Chapter 4: Grayback's Tale

Finally there was the last member of the foursome of thieves. Grayback was sitting by himself and he was reading a letter for the umpteenth time that day. A smile grew on his face with every single word he read. Despite having read the letter more times than he could count, Grayback never got tired of reading what was on it as well as the emotion behind the words. This letter was from his marefriend Fluttershy. In order to prevent Grayback from being sent to jail, Fluttershy addressed the letter to Giovan. Shining Armor didn't know what Grayback's real name was so it was highly unlikely that the captain of the Royal Guard would be able to track the griffon to his hideout.

Grayback smiled as he read the letter and his smile was much different from what it normally would be. Instead of his usual arrogant smirk Grayback's smile was one of genuine happiness. Letters from Fluttershy were one of the very few things that could bring him this kind of happiness. He truly loved the yellow pegasus and he was waiting for the day when the two of them could be together. Unfortunately he was a criminal and she was an innocent type of pony so they had been unable to meet each other out of fear of getting into trouble. Grayback was starting to regret living a life of crime but he knew that it was far too late for him to just walk away from it. His crimes were far too great for him to even dream of being forgiven by Equestria. Grayback remembered what his life was like prior to becoming a thief.

Grayback, or Giovan as he was known back then, had been born in the land of griffons known as Grifforia. He lived in a small town and led a very typical sort of life. As a cub he was quite popular with the griffons in his town. As he grew up his looks started to catch the eye of more than one female griffon. Well, that was a bit of an understatement. Pretty much every unmarried griffon in town melted at the sight of him. His tanned body with his chocolate colored eyes were the object of more than one griffon's dreams. The only griffon that was an exception to this was Gilda. She had hated Grayback because of his arrogance but Grayback didn't really care. To him, Gilda was just a snobbish stuck up griffon who couldn't see a handsome griffon if one danced in front of her with a top hat and cane.

While Gilda went off to Junior Speedsters Flight School, Grayback stuck around Grifforia and started to gain a lot of physical strength. He quickly became one of the toughest griffons in the entire nation of Grifforia. There were adult griffons that literally cried for mercy when they fought against him. Grayback enrolled in a fighting organization that was open to all griffons and he won the championship for three years in a row. He was a living legend among fighters which made the female griffons desire him even more. Gilda didn't care about how great of a fighter Grayback was. To her, he was still an obnoxious smug griffon.

It was only after Gilda had returned from that pony school that Grayback started to consider dating her. Sure he had griffons that would go on a date with him the instant he asked them but Gilda was different. She rejected every single one of his advances. This made Grayback see her as a griffon that was an actual challenge. Gilda didn't fall for him as easily as the other females in town did. Unfortunately Grayback lost all chance with her on that day when he had gone too far and was punished for it.

The scar that Gilda left on his face changed Grayback's life forever. The town no longer saw him as the handsome muscular griffon that they adored. Instead they saw him as nothing more than a monster. Enraged at how coldly he was being treated by his own town, Grayback fled from Grifforia and became one of the most terrifying criminals that the world has ever known. His appearance changed to match his new personality.

Within the next few months, Grayback formed a small gang of thieves. His first recruit was the bold red alicorn Psyke. He too had been rejected and forsaken by society and he was eager to exact a bit of revenge. His fiery talents had made him the perfect demolitions expert for Grayback's team. Soon after recruiting Psyke, Grayback found a pegasus called Chunker and he was impressed by her strength. He quickly hired her as the gang's main muscle and then he found Monochrome and appointed her as the team's strategist. The foursome stuck together and they struck fear into the hearts of ponies across Equestria.

Grayback scowled as he remembered his time in jail. Having been defeated by Gilda, he and his team were carted off to Canterlot Prison. Grayback as well as the others were filled with a burning desire for revenge. Grayback used his raw power to smash down the walls of his cell. Immediately after this, he freed his teammates and they started to plan their revenge on their enemies. Unfortunately they were unsuccessful with this attempt but they at least managed to avoid going back to prison.

When war broke out between Equestria and Grifforia Grayback at first wanted to just watch the battle. Unfortunately his reputation as a criminal was known by both ponies and griffons. Grayback knew that if Equestria were to lose then the Grifforia authorities would takeover the world and he'd be punished for working alongside ponies. Against his own personal wishes he aided Gilda and her friends and they managed to win the war. Surprisingly enough, Gilda had even allowed Grayback and his team to have a little bit of free time before allowing Shining Armor to arrest them. The foursome spent a bit of time in Ponyville and then they cleared out before they could be caught.

During his time in Ponyville, Grayback had found a pony that treated him much differently than any other. A yellow pegasus pony named Fluttershy had talked with him and she was surprisingly sympathetic to the villainous griffon. Grayback's appearance started to revert back to what it used to be and the ice around his heart had started to crack. The criminal griffon had been so used to scorn that Fluttershy was an angel to him. Grayback quickly found himself falling in love with the pegasus and she actually returned his feelings. This event caused the griffon to transform back into his old self.

Grayback's chocolate brown eyes opened and he smiled a bit. Fluttershy had saved him from being the monster that he was. Maybe someday he'd be able to make up for his villainous actions and hopefully Equestria's society would accept him. Grayback's heart had been surrounded by a thick armor of hatred but somehow Fluttershy had managed to crack through it. The yellow pegasus gave Grayback the affection that he hadn't had in a very long time. Grayback started to read Fluttershy's letter again but he was interrupted by a knock on the door. Putting the letter away safely, Grayback strode to the door and opened it. On the other side of the door stood a very irritable looking Monochrome and Chunker with Psyke standing behind them.

"Grayback." Monochrome said in a voice that was deadly serious. "We need to talk."