Drifting Away

Chapters

New Surroundings
Strange Tastes
Stories: Part 1
Stories: Part 2

New Surroundings

“It doesn’t matter how many times you leave, it will always hurt to come back and remember what you once had and who you once were. Then it will hurt just as much to leave again, and so it goes over and over again. Once you’ve started to leave, you will run your whole life.”
― Charlotte Eriksson

-o-0-O-0-o-

I groaned softly as I rolled, turning my body from one side to the other. A sharp pain hit my lower back and I could feel my back arching from the pain. My eyes shot open instinctively as I clutched the source of the pain. My hooves pressed into something soft and sticky. I gazed down, noticing a wrapping around my lower body, a green plaster drying around my one side.

What had happened?

Last I remember, I was- My head shot up, though I winced at the pain once more shooting through my sides. My friends! We were in the middle of casting a spell when… I glanced around; my surroundings weren’t familiar at all. A cloth wall surrounded me, no doubt a tent. It was littered with various pots, a few metal tools, and the straw mattress I was laying on.

Where was I, the Everfree? Somewhere in the plains with the Buffalo? Nowhere in Ponyville, obviously. I sniffed around; there was no sweet smell of Sugarcube Corner, only a stark earthy scent in the air.

“Hello?” I asked tentatively.

There was a yelp from outside the tent, followed by a shuffling around, moving things about. ""Finally awake, heh… It’s about damn time,"" someone grumbled from outside.

The cloth flap opened, blinding me momentarily as a gryphon entered the tent. As I adjusted to the light, the figure sighed, sealing up the flap behind her. She stretched for a moment before settling next to me on the straw bedding and turned to face me. She was clicking her talons together, her hawk-like eyes looking over my form.

""You should consider yourself lucky I found you in time, or you probably wouldn't have survived. How are you feeling?"" While her chirps were lost on me, she also placed out her fist, pointing at me before curling her thumb up and then down.

“I-” My voice died into a fit of heavy coughs, and I pressed my hoof against my throat.

I groaned, cracking my neck several times as I twisted my head over to get a better glance at the gryphon. I could hear two voices, though they sounded identical. One was merely a series of chirps and caws, while the other sounded like a pony. If my studies under Celestia were correct, those were the tell-tale signs of the old runic translation spells.

She seemed relatively young, maybe twenty years, a little younger than I was. Her feathers were ruffled, stained with trails of mud running from and over her beak. Twigs and leaves were embedded between her feathers. She didn’t seem to mind any of them, however, the drying coat over her feathers telling me she hadn’t washed in weeks, maybe longer.

“Who-” My rasping was cut off again by my own dry hacking. My throat felt like AJ had bucked me in the side. I coughed before she tossed something against my face. A waterskin flopped against my snout, landing perfectly on the bridge of my nose. I ignored the snort of amusement from my counterpart before I tried to take it in my magic.

The container flopped onto the ground and with it, my forehead started to ache. I clutched my head.

""Stupid pony, can’t you feel you’ve damaged your wellspring?"" the gryphon grunted, reaching over to pop the opening into my jaws and pour the refreshing liquid down my throat. ""Did your parents ever teach you what a burn out even is?""

I pulled the bottle from my mouth, giving it back to her as I coughed once again, this time to clear my throat. “Who are you? Where am I? What happened!?” I croaked, resting my head once more as I kept my gaze onto her, choosing to ignore her remark.

""Ahahah, you are quite the curious one, aren’t you? I am Ker’iah, the alchemist of the Gyr’via,"" she said, rolling her eyes slightly as she held her talons against her breast feathers sarcastically. ""Or I was until the Asa’alani came. As for the where and what, I can not say for certain. You were practically dead when I found you, and you’ve been in a coma for the last month and a half. You’ve been my pet project since I made my new home in the forest.""

“W-will I get my magic back?” I asked, looking up cross-eyed to my horn, worried. It was my talent, even my cutiemark. I yelped in surprise as she flicked her talon against my cheek.

""Listen, the damage to your wellspring will heal naturally, as long as you aren’t an idiot and use your magic like you just tried to. Just like all wounds, you must not stand on a broken leg before it is healed,"" she said, gesturing to my body idly.

I gazed down at my body as she spoke, examining myself closer now that I was awake. Indeed, underneath my coat, I could see small scars and scabs between fur; a particularly terrifying three scars ran along my underbelly. She seemed to notice my attention being drawn to the markings.

""Mmm, lucky, you are… If I had shown up any later, if that beast had struck you any deeper, or any higher, even the best healers couldn’t have saved you. You must have the goddesses’ blessing, Ms…""

“Twilight. Twilight Sparkle.”

""Yes, yes, Sparkle,"" She shook her head. ""You must have been touched by a goddess, with your luck.""

“Don’t feel lucky... I feel like one of my friends bucked my head halfway through a wall.” I flicked my eyes to the side, trying to take my focus off the scars.

Ker’iah laughed, leaning closer against me so that our bodies pressed against each other. It was warm; I liked it, it reminded me of home. Home… “Have you ever heard of Equestria? The princesses Celestia and Luna?”

""Hmm, I take it Equestria is where you are from, Sparkle?"" I nodded.

""I can’t say I’ve ever heard of it, nor seen it before, but those names are remarkably similar to... Celestia and Luna, you said? Sun and Moon? We call them Helio and Diana. The eternal couple. We tell the tale of the two lovers, two gryphons of immeasurable strength. One whose very magic could melt stones and the other who painted the night sky with a brush of stars. Each seeking their pair, circling the Earth in a futile attempt to catch up with the other, I assume.""

“Yes, that is... something like them. They are the pony princesses who raise and lower the sun and the moon each day. Celestia was my mentor growing up,” I said, rubbing my head sheepishly.

""I was correct, you have been quite the blessed being then. Years under her wing must have given you luck for lifetimes."" She pulled her bags onto her, looking through them for a moment before pulling out a jar of a greenish paste. Scoping a claw full of it, she set the bottle to the side and leaned over, starting to smear it against the wounds.

I winced, feeling the sting as it seeped into my wounds. The gryphon was working quickly, grabbing a green-stained cloth and pressing it on top of the paste. ""Medicine. You have taken well to the mixture.""

She murmured something, moving herself so that her feathers pressed against my body, her wing wrapping around my back. I shivered softly, a small blush on my face as I felt her feathers rustle over my back.

She seemed to notice this and chuckled softly, shaking her head. ""The Nekans jungle is not a friendly place for civilization, Sparkle. Fires attract parasitic insects, beasts, and monsters alike. The only warmth we will be finding at night is each other.""

“Oh, I guess that makes sense,” I said, sighing once again. Her warmth was reminding me of just how tired I was. I could feel her heart beating as my head started to lean against her, even as she rested her head on mine.

Soon, the tent was starting to dim, the firefly lantern dying off as Ker’iah adjusted the knob below, slowly letting it fade into our surroundings; a peaceful black that was only disturbed by the shining eyes of my new acquaintance.

The night would not be quiet, or peaceful. As I would soon learn, the jungle was always alive, from the caws and hoots of the birds to the rustle of the leaves, whether from the beasts that made their homes here or the winds.

I had so many questions. Perhaps the shock of everything was numbing my mind right now; I hadn’t even bothered to think of my friends. Ker’iah had said a month had passed… I hoped they were still alright and not all too worried.

-o-0-O-0-o-

That first night after I had woken from the coma was something different, to say the least. I distinctly recall my sleepover with Rarity and Applejack while I’m remembering that night. The closeness of another body pressing against mine, in hindsight, was probably what got me through that night. Feeling Ker’iah’s body wrapping around mine held my fragile mind together, taking me away from all the pain and suffering.

I don’t know what I would have done without her. She became my rock, where my friends and mentor had once been*. It wouldn’t be the perfect fit like they had been, but she filled the void as well as any pony, or creature for that matter, could have ever done.

*Friends, if you are the ones reading this journal, I swear I didn’t replace you… I just needed someone to latch onto, to make me forget, and to make me focus on the present and not what I had lost. You’ve all held such a dear spot in my heart, especially you, Spike.

-o-0-O-0-o-

Author's Note

Thank you for reading the first chapter of Drifting Away! Feel free to leave comments and more below, I love to get some more feedback on the story!

Real author's note:
"," means equine speach.
"","" means translated gryph speach.
-This will be better explained in chapter 5

Strange Tastes

“Ponyfeathers, get that away!” I shrieked once again, pushing her talon away from my form. Celestia forbid, I didn’t even want that stuff on my hooves, let along inside me. If I had my magic, I swear, I’d toss her into the jungle.

""Eat it, Sparkle!"" She shoved the dripping slice towards me and I cringed away from it once again. It was still before the height of the day, and I had started to feel the onset of my hunger. I hadn’t moved far to find something to eat before Ker’iah tackled me and dragged my body back to the tent.

Currently, I found myself in some disagreement with her, one neither of us seemed to be backing down from. “I said, no. I won’t be eating meat. I’m not a gryphon. I don’t do meat!” I shouted back at her. “Just let me find something I can eat myself.”

Ker’iah sighed softly, setting down the strip and stretching her talon out to grab her bag. ""Fine, if you want to find something, let’s go and find something then,"" she muttered, opening the tent and slipping outside.

I tentatively followed, shaking my hooves as I stood up, and parted the tent before seeing her tail disappear into the foliage. I trotted behind her, tilting my head. “Where are we going?”

""To fix this,"" she murmured cryptically, not pausing in the slightest.

“You’re not too mad, right? I mean-” I paused my sentence as her face turned back to look at me.

""Not mad, just… annoyed I guess, "" she sighed, pushing through another couple of branches. Eventually we ended up in a clearing, not too unlike the one we were making our residence in at the moment. I watched her circumnavigate the area one time, pulling a few clawfuls of plants from the branches and brush before setting them between us.

There were at least 8 different types of vegetation, each in a pile before me. “What is this?” I asked, glancing between the piles and her. Next to them, she laid a strip of meat.

""Dinner. Your dinner, to be specific. Sparkle, there are many things you have no idea about, and you’ve given me no choice but to prove things to you."" She pointed a talon down at each pile. ""Each of those are the most common plants in this jungle, what most people in your diet would consider… food.""

I nodded slowly, mouth watering slightly from the mention of food again. “Alright.”

""And each of those will kill a pony sized creature in minutes if they are eaten. Each and every flower, berry, and leaf would,"" she said, suddenly pushing her beak towards my face.

She held up a collection of berries in her claws, letting them hang right below our faces. ""Relas is a brush present everywhere here, and is also very common as decoration for gardens. Its berries contain a toxin known to corrupt the consumer’s wellspring, not simply damaging it, but devouring it to fuel the plant’s growth.""

Ker’iah sighed, letting them fall back into the pile. She lifted another, this time a flower, vaguely reminding of a rose.

""A’sya’s Camellias: a flower commonly found in the jungle and other woods. Unlike the flowers most ponies can eat, this one has a strong aphrodisiac that renders anyone who eats them into a lust-driven state for a week, even subverting the flight instincts of Zebras. While not lethal, it distracts the mind to the point the victims die trying to buck their own predators.

""You know why I’m telling you this right?"" she asked, gazing back at me. ""Even if we ever leave this jungle, we won’t be finding much food in any towns. A lot of Ep’rus is agricultural, but we are in the middle of a war. Wars aren’t pretty. People don’t get the food they want or need anymore.""

She pushed the meat closer towards me and a cold sweat started to drip down my face. The gryphon looked dejected at this point, and stared at me with a mix of frustration and expectation.

I stared at the strip of flesh. It used to be part of something. A deer, a rabbit? Who knew other than the gryphon in front of me. I forced out the emotional part of me. Her logic was flawless; even in nature, an herbivore would turn to eating meat in cases of starvation.

To think the mare who took on Nightmare Moon, Discord, and Chrysalis would be stopped by piece of meat and a growing pain in her belly.
""Twilight..."" she breathed, pulling herself to my level, our faces nearly touching right above the meat. She moved it slightly closer to me, until it was inches from my lips. I could start to smell it now. The blood dripping off of it, the white fat lines through it.

I winced; I had to shut off my eyes from it. I thought of Spike, my adopted brother. Dragons ate meat in addition to gems, though we had never given him any. I knew that at some point, he’d try it, and he certainly wasn’t a monster. Neither were the gryphons. Nor Ker’iah.

I reached down slowly. My tongue was curled up in the corner of my mouth, trying to avoid touching the meat as my teeth sank around it. I gagged, trying to force myself from dry heaving as I pulled it inside my jaws.

The introduction of the meat was flooding my senses, violating them with its disgusting scent, flavor, and texture. I felt sick; my teeth bit into the strip instinctively, and I regretted every second of it.

It was like rubber in my mouth, disgustingly chewy, but I ignored the horrific feeling in my jaws. I forced myself to swallow the vile substance, followed immediately by a series of coughing, half to get the taste out of my mouth and the other half to try and force it back up my throat.I could feel my stomach twist, but my cursed anatomy couldn’t cough it back up.

I ate meat. I devoured a living creature.

…

How would I ever look at Fluttershy again? All her animals... I was a murderer.

No, I couldn’t say that. I glanced back up at Ker’iah; she seemed nice most of the time, she wasn’t evil. I thought of Spike once again. I couldn’t ever say that about him, about them, I’d be calling the entire gryphon and dragon races evil. I couldn’t force myself to call them that. Ker’iah had taken me into her tent for a month now and tended to me.

A shiver ran down my spine.

A month. I must have eaten during that time.

“This wasn’t my first time eating meat, was it?” I wasn’t as… plump, dare I say, as I was in Ponyville anymore, but I wasn’t showing any signs of starvation. “You force fed me while I was in a coma, didn’t you?”

Ker’iah hesitated for a moment before nodding. She scratched the back of her head, looking away from me. ""Soup, a recipe of my own, modified to take into account our… surroundings."" She was terrified of how I was going to react, wasn’t she?

I paused to think for a moment. She had done so much for me, how in Equestria could I have even thought for a second to call her a monster? I could feel the tears swelling in my eyes now.

""I-I’m sorry if I forced you to do that, don’t worry, I...""

Something compelled me to wrap my arms around her. I noticed the knot forming in my throat, and was unable to hold myself back from sobbing. “Th-thank you. Thank you so much.”

I could feel a hesitant claw wrapping around me. I knew in the back of my mind I was suprising her, she probably expected me to hate her. She had been unsure; so was I. I burrowed my tear-stained snout into her feathers, my breaths coming quick, each one followed by a sniffle.

I didn’t speak. She didn’t speak. I just cried softly into her shoulder, tears of mourning over my friends: the girls, Celestia, Luna, Cadence, Shining… Spike. I may never see them again. I had eaten meat, indirectly been responsible for ending the life of a creature to survive. But there were tears of joy, too. I had someone, someone who cared for me, even if I hadn’t care for myself.

-o-0-O-0-o-

That day was a wake up for me. I was no longer in Equestria. I’d have to adapt, even if my heart told me I was changing into something I had feared of ever becoming since I’d seen the likes of Nightmare Moon and Discord. Part of me died that day. I may never get it back again, even if I do manage to return to Equestria.

It would be another month or so of trying to swallow the strips whole, ignoring the chewy texture and the slimy blood-stained coating of each piece. I can’t remember the exact number of days that passed before I stopped noticing it. I was starting to care less about it. Licking the blood off my lips, tearing into the flesh of an animal like it was normal.

To any pony reading this, I don’t blame Ker’iah for what she did. She dragged me through hell herself, struggling to fight her every step of the way. But the two months I spent in the jungle have changed me. I don’t think I am quite an equestrian anymore. Definitely not the friendship loving mare I was when I teleported inside these woods weeks ago.

-o-0-O-0-o-

Stories: Part 1

I pushed through the brushes again, sighing softly as I entered the familiar clearing. I brought my thoughts to the first time I had woken up. Our small tent still stood between the two oak trees that defined the clearing; however, in the last month I had spent awake, we had made a few improvements here and there.

Our residence was more built up now, with a canopy of leaves and branches woven by my limited magic and Ker’iah’s ever-useful talons.

Unfortunately, Ker’iah was still off hunting at the moment. I set down my satchel, one of Ker’iah’s pair she had given me after I had awakened. It held some of the modestly important things we shared, like a flask of water and some cured foods.

I took the moment to look at myself. My once-pure lavender fur seemed muted now, dulled by a mix of clay and mud that the gryphons often used in hunting. It was fairly waterproof, but its main advantages were its camouflage. To me, however, the best part was that it was surprisingly warm to have on.

I had decided to cut my mane short once I got a clear look at myself. My mane was in tatters, holes in some areas with clear signs of magical burns in them. There was no point in keeping all those damaged hairs, so I simply cut them off. Apparently, Ker’iah thought it looked cute, so I may just keep it like that.

I lifted a hoof and inspected it, lighting my horn as I cleaned out the stones that had got caught in it. I exhaled, letting out a long breath I didn’t realize I was holding. I couldn’t ever have imagined finding a friend all the way out here. I gazed up towards the glimmer of sunlight that poked through the canopy, remembering one of Princess Celestia’s lessons from long ago.

-o-0-O-0-o-

I trotted behind Princess Celestia. Her steps seemed to be four of my own, and I found myself out of breath to just catch up with her. “P-princess!” I called out with my books trailing in my telekinesis.

My snout hit something fluffy before I felt the familiar warmth of the princess’ magic over my body, lifting me upwards onto her. She smiled softly as she gazed down on me, clearly holding back a giggle. “Oh my, Twilight… I almost forgot just how big I am sometimes. Here, let me make it up to you. I can carry you the rest of the way.”

“Oh no, no, it is all good-” The princess’ wings seemed to shoot out on either side of me, cutting me off as I realized her intentions. I felt the princess start to crouch and my tiny hooves instinctively wrapped around her neck. “Not agaaaaaaaaaain!”

My voice carried through the castle as the princess leapt at least a hundred hooves up into the air in seconds.

Celestia’s laugh cut through the winds around us as she flew above the castle, ducking and weaving through the towers of the various buildings. The familiar settings passing by us as we made our way to the garden, my classroom for the last three years.

I could feel her muscles stretching and flexing beneath me as we circled the garden. We had started to hover in one spot before another when there was a rush of air against my face, and the ground seemed to grow closer with every second.

We landed with a great thud, and I slid off her back with my eyes swirling. I must have looked quite silly, as I felt the princess guiding me around until my head cleared up. The princesses in my visions slowly merged into a single alicorn as I shook my head.

“So Twilight, how did your weekend go?” she asked, her horn lighting up as a table and tea set appeared next to us. She poured the tea into both cups, sipping from her own. “Do anything exciting?”

“Oh yes, princess! My parents and I went to this bookstore, and it had all these books on exotic magicks, like seapony magick and zebra magick! I just can’t seem to put them down!” I practically bounced in excitement.

“Hmm, what about doing anything with your friends?”

“Friends? But books are so much better!” I pouted softly, lightly pawing at several of said textbooks. “They have so many adventures and stories and information and, and... and everything! Why do I need friends when books are so much better!”

The princess sighed, setting down her cup. “Twilight… You need to spend more time with your friends. Dusty old books won’t give you everything you need in life. You should go out and have some fun while you’re still young.”

“But-!”

“Do you think people like Daring Do spend all their time reading books? Most of those authors did something adventurous before they wrote those books of yours. Even Starswirl was quite the avid explorer- Though I can’t seem to explain his affiliation with bells.”

“Even you, Princess?”

“Oh, of course, Twilight. The stories I could tell may just fill every book in your library…”

-o-0-O-0-o-

““Earth to Sparkle?”” A talon waved in front of me, snapping me out of my stupor. Ker’iah must had returned from her hunt.

“Hmm?” I turned, looking over at my counterpart as she stood with a leather sack slung between her wings, and the fresh scent of blood wafted into my nostrils. I wrinkled my snout at the stench, still not completely comfortable with my companion’s dinner choices and my own changing ones.

“What is it?” I asked as we moved together. We eventually settled in the small patch of matted grass where we sometimes spent the afternoon. Neither of us would speak, just stare into the woodlands around us. Ker’iah grunted as she set aside the sack with a thump.

She set aside a few rocks, each of a similar size of around half a leg in diameter, nodding towards me. ““Let us try five stones this time, Sparkle. You’ve gotten a little too good at just the last three.””

I nodded in return, my horn lighting up in the familiar purple aura. Slowly, one at a time, each stone would start to lift itself off the ground, the last one with a noticeable wobble to it. I gritted my teeth slightly as I raised them into the air.

It was a week since we had started my therapy, as Ker’iah called it, slowly building up my magical prowess once more. Even simple levitation was proving itself difficult at the moment, reminding me of my days as a filly as I pushed myself to hold them.

““And... Drop one, two, and four!”” she called out to me, forcing me to concentrate harder on the spell, adjusting which stones I held in my grasp as I let the other three drop. I could feel the sweat dripping down my forehead from the strain.

It seemed like an eternity before she finally gave me the order to release the rest of my magic. It felt like huge weight on my horn dropping as each one landed into the earth with a thud. My knees shook softly as I lowered myself back onto the grass.

““Better, better. Your magic is returning slowly.”” She nodded, a small smirk on her face. ““Though this is a far cry from those stories you keep telling me of. Are you sure you fought away that- Ursa Minor, was it? A massive celestial beast?””

I huffed softly, grabbing the bag as I pulled out one of the pieces of cured meat, gnawing on it. “You are the worst, aren’t you? I’m telling you I saved Ponyville from it and sent it back into the Everfree.”

““Mmm, if you say so, Sparkle. You’re a pretty good storyteller, though you need a lot of work on some of those facts of yours. Especially that one about fighting the ‘embodiment of all chaos’,”” she said, flexing her talons in makeshift quotation marks.

“It’s true and you know it!”

““Mmmmphmm, sure it is, Sparkle.””

I huffed, crossing my forelegs, choosing to take another bite from my meal rather than give in to Ker’iah’s insufferable teasing.

““You know I’m just messing with you. I’m sure everything you talk about is one hundred percent the truth.”” She started gnawing on her own supply of meats. ““Though that isn’t all I’m thinking of talking about tonight,”” she said, gulping down her piece. ““I’ve managed to find you a gift, to celebrate our time together so far!””

“A gift? Out here in the jungle?” I asked, raising an eyebrow slightly. “It isn’t something dead, is it? You know I don’t do well with that sort of stuff…”

Ker’iah shook her head, pulling out her satchel and opening it. She lifted out something wrapped in various clothes, bound together by a leather string. It was small.

“What’s this?” I asked, taking the package in my magic, bringing it closer to my snout as I inspected it.

““Mmm, nothing much, just figured it was time you got one of your own considering how long we’ve been here…”” she said, nodding towards it. ““Well, open it.””

I was quick to undo the knot on the object, pulling away the cloth and revealing a small blade enclosed in a leather sheath. My eyes narrowed slowly as I pulled it out of its pocket, letting the blade shine against the sunlight. “A knife?”

Ker’iah nodded and pressed one of her talons against the sheath, pointing to an inscription running down the side, burned onto it. Written was a small symbol.

“‘Asa’alani Air Wing’?” I gasped softly, turning to face her slowly. “I thought that they were the ones that inv-”

““Yes, you are right,”” she cut me off, grimacing slightly. ““That was not a blade I ever owned. I took it from one of the… assailants I ran from. But I think you’ll make much better use of it than any of them ever could.””

I put away the blade, setting it aside as I moved a little closer to her. “Do you want to talk about it?” I pressed, leaning forward a little.

She spat out beside her, thankfully away from me. Her eyes closed slowly and I could have sworn I felt her shiver. ““Not now. It is not a story for... pleasant company,”” she muttered, turning her head to the side as if looking out into the jungle.

“I mean, if there is anything I can do to help-”

““The bastard paid; all the help I need is from that alone,”” she grunted, standing up and packing her satchel, moving herself into our tent. Her tail thrashed behind her as she disappeared inside.

After a few moments and an angry screech from inside our home, I turned my attention to the blade. I inspected it once more, holding it in my magic before placing it in my satchel. Ker’iah had a similar knife; she had used it for everything, but part of me shivered just from its appearance. It was a weapon for fighting, for killing.

Could I ever use it like that?

I shook my head, clearing my thoughts of these, darker thoughts in my mind. Right now wasn’t the time for this. I gathered my stuff in my bags, hoisting it up onto my back before following her inside.

-o-0-O-0-o-

Stories: Part 2

As I entered the tent, I noticed Ker’iah in the far end of the chamber, her knife brandished as she made repeated stabbing marks into the floor next to our bedding. She had riddled the floor in these holes over the last few days, and I could tell something was gnawing on her mind.

“Ker’iah? You alright?” I asked, setting my stuff down by the entrance with her own.

""It’s nothing, I have and will deal with it,"" she muttered in reply.

“It really doesn’t seem like nothing to me. It sounds like it’s something you need to talk about,” I said, stepping closer to her slowly.

She turned her back towards me, flickering the knife between her talons. ""Buck off Sparkle, this is for me and not you.""

“Ker’iah…” I murmured, carefully avoiding her flicking tail.

""Shut up. Leave me to my peace.""

“You can tell me anything-”

""It isn’t anything you could ever understand!""

“I’m sure I could get at least a part of it. It's been about two months since we’ve been together in the jungle. We know each other more than ever. I know something has been bothering you these last days, and whatever it is, I’ll listen. I promise,” I said, pulling myself closer to her.

I could feel her tail beating rapidly against my hooves, thrashing between my forelegs. I lightly took it in my magic and set it aside. Ker’iah, however, took the opportunity to let out a screech and push me away from her, her entire position flipping over in a second into a crouch. ""This is for me and me only!""

Her talons were digging into the earth as she stalked closer to me, prowling in a circle around me, her knife in one claw. ""Pony feathers, Sparkle, you’re digging yourself deeper and deeper into my past. I can assure you it isn’t all sunshine and rainbows.""

“I-I know!” I cried out, curling my tail around myself as she stepped around me.

""Then stop picking at it! You’re only bringing up back memories that should stay dead,"" she growled.

“Ker-Ker’iah! I can tell that this is hurting you. You have to let me help you!”

""Like you’d bucking know what it’s like, you sun-worshipping horn head! Go back to your sweet Equestria where people solve their Helios-forsaken problems with a buckin’ song!"" she screeched, stabbing the knife between us.

I flopped back onto my haunches, wordlessly gaping at her sudden outburst. We sat across from each other, silent for a moment. She rubbed her forearms softly, turning away from me again with a sort of pained look on her face.

“I-I wish I could go back…” I whispered.

Ker’iah looked back to me in horror, before she flinched away as our eyes connected. ""I-I’m sorry, that was out of line."" She began to hide her face with a wing. ""You didn’t deserve that. I know you can’t go back.""

“Ker’iah… You can tell me. I promise I’ll listen to you.”

She sniffled softly, wiping away a tear from her eye. ""You know, I used to sing to you when you were in a coma. You just reminded me so much of them...""

“Who?” I said, crawling forward until I could wrap my foreleg around her.

""Faunis and Eslewood, my bros."" She pulled away from my hug and stared into her claws. ""You won’t understand what it was like to lose them.""

I frowned softly, moving closer to her again, leaning my head against her shoulder. “I think I do, Ker’iah- I lost my brothers too, the best friends of my life. I’ve know Spike and Shining for most all of my life… Now I’m gone,” I murmured softly, gesturing to our tent.

""I’m getting too worked up about this. I shouldn’t be thinking about it."" She tried to pull away from me, but I kept against her, holding myself against her.

“You’ve done so much to support me, it’s about time I start returning the favor,” I said. “What happened? Just talk and I’ll listen.”

The gryphon grimaced in return, setting aside her weapon as she laid on her back, her wings stretched out almost like she were flying. She stole a glance at my knife lying on the table, the one she had given me only a few days ago. She breathed, shaking her head. ""One look at that stupid knife and I’m already over-reacting…""

I moved, laying down next to her, careful not to step on her wing as I joined her. “The knife? It has something to do with your hometown, doesn’t it?” I murmured softly, carefully.

""Yes. Yes, it does,"" she breathed, nearly silent.

“So the blade you gave me-”

""Yes,"" she said, forcing a neutral facade. ""It was one of theirs who came, to destroy everything...""

-o-0-O-0-o-

Ker’iah purred quietly between the two beds, glancing tenderly between the two as she sang softly. She smiled gently down at the two smaller gryphons.

I see the moon, the moon sees me

shining through the leaves of the old oak tree.

Oh, let the light that shines on me

shine on the one I love.

Over the mountain, over the sea,

back where my heart is longing to be.

Oh, let the light that shines on me

shine on the one I love.

She watched each one’s eyes slowly start to close peacefully, her words flowing like silk from her beak as she lulled each of her brothers to rest. Her claws were clicking softly on her stool in a light rhythm.

I hear the lark, the lark hears me

singing from the leaves of the old oak tree.

Oh, let the lark that sings to me

sing to the one I love.

Moving to the desk, she checked one last time to see both of their eyes shut before she lifted up the lantern, adjusting the valve to dim it.

Over the mountains, over the sea

back where my heart is longing to be.

Oh, let the lark that sings to me

sing to the one I love.

She set the lantern down, the lullaby over, yet she still hummed the melody in her head as she leaned over the two gryphons. “I love you, Lil’ Faunis,” she murmured softly, kissing his forehead. “And you too, my sweet Eslewood.”

Ker’iah slipped as silently as she could out of the room, letting the door click behind her. She let out a sigh, stepping down the stairs, back to her main workspace, or ‘lair’, as Faunis had so dubbed it. Their house was a small luxury that her work as an alchemist had afforded the three of them.

It wasn’t much, but having a room for her work saved her from having to run around their house looking for supplies. Around her, there were various lines where materials like meats and herbs hung to dry, as well as containers to hold the messier ingredients, like her aloes.

She slid effortlessly into her chair, pulling out her satchel onto the desk, and carefully extracted her supplies. Her trip to market had proven quite fruitful, selling and purchasing many different items today.

Ker’iah allowed herself to crack a small grin. There were some advantages in living in a town with only one alchemist. She was well-loved in the town, and she enjoyed it as well; at least the older folk who didn’t call her a shaman or witch-gryphon.

With a blissful sigh, she set herself to work with the supplies. Plucking some leaves from her lines and pulling out her mortar and pestle, she began to mix the ingredients together. The strength potion had been a huge success among the hunters this month, and she had found herself having to make several more trips into the jungle to simply restock from the demand for them.

A pinch of diamond dust

A feather of the crystal eagle’s wings

The petals of a rose is a must

Ground together with the bark of a oak brings

A potion to empower one’s power

And to stop addiction, a little bit of sour

She smiled softly as she squeezed the lemon over top of the paste. It wasn’t one of the main ingredients, but something her mentor had once emphasized during her teachings. Never let someone become dependent on your crafts, lest they ever lose potency.

Setting the mortar down, she pulled out several empty bottles and unscrewed their bindings. Carefully, she’d start to pour the mixture inside, adding around the same amount of liquid into each one before setting aside her craft to lay on her bench.

Her life wasn’t a quiet one, nor was this the first time she was staying up late to prepare for the next day. She closed her eyes slowly as she breathed in the various scents around her, the rosemary, thyme, moonshine, and even the freshly made potions. She adored moments like this, however, that seemed to stretch out forever and calm her mind.

Suddenly, she heard the town bell ringing in a distance, the loud clangs ringing in her head, vibrating the table. Her ears flickered softly. The bell? At this time of night? she thought, pulling herself towards the window. It can’t be...

Her pupils dilated immediately at the scene before her. Several of the houses in the town were on fire, the unnatural light brightening up the night in a sickening orange blaze. “Oh, sweet Helios…” she breathed. Her claws twitched softly, tightening around the window sill. She didn’t know whether it was a minute, or simply a few seconds before she tore her gaze from the scene.

“Faunis! Eslewood! Get down here right now!” she cried out, likely wakening them if the bell hadn’t done so already. Soon after a flurry of thumps and crashes, the pair of gryphons tumbled down the stairs, landing in a pile before her.

“Sis, sis!

“Did you see-?”

“There is fire everywhere in town!”

“What’s going on!?” they said at once, their eyes wide with a horrific curiosity.

I didn’t stand still, though, my body working on instinct as I pulled items from storage, grabbing various jars and substances. I pulled two squares of cloth from a line, dropping the items into the two clothes as well as my own satchel. “N-no time to explain, boys. Just... Just meet up at our clearing in the forest, alright? I’ll try and explain everything once we get there.”

I folded the clothes, wrapping them tight and tying off the ends to form their make-shift bags. I gave one to each of them before placing my own satchel over my neck.

“Sis…”

“Where are you going then?” they asked, staring up to me in their wide eyes.

“To help the people in town,” I said, ushering them quickly outside. “Now, fly, go! Go to our clearing!” I shouted, pushing them out of the house. My own wings fluttered out against my sides. With two flaps, I shot into the air, wind rushing by me as I sped towards the town proper.

Why now? Hadn’t there been promises of peace? Being on the border had given the town prosperity as a trade center, but now, they were reaping the punishment of their success. Her eyelids cleared her eyes of the tears that threatened to blind her.

She didn’t make it far into the town before she was tackled by something heavy and metal. She gasped, coughing dryly as fresh smoke filled her lungs.

“Well, looks like we found ourselves a hero…”

She blinked away the tears of pain as the thrashed around beneath the weight on her body. “Who are you?” She grimaced, trying to tilt her head up to get a look at them.

“I- We are the Asa’alani. We are here to reclaim our birthright you have unjustly stolen from our ancestors!” He clanked his claws against his armored breast with a deep laugh.

“We never-!” Her beak was forced shut by a metal gauntlet, her muffled screeches ignored by the unnamed gryphon. The weight lifted from her back, but the claw remained on her beak, no matter how she squirmed.

“Now, now, we need to take you back to our camps. General’s orders of course. Mares and gryphonesses are not to be harmed- Beyond what is necessary~” He swooned softly, his tongue uncomfortably pressed near her ear.

Her eyes widened as she started to panic, trying back out of his grip. Her screeches grew in furiosity as she felt a rope tying around her neck. A tug jerked her forward a little as he tested its strength.

“Though… You do seem like quite the catch.” He chuckled darkly, his claws curling under her chin. “You won’t mind if we gave you a little trial run, right?” He purred, pushing her into one of the nearby building, one of the many pubs in the town.

“N-no! S-stop…” She tried to grip against the doorframe for a few moments before she was pushed through, falling to the floor in a tumble.

“You’ve got quite the fire to you. An adventurous one are we? Those are my favorite-” He murmurs softly walking through the frame and advancing towards Ker’iah, his beak curled upwards in a lustful expression.

She whimpered softly as she scrambled, trying to find anything to help her. He was quickly stepping closer to her. She could start to feel his breath against her tail. She curled her lower body up in resistance, even as she felt his claws slowly wrapping around her tail.

“Oh, playing hard to get? Very lovely~” He rumbled softly, letting his talons pry away her tail, followed by the sickening feeling of his tongue against her haunches. He pressed his claws against her lower half, forcing her against the ground as he started crawling up her figure.

She was clawing for her bag, right at the end of her talons. She desperately tried to grab it as his body pressed against hers, his stench filling her nostrils. She pulled desperately, until she felt her claws close around it.

Ker’iah closed her eyes and twisted herself around, trying to get as much power into her arm. Her heavy satchel, filled with those potions she had worked all the late nights to make, came crashing down on his face. The clanking of bottles was followed by the cracking of at least a dozen containers over his beak.

She felt him pull back, giving her the brief moment to push out of his grasp, kicking off his legs as she slide out of from under him. “Get the buck away!” She screeched with renewed vigor, her eyes lit with burning fires.

The armored gryphon attempted to right himself, groaning from the hit to his face. He spat a wad of blood onto the bar floor, wiping off his beak. “Buck, I was wrong. You would be so much better dead.”

She reached into her bag, pulling out the remnants of one of her strength potions. In the back of her mind, she was reciting the dangers of drinking contaminated potions, but she pulled her head back and gulped as much of the liquid as she could possible scoop into her beak.
She could feel its effects almost immediately, her limbs feeling much more powerful, her claws digging into the wooden floors. She let the crumbling glass fall to the floor as she stared at her opponent.

Her wings flexed against her sides, her fear numbing under her adrenaline and the thumping of her heart in her ears. He was clearly larger than herself, with the muscles to go with his weight, but she knew muscles couldn’t remove all vulnerabilities.

Her talons flexed once more before she shot forwards, her wings folding behind her as the world seemed to stretch around her. She crashed into his waiting figure headfirst, her elbow catching his neck as she used her velocity to wrap around him.

He grunted, his claws digging into her arm while he flipped over, using his weight to crush down on her form. She didn’t let up, however, only increasing the pressure of her arm against his neck as her paws started to sink into his thighs, finding room right were his armor ended. She unclasped his helmet with her other claw, letting it fall away with a clank.

His talons seemed to press deeper into her flesh into bone while the other arm scratching madly at her, leaving gash marks along her upper arm. He was starting to gasp for air, however; his eyes looking about in a new found fear as his screech was dying into a hacking breath.

“Bucking die” She screeched into his ear holes, pulling down harder, as she tried to ignore the pain in her forearms. She could feel his thrashing starting to die away above her and let out a sigh of relief.

“Bucking bastard…” She says as she finally noticed his legs falling limb, the desperate clawing at her forearms ending as they fell down at his sides. She reached down with her less injured hand and pulled out his gauntlet from her arm, biting down on her beak as she removed the serrated metal.

She pulled herself from underneath him with great difficulty as both of her forearms were nearly shredded. Once she had pulled out, she finally got the moment to inspect herself. Her adrenaline was fading now and she could feel a cracking in her chest as she moved. The impact of his body much have broken a few of her ribs. Her arms were quickly becoming more painful, blood dripping from many of her cuts. His gauntlets had torn her skin apart, especially deep gashes from where he had gotten a grip on her forearm.

She wordless flapped her wings, using them instead of her forelegs as she crawled towards her bag. She pulled out a few of the bottles which hadn’t completely shattered, nosing through the small collection, before finding the one she needed, one for expediting injuries. She quickly downed the entire bottle before continuing.

She reached in, pulling out the stained rolls of cloth for bandages. She winced as she held down the roll with her paw, using her beak to start dressing her wounds. She felt the mixture of liquids seeping into her gashs, the remnants of strength, healing, and others she had brought on the previous day.

The next hour, she sat down, calming herself as she worked on her satchel. She emptied it of its glass and liquid filled insides, before replacing the containers she could repair as well as the supplies she could dry. She found herself looking back at the dead soldier in the bar.

“Sick bucking bastard…” She murmured softly, eyeing him carefully, as if his dead corpse would suddenly come back to life.

She turned, pulling her refilled satchel over her neck, maintaining a hover just a few inches off the ground to avoid placing any weight on her forelegs. She stepped past the corpse, walking through the doorframe, and taking one last glance at her claw marks on the wood before she carried herself into the night sky.

Faunis! Eslewood- Sister’s coming!

-o-0-O-0-o-

I stared at my counterpart, nuzzling away some of her tears as she finished her story. Throughout the story, we had moved closer, her forelegs wrapping around my chest as she burrowed her head into my shoulder as she spoke.

“Ker’iah, I didn’t realize-”

She sniffled softly, her one visible eye gazing up at mine. ""I left them. Alone in the jungle for hours. How could I? I shouldn’t have gone into the town. I should have stayed with them!"" She whimpered.

""I failed them. For what? What did I do that night that was even worth my two brothers? M-mother, she asked me to take care of them. H-how could I even-""

I cut her off, wrapping my arms around her as tears filled our eyes. “It’s alright. You did what you thought was right. I know they would understand that.”

""I-I can’t though! I left them all alone."" She gripped my back. I could feel her talons digging into me, but I clenched my teeth. Her body was shuttering against mine. I envied the princess for a moment, wishing I could have wings of my own to wrap her with like Celestia had done with me in the past.

Instead, I found myself tightening our hug, “Don’t forget them. Remember them and use your love to push forward.” I spoke lightly, murmuring into her ear. “Its how I’m getting by, without my family here, my friends… Minus one”

""W-who is that?"" She chirped, her breath caught in her throat.

I pulled away, so I could get a good look at her, each of us with tear-stained faces. “You are that one. You’re still here with me, Ker’iah. You’ve been with me all of these days. You are my friend.”

She burrowed her beak into my chest, sobbing quietly into my coat. I pulled her slowly down, laying us down on our mat, curling my forelegs around her head in an embrace. I looked down at her, a small smile on my tear-stained snout.

""What a pair we’d make, a unicorn from Sun-knows where and a gryphon going insane by the minute"" She snorts softly, still pressed against my chest.

“Only the two of the craziest people that could have ever meet,” I chuckled, “Though to be fair, I think Pinkie Pie may beat us there.”

""You will have to tell me more stories of those friends of yours"" She says, finally pulling away from me and wiping off her face. ""They seem like quite the excitable group from what you’ve already told me""

I nodded, smiling softly at her as I gave her a rag to clean off. She accepted it gratefully and carefully dried herself off.

-o-0-O-0-o-