Patty the Pegasus: A Griffon's Tale.

by TehAussieGriffin

Hello's and lullabyes

Chapter 4: Hello's and lullabyes.

Luna found nothing save fragments of glass amid the sand, and though she planned to discover what had produced that much concentrated heat she was already behind schedule. Returning to the air she slowly resumed course under her sister's sun, soon seeing a greeting party. Bracing her wings for landing Luna heard a wingless griffon sound an unnaturally clear roar that echoed through the canyons. “Guardians! To the walls!” Hasty defensive lines suddenly sequestered all non-combatants, including her subjects.

Seeing Luna's uncertain landing the griffon marched forward, intoning that magic or manipulations from “The Mare Of The Moon“ would not be tolerated by her clan under the principles of the Merchant Guild. Sadly closing her eyes, Maudlin Makeover's bodyguard promised to show the whole clan she would qualify as safe and reliable before seeing curious eyes over the griffon's back.

Luna canted her head and the griffon sighed. “Yes Patty, your grandmother asked the Mare of the Moon to get her here safely.” A choked gasp caused everyone to turn. Maudlin Makeover was in shock. Taking halting steps toward the filly version of herself she heard “Grandma?” before scooping her up into both the clouds and a sobbing hug.

Smiling warmly at the sight, Luna noticed the strange sadness of the clan and one hulking griffon looking particularly deflated. Suddenly she realised two things. First was that the deflated griffon was the foal's legal guardian, Gunter Sab Saqr. Secondly the whole clan had adopted “Patty the pegasus”, and were contemplating the loss of a child they had raised since infancy.

-_==========_-

Amid great pumps feeding water to the whole canyon a kind-eyed naga with a nose piercing told Luna's party the first part of a familiar story. Patricia Sab Saqr bounced beside her grandmother as she spoke. “Amidst the prosperity and tyranny of the Royal Family Griffin an Equestrian mare arrived...”

-_==========_-

The mare was shrouded in night even when she was seen in daylight. All listened eagerly to her promises of freedom and equality. Before returning to fulfil her promises a rainbow burned her face into the moon during an unexpected eclipse. The all-seeing image of The Mare Of The Moon terrified the Royal Family into signing a Merchant Guild treaty. Now all disputes were settled as property matters and any individual failing to follow the Guild's decisions risked withdrawal of Guild protection and services.

-_==========_-

"Now all the records are kept acording to Guild standards and conventions." Reconstruction of the hall of records saw Ruby Dream admiring the restoration and transcription of even routine notations. Representing the Guild, a keythong with a carved beak called Ramel (“Sandy” when abroad) showed them through, picking up up where the naga had left off. "Now, where were we? Oh yes! The recent unprofitable activity..."

-_==========_-

When the moon’s “face” vanished amidst an unnatural night twisted dreams of griffon supremacy resurfaced via a lost cult. Using magic they sabotaged infrastructure across the territories. Their terror attacks were stopped when the cult members were rooted out, though many left terrible destruction before their end.

-_==========_-

"I personally oversaw the trials of the traitors. They wouldn't even negotiate by the end of it, Crying out to a code that noone else understood and unwilling to see why they were not honoring the values they professed to love." The falcon-headed white lion from the greeting party had a brightly tattooed beak to match her plumage and neck. She finished the story while Inspecting the food storage, Maudlin Makeover gasping at the cured and preserved meats section. Still it wasn't till the late afternoon that the elder checking new rope bridges, an ancient-looking minotaur, pointed to the ring in his nose and explained the magic ban of the clans. "The nose is how you show RESPECT. Let me tell you, it's not to the elders..."

-_==========_-

King Sombra of the Crystal Empire enslaved it's ponies and traders from distant lands. The griffons who escaped using magic songs, scarred their beaks removing the slave rings. The first wave of survivors became the Royal Family Griffin and anyone upholding their code was marked in homage to the slave rings they once bore.
-_==========_-

By sunset at Gunter's cave Patricia was begging Maudlin to share tales of her mother. The sight brought smiles to the faces of everyone there as Ruby Dream began sharing the muffins she brought from Equestria.

Luna was only just returning from raising the moon far from the canyon as Maudlin turned from the eager foal to Gunter and solemnly queried the one difference from the foal she remembered. Patricia's bright white hair used to be gold.

Gunter sighed in the saddest of resignation. His voice was gravely and dull as he looked at his guests. “Anyone who can stay awake can hear that story.” Retrieving an old music box with an odd metal cylinder inside, he wound it so it's tinny, disjointed music accompanied his deep lullaby:

“A gentle breeze from Canterlot Mountain
Softly blows to Horseshoe bay.
It fills the sails of pony boats waiting,
Waiting to sail your nightmares away.”

The foals began sagging, their eyes closing as the music sapped their strength. Luna's forelegs picked Lofty up as Ruby Dream readied a spare bed for her and Patty.

“It isn't far to Canterlot Mountain
And your boat waits down by the quay.
The Mare of the Moon so softly is singing,
Soon she will guide your troubles to sea.”

Both the foals were laying on the comfortable borrowed beds as the song steadily came to an end.

“So close your eyes upon Canterlot Mountain.
Wave good-bye to nightmares of that day,
And see that boat from Canterlot Mountain
Sail far away on Horseshoe bay.“

Stopping the box's sad chiming by closing the lid, Gunter noticed Patricia had taken longer than before to fall asleep. If he wasn't sure that she was growing beyond his capacity as a guardian before, he was sure of it now. Sadly, as his adopted daughter half-heard and half-dreampt, he began to tell the tale of Pepper Mint and her daughter's changing hair.

-_==========_-

Coming next: Battle Scarred

Author's Note:

This took the longest to edit for two reasons 1) I have a morbidly depressed friend with an eating disorder who's been keeping me busy with online chatting, and 2) it's a really emotional chapter and I need to keep my momentum up to both write and edit it.

Comments

[AviatorBrony]

I like it!

I hope the show goes into more detail about the Griffins other than they hail from a far away land.

[TehAussieGriffin]

2746731
Well it's the best story I could come up with that would A) Mirror the European naming conventions shown with the terrain on Earth, and B) consistently use elements in the show to explain the attitude of Gilda and Gustave to having their status challenged.
Keep an eye out for the next and final chapter as I plan to make it more in line with my original angle of Boston Legal. (Marestchuses there is, yet nothing equine-themed is around for Boston.)
A.G.