//------------------------------// // Letting Go (63) // Story: Griffin the Griffin // by BlackWing //------------------------------// Letting Go "Well, we are in ze grove proper, should we find ze herb now?" "Yes. Notice how this one has a faint glow in the moonlight? If they are mature, then they have the glow. Let's find a patch so we can harvest it." We walked through the moonlit forest slowly. It's hard to comprehend it's beauty. The artisans of Canterlot themselves could not recreate something of this level. It is like walking in a forest, except instead of air, it's Celestia's mane. Small glowing bugs hung in the air, dragonflies flitting around. As I stepped on a branch, it cracked, and a thousand luna moths opened their wings, glowing pale green in the reflection of the light. The bloom was nearly blinding. I began stumbling around, and collided with a tree. "I thought I said to watch where you walk! Don't move!" The cat hissed. I held perfectly still, eyes closed, and felt a strange sensation fall over me. Like the gentle touch of feathers. "Don't....... move........." Selma's voice was now a mere whisper. I cautiously opened one eye, and through my squint, saw a massive moth, as tall as a tree, much like the smaller ones surrounding us. I gulped. It ran it's feathery feelers over me, trying to make sense of me. "It.... it tickles." I tried to whisper and hold it in, but it was too much, and I fell over giggling. My laughter stopped dead when it opened it's wings fully, then revealed a proboscis with a wicked barb on the end of it, slowly snaking towards me. It's purpose suddenly became clear in my mind. "Sheit!" I lifted my fake front hoof up, and sprayed it with the water from the pool I had sucked up. It gave an extremely loud hiss, then recoiled in what seemed to be pain, before flying off. It's wings battered and buffeted me as it tried to get away, and I gave it another spray from the wide angle nozzle in my limb. It screeched and flailed, then flew up into the air. It got stuck in the dome of web, and began to struggle in futility. To my horror, a truly massive spider, much similar to what Griffin had described in his adventure in the temple, came into view. As it seems, the webs are not invisible because they are thin, they are actually invisible, made so by deflecting light. By making a cocoon around themselves, they deflect all light away from themselves, thus making the arachnids undetectable. Only when the light hits it at a certain angle do the webs deflect it in a visible manner, making them shine. It appeared as though the titanic black spider was climbing out of the air itself. The moth thrashed and hissed, right up till the spider buried it's fangs in it's carcass. It stopped moving, and the equally large arachnid spun it in web, making it invisible as well, before climbing back into it's hiding place. Selma and I both stared wide eyed at what had occurred, in disbelief. I had driven a titan into it's mortal foe, and had therefore slain it. "Um, shall we get ze herb and leave zis deathtrap?" "Yes, and sonny, when we get back ta tha village, and tha ship too, ya may want to leave out tha part about killin one a their gods. The spider and moth are sacred to the Vren. The guardian is held here by the hungerer. In time, a new guardian will rise, but for tha time being, the grove is without one. If the guardian leaves his post and falls to the hungerer, those overly superstitious felines will take it as an omen." "Und what if ze hungerer falls to ze guardian?" "Then the webs will vanish, and the moths will devour the village. That ain't an omen though, it's happened once before. Good thing it was tha other way around eh?" "Eyup. Let's get ze herb und leave zis crazy forest." The laws of nature here are more complex than one of my machines, and three times as crazy. We found a patch where it grew, and I gathered fifty or so mature specimens of the plant. Just as I was getting ready to leave, I tripped on a vine, and quickly found myself tangled in it. "Spider vines! Don't move!" She told me about spider vines before. Basically, sentient plants. Sensitive vines wait for something to step on them, then tie them up as they thrash, much like webs. Then, a large venus fly trap like portion comes forward and eats whatever is caught. This place truly is a death trap. No wonder the cats use it as a testing ground for coming of age, or for outsiders to become part of the tribe. "Alright sonny, just sit tight, I'll get'cha out of there." She walked towards me, and started VERY carefully taking the vines off me one at a time. And then, I saw it. The gaping maw of the plant. She almost had me free. "Selma, behind you!" She whipped around and smacked the plant mouth with her staff, only for another to come from behind and push her over, and another wrap itself around her, constricting her. "Nien!" Forget this. Time to do things my way. At a mental command, small circular saws sprang from my wings and began cutting through the remaining vines that held me. Just as I got myself free, I saw the most horrible thing imaginable. Five of the toothed plant mouths, one biting on each of her limbs, and one on the old cat's head, literally rip her to pieces, and munch on the parts they had, splattering her blood on my face. "NIENNIENIENIENIEN!" I sprang forwards, launching fireworks at the infernal plants, the rockets colliding and blowing them up. Then I brought forth an oil based flame thrower, and burned the damn vines to ash, all the while, they thrashed and lashed, trying to strike me. "NIENIENIENIENIEN!" Tears poured from my eyes as a dozen saws, cutters, torches, and other such tools sprang from my mechanical extremities and slashed, burned, cuts, stabbed, and ripped through more of the vines. I have never felt such anger or hatred in all my life, and towards a plant no less! I followed the shredded vines to their roots, and sprayed them with the blazing slick, causing the entire forest to shudder and screech as the plant finally died. I collapsed, laying there, breathing hard as I had exhausted myself, as well as most of my arsenal. Just like that, Selma was dead. And it's all because of MY idiocy and bumbling! I should have just melted those vines to begin with. To Tartarus with tradition! I ran to the moat, and instead of taking the other way, I just brought my flame thrower forward and burned through the webs in my way as I flew out. The flames began to spread, quickly consuming the entire dome, as well as the so called 'Gods'. Flaming chunks of webbing fell, but petered out before they reached the ground, so the herbs in the grove itself would be fine. I don't give a damn about the Vren! I kept flying, a second wind brought on by adrenaline, and met the timber wolf I had seen before. I just wanted to leave this blasted place. "OUT OF MEIN WAY!" I folded the metal feathers of my wings together, making blades. The first one it caught in it's teeth, the second slicing it's head clean off. Returning them to their natural shape, my left metal wing was now deformed from the bites. "RRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH." I was no longer Geirmund Freud. I was an animal. What had taken almost an entire day to enter, I took ten minutes to leave, fighting my way out. I didn't even bother stopping at the village, but I had to pass through it, and was stopped by the elder as I did. "WHAT DID YOU DO?!" "You're worthless gods are dead! Ze hungerer keeps the guardian zere in a prison, and ze guardian attracts ze hungerer, keeping it from the village, neither are necessary, with both gone. Ze little ones will eventually grow to replace zem, and ze muck still keeps all ze rest bound within. All zat I have done is temporary. Now, OUT OF MEIN WAY!" "You, you have slain them.... then, we are free to enter the grove as we wish?" Suddenly, cheers erupted from the village. I thought they would be upset with me, but, as it seems, they revered them as gods not for respect, but for fear. So, they can enter the grove whenever they want, and they don't have to worry about massive spiders or moths. Go ahead, celebrate, I don't care. They wanted to throw a party in my honor, bah, I'm leaving this damned place for good. I got the herbs. I'm not coming back. "Geirmund.... what happened? Where's Selma?" Griffin asked me as he flew down from a cloud. Apparently, he and had been spying. I don't care. Before I could say anything though, I collapsed. _______________________________________________________________________ "Damn Gear, you're fucked up." I saw the mecha pony collapse in my arms. He had cuts, scrapes, nicks, and bruises all over him. His left wing was torn and mangled, and his right had a big dent in it. I'm not sure how me managed to fly himself here with his mechanical wings in that condition. There were loose springs popping out of them, and while I carried him back to the ship, a couple gears fell off into the jungle below. All the while he slept, he had tears in his eyes. "Dad?" Furnace asked tentatively. Nadene removed his backpack, took notice of the herbs, then brought them down to her alchemy station, bringing up some potions and salves to treat his wounds and possible infections. It was a whole two days before he woke up. "Gearzy? What happened?" Cable asked, full of worry. "I'm far too old for zis." "Yo, gear, we're all wondering, where's Selma, and just what the hell happened to you? You look like you've been put through a super sized can opener." He recounted his tale, about how everything went well, until he, in his clumsiness, fell into a pit of spidervines, and Selma died trying to get him out of it, then, how he went on a rampage and fought his way out of the forest, the Vren wanted to celebrate the 'god-slayer' and how he basically told them to go fuck themselves. Nadene was in shock that he had caused the death of the two most feared creatures in Vren lore, and Maria was bawling over the loss of her mentor. Cable and Furnace were just trying to comfort him, after all, he'd been through a huge ordeal. "We'll have a memorial service for her. In the mean time, Geirmund, you've proven you've got the guts, and are fucking crazy enough, to be a part of this crew." Myself, Etch, Growl, Nadene, Shimmer, Trixie, and Gilda all held our necklaces forward to show them to him, and I tossed the eighth and final one at him. His eyes were wide in shock. "Welcome to the crew." Back in my room, I slammed my fist on my desk. "DAMNIT ALL TO HELL!" "Grif, call down!" Gilda begged. "That's two! TWO members of this family that are dead! FUCK!" I began pacing around, screaming obscenities. She dove at me, knocking me to the ground, and slapped me. I snapped out of it, and she saw tears in my eyes again. "It feels like it's the start." "The start of what?" "Losing everything, all over again. I feel like I'm starting to lose everyone, and then I'll be all alone. I hung my head, and she wrapped her arms around me, burying her head in my chest and looking up into my eyes. "You didn't expect it to be easy did you?" She asked. "It never is." "We're at war Grif, there IS going to be casualties. People die. It happens. And while we can try to prevent it, we can't do everything. Sometimes, life just hates you. You and I know that better than anyone." "But that's what's horrible about it. Now that I have people I care about, losing them hurts more than if I never had anyone to begin with." "Then, do you wish you had never met us? Would you trade this away?" "Not for the world." "Then, you need to learn to let go." "We are gathered here today to mourn the passing of Selma, the elder. She held a special place in our hearts. We are a family, and she was like the cranky old grandma that gets on everybody's nerves, but we loved her anyway, because when we needed her, she was there." There was a small bit of laughter. "If anyone would like to say something, please, come forward." Tiras was the first to step up. "I know the two of us never got along, we had different styles, but, she lead her people with strength and dignity in the absence of a chief. She knew what she had to do, and then she'd do it. She was strong, and while I never said this while she was alive, I should have. Selma, I have always held you in high esteem for the way you lead the Lemko, especially through the harsh times." He stepped down, and Maria stepped up. "She was like a grandmother to me. She stayed by me, even when I was being stubborn, and helped me find my own special way to help the crew. She would often tell stories about when she was just a kitten, stories of the jungle, like the roc attacks, the great slythin, and even food recipes. I, I'll miss her." Maria wept for a moment, before stepping down. Several of the warrior cats came up and spoke of her, like when they were little, how she'd treat their wounds when they fell out of a tree or things like that. Then, Nadene stepped up. "Not many outsiders of our tribe have had the honor to enter the sacred grove, and fewer still have made it out alive. The fact that she, from a tribe of warriors, befriended our people and was trusted enough by them to enter, and had the skill and foresight to make it back out alive, is a testament to her wisdom. Her passing is a burden to us all." Nadene stepped down, and finally, Geirmund took the stand, with an unmatchable look of sorrow on his face. "Before we entered the grove, I was spiteful and hesitant to listen. I thought I knew everything, because I was a master in mein element. But as soon as I was taken out of mein comfort zone, I became helpless as a newborn foal. Even though I was stubborn und pig headed, she stood by me. I was ze only one who could enter ze grove to get the herb und save my wife's, und she was kind enough to guide me, even though I acted like a mule. I finally came to appreciate what she was doing for me, and zen I became ensnared. She released me from ze trap, but in doing so, fell into it herself. She is dead because I am a bumbling idiot. I do not deserve to a part of zis crew." Then he stepped down. I took the stand again. "Geirmund, you dumbass. We're all idiots. Every last one of us. But, two heads are better than one, so forty or so ought to be alright. The very fact that you accept that you don't deserve to be a part of this crew qualifies you to be. Rather than hiding in a hole and crying about what could have been, instead, let's honor her sacrifice. She died so that you, and your wife, could live. Don't throw it away, but instead, with your every breath, hold her in reverence. Let us never forget what she gave to us, nor forget any of us who fall, but live and pass on their memory. So long as we hold them in our hearts, they are never really gone. Now, let us salute those who have died this day, and NEVER FORGET!" All the cats stood at attention before heading below decks, and we let off an empty full broadside in salute of the granny. Dear Princess Celestia, Today, the value of life has become all the more apparent. The oldest among us died so that the young may live. She gave her life willingly to protect, and we ask that you honor Selma of the Lemko for her bravery in the face of adversity. We're heading to Ponyville to continue our tour, then we'll head east to the colony for the naming ceremony, then finally, Canterlot for the Grand Galloping Gala. Send us some tickets will you? Maybe a group pass? There are quite a lot of us. As for the question. Watching those around you mature, grow old, pass away, while you still live on. Knowing that all those who you care about will one day die, and you'll be all alone again, Does it hurt? Sincerely, Griffin. I let a single tear stain the page, before I rolled it up and sent it off. We set sail for Ponyville, and I went to go check up on Maria. She's been in her room crying for hours, and Nadene comforting her. Selma's death was particularly hard on her and Geirmund. He's tried burying himself in his work, trying to help himself get over it by immersing in something he knows. After all, his gear was trashed. He needs to make himself a brand new set. "Do I wear socks?" Celestia looked over at Luna, who was wearing fuzzy blue leg warmers. "Can't say that I have. Luna likes them though. I'm also glad she got another friendship report. And may Selma rest in peace." Celestia let a tear of her own fall. It's never nice hearing about death, and considering they're like a family, she knows all too well what they feel. Thought's of Twilight and her friends passed through her mind, the little purple filly Twilight bouncing with joy, the brash Rainbow Dash, the hardworking Applejack, the kind Fluttershy, the generous Rarity, and the excitable Pinkie Pie. Knowing that one day, all of them would grow old, and finally pass on, the ever composed and regal alicorn felt a pang in her heart, which Philomina, sensing her distress, flew over and began to comfort her. "Does it hurt? What a stupid question. Of course it does. In an endless life, that is the one thing I will never get used to, no matter how many times it happens."