Chapter Thirteen
Memorizing Gaze
Teleporting in front of the Royal Guards headquarters, Memorizing Gaze immediately rushed in, heading for the main meeting room for the Captains as the daily meeting should not have ended yet. In the back of his head he noted how empty the building felt, with the normal bushel absent. There, he looked around, and saw several of the other Captains with their emotions out of their normal alignments.
"Captain Sun!" he called, catching the older stallion's attention as he was building up a spell, no doubt his teleportation spell. "What's going on here?"
Blazen Sun turned to him, his eyes narrowing for a moment before he relaxed slightly. "That's a complicated matter," he said. "You might want to ask our Acting Captain General, if you can find him - he's currently out in the city somewhere."
"Acting?" Memorizing looked astonished. "What happened to Captain General Gentle Step?"
"Something came up, and she had to take a personal day," Sweet Surprise sounded unusually grim from where she was sitting with her emotions seething with rage. "Mist Flight is in charge until she comes back."
Memorizing breathed a sigh of relief as he heard that. He'd been familiar with Gents' lieutenant for years, and the grizzled veteran was one of those whom he'd long known, even without his inherent empathic abilities, to be a hundred percent loyal to her and to Equestria.
Despite that, Memorizing knew he needed answers now. "Was it Captain General Flight's decision to release the information on the Hatcheries so abruptly?"
"It was," Blazen Sun answered. "And he had a very good reason for doing so."
"I'm listening," Memorizing said as he faced his fellow Captain.
"It's like this..."
Wind Breaker
“How are you doing, Wind?” Night asked as the two of them flew through Canterlot.
Wind Breaker let out a deep breath that he hadn’t even realized he’d been holding. “I’m… well, I’m still in shock, really. Even with everything we’ve been through, I never would have expected something like this to ever happen, even with what Memorizing said the other day about his guards investigating a couple of Hatcheries.”
“Neither had I.” Night Blade looked ahead for a moment to check their flight path, then turned an eye back to his friend. “Though now that the Nightmare is gone, things do seem to be improving here.”
“That they are,” Wind Breaker agreed. “For now, at least… but I can’t help but think the other horseshoe is just waiting to drop right when we least expect it.” He sighed. “We barely won that last fight in time, and I’m not going to kid myself - we did good there, and we worked as a team, but even if all of the Captains had joined in, we probably wouldn’t have won the fight in the end if the Nightmare hadn’t slipped up and given Xvital the final key to unlocking her Element so we could call on Harmony’s full power like we did. Even if we can call on it again... who knows what’ll happen the next time something big like that comes out of the woodwork?”
Night Blade cocked his head at him. “That’s a rather pessimistic view of things… but I can understand where you’re coming from.” He flicked an eye around for a moment. “You’re thinking about that other enemy, aren’t you? The one Applejack hinted at when you got your Element, the one all of them said we weren’t ready for.”
“That thing and all the demons we know are locked up in Tartarus,” Wind Breaker said as he kept flying. “I bet most of those freaks would love another shot at the Captain General after what she did down there even before she got promoted.”
“Point taken.” Night Blade sighed. “Still, we can always hope…”
Turning his head as he saw where they were, he signaled to Wind Breaker that it was almost time to land, and the two swooped down, getting into the back of the line.
“Hey!” a griffon ahead of them snarled as he saw Night stepping in next to Wind Breaker. “This is the line for the hatchery’s information - and it’s griffons only, pal!”
“Yeah, and you sure don’t look like a griffon,” another one right ahead of the first one sneered. “So get lost!”
Night Blade looked like he was about to say something, when Wind Breaker interrupted them. “Back off!”
“Yeah right,” the first griffon snapped. “What are you going to do about it if we don’t, little guy?”
Wind Breaker took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down, then looked at them. “My friend is here for moral support,” he said, still seething inwardly. “If you don’t like it, bite me!”
“And me,” another voice rumbled behind them.
The two griffons looked back and froze. “D… Diamond Back!” one gasped. “We didn’t-”
“Didn’t know it was me in line ahead of you?” The larger griffon harrumphed. “Well, now you know.”
As the rude pair backed off, Diamond Back shook his head. “You go ahead,” he told them. “I need to talk to these two.”
“R-right away!” one stammered.
Wind ducked his head as Diamond Back went around the two griffons and moved closer to him. “You didn’t have to give up your place in line,” he said quietly.
“Hey, I’ve been wanting to catch up with you for days,” the larger griffon replied with a smile on his beak. “I haven’t seen you since all that craziness when you got back. Guards been keeping you out of the public eye, I’m guessing.”
“Exactly,” Night Blade replied as he eyed the griffon. “Pardon me for interrupting, but I don’t believe we’ve been formally introduced. I’m Night Blade.” He held out a hoof.
Diamond Back shook it, although he looked somewhat worried. “Diamond Back. You been keeping an eye on Wind here, I take it?”
“We all watch one another’s backs,” Night said. “In fact, as I recall, Wind here was watching my marefriend’s back even before they knew one another… he saved her life after another griffon didn’t pay attention and nearly dropped a load of supplies on her.” He narrowed his eyes at Diamond Back, and the larger griffon gulped as he realized just who he was talking to.
“You remember that, then,” he said quietly, his wings drooping a bit. “Look, for what it’s worth, it was an accident, one that I take full responsibility for… and I really am sorry about the whole thing.”
Night Blade nodded. “Since nopony was actually hurt, I accept your apology, as long as Page does too the next time you meet her,” he said stiffly.
Diamond Back nodded back. “I’ll do that, sir.” He then looked around and caught Wind’s eye. “So… who’d have ever thought we’d really be free like this?”
“Nopony, that’s who,” Wind Breaker said as the three of them stepped back when a flood of griffons exited the building, all of them talking eagerly with each other. The Royal Guard up ahead waved more in and seemed about to stop when he spotted their group.
“You three,” the Guard shouted at them, waving them ahead of other griffons who were all protesting. His eye briefly flicked upwards before ushering them inside of the makeshift office that had a large number of other griffons sitting around as Royal Guards began to call out names and direct to them to other offices. He left them in a waiting room, going back outside.
“You two, let me you see your Ledgers,” the Guard at the desk shouted, causing Wind and Diamond to wince but they moved forwards and pulled out their books. The Guard in question then hoofed them over to an Inspector that Wind didn’t recognize. Accepting the Ledgers, the Inspector began studying them before flicking his eyes to them. In response, both griffons let out a groan as they pulled out a feather for the Inspector to judge against the recorded magic signature in their books. After a moment, he signaled that everything was as it should be.
“Sit over there and wait to be called,” the Guard behind the desk said before looking at Night. “What are you doing here sir?”
“Support for my friend,” Night said, already sitting down in a chair.
The Guard simply took this in stride, moving onto his list of names and the next griffons in line and they had no other choice but to follow suit, Wind settling in next to Night and Diamond taking the seat on Wind’s other side.
Despite the large hustle and bustle and assorted commotion, it was surprisingly quiet and that made things awkward.
“So Wind Breaker,” Diamond Back said, tilting his head down at Wind Breaker. “Have you thought about what we talked about last time we were together?”
NIght’s ear shot up as quickly as Wind’s heart dropped.
“What is he talking about,” he asked quietly.
“Long story,” Wind whispered back. Turning to Diamond Back, he swallowed hard. “I’m… still trying to figure it out myself,” he admitted, shifting on the chair. “When I know, I’ll tell you.”
Diamond Back seemed surprisingly calm at this. “I understand,” he said. “Not every day somepony - or somegriffon, I guess I should say - drops a bombshell like how they’ve had a crush on you for so long without saying anything about it before.”
At this, Night Blade’s eyebrows rose so high that for a moment it looked like they might secede from his face, but Wind Breaker was relieved when he said nothing.
“Yeah, I can safely say that was something I was not expecting,” he admitted, tapping his talons together. “Also something I haven’t told most of my friends about either.”
“Uh, sorry about that,” Diamond Back said with a shrug of his shoulders. “Guess I shouldn’t mention the kiss, either?”
If it were possible, it seemed that Night Blade’s eyebrows were raising even higher, and Wind Breaker blushed nervously. “Yes,” he said. “That would probably be a good idea.”
Diamond Back looked somewhat abashed, and at this point, Night Blade spoke up. “Just when did this happen anyway, Wind Breaker?”
“When we were running from the guards after the- er, you know what, showed itself to us,” Wind Breaker said. “The day we got back to Canterlot. I ran into Diamond Back and he helped me get out of sight for a few minutes, and then he, er… well, you know, before I went on.” He blushed even redder.
Night Blade nodded his head. “I see.” He then blinked his eyes and a grin grew on his face. “So, I am guessing you would absolutely hate me if I were to tell Vix-Lei about this?”
“Oh you massive dick, you wouldn’t dare,” Wind Breaker hissed, rolling over to jab a talon into his side.
“As much fun as it would be, you know I wouldn’t do that, right?” Night said as he moved his talon off his chest.
“Yeah,” Wind said, nodding his head in agreement. “You’re not that much of an asshole.”
Night gave him a look, but the expression on Wind’s face told him his friend was only joking. Clearing his throat, he glanced over at Diamond Back, who had a very patient look on his own face. “My apologies, but I needed to get that little round of teasing out of my system.”
“‘S okay,” Diamond Back waved it off. “I know how good it is to tease Windy here.”
“And in hindsight, a lot of it makes so much sense,” Wind said with a sigh.
“Sure do-”
“Back, Diamond; room four,” a voice barked, causing them to jump. Diamond blinked and gave an uneasy look before he stood up and began to walk off.
Once the two were alone, there were a few moments of quiet, Wind looking in the direction Diamond Back had gone before turning to Night Blade, who was giving him a rather deadpan stare.
“So.” Night Blade arched an eyebrow again. “When exactly were you planning to mention any of this?”
“I was planning to keep it as quiet as possible until I’d sorted out my own feelings on it!” Wind Breaker hissed. “Page knows, I told her yesterday because I knew I could trust her to keep it quiet and not tease me, also because she needed some reassurance that she wasn’t the only one worried about what to say to somepony, or somegriffon in both our cases. Like how the Matron was going to react when she told her the truth.”
“Ah.” Night Blade nodded. “That’s understandable.”
“It doesn’t bother you, does it?” Wind gave him a look. “Two guys…”
“As long as neither of you tries to hit on me, I have no objection whatsoever,” Night Blade replied.
Wind Breaker let out a sigh of relief. “That’s good.”
“Besides, Page would kill me if I tried something like that without her permission,” Night said with a smirk. “If she says yes…”
“Breaker, Wind, room six,” a voice called.
“Wait what,” Wind Breaker blinked in surprise, then rose out of his chair. “Look, it’s my turn but can we talk about that afterwards?”
“Sure,” Night said, sticking his tongue out. “I’ll be here when you come back.”
Wind Breaker snorted and shook his head, then headed into the room he was being directed to.
Inside the room was a young bat pony that looked very familiar for some reason behind a desk covered with files, and as he settled into a chair in front of the desk, the Royal Guard flicked his eyes upwards.
“Don’t sit sir, we should be done shortly,” he said as he looked through the stacks. “Aerial Drift, right?”
“Uh, no, it’s Wind Breaker,” he said causing the pony to let out a barely restrained snort of laughter. “And like I’ve told my friends, I’ve heard all the jokes.”
“I’m not laughing at you sir, just at how slapdash this operation is,” the pony said as he eyed the papers. “You might want to sit down after all, this will take a few minutes.”
Wind Breaker nodded, then watched in fascination as the bat pony began looking through the papers. All the while, he couldn’t help but wonder who the pony reminded him of. “You said slapdash?” he asked, causing the pony to tilt an ear upwards and shoot him a look before going back to his paperwork.
“Yes; due to reasons I am not at liberty to discuss, this operation should have been spaced out over the next week with far more organization to all of this,” the pony said shaking his head. “To be honest, I’m not even supposed to be here right now. I was visiting my grandparents with my father when I was called up to help today.”
“Yet you still came here?” Wind Breaker asked as the stallion lifted up a stack of files and moved them to a filing cabinet.
“Oh yes,” he grinned viciously, showing a lot of teeth. “When I heard why everything is being pushed up, I could not stay away.”
Wind Breaker snorted at that, finally realizing where he recognized this pony from. “You know, you kinda remind me of my friend when you grin like that.”
“Really? I didn’t know that I looked like a griffon.” the young stallion began to rifle through the filing cabinets, eying some file before shaking his head and looking at another.
Wind Breaker shook his head. “He’s not a griffon. Night’s a bat pony like you.”
“Well, that’s ni-wait, did you say Night?” The Guard whipped his head around, staring intently at him.
“Yes I did,” Wind Breaker watched as the Guard started to grin and actually stop his work, causing him to worry as he never knew a Royal Guard to stop in a job.
“Night, as in Night Bla… wait, you’re that Wind Breaker,” he slapped his forehead as he reached into his armour and pulled out a key. “Give me a moment and I will have your file ready. Due to who you are, we had it secured for you Wind Breaker.”
“Wait, how do you know Night?” Wind Breaker asked, somewhat confused.
“He’s my uncle, that’s how I know him,” the Guard replied. “I’m Striking Blade.”
Wind Breaker’s jaw dropped. “No wonder you looked so familiar! But, you look to be the same age...”
Striking nodded. “Uncle Night’s actually a year younger than me. And boy were my grandparents surprised…”
“So I’ve heard,” Wind Breaker said, shaking his head. “Just how close were you two, anyway?”
“Not very, unfortunately,” Striking said as he headed back to the locked drawer. “Father was stationed in Vanhoover for most of my foalhood, and during our visits here, Uncle Night and I never spent too much time together. It was somewhat odd having an uncle who was younger than I was, and I suppose that’s part of why we never quite bonded.”
“And the other part?”
“Night was a complete and utter brat at times and that made it so easy to bug him like what I would guess a kid brother would be like,” he chuckled awkwardly as he opened the drawer. “And he was never good at hiding the fact we were fighting or stuff.”
“Yet he was able to hide the fact he had a marefriend for so long,” Wind chuckled quietly, then looked aghast at himself.
“Wait, what?” Striking turned to stare at him in astonishment, the file almost sliding from his hoof. “When did that happen?”
“Not long after he got his talent emblem,” Wind Breaker said. “Of course, now your grandparents know, but they haven’t met her yet.”
Striking shook his head, clearly still amazed. “Wow. There’s something I never expected to hear… heck, I’ve never had a marefriend before, but he does?”
“And she’s one of my friends too,” Wind added. “I’m sure you’ll get to meet her eventually.”
“I hope so.” Striking shook his head. “If she can put up with a temper like his, she must be some mare.”
“You’ll get no argument from me on that.” Wind Breaker smiled. “But I think we’re getting a little far from my original purpose here.”
“Of course.” Striking Blade cleared a few files out of the way, leaving an open spot for the one he was still holding. “Here you go sir,” he said as he slid it across the desk.
Opening the file, Wind Breaker began reading, and after a few moments, his eyes widened. “Oh dear goddesses…”
“I am sorry to say that you are not the only one, but you do need to move along as you have been here far too long.” Striking Blade looked almost apologetic.
“Right.” Snapping the file shut, Wind Breaker tucked it into his saddlebag. “Thank you for your help, and I’ll be sure to tell your uncle you said hello.”
Striking nodded. “You’re welcome, and have a good day, sir.”
Heading back out into the waiting room, Wind Breaker headed straight for Night Blade. “Enjoy your wait?”
“Well, nopony tried to attack me, so I count that as a plus,” Night Blade replied. “I take it you have your information?”
“I do,” Wind Breaker said softy. “And it’s big… really big.”
“How bad?” Night looked more worried than he was right now.
“Remember how we all reacted to some of what we found out last night?” Wind Breaker asked. “It’s that kind of big.” He looked down. “All this time… I thought...” He broke off for a moment.
“Wind?” Night asked as he rose out of his seat.
“I promise, I’ll explain once we’re all back together,” Wind said, still feeling down. “But it’s a good thing the hatcheries are being shut down, given what some of them got up to. And here I thought I was in one of the better ones...”
Night Blade nodded. “Back to the hotel then?”
“Probably be a good idea.” Wind Breaker glanced at him, doing his best to force his actual mood down for now. “By the way, your nephew says hello.”
Night Blade’s head whipped around. “What?”
“Your nephew, Striking Blade, is the one who got me my file,” Wind Breaker said. “He was in town with his dad to visit your parents, but he got called into work today.”
Night Blade shook his head. “Well. That was unexpected.”
“And I kind of accidentally mentioned you had a marefriend to him, but not her name,” Wind added. “I swear, I was not planning to say anything, but it just popped out there.”
“Considering my parents and Crooked already know, I suppose it was only a matter of time before the rest of my family found out,” Night said with a sigh. “Well, let’s be off.”
Wind nodded, and the two headed for the door.
Outside, they found Diamond Back waiting for them, a concerned look on his face. “Everything go all right?” he asked.
“As far as getting my information, yes,” Wind Breaker said. “It’s… pretty bad, how about yours?”
“I’ve got family out in Las Pegasus apparently,” Diamond said with a happy grin on his beak. “According to this, I had some free relatives trying to earn enough to pay off my debts all these years.”
“Congratulations.” Wind Breaker held out a talon, and Diamond Back shook it before pulling him in for a tight hug and peck on the side of his beak. Pushing away as he heard Night snicker, Wind turned his head out to the street to see chaos as countless griffons filled the streets, some of them celebrating, some arguing with each other and the few Guards present.
“Wow.” Diamond Back looked at them in amazement. “I haven’t seen streets this wild since I read that article about the Maredi Gras celebrations a few months ago.”
“Personally, it’s making me nervous,” Wind Breaker said. “I think we’d better find someplace to keep out of the way.”
“You kidding me?” Diamond Back gave Wind a look as if he was crazy. “This is totally our time to celebrate!”
Before Wind Breaker could say anything, the taller griffon joined the throng of griffons, easily fitting in with the celebrations with somepony actually sliding him a tankard of booze before he disappeared from sight.
“I don’t think we can fly this time Wind,” Night said, nudging his side as he pointed at the sky that had Guards flying around and forcing griffons to land. “This won’t be easy but I think we can do it.”
Wind Breaker nodded his head as the two of them began push their way through the crowd of griffons.
Night seemed to have an easier time moving through the crowd, shoving and pushing just as hard as the griffons were fighting back.
He had to admit, seeing Night roar right back into their faces was pretty cool although it made Wind Breaker aware of how ungriffon-like he was. Holding back an uneasy sigh as he was offered a pitcher of beer, Wind Breaker really wanted to get back to the hotel and take a more in-depth look at his file. He shuddered for a moment, and wondered just how many other griffons were like him and how the Hatcheries could have done this to so many of his kind.
“Okay, move aside!” Night roared at the top of his lungs, pushing a mountain griffon out of the way as the bat pony pulled him into an alcove. “Okay, Wind, I know you wanted to wait for the hotel but tell me now what was in your file. You need to tell me so you can get your head back on straight before we get through here.” Night then bared his fangs as a pair of female griffons came nearby. “No distractions, honesty now.”
“I can always count on you to be direct to the point Night,” Wind rolled his eyes before shifting on the the spot. “You know how most Hatchery griffons got there, right? Because the mother gave up her egg in exchange for reducing her debt?”
“Yes as well as the father doing the same deed without the mother’s permission…” Night trailed off, no doubt thinking the worst.
“Apparently, not all of us got there that way,” Wind said with a scowl. “Some of us were stolen from free griffons, and according to this, I’m one of them. The records says I am from an orphanage in the Essex region of the Griffish Isles.”
Night gave him a long stare before shaking his head. “As soon as we get back, I am going to contact my mother to get my family’s private skimmer yacht ready while we start preparing to head overseas immediately.”
“Just like that?” Wind Breaker blinked in confusion.
“Of course,” Night nodded his head. “And I’ll have to see who’s available to pilot it… no offense intended to Vix-Lei, but I would like to make it to our destination without any of us,” and here he let out a cough that sounded suspiciously like Xvital, “getting airsick. Also, I am sure that the insurance companies will flat out refuse to cover us with her behind the wheel.”
“Isn’t your family beyond rich?” Wind Breaker tilted his head.
“Yes and does that change anything?”
“Nope,” Wind Breaker chuckled before tilting his head the other way. “Do you smell that?”
Night sniffed the air and his ears fell backwards. “Fire,” he hissed out. “We should move no-”
“Hey brother,” a large griffon appeared from behind, slapping a talon onto his shoulder. “Come with me.” Before Wind Breaker had a chance to say anything, he was directed to a large gathering of griffons cheering in front of a massive bonfire. As soon as they arrived, the griffons parted the way for him and Night so they could reach the inner line. As soon as they did, Wind’s breath was stolen from him as he saw that the fuel for this fire was books.
“My free brothers and sisters, we have another free brother with us!” the griffon who had led him to the line announced, and the rest of the crowd roared out their approval. The leader of the group then held up a Ledger before looking at Wind Breaker. “This, my brother, is a symbol of the oppression that we have endured for too long, a symbol of control over our very lives, a symbol of slavery in another name by the ponies who have tried to squeeze our spirits, stifle our minds and hold our hearts in bondage. Today, the bloated and corrupted Hatchery system is no more!” The crowd roared out angrily and loudly at this. “My brothers and sisters, the ponies might no longer be able to continue their monstrous system, but we should not keep this symbol alive!” He turned to Wind Breaker and placed a talon gently on his shoulder. “My brother, the fire awaits; do away with the Ledger that chained you and be truly free.”
Wind Breaker knew this guy was completely off his gourd but what he was saying made sense and…
Before he knew what he was doing, he pulled out his own Ledger and threw it into the pile, feeling his heart lighten up as he saw the book burn in the pile of other books, his heart soaring as the pages were caught in the air. He stared at the fire and thought of how right this griffon leader was sound-
“Wind,” Night hissed as he grabbed his side. “We need to leave now.” Wind Breaker was about to protest when he saw that Night was worried. “These griffons are getting really riled up and there are no Guards here.”
Wind Breaker saw that the other griffons were now grabbing other stuff to throw into the fire and more than one griffon was glaring angrily at Night. It would only be a matter of time before somepony did something stupid and things got ugly.
Pushing themselves upwards, the two of them flew as fast as they could, with the sounds of windows being smashed trailing behind them.
“I’ll tell you,” Wind Breaker huffed as he flew, “This is not how I expected my day to go!”
“Neither did I,” Night called back. “Then again, our lives have been full of surprises since the day of the Honour Festival!”
“No kidding.” Wind Breaker peered forward. “And knowing us, they’re not likely to stop anytime soon!”
Banking a bit as they rounded a corner, the pair paused to catch their breath, looking back at the spreading chaos.
Night tilted his head and said something that made Wind Breaker’s blood run cold. “Where are the Guards?”
“I don’t know but I think we got out just in time.” Wind Breaker said before looking at Night. “Thank you again, for everything today.”
“It’s no problem,” Night said before brushing against him. “Come, let’s go.”
With that, the two took off into the air again, flying towards the hotel once more.