Chapter one
Helping Hooves,
It seemed like the cool thing to do. I mean, all the fillies and colts were doing it and the cause seemed noble enough.
“Help those less fortunate than yourself. Volunteer Today.”
Jigsaw looked up at the poster and wondered what other ponies saw in it. Sure, it sounded good, but it just didn’t resonate with him or bring up any of the feelings he thought it should. He looked up at the poster again and stared into Princess Twilight’s eyes trying to see some hidden emotion or secret meaning behind them. When the school bell rang he was startled and blushed a bit, thinking he must have looked like an idiot staring off into space for soo long. He took one last look at the poster and lined up outside of the school house and waited for the inevitable.
Time always passed slowly in class. He wondered why somepony thought it would be a useful skill to move series of unknown numbers around on paper to find a new set of unknown numbers, which yielded less information than the original set. “Calculating proofs for trigonometry is about as useful as raking leaves on a windy day.” He sighed and let his mind wander, wishing he could be learning with his father, and a few seconds later his eyes began to wander as well. In his futile struggle to make time go faster he noticed one of his classmates look at him with a most peculiar stare, the kind that looked past the surface and bore into one’s soul. The shock of seeing this filly look at him like that was reason enough to focus on his assignment. But a young colt’s attention span is only so great and once again he found his eyes wandering the classroom, lost in his imaginings. His concentration on not concentrating was suddenly shattered when he saw the filly looking at him. This time it just felt creepy and he grudgingly returned to his assignment knowing he was trapped between a rock and a hard place.
The bell for lunch came sooner than he thought it would but later than he would have liked. He skipped breakfast this morning and his stomach was killing him. He quickly packed his school things under his desk and dashed to his locker for his lunch. WIth a satisfied smile, he trotted to his normal spot outside and began to eat his lunch with extreme prejudice. He watched the other fillies and colts as they all sat around the tables and talked about... whatever it was they talked about. That was fine with Jigsaw, he prefered to think about things in his own way, and in his own time. When he saw a filly trot over he was more than a little surprised, and when he recognised her as the filly who was staring at him in class he nearly panicked and almost got up to leave. However there was something in her posture that compelled him to stay. The filly moved to a comfortable distance and took a seat across from him, and just waited patiently.
“Umm... hi?”
“I saw you looking at that poster before class. You really looked like you were thinking hard about it.”
“Oh, that... it was nothing special.”
“Why do you say that?”
“I do that all the time, think about things, and wonder why they are the way they are. Why are asking me this, by the way. It seems random, yet not.”
“I was thinking about volunteering too. I’m not sure if I am ready, or if I would be any good.”
“Why would you think that?”
“Because I don’t have my cutie mark yet,” she sighed and looked towards her blank flank.
He looked to, and was feeling something he hadn't felt before. He couldn’t know what this feeling was, but he liked learning and he wanted to find out.
“You don’t need a cutie mark to make people’s lives better, you just have to have the right attitude and let your heart guide you.” Berry felt an unusual stirring in her stomach. How she had not noticed this colt before now was a mystery to her. For once there was somepony who listened and said something useful for a change. She paused for a moment, and made sure her next question came out with exactly the right inflections.
“How do you know?”
“Because my dad does it all the time. He’s still a blank flank, and he turned out ok.”
“Yeah, I guess that’s true... But I’m still scared. I mean what if something goes wrong?”
“It won’t.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I’ll be right there with you.”
Her eyes lit up and in the moment she leaned in and gave Jigsaw a quick kiss on his cheek. They both blushed heavily and she trotted away with a new found determination. He just sat there and tried to take everything in, not used to so much happening in so short a time. He knew one thing for certain though, after class was over he was going to ask his teacher to sign him up to volunteer.
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The train ride was long and rather dull, but for once Jigsaw didn’t mind as he gently let his hoof stroke Berry Patch’s mane. His heart grew warm as she let out a slight coo and snuggled closer to him. He couldn’t help but smile as he watched Berry peacefully sleep in his lap, and gave a small sigh of contentment when he noticed her mane smelled like berries. He looked out of the window and watched as the grass plains and lush forests slowly changed into jagged and desolate mountain peaks. The train stuck out like a sore thumb yet it seemed to forge a path of hope and joy in a land of depression and despair. At least that;s what berry liked to think. All too soon Berry woke up and lifted her head, slightly embarrassed that she had fallen asleep yet happy she did at the same time. Jigsaw just smiled and pointed out some of the more interesting things he could see to Berry.
The conductor announced that their stop in the Griffon Kingdom was coming up and Jigsaw nearly jumped up from his seat when he heard the overly loud voice, much to Berry’s amusement.”
“Jeez, that scared the crap outta me. Why do they have to make it so loud?”
“Oh Jigsaw, you’re cute when you’re flustered.” She leaned in slowly and gave him a quick kiss to help sooth his bruised ego.
“Still, though, our stop is coming up so we better get ready.”
“Hmm... oh, right. Let me get the bags.”
The rest of the train ride was rather uneventful and the two watched as they pulled into Griffon Station. It looked run down and dirty, yet there seemed to be a hollow grandness that hung about the place, as if this had meant to be the first impression of a great and powerful nation to any traveler. The two gathered their bags and were humbled by the sad state the once proud station was in. For all it’s size, it could not hold back the empty sound one could hear if they put a seashell to their ear. The two travelers quickly gathered their wits when they were pushed in the right direction by the passengers behind them and quickly moved to get out of the train.
Once they were out of the immediate flow, they began to look for the volunteer guide. He said he would meet them at the station, which on paper seemed ok but now that they were there the vastness of it all made them feel rather insignificant and a bit foalish for believing it would be so simple. They set out together to try and find the guide when Jigsaw’s stomach began to growl in protest. He smiled sheepishly and she knowingly. They moved as one to find some kind of food stand for him.
Their search did not take long but when they learned of the outrageous prices for some of the most common meals back home they cringed inside. Eventually though, the hunger won out and he forked over some bits to the vendor who refused them on the spot.
“You no have Templars, no food. Get Templars form stand over there.” He pointed to a shady looking stand across the way. The two approached the stand and asked for some Templars, whatever those were. The stand keeper agreed to give them a small pile of Templars for a rather large bag of bits, explaining that he was the currency exchange representative. Accepting the deal without thought, the two agreed and returned to the food vendor who took a third of their Templars in exchange for a few scoops of oats. The two were shocked at how little their money actually bought them here, but couldn’t really complain. They set off towards the main part of the station and tried to find the volunteer guide, unaware of the wide grins from the two they left behind.
They took a few bites of oats and decided to save the rest for later. Jigsaw was still hungry but didn’t want to say anything to Berry, who had given the most bits to get the oats in the first place. After a half hour of searching, the two were starting to get worried that maybe they had done something wrong. Their thoughts ran wild as the doubt slowly worked itself in until Berry was on the verge of tears.
“I just don’t know went wrong. We did everything right, right?”
“Yeah, I don’t get it. Maybe we should go back?”
“And come home without doing anything for anyone?”
“Ok ok, it was just an idea. Let me think for a minute.”
She stayed quiet while the seconds turned into a minute, and slowly turned into five, and then ten. Despite his best efforts Jigsaw just couldn’t think of anything to do and instead re-ran exactly what they did up to this point while cross referencing it with the schedule he got. Everything looked right, so why was it wrong? He paused when he heard some muted sniffs coming from Berry, and noticed a dark stain running down from her eyes.
“Hey, it’s ok... maybe we should just go back,” he said in a comforting voice. She slowly nodded her head in agreement and took his hoof when he guided her to the ticket box.
“Umm... excuse me? Yes, down here. I would like two return tickets to Ponyville please.”
“Excuse me, but did you say Ponyville?”
“Umm... yes?” JIgsaw let his imagination run wild with all of the things that he could have possibly said to get himself into trouble. When he looked up he thought he saw the volunteer guide. But that wasn’t right, was it? He double checked the schedule which had a picture of the griffon he was supposed to meet and sure enough that very same griffon was standing not twelve feet away.
“Right, are you two Berry Patch and Jigsaw?”
“Yes, we are.”
“Great, I’ve been looking for you two. Sorry about the mishap but I was delayed at the security checkpoint. Times are different now, you understand?”
They both nodded, more out of the sheer dumb luck that they were found than out of any actual understanding.
“Well, I suppose you are both very tired and want to get some sleep. If you’ll follow me, I will introduce you to your host families.”
The three left the station with a sense of purpose, leaving behind a vey tried ticket box employee who could only muster up the energy to give an over dramatic sigh.
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For obvious reasons the pair were split up into different host families and were allowed to take the night to try and get used to their new environments. It was a shock to see the poor griffin families and how skinny they all were. The house was in no better shape, and several beams of the twilight sky danced through the holes in the ceiling and walls. Even though everything seemed hopeless and futile, smiles could be seen on all of the griffons. Jigsaw wondered how they could be so cheerful living the way they do, and spent several minutes thinking about it. In the end he simply decided to ignore the feeling and instead put on what he hoped was a sincere smile and walked up to the front door where they were waiting for him.
Jigsaw was introduced to the entire family. Bizarre names were shared and JIgsaw got the feeling he wasn’t going to be able to remember any of them, no matter how hard he tried. As Jigsaw gradually began to get a feel for his family his initial nervousness gradually shifted to an uneasy silence which the volunteer guide took as a good sign and wished Jigsaw well, explaining that he needed to drop Berry off at her family’s house next. Jigsaw called out to him as he was walking away, hoping to get a more detailed plan of what exactly was going to happen tomorrow, but when he kept walking away Jigsaw guessed that either he didn’t hear him or was too busy to take the time to explain. Having exhausted all other options, Jigsaw turned around and gave an unsure smile to his host family who eagerly led him inside.
The griffons piled around Jigsaw, one taking his bags to his room, another offering him what Jigsaw guessed to be some kind of food, and still another began to ask him questions about what it was like in Ponyville. The griffon parents sat back and chucked at their children’s excitement for their guest. Jigsaw did his best but it was clear that none of his formal schooling had prepared him for this. He tried his best to keep up with the griffon who was asking him questions, while trying to process why there was a tray with what looked like claw carved dolls sitting in front of him. The young griffons laughed at his ignorance of the game that was presented to him and explained that each doll contained something and each griffon would take his turn to pick a doll for themselves. Some of them contained good things, others bad, and still some that were only as useful as the one who received it made it to be. One of the older griffons took pity on him and demonstrated by picking a doll and opening it, he read the paper that it contained.
Catch breakfast for tomorrow.
The griffon sighed at her misfortune, and went outside to do as the paper instructed much to the relieve of the rest of the griffons left in the house. They gestured to Jigsaw and then the dolls, letting Jigsaw know that he could take one if he wished. Jigsaw looked at the dolls and did not feel comfortable at all at the prospect of taking one, so he let one of the other griffons go. The next griffon took a doll out at random without thinking about it and casually opened it, confident in his decision.
A lesson learned is a lesson earned.
It was apparent that while he wasn’t too impressed with the message, he was relieved because it didn’t contain something bad. He took up quill and ink, crossed out the old message and wrote a new one, then put the paper back into the doll and waited to see what happened next in the game. Again the griffons gestured to Jigsaw to take a doll, this time he was more reassured, but still not comfortable enough to take one and so passed his turn to the next griffon.
One of the younger ones decided to jump in and took a doll eagerly, the other griffons content on letting the momentary lapse of manners slide. He could feel a good feeling from this doll, as if it held the all important “free pass” paper which would allow him a day free of responsibility. He opened it slowly at first, listening for the slightest hint of betrayal as the wood separated, revealing the paper inside. A claw reached in and grasped it, pulling it from the depths of the doll to be revealed. In a moment of hesitation, the paper was held in both claws as if the young one was searching the fibers of paper for a hidden meaning; a pattern hidden in plain sight yet readily apparent to those who knew what to look for. At last, the paper unfolded and the griffon let out a shout of joy and took to the air. He was scolded for his flying in the house, but he let it brush through his feathers as he had found the free pass paper. He smiled at Jigsaw and gestured for him to take a doll.
Jigsaw looked around at the family. ‘Would it be rude to say no? I’ve already passed so many times. They all want me to take one... what’s the worst that could happen? I should just take one and get it over with.’ These thoughts bubbled to the forefront of Jigsaw’s mind so quickly they seemed to be coming from everywhere at once yet all stemmed from the same source: those little wooden dolls. He started to reach out his hoof to take one and as he did the whole house seemed to become eerily silent. The griffons let Jigsaw take his turn without anyone trying to go before him, each eager to see how he would react to their game. Jigsaw had no idea what he was doing, so he picked the doll that was closest to him. He held it in his hoof and studied the details of the wood, admiring the smooth feel and the interesting pattern of the grain. Jigsaw knew what was coming next, and he couldn’t put it off forever. He opened the doll and felt for the paper inside. He was surprised at how rough it seemed, not at all like the parchment back in Ponyville.He followed the examples set before him and opened the paper and read the words aloud.
Gather firewood. Enough for three days.
The young griffon who got the free pass laughed at Jigsaw’s misfortune and taunted him by waving his paper for Jigsaw to see. Jigsaw’s ears went back and he looked at the floor behind him with his eyebrows turned up, trying to hide from his mistake and also trying to come to terms with his new found responsibility. He stood up to go outside to begin his task when suddenly he felt a wing wrap around him. At first his body tensed up, but relaxed when he saw the kind expression of the father and felt the warmness under his wing. He told Jigsaw not to worry about getting the firewood, and instead offered him his bed as a way of making up for his son’s rude behavior. He also told Jigsaw that he would gather some more hay to make it more comfortable for him. He stood up and went to go outside when he felt a presence behind him. He looked back to see young Jigsaw tagging along behind, matching his pace step for step. Smiling, he showed Jigsaw what must be done and led Jigsaw to a cliff. The griffon spread his mighty wings and flew down the side of the mountain and began looking for wood.
It wasn’t an easy feat and Jigsaw yearned to be useful in some way but he just didn’t see how he could gather wood. Several minutes passed before a silhouette of a griffon could be seen carrying a huge log grasped between two golden talons. His wings kicked up dust and Jigsaw had to cover his eyes. With several mighty flaps, he hovered just long enough to set the log down gently to minimise any damage to the wood. Even so, the ground shook a little when it fell. Jigsaw offered to take the log back to the house, which was only several stone throws away. The answer of course was no, and a little lecture about how it was his responsibility to bring back the wood and not Jigsaw’s died halfway through when Jigsaw looked dejectedly down at the ground. The griffon decided to let Jigsaw help, feeling that it was the right thing to do and flew off, letting Jigsaw work his way back to the house. Jigsaw took the log and began to roll it, but decided to carry it on his back when he lost control one too many times. Only several steps in, the weight of the log was beginning to take a toll on Jigsaw and he paused to rest. He looked to the sky and could see the griffon nearing the ledge, kicking up another dust storm as dropped the next log. Fearing he would fall behind, Jigsaw redoubled his efforts and let the log rest on him once more. He walked, but soon had to rest only this time he noticed a shadow that was not his own hovering over him. Jigsaw looked up and saw the kind smile of the griffon, who was carrying three logs and didn’t look tired in the least. They stood there for a time and just looked at each other, one with a knowing smile, the other trying to sheepishly look away. At some point the griffon looked up to the sky and noticed that the sun was beginning to set and quickly took Jigsaw to the edge of the cliff. He told him to wait there and watch the city below while he finished gathering the wood. Jigsaw did as he was told and watched as the sun set behind the mountains. As soon as it did, thousands of little lights began to spread light throughout the city streets.
The city looked different to Jigsaw than it did before, but he wasn’t sure how yet... it was just different. Twilight soon gave way to evening, and he began to shiver in the cold, at least until a familiar wing took him in it’s embrace. The father told him he had finished gathering the firewood and extra hay and added that it was getting late. He turned around to walk inside but paused when Jigsaw lingered for a moment to take a last look at the city, watching the moonlight bathe it in it’s glow. Jigsaw followed soon after and once he got inside he realised just how tired he really was and decided to hit the hay which turned out to be much less and yet somehow more comfortable than he thought it would be. Every time he moved there was scratching and itching everywhere, and he had to find the balance between dealing with a few itches, or risk moving and start the whole process over again. As time passed, exhaustion soon overtook him and he could hardly feel the hay as he slept soundly through the night.
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Once again, time had a way of speeding up when Jigsaw was enjoying something and morning came sooner than he would have thought possible. He awoke and prepared himself for the hard day’s work of volunteering, not to mention impressing and protecting Berry, that lay ahead. He ate the rest of his oats that Berry shared with him and met up with the volunteer guide who thanked the family for their hospitality. The two continued to walk a short distance up the street to what Jigsaw assumed to be Berry’s host family’s house.
For all intents and purposes Jigsaw still didn’t know what kind of work he would actually be doing. That was unsettling to him because he liked things to be laid out and planned in advance. The volunteer guide stopped at Berry’s host family’s house and a familiar routine played out before Jigsaw’s eyes, which set him ever so slightly at ease. Berry must have noticed how tense he looked and nuzzled him.
“Hey, you ok? You look nervous.”
“I uh, don’t know what you mean.”
“What you mean is you would rather not tell me.”
“Well... yes. Ok, I am nervous because I don’t know if I can trust this schedule anymore. Look, it doesn’t even say what kind of work we are doing. It just says “volunteer project.” What does that even mean? What if I can’t do it?”
Berry didn’t waste a single second, leaning in to kiss the young colt.
“What was that for?”
“You’re just so cute when you’re flustered.”
Berry giggled a little and took in the scenery, wondering where the volunteer guide would take them and what they would get to do and see and experience when they got there. For his part, Jigsaw just sat there with a dazed look on his face, utterly confused how this filly could make everything seem ok.
They arrived at the work site a few minutes later and discovered that their project involved building new roads to help get things moving again. All of the volunteers were assigned different jobs based on their abilities, gender, and experience. Jigsaw was sent to help the cutters who cut the stones into their proper shape due to his experience working with his father. Berry was sent to carry the crude rocks from the nearby pile over to the cutters, who would in turn send them to the placers. Jigsaw was disappointed in his assignment because he rarely got to see Berry at all. If he wasn't focused on getting the cuts just right, then he was focused on getting instructions so the stones fit together like a jigsaw puzzle and Berry would only come by every fifteen minutes or so and most of the time he didn't even know it.
Of course Berry could easily see the disappointment her colt friend tried to hide and wondered if he could see the same in her. She would dutifully carry the buckets of crude stone to the cutters and would keep an eye out for Jigsaw but would never quite see him, and when she did he would be working with the saw blade and didn’t want to distract him. It was about halfway through the day the young colt’s body couldn’t lift the heavy blade anymore and he was told to help the placers for the rest of the day. Berry would come by to drop off her rocks but after three times she still hadn't seen Jigsaw and began to worry about him. She asked one of the cutters where he had gone and he pointed him out amongst the placers. She thanked him and went over to see him.
She admired how focused he looked when he worked, yet something was still off. After several moments of studying him, she knew what it was. She snuck up behind him and gently let her tail caress his snout. Jigsaw blushed wildly as his eyes shrank ever so slightly. He noticed the slight smell of berries and smiled blissfully. When the tail pulled away he looked up and saw Berry for the first time in what felt like days.
“How you holding up there?”
“Much better now, thanks.”
“No worries. I just couldn’t help seeing you work without a smile so i decided to do something about it.”
He returned the gesture with a generous nuzzle and when he pulled away, they both smiled at each other and went back to work. The rest of the day followed the same pattern, Berry trying to see Jigsaw while avoiding the foreman’s eyes, laughing the whole time. The rest of the crew picked up on their little game and started making bets on when they would get caught and how loudly they would be yelled at and such. By the end of the day a lot of money had transferred hooves and claws with nopony or griffon really coming out that much ahead or behind than when they started. The volunteer guide came back when the sun was setting and marveled at how much work was accomplished and continued to explain in great detail the progress that his other groups had made during the day. The sun was beginning to set and the workers were all heading home for the night. One of them hitched up to a cart and started to walk off in the direction of Berry’s and Jigsaw’s host family's homes. The volunteer guide quickly flew over to him and asked if it would be alright to get a ride, looking back at Berry and Jigsaw who were both slowly walking towards them with tired eyes and sore muscles. He agreed to carry them and the guide relayed this news to them, and the two jumped into the cart, thankful for the lucky break. During the ride home the two griffons talked to each other about the project and what needed to be done but Berry and Jigsaw weren't really listening though, as they fell comfortably asleep in each other's arms.
The volunteer guide saw them to their homes and personally laid each one in their beds. He left them in the care of the host families and went to his own home to get some much needed rest himself.