A Bright Sunny Breakfast in the Woods

by Darth Plague

...or the ring of a church bell? (Ending 1)

The sun shone across the lush garden in front of him, bathing them in a golden morning light. Behind him, he could hear the church bells of the Katerinburg Trinity Church ring as prayer ended for the day. Instinctively, he made a sign of the Trinity; a past such as his compelled him to do so, especially as his beliefs were reinforced by the actions of the past few days.

He wore a crisp white shirt with a brown sweater over it and some long navy-blue trousers. As a griffon, he was naturally insulated from the cold but, having lived in the Scheißwald for so long, he was much less attuned to it. Especially as Katerin was prone to suffering from bouts of cold during the winter every now and then, and today was turning out to be such a day.

Yet none of it bothered him as much as the pain inside him did. The carefully packaged gift wrapped in green paper with white polka dots tied with a nice red ribbon that sat beside him was like a tangible representation of the hope that flowed in him. And so he sat there, in the cool morning wind.

Waiting.

"Looking for her?" a sudden voice beside him inquired.

Ludwig recognized it without looking at the source and sighed. "Not really," he replied.

"Oh, and why so?" the voice asked back, taking a seat beside him.

"This isn't the right weather for them to allow the patients to roam in the garden today," Ludwig simply said.

"Has that ever stopped you?" the voice laughed.

"Can't argue with that," Ludwig laughed back.

It was nice, to laugh with an old friend once more. As if nothing else mattered in the whole wide world than to share a good moment with someone you knew and trusted. The two bantered back and forth for a while before silence befell them once more.

"Thank you, Heinrich. I needed that."

"I know you did, Ludwig. That's why I am here."

Gazing back towards the hospital, Ludwig finally asked his old grandmaster.

"How is she?"

There was a tinge of hesitance and despair hidden within the question. The chaos that Katerin had gone through during its recent revolution was nothing short of a traumatic memory, just like the first republican revolution. Even after it stabilized, and she was soon admitted into a psychiatric ward under the orders of the Silberkralle who had gained power in the end, Ludwig was only able to get faint reports of her and nothing that suggested anything positive.

But atleast she was healing, he thought. Like the nation itself, she was under the right care.

In the distance, he could see construction workers building a new road. The sun beat down on their feathers but he could see that it didn't matter to them. Among them, he could even see many Silberkralle helping with the logistics, even carrying some materials for tired workers; who they also allowed to take some breaks.

The building in front of him, the Katerinburg General Hospital, used to be a dilapidated and rusting piece of architecture that was on the verge of collapse. Now, months after their takeover, the Silberkralle's efforts had allowed many talented and rich businesses and creatures to flock to the region to invest and help rebuild the place. The efforts could now be seen firstclaw as the hospital now boosted state of the art medical equipment as well as doctors from all over the continent, even a few from the lands of Equestria.

Such as the one that was currently helping Diellza, he recalled.

He wished he was in there, helping her right now. But he understood that he would probably do more harm than good, given that he was just another one in a long line of griffons she felt had betrayed her.

He couldn't blame her. Her life was a long series of traumatic events and betrayal. Sometimes by her own people and sometimes by her own nobility. Kept on the throne by the nobles, after witnessing her own royal family being slaughtered by republicans when she was a mere chick, and being used by them for their own goals. It was no wonder that she went mad in her reign, the grief and anger festering for so long.

But, he hoped, that with the help she was receiving now she would be able to start her life over once more. And he would be there for her at every step of the way.

Atleast he hoped.

The reports he had received prior were not encouraging ones to say the least.

"I know that when we first brought her here, it seemed like she would never recover. I mean, by tartarus, she went mad once more and threatened to hang us all as if she was still the "mad princess" of Katerin. But I am pleased to say that our patience and trust in the doctors and in her has begun to show results. She doesn't attack anyone anymore, and the panic attacks she received from her guilt and sorrow have begun to recede. You should visit her more often, you know."

"I wish. I just don't want her seeing me to cause her to lose herself again. If it means I must wait until she is alright, then wait I will."

"Then why are you here? And what is that beside you, if not a gift for her?" Heinrich shot back, pointing towards the wrapped present.

"I am here to ask about her, like always. And I hoped that you would give this to her from me. It is an Equestrian book I came across recently and enjoyed it a lot. I was hoping that it would help her, even if a bit."

"In that case, you should give it to her yourself. Don't hide behind me every time, Ludwig" the old grandmaster chastised.

"I am not hidi--nevermind..." the former order knight sighed.

Once more, they became silent as the weather cleared up somewhat and the sun beat down stronger as noon approached them. The construction workers could be seen packing up as they headed inside for lunch. Feeling a little hot himself, Ludwig removed the sweater he was wearing, gasping in relief.

"I always hated this sweater, I won't lie."

He could see some of the patients begin to come out into the garden, finally being allowed by the doctors. His eyes scanned for the griffoness he was looking for but she was nowhere to be seen. To be honest, he expected that given her mental state.

"I never thanked you, you know?" Heinrich began suddenly.

"Thanked me? For what?"

"You kept her safe while we took control of the nation. It's only because of you she has the chance to get the help she always needed."

A smile appeared on the knight's beak. If only his friends in the order saw him now...

"It is not needed. Orders or not, I would have done it for her regardless."

"Is that love I hear, my former pupil?" the grandmaster teased.

"By Eyr, isn't a griffon allowed to love once in a while?!" the knight replied.

They both laughed once more. But Heinrich was curious about one more thing.

"How did you even manage to get her to trust you for so long?"

Ludwig his beak to answer, when his eyes suddenly caught her. She was bent down near a lone patch of the garden, away from the rest of the patients, looking at a variety of flowers with the same childlike curiosity he knew. She did not seem mad or deranged but looked like the same helpless and timid griffoness he had seen a year and a half ago, when he found her lying under the tree with a bent hindclaw and half-torn wing; her mind fully gone and delirious. Her wings fluttered every so often, as it did when she first woke up and told her a false story about their past as a couple in the woods.

Standing up, he began to head towards her before he remembered the question. Looking back, he gave the old bird a giant grin as he answered.

"I told her I was her husband, Glitterhoof."

And with that, he continued onwards to the garden as Heinrich sat there dumbfounded. "What the--that old unicorn skull?? Seriously? AHAHAHAHAA!! Oh that is the best! Never change, old friend! Never change!" he hollered back, laughing.

As he neared the patch of the garden where Diellza resided, he was nervous as to how she would act. He was scared that if he caused her too much psychological harm, it would cause him to be banned from any visits by the doctors. But Heinrich was right. He couldn't run forever.

So, with determination, he strolled towards her. The old princess of Katerin was standing now, a little pink flower in her claws, when she saw the griffon approaching her. At first, it looked like she was scared and would run back inside but something in her made her pause.

Ludwig gently stood in front of her with a smile on his face. The two former lovebirds simply stood like that for a few minutes, before he opened his beak.

"Hello there! How are you doing today?"

The griffoness squeaked in shock and her body began to tremble, making Ludwig stand unmoving. A few moments passed before she was able to compose herself and tried to reply back.

"H-Hello...I-I am A-Adalia...Wh-who are y-you?"

That caught Ludwig by surprise but the realization dawned on him. A smile came on to his face once more.

"Hello, Adalia. My name is Ludwig. Ludwig Hesselbeak."

"Hel-hello, Ludwig..." she replied sheepishly, not knowing what else to say.

Behind her, a supervisor that knew Ludwig saw him talking to Diell--Adalia and was about to tell him to go away when he saw that he wasn't causing any distress. So he simply kept watch, just in case he would need to jump in if something happened.

Meanwhile, Adalia noticed the gift in his claws. "Wh-what is tha-t, Mr. Ludw-wig?" she asked, pointing.

"Ah this? Well...it is a gift for you, Adalia!"

"A gift? F-for me?!"

"Why, yes! A gift for a beautiful bird like you."

The griffoness blushed at the comment, growing more and more comfortable with the strange griffon. Accepting the gift, she opened it to find the book.

"Oh! I love reading Daring Doo! It is my favourite book series! Tell me, Mr.Ludwig, is it your favourite too?!" she rambled at the sight of the book, forgetting her nervous tick. Ludwig was taken aback but smiled as he realized she was happy.

"Yes, it is my favourite series as well, Adalia. Would you like to tell me why it is yours?"

"Yes yes, I would love to! Oh it is so great to see another Daring Doo fan! The others...they just don't like it! But you--you do! You--" she blushed once more as she realized she was rambling. "Teehee--sorry..."

"No no, it is alright... Say, do you want to talk for a while?"

As Adalia blushed once more at the question, Ludwig finally felt at peace. It would be a long road but he could see the glimmer of hope he once had slowly become bigger and bigger. And then, one day, he could finally reunite with the one he loved.

"I guess we...could...for some time..."

Author's Note:

Hey guys! Thank you for reading this story. I didn't really give it time to go through it again so if you find any mistakes or discrepancies, please shout at me in the comments. Or just live a nice comment, I won't mind that as well XD.

This author's note will be the same no matter what ending, in case you only read one of them, so don't worry. I also want to say that this story was just an effort for me to get back in the groove and try to get something out as a promise to myself so if my writing is rusty and inconsistent, that's probably why.

In any case, I hope you enjoyed the story and have a nice day!