//------------------------------//
// Chapter Ten - Resolve 
// Story: A Journey through Memories 
// by Centauri 
//------------------------------//

A Journey through Memories



Chapter Ten - Resolve

I stayed at the top of the cliff. Hawkeye had returned to his palace, accepting that he wasn’t able to do anything about his current situation. However, I had left him with some final advice.
“Do not linger,” I had told him. “There is nothing you can do about this. What you can do remains in the future; dwelling on the past will achieve nothing.” I hoped he would take this advice to heart, because griffin society could once again be rebuilt if everyone was willing. Meanwhile, I glanced at Celestia’s light. Ninety minutes had passed and the first griffins had flown out to meet the convoy. These were mainly young revolutionaries, most with no families of their own. I flew out to greet them all personally. The first ones to arrive seemed very pleasant to be around, although they were eager to leave Highridge. I asked them collectively if any of them could carry my friends, and then thought the better of it. Instead, I asked them to come to the top of the cliff to introduce the griffins and ponies.
Different griffins with different personalities found good friends in the six mares. Not five minutes after I introduced them, Pinkie Pie and one of the young female griffins were taking turns in telling jokes to the crowd around them, and every single punchline received a hearty laugh. Most of the younger griffins gravitated towards Rainbow Dash; after a short time, she had acquired an audience to applaud her many airborne stunts, and even started teaching some of the simpler ones to the griffins. Fluttershy had managed a crowd of griffins which was more than large enough for her. A single griffin was talking with Fluttershy quietly, and in a broken conversation. I felt that the two personalities would have a few many differences in upbringing: griffins were carnivores by nature, and seldom ate plants. Applejack, however, had amassed a small crowd who had all seemed intrigued when I spoke to them about the concept of agriculture; some griffins did not want to offend ponies by killing creatures that they loved for their food. Rarity was speaking loudly to a group of griffins who wanted to know more about art and music.
Only one griffin was left out. I saw him reading under the shadow of the cliff. Twilight trotted over to the griffin, who I recalled as scholarly and studious. I smiled; soon the pair was latched in a deep conversation about... well, it would be a lie to say I knew what they were talking about, but I guessed it was something to do with books. I sorely wanted to join, but I knew that Twilight would not want the attention from me. I glanced once more and guessed that the two hours were up. Some more griffins had joined, but I had guessed there would be more.
“Friends, please hear me!” I called as I rose on my wings. “Do any of you have friends you think want to fly with us to Equestria?” One griffin signalled to me. “Then we shall wait for them.” Some of the young griffins groaned, but I knew that they would understand.
Fifteen minutes later, a family of griffins arrived, carrying a baby among them. I smiled warmly and introduced myself to them. I asked the griffins if they were waiting on anyone else, and we took to our wings. It would be a long flight, and it was already midday, but I felt that they were all ready. We soared into the night sky and, true to my word, I cast a ward around the group, as we left Highridge, I noticed that we didn’t need it. I would much rather have been safe than sorry, however.
We were going to be flying north until nightfall, at which point the six mares and myself would set up camp to continue on our journey, and the griffins would vote on whether to continue on with their journey throughout the night or camp with us and reach Canterlot on the evening of the next day. Until then, we simply flew on. The griffins were constantly ecstatic: they were leaving the lifestyle they had come to despise over the years, and going to a new life with the blessings of a princess behind them.
I glanced around at my friends; they all seemed to be happy with the current state of things. Pinkie Pie was riding on her griffin friend, exchanging joke after joke in a tireless supply of humour. Applejack was giving some advice to one of the griffins she had earlier talked to about farming. If they didn’t want to eat meat, then they needed to know which plants to grow; Applejack also stressed that life in that matter would be difficult, because it defied the griffins’ natural instincts. Fluttershy was quiet, being carried by the griffin she was talking to earlier. There was little conversation between them. Rarity was talking seriously with a griffin about art and fashion, giving her strong opinions on what fashion is, and what fashion should be. She was also trying to teach the griffin about sewing, which was difficult because she wasn’t able to demonstrate effectively behind the griffin’s head.
Rainbow Dash was flying with her own wings, weaving in and out of the loose formation, occasionally chatting to a griffin or one of her friends. I looked towards Twilight; she was still deep in conversation with the scholarly griffin about some topic or other. I was glad that she just wasn’t releasing any anger she surely held for me. I really hoped that the situation would improve; I didn’t want to lose her as a friend completely. After three hours of arduous flight for the griffins, I saw a familiar plateau in the landscape.
“Okay, everyone,” I shouted over the wind. “We’re going to head down to that plateau there, and we’ll just quickly eat something and have a quick drink.” Most of the griffins did not want to stop, but the new family looked extremely relieved to hear this news. They had been trying to teach their baby to fly, but had needed to carry him most of the way; griffin offspring was by no means light. We landed on the plateau and the griffins started resting. I scouted to the east where I knew there was a mountain with a spring at the bottom of a natural reservoir. I conjured two buckets and fashioned a shoulder yoke from a branch of one of the trees downhill. I filled the buckets with water and attached them to the yoke, then carried the yoke towards the griffins at the plateau. As I arrived, most of the griffins gave way to the young family, letting the child drink first, and then its parents quench their thirst. After them, the younger griffins allowed the older to go through, trying to hold off, as they knew that they would not need as much. Swiftpaw came last after the crowd, allowing some other dragoon sergeants in front of him.
“It’s customary for the rank to eat and drink after their subordinates,” he explained to me, and I smiled; he would have a good chance in this new life. I was prepared to make him the honorary mayor for the griffins’ new town, and let him lead the flight after the ponies left. Swiftpaw had a good heart, and I knew he would not mistreat his comrades.
The water had run out, and Swiftpaw did not have a chance to drink. He waved my help away, but I insisted that he should have some water, as it would risk his health severely if he did not drink. He did not give in, saying that it would do no good to return to the reservoir. This argument caused a thought to cross my mind. I closed my eyes and lit up my horn. I sent my mind flying across the mountain ranges until I found the lake, and formed a magical sphere around a small portion of water.
I opened my eyes, and the water appeared in front of me in a small sphere. I was panting: it was a miniscule amount of water, but teleporting an object from far away was very difficult. Swiftpaw looked at me, and he realised my resolve: I was not going to risk him. He drank the water and thanked me quietly, and then walked away to care for the others. He asked about the griffins’ conditions, and eventually, I heard his raised voice.
“Can anyone here bear to carry some more weight?” Swiftpaw called to the griffins on the plateau. Several griffins signalled the sergeant and he distributed the weight from the family’s packs between them. He felt it was prudent to care for the young, and caring for their families was a good step in the direction of achieving that. I looked towards Swiftpaw and I realised that the griffin was a good friend, and a good leader.
*      *      *
We were flying again, and it was about four hours past noon. Given that it was winter, I knew that Celestia’s light would set early today, and we needed to reach our planned campsite soon, else we would be having a cold and uncomfortable night; it may have been a dangerous experience for the young griffins. As I started to doubt my navigation skills, I picked up some green on the horizon, and I knew we were getting close.
“We’re nearly there, everyone,” I called to the party. “It’s about half an hour to go if we travel fast.” This news seemed to put renewed vigour in the griffins and the pace quickened. In about two hours, we were flying above the foothills of the southern mountain ranges. I found a relatively flat area and instructed everyone to land there.
As we landed, the griffins instinctually started scouting the area, until they realised that they didn’t need to anymore. Feeling safe with the presence of the Night Princess, they started hunting around the mountains for wild game, much to the distaste of the ponies.
“It’s natural for them,” I had told them, “and there is no way we can expect them to eat the wrong things for their body after that flight.” Everypony seemed to understand, except for Fluttershy, who retreated into a stony silence, as opposed to her usual shyness. She snapped at any griffin who tried to talk to her for the rest of the night. The only one who could get through to her was Rarity.
“If you flew a very long way,” Rarity tried to assure Fluttershy, “you wouldn’t want to be eating conkers, would you? That’s how it is to these griffins; they only see it as a natural cycle.” Fluttershy was largely unresponsive, though. When the quiet griffin tried talking to Fluttershy, the butter pegasus did not say anything, but rather stared at the griffin. I had heard about the Stare from friendship reports, and I immediately felt sorry for the griffin; he was only trying to understand Fluttershy’s love for animals, as was against griffins’ instinct.
After satiating their hunger, the griffins washed off in a nearby ravine and started to turn in for the night. I walked by the campsite, dipping quickly into their dreams and checking that they were sleeping well; if they wanted to make it to Canterlot tomorrow, it would be an arduous flight and a bad night’s sleep would hinder them significantly.
I found that all of the griffins were sleeping well, dreaming good dreams about the lives they were about to lead. I was heartened by their confidence in a better life – I had guessed some of them had doubts, after their previous life under Hawkeye – and could only hope that Celestia and I could deliver on that. I sat down on a patch of grass and retrieved some parchment and proceeded to burn words onto the surface:
Dear Celly,
You’re probably wondering why a host of griffins is waiting outside your palace. Don’t worry; they came with me after I found some issues with Hawkeye’s politics. Don’t worry, I still hate court, but going to Highridge showed me that our system is working better than theirs.
It’s a very hierarchical society, strict and regimented. I was talking to Swiftpaw (he should be the one to give you this letter) and he talked to me about the system Hawkeye employed. It has been used for the past five hundred years, and a lot of the griffins did not like the way society was run. When I finally confronted Hawkeye, he tried to act innocent. As you can guess, that strategy didn’t work. Suffice to say, he didn’t like the methods I used to let him know. He thought that society was all about winning the battles he fought, and not about culture. I did explore the caves, more than once, and every work of art was at least six hundred years old.
Many of the griffins who are flying with me as I write this are interested in the concept of music, and some with art. I was surprised to find that some of the griffins are interested in agriculture, but you won’t see me complaining. I think it’s going to be difficult for the griffins to live on beans, though; they still need to hunt for their food.
All I want you to do is give them a place to live: I promised that I would do that for them. Somewhere near the Everfree Forest, as I don’t think many ponies would miss the creatures that live there. Also, try and give them somewhere to stay in Canterlot for the night, because where I’m planning for them to go is quite far away.
Love you,
Luna
I smiled as I finished this, hoping that it would allay some of Celestia’s surprise. I stole over to Twilight’s saddlebags and borrowed the atlas. I found a page with a map of Equestria, and copied it over to the bottom of the parchment. I burnt a red cross in the area where I thought the village should be, to the east-northeast of Canterlot, along the north-eastern border of the Everfree forest. I rolled up the parchment and sealed it closed with magic; any guard at Canterlot Castle should be able recognise my magic from a sealed letter. After thinking for a short while, I set a ward on the parchment so it would protect all the griffins while Swiftpaw was carrying it; that way, I could fulfil my promise of safety in my absence.
I sighed; I was tired, and I needed some rest. I stumbled over to my saddlebags and flopped onto the ground next to them. I closed my eyes, and let sleep take me.
*      *      *
I woke up to a bright light shining on my face. I marveled at the warmth of it and smiled. It took a long time for me to work up the motivation to rise from the ground. When I did, I saw that many of the griffins were already walking around the area. Some had gone hunting, and were now washing themselves at the ravine. I walked over to Swiftpaw, blinking the sleep out of my eyes as I did so.
“Good morning, Swiftpaw,” I greeted the former sergeant cheerily.
“It is, isn’t it,” he returned the greeting with similar cheer. “Is this where our journeys part?” He asked me.
I nodded. “I think we may meet again quite soon, though. Here: take this letter to Celestia in Canterlot, about a day’s flight directly north of here. That will tell her what I want her to do for you. I also put a spell on it so all you griffins will be safe.” I swallowed as I realised that I was saying goodbye to a good friend for a long time. “It was nice to meet you, Swiftpaw. I hope that the day we meet comes soon.”
“It, reciprocal, Luna,” he also seemed slightly sad. “I never said; thank you, so much, for all the help you’ve given us. I d- I don’t think you know how much it means to me.” At these words, he turned and started gathering his things and helping the other griffins pack. Before long, they were in the air, soaring away. Swiftpaw turned and gave one final wave to the six mares with me behind them as they transformed into a cloud speeding towards the north. Feeling slightly heartened, and slightly heartbroken, we started packing our own belongings as we prepared to travel towards the east. I had an idea to visit one of the villages in the plains south of the mountainous forests. It was named Cadmos, and I had once known a mighty warrior to have been born there. We packed our bags and started walking east.
I borrowed Twilight’s atlas so I could double-check the route we were taking. It seemed very simple: follow a relatively flat dirt track to the village, going through a forest along the way. As I read over the conditions for the journey, I noticed that the forest was very thick, and camping in there would be difficult due to a lack of space. I decided that we would hike to the forest (I guessed that this would take us until late afternoon that day) and then set up camp at the entrance. If the track was in good condition, I knew that we would be able to make it through the forest in a single day. We started hiking as I told everypony where we were going that day and the rest of the week.
Rainbow Dash was in the air, occasionally landing to tell us how far we had to go. It was hard work, but everypony was getting fitter due to the constant hiking we had undertaken; even Rarity hadn’t complained during the day-long hike to the forest. I could see the forest on the horizon after we had travelled twelve miles, but I guessed we had that distance again to cover in the rest of the day. I groaned inwardly: we had left late so as to farewell the griffins, but I was starting to regret it now. We walked for another hour until I called a temporary halt.
“We should have something to eat now,” I told them. “We still have another two hours to go, so hold tight.” It was about two hours after noon, and the sun would probably set an hour after we got to the forest. If one of us got injured, then we would be cutting it very fine. We each grazed on the new winter grass and started to walk the rest of the distance.
I was holding up well, but that was mainly due to my natural alicorn fitness and endurance. The others seemed to be getting very tired, and it was to mutual relief that we found the border of the forest, and the six mares lay down on the ground in relief. As I was not tired, I decided to venture into the forest and collect some water, along with some firewood. I found a stream about twenty yards into the forest, and there was dead wood all around the area. I returned to our campsite laden with some buckets of water, some tinder, and some plants I knew to be edible. I left the tinder in the centre of the campsite as I proceeded to retrieve some larger firewood and the various herbs and fungi that I had seen; I was planning on making a quick soup for our dinner. As I returned a second time, I saw that Twilight had set her horn onto the twigs, and I put some larger sticks onto the quick-burning flame. It was not long before a soup was simmering happily above the fire.
There was little conversation as we drank the soup, and one by one, the ponies retired for the night. Feeling that I would not be able to sleep well for another night, I walked about the campsite, until I settled about ten yards into the forest. With charcoal at hoof, I started drawing a stylized scene of the trees. It had an eerie mood, the forest; it could show you things which weren’t there. As I thought this, I felt a memory cross my mind as if it was a dream: the six mares outside the forest – younger than today – walking through a thick forest. They saw horrible disfigured faces in the trees, and they huddled closer to protect themselves from them, bar one; Pinkie Pie was laughing at the faces, and she sang. It reminded me of the songs she sang during our journey, and soon all the mares were cracking up laughing.
I gasped as I realised where this quasi-memory was from. I only remember some of the experiences of Nightmare Moon, and none of them are pleasant; this was one of them. I had once tried to kill these ponies, yet they still trusted me. I could only wonder why.
“Luna,” a familiar voice broke me out of my reverie and I leapt half a foot in the air. Gathering up the scattered charcoal, I looked behind me. It was Twilight. I stood up hastily. “Look... I- I’m sorry, but I don’t quite know how to say this...” she stammered.
My heart fell to my hooves. She wants to leave. She doesn’t want to follow me anymore. She doesn’t want to be with me anymore. These thoughts rushed through my head, and I struggled to not break down into tears. “Look, Twilight...” – still trying to keep the tears away – “why don’t you just go ahead and say it?”
Twilight also looked as if she was choking back tears. “It’s just... I’m not sure if y- you’re going hate me... Not af- after what I’ve done to you.” I glanced up. What she had done to me? I didn’t say anything as she continued. “I- I haven’t been sleeping well, and I- I wasn’t sure... sure that this is what I wanted.”
Everything she said made me believe that Twilight wanted to return to her quiet library in Ponyville, to stay warm and comfortable every night. What she said next, though, surprised me.
“I just wa- wasn’t sure whether I could do it... I mean, look at Rainbow Dash, sh- she took so mu- so much... shit from the other ponies as Flight Camp for being bi, and I wasn’t sure I could handle what other ponies would say.” As I realised what she was saying, my heart leapt back to its rightful position, and further. Twilight paused, not sure what to think of my silence. “And... well... eventually, I realised that... that I jus- just didn’t care about what they said... what they said about me... b- because I love you, Luna. I really do.”
My heart was fluttering and my breathing heavy. Twilight didn’t want to leave me – quite the opposite; I was overjoyed by this. I nearly couldn’t believe it, but, there it was, right in front of me. I drew myself to Twilight and wrapped my forelegs around her. “I love you, Twilight,” I whispered into her ear. “I still do.” She gave my neck an affectionate nuzzle as we walked back to the campsite, and we lay down on the grass, side by side. Our sides were touching, but all we did was talk, watching the night sky above us. I could feel her warm body beside mine, heart beating and lungs breathing with my own.
“I drew these stars, you know,” I told Twilight; I was content with enjoying her company, so I offered her a topic which I knew she had an interest in, such as astronomy. She listened to what I had to say, often asking more, or offering her opinions. I told her one of the things which few ponies knew: I drew these constellations for people of all races whom I had known, leaving recognition for them so the whole of Equestria could see them: Orion, the warrior; Ursa Major, for the Ursas’ ancestors had once been sentient, and good friends to many races; the black wolves, which had since died out; and Ironclaw the griffin. She asked me about the latter of the constellations: Ironclaw.
I started telling her a story of when griffins were a very cultural race, making music and art; but that had been eradicated from life by the regimental setup by some of the more recent generations. When Equestria’s diplomatic relations with the northern Amaltheatic Empire had degenerated into a war, Ironclaw, the leader of the griffins, saw the need to drive off the Amaltheans from Equestria, hoping to restore the Empire to its former state. The Equestrians with the griffins from the south quickly overcame the Amaltheans, where it had formerly been a stalemate; eventually, a diplomatic society was founded in the former Amaltheatic Empire, and has since run successfully to this day, Equestria an ever-present commerce partner.
I finished the story, only to notice that Twilight’s eyes had drifted closed, and she had fallen asleep. I smiled at her, seeing the unicorn I had come to love in serene innocence. Looking at the moon, I realised that I no longer harboured any hate against it: I had made this moon, and ponies could enjoy it. I felt that I had discovered sufficient reasoning to justify the moon; I had played my part in the tale, and it had played its own, for which it had no guilt. Content with life all over again, I rolled over, lay a wing over Twilight, and fell asleep, her heart a reassuring metronome on my side.