The Beckoning of Nature

by Dragonborne Fox

Chapter 2- Hospitality

The stragglers were all in their rooms, save for Gilda. She was on the balcony in the dead of night, looking back at the ruined Gryphon Kingdom. A heavy cloud of smoke had concealed the moon, and in the distance a blazing red had been seen. The Elements of Nature did not stop the attack or the fire that raged afterwards, but then, they were only informed of the attack much too late. What would Rainbow Dash think of this? Gilda broke down into tears, clutching the egg tightly.

"I'm sorry your family had to die! If only I did something before this mess started!" Gilda sobbed. "If only I could redeem myself! Now I see why nobody liked me! I was a selfish prick! A two-faced liar!" The tears continued, hitting the tile floor.

The crying gryphon felt a hoof stroke her between the wings.

"It was so sudden.... You could not have been able to do better. You only did what you knew you could do." Said the hushed voice of the purple mare. She saw the carnage in the distance, knowing it was too late to go there now.

Gilda kept sobbing to herself.

"C-Could you do one thing for me....?" The sobbing gryphon asked.

"Yes?" Asked the mare.

"Take care of this baby gryphon for me. It deserves better than me." The gryphon answered.

"I understand. Please leave the egg with one of the maids." Said the mare, shedding a few tears of her own.

----

"So, we'll have a child?" Asked the green stallion.

"Yes. Adopted, but a child nonetheless." Replied the purple mare.

"I see." The green stallion said with a smile. "I wonder what we'll name it."

The two began walking to their room and opened the door. The egg was in a crib next to their bed.

The stallion took off his armor and covered up. The purple mare followed suit after checking on the egg.

"Good night." Said the stallion.

"Good night." Replied the mare.

----

"At least the Crystal Heart is safe." Sobbed Cadence.

"Yes. But at any rate, we aren't. What did that thing want?" Asked Shining.

"I'm not sure." Answered a crystal pony. "But it looked like it wanted something."

"But what did it want?" Asked Shining.

"I don't know. For now, let's sleep." Said Cadence.

----

"These alicorns trust us? After the Canterlot Incident?" A changeling asked.

"It would seem so. The purple one mentioned negotiations, so I assume she heard of it." Chrysalis said.

"But trust is very hard for us to get!" Said the drone.

"There's that." Replied Chrysalis.

"That thing sure was bad to the bone, huh?" Asked the drone.

"Yes."

"Isn't it time to sleep?" Asked another drone, who yawned groggily.

"He's right." Chrysalis said as she curled up in her cocoon.
----

"That thing was scary." Said a young gryphon.

"I know, right?" Said another.

"Alright kids, time to sleep now." Said Gilda.

"But I don't wanna sleep!" Cried all six gryphon children.

"Look dweebs, we gotta sleep." Gilda said. "Besides, we came here to get help, right? Well, let's make the most of it."

"Okay." All six gryphon children sighed. They crawled into their beds and turned out the lights.

----

The red and blue alicorns were on the balcony. They saw the smoke that emanated from the ruined kingdom in the west.

"So, this is what Yuuki meant when she said 'wrecked.'" The blue alicorn said.

"Dammit. We were too late. But a few survivors are better than none." The red one hissed.

"I suppose it is." Replied the blue alicorn.

"I wonder what the thing looks like. Or if we can defeat it." The red alicorn said.

"It's already wrecked three nations, Rekka! We can't just stand here lollygagging!" The blue alicorn shrieked.

"You're right, Koto. Tomorrow, we scout the wrecked areas." Rekka replied.