Markedby Dusky FlowerChaptersOfferedCaptured?LostMarkFirst BloodRose QuartzJakrisOffered"Miss Baker, I am sorry to say that it seems you have committed this crime." Oh, no, please no... "I pronounce Miss Claire Baker..." I didn't do it... They can't send me to jail! I'm innocent! "...Guilty of all charges." That was the moment everything shattered. "But... I'm innocent..." I could only manage one weak protest. My life was ruined. Everything, all my hard work, all of it... It was all for nothing. That was the moment I realized what a hateful world I lived in. That was the moment I decided that laws were worthless if they couldn't find the person who really commited a crime, and that if they didn't work then there was no point in trying to do my job within them. Well, it wasn't my job, but I had always hated those who broke the law. Still... ...Maybe they didn't break the law. The ones who didn't break the law, were the ones who had truly broken Law. Before I knew it, I had gotten up from my seat. "Stop her!" I couldn't really get away, of course. Policemen were everywhere. I slammed the door and ran into another. With the cell guards chasing me I rushed down to my cell. I was panting hard. It had been a long ways to run. I sighed and slumped against the cell bars. Sweat rolled down my forehead as I clutched the cold metal in a death grip. The prosecutor's smug face as I was pronounced guilty haunted my mind. Very short brown hair. Green eyes. Lips curled into a sneer. He had leaned back in his chair, arms behind his head. He had been so happy to ruin my life. I hated him. I hated him more than I'd ever hated anyone. I hardly noticed as they opened my cell door. I didn't know quite how I got inside. It didn't matter anyway. I sat on the bed, wrapped my arms around my knees, and cried. I didn't know how long it had been when my attorney came down to talk. I slowly turned to face her. "I am afraid I cannot get you out of this." I knew that, but hearing it said just made it worse. "However, there is another option." I brushed my light brown hair away from my face and stood up. "What other option? Tell me!" My attorney smiled. "I am not of this world. I will send you somewhere else. All I can tell you is that you will be able to help fix a world beginning to break. Others were also sent there." She's crazy, but what do I have to lose? "Okay." "Hold your horses, you're going in!" __________________________________________________________________________________________________ Wait, she wasn't crazy? I was being sucked through something. Suddenly I was in a tunnel. I felt dizzy. Suddenly I was on the floorof a tunnel. On the floor of a tunnel with a headache, on the floor of a tunnel with a headache... I opened my wings to see why they hurt when... Wait, wings? I scrambled to my feet, my paws, pulled up my hands to look at them, and... Claws? I looked around for my clothing, as it was not on my body... Oh catfish, I was naked. Further inspection found that wasn't quite true. I did have fur and feathers. I also had what appeared to be a tattoo of a pawn on my flank. But I don't even like chess! ... Oh, ha ha, very funny. I sighed, and with nothing to lose, started walking down the tunnel. Captured?In a passageway off the main tunnel, four diamond dogs crouched. "Do you think it could dig for gems?" "It looks strong..." "Maybe too strong! Few of us, it hurts us!" "Bah! It weaponless! It not able to hurt us, you mutts! Net it!" ________________________________________________________ I walked down and down and down the passageway. After all, what other option did I have? *THROOMPTH* ...The option to be netted, apparently. "You! Stay where you are! We get you! You dig gems!" Dog... things. They look like... no, that's not possible. "Tremble in fear! You now serve the Diamond Dogs!" "I'M IN EQUESTRIA?" ________________________________________________________ "Stupid bird! This not Pony land! This Diamond dog land!" "Uh," I noted. "Maybe this one stupid. Not good." "You're stupid, and it not affect your ability to dig gems..." the dog growled. Huh. I have claws... And a beak... And they're busy arguing... Is that a unicorn? I was looking at a medium-light gray unicorn stallion. His head shape let me know it was a he. "Hey! You!" I hissed. "Me?" He levitated a gem up and started throwing it between his hooves, "Yes you! Put that sharp thing on your head to good use!" "Eh." "Pretty please with a cherry on top?" I gave him the best puppy dog eyes I could, then glanced to make sure the ugly mutts were still arguing. They were. "Look, honey, if we both work at it, I'll get us both out of here." I fluttered my eyelashes. "Please?" He shrugged. "They dropped the net. Just pick it up and fly us out." I grinned and gave him the thumbs up. Alright, here goes... I flipped the net off onto the Ddogs, shouted "Get on!" to the unicorn, and shot down the hall as fast as I could go. "WhoooOOOOooohH!" That was the unicorn as I scrabbled up the tunnel in a panic, trying to find clawholds, and panting. "Why don't you fly us out, dude." I glared a little. "Point A, I don't know how to fly. Point B, I'm a girl." "Dudette then. Don't get your feathers in a twisket, dudette." "What, by Celestia's nonexistent beard, is a twisket?" I secured a clawhold and pulled us up. "It's a figure of speech, dudette. Don't sweat it. I'm Stingray, by the way. Stingray Surf." "Well, you're heavier than you look, Stingray Surf." "Whateves, dudette." "Honey, if you don't stop calling me dudette, I will personally stuff sand up you, strap you to the bottom of a surfboard, and surf a tsunami with it." I gave him my death glare. "Chill, dud- er, griffin gal." "My name is Claire," I said absentmindedly. I was trying to figure out what part of my brain had been responsible for that threat. I mean, I've made playful threats, but at that time... I had every intention of carrying it out. And it scared me. What if he'd called my bluff? ...What if it wasn't a bluff? Being a griffin will be hard to get used to, I decided. LostAuthor's Note: This chapter will be a bit lighter, but still have some dark elements to it. No, this isn't going to turn into a comedy fic. We stood in the middle of a rocky plain. Spires of stone rose up, and clouds were beginning to gather, hinting at a later rain. Luna's Moon was high in the sky, and I recognized several constellations in the sky above. The picture was marred by a few holes- presumably those of the diamond dogs. Even through all this beauty, my mind was consumed with one thing. I was completely and utterly lost. I sighed, and plodded over to a large stone to sit and think. Think think think, think think think. Thinking think isn't really helping, I should try to figure out where I am. I had a severe lack of map. My not-so-productive thinking was interrupted by a voice from Stingray. "Hey... Uh, Claire? I was thinking, and I saw that mark on your flank..." I whipped my head around and said the first thing that came to mind. "Why were you staring at my flank?" I glared at him. "I wasn't staring! I was just curious! I didn't think griffons got cutie marks! Ack!" My ...hand? snaked out and grabbed him. Not by the neck, but by the wrist/ankle area. I glared harder. "If you didn't think griffons got cutie marks..." "No! I didn't! Wow!" "THEN WHY WERE YOU LOOKING AT MY FLANK IN THE FIRST PLACE? After a while, we calmed down. By then, it was beginning to rain. We talked for a couple minutes, and eventually decided which direction we would go- I let Stingray lead. After all, he knew which direction better than I did, and we were planning to head for a place I knew well- Ponyville, Equestria. It turned out that we had ended up with a pack not too far away from where Rarity had been captured. Still, it was a fair amount of walking. Griffon bodies are not really built for walking. Thankfully for my aching feet/paws/talons, we reached Ponyville soon after that mental note. Stingray had proved to be a much better traveling companion once he dropped the surfer act. Still, my gladness at having reached respite was overshadowed by coldness and hunger, as well as the realization that I had no bits to deal with either one. I was tired... we had been walking for a long time... As it was rainy, and he wasn't quite sure where everything was, we went back to the edge of town. We found a cave, and I curled up. It was a bad place to sleep, but we managed to get about an hour before trying to find somewhere in town. When I woke up, it was still a normal night. My stomach protested this observation immediatly after. I was still cold, wet, and hungry. We walked more, and reached Stingray looked at me. "Well, I suppose you'll be wanting to go back home now. I'll be going home too. See ya." He flashed me a grin. "Wait!" I stretched a claw out He turned and looked at me. "Yeah?" I shuffled my... paws... a little, and glanced at him. "I-I don't really have a place to stay... or any bits to find one, really." He seemed to think for a moment, and smiled. "Come on. There's always room for one more! Unless the house is filled up... nevermind, the point still stands." He grinned again. I smiled. "Thanks. I-I appreciate it." It turned out he only had one bed. It also turned out he had a sleeping bag. I took the sleeping bag with a lighthearted quip of "A featherbed might be nice, but I doubt you want feathers in your bed." He chuckled, and brought out a pair of apples to tide us over til morn. We really did just sleep, so don't think anything like that. I got up with a grumble of "Stupid sleeping bag meant for ponies..." which my stomach echoed. Sting was still stretched out in the bed, with a toy pegasus under one arm. I knew I should probably get going, but I figured he at least deserved a goodbye. "I want to go with you," said Sting over a bowl of cereal. "My shop got closed down," so that was where the first place we went was, "And I figure you can find some trouble for us." I thought for a moment. He seemed like a nice guy, he had some money, he had magic... I grinned widely. "Come on. Let's see what kinda trouble we can find." MarkWell, we got some trouble. "Hey chessfeather, didn't anyone tell you griffons don't get cutie marks?" A red pegasus stallion was leaning against the wall of an alley we'd taken a trip into in search of the fish I smelled. Probably a stupid idea, but the alley had been well kept, and this is Equestria. I wasn't expecting this. We stood in a beige stone alley, with one of Ponyville's roads underneath our respective feet. It was well swept, and not ominous at all. It also contained the aforementioned annoyance. "Hello sir, terribly sorry. Could you let us through? Pretty please with a cherry on top?" I gave him my sweetest smile. "Not likely," he growled. He threw the fish up in the air- Silver scales glinted under a midday sun, shining for all to see... "Get them!" A manhole cover- how did I not notice that? popped up, and out came ears of a dog, head of a dog, body of a dog... Not just any dog, but one of those wretched diamond dogs! I was about to yell for the police, when I realized that I didn't need to. My mouth curled into a grin. New world, clean slate, new rules. My rules this time, jerks. Without warning I spun around and kicked the Ddog in the head. It fell back down, hitting another on its way. Stingray was living up to his name- a bolt of electricity surged from his horn and into the pegasus's wings. The flame red stallion bent and fell to the ground with an audible thump, sending up puffs of dust. Adrenaline pumped through my veins, and I smiled wider than I ever had before. It might be a griffin thing... I felt like my body was cheering, telling me how... right this felt. I was a predator now. This was what I was meant to do. The silver, smooth-scaled fish lay on top of the pegasus's head. I picked it up and sniffed it, salivating at the taste. I slowly peeled off the scales, and drove my beak into the tasty flesh of the fish. It was wonderful. I glanced at Stingray. "Hey Sting?" He grinned that oh-so-smooth-surfer-dude grin of his and called back, "What'cha want, C?" I raised one eyebrow at his choice of nickname and grinned back, "Pack your bags, Sting, and get out your bits. We're going back to that diamond dog dig. Mind picking me up a sword? Or..." my mind formulated a plan... "Some knives?" He picked up some knives, as well as some rope, and a woodcutting axe. The dirt road crunched underneath his hooves regularly, and mine intermittently as I tried to fly. It tool some practice, no, make that a lot of practice, but finally I could manage a short distance. Of course, Sting had to call "We're here!" right as I was getting the hang of it. Of course. Hmm... a lot of ponies have been talking about whatever's on my flank. Maybe I should check... Of course. A pawn. Could they have been any more obvious? Seriously? I mean, I suck at chess! An unexpectedly large surge of anger welled up within me. How dare they? How dare they? I am not some pawn in some silly game! I am Claire! I am a griffin, not a chess piece! I will rise above being a mere pawn! I WILL NOT ALLOW SOME SILLY TATOO ON MY FLANK DECIDE MY DESTINY! I AM NOT A PAWN! I AM CLAIRE! I hissed with unexpected fury and defiance and leapt down the Ddog hole, hoping to take out my frustration upon an unsuspecting mutt. "Claire? Claire!" First BloodI paced down the dimly lit tunnel, barely seeing where I was going... I was too busy trying to force the anger down. I still caught a glimpse of the diamond dogs... Oh Celestia, were they still arguing? They hadn't even gotten the net off! This was going to be easier than I thought... wait. That's only three. There were four in the net. "So where's the fourth one?" "Behind you." I let out a quiet "eep," spun around, and got clocked in the face by that mutt's fist. Forget angry. I was MAD. I grabbed the woodcutting axe from where it was tied to my left... I'm just gonna call it an arm, okay? Anyways, my left arm, and untied it as quick as I could. A sharp pain in my tail let me know I wasn't quick enough. While he was... occupied with my tail, I poked his eyes. He'd be having trouble seeing for a while, dunno how long... long enough. I was going to make him pay. For the punching, for the slaves, and even more... there's no law out here. Hiding somewhere where there is no law is almost as bad as hiding within the law. I grinned, a grin that most certainly wasn't happy, and pried open his jaws, removing my tail. The adrenaline was keeping my tail from being much more than a faint sting at the back of my mind. "Eenie, meenie, minie, moe..." I circled around behind him, disturbing some loose gravel. "Catch a doggie by the tail..." I grabbed the brownish-gray tail and dug my yellow-goldish talons in as far as I could. The dog howled in unexpected pain. "If he hollers, let him go..." I took the axe and cut off the tail. The dog ran, kicking up rocks and dust, obscuring my vision. I put down my flight eyelid and tried to give chase. We tumbled into a stalagmite. "Eenie! Meenie! Minie! MOE!" The mutt got a good blow into my face, but he was still blinded, and couldn't do much. I raised up my axe and removed the dog's head. The other three were staring at me. I looked at them. "Well? You want a go?" I raised up the head of the previous dog. He might have been some kind of leader, but he was no alpha. I grinned at them, and showed them my axe. "Sooo... fancy losing your tails? Nah... I just did that cause I was mad. But I'd still do my best to get your heads." I batted my eyes at them, looking every bit the pretty lady... holding a bloodied axe. I sighed. "Look, release the slaves, and I won't kill you." Probably. I sighed. "Look, the slaves and some gems, and you get to keep your heads. That's a pretty. Good. Deal." I tried my death glare on them. They looked at each other. "Fine. Slaves there. Gem storehouse there." The Ddog pointed his paw towards a spotted griffin and a hot pink pegasus with a cutie mark of a smooth stone. The Ddog then waved the paw towards a clean gray tunnel, with many manycolored stones in the distance. I looked at the Ddog. A beaming grin spread across my face. "Good enough." Sting arrived in the tunnel just at that moment. The grayish unicorn's jaw dropped when he looked at the Ddog. "You, huh, it, dead?" I smiled at him, a real genuine happy smile, and said, "Close enough. Let's get the gems and go?" He smiled back. "Okay, but whattabout them?" He pointed a hoof toward the griffin and pegasus. "They can come with if they want. Can stay here and get some more gems before they go, can take out the dogs and live here, I don't care." Sting draped a hoof across my shoulder, like friends do sometimes. "Let's go, Claire dudette." Rose QuartzSo many shiny smooth stones. Glittery gems aplenty. The only problem was... One of my talons reached down, and I picked up a tiny ruby. And when I say tiny, I mean that it's like a reddish pebble gemstone. I scowled and put it back in the pile. Sting had a look of boredom on his gray face. His horn sparked with gray-blue magic, and he flicked an amethyst a tiny bit larger than the ruby over his shoulder. It skittered down the tunnel. "So uncool. Is there anything worth takin' in this dump? Seriously, dudette." Oh. Great. Not the "surfer dude" act again. I tried to facepalm... facetalon? Anyway, it was a bit awkward, so I just let out a big sigh. Then, Sting's voice prompted me to look down the tunnel. "What's a pretty mare like you doing in a place like this?" Sting had gone from "surfer dude" to "pick-up liner" in a flash. The hot pink pegasus mare rolled her eyes, as the sheer ridiculousness of the question prompted her to do, and ran her hoof through a straight strand of her soft and rosy, but incredibly dirty mane. If she had been cleaner, she would have been quite the looker. And apparently she knew it, as a snooty smirk turned the corners of her mouth upward. "Pretty? Well, of course I'm pretty, but I haven't had a proper bath or brush in weeks, and I simply refuse to grace this hovel with my wonderful presence any longer." She turned her head towards me, and gave me a condescending glare. "You. Griffin. Carry me out, my hooves have been digging so much I cannot be on them for one more second." I glared right back at her. This insufferable mare was bragging like she thought she was the Great and Powerful Trixie or something. I glanced at Sting, and decided that whoever this mare was, she was not worth pandering to, even if she was Celestia herself. I said to Sting, "This pony is so insufferable. She can fend for herself, but of course we'll help her get out. At least, if she shuts up we might. I mean, seriously. What kind of stuck-up, braggart, hyper-entitled, spoiled snob is she? And how racist is she?" I deepened the glare creeping into my eyes, and looked right into hers. That pampered pony "princess" flipped her mane, and fluttered her wings at me. "Griffins are dirty, murderous scoundrels. Can't they just stay in the Mini-onion, or whatever, where they belong?" I was seriously considering smacking her. "This 'dirty, murderous scoundrel' was the one who freed you from those mutts. Can't we all just get along?" I fluttered my eyes at her. The snob rolled her eyes and sighed. "I was captured from my slavers by a greedy, grotesque, murderous, bloody, Celestia-forsaken, brittle-feathered, meat-eating griffion. Can this day get any woooorse? I couldn't contain myself any longer. This mare was worse than Blueblood, for Celestia's sake! "Just who do you think you are? Whoever it is, you aren't entitled to treat us like seagull droppings! You're just like that ma- stallion. That smug, insufferable stallion. And he pinned it on me." My eyes filled with murderous rage. "You don't deserve your fancy life in a utopia like Equestria," I hissed. Her eyes widened in shock. "Do you know who you're talking to?" I gripped her head in my talons, and brought her face up to me so I could look straight into her eyes. "No. I don't. And whoever you are, it doesn't matter to me." Pink hooves shoved my talons away. "Who do you think you are? I'm Rose Quartz, famous jewelry model. And you are... some upstart griffin who forgot her place." She spun around, scattering pebbles. With a very deliberate motion, she kicked a ruby about the size of my fist right smack dab into... my face. I tried to catch it, but however agile a griffin may or may not be... I wasn't enough. *CLONK* "Hisssssss..." My eyes narrowed to slits. A comical bump had appeared on my head. However comical... I didn't feel like laughing. "SCREE!" *SMACK* The former sound was an enraged griffin's screech. The latter was my golden talon darting forward, pausing a fraction of a moment in front of her face, and then slapping her, or the griffin equivalent. "You- you'll pay for that..." A hot pink muzzle, a red talon-shaped mark on one of the cheeks... Eyes narrowed, a tangled, ratty mane. "You'll pay for that, I promise..." With that she opened her wings, and flew back down the tunnel. Sting grimaced. "I can't believe I thought she was cute." I snickered, and placed a talon on Stingray's shoulder. "Don't worry, Sting. You'll find somepony sometime. Just be careful. I'm not going to be around all the time to smack the idiots." We shared a laugh, and started sorting the stones, trying to figure out what was valuable and what was worthless." It was a pretty good haul. JakrisNote: This will be a short one. Sorry for the wait, but I needed to figure out how to do this. Thank you for your patience! The other griffin approached us, smiling. His black fur was interrupted by pale scars of pink. His brown feathers were dirty, and his bronze talons dulled from digging. With a casual glance at my flank, he spoke, his words as casual as his glance. "Never seen a griffin with a cutie make before. You half pegasus?" "No, sir. I'm just a griffin, far as I know." "You didn't know your parents? ...A fate too many of us have." "I did know them. They just weren't the ones who birthed me." He smiled a little, and put a talon on my shoulder. "You got lucky, fledgling." "I guess..." "Are you planning to keep fighting diamond dogs?" "Well... sure. It's really the only skill I have." I had played the clarinet, but my mouth was very different now. And I'd worked as a freelance detective for about three days, until I was convicted of the crime I was trying to solve. "Hello? Earth to... What is your name, anyway?" "I'm Claire." "I'm Jakris. And if you're planning to keep fighting those wretched mutts, I'm coming with you." It would be dangerous. But we all knew that. In a moment, I had decided. "Okay."
Offered"Miss Baker, I am sorry to say that it seems you have committed this crime." Oh, no, please no... "I pronounce Miss Claire Baker..." I didn't do it... They can't send me to jail! I'm innocent! "...Guilty of all charges." That was the moment everything shattered. "But... I'm innocent..." I could only manage one weak protest. My life was ruined. Everything, all my hard work, all of it... It was all for nothing. That was the moment I realized what a hateful world I lived in. That was the moment I decided that laws were worthless if they couldn't find the person who really commited a crime, and that if they didn't work then there was no point in trying to do my job within them. Well, it wasn't my job, but I had always hated those who broke the law. Still... ...Maybe they didn't break the law. The ones who didn't break the law, were the ones who had truly broken Law. Before I knew it, I had gotten up from my seat. "Stop her!" I couldn't really get away, of course. Policemen were everywhere. I slammed the door and ran into another. With the cell guards chasing me I rushed down to my cell. I was panting hard. It had been a long ways to run. I sighed and slumped against the cell bars. Sweat rolled down my forehead as I clutched the cold metal in a death grip. The prosecutor's smug face as I was pronounced guilty haunted my mind. Very short brown hair. Green eyes. Lips curled into a sneer. He had leaned back in his chair, arms behind his head. He had been so happy to ruin my life. I hated him. I hated him more than I'd ever hated anyone. I hardly noticed as they opened my cell door. I didn't know quite how I got inside. It didn't matter anyway. I sat on the bed, wrapped my arms around my knees, and cried. I didn't know how long it had been when my attorney came down to talk. I slowly turned to face her. "I am afraid I cannot get you out of this." I knew that, but hearing it said just made it worse. "However, there is another option." I brushed my light brown hair away from my face and stood up. "What other option? Tell me!" My attorney smiled. "I am not of this world. I will send you somewhere else. All I can tell you is that you will be able to help fix a world beginning to break. Others were also sent there." She's crazy, but what do I have to lose? "Okay." "Hold your horses, you're going in!" __________________________________________________________________________________________________ Wait, she wasn't crazy? I was being sucked through something. Suddenly I was in a tunnel. I felt dizzy. Suddenly I was on the floorof a tunnel. On the floor of a tunnel with a headache, on the floor of a tunnel with a headache... I opened my wings to see why they hurt when... Wait, wings? I scrambled to my feet, my paws, pulled up my hands to look at them, and... Claws? I looked around for my clothing, as it was not on my body... Oh catfish, I was naked. Further inspection found that wasn't quite true. I did have fur and feathers. I also had what appeared to be a tattoo of a pawn on my flank. But I don't even like chess! ... Oh, ha ha, very funny. I sighed, and with nothing to lose, started walking down the tunnel.
Captured?In a passageway off the main tunnel, four diamond dogs crouched. "Do you think it could dig for gems?" "It looks strong..." "Maybe too strong! Few of us, it hurts us!" "Bah! It weaponless! It not able to hurt us, you mutts! Net it!" ________________________________________________________ I walked down and down and down the passageway. After all, what other option did I have? *THROOMPTH* ...The option to be netted, apparently. "You! Stay where you are! We get you! You dig gems!" Dog... things. They look like... no, that's not possible. "Tremble in fear! You now serve the Diamond Dogs!" "I'M IN EQUESTRIA?" ________________________________________________________ "Stupid bird! This not Pony land! This Diamond dog land!" "Uh," I noted. "Maybe this one stupid. Not good." "You're stupid, and it not affect your ability to dig gems..." the dog growled. Huh. I have claws... And a beak... And they're busy arguing... Is that a unicorn? I was looking at a medium-light gray unicorn stallion. His head shape let me know it was a he. "Hey! You!" I hissed. "Me?" He levitated a gem up and started throwing it between his hooves, "Yes you! Put that sharp thing on your head to good use!" "Eh." "Pretty please with a cherry on top?" I gave him the best puppy dog eyes I could, then glanced to make sure the ugly mutts were still arguing. They were. "Look, honey, if we both work at it, I'll get us both out of here." I fluttered my eyelashes. "Please?" He shrugged. "They dropped the net. Just pick it up and fly us out." I grinned and gave him the thumbs up. Alright, here goes... I flipped the net off onto the Ddogs, shouted "Get on!" to the unicorn, and shot down the hall as fast as I could go. "WhoooOOOOooohH!" That was the unicorn as I scrabbled up the tunnel in a panic, trying to find clawholds, and panting. "Why don't you fly us out, dude." I glared a little. "Point A, I don't know how to fly. Point B, I'm a girl." "Dudette then. Don't get your feathers in a twisket, dudette." "What, by Celestia's nonexistent beard, is a twisket?" I secured a clawhold and pulled us up. "It's a figure of speech, dudette. Don't sweat it. I'm Stingray, by the way. Stingray Surf." "Well, you're heavier than you look, Stingray Surf." "Whateves, dudette." "Honey, if you don't stop calling me dudette, I will personally stuff sand up you, strap you to the bottom of a surfboard, and surf a tsunami with it." I gave him my death glare. "Chill, dud- er, griffin gal." "My name is Claire," I said absentmindedly. I was trying to figure out what part of my brain had been responsible for that threat. I mean, I've made playful threats, but at that time... I had every intention of carrying it out. And it scared me. What if he'd called my bluff? ...What if it wasn't a bluff? Being a griffin will be hard to get used to, I decided.
LostAuthor's Note: This chapter will be a bit lighter, but still have some dark elements to it. No, this isn't going to turn into a comedy fic. We stood in the middle of a rocky plain. Spires of stone rose up, and clouds were beginning to gather, hinting at a later rain. Luna's Moon was high in the sky, and I recognized several constellations in the sky above. The picture was marred by a few holes- presumably those of the diamond dogs. Even through all this beauty, my mind was consumed with one thing. I was completely and utterly lost. I sighed, and plodded over to a large stone to sit and think. Think think think, think think think. Thinking think isn't really helping, I should try to figure out where I am. I had a severe lack of map. My not-so-productive thinking was interrupted by a voice from Stingray. "Hey... Uh, Claire? I was thinking, and I saw that mark on your flank..." I whipped my head around and said the first thing that came to mind. "Why were you staring at my flank?" I glared at him. "I wasn't staring! I was just curious! I didn't think griffons got cutie marks! Ack!" My ...hand? snaked out and grabbed him. Not by the neck, but by the wrist/ankle area. I glared harder. "If you didn't think griffons got cutie marks..." "No! I didn't! Wow!" "THEN WHY WERE YOU LOOKING AT MY FLANK IN THE FIRST PLACE? After a while, we calmed down. By then, it was beginning to rain. We talked for a couple minutes, and eventually decided which direction we would go- I let Stingray lead. After all, he knew which direction better than I did, and we were planning to head for a place I knew well- Ponyville, Equestria. It turned out that we had ended up with a pack not too far away from where Rarity had been captured. Still, it was a fair amount of walking. Griffon bodies are not really built for walking. Thankfully for my aching feet/paws/talons, we reached Ponyville soon after that mental note. Stingray had proved to be a much better traveling companion once he dropped the surfer act. Still, my gladness at having reached respite was overshadowed by coldness and hunger, as well as the realization that I had no bits to deal with either one. I was tired... we had been walking for a long time... As it was rainy, and he wasn't quite sure where everything was, we went back to the edge of town. We found a cave, and I curled up. It was a bad place to sleep, but we managed to get about an hour before trying to find somewhere in town. When I woke up, it was still a normal night. My stomach protested this observation immediatly after. I was still cold, wet, and hungry. We walked more, and reached Stingray looked at me. "Well, I suppose you'll be wanting to go back home now. I'll be going home too. See ya." He flashed me a grin. "Wait!" I stretched a claw out He turned and looked at me. "Yeah?" I shuffled my... paws... a little, and glanced at him. "I-I don't really have a place to stay... or any bits to find one, really." He seemed to think for a moment, and smiled. "Come on. There's always room for one more! Unless the house is filled up... nevermind, the point still stands." He grinned again. I smiled. "Thanks. I-I appreciate it." It turned out he only had one bed. It also turned out he had a sleeping bag. I took the sleeping bag with a lighthearted quip of "A featherbed might be nice, but I doubt you want feathers in your bed." He chuckled, and brought out a pair of apples to tide us over til morn. We really did just sleep, so don't think anything like that. I got up with a grumble of "Stupid sleeping bag meant for ponies..." which my stomach echoed. Sting was still stretched out in the bed, with a toy pegasus under one arm. I knew I should probably get going, but I figured he at least deserved a goodbye. "I want to go with you," said Sting over a bowl of cereal. "My shop got closed down," so that was where the first place we went was, "And I figure you can find some trouble for us." I thought for a moment. He seemed like a nice guy, he had some money, he had magic... I grinned widely. "Come on. Let's see what kinda trouble we can find."
MarkWell, we got some trouble. "Hey chessfeather, didn't anyone tell you griffons don't get cutie marks?" A red pegasus stallion was leaning against the wall of an alley we'd taken a trip into in search of the fish I smelled. Probably a stupid idea, but the alley had been well kept, and this is Equestria. I wasn't expecting this. We stood in a beige stone alley, with one of Ponyville's roads underneath our respective feet. It was well swept, and not ominous at all. It also contained the aforementioned annoyance. "Hello sir, terribly sorry. Could you let us through? Pretty please with a cherry on top?" I gave him my sweetest smile. "Not likely," he growled. He threw the fish up in the air- Silver scales glinted under a midday sun, shining for all to see... "Get them!" A manhole cover- how did I not notice that? popped up, and out came ears of a dog, head of a dog, body of a dog... Not just any dog, but one of those wretched diamond dogs! I was about to yell for the police, when I realized that I didn't need to. My mouth curled into a grin. New world, clean slate, new rules. My rules this time, jerks. Without warning I spun around and kicked the Ddog in the head. It fell back down, hitting another on its way. Stingray was living up to his name- a bolt of electricity surged from his horn and into the pegasus's wings. The flame red stallion bent and fell to the ground with an audible thump, sending up puffs of dust. Adrenaline pumped through my veins, and I smiled wider than I ever had before. It might be a griffin thing... I felt like my body was cheering, telling me how... right this felt. I was a predator now. This was what I was meant to do. The silver, smooth-scaled fish lay on top of the pegasus's head. I picked it up and sniffed it, salivating at the taste. I slowly peeled off the scales, and drove my beak into the tasty flesh of the fish. It was wonderful. I glanced at Stingray. "Hey Sting?" He grinned that oh-so-smooth-surfer-dude grin of his and called back, "What'cha want, C?" I raised one eyebrow at his choice of nickname and grinned back, "Pack your bags, Sting, and get out your bits. We're going back to that diamond dog dig. Mind picking me up a sword? Or..." my mind formulated a plan... "Some knives?" He picked up some knives, as well as some rope, and a woodcutting axe. The dirt road crunched underneath his hooves regularly, and mine intermittently as I tried to fly. It tool some practice, no, make that a lot of practice, but finally I could manage a short distance. Of course, Sting had to call "We're here!" right as I was getting the hang of it. Of course. Hmm... a lot of ponies have been talking about whatever's on my flank. Maybe I should check... Of course. A pawn. Could they have been any more obvious? Seriously? I mean, I suck at chess! An unexpectedly large surge of anger welled up within me. How dare they? How dare they? I am not some pawn in some silly game! I am Claire! I am a griffin, not a chess piece! I will rise above being a mere pawn! I WILL NOT ALLOW SOME SILLY TATOO ON MY FLANK DECIDE MY DESTINY! I AM NOT A PAWN! I AM CLAIRE! I hissed with unexpected fury and defiance and leapt down the Ddog hole, hoping to take out my frustration upon an unsuspecting mutt. "Claire? Claire!"
First BloodI paced down the dimly lit tunnel, barely seeing where I was going... I was too busy trying to force the anger down. I still caught a glimpse of the diamond dogs... Oh Celestia, were they still arguing? They hadn't even gotten the net off! This was going to be easier than I thought... wait. That's only three. There were four in the net. "So where's the fourth one?" "Behind you." I let out a quiet "eep," spun around, and got clocked in the face by that mutt's fist. Forget angry. I was MAD. I grabbed the woodcutting axe from where it was tied to my left... I'm just gonna call it an arm, okay? Anyways, my left arm, and untied it as quick as I could. A sharp pain in my tail let me know I wasn't quick enough. While he was... occupied with my tail, I poked his eyes. He'd be having trouble seeing for a while, dunno how long... long enough. I was going to make him pay. For the punching, for the slaves, and even more... there's no law out here. Hiding somewhere where there is no law is almost as bad as hiding within the law. I grinned, a grin that most certainly wasn't happy, and pried open his jaws, removing my tail. The adrenaline was keeping my tail from being much more than a faint sting at the back of my mind. "Eenie, meenie, minie, moe..." I circled around behind him, disturbing some loose gravel. "Catch a doggie by the tail..." I grabbed the brownish-gray tail and dug my yellow-goldish talons in as far as I could. The dog howled in unexpected pain. "If he hollers, let him go..." I took the axe and cut off the tail. The dog ran, kicking up rocks and dust, obscuring my vision. I put down my flight eyelid and tried to give chase. We tumbled into a stalagmite. "Eenie! Meenie! Minie! MOE!" The mutt got a good blow into my face, but he was still blinded, and couldn't do much. I raised up my axe and removed the dog's head. The other three were staring at me. I looked at them. "Well? You want a go?" I raised up the head of the previous dog. He might have been some kind of leader, but he was no alpha. I grinned at them, and showed them my axe. "Sooo... fancy losing your tails? Nah... I just did that cause I was mad. But I'd still do my best to get your heads." I batted my eyes at them, looking every bit the pretty lady... holding a bloodied axe. I sighed. "Look, release the slaves, and I won't kill you." Probably. I sighed. "Look, the slaves and some gems, and you get to keep your heads. That's a pretty. Good. Deal." I tried my death glare on them. They looked at each other. "Fine. Slaves there. Gem storehouse there." The Ddog pointed his paw towards a spotted griffin and a hot pink pegasus with a cutie mark of a smooth stone. The Ddog then waved the paw towards a clean gray tunnel, with many manycolored stones in the distance. I looked at the Ddog. A beaming grin spread across my face. "Good enough." Sting arrived in the tunnel just at that moment. The grayish unicorn's jaw dropped when he looked at the Ddog. "You, huh, it, dead?" I smiled at him, a real genuine happy smile, and said, "Close enough. Let's get the gems and go?" He smiled back. "Okay, but whattabout them?" He pointed a hoof toward the griffin and pegasus. "They can come with if they want. Can stay here and get some more gems before they go, can take out the dogs and live here, I don't care." Sting draped a hoof across my shoulder, like friends do sometimes. "Let's go, Claire dudette."
Rose QuartzSo many shiny smooth stones. Glittery gems aplenty. The only problem was... One of my talons reached down, and I picked up a tiny ruby. And when I say tiny, I mean that it's like a reddish pebble gemstone. I scowled and put it back in the pile. Sting had a look of boredom on his gray face. His horn sparked with gray-blue magic, and he flicked an amethyst a tiny bit larger than the ruby over his shoulder. It skittered down the tunnel. "So uncool. Is there anything worth takin' in this dump? Seriously, dudette." Oh. Great. Not the "surfer dude" act again. I tried to facepalm... facetalon? Anyway, it was a bit awkward, so I just let out a big sigh. Then, Sting's voice prompted me to look down the tunnel. "What's a pretty mare like you doing in a place like this?" Sting had gone from "surfer dude" to "pick-up liner" in a flash. The hot pink pegasus mare rolled her eyes, as the sheer ridiculousness of the question prompted her to do, and ran her hoof through a straight strand of her soft and rosy, but incredibly dirty mane. If she had been cleaner, she would have been quite the looker. And apparently she knew it, as a snooty smirk turned the corners of her mouth upward. "Pretty? Well, of course I'm pretty, but I haven't had a proper bath or brush in weeks, and I simply refuse to grace this hovel with my wonderful presence any longer." She turned her head towards me, and gave me a condescending glare. "You. Griffin. Carry me out, my hooves have been digging so much I cannot be on them for one more second." I glared right back at her. This insufferable mare was bragging like she thought she was the Great and Powerful Trixie or something. I glanced at Sting, and decided that whoever this mare was, she was not worth pandering to, even if she was Celestia herself. I said to Sting, "This pony is so insufferable. She can fend for herself, but of course we'll help her get out. At least, if she shuts up we might. I mean, seriously. What kind of stuck-up, braggart, hyper-entitled, spoiled snob is she? And how racist is she?" I deepened the glare creeping into my eyes, and looked right into hers. That pampered pony "princess" flipped her mane, and fluttered her wings at me. "Griffins are dirty, murderous scoundrels. Can't they just stay in the Mini-onion, or whatever, where they belong?" I was seriously considering smacking her. "This 'dirty, murderous scoundrel' was the one who freed you from those mutts. Can't we all just get along?" I fluttered my eyes at her. The snob rolled her eyes and sighed. "I was captured from my slavers by a greedy, grotesque, murderous, bloody, Celestia-forsaken, brittle-feathered, meat-eating griffion. Can this day get any woooorse? I couldn't contain myself any longer. This mare was worse than Blueblood, for Celestia's sake! "Just who do you think you are? Whoever it is, you aren't entitled to treat us like seagull droppings! You're just like that ma- stallion. That smug, insufferable stallion. And he pinned it on me." My eyes filled with murderous rage. "You don't deserve your fancy life in a utopia like Equestria," I hissed. Her eyes widened in shock. "Do you know who you're talking to?" I gripped her head in my talons, and brought her face up to me so I could look straight into her eyes. "No. I don't. And whoever you are, it doesn't matter to me." Pink hooves shoved my talons away. "Who do you think you are? I'm Rose Quartz, famous jewelry model. And you are... some upstart griffin who forgot her place." She spun around, scattering pebbles. With a very deliberate motion, she kicked a ruby about the size of my fist right smack dab into... my face. I tried to catch it, but however agile a griffin may or may not be... I wasn't enough. *CLONK* "Hisssssss..." My eyes narrowed to slits. A comical bump had appeared on my head. However comical... I didn't feel like laughing. "SCREE!" *SMACK* The former sound was an enraged griffin's screech. The latter was my golden talon darting forward, pausing a fraction of a moment in front of her face, and then slapping her, or the griffin equivalent. "You- you'll pay for that..." A hot pink muzzle, a red talon-shaped mark on one of the cheeks... Eyes narrowed, a tangled, ratty mane. "You'll pay for that, I promise..." With that she opened her wings, and flew back down the tunnel. Sting grimaced. "I can't believe I thought she was cute." I snickered, and placed a talon on Stingray's shoulder. "Don't worry, Sting. You'll find somepony sometime. Just be careful. I'm not going to be around all the time to smack the idiots." We shared a laugh, and started sorting the stones, trying to figure out what was valuable and what was worthless." It was a pretty good haul.
JakrisNote: This will be a short one. Sorry for the wait, but I needed to figure out how to do this. Thank you for your patience! The other griffin approached us, smiling. His black fur was interrupted by pale scars of pink. His brown feathers were dirty, and his bronze talons dulled from digging. With a casual glance at my flank, he spoke, his words as casual as his glance. "Never seen a griffin with a cutie make before. You half pegasus?" "No, sir. I'm just a griffin, far as I know." "You didn't know your parents? ...A fate too many of us have." "I did know them. They just weren't the ones who birthed me." He smiled a little, and put a talon on my shoulder. "You got lucky, fledgling." "I guess..." "Are you planning to keep fighting diamond dogs?" "Well... sure. It's really the only skill I have." I had played the clarinet, but my mouth was very different now. And I'd worked as a freelance detective for about three days, until I was convicted of the crime I was trying to solve. "Hello? Earth to... What is your name, anyway?" "I'm Claire." "I'm Jakris. And if you're planning to keep fighting those wretched mutts, I'm coming with you." It would be dangerous. But we all knew that. In a moment, I had decided. "Okay."
