It had been hours after the river incident, which was still funny when they remembered it, and the pair was leaving the woods for good. They now found themselves in a field, following a road that seemed to go on for miles, uninterrupted. Souvenir was glad they were out of the woods, but Alastair was mostly unimpressed as he had been there before.
"So, how far are we from Equestria?" asked Souvenir.
"Still very far away...but I believe there is a village down this road, we should get there by sunset," replied Alastair, "If memory serves, there is a good place to set up camp for another night near it."
"Why? Can't we spend the night there?"
"Doubt it, it is always full of rather questionable griffons." Alastair looked more serious than usual for a moment until he felt a hoof touching him on the shoulder.
"Come on, don't tell me the griffon warrior with the important sword can't deal with a couple outcasts!" Souvenir said jokingly.
Alastair smiled. "Of course not, I'm more worried about what they might do to a pony with plenty of valuable objects in her cart."
"Ha, no thief has ever stolen from me, and tonight won't be the time it happens!" Souvenir laughed
The pair kept walking down the road for what seemed to be hours, but neither of them kept track of time. Souvenir used the time to look at the scenery. It was beautiful, though the beauty was somehow different from Equestria's. The sky was cloudy but it did not block the sun all the time, making it easier to stand around for a long time without getting sunburns while still being able to enjoy the sunlight. Mountains and hills could be seen far in the horizon, probably reaching heights similar to the Canterlot mountain. The field was grassland as far as the eye could see, with only a few trees breaking the pattern of grass, rocks and bushes. Souvenir wanted to take a picture of the place, but sadly she never brought cameras during their travels, her items being more than enough to remind her of where she had been.
The sun was setting when the traveling pair stopped on a hill near a town. At Alastair's urging, they decided to camp there, out of town. As she finished setting up the tent, Souvenir's mind sparked with an idea.
"Hey, does this town have any good taverns?" she asked.
"Aye, but the quality of their drinks is not worth the trouble of having to sit with...you know what I mean."
"Well, how about we go have a drink? It's still too early to go to bed and I want to visit the town." Souvenir put her hooves together and looked at her companion. "Please?"
Alastair thought for a moment before he began talking. "Fine, but you are buying."
"It's a deal!" she happily replied.
Moments later they entered the village. Souvenir could quickly tell Alastair was not lying, the townsfolk all seemed rather shady, wild or violent, in contrast to the last village she visited where the griffons were calm and somewhat likable. She had been in these kinds of town before, but it seemed easier to deal with questionable ponies than with questionable griffons, and she was glad she wasn't pulling her cart in town. After an hour of looking for a decent tavern, they found one that seemed to be the most quiet and went inside, with Alastair looking around carefully and hiding his sword with his wing. They were greeted by the owner, who seemed to recognize Alastair.
"Wait, I know you. Aren't you Alastair III of House Bloodfeather?"
Alastair attempted to avoid the question, but failed to realize this would make Souvenir curious.
"Wait, House Bloodfeather? What is he talking about?" asked Souvenir, confused.
"Nothing, let's look for another tavern." Alastair turned around to leave.
"Hey! Now where you think you're goin', lad?" said a brown griffon with only one wing, sitting somewhere in the tavern. "Ye want to leave and be a bloody coward like the rest of your delusional family?"
Alastair stopped right where he was and slowly turned around to look at the griffon. "Who do you think you are insulting MY family?"
The griffon stood up and walked up to them. He was bigger and clearly older than Alastair and talked with a thicker accent, words slurring together giving away the fact he was drunk. "Why, I'm Graham, the one yer bloody father left without a wing years ago! Ye know how many nights I CURSED the name Bloodfeather?! Heavens know my joy when I heard that their lineage was down to only one survivor!" Graham laughed as the other griffons in the tavern looked at them.
Alastair tried to leave once again only to be stopped by Graham. "I do not wish to use my sword in an otherwise calm place, take it back or else I will be forced to make you lose your other wing." he said, slowly uncovering his sword.
Souvenir placed her hoof on Alastair's shoulder. "Don't, it's not worth it. Let's just go now."
Graham laughed at the pair. "HA! The survivor of the famous House Bloodfeather befriended a PONY? Can you bloody believe that?! Not only is Bloodfeather a family of cowards, but their heir is a pony lover?! Wonder what mighty Alastair II would think o' that one!"
Alastair snapped. Insulting his family was one thing he did not tolerate, but when he was part of the insult his anger exploded. Grabbing Graham by his feathers, he threw him out of the tavern into the street outside. Pushing Souvenir and the tavern owner out of his way, he unsheathed his sword and charged at Graham. Unfortunately, being drunk did not make Graham an easy target as he jumped out of the way, completely avoiding the attack. As Alastair tried to stop before hitting a wall, Graham took the opportunity to grab an empty glass bottle from the ground and with surprising aim threw it at Alastair's head. The hit and pieces of shattered glass on the ground were enough to provide a permanent advantage, and soon Graham defeated Alastair in unarmed combat.
"HA HA! Me talons were enough to defeat a bloody Bloodfeather! You are a disgrace to yer family, lad!" Graham laughed at the defeated Alastair as the griffons and Souvenir looked on. "Now, to the victor go the spoils!" he shouted as he took the sword from Alastair and walked back to the tavern laughing triumphantly. "Next round's on me, mates!" he said as he pushed Souvenir out of the way.
Souvenir ran up to Alastair and attempted to help him up, but the griffon only glared at her. She could tell it wasn't a good idea to talk to him right now, and simply waited until he walked away to follow him silently. She waited until they had left the town and returned to their camp to talk.
"On the brighter side, you-"
"Shut your mouth!" Alastair interrupted her.
"I'm just saying, it was just a sword..." Souvenir tried to sound reassuring.
"JUST a sword?!" Alastair yelled. He held back his anger before, but now it was like a bomb detonating. "Listen, pony! I have been carrying and using that sword for years! It belonged to my forefathers and it USED to belong to me! If it wasn't for a certain PONY wanting to go VISIT the town! I am sick of you! Go find another griffon to guide you to Equestria, I'm leaving! I hope whatever finds you kills you on sight!" he yelled at Souvenir. He took his bag from the cart and, for the moment unable to fly due to the battle, walked away from the camp, away from Souvenir.
Normally Souvenir would have yelled back, but she didn't,she was busy crying. She didn't know why she was crying herself, she just did. For another hour she just sat there, staring at nothing as the tears flowed from her eyes. As she cried, she decided to do something, even though she didn't entirely understand it. She didn't know the reason, nor cared why, but she had to go back, find Graham and take the sword from him by any means necessary. With that resolve, she stopped crying and galloped back to the town.
Finding the tavern was easy, and finding Graham was much easier. Souvenir walked into the tavern to see Graham, drunker than before and holding the sword in his hand, bragging about his strength as the rest of the griffons listened. She walked up to him, determined to get Alastair's sword back.
"Excuse me, that is my friend's sword you have, I want you to give it back."
"Ah, wha? Give back ME sword? It's mine now, girl!" said Graham as he kept drinking.
"I don't think you heard me...give, it, back..."
"HA! I don't think so!" Graham stood up on his lion legs and held the sword. "This sword is mine, what are ye gonna do about it, little wingless big-eyed vomit-colored manure-smelling plant-eater moneybag-on-my-butt pony?"
Souvenir remained calm despite the long insult. "Well, this little pony is going to get that sword back from you!" She turned around and used her hind legs to deliver a strong blow aimed directly between the griffon's legs.
***
Alastair walked until he found himself far from the hill and the town. He sat on the ground as he thought about what had happened. After much thought he came to the conclusion he had done something foolish. It wasn't Souvenir's fault that he lost his sword, and he had yelled at her like she was the only one to blame. He called himself an idiot many times in his mind before he decided to go back and apologize. As he walked back, he wondered why he stopped to think about Souvenir, but couldn't come up with an answer and thought it was better to apologize first. However, he realized she was not in the camp, but the tent and cart were still there. He wondered where she could have gone and came up with only one answer. He left his bag in the cart and ran as fast as he could to the town. When he arrived he looked for the tavern, hoping he wouldn't be too late. As he found the tavern, he was greeted once again by the owner.
"Ah, welcome again, mister...I trust you will not participate in more fights in my tavern?" asked the owner raising an eyebrow.
"I don't have time for this, I'm looking for the pony that was with me!" answered Alastair.
"Ah, yes, you just missed a fight, come in!"
"A what?!" Alastair rushed inside. What he saw left him speechless.
Graham was lying on the floor, badly beaten and unconscious. Sitting on top of him was Souvenir, her body left with signs of a recent and intense fight, though she seemed to ignore it as she smiled triumphantly while the griffons in the tavern were looking at her and applauding her. Alastair was confused, and it took him a couple seconds to piece together what happened. He walked up to Souvenir, still amazed.
"What...did you do?!" he asked her.
Souvenir looked at him and then looked at something on the floor. "Sorry, it wasn't easy!" she said as she picked it up with her teeth and gave it to him. It was Alastair's sword.
Alastair held the sword, his eyes watered. He sheathed his sword and smiled at Souvenir. "Thank you...this...this is the kindest thing a pony has done for me."
Souvenir stepped down from Graham's body. "Don't thank me yet, I still owe you a drink!" she said as she slowly walked away.
Alastair shook his head and followed her. "How did you manage to fight him?" he asked.
"It wasn't easy, but he was totally smashed, and that helped a little. And to think my only fight before this was when I fought a pair of rabbits over a carrot and lost!" she answered, laughing at the last part.
Alastair stopped walking as his mind attempted to understand how that was possible, even for a pony. He soon decided not to question it and just be thankful that Souvenir had succeeded mostly unhurt. He kept walking and sat down with Souvenir to have the drinks she had promised earlier.
"So...does this mean we are good now?" Souvenir asked.
"Aye" replied Alastair, smiling.
The pair held their drinks and looked at each other. They smiled at each other and brought their glasses together before drinking, both knowing without a doubt that they were no longer a pony and a griffon traveling together, now they were friends.