After settling in and catching up with grandfather and after much convincing, I remove my pullover, allowing him to inspect my visible scars and soon-too-be scars he studies me with an appraising eye before loosing a low whistle. I don't have as many as some of the other krigare, but every one of mine stands out starkly against my light grey feathers and deep purple coat (odd coloration, I know.) Thank Hresvelgr none of them were on my wings.

"You've definitely seen your fair share of battle, fågelunge. Keep this up and you'll start looking like me!" He says with a good-natured chuckle. I can't help but grin at this. He does have a point.

"Ah, but as much as I'd like to stay and catch up, I have to go pick the lilla up from school. Say, why don't you go out and talk with the ponies while I'm gone?" He says, standing up. Lilla?

"Lilla? Did you adopt?" I ask, with an eyebrow raised. At my look, he shrugged.

"Poor little one was an orphan, and I'm an old bird whose barn and barnbarn went off to war. It's nice to have a little one scampering around again." He says with a smile. Well, it looks like even Ivan Black-Talon gets lonely.

"I get it. Well, I guess I'll give being social a try." I say, reaching for my pullover.

"Leave it, fågelunge. It's better the ponies know about you sooner. Besides, you should be proud of those scars!"

"If you say so." I sigh, but pull my paw away. He looks me in the eye as he turns to leave, his eyes shining with pride.

"Helga would be proud were she here, sonson. I know I am." He says before leaving, shutting the door behind him.

... thanks, Farfar.

+++++

I walked down the cobblestone road to the nearby cafe, drawing a lot more attention now that most of my scars and healing wounds were visible. Or maybe it was my body that drew these stares.

... yeah, right.

The cafe was a simple building with tables set up outside, protected from the sun by thick, cloth umbrellas. I take a seat at one of the tables closer to the building and look around. Other patrons were chatting and eating away happily, seemingly unaware of my presence. With a sigh, I lean my head back, idly scratching my beak. Well, one thing was for certain, this place looks so peaceful...

So did Coltava

I quickly shake this thought from my head.

"Hey! Adrian!" I hear a familiar voice call, and soon I am joined by Gilda and a cyan pegasus, with a rather colorful mane. I didn't even see them sit down!

"Hey Gilda. Grandfather went to pick up someon-er somepony from school, and thought it would be a good idea if I went out." I say.

"That sounds like him." Gilda nods with a smirk, "I'm glad I caught ya, I want to introduce you to my friend here." She says, nodding her head towards the pegasus. She puffs out her chest and holds her hand out for me to shake.

"I'm Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in Equestria!!" She says, her tone similar to Gilda's in cockiness. I grasp her outstretched hand in a firm grip and shake.

"Adrian Grey-Feather. I'm Gilda's cousin from Griffonia." I answer. After letting her hand go, she runs her eyes up and down my figure and whistles, which causes Gilda to burst into laughter.

"Didn't anyone tell you it's impolite to stare?" I respond with a smirk of my own.

After finally catching their breath, the girls lean back in their chairs just as a waitress mare approaches the table. She smiles as she sees Gilda and Dash, but pauses, curious, as her eyes reached me. After a second, she shakes her head and smiles again.

"What would you like today?" she asks, holding her notepad and pencil at the ready. Gilda orders an apple salad (weird) Dash orders a doughnut (they sell those here?) and I order a black coffee (earning weird looks from the other two) and the mare rushes off to retrieve our orders. Dash turns to me, eyeing my scars.

"So, how did you get those?" she asks. Gilda tenses up beside her. Of course she would ask that.

"That's personal." I say shortly, looking dead at her. She seems shocked at my tone, then crosses her arms and looks away in a huff. Gilda puts a talon on Dash's shoulder.

"Don't let it get to ya, Dash. His old life was kinda rough." she whispers (not very quietly, I might add), "He'll talk when he's ready."

"Fine." She says, blowing a strand of mane out of her face. "I just thought they looked cool." It takes all my willpower not to sigh, or facepaw. Do they seriously think I can't hear them?

Thankfully, the waitress comes by with our orders, and quickly excuses herself to tend to another table. I take a sip of the hot, bitter brew and give a small smile, looking at my reflection in the cup. Most griffons had either yellow, orange, red or black irises with the occasional green. Mine, however, were an almost glowing purple, just a tad brighter than my fur. Just another small thing that made me different, I guess....

YYYYYYYYY

"So, why are your eyes like that? They're so pretty!"

"I-I'm sorry, I don't like to talk about that."

"Oh, I'm sorry... Hey! What's your name?"

"Adrian."

"Cool! I'm Adrianna!"

YYYYY

"Hey, you okay?" Rainbow suddenly asks, snapping me out of my trance. With a quick shake of my head, I meet their gazes, both slightly concerned. I've really gotta stop doing that.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What were we talking about again?" Gilda and Rainbow both exchange glances

"We were asking about what you were gonna do for work while here." Gilda says quickly.

"I get paid monthly from the Griffonian war department." I mutter, more to myself than anyone else.

"And I asked if you wanted to hit up Sugarcube corner." Dash adds.

"... no idea what that is, but why not?" I answer, getting a little cautious. Mare I don't know asking if I wanted to go somewhere I wasn't familiar with. Definitely not shady at all. Gilda sighs

"I wanna come to, but Ivan wants me to help him clean the house. I'll try and hurry, though." she says, leaving some bits on the table and taking off into the air, towards the house. Rainbow suddenly fidgets as I turn to look at her.

"Look, I'm sorry about earlier. I didn't know that was a touchy subject." she suddenly, says, rubbing the back of her head awkwardly.

"It's okay. I figured Gilda would've told you about me, so you didn't know. Don't worry about it." I say, taking a final sip before standing up. "So where is this Sugarcube corner? Let's go before I change my mind."

Author's Note

Oh, and to those who don't understand Swedish, the title means "With great reluctance"

-Moonshine Wing, Patriarch of the Wing Clan