//------------------------------//
// Chapter 8: Apprehension 
// Story: Forever Is a Long Time 
// by Hoosier Brony 
//------------------------------//

	Rapid Quill had patched up any broken relations that the intrusion of Rainbow Dash and Applejack may’ve caused. When he had left his house in a hurry, determined to find somepony to be with so that his loneliness would subside, he had run into the two of them on the street. Initially, they both shied away when he walked up, but he explained that he wasn’t upset, and was actually honored that they were so interested in his story.

“That does make me feel a might better,” Applejack said. Turning towards Rainbow Dash, she added, with a glare, “I was afraid RD here had got me in trouble.” She stuck a hoof out, pushing it hard into Rainbow Dash’s side, eliciting a yelp.

“Hey, AJ,” Rainbow said, turning on Applejack, “he said it wasn’t a big deal. Yeah, it was stupid, but lay off, alright?” She began snorting, stamping at the ground. 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Rapid Quill said, getting in between the two, “hey, it’s alright. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, its ok, I’m not mad, everypony can be happy. Let’s all just calm down.” He was thankful when both mares seemed to relax. Once the situation had been defused, Rapid Quill found out they were going to compete in another Iron Pony Competition. They invited him along to watch and help keep track, giving him his activity for the day to clear his head of any depressing thoughts.

A week had passed since the last chapter had been written, and Rapid Quill enjoyed his time away from the story. He ran his local bookstore, enjoyed a Pinkie party, and even worked on a small story at the request of a friend. It wasn’t until he ran past Twilight one morning and stopped to chat that he thought about his continuing story.

“Hey Rapid Quill,” Twilight said, walking out of her library. “I haven’t talked to you in a while. How are you?” She looked to be in a rush, but was kind enough to spend some time talking to him. She noticed his saddlebags and, raising one eyebrow, asked, “Are you busy today?”

“Oh, hey Twilight,” Rapid Quill said, “Yeah, I’m heading over to the café to work on my story. It’s been a while since I wrote anything on it, so I thought I’d pick it back up. Hey, when it’s done, I can bring it over, if you’re not too busy.” He said the last bit curiously, noticing her attempts at surreptitiously leading their conversation away from the library and in the direction of the Carousel Boutique. 

“Well actually,” Twilight began, her steps getting larger since Rapid Quill was walking with her, “I’m late for a meeting with Rarity. She’s working on a new line of dresses for all of her friends and she asked me to come over today to finish mine. I think I’ll be busy all day, unfortunately. But whenever you’re done, I’d like to read this new chapter.”

Rapid Quill wished Twilight good luck, as he noticed they were just outside the doors leading to Rarity’s store, and continued over to his initial destination, his favorite café. When he arrived, he ordered himself a sunflower sandwich, spreading his scroll and inkwell across the table. He set about writing his newest chapter:


Beaming Justice had settled in nicely to Willowhill. He stayed mostly to himself, avoiding the other ponies in the village, except when selling at the market. Blowing Storm and Dream Chaser were the only two ponies he had any regular contact with in a normal day, and this was the way he liked it. 

Chase had become a slight distraction, constantly bouncing around the pegasus, asking him questions. Justice wasn’t sure when it happened, but he had become a role model for the young colt. If he only knew all the things I’ve done wrong, Justice thought. Yet, Justice was always playful and gentle around the colt, always mindful of his strength.

Storm, on the other hoof, had gotten more distant and cold, or so it seemed to Justice. Justice found himself wondering whether it was because of his admission of failure to the one he loved whereas Storm thought about his loving devotion to his wife. Justice wasn’t sure if it was due to how close Chase had become, idolizing this newcomer to the farm over his own father. But there was an unsettling peace between the two, neither instigating a conflict.

So time passed, the three worked the farm, Chase played with Justice and worked at becoming stronger, Storm and Justice respectively worked together, and Justice still lived in his tiny shack, alone with his nightmares. Though it wasn’t harmony, it was a condition that suited Justice just fine, until one chance encounter in the middle of the village square.

Beaming Justice walked into the market, ears flattened and tail lowered. He wasn’t a fan of large crowds of ponies who he didn’t know, and wasn’t interested in getting to know. He had this visit planned out. He needed some supplies for his shack, mainly food, and knew exactly where those vendors liked to set up. This trip shouldn’t last longer than a couple of minutes, and then he’d be back at his shack and comfortable in his isolation again.

Suddenly a large shout rang out of the center of the market causing Justice, and every pony around him, to perk up their ears and turn their heads. A small crowd had been gathering for a while, but the shout guaranteed that a larger crowd would soon be there. The shout came from the center of this crowd. One pony nearby mumbled something about Canterlot guards and Justice’s curiosity got the better of him. He carefully and apologetically worked his way towards the front of the crowd, stopping dead in his tracks once he could see.

There, in the center of this tiny village on the outskirts of Equestria, was Shining Light and two guard ponies. They were dressed from mane to hoof in complete battle armor, much more intimidating that the normal guard armor. Beaming Justice had to push forward to hear what they were saying, bringing him close to the edge of the circle the gathering ponies had made around the three.

“Don’t you understand?” Shining Light said, pleading to the crowd, “they have overrun many small villages on the outskirts of Equestria, just like this one. There are hundreds of missing ponies: colts, fillies, mares, and stallions. They are not discriminating against their victims. You must come with us, if able bodied, to stop this rampage. If not for the other villages, do it for yours.”

“But if we were to leave, then our village would be left unprotected,” somepony in the crowd shouted. This was met with plenty of affirmative outcries. This only emboldened the crowd, which was beginning to shout at the three ponies to leave. Shouts within the crowd were becoming too much for Shining Light who was able to quiet the crowd down long enough to point out where they would be set up, for anypony interested. This only renewed the shouting, causing it to double in intensity.

Justice could see from where he was standing that Shining Light was getting annoyed. What was this “rampage” that he is speaking of? Justice thought. Almost as if he had called out, Shining Light suddenly made eye contact with him. After a brief moment of unsure searching, recognition hit Shining Light, and his eyes bulged. Justice tried to turn and get away, but the crowd had been stirred into a mini-riot and nopony would move enough to let him through. He felt the hoof land on his back right before being spun around.

“It really IS you,” Shining Light said, still in disbelief. “Come with me, we need to talk.” With that, he began to shove Justice through the crowd, the village square, and into a small alley between the local hospital and post office. The villagers were unsure how to handle this latest action. They saw the intruder pushing a local pony around and felt that they should stand up against the injustice, but when they recognized the strange hermit was the victim, they grew unsure. Nopony really knew the dark grey pegasus enough to stick up for him, so the crowd dissipated, going about their normal business in the market. A couple of ponies even went over to the two guards for further information on the conflict they had described earlier.

When Justice and Shining Light reached the alley, completely alone, Justice decided he had had enough of being pushed around. He shrugged Shining Light off of him, turning and glaring at the pony. Memories of all the things he had left behind were beginning to flood his mind, causing him a horrible headache. He refused to wince at the pain he felt while in front of this pony.

“Is this where you’ve been this whole time?” Shining Light began, a mix of curiosity and concern entering his voice. Before allowing the pegasi to answer, he continued, “Have you heard of the griffon uprising?” Justice just shook his head, unable to speak. He felt as if his tongue had swollen up and his throat was drier than ever before. All because HE showed up. Shining Light sighed and told Justice everything he needed to know.

Elsewhere in Equestria, the past year was not as smooth as Beaming Justice’s experience on the farm. News of Nightmare Moon’s banishment was greeted with joy and glee by all of the citizens of Equestria, and some members of the neighboring nation. There had been neutrality between the pony nation of Equestria and the neighboring griffon empire, one primarily built on a mutual fear of the power the other held. 

The griffons had large armies of trained soldiers, but feared the magical force that the two princesses had held. Celestia’s fear, when the prospect of adding guards to the towns of Equestria was brought up, was one of the appearance of arms building, which could be seen as a potential act of war for the griffons. When the griffon Emperor had heard the combination of the destruction of most of the trained guards and Luna’s banishment, he saw a window of opportunity that they could not pass up.

Initial discussions were diplomatic, meetings between the leaders of both nations, but the talks broke down. The griffons wanted to expand their territory into the lands currently possessed by the ponies of Equestria, and demanded an increase in the precious exports that were traded between the two nations. Celestia denied both demands, determined to show that the Equestrian nation was as strong as ever, but the griffons saw straight through this.

After months of deliberations, concessions made on both sides, and even a newly signed treaty ensuring the peace, the first report came through. A small village on the border between the griffon and pony nations had suddenly stopped sending mail or traded goods to the local town. At first, this news was not greeted with much concern, but after a week of silence, the concern grew up to the royal guards. 

Shining Light, who was now Captain of the Royal Guards, had no concern over such a trivial matter, until a second report came in. A few of the local town’s ponies had visited the village, and found a ghost town. There were no signs of a struggle, no signs of life anywhere. This news was greeted with an investigation, but nothing had turned up. It was two weeks later that another small village had suddenly stopped sending out information, again perched on the border between the two nations.

This new information could not be taken as coincidental and a meeting between the two nations’ leaders was called. The griffons denied everything, Celestia sat quietly while observing the whole proceedings, and Shining Light accused the winged visitors of many horrendous things. When Shining Light’s accusations had reached a peak, Celestia calmed the room down and suggested common meetings between the two groups on alternating locations. This was met with some trepidation, but agreed upon.

After the visitors had left, Celestia ordered Shining Light to place what little guards they had in the few remaining villages on the border. Each village received two guards, each with instructions to get word to Canterlot whenever they saw anything suspicious. They were explicitly ordered to not take part in any conflict; reconnaissance being the key objective. Sure enough, within a month, the worst was proven true. 

The report had come in from one of the guards, who was out of breath, cramping up from the long flight, and horribly sweaty and dirty. The guard reported that a small band of griffons had swooped into the village unprovoked and began ordering that all the villagers gather together. As soon as he had seen the griffons coming into town, the guard had flown back to Canterlot as fast as possible, not resting until he was able to give his report.

Suddenly, the door opened again and the second guard came through, this one with some cuts that had clotted over. When she caught her breath, she told the rest of the story. The griffons had gathered everypony in the center of town, where they proceeded to inform them that they were now prisoners of war. They ordered them to leave immediately, in an orderly fashion and march to the griffon empire. All the ponies in the room gasped when she told of a pony that dared to stand up and say they wouldn’t leave. The griffons made little work out of this brave soul, horrendously killing him in front of the town.

Justice interrupted, finally finding his voice due to his years of being battle trained to stay calm in horrible situations, “But surely there had been ponies that tried to fight back in the other two towns. Why is it that there was no sign of a struggle, or a body, found by the groups that went in for information?”

Shining Light’s expression grew grimmer. “I asked the same thing, and the answer was as bad as you can possibly imagine.” The guard had answered Shining Light’s inquisition with an answer that had even the bravest ponies in the room shaking. The griffons, satisfied that the crowd was officially under the control of fear, grabbed the body and cleaned up the mess. The whole time they were cleaning up the only struggle, they were licking their beaks. For years, there were rumors that the griffons were carnivorous, but attacking sentient beings just didn’t seem moral. The assumptions being made at this point were definitely macabre. 

The guard had decided at this time to come out of hiding and make a break for Canterlot, but was spotted running away. Two griffons were sent off to stop her, resulting in a fight as she ran as fast as possible. She had taken some hits, but had broken one of the griffons’ wings. When they saw how far into Equestria she was dragging this fight, they decided to just get back to the raid party.

Shining Light took this information to Celestia immediately, after increasing the number of guards in the closest larger villages and towns near the border. Celestia demanded an audience with the griffon emperor, who assured her that no such raids were approved by the griffon command and that they had heard of a band of renegades that were going around without any direction. He agreed to help Celestia investigate the missing villager’s whereabouts and stop the band of marauders. 

Celestia didn’t trust the emperor’s words, but put on a good show of politicking. She thanked the emperor for his assistance in this tragedy against her subjects and, as soon as she was away from him, told Shining Light to start training new guards. Their forces had been decimated by Luna’s betrayal and were working back towards the numbers they had once had, before the initial build up Justice had approved. Shining Light had been traveling to every city, town, and large village in an attempt to get new recruits.

“So as you can see, Beaming Justice,” Shining Light matter-of-factly concluded, “you must come back with us. Your experience in the field will be vital to the safety of Equestria. Also, your training methods are top notch and would be extremely welcome to all the new recruits.” Shining Light started to walk away, assured in himself that Justice would follow.

“No,” Justice declared, stamping his hoof. “After years of working with you, seeing your over-confidence lead to the pain and misery of others, the torture I had endured at YOUR hoofs, and now you just expect me leave to fight in a battle I want nothing to do with?”

“Justice,” Shining Light said, his tone calm but his back turned, “I understand that you are still upset, and I apologize for the things done back then. But your nation needs you. The griffons are a true threat to us, to you, to your friends you’ve made here.” He turned around, looking with a tough glare at the once proud pegasus, “Don’t run away from this problem, or it might catch up to you. I’ll be in the village square.” With that, the white pony walked back into the market place.

Justice felt like he was two feet tall, cut to the very core. Shining Light had matured over the past year. He was able to calmly put Justice in his place, making Justice look in the wrong, rightfully so. Still, the screams of battle, his friends crying out at the end, were still too fresh in his mind. He was heartbroken for the plight of the ponies taken by the griffons, but could not make himself walk back into the market. Instead, he found himself walking around the village, returning to the farm with no supplies.

Dream Chaser came running up to greet his friend, but stopped short when he saw the mood the grown stallion was emitting. He ran into the house, grabbing his father and hysterically shouting about Justice being in trouble. Storm and Chase ran out of the house, getting to the pegasus right as he collapsed in a pool of tears. Storm told Chase to prepare the guest bed, sending him away from the broken pony in front of him.

“What happened? What’s wrong?” Storm asked, compassion pouring out. The pegasus in his presence was one the strongest ponies he had known, but his current actions betrayed him. He helped support Justice as they walked towards the farm house. “I don’t know what the issue is, but you need to rest.” With that, Justice spent the night under the same roof as other ponies for the first time in over a year. The entire night, he was shaking. Shaking with the fear of the griffon power, shaking with the shame of refusing to help, shaking at the embarrassment of breaking down in front of his only friends, and shaking out of the sorrow he felt for the ponies under griffon imprisonment.

When the dawn broke, Justice walked into the farm’s kitchen intent on leaving, packing up whatever he had in his shack, and moving on to another small village, where he could start again, hidden away from Canterlot’s powerful gaze. Instead, he was greeted by Storm, sitting still, waiting for his arrival. Chase was still asleep, peacefully unaware of the confrontation about to take place downstairs.

“Going somewhere?” Storm asked, his face stone set, his voice unwavering. “Tell me what happened yesterday. I have never seen you in such a state and I never want to see it again.”

Justice’s first feeling was to be angry at the pegasus across the table. Who is he to demand anything out of me? he thought. Then he recognized the concern in the other pony’s voice at the end of the statement. Justice sat down, determined to at least explain to this friend why he was running again. He told Storm of the griffon attacks on Equestria’s villages, of Shining Light’s demands, and of his refusal.

“Sounds like he’s right,” Storm began, receiving a shocked look from Justice. “You know that your presence would help turn the tide of this war. You cannot deny that. But with that said, he was wrong to just demand that you do what he says. But I have to ask, are you turning your back on him because of his past deeds or his demands? Or is there something else at play here?”

Justice felt his back start to tingle again. “Every night, when I try to sleep, I hear my friends screaming. I used to be calm in the midst of a battle, able to process the situation and determine the best course of action. Ever since the fight against Nightmare Moon, I find myself trembling when thinking about a battle. I cannot get the pained screams out of my head as my three best friends were murdered right before my eyes. I just cannot go back.”

Storm listened carefully, unsure how to comfort the stallion in front of him. Having never been in any war situations, he was at a loss for how to overcome the psychological issue. “Well, I’ll only ask that you don’t leave, for Chase.” This got a surprised look from Justice, who was certain that Storm was going to try to force his enlistment. “Over the last year, you have helped me turn this farm around, expand our fields, and made my son smile more than I’ve ever seen him smile. I cannot say I agree with your decision, but don’t make a bad situation worse by leaving the only ponies that love you.”

Justice couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He had prepared to leave behind the village, the ponies he hadn’t attempted to meet, even his little shack, but until that moment, when Storm had shown Justice that he was loved, he had not thought about leaving behind his only two newest friends. The fact that Storm would care enough to ask him to stay touched Justice, causing him to tear up. 

After thanking the other pegasus, Justice got a desire that built up inside of him. He knew what he suddenly wanted to do, but was scared. He hadn’t done something like this for the longest time, and wasn’t sure of his ability. Justice turned to Storm, smiling with a determined look in his eyes. Storm had never before seen this confident look, but smiled back. 

Justice walked outside, opened his wings, wincing at the sudden use of dormant muscle groups, and flapped hard once, twice, three times. He began to sweat, using muscles that had suffered atrophy, but he began to feel his body lighten. His feet slowly began to slightly lift off of the ground, but the strain was proving to be too much. He fell, flopping to the ground in an exhausted heap, but smiling the biggest grin in over a year. He stood up, brushed himself off, and turned to see Storm standing in the doorway, a tear rolling down his face.

Justice strolled over to Storm, a tear forming in his eye as well, and leaned in, giving the farmer pegasus a big hug. “Thanks,” he said, choking back his emotions. “Thanks for giving me back my wings. I couldn’t fly ever since I watched my world get torn apart. All I could think of were the times with my friends, with Luna, but you showed me that there are still friends out there. Thank you so much.” 

The two ponies stayed up in the early hours of the day, talking about many different topics. Storm admitted that he admired Justice for shaking his mental block on flying. When Justice turned and said they would work on Storm’s block, he was met with a depressed expression. Storm explained that he didn’t want to fly again, that the memories of flying with his special somepony were some of the best memories he had, and he didn’t want to lose them. Justice nodded, respecting the decision being made by the other pegasus.

When Chase awoke, the three went about their day as normal, the two pegasi not wanting to worry the young colt about the griffon subject. When he asked if everything was ok with Justice, they tried to explain that Justice had had a close family member who had passed, causing his saddened mood. Chase seemed to accept this, to the point where he began asking questions about which family member, what had happened, whether Justice would be leaving, etc. Justice put on a saddened face and asked Chase to not bring up the topic, as it was painful to discuss. This seemed to get the colt off of the subject, burying it for good.

Every afternoon, after the last of the daily chores were complete, Justice would head back to his shack, a smile on his face, and work towards flying again. He did this in isolation because he wanted his flying to be up to speed with his past abilities before he tried it in front of others again. He didn’t expect it to be easy, but he wasn’t prepared for the amount of pain and effort it took to get the muscles back up to normal speed.

Justice determined to become a bigger fixture in the small village. He was ashamed of the way he had handled himself over the past year, hiding from all of the friendly ponies in his tiny shack. When he walked into the market, he made sure to smile at the ponies passing him by, receiving a couple of confused or worried looks from the inhabitants. He even spoke to the vendors, who were normally used to hearing not a peep from him. Slowly, over the course of many days, the ponies in the village began to lighten up around him. They would smile back or return a pleasantry; it was nothing big but still something. 

After weeks of work, Justice had finally achieved an acceptable level of flight. Though he might not be able to pull out the aerial acrobatics he had used in the fight against the hydra or any of the exhibitions he put on for the Princesses, he could fly competently and was ready to surprise a very close friend. He had discussed his idea with Storm, who thought it was good, even though his parenting instincts were going haywire.

The morning was pleasant, a slight dew covering the ground, as the sun was just beginning to rise over the horizon. Justice walked out, stretching his wings as he closed the door behind him. He turned back, hunching towards the ground, remembering the power he used to have when taking off, and sprung up, flapping his wings hard. Though it wasn’t as powerful as when he trained every day, he still took off with authority. He quickly climbed up, soaring through the clouds and marveling in the way the still rising sun cast shadows across the cloud floor.

He flew around, up and down through the clouds, doing barrel rolls and loops, basically playing in the sky. He still couldn’t believe that he had avoided flying for a year, something so basic, yet so much fun. He realized that he had been playing around for too long, and rushed over to the farm. The idea was to ensure that Chase would see him flying down, possibly even doing a trick to impress him. Knowing Chase, this would lead to an entire day of flying questions. Justice knew at least one of them would have to be, “What is it like to fly?” When he received this question, Justice had Storm’s blessing to take the colt up in his arms and fly with him, letting him experience flight for the first time.

Justice was excited as he was heading towards the farm about the wonderful experience he was about to give his young friend. He found himself forgetting his rush and lazily climbing through the clouds and down again, playing with the currents as they flowed past him, enjoying the slight thermals the ground provided as it began to heat up. He was enjoying flying so much today that he began to plan out what all he would do when he brought Chase up, giving him a solid mix of slow, safe flying, and loops and rolls. 

As he was thinking about his flight plans for the day, he noticed, off in the distance, a few shapes moving around in the air. They seemed too organized to be a flock of birds, but too scattered to be a cloud. As he was drawing closer, he began feeling anxious but not completely understanding the reasoning. With a rush of recognition, Justice recognized a constant movement as wings flapping, large wings. The only creatures that would travel in such numbers with wings that big would be griffons.

Justice panicked. He picked up his pace, shooting towards the farm which was, luckily, closer to him than the griffons. He landed hard, sprinting up to Storm and Chase, who was wearing an amazed expression. Storm on the other hoof was initially confused as to why the original plan of flying slowly to guarantee the colt’s attention was scrapped, but recognized the panic in Justice’s face. He calmed the dark grey pegasus down, waiting for him to catch his breath.

“They’re coming,” Justice panted, the strain of flying that fast wearing him out, “Storm, our village is next.” He locked eyes with the farmer, whose expressions ran through slight fear, worry, and then finally a calculating calm. He looked down at his son, who was beginning to tremble due to the concern both adult ponies were emitting, and turned back to Justice.

“We cannot run, we cannot fight,” he said painfully, his son’s safety first and foremost in his mind, “When they get here, we will offer no resistance and will go with them. What you decide, Justice, is up to you. I only ask that you think of everypony’s safety.” Storm had locked eyes with Justice, waiting for his response, patiently but coldly. If Justice wanted to fight, as Storm had wondered, he hoped the pegasus would do so far away from the farm and the colt on it.

Justice nodded, understanding the hidden meaning of the message he received. “I believe you are correct. We should offer no resistance, therefore giving them no reason to harm us. They will lead us into the market, with the rest of the villagers, and then take us to their base over the border. I do not know what waits for us there, but it is better than anything that would be here for us if we resist.” 

He looked down at Chase, noticing the tears that were beginning to flow from the scared, curious pony. “Chase, you are about to see a griffon today. Do not be alarmed. I have met many griffons in my time, some of which were extremely nice. I do ask that you do not ask any questions today. Let your dad and I handle the talking. Everything will be alright, because you have us to take care of you, ok?” He saw the little colt give a slight nod, still upset but feeling safe with the two pegasi. “Alright, so let’s just sit here and wait, they will be by soon.”


Rapid Quill put down his quill and re-read the chapter. He rolled up the scroll and placed it in his saddlebags, content with his progress. He had long ago finished his sandwich, and had even ordered some hay fries. He looked around, noticing that the majority of the afternoon had passed, and decided to head back to his bookstore, a little embarrassed that he had had it closed all afternoon. He knew there would be orders slid under the door, orders he would need to work on filling. So he paid his bill, packed up his supplies, and headed back to work, excited for the further adventures Justice had coming.