*Nicholas POV*
I paused, catching my breath underneath an apple tree, exhausted after running for so long. Looking around, I noticed the sun had just hit the middle of the sky. It didn't take long for my mind to snap back to what happened at the hospital, though.
Why?! Why did all this have to happen? I just wanted a place where I could belong, not watch my family die by the hands of some crazy witch!
With my back against the tree, I crumpled down to the ground, sobbing heavily as flashes of Raiden in the hospital kept going through my mind. Why? Why did so he have to get hurt?! Why couldn't I stop Christine before then?
"N-Nick?"
I looked up and froze. Applebloom was standing in front of me, though I noticed she looked like she had been crying for a looong time.
"A-Applebloom? Why are you here?"
She frowned. "Well, it is mah farm after all." She said with a suprisingly icy tone, causing me to wince as I heard some of the venom in her words.
"Are you ok?" I asked, genuinely curious as to what could make her upset.
She stomped a hoof, her facial expression showing a rising irritation while her bow bobbed in place.
"OK?! Gee, ah wonder if Ah'm ok knowing the colt ah like isn't able to like anypony that ain't a noble!" She exclaimed as my face went pale.
How did she find out about that?! The only one that knew in our group was Tak and Diamond Tia- ooooooh.
I sighed, realizing the truth was out. "I'm sorry, Applebloom. I meant to tell you guys, but we got busy with the floats and my brothers trial and-"
Applebloom stepped forward, tears in her eyes. "No! Yer not making this ah lesser deal than it is! Ah LIKE you, Nicholas! Like LIKE LIKE you! But now Ah have to sit back and watch as mah ex-bully gets yah all to herself. It's NOT FAIR!"
I winced at those words. Here I've been loading myself down with self-pity and blaming others for my pain when I've been causing others the same type of pain with my own actions!
How did Fluttershy feel when I was in the hospital? What about Ronin? He's LITERALLY who knows where thanks to some teleport spell I don't even know works!
And sending the girls home, unable to let them know if I'm ok at any time? What if I had died in Canterlot?
Realizing my faults, I stood up and smiled weakly at Applebloom. "Applebloom...I know what I did was wrong, and you have every right to hate me for it. But know I never meant to shut you out of my life. The truth is I..." I stammered at the end, almost afraid to admit it.
Applebloom stepped closer again, making her inches from me. "Yes?"
I sighed, looking down into her eyes, which seemed to shine even brighter now than they ever did.
"I like like you too." I said, before being tackled into the tree by Applebloom in a bone crushing hug.
"YEEEEEEEEES!" She exclaimed happily before nuzzling my neck. I laughed softly and wrapped my arms around her body, pulling her close. "Please don't ever leave me out of one of your adventures again. I don't want tah see ya hurt." She whispered softly as I took a deep breath, calming my shot nerves slowly as I stroked her mane carefully as to not mess up her bow.
I'll find a way to make this work. Even if it means going up against the rich family themselves.
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Twilight POV
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"Redheart?!" I exclaimed, completely thrown off my the name.
The unicorn in front of me frowned. "Did I stutter? Or does that name sound familiar to you, Element bearer?"
My shocked expression made her laugh. "Oh, don't think I don't know who you are." She lifts up a newspaper that looks like one from Canterlot. "I always make sure to stay informed of my home countries exploits."
I blinked owlishly before opening my mouth. "Why are you living here, then?"
The three griffons in the room shuffled around a bit in place, as if I had just made the room very uncomfortable to be in. Redheart leaned in close, her eyes glinting with a ravenous energy.
"Our people are a bunch of sissies. They can't handle a bit of interspersed mixing, so after meeting my fluffybumpkins here-" She motioned to now blushing white griffon as the other two howled with laughter. "-I moved to a place that didn't seem so much like a child's storybook."
I nodded, slightly understanding her reasoning. Though one question remained in my mind.
"And...do you have a daughter by any chance?" I asked, causing the mare's eyes to widen.
"You've met my daughter?! That means you live in ponyville." She closes her eyes and her horn glows a soft red as a trail of magic rises from me. causing her to frown. "Hmm...you don't have much of her presence on you, so why would you-huh?"
The small trail leaves me and becomes a thick mist as it pulls from Ronin, who was still knocked out on the couch albeit fidgeting and muttering to himself. Redheart Sr. opened her eyes and glared at me.
"Who is that, and why does my daughters essence reek on him?" She asks as I giggle sheepishly.
"W-Well...I, uh..." Thankfully, Ronin decided then to wake up, sitting up in a jolt.
"Melfesia, NO!!!" He yelled as everyone looked at him weirdly. He looked around, noticing our stares before chuckling lightly. "Uh...howdy?"
The white griffon walked up to Ronin and glared at him. "Does the name Redheart anything to you?"
Ronin raised an eyebrow. "That's the name of one of my marefriends...why?" He said before the griffon picked him up by the neck, causing me to jump to my hooves.
"Ronin!" I yelled out, but was ignored as the griffon tightened his hold around Ronin.
"ONE of your marefriends?!" The griffon roared as Ronin tried to rip the talons off his neck, but couldn't get a grip. I was about to do something when Redheart spoke up.
"Grazier, put the boy down. Don't you remember me telling you about ponies and their herds?" She yelled, causing him to drop Ronin immediately. Said human got to his feet instantly, going eye to eye with the massive griffon.
"Try that again, Asshole. We'll see who loses the ability to breath in a real fight." Ronin growled as Grazier chuckled.
"Anytime, boy. I'd love to see what made my daughter fall for such an ugly monkey." He chortled as the unicorn in front of me stomped her hoof, her face the pure incarnation of rage.
"I SAID ENOUGH!" She roared, using a burst of magic to put two chairs beside me, sitting Grazier on my left and Ronin on my right. She turned to Grazier first with a glare that could freeze lava.
"Dear, you KNOW better than to threaten guests without my permission, especially if my darling daughter is dating one of them." Grazier cooed in submission, a dejected look on his face as Ronin snorted a laugh.
"AND YOU!" The unicorn exclaimed, turning on him, causing Ronin to jump in suprise. "If you EVER threaten my husband again, I will tear you limb from limb and feed you to Glascow and Bob."
Ronin nodded quickly, before frowning and looking around. "Who?"
She pointed to the blue and green Griffons behind us. "The blue one is Glascow, and the green one is Bob." Glascow narrowed his eyes at us, but Bob smiled and saluted, his tongue sticking out.
"Uh...Bob?" Ronin said, clearly confused as to the odd name out from the rest of the group. Grazier huffed.
"The boy suffers from a terminal condition." Grazier stated as I gasped.
"That's terrible! What's the condition?"
The griffon snorted. "Terminal stupidity." Then he laughed...loudly. To make it worse, Ronin started cracking up as well.
I face-hoofed, knowing that this wasn't gonna stop until I changed the subject. "Mrs. Redheart, we didn't mean to be in your cave. A teleport spell went wrong and we found ourselves there instead of our destination."
The mare snorted. "First off, call me Opal. In our family, Redheart is always the last name." She said as I blinked in suprise.
Then what's Nurse Redhearts first name? I thought as she continued.
"Second off, I can tell you weren't there on purpose. My husband already told me about what he heard and saw down there."
I frowned. "But how? I've been here the whole time he was, and he never mentioned what happened in the cave."
That was when Grazier laughed. "Bet you didn't know my wife is a touch telepath."
Ronin raised an eyebrow while my eyes widened in shock. "A touch telepath? What the hell is that?"
Opal smirked. "I can read thoughts and speak to others mentally by purely being in contact with them. I read Graziers thoughts when he rubbed my mane earlier when you all arrived." She said as I squee'd in delight.
"I've read about your type of magic in books, but I've never seen one in real life." I frowned quickly, remembering something from my studies. "Is it true you sacrifice your special talent to gain that power though?"
For a long moment, everything went quiet. The griffons had frozen up,, and even Ronin looked uneasy about about sudden mood shift in the room. After the moment passed, Opal sighed and opened a drawer from the cabinet nearby, pulling out a picture. On it was what looked to be a younger her, but she was at a hospital. She was holding a degree in her hand while showing off her cutie mark, which was a blue cross with a halo around it.
"I specialized in saving ponies lives from the brink of death. I worked at the hospital for three years, and saved many lives."
Ronin leaned forward, suddenly paying close attention. "What caused you to change your lifestyle?"
Opal sighed. "It was when I met my husband. I had just saved him from a knife wound he received from a barfight with a pony." I gasped while Ronins eyes widened while he cursed under his breath. Grazier lifted his right wing, revealing a large cut down his side. "The pony had attacked him for not being of 'equine design'." She sighed, waving her hoof. "Afterwards, he ended up taking me on date to say thanks, and we ended up getting hitched about a year later." The smile she had from the last sentence faded as a dark expression breached her face. "However, Trottingham didn't like the prospect of me dating a Griffon, let alone marrying one, so they attempted to force me out of town. In the process of our escape, I got fatally wounded by a sharp rock that was thrown that managed to tear open my neck." Opal turned away, her tough mare personality cracking slightly as I noticed a hoof-sized diagonal line across her neck.
Grazier picked it up from there. "It was then we managed to come across a pony of the night. She had claimed to be coming from a cello performance, but she knew of an old trick to save my wife. So, she ended up sharing some of her blood with Opal."
Opal faced us again, her eyes looking slightly moist, yet still strong. "In return for being alive, I had to give up on my dream, and recieve a new one instead, and became what is known as a reaper." Grazier got up and walked around the desk before pulling Opal into a hug.
"Reaper?" Ronin asked as I felt tears coming to my eyes.
"A reaper is a pony or other being that was saved by immortal or near-immortal blood, but doesn't become one themselves. I will live to be about seven hundred before I die." Opal said as Grazier continued the story for her.
"After that happened, she then decided to return to my homeland with me, regardless of its wretched state." Grazier said as I shook my head, shocked at what I just heard.
"That's terrible, being attacked for being different from everypony. Who leaves a species out of society just because of they don't look or act like a pony?!" I exclaimed as I caught a glare from Ronin.
Oh...right. That's what happened to the changelings too, all because they eat love for a living. I smiled sheepishly as Ronin turned to the couple.
"Why tell us this? What if we were just lying about Redheart?" He said as Opal smirked, releasing herself from Grazier and putting her hoof out on the desk.
"Grab my hoof." She said, causing Ronin to frown.
"You aren't gonna fart if I pull it, are you?" He said, causing Grazier to chuckle while Opal and I rolled our eyes.
"Of course not, this old bird would though." She said, winking at Grazier. causing him to huff and walk towards the door.
"C'mon boys, we're going back to the mines. I'm not staying around to be made fun of." He exclaimed while the other two snickered but followed him out.
"~Love you too, honey!~" Opal singed out as the door closed before turning to Ronin with a glare. "Seriously, grab my hoof."
Ronin sighed and reached out, wrapping his hand around her left hoof before gasping as his eyes lit up red.
"Whoa..." I said as Opal smiled smugly.
"Told you. I am now able to...Damn, this boy has a loooot of crowding in here! It's like he's part of a hive mind!" She exclaimed before she pulled away from Ronin quickly, causing him to snap from the trance he was in, his eyes returning to their normal emerald green.
"Boy...why the hay do you have a hive mind in your...well, mind?!" Opal exclaimed as Ronin grinned big.
"Because I'm their newest king." He said as Opals left eye twitched for a second while she said nothing.
"Um...are you ok, Opal." I asked before Opal spun around, her back to us.
"My daughter has went and herded with a king! We might be able to get a better house after all!" She exclaimed in a very not quiet whisper as Ronin groaned.
"And now we hit crazy town." He stated as I rolled my eyes.
"Says the man with a whole civilization in his head." I said as he turned to me while Opal kept muttering things about being Fancy and tax-free.
"Your just jealous. Imagine the collective knowledge of not only this generation, but EVERY generation that has existed." He tapped his head while I began to sweat as the possibilities went through my mind. "Instead of reading history books that MAY be inacurate, you can learn through a mental showcase of those who LIVED through those times and-GAH!"
Unable to resist, I tackled Ronin off the chair.
"YOU HAVE TO LET ME IN YOUR MIND!" I exclaimed as Ronin blinked in suprise before smiling that stupidly smug smile.
"Take me out to dinner first before jumping my bones, Bookworm." He said with a wink, not only making me blush heavily, but also making me aware that I was inches from his face while resting on his body.
"Ah! I'm so sorry! I don't know what came over me! You just talked on and on about knowledge and I couldn't help myself!" I said rapid fire while jumping off him as Ronin laughed.
"It's fine, Twilight." He said, while getting up. "Besides, your too much fun to tease. I know your Raidens soon-to-be girl anyway."
For a moment, my mood dropped heavily. All evidence pointed to Raiden not being interested in me, yet Ronin was sure I could turn it around. Where does he get that optimism from?
Did he have that optimism while he worked underneath Chrysalis? Is that what pushed his actions in ponyville? Even after being pulled from his homework, he barely bats an eye and courts one of the deadliest threats to Equestria and makes her civil?
"Dawww! You sure you two ain't a thing?" Opal said, snapping me from my thoughts as Ronin shook his head quickly.
"Oh hell no! She's got her eyes on my brother, anyway." He said as Opal shrugged.
"Whatever you say. Now, I know you two aren't bad guys, but there's still the whole trespassing thing. I can't let you off the hook or word will get around I'm soft." She said as I smiled nervously.
"What are you gonna do?" I asked as Opal smiled wide, causing my heart to race in worry.
I hope it isn't nothing too bad.
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Ronin POV, ten minutes later
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"Hey, Twilight." I called out to Twilight as she turned to me, making her illumination spell shine brighter.
"Yeah?" She said as I picked up the griffon body that we had found before.
"Next time a lady in charge of griffons gives us an ultimatum, don't encourage her by saying 'what are you gonna do?'" I said as we walked over to the mini fire Glascow had made while putting a bunch of the stray ice nearby it to melt.
After Twilight opened her big mouth, Opal decided that for breaking and entering we had to clean out the mess we made down in tha caverns. To say I was less than enthused was an understatement of the century.
"How was I supposed to know she'd make us clean a CAVE!" Twilight exclaimed as she magically picked up all the cobwebs around the area and put them in the fire. "And why are there so many cobwebs? This cave is used a lot, right?" She asked Glascow, who had just finished with the ice.
Glascow shrugged. "Grazier claims the caverns down here belonged to an ancient species long ago, before those pony princesses wiped them out. Some kinda spider things, or something. I forgot the name he used for them." He said as I frowned.
Spider people...he couldn't mean...
"Was the name Antiarachnid, by any chance?" Twilight asked, causing the griffon to grin.
"There it is!" That was the name used by Grazier! But, eh, how'd you two know about it?" He stated as I dumped the body on the fire, making it ignite immediately before being surrounded by a pinkish aura thanks to Twilight casting a scent-proof magic coat around it.
"We fought one in ponyville...and Canterlot. The thing claimed to be the last of its kind before we killed it." I said as Glascow scowled before turning away from us.
"At least you killed the monster. Back when Griffinstone was in its prime, the king decided to mine the caverns beneath us, and accidently freed the queen of their people, and next thing we knew we were overrun."
Twilight nodded. "That makes sense. "It takes only a single female spider to make hundreds of babies." She shuddered. "But to imagine that process at such a big length..."
I cringed, imagining an army of Volts. One was enough.
Glascow sighed. "Indeed. We lost many a brethren and treasure that day, the distraction even allowed a Amirapsi to make off with the Idol of Boreas, the symbol of our city. After that incident, our people slowly began to decline, even with the defeat of the Antiarachnids."
I sighed as I sat on the ground. "Sounds like yet another people who lost their way. Though I'd have to guess your king hasn't been doing to well to help that department either, huh?"
Glascow squared in anger, his feathers ruffling in anger. "That sorry excuse of a king has deserted us years ago. All he cares about is some dumb prophecy about some kind of hooman...or something."
Twilight tilted her head. "What prophecy?"
Glascow turned to her, smiling. "It's some prophecy stating that a hooman clad of a checkered soul and royal blood would bring our people to a new age of prosperity, giving us total dominion over all of Equestria." He said as he shook his head. "A false hope, that is. What even is a hooman anyway?"
I frowned. "Either way, you said Grimbeak is obsessed with this prophecy?"
Glascow nodded. "Yeah...why?" He stated, narrowing his eyes as I stood up.
"We're here to deal with that issue ourselves, to be honest. I have a score to settle with him." I said while Twilight nodded.
"Grimbeak is wanted for several crimes in Equestria, including murder and royal sabatoge. That, and he has it out for Ronin."
Glascow turned to me, tilting his head. "Why does he want you so bad?"
I sighed. "Two reasons. One, these." I said as I summoned my metal wings, causing Glascow to fall on his ass in shock.
"Whazzat?! Those are metal wings! Just like...the kings." He said slowly as I continued.
"And Two, because my kind are called humans. I think he either believes I'm that human, or wants to make sure no one takes his throne."
"So THATS why you were in out mines! Opal said you two had a good reason, but I didn't expect this." Grazier said before dropping down from the roof.
I turned to him, clenching my fist. "So? You got an issue with that?" I stated while Twilight looked between us, her horn charging slightly as she prepped either a battle spell or a teleport spell.
Grazier stared me down for a long while before he began to laugh loudly.
"If you want to make our king kick the bucket, go ahead! He's been causing a ruckus for far too long." He stopped laughing and his face suddenly became serious. "However, if your gonna do that, you'll need help."
Twilight turned to Grazier, smiling. "Does that mean you'll help us?"
He chuckled. "Recently, Grimbeak passed a law forbidding ponies in Griffonstone, which is why we are out here instead of in the city. If you can topple him, then not only can Opal return to our old home, but perhaps we can make life better for us all around."
I smiled, putting out my hand. "Then it's settled. Let's leave this ranky-dank cave and hatch a plan to dethrone that metal buzzard."
Grazier looked at my hand before smiling and gripping it in his talons and shaking it.
"Very well. I expected great things from my daughters boyfriend." He stated with a chuckle as Glascow laughed and Twilight sighed while rolling her eyes.
"Boys are so weird." She said as I found myself laughing as well.
Indeed we are, Twilight. Indeed we are.