Aftermath (85)
Aftermath
I woke up feeling intense anguish, my body not sure what to make of itself. Everything was, muddled, confused. I decided to try taking stock of myself, and go from there. 'Okay, everything hurts...... which includes what? Arms.... legs...... wings.... okay, wings, which means I'm a griffin again....... where am I? Am I dead? I didn't think you could feel pain when you're dead.... Other than that, bed, silk sheets, pillow.... cool, but stale air, I'm on the ship.'
"Hey... .Hur.... he's wakin......" That voice... Gilda.
"Ugh..... wha? Ow....." I was struggling to open my eyes, and failing that, I simply let myself lay there.
"Vell vell captain. It seems you've gotten yourzelf in qvite zee predicament." I heard Cable's voice.
"Ya. Fifteen hours of surgery, five on your human self, and ten on ze griffin body, you are qvite lucky to have zat other form, else you would have been dead in mere minutes." Geirmund is here too.
"My... wing?"
"I'm sorry, it's gone." Furnace.
'No..... no! It's not fair..... flying is.... I'll never be able to fly again. My wing..... it's a PART of me, and.... it's just gone... that fast.......' I finally took the time to process that Ember had, in fact, ripped it off, then ate it.
"That bitch! I'll kill her! I'll fucking kill her!"
"Speaking of her..... when we found out who she was, what she did..... we were ready to kill her.... She had to fight us off and explain what happened, and then she said she wanted to be here when you woke up, but I outright refused. There's no way in hell we'd let her anywhere near you after what happened.... she then...... just kinda..... left....." Gilda explained.
"Ah, that she did, but not before she left ya somethin..." Steelhorn mentioned when he entered the room and slumped down hard in a chair, tossing a scroll to me.
"A letter?"
I must apologize for your wounds. I know that a letter isn't enough, and I know you've never realized why I despised you. I hope you'll come to realize it one day. I must warn you though, that while I fought them back inside, that you just realeased an evil far older than you could imagine, hell, older than what the princessess could imagine. I will admit, taking your powers of flight was unforgivable, and while I would like to make amends, I likely will never get the chance too. I took the lives of both the innocent and guilty at Masonry, and the only thing that stopped me from taking more was you. That scale, it's one of mine. It's harder than your old sword ever was, and it may one day be useful for you. I pray that, if our paths ever do meet again, that I can make amends.
Ember.
"She left that and a scale, said ta give it to ya, but a don't know why." The minotaur slumped in a chair heavily, then let out a sigh. "Trouble seems ta follow yoo like flies at a picnic cap'n."
"She think's I'll just leave it at that? She went to Masonry because she somehow KNEW I'd be there, probably that Ritz that was with her, since she's some kind of psychic. She went there knowing that's where I'd go, and waited for me. Give me some damn parchment."
Let's get one thing straight. I hate you. I won't look for you, I won't keep track of you, and I won't try to get revenge. If by chance we cross paths, I expect you to turn around and walk away, because if you ever seek me out, head me off like this time, or say a single word to me in greeting if we meet by chance, the only thing I'll do is cover you in black flame, something I should have done in the first place and spared myself all this trouble. And you're right, you can NEVER make amends for what you did, and I hope you feel the sting of guilt for as long as you live, and even after.
Griffin
"Submito ad Ember. Fuck you."
With the letter sent, my eyes drifted to the broken remains of Hades, both handle and blade, as well as my battered, but no worse for wear, armor sitting up against the wall. 'Damn it. Now I need to get Hades fixed. I wish Aoi had stuck around........ except I still don't have enough to pay him, and given my condition, I don't think I'll be able to get it for quite some time.... and what the fuck does she expect me to do with that scale?'
Suddenly a flash of fire engulfed the wall of my cabin. I practically leaped out of bed, reaching for the hilt of my blade only to remember it's destruction, and that I couldn't possibly reach it from my bed. As quickly as the flames appeared they vanished, a new scroll sitting on my lap. 'Damn it, I'm jumping at every little thing now.....'
I may have committed a wrong, but do not test the temper of one who can destroy you. Ritz is a Earth pony, unable to perform much magic. You aided me. Do not make me forget that. I swallowed hard, then told them to burn the letter. I don't want to even think about her anymore. I.... just want to put this all behind me...
"My wing.... that letter..... the tone.... SHE'S NOT SORRY AT ALL! That bitch is just saying it half ass! It's like you kill someone's pet and say 'Well, I'm sorry you loved it, but it's your fault for getting attached.' I know you don't realize why I despised you? Because I killed her dad right?........." Wait...... hold on, just a second, just a damn second.......
"Her DAD?!?!? She's a human! When I killed him she hadn't known him for more than a month! It was just an excuse for beating the tar out of me! She said sorry, I said apology not accepted, so she turns around and threatens me! I have every right to be angry! If I ever see her again....... I'm not even going to give her the chance to walk away...."
"Grif......."
"I'm gonna stab her in the back and light her up, then look into her eyes as she dies and SMILE! HAHAHA! I don't care if I do it in Celestia's throne room! I was unprepared, and I tried to help her, and look what happened to me? This is the thanks I get! I should never have listened to Ritz. I'm not being a nice guy anymore! It gets me nowhere! I'll kill her and eat her, and well see how fucking much SHE likes it! Oh, but that's not all. No, I'll wait till she thinks I'm over it, till she starts to trust me, then it'll be even sweeter when I betray her and gut her like the swine she is! She wants a war, I'll fucking GIVE HER A WAR!"
Suddenly, I felt a slap across my face, and Gilda looking at me with tears in her eyes. I realized then just how crazy I was acting, and how much I must have been worrying her. One of the generic medical ponies we brought on board stuck me with a needle, and suddenly, I felt VERY depressed.
"This.... this isn't the Griffin I know...." Gilda said as she walked out. That.... hurt..... wait... no, don't leave... please... I......
"He's been through quite an ordeal. He's going to be working through some psychological problems. I think right now it's best to just give him his space so he can work through it." No! Stupid nurse! I don't wanna be alone! I need a hug!
It was too late. They all left the medical bay. My wing got ripped off and they pumped me full of something that makes me want to cry, and now they left me all alone.... I.... I don't want to be.... alone.... I began hyperventilating, but the drugs were forcing me to stay calm and not lose it.
"No. That would be letting them win..... I'm not going to let them win. I will not fall back into the pit of despair that claimed me before. I need to be better, stronger, so mountains will crumble with my footsteps, and even the gods themselves will quake when they hear my name. Do not test the temper of one who can destroy you? Conceited bitch should listen to her own advice...... the only reason she's alive right now is because I decided not to kill her, and only tried to after my speed and protect spells wore off, she ripped my wing off and I didn't stand a chance anymore.... I could have walked in there, and while she was still sitting, torched her with the fires of death on the first blow instead of smacking her around..... She has pushed my temper, and when next we meet, she'll feel my fury first hand."
The next day, the rest of my crew was hesitant to visit me, fearing I'd have another breakdown. I was alright, if only still depressed about losing my wing. I mean, it's my wing. It's a part of me, and it's gone. I'll never get it back. Eventually, they made their way down to the medical bay for a visit. Time to start this off properly.
"Listen.... everyone..... I'm sorry about my whole lashing out thing yesterday......"
"It's alright..... you were under a lot of stress, and then after what happened......."
"No, it's not alright. I shouldn't have acted that way in front of you.... I...." Gilda took me into a very gentle hug, which was joined by Nadene, and a pat on the head from Growl.
"You guys.... please.... never leave me alone..... yesterday, when you left, I...... probably partly due to the drugs, but still, I.... I was afraid you wouldn't be coming back........ I..... the truth is... I'm...."
"It's alright, you don't have to say it." The cat reassured me.
"But I do..... the fact is.... I'm scared. I almost died out there. For a long time, I've been ready to die, just putting it off, but okay with it. But, when I look around at you all, I have something I never had before, and..... I'm not ready to die anymore, because that would mean being all alone again, and leaving all of you without me. I'm scared of losing all of you. Most of all, Gilda........ I'm sorry..... for everything.....I..." She put a claw to my beak, telling me to hush.
"The important thing is you came back alive. Nothing else matters..."
"Even that I'll never fly again?"
"Oh, bah. Qvit being such un drama qveen, I'll have a new wing fixed up in un jiffy, und you'll be right back out zhere." Geirmund chided.
"Well, looks like we're both all chewed up now Grif..." Trixie added, getting out of her hospital bed and waving her hoof in my face. "I'm free to walk around, but not fit for duty just yet. Given that your ribs were turned into powder I think you'll be here for a bit longer though....."
"Ah, yes, I had to remove ze bone fragments, und zen had Steelhorn forge a new set of ribs und place zem instead, but ze surgery vas invasive, und you'll be in zat bed for ze next month vhile your muscles are reattached and recover zhere strength. Ze shoulder vas salvageable, und vill take two weeks to heal."
"What about my other body?"
"Your ribs were only cracked, so they were set and repaired by the healing spell, but, your eyes...." Nadene looked at me with great sorrow. "They're gone, and we can't replace them. If you ever decide to turn human again, you'll be blind while you are. We cauterized the inside of your eye sockets, so no air can get in there, and the open nerves won't cause any pain."
"What happened.... I mean, when you found me?"
"Can everyone leave us alone for a bit?" Gilda asked. Everyone else nodded and left the room.
"Well..... after you flew down to confront her, that pony Ritz started talking in my head. Damn psychics.... She told me you were in trouble, so the whole crew came down to bail you out. We saw the human with the sword fighting the bone dragon, and then you, laying on the ground. When I saw you, all broken, I...... I was so afraid you'd die....... She wound up beating that thing with our help, and then she changed herself back with your amulet and sort of.... fused with the thing she was fighting. Then we brought you on board and the started working on you. When we realized who she was, I was damn near ready to rip her head off, but I wanted to know what happened first. After hearing the story...... getting you looked after was the most important thing, and I wasn't really sure what you wanted us to do with her, so, we let her go."
With her explanation filling in the blanks, I slumped down in bed and sighed, looking over at my bandaged stump again.
"I was an idiot, again. I got hurt, again, and now I'm in the hospital, again. Why do you put up with me? I was really close to dying this time. What if next time....... if I died, you'd be miserable, and I wouldn't even be around to comfort you. That's the worst part of it all. If I die, I'm gone, but then I'm leaving you here..... We both know what it's like to be alone. I never want to go back to that, and I don't want to put you through that either......."
"Then get better. I'll handle the crew for now, you just focus on getting healed up. Then, you'll figure out a way to come back stronger than ever. After all, you've got a whole month to think about it."
"A friggin month.... I'm going to go stir crazy......"
"Too bad too......" She put on a troll face. "I was wondering why I was so... insatiable lately, so I did some reading. Turns out with some griffins, their estrus cycle is triggered by having an of age male around. Well.... once you showed up and we had fun for a bit, guess who's fertile for the next month?"
"You've got to be kidding me.... I should have guessed with the way you've been acting lately.... It's almost a good thing I'm in a cast, or we could have a major problem on our hands..... Still... how are you gonna..... 'manage'....."
"Oh.... I'm sure Trixie or Nadene would be willing to help...."
"Wait.... they're that way? Really?"
"Actually, they're both. You forget that given the gender ratio's here, most are rather..... flexible, in their preferences. Remember, I told you where I worked before, and all my clients were mares, that's gotta tell you something....."
'More than I ever wanted to know about My Little Pony....... It sounds like a bad excuse for shipping in a lousy fanfic.......'
"Still.... don't worry me like that again. I love you, and, I don't know what I'd do without you. You can't lay next to a book, tell it your troubles, and have it hold you while you sleep."
"That geek Twilight would disagree but, you reminded me of something." I reached over to the table, but following a pain in my chest, I decided it would be better if I lay still. "Actually, think you can get it? I'm a little.... tied up." I motioned to the literal net of bandages wrapped around me.
"Yeah... but, why?"
"For the next month, I'm giving you command of the crew. I want you to do a good job, and, the best way to do that is to give you everything I know."
"Grif....... you said it's not just your knowledge in there, but all your deepest, hidden thoughts. You're basically telling me to read your diary. Are you okay with that?"
"Gilda, if I can't trust you with my mind, how can I trust you with my physical health, or the crew for that matter? I love you, and I know I can trust you with this." A single tear of joy came to her eye, which she tried to hide and wipe away. I pretended I didn't see to spare her the embarrassment.
"Aye aye, captain."
"By the way... where's Etch been? I haven't seen him in a good four days."
"Oh..... well, there's actually a bit of good news. After we cleaned up the ones we rescued from that ship.... he recognized a pair of dogs....."
"You mean, he found his family?"
"They were tied up on that slave ship with the ponies, but, yeah. We found them, his wife and son, both safe and sound. They've been catching up."
"Well...... at least some good came of this. I'm still gonna murder Ember next time I see her." I turned to look at my stump again, then let out a sigh. "She's too dangerous, too powerful, most of all, too unstable, and she's made me her enemy. The fact that even though the ceremony was a farce, I'm still a 'Knight of Equestria', I should be able to just up and kill her with no legal repercussions. Given her history of assaulting Princess Luna, destroying royal property, opening the freaking black vault, I don't think anyone would raise questions if I decided to kill her. No more Mr. Nice Guy. Trying to talk my enemies down has only gotten me hurt. Next time we go to Canterlot, I want you to get a copy of every newspaper from the past year, since Discord's escape, from their archives. So far, all the humans we've run into, except Echo, have been violent and had severe mental issues, myself included. I want to see if I can find a pattern in the events, and maybe set up a timeline. If there's any more out there like her.... I want to be ready."
Dun dun DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN. Griffin is WAY pissed. He's not going to look for Ember, but she's definitely on his hit list, and he's going to be on the lookout for the other humans now, since he's sick and tired of them treating him like dirt. Also, the next couple of chapters aren't going to have any Griffin in them. It's going to be Gilda taking over and her reaction to reading his journal entries.
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.................You made me hate myself, buck you.
Edit: And now you made me hate griffin. Why do you torture me so?
First off, it's true, she's not sorry for anything other than his injuries. Second, I feel like Griffin's finally learning what it's like when someone else doesn't care about your past (look at a lot of people he's pissed off, usually because they don't look at eachother's history.). Third, just no, no. Griffin has finally gone down and this is beyond low, this is about where my characters end up.
Still, best written chapter in my opinion, keep up the good work.
1218115 ...... What did I say about comments that have nothing other than 'first'? That they'd get deleted. Blue shelled.
Chess Pieces, can you hear me?
Start running.
Celestia dammit BlackWing, why must you torture Griffin so much?
Never mind, continue, but I hope you know where his path will take him... 
Stealing my damn technical first, well, now your not getting my opinion.
DUDE
Mind blown
... okay...
Run, O sentient chess pieces. Run far and fast. For the Ebony Knight (Griffin) is chasing you. May Arceus have mercy on thy souls.
"... I need to be better, stronger, so mountains will crumble with my footsteps, and even the gods themselves will quake when they hear my name..."
"... the only reason she's alive right now is because I decided not to kill her..."
"... I could have walked in there, and while she was still sitting, torched her with the fires of death on the first blow..."
Yeah, Griff? You seem to be developing into an Icarus. The only difference is, when the sun burned your wings off (holy hell I just realized that parallel), you survived the fall to the ocean, climbed out, and started building those damn wax wings all over again.
Don't overstep your bounds, friend. You're mortal like the rest of us- a damn impressive mortal, but mortal nonetheless.
(... and from a reader's standpoint, hell fucking yes this shit is getting good.)
1218137 Oh please, I'm still a hiding a few weeks in the past at this point
-Glassed
"I'll just be in the other room cheating on you."
"Have fun!"
and then everybody fucked. the end... oh wait thats not it. and then everybody dies... there we go.
Griffin is gonna be out for blood, isn't he?
Awesome!
I have a question
could you use your augmenting magic to make a gun shoot elemental bullets ?
example
Umbra = silenced round
Ingus = explosive round
Sol = flare
No more Mister Nice Guy
No more Mister Clean
No more Mister Nice Guy
They say he's sick, he's obscene!
You know it's really funny. Again Blackwing, you pissed me off because of that future chapter along with this confirmed my suspiscions. I know what happens
, but it's badass
Just the thing I needed before my first day of my Senior year. I'm pretty sure this chapter is one of my favorite chapters from this story.
Damn you BlackWing. Why do you have to be so good. Why can't MY stories be this good?
Hey, you got featured again!
This video just about sums up my thoughts.
So Grif will never fly again?
Why is it that authors seem to read my mind and conversations among friends? I was just running some ideas for my story past my only brony friend and it came up whether there should be a few chapters without Griffin in it. This happens a day and a half later... I'm glad though, is good.
-Sturrn
1218510 no he will, gear said he would have Griffin a new wing as soon as the rest of him was healed and he would be out and about like normal. within a month of bedrest so expect the flying badass to be flying once again.
Damn it Blackwing. First you made me want to vomit and now you made me want to cry and finally you made me want to burn down this site. God! I feel like i'm pregnant?! I love how weak you make Griffin feel so we can all assume he is not an over powered badass! I hate how you and every other writer out there uses the ratio excuse to make them Bisexual.
There are other ways to do this that DON'T involved sex. I swear you guys drive me to Not become a brony.
1218503 Thank you for stealing the past 45 mins of my time. Seriously, I had to go watch it.
1218740 Yeah, the whole 'loose sexuality' thing really is overdone, and I don't really like how that turned out myself..........
1218137 Still stuck in the Black Marsh. No reason to run...yet...
1218740 Made a bit of an edit, 'More than I ever wanted to know about My Little Pony....... It sounds like a bad excuse for shipping in a lousy fanfic.......'
so Grif recognizes that it's complete and utter crap.
1218810 Well I have no problem with shippings but it kinda gets annoying when a story I like uses something as a reason to have sex and use the shippings. Since it is probably a pony thing and after that Uncle tom story about it, I have been hearing about it non stop. Also after reading the recent Lez ponies update I knida got angry about the whole sex thing.
1218137 Not only have I not even left Ponyville yet, but if Griffin did come after me, the sheer fact that I'd instantly scream like a girl and flail around in fear like I was having a burst of Pinkie Sense would probably give him enough of a reason to not consider me dangerous.
1218306 OOH! Let me add my knowledge! Turbella is something for splash attacks, they hit everyone in range. So turbella Sol is like a molotov cocktail.
...yeah, her entire beef with him is a bit... not sure how to put it, but "What did you want him to do, lie back and be eaten?" sums it up fairly well. You don't get to feel rage for someone dying if it's in self defence from an attempt on someone else's life.
So she loved him, so he was a gentle soul, whatever argument she uses, so what? He was still actively attacking other sentient beings unprovoked to use them as food.
1218740
I'm not sure if there are examples one way or the other in nature (it's hard to gather data) but the only real options for a heavily gender bias society are:
1) Majority are sterile workers (a la bees)
Doesn't seem likely.
2) One male has many females/ (one female has many males.)
Possible... (it's certainly the most common solution in nature) but, again, the only relationships we see are committed monogamous.
3) The bisexuality thing.
Most entertaining option, generally...
4) Most of the predominant gender are not sexually active, since a member of the opposite gender in a relationship is required for the sex drive.
This is also plausible - but note "sex drive", not "fertility". The simple fact there are things like supermodels, a valentine's day parallel and the like would seem to indicate a human-parallel model for sex drive, which would mean this doesn't work.
5) Massive and rampant cases of unsatisfied mares.
This would lead to 2 or 3 in short order, frankly...
ohmyglob~!
he went a bit psycho ther didn't he?
well anyhoo awesome chapter
all bow to our insane pirate overlord king
*continues list of praises*
Considering the third law of Theatre Dynamics, they will meet again. But with his new found hatred, anger, and what will probably become an even sharper sword, -adopts Kung Fu Panda voice- the battle will be legendary! Or at the very least quite entertaining when one of them falls.
1218137
I'm not nearly a threat.
...
...
...
Yet.
1219684 well I am fine with the bisexual thing but the thing is there are other ways to satisfy their urges and it just irritates me sometime. Also I was raise as a christian so sometimes that conflicts with my regular beliefs.
1218306
Celt the Bugbear already mostly has this down. He has a crossbow that shoots magic-based bolts.
1219951
Like I say, they'd get frustrated one way or the other - if there's a better solution (and toys tend not to be it, unless used BY a partner...) then I'm interested to know what I missed.
If it helps, Levicitus only prohibits a man lying with another man, and says nothing about F/F...
1220020 Well there is umm...masterbation she can do to herself with toys or what not.
1220085 Consensus seems to suggest that they're not "better", and at most a supplement. Solo isn't for everyone, or indeed for most people - it's why there's things like one night stands and the whole spectrum of human sexual relations - people like to interact with others, intimately.
1220020 ..... Leviticus also prohibits the consumption of pork (Yeah right), and wearing clothing made from two different materials (Really?). You also can't kill animals, even for food, outside the temple, which is why we pray at meals. 'The more you know!'
1219951 As for me, I'm raised Christian too. Honestly, I know some people who are gay, and I know some people who are bi. That's there life choice, (or, not their choice but who they are, depending on how you feel about that argument....) and I have no right to judge them for it. Either way, unless someone my same gender starts hitting on me, I don't have a problem with it, and if they do, I simply tell them 'Sorry, not interested in guys.' and I do not freak out about it.
1220008 dose he use the Latin words or do they just do the magic
1220152 Pretty much, yeah. I'm not actually a theist, I just thought I'd point it out. (Sometimes I feel like atheists know the bible better...)
My view on it is basically "Your rights end where someone else's begin". That is, it's okay for you to do whatever the hell you want, so long as it's not both explicit AND public.
One of the people in a family close to mine (we shared school lifts, that kind of thing) is gay. I can't say it hasn't affected my view of him, but the main thought is "Oh, so that's why he has the stereotypical camp voice these days".
I suppose that, yes, it is "icky" when you think about it. But then, so is most of biology. (You do NOT want to think about the small intestine functioning. And now you are. Sorry!)
1220152 I am fine with Bisexualism and lesbians but when I think people having sexual urges and they do the friends with benefits thing it just urkes me. I mean I like the innuendo as it explains Glida's mood but then when you pull I am having sex with my friends thing then it just bugs me.
1220121 Well when I think screwing around with your friend as just plain horny and sex in general. Not intimacy. That is why people but hookers or prostitutes. To have sex. Not the I love you really much to take it to the next level. They just want to have sex in general for the pleasure and not the love. That is my beliefs on this subject. That goes with the Bi thing as well.
1220218
Yep. Like Ignis for fire bolts and Terra for earth based shots. Or creating walls I think. He also has force shots, electricity, and wind.
Slowly, Chess Pieces across Equis are figuring out that Latin = magic. And some with ranged weapons figure it out to.
1220250 Maybe our use of terms is off. But people DO have casual sex in our world, which implies they would do so in a world with similar cultural values. You can think of it as a "release valve", or perhaps as how often people end up loving people they knew as friends first...
...which is why, here, Gilda's with the others - it's not, perhaps, love, but it's close and an expression of both trust and friendship. Not to mention that given what estrus is like she's going to want both sexual gratification and "cuddling" - or physical closeness. It's like a lesser form of the whole "mate for life" thing, where partners learn to recognize one another's scents - she's not going to get pregnant, so it won't "take", but her instincts will still demand the actions that would allow the forming of that bond were she TO get pregnant.
That's possibly nonsense, but it's a special kind of nonsense that is at least partially consistent. AKA, fanon.
1220313 ok what i meant when i asked was like a gun and then you would say Ingus and it would shoot a fireball or Sol and it would shoot a flare or Gelu and it would shoot and ice bolt
1220329
He has a crossbow. It shoots magic arrows, so yeah, I guess he does.
1220344 no ammo is expended using my question
it is just an empty gun that shoots balls of magic not magic bullets or magic crossbow bolts it just shoots magic
1220317 Alright I can see where you are going with this. You are saying that it is a form of caring and that her friends are there to help her in...anyway possible. I can...sorta agree with that. I mean I am not trying to be judgemental or anything it is just that I don't like the idea of sex being used that way. Again it can be from how I was rasied as a child that gave me that belief. I was an otaku for a good five-seven years and I didn't know what hentai was until a friend told me about it this year. I mean the whole causal sex thing as a way of love and caring I can understand. I am sure other people do it in our culture but it just urks me in a way I cannot explain. Sorry if i seem to be a bother.
It's just who I am