With Steel rose, my french accented smith passed out in her new room. I decided to make sure that the costumes fitted everyone. I found Azura reading a book in the main lounge of the crew deck on one of the leather couches in the far corner of the room. When she saw me, she put down the book and rushed over giving me a big hug. I couldn’t help but smile. The thought of being a dad was finally settling into my brain.
Even though I wanted to be a dad eventually. I wanted to have a decent place to live in and with a steady job to provide for my family. I think that was my only dream, but I had become a real adult with a real kid. All my sisters had kids by the time they were sixteen, and I guess it was my turn to add to the family, but with things happening around me as of late. Wasn't very encouraging on that dream.
Having a kill score of; Three-thousand five-hundred twenty-four ponies, thirty-five high ranking dragons, and one god, didn’t help me with wanting to have a family either. I could have too many enemies plotting for my head with the potential of using the ones I love as a weapon against me. And having an eye that could fuck up an entire planet also didn’t help.
I shooed the little affectionate green and white fur ball off so I can get her costume out. ‘It’s funny.’ When I first met her, she had the memories of an ancient windigo that used to plague this land, but now. Those memories are gone and the influence from them subsided. Sure she is smarter than the typical child should be, with the attitude of a teenager to match, but at least she is happy.
I left her be to her book. Walking down the white hall, I couldn’t help but feel something was off. I couldn’t put my hand on it. I normally don’t get this kind of feeling unless something was wrong, something was hiding. ‘Where is Lily? Normally she is watching Azura or reading herself.’ I turned on the eye of dreams so that I could find her. This eye was very over-powered, but it made search and rescue insanely easy.
I found her in no time at all. Lily was hiding under a tree at the center of the island. Crying. ‘Why was she crying?’ I knew our conversation earlier wasn’t what neither of us wanted to go through, but I had to call her out of the problems she was causing. I didn’t like her threats for my life or how she over-reacts to everything I do to cheer her up. Sure I like her and that I want to get to really know her, I even made her armor to be proud of wearing. Was it because she thinks she isn’t worthy of being alive, even though I told her that no matter what she does to me. I will always forgive her? ‘Maybe that’s it.’
I teleported to where Lily was hiding. She hid under a big cherry blossom tree in the center of a meadow I created at the center of my island. She wasn’t in her normal outfit, but the simple red kimono she wore under it. ‘I think it’s time to show her how I used to look like.’ I turned myself into my dragon half then casted a spell turning me back into my wolfish human counterpart.
I walked up to her in my getup that I usually wear as a human; Black leather boots, black cargos, black shirt, black collar with a silver snowflake for a dog tag, black trench coat opened up, and I held my scythe Lupus over my shoulder for added badassery. She looked up from her huddled form, eyes bloodshot from her bawling. Her jaw dropped in both confusion and awe. She wiped away her tears just in time for me to get a meter away from reaching her. I gave her a soft cheeky smile noticing her tail wagged meekly.
“Hey, Lily. What’s wrong?” I asked placing my free hand inside my pocket. She didn’t know what to say, her words wouldn’t come out, but they were formed inside her head. I crouched down picking up a pink rose near her feet. I handed it to her with a smile hoping to cheer her up. She shyly took it from my hand blushing as pink as the flower.
“Who are you?” she finally choked up smelling the sweet scented flower.
“I’m Winter. You know. The crazy overpowered griffin you adore, the one guy that can make you blush the way you are now,” I replied. She stopped from her admiration of the flower and stared at me in shock.
“Yeah, I know,” I say. “I am also a human, but you know me as the griffin who kicked your ass,” I chuckled sitting down criss-cross with my scythe laid out on my lap.
“What happened to you?!” she gasped. “I thought you were a griffin!”
“Well, humans aren’t really welcomed here anymore. They are supposed to be nothing more than a legend that died off thousands of years ago. The reason why I look the way I normally do is because I can use magic and a very powerful form at that. I need to stay hidden so that I won’t be a threat to the world. Oh! Don’t worry about Azura. She was born a griffin. Not a human whatsoever,” I smiled.
“Oh…Never mind then…” she sighed throwing away the flower.
“Lily…”
“DON’T LILY ME!” she snapped almost in a fit of tears again.
“What’s wrong?”
“NOTHING! JUST GO AWAY!”
I sighed. I snapped my fingers again turning her back into a human. I liked her human form, she was very cute, but her black hair needed a barber shop or a lawn mower. She noticed her change, but she just curled up into a ball begging me to go away. I got up and sat beside her. She tried to move away, but I didn’t let her. I wrapped her in an embrace, which she fought to get away from, but the more she fought the more tightly I held her.
“LET GO!” she cried.
“No,” I replied.
“LET GO LET GO LET GO!” She squirmed trying to break free.
“No,” I replied.
“Please let go,” she whimpered giving up her escape.
“Not until you tell me what’s wrong.”
“Will you go away if I tell you?” she whined.
“Yes,” I lied. I wasn’t going to let go until she stops putting herself down.
“Fine…” she says. “It’s you! You are what’s wrong. I don’t understand how you could like me. I don’t understand how you can forgive me after all that I have done or tried to do to you. I just don’t understand…” She whimpered. It was the same conversation as before. She still doesn’t understand why I act they way I do towards her. Nor do I at this point. There is something about her that I enjoy. It isn’t her ability to kick my ass if I didn’t cheat nor her cuteness. Maybe I just feel compelled at this point or maybe it’s because I am going insane. Time to find out.
She looked into my eyes waiting for a reply, but there isn’t one that I could think of. So the next best thing is something that I haven’t done in a long time. I gave her a warm smile swiping away her tears from her face. She became confused from this gesture unsure of how to react anymore. ‘Moment of truth.’
She froze in paralyzing horror, but it didn’t last. I could feel her tears falling again as she embraced my advance, leaning in closer. Her hand that she tried to use to break free with, rested gently on my chest. I let her go from my tight grip into a more comfortable position. But my assumption came true like it always does. I slowly broke from our lock and smiled warmly into those soft silver eyes of hers. She was blushing profusely, if her tail was wagging right know it would be moving faster than the speed of light. I hate to kill the mood with the cherry blossom tree shedding its pink leafs and a cool northern breeze making its way through the meadow, turning this place into a mystical romantic wonderland, but I had a schedule to keep.
“Do you understand now?” I purred wrapping my jacket around her. She rested her head on my chest accepting the new blanket.
“Yes…” she replied.
After our little tug of war with each other’s heart strings. We went back to the ship changed back into our normal forms. Her being a beautiful diamond dog and I a griffin. I let her keep my jacket on the way back while she rode on my back like a mount, arms around my neck and head nuzzling into my head fluff. Normally this would probably look humiliating in the eyes of others or very romantic, but there was like only two other people on this one-thousand long one and a half-thousand wide island in the northern east hemisphere of the world, safely tucked away from both maps and eyes from unwanted attention. We didn’t say a word to each other on the way back, but we both knew what was flowing through our minds. I am glad she was more comfortable with me now, but as for the future. Fuck the future.
I let her go off to her room to settle down for a bit while I go back to doing what I was supposed to do, but I gave up on it till the morning. I fled to Steel rose’s room to see how things with her was going. To my surprise on the way to her room, I found her in the lounge waiting for me. Only one problem. She had Azura tied up and a knife pointed to her throat. ‘Fuck me.’ I entered the room where a sadistic grinning Steel rose was holding Azura hostage.
“Steel rose. What are you doing?” I asked going through the mini fridge for something to drink.
“You are going to do everything I say or else you daughter is going to die,” she smiled. I closed the fridge pulling out a bottle of wild Pegasus whisky, because I was in the mood for it, and popped open the lid and took a swig.
“Eye of dreams on,” I said freezing her in place. I walked over to Azura freeing her from her entrapment, then tying up Steel rose.
“Winter, who is this?” Azura asked unshaken that she was held hostage.
“This is Steel rose or should I say Iron maiden. She was secretly making and sending the meanie that I am trying to capture weapons and armor. So I decided to hire her to stop her from doing that, and other reasons,” I explained taking another swig of the smooth whisky.
“By why bring her here?” she asked.
“Meh, felt like it. I could use a hand after I destroy her link of the chain she is apart of.”
“That makes sense,” she sassed.
“Yep,” I say. “Why don’t you go into my room and get those three white boxes on my bed and then bring it to the smithy, please?”
“Why me?!” she whined.
“Because it’s part of your surprise, so get going. The faster you do it the faster you get it,” I argued.
She ran off cursing under her breath leaving me and Iron maiden alone. I unfroze her regretting my choice of drink. I was getting tipsy. She looked around slightly dazed, but when she realized that she was tied up, she glared daggers at me. I brushed it off taking another gulp of my bottle of whisky, teleporting my scythe into my hands. This freaked her out to see a six foot long pure white dragon scale made death machine. She gulped, sweat trickling down her brow. Today was a good day, till I got up, burned alive for an hour, and have to deal with this chick after a lovely few minutes with Lily.
“Ok. Let me make this clear for you,” I say. “Iron maiden, you have a choice. Get sent back to Canterlot in a body-bag or ditch Aqua marine and join me and my crew.” Her fear turned to absolute hate towards me.
“How did you know?” she hissed.
“I can read your mind, it isn’t hard.” I took another sip just putting me over the tipsy limit to drunk limit.
“I see. Do you want to know my answer?”
“Sure,” I slurred.
“I’d rather die!”
“Even though. *HIC* Even though I’ll just take whatever knowledge I can from your head then tell. *HIC* I’ll tell your boss of your betrayal?”
“What?”
“Hold on for a sec. I am going to try a detox spell I’ve been working on,” I said putting down my empty bottle of whisky. I snapped my fingers feeling a surge blast throughout my body. I waited for a second after the surge was over, proud of myself that the spell worked.
“Okay. I already have the entire trade route from you head and everything else. All I need to do now is snap my fingers destroying all the underground tunnels from Canterlot to Gem fido, and leaving a note from you making sure that blue butt acknowledged your betrayal.” Iron maiden went back to terror begging not to do it, but like the way I am. I snapped my fingers teleporting out all the slaves from the tunnels, and caved them in, leaving a note that Iron maiden did it.
“Well, you’re ruined now. You can always accept my invitation, but I will have to keep you locked up for a while just as a precaution.” I say. “Question. Why aren’t you surprised that I can use magic?”
“What?” she hissed.
“Oh, so you were faking. I get it, but really you are fucked. I might as well lock you up till further notice, but I warn you. It gets cold at night, especially since winter is around the corner.”
“You can’t use magic!” And with that, I knocked her out teleporting her to an empty jail cell within the ship.
Half annoyed from the fight between my strategic captive that I tricked for the moment I laid eyes on her, got me one step closer from taking down Starlight glimmer. The next step was to block her in Gem fido then cut off all external food supplies. A simple but effective plan. From the show, I could tell she was cleaver, but not everything is as it seems. So the best way to take her down was betrayal. Capture all her high-ranking officers to join me creating mass paranoia within the ranks, and once I cut them off from civilization. They’ll kill each other before I get to them.
*Yawn…* “Damn I’m tired.”
I slowly found me way to the smithy where both Lily and Azura was waiting. The both figured out what was in those boxes, but they couldn’t figure out how to put them on. ‘At least they didn’t dare try till I got there.’ I gave them a “howdy ho” walking into the room with Lupus in my back. After I put away my scythe, I helped the girls put on their costumes. Azura’s costume was a butterfly. She had little antennae, a white fluffy scarf and little wings that went over her own. She absolutely adored it thanking me relentlessly trying not to bawl tears of joy.
Lily’s costume was a different story. She wore a black and red sailor suit with black the main color and red the secondary. The dress shirt and collar wasn’t the problem, it was the provocative matching mini skirt and leggings. The black frilly mini skirt with red lining barely covered her butt. If she would to bend over everything showed especially the matching thong that was added to my original order. The leggings were tied by a ribbon just under her mini skirt that also didn’t help, as well as the black ribbon with a bell that was tied to her tail wrists and left ear. She wouldn’t stop complaining for how naughty this outfit looked. ‘Which it was.’ I am all for feminine rights and all, but I like to be a pervert from time to time.
She noticed my starring of her lower regions and slapped me for it. I deserved it. Azura thought it was strange for her to do so, but kept out of it. She was too distracted flying around the room like a butterfly. My response to her slap when Azura flew out of hearing distance made Lily blush some more. My response made her less embarrassed about her costume, and made her happy to wear it around me.
With naughtiness done for the night, and costumes put away. We all fled for our beds excited for tomorrow’s events, but I still had work to do. In my room, I plumed down on my cloud bed trying to fight the call of the sandman. My first task of many was complete, but the next one was going to be a bit harder. I have to find where their main food source and take it out. Using Iron maidens memories, there was only one person in charge of the food supply, but I couldn’t find a name. The general area of where Iron maiden memories showed me was the southern settlement close to the border to the dominion. This little town is also where those three pirates I killed awhile back had come from. It was a well-integrated pony, griffin and diamond dog town, but looks can be deceiving.
*Sigh…* “It’s also where I am going to take the girls trick or treating too.”
*knock, knock.*
*sigh…*
“Come in,” I yawned.
The door opened up to me….
“Fuck…”