The Reader: Book Two

by GnollReader

Chapter 4: Pisa

"Mommy, Mommy, look!" the three little griffons bounced up and down in joy, "The airship's here! Daddy's back!"

"Calm down, my little ones." Aethris smiled at her fledglings, "Wait until it docks."

She watched the airship as it slowly approached the main tower of Pisa, happy that her husband and oldest daughter had finally returned from his trip to Equestria. It seemed that his audience with the alicorns had shown results, finally something would be done regarding the mysterious disappearance of young griffons... as well as the strange creatures that had infiltrated their home.

At the same time though, she felt a deep worry... If the alicorns were truly sending a special squad, then it meant that the threat was indeed very real. Aethris gave her fledglings a sad look, the thought that they could be taken from her was terrible. And that her letter her husband had sent... Was he really going to allow Vayu to accompany the equestrian squad on such a mission? And the one he called Scar... what a strange name for a pony.

The airship gave off a soft hum as it floated closer to the port, numerous of the griffons jumping into the air to secure it with heavy ropes. Slowly, under the strain of many arms, the ship was pulled down and secured.

"Can we go now? Can we? Can we, mommy?" the triplets chimed in unison.

"Don't be impatient, wait for them to set up the gangway." Aethris replied softly. There was a loud thud as the huge board was pushed forward and onto the port. Aethris waited for another moment as she saw her fledglings' grins broaden. On the ship, she saw her husband step onto the gangway, "Now, you can go."

"Yay!" the triplets shot off and towards their father, little wings flapping furiously as they flew to greet him. "Daddy!" they collided with the griffon half-way down the plank, their father laughing heartily as he stepped onto the port, "Did you meet the alicorns? Was their castle big? Did you bring us anything?"

"I'm happy to see you three as well..." Blackbeak chuckled as the three hovered around him.

"The three little monsters never change, do they?" Vayu gave her siblings a smirk, "You didn't get into any trouble while I was gone, did you?"

"Vayu!" the three detached themselves to greet her sister, "Did you have an adventure? What... PONIES!" the griffons shot off and flew around the first members of the Hunter squad to deboard the airship.

"What the..." Greenfield took a startled step backwards as he suddenly found himself surrounded by three small pairs of flapping wings.

"Are you a real pony? Can you fly? Can you really do magic?"

"Huh? No, I'm an earth pony, we don't..."

"Boring!" they shot off to Star Glaze, "Are you a real pegasus? Can you fly as fast as big sis?"

"Faster than that feather brain?" Star Glaze struck a pose, "Any time!"

"Hey!" Vayu squawked from the back.

"What a show off..." Greenfield shook his head and shouldered his spear.

Whistler walked up next to him carrying his own spear, "Don't worry, wait till they get a load of..."

"UNICORN!" three happy voices shouted with glee.

"Woah!" Berryshakes gave a shout of surprise as six little clawed hands traveled over her in wonder.

Whistler gave Greenfield a happy smirk, "Told you..."

At the other end of the port, Aethris greeted her husband. "Welcome back, Therdeon." she nuzzled his beak, "How was your meeting with the two sisters?"

"We come back bearing troublesome news, I'm afraid." Blackbeak sighed, but then a small smile appeared on his face, "But we also come with friends."

"Are those ponies from the Hunter squad you wrote about?" she observed the ponies as they gathered on the port, "They don't look very experienced..." she paused, "Except for that one..."

Blackbeak followed her gaze, "Who?"

"The pegasus with the scars on her face..." Aethris fixed her with her sharp eyes, "She's seen battle."

"Ah... you mean Marshall Purple Haze?" Blackbeak chuckled, "You still have those beautiful, sharp eyes of yours. You should talk to her, I'm sure you two will get along quite well. She reminds me a bit of yourself in your younger day..." Aethris gave him a clap on the back of his head.

"My younger days? Must I remind you that you are the one who's been growing gray feathers lately?" she gave a small laugh as her husband flinched, "But you're right, I would like to talk to her... She looks interesting."

"Hey, you three!" Purple Haze could be heard barking, "Stop troubling the Lieutenant! Star Glaze, Cloud Dancer! Stop daydreaming and help the others unload the cargo!"

"Yes, Sir!"

"Boring!"

Aethris smiled, "She seems like a good leader too..." she did a quick count, "I take it the one to appear yet is the one you wrote about? Scar, was it?"

"Sharp as always." Blackbeak laughed.

"Strange name for a pony though..." she remarked.

"Ah, thing is..." Blackbeak started, "Scar isn't..."

"Scar! Come on, you can get off now." Purple Haze called behind her and towards the ship, "Don't carry Tag over the board, I'm not sure it can support the combined weight of both of you."

"Tag?" Aethris raised an eyebrow, but both her eyes became wide as something huge and black jumped over the railing of the airship and onto the port in one leap, a heavy thump sounding through the morning air as it landed on the ground with two strong hind legs. Aethris could feel her mouth start to drop as a blood-red eye scanned the surroundings and an impossibly huge maul was rested on broad shoulders.

"Is... Is that a..." she started to stammer.

"Sure is..." Blackbeak grinned.

"DOGGIE!" three little griffons cheered with joy.

---

Once again, Scar was miserable. He had been overjoyed to finally get off the constantly-swaying ship and onto solid ground again... But the moment he landed on the port, he was assaulted by three flying, tiny featherclaws that immediately attached themselves to various parts of his body.

"He's so big! Even bigger than daddy!" one of them laughed as it dangled from his arm.

"He's so fluffy!" one of them played with hair on his cheeks, "Whoa! Look at those teeth! They're huge!"

"Look at his tail!" the third gave it a yank.

The gnoll couldn't bring himself to protest though, no matter how annoying the tiny featherclaws were. The first had its head in his mouth, the second was inspecting the claws on his paw and the third one was constantly darting around his leg. He feared that one wrong step or movement would be enough to squash them.

He was missing the tiny ponies by now.

"Hey! Get off of him! He's not a pet!" the gnoll let out a thankful sigh as he heard Purple Haze's voice. She would save him.

"Naha! He's a big doggie!" the three little griffons started to dart around his head, adding to his confusion, "He's even got a big stick!" one of them hung from his maul.

"Kelba! Trusar! Illeon! Stop it!" a stern voice called out.

"But mommy!" three little griffons wailed in unison, "We want to play with the doggie!"

"Right now!"

Scar watched in surprise as the three griffons detached themselves from him and flew a short way up the port, where another adult griffon was standing next to Blackbeak. The gnoll checked his nose, she was female... and by the smell also likely to be the mother of the three and the mate of Blackbeak.

"Hey, you alright?" Purple Haze checked on him, "Seems that not only foals love you, but fledglings too." she gave him a small smile of sympathy.

"Scar is thrilled..." he sighed and watched as the mother spoke to her young ones. He couldn't help but think that she looked very much like Vayu, were it not for the difference of color of their beaks and the long Scar that ran over her left eye. "Scar wonders..." he turned back to Purple Haze, "Female featherclaw looks like warrior."

"You mean Blackbeak's wife?" Purple Haze gave her a glance, "I wouldn't be surprised. Most of the griffons are in the military service at some point. She's probably seen some action too, by the looks of it." she passed him a curious look, "Do female gnolls become warriors?"

Scar barked out a laugh, "Warriors? No." he missed Purple Haze's sour expression as he studied the female griffon another time, "Female gnolls are smart. Smarter than males. So females take more important tasks. Heal, gather herbs, keep stories of clan and tell males what to hunt..." he chuckled and turned to her, "Though females can bite too..."

"You talking from experience?" Purple Haze gave him a smirk.

The gnoll chuckled, "Could say that... It remembers when..."

"Excuse me..." Scar turned around to see that the female griffon had walked up to them, accompanied by the three little ones, "You are Scar?" she eyed his form with a strange look.

"It is." he replied with a short nod.

"What do we say to the gnoll?" she turned to her fledglings.

The three little griffons lined up in front of the gnoll, "Welcome to Pisa, mister Scar. We hope we haven't troubled you."

"Is alright, is happy to be on ground again."

"He talks funny." one of the little ones giggled.

"Kelba! Don't be rude. Go and help your father, all of you. I'm sure you can talk to him later." the fledglings protested, but took off anyway. When they were out of hearing, their mother returned her attention to the gnoll once more, "I am Aethris, of the Blackbeak clan." she bowed her head before Scar, "It is an honor to finally welcome one of your kind here." she turned to Purple Haze, "Just as it is to meet your companions. You must be Marshall Purple Haze."

Purple Haze saluted before her, "Thank you for welcoming us, we hope to help you as much as we can."

Aethris returned her salute with a smile, already impressed by her. The young mare really did remind her of herself when she was still younger. Aethris turned back to the gnoll, "May I ask, which is your clan?" she paused as she saw his features harden, "I hope I have not asked something wrong?"

Scar shook his head, "Has not..." he seemed to hesitate, "Scar is of clan of red eyes... but clan is gone. Runs with ponies now."

"I understand." Aethris searched his face, her gaze traveling over the countless scars. His expression was calm, but there was something incredibly sad hidden beneath his eye as well... she would only later realize that it was the eye of someone who had already seen too much sadness in his life.

She studied his weapon and the strong hand that held it in a firm grip, "May I ask something else as well?" a small smirk found herself onto her face.

"Ask."

"Even though you have only just arrived... I would like to test something that my husband has been boasting about for many years..." the gnoll raised an eyebrow as he noticed her look.

A good way up the port, Blackbeak could feel the blood leave his face as he heard her words, "Why didn't I expect this to happen?" he said with a groan, "At her age, too. I'll never hear the end of this if her mother finds out..."

"Would you give me the honor of a fight?"

Comments

[Mother3Forever]

Oh man, here it comes!

[Nightingalehound]

3111613 I hope she puts up better fight than vayu!! Featherclaws no match for icewings, icewings rule the skies!!!

[Demic]

3111659 or the smack door

[Demic]

cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/400x/38326981.jpg

[SwimmingDalek98]

dust-warfare.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/incoming.jpg

[The Well Dressed Ninja]

I hope Smack Door makes a reappearance.

[Alchemo Arrow]

This is going to be interesting. Vayu was rash and inexperienced, but her mother has more experience and will probably think more carefully. Wonder how long the fight will last; two minutes? four? What's everyone else's guesses?

[Cades]

3112175
I'm thinking no more than ten minutes.

[Lucky424]

DOGGIE!!!

How did I not expect that!

3112175 Longer than Vayu, that's for sure!!!

[Morphy]

3111996

HNNGGG! ...eight... guh-...

[Bubbabob]

The creature that husbands fear most, the mother-in-law.

[Reisentanith]

freefall.purrsia.com/ff100/fv00008.gif
I have been Waiting for the right moment to make that free fall reference....

[Haunted Toaster]

DOGGIE!
fc08.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2013/237/4/6/cerberus_by_gorrem-d6jmc6x.jpg

[Sirbob]

3112175
Yeah, but Purple Haze is pretty experienced, too. Hell, she and Aethris are stated to be similar. Granted, she was indoors so couldn't fly, but to attack requires a degree of closeness to the gnoll that cannot be safely reached. The fight would last as long as Aethris stayed out of reach, and it's not really a fight until blows are traded.

[Alchemo Arrow]

3121733 What does Purple Haze have to do with this? She didn't get challenged to a fight. And in regards to the flying bit, remember early in the first book when Haze and Scar were sparring? Scar is fast enough that he could easily snatch her out of the air without much effort when she tried to attack from the air.

[Cloverman The Purple]

3127313 Blackbeak fought a gnoll, so did Vayu. They both lost pretty fast. I don't expect a whole lot from one more featherclaw.

[Alchemo Arrow]

3132076 Neither do I. Though maybe the author will do something unexpected.

[Sirbob]

3127313
Purple Haze is said to be very similar to a younger Aethris. It's probably safe to assume that she has similar traits combat-wise.

[DarthMalentai]

REALLY ANOTHER FIGHT! Griffons never understand things.

[Geminii]

Just from a copyediting point of view, there are multiple problems occurring in this story where sentences break or abut, particularly when there is dialogue involved. Letters which should be capitalized aren't, and there's a lot of incorrect punctuation - enough to make me think it's not just typos. A review of the punctuation rules for dialogue might be in order.

[Bleh]

why no updates?

[Twyles The Impaler]

3150066
Compared to me his grammer is pitch perfect

[Animatorsnake]

Well shite, things just went full 180 with that statement