Charles Pathfinder – A Gryphon in Canterlot
Chapter 2
When I finally left Canterlot Castle after my audience with the two Princesses, I was overjoyed. You don’t know how hard it is to find a job. But I think I have explained this.
I was on my way. But where the buck was the office of the Canterlot weather team? You should have seen their faces, when I landed on the street. Most of them had fears in their eyes. It’s not really normal that a gryphon lands in the streets and asks somepony where he can go to the office of the weather team.
“Hey miss, can you tell me where I can find the office of the Canterlot weather team?”
“Ehm...M..Mis...Mister....I...I t-t-think they are in this d-direction.” she pointed with her hoof to the direction in front of me.
“Thank you Miss.” I answered politely.
Seriously, I don’t know why everypony is afraid of me. Could it be that I have a really deep voice or is it the way I look? But that’s not what I was there. I decided to walk the rest of the way to the office. It only took me five minutes to reach the office but to be honest I asked a lot. And they all had fear in their eyes and stuttered when they answered. But I finally reached the office. And I thought about how the ponies here will be as I knocked on the door. ‘Knock, knock, knock.’
“Who’s there?” said a voice which sounded like it belonged to a mare.
“Ehm, my name is Charles Pathfinder and I am here for the job in the weather team.” The door opened slowly and then I saw the mare behind the voice. She had a red mane and her coat was pure white. Her eyes had the colour of deep blue.
“Oh, you are a gryphon?!” she said, surprised and looked at me. She inspected me starting with my head then my claws and the rest of my body.
“Yes, I am. Would you be so kind and give your boss this letter?” I asked her calmly but with a tone that said, If you ask me what I am here for, I am going to do something that both of us will regret.
She just walked into the house and waved with one of her hooves which gave me the signal to walk into the building. She showed me to a seat and told me to wait there. So I waited patiently. And I realised that there was a discussion in one of the rooms. I heard every word.
“He has a letter sealed with the sign of Princess Celestia herself!” a male voice commented.
“But he also is a bucking gryphon! You know that he can easily kill a pony!” she countered. Her voice was filled with sorrow. “I don't want to have one of our team get hurt because this freak gets this job here.” The male voice didn’t give a response to her comment. Now I was a little bit pissed off. I stood up and walked to the room where the voices came from. I opened the door and entered the room.
“Sorry to interrupt, but I really could hear every bucking word your saying. You should not forget that I am a gryphon. I can really hear better than anypony else. So to say something about killing ponies...I don't do things like that.” I sighed “I was just thinking about leaving Canterlot because nopony wanted me here. You don't know how it is not to have a normal life. Have you ever been turned down by the whole city because you are different? I don't think so. But that doesn´t matter now. I believe I am not welcome here so I'm leaving.” I turned around and started walking away.
But then the stallion said something i would never forget. “So you have this letter sealed with Celestia’s sign and you’re just going to leave? I would be a bucking bad boss if I turn away a worker. And we need every helping hoof at the moment. But before I say yes I want to talk to you. Alone.“ He looked at the mare with a look that was meant to say get out of here.
She then turned around and left the room. “I'm watching you.” she said to me with narrowed eyes and an angry tone.
After the mare left the room he offered me a seat “So what is your name?”
“My name is Charles Pathfinder.” I answer his question politely. “But why do you want to speak to me alone? I mean am I not frightening to you?” I asked him curiously. “To be honest I've wanted to talk to a gryphon for a long time now.“ he said to me. “So where are you from and what brought you here to Canterlot, Charles?”
“I am from the mountains in the west. They are even farther away than Manehatten. To answer your question, what brought me here to Canterlot. I have been given into the care of the orphanage in Canterlot. My parents died while they tried to free me from the slavery of the Diamond dogs. Since then I just lived here.“ I answered with tears in my eyes. The lose of my parents was still fresh in my mind.
“Drink this Charles.” he offered me a glass with some amber coloured water. I drank it and my throat started to burn like hell. I realised that he gave me whisky. Most things have been really new to me. Like alcohol or a place to stay forever. “I have some other questions for you. I read here that you have been imprisoned for theft. Is that true?”
“This is True.” Now I looked at the stallion in front of me. His eyes had a deep brown colour. The colour of his mane was yellow and his coat was green like leaves. I also noticed his cutie mark. It was a dark cloud with lightning coming out of it. On each side of the cloud there were wings.
“Hmm and you also don't have a school graduation. That means that you can't read is that true?” he asked worriedly.
“Ehm, I started teaching myself mathematics. My parents taught me how to read. I am also really interested in history and some other subjects. But I was never allowed to graduate or even visit a school here in Canterlot. That would explain why I don't have a graduation.“ I explained him.
“Do you have any hobbies?”
“I played guitar but I don't have money to buy a new one and the last guitar I played was when I was in the orphanage. I visit the Canterlot library every second day to get myself better educated.“
“Anything else I have to know?“
“Only that I go hunting. I just eat small animals like fish.”
“Yeah i forgot that I am talking to a predator.”he laughed softly but the tension was gone. I feel like i am welcome. “Oh yeah I forgot to introduce myself. I am White Quill. And the mare you saw on your way in was Free Spirit, but everyone calls her Birdie. The rest of the team is going to be here soon. So welcome to the team Charles. Now I just need your address so i know where to send the money you earned.“
“Ehm I don't have a place to stay...I never had a job so I was never able to pay for a flat.”
“Oh so where do you normally sleep then?”
“Under bridges, on clouds or wherever I can find a place to sleep.” I explained to him sounding calm on the outside. I was anything but calm on the inside. It was something I normally don't talk about with somepony who is gonna be my boss. And especially ponies I don't know that long. But something made me feel comfortable around him so I just told him this.
“We have some rooms here...We call it the shack. Its just a small bed and some place for yourself. We normally rent them to ponies who only stay one night but I thought since you don't have a place to stay, I am gonna rent a room to you. I will take the rent from your payment if thats ok with you.“ I was completely stunned. I found a job and got a place to live with it. “There is a shower and a toilet inside. Follow me.” I just nodded and followed him. “Here is the kitchen. You can get coffee and tea here. You can make your breakfast and everything else you might need here as well.“ I was still following him. I thought why doesn't he fear that I might ambush him? I think he knows that I am not the type of gryphon to attack anypony.
We arrived at a door. He opened it and inside was a small bed. I was really happy to see it. I don't remember when I last saw a bed. I think it was when I was in prison. This bed was so fluffy. I mean come on. I've never seen a bed as fluffy as this one. The cushion was white like the rest of the bed. It reminded me of sleeping on a cloud but this cloud is gonna be on the ground. I just smiled. White Quill saw this and laughed.
“So you feel like a kid again hmm?“ he commented and I just nodded “Wait till you see the bathroom.” he was beaming because he knew what was going to happen.
“Where do you normally wash yourself?”
“I only washed myself today. This was the first time in two years that I washed myself.” His facial expression looked like he was utterly shocked.
“Now go and take a shower since this is gonna be your room!” he ordered. “Here is some soap and everything you need.” He pointed into the bathroom. “I'll wait in the kitchen. Oh and here is your key. Don't lose it!“ He tossed me a key and left.
The warm water felt great. This was the first time I had relaxed after the orphanage and the prison. In the orphanage we only had one shower for 10 fillies and one gryphon. And you can guess who wasn't able to get into the shower...Yeah it was me. In the prison we had a shower in every cell but we had to share it with the other prisoner in the same cell. Better than in the orphanage but still pretty bad. It took me twenty minutes to finish with my shower and i looked much better. When i got to the kitchen White Quill took one look at me and said “Damn you look really stunning and I am not a coltcuddler.” I blushed a little bit and said something like thanks. “But you have to get to know the rest of the team and honestly, I'm afraid of what their reactions will be.“ he sighed. “Follow me. I told them that we are going to get a new member in the team but I didn't told them that this new member is a gryphon.“ I followed him and then he suddenly signalled for me to stay there.
“Hello everypony. You know why we are all here?“ White Quill said with a deep voice to be heard over the murmur in the room. “You know we are getting a new member of our team today. What you didnt know is that this new member is a gryphon.” Suddenly the crowd began to be very loud and I got a little bit nervous.
“Calm down everypony!” he shouted. “I have personally met with and talked to said gryphon and do not believe him to be a threat. Before anypony says anything I want to show you our new member. Everypony, meet Charles Pathfinder.“ He signalled for me to enter the room.
When I entered the room there was silence. They stared at me like they thought i was going to attack them right then and there. I was really nervous. My feathers on my neck have stood up because i was so nervous. I looked like a nervous, fluffy ball. Ok not like a fluffy ball but I looked fluffy. And it seemed that they just ignored myself being a gryphon.
“Ehm...hello everypony. I am Charles Pathfinder and I hope we are going to work together really well.“ I said nervously and thought to myself ‘they are going to hate me.’ But what happened after I said this surprised me. Everypony greeted me with friendly smiles and told me that they hope working with me will be fun. I don't know what just happened. After everypony went home only White Quill and I were left.
“Do you have something to eat Charles? I mean you need something to eat. And you don't have any bits. And that means you can't buy anything. I have something you might like. How about some apples from Sweet Apple Acres?“ he asked me.
“I flew over this place before but I never tried their apples.“ He throw one into my direction and I caught it easily. “They look delicious.”
“Try it.” was the only thing he said.
I bit into the apple. And then it was like buck you've never eaten something like that. It was so sweet that I thought I was going to die from deliciousness. White Quill saw that and smiled.
“If you like their apples then what do you think about trying some of their apple products?”
“Boss, you know how to make me feel comfortable. I think I am going to visit Sweet Apple Acres when I have some free time. But before visit Ponyville, I think going to work is enough for me. It´s just a new beginning for me. Today was a very long day and was very exciting.“ I explained to him “I am going to visit the library and rent some books. You know, education and all these things are not waiting for me.“ I smiled a little bit.
“I understand” he smiled back. “I hope you are going to finish your graduation soon.”
After that we said goodbye to each other and I walked to the library. Ok i didnt walk because you know they were all frightened of the gryphon on the ground. When I reached the library, the librarian saw me and thought I was some other gryphon. After I told her what happened, I asked her for several book on math, history, equestrian languages and another history book i was looking for. This history book is about what happened to the gryphons. I rented all the books i had asked for and promised to bring them back quickly.
When I reached my new home, I put all the books on the desk I had in my room. I brushed my teeth and looked at myself in the mirror. What I saw was different from what I saw when I was in the prison. I was happy. I had a home and I had an opportunity to earn myself a place in Equestria. A peaceful place with no slavery and no aggression against other races.
Then I laid down in my bed and thought about what would be happening tomorrow on my first day at work. As i thought about this, i fell asleep. Damn I must have been really tired.