for being you. So long as there is life on this planet, there will be conflict and there is nothing you can do to prevent it, all you can do is be prepared to defend your self and the ones you love.”

“But I will only be out for the day. I promise tomorrow I will train twice as hard.”

“The answer is still no. Until you can beat me you will listen and obey.”

“Fine, then I challenge you.”

“Are you sure you want to do this, you do remember what happened last time don’t you?"

A twinge of pain came up with the memory. I had tried to sneak out and it resulted in a bloody affair with me in the hospital. But this time would be different, I am smarter now, I know I cannot beat him in combat, he is way too strong and it would end the same way as before… I need to think, wait I got it.

“I challenge you to an archery contest, best shot with one arrow.”

“And what are the wages for this contest?”

“If I win, I get to go to Irus’s party.”

“But if I win, you have to stay here all day practicing, also you have to take all the swords in the castles and sharpen them by yourself. Agreed?”

“Agreed.”

At this we both walked out the back where there was a long bow range set up. I selected my practice bow and the quiver of arrows next to it. My father grabbed a bow and quiver off the wall of them then said.

“Ladies first.”

“With pleasure.”

I walked over and took my stance, drawing an arrow and knocked it, and pulled back as far as I could and aimed down the shaft. With a whoosh I let the arrow fly, just as a second whoosh came from behind me. As I watched the target, the impossible happened, two simultaneous thuds rang out. My arrow about an inch below the center dot and my father's arrow dead center.

“Looks like I win. I know I said I you have to sharpen all the swards by yourself, but feel free to get the blacksmith to show you how to use the Grindstone.”

“But how… how did you beat me. My shot was perfect.”

“Yes it was, but if we both hit the center we would have tied, so all I did was hit your arrow with my arrow to knock it lower allowing myself to win.”

“But that is impossible!”

“When you can harness your inner fire, nothing is impossible.”

And with that, he walked away.

~~~~~12 years later~~~~~

“Akilina. We need to talk about the project,” The professor stated.

“Right now? But we just started eating,” I asked well gathering another spoon full of hot Split Pea Soup. A little upset at the lack of meat but after living in Equestria for so many years it was hardly a deterrent.

“Yes right now. It is very important and you will probably need to sleep on it any way,” he said sharply.

“OK what is it? Is it about starting construction tomorrow or something to do with the funding,” I trailed off before eating another spoonful of soup.

“It is kind of related to those things... well what I want to ask you is if you could go anywhere in the world where would you go,” he asked a little bit nervously.

“Well that is a hard question to answer. I can’t say that I have really thought about it,” I replied.

“Well think about it now,” he offered.

We sat in silence for a couple minutes before I replied.

“I guess I kind of want to go back to the griffon empire and see if anything has changed since I left. Although if I did that I would probably have to stay clear from a large portion of the city to make sure no one will recognize me. I also kind of want to see Saddle Arabia. I have heard some interesting thing about that place though it is a little far away for my taste. The only other thing I can think of is I have always wanted to watch the dragon migration from in the badlands themselves. None of that tourist bullshit,” I said before gently placing a talon under the soup bowl and giving it a little tilt allowing me to scoop the last of it out.

“Why do you ask?” I said while placing the now empty bowl on the table.

“It’s just that,” he stopped and reorganizes his thoughts then started again.

“Well I have noticed that since we started this project you hardly ever leave the

lab, most of your free time is spent in your room reading up on some magical theory of some kind or another or working with me, hell you haven't even gone flying in months. I can tell because you don't even preen your feathers anymore.”

At this I took a shy glance towards my feathered appendages. And sure enough several of the feathers were misaligned and some grit could be seen between others.

“I just think it is unhealthy for a beautiful young griffon who is only 22 to stay inside all day. You need friends, you need to go out and do stuff for yourself. That is why I am requesting that you do not participate in the construction of the teleporter. Instead I want you to head out and do all the things you want to do. Go to all those places you told me about, just do something for yourself,” he finished with a long sigh.

At first I did not know how to respond to what I just heard. I wasn't sure if I was supposed be outraged or astatic. So instead we just sat there for several minutes in an awkward silence. This was finally broken by the professor saying.

“Don’t even bother arguing with me. My mind is already made up,” he said sternly.

“But won't you need me on the team?” I asked a little shakily.

“Don’t get me wrong your expertise will be missed. But it’s not like you will be gone for ever only a month or even a couple weeks. Think of it as a vacation. I know if you really want to work on this project you will find a way to help even if I say you can't, so don’t make your decision now. Go home and think about it over the night you can tell me your answer in the morning over breakfast. And one more thing doesn’t wait up for me at home. I need to stop at the headmaster's office to find a room on the university's campus so that I can begin construction as soon as the build team gets here,”

At that I got up and slowly walked out of the restaurant without another word. Eventually when I made it back to my room I climbed on to my bed and fell fast asleep. When I woke up the sun was still down behind the horizon. Not like one to stay in bed all day I got up and ran some hot water into the tub. Before too long I was washing up, cleaning grit out of my wings and paw pads. Before just laying back and letting the water wash away all of my worries.

What am I going to do? Should I be a part of the biggest magical and technological advancement of the age? Or do I take a break and leave it all behind. I do have to admit that the professor did have a point about my lack of personal hygiene since I joined this project. It had just dropped really low on my to do list.

Stepping out of the tub and giving myself a quick shake to flick off the majority of the water. Stopping I Looked around at the soaked walls, letting loose a long sigh I pulled a towel out from the cupboard and began drying them off.

I do have to admit a vacation does sound nice. I would love to go back home to the griffon empire and see how everyone is doing, but it has only been 4 year since I left, I wonder if anyone will recognize me? It is true that I was not fully grown when I left. My height may throw most people off… but it’s not my height that I would be recognized for.

After finishing drying the walls I walked back over into my room hopped up on the bed and began to preen my wings. It hurts at first due to the fact that I had not done this in several weeks and I was a little out of practice. But one by one my

Feathers fell into place.

The big problem of going back to the empire is everyone who sees me will know at a glance that I am a member of the royal family. It’s my damned feather colors. No one would believe I was just born with them. They would know I am a member of the royal family or at least the branch family. And the second they heard my name they would know exactly who I am… I guess I could always try dyeing my feathers. But I am getting off topic I need to be asking myself do I even want to go?

When all the feathers were aligned I hopped off my bed and made my way outside into the courtyard. The sun had started to just peek over the horizon. After a quick check of my surroundings I stretch out my wings and took a running jump into the air.

Oh sweet Celestia it feels good to fly again. I can't believe I gave this up for so long.

I was clumsy at first having to work hard to keep from dropping do to the lack of muscle stimulation over the last several weeks. But soon enough I was doing loops and dives.

I must have been flying for at least an hour because when I had returned to the courtyard that I had taken off in, the sun was a decent way up into the sky. I landed with a soft thud. A rush of adrenaline slowly seeping out of my body as I began making my way back down the hallways to my room. When I opened the door my nose was hit by the soft scent of fried eggs. I strolled over to the kitchenette to see the professor leaning over the stove with a spatula in one talon and a salt shaker in the other.

“Man I have not seen you cook since we got this dorm room,” I said suppressing a giggle.

“Yeah and I remember why I gave it up,” the professor replied quickly.

“Because you can’t cook,” I said flatly.

“Yep you got it. Anyway there are some fried eggs on the table if you’re hungry. By the way how long have you been out?”

“I don't know… a couple hours I guess. And no I have not eaten yet thanks for the eggs.”

“A couple of hours what have you been doing? Did you go down to the library and fall asleep again?”

“Ha ha very funny. And I only did that once,” I said sarcastically.

“But if you must know what I have been up to, I went out flying.”

At that the professor turned around and looked at me with a surprised look on his face. Upon seeing me with my freshly groomed feathers and a thin layer of sweat coating my body he said.

“So you did. I am glad you still listen to me, though I am surprised you were able to make it off the ground with the current state your body is,” he started before clamping a talon over his mouth.

“… Are you saying I am fat?” I said coldly.

“Uum well you see…” he said nervously.

“Think long and hard about the next words out of your beak,” I said giving him a death stare.

“Well I only meant you have not done it for so long you may not have the muscle strength you use to.”

“Oh so you are saying I am weak is that it?”

“um well no err umm” he stuttered.

My mood soddenly lifted and my expression went from grim to happy.

“I am just messing with you. We have been living together for 4 years now. Do you really think I would get so mad at you over something so trivial? And after all you're right I have let my body go after all this time,” I said cheerfully.

“Few that is a relief. I kind of thought you were messing with me but after that bomb shell I dropped on you last night I was not sure. Speaking of which have you decided what you are going to do?”

“Well I have made my decision. But I have one quick question first, when well the prototype teleporter be done?”

“We are scheduled to do are first test in 2 months’ time. Why do you ask?”

“So I know I will have to be back here in 60 days. I'll be leaving tomorrow morning.”

“...wait you are actually going, no arguments, no nothing. You’re just leaving.”

“Well I have had a lot of time to think about it, and I am not just leaving, I first need to get some money together for the trip and map out where I will be going, And do a little packing. But most importantly I need to go over the plans for the teleporter with you to make sure you don't kill yourself when I am gone.”

"Oh well, OK then.” He said bringing over a plate full of steaming pancakes and gently placing them on the table.

The rest of the day was rather uneventful with all the time we spent looking over the blueprints for the teleporter. Packing my travel bag, looking over a map picking out all the places I wanted to go, and trying to find a store that sold some dye that would work on my feathers without being too permanent. Sooner than I was hoping nighttime fell and with it a feeling of sleepiness. So be both went to bed And when morning came the professor and I where off to the train stop.

“Are you sure you are ready to do this?” the professor asked.

“Of course I am, when have I ever backed down from a challenge?”

“That’s what I am worried about… just please be safe and don’t do anything you will regret.”

“I won’t if you won’t” I said back well sticking out my tongue at him.

Then I boarded the train and off it went.

~~~~~(60 days later.)~~~~~

As I flew by Ponyville on my strong powerful wings, I had gotten a lot stronger after all the hiking, flying, and hunting I had done over the last couple months. I look down deciding to stop off and get something to eat. I leaned my left wing down and brought myself into a large descending loop eventually landing in front of a bakery named Sugar Cube Corner. looking back at my wings as I folded them against my back noticing the walnut dye making them look much darker than they were supposed to be.

I need to wash that out when I get back home.

Glancing through a window at the menu I decided I wanted real food and not just baked goods, so I walked down the street until I found a restaurant with a nice looking menu. Reaching into my bag I picked out my wallet and glanced inside to see several shimmering bits. I ordered my meal and as I ate it slowly I watched as a large group of ponies started to gather in the main square a little ways down the street from where I was eating. I could see a purple alicorn talking urgently to the crowd of ponies in front of her. Checking the time I decided not to get involved with whatever was going on and just finished eating, paid then started looking for the train stop. After 30 minutes of aimless walking I was completely lost. You would think that a town like this would have signs or something.

“Ugh I should have turned around at that apple farm a couple minutes back. Now I am at some forest in the middle of nowhere. I should probably ask for directions at this cottage up ahead,” I mutter to myself out loud.

Then I realized that there is a much easier solution to this problem, I leaped into the air and after gaining some altitude I looked around for some train tracks and sure enough I spotted them a little ways off entering the city and then leaving in the way of Canterlot. More importantly however I could see a plume of smoke coming from a train heading into the city. If I hurried I think I can make it, so I folded my wings and dropped like a rock a couple hundred feet before whipping out my wings again and going into a sharp turn towards the train stop. The tips of my wings making white streaks in the air from the sudden deceleration of the turn. I turned again then did a quick back flip straight into another dive this one directly above the train stop. I vaguely no tested a cyan Pegasus sitting on a cloud with her mouth opened in awe as I effortlessly made my way down at such great speeds. Landing with a thud I quickly hopped over to the ticket booth and said.

“I need one ticket for the next train to Canterlot.” I said in haste just as the train pulled up behind me.

“15 bits,” the pony behind the counter said in a bored tone.

I paid the fair and grabbed the ticket offered. After getting on the train I saw a small dragon carrying a large stack of boxes and cloth off the train with a white mare in quick pursuit behind him. After another minute of waiting the train lurched forward and started on its way to Canterlot.

“Excuse me sir but how long of a ride is it to Canterlot?” I asked a train pony walking past my seat.

“It’s about a 4 hour train ride mama,”

“Thank you,” I said with a smile.

Now what to do for the next 4 hours.

Looking out the window I saw something I was not expecting. A familiar cyan Pegasus was in hot pursuit of the train. We locked eye contact for several second before I abruptly closed the blinds to the window.

Crazy ponies I swear I will never understand them.

The rest of the train ride went by pretty uneventful. I found a newspaper under my seat and when I opened my blinds several minutes later I did not see the stalker Pegasus again. When we finally made it to Canterlot I could hardly wait to hop off the train and fly home as fast as I could. When I got home I slipped the key into the lock and with a click I walked inside to find no one in site. Although there was a note left on the table.

To Akilina if you are reading this you are at home right now, and I am unable to greet you because I am working on the teleporter out of town. We got our own warehouse for constitution and I will probably be spending most nights out there. Sorry I was not able to greet you in person but please come and stop by when you can. Address is on the back of this paper. See you soon.

Letting loose another big sigh I looked out the window to see it starting to get dark.

It’s too late to head out now I guess I will have to wait until tomorrow.

At that I walked into my room to see a freshly washed lab coat laying on the bed with an ID badge clipped on to the front. Smiling at that I placed my bag in the corner but not before taking out my journal in which I had all my adventures over the last 2 months written in. Sitting down on my bed I updated it with what had happened today then placed it on my nightstand before I walking into the bathroom. Running some water I began scrubbing my feathers to wash out the dye. When I was done I dried off and went back to my room before falling asleep.

I was awoken by the sun shining through my window onto my face. Rolling over and looking at the time I quickly shot out of bed. And went looking through the kitchen for something to eat. Several minutes later with a full stomach I was throwing on the lab coat the professor had gotten me, grabbed the note from off the table and was quickly streaking through the air.

I understand that they got their own warehouse but where the hell is it?

As I fly alongside a road leading out of Canterlot I was starting to worry about missing the first test. a small plume of smoke could be seen off in the distance I poured on the speed and in several minutes a large Quonset with a compound of sorts attach to it came into view. Landing on top of the roof of the smaller building attached to the Quonset. I could hear a small humming coming from the building and the smell of ozone was sharp in the air.

I need to find the professor and surprise him.

Hearing the whispering voices of a group of people I crept over the edge of the building and peered over to see a much larger group of ponies then I was expecting. After giving a quick glance around for the professor I was a little disappointed not to see him. I slipped back on to the roof but stopped when I heard something one of the ponies was saying. Staying up on the roof I listened in on their conversation without making a sound.

“Look, all you have to leave now to make sure you will be clear from the blast. Auxiliary and I need to make one last appearance so that not to raise any questions about where we have gone,” the first pony said.

“Is everything set up,” a second pony asked

“Yes the magic grid has been rigged and the totem has been misaligned,” the first pony replied.

“OK good is there any other questions,” the second pony asked

“Are you sure we should be doing this?” a third pony asked?

“It’s too late to ask that now there is no going back after this. Equestria is not ready for this technology. It will put hundreds of train ponies and merchants out of business the easiest way to stop that from happening is to destroy it with all the plans inside. And if that means killing some griffons in the altercation, then so be it,” the first pony replied.

My blood ran cold with what I had just heard. They were going to kill a bunch of griffons just to make sure some ponies did not lose their jobs. I need to tell the professor as fast as I can but if I fly off now they will see me. I slowly creeped over to the far side of the roof and glided down to the ground and quickly looking around for the entrance. When I finally found it I ran inside and followed the signs in the hallway to find the control room. I quickly opened the doors to see several griffons standing in front of a large glass dome looking into the large Quonset where the teleporter could be seen gathering magic.

A couple griffons looked back at the door at the sound of the door opening one of whom was the professor. Who quickly ran over and embraced me in a hug.

“You made it. I was so worried something happen to you... you look so beautiful… how was your trip,” he asked sincerely.

“O also I have something for you” he said well pulling out a small box

Inside of which he pulled out a small pendant on a thin gold chain. The pendant was shaped like a pair of wing but an intricate series of spiral patterns was etched all across the surface. The material however could not be explained it shimmered with a faint glow and looked to be a light gray but it danced with distant colours.

“I made it for you on my free time. It not only looks awesome but it’s made out of a alloy we developed for amplifying magic so long as you wear it you will always be able to channel you magic to where ever you need it,” he told me as he gently placed it around my neck.

“Magic levels at 70%... teleportation in 2 minutes,” said a griffon standing in front of a control panel.

“It’s incredible” I said weekly before remembering why I was in a rush.

“Look you need to listen to me; you need to call off the test.” I said quickly

“Call off the test. Why,” the professor asked a little worried

“Because when I got here I saw a large group of ponies and they were talking about how they sabotaged the teleporter. Saying Equestria was not ready for this technology.”

“Magic levels at 80%... teleportation in 1 minute 30 seconds,” said the same griffon from before.

“What are you share? what they do?” he asked an edge of tension on his voice.

“I don't know... they said something about misalignment of the totem”

Seeing the cold hard look on my face and hearing the edge of panic in my voice he quickly turned around to the griffons and said.

“Power it down.”

“What?” A collective gasp.

“I have received information that the totem may be misaligned. We need to power down and do a check.”

Everyone hearing the urgency in his voice they did not complain. Instead they all turned back to their stations and started flipping off switches. Although after a couple of seconds a confused murmur began to pick up.

“Umm professor everything is off although we are still gathering magic 90% and rising,” a confused griffon said.

“Oh shit, that's right, they said something about rigging the magic grid. They must have removed all the shutoffs.” I said.

The professor's eyes went wide at hearing this and before I could react he shouted.

“Everyone get out and as far away as possible there is going to be a full magical meltdown,” he yelled as he ran over to hold the door open for the others.

A panic filled the room as all the scientist inside started running out into the hallway as fast as they could. But then I worried griffon came running over to the professor and said.

“But my son is still in my room at the barracks. Is there no way I can save him?” she said with tears rolling down her beak.

“What room is he in?” I asked quickly.

“24. He is in room 24,” she replied.

“You can't be serious,” the professor said.

“It's way to far to make it in time,”

“What, you think you could get there faster. Believe me I got this.” I said with confidence.

At that I dropped my lab coat then spread my wings and before anyone could say anything else I had flown off down the hall. A left turn and then a right turn and then straight another left. I shot through the hallway at unbelievable speeds. I hardly had time to read the signs to see where I was going. All I know is that there was a kid in need of my help and I was going to help him. Sure enough I found myself in a hallway with room numbers on all the doors.

“24… 24 where are you 24,” I said out loud to myself.

Finding it I bucked open the door to find a griffon no older than 5 playing with some blocks in the corner.

“No time to explain. Your mother needs you.” I said when making my way over to him.

Scooping him up as fast and as gently as I could I flew back the way I can as fast as I could… I saw the exit but then the worst possible thing happened. I felt a shock wave hit me and an extreme wave of heat coming up from behind me. Just then I busted out of the door and saw the group of griffons about 1000 feet away. But still flying as fast as I could I was still feeling the heat on my back getting hotter and hotter. I knew I could not outrun the explosion but what ever happened I was not going to let this little kid die. With a yell of anguish I threw that little griffon so hard I felt a ligament tear in my arm. But I didn't have time to worry about that because a fraction of a second later I was engulfed in whiteness.

~~~~~ 30 seconds earlier from the professors perspective ~~~~~

All of the scientist and myself ran from what we know was going to be one of the biggest magical discharges ever. Then we felt it a shock wave so powerful it knocked some of the griffons out of the air. We all stopped and turned to see an orb of swirling blue and green magic engulf the Quonset and expand out from there. At the same time the doors to the lab burst open and Akilina came flying out carrying a small griffon in her arms. She was flying incredibly fast though not fast enough to outrun the explosion, everyone know she would not be able to get away. But then something happened that no one was expecting, she slowed and then threw that kid so hard I swear he broke the sound barrier. Then with a smile across her beak she closed her eyes and was engulfed. Several griffons flew out to catch the kid as he fell and I could see that the tips of some of his feathers were burnt, all in all he seemed alright though but I was too focused on the explosion to pay much attention to him. It expanded another 100 feet or so before slowing and then it stopped altogether. Then in a blink of an eye the magic dissipated leaving a scorch mark across all the land it touched. The most surprising thing was that the facility was still there although heavy melted, with some large chunks missing altogether. Despite the fact that the lab was still there Akilina was nowhere to be seen. At the realization that she was gone a single tear drop rolls down my beak and to the dropped ground.

Chapter 3: Falling Not As Fun As you Think

Chapter 3

Falling not as fun as you think

Edited by the Metallic Dash

“No arguing Akilina!”

“But father, I don't want to go with you on another hunting trip, I have plans.”

“I said no arguing, now go up to your room right now and get your knife, we need to get going.”

“But father.”

“Not another word or you will regret it, grab your stuff so we can leave or I will drag you out by your tail.”

At that I ran up the stairs to my room where I retrieved my knife and a snare wire and quickly returned without another word. Father was waiting patiently by the now open door. As I approached he spoke with a condescending tone.

“See now was that so difficult.”

“No father.”

“Good.”

Walking outside I climbed onto my father’s back and after a quick leap down the stairs, we were off soaring through the sky. Several hours later, nightfall was coming although we were still flying steady. We must have been going somewhere new because I could not remember the last time we went out this far.

“Father, where are we going?”

“You will see,”

“Is it much farther?”

“Not too much”

Several minutes later my father broke the silence and spoke.

“Do you know what day it is?”

“Uum... April 15?”

“Indeed. Do you know what that means?”

“No?”

“It means there is exactly 1 month until your 12th birthday.”

“Really? But why are you telling me this now?”

“Because it is time for your initiation into this family, you have till your 12th birthday to make it back home. If you die, you die. But if you come home after your birthday you will be exiled from the family.”

And with that he rolled upside down and before I could react he had done a back stroke with his wings and dropping me.

Before rolling back over and yelling down at me.

"30 days or die."

Falling… falling… I’m falling!

Still not understanding what had happened I stretched out my infantile wings and used then to flip myself. Overseeing the fast approaching ground I tried my best to fly, but as expected, my wings were too small and I could not get enough lift.

Have to think… have to think…

Seeing a river a couple hundred feet over I tilted my wings and started to move towards it, though not fast enough. One of my hind legs clipped the top of a tall pine bordering the river. Pain exploded through my leg but a moment later I hit the water hard enough to make me black out. Breaking the surface of the water gasping for air, I pulled myself over to the shore as a small pool of crimson seeped out from my leg. Laying my head back and closing my eyes for a moment I thought to myself

Well at least I am alive.

~~~~~10 years later~~~~~

Weight... All I could see is white; a feeling of falling was present although it was a distant feeling hardly even noticeable unless I was to focus directly on it. I don't know how long I was in this state because before I know it, it seemed that every part of my body was being pulled apart from itself however it did not hurt. I saw a flash of green and then blue and before I know it I was falling fast. Looking around I saw the fast approaching ground no less than 200 feet down. Without another thought I quickly stretched out my wings as fast as I could. A sharp pain exploded across my back from the sudden amount of air resistance my wings got. Though it was not enough I was still moving too fast to fully stop my descent. Looking down again I saw a large clearing with what looked to be a road running through it. But more importantly I saw forest directly below where I was falling. 100 feet... 50 feet... 10 feet... Last second before I hit the trees I tucked in my wings and hunched my legs under myself. Hitting the first tree I was ready and bounced off relatively unharmed. But then the next came. And the next. And hitting the 4th tree I had no time to react, with a heavy crack I felt my head impact a large branch then nothing.

~~~~~ Several minutes later~~~~~

“Oh sweet Celesta my head.” I mound when rolling over.

Well at least I am not dead though I feel like that would be less painful.

Sitting up I took a quick glance around before all the memories of what had happened at the lab came rushing back.

Where am I? What had happened to the kid? How am I still alive? How did I get here? What do I do now? Where the main questions that had started rushing in my mind. Taking a longer look around I could see I was sitting in a small clearing in the middle of a forest mostly consisting of pines. Behind me a clear path of destruction in the trees was visible. Starting to go over my self-picking out splinters of wood and such, I began answering those questions.

Where am I? Well I don't remember any pine forest near Canterlot or Ponyville, their climate is normally too hot. So that means I am somewhere farther north maybe by the griffon empire?

What had happened to the kid? If he is not here with me, he must have made it out of the explosion radius I can't be sure until I make it back to Canterlot.

How am I still alive?

Glancing back at the path of destruction in the trees with all the broken branches and the 4 foot skid mark across the ground. The only conclusion to why I was still alive was luck… a lot of luck.

How did I get here? I can only assume that I am here because the teleportation spell worked however, with the detonation it must have just thrown me somewhere in Equestria and not to the targeted location. Though it does not explain why I was not killed by all the raw magic and the heat waves… guess I will figure that out later.

What do I do now? Well there is only one thing to do. I need to get back.

After I finished checking myself over the extent of the damage was my left wing was badly sprained, my back left leg was also sprained but to much less of a degree. My right arm had a pulled tendon of some kind, I think my lower ribs where heavily bruised possibly broken, and there were a decent number of lacerations caused by the tree branches. But at least I had all my limbs.

Letting out a huge grown while trying to stand up I was startled when I heard a little chime of metal. Looking down I saw the pendant the professor had given me and a thought of something he said popped into my mind.

“It’s made out of an alloy we developed for amplifying magic. So long as you wear it you will always be able to channel your magic to where ever you need it.”

At this a small smile came over my beak at the realization that thanks to his gift I survived a near terminal velocity crash. But before I could continue I stopped when I heard a branch break and the sound of hurried footsteps moving away. There was something watching me. Although a glance towards the sound revealed nothing.

~~~~~Kevin’s Perspective several minutes earlier~~~~~

I had been driving down this road for 3 hours now. The worst part about being this far out in the middle of nowhere is all the radio stations were complete garbage. So I had been entertaining myself by counting street signs not the funniest thing but it did help pass the time. then a couple hundred feet off road I saw a lightning bolt the weirdest thing was there was no clouds it was a completely clear day… several seconds later a second one then a third. At this point I started to slow down and pulled off the road. Several more discharges went off and before I know it a small orb of light was forming. It was so bright it looked like a second sun; I needed to shield my eyes from looking directly at it. Another thing I notes was I could see some small objects falling out if it. The objects looked like debrief of some sort. It began to expand faster and faster and with a whoosh of dissipating energy it vanished, a second later I felt a wave pass through me. Although when it hit my car it began to sputter and without warning it just stopped. Looking back into the sky I could see what looked to be an aurora borealis which soon faded into nothingness.

What the hell just happened?

I asked myself before trying to start my car and getting nothing. Popping the hood I opened the door and walked out to peer inside to see nothing big out of place. I was no mechanic so there was not much I could do anyway. Walking back around to the driver’s seat I climbed inside and tried to turn my blinkers on, although after flipping the switch nothing happened.

Well grate the battery must have died.

Checking around for my cell phone. I pulled it out and flipped it open to be greeted with a black screen. Trying to turn it on, it came up with the same result as the car.

Great I am in the middle of nowhere with my car not working my phone dead. My sister is going to kill me for being late to the family reunion again and some type of electrical storm was the cause, so I can't blame it on anyone.

Walking around to the back of my car I then proceeded to sit down on the bumper and wait for someone to come by and hopefully let me use their phone to get a tow truck out here. Several minutes passed rather uneventfully until finally a minivan came into view. Seeing me waving them down they slowed down and pulled off the road in front of me.

“What is the matter? You need a boost or something?”

“No, I don't think that is the issue. Do you have a phone I could use to call a tow truck?”

“Sure thing, just give me a second.”

Several seconds passed before the man stepped out of his van phone in hand and passing it over to me, I turned it on to see one bar of reception. Then proceeded to call in a tow truck.

Well great the soonest they could get out here will still be at least an hour. Giving the phone back to the nice person, I thanked him and off he went and once again I was alone. Thinking of ways to entertain myself as I waited for the tow truck I had decided to go see if I could find out what had made that electrical storm. Walking into the forest I did not have to walk long before I started to find what looked like small pieces of metal embedded in the ground and trees. Most of which were too hot to touch if the smoke had anything to say about it. I was now convinced that a weather balloon had blowing up or something though that did not account for the lightning I saw earlier.

Rounding a large tree and seeing a clearing a little ways away with something much larger than I had seen so far, I walked closer but stopped dead in my tracks when I saw it move all on its own. Peering through the trees my first thought was a giant eagle but it only took me a couple seconds to see I was wrong. What sat in the clearing was not an eagle… it was a griffin.

It sat on its hind legs and was about 5 feet tall not including the tail the length was about 6 feet I guessed. As it sat there it seemed to be cleaning out its wings and rearranging the feathers. The colors however really sent me for a loop, from what I could see the mane coloration was a lot of different shades of orange. With a redder highlight running down from the crest feathers on its head to its tail. Its underbelly was a mix of yellow and white feathers, and all across the wings at just the tips of the primary and secondary feathers there was a red tinge. All in all the coloration made this monster look as if it were on fire. The only thing not orange, yellow, or red was its eyes. They were an incredibly light blue almost silver.

The second thing I noticed was that it was badly injured. Large gashes ran across its body and several patches of missing feathers could be seen. Staring a little longer I noticed the scrape marks running across the ground, tracing them back to the tree line what I saw made me gulp. A path of mangled branches and broken trees and overturned soil could be seen and it was obvious what had caused it. If this monster had taken a fall like that and was still breathing let alone conscious and moving around with what looked to be non-lethal injuries. I did not want to be anywhere near it… I did not want to be anywhere within a 100 mile radius of it. then it began to stand on all fours a moan of what was clearly pain came forth and that was the breaking point for me, I turned and ran straight into a low growing branch which then snapped making a noise that the griffon must have heard. Running as fast as I can I risk a glance back to see nothing pursuing me but I wasn't going to take any chances. Running for longer than I ever remember I finally broke out back onto the road and saw my car right where I left it. Climbing into the car and locking all the doors, I finally gave myself time to rest. My lungs burned with all the exercise and my heart beaded fast and heavy in my chest.

Several minutes later I was completely on edge. I was sure at any moment that monster was going to jump out of the forest and claw my eyes out. Looking out of my window I saw a truck coming over the horizon my heart lifted when it got closer and the distant parts of a tow truck came into focus. The 15 minutes it took to hook up my car felt like hours. I just couldn't stop looking at the tree line, I wanted so badly to tell the tow truck driver everything I had seen but I still had enough common sense not to. I did not want to end up in a psych ward somewhere. But still what I had seen had to be impossible, I had to be mistaken... maybe I had just seen a bird of some kind after all. I did not know and did not want to find out all I wanted to do was put this whole day behind me. So with that I climbed into the passenger's seat of the tow truck and off we went.

~~~~~Akilina Perspective~~~~~

Listening to the steps going farther and farther away I could hear something off about them. The steps were most clearly from something other than a pony do the lack of clanking that hooves made though it could not be a griffon either because moving at fast speeds griffons need to be on all fours unless flying. The sounds of these steps was that of a minotaur’s pattern but with the silence of paw pads… several more seconds of thinking and an answer finally came to mind.

Shit, it must have been a diamond dog.

I have had some bad experiences with diamond dogs in the past and did not want any repeats. Although they are normal in mountain and not found this deep in forests, it’s not unheard for them to have a mine in one. It would also explain why it ran off; if it was a scout they would not be prepared to have an encounter with a griffon. However if I am right they will soon return with larger numbers and would probably try to take me as a slave. In my current state I would not stand much of a chance in an encounter leaving only one option left… Run.

Looking around for the sun I gave a quick estimate of how much daylight was left then using the sun as a referent point I started heading east. Moving was painful at first but after several minutes of walking it became more of a background thought. As I traveled I began making a list of thing I needed to do.

Well first off I need to find a safe place to stay the night. I still had at least 6 hours of light left but I think getting as far away as I can is more important. Second I need to find a better way to treat my wounds. I really don’t want to risk infection while I am out here. Third I need to get myself a weapon of some sort. If only I can get a knife then I can probably make myself a bow and some arrows. Lastly I need to find civilization of some kind because once I see a map I can get home.

Having my goals set I continue into the forest, I knew I was going to survive this nothing could stop me. I will live to see my home again.

Chapter 4:A New Place and a New Journey

Chapter 4

A New Place and a New Journey

Edited by the Metallic Dash

CRACK.

My ear twitched as I was slowly dragged back to consciousness.

THUMP CRACK.

This time I open my eyes and peered down from the tree branch I had been sleeping on, my nerves were on edge, something was out there. Giving a quick glance up to see the full moon still high in the sky I could tell that the night was far from over. Repositioning myself I perched on the branch peering into the dark woods. My leg was in a splint I had made for it after I hurt it during the fall I had taken when father dropped me. I was pretty sure I could run on it if need be though I did not want to find out. Reaching out to a small branch on which my knife hung, I clasped my talons around it and slowly unsheathed it.

The lack of noise did only to unnerve me more because if the sound stopped it must have been because whatever was out there saw me move. I did not want to risk another encounter with a pack of timber wolves or that damned manticore that had been on my tail for the last couple of days. I felt it was not either of those things do the fact that both where not really on the side of stealth. Slowly sweeping the area again I saw nothing out of place.

Could I have imagined it… no I couldn't have something is out there.

CRACK.

There it is behind me!

Flipping around to stare into the darkness I was rewarded with a split second glint of moonlight reflecting off a gem of sorts before it vanished from sight behind a tall black tree. I did not have any time to ponder this however because a second later I heard a whoosh and felt something heavy cover my body and pull me to the ground.

A net!!!

A thud rang out as I made a hard impact with the ground, knocking the wind out of me, several bipedal creatures stepped out from behind trees. It took me several seconds to place them, but only diamond dogs could have been responsible for this.

“We get it?” one started.

“Think so. You go check,” another one answered.

“Why me, you threw net.”

“Enough you too, quiet. I’ll check,” a third one spoke up.

Several steps rang out getting closer and closer until they stopped directly over my prone form.

“We got it. You help bring back to-”

I did not let him finish. With the speed of lightning I plunged my knife into the dog’s chest cutting open the net in the process. A small splatter of blood dripped down the blade and fell to the ground before a much louder thud rang out as the lifeless body, the dog, fell without another word.

“Leader is down! What we do now?” the first one spoke

“Catch the one who killed him and bring back to cave.” the second one replied.

I glanced down at the blood soaked knife and seeing my trembling talons I was frozen with terror. It was not the first time I had killed; many hunting trips had made me numb to the thought of killing an animal. But this was different, it was the first time I had ever kill a sentient creature. I did not know what to do, how to feel, I didn't even know what to think. So when the shaft of a spear cracked against the back of my head. I did not fight the blackness as it overcame my mind and sent me off once again to the world of dreams.

~~~~~10 years later~~~~~

It had been several minutes of aimless walking I had found my way to a small river no bigger than 20 feet across. Stopping and giving a quick listen for pursuers I heard no sound other than the trickle of water from the river. Breathing out a sigh of relief I began to stretch out my wings slowly and carefully and as expected, my left wing cried out in pain causing me to wince and fold them back up. Giving a much longer look around to see nothing of interest, I slowly began to inch my way into the water, I had to walk almost to the middle of it for the water to be deep enough to splash against my underbelly, it was cold but at least it looked clean. With that I began to wash myself of all the tree sap and small patches of blood and dirt that had accumulated over the time I spent in the forest.

When I was done I slowly made my way back to shore where I gave myself a quick shake wincing at the pain my wing gave. When I was finished I just sat in the sun for a while and let the warmth evaporate the last of the water drying my feathers. It was relaxing all though I could feel something was off, ignoring it I laid back and closed my eyes I drifted off to sleep.

Whop-whop-whop-whop

My eyes shot wide open at the new sound, rolling over on to my feet I stopped and listened, a couple seconds later I had it’s position and pairing off in the direction it was coming from I was surprised to see it be the same direction I had come from. The sound was very faint though it was not natural and was clearly getting louder. Taking several steps back I spotted what must have been the source of the sound I did not know what it was or why it was there. From what I could see it was hovering over where I could only assume was the place I arrived. But its method of hovering was a mystery to me; there were no wings or a balloon it just hovered. It started to move flying at a surprising speed however more wearing than that was what fact it was coming towards me. Not directly at me but it would be passing by relatively close. As it approached new details I was not aware of before came into focus. Such as there seemed to be a large dome shaped window on the front, but I was unable to see in throw it. More importantly I spotted what seemed to make it fly. A massive propeller could be seen on the top and a smaller one mounted sideways on the end. How there were spinning and at such great speeds was still a mystery. Not to mention all the calculations to keep it balanced. My mind started rushing with the thought of all of the enchantments that must have gone into the construction of it. I hardly even notice that as it passed by it started to slow and began a large loop around this time moving directly towards me.

Shit, it must have seen me. I don’t know if it is friend or foe if the later I don't think I want to be standing out in the open like this.

Giving it one more glance before moving into the forest. I tried to keep under as much dense brush as possible. Several minutes passed with the flying contraption making several large rings around the area I was in, it was clearly looking for me. But I was not going to let it find me. As I was moving in the dense brush I was starting to think whatever it was had flown off because there was no sound of it anymore. I continue to walk and after a little while I found my way to a mildly familiar sight. A large road ran alongside the forest, I remember seeing it when I had my little fall. Slowly and carefully I made my way towards it and when I finally got onto it I saw it was some type of pavement with a long yellow line running down the middle.

Why would someone go throw all the trouble of paving a road in the middle of nowhere? Well at least I have something to follow a road always least to civilization.

I began to follow the road until the sound of something approaching from behind caused me to turn and bolt towards the forest. Just before I made it in I heard a screech and the sound of someone yelling. But the language was not one I know or remember hearing. I wanted to think about it more however I was entering the forest and only had a few seconds to ponder that before I felt a sting on the back of my neck and an icy cold feeling started to form from where it hit. Stopping for a second I reached back and pulling out the offending object, looking at it I realized it was a dart of sorts. Although I had never seen one that looked like this. Not giving myself time to process what had happened. I turned and started to run again only to feel another sting hit me in the rump with the same icy cold feeling spreading out from where it hit. Not stopping this time I ducked and weaved through the trees and I heard a small whoosh and another one of those darts stuck itself into a tree near inches away from my head. My back legs started to feel weak as the coldness made its way to them but I would not stop I needed to get as far as I could. Then another twinge of pain hit me in the back, right at the base of my wings and I felt my body slow and a feeling of sleepiness began to overcome the need to run. One more hit once again on my neck and I went down barely able to keep my beak from smashing into the ground. Trying to stand up I found myself unable to move anything, I was completely paralyzed and before I could figure out what to do a wave of blackness washed over me and I was asleep.

~~~~~Secret Service agent Victor’s perspective~~~~~

As I sat in the passenger seat of a squad car I couldn't help but to be a little excited about my first case I was in the field for. True I was told to stick with my partner at all time and just observe but I was not going to let that get me down.

“So what can you tell me about this case?” I asked my partner.

“Not much… apparently there was a huge power spike in the middle of nowhere.”

“Isn’t that more of a police matter?” I replied.

“Yes it is. We were not going to get involved until some of the reports started coming back talking about unknown wreckage of some kind. So it’s our job to go in and scout the place out and see what had happened, then call in the appropriate resources for the cleanup.”

“Ok, I think I understand.”

Several minutes went by uneventfully until we started too slowed and then pulled off the road and came to a stop behind a police car. The several other cars of age group did the same and not to long after everyone was working on their own things.

“So what are we supposed to be doing?” I asked.

“Right now we are just waiting for the hazmat team to radio back that it is safe to enter the forest. Then it is our job to go in and mark out on this map any locations of interest and to photograph them.”

When he finished he passed a map of the area over to me. Before he moved back around to the trunk and opened it. Reaching into the car he passed me a can of bear spray before pulling out a large tranq gun for himself.

“Are we really going to need a tranq gun?”

“Probably not most animals try to stay clear of humans but having is not a bad idea. And it is full of bear tranqs so it will drop anything we may encounter.”

Just as he finished we heard our radio say.

“Forest clear of any contaminants. Locations team move in.”

“That’s our cue.”

And with that we proceeded to enter the forest and it was not long before we found are first point of interest. Which was a piece of what looked to be copper pipe embedded into the ground. After photographing it from 3 different angles and marking the location on the map, we moved on. It was fun and exciting at first but after the 30th or 40th piece it just got soul draining and boring, but at least we were making some progress. From what we could tell the debris field was about 2000 feet across with parts ranging from pipes to shattered glass. the weirdest location however was one where clearly something large had fallen however the angle of which was different than the others but even stranger was there was no object at the point of impact instead there was only a small orange feather. Several hours later we were on our way back to our car to do what I could only assume was going to be a lot of paper work when we got a radio message telling us to get back to our car and patrol the road for any strange animals. Apparently the small serving helicopter had seen whey what thought was a small fire by the river, but when they went back for a closer look it was some type of animal that ran off into the woods. Last seen moving westward towards the road. At hearing this we both hightailed it back to our car and started down the road. Staring intensely into the forest for any disturbances.

“So what do you think it was?” I asked inquisitively.

“I don't know probably just a large fox or something. The only other thing out in this forest is wolves and bears and neither of those are orange.”

“I can agree with that… LOOK THERE!”

I shouted just as I saw a large creature walking alongside the road. Almost immediately after seeing it, the creature it started to run towards the forest with a visibly heavy limp. I also notice that it had wings and going off that I was able to ruling out the large fox idea. The car screamed as the brakes were slammed on and when it came to a stop we both jumped out.

“There it is!” I shouted.

The soft sound of the tranq gun went off and a small dart appeared in the creature's neck. Only for it to continue running in to the forest.

“Why isn't it going down... it should have gone down by now.” my partner said.

A second shot was fired and then a third.

“It’s too far in the woods I can't see it now.”

“Then let’s go after it” I said.

And with that we both ran into the forest where we could see the creature still running strong. A fourth dart then a fifth. Looking over I could see my partner loading a new clip of darts in when the creature finally slowed and went down. We slowly approached to see it lying motionless in the grass at the base of a large pine tree. My eyes must have been deceiving me because what lay there in the grass was no fox or bear ... it was a griffin.

“I need you to go back to the car and radio in are location then tell them that the target is down.” my partner told me.

“Are you sure you will be fine here alone?”

“Yes, I am sure now go”

So I went back to the car and did just that. Before too long several more cars came over the horizon and when all the people piled out I showed them the way to the creacher. Several minutes passed with a lot of talking eventually leading to a long debate and the conclusions was to take the creacher in for scientific study. We all helped move the griffin over to the road where a transport van waited. The griffin was loaded in and the doors quickly closed behind it.

“So what happens now?” I asked

“Well we want you to come with us to the lab for your official statement and any info you may have about the creacher,” the transport driver told me.

“Uum... well OK.”

Not wanting to argue I climbed in the passenger seat in the van and saying a quick goodbye to my partner I was off. Not knowing where I was going or when I was going to return.

~~~~~Akilina Perspective~~~~~

Beep...beep...beep

My ear flipped up with the sound though it was very faint, it was enough to wake me up. Slowly I opened my eyes only to quickly shut them fast when a blinding light shown in. I tried to stand up I tried to do anything but my body felt limp and unresponsive.

Whatever I was shot with must have had a heavy paralyzing agent. I will have to make a known to watch out from those darts in the future.

Lying around not able to move I just felt so helpless. From what I could tell I was laying on what was a perfectly flat surface there was also no wind making me almost positive I was in some sort of building. Having nothing to do I started flicking my ear back and forth listening to different sounds one of which being the faint beeping that had woken me up it sounded muffled as if it was from another room. There was also some type of conversation going on coming from the same direction as the beeping however it was too muffled to make anything out. After several minutes of this I finally got my legs to move, it wasn't much but it was something. I tried my talon to only get nothing at first, but soon I was starting to get it to move too, and after a little more work I was able to make a fist and unclench it. Several more minutes of moving went by when I was done I had regained most of my basic motor function. Deciding to try standing rolling on to my talons and hind paws I slowly lifted my body into the air on shaking legs. Standing was proved to be a much greater challenge than it should have been. Once I was on my feet I risked opening my eyes again only for the blinding light to once again come rushing in. squinting against it I looked around quickly before closing them hard. Sitting down I began to process what I had seen.

I was in a small white room only about 15 feet by 15 feet the walls looked to be concrete or possibly brick painted white. The floor is some type of tile however I cannot tell the material. There is a metal door in the corner next to the door there is a large mirror which takes up the majority of the wall. The lights seemed to be panels built directly into the roof and there are two air vents on the two walls adjacent to the wall with the mirror. Also in every corner of the roof there was… something I didn't get a good enough look to see what they were however I could tell they were all identical.

Where the hell am I? I have never seen a room like this and why are the lights so damn bright?

“Uum... excuse me but is there anyone who I may be able to talk with about where I am?” I spoke up weekly.

With no response I tried again this time in griphonick and once again with no response. Then using my little knowledge of the language I tried zebraiken. Still no response I sat there trying to think of any other languages I knew how to speak when the red tinge in my eyes went down. Slowly I risked another opening of my eyes then I was surprised to find the room dimmed to a below average brightness.

Well at least I can look around now too bad there is nothing to see.

Standing up again I limped over to one of the walls, my leg I sprained in the fall was feeling worse off than before. But I still made my way over to the wall and lay down against it to organize all my thoughts of what had happened over the last 30 some hours. Several minutes went by when I realized something important was missing…

My pendant is gone!

Sitting back up I looked down to see no pendent. Lifting one of my talons I carefully rummaged through the small amount of fluff on my chest to find nothing.

My pendent must have fallen off when I was drugged… or maybe who ever brought me here took it off me. But why? I could always try asking although they did not answer before I doubt they would now. I guess it will just have to wait until I meet them face to face.

Laying back down I don't know how long I must have sat there trying to make sense of everything that had happened but at some point I nodded off to sleep.

~~~~~Secret Service agent Victor’s perspective~~~~~

It had been a 5 hour drive before we reached what appeared to be our destination. It looked to be a military base; the drive was a long and boring one do to the fact that the only other person with me was on his headset the entire drive talking about different test and other science stuff. The transport van pulled off the road and before we were able to step out of the van a number of guards wielding guns formed a loose perimeter around the back of the van. Opening the door I stepped out only to be greeted by a tall man wearing a white lab coat.

“Uum... excuse me sir but are you the one who found the creature?” he asked.

“Yes. I am here to provide my statement and then I will be on my way.” I replied.

“That is fine but before you do anything can you please tell me about how the creature was knocked out.”

“Oh yes of course. My partner and I were driving and when we saw the creature it tried to flee into the nearby forest. My partner paged it with two darts before we needed to pursue it on foot and after hitting it with another two darts it went down.”

“So four darts in total?”

“Yes.”

“And what type of tranquilizer was used?”

“I believe it was a bear tranquilizer”

“I understand thank you for this info. Now please follow me so we can get the rest of your statement.”

Following the scientist we walked around to the back of the van where there was two other scientists waiting with a medical gurney.

“Are we ready to move the subject in for tests?” one of them asked.

“Yes. From the information I have received, the creature will be out for at least another 8 hours so limit the test to a physical examination, a full body x-ray, and a blood sample. Then please lock the creature in one of the isolation cell for observations.”

The other scientist nodded and slowly they opened the door and with gloved hands pulled the creature onto the gurney and then wheeling it through the open doors to what must have been the lab. I followed but shortly after entering the lab I was taken to an interrogation room in which I was asked all about the encounter what I did and what I saw. When I was done I was actually thankful for the long ride because it gave me time to prepare and think about how to answer all the questions I knew I was going to get asked. When I was done me and the scientist whose name I found out was Andrew walked backed into the lab. Andrew then asked.

“Where is the creature and what can you tell me about it?”

To which another white coat response.

“The specimen is in isolation cell 1. And about the biologie we can guarantee that the creature is alive. Also we were able to deduce that it is female and has body parts from several different animals primarily being a lion and an eagle and there is no evidence of splicing on the skin where the different animals mixed. The majority of the other injuries on its body must have been suffered several days ago due to the amount of scar tissue. it weighs about 470 lbs and as far as muscle structures go it will have average strength for an animal of its size as however something we was the wingspan was not big enough to provide enough lift for flight capabilities. We believe the wings can only serve to glide short distances and to brake falls.”

“Interesting. Can you tell me anything on the coloration and has the X ray been taken?”

“From what we were able to tell the coloration is natural however there are traces of an artificial die use recently. And for the x ray we are still waiting on the printer but we should have it any minute now. Also one last thing we found a necklace on the creacher but was clearly man made, however the material is unknown at this point and we currently have it in lab B for further test.”

it was at this point that they went off on a tangent speaking about things I did not understand so I started to walk towards a large window and when I was close enough to look inside I saw the creature lying motionless on the floor… no not a creature, a griffon I need to start calling it what it is and it is clearly a griffon. Hearing a new conversation pick up behind me I turn and walked back over to where a small crowd was forming. Looking past them I was able to see what the source of confusion was apparently. An x ray was clipped into a light box some bones were visible but that was not all it was showing. The best way to describe it was it looked to be static on the x ray which was not only impossible because energy like that is not visible on an x ray. But the weirdest thing about it was the static was shaped over all the injuries on the body. No one seemed to know what it was or how it found its way onto the X ray. Turning and looking back thru the window at the griffon all the lines of the x ray static up perfectly with the injuries, then I saw something move so I stepped closer to the window I saw it again. As it lay there it was flipping its ear... it was waking up.

“I think it is waking up,” I spoke up.

“What? It can't possibly be waking up for at least another 6 hours”

“Well you can come and take a look for yourself because it is clearly flicking its ear.”

After I said this all the scientist moved over to the window and looked in. Gasps of awe and confusion rang out. No one dared speak over the next several minutes as the griffon began moving more, soon it was moving its talons and back paws. Murmurs began to pick up as everyone watched as the griffin slowly got to its feet. It wobbled for a second before seemingly getting its balance. Its eyes opened and it looked around in a matter of seconds before closing them again in what was clearly pain. It moved to a sitting position and just sat there for several seconds. At this time one of the scientists behind me was saying.

“I believe the lights in the room are too bright we need to find a way to dim them it must be nocturnal.”

“With the size of its eyes being nocturnal makes a lot more sense. Can someone please find a way to dim the room?”

Before anyone moved a sound came from the cell and all eyes locked onto the window. it… was… speaking… the sounds it made had the clear pattern of language however some of the sounds that we could only assume were words contained some nays and other sounds I was not expecting hear to from a griffon. When it was done a soft silence once again overcame the room only to be broken again by the griffon speaking again this time however. Most of the noise and pitches were mostly different almost as if it was another language. When it was done for the second time a much longer silence lingered to once again be broken by the griffon with what was possibly a third language or at least a different dialect of the first one. When it was done for the last time and showed no sign of speaking again we finally broken out of are shock small conversation began to pick up and the lights in the room were finally dimmed. As was expected the griffon opened its eyes and took a much longer look around. The most startling thing about the griffon was the surprised look on its face; the expiration looked so human on something so foreign.

I can't believe this is happening. First contact with what is clearly an intelligent species I wonder what we will do now.

The griffon once again got to its feet and walked over to the wall where it laid down fully and seemingly got lost in thought. Several minutes passed as everyone in the room was researching or recording information on the griffon. I was standing by watching some of the scientist look back over the camera video of when it spoke. But then out of the corner of my eye I saw an abrupt movement from the cell. Alerting everyone most of us once again walked over to the window and looked in to see the griffon once again in a sitting position however this time it was frantically looking for something… something around its neck.

“Its necklace… it’s looking for its necklace, the one we took off it when it got here,” one scientist said.

“What do we do? Should we give it back?”

“Not yet. We need to run some test on it first however when we are done we can. I still don't think we should risk any exposure so until further notice no new test will be run the subject. Only visual observations for now.”

And with that everyone went back to their stations as I just stayed there looking down on what was supposed impossible. A living breathing mythical creature.

I have a feeling that tonight is going to be a long night.

Chapter 5:Life Goes On

Chapter 5

Life Goes On

Edited by the Metallic Dash

I lay in one of the diamond dogs cells. I was not sure how long ago I was captured, but I guessed I had been stuck down here for at least 5 days by the way I smelt. The pack that had captured me was rather small only consisting of about 12 dogs and 2 other slaves both of which were ponies, my time here was not spent well since I have apparently killed the alpha when I was captured. Because of this all the other dogs treated me a lot worse off than the other slaves. I was given all of the hard and dangerous work was only fed the scraps that was left over by the other slaves and was beaten almost every night. But instead of breaking down or getting mad, I became calculating, learning everything but telling nothing. This night was the night when I was going to break out. I knew all the tunnels, all the guards, and I had a plan. The scariest part about it was I no longer felt remorse for the dogs. After all the beating, all the lack of humanity, I was positive that when I was ready to kill one I would feel nothing for their kind.

Lying on the small pile of moldy hay in the corner of my cell I carefully went over my plan again and again as I waited for everything to fall into place. I would only have one chance to do this and if I messed up I would probably not live to try again. Hearing two sets of steps coming down the tunnel I closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep.

Its time, no regrets I will get out or die trying.

Hearing my cell door open the two dogs stepped in, this was how it happened every night before the guards went to sleep these two would come down to give me one last beating before bed. However I was not going to let them have to satisfaction tonight. The small clink of wood on stone as one of the guards lay his spear agent the wall by the cell door. Then steps moved closer and closer until directly above me.

“You woke it last time it’s my turn today?” the first one said in a gravelly voice.

“Fine but I get to tomorrow,” the second one replied.

Opening my eye to slits I looked back to see the first dog pulling his arm back for a punch. Tensing up my muscles I saw the arm start to move and I sprang up with all the force in my body launching myself into the air above the dogs. The one who was throwing the punch had his large fist cracked against the hard stone wall causing him to recoil for a second. In that time I flapped my wings to propel myself backwards over the dogs and then landed several feet behind them. Not skipping a beat I bolted towards the open cell door snatching up the spear laying against the wall and kicking the door shut before turning and quickly removing the key. I know I was not safe… not in a long shot but I needed to keep moving, so I turned and ran down the cave thinking about the next step of my plan as I went.

Ok, I am out of my cell with no chains on giving me full mobility, the dogs I locked in the cell will probably tunnel out but it will take them at least a minute to do so. When they are out they will alert the guards who will all come looking for me. I need to get to the eastern try tunnel before this happens.

Moving as fast as I was able it was not long before I made my way to a large cavern with 3 tunnels connecting to it. The nickname I had given this place was try tunnel for obvious reasons. Moving the down far pathway I came into another large cavern but this one contained a reservoir of groundwater. Climbing in I began to scrub myself down washing off my scent, then once again I began going over the next step of the plan.

Enter the water chamber and wash myself of my scent. Then staying in the water follow the aqueduct until the fifth cave opening before getting out.

When I was hearing the yips and halers of the other guards. I slipped deeper and deeper into the water before the current picked me up and sent me off down the aqueduct. It was a relatively fast moving current and I really had to fight against it to climb out of the water when I reached the fifth cave. Shaking off I started again down a new series of tunnels. Following them I did not know how long it would take for the large search party of dogs to find me but I would need at least 3 minutes for this to work. Rounding a corner I saw what I was looking for a storage room with only one guard by the door. Slowly and quietly I walked up behind him and plunged the spear I had picked up into his heart, he went down with a small yip but I was the only one around to hear it. Taking the large key ring off him I moved past and opened the storage room to find a surplus of gems. spears, but more importantly my knife. Taking it I walked out of the room and down the hallway to a large steel barred door. Once again using the keys I had gotten I opened it and walked into a large corridor with cells on both sides of the wall. Following it down I came across a cell with the occupants being 2 sleeping ponies. Opening the doors I quietly shook them awake.

“Akilina what are you doing here?” one began to ask.

“Not now. I am getting out and you are welcome to come with me but you need to do exactly what I say if we want this to work.”

“Want what to work? And how can we get out?”

And so I gave a brief description of my plan.

“Well if you think you can pull it off, we are in.”

“OK you know what to do stay here until I give you the go ahead then get ready to run.”

Walking back out of the cell I closed the door making sure it did not lock then once again I started to follow the tunnels and went through the next part of my plan.

Get to the cell block and unlock the cells for the others then head back over to the tri-tunnel and wait to be spotted by the guards then run as fast as possible down the left path. I must make the guards lose sight of me before I make it to the mining tunnels.

Getting back to try tunnel I started to stretch out my legs for this upcoming run as I waited. Sooner than I expected coming from the cell block was a large group of 8 or so dogs and as they rounded the corner it was just in time to see me run off down the left tunnel.

“There she is! Get her! Kill her!”

I heard being yelled at me as I ran at the fastest pace I could with my injuries. The run was not long but all the twisting tunnels helped me keep in front of the dogs. Entering a large room with mining carts full of gems. I picked a cart at random and gave it a kick down its tracks before tucking myself into a small indentation in the wall on the opposite side of the cave. When the crowd of dogs came running in screaming profanities and not thinking they followed the sound of the mine-cart and ignored the rest of the room. Slowly creeping out of my hiding spot I started double backing to the cell block.

Make a distraction and send the dogs on a wild goose chase into the labyrinth of tunnels as I make my way back to the cell block pick up the others and we make our escape.

And that is what I did. After picking up the two ponies we all made our way to the tunnel to the surface. And once we were in the forest we did not stop moving until we all collapsed in exhaustion.

“I can't believe that worked. Good thinking Akilina.” one of the ponies I had come to know as Dusty said.

“Thanks but you don’t have to be that smart to out think those dogs. Anyway what are you going to do now that you are out?” I asked.

“Honestly I could not tell you I have been stuck down there for 3 years. I guess I will probably go back to Canterlot and see my family. What about you?”

“Pretty much the same as you just instead of Canterlot I need to get back to the griffon dominion. What about you blue bell what are you going to do?” I asked the other pony.”

She looked at the sky for a minute before saying

“I have no family left when I was taken it was because my village burnt down and I was lost wandering the forest. I have no home to go back too”

“Then why don't you come with me to Canterlot. I would love to have the company and I am sure you will love it there,” Dusty replied happily.

“Hmm, well if you are ok with me coming then I guess I will.”

And with that we all lay there telling stories of what we would do when we got home before drifting off to sleep and in the morning we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways.

~~~~~10 years later~~~~~

Clank

The sound of the metal door to my left closing woke me out of my slumber. Starting to open my eyes the blinding light from before came rushing in causing me to wince a little, sitting up it was not long before the light was dimmed. Opening my eyes I blinked the sleep out of them and began to take stock of myself when I notice something that was not in the room before. A metal tray lay on the floor in front of the door and on the tray there was some type of meat cooked and sitting on a plate, next to it there was an apple and above the apple was a bowl of water. Lastly there was a role of some type of cloth. Moving closer the scent of

Cooked fish wafted up and my stomach growled thinking back I hadn't eaten since the morning I had gotten back to Canterlot. Sitting down in front of the tray the urge to eat overcame all other thoughts and I dug in using my talons the cut the meat into bite size chunks. When all the fish was gone I grabbed the bowl of water and downed it as well. Wiping my beak off I contemplated eating the apple as well but I was not sure of the next time I was going to get food so I decided to save it for later.

Well wasn't the best fish I have ever had but I am not complaining. I have spent enough time in the wild and have eaten more than my amount of unseasoned fish.

With the food in my stomach I scooped up the roll of cloth and looked at it and it only took me a couple seconds to find out what it was. Roll of gauze it’s purpose was obvious, I was still pretty cut up from my fall and a lot of my wounds had started to scab over however the risk of reopening one was still fairly high and infection would surely follow. Taking the gauze and the apple I moved into the middle of the room and began preening my feathers and wrapping my more serious wounds.

I must have spent at least an hour picking dirt, pine needles, and tree sap out of my feathers. When I was done I ended up sitting there trying to think of something to do. I got up and began to pace.

I need to think of something to do before I go stir crazy. This room looks to be a prison cell of some kind and the construction is perfect I don’t think brute strength is enough to break out of it. Who brought me here, more importantly why am I here? Did I do something wrong? Was I contaminated with something when the explosion went off? I guess I could always try asking again but I have a feeling I will get the same response as before.

I don't know how long I must have been pacing for but when I stopped my legs felt weak with exhaustion and a thin layer of sweat had formed over some parts of my body. Not having anything better to do I lay back down in the corner of the room and once again drifted off to sleep.

~~~~~several hours later~~~~~

Clank

The sound of the door closing once again woke me up from my sleep. Noticing the red tinge in my eyes this time I did not open then until the lights were dimmed and when I opened them the room was once again different. The metal tray was gone and so where all the scraps of gauze. My apple was where I left it and there was something new in the room. Looking over sitting next to the door was a small cube. Walking over and picking it up I could feel it was made out of plastic and the cube was made up of smaller cubes 9 on each side. However each side consisted of different colors, twisting it around and around in my talons I soon discovered that all the smaller cubs were connected in some way keeping it from falling apart. I seemed lured that each layer can be rotated independently of the others in doing so shuffling the colors around.

I guess it is some type of game, you shuffle the colors around and then try to put it back to the original position. Not really what I was hoping for but at least I have something to do.

Sitting down and manipulating the cube with my talons, I scrambled it up mixing all the colors and slowly began trying to match them again. Hours went by with no progress made. Frustrated I put the cube down, grabbed my apple and began to walk around the room eating it.

There has to be something I am missing. A pattern I have not tried, a secret I do not know. There has to be a way to do it. If only I know how it worked.

At this a grin came over my face and I went back over to the cube. Sitting back down I gave the top half a partial turn and used my talon on the corner of one of the blocks I pried it off. As I suspected when one piece came out the whole thing fell apart. However not into the 27 blocks I was expecting but into 20 small blocks with clips on one corner and 1 large piece with all the colors on every side making up the core. Gears started turning in my head as I saw all the little pieces and how they went together. Sorting out all the pieces I began sticking it back together in the correct coloration and the last piece popped into place with a click. All the sides were back to the way they were when I found it. I sat back and started to shuffle it again and when it was all messed up I placed it on the ground and closed my eyes in thought.

The center of each side stays the same no matter what. which means I need to match the other pieces using the centers as my template.

Opening my eyes I grabbed the cube and started to move it finding different patterns to move pieces from one place to another and it wasn't long before I had one side solved. The more I worked with it the more little tricks and patterns I learned and after another hour of fiddling I had gotten it. All sides back to their original colour. A great feeling of accomplishment came over me before I told myself it was just a game. I was not sure how long I had been at it but I was starting to get tired and my talons hurt from all the stimulation. Moving back over to my corner I laid down and closing my eyes in thought.

~~~~~Secret Service agent Victor’s perspective~~~~~

It had been 12 hours since the first encounter with the griffon before I was able to get any sleep and even then it was only a 4 hour cat nap before the griffon was apparently up again. Me not wanting to miss anything I went out and joined the scientist in front of the observation window. Looking in I could see the lights had been turned back up and a tray of food lay on the floor of the cell.

“What are you feeding it?” I asked.

“We are unsure of its digestive system, if it is feline or avian, so we are giving it grilled salmon because it is digestible for both. As well as the apple to tell us if it is a omnivore or straight carnivore, there is also water for obvious reasons and a roll of gauze to see if it is intelligent enough to treat its own wounds,” one of the white coats next to me answered.

Before I was able to think of another question to ask, the lights in the room where dimmed and the griffon began to get up. It looked around for a second before spotting the food on a tray and slowly approached it. When it was close enough it sat down in front of the tray and gave everything one more look before it began to pick the fish apart with its claws and eat it. It’s hunger was clear as it finished the plate and quickly went for the bowl of water however when it finished with the water it did not go directly for the apple. Instead it retrieved the role of gauze and began to groom itself also taking a lot of time to carefully wrap the more heavily injured parts of its body. Lots of murmurs began to pick up about its intelligence and possible test but I was once again swept under the rug when all the technical stuff started coming out. I don't know how long I watch as it treated its self but when it was done the griffon got to its feet and began to walk around the room. Seemingly mumbling to itself at times and letting loose signs of boredom every now and then. Getting up I turned and was surprised to see Andrew who was standing right behind me I began.

“Isn't there anything we can give it for entertainment it is clearly looking for something to do,” I asked.

“Yes there is, we have decided to give it a Rubik’s cube to test its intelligence and problem solving capabilities. However we do not want to risk first encounter so we are going to wait until it falls asleep again,” came his response.

“A Rubik’s cube, are you serious don't you think that will be a little hard?”

“Well we can't be sure of anything at this point. But if it is too hard then we will try something easier. But for now we are just waiting for it to fall asleep.”

“Well in that case I am going to go back to bed. If anything interesting happens come and get me. Also one more thing, when will I be able to go home?”

“Umm well yes about your home. Under these circumstances you are not allowed to leave with the information you have until further notice.”

“Well that is just great. Can you at least get someone to give my partner a call and tell him I am alright. oh and also get someone to go by my house and water the plants.”

“I will see what I can do.”

“Thanks.”

And with that I walked back to the small conference room I had previously been sleeping in and passed out on the couch.

~~~~~7 hours later~~~~~

I woke up and after checking my watch I was amazed I was able to get that much sleep. Stepping out of the room I went back into the lab where I was greeted by Andrew who filled me in on what I had missed. Apparently they had given the griffon the Rubik’s cube 2 hours ago and it was still going at it. Walking over to the window I saw the griffon sitting down shuffling the multi coloured cube around and around in its front claws. A look of pure determination on its face. Grabbing a chair I pulled it up to the window and watched for several minutes before it put the Rubik’s cube down in irritation and grabbed the apple that was laying on the ground next to it. she started to walk back and forth eating it and glancing down at the cube every now and then. I alerted the other scientist of these new developments when the griffin suddenly stopped and a grin came over its beak. Finishing the apple and eating the core she walked over to the Rubik’s cube gave the top half a ⅛ turn then popped off the corner block causing the whole thing to fall apart. The scientist began watching with me at this point as we all saw it as it inspected every piece and seemingly satisfied started to reassemble the cube in the right order. When it was done it scrambled the cube up and started at it again. As time passed we were all amazed when it got the first side solved but that was nothing when under 30 minutes later the cube was completely solved. The griffon looked at all side of the cube and with a look of joy and satisfaction.

“I can't believe it did it.”

I heard someone behind me say.

“What was the final time?” someone else asked.

“4 hours 36 minutes over all time, 54 minutes solve time after the take apart.” someone else replied

The voice of Andrew came over everyone in the room and said.

“With this new information we can safely say that the creature is not only smart but is highly intelligent. I request everyone in lab B in 1 hour to discuss what we do now.”

When he finished he walked out of the room. Not having anything better to do followed him out and into lab B where I sat and waited.

When the meeting started there was a lot of talk about findings and possible origins of the creature the most common being other countries messing with genetic engineering and made a break throw. But with that theory we still did not have an explanation for the still unknowing language the griffon spoke. Or the still unidentified necklace it wore. the next theory to come up was a possible hidden society of griffons still undiscovered but once again the idea was passed off do to the fact that a culture like that would be next to impossible to hide. even if it was there would be no reason for this griffon to be discovered like it was. The last idea was an alien theory with the griffon being an alien and the wreckage found in the forest being the parts of a ship. But like the other two ideas was passed off do to their not being enough wreckage for any size of ship and all the wreckage contained no type of technology. It was as if the griffon had just appeared out of nowhere. With the stalemate on the origins everyone gave a pause but it did not stop the meeting. When it continued it was on the topic of what was seen on the X ray and from what I could pick up the griffon was releasing some sort of energy but not like any that had been discovered before. The necklace was apparently doing the same but from where and how was still unknown. What was known was it is harmless to humans but would mess with electronics if enough of it was released at once. Also no known substance has been able to contain it but they are currently working on a way to detect it for future study. The last thing that was talked about in the meeting was what to do with the creature now. And this is where the real debate started. 25% wanted to release it back into the wild and pretend it never happened. 25% wanted to dissect it and learn everything they could. 25% wanted to keep it and study its relation to different conditions and the last 25% where abstaining from the vote. The call at the end of the meeting was to keep the creature until the higher ups figured out what they wanted to do with it but until then no new test where to be done. And no attempts to make contact with the creature were to be made. So all in all the meeting was a big waste of time that ended with everyone in the same positions as before. Not being able to do anything just observing.

~~~~~Akilina Perspective 4 day later ~~~~~

The familiar sound of the door closing woke me up as it always did. I waited for the lights to dim. Before walking over to the tray of food that lay in front of the door. As usual there was a bowl of water a plate of fish and some type of fruit in this case it was a banana. Sitting down and eating I began to think.

I need something new to do, it’s always the same thing here, wake up eat, walk around, play with the puzzle cube, work out then go to sleep again. I don’t even know how long I have been in here. I need to get out I need to get back to Canterlot. I need to be back out in the open sky I can't keep living like this. I NEED TO FIND A WAY OUT!

When I was done eating I walked over to the mirror placed my right talent on it and spoke up for the second time since I got here.

“You have to let me out I need to get back to my home. I need to do something you can't keep me in here for much longer. Just please let me out.”

Then I waited looking into my reflection in the mirror... listening for a sign, for a reply. Listening for anything to show what I had said had made it through. But there was no response.

They are ignoring me. They know I can't get at them and so they are ignoring me. NO ONE IGNORES ME!

A look of pure anger came over my face and I got up and kicked the glass with my two back legs as hard as I could. A ringing could be heard as the glass quaked back and forth unbreaking with the impact. I was not done I turned around and started to claw my way at the smooth surface, clinks of bone on glass rang out as my talons scraped against the unbreaking glass. taking several steps away from the mirror I charged and hit it with my all my weight only to be bounced off and hit the ground splayed out. as rage my subsided a new type of pain became present. Sitting up and looking myself over several of my still unhealed cuts had been reopened and a small amount of blood was starting to stain my feathers. Looking one last time at the mirror there was no damage to be seen only several splattered drops of blood slowly making their way down to drip to the floor where a broken talent lay. One more look of disgust crossed my face before I muttered to myself.

“Father was right. the only one who will help you is yourself.”

The next thing I know the lights in the room flared on bright and I was forced to close my eyes against it. As soon as I did the sound of the door opening caught my attention but before I could react 3 tinges of pain hit me in the chest with a familiar cold sensation spreading out from where they hit. I tried to fight it. I tried to get to my feet but like last time the cold wave washed over my head I was paralyzed and a deep sleep soon followed.

~~~~~Secret Service agent Victor’s perspective~~~~~

It had been 4 days since the meeting and there was still no commands from are higher ups on what to do with the griffon. As I got up and out of the bed (I had been given one in the barracks) I went over what my day was mostly going to consist of. Getting some food, watching the griffon for a couple hours, then helping out the sciences in the lab with little tasks. It was not too exciting but at least it gave me something to do. I had started to feel sorry for the griffon being locked in a small room with nothing to do. She probably wanted to run free and go back to where ever she came from. Maybe she has a family.

After getting a tray of food from the mess hall I walked into the lab and pulled up a chair to my usual spot in front of the window. Looking in I could see the griffon doing the same sitting in her usual spot eating. When I was done I placed my tray under my chair and rested my elbows on my knees. I watched as the griffon finished eating then was a little taken aback when she did not start her normal routine of walking around the room. Instead she walked right over to the mirror and gently placed one of her front talons on the glass. Some of the other scientist in the room with me also took note of this and came over to join me.

“What do you think it is doing,” I hear one of them ask.

Before anyone was able to provide an answer. The griffon began to speak in its native tongue as usual the words were incomprehensible however a clear meaning seeped in to my mind. “I want out.”

When she was done talking everyone stood in silence for a couple seconds as what was said began to sink in. As the griffon waited there not moving. The seconds ticked by like hours and I could swear the griffon was looking directly at me throw the one way mirror. Then it was as if a switch was flipped the pleading expression of her face dropped and was replaced with a look of pure hate. At that moment I wanted to be anywhere else but there. She turned around and stroke out at the mirror with her two back legs landing then with devastating force causing myself and several of the scientist around me to get up and back away. As the griffon flipped back around and unleashed a fury swipe of claws the noise it made was loud enough to alert everyone in the lab that something was happening. I heard someone yelling.

“Turn on the lights and tranq it quickly!”

Everyone scrambled as I continued to watch as she backed up and slammed herself with full force into the glass only to be bounced off and hit the ground hard but not before a sliver of a crack formed where she impacted. She looked around lingering on the window before apparently noticing the injuries that had all reopened. then the rage fell off her face as she looked to the ground in defeat and muttered one last thing the her language. Before the lights shot on then I saw 2 military officers opening the door and shooting a burst of tranqs into the not moving griffon. Causing her to collapse.

“Is everyone alright” I heard Andrew call out.

A series of yeses came as a reply before he continued.

“Give it 3 minutes for the tranks to take full effect then I want team A to pull out the creature and treat all of its wounds when you are done put it in the isolation cell 2 and make sure there is someone watching at all times. Then go and clean the blood out of room 1. Does anyone know why this happened?”

“We don’t. it just came over placed it talent on the window spoke a few word then freaked out,” someone replied.

“Are you sure nothing else happened?”

“Yes positive.”

“Ok well we need to keep this from happening again. I don’t think we need to go to extreme measures like drugging its food but we need a way to calm it… are we done running test on the necklace I think if we give it back it will cause it to relax.

“Uum there are still a lot of test we need to run but we have enough initial data to keep for studying.” another scientist replied.

“Ok good someone go and get it from lab B and bring it here. Everyone else without a job get out and waits in the conference room until further notice.”

And with that I was ushered out and into the conference room unsure of what to think or do. All I know was I needed to wait and see what would happen.

~~~~~Canterlot City Professor's Perspective~~~~~

It had been 5 days since the teleporter melt down and I had finally been allowed to go home. As I walked into the living room I noticed something off the door to Akilina’s room was open which it had not been since she left on her trip.

She must have left it open when she came to find me. But… now… she is gone.

Slowly walking into the room something caught my eye her travel bag was slumped in the corner still full with stuff I could only assume she got on her trip. But more importantly walking over to the nightstand I lifted a thick leather bound book with a large red and orange primary feather tide on the cover. Opening it and leafing through the pages I quickly learn what the book was. Akilina had made a travel journal taking it and walking out to the couch I sat down and started reading. But I had to stop when I started to tear up on the second page. Closing the book and placing it next to me I laid back and closed my eyes to keep from crying.

I know we were not related by blood but I thought of you as family since the first day you showed up at my door. And now I don't know what I am going to do without you.

Thinking back to the lab, the magical explosion and seeing her fly out at unbelievable speed carrying Cloud Skippers kid and sacrificing herself to save him. As the images of the event flashed by in my head I sat up quickly and thought about something that I did not notice before.

When Akilina was flying away the magical energy wave was within 20 feet of her and when she was engulfed she was still alive. But that should not be possible with the amount of energy in the explosion the heat should have killed her with in that proximity. Even the kid who had way less exposure time still had burnt feathers and first degree burns on parts of his body but Akilina even when she was engulfed her feathers they did not ignite they did not even singe… but there was nobody to be found after the dissipation. which also doesn't like up, parts of the building where intact although a little scorched, her body would not have been completely consumed in the short amount of time she was exposed... she may be still alive!!! But it does not explain where she went... it is possible that with the totem misaligned I different spell was cast. Or maybe the teleportation spell worked? I have to find out.

Jumping up and off the couch a new spark of hope was awakened in my heart I made my way as fast as I could down to the library where I started to Reacher the possibility of Akilina survival. It was going to be a long night but I did not care.