//------------------------------// // Cinder part 3 // Story: Tales from the Ruby Hive // by Zoljen //------------------------------// Twelve years after hives destruction. Cinder stared in horror at the house that was currently ablaze. She had gone out for a late night fly to clear her mind and think about what kind of wine she was asked to make for a noble of Griffinstone. She never thought her winemaking would take her that far, but that thought was currently sitting on the back burner… poor choice of words given what she was staring at now. This home belonged to a family of griffins, and was just on the edge of her range before getting teleported home. In fact, inside was over stretching her limit by just a few feathers. She had gone over her limit before, at first in just an attempt to get away from Blazeclaw since it took him an hour or two to walk home. It always took a few minutes to power up the recall spell on the bracelet. “Anygriff home?” She yelled out over the inferno. She perked her ears in an attempt to hear anything, and extended her emotion sense for anything. She may of hated the taste of terror, but it was a strong sense to detect, and she was soon rewarded with it. In fact it almost hit her like a tidal wave. She quickly glanced around for anything that could be used to snuff the flames, but nothing was around. She let out a low growl, her disguise dropping as she charged into the house. Her horn glowing as she erected a weak barrier around herself to protect her from the flames. Over the last couple years, her magic had returned, at least mostly. She could conjure up thin barriers at least. And it was currently getting tested as she rushed into the living room. Inside, the roar of flame seemed to drown out most, but she could tell the terror was coming up stairs. The stairs had fire on them, and she knew this was going to hurt, but it didn't stop her as she lowered her shield to fire a blast up the stairs, clearing a path in the fire. Once the fire was mostly cleared, her shield came back up as she charged up the stairs. At the top of the stairs, she quickly looked around, the source of terror was certainly stronger up here. As she focused on which direction it was, a familiar tingle from her fetlock made itself known. She glanced down to it and noticed her band was glowing faintly, signaling she was going home soon. “Shards!” she cursed, looking up and quickly focused on the door that held the source of terror. She barreled through the door, hearing a loud scream as she landed on her side. She looked up to see a young griffin with a blue feline half curled up in a corner, hiding as much as he could from the flames. His front half looked like an everyday raven, down to the black and singed feathers. She slowly looked him over, and noticed he was even more scared, as she took a step towards him, he made himself smaller. He stared at her with wide and terrified eyes. She took a deep breath, ignoring the tingles on her fetlock getting stronger and looked at him. “I won't hurt you, I promise.” She spoke calmly, despite the raging inferno flickering over her fading shield. She held back a wince as she waited what felt like a few minutes of him not moving. Just as the tingles upon her fetlock got to the point of being annoying, she lept at him, making him scream in terror. She wrapped her arms around him, and in a blinding flash, the pair disappeared from the flaming house. Cinder let out a groan as she felt herself land on a soft bed roughly, followed by a squawk of confusion. The sounds of something large hitting the floor next to her told her that she made it home. Cinder slowly opened her eyes and stared into the still terrified visage of the young griffin. “Blazeclaw, get Gleam,” she muttered, as she let go of the young griffin and rolled over, and off the bed as she wasn't fully aware of her surroundings. “Ow.” She groaned from the floor as she heard Blazeclaw make his way out of the room, waiting a few moments before shouting out for Gleam. “Well, aside from a few burns, he’s going to be okay,” Gleam nodded as he looked over the little griffin. “I’m more worried about you, Cinder. That was pretty reckless to do!” Cinder sighed and sat in a corner of the room, the young griffins eyes having never left her even though he had relaxed some now. Blazeclaw was currently out and letting the local authorities know about the fire and directing them to where it was. During that time, Cinder had tended as best she could to her own burns from the fire. “What was I supposed to do? Fly off for help? Do you know how long that would have taken?” Cinder grumped as she looked down. “I’m just thankful the ring teleported us both.” “But you gave up your secret to save him!” “And what would you have done, huh?” Cinder snapped at Gleam, making the griffin flinch. After a moment, he sighed and nodded. “The same. Are you sure you weren't a soldier drone?” Gleam smirked as he walked over to her. “You certainly have shown the traits of one.” Cinder shook her head with a grin, “No, I’m a harvester. I’ve just been around soldiers for so long.” “W-why?” The griffin chick finally squeaked out, making the pair look at him. Cinder had noticed that once he finally calmed down, he was giving off curiosity, although he was still very scared. “Because, I couldn't just leave you there.” Cinder sighed, “I stared at that fire, and for the longest time I was actually afraid to go in. But I figured if any griffin was inside, they’d be even more terrified. And, well, it’s how I found you so quickly. I can sense emotions, like right now you're still scared, but you're also slightly curious about what I am, huh?” The griffin nodded slowly, making Cinder grin softly, and just enough to keep most of her fangs hidden. “I will explain later, if you’d like.” Gleam perked an ear and looked towards the door. “We’re about to have company. I’ll go visit them first, see who it is.” Gleam stood and left the room, as Cinder nodded to him. Once Gleam was out, Cinder turned to the griffin. “You're going to find this trick cool.” She said with a smirk, as her form engulfed in a mix of red and green fire. Once the fire faded, a griffin sat in Cinder’s place. The young griffin blinked and seemed to stare in awe as Cinder held up a talon to her beak. “Keep what I am a secret, okay?” “That won't be necessary, Cinder,” came a rather calm and stoic voice from the doorway. Cinder turned and looked to see the familiar stature of Massimo standing there in the door frame. “There was a report of some bug pony running into the house that was on fire. I naturally assumed it was you.” “Oh, well…” Cinder sighed, letting her form drop again with a huff. “Glad you came to visit me after, how long again?” “Business being Master of the Sky Wings has kept me busy. Gleam has kept me up to date on your progress all these years.” Massimo stated formally, staring at Cinder with a flat expression before looking towards the little griffin. As the large griffin leveled his gaze at him, the young griffin squeaked and cowered. “We are aware that the fire was actually an attack on his parents. Blazeclaw is helping to lead the investigation at this moment. But I come with… bad news.” Massimo trailed off, sighing softly and looking at Cinder. She didn't have to look him in the eyes to tell the regret he had. She blinked and slowly found herself standing and walking over to the griffin chick. Massimo took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “We found his parents, they are dead.” Masimo turned away from the griffin, focusing on something else as he heard him start to break down. Though the sound came muffled to him, he stole a glance back, and saw that Cinder had moved up and was already providing comfort to him. “You really need to work on dropping bad news, you know.” Cinder stated flatly, as she laid a wing over the sobbing griffin. “I know you griffins are all stiff bird brains, but he’s only five! Now he has no parents to take care of him! Does he have any other family?” Massimo shook his head slightly. “Then I shall!” Massimo blinked and looked back at Cinder, looking shocked. “What? I know how to take care of young, and I understand that it will take time for him to warm up to me.” Cinder looked down at the griffin. “But he will, just you watch.” Massimo watched the young griffin curl up more under the wing, crying and trying to hide himself from the world. He then turned to Cinder. “Take good care of Bunker then.” He stood, turned, and left the room, leaving the pair on the bed to let all the tears out. A week later, Cinder laid on a couch in the living room in her natural form. She was over looking a few forms that Massimo had dropped off. Gleam and Blazeclaw were outside tending to the vineyard at the moment when Cinder heard a soft squeak. She glanced over and saw Bunker coming down the stairs. He had stopped and stared at her and squeaked in response. “It’s okay Bunker. I don't bite.” Cinder remarked calmly with a chuckle. Bunker gulped and slowly made his way into the room. “I am glad to see you downstairs.” She watched him out of the corner of her eye make his way out to sit on a chair. Over the course of the week, Cinder had only checked on Bunker, who had taken up residence in her and Blazeclaw’s room. She didn't mind it one bit and gladly went back to her little room on the main level, which was turned into a guest room. “I know,” He said slowly, looking down. “You told me you can't.” Cinder grinned softly at him, before looking back over the paperwork in front of her. After a somewhat uncomfortable silence, Bunker looked up at the paperwork and looked confused. “What's that?” “Paperwork that grumpy griffin dropped off. Since I am taking you under my wing and all, there are a bunch of forms for me to fill out to make it official,” She paused to roll her eyes. “Especially since I'm not exactly a normal Griffinstone citizen.” “Right, you’re a changeling. Last of your breed.” Bunker mumbled just loud enough for Cinder to hear. “Yup. Though no griff is supposed to know that.” She winked at him. “So why don't you hide yourself all day?” Bunker looked up, and into the eyes of Cinder. “Because I can't anymore,” Cinder sighed and set down the paper she was currently holding and looked down at it. “I suffered greatly after the loss of my own family. So I know what you’re going through. I lost my mother and all my brothers and sisters over a decade ago. I still have nightmares about it, but they are few and far between.” “Is that what you woke up screaming about a few nights ago?” Bunker asked, making Cinder nod slightly. “Yes, that is exactly it. They haven't happened as much in the recent years, but its occasional.” Cinder let out a soft sigh as she started to put up the paperwork. “Can I sit next to you?” Cinder stopped what she was doing and looked towards Bunker, he had gotten up and was standing within a yard of her couch. She grinned and adjusted herself some. “I’d like that very much.” She said with a soft grin as she started to pull back out the paperwork. Eighteen years after hives destruction. Cinder, currently in her griffin disguise, was trotting around the market square of Griffinstone. She had a saddlebag on her back as she went to various stalls, mostly in an attempt to get more grapes and other seeds. She was currently looking over one stall when her ears managed to pick up voices that she hadn’t heard before. She glanced in the direction of the voices, and spotted ponies. She had heard recently that ponies were starting to visit the griffin lands, and now those rumours were true. She shrugged slightly and went back to focusing on the stall. After picking out some seeds and handing over some bits, she turned and went to another stall. As she approached it, she looked up to see a pair of ponies standing at it. But she stopped short and gasped as she looked closer at them. She could make out that the red unicorn stallion with a flat orange mane, and lavender earth mare with a small but puffy white mane were infact changelings. But what really got to her was the ruby carapace hidden partially under a pair of closed batlike wings whose color matched some part of their pony shells. Their almost dragon-like tails swayed back and forth as they chatted over this stall, which was one that she had frequently visited because of the spices it had for cooking. “Seriously, you can only get these spices here in Griffinstone!” The unicorn crowed as he pointed to a few that he held up in his magic. “These add the best kick of spice! They’ll go great with the apple stuff I'm making!” “Really?” The mare sighed. “Why would you want to spice up those dishes?” “WHY?!” The unicorn rounded on the mare with a shout, making her blink and step away. “GAH! Have you learned nothing in the last two decades?! I,” he put a hoof to his chest, “am a master chef! And I,” he paused to poke at the mare, “am making a variety of dishes for Princess Celestia when she visits Appaloosa in a month!” “T-Tinder?” Cinder finally spoke up, as she got to see more features of her old twin. The pair of ponies blinked and slowly looked towards her. Once their eyes landed on her, they gasped loudly. “Cinder?” The pair whispered as they took in the features of the griffin before them. Cinder nodded slowly, gulping as she looked at the pair. “You’re… real, right?” She asked, as the pair blinked again. Before Cinder could react, the pair rushed her and almost tackled her to the ground. She winced and felt her form flicker, but held it at the sudden impact. Thankfully no one else seemed to notice the flicker, not even the two that tackle-hugged her. “Does this prove it?” The stallion grinned as he hugged Cinder. She sighed and relaxed just a little, having to keep her focus up for the disguise as she hugged them back. “Yes it does… But…” Cinder trailed off, making the two on her recline slightly. “What's wrong?” “You kind of broke my concentration. I am now struggling to keep disguised. We should go to my place, quickly.” Cinder winced slightly as the pair quickly got off of her and helped her up. “Okay, we can shop later. Lead the way.” “Aren't you here with a…?” “Doesn't matter, we can pay for a ticket back. Let’s go!” The lavender spoke quickly, and gently started pushing Cinder in a random direction. Cinder blinked, and turned herself some so she could quickly lead the pair home. After they reclaimed their packs from the hug, that is. Cinder led them out of Griffinstone and towards her farm, and once out of the town and away from prying eyes, she let her disguise drop with a groan. She stopped and panted as the pair looked her over, taking note of the damage she had received so long ago. “Are those scars from when the hive fell?” The mare asked quietly. Cinder nodded softly as she straightened up. “Yes, Spear, they are,” she blinked when she heard the pair chuckle. “What's so funny?” “We haven't gone by those names in nearly two decades.” Tinder grinned as she looked over Cinder. “I am now Cooking Flame, and this is my partner, Melee.” Cinder raised an eyebrow as she looked at Spear, who shrugged. “Names were never my strong suit, you should know that.” She grinned weakly with a shrug. Cinder let out a sigh and hung her head. “You two have been alive this whole time?” She mumbled, looking up at them. “Have you found any others?” They both shook their head. “No,” Flame mumbled. “You’re the first. But I have this hunch more are alive, and we’ll bump into them eventually. But in the meantime, what in Tartarus happened to you?” “It’s a long story, and we do have a long walk.” Cinder sighed and led them towards her farmhouse. Along the way, she caught them up on what happened to her from when the hive was first destroyed, meeting the griffin hive, getting her magic mostly restored, and up to current events. The summary of her events led them straight up to the front door of her home. Where she stopped and looked at the door. “You two may want to sidestep away.” She grinned as she rested a clawed paw on the handle. During her trip home, she retook her griffin form, and now let it drop as her hoof turned the doorknob. “MOM!” The pair of ponies blinked, and missed the young griffin tackling her quicker than they did. They glanced back and noticed Cinder was grinning and nuzzling into the griffin chick and hugging him, and also flapping her wings as she hovered in the air. The pair blinked as they watched her slowly float down, letting the chick down first before landing herself. “Mom?” Melee blinked again, looking at the chick. “How…?” “I adopted Bunker here.” Cinder grinned as Bunker nuzzled into her side. “After his parents, eh, passed onto the hive mind, so to speak. And yes, he does know what I am.” “Heck yeah! I got a cool mom and uncle! I even got to see my uncle’s Hive!” Bunker grinned widely. “Oh yeah, mom. Dinner will be ready soon!” Bunker bounced up and glided back into the house after delivering his message. “Uncle?” Flame tilted his head, looking confused. “More like adopted uncle. Gleam has stayed on to, well, become one of the family.” Cinder grinned sheepishly and gestured inside. “He should be home now, so you can see him for yourself.” The pair slowly stepped into the house and looked around, taking in its rustic appearance and the smell of cooked fish instantly wafting to their noses. As the pair looked, their eyes fell upon one the couches, where a griffin lay, humming away as he read a book. Bunker had bounced over to him and looked ready to pounce upon the griffin, but a strange glow swept over the younger griffin and stopped him just shy of landing on the griffin, and without turning to face the chick, he spoke calmly. “You know you can't sneak up on me.” “No! But those two ponies can it seems!” Bunker had turned slightly and pointed towards the door. The griffin blinked and looked over slowly, he stared at the ponies for a long while, until Cinder coughed into a hoof. “You can put my son down now, and it’s not polite to stare, you know.” Cinder grinned as she noticed the griffin quickly turn away and blush. He also let Bunker out of his magic, and thankfully he wasn't too far up so he just landed with a small grunt. “So, who are your… friends?” The griffin slowly looked back at them. “Cooking Flame, and Melee.” Cinder chuckled softly as they each bowed slightly when she called their name. “Melee?” The griffin raised an eyebrow as the mare hung her head. “Don't worry about it Gleam, heh.” Cinder took a few steps in and gestured them inside. “Anyway, It looks like we’ll have some extra company for dinner.” Cinder started towards the kitchen. “Gleam, get to know them well, okay?” “Wait! Kitchen!” Cinder blinked and had to side step out of the way as Flame charged into it. She sighed and turned partially to Melee, who had a hoof on her face. It didn't take long before a loud squawk came from the kitchen and Cinder had to step in. She blinked as she saw Flame basically take over the kitchen and start adding to the stew that was already in progress. “Uh, Blazeclaw. Meet Cooking Flame, an, er, old friend.” Cinder sighed loudly as Blazeclaw slowly moved over to her side. “Seriously Flame. I know it's been ages since you last saw me, but you can't barge into my kitchen!” “Like you can actually cook, sis! We both know I inherited that ability!” “Sis?” Blazeclaw looked confused at Cinder, who grinned back to him. “My twin. Yeah, guess who I ran into in the market today.” Cinder seemed to grin wider. “Twin? But she looks… nothing… oh.” Blazeclaw trailed off as realization sunk in. “So, you found more of your hive after nearly two decades?” “Yes! Although they can't stay for more than a few days, I'm still happy!” She turned and hugged Blazeclaw tightly. “We thought we saw Brimstone in Baltimare eight years back,” Flame commented as he took over the kitchen, his magic going ‘wild’ all over the stove as he weaved and bobbed along the stew and other stuff on the counter. “But we quickly lost sight of him and were unable to figure out where he went.” He sighed softly for a moment, then shrugged and turned to Cinder. “But you’re still alive! And I know we will bump into more eventually! It’s only a matter of time!” Flame blinked, as she watched Cinder nuzzle the griffin, then chuckled. “And during the time we’ve been apart. You’ve acquired your own family! Complete with a sturdy looking mate, a son, and a strange uncle!” “I am not strange!” Came from the living room, making those in the kitchen chuckle. Flame turned back to the kitchen and let her magic come back to life along the stove. “Now, you let me cook and go get caught up with Melee, okay?” Cinder laughed and led Blazeclaw back into the living room, where Melee was letting both Gleam and Bunker look over her natural form. Gleam was also in his natural form, and the pair were comparing differences. Cinder chuckled a little and sat in a chair, Bunker noticed and quickly moved over to her side. Blazeclaw just stared at the dragon-like changeling and Gleam’s natural form. “Okay, I see the family resemblance now,” he moved over and claimed a section of floor for himself by Cinder. As Cinder looked over Melee, she noticed she had a few scars of her own. Although they were nothing compared to what Cinder had. “Did you earn those during the escape?” Cinder pointed to one of Melee’s scars. “Huh? Oh, these? No. I got them on our way to Appleloosa. We encountered a Timberwolf, and well. It was defeated, but I got cut up in the process.” Melee shrugged slightly. “Tis the life of a warrior, no? Being a soldier to protect others. Although I haven't really been one for the last decade and a half.” “So, what do you do now?” Cinder raised an eyebrow. “I buck apple trees.” Melee stated matter-of-factly. The room falls silent for only a few moments before Bunker bursted out laughing. “You go from kicking tails to kicking trees! HAHAHA!” Bunker rolled onto his back as he laughed away. Melee just rolled her eyes as she watched the little griffin, smirking as she looked among the others who all were letting out short chuckles. “I suppose the squirt has a point. I can still kick plenty of tails and plots though, and I’ve had to do to my own share of it recently.” “But we can tell them all about that another time,” Flames voice came in as a pot and various dishes floated down in front of everyone present. “Dinner is served my friends!” Blazeclaw blinked as he watched the dish, and sniffed it. The scent tickled his nose and already made him drool. “It has a little bit of spice, I hope you don't mind. We dragonlings do have a good tolerance for spice.” Flame grinned as he sat down at the table. “This smells really good. I didn't think we had the spices to do this.” Blazeclaw took a bite of it and blinked. “And it tastes just as good as it smells!” “Aww, thank you! I do aim to please!” Flame grinned widely as Melee chuckled softly. “His cooking has only improved since we left the hive,” Melee shrugged. “Wider selection of spices outside the dragon lands, who knew.” “So that's all you’ve done since then? Is cooked and bucked trees?” Blazeclaw asked as he enjoyed the meal. “Well, we started in Dodge Junction, then we moved to Appleloosa about five years back. We work under a pony named Braeburn. He has been a thrill to work for.” Flame kept his grin. “And I can give you plenty of recipes if you want them.” “I’d like that.” Blazeclaw nodded. “Anything to add to our variety of meals. Along with your address as I'm sure Coldbeak wants to keep in contact with you.” Cinder nodded quickly with a spoon sticking out of her mouth.