Two Weeks

Roach glanced up at the high ceiling, water dripping onto his shoulder, making his silver armor shine in what little light there was in the tunnel him and his team was.

He looked over to his squad, consisting of nothing but ponies. That was to be expected when you join the Royal Guard, but he still felt awkward and out of place, no matter how many times his marefriend assured him.

"Private Roach! Get over here!" Speaking of his marefriend. The Gryphon stood up, his bow and quiver of arrows clanking against the armor on his back.

He approached the group of ponies that his team. To the very left was a stallion, unicorn to be precise, who specialized in recon. Roach couldn't tell the coat or Mane color, there was an enchantment in place that disguised them. His name was Corporal Spring.

Next to him was Corporal 'Kid'. He was the youngest stallion in the whole military, only being fifteen years. But, what he doesn't make up for in strength, he does with agility and speed.

Across from him was Sergeant Cry, second in command of the squad. She was a Pegasus, and was the best with a spear. Although, she didn't like Roach much, he noticed.

And finally, his secret marefriend, Captain Pacific, first command in of the squad. She was in the middle of the group circle. Roach knew she wouldn't treat him like her coltfriend, to preserve their relationship.

"Alright, now that we're all here, let's go over the objective." Pacific said, pulling out a document out from under her wings and placing it on the ground, which was dirt and rubble.

"The city of Canterlot is going to be using these tunnels as a Metro; an underground route for the train to pass through. The construction starts in a few weeks, so we have time."

"Princess Celestia has sensed alien and foreign magic and material down here. Very strong, and very dangerous. It's to be approached with caution, because we don't know what it is yet.

"Our mission: Investigate this magic and destroy it if it proves too dangerous. The tunnel will be closed off in a few hours as a precaution, so we don't have much time in here today."

"Everybody got it? Good, let's move out!" Captain yelled out, glancing to Roach for a second before trotting down the tunnel. The Gryphon sighed before following, worried about what these tunnels contain.

* * *

The Gryphon jumped forward, breathing heavily. Holding himself up with his claws behind him, he scoured his mind of the offending dream, trying to rid his brain of the dreadful memory.

Suddenly, his eyes snapped to the direction of Keen and Baddy's bedroom. His chest and head pounded, making him clutch his head. He groaned in discomfort.

He felt so many little pings in his head and chest, heartbeats and thoughts, it overwhelmed him. Only in Winter though, that's the kicker. Otherwise, it's manageable.

It was a pain living with Keen and Baddy, he knew it would only get more painful as time went on. And he was right, it got worse the more their relationship progressed.

But he's been there for Keen since he was twenty. Helping him, guiding him, and overall being a good friend to him. As much as he could anyway, other times he couldn't control his impulses and things like yesterday happen.

Keen got his own house at twenty two, the one they're all living in right now, and he offered to Roach if he wanted to live here. And he said yes. And so began a friendship he only shared with one other person.

Of course, it's been a very long time he's physically seen them. Sometimes he would catch glimpse of them out of the corner of his eye, but they would disappear before he could get a good glance.

He would see his team often. The Gryphon didn't pay attention to them, they were all fake illusions. The mind tricking them. But, then he was convinced it was something else when they began speaking to him.

Roach couldn't have a conversation with them, they repeated a simple phrase over and over again, like a broken record. It's practically engraved into his mind;

"Last one out... Get the lights."

He knew what they were speaking about, he just didn't want to acknowledge it. If he did... All the effort to preserve his sanity would be gone, he would fall into lunacy.

Twenty One years in there. Twenty. One. Years. In that hole. Alone. Unable to escape, and infected with... No, he can't think about it. He finally got it under control.

Most of his team fell to it. To them. Only him, his marefriend, and the young one survived, but not unscathed. Them and him were infected with it, but unlike him, he got left behind.

Even after all this time back on the surface, he hasn't found them. Not his marefriend. Not the Corporal. Although, he hasn't made any effort to search for them, either.

What he and them were infected with... It's been destroyed, but there's no cure. Roach heard there's been research going on to find a way to cure it, but... It would require a live subject.

The Gryphon rarely ever changed his form, in fact he hasn't since he met Keen. But, he has to occasionally, to keep the illusion he's older than him, which he told Keen he was by three years.

His real age is in the forties. Almost fifteen or more years older than his best friend. The infection stopped the aging process, another side effect of it, one he hated.

Another was the harming when in contact of... Emotions. It doesn't matter what kind of feeling, positive or negative, it harmed him. But, it also strengthened him when the emotion was love.

After all, there was no food in that tunnel. But, his marefriend's love for him kept him fed. It's a very odd thing, but it's part of the infection. One he benefitted from and one he loathed.

He's been feeding off of Keen and Baddy's love for years, and he was so terribly ashamed of it. He hated doing it, in fact. But, he just. Couldn't. Stop. It was delicious.

The stallion he's known for years doesn't know that the Gryphon has been like this, he never told him and he'll try not to tell them for as long as he can, but secrets are dangerous.

He'll probably be punished sooner or later for that secret. Betrayal. Death. Or something else entirely to punish him for his stubbornness and will not to open his mouth and confess.

Confession. It's something he desired, but something he won't ever do. Something he can't do. He's too far in, now. Too far to go back and fix that mistake, and he now he'll be punished for it.

Punishment. Keen mentioned that to Roach once, and it stuck with him, it's something he mulls over when his mind is clear and his conscious isn't. Something he yearns for.

His cursed immortality has made him watch his family die. His parents, brothers, sisters, friends... The last are Pacific and Kid, but they're no where to be seen. Disappeared.

The fact that they're out there somewhere gives him hope, but he loses that hope when he realized it tainted their minds, including his. They couldn't just pick things up where they left off.

They were scarred, guilty over all the sins they committed while down there. Murder... Cannibalism... Rape. Kid never had to do that to her, it was wrong. She was just as alive and scared as us...

Green flames engulfed Roach's body, his old body returning to him once more. He sighed at the sight of it, knowing this was his real body, but he wants to keep the illusion of his old body, before the tunnel, alive.

His feathers was molted together, and his wings practically glued to his back. The colors of his feathers were replaced by a black, sandpaper like skin. It was very uncomfortable... And painful.

His hind legs had holes in them, as well as his arms, covered in that black skin. His paws were stuck together, and it was painful to try and move them. They were basically hooves, now.

His claws were not much better, though. The golden color of them were replaced by a darkened silver, and one of his claws was missing. Not to mention that his left claw had a huge hole in the middle of it.

Looking up to his face, Roach adopted a grim look on his face. His beak was silver like his claws and was very painful to talk and move it, almost pure agony for any kind of movement involving his beak.

His eyes were the only thing that remained, but his pupils were dark blue, and his eyelids gone. Glancing to himself in disgust, lime green flames crossed over his body and he returned to normal.

Well, as normal as can be, anyway. The Gryphon looked away from his reflection in the window and unlocked his door, surprised no one was awake, considering they both had work at this time.

"Keen! Baddy! Don't you guys have work today?!" He yelled outside their room, hearing commotion after his question. He made a quick exit so he didn't get in their way and flew into the sky, the sun just raising into the sky.

* * *

Fangs chomping down inches away from his face, Roach punched it in the face, shoving it off of him. He breathed heavily, the skin from the creature spreading on his right arm.

He ignored it and readied his bow, taking aim and shot one of the things on top of Pacific, the arrow piercing the back of it's head, slumping over on top of her.

Glad she was safe, the Gryphon didn't have time to rest as another one rushed him, jumping onto his back and gnawed at his wings, the flesh tearing. He yelled as he struggled to pull it off.

A spear pinned it against the wall behind him, and he glanced to Cry who smirked a bit before being overran with the things, several of them biting into her flesh.

"No!" Roach screamed, rushing to help her, but it was too late. He watched as the rest the things tore the Sergeant apart, blood and entrails splattering everywhere as he stood there in shock.

Corporal Spring and Kid attacked the last of the creatures, killing them off. Captain Pacific walked over, closing the deceased pony's eyes before sighing in disgust.

It was too much for the Gryphon, he collapsed onto to the floor, staring at the entangled and bloody mess that used to be Sergeant Cry, now reduced to nothing.

Tears ran down his face, his claws holding himself up. The black substance continued to cover his arm, replacing his feathers with that black skin armor, dragging itself up slowly his arm.

Pacific looked on in sorrow before a the sound of buzzing wings caught everyone's attention. One of the creatures flew into view and a massive bout of green flames engulfed it's body until they dispersed, leaving a massive black wyvern.

"On your paws, soldier, we. Are. Leaving!" The Captain stated, picking the Gryphon off the floor and standing him up. A massive roar resonated through the tunnel as the four of them fled.

* * *

"Wake up!" Screamed a brash female voice. The Gryphon stirred awake, his eyes coming to focus at a cyan Pegasus glaring at him. He blinked a few times before finally waking up completely.

"What do you want, Dash?" He asked, stretching his wings and limbs, hearing a few cracks in his joints.

"You fell asleep on the job! You know you're supposed be awake to be able to do work, you know!" She bellowed at him. He rolled his eyes, pointing behind her.

"I did all my work. Two hours ago. And besides, you sleep on the job all the time, stop being so damn hypocritical." Roach said in a bored tone, tired of having to explain himself to everyone.

"Hey, I'm your boss, the pony that got you this job? I can take it away any time I want." She said before flying away, leaving the Gryphon alone. He mimicked her words and made a talking motion with his claw.

Glancing around for a way to tell the time, his eyes fell on the giant tower near the middle of town. The clock indicated it was only noon, so the Bird didn't make any sort of effort to rush.

The skies were clear, but it was chilly and there was still snow on the ground from last night's brutal blizzard that the weather team and him made, closing everyone off from outside.

Now there was fillies and Colts building snow men and snowball fights, and just having a good time overall. The adults preferred to stay inside and warm themselves.

Although the Gryphon was feeling several heartbeats awfully close together, and it was coming from more than a few houses in Ponyville. But, it wasn't his business in the first place.

That was one of the many things he hated about his... Powers. Being able to tell when people are having sex and more makes him out to be a stalker and pervert, two labels he doesn't want.

Roach is just lucky that the rest of Ponyville doesn't know his secret. He's extremely lucky that Keen and Baddy don't know, otherwise he would be in deep shit, more than he already is.

He can't ever let them know.