//------------------------------// // The Cafe Ambush // Story: It's Ninja Time! // by PonyPixel //------------------------------// Ponyville was going through its daily activities, even at the School of Friendship. Something that was a little different right now would be a teenage dragon named Prominence, she was visiting there from the Dragon Lands. She certainly made herself known to the community for her competitive behavior. She met the students there, especially her own kind who are studying there, including Smolder of course. While she managed to get on the good side of a couple of dragons and some of the other students, like Garry and Geena, plus a couple of yaks like Trud. Most of them weren't really up for her brash personality. Still, many creatures were willing to try and warm up to her. It was almost evening, the sun was about to set on the hills, Prominence was hanging out with Sunshine, Gus, and some of the dragon students excluding Smolder. They were at the Ponyville Cafe talking about how things were going for them, exchanging their bits of information, and more while having the nice drink of their ordered refreshments like iced tea or lemonade. Mosty, it was Prominence learning about how the dragons had been doing at the school. She was a little surprised by what she heard from them. "Okay, so... Ballet," Prominence spoke up first, putting down her cup of soda. "It’s some kind of a pony dance, right?" "Sure is," Pyther, who was sitting beside her, confirmed, then took a sip of her half-finished iced tea. "If it involves wearing that weird skirt, you wouldn't catch me dead in it." "Heh. Probably because it would've taken all of your life to learn it." Pyther snickered to herself as Emerald determined to speak next. "Exactly,” Emerald, who was also sitting beside her together with her twin sister, said, still holding her cup of lemonade. “Anyways, I'm a part of the school's journalist club for the school’s newspaper. We report any story that needs attention. Like… only a few weeks ago, there’s this family of pegasi that adopted an eight-year-old male griffon who was poorly abandoned, trying to find some food." “Really!” Emerald nodded. “How was he now?” “He was doing fine. Gallus and Smolder said that his adoptive sister was very jealous of him, and she finally reconciled with him afterward.” "That sounds cool. What else?" "Well, we've been wanting to get an interview with you. We're very curious about how you've been doing in Ponyville so far." "Eh,… it's fine I guess. Wish I didn't have to be so cautious about my surroundings. Why do ponies have to make their homes so fragile?" "Probably because we live in a rocky area," Pyther spoke with a chuckle. "Yeah," Gus agreed, still drinking his cup of soda. "You should learn how to deal with wooden structures." Prominence just rolled her eyes as she looked toward Flare and Tanzanite, who were right in front of them, both drinking their cups of lemonade. "So, what do you guys do?" "Oh, I… I haven't found my thing at school yet," Tanz admitted. "It's a real shame. I thought I would've gotten the hang of potions." "Eh, I think I did okay," Flare scoffed. "You made a love poison that caused the students to go crazy over each other. And don't even think about throwing Tarsi under the cart with you." "Well… How did that book even get into the classroom?" "You think I know?" As they argue, Prominence stopped listening to the boys as she knew they were going to be like this for a while. Instead, she drew her attention to the twins beside her. "Okay, so what do you girls do?" Prominence asked. “I’ve already heard Emerald about telling interesting stories, what about you, Peridot?” "Oh… Ugh… I'm a cheerleader," Peridot responded nervously. "It's pretty fun." "Is that another pony sport in a dress?" Peridot nodded in confirmation "Great. Is there anything that ponies don't do while wearing a skirt?" "Yes. They have Buckball," Sunshine informed. "From what I've heard it's a blast to play." "Heh. Sounds good to me. Remind me to try it out sometime." The hippogriff gave a thumbs up before he noticed the sun was setting. "Hey, maybe we should be getting back to school," Sunshine said. “Look outside.” They looked out to see the town’s atmosphere turned from bright to the shade of yellow and orange. "Yeah, you’re right. It’s getting kind of late," Emerald commented. "Hey, we can still talk about what you guys do here," Prominence said. “Yep. C’mon, let’s go.” Gus, Sunshine, and the dragons got up and started heading back towards the school. Peridot was the first to open the door and let her friends out of the cafe first. As they're walking, little do they know that they're unaware that somebody was following them. The figure who was following them looked to be bipedal like the dragons and even had some black horns pointing backward. The body was covered up with black clothing though Its red eyes showed through its mask, which matched the scarf it wore. In between its eyes, there were yellow scales. On the creature's back was a slightly curved hilt that had a blade resting in it. Attached to its belt, the figure had some star-shaped blades on its left side and a pouch that was filled with some orange powder on the right side. Jumping off the top of trees and buildings, the figure followed the group that consisted mostly of dragons. Again, the students weren’t aware that they'd been followed. "I can't say I didn't want to come here," Pyther admitted. "I was still kind of going with what the former Dragon Lord, Torch, said about ponies here." "Yeah. I'm busy thinking about the dragon who wanted to steal pillows," Prominence commented. "I mean... I still like rocks, but pillows are something I never got enough of. You know, they’re soft, fluffy…” As they kept chatting, the figure looked down at the dragon and grabbed the pouch, and chucked it very hard down to the ground, making the powder burst and spread to form an orange cloud. This made them shriek as they were engulfed in the thick cloud. They were puzzled. “What was that?” Sunshine said in shock. “I don’t know…” Gus replied. They then heard loud sneezes and coughs. They then see that the dragons were having a much bigger problem. They coughed and even sneezed out some fire. They weren't in control of themselves right now. “What’s going on!!!???” "What… WHEEZE!… What is this stuff?" Flare wheezed. Emerald let out several coughs and sneezes before she answered. "I think... ACHOO!… this is dragon… ACHOO!… sneeze powder," she sneezed. The thick orange cloud was making it hard to breathe, let alone speak. Seeing the trouble their friends were in, Gus and Sunshine started helping them get out of the cloud. They only managed to pull Peridot and Tanz out of the cloud. They still kept sneezing and coughing. “You two are okay?” Gus asked with a concerned tone. “We’re okay,” Tanzanite coughed. Peridot then let out a very loud sneeze with fire coming out of her mouth, and smoke coming out of her nostrils. “Good enough. You stay here, me and Sunshine will get the others.” Gus and Sunshine are about to get back in to save their dragon friends, that’s when they saw the mysterious figure who threw the powder bomb leaped down into it. It first jabbed Pyther in very precise places of her body. From neck to armpits, to hips, and stomach. Whatever the combination was, Pyther went limp and collapsed roughly to the ground. "Gah! Why can't I move?" Pyther said to herself, unable to feel her whole body. At a speed of light, this figure then went to Emerald and did the same to her. From neck to armpits, to hips, and stomach. She felt limped and then collapsed. And then again, the same thing to Flare, from neck to armpits, to hips, and stomach. He went limp and collapsed, not feeling anything in his body. Prominence saw what happened to them in horror, and she had yet to be attacked and tried to fight the unknown figure back. Her continuous sniffling and stinging eyes have made it harder than it usually would be. She could barely see. Though she could feel the figure jabbing her in specific places that made her body stop working. Her arms and legs couldn't support her and Prominence collapsed like the rest of the dragons. Gus and Sunshine tried tackling the figure to the ground, but he appeared to be much stronger than them. They were being flung into the air. It then grabbed those star-shaped blades and threw them at its targets. They were nearly stabbed by them. "Oh my goodness, that was close!" Sunshine cried. He flew off to get help, though Gus wasn't letting the figure off with an easy victory. The griffon dove down just as the figure was drawing out a blade from its sheet. Gus rammed into him, forcing the long curved blade out of its claws, and landed beside the unconscious dragons, still laying down like they’re dead. The griffon decided to take the bipedal creature up to the sky. Since it didn't have wings, it wouldn't be able to fly, though it did something surprising. It kicked Gus in the stomach, making the griffon lose his grip. It hurts so much, he almost collapsed. Given how high they got, Gus thought there was going to be a pancake on the ground in a minute. The figure then saw Sunshine and then punched him in the bells as hard as he could. Sunshine yelled in pain, and small drops of tears came out of his eyes. He collapsed a little and held his area with his claws as it was very painful to handle. However, the creature removed its scarf and lassoed a nearby tree branch, swinging back into the air with the tail just centimeters from the ground. It soon unhooked the scarf from the tree and landed. Running over to the blade, it picked the sword up and dropped a smoke bomb on the ground. Gus and Sunshine, still in pain, flew to the smoke cloud to find that the figure had vanished. "Where did he go?" Sunshine questioned, still holding his injured parts. “Don’t know. He just ran away.” This question would have to be answered later as they drew their attention to the dragons. Aside from Peridot and Tanzanite, who already felt unconscious, they were all lying on the ground unable to move their bodies and in pain from the powder entering their systems, including Prominence. “This ain’t good,” Gus said to himself. The next morning, Peridot, Tanzanite, and the other dragons were in the hospital, including Sunshine and Gus. They were recovering from what happened the night before while all the other dragons were still healing. This was likely due to the fact they were stuck inside of the dust cloud longer than them. “How’re you feeling, Perri?” Tanz asked. “Feeling better,” she replied. “I’ve never sneezed that hard in my life. My nose was pretty itchy.” Peridot walked over to her twin sister, Emerald, who had just woken up. “Emma?” “Oh, Perri. You okay?” “I’m okay. How are you feeling?" “Not good,” Emerald groaned. “My eyes are still stinging.” "You think that's bad?" Prominence, who was right beside her, exclaimed. "I can't feel my legs!" Emerald and Tanz then saw Flare and Pyther in front of them, still on their hospital beds under their deep slumber. “How we’re Flare and Pyther doing?” “Still doing fine,” Prominence replied, “But they are in pretty bad shape.” Gus and Sunshine had also spent the night at the hospital, and it didn't take long for them to wake up after hearing this. The griffon didn't wait to state the facts. "You're not the only one who was attacked by whatever that creature was," he remarked. “This thing hit me in the stomach.” “Yeah,” Sunshine said. “It even hit me in the…” He then pointed to where that figure punched. “…Who knows where.” “Yikes,” Peridot cringed. “And yet,” Prominence continued. “You can still walk!” "And you chose to come here…" Gus yelled back. "Tanz, could you please get Gus to stop?" Emerald asked. The drake walked over to the griffon and held his beak shut with several muffled grunts as the griffon couldn't open his beak. "Thank you." Soon, Starlight Glimmer entered the room, horrified with what she saw. Nurse Redheart was by her side and was able to catch her up to speed. "They showed up last night with two of the teenaged ones," Nurse Redheart explained. "We had to send some medics out to get them here for treatment." "I can see that," Starlight sighed, then walked towards the students and Prominence. “Hope you all feel okay. Can somecreature explain to me what going on when yesterday’s incident happened?” “I will,” Gus said. She then looked over to both Sunshine and Gus. They then started explaining what they’ve witnessed. From the dragon sneeze powder to the mysterious figure who attacked them. "I see. I’m glad you’re fine. You two go back to school immediately. I'm going to stay here with the dragons for the time being." The boys understood and left the hospital, heading back into town. As she watched the boys leave the door, she then saw Prominence still on her bed. “Who’s this fella right there?” “That’s Prominence,” Tanzanite replied. “She came here from the Dragon Lands.” “So,” Prominence said to Starlight, “you must be that Headmare they talked about.” “Oh, yes. I’m the one who is in charge of them.” The news about the incident had spread rapidly. This wasn't just because Gus and Sunshine are a part of the school’s news crew, several ponies had witnessed the surprise attack as well. Word started spreading around Equestria. Not just Equestria, in other places as well, including the Dragon Lands. None of them were happy to hear about their kind being attacked, especially the parents. They demanded that Ember find answers. It would be sooner than they thought as parents of hippogriffs and changelings were concerned that they could be next. The ambassadors were called to Canterlot for the emergency meeting. Once everyone was there, Twilight was the first to speak. “Thank you very much for coming here,” she spoke. “Now, you may have heard the news about this unknown figure who made a vicious attack on those students…” "How could I not?" Ember interrupted. "I've got dragons who kept threatening to come here to speak with you. Obviously, it's not going to be pretty, so I nearly destroyed my throat to get them to listen." "You did use the honey we gave you, right?" Thorax said to her. “Of course,” she replied, then continued. “Still, we have to catch whoever the heck thought it was a smart idea it was to attack a bunch of teenagers." "Question. Didn't it only attack the dragons?" Little Strongheart asked. "Probably," Twilight confirmed, "There’s a report stating that two non-dragons are walking with them during that time. We still don't know why this thing did such a violent act." “From my observation,” Queen Novo said, as she stood up from her chair, “Maybe it's because of their power.” She then turned to Dragon Lord Ember. "Ember, how much punishment can a dragon take?" "Quite a lot, your majesty," the Dragon Lord answered. "We dragons can survive incredibly high temperatures, crushed by boulders that weigh hundreds of tons. Most of us fight each other daily, usually, the worst thing that happens if there is a black eye." "Don't dragons break bones?" Gilda questioned her. “You mentioned that they were getting crushed by giant boulders by that amount.” “Only in rare cases. Even then it's usually something like when an adult is a little too rough when training their children. I don't know any other creature who could whip the floor with a dragon so fast." "Creature not fight fair," Rutherford reminded. "They use sneeze powder." "You mean the powder from a Dragon Sneeze Tree?" Spike questioned. The yak prince nodded in confirmation. "That means the criminal came prepared," Thorax guessed. “True. Plus, according to witnesses,” Twilight added, “The creature looked an awful lot like a dragon. Though, it was still missing the wings. However, judging by its size and age, it should've molted by now.” "So, it's not a dragon," Iron Will commented. "Then what is it?" Rutherford questioned. "If we knew that, we wouldn't be standing here and talking about it," Ember grumbled, "We'd be locking that guy behind bars!" She nearly stood up onto the table if it wasn't for Thorax and Spike holding her back. Sitting back down, Novo gave a low brow. "Was that appropriate?" the hippogriff asked. "How else would you act if you were still agitated from dragons asking you non-stop questions?" "How about you and I take a five-minute break?" Spike said, still holding her arm. "He’s right," Thorax commented. “You don’t want to take it too far in this room.” Both dragons walked out of the room so Ember could calm down a little bit. As they walked down the hall, Spike decided to talk with his friend to help her calm down. "I know you're under a lot of stress," the younger dragon noted, "Especially since what you and Thorax went through recently." "Please, don’t remind me of that," Ember grumbled. "I felt like I just cleaned up someone’s mess, and then another one just fell into my lap." "You know, I could always drop by when you need some help." "Spike, I don't want you to get caught up in my problems." "Hey, that's what friends do. Let's just get you something to snack on, probably some gemstone pastries, and then we can get back to business." Ember just muttered some words to herself as she and Spike carried on down the hall. At the School of Friendship, there’s a lot of turmoil going on there. All of the students there have heard the news about the incident, even their closest friends got so troubled when hearing this. They kept talking and talking about the incident, worrying that they could be next to join with them. The Young Six was no exception to this. They’re in the hallways having a conversation with each other. “This is horrible!” Gallus said in a bothered tone, wandering around in circles. “Why do they think that teenagers, who are one-twentieth the size of their parents, would be such a threat?" "We're connected to the spirit of harmony," Silverstream noted. “That's different,” he exclaimed. “We're the chosen ones by the spirit.” Smolder and Ocellus were a little concerned about this, feeling internally panicked that they might be the next target. "What if it's not just Ponyville?" Ocellus panicked. "Could other places be next?" "I don't know," Smolder responded. "I'm still trying to figure out how their bodies just stopped working." "Exactly. Maybe there was some sort of magic involved." Sandbar took note of his panicking friends and offered some advice. "Look, girls, I know this is bad," the colt spoke, "But I'm sure our professors, or the royals, or… some creature is trying to find a solution. Besides, we're safe here and in the tunnels as well." "Yona thinks friends worrying too much," Yona said. "That's probably because Sandbar already talked to you," Gallus commented. Yona glared at the griffon who just gave a smug look. "Still, Sandbar's right," Ocellus commented. "We should try to calm down until we know what we're dealing with." The Young Six carried on down the hall until they saw Gus and Sunshine, who looked to be having their own conversation. "We can't get involved with this anymore," the hippogriff stated. “Look, I can get us some tools we need, and show the creature what consequences are,” Gus responded. “We could even just use my cross... Oh, hey guys.” The young six seemed to have interrupted the griffon’s plan. Gus was kind of happy with this as Sandbar decided to speak first. “How are the dragons doing?” the colt asked. “Peridot and Tanz are both doing better than the others,” Sunshine informed. “The doctors say that they should be fine by the end of the day.” Sandbar and the rest felt relieved. “That’s good to hear.” “What were you guys talking about?” Gallus asked. “I was saying that we’re going to catch the creature that put the dragons in the hospital,” Gus explained. “You think that’s a good idea?” “That’s what I said,” Sunshine spoke. “He’s right, Gus,” Ocellus commented. “We don't know what this crook could do. They could probably have magic to probably... maybe open portals or something.” “Then they could’ve just summoned one to keep the dragons in until they starved to death,” Gus retorted. “That… or they… could be warped somewhere that didn’t have oxygen, like the bottom of the ocean.” Sunshine and the young six were a little disturbed by this. “...Right then,” Gallus spoke. “If you are going to do something, how about you tell us where that attack happened since you’re with them yesterday.” “Right. So, we were just leaving the cafe when the smoke bomb hit the ground. And that’s when the figure appeared doing some… I don’t know… martial arts thing that made them feel limped.” “Okay. You bring your news stuff, then we could go head there and try to find a piece of evidence.” “Sounds great. Let me know if you need anything you think will be helpful.” “Got it,” he grinned. The two griffons gave a fist bump to each other before Gus and Sunshine flew away. Ocellus knew this was a bad idea and made sure to remind the blue griffon. “Gallus, what are you thinking!?” the changeling said, grabbed his feathered chest, and pressed her face to his beak. “Do you really wanna get us in trouble?” “Look,” he said, pushing her back, “Gus was going to get involved regardless of what we did. We might as well help him to make sure he doesn’t get in over his head.” Sandbar was about to object, but he had a feeling Gallus knew the griffon more than they did. “Maybe he’s got a point,” he admitted. “Just make sure that we don’t get into trouble with the princess.” “No promises.” The six walked away to their next classes while worrying about how things would go if they were to help Gus and Sunshine. Recess has arrived, and everyone got out of their classrooms. Sunshine and Gus were still having a conversation, still in disagreement with their plan. “Gus, do you know what’ll happen if Princess Twilight hears about our plan?” the hippogriff questioned. “You know we’ll be in big trouble!” “You were attacked too, it just punched right at your bells,” Gus said. “I’m sure that the dragons would be rooting for us. Plus the students that are friends with the said species.” They stopped for a while as they heard a cry coming from the lobby. The boys looked over to see Coral, who was sitting on a couch feeling sad and upset. They then walked towards her. “Hey Coral, how are you doing?” “How do you think I’m doing?” the hippogriff responded angrily, with tears flowing down to her cheeks. “My close friend, Pyther, is in the hospital. No one knows who did it to her and I don’t know if she’ll be okay!” She held her claws to her eyes and sobbed very hard. They felt bad. Pyther and Coral were very close friends since they first came here to the school. “Hey, don’t cry. You know I was going to ask you if you wanted to tag along with us.” Coral then pulled her claws away to make her sorrowful eyes visible. “With what?” “Finding out who that thing was.” “Will we catch the jerk who did it?” “Maybe. Shall we?” He then held his claw, telling her to shake claws if she agrees to go with them. Sunshine leaned out from behind Gus and was singling Coral to say no. Instead, she shook Gus’s talon, leaving Sunshine to facepalm. “Fiddlesticks!” Sunshine murmured to himself. After school, Gus, Sunshine, and Coral waited outside the front of the school for the young six to show up. They should’ve shown up by now. “You sure they’re coming?” Coral questioned. “They said they would be here,” Sunshine answered. “Don’t worry. I think they could catch up,” Gus said. He put his claw in his bag and grabbed a notepad and a pencil. He handed them to Sunshine while he carried a camera. “Here, Coral, you can take this.” He handed the hippogriff a microphone that was attached to a tape recorder. “Pretend that you’re a part of the news crew and we’re trying to get some information and sources about the attack. Come on.” Gus quickly took off with the hippogriff flying off to catch up. The young six exited the building when they could see Coral and the boys heading downtown. “Oh, crud,” Gallus groaned, “Guys, wait up!” He and his friends did their best to catch up, but Gus’s team had a head start. Downtown, some guards were surrounding the area of the attack. Some bystanders, most of them were journalists, were being questioned about the events that happened last night when the news team arrived. “Oh, man, the guards are here,” Sunshine sighed. “It’s okay. Just follow my lead,” Gus ordered. They landed in front of one of the guards, who wasn’t pleased to see them. “Hold it,” the guard ordered. “This area is restricted.” “We know. But we need to take some photos and get some information for our school’s newspaper. Mind if we get a closer look?” “I’m sorry, but by order of the princess, no civilians are allowed in this area.” “You know that you failed to stop a spoiled child, a bug made of burnt Swiss cheese, and a creature that’s clearly compensating for something. You think you can keep ponies away from a crime scene like this!?” The guard didn’t like the attitude, so Sunshine decided to cut in. “I’m sorry, sir,” he apologized, “Our friends were injured and got taken to hospital. We just want to know more so we can find out if they’re going to be okay.” “That’s understandable, but orders are orders.” Coral then decided to give it a try and put on a sad face. “Sir, please!” she sighed, “I’m really worried about my friend. Can’t we just go in for five minutes before we have to leave?” The guard simply shook his head, making Gus get frustrated. “Hey, you sure I can’t just test my camera?” he asked. Without warning, he shoved the camera in the guard’s face and pressed the button, making a very bright flash. The guard yelped in pain as the griffon flew towards the crime scene. “He’s never done that before,” Sunshine noted. He and Coral flew after the griffon, who was now being targeted by the rest of the guards. Gus tried using his flashing attack to keep them away from him. He managed to take useful pictures, like a picture of some orange powder on the ground. Eventually, he was caught by the guards and his camera was taken away from him. “Hey, I need that!” Gus cried. “I think we’re done here,” Sunshine spoke. He grabbed his friend by his tail and started dragging him away. “Grr. Coral, help, please.” Both hippogriffs pulled the angry griffon away, just as the young six showed up. They could hear him screaming for his friends to let go of him while also throwing insults at the guards. Gallus was having second thoughts right now. “Okay. If we leave, we don’t have to get involved,” he whispered. “That’s what I suggested in the first place,” Ocellus furiously stated. “I was hoping that we could meet up with them before something like this happened.” The six students quietly slipped away while an angry griffon was still fighting with his friends. After about half an hour, Gus and Sunshine were in their dorm room with Coral. “What was that?” she furiously exclaimed. “For one, I showed how bad their military was,” Gus scoffed. “You know what I meant. You fought with us halfway here. You know how much you weigh?” “You can cry about your coat getting sweaty later.” “Right after you give us an answer.” “Yeah,” Sunshine agreed, “You’re usually so obedient.” “That’s because that’s stuff like schoolwork. Stuff I don’t have a choice to do. This was our friends getting attacked. You think I want to just stand back and watch the disaster silently?” “Look, I’m just as upset as you guys, but the princess is already on it and the criminal will be found eventually.” “Uh-huh. I’m not going to wait that long. I’m going to find one of the changelings to see if they can help.” The griffon walked out of the room, leaving the hippogriffs confused. “Why would he...? Oh no! WAIT!” Sunshine quickly took off to stop Gus from his next plan. He managed to catch up and had to ask, “Hold up! What in the name of Queen Novo are you planning?!” “I'm making a plan to bring that li’l punk to us. The only picture I took that could be useful was the powder itself, which we know what it's made of." Gus flew around his worried friend, who didn’t like the sound of the plan. Still, he followed his friend to make sure he didn't go too far. They found Moss, who was just minding his own business until the two griffs showed up. "Hey there. What's up?" the changeling questioned. “We need your help with something,” Gus explained. “You already heard the news recently, right?” “About the attack yesterday night? Of course. I’m hoping that they’ll come back feeling better, especially Tanz. What’s up?” “Here’s the thing. Think you could be a dragon so you could help us catch that crook?" The changeling just blinked as he had to ask, "Ooookay? And if I get injured...?" Sunshine decided to answer this. "Listen, Moss," he explained. "Gus and I are just trying to help find that thing who attacked the dragons and us. Could you please help, so Gus doesn't do anything dangerous?" "Woah. Uh-huh. You guys do know I will get in trouble if I get caught, right?" "Which is why I know you'll want these," Gus spoke. He dropped a small bag in front of Moss containing a lot of bits. "Will this be enough?" "Where did you even get this?" "I know a griff. Just pretend to be a dragon and we'll catch it." Moss picked up the bits and just simply nodded. Gus smiled, while Sunshine was just feeling a little worried. The P.A. system soon activated, “May I call on Gus to please report to my office? I repeat, May I call on Gus to please report to my office? Thank you,” Starlight requested. The griffon rolled his eyes before telling the changeling something. “If I don't get detention, then meet me by the four bridges,” Gus requested. Moss just nodded as the cranky griffon flew off. Once he was gone, he looked at Sunshine. “You're the one thing keeping him alive, are you?” the changeling asked. “...Yes,” Sunshine sighed. “Yes, I am.”