To Save our Legacy

Act V: Unworthy

“You might wanna put these on before we go in.”

Hoofing Gaius Zipp’s aviator sunglasses, knowing (or rather, hoping) she wouldn’t mind me borrowing them from her desk, I waited while the griffon ran a curious analysis over them before taking them with a delicate touch in one of his sharp talons.

“Um… may I ask vhy?” Gaius wondered as he wiggled the glasses in the air, testing the elasticity of the hinges and even sniffing them a bit, winning a disguised giggle from me.

“Just don’t want you to go blind in light of such brilliance!” I offered merrily.

We stood just about the corner that led to my workshop. After having left Alex’s room at the hospital, I’d found Pipp giving our newest friend an abbreviated tour around the brighthouse. The poor griffon, while doing his best to pay attention, was about to drop from exhaustion, as we could all see. We decided it was best to let him bunk in Alex’s room that night after a quick dinner consisting of a sandwich and a salad, which he politely declined.

‘Too much grün’, he’d claimed. Heh, curious guy.

Now, under the light of a new day, and since we didn't know when, or even if Alex was gonna be checked out from the hospital anytime soon, I decided to give the lost griffon a proper tour around our home base. Starting, needless to say, with my very own workshop! Refuge of creativity! Temple of the wildest imagination! House of freedom of expression!!

He was gonna need sunglasses. I was already used to the awesomeness of my art by this time.

“... Alrïght.” Gaius, sounding unsure, gave the sunglasses a go, placing them gently over his beak and fixing the temples as best he could between the fluffy plumage of his eagle head. Blinking twice and casting an exploratory look around, Gaius seemed content with the experience. “Cool…”

‘It’s just a pair of sunglasses.’ I held in a lopsided grin, seeing the griffon make such a number about wearing them. ‘Although he did tell us yesterday he hailed from a faaaar away place… perhaps they don’t wear sunglasses there?’

I gave it no further thought. I was almost vibrating in place, looking forward to his opinion on some of my latest creations! The insight of another race from the lands beyond the ocean could prove invaluable to me!

‘Those numbnuts in the museum will be stewing in envy sooo sweetly when they hear I have a griffon-approved piece…’ I couldn't help but maliciously celebrate.

As it happened, Gaius wasn’t an expert in all things crafty, keeping a polite, somewhat reserved opinion on the stuff I showed him, finished and still ongoing. Could’ve been better, honestly, but it also could’ve been WAY worse, knowing how rude and dry griffons could be. Or used to be. I couldn't be sure about today. Gaius seemed nice enough, if a bit not taciturn and reserved. I couldn’t blame him for that, either. I could understand how this was a big change for him and… Well, even if nopony had reacted too strongly at his presence, the few looks we got while we heard back from the hospital were not what you’d call ‘welcoming’.

He’d kept all cool and collected, noting he was expecting it. I knew it was a bluff; I could see those adorable ears-tufts of his drooping and his previously curious gaze lose most of its luster by the time we’d made it home. No matter! If we’d been able to bring the three tribes of ponies together again, I was sure that a single griffon would be a piece of cake, especially with him being on the friendly side.

“And… dies ist…?” Gaius winced in effort, furrowing his feathery brow quizzically. He was holding one of my latest works, a one-to-ten scale gummy bear made up of gummy bears.

“I call this… ahem.” I readied my best salesmare voice. “Allegory to Deconstruction,” I announced all professional-like.

Blinking owlishly behind his sunglasses, Gaius cast another slow glance at the oversized gummy bear and carefully placed it back on the small trophy cabinet I kept on the wall to store my work before selling it on the plaza… or not, if I grew too attached to it.

I was running out of space.

The sound of the front door opening and closing, followed by two very familiar voices, interrupted my next presentation, the thrill of my two closest friends having returned from the hospital so soon filling me with joy, almost getting me to drop the sculpture of Sparky I’d made out of littered bottle caps, some wire I found somewhere in an alley and a pair of huge googly eyes because that sweet little dragon had the most adorable eyes that ever broke this unicorn’s heart.

“They’re back!!”

I was flying out of my workshop before Giaus could utter another comment. I galloped for the foyer and skidded to a halt in front of the lovey-dovey pair of a big, bandage-covered human and the sweetest mare to ever live.

“Alex!!” I celebrated in glee, my tail mirroring my feelings and wagging behind me.

“Come here you silly filly.” Alex, smiling widely in return. Extracting that humongous sword (swords?) of his from the holster on his back and rested them beside his bag. He got down on one knee with a small wince and welcomed me with open arms.

I was more than happy to comply. Now that he was up and about, I could squeeze him in a proper hug. Oh, how much I’d missed the big lug. Not to mention he got us all prancing in a field of hoof-rot mushrooms in worry. Things had been so slow and booooring without him around. I guess nopony was feeling like doing much while we waited. The air in the brighthouse had grown stale in our silence as each of us cooked in our own concern for him.

Actually, why was I acting all cuddly? I should be mad at him for making us worry so much!!

I did just that, breaking our embrace to plant my haunches in front of him, sending my most disapproving frown at the now puzzled human.

“... What?” Alex quizzed, barely holding back a chuckle as I furrowed my brow even more. “Does that mean no goofing around today?”

“...”

“...”

“... Sigh.” Yeah, there was no way I was gonna skip on that, no matter how justifiably mad I believed I should be with him. “Sorry, Sunny girl. I tried my best.”

“That’s fine Izzy.” With a faint smile, Sunny brushed against my side and, with a welcoming nuzzle, she made her way inside. “Neither could I.”

You see, I prided myself on being a ponies’ mare, having a knack for knowing how a pony feels at any given moment. I could always check their sparkle and how bright it shone. Alex told me that was an unusual ability for a unicorn to possess. I guess I can’t help being special!

However, this time was not one to celebrate. Where I would’ve expected to see a blazing sun of lavender that was my bestie’s sparkle bathing me in her wake as she headed for the kitchen, barely a flickering wisp clinging to life was what my senses registered.

‘This is not right…’

If there was a pony amidst us that should be jumping on the walls from happiness, it should be Sunny. Her hubby was back and… mostly unharmed. But fine overall! That was good news if I ever heard some! So… why was she putting on a mask while, inside, she was feeling as cold as a winter night in Bridlewood?

Doctor Izzy’s on the case! No way in Tartarus I was gonna let a friend be all mopey ‘n slumpy on such a wonderful day!

I started with the closest suspect available. “Well, that was unusual” I mulled out loud for Alex to hear. “Is everything alright? Has something happened between you two overnight?” I prodded him.

Catching him halfway into resettling the bag on his back, a prominent wince made him freeze in place, freezing him halfway into reincorporating.

“Um… y-you see…” Alex tried to start in a shaky voice.

“And don't even think about saying that everything is fine between you two!” I felt I had to make it clear in case the crafty human might get it through his head that he could cheat me. “He can see into your very soul, mister!” I exclaimed, closing one eye and putting the other to work intently on his sparkle... until I remembered that he didn't have one of his own.

“Uh… first of all, that’s not how aura sensing works. Second, you know I don’t have a natural one about me.”

“Don't care” I stood my ground, continuing my scrutiny with perhaps a little too much enthusiasm. My left eye was beginning to hurt a bit. “I can smell it on you, otherwise!”

I held my intense gaze until I could no longer, blinking and winking furiously to rehydrate my poor eye, breaking the spell and my concentration with a snort; Alex sighed tiredly and finished relocating his backpack and sword(s?) before dropping to one knee in front of me, his sad, brown eyes hiding that which had bothered my best friend so much during the course of the night.

“Okay...” He sighed softly, stroking my cheek with a gloved hand. If he thought he was going to be able to soften me up with that old trick... he was succeeding. “Yes, Izzy. Yesterday, after you all left, I had a conversation with Sunny about some... concerns I've brought back from the trip. And... well...”

Alex couldn't seem to find the words, but the little he revealed made it sound worse and worse. Frowning and cuffing the floor, I dipped my head to kick his dancing fingers out of my fur.

“Pray you didn't hurt her in any way, Alexander,” I warned him good with my best timberwolf growl. “You know I love you dearly, but I remember promising that I would play origami with your furless hide if you ever...”

His hand returned to silence my snout, leaving me with the warning on the tip of my tongue.

“I know, Izzy. I know.” He replied confidently. “Nothing of the sort, okay? I… I just said some things that I needed to get out, and I put her into a complicated position. I wasn't in the best state of mind and spooked her a bit, that’s all.”

It sounded to me that he was downplaying it somehow, but the steeliness of his voice told me I wasn't gonna get much more out of him no matter how much I prodded. Letting my muzzle go, he reared up back to his full length and rubbed his aching shoulder, the one carrying that ugly, burnt scar with a wince.

“I want to talk about it with all of you later when we’re all back. It concerns you, too.”

“Hmph.” I sent my snout high, dissatisfied with his lack of cooperation, but agreed to wait until the full gang had returned to our home base.

Satisfied with my pose, or perhaps not, I couldn't tell, Alex trudged beside me to address Gaius, having politely waited somewhere behind us so as to not imply that he could be eavesdropping, although the way his ear tufts had perked up was enough indication he’d heard every last word.

“Morning, bird breath. How did you find the place?”

Gaius took Alex’s playful tease in stride, firing back with a comment about his lanky form and sending a balled talon to hoof-bump the human.

“You veren't läyink back zere on zee roat. It ist quite impressïv.” He chirped, quickly taking notice of Alex’s exposed forearm since he wasn't wearing his jacket at the moment. Taking hold of it delicately, Gaius’ avian eyes widened considerably in surprise. “Oh, und I thinkink I heal vast…”

The griffon was not off the mark. Losing my undignified pose, I trotted to the pair’s side to take a peek at whatever had surprised Gaius. Where some small, albeit nasty cuts had crisscrossed his forearm all the way to his shoulder, now faint traces and a few loose scars now adorned his smooth skin. An impressive recovery, regardless of the fact that the wounds in the area fell on the smaller side compared to the ones on his torso. Still, I rejoiced to see my best human friend was making such a speedy recovery.

“Yep, perks of being in the service of the Rainbow Light.” Alex chirped cryptically, making the griffon and I shared a puzzled look before Alex the birdy’s feathers, ushering him to follow him deeper into the hall. “Come with me for a sec, Gaius. I want to show you some stuff, see if you can lend me a talon.”

With a brief purr that melted my heart under the happy smile that stretched his… surprisingly flexible beak, Gaius fell in step with Alex as he led them up the ramp to the second floor.

“Are those Zipp’s sunglasses…?”

As his voice trailed beyond my reach, I was left with no choice but to tread directly to the source.

A ruckus of clattering dishes and shelf doors opening and closing revealed my bestie’s whereabouts to be those of the kitchen area, where I found her fixing some late breakfast, or early lunch judging from the current time of the morning. A simple Sprouts-and-Gouda-Cheese salad and a pair of slices of Alex's infamous ‘pan tumaca’... I think I got it right.

I made my presence known by levitating the slice of tomato toast from Sunny's hoof as she was about to take a nice bite, making her teeth chomp on empty air.

“What…? Izzy!” She cried as her eyes looked into my best detective frown, taking a page from Zipp so as to better crack this case open like a watermelon… that I started to crave a slice of after seeing my buddy’s delicious meal.

Seeing me standing in the foyer all bossy and professional, scrutinizing her very soul as the toast floated in the air between us, painted a blank look on her features.

“Can I have my toast back, Izzy?”

“Hmm, depends…” I scratched my chin pensively. “Can you answer some questions for me?”

Seeing her breakfast postponed, Sunny grumbled something under her breath along the lines of ‘two of them now’ and offered me a seat on a chair beside her. I took her offer with a merry trot and planted my flank on the low chair, resting my forelegs over the pristine aisle and returning the delicious-looking toast to its rightful owner…

Or at least I would've done so if my tummy hadn’t chosen that moment to grumble in protest, as loud as a freight train, to my chagrin.

“Um…”

“Sigh, go ahead,” Sunny replied to my silent question, reaching to grab the remaining toast and taking a silent bite from it.

“Thanks, bestie!” Not being one to be left behind, I took a nice muzzle-full, half the toast disappearing down my trap in a single go. Bless that human and his cousin. The best in the world, according to him. He hadn't given us a reason to the contrary yet.

Feeling like the good food shouldn't be accompanied by a foul mood, I dropped the act and instead spoke sincerely, feeling genuine concern for the mare who, regardless of how good the meal tasted, was eating at her with the same gusto and energy as if she was munching on a piece of cardboard.

“Did something happen last night?” I fired straight to the point. “Cause I felt your sparkle as you went past and, girl, it felt as cold as a dip in Bridlewood’s mud baths in the heart of winter.”

Perhaps not the best comparison judging by the quizzical dip of Sunny’s head, but the message got across. With another sigh, Sunny demonstrated that she’d lost her appetite and nudged the half-eaten salad away to drop her head into her crossed forelegs, ears droopy in a mirror of her mood.

“Mhm,” Sunny replied, muffled under the fur of her fetlocks.

I waited for her to start spilling the beans, but was left with nothing but an awkward silence as her sight got lost in the infinity before us as her mind traveled far from the present.

Whatever it was that had transpired between the two of them, had upgraded from smelling badly to outright stinking of rotten crystal roots left too long under the sun.

“... Sooo, may I ask what it was?” I pinched further, taking a bit of a passive-aggressive pose to let her know I wasn't going anywhere until I‘d learned something.

Casting a side glance from within the confines of her forelegs, Sunny bit her cheek, conflicted about whether to share what was eating at her. I couldn’t refrain from a pang of disappointment from pricking my heart. Besties were supposed to be able to confide in anything and everything to one another without fear of being criticized or laughed at. If you couldn't share your deepest and darkest secrets with the pony you feel closest to, then who?

What was keeping Sunny from doing just that?

Faust must’ve heard my implied prayers since, a moment of debate having passed, Sunny extracted her fuzzy head from her fuzzier refuge and sat forwards a bit on her seat, her hooves brushing against the trimmed fur of her fetlocks nervously.

“... After you guys left, Alex wanted to speak with me before dinner.” Sunny opened the line with a raspy, almost decayed tone.

“Yeeees…” I gently poked her to keep going, happy to finally make some progress with the troubled mare.

“He said he needed to get something off his chest. That his journey to the Hive had proven… enlightening.”

“Ooooh, that sounds like something good, doesn’t it?” I perked my ears to give Sunny my one hundred percent attention, wiggling my seat a bit closer.

Sunny’s sour features didn’t subscribe to my assumption, with another tiny slump, she drew circles with her hoof over the table.

“He said…” She squeezed out, failing the first time as she became even more somber. “He said he doesn't trust in himself anymore. To do the right thing, I mean… He said he won’t be part of it unless it’s to follow me as I take the lead.”

A heavy stillness permeated the room after that. For a moment, I didn't quite follow what Sunny was trying to suggest. Hadn't she always been our unofficial leader? I mean, it’s true we all trusted Alex’s judgment in tight spots since he was leagues more knowledgeable than us in… well, almost everything. To me, it sounded like more of our every day. What did she mean by Alex not trusting himself anymore?

“Um… Sorry, Sunny. I think I’m not quite following.” I apologized.

A long puff left her nostrils as she slumped on her forelegs again, her eyes focused somewhere far from here, perhaps recalling yesterday's events.

“He said that I need to be the one to call the shots. That he’d be with me every step of the way and take all the punches meant for us if it means he can keep us safe.” A sniff now shook her body as small tears began trickling down those gorgeous seafoam-green pearls of hers. “H-He said we’re his legacy. T-That this was his own choice, and n-nopony else’s” Slowly but surely, my bestie was breaking down, prompting me to forget my impromptu breakfast over the table and rush to glomp her into the warmest thug I could muster. “H-He fears that… sniff, if he continues down this road, he will have to protect us from himself! He’s so afraid, Izzy. I-I-I don’t know what happened out there, b-but he… h-he’s…”

Sunny couldn't hold it back anymore. Breaking down in a pile of sobs, she clutched me tight in our embrace, muffled sobbing staining my fur with tears as I already began conjuring a picture of what had spooked my friend so badly.

With comforting pats and soothing words, I was there for Sunny until her sobbing went away, nopony having interrupted us into the kitchen to find us in a mess, thank Luna. Sunny needed a few minutes to breathe everything out. It was good that she did, and I was sure that she’d feel leagues better afterward. It’d been a lot of pressure being in the dark about Alex’s whereabouts and well-being. This hadn’t been the first time poor Sunny had broken down with me being there to lift her up. That confounded human couldn't have chosen a worse time to drop this load onto her. I’d have a word or two with him, afterward…

But, Sunny came first. Through sniffles and heavy tears, she confessed that she didn't know what to do. Regardless of the unilateral trust she knew Alex and the rest of us had placed in her, she felt unfit to lead us. even now and after all we’d accomplished thanks to her initiative! I, too, felt that we were in good hooves with her in the lead, but I felt Alex’s implications ran deeper than what we’d discussed with Sunny. She was the one who’d been chosen to carry those alicorn powers. We were all there to witness it, any of us could've been chosen all the same, but it was Sunny who was deemed worthy by… Harmony, I guess. Having learned about the old spirit’s… predilections, I was conflicted as to how to feel about it, but it didn't dilute the meaning behind the act one bit.

I tried to reassure her to the best of my abilities, softly sharing Alex’s point in her being born for this job, even before she’d gained her wings and horn. This impostor syndrome had been one of the first things she’d experienced as she took the reins of her powers, and more than once we’d all agreed as a group she was more than deserving of them. Even if the image of an alicorn could prove a bit too much for the average pony, resulting in that annoying, insensitive behavior they’d bathed her in that time she’d tried to warn the town about their unhealthy eating habits…

A ‘nope’ sign over a picture of a Prench fry... Dear Sunny wasn't gonna make it alive out of that meeting if her alicorn form hadn’t manifested on a whim.

And yet, Sunny braving the carrying of that metaphorical torch wasn't what choked her the most from the flurry of emotions she was soldiering through. Something had happened to Alex out there. Only once had we seen him pushed to the brink of something unrecognizable, and that was during Discord’s crisis as the both of them faced off. What we’d old understood as malicious taunting from the draconequus, Alex now admitted was true. That he was a coward who ran away, that he was weak, untrustworthy, and unworthy of our love and sympathy. That he couldn't trust in his own judgment anymore, for everything he thought was for the better of Equestria had resulted in its destruction. There was a lot of blame to be spread around, and he firmly believed he should be the recipient of most, if not all of that blame.

“I don’t know how to help him anymore, Izzy.” Sunny sobbed one last time, squeezing me hard as her tears began to dry up. “It… I-It feels as if, sniff, as if every step we take, we lose him a bit more, no matter what we try. I thought he was getting better. I thought we’d finally got through that thick head of his and convinced him that he shouldn’t spend the rest of his days punishing himself.” A gurgled chuckle was shared between us. Alex did have a thick head when he put it to use sometimes. “It… It sounded like he was… like he was giving up, like… I-I don’t know. It scared me so much, the way he said it. I… I’m not sure if I’m even making any sense…”

“Shhh, it’s alright, besite.” I hushed the poor mare before she could break down into tears again, hugging her head against my chest fluff and nuzzling her multicolored mane lovingly, rocking us both gently against the chair. “It’s alright. I’m… I’m sure there’s more to it than what he said. We were all tired and heated feelings were fluttering all over the room. I’m sure that with cooler heads, he can explain better to us later when we can all talk. Because we will all bring this to him later, as a family. He can complain all he wants, but I for one won’t have him going back again to dodging questions and bottling things up like when we were chasing Discord!” I sealed it with a stomp of my rear hoof.

Sunny, drying her tears against my fur, which I didn't mind, nodded feebly against my chest before sniffling the last of the waterworks again, harrumphing with a dry throat as she broke the hug. A glass of water, grabbed and filled with my levitation, was already waiting for her before she could dry the last of the tears from her matted cheeks.

“Thank you, Izzy.” Sunny quivered with the tiniest of smiles chasing the gloom away from the warm sun rays filtering from between the kitchen’s curtains. Even teary-eyed and ruffled, the pan in my heart reminded me of how stunning she was. “I don’t deserve you.”

Returning the grin, I playfully headbutted her, resting my head under her chin as I gazed up at her. “Mmm, perhaps. But I’ll be here for you either way.” I chirped cheekily, nuzzling her chin to Sunny’s giggling glee. I needed to make her smile and park the doom and gloom for later, preferably for it to never be seen again. We were all back together and stronger than ever! I wanted to believe that, and I’d do whatever was in my hoof to make it so!

Sunny reciprocated with a nuzzle on my ear. Ooooh, only a few days until my B-day, and we’d pop the question to Alex and, if Celestia willed it, we’d make it official between the three of us. Where doubts and apprehension reigned in my heart were still present from before, but now I was more sure than ever that the three of us could share our love for one another, unorthodox as it was at this stage, but I was beyond giving a pegamouse’s butt about what other ponies might chitter behind our backs.

That brought me to a closing inquiry, blurting it out of impulse. “But you still love him, don’t you?”

Blunt and poor choice as it was, Sunny giggled in my mane and pulled back to peer down at me. “Of course I still love him. Do you think I’ll be breaking down for him if I wasn't?”

Yeah, in retrospect, it was kinda a silly assumption, but I still felt compelled to ask.

We basked in each other's company for a little longer, enjoying the tranquility of our heart-to-heart and the peacefulness of another sunny morning. That is, until I felt Sunny, still nuzzling my mane, take an undisguised whiff at my hair.

“Uh, Izzy. Is that my mane conditioner?”

I suddenly remembered I’d left the gummy bear sculpture under the window…

“... So, does it ring any bells?”

Up in the lantern room where the Unity Crystals hovered in their rainbow aura, pouring Prisbeam energy unchallenged into the heavens, Gaius and I were having a quick conversation regarding the fate of those that dwelled on the twin landmasses of North and South Essia. Seeing as the girls had already given him the abbreviated tour, and had donated a spare mattress and a healthy ball of blankets as a temporary measure until he could whip up something more griffon-like; I’d hoped to use the chance and milk some more info out of him, whatever he could spare regarding the fate of the griffons and other creatures that populated the lands beyond the Celestial Sea.

Not my utmost priority on a long list of pending concerns, but an important one to consider, for I was sure that contact with other races beyond the three tribes was more than assured to happen sooner rather than later as the ponies' influence over Equestria was sure to exponentially increase over time.

Sheltered as his village had been deep in the Boreal Range, I wanted to ask him to share any small nuggets of information he might hold, no matter how small or insignificant he deemed them to be. Argyle’s notes had only taken me so far, and the picture they painted was not a reassuring one.

Gaius pondered the quick catch-up I’d given him around the state of affairs on the neighboring countries as far as Argyle's elucidations had reached. I still harbored the painful reminder of the young griffon’s own recollection of his village’s destruction at minotaur hands, prompting his escape and subsequent years touring the wilderness by himself. Minotaurs were amongst the most warry and problematic of Equusian races, so it had come as no surprise when Gaius revealed them to be the ones responsible for the attack on their sheltered population. Long-lived feuds among the peoples of Essia had blemished its twin landmasses as far as their collective history went. It would be no shock to learn they still were at arms with one another to this day.

“... Sorry, I not knov avvvvbout any ov zees… Thees.” Gaius, his Equish pronunciation slowly but surely improving by the day, apologized with a crestfallen dip of his head, handing me Argyle’s journey, still opened at his last entry regarding the findings of an old cargo ship wreck near the Fillydelphian Dent, a series of sharp, rocky protrusions born from the falling fragments of the towering cliffs that gave its name to that region around fifty-or-so kilometers north of Maretime Bay. According to his notes, the shipwreck was at least a few months old by the state of the rotting remains of the brigantine. He didn't find any bodies, but he did find an old sailor’s log having been spared the worst of the sea saltiness amidst a pile of marooned, obliterated crates piled up on the rockiest part of the small beach that kissed the tall cliffs. What little he could make out of the log, as well as the oxidized, metallic skeletons of the crate’s cargo told him the ship was carrying a healthy supply of weapons to aid the clinging remains of the New Griffonian Empire, whatever that was, against minotaur incursions at the mouth of Guto’s River.

Of course, he’d rushed back to Maretime Bay to warn the ponies about a potential threat beyond the sea. And, needless to say, he’s been subsequently ignored.

If Gaius had no knowledge about this New Griffonian Empire or any word of minotaur incursions beyond the one his village suffered, that meant his village must have been truly sheltered in the frozen reaches of the north.

“Hmm,” I pondered the implications, finding the matters beyond the Celestial Sea concerning, but not on the top of my priority list as of yet. Equestria had little to offer to them as I’d been painfully aware of during my journey to the Hive. Aside from empty space and unchecked, life-threatening fauna, little could any invasion force find where ponies once ruled. “We’ll have to keep our eyes open then. Schönen Dank, Gaius.”

I took a seat at the foot of the small, improvised nest he had whipped up with our friends’ numerous donations, tapping the closed diary against my knee as I lost myself in thought a pang of pain here and there to break my focus as one of my healing wounds came up to say ‘Hi’.

Gaius, still a bit bummed for not having proved of help, planted his haunches beside me and offered me silent company, his tail coming to coil around my bent legs in a sign I’d learned to be of reassurance and trust. Whether it was more for him than me, I couldn't be so sure. I was brought out completely from my attempts to piece out some extra parts of the puzzle by the funny way he was peering at the floating gems, using a talon to dip down the sunglasses resting balanced on his feathery crest to gaze at them under the polarized lenses, and up from his eyes again to note the difference.

I found it endearingly amusing, taking a second to wonder why he was so captivated by the difference until it clicked for me, a slice of information regarding his species traits that I hadn't considered.

“Heh, looks funny through the sunglasses, doesn’t it?”

Lifting them up to gaze at me, he agreed with a dip of his beak, taking the pair of glasses with extreme care to run an analytical exploration over them.

“Zzzzthey do. Die Farben… are very möre… uh…”

Poor Gaius couldn't find the words he needed, in Equish or otherwise. There was no need for them since I could piece out more or less what he was experiencing. With a friendly ruffle of his head feathers, I explained it to him in layman’s terms.

“They’re meant to polarize light. Like… blocking out part of the incoming light so it’s not so harmful to the eyes. For us, we see things darker somehow, like they’re dulled. But you guys can see further into the ultraviolet spectrum, adding an extra layer that we cannot perceive, but which overcomes most other wavelengths’, uh… colors. So if you block it out with the glasses, you unmask those colors a bit, and they look funny.”

With an owlish blink, Gaius peeked down at the glasses and back up at me, his beak half open in bewilderment.

“... You knov lot ov zhings.” It wasn’t a question, but I answered nonetheless with a laugh and a pat on his shoulders.

“Yeah, it’s mostly what I did back home.”

“Hmm?” Gaius hummed, repositioning himself a bit to give me his full attention.

I couldn't deny those curious eyes of his, having filled with life again the more we traveled together, hopefully, our company patching over what his isolation and the treatment those slavers gave him had chipped away at his youth and liveness.

“Back from the land of the humans, I mean.” I wasn’t gonna break his fuzzy head with the ‘I’m an alien from another universe’ speech that I’d already delivered a hundred times by now. “I was a scientist. My job was to know lots of stuff and use that to learn more new things to wrack my brain over. That’s the gist of it.”

“Oh,” I’d gotten his attention, the theme of our past lives having remained a bit of a sore topic for the both of us, with him more interested in the stories I could tell of my journeys and those of my friends back in the day than anything more personal and touchy. “Are zhere more ‘hoomans’ vhere you comink vvvvfrom?”

“Ah, too many, if you ask me.” I chuckled, memories of my long-lost Earth resurfacing. “But yeah, we were not a colorful, nosy bunch in our little blue ba-I mean, in our land. What about you? Want to talk a bit about your village? Might help in my experience.”

Gaius shied back, his tail tightening around my ankle as a somber aura befell the griffon. I felt bad unearthing past traumas, but I felt he needed to open up completely if he was to heal the scars in his soul as the one of his body had almost finished doing so. The work of a nice, long shower, a hearty meal, and a good night’s rest had spruced up Gaius to the point where he was almost a completely different griffon from the scruffy pile of bones and feathers I’d rescued, bringing me hope of his full recovery both in body and mind.

I wanted him to recover. I needed him to. I had to be better, for him. To give him the chance I’d long since renounced.

“Um…” He fumbled with his talons.

“Come on.” I booped his beak, making him go cross-eyed for a moment before gazing back quizzically at me. “The girls are gonna strip it out of ‘ya the moment they see you all mopey about it. Better get your thoughts in order with me first. And, in return, I can tell you anything you want to know about us lanky humans and where we come from.”

His curiosity warred with his hesitation. The former won over after a minute of internal debate, the griffon resuming his previous position beside me as I sent an arm behind his back to let him know I was there for him.

“... Fine.” Gaius shuffled his wings a bit, debating whether to return the gesture or not. He ended up doing so, stretching a wing behind my own back, unsure if it held the same meaning as my own gesture did. A smile told him I appreciated the gesture, and he then found the courage to begin, but not before asking. “But… ming iv I tell you in Aërish. I… zhere are some vords I not knov in pony Sprache.”

“Sure thing.” I offered no quarry, dusting off the old mantel shelf where I kept my knowledge of their native language. “I’ll try to follow.”

~Okay.~ He commenced, wetting his beak as he searched for the appropriate beginning. ~ Well. Our village was one of the few on the western slope of the Boreal Mountains. There weren’t that many of us, and the conditions were harsh, but we made do. The Boreal range is very rich in minerals, so that’s what we mostly focused on. What we mined, part we refined and sold, the rest we kept to ourselves. We made commerce with whoever traveled up and down the Old King’s Road heading for Griffonstone. Other griffons, some… tolerable minotaurs, a yak or two here and there…”

“You got yaks trading with you.” I was sorry to interrupt, but the news that yaks still dared the freezing north was good news indeed.

“Mhm, ve did. Vhy?” Gaius cocked his head curiously.

“Nothing. I guess that, with them being so hard-headed and set on their ways, the fact you get some yaks even considering trade is surprising enough. Just happy to know they’re still out there somewhere. Yaks are the last you would expect to depend on the help of other creatures. Sum that to the fact they live in the harshest conditions up in the north, well…”

“Oh… I zeenk I see vhat you mean.” Gaius scratched his neck feathers. “Yes, zey mostlï vant… uh, Eisen und Silber, vor hëlmet and zhings… I not sure.” He cleared his throat and resumed his narrative. ~So, yeah, we did a lot of mining, and some hunting too since we barely could grow anything in the snow. My dad was a hunter. There was little game, ‘specially in winter, so there would be times we’d have to cook the same bones for soup several times.~

‘Ouch.’ I winced inwardly, my heart going for the poor guy. Those did sound like rough conditions to raise a griffon cub, much less a whole mining village.

Gaius lost the thread for a second, memories surely swirling in his fuzzy head before finding himself again.

~Um, Dad was a hunter, and Mom mostly took care of me, since I was more often than not sick. I’m not sure what was my problem since now I feel fine, but I can see now it was hard for her. For both of them.~ A shade of guilt sombered his feathers, bringing me to stroke the gray and white feathers of his scalp in support. ~Thanks. So, um, the closest griffon village to ours was a day and a half south. Ours was one of the northernmost ones. But we had very close neighbors. The was a colony of… I’m not sure how they referred to themselves. Uh, they were winged snow leopards.~

Now that made me jolt in placein bewilderment, peering down to the griff with incredulity, a sense of childish wonder building inside me.

“Aq Barsi?! Full snow leopards with a pair of wings? Not hybrids like griffons?” Gaius nodded meekly, a bit spooked by my side spike in curiosity. “Are you being serious? Those guys are so rare to find, some ponies even believed they were made up by some old explorer having lost their mind exploring the north.”

“Uh…” Poor Gaius was a bit lost, not finding the reason for my outburst. “Ja. I am prëtty sure zhey vere… uh, vhatever you just call zhem.”

“Wow.” I didn't fight the bout of amazement that overcame me, my long-lost interest in Equus’ craziest, most fantastical creatures resurfacing once more. You can guess that, at the very beginning, any and all creatures were ripped straight out from human fantasy literature. But even in this world of unicorns, dragons, griffons, and the rest, you could still find some rare, hidden gems amidst its already diverse pool of sapient creatures.

“Sorry about that.” I apologized sheepishly. “Just… I read about them a long time ago but never had a chance to meet one. I think I remember hearing Shiny saying something about a colony living near the Crystal Empire, but I think they were spooked when it reappeared suddenly and moved somewhere else. You’re a lucky griff, Gaius. Those guys are a true rarity.”

“Um, iv you saying so…” Still not getting a full grasp on it, he ruffled his wings and sunk a bit more into the sea of blankets that circled the mattress. An improvised nest as it was, but leagues more comfortable than the ones made of straw and twigs and stuff some of the griffons of Griffontoste would actually sleep on the last time I visited.

Like, seriously, was it so hard to get a proper bed?

~So, yeah, they were our neighbors across the small river that separated our villages. We would share whatever fish we could get when the river wasn't frozen solid. They were nice, I guess, and didn't give us trouble, and neither did we. I actually was good friends with one.~

“You had an Aq Barsi pal? How was that?”

A fond memory painted a shy smile on his beak. ~Yes. We were good friends when we were just cubs.~ Quick as lighting, he sent me the stinky eye in case I was about to tease him about him still being a cub. Making a zipping notion over my lips, I allowed him to continue. ~His name was Alterro. We used to play a lot in the snow and skate on the frozen river… when I wasn't sick, of course. He’d also visit me a lot when I was ill and… read me books he’d sneak out from his sister’s room. He had a twin sister. Allura.~

I smiled fondly at Gaius, happy to see some actually good memories coming from the scarred griffon. “Sounds like you two were a colorful bunch.”

The tiny smile on his beak widened for a moment before shrinking down to a saddened frown. “Yes… ve vere…”

“But…” I could tell this particular memory wouldn't have a happy ending.

Gaius knitted his talons together, the feathery tufts on the sides of his head drooping like a pony's ears would. ~But they all disappeared one day, Alterro’s family included. Nogriff could tell how or why. It happened overnight. Some thought they had learned about the Shattered Horn Clan’s plans of raiding our village and fled without looking back… The minotaurs came two weeks after…~

With every word that left his beak, Gaius began crumbling one piece at a time. It was clear how difficult it was for him, even after having revealed to me this had happened years ago before he was captured by the slavers. I didn't blame him then any more than I did back when I found him. I couldn't fathom having to go through something similar. Despite the hefty collection of traumas and horrible experiences I harbored, his pain was not one I could be fully familiar with. But what I could sympathize with more than any creature alive at this time, is the feeling of losing one’s family, and the soul-wrenching emptiness it brings with it, prompting me to squeeze Gaius into my side as I felt the first tears slip through his feathery cheeks.

“I’m so sorry, Gaius.” I ran a hand through his scalp, although I knew little reassurance could par with the agony of living through such an experience, to see your village, your family, your very life being torn apart in front of your eyes. And for what? What reason called for such a senseless massacre?

I asked him just that. Gaius needed a moment to collect himself before he could utter another word. I left him as much time as he needed, knowing well how, after the pain he was experiencing reliving the memories, he’d feel much better getting it out of his chest, a lesson I needed to apply myself more often, but did not in my own stubbornness.

~I-I don’t know. They came out of n-nowhere and just went straight to k-k-killing everygriff. The minotaur clans have their own mines, and c-could grow food better than we could. We were just a tiny village with barely anything to go by! I… I just don’t know what drove them to do it…~

In my experience… personal experience, I’d come to learn that minotaurs, more often than not, needed little reason to throw themselves at arms beyond the thrill of the battle and the spoils of the conquest. They, and the zebras, were known to be two of the most bellicose of Equus’ races. Both warred with neighboring populations regardless of species as much as they warred amongst themselves. But minotaurs were a particular case. I’d yearned to see it during the brief occasions I’d shared space or a word with one during my early years in Equestria. Just as the legends of my homeworld portrayed, there was something significantly human, even if no trait of their outer appearance revealed it so.

Something in their way of thinking, in their ambition, the way they did things, the way they brought themselves. I found similarities I believed no other creature of Equus, much less ponies, would recognize. And none of those similarities were good. My assumptions were later proven right during one short-lived, but utterly critical crisis with one of their clans, one who had shown perhaps a bit too much interest in the knowledge I was bringing from my world and, as human nature usually beckons, wanted to use it for their own interests. Interest that, had they succeeded in their goal, would’ve changed the balance of power in Essia, the rest of Equus soon following in a mirror of the ruins of that alternative Equestria I was stranded in during Starlight’s time-travel rampage.

“They needed no reason, Gaius,” I answered the implied question with a grave voice, a knot in my stomach tightening with my own set of encounters with minotaur kind, one of them in particular, making me feel no less pride of what I had to do than the chain of choices that had landed me in this time. “That’s what most minotaurs are about. It’s… It’s their way of doing things, I guess.”

Years had dulled the size of his outburst. Having cried countless times over this, fewer tears followed every time he had to relive that day. A slow healing process, but one that I betted would culminate with the help of my pony family.

We talked a bit more about happier topics, like sharing childhood funny anecdotes and talking more about our respective parents. Gaius was a lucky griff, for what he had to share about his folks painted them as well-enough parents considering the circumstances of his upbringing which, considering it was griffons we were talking about, was sadly way above average. You should ask Gaius about it if you won’t take my word for it. He wasn't that lucky in that department.

I also wanted to pick his brain on his first impressions of the ponies and the town they inhabited. This hadn't been the first time he’d seen ponies, which most likely had helped ease the initial shock, at least from his side. Apparently, he’d communicated with ponies once or twice as the slavers jumped from place to place trying to make a profit off him. Most of his interactions with equines were all with him serving the role of property and they as interested buyers. He couldn't thank the Blue Moon enough for the slavers to have been always a bunch of avaricious pricks every time they hit a market, always asking so much of him that they lost the interest of anycreature seeking to acquire him.

I couldn't even begin to imagine what a pony, or any other creature for that matter, would accomplish by buying Gaius, beyond turning him into a prestigious rug or a nice coat. Load of motherfuckers, they could count their lucky stars that I was not heading for them as of yet.

Nonetheless, he’d found his first encounter with the denizens of Maretime Bay to be… as expected. With them freaking out and him not giving two bits about it for the most part. They’d warm up to him as they’d done for me, I was sure of it. When it came to my pony family, he admitted he was pleasantly surprised, if not a bit thrown by some of their ‘eccentricities’. I assured him between chuckles that there were truckloads more of it from where that came from. The sour canvas that was his face made me laugh harder until my wounds began protesting too much.

“Okay, okay…” I wheezed the few remaining chuckles as Gaius kept with his dry pose, rolling his eyes tiredly, but with a lopsided grin betraying his own amusement. Rubbing my aching abdomen, I ruffled his feathery head before raising up on my feet with a grunt of effort. I had to make sure I stayed limber these days so that I’d finish recovering, or else the muscles would cramp and repair themselves the wrong way.

Beyond that, the worst of my injuries were more or less dealt with, and Nurse Tenderhoof had the blood detoxification running the whole night, so I had little fear of suddenly suffering from a huge anaphylactic shock like that time that blood-junky vampy bit me before Vinyl bashed his fangs off.

Fucking prick; I almost didn’t make it out of that one…

Prompting Gaius on his paws too, I had a proposition for him. “So, hear me out. The girls will want to know about our journey, and they’re most likely gonna chew me out for even daring to do it in the first place. And… I also have to talk to them about something I tried to work over with my mare yesterday. I kinda spooked her badly, and I feel like shit. Better to explain myself again now that I’m in a better state of mind...” that state was relative, but it made me feel like fucking garbage nonetheless. I couldn't afford to continue slipping more than I had, especially not in front of my family. But I needed to let them know about what was happening to me, and to let them know what to do in case I slipped too far and lost myself. Luna, prime example as she was, had drilled all warnings and foretellings of the Nightmare gaining ground over one’s soul.

I needed to be cautious, but moreso, I needed them to be on the lookout for me, for lying to oneself becomes a foal's game past a certain point. I could fool myself, but I couldn't hope to fool them.

Once again, they’d be my lifeline. I truly didn't deserve them.

“I want us to have a barbeque this afternoon, all of us, using the nice weather for some outside time, get to know you better before settling down definitely. You’ve got the landmare’s permission, by the way. We just gotta make it official.”

Gaius didn't need to make the thrill this bout of good news brought him, his wings twitching excitedly as did his tail, with it wagging behind him.

“Good news indeed, huh?” With his energy being contagious, I patted Gaius on the back, feeling happy for him, with a roof under his head and a bunch of new friends to share, the beginning of his new life here with us started now. Something told me that a griffon was meant for great things like Gaius had been. Call me crazy if you want, just a feeling I had. “Well, then. Since we’re having a barbecue, how about you catch some fish for the both of us? There’s tons here at the feet of the cliffs.”

“But, I zought ponies are… um, Grasfresser.”

“Ha! Don’t let a pony catch you calling them ‘grass munchers’” I playfully poked Gaius, not that the ponies were gonna understand Aërish either way. “But, yeah, they are strictly vegetarian. But they understand I need some protein every now and then. I’m sure it’ll be the same with you. Heck, North sometimes lends me her boat so that I can go fishing, and she only really minds the smell.”

“Who?” Gaius wondered with a twitch of his tail.

“A friend of mine. She’s got a personal thing with all groupers since I’d got a chunk of her tail a while ago and she won't turn her snout up at me, riding the sea as she does every now and then. You’ll like her, she’s a riot. Coming back to before, if you feel like testing that wing of yours and catching us some fish, I can whip up some romesco and we’ll have grilled fish and veggies, heh? Beats the crap we had out there for days on end.”

The idea was sold on Gaius. With an eager test flap of his right wing, he was confident he could dare a test flight using the updraft air current the cliffs generated for a quick escape in case he got a cramp or something.

Leaving the young griffon to finish settling the lump of clothes that was his provisional nest, I arranged to meet with him downstairs in a few minutes since I suspected the gang would all be coming to the brighthouse for lunch and to give me the Tartarus I rightfully deserved.

“But first,” I spoke to myself as I rode the elevator down to the girls’ bedroom. “I’m in need of a serious shower. A sterilized one if I could have. I fucking stink.” I scrunched my nose in distaste after a quick whiff under my armpit. “Celestia hear me, I fucking hate fieldwork…”