I was in pain. Great pain. Trapped within my own body by whatever the changeling stabbed me with.
I was wondering why nopony had removed it. I also wondered how long I spent like that, poised on the edge of death.
I could do nothing about it. Discord’s magic was the only thing keeping me from falling into death, catching me in a giant web of golden strands. Nothing I had in me could pull me from the edge. I was helpless, and time was not a thing I could measure in that state. There was no indication of anything except my own thoughts.
And somewhat worse; whatever had hit me had damaged Discord’s spell. Whatever destroyed my magic was unraveling his weave.
String by string, I was dropping. It might take a while, but I was slowly dying again.
And I could do nothing about it.
I could simply watch my descent, and think of all the lives I was going to either make very sad, or very difficult. Rose and Honest, Pinkie and Rainbow… I never fixed the elements and I suspected that I might be the only one who could.
Really, I thought it was a miracle that nothing had happened to the ponies without their defense. Their lives continued unabated despite that though.
I was an idiot for thinking that.
But think it I did as I waited for my eventual drop.
It was then a claw reached out for me. Worrisome perhaps, but it came from above and not below. I grabbed onto it and it pulled me away from the edge from the darkness and toward the light.
My eyes opened to a darkened room. The pain was still present, but it wasn’t enough to send me back to darkness.
“Who…” I said, barely able to speak at all. It was barely a raspy whisper.
“You called me Feathers.”
I saw him. The ghost of the griffon standing nearby. I suppose I was hurt enough that I was simply… closer to him so to speak. Seeing the dead as a perfectly normal mortal was not possible, and yet, there he was.
Implying that I was far too hurt for my comfort.
“I need your help Hag. Already it might be too late, but I won’t fail my duty.”
“Help… I would… gladly… give… but…”
He reached a claw out to me, and I realized what he intended. But he also stopped before touching me, and waited. I looked at the claw and then at him.
“I won’t do this unless you say yes.”
“… There’s… much pain.”
“Any pain can be born upon my back. All I ask is that you give me the body I need.”
“Share…”
“Guide me, and I will listen to all that you say. You are the reason I have this chance after all. Without you, I would never have been here.”
I managed to twitch the hoof and he took it. And he flowed into me and I felt his soul burden most of my pain without a single flinch.
Together we stood from the bed. And I let him guide me, only putting my own control when he was going to stumble in a pony body.
We walked out into High Peak late at night. It was raining, and Feathers headed toward the castle with some purpose. I noticed several things.
The first was that the castle was well lit. I assumed that was unusual considering the slightly neglected look it had.
The second was that the city was slightly empty, implying that a fair number of griffons were inside. But the third gave me hope.
I don’t know if it was a natural talent, or simply some function of two souls bolstering a dying body, but I could see Feathers soul.
And if he wasn’t capable of being a shaman, then I was a mayfly.
We reached the main door, and shoved together. It was locked, but after a moment a griffon opened it and peered out. We walked right under him.
The inside was a great hall, the ceiling rising high above. A feast was being held and a great many griffons were in attendance.
Most of whom stopped and stared as the half-dead, soaked pony with the spike in her back walked past them.
We stopped in the center of the room, and Feathers was staring at one griffon in particular. I couldn’t tell the difference between the creatures, but that one stood out.
His wings were very impressive. I bet that he took great pride in them.
The room was silent for a time. The griffons wondering what was going on.
“Hello brother.” I spat, Feathers' words coming from my mouth.
“What is this?” he asked. “No pony is my family. Who let her in here?”
“She just… walked in my lord.”
“Then walk her right back out!”
I felt Feathers anger. And the griffons seemed ill at ease to actually touch me. I suppose it was the spike in my back.
“Lord? You took the title? You claim rulership?” I asked as a few slowly approached.
I turned to look at them. “My kin! I have returned to warn you! To bring this crime to the light!”
“Crime?” one asked.
“I am Swift. Returned from my own death…”
“At the claws of my brother, Greatwing.”
“Impossible.” Greatwing said. “Get rid of her already!”
“Who will?” I asked. “Perhaps you Blackfeather? Or will you bring yourself to Stonebeak? Who here has the will to deny justice?”
Upon mentioning their names, the griffons backed away.
“Is it truly…”
“But… but how?”
“So she knows your names! Lots of ponies know you! She is here to cause trouble and nothing more!” Greatwing said, glaring at them. “She is little more than lies designed to entice you into thinking that my departed brother has actually returned! Who here thinks that I would kill my own brother!?”
The griffons around me nodded, emboldened. They approached me again.
“All of you are being tricked!” I yelled. “By all that is right, listen!”
None of them did, though a few still seemed unsure.
I yelled and turned my head skyward. “If there be any justice in this world then let it come! I will not be unheard, I will not let this crime pass unpunished!”
“Whatever power there be, hear my cry! Judge us all, and bring our souls to bear!”
Most of the griffons actually stopped to look around worriedly. Like they suspected that something might actually happen from the sheer emotion that Feathers, or Swift, was speaking with.
A few moments passed and one of them gave a nervous laugh. That seemed to be the end of it as the rest sighed in relief and one finally got the courage to lay his claws on me.
That’s when every door shut at the same time and locked by themselves. Every candle was snuffed out by a strong wind, and then relit with an azure flame.
I smiled as the magic gathered, glowing rings appearing around me and Greatwing. The griffons themselves were slightly panicked at the events, and when the shining chains grabbed us both a fair number of them simply took to the air.
I knew that Feathers, or maybe the both of us together, had called the order. The judgement was starting.
Greatwing couldn’t even move though he tried. The only part free of chains was the head.
“The order has been called and the truth shall be known.” I said, pushing Feathers aside for a moment. “All present are witnesses to this. Let the judgement begin and the story be told.”
I let Feathers take control. After all; it was his responsibility. He was a natural, knowing what he had to do without my guidance.
“It began almost two years ago. My brother and I were close after the death of our father. You all know that the Droprock family has always served.” Greatwing tried to say something, but the order prevented him. Only one could be heard at a time.
“From our ancestors that did everything they could for the crown, to now, waiting patiently for their return. My father, and his father, and his father before him all were loyal to their death.”
“Two years ago, My brother and I were exploring the ravines. Looking for relics from that past glory when we found it.”
“We found the crown.”
“I was overjoyed. We had no king to place it atop, but the crown was and still is a vital part of our culture. It represents our past and what we hope to be our future.”
“When the griffon empire once more returns to the golden age long past.”
“We kept it a secret for a full year, trying to determine if it was truly real, and searching for anything more. And though we found nothing, the crown was truly the real crown, the same crown worn by Cornelious, our greatest and last king, all those centuries ago. I was ready to reveal our discovery, and to reignite our faltering hopes.”
“That is when my brother convinced me that the crown might be the way to reunite the griffons. That it might bring us back together, and that we should keep the crown a secret and reveal it later.”
“We planned my trip for a week, writing letters to every noble griffon that we knew or could find out about. My trip would take months to complete, but I would do it.”
“It was the last days of preparation that I noticed that my brother was behaving strangely. When I asked, he said that he would handle the griffons here. That I did not need to go and visit anyone.”
“On the day of my trip I noticed that my water had been changed. I thought wondered, but said nothing and flew, my brother bidding me farewell.”
“I suspected him of doing something to the water. I didn’t drink it for weeks, foraging amongst the wilderness instead. I delivered the letters, and had replies returned; some good and some bad.”
“Reunification still looks like a dream. But as I returned I admonished myself. Surely my brother was simply nervous. I was imagining things. I took a drink of that water.”
“The very first sip had me fall the earth, paralyzed. I was found in my helplessness by timberwolves, who tore me apart.”
“The pony who allows me her form is named Hag, and it is she that found my body. She gave it the best sendoff she could with no knowledge of the proper ways and I thought my service was over.”
“But Hag kept my skull, and carried me with her and allowed me to live on in a fashion. She gave me a chance to return to High Peak. She is the reason I am here at all, and my debt to her cannot be repaid.”
“But I want to know Greatwing. Why? Why did you poison my water? We were kin, family. We grew up together, did everything together. When I broke my wing you carried me to help. When you suffered from your slow growth it was I who attacked those who tormented you. We were going to try and rebuild the griffon empire, together.”
“We were brothers. Why?”
“Because of the power!” he snapped and instantly stopped.
“What? Why can’t I say what I want?”
I smirked. “The order will allow no lies. The truth shall be known whether you wish it or not.”
He hesitated for a time and then scowled.
“The moment we found that crown I knew that we could rule. We only had to assure its authenticity and then these old buzzards would believe that we were the rightful kings!”
“It was going to be so easy! It was so easy! All I had to do was say that the crown found me and they all fell over themselves to give me the power!”
“But you didn’t want to. Never even noticed my hints, and kept talking as if the crown was a person. Service to the crown! Service to kings who are dead! They are dead and they will never return!”
“You were going to ruin everything! So I convinced you of trying to reunite the griffons, to send you far away. To keep you away until I could create what I wanted here.”
“But you were by my side every waking moment, blathering about your ‘hope’ that perhaps we might even find an heir! It was then I was certain.”
“You Swift, had to die. Because even if I did create a kingdom for us, you would happily give it all away to AN INANIMATE OBJECT!”
“So I replaced your water. I put the strongest paralyzing agent I could find within it. And I wished you farewell and knew that no one was ever going to find you.”
“And now, a pony chanced upon your body, took your skull, and allowed your return!”
“I was so close! It was all going to be great! The moment I was king I just had to kill off a few of the troublesome ones, and then nothing could stop me!”
“But you brother, didn’t want to rule. You want to serve, and make me serve with you. Well, I have no loyalty to what’s dead and gone. There is no true king and there never will be.”
“You tried to stop my dream. And I was not going to allow that.”
“If only you could think. We could have ruled together.”
I shook my head. “The Droprocks serve. Loyalty was always the greatest virtue. We can rule no better than a dog can run a household.”
“You tell me that you killed me from lust of power. Does none of our childhood matter to you?”
Greatwing looked down.
“It did. I wanted you by my side. But the power was more important than blood in the end. I had the poison for weeks before I replaced your water at the last opportunity.”
“You… You were going to ruin everything.”
“I was afraid, but I didn’t mourn you. Our past means nothing if you were to betray me later. You always, always put family and loyalty over power, even during our youth.”
“Our brotherhood ended that night.”
“It did.” I said sadly. “But not that night. It ended the moment you put power over everything the Droprocks have stood for. Our family stood proud. We were loyal. We waited when so many others gave up their hope.”
I saw it first. The judgement was complete, and I was well aware of the price for killing a brother.
Death.
The rings slowly turned red, and the candle flames dimmed until only we were visible in the chains and the red glow from the rings.
“The judgement is done.” I said. “The order will right itself. Make peace now Greatwing.”
“I only wanted to rule.”
My chains fell off and the rings contracted past me. They hovered around Greatwing for a moment.
And then they shut and he fell, his soul snipped free of the body. We all saw it for a few brief seconds until it was gone, heading to whatever rest it could find.
The one benefit to death by the order. Your sins were measured and the punishment doled out right there. Greatwing would suffer little in the beyond.
The candles flickered and relit, the gathered griffons shocked, staring, and pale. With a tiny clink, a crown appeared on the floor in front of me.
It was nothing more than a simple ring of gold with almost no decoration. And yet, it had power amongst the griffons. It was… magic for them. The proof of a lost time. Of a lost greatness.
One older griffon walked over and carefully, reverently picked it up. He sighed as he looked at it. Swift had called him Stonebeak.
“We were all fools. Blood cannot be replaced by hope and delusions.”
“The empire will return. But perhaps it won’t ever do so until we are worthy. Look at us all.”
“Angry, useless, willing to do anything to return to the golden times. No crime too great no dishonor too heavy to bear.”
“Do we deserve a king? I know that I myself have done enough that in the old ages I would have been exiled.”
“I think that our past is simply gone. Look at where our greed and desperation and despair have led us.”
“The Droprock family is gone. The last true connection to that time of greatness. And I suspect that we are to blame.”
“We let our towns and cities collapse. We simply wait to be saved like animals, snapping at those who laught at out disgrace.”
“If we ever want a king back... A true king, and not a pretender… We must be worthy. We must be better than we are.”
He sighed as he looked around. “But perhaps… perhaps that will never happen.”
“In the sight of all, I will repent. Service to the crown. I will see myself bettered, and to the best of my strength, our people bettered. I won’t see us slowly fall into filth and decay anymore.”
“Who here is willing to take the same pledge?”
Stonebeak looked around, I saw many griffons slip away. A few others suddenly found themselves alone, and crouched, trying to hide their faces as they left.
Only six came to him.
“You are right.” one said. “We aren’t worthy.”
“Swallowing that pride is a difficult thing to do.”
“What do we have pride in though, truly? Nothing but past glories.”
“We need to be able to stand on our own.”
“We are so few, but I shan’t give up this fight.”
“We can’t wait for a king to remake us. We need to remake ourselves to have a king.”
Stonebeak looked down at me. “Swift… I am sorry. I could have prevented this.”
“Take up your promise, and all is forgiven.” I said.
“And Hag… Thank you. You saved us all from a terrible mistake. If there is any way I can help you…”
“You can.” I said. “Take this cursed thing out of my back.”
He eyed it. “I suspect that might kill you.”
“I know better, grab and pull. I can take it.”
Internally I told Droprock to leave. He shouldn’t suffer that pain with me.
He told me that he owed me everything. And that he wasn’t going to let me so much as feel an ache until he his soul was rent asunder.
I was stunned by his honor, and Stonebeak grabbed the spike, closed his eyes, and tore it free of me.
I saw Swift’s soul. It filled with pain and agony, and yet, he actually moved to catch more. He didn’t let a single mote of that pain to reach me. I never saw anything in that much pain before.
I felt my power return, and moved. I couldn’t heal myself fully, but I could sooth myself, stop the bleeding, stop the pain.
I acted swiftly, wanting nothing more than to help Swift. I didn’t even think of myself.
Stop the bleeding, seal the inside, eat the thorn vine, use as much of my power as I could to heal what was absolutely necessary. I did everything I could.
I saw the pain reduce greatly, and slowly diminish more as the thorn vine took effect. I was bleeding heavily, but my injury was already healing and I already had a bandage on it. I looked like I had been stabbed, but it was far better than before.
Go. I told Swift. Your debt is paid a thousand times over.
Not until you are not in pain. My debt is everything. Suffering this for you is little.
I could simply eject him out with my power back. But he was so… I would have devastated him if I did so.
He had honor. And if I forced him to do what I wanted, I would spit on that honor. So I let him stay.
I saw the shard at my hooves, and picked it up. It felt numb in some ways, the magic avoiding it. I fished Swift's pouch form my own, and placed it within there before hanging that around my neck.
I turned to look at Stonebeak who looked stunned. And a bit messy.
“Thank you. That is far better now.”
“The wound seemed to shut…”
“I can heal. Eventually, all that’ll be left is a scar.”
“…Hag. Know that if you ever need anything, we will come. Even those sniveling cowards that dare to call themselves girffons.”
“I want you to take this.” he said, and held out the crown to me.
“It means nothing to me. And everything to you, keep it.”
“We… we cannot be trusted with it. You saw that this night. Even I do not have the right to hold it or even look at it. You went so far as to bring Swift back from the dead so that he and you could save us from ourselves. With no thought but our benefit. I can think of no greater holder.”
He looked at the other six. They all nodded. He carefully placed it atop my head.
“I once heard that my ancestor was a close friend to the steward of the castle. And if that had any truth and gives me any authority to do so…”
“I pronounce you the protector of our past, and the bearer of our hope. The Keeper of the Crown of Kings.”
“I never had a title before…” I murmured. “I accept. I will keep this safe for you. And perhaps one day, I can return it.”
“May I live to see that. I am old Hag.”
“So am I. Sometimes people change fast. I imagine that griffons can do the same. Don’t dismiss the idea that you will never see the change. That only means that you’re already giving up.”
“In the words of a great leader of my own kind…”
“’Always know that you can do what you want to, or you never will. And crack the skull of any idiot who thinks otherwise, reap those who try to stop you, and use their bones to climb to higher than you ever dreamed.’”
“That’s… rather violent for a pony.”
“He was a rather violent stallion. I think the words still ring true.”
“If only you were a griffon.” he said, smiling. "I think our honor would be back within a week."
“But I’m not, and that’s why I got your crown. I’ve got places to be, but I do promise to return.”
“And if you guys hadn’t cleaned up at least a little, I’m going to be pulling on a few tails.”
Stonebeak laughed. “My grandmother once said the same thing to me. Do not worry Hag. High Peak will be a place to be proud of when you return.”
“Stay safe, wherever you go!” Stonebeak yelled as I left, taking the crown and placing it within my sack. “May the winds of strength be at your back and against your enemies!”
“Spirits guide you!” I called, and stepped back out into a night. I paused outside, and then fished in my pouch for a moment.
I pulled out Swift’s skull and stared. The bone glittered like it was made of gems. And more importantly…
I could feel the effects. It was bolstering my connection to friends and encouraging me to fix my problems.
Loyalty. His skull had become the element of loyalty.
I laughed as he noticed and approved of the change. A use for his skull he called it.
I looked up again and saw the sun starting its rise. I watched the light shine on the wet stone and plants, the shadows of the mountains casting the ravines into darkness.
I had done a good thing that night. I felt renewed in my purposes and loyalty only reinforced me. I was going to fix everything I had broken, and then some more just to make up for it. And then more, because I liked helping ponies and griffons, and anything else that called this world home.
Or course, the dark magic was back, and Discord’s spell had been weakened. I didn’t know what happened to Pinkie or Rainbow, or what the changelings were up to either.
But I didn’t care.
I stepped toward the city once again with perfect confidence. I was ready. I could handle anything that would come at me. Nothing was going to stop me.
Something was already stopping the ponies that I had no idea about, but I was ready.