The zebra looked from Justice, to me, to Copper, to the finer details of both Justice and Copper's harness, back to me, and then shook his head. "You lot are crazy."
I raised an eyebrow at his sudden change in speaking patterns. "No more rhyming?"
He shook his head again before replying. "No, zebras typically only do that with those they don't trust...though shamans and mystics do it all the time, helps keep their wits sharp for whatever situation they may find themselves in. And I'd say saving me from a public beheading for a crime I didn't commit is a pretty big earner of trust."
I smiled at that, but frowned as my eyes ran over his wounds. "Shame I don't have any medical supplies," I mused.
In response, the zebra merely smiled and closed his eyes before humming slightly. If there were words to whatever he was humming, I couldn't hear them. A slight sheen coated his form, and the wounds on his body seemed to lessen in severity. The process, however, was weird to watch. It wasn't the wound healing that was off to my senses, it was watching the wounds and bruises being unmade, as though they'd never happened, that sent chills down my spine. After a moment, the last injury vanished, and the zebra opened his eyes before nodding.
"Good as new," he proclaimed.
Justice's eyes 'blinked' a few times before he replied in his usual flat voice. "Interesting. It would appear this zebra is capable of manipulating his natural life-force into healing injuries he has sustained. Though this does raise the question as to why he did not do so earlier."
At this, the zebra smirked before replying. "Probably because it takes concentration and effort to pull off?"
"Ah," I said while nodding. "And I'd assume they were giving you trouble in holding such concentration for very long?"
"Plus," Copper pitched in while motioning to her neck, "I'd be willing to bet that there are some things it just doesn't heal."
The zebra nodded while wincing slightly. I raised an eyebrow and waved at the courthouse and the square before returning my attention to the zebra. "Well, I assume there's an underlying story behind this whole griffon-zebra thing that almost happened. One larger than you being in the wrong place at the wrong time."
He sighed before replying to my query. "Griffons and zebras don't get along because of a series of border skirmishes perpetuated by one zebra shaman from four hundred years ago. He summoned dark spirits to do his bidding and cursed quite a few of the royal knights sent to deal with him. He styled himself as the 'Fiendlord,' and even though he's gone, the Griffons blame us all for doing nothing to stop him or his army. More than a few can point out a great-uncle or other distant relation that was lost due to his...summonings."
"As well," Justice pitched in, "More than a few survived to this day."
A chill went down my spine at the mention of such foes, and I looked at the zebra with a bit of fear. "So...why did they arrest you, again?"
"Because their precious heiress to the throne was taken by means most fiendish, and in the minds of the griffons, that typically indicates that there was some sort of monster behind it. Which means that clearly, it must have been a zebra behind the whole thing. Despite the fact that only one zebra was ever in control of the fiends, and that it was four hundred years ago, or that the fiends attack zebras just as often as they do griffons."
I nodded at the information and looked the zebra over a bit more carefully. He'd been bound with simple rope, and I drew my katana again before placing it between his forelegs. "Don't move," I said before bringing my blade down with a swift motion. The rope cut near instantly, and I walked around to his rear side before repeating the motions.
The newly freed zebra rotated his joints, which brought forth a cacophony of cracking noises as joints were popped all over his body. "Oooh, that's better," he stated. "Now if only I had my staff, I'd be back in business."
The zebra turned to me as I sheathed my blade and stuck a hoof in my direction. "The name's Zehan," he stated.
I nodded and took a hold of the proffered hoof, shaking it once before letting go and pointing out my companions. "That there is Copper and Justice. I'm Crono, as you probably already heard. So I have a proposition for you, Zehan."
He arched an eyebrow at that. "What sort of proposition?"
"Care to help find a missing princess?"
He snorted at that, actually snorted. "Why bother? The gryphons will storm into zebra land eventually and find the latest fiend nest, thus saving us the trouble of dealing with them. All I'd have to do is bring back word that they're coming to the zebras likely to be in their way, and it'll all sort itself out eventually."
I smirked at that and gestured towards the portion of the courthouse where the griffon who'd been wearing the shroud and wielding the halberd had impacted the wall. "If I thought along similar lines, you'd be about ten pounds lighter right about now."
To his credit, Zehan flinched at the thought and brought a hoof up to his own neck. "Yikes...yeah, okay, fair enough. But why should I help bring back a griffon princess? They'll not thank me for it, you know."
"Because it's the right thing to do?" I replied while shrugging.
Zehan opened his mouth to reply when a loud cawing sound came from behind me. I turned to see no less than five griffons in highly reflective armor, wielding fine blades, and glaring at us with such stern expressions that I had no problem believing that they were members of the guard. One of them stepped forward and eyed me warily before opening his beak.
"Are you the one that threatened the citizens with fire and brimstone if they would not leave this zebra be?"
"Fire and brimstone?" I replied while mimicking a severe level of 'offended'. "Good lords, no! Does it look like fire is my specialty?"
I swear I heard a cross between a laugh and a snort at that. "I don't know, is it?"
"No, it isn't," I replied, causing the guards to relax for a second. Only a second, though, as I picked up the line again not long after. "Fire is Copper's field of expertise, and Justice...we don't get into what Justice does. My field is Lightning," I finished while drawing my katana and letting a charge dance up and down the blade. "So. While I did assault the executioner, I call it a win since he's likely alive, and so is the zebra."
The guards were silent for a moment longer before the one that had spoken before opened his beak again. "You chose to stand with this criminal rather than the crowd, that doesn't speak highly of your character."
Justice interjected then, his green eyes turned red. "A criminal convicted by which court, guardsman?"
The griffons opened and closed their beaks a few times in rapid succession, trying and failing to put to word what they thought was right, but being stopped by the sheer weight of the realization they were abruptly forced into:
Discrimination of this sort was wrong, and they were all guilty of it.
However, that didn't seem to stop the lead guard, as he shook it off a moment later. "Regardless of whether or not he was convicted of being a criminal, he was on the grounds of the palace during the time in which the princess is projected to have gone missing. Highly suspicious."
I snorted at that and smiled as a thought occurred to me. "And what of any other griffon that was also on the palace grounds during such a time?"
"You aren't suggesting that any of their servants or subjects had anything to do with it?" An eyebrow was arched in my direction, and I arched one back as I fired off my reply.
"Why is it such a novel idea to you that your own kind could have had something to do with this tragic event?"
Because there's a zebra nearby we can blame was the unspoken response, and I fired off my reply to it before the lead guard could open his beak again to give voice to such words. "Narrowing your search only delays the chance that you'll find your precious princess before something happens to her. After all, I don't see anyone else on the chopping block, when in reality, anyone who was there, not just this soul, is a suspect. You just don't want to act like it."
Thus stunned, I turned back to Zehan and motioned for him to fall in line. "Come on, we could use your help."
The zebra took a few steps forward and tilted his head towards me in curiosity. "Help with what?"
I turned back again and gave the lead griffon the stink-eye something fierce before sheathing my blade and letting the charge in my hands die off. "We're going to find and rescue their precious princess before them, to prove to them that their racism is unfounded, and that more than just griffons are capable of being noble."
...Had I known then just who the princess in question actually was, I might not have been so quick to make that claim.
On our way out of the city towards the southern gate, we ran into an interesting sight.
A very interesting sight.
A particular pony walking down the street. Ponies walking down the street weren't exactly common, but not rare either. The griffons were mostly civilized with their hatred towards equine life-forms, except where zebras were concerned, or anything that seemed to resemble a zebra. I'd caught more than one dirty look shot our way, and I returned all the ones I caught. Quite a few citizens had quite quickly gone on their way.
No, the pony that caught my eye was no normal pony. It had an orange coat, red mane, yellow eyes. But everything about it sparkled in direct sunlight. In other words, it was a crystal pony, and judging from looks alone, it was a stallion. And the really weird thing?
The griffons nodded their heads at him as he passed by. I came to a stop and pointed him out to my companions with a simple set of phrases. "See that shining pony?"
The others nodded, and I continued on my line of thought. "Think we should talk to him?"
A round of thoughtful humming came from my friends at that, before Zehan spoke up. "We probably could, but why would you want to?"
I smirked at the question. "He's early. There shouldn't be any crystal ponies out and about for a few years yet. I want to know his story, how he came to be here, and why the griffons seem to treat him with respect when they only seem to begrudgingly accept the ponies."
Of course, catching his eye was easier than I thought it would be, as once he caught sight of me, his eyebrows raised and he walked over. "Hello, who might you be?"
I pointed at him, then clapped softly, slowly. "You, sir, have earned my respect. Because you asked who, not what, I am."
The others were shocked at that for a moment before realizing that they, too, had never asked 'what' I was. I smiled and gave a semi-bow towards him. "The name is Crono, good sir. Traveling swords-arm. And might I have yours?"
The stallion smiled at me before inclining his head. "The name is Anima, master smith by trade."
"Ah," Zehan spoke up. "That would explain why the griffons respect you. If there's one thing they respect, it's someone who knows how to work a forge."
Anima nodded his head and looked over Copper and Justice. "My word, you seem to have found a fair bit of equipment. However, were we to exchange notes, I'm sure we could come up with something truly remarkable."
"Well," I said to the crystal pony, "Lead the way to your forge, O Master, and we shall see about improving our gear."