Daring-Do and the Griffon's Goblet

by Creative Charmer

Chapter 10

Even though there were numerous other times where Daring-Do thought things were hopeless, this time rose above them all; there was absolutely no escape at all for her now, and she knew she wouldn't be able to fight her way out of this. All Daring could do was back up against the dead end of the cave as Griison marched towards her, his arms extended outwards to seize Daring, an enraged expression on his face all the while.

He stopped right in front of Daring, with her fearfully lingering to see what Griison would do next. Griison felt so ready and anxious to finally take his revenge on Daring, but wanted to let her know what he wanted to declare to her for all she's done to him first.

"You thought you could outfox me with all your little tricks, but now there will be no more tricks from you," he stated with much malice. "I've put up with all of your thieving and conniving ways for long enough, and now you are going to pay for what you have done to me, my ancestors, and my grandfather!!" Daring looked to be more frightened with each word Griison spoke. "You should have heeded my warning from the beginning, pony: nobody, and I mean nobody takes my property!!! But did you listen? No!! You stole what is rightfully mine and tried to fly off with it! "And met me tell you: that goblet is enough of a burden on me without me needing to take all this time to get it back, so I am going to reclaim it right now!!!"

Daring's copious sweating suddenly ceased at the sound of those words. Her fear had vanished, and was now replaced by utter perplexity. "Did you say...that the goblet was a burden on you?"

Griison became blank-faced in response to Daring' question, all rage and anger having disappeared from his face. He was silent and motionless for several moments, looking to be in deep thought. He then abruptly switched back to his standard state of mind, also looked quite mad again. "So what if I did say that?"

"Well, it sounds to me like you're not so happy with protecting the goblet."

"...that is none of your business!!" he bellowed furiously, causing an echo that shook the tunnel for a few moments. Daring gave the appearance that she was unfazed by this, as she was still focused on talking this out with Griison.

"It may not be my business, but I still wonder why you would be so willing to guard something if you don't enjoy guarding it?"

"Because it's my duty! Every one of my past ancestors guarded the goblet to honor my grandfather's wish that it be forever safe, and I for one will not be the one to diverge from that sacred tradition!"

"I can see that you really do care about maintaining your family's history, but does that still mean you can't run your life the way you want?"

"Of course it..! I mean...I..." Griison felt it difficult to think up the proper response. Conflicting thoughts were floating throughout the griffon's mind, with him in utter confusion on which way was the right way to think. He sat down upon the ground, looking to be deep in thought. Daring could see how hard he was reflecting on her previous statement, and felt that she should assist in nudging Griison in the right direction.

"Look, Griison," she said as she put her hoof on his shoulder. "Nobody in your family is around to tell you what to do, so there is nothing that is really forcing you to continue to live at the mountain, right?"

"...yeah...?" Griison sounded a bit in agreement with Daring-Do.

"Nor is there anything forcing you to guard the goblet for the rest of your life, right?"

"...yeah...but...but my grandfather..."

"I know your grandfather would have wanted you to carry out this job, but is that what you want?"

Griison remained silent, utterly conflicted between what seemed right and what seemed wrong.

"Isn't there anything else you would rather do with your life? Something that will seem much more fulfilling for you?"

Griison was still thinking. "...well...ever since I was a kid...I've always wanted to go out and see what the rest of the world is like."

"Uh-huh," Daring smiled lightly, knowing she had finally gotten through to him.

"I want to see what lies out there; what other creatures there are to meet and what else there is to explore."

"Sounds great!" she responded enthusiastically.

"I just want to get out of that mountain, because being cooped up there for so long, having to do the same thing, day in, day out of every day, was far too much for me to bear!!" Griison exclaimed with disparagement.

"Well then, go and see the world! Nothing's holding you back! It's all yours to explore!"

"Yes!!" Griison sounded intensely fervent with this decision. But, this enthusiasm only lasted momentarily, as his troubling thoughts had not yet ceased. "..but...what about my ancestral home and my grandfather's cherished goblet? I can't just leave all that behind, can I?"

"I know it may be hard to give up your family's history, but I think it would be better for you to leave it all behind you and begin anew—to start a new line in your family that doesn't force its descendants to do work against their own will and deny them of their freedom," Griison again looked to be in agreement with Daring-Do. "Your grandfather may have been a griffon who gave himself the appearance of an evil mountain ruler who looks upon all others with utter contempt, but that does not mean that you have to keep that appearance for yourself. Remember, Griison: you are not your grandfather; you are your own griffon, and there's nobody else around to tell you otherwise."

There was a long pause of silence, with Griison sitting motionless whilst Daring waited for what his response would be.

"...you're right," Daring's head perked up when she heard him speak. "I am my own griffon, and it's high time that I choose the way I desire to live my life!!"

"Yes!" Daring cheered.

"No longer shall I abide by the rules of my arrogant grandfather. Now is the day I leave the mountain once and for all!"

"All right!" Daring-Do took off her hat in a celebratory fashion, and the goblet falls off her head, colliding with the ground. Daring peered down at the goblet, having just remembered that she had placed it in her hat. She shifted her eyes towards Griison, whom was also staring at the goblet, with Daring fearfully wondering how he would react. Griison reached down and picked up the goblet, examining it closely. He then looked at Daring, and stepped towards her. As she looked up at Griison with slight terror in her eyes, Griison reached down and took her hoof, lifted it up so the bottom of her hoof faced upright, and then placed the goblet squarely on her hoof.

Daring stared at the goblet; bewildered by Griison's actions. She then looked up at him with a surprised look of puzzlement. "You're...you're giving this to me?"

Griison nodded. "It is a gift for showing me the way. I know we were enemies when this all started, but because of all your benign assistance, you deserve to keep what you had came here for in the first place."

Daring couldn't believe it, even after Griison had said he didn't want to look after the goblet anymore. His generosity showed that he had indeed changed greatly from how he was before, and Daring felt pleased that she could help him in this way, and felt even better that her quest had come to its end at last.

"Thank you, Griison. It's certainly great to finally have this load off my mind."

"Well, I'm glad I could help."

Daring-Do not only noticed the change in Griison's character, but also in the way he spoke. "You know, when you're not trying to be intimidating, you can sound pretty pleasant."

"That's because I always tried to scare ponies by making myself sound as big and intimidating as I could; but I will no longer have any need to do that now."

"That's good to hear," Daring replied, smiling contentedly.