Roots of a Cold Heart

A Long Time Ago…

Gallus and Glimmer walked on the dirt path north towards Bridlewood. The mare and griffon had been silent for the most part, their steps the only companion to the slight breeze. It had taken them nearly an entire day to pass the mountain to the east, and Gallus had not had the heart to look up at the remains of Canterlot even once.

With how Equestrian society had more-or-less collapsed at scale, he had believed it was safest to make camp their first night over one of the gradual hills, to stay out of site of the road. But even then, they had not encountered anypony else on their trek.

So when they spotted an earth stallion come over the crest of the next hill, they immediately tensed up, but kept walking towards him, and the top of the hill. As they slowly closed in on each other, his details became more clear; a light gray coat, with a black mane. He appeared equally wary, and as they closed in to twenty feet, Gallus saw the blue eyes as well, but couldn’t discern the cutie mark due to his large saddlebags that he had on.

It didn’t stop the stallion from spitting on the ground in front of the pair as he passed.

“Horn head…” he muttered just above a whisper.

After hearing that derogatory insult, and far worse for months in Canterlot and Ponyville, something inside Gallus snapped, and before Glimmer could react, he swung out with his spear just as the stallion was finishing passing, and caught his back left leg, tripping him as he fell onto his barrel as Gallus finished the turn, weapon in both hands and pointed down at the earth pony.

“Gallus, stop!” Glimmer protested as the griffon stepped menacingly toward the stallion, bringing the tip of his spear to the pony’s neck, as a warning not to get up. The stallion met his glare with his own, filled with anger, but also with a modicum of respect due to his weapon.

He felt Glimmer put a hoof on his spear just above where he was holding it with his talons.

“Gallus, he’s not worth it,” Glimmer told him.

“Why not? Can’t even keep his racist comments to himself against an armed escort…” the griffon replied, tightening his grip on his weapon.

“It’s not what Princess Twilight would want,” the unicorn replied.

His traveling partner’s calm tone began to douse his frustration and anger at the personification of Equestria’s collapse laying crouched in front of him. Slowly, he withdrew the tip of his spear from the stallion’s neck, but kept it leveled toward him.

“Keep moving,” Gallus said sternly. “One more word out of your mouth, and I’ll see to it that you arrive at Maretime Bay with a scar and a limp.”

The stallion took the threat seriously, and was up and off with a gallop as the afternoon sun continued passing overhead. Gallus did not move or turn away until he had lost him over the horizon. Only then, did he turn back to the north, and resumed his walking pace with Glimmer.

“There’s not going to be any fixing this, is there?” Gallus asked quietly.

“If I had to make an educated guess… Not anytime soon,” Glimmer commented. “But who is to say what the future will bring?”

“Without the Windigos as an existential threat, who knows how long this damned tribalism will last now…” the griffon commented.

“And without the Windigos, here’s hoping that unity will be stronger than ever if and when we come together again,” Glimmer told him.

When they came to the top of the hill, they saw the Daisy Meadows before them. Glimmer dug into her saddlebags and came out with the topographic map that Twilight had given her, oriented it correctly, and determined their position from how high the hills were. It wasn’t hard to spot one of the larger hills, where Twilight wanted the seed planted.

“I think that’s it, over there,” Glimmer said, pointing to the northwest.

Gallus scanned the landscape, and not seeing anypony else around, proceeded with Glimmer into the meadows. Most of the hills were low and flowing across the horizon, similar to most of the rolling prairie that made up most of the region.

They came to the hill marked on Twilight’s map, and set their saddlebags down. Glimmer dug into hers, and came out with the petri dish that had been entrusted to her. The seed within had a light sparkling sheen to it, making the unicorn wonder if the dish had somehow protected its contents. Without her magic to dig, she began digging with her front hooves while Gallus sat down, but nonetheless kept watch on their surroundings.

It didn’t take more than a few moments for Glimmer to dig a hole six inches deep, and carefully set the petri dish down into the soil. Trusting that Twilight knew what she was doing, she slowly filled in the hole, before gently patting the last of the soil down, before putting her saddlebags back on, and joined Gallus as they headed down the gentle slope down to the dirt road, and then continued north.

One mile more, and they came to a cobblestone bridge that crossed the otherwise impassable ravine that stretched over the horizon on both sides.

“Careful, this looks like it hasn’t been maintained in quite some time,” Gallus commented as they began to cross.

Sure enough, they weren’t even halfway across before the griffon felt the bridge shift, and in the next moment, he threw his spear to the other side as he jumped up above Glimmer, wrapped both of his front legs around her, and with several full flaps of his wings, lifted her off of the bridge just as the bulk of it collapsed, quickly vanishing into the darkness of the chasm. He wasted no time in getting her to the other side, where his spear had landed tip-first in the dirt.

“Wow am I glad you came along,” Glimmer told him once she was on solid ground, catching her breath.

“Yeah, same here,” Gallus said, peering over into the ravine, before turning back to the path that continued north.

By the time the sun was dipping below the horizon, they had reached the top of the last mountain range between the remnants of Ponyville and Bridlewood, where the unicorns had been gathering. They made a small fire, set out their sleeping pads, and sat silently after dinner. Afterward Glimmer could do little more than sit and stare out at the prairie below, down at an Equestria forever changed.

“So that’s Bridlewood down there?” Gallus asked as he and Glimmer gazed down at the forest, looking minuscule from up here on the mountain.

“Yeah,” Glimmer answered, before turning to the griffon. “Sounds like you’re not planning on joining me for the final hike.”

“I wouldn’t want any other unicorns to get the wrong idea about you if they saw you approach with me,” Gallus reasoned. “Griffonstone is almost a straight shot east from here… As much as it pains me to head there and not back to Twilight’s castle.”

“What’s stopping you?” Glimmer asked.

“The fact that it’s not what she asked of me. I don’t think she should be alone, but if that’s what she wants, after all the tragedy that’s happened around her… Then I’ll obey her final orders,” Gallus explained, as he dusted away the ashes of last night’s campfire, leaving no evidence that anyone had camped up here.

Glimmer took a deep breath, then stepped forward and pulled the armored griffon into a hug.

“Then safe travels, Colonel Gallus, and when you get to Griffonstone… Be a beacon. Of light, of hope. Of proof that your time here in Equestria made you better.”

Gallus returned the hug.

“You do the same, Glimmer Dawn. I hope Equestria sees that better future… Someday.”

They parted from the hug, gave each other one last smile, then the griffon took to the sky, while the unicorn began headed down the snaking road that would take her down the mountain into Bridlewood.