The Royal Guards surrounded the cart, ignoring any attempts to stop them as the Captain nodded to his subordinate.
They popped open the hatch in the back, pulling out an egg-shaped container that made Golden try to push back one soldier, only to be ignored as the top of the container was opened and turned upside down, the soldier holding up a hoof to catch the egg within.
Except all that fell out was ash, spilling over his hoof onto the ground.
Everyone stared as the ash decorated the ground, till the only thing left was a white speck that when the guard inspected, he yelped and threw it, sending it crashing against the train with a ding, before it fell onto the platform.
There were quite a few yells and screams as everyone made out the white object.
Amethyst felt her eyes widen as well.
It was a bone.
There was a sniff, as Golden went to the pile of ash and tried to clean it up, lips wobbling and tears in the corner of her eyes.
“G-g-grandma!” Then she burst into tears, a wail escaping through her lips that made all the guards take an uncomfortable step back.
Amethyst went around the guards, about to help Golden with the ashes, when the filly’s sister beat her to it.
Agape stomped forward, a glare on her face as she gave them a disgusted glare.
“Are you happy now?” she demanded, horn glowing as she tore the vase out of the guard’s magic and helped Golden clean up the ash, “Golden promised our grandma that she would scatter her ashes at Rainbow Falls, and you, you,” she quivered with rage, “What kind of Royal Guards are you? Does Princess Celestia know you are even here doing this?!” her demand actually made some of them pale and she sneered, “Wait till I send a letter to my parents, they are going to be furious, come on Golden,” she sent the rest of the ash into the vase, summoning the bone and leaving it at the top of the ash before glaring at the Guard who wearily handed her the cap.
As soon as it was twisted on, she placed it in the cart and wrapped a hoof around her sister’s shoulders, leading her inside past Fluttershy who, to Amethyst’s surprise, didn’t look all that shy anymore
Instead, her eyes were narrowed and her lips were pulled back into a frown, disappointment and anger in those eyes.
“Making a little filly cry, do you have no shame?” her voice cracked like a whip and when she met the gazes of the guards they all stiffened, “You had no warrant, nothing, and you accuse a little filly of being a thief without proof? It’s a good thing I don’t want to be a Royal Guard, if it means working with bullies like you!” she humphed and spun, going inside and speaking with one of the conductors who stepped out to bring the cart to the back, eyeing the guard wearily as they did so.
“Everyone, get on,” Amethyst ordered, watching the trainees and trainers get on, then she turned to the guards, “You better hope Cross Shield is lenient with your punishments,” one of them was going towards the train and she stomped, creating cracks in the platform and making them fall, “And none of you dare step a hoof on this train,” the Captain straightened, looking down at her and she bared her teeth at him.
“You cannot or-” “I can if you are acting on noble orders and not the Princess’s, and I will verify whether you are here in official capacity, and I have you all memorized,” she entered the train herself and stood at the doors, staring at them and daring them to enter the train.
Then the doors shut and she waited as the train left the platform before going into the car to check on everyone.
Looking over the different ponies, she searched for the trio, but did not find them.
“I think they went to the back,” her Earth Pony trainee piped up, sitting on the opposite side from the rest of her squad and looking very reluctant to join them.
The Pegasus was glowering at the ground while the Unicorn was staring out of the window, ignoring them all.
She’ll address that later, right now she needed to make sure that Golden Harvest was okay.
Going through the rest of the cars exercised all of her patience as some of her fellow trainers tried to stop her, either to talk or tell her to return to her squad.
She noticed some trainees missing however and realized something was amiss, hurrying her pace and arriving at the last car where a unicorn with auburn fur and a blue mane was ordering two Earth Ponies and three Unicorns to forcefully open the last car. His Cutie Mark of a constellation resembling a cross told her who he was.
None of the other passengers looked ready to stop them, all staring straight ahead, Amethyst frowned, taking out a camera from her bag and positioning it just as one of them noticed her.
“Sou-” the flash interrupted them and Amethyst took several more pictures before putting the camera back in her bag.
“Go back to your seats, or you will all be expelled,” her tone offered no room for arguments, and Southern Cross looked like he bit into a lemon, before he cleared his face and gave a smile that reminded her all too well of nobles thinking they were being charming.
They weren’t.
“We were just trying to make sure the little filly is alright, but it seems they’ve accidentally locked themselves in,” there was a yelp, one of his lackeys pulling back a hoof that looked bright red, Southern’s smile twitched.
Amethyst let out a breath, before her own smile appeared.
And it wasn’t a nice smile.
“Go back to your seats, no fuss, just because you happen to share a part of your name with the founder of this program, it does not mean you will get any special treatment,” his auburn fur darkened, his smile disappearing as he stalked passed her with his ‘group’.
“Oh and Southern,” he stopped, “Anymore disappearances or suspicious accidents, you will be expelled, as well as anyone else who collaborated with you, and you will not be allowed to reapply,” the train door slammed behind him and she continued to the back car.
The knob to the back still looked a bit hot, but she worked in heated conditions and it did not take her long to unlock the door and open it.
“Golden Harvest, Agape Flare, Fluttershy?” she didn’t spot them right away, the luggage was stacked everywhere.
Then there was a loud bang and the sound of heavy falling objects reached her ears.
Feeling the blood drain from her face, she ran towards the sound.
Had they knocked over suitcases and were buried?
She rounded a pile of golf clubs just as brown blur crashed into her, sending her against the floor.
There was a soft gasp before the clatter of hooves went towards her, lifting the heavy, warm object off of her as a red hoof pulled her up.
“Are you okay Miss Amethyst?” blue eyes met hers from her rescuer’s side, and that shiver went down her spine.
She’d never admit it out loud, but those eyes always made her shiver. Their resemblance to a phantom of her past never fail to scare her.
But this was a filly, not that Phantom, which helped keep her reactions in check.
Though something told her the filly could tell.
Back on her hooves, she glanced towards Fluttershy who was giving a stern warning to the griffin that crashed into her.
Wait.
“Who are you?” she demanded, having not seen any griffins board the train, hazel eyes glowered at her.
“I don’t need to answer to you ponies,” Agape scoffed, causing the griffin to puff up.
“I’m guessing you were the real reason those guards were at the platform, if they said they were chasing a griffin rather than a filly there would be more upset right? Why aren’t you in Griffinstone if your hiding from Guards, they can’t search for you there,” brown wings bristling, she glared at them, meeting Fluttershy’s eyes.
“If you expect me to go back to the place that sold me in the first place, your nuts,” ‘sold?’ Amethyst felt a cold chill go up her spine.
“What do you mean sold?” her question was interrupted by a wail and the griffin blanched, turning and leaping on top of some luggage to reach a basket, bringing it down and trying to quiet the cub within.
Golden disappeared while Agape and Fluttershy cooed at the four griffin cubs in the basket. Two shared similar features of a golden eagle, though one was darker than the other, both of them had gold eyes. The third cub resembled a dove with their white coloring and bright blue eyes while the fourth and last resembled a raven with dark eyes.
The griffin herself resembled an osprey with chocolate brown feathers and hazel eyes. She pulled a bottle out of somewhere and shook it a few times before squeezing a few drops into each of their beaks. Then she dug out a container which contained mushed fruit and worms, spooning them and stiffening but not protesting when the three fillies took a spoon and helped her feed them.
Golden lightly patted the back of the white cub who burped, while Agape had the raven who dribbled down her back.
“What are their names?” Fluttershy cooed at the cub in her hooves, the griffin huffed.
“Like I should tell you,” Amethyst rubbed her forehead, feeling a headache coming on.
“I would like to know first what this ‘sold’ business is about, and what your name is,” the griffin tossed her head back.
“Fine, Reese, but if you want to know anything, ask these three, they’re the ones that broke me out,” a spoon clattered to the floor, Agape spluttering while Golden had gone stiff, ‘Reese’ scoffed, “Did you think those disguises would fool me? Especially you with your magic? I recognize that color when it melted the locks on my cage and let me out, and you might be able to disguise your coat, but I’ve been able to tell wing binders from my time in captivity,” wing binders? Amethyst glanced at Golden whose face was now cold, no emotion at all, before she sighed.
“Agape?” the unicorn’s horn flared.
“Silence bubble is up,” the Earth mare took a deep breath, feeling her patience wane a brit.
“So is someone going to explain things now? Or should I get one of the other traine-” “No!” the three fillies told her, and taken aback by how in sync they sounded, she waved a hoof, raising an eyebrow.
Golden sighed, looking resigned.
“My real name is North Wind, and Wind Scar is my Uncle,” that sentence sounded so simple but Amethyst felt every part of her lock-up.
“Wind Scar? Y-your uncle is Wind Scar?” Fluttershy stared up at her in concern.
“Miss Amethyst?” even Agape was looking concerned, but the other filly was still calm, and she swallowed.
“You know,” Go- no North, let out a bitter laugh.
“I’ve been investigating my uncle since he forced me to work in the Ruby Dog mines to pay off his debt to them, though unluckily for him they had a complete re-haul after an incident and are conducting an investigation within their ranks and other Gem Dog tribes. But I didn’t find out about you till Gaius saw your name on the program and told me,” that name made her stagger.
“Gaius? H-he’s, he’s still alive?” the last time she saw that griffin was when that pegasus cut one of his wings off, leaving him to fall into a ravine.
“Yes, he said you were Wind Scar’s classmate in the Royal Guard Academy,” Amethyst shuddered, unwanted memories swirling in her mind.
The cruelty of that pegasus will always haunt her.
“One of the reasons I left that place was because of him. I knew there was no way I could reveal his real side to the administration, not with his achievements and grades. Becoming a Ranger was the next thing I could do, rise in ranks and earn favor before I could even do anything,” all the while raising her daughter, not that she could tell them this.
Then a thought occurred to her,
“That vase doesn’t hold your grandmother, does it?” the filly shrugged.
“It contains someone’s grandparent, never met mine,” she admitted. Agape groaned.
“Don’t remind me, do you know how creepy it is carrying around somepony’s ashes and making sure the container doesn’t open?” Amethyst ignored her shivering and frowned.
“Why did you feel the need to do such a thing and can you explain what Reese meant by breaking her out?” the griffin took the time to chime in.
“Yeah, what did you do with those dragon eggs I saw anyways? I saw you bag them,” ‘dragon eggs?!’ Agape glared at the griffin while Fluttershy gulped and North smacked her head with a hoof.
“I would like the rest of that explanation, now please,” the filly’s head dropped.
“Fine,” so she was told of the filly’s adventures in the caves beneath Canterlot, how they came across the suspicious room and used distractions and tricks to trick the guards before breaking out all the prisoners.
That they took the eggs somewhere safe and were planning on returning them to the Dragons by going to Fillydelphia,
Amethyst took this all in, not sure whether she should feel impressed that these fillies managed to get this far.
“Where are the eggs?” she asked, but North kept her mouth shut, and the others didn’t offers anything either, so she sighed, “Fine, it’s not my business anyways, but you,” she directed this to Reese who stiffened, “Cannot keep running with four cubs to look after, you need to find somewhere to stay,” did she want to know what that stallion wanted with griffin eggs?
No, no she did not.
“I don’t have anywhere to go, I only ended up on this train because the previous town I was staying in reported me to the guards,” Amethyst took in the bags under the griffin’s eyes and how thin she looked.
How old was she? When was the last time she had a good meal?
“If I might have a suggestion?” the male voice made them all jump and Agape’s horn flared, breaking the silence bubble and sending a piece of luggage flying at the one who spoke. There was a smack as the suitcase was caught and dropped without hesitation, the speaker stepping in the light.
Amethyst felt her eyes water.
“G-gaius!” the elderly griffin gave her a soft smile.
“Well hello Amethyst, been a while,” she took one hoof forward, slowly, before throwing herself at him, feeling his one remaining wing wrap around her in comfort.
Nothing was said for a while as she tried to gather herself, feeling embarrassed at breaking down in front of her trainee and the others.
“What was your suggestion, Gaius?” North’s voice spoke up, Amethyst looked at him as well as he gave the pale Reese a look. She looked like she’d seen a ghost.
“Y-your Gaius, b-but,” the griffin’s eyes rolled back in her head, and Fluttershy lunged to catch the cub in the griffin’s arm as she fell.
“Why do I get the feeling you hold an important position in griffin society?” North asked dryly, Gaius dryly chuckled.
“Not anymore, but here is my suggestion, and I’m afraid the cub there isn’t going to like it,” as soon as he gave his suggestion, Amethyst winced.
Yeah, this was going to be a mess.
---------------------
As the train stopped at the station outside Galloping Gorge, Agape stepped off, looking a bit grumpy and reluctant as she hugged a teary Fluttershy and Golden goodbye.
“Back to school,” she spotted something in the distance and beamed, waving, “Over here Pieces!” a chocolate colored pegasus appeared around the corner, stalking towards her and looking so done.
“Don’t call me that,” the ‘mare’ hissed, Agape laughed, the grumpiness disappearing.
“Come on, Mom arranged for us to go on an airship back to Canterlot, school starts in a week after all,” the pegasus drooped, helping Agape with her luggage and giving the two fillies by the door a look before leaving.
Fluttershy waved with a sweat drop, still unsure about the plan and still feeling unease.
“Is this really going to work?” she said under her breath to Golden who gave her a brief nudge.
“It’ll be fine, Gaius called in a few favors, and the replies from our contacts told us they were willing, even your parents said so,” that was still a surprise, not unwelcome, just surprised Fluttershy how willing her parents were with the plan.
The insane and complicated plan that Gaius and soon North worked on the whole two hours it took to get to Galloping Gorge.
That ‘unexpected’ tree on the line sure helped with the time it took the train ponies to remove it, and the other trees that had fallen behind it.
“Right, go have fun in the Gorge, I’ll be in town waiting for the book signing to begin,” her tail wagged in her excitement, the redness under her eyes slightly faded but were still there.
Fluttershy waved her off, took a breath, then went to join her group, Amethyst nodding to her when she saw her.
Gaius was nowhere to be seen, then again, he was probably already gone, fulfilling the rest of the plan.
--------------------------------
Two Weeks Later
“This is so stupid,” Reese grumbled, tugging on her disguise as she sat in the planetarium. Pinkie was wrestling with Lyra across the ground, the both of them trying to tickle the other into submission.
“Come on Pieces!” Pinkie called out to her, the griffin disguised as a pegasus bristled.
“Don’t call me that!” damn it, why did she end up with this nickname?
“Blame North, she’s the one obsessed with Reeses Pieces, some sort of peanut butter and chocolate candy,” she explained when Pinkie gave her a questioning look.
The pink filly shrugged and tried to wrestle with her before her ear twitched and she glanced up.
“Mail!” she squealed and disappeared through a hole in the wall, and Reeses gave Lyra a look.
“I still can’t get used to her,” she stated bluntly, Lyra raised an eyebrow at her before smirking.
“By the time she leaves, she’ll have a file on your favorite dessert, party preferences, and possibly your entire fears list, ugh, I don’t want to go to school,” she said, glancing at the time and groaning, Reeses twitched.
“I don’t want to go either,” she snapped, not happy about them finding out her age and forcing her to attend Canterlot High School.
She had to be disguised as a pegasus the whole time, which she still wasn’t happy about, and something still seemed off to her.
How in all of Tartarus did they have the magic for this? This group still scared her somewhat, especially that filly’s connection to Gaius of all griffins.
She shuddered.
Pinkie returned with a bundle of mail, throwing her some envelopes and handing Lyra her own mail, settling down with a letter addressed to her.
Reese glanced down at the envelopes and sighed before opening the first one.
She stopped and stared,
Oh.
There was a photo of an orange Earth stallion with scars on his body, one across his throat, but there was a smile on his face as he tucked two brown pegasus foals in their crib, their lids slightly open to reveal gold orbs. The names Caramel and Glaze were carved into the crib.
She flipped to the next letter, seeing a pair of pegasus, one with the same coloring as that shy pegasus training to be a ranger, while the other had a green coat. They were holding a white pegasus colt with a green blanket, the name Frost stitched in yellow stitching.
Tears came to her eyes as she came to the last card, opening it to reveal a family of Earth Ponies standing in what looked to be a field of rocks, the stern looking patriarch glancing down at his wife who was holding a dark blue colt in a basket, a rock with the name Ganache carved into it.
“That’s my family!” she jumped at the unexpected contact, blinking as a pink hoof pointed at the picture.
“Isn’t my new baby brother so cute?!” Pinkie beamed up at her, and Reese felt the words caught in her throat.
Before she could even say anything, there was a choking noise from Lyra’s direction, and the two of them looked up to see the unicorn staring at a magazine with wide eyes.
“Ooh, I meant to tell you about that,” Pinkie began, wincing at the unicorn’s expression.
“What’s wrong with that magazine?” Reese asked, seeing the filly swaying a bit as she flipped through the pages before reaching the back and yelping.
“Why is my Uncle’s name listed as the sponsor for a magazine filled with North’s journals?!” her voice echoed through the basement.
Pinkie Pie rubbed the back of her head.
“He was impressed with her research?” she began, Lyra’s eyes rolled in the back of her head and she fainted.
Huh, had she looked like that when she saw Gaius?