Traveling with griffins is an odd experience. For one they are naturally unruly and require meat to eat as well as some grooming. "Uncle Silver, Morphias is trying to bite Carta again.". Somehow along the way I went from That Pony to Uncle Silver, it felt rather nice to be an uncle. We had some trouble at first but managed to muddle our way through. Like bath time was taken separately so everyone would not drift off and I hunted with little Anita as she was the biggest of them so far. It was a good thing my new body allowed for more meat, but I did convince them to eat some vegetables, it wasn't easy as the claw marks on my sides proved but it was done.
"I suppose that means it's time for a food stop then. Anita, fly up and see if you can find some critters we can cook up. Carta get some stones and the rest of you try to find some dry twigs." After using Anitas eagle eyes to catch 4 rabbits and a pheasant we cooked up a nice BBQ and I managed to find some mint to season a bit. A few random fruits from the forest made for an excellent desert. Wiping down the mess from their feathers thought is a lot harder. The juice getting stuck in the crevasse.
I heard a snapping sound coming from the forest in a way that suggested great speed. I quickly threw up a shied to cover all the griffins as a large manticore came barreling out of the woods.
It looked like a lion but with a snake's tail and much sharper teeth. "Kids stay in the bubble do not leave no matter what." I rushed at the beast as it swiped at Morphias who was too far from the bubble.
I crashed into the beast with my horn and managed to produce a yowl from it. I believe one of its ribs may have cracked. It did however manage to swipe at my side causing a deep slash on my side. I was about to us a unicorn attack spell when I realized, I am Vlad Plasmius this should be nothing.
I calmed a bit and just levitated the manticores head backwards, breaking its neck. Not something a pony could think of but defiantly something a human could.
Morphias was terrified, huddled next to the cart shivering. I came closer and held him in my arms. He was having a panic attack during the hug and he began to thrash around clawing at me as if trying to get away. "Hush little one. Everything is going to be OK." Eventually he stopped and embraced me back.
I released the rest of the griffins and began an impromptu lecture on how to skin a manticore. We were fed for a good two weeks with that meat.
…..
I learned some new things about my body now. Thanks to my new teeth I could eat all the meat I wanted and magic came even easier to control. Not that it was difficult in the first place. My scars began to heal rapidly and even the wound I got yesterday was all but gone. However, the paw brand on my flank was still there. I would have to burn that off eventually. My coat and main were now forever changed from black and white to a more amber red. My main however recovering back to a black and white semi zebra style, if they had longer wavier hair.
My ghost core was also resynching with my body rather well. However, I was still confused about something. All ghosts needed an obsession to function. They need not be consumed by it but they did need it to function. So, what was mine? My first obsession had been Maddie and then it moved on to comedic Villainy and then to Escape attempts. As a Halfa I could change my obsession but it was hard to do.
However, I now have no idea what it could be.
…. …. …
The Gryphon town we walked into was like I expected, mostly looking like medieval homes but with tree touches. Or badly made equestrian homes. But another type I found that looked far better were tree houses. Not houses in trees hut a tree that that was hollow and made into a house. Those gave me a nice peaceful felling.
A house that would grow with you. I might get behind that.
After asking for some directions we got to an official looking building near the center of town. Along the way, we got strange looks but no one impeded our progress. I opened the door to the main desk of the mayor. "How can I help you today" a bored reception asked behind the counter.
"I have a wagon of kidnapped chicks I that need to find their parents." The receptionist instantly shot up and looked outside where the children waved. "Wait a moment while I get the mayor."
The mayor was a distinguished looking fellow with actual black hair falling around his head. Feathers were in the hair but he defiantly looked like a mayor. Strange how fate here works. His beak was sharp and pointed while his other colors looked darker than most other gryphons I have seen. Then again, I have not seen all that many so perhaps it was normal. He took one look at me surrounded by the kids and ushered us into his office while telling the secretary to get lots of cookies and milk. So, I began my tail of how the kids were rescued.
"Thank you so much for returning the class back. When they went missing the country nearly went ballistic. Griffin stone (Were the class was) was nearly turned on its head trying to find them and the parents are all worried sick."
"It was no trouble and I wasn't about to leave children alone with a pack of Dimond dog slavers. " I Distributed the cookies to each of the kids while the mayor wrote a report.
"We must notify the king and the parents as soon as possible before all out war is called. We may still have to go and take care of those dogs as well." I informed them that there would be no more dogs left to find. "I was a captive of theirs for a long time, when we got free, we were not very kind to them. You will not be seeing them again, ever." I believe the look in my eye convinced him to not pry.
"Uncle Vlad to simple, Uncle Vlad Awesome, Uncle Vlad Kill and eat Manticore weeks ago" Morphias said as Anita hugged me again in appreciation.
"I will stay for a few more days to make sure all the children find their parents." I threw a small bag of gems to his desk. "I hope this is sufficient to pay for our meals and a hotel room." While I would normally not be so kind, I had a soft spot for kids. Seeing kids run around happy just made me happy in turn.
The day went quickly after that with a few parents coming along to claim their children. Tears were shed and hugs were exchanged. Before they left each kid even hugged me goodbye. I don't think I ever felt that good before. If Phantom felt this any time he saved someone then I truly now know why he did it.
The next day came as a huge surprise. I opened the door to my room and found the fucking king Griffin. A huge and imposing fellow with a crown of gold and a fur lined clock. His guards were unbelievably fierce looking behind him. "Good day, sir Silver, May I come in?"
"Very well your majesty, but no need for the sir part, I'm hardly a night, Silver or Mr. hooves will do fine." I caught myself quick as I could. While not the first royal I have ever met, he is the first in this world. He walked into the room and took a seat near the fire place, He look over the room and spotted Anita in her bed, as the last kid left after yesterday.
"What brings you here today your majesty, most of the children are already gone with their parents." I started to make some tea for him with the indoor fire place and herbs I found on the road.
"Yes, I have spoken with them and all seems well, All the children spoke of how you and your band saved them from a cave of sorts. They also tell of your exploits in killing a manticore. While the accounts of the children are nice, I would like a coherent report from yourself." King Rufus Bloodbeack was stern and serious ruler and liked to get all the facts before making any decisions.
He had been crowned a decade ago in a very turbulent time. Political intrigue as high, the economy only just starting to pick up and crime was on the rise. He worked tirelessly to mitigate all this and succeed to keep the throne. He was honorable but not overly cunning. So some Politicians would be able to pull the wool over his eyes.
I began to recount my tail leaving out the ghostly bits and staying true to the what happened. "A truly impressive tail my young friend. I would be hard pressed to believe it but just this morning I received a missive from My loyal friend and Duke of the dog lands Stoick. He asked that I look to for you and help the children find their way. You made quite an impression on him and I can tell why now. You don't have that herbivore look in your eyes. When I look in your eyes I see a predator. I like it." He king grinned showing off his sharp teeth.
"Thank you, your majesty. I had no idea that Stoic had such influence." I looked the king in the eyes and didn't even flinch. "However, I would like to know how a whole class of children gets kidnapped in broad daylight?" This may be seen as a challenge but I was curious.
The king raised an eyebrow but relented anyway. "We are not certain and the children do not know themselves how it happened. As far as anyone knows the were leaving the castle after a field trip and on the way back they just diapered, the teacher was found dead yesterday some miles away."
I thought this over for a few minutes. "Do any of the children have influential parents or political clout?"
I lased my hooves like I usually do my hands to me chin, this is an old habit form my evil days but one that still makes me look menacing. However, on my smaller pony body it looked far too cute.
The king said then other than a few being the sons or daughters of a few nobles both minor and major, they did not hold particularly influential offices.
"Then I can only conclude that someone is after your thrown or at least there to discredit you. This was far to planed. A rouge team of Dogs traps a whole class as they leave the castle. If that doesn't scream politics I don't know what dose. You may want to consider who is squawking the loudest about retribution for the poor innocent children that were taken. And cross reference who was opposed to your laws or would benefit from your downfall." I kept mumbling away using my old mayor skills to good use. They're most likely going to try and destabilize the kingdom for their own ends. It is a common tactic that has been repeated threw-out history. But those country's that did not rectify the issue often met with a poor economy and lawlessness.
The king was just impressed. He would be first to admit that his court advisors were idiots and his enemies were all poisons pit vipers. "I don't believe that any in my court has the mental capacity to come up with such an ingenious plot."
"Then it could be a foreign power that didn't wish you to take a controversial action of some kind. Are there any foreign deals that would cause a particularly powerful person or group trouble?"
"We have had a motion in the courts to cancel our deals with Stoic and to start dealing with the Sharp tooth clan. I Had opposed this deal and wanted nothing to do with them as their reputations were bloodier then a game hunt." Blood Beak wished to know where the pony was going with this. He took a sip of his Drink and looked down at the delightful taste in his beak. Not many could make such good tea, especially with the few herbs on the road.
"If that Sharp Tooth clan offers up trying to find the missing kids with some sort of special tracking method in the next day or so, you have your culprit. Suppress the information that they are back and launch an investigation on all those traveling to meet with those new Clans. But it may be too late as people have clearly seen the kids. Mabey, they can be encourage to stay home for a few days?"
The king stood up and reluctantly put down his tea. He looked both troubled and extremely focused He went over to a window to look down upon his kingdom. "Tell me what are your plans for the foreseeable future?"
"After making sure Anita is returned to her parents I was planning to head back to my little small town in equestrian and great my parents. I haven't seen them in over three years and I just want them to know I'm alive. After that I was thinking about going out to see some of the world." I took another sip of Tea to calm myself. In truth, I did not know how I would face my parents again after all this time. While the skin deep physical scars were gone, save for the paw mark and the deepest of the wounds, I still held a lot of emotional turmoil.
Not about regretting the killing, that I did not regret. Perhaps there was a peaceful solution or a way to trap them. Mabey, I was too quick to jump the gun. My inner feeling was quite conflicted.
I looked back at little Anita, curled up and sleeping peacefully, like the half cat she is. The thought of her being in the hands of those mutts for even a second longer Instantly made me discard all doubts and misgivings.
But why do I care about some griffin? Perhaps it was her spunky attitude, perhaps it was the semi helplessness, perhaps it was that she remined me of another young kid from so long ago.
"We may have a slight problem with that, you see the teacher that died protecting the children was young miss Anita's Father, her mother was a minor noble that died at childbirth. Her mother left her a small sum in such an occasion for when she got older but for now she must be put in an orphanage.
"Ill, adopt her." The words were out of my mouth before I could even stop myself. I am not a overly emotional person. Scratch that I am now not a emotionally unstable person. So I could take care of a kid and I needed something in my life anyway.
The king looked back at me and then sighed like he had come to a decision. "You know that will be a big responsibility, you yourself are also quite young not even a full adult yet. I don't even know if the agency would allow her to be in your care."
"I can convince them, after all in comparison to staging a slave revolt as well as taking care of a several griffin children over the course of a month. I think I can take care of the one Griffin kid who actually helped me out with the rest." I hoped.
"Would you like a job." I jolted as the king finally looked me back in the eye as serious as death.
"What job do you have in mind." I was planning on being a tea salesmen and live a normal life but after the cave, I don't think I could for many more years.
"I need something like an advisor. Officially you will be like a scribe or Stewart but I'll need you to be an advisor. Not one of my current advisors, generals or general staff even suspected that this was anything other than exactly what it looked like. I need a conniving brain to help me run my kingdom. Now I can't just trust any person with the job but someone who has a tie to Grffonia via adoption, such loyalty and dedication. You may be young but I can already see the hallmarks of greatness and be a fool to not snatch you up before someone like celestia does. I need a good person in my court."
I took a sip of my tea and let the warmth of life flood my body. "I am not a good person, I've done and seen too much to ever be that." I let my mask slip a bit to show the dead in my eyes. "I am not good, I am capable and caring and I will do what is necessary but I can never go back to being good. I am cold and calculating and barley even a pony anymore. When I was down in the mins I performed a sort of ritual an old and forgotten one that none should ever do. I cannot tell the specifics but suffice to say that I can no longer be classed as a mere pony any more. I now eat meet as any dragon or predator, I see farther and instinctively fight. I have become in a word colder. If you would have such a person as friend, Then I will gladly take your offer. I would like to however see my family for one last time."
The king mulled over my words, eyes scanning the room and wings ruffling. "You may think those things but to me all that matters is that you risked self and sanity to save a mine full of slaves from a fate worse than death. If that is the kind of person you say is bad, then I'd rather have a single bad person then a legion of good people that would have just run away and left everyone to die." Ok now I knew why the king felt so familiar. He was basically the Same as Janus the king of the northern reaches. A good man disillusioned by betrayals and corruption.
So, if he was that kind of king I could be expected to be rewarded with loyalty and punished for treachery. But rewarded secretly for betraying others.
I stood up on my hooves once more and stood before the king. "I pledge myself to your service as advisor, and shadow." Simple but all that really needed to be said.
I accept your pledge and in exchange offer the resources of my house." With ceremony complete I walked over to the table and we drank to our new friendship.
As we tossed we heard an adorable yawn form the bed. Looking up We saw Anita yawning with her beak wide open before looking at us both. She stared for a few seconds before noticing that the king was in front of her.
She zipped down to the ground in a bow so fast it was near teleportation. "You hiness" I snickered a bit at the adorable display and the king just got an exasperated look ' see what I deal with'.
"Rise child." He brought her over to him and looked her in those Crystal blue eyes. "Anita, I knew your father well and I am sorry for what happened to you. I hope you can forgive this foolish king for failing you." Anita hugged the king, unexpectedly and looked adorable while doing it. "Papa liked King, Papa try hard, No let Papa be sad." The king looked confused at that so I translated a bit.
"I believe she means that he was a loyal subject and to not desecrate his memory by calling this a failure." I translated for Anita. The king looked at me in question. "Practice." Shrugging it off the king returned the hug.
"Anita, I would like to give you an option. Since you don't have any family left you would usually go to the royal orphanage but I would like to give you a choice. I would like to adopt you…." I was stalled from saying any more when a brown and white missile nearly drove me against the wall with a "YES".
"Well I guess that's that. Everyone is now safe, and it looks like I now have more family. All that's left is to meet my parents again and then I'll start work. I'll leave behind some more advise thought before I go."
And so, my first day back in civilization ended. When I latter drifted off to sleep I had the first restful smile in a long time.
… … …
Grand trot.
Ever since the attack three years ago, Grand Trot was not quite the same place. People still went about their day and work kept being done. The bakery would still open and the tea house still grew teas. But a noticeable absence would at times fill the air. For the first month or so ponies would look over their shoulder or do actions like they thought someone was there.
It was a somber time and none more hit then the Iron Hooves family. The family rarely smiled anymore and lost that pep they used to have at their jobs. They still did them but only out of habit and need for money then anything else. Slowly the town got over the loss and after a month or two most people would leave it behind them.
It was on this morning that the town got a new visitor in the form of a green mare named Summer Heart.
Summer Heart walked on from the inn she and Hammer Spike were staying in. They had arranged to be here for the weekend to both break the news and to answer any questions. She owed Silver more then he could ever know at this point. The gems they brought in had been worth so much that each pony could buy their own house and furnishings. This was after they dumped some of their gems into the pile for Vlad since he wasn't here to be all chivalrous and not accept it. Each person still held the scars of captivity but at least they were alive and free.
She arrived at the small brick and mortar house so well described by Silver. The roof was yellow and brown with a curve at the top. The house pained green and the doors all blue. Colors were all still vibrant with a small garden in the back. An iron hammer was painted on the door. Thought there were some difference. The house looked less taken care of then it should be and the plants looked like they were growing a bit to wild. Like the occupants only did it when they bothered.
Summer nocked on the door and waited for a few minutes before the door opened.
When granite opened the door, she expected many things, a Struggling salesman, a tax agent heck even her boss if he was so inclined. She wasn't the best at numbers and at times would get them wrong. Without… him to help her focus they would sometimes ask for more or to return some.
What she did not expect was a mint green mare with light green hair and a book for a cutie mark. "Hello, how can help you?"
"Well Miss, hooves I'm here on behalf of your son, Silver …." Before she could utter anything, else Summer was grabbed by Granit and nearly shoved against the wall. It seems that Granit lived up to her name. Perhaps those hooves would be good at digging. NO that was behind her now she would not think of it.
"You know my son? Where is he? Is he Safe? What happened?" Granite was near frantic now and was squeezing her guest just a bit too tight.
"Please release me, you are hurting me." With a great effort, Grant let Summer go but still looked like a mad mare. "As for your son, He is safe and from last I saw free. You have a brave young stallion for a son, miss and a lot of people would now be dead or worse if it wasn't for him." She began to explain about the caves and how her son saved them while glossing over the gruesome details. By the end, she was crying teas of sadness, happiness and pride. Sadness for what her darling little boy went through, happiness he was ok, and oh so proud.
"Where is Silver anyway? He should be here?" She looked around expecting him to just pop back up.
"When we left, he had taken it upon himself to return the young Griffin chicks to Gyphonia. A few weeks north of here. He was in the best shape and could not take anyone with him. We were exhausted so we just went along with it and headed our separate ways. After realizing that was a stupid idea we tried to double back but had lost him again. He should be In Gryphonia now. After that he was supposed to come straight here." Later that day Bores would come home to a crying but smiling wife. After being told that their son was alive, if not entirely well he too broke down into tears.
"However, there is a few things you should know. He may not look exactly like the small colt that left here. I remember how he looked when he first came to the mines. He was small and could barely carry the weight. But now he has grown, his muscles are like iron and his coat is now permanently died red. You might not also want to mention the paw mark. You'll know what I mean when you see it." I left the couple in a bit of a happy stupor and returned to the hotel where Hammer was tossing and turning from nightmares. While ponies no longer get many dreams, trauma victims do get nightmares. Something about the two is just different which allows us to have them.
For the moment, Hammer was just breathing hard and summer decided to give him the courtesy of waking him up. So, she grabbed the blankets and threw him out of bed. He tumbled a bit before righting himself. "Thanks summer that was a dizzy. I can never look at a stalactite the same again." He shuddered and let his skin crawl. "So how did it go?"
"Besides a bruised rib. I think it went well. Silver was right, they were exited and I could practically feel the love just bursting out. If those three changelings were their they could be fed for weeks. Mabey months. How are the rest of us doing?"
"Well, we got everyone settled in and they are starting to make their own business. Small time but profitable. We had a little trouble when the administration started to poke around but we managed to avoid to much suspicion. We got's a lot of nightmares thought and if we didn't pick such a dreary place to live I bet most would find our jumping and running from shadows mighty strange." Hammer tended to speak in a mix of French and appaloosa accents with grew on them all after a time.
"Good, As Silver said being in normal society will be bad enough. We don't need people always asking us about what we went through. Better to deal with the trauma as a group and try and make a living. Honestly that colt gave us so many gems we could all not work for the rest of our lives." Silver had taken a few leader like ponies aside before he left and explained what he thought was best, they did not have to follow his advice but he was the one who broke them out and they were not about to argue with a unicorn that could blow up a mountain. Assisted explosives or not.
"How does a colt even know all this stuff, I mean some of these things like making use of our family to lessen the effect our return is not something even a pony thinks about." He wasn't complaining he just found it odd. Old grandma Spike did say be weary of those with good ideas. Then again that advise got him nabbed and captures so he was going to ignore that voice from now on.
"The Clot freed a mountain of slaves and then blew up the mountain. I am not going to question him to his face. Oh, wait I will. I'll just ask him next time I see him." They headed out to the rest of the town to check out the sights of their savior's town before going back to rocky place they called home.
… … …
Griffon capital.
While Vlad had planned to go to his parents for a visit, his work had kept that from happening. Political machinations were bountiful and being a king's assistant was tiring. Thank fully the paperwork of making me a citizen here was easy. In the morning, he would do paperwork and plan pollical and sometimes backroom moves and in the evening, he would ether Play with Anita or teach her some skills. While education here was not bad per say, they also were not as good as earth standards.
Since they had magic they rarely had science and it wasn't even a required course. And since unicorns monopolies magic no other country could ever get ahead. The inventor in me chafed at the lack of education and innovation. At least they were better than ponies that never really invent anything without magic. So, I began to tech her math and some science with she took to like a duck to water.
"So, the ground doesn't need a break it just needed to get more noutiiints?" We were discussing testing mechanisms but devolved into environmental science.
"Nutrients, but yes, the plants need to eat just like us, but they eat wats in the dirt. When they eat all that's in the dirt they need to have new feed mixed in. you can do this by putting in manure and ashes among another thing's." Our lessons continued and somehow even the king listened in on a few of them.
Those were the slow days and the busy days involved me making plans for the clan of dogs to receive a terrible surprise when they came. He was siting at his desk with the king going over a some farm reports and cross referencing bills and tax reports.
"Oh, yes before I forget, since you have helped me get the Plan started I have sent for your parents to be picked up and flown over for the week. They will be staying at the armor apartment." I smiled at the thought of seeing my parents once more. The king taking a sip of his tea as he delivered the news.
"Dad are grand-Ma and Grand-Pa nice people?" Anita looked very nervous since this would be the first time she ever met them. "Oh nice is the perfect word to describe them, better then crazy anyway. The only thing you should be worried about is that they decide they like you so much they feed you too much cake." She grinned wide at the prospect of getting cake for any reason. It was Adorable how cake would be left on her face with hose adorable wide eyes and a cake eating grin.
The Next day they were waiting at the gate for his parents to arrive by carriage. Unlike In equestrian carriages here were pulled by a single griffon.
The doors to the carriage flew opened as two ponies nearly flew out. More impressive since they weren't pegasi. They collided into me and my vision became tans and browns and some pinks. "SON."
Even looking so different they still recognized me. I got squeezed and hugged so hard that any normal pony would have been a puddle on the floor. It was nice and heartwarming and brought tears to his eyes. "MA, pa."
After a good ten minutes the guards could pry them off long enough for me to get a good look at them. They still look about the same albite a bit skinner and had new age lines on their faces. Ok that is not going to do, the first chance I get they are going into a restaurant and ordering a lot off food. But for now, it's just good to see them again. After they got off me and I straitened myself I launched myself at them, this time taking them to the ground. I hugged them and nuzzled them and just plain spread the love. "I missed you ma. I missed you Va." When I was, younger I was unable to pronounce pa so I just said Va and it just stuck.
We finally settled down and got to some talking. "Oh, son I'm so glad you're Ok. Granma hooves would have like to be here but she's too old and tired." The hooves mark on his back begged to differ.
"Its fine, I'm far more concerned that you are way to skinny. Have you been eating, right? Of course not, When we get back I am making you a full course meal no exceptions."
We talked some more while I dogged certain questions and told them of my new job. Mouths gaping that I was now practically a griffin. The visit was good and they gave me a letter from Summer with my bank statement and the obese amount of money in it. I would have to get that squared away at the bank here and pay for a new place to stay with that money. I'm thinking of making a tower with heavy protection's.
It would take a few months to build and even more so to make it run on electricity rather than magic. I had some ideas with that but decided that a good test would come from my home.
But all good lives have bumps in the road. One such bump was a giant satyr bashing its way into the capital.
