The Long Road

"Tell me freak, where do you belong?" For some reason, those words echoed throughout Lone's mind Each one pounding against his skull with such force that it tore through his anger and into the very core of his mind. His gaze was still fierce, matching the Griffon's who held him down. He showed no signs of confusion or thought, he only showed the col, dead eyes he had since they took his mother fifteen years ago.

The Griffon's talons dug into his chest further, Lone felt warm blood run down his coat. However, he did not cry out, nor did he curse. He held his tongue. He knew true pain, no Griffon could match that. Out of pure anger and hatred for the species, he planted his front hooves on the ground and pushed himself up, the talons pushing deeper into his chest. The griffon, his feathers a matte black, his eyes as gray as the moon, looked startled.

"I belong in one place.." His heavily accented voice carried venom that any creature would be wise to move away from. "Your mind..I am fear, I am hatred, I am the being that will go to the ends of the universe to ensure your suffering." Lone put his hoof on the Griffon's claw. "Finish me...." The predator hesitated. "Finish me!" The claw shook in his chest as more blood spilled down his body. "FINISH ME!" The coward wouldn't do it, too intimidated to put his claws even an inch deeper. Lone's hoof struck the Griffon's throat, the half-bird squawked and stumbled backwards, his claws coming out of Lone's chest with a flourish of blood.

The Zebra hybrid got up slowly, blood pouring from his wound slowly. He reached down and picked up his scimitar up between his teeth: He dropped it when the Griffon first knocked him down. His dark eyes glared at the dark colored creature before him.

--

That had been his most famed attack, that griffon was Gildogar, the head chairman of the Griffon representative government. In that encounter Lone blinded the future politician in one eye and nearly slit his throat. Sure, Lone had sustained a serious chest wound, but he was a quick healer....and rage is one hell of an anesthetic. He also learned something from that encounter, the location of his father.

Throughout the years, he had been trying to figure out who took his mother all those years ago. He had finally figured it out a year ago. His father had left to go back to the Griffon Kingdoms, then sold the location of the village and all of the details to the Griffon government...and had ordered the capture of his mother for transportation to him.

Lone was outside of his father's 'stately manor' in the port city of Gull now. A year after his encounter with Gildogar and he was finally here. It was a multistory building, mostly made out of marble and fenced in. Just way it looked made Lone's rage bubble up. He had already scaled the fence and made it to the door: The solid piece of wood loomed over him, too big for a door on any regular house. He knocked. When his hoof landed, the thud of his hoof against the wood was akin to the sound of thunder.

The silence following was unbearable. Lone's mind was torn: Would he get his father to explain himself? Or would he just kill the bastard on sight? What of his mother? Was she still alive? Was she his slave, or did he take her as a bride and just forget about him?

The door opened and he was face to face with a zebra slave. It wasn't his mother though, he knew every stripe on his mother's face and these weren't a match.

"Hello, may I help you?" Her Zebraharan accent was nearly gone from her voice. The indoctrination had taken hold, her dead eyes told him that she couldn't see his Zebra heritage underneath his cloak. He had taken to wearing it some time ago to hide his various scars....among other things.

"I am looking for Big Talk.." His own accent was blatant, he did nothing to hide it or disguise it. The slave's eyes widened and she stepped away, gesturing him inside quickly. He had come across this all over the Griffon Kingdoms, the slaves were always kind to one of their own and always passed along information or whatever they could. "Thanks.." He walked passed into the foyer, he didn't care what it looked like, he didn't take in the sights of all of these ill gotten gains. He simply headed up the stairs towards where he guessed his father's study to be.

He came to a door with a sign that said 'knock before entering' on it. This was it, he put his hoof on the door and pushed it open. A dark blue pegasus sat at a long desk, his black mane was ruffled and looked unwashed.

"I told you to leave me alone Matilda!" His deep voice boomed, it almost made Lone take a step back. He turned around, his bright blue eyes connected with mine. He looked tired, old, lonely. Nothing like the villain I thought he would be. "O-Oh...I'm sorry..I didn't realize I had any appointments planned for today.." He stood from his chair and slicked back his mane. His wings were ruffled and unkempt, something most unbecoming of a pegasus. "I'm so sorry, i have been rather busy the past few days....planning some things.." His eyes looked back to the papers on his desk, he quickly turned his gaze to his unknown son. "So sorry, who are you?"

Lone started to speak, but his mouth was dry, no words would come. Everything he had planned to say fell short, nothing prepared him for this. "I-I...." Big furrowed his brow in confusion.

"Is that a Zebraharan accent..? Is this about my wife..?" Wife. The word hung in the air. Did he mean his mother?

"Y-Yes..." Lone spoke hesitantly, the word shook out of his mouth.

"Listen, I know it's customary to bury Zebras in their homeland, but..I..I just want her here. I want to be buried next to her...next to my son." That ignited something else within Lone, curiosity.

"Your...son?"

"Yes, her and I had a son...a hybrid. His name was Lucky One...." he smiled. "My idea...it seemed appropriate."

"How...how did he die..?"

"I'm not sure, the Griffon patrol who found his body...they didn't know how he died. But..they brought him here and we gave him a proper burial...poor Zenita never got over it..." His rough blue hoof brushed his mane as he looked at the ground.

"Y-You...didn't even look for me..?" The familiar rage came back.

"What..?"

Lone threw his hood back, his scarred muzzle and one empty eye socket were revealed to the light. Battle scars from ambushes. Next he undid his cloak and let it fall to the ground, bald wings twitched against the open air: he plucked each feather as it grew to remind him of the pain his pony heritage brought him.

"L-Lucky...?" His 'father's' eyes watered around the edges and he took a tentative step forward.

"Do not call me that.." Lone whispered.

"O-Oh my Celestia...it really is you. Lucky...I-I missed you...your mother missed you so much." He reached out, Lone batted away a hoof with his own.

"Do not touch me!"

"Lucky....they said you were dead..when the Griffon patrol said they forgot you.......I sent so many teams out to find you. They said they found your body..." his father sat down and dropped his face into his hooves. "Celestia forgive me.." he wept.

"DO NOT CALL ME THAT!" Lone shouted, he felt sadness, rage...everything from the night his mother was taken and he was forgotten. Big's teary eyes stared at him, pleading for some form of forgiveness.

"P-Please...Lucky..listen to me." Lone, out of pure rage and in the spur of the moment did the one thing he could, he kicked his father. Years of running from his problems and fights had toned Lone's legs and made them dangerous weapons, they sent Big flying backwards....and straight out of the window that was behind him.

It took a few seconds for Lone to understand what he had just done, then he realized it...he had killed his own father.

--

Lone and I stood over two unmarked graves, he had said we needed to come here. I didn't ask why, I don't think I would want to. But for some reason, I had a feeling that it was something very close to him...whatever it may be on this old decrepit manor grounds in this port city.