The First, and Final Chapter.
I walked through the destitute streets of Aquila, homeless griffons dotting the sides. I frowned as shouting echoed down the street, cascading upon my ears. Still frowning I wandered towards the noise, curiosity drawing me onward. Rounding the corner my eyes fell upon a small stage that had been set up, several griffons in blue uniforms standing on it. One had brown feathers, a slightly darker shade cresting the his head. He stood at the forefront of the griffons in uniform, shaking his claw in the air as he spoke to the large crowd in front of him. Still curious I approached the commotion, the griffons voice becoming clearer as I got closer.
"-Which is why we must rise up against the tyrrany of the crown. Just look at the griffons lining the streets, struggling to get food in their bellies!" He shouted, eliciting a round of cheers from the gathered griffons. Not from me though. I just frowned as cries of revolution sounded out. The lead griffon's eyes suddenly fell on me, twitching slightly as he noticed my frown. He raised his claw, pointing at me as he smiled a sickly sweet smile, "Tell me fellow griff." He said to me, drawing the attention of everycreature around him, "Are you willing to sacrifice your life for the revolution?" He asked, the stares of everycreature pressuring him to take a step back.
"W-well I..." I stuttered, the stares quickly morphing into ones of anger. The truth was I had never been one for the radical thinking of these radical revolutionaries. They yelled about how the crown had done them wrong, and how they would help the homeless and poor, yet did nothing about it. All they had done was halt progress in general by denying anything even remotely close to help from the crown.
My awkwardness was saved when the sound of a whistle being blown was heard, bringing everyone's attention to an approaching group of police, batons in hand. "Stop right there!" The leader shouted as the angry group of griffons shouted back, cursing them and the crown.
Taking my chance I slowly creeped away, rounding the corner before turning into a full sprint, not stopping until I arrived at my apartment block, taking a deep breath before entering. The familiar smell of burnt cigarettes wafted into my nose, as I walked up the stairs, heading towards my apartment's floor. Walking down the hall, I reached the door to my apartment, placing the key that had been tucked away in my feathers into the lock, a click sounding as I turned it.
I moved to open the door but was interrupted by a familiar voice, "Hey!" The beige coloured earth pony called out as he quickened his pace towards me.
Smiling I turned to greet my old friend, "Quartz my friend, how are you doing?" I inquired, garnering a similar smile accompanied by a happy nod,
"Just fine." He replied, smiling for a bit longer before dissipating said smile in favour of a more grim and serious expression, "Did you hear what happened in Rila." He whispered in a hushed tone, eyes flicking to the other end of the hallway.
Frowning I shook my head in response, "No I can't say I have. Although I'd be willing to guess that it has something to do with those revolutionaries." I attempted, bringing about a nod from Quartz.
"They assassinated the Duke." He whispered, making my eyes widen subsatantially as I gasped in shock. Duke Michel Discret was possibly the most progressive of the Discret family, having given the griffs of Rila more rights than they had asked for. If the revolutionaries had killed him then any sympathies I had ever held for them disappeared immediately upon the deliverance of the news. Yet a small part held out, reasoning that Quartz had not mentioned who had killed Michel. Yes, that was it. After all, why would revolutionaries kill a progressive similar to them?
"Tell me." I asked quietly, "When you say 'They' assassinated him, who exactly do you mean?" He asked, still whispering.
"It was the revolutionaries. Apparently after they killed him in his sleep they came out into the open city streets and paraded his body around for all to see." The small part that was holding out promptly jumped out a window, landed on a sharp rock, and shot itself in the head, "Problem was, they expected the population to rally against the crown with them. Safe to say their assumptions were wrong, and soon it was their bodies being paraded around the streets." Quartz explained, smiling slightly as he finished, as if happy that those damned revolutionaries got what they deserved.
Smiling I patted Quartz on the shoulder with a claw, happy that I knew at least one creature who shared my ideals and views. From what I had seen every time there was an escalation it was always the revolutionaries who had caused it, especially now that Michel was dead. It had been well known by the public that he had many sympathies towards the common griff. Heck, he even showed it publicly when he opened schools, expanded healthcare, and managed to solve poverty in general for Rila.
I believed that the current king should be ousted, despite my loyalty to the Discret family. Moriset was the villain in anyone's story, spending lavishly on himself and the nobles while sending not a single coin to any other griff. I was not loyal Moriset himself. I was loyal to the Discret Dynasty, and would do what was neccesary to preserve it. The griffons like Michel and Vivienne Discret were what had kept the Dynasty honourable, unlike that bastard Moriset. I would have happily supported a Michel or Vivienne back coup before, yet now it was too dangerous. If they attempted a coup the kingdom would become so destabilized that the following civil war would be their bloodiest yet.
Me and Quartz discussed a few more things, eager to get the death of Michel out of our minds. After a while of chatting we parted ways, him heading back down the hall to his apartment while I returned to entering mine. Laying down onto the bed I let out a sigh of satisfaction as I sank into the pillow, slowly drifting off...
I awoke to the smell of smoke, accompanied by the faint sounds of gunshots and screaming. Groaning, I slowly picked myself off the bed, staggering over to the window. Rubbing my eyes to clear my vision, I stopped as I simply stared at the scene before me. My apartment building was situated right at the end of a street, giving me a clear view straight up and down the street. Not just any street though, but the street that led to the royal palace. The first thing I noticed was that it was now the middle of the night. The next, and even more blatantly obvious was the raging fire happening at the palace, orange flames whipping around the climbing towers in an attempt to bring them down. The third thing I noticed was the marching griffons in blue uniforms moving down the streets, military grade rifles in their claws. This could only mean one thing.
The revolution had begun.
Diving under the bed, I frantically searched around for the box, my claws putting it into a death grip as I found it, dragging out the long wooden box and placing it on the bed. Hesitating for just a moment I flipped the small latch and opened the oaken lid, revealing a bolt action rifle with a mahogeny stock, several small boxes of bullets laying next to it in the box. Leaving it their for the time being, I shot into my closet, freezing as the sounds of what appeared to be a struggle downstairs ended with a sharp crack allowing silence to take it's place. Snapping out of it, I frantically looked for my homemade bandoleer, flicking it on as I eventually found it, hastened on by the sounds doors being knocked on down the hall.
Running back over to the bed, I grabbed I rifle, checking it several times over before loading it with five bullets from one of the small boxes. I placed the other boxes in small custom pouches in the bandoleer. Checking that everything was ready, I nodded in satisfaction as the check came back positive, leading to me staring at the door. Breathing deeply I opened it slowly, poking my head out to scope the area. Two griffons in the same blue uniforms stood in front of an open door, one brown one smiling happily as he spoke to the creature beyond while the other grey one glared suspiscously at it. They both had rifles, the smiling one having one slung across his back while the other held it in claw yet kept it lowered.
The conversation clearly heated up as the smiling one lost his smile replacing it with a frown. The glaring raised his rifle, drawing the last straw for me. Stepping out slightly, I took aim with my rifle, aiming for the glaring grey griffon, before pulling the trigger. A crack was heard, bringing both griffon's attention, towards him. Too late however as the grey one dropped, a bullet sized hole in his neck as he gurgled away. The brown one visibly panicked as he fumbled to get his rifle ready before being met with another shot, this time from the doorway, bringing him down to the floor to meet his comrade. Stepping out, pistol in one hoof, was Quartz.
Shouting could be heard from downstairs bringing both of them to quickly take up positions by the stairs, aiming at the entry point. They both looked at each other in silence, yet the unspoken words were heard. They both nodded in unison as they returned their attention to the stairs and the approaching revolutionaries...
The pair would hold out against the revolutionaries for six months, draining a significant amount of rescources from the revolution, despite being trapped in an apartment building. When the revolutionaries usually captured loyalists they gave them a choice to join the 'righteous revolution'. Any who refused were executed. Quartz and the still unnamed griffon were given no choice, and were publicly executed.
They were killed only two weeks before the revolution failed and Aquila recaptured...
Author's Note
I was supposed to write this for that writing contest for EAW, but couldn't get around to it. Their's a message hidden in there somewhere so don't worry.
