Whump! Crash! Thud!
Gad’s vision was blurry for a few seconds, during which time he heard hoofsteps approaching.
“Oh dear. Are you alright?” Said a voice.
Gad shook his dizziness away, shedding a few leaves from his scalp. His vision resolved on the face of an upside-down, white-coated unicorn, who was wearing a loud red floral-patterned shirt and a pair of saddlebags.
“Oh, sorry,” Gad said as he got his bearings. He was, in fact, the one who was upside-down. His yellow-feathered head was planted into a pile of leaves, while his feline hind-legs were propped up against the trunk of a tree.
“I didn’t fall on you, did I?” Gad asked worriedly.
“No,” the unicorn said, “But are you feeling alright? That seemed like quite a fall.”
“I think so. lemme check.” Gad cautiously righted himself, but stumbled to the side a bit just when his weight was on his legs again. The unicorn put out a hoof to steady him.
“Okay, okay. It’s alright, I think…” Gad said. “Just... lemme get my bearings a bit.” which was a bit of a lie; spots danced at the edge of his vision, but it was probably nothing that the nearest doctor couldn’t fix.
“What were you even doing up there?” the unicorn asked, concern in her voice.
“Oh, nothing.” Gad said, rubbing his head a bit. “Just playing keep-away with some dragons.”
The unicorn’s face twisted into an expression of concern. “Some very young dragons, I hope.”
Gad squinted, trying to remember exactly how large his pursuers had been. “If by young you mean just barely bigger than me, then yes.”
The unicorn’s face twisted again in disgust. “You thought it was a good idea to face down a couple of dragons that were each bigger than yourself?”
“Well to set the record straight, there were four.” Gad said matter-of-factly. “And secondly, Heroism knows no bounds!” Gad heroically held a pointed claw aloft at that last statement, but a second later his legs turned to noodles and he had to put it down again to steady himself.
“What sort of heroism is taking on five times your body weight?” The unicorn asked disapprovingly.
“Suffice it to say there was a Phoenix egg and some diversionary tap-dancing involved.”
The unicorn was suddenly concerned again. “Did the egg survive?” she asked.
“I uh- think so? Hope so. I lost track of it after a few minutes, and I’m not sure I could find it again in these woods.”
Gad looked up at the treetops as he said it, their gnarled branches twisting in on themselves like petrified octopus tentacles. Then his eyes went back to the white unicorn; there was something vaguely familiar about her appearance; something about the soft colors in her mane tickled his brain.
“Do I… know you from somewhere?” Gad postulated. “I’m not great with names.”
The unicorn’s left eyebrow cranked upward. “You don’t know who I am?” She said.
Gad squinted. “I mean, I think I know you from somewhere, but I’m not sure exactly… where.”
“Well, you may have seen my face on a poster…” The unicorn said tentatively.
“Oh, so you’re like an actor, or a producer!” Gad said.
The unicorn gave a chuckle. “No, sorry. Though that is one of my fondest dreams, I’m not very good.”
“Oh.” Gad said, disappointed, then stared for a moment longer. Then he said “Well, I give up. Sorry, I’m not the sort of guy to keep up with fashion magazines or anything. eh- no offense.”
“None taken.” The unicorn said, slightly amused.
“Well thank you for your concern miss… ah-”
The unicorn hesitated before saying “Call me Celly. And you are?”
“Gad. Nice to meet you. Well thank you, but I think I’m doing okay now.” Gad took a look up at the sky, then at his wings, which may have lost a few feathers.
“Ah, you wouldn’t mind pointing me to the nearest town, would you?” Gad asked with an awkward smile.
“Well, maybe you should just walk for a while.” Celly said. “I was just heading back to town myself; I could walk you there.”
Gad might have protested this blatant act of charity, but another wave of dizziness shut him down. “‘Yeah, alright. Seems like a nice day for a walk.” he said.
Celly led the way into the woods, walking perhaps a bit slower than she normally would have judging by the length of her stride. Gad followed dutifully in restrained silence. He wasn’t really sure what to say.
Perhaps noticing his discomfort, Celly fell in stride beside him and struck up a conversation.
“Forgive me, but you seem a bit… odd… for a griffon.”
“Oh, it’s the feathers, isn’t it?” Gad said, gesturing back to his feathered tail. “Mom was a hippogriff, Dad was a griffon, so you might say I’m a bit of an oddity, along with my brother.” Gad said it with a smile on his face, like the mere fact that he was different was something to be proud of.
Celly smiled back. “Well that does explain some things, but I was referring to something you mentioned earlier; something about… Heroism?”
“Oh, that.” Gad said. “Eh, it’s just a silly dream. Something I like to fantasize about.”
Celly nodded. Gad might have left it there, but she was looking on expectantly.
“Well, see, Way back in the days of King Grover, the griffons used to have pride in something other than the number of bits in their purses. There used to be orders of noble knights that went forth doing good deeds; fighting monsters, slaying dragons, that sort of thing.”
Celly frowned. “You… want to slay monsters?”
Gad stuttered a bit. “W-well, yes. No! Well, not exactly. It’s not like that. I mean, I would fight a monster, but only for the right reasons. I just want to be noble like the knights I hear about; I want to defend the weak, but, I guess nobody needs defending much these days.”
“Oh? Why do you say that?” Celly asked, just a hint of a smile on her face.
“Well ever since Twilight Sparkle’s friendship school took off, Everything’s been great! I mean, nothing’s perfect, but you should see griffonstone! Folks are actually beginning to care about each other; I think I actually saw a flower garden starting the other day! And all of that’s great, but… it’s kinda hard to stand out as a hero when there’s nothing for a hero to fix.”
Celly looked down for a moment before focusing back on the path before them.
“There is more to heroism than being recognized for it, I think.” she said.
“I... guess.” Gad said thoughtfully. “But being famous would sure make things easier.”
Celly laughed. “Trust me, it doesn’t. Being big and important has its troubles, too.”
“So you’re that famous?” Gad said. “I mean, I guess that makes sense. I might rather have those troubles than the ones I’ve got, though.”
Celly thought for a moment before responding “I suppose there may be no way to know until you get there;” but her tone betrayed the slightest amount of doubt, and perhaps even pity?
After a few more seconds of silence, Gad said; “you must be really important. I swear your name is on the tip of my tongue but I just can’t place it.”
Celly smiled. “I’m sure it’ll come to you eventually.”
“Well, what are you doing in the middle of the woods?” Gad asked.
“I was visiting a place I used to live. I thought I’d relive a few old memories.” Celly said.
“Eugh… you used to live here?” Gad said as he eyed the twisting vines and the marshy, swamplike ground. The smell was… pungent. “Must’ve been way back before you caught your big break or something.”
Celly laughed, neither confirming nor denying the assumption.
“Is it hard work, your job?” Gad asked.
“It was. Maybe harder than anyone knew; but I’m retired now.”
“Oh, well congratulations! I guess you wouldn’t have so many of those famous person troubles now.”
“Not so much, no;” Celly said. “Although there is still the occasional reporter who wants to know what I’m up to, or what I think of one of my students.”
“Students? You’re a teacher then? I, uh, don’t think I’ve ever heard of a famous teacher before. Were you some sort of prestigious professor?”
“Of a sort.” Celly said. “I taught at a school for gifted unicorns.”
Gad Gasped. “You mean MAGIC? Oh My Goodness That’s so awesome! My brother LOVES magic! He’s been studying it for a while now and he’s been learning soo much…”
Celly gave Gad a confused look. “Isn’t your brother a hippogriff? Or rather- half hippogriff?”
“I personally prefer the term Hippo-griffon.” Gad responded. “And he can’t really do magic like unicorns can, which can put a damper on things sometimes, but he’s been reading about all kinds of magical principles and how to make ritual circles and runes. It’s his dream to someday get good enough to be admitted into Celestia’s school for- OH MY CELESTI- I MEAN- YOU’RE PRINCESS CELESTIA!”
While Gad’s beak hung open, Celly laughed cordially. After a moment or two of stunned silence, Gad stuttered out “I uh. Didn’t recognize you… you were wearing… My goodness that is a HORRIBLE shirt!”
“I thought you said you didn’t follow fashion?” Celly said, smiling.
“I-I don’t! But- well...I mean… that’s just… you know what? I think I’d rather not say, now.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t have you banished for it.”
Gad opened his beak again, but found he had nothing to say. Instead, he sat down on the path and put his head in his left claw.
“I mean, I always wanted to meet some famous people like this, but now that I’m here I dunno what to say. Is it rude to ask a favor this soon? Yeah. yeah that would be rude, right? Well now I’ve blown it because I’ve already mentioned favors so now she’s just gonna expect-”
“Gad!” Celestia shouted, with just a hint of the ‘Royal Canterlot Voice’. Gad tightened his beak shut.
“Could we just keep walking?” she said, forcing a smile. “We were just in the middle of the loveliest conversation and we’re almost to ponyville.”
Gad parsed for a few seconds before he gave a timid “okay.” and lifted his haunches.
“You were telling me about your brother?” Celestia prompted.
“Uh- well yeah. I was saying that it has always been his dream to go to Celestia’s, -I mean- your school. It’s the best place to learn everything there is to know about magic. Er- um.. I don’t suppose you could…”
“No.” Celestia said flatly. “I’m afraid even if I was still in charge of the school, The curriculum is focused more towards Unicorn magic. I am, however, impressed by his interest. It’s not often that you find a non-unicorn who is interested in learning more about the subject.”
“Yeah, well he is a bit of an odd one.” Gad smiled, with more than a hint of pride. “I think he spends most of his time trying to learn how stuff works. Me too, really, but he likes to go a level deeper.”
“Oh! do you have an interest in magic as well?” Cellestia asked
“Well, no not really. I’m more of a tinker. I build things. I have a smithy back in griffonstone.”
“...Which you tend to when you’re not off being a noble knight?” Celestia smiled.
“Well like I said, that’s just a stupid dream of mine; being the hero of your own story and all that. I probably do spend more time off on adventures than I should.”
Gad fell silent. For a few minutes, neither pony nor hippo-griffon said a word. Soon enough they could see the thatched roofs of ponyville on the horizon.
“Well, thank you for your help.” Gad said humbly. You didn’t really have to spend all your time walking me here…”
“Nonsense.” Celestia said amicably. “Now that I’m retired, I have all the time in the world. Just don’t be bringing your friends back for autographs every day.”
“It’s a promise.” Gad said, smiling. “I think I can find the doctor from here. It was... nice meeting you!”
“It was, but… just one more thing, perhaps, before you go.”
“Err… what?” Gad said, suddenly nervous.
“Just... humor me for a minute. sit there.”
Gad hesitated, then sat on his haunches.
Celestia turned her attention to a nearby boulder. Her horn began to glow, and a spot on the surface of the boulder began to glow likewise. After a moment of concentration, a glowing shape began to emerge; first a handle, then a hilt, then a long, thick blade. Soon enough the glowing shape dimmed, resolving into a golden sword.
Gad’s jaw dropped. Celestia levitated the new sword between them and approached.
“Claw on your heart.” Celestia mumbled.
“Wha- oh.” Gad said, hurriedly crossing his foreleg over his chest.
Celestia lowered the blade over each of Gad's shoulders and recited; “I knight thee, sir Gad; Paladin of Harmony, protector of the innocent.”
Gad looked up, a bit confused. “Princess, you’re retired. Can you-?”
“Shush.” Celestia said, then, more quietly: “I have no idea.”
Then, in a louder voice, she said “Take this weapon and go forth in my name.”
The sword lay horizontally in the air. Gad tentatively took it, his arm bowing slightly once Celestia let go of its weight.
“Are you… making this up as you go along?” Gad asked.
“I read it in a book once. Now, shush.” Celestia said. “Use it wisely, and always with honor. Rise, sir Gad!”
“Wh-what?” blustered Gad, rising from his sitting position. “I mean… Do you really need a paladin?”
“It’s just a silly dream of mine,” Celestia said with a wink.