I awoke from my long slumber, sore and groggy. My fur felt slightly damp, nothing surprising there. I did sleep next to the open ocean inside a damp cave. It was a minor annoyance, especially since the enchanted fire I made last night was no longer warming the immediate area. Letting out a long, deep yawn, I noticed the rising sun in the east, telling me it was time to get to work. With that in mind, I slowly got up from my soggy resting place and began my morning routine. While I arched my back like a kitten, which earned a few welcoming pops of the spine, I pulled out some grub from my ship stored in Hammerspace. I ate my morning breakfast during after running on the spot for a minute. After which I tested out my Eye of Chaos to see if last nights realization was just a fabrication, and, unfortunately. It was not.

I let out a sigh for the loss of my overpowered ability. The Seven Eyes of Chaos was something I've grown quite attached too for the brief time I've had it. This power has helped me in times of great strife and assisted me in my endeavors of the mundane variety. From aiding me in killing a God to changing the very soul of some random person, The Eye of Chaos and all its forms will be greatly missed. Especially, Vanity; being able to perfectly change forms, genders, species, at any moment, is something I'll miss most.

"I never got the chance to know what it feels like to be a girl during sex," I said to myself in a rather disappointed tone.

Setting aside those thoughts, I turned towards the sea-faring town to the north. From my current position, I could see that the town hasn't seen any life for a long while. For how long? I couldn't tell. It was difficulted to get an accurate gage without a close-up inspection, which was something I planned on doing in just a few moments.

"Alright, Solstice. Let's have a 'looksie." With those words, I jumped off the cliff and began a steady glide towards the town, and after a minute or two, I landed on a misused and decrepit road just outside the town.

Taking a quick look around from where I landed before I proceeded into town, I saw what I believed was an old guard house. Walking closer to it revealed that it must have been the location where merchants stopped to get their permits checked, and where your average person stopped for theirs. I also noted that it had a "Sheriff" sign on the front of the rather large, stone building.

Taking a closer look, I saw that the main door was slightly ajar and decided to walk up to it and gave it a little touch. I winced when the door fell over, slamming against the floor with a loud "thunk!" Dry, old dust flew up into the air, burning my eyes and causing a coughing fit for a moment. Aside from alerting the ghost town that there was an intruder closeby, I entered the build after quickly looking to see if anyone came to check the noise that I made.

Shrugging it off, I walked into the foyer with a couple of rotting benches, a desk reinforced by rusty steel bars. Beside the desk was a metal door, that was mostly intact. The top half of the door was missing as if someone cut the door in half with a large, sharp knife. On a side note, I wondered if magic was the cause, though, by the looks of things and how jagged the cut was. A blade appeared to be the right answer, but I could be wrong.

"Wow, someone didn't get their Skittles," I hummed before jumping through the door to see what is hiding within and what I found was disappointing. There wasn't anything of importance; no weapons, no papers, no contraband, just nothing. I walked into the back room where they should have store the town's weapons, and what I found was tad interesting. There was a small saddle bag specifically designed for Griffins, but its condition was deplorable. The leather looked rotted and stale, the straps slightly shredded and the bags coloration looked faded from its original color. The bag rested against the wall, and with curiosity getting the better of me. I opened it.

Inside the bag had a few Equestrian Bits, which was both reassuring and worrying. The first meant that I could be in another part of the world in my Equestria. The second meant that I could be in another version of Equestria altogether. Aside from the Bits, there was also a small Kabar-style dagger still in its sheath, looking as if time never touched the blade. I raised a brow at this detail, wondering why this dagger had such a strong longevity enchantment on it.

Though, when I think about it, whoever owned the dagger must have been quite important since longevity enchantments are very difficult to maintain. It must have belonged to the Sherrif of this town, but why that person would leave behind the dagger is a mystery to me. Letting out a sigh of disappointment, I picked up the neglected the twelve-inch dagger and holstered it over my shoulder, making sure the strap was tight and secure. Once done, I left the building and continued deeper into the town.

It only took me a few minutes of walking before I entered the nexus of the town. In those minutes, I learned the name of the town on an old, dilapidated sign: Twilight Bay. It strangely fits. My stroll through the town and the few standing houses showed just how empty Twilight Bay was. Although, there was an odd item left behind by the old dwellers; from a rusted knife to a moldy blanket, a can of food to a broken bed frame. I found a few more Bits in rusted safes that were immensely easy to pick open. As for the docks in the more industrial district of the town? There were no ships, no boats, not even a bucket. I couldn't even find a single document with information on how the town ended up abandoned in the first place, only its name.

By early evening, I finished my exploration of the town. I was slightly miffed that there wasn't more than what I had collected. Sure I had a few hundred bits, an enchanted dagger, a ruby and a tattered black cloak with a decently sized hood I repaired with magic. I put the cloak on sometime during the afternoon for some warmth when the sea breeze wafted over the town and found the cloak was rather comfortable. I sat quietly, eating a sandwich by a simple water fountain that you would find in your average town square.

The town was a mystery, sure, but I wasn't going to stay for long. I knew that I was in Equestria, somehow, and my curiosity was screaming at me to explore. Tomorrow was going to be the day where I was going inland to see what the difference between my old home and my new one. As I finished the thought and meal, I saw something off in the distance coming towards the town from the inland. I could make out with my enhanced vision that it was a contingent of golden stormtroopers and a carriage with a couple of cages that looked like it held... Griffins. Live Griffins. My instincts went into overdrive as I made the connections that were in danger of being put into said cages with the others, but before they could react to my presence. I put my new stuff in my Hammerspace and bolted into one of the buildings just as a pegasus in gold armor landed with the carriage filled with cubs and adult Griffins.

"Alright, everpony. Spread out!" ordered one of the Pegasi. "Our scryer has determined that there is one Griffin hiding in these ruins. Find it, and throw it with the others. This is our last stop until we return to Canterlot. So make it fast!"

'Okay then, where the fuck am I and why are Griffins being captured by the Royal Stormtroopers?' I wondered before moving from my current hiding place on the bottom floor of the store I jumped into, to the top floor with a few flaps of my wings. Once on the top floor, I quickly summoned my magic for a couple quick utility spells. I cast "Muta sonus," to muffle all noise I produce; "Celare forma," to hide my body from the untrained eye, and "Auget volumine," to enhance my hearing. After those incantations, I stalked up to the hole in the wall to spy on the guards outside to figure out how they knew I was here, and why they were looking for me.

"Yes sir!" said three other pegasi and a unicorn that began to charge a spell, but before I could make heads or tails of it. The unicorn pointed to my hiding place causing the others to surround the two-story building.

'Son of a bitch. Should' have used an anti-scrying spell after hearing they just used one to find my initial location,' I mentally facepalmed. Chewing my cheek, I backed away from the window, thinking of what to do next and judging by how they were dressed, what they said briefly, and what they are after. I could confidently guess they were hunting Griffins at Celestia's orders for some reason or another. I could easily kill them, but in my current position, that would be a bad idea.

I had no intel on why the Royal Stormtroopers were hunting Griffins, running from them while constantly maintaining an anti-scrying spell on at all times would be quite draining; without my Eye of Chaos, I couldn't change forms to hide amongst the populace, however. I could cast a spell to change my form temporarily, but doing so would take time and a lot of magic that I currently don't have. Groaning in annoyance at my current predicament, my only option at the moment was to give up myself willingly and be captured by the Royal Stormtroopers. It's not something I would have done under normal circumstances, but it can give me the opportunity to learn why Griffins were being hunted down and captured in the first place.

"Come out now Griffin! And we won't hurt you!" one of the guards shouted while also drawing out his sword with his magic. 'Kinda counterintuitive. Don't ya' think?' Letting out a sigh, I turned off my active spells and waited for the Royal Stormtroopers to come to my location, and, thankfully, they didn't take too long.

The door opened behind me, and the sound of two guards entered the room. Another guard flew up to the hole in the wall that I was looking out of and made sure to block it with his body, preventing from me from escaping into the air. Turning around, I looked up at the two guards without a single hint of fear, then again. I didn't care all that much. I could easily use my words of power to erase them from existence with a simple Umbra spell. I could have the shadows eat them alive, but I shook away the thought. Instead, I listened to the monologue that one of the two guards just had to spout.

"Look at what we got here. We got ourselves a plum and healthy Tom. So little Cub. Are ya' going to be good and come with us or are you going to fight and give us are a hard time?" the left white and blue clone said with a slight hiss that begged me to run.

Stopping myself from rolling my eyes in response to such a cliche threat, I gave him my reply, "I'll go quietly." This answer caused the Pegasus clone to glare at me, as if he wasn't happy that I wasn't going to fight for my freedom, and in all honesty. I would have, but as I've stated before. That would be a bad Idea.

"What, no fight in ya? Do you even call yourself a Griffin, runt?" the Unicorn hissed disappointedly.

"I know when its time to fight for my life; when its time to run, and when to surrender. I like my wings, thank you very much," I replied with a nonchalant shrug. The Unicorn wasn't happy with this fact and took a step forward with his sword raised, ready to strike, but before he could do anything. His partner stepped in front of him, motioning me with a wing to follow. I did so without making a fuss, which further infuriated the Unicorn to no end. [rw]

I walked out of the building without trouble. Along the way, the Unicorn glared pure hatred at me the entire way while the Pegasus kept giving me a wary eye. The other guards all gave me this "look" of confusion, like how I was acting wasn't something they have encountered before. I bet they think I should have come out of the building in chains, sporting cuts and bruises, and screaming at the top of my lungs, however. I wouldn't give them the satisfaction of abusing their power on little ol' me.

"Good job finding the Griffin, Corporal. Now put him with the others," the leader of the Royal Stormtroopers congratulated.

"Sir!" the Pegasus and the Unicorn saluted in unison before taking me to one of the more empty cages. Though, when they brought me closer, I saw that all the Griffin children they have captured were all placed in this one cage, separating them from their parents, however. When they put me in the cage, they didn't bother taking away my bandana-scarf before the door closed.

After a few minutes, the guards regrouped, the Pegasi strapped themselves to the carriages, and the rest kept looking at me with either confused or wary glances. I didn't look back, nor did I gave them a reason to make them more suspicious of me. I ignored them as I ignored the other children crying quietly to themselves. I zoned out in deep thought, wondering what to do when I arrive at whatever location the Royal Stormtroopers were taking me, and before I knew it. We were in the air, flying towards Canterlot Mountain.

Author's Note

Spells,

Muta sonus---Mute Sounds.

Celare forma--- Hide form.

Auget volumine---Increase volume.