//------------------------------// // Why Was School Never This Fun? (47) // Story: Griffin the Griffin // by BlackWing //------------------------------// Why Was School Never This Fun? "Alright, so, the next one is easy. Tremor. It means the same thing. Basically, an earthquake spell. Tempesta, tempest, storm. The modern language is based off Latin, so, by thinking of a word and it's synonyms, you can often derive the spell-word. Invisible, hide, obscure, you can use obscuro for this, or you can use umbra, which means shadow. But umbra also means silence. Ignis can mean fire or lightning, depending on circumstance, since lightning would often cause fires when it struck trees, so they let you use the same word. Acceo is fetch, for getting something you can't reach, repello is repel. Protego is protect. Basically, if you want to do something, think of the words in this language for what you want, then derive their Latin form." There was a lot of free time as we traveled. Not much to do, plenty of food, fully armed, and training just about finished. The crew now had their own rainbow scale armor, while the tribe stuck with their own bone and scale gear. It wasn't as good as the stuff Steelhorn and Shimmer made, but, it was still better than plain iron or steel by far. "So, what if we want to take someone's weapon or shield away?" Gilda asked. "Expelli armas. 'Thrust arms' Expelli, expel. Armas, armaments. So, basically, pushing their armaments away." "What about music?" Trixie asked. "What about it?" "Well, I don't know of any unicorn spells that let you play sounds directly from your mind." "Music, musica. Mind, memory, memoria. So....." I took a wand. "Musica a memoria." "Hey, it's working!" About fifteen seconds in, it stopped, as the gem had run out of juice. "Orchestra? Really Grif?" Gilda scoffed with a raised eyebrow. "Don't judge me." "Don't you have something, you know, cooler?" "Cooler?" Only Gilda could think Game of Thrones was uncool. "You know, more awesome?" I stood there more a moment before getting a sly grin. "Well then, you asked for it, don't say I didn't warn you. Trix, keep the gem charged so the spell doesn't wear off." I cast the spell again, with Trixie keeping it charged constantly so it would last the entire song. Rather than an instant use, it slowly discharged as it was used up, but being recharged by the unicorn faster than it could drain meant that it would last the length of the song. "Let's see what you think of THIS!" The song started with a mid paced, steady strumming, followed by a guitar entrance. Jaws dropped as the rest of the band joined in, Trixie barely remembering she had a job to do. The cats were wide eyed, the dogs as well, while Gilda grinned maniacally like she had an adrenaline high from the excitement. Then, I began to sing. To the sound of a heartbeat pounding away To the rhythm of the awful rusted machines We toss and turn but don't sleep Each breath we take makes us thieves Like causes without rebels Just talk but promise nothing else We crawl on our knees for you Under a sky no longer blue We sweat all day long for you But we sow seeds to see us through 'Cause sometimes dreams just don't come true We wait to reap what we are due To the rhythm of a time bomb ticking away And the blare of the sirens combing the streets Chased down like dogs we run from Your grasp until the sun comes up We crawl on our knees for you Under a sky no longer blue We sweat all day long for you But we sow seeds to see us through 'Cause sometimes dreams just don't come true Look now at what they've done to you White needle's buried in the red The engine roars and then it gives But never dies 'Cause we don't live We just survive On the scraps that you throw away The calm guitar solo came around, and Gilda looked like she was about to cry, but have an awesome spazz session at the same time. After all, this song related DIRECTLY to her and the griffins who were enslaved, as well as the dogs who were also victims of the system. I won't crawl on my knees for you I won't believe the lies that hide the truth I won't sweat one more drop for you 'Cause we are the rust upon your gears We are the insect in your ears We crawl We crawl We crawl... all over you! We sow seeds to see us through Our days are precious and so few We all reap what we are due Under this sky no longer blue We bring the dawn long overdue We crawl We crawl We crawl... ALL OVER YOU! "So, 'awesome' enough for you?" I practically spat. "What the hell! That was freaking badass! Is all Earth music that cool?" Gilda asked after regaining her senses. "Well, again, a lot of it is crap, but there's a load of good stuff too. All depends on who made it." "That song was....." "It was about revolution, the oppressed biding their time, gathering in numbers and strength, running, hiding, till they can overthrow their oppressors." I explained nonchalantly. I couldn't tell how she felt, mostly because she was probably a swirling mix of emotion. After all, this song is basically a songified version of her life, and put in the amazing form of rock music, she probably didn't know what to think. "Well, I don't see much use for this spell, other than motivation and morale, or partying. Next time we land, I want you all to practice the spells I taught you, and using different ones based on the same word but varying intent. Class dismissed." And with that, the tribe left to continue their duties. My crew remained behind with me. "Grif, that song...." Trixie said. "Yeah?" "Are there more like it?" Maria asked. "Yeah, quite a few actually, although I don't know them all very well." "For such a thing to be so prominent in your lives, that there are so many songs about it....." Nadene this time. "Yeah, throughout history, humans have always been fighting each other, for one thing or another. Differences in belief, race, origin, wealth, we're always fighting for something. It's what we do." "Then, what about here? If we succeed, you'll have no need to fight anymore. Then what?" The cat asked. "Well, things will be unstable for a while, strained. Odds are we'll have rebellions of our own, people trying to make things go back to the old way, or taking power for themselves. It's definitely not going to become stable in my lifetime. Nope, I don't think I'll ever get to retire, well, unless I can find someone to take over once I get old. But, that's still a long ways off. That and, after taking over an entire country, I'll probably be tired of fighting. Then I'll just kick my addiction, and spend the rest of my life taking care of everyone else and partying in between." "Attention crew, ship spotted directly ahead." Steelhorn's voice came over the PA. I walked up and pressed a button on it. "Ascend above the clouds and hold position, it's night and they haven't spotted us, let us scout it out first. You know the signals. Nothing, and you just continue on your course, green is all clear, yellow is flee, red is attack. Everyone, gear up and take positions. Etch, Growl, since we're scouting over water, you two stay on the ship and direct the crew. Everyone else, to your stations." We all geared up in our rainbow scale armor, which looks fantastic on me, but on Gilda..... *whistle* ... and now is not the time to be thinking about that. Damn it, get your head in the game. Trixie on me, Shimmer on Gilda, Nadene on Maria, we descended from the clouds, taking bits of it with us for cover, peeking out from inside once in a while. 'Beep beep, I'm a cloud. Oh confound it all.' "Let's see, that's not the Equestrian flag. I don't recognize it." "Hmm, I don't know if the zebras have flags or not, but it's a dog with a gem in it's mouth, so I think it's pretty obvious. Having an off day Grif?" Gilda scolded. "Yeah, I guess I'm just tired from ripping out my brain and giving a piece of it to each member of the tribe." "Plan?" Maria asked simply. "We don't know what they have on board, if it's loot or prisoners or what, either way, if we sink them, we'll lose whatever is on board." "So, invisible then?" Trixie suggested. "Yeah, only, do it on Maria and Nadene. They're the stealthiest of us, and we need to be out here to give the signal if need be. Get close, try and see in the port holes, see what they have." "Got it." With a slight flash, the pair turned translucent to us, but invisible to all others, then flew towards the ship while we waited atop the clouds. After about ten minutes or so, they returned. "So?" "Zebra slaves. Although, why are they coming this far out to get slaves?" Nadene asked. "Griffins are harder to get because we can fly, they can't raid Equestria because of the guard, so, they're traveling long distance to get zebras. They're strong, don't have magic or flight, and are far from backup. Though, for them to expend this much effort trying to get slaves..." "It means their payment is due. They probably have a deal with a dragon, and they know they won't come up with enough gems so..." Gilda trailed off. "They're capturing them to feed it." I finished. The crew gulped. This did not bode well. "So, we let them go, in which case they get fed to dragons, we save them, in which case other slaves get fed to dragons, or, option three, more difficult and dangerous, but the payoff is huge." "And option three is?" Maria asked. "We bust the deal." "What?" Gilda asked. "Our whole point is making it so stuff like this doesn't happen. We can't pick either of the first options because it goes against everything we know. I say, we follow this ship from cloud cover as it makes it's way north, and when the dragon shows up to collect it's due, we kill it, saving everyone. Then, we point our blades at the pack. They'll be easily overcome, since they don't have the forces or weapons to deal with a dragon, and demoralized against us because we just killed it. Shock and awe. Not only are they not able to fight well, they won't want to. Some will desert the lair, others will surrender to us in hopes of being spared. We'll have the backing of the zebras they captured. This is the opportunity we've been waiting for. They might just surrender outright, although that may just be wishful thinking. Basically, we can just follow them right back to their home and take it when we get there. Back to the ship, we have plans to make." "So, we're gonna raid a poorly defended hole full of precious gems? Heck, I'm with ya." I knew I could count on you Steelhorn! "Yep, we just follow the bunny rabbit back to it's warren, then take the whole thing for ourselves, free the slaves, get to be heroes, and advance our plan while we're at it. Win-win-win. First, let's figure out where they're going. Get the chart." Taking out the map, placed a ruler along the D-dog ship's present course. Etch and Growl looked over the line and pointed to a specific point where they knew a den was. "This is the home of our old allies, before the Alpha was slain and our pack taken. By the flag you have described, it is they." Growl stated. "We know the way in their tunnels. We were alpha's guards before slaves, and he often went there to talk with their alpha. They are not strong, but also do not have much compared to the other holds, which is why they have not been attacked. If they have made deal with dragon, they did not do it for greed, they did it for fear." Etch explained. "Well then, looks like we'll be liberating the slaves as well as the slavers. Sure, they might not have much, but it's a start. Easy to take, and we can train and arm them ourselves. After all, we'll have a very mean dragon to make stuff out of. Who's in?" "Aye." Gilda said. "Aye." Etch. "Aye." Growl. "Aye." Trixie. "Aye." Nadene. "Aye." Shimmer, in a high pitched, absolutely adorable voice. "Aye." Steelhorn, with his typical Scottish accent. "Wherever you go, we shall follow." Selma and Tiras. "Well then it's unanimous. In two weeks, we will arrive, and we will take Ruby Hollow!" Dear Princess Celestia, A couple things. Geez, the letters I write to you just keep getting longer and longer, but, this is important. First topic, I feel I owe you an explanation regarding my previous letter. In my own dimension, I was able to look into others, and I saw various events, as well as heard about other events that were set to be shown in the near future, kind of like a program at a concert, telling you what's playing next. Anyways, when I came here, I went back in time by (I think, not entirely sure) eight months, which is how I know of certain events that have yet to occur. The second reason for this letter is related to the first, and is a warning. I'm trying to help here, so listen carefully. Around the time of the royal wedding of Shining Armor and Princess Cadence, there will be a threat against Canterlot and Equestria as a whole. I don't know the specifics, because they haven't been shown yet, all I know is the gist of it. I don't know who, or what, it is, what the goal is, or the plan, nor do I know how to stop it. All I know is that it is coming. Be on guard. The third manner I am addressing is the state of affairs in the north. You know quite well what's going on up there. Dragons threatening diamond dogs for gems, and they have to take slaves in order to meet the quota or else they all get eaten. I recently intercepted a boat of zebra slaves, and we have deduced that the dogs of this particular hold were not able to come up with enough gems to feed the hungry dragon, and so are going to feed it the slaves to spare themselves. I intend to slay the dragon, conquer the hold, and free the slaves. Hopefully, being freed from their oppression by the dragon will cause the dogs to surrender, but, if that is not the case, we have a fair quantity of sleeping gas which we will use to subdue the warren peacefully. The world is changing, and I'm here to make sure it changes for the better. So, basically, what I'm saying is, Wish me luck. Finally, this wouldn't be a letter from me if I didn't ask you a question, so, Trixie has decided to start sending friendship reports to your sister, How does that make you feel? Sincerely, your friendly extradimensional revolutionary, Griffin. Ps: One day, I'm going to found my own nation of liberated griffins, diamond dogs, ponies, and whoever else is being oppressed, if I live that long. I hope if and when the time comes, we can be friends. I'm pretty sure I'll be needing your help, I am kind of new to this whole thing, and while I know it won't be nearly as good as Equestria is, I want to make it the best it can be. Here's to us meeting face to face one day, and not on opposite sides of prison bars.