Chapters The streets of Klugetown looked different since the defeat of the storm king, the merchants sold their lies and products to pony tourists, the griffons and the hippogriffs flew in the air, and the dragons walked with changelings. It was utopia that became from disgusting hole it once was, but that was all just what the tourists saw up ground. Underground, there was another Klugetown, one that crime ruled there. Under the noses of Celestia’s guards that were put there, criminals brought their goods and their hostages for trade. This was real Klugetown that lived once above the ground.
“Let me through!” a blue stallion with green mane and a 3 bits as a cutie mark ran through the streets of old Klugetown, pushing carts and people, as a mysterious figure carrying a large metal weapon chased him. The stallion stopped looked back, and he saw the figure, his eyes could not catch the image, both the darkness, and the fear made it hard for him to see, but what he saw was enough for him to keep running. The stallion ran as fast as he can, his face was wet of sweat, and his heart beat in terror. The stallion ran, through a dark alley, looking behind him to see the terrifying figure with the weapon. The stallion tried to find a way to escape, and to his fortune, he found one.
The stallion saw a ladder that will lead him out of the dark streets out to the sunny town of new Klugetown, away from the danger, and he tried to blend in the crowd of tourists, as he heard the sound of wings interface, and he looked up to see a black griffon flying through the air, and the same metal weapon was on his claws. The stallion’s heart beat faster and faster, as he saw the griffon diving towards him, and started to run again. The stallion ran, and the griffon flew behind him. There was no chance for the stallion, he needed something to help him, and he saw one.
The stallion caught a young filly, and he held her with a knife to her neck as he walked towards a dark alley. The griffon landed on his rear legs, and the stallion could see nothing but the griffon’s eye. His left eye glow in yellow, like if Celestia herself lighted his eye. “Stand back, I will kill her!” The stallion shouted in panic, “Don’t test me!” The griffon didn’t move, he just stood there, holding his weapon as it started to glow in red. The stallion’s hoof shaken in fear.
“Put down the knife!” The griffon ordered the stallion as he aimed the weapon, “I will count to three. One...” The stallion bit his lip in fear. “Two...” The griffon’s weapon become more and more red. “Thr...”
“Alright!” The stallion shouted as he slowly took the knife from the filly’s neck, and he threw it at the griffon, only to be blocked by his left arm. The stallion could not believe his eye, the knife he threw was bounced off by the arm of the griffon, by the arm he now saw was made of metal.
“Black Wendigo,” The stallion whispered in fear, as the weapon red glow started to fade, and the griffon took the knife, and he walked toward the terrified pony.
“You will tell me where is your boss!”
“Alright,” A green unicorn with a red mane and bag of money as cutie mark smiled as three dragons stood in front of him, with a big briefcase. The red dragon took the briefcase and opened it, and the unicorn saw it was filled with at least 2,000 bits. “It all seems good,” The stallion said, and he nodded to a big black earth stallion and the stallion rolled 3 carts filled with diamonds. “Like I said, 3 kg of diamonds from Ponyville.”
“Good to do business with you, Greed Heart,” The red dragon grinned as the unicorn took the money, and the two other dragons took the carts, and they flew away from the warehouse.
“Jibbs!” Greed Heart called for a yellow pegasus without a mane and a knife as a cutie mark came before him, “Did you see Treasure Lust?” Jibbs nodded negatively, as the door slammed open and a blue earth pony stallion with green mane, and a bleeding hoof leaped towards Greed Heart.
“He’s coming boss, he’s coming!” Treasure Lust cried for his boss.
“What are you talking about?” Jibbs asked his panicked friend.
“Black Wendigo,” Lust whispered, and all the stallions’ eye became wider, “I am sorry boss, he made me...” Treasure Lust stopped talking as his head was blasted off by a red blast, leaving the headless body, spraying blood as it fell to the dirty floor. The stallions started to fear, as the sound of a creature fly through the air echoed in the warehouse.
“Keep it all together boys,” Greed Heart told the stallions, “Stay together, I will go to keep the storage safe.” Greed ran towards a door that led to the basement, as he heard the Wendigo landing on the ground, and before he closed the door, he saw his people, dying by his metal cane of fire. Greed ran down stairs, lighting the way in green aura, and he arrived to the basement, that was filled with, diamonds, special artifacts that were made of golds, axotic animals, and other species of changelings, dragons, and griffons, all of them weren’t more than 4 years old, and already burned by the kidnappers. Greed ran towards the hall of cells filled with children, trying to find the spell book that would help him, as he heard the sound of the basement door being destroyed, his heart beat faster and his speed got faster as well. Finally, Greed arrived at his desk, but it was too late for him.
“Your time is up,” Greed heard the rough voice, and he turned his head to see the mysterious griffon known as ‘The Black Wendigo’. Greed started to blast the griffon with green bolts, but the griffon took one of the golden artifacts and used it as a shield, blocking the bolts as he got closer and closer to Greed, until the stallion could see him clearly. The griffon’s was black and grey, and his head was orange and red, like the hot lava of the badlands, his right eye was red, but his left eye was glowing in yellow, and his left arm was made entirely of metal, and the yellow light of his eye gave the arm a fiery look.
“You don’t have to it,” Greed begged for mercy, “I can give you anything you want, food, money, women. Anything, just don’t kill me!”
The griffon held Greed’s neck by his metal arm, and he raised him to his face, “What I want is a world without scums like you.” The griffon pushed Greed to the wall, and the metal arm moved from the neck to the stallion’s face, holding him tighter and tighter, sucking the air out of him. Greed tried to wrestle the arm, as he screamed in pain as blood fell from the face until the skull was smashed and the stallion moved no more. “Enjoy Tartarus,” The griffon said as he walked to the cells of the children. “Stand back,” The griffon told the children, and he took his weapon. The kids backed to the wall, and the griffin shot the bars, sending them towards the children, but before the metal would hit them, he caught it with his tail. “Go upstairs and ran straight to your parents.” The kids nodded, and they did as they were told, all but a small griffon cub that ran towards the griffon, and hugged him.
“Why would they do that?” The young griffon asked his savior.
“I don’t know,” The older griffon answered, “Go upstairs.” The young griffon cleaned his eyes from his tears, and ran upstairs, leaving the older griffon with the question echoing in his head, and the answer came in the voice of his father.
I don't know Griev, I don't know
“I don’t know Griev, I don’t know,” The old golden griffon told his son as he cleaned the blood out of the boy’s left eye, and he put a bandages on his left arm. Griev looked at his father, “But I am proud of what you did,” Grios told him, “You were brave, but maybe you gone too far.”
“They deserve that,” Griev turned to his father, and tears came out of his eyes, “They beat a poor bear cub, he did nothing to them, and they started to scratch him and made him bleed. It was wrong!”
“I didn’t say the reason was wrong,” Grios smiled, “They did deserve that, but we are not the ones to decide.”
“Then who will do it? How can you expect me to let them do it?” Griev asked in rage, “If I didn’t fight them, the cub was dead.”
“I don’t know Griev,” Grios admitted, “But you must not go down to their level, you must be better.”
“Okay dad,” Griev looked at his father, “So, can I go now to play outside?” His father nodded, and Griev flew out of the window to a street full of griffons. As the red-headed griffon flew out of Griffonstone out to the forests of Everfree, looking for his friend, he spotted a two griffons surrounding a small colt, and beating him up. Griev dove towards the griffons as he landed behind them.
“Gilda!” Griev shouted at the leader of the bullies, “Leave him alone!”
“Oh look who is here boys,” A brown griffon with a white head, “The Justice warrior” The other griffons laughed as Gilda walked towards Griev, “Came for another beat up?”
“Leave him alone, Gilda,” Griev gritted his teeth. The griffons left the blue colt, and started to surround Griev.
“Maybe you didn’t notice, freak lover,” A green griffon pushed Griev aside, “But he is a pony, do you really want to fight us again, for him?” Griev stood up, and he looked at the pony, the wounded colt that these bullies attacked for no reason, suffering and afraid.
“Leave him alone!” Griev repeated himself. The green griffon pushed Griev away, and the continued to beat the pony. “I’m sorry dad,” Griev whispered to himself, and he leaped on the green griffon, sinking his claws on his wing. “I told you to leave him alone!!” Griev punched the griffon in the face until he started to bleed. Gilda pulled Griev back before he would kill her friend.
Are you insane?!!” Gilda asked Griev as his eyes were filled with fire, “You almost killed him.” Griev returned to his senses as he heard that. The boy looked at his claws, and he saw them covered in blood, and he was looked back at the green griffon, just lying on the ground, as blood was leaking from his eyes. Gilda ran towards her friend trying to stop the bleeding. “Why would you do it?”
What have I done? Griev asked himself as he ran away, crying and blaming himself on what happened, he let his anger do it to him, the anger almost made him to take life. Griev arrived to a lake filled with nothing but brown trees, green grass, and red flowers. Griev walked to the lake to wash the blood away from his claws, as the pony he saved followed him behind, carrying a brown bag.
“Thank you,” The young blue unicorn told Griev. Griev turned to see the colt, and he noticed a black tattoo on his left hoof of a dragon.
“Why did they do it to you?” Griev asked the blue colt.
“I tried to hunt one of them,” the unicorn smiled as he took a dart from the bag, and he used the magic to shoot the dart at Griev. Griev took the dart, looking at it as started to faint, “Good thing I found a better prey.”
“What happened?” Griev returned to his senses as he saw a black changeling with one blue eye and one green eye looking at him, fixing his metal arm from the knife, “Did you blacked out as well when they threw the knife on your arm?”
“It’s nothing Doc,” Griev answered as he fixed his weapon, charging him with red fuel.
“Do you remember that we need to be undercover?” Doc looked at Griev, “We cannot be exposed, what’s mean that you cannot just kill ponies again.” Griev got up of the chair, and he tried the gun on a dummy that was three meters away. The griffon aimed at the dummy, and a red bolt was blasted from the gun, tearing apart the dummy, sending parts to the sides of the abandoned warehouse. Griev smiled as he reloaded his gun, and he heard doc calling to him, “I need you to take some things that I have built to the train, they’re supposed to be sent in 30 minutes.” Griev nodded as he left the gun on a shelf, and he took a large box filled with some gadgets for the royal guards. “And Griev,” Doc told again to his friend, “Don’t do anything stupid.” Griev rolled his eyes, and he left his changeling friend alone in the warehouse, as he left to do his delivery job.
Griev arrived to the train as a he saw a group of dragons walking towards a wounded pegasus mare with a broken wing, Griev noticed that the mare had a tattoo of black dragon, and he remembered the tattoo. The stallion that stole him from his father.
Merry charge was surrounded with no escape, wherever she looked, there was a dragon ready to kill her, from the station, three red dragons, from the other side, three green dragons. It was the end. “Tell Blood Debt that I will pay him,” Merry tried to explain as she tried to find anyway out of this trouble. “It’s just a matter of time before...” Merry was stopped talking as a dragon hit her in the head.
“Blood Debt wants your head!” One of the dragons told as he took a knife, and the dragons got closer and closer, ready to kill the poor pegasus as they heard a rough voice calling for them. Merry tried to see who was the source of the voice, but the dragons circled her, blocking any point of view.
“What is going on?” The rough voice asked the dragons as they hide their knives behind their back, and they turned to the source, blocking the view from Merry for she won’t call for help.
“Nothing sir,” The dragon smiled, “Just talking to our friend.” Merry tried to scream, but the dragons held her by the arms.
“Really?” The rough voice asked. Merry knew that she need to get the attention, and she tried to cause some noise, by stomping the ground in her hooves. “What was that voice?” The voice asked
“Nothing sir,” The dragon smiled, and Merry was held by her legs, and wings, “Just the next train probably.” Merry knew it was the end now for sure, no way to escape, no rescue would come for her. But when hope was fled from her soul, she heard the rough voice again.
“Let the mare go,” The rough voice said, “I won’t ask again.”
The dragon didn’t found the voice amusing, “Or what?” As Merry waited for some answer, she fell on her flank, the dragons let her go, but why? Merry didn’t ask why, but she fled, hearing screenings behind her neck, but she didn’t want to see what is it, who was the savior, and did he save her, or just wanted the prize for himself. Merry ran as she heard the sound of winged interface, and her heartbeat ran faster with her hooves. Merry ran through alleys and streets, but wherever she was the sound of the wings was heard in her ears. Finally, Merry found the obstacle to her safety. At the end of a cliff, her broken wings stopped her flight, and the source of the voice arrived. Merry was between the hammer to the anvil. Merry was too afraid to look at the hammer, and she closed her eyes as she heard the sound of walking towards her, and she felt her legs leaving the safe ground.
“Please don’t kill me, please don’t kill me, please don’t kill me!” Merry cried as she opened her eyes, and she couldn’t believe her eyes. It was a griffon, with red feathers covering his head and face, one red eye, and one glowing yellow eye. “It is you, isn’t it, the Black wendigo?”
“The tattoo,” The black wendigo asked, “Where did you get it?”
“T... The B... Black Dragons” Merry stuttered in fear. The Black Wendigo put her down on the ground. “I need help, please,” Merry begged, “They are after me.”
“Come with me,” The Wendigo told Merry without looking at her, “I would have some question for you, after you will get medical help.” Merry smiled, and she got on her legs, following the griffon.
“Griev,” Doc looked at his griffon friend as he sewed the wounds of the pink pegasus, “I asked you one thing, don’t do anything stupid, and what did you do? You attacked a group of dragons mercenaries, and brought attention again.” Griev didn’t listen to anything Doc told him, but he searched something in the drawers, looking from drawer to drawer, and he was restless. “Okay, sweetie,” Doc turned to Merry, finishing the last stitches over her cutie mark of a green lightning, “It’s over now, you can get up.” Merry smiled, and she got up from the chair, and Doc turned to her again as he cleaned his sewing needles, “So Merry, why did you come here?”
Merry sighed as she walked back to the chair, “The Black Dragons are after me, I didn’t know where to go, and I remembered the tale of the Black Wendigo.” Merry turned to Griev, “The last stallion who saw the Wendigo told us he was in Klugetown. I thought I would be safe here, and I would find someone who would help me.”
“No one would save you here,” Griev told Merry without looking at her, and he kept to search for the item he’s looking for, “All you can find here is scums.”
“You saved me,” Merry looked at Griev, and she smiled, “And now that I know you are real, you would help me save my sister.” Doc looked at her with sorrow, putting his hoof on her shoulder.
“I am sorry,” Doc told the pegasus, “But if the dragons are holding her.”
“She is alive!!” Merry cried to Doc, “I know she is alive.” Merry got up from the chair, and she walked to Griev, “I am begging you, I need your help.” Griev looked at the mare as he finally found the item he was looking for, a small blue dart.
“Does it look familiar?” Griev asked Merry as he gave her the dart. “Did you saw anypony who used this kind of darts?”
Merry looked at the dart, and she remembered, “Yes, Blood Debt used this kind of darts.” Griev looked at Doc, and Merry could see there is a conversation going on between the griffon and the changeling without any of them open his mouth.
“I will do it,” Griev turned to Merry, “You will stay here with Doc, and I would go to save your sister.”
“With all honor,” Merry looked at Griev, “I asked you to help me save my sister, I am coming too.” Before Griev could answer, there was a sound of glass breaking in the warehouse, and within seconds, Griev took his gun, and took Merry behind him.
“Doc, prepare food and anything with value, and wait for us at the path,” Griev ordered Doc, and the changeling nodded, flying away, leaving the two alone. “You,” Griev turned to Merry, “We must leave.” Merry nodded, as magic bolts were shot toward the two, coming from invisible enemies. Merry and Griev turned around, and they saw a group of unicorns that were ready to kill them. Griev didn’t waste any time, as he shot at the enemies, he covered Merry and led her to a safe spot behind a box, and he returned to the fight, shooting the invisible targets as Merry watched with amazement as Griev shot, punched, dodged, and killed the enemies, Hit after hit. After a while, Griev stood alone, surrounded by a group of dead unicorns, all having the same dragon tattoo. Griev turned to Merry, and he led her towards a secret exit behind a group of boxes Doc left. The two left the warehouse, and they met Doc, standing with three bags, one was yellow, one was blue, and one was black. Merry took the yellow, Doc took the blue, and Griev took the black. “Is that all?” Griev asked Doc.
“That’s all I could have taken within few minutes,” Doc muttered.
“Very well,” Griev sighed, and he turned to Merry, “Where is the camp of the Black dragons?”
“Outside of Ponyville,” Merry told them.
Three days passed by since the group started their quest to find the black dragons. Food almost run out, water supplies were at the bottom, and Merry wasn’t certain about the two predators that were with her, and she started to get worried. “So how are we going to get to Ponyville from here?” Merry asked Doc as the two followed Griev in the desert from Klugetown, and Griev flew above them, hiding the sun from their bodies, and looked at the horizon, searching something. “I mean it would take us a year until we find somepony, the food is almost out, and I am worried what would happen after...” Merry looked at Doc, and she saw him raising an eyebrow, “Not that I’m not trusting you.”
Doc wasn’t insulted, he just chuckled as he looked at Merry, “Do not need to worry about me, my former master ripped out my Aphroditus long ago, so I won’t feed on your love. And about Griev,” Doc looked at the griffon, and he sighed, “Let’s just say that he will not eat any meat.”
“What do you mean by any meat?” Merry asked the changeling, as the sun started shine on them, and Merry looked up to see Griev diving towards her.
“There is a jungle in the distance,” Griev landed in front of the changeling and the mare, interrupting their conversation, “If we go faster, we will arrive before the sun will set.”
“A jungle?” Merry raised an eyebrow, “Are you sure you saw a jungle in the desert?”
“Yes,” Griev answered as he looked at the mare, “The forbidden jungle next to the desert.” Griev took his back and took a map out, and showed it to Doc and Merry, “We need to move across the jungle, then we would arrive at Everfree, and from there to Ponyville.”
“Or...” Merry took the map from Griev’s claws and pointed at the path to a rocky area, “We can go through the badlands, and from there we can take an easy path to Ponyville.” Griev looked at Doc, and then he looked at Merry.
“How do you think the unicorns found us?” Griev asked Merry.
“I don’t know,” Merry shrugged.
“They followed us,” Griev answered coldly, “Blood Debt wants you, and the badlands are filled with dragons that would love good connection with Blood Debt.”
Merry sighed, and she nodded, “I guess we don’t have much of a choice, we are going to the forbidden jungle!” As the two started to walk away, the mare whispered to herself in fear, “May Celestia help me.”
It was dusk when the three arrived at the jungle, the sun was painted the sky with beautiful red and orange, and she laid her head on the mountains in the horizon. Griev led the group, cutting through the trees, and looked for any danger. Doc followed him as he checked the map, and Merry was followed the two as she looked at the glowing eyes that watched them. “We should stop here now,” Doc suggested, “We need the rest.”
" Here it’s not safe, there is a temple close by,” Griev answered, as checked the eyes, “We will stop there.”
“Have you been here?” Merry asked, surprised by Griev’s knowledge of the jungle. Griev did not answer, he just looked at the trees behind them, and he pointed the gun at them. Griev focused his eyes on the trees, and he knelt down.
“Duck,” Griev whispered to Merry and Doc, “And be quiet.” Merry started to get nervous as she walked towards the griffon.
“Do you see something?” Merry asked Griev as he kept looking at the trees, and she looked at the same direction, but she saw nothing.
“Chimera.” Griev answered and Merry started to get nervous. The sound of walking echoed through the woods, and with every step that she heard, Merry’s heart beat faster. “Don’t make any sound,” Griev told Merry as Doc leaned next to him.
“We can just let it go,” Doc suggested, “Perhaps it won’t attack us.”
Griev didn’t even look at Doc as he answered, “I don’t take the odds.” Griev put his back on the ground, and he took a blue small bottle, and after he refueled the gun, it’s light changed from red to blue. Griev took a deep breath, he aimed the gun at the beast, and he took three shot, sending three blue bolts at it, and they heard the beast fall.
“Did you just?” Merry asked Griev as he looked at Doc.
“Tranquilizer,” Griev told Merry as he turned his face back to Doc, “How many bottles do we have of it?”
“Three including this one” Doc told Griev, “I suggested we would move now, before it would wake.”
“Agree,” Griev took his bag back as Merry ran to keep up with the griffon and the changeling, still amazed from the shot, but she was confused.
“Why didn’t you just killed it?” Merry asked Griev as he stood in his place, “From what I have heard about you, you killed already ponies, yaks, even griffons. Why didn’t you killed the Chimera?”
“Those whom I killed were criminals who did not care enough for others’ lives,” Griev looked at Merry, and anger was in anger was in his gaze, “I came to the chimera’s jungle, I would not kill it.” The tension between the two was unnerving, creating the atmosphere of fear and rage, until it was cut by Griev, “We should move now.” Merry rolled her eyes and nodded.
Night came, and the three sat across the bonfire that Griev set up, and they ate the last supplies of food, as the shadows of the flames danced on the trees. The sound of the animals did not cause stress to Merry, she got used to them by now. As Griev finished his meal, he left the two and took his gun.
“Wait, so he would not kill animals, or he would?” Merry asked Doc as she sat next him and ate an apple.
“It’s complicated,” Doc smiled, “Like Griev, his ideology about killing is kind of flexible. As I understand, he would kill those who have harm on purpose, like kidnapping, robbing, and murder. Those who kill to survive he would not hunt, but if they try to kill him, he would fight back.”
“That... That’s a lot of rules,” Merry laughed, “How can you keep with Mr. Shiny?”
“Well,” Doc looked at Merry, “It’s a long story.”
