Mornings came swiftly when they were expected and far too slowly when dreaded. The two ponies found themselves awake before Comforting, who was still peacefully slumbering at the base of their shared nest. However, breakfast could only wait so long, and Comforting proved to be a very light sleeper. They headed downstairs and out onto the road.

The village was already bustling, with older and younger alike sharing foodstuffs with each other and breaking their fasts together in the pre-dawn gloom, enjoying what little light pierced through the early morning, or chose not to use lights at all, relying upon superior night vision to navigate safely.

Floraugh emerged from the darkness. "Good morning!"

"Goooood morning!" Misty chirped right back. "You're looking ready to tackle the day."

"It helps that there's nothing in particular I have to do today." He puffed out his chest proudly. "Let's find something to do! Besides food, of course."

He led them towards breakfast. It seemed that breakfast that day was a communal affair, with a set of long tables out and griffons filling each of them. The only griffons not at them were the ones serving up the food for the rest.

Amber inclined her head at the whole thing. "This is lovely, but we didn't see this the other days. Is today a holiday? Or something special?" She looked up at the sky. "Is something important happening tonight? An alignment of celestial objects perhaps?" She had stars in her eyes, anticipating a wonderful spectacle in the night sky that evening.

"Nope!" Floraugh answered immediately. He hopped up to sit and started eating. It had to be special, as there was meat available, which is where he started. "Our best hunter came back last night, and everygriffon's really stoked about it."

Amber cocked an ear to one side. "Stoked?"

Misty giggled, reaching past Amber to fill her own plate. "Sounds good." She grabbed a piece of cooked steak from the main tray and plopped it onto Amber's plate. "Amber, your 'something special' is griffons coming home. I doubt we'll see more than this for spectacle."

Amber rubbed at the side of her head. "Well, friends coming home is a special thing. Were they hunting, or something else?"

Floraugh bobbed his head. "Hunting. A bit of scouting." He pointed a claw at a large avian whose head dwarfed a pony's. "Our hunter. Great guy!"

That hunter turned a sharp eye on the visitors. They were seated at the head of the table, the star of the day. He clicked his tongue on his beak. "Are those the guests I heard about? Ponies, back from the dead. I thought they were quite gone." He raised the skin around his beak, making it wrinkle up, clearly amused by something about the situation. "Hi. Why're you here?" His question sounded honestly curious, without malice.

Amber waved at the hunter. "Hello! We've come because you're here. We wanted to meet griffons, and say hello. Thank you, all of you, for being such lovely new neighbors, even if a bit distant."

Misty clapped her hooves together. "Yay! Being polite, aren't we? I was worried you were going to say something about how scary you are, and then he'd be offended, and—"

The hunter burst into laughter at Misty's awkward words. "I would be pleased if you called me terrifying." He brought his claws into view, talons gleaming even in the low light. "Being fierce is part of my position."

Misty swallowed. "Okay, glad that worked out. Who am I talking to? You seem like a very big deal around here. Hunter is what they said you do, but why are you the star of this show?"

"You just answered your own question, pony." He put his hands down on the table. "Only the hunters go looking for meat, and the meat you enjoy today is my doing. It is tradition that a successful hunter shares with the town, and we celebrate, together. After a meal, I must share all I learned."

Misty grimaced lightly at a plate full of something unappetizing. She'd skipped the meat. "Oh dear. But congratulations on bringing back plenty of meat for everyone!"

The hunter sat up, proud of his deeds clearly. "It was a thrilling hunt, as many are. There I was." He started into a story, and had the attention of quite a few griffons around him. It seemed they hadn't heard it yet, saving their questions for after the meal so he would be able to answer them all at once. "Coming across a trail of droppings, hoof prints of goats, shed horns scraped against trees. I knew I was on the right path."

Amber watched for a few moments before shaking her head. "This is such a different culture. It's amazing!" She clapped her hooves in little taps. "Thank you again, Comforting. This has been nothing but delightful. And thank you to our hosts. You've made us so welcome, even when we're clearly outsiders."

Floraugh spoke quietly, whispering so he wouldn't interrupt. "To be fair, it would be pretty rude to act like we couldn't hear you if you were close enough to hear us."

Comforting giggled softly. "Is that a griffon saying? Interesting. Well, I won't ignore you when you're close enough to hear me." She reached over to ruffle Floraugh's headfeathers. "Wouldn't want to risk your ire. Terribly sorry, dear."

Floraugh blushed slightly at her affection. "Yeah, yeah."

Misty turned towards the hunter, a bit of interest entering her voice. "Excuse me."

The hunter paused his tale. "Hm? Yes?" His focus slid sideways to center on Misty instead of the assembled griffons at large. "Do speak up, little miss, please do. I assure you I'm not hungry to eat anything besides your words."

Misty flashed a bright smile. "T-thanks!" She calmed herself, getting centered. "When we met Kaltor yesterday, he told us about how, even if we gave him a map, it was possible he might not have permission to leave, even to visit our homeland."

"Little Kaltor?" The hunter frowned at the idea. "He's too small." He brought up his hands close together. "Barely out of his egg. Unless his parents happen to go and bring him, we wouldn't let him stray far from the town. That'd just be irresponsible. Do you allow your young to wander far afield?"

"N-no!" Misty stomped a hoof down softly, wiggling a little. "Of course not! Young creatures need protection and guidance. I thought maybe Kaltor might get permission later, if he grew up into a proper explorer."

The hunter relaxed at that. "Oh, well. If they grew up and wanted to explore then, I doubt many would stop them. A griffon has to decide their own destiny, then hunt it down, just as I do." He pounded a hand against his chest. "Decisions of the heart!"

Misty stared down at her hooves, looking almost embarrassed. "I just wanted to be sure I understood." She dipped her head softly in a brief bow.

Amber rubbed to the side against Misty. "Don't look so worried. You didn't bother them or anycreature else. Besides, it wasn't like you asked a stupid question. You could have asked the color of the sky and then they woulda been confused."

Comforting laughed openly. "Why do we have such colorful skies, anyhow?" She leaned in closer. "Do you know?"

Amber froze halfway to putting another bite in her mouth. "Wait. Colorful?"

"Yes." Comforting waved to the brightening morning sky. "See, those lovely reds and oranges? Sunrise is a magical time of day. The purples of the sunset and the blue of daytime are fine, but the colors shifting always strike me deep. I've never gotten used to it."

"That is beautiful," agreed Amber.

Once breakfast was done, and all had eaten their fill, it was time for stories to start. Notably, the hunter from before was still talking. He seemed to know it, leaning into the task with gusto. Once his own adventure was finished, the other griffons broke up, many going separate directions.

They had smiles on their face, and glad voices to one another. It was a good time for their community, and moods were lifted by it.

Misty pointed out an older griffon that was standing atop a bench with some ease of balance. He held in one paw a sheet of bark written densely in markings, while pointing to it with the other. "What are they doing?"

Floraugh glanced briefly to check. "Teaching a class. Writing class, specifically. Something we all gotta learn." He shrugged gently. "Sometimes they teach math or something else. It's a village thing." He waved a talon at the gathering crowd in front of the elder. Most were younger chicks, but even a few adults sat to listen and learn.

The teacher glanced their way. "Floraugh? Why don't you show our guests the basics? Might give your learning a boost too."

He scratched at the back of his neck, then nodded firmly. "If they wanna hear it?" He looked to the ponies. "How about it? You need a brush up on writing? Or maybe something else?"

Amber trotted over to peek at the elder's held paper, examining the letters. "Thankfully, you use letters I can make out. So, I can already read this. Nice writing, by the way. Did you do this?"

The elder looked smugly pleased at the compliment. "With my own talons. It did not come out so well at first. Practice is important, ponies." He turned his attention back to his students, giving instructions.

Amber backed up, glancing over the assorted lessons she could observe underway. Griffons didn't have computers, or printed material. Watching it be done with raised voices and manually written words was fascinating and so very different. "It's like the libraries of old," she whispered.

The elder noticed that moment of wonder, laughing warmly and softly. "There is no need to marvel so at such a simple thing. If you find yourself needing knowledge, come to me anytime."

Amber colored at being heard and scurried back to her friends. "That was amazing, in its own little way. To think, so many years ago, Equestria was the same way. Knowledge passed through words or hoof-written texts. All of that seems lost, somehow."

Misty inclined her head. "Silly billy. We teach magic that way, remember? We write spells on the chalkboard and give lessons out loud, just like that guy's doing right now. It may not be as popular, but it's still alive. I bet there'll be teachers lecturing even way into the future, and hoof-written notes."

Amber sighed. "I suppose so. Even after thousands of years, some things will probably remain, changing a little here or there, but mostly the same." She turned to Floraugh. "As for lessons, we, uh, I think we know most of the things you'd want to teach us. We know how to read, write, and math. Oh! History. Is history an option? We'd love to hear what griffons were doing all these years."

Floraugh poked himself in the chin with a clawtip. "We got a library."

Misty shot a sidelong look at him. "Are there a lot of griffons who'd appreciate ponies barging in, rummaging through their shelves and bothering them with questions?"

Amber looked baffled. "You have no printers. How do you have a building full of books!?"

"We make it." Floraugh laughed openly at Amber's jaw dropping in disbelief. "We write and rewrite copies of important knowledge and store them together, easy as pie."

Amber kept her jaws half open. "That must take ages! But... Your teacher said something about practice." She closed her jaws again and set them tightly in determination. "May we? Please?"

"Follow me." Floraugh started into the air. He led the way. It wasn't terribly far to the library. Unlike the one Amber ran, it was full of scrolls. Each scroll had the scratches of ink left there by a griffon that had written it out, by their own talons. That was all, just rows upon rows of wooden rods that held pieces of parchment. Yet each seemed to glow from within to Amber's eyes.

Floraugh strode past the librarian, giving them only a wave, which was returned. "The rules are simple. You take down one scroll, you read it, you put it back. You never take a scroll out of the library, and just one at a time. That's it. Oh, and try not to damage them."

"Of course." Amber settled into place in front of the arrayed scrolls and selected the first that caught her fancy. As her hooves touched it, the griffon script shimmered in her eyes. She couldn't hold back her broad smile. She was really reading Griffon books, er, scrolls.

"A Brief History of Griffons." She smiled and gave the scroll a tug, pulling it down from its shelf. "This is so exciting!" She sank to her haunches. "Misty, you don't have to watch me read if you don't want to. Why don't you two find a game to play or something."

Floraugh looked startled, then thoughtful. He exchanged a glance with Misty. "Why don't we see what else is on the shelves?"

Misty bobbed her head. "That sounds like a great idea. Like, this one." She put her hoof on one, plucking it off the shelf. "Ancient stories? I'd love to know what griffons have for ancient stories." She looked to see if there was an objection.

Amber murmured in approval and refocused on her scroll.

Misty led the way to a pair of pillows that seemed intended to serve as seats, since they were by low, wooden desks.

They day turned into one of reading, not that any of the ponies involved looked at all upset for the idea. Their reading included everything from fictional tales of adventure and romance to works on philosophy and magic theory. In other words, the three mares devoured knowledge like starving creatures that had been given a feast to satiate their hunger. Only near sundown did they depart the library, filled with new ideas, thoughts and information.

Misty waved back at the library. "Do you think we could copy those scrolls? Imagine if we could offer them to other ponies."

Amber cocked an ear backwards. "Those are priceless treasures though. Could you imagine them letting us bring originals back to Maretime Bay?" She sighed, deflating slowly. "It's a nice idea."

"I was hoping, like the maps, they'd make duplicates." Misty twirled, wings fluttering. "They copy them to keep them from fading away."

"They also don't give those copies away." Amber twirled to face Floraugh. "Would they?"

He shook his head. "Not the library ones. That would defeat the whole point of having the library. Still, we can write down some excerpts, things you find interesting. For, you know, personal reference." He scratched at his cheek. "Now I kinda want to see what a pony library looks like. My turn!"

Amber grinned and bounced a bit, tossing her mane behind her. "Deal! I'll gladly show you around when you get there." She threw open her arms. "Come on by, see the books and the city. You'll be our guest that time, and we'll take care of you. Right, Misty?"

"Right!" She grabbed Amber and drew her closer with a hug. "Thank you for being awesome."

Floraugh stared down at his hands. "Thanks." He turned to walk onwards, returning to the house. "Tomorrow's another day. See you in the morning."

The trip back was quiet, mostly taken in silence. Everyone seemed worn out and happy for the comfort of company alone.

Author's Note

Books! I mean scrolls! Almost as good?

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