Talon Sharpbeak

by Belgianchief

Memories and Medicine

Tonight, I was finally going to see Amber, my griffon girl, again. She had light-brown feathers on both her face and wings. Her lion part was a darker brown. She was absolutely beautiful, but the thing I loved about her the most were her eyes. They were green like the purest emeralds.

It had taken me weeks to figure out an escape plan from the regiment camps, but now it had finally come to fruition. Amber would probably be sleeping by now, but I could always interest her in stargazing with me. She seemed to love it as much as I do. I often took the opportunity when she looked to the skies to have a look at her eyes.

Firstly however, I had to make it out of camp. Leaving the regiment camps unauthorized would be considered desertion, and the punishment for that usually was physical. I had seen many griffons getting whipped for it, but I could understand why they had risked it. After all, I was going to attempt the same.

I, however, had had the patience to scout the guards. I had volunteered for guard duty a couple of weeks in a row, claiming that I had lost a bet. I became friends with the other guards and figured out their routines and patrol routes. I couldn’t attempt the escape while I was a guard however, because there was a control guard who would check the guard places. If a guard went missing, the entire camp was alerted, which would lead to far greater punishment than just a whipping. That was something I didn’t want to risk, not even for Amber.

I let my buddy in on what I was doing, and he told me he would volunteer for guard duty and look the other way. That was one less guard to look out for. Also, I knew which guards were easily distracted, so I snapped a branch in between them and then immediately ducked for cover behind one of the tents. My plan had worked, as the guards found themselves having a chat with each other. This allowed me to sneak out of the camp but I’d have to sneak at least a mile away before I could take off flying. There was a flying night patrol in the skies at all times, and they only had to see you to know there had been a deserter.

But now, I was free for an entire night. I could spend time with Amber on the clouds, stargazing, embracing and kissing each other. Maybe even move further... But that was her choice. Amber was a kind soul, not like many of the other griffons. She would look for a peaceful solution, rather than fight. She had been picked on for that, but I had stepped up and been her protector. A simple love grew between us and two years ago I finally had had the guts to ask her to be my ‘special griffon girl’ as I called her.

I was in the army for four years now, since I had to have at least five years of military service in order to claim the title of chieftain of our clan. I had been too young when my parents passed away, so the title was now in the temporary hands of Whiteclaw, ambassador of the Greyfeather clan for Her Majesties Princess Celestia and Princess Luna of Equestria. Each year, the camp would be moved to another territory. This year it was in Swordbeak territory, close to Greyfeather lands, so I took my chance to escape this year.

I arrived at Amber’s place. I took a look at the skies and saw that the stars were very bright tonight. If I ever met Princess Luna, I’d thank her for that, because tonight would be special. I walked up to the front door and picked the lock with one of my talons. It had been one of my tricks when plundering the kitchens back in boarding school. The lock opened with a click, and I pushed the door in. Hardly able to contain myself, I flew up the stairs and quietly opened her bedroom door.

I found Amber there, with another griffon, on top of her. She was enjoying it so much that she hadn’t heard me enter. The other griffon however, had seen me and he flew up to me, pushed me down the stairs and beat me down to a pulp. “What did you ever see in that idiot, Amber?” the griffon asked. Those were the last words I heard before blacking out.

“Ugh...” I found myself in a wooden bed, in some sort of hut. “Where am I?” I wheezed.

“I am glad you are awake, for your life was at stake,” A deep female voice called out to me. “I found you in the rain, which is not very sane.” She opened the curtains I was behind and I saw that she was a zebra.

“Who... are... you?” I managed to speak in between coughs. The coughing however caused my broken wing to move which caused me to flinch.

“Zecora is my name; may I ask you the same?”

“I’m Talon... Sharpbeak. Nice to... meet you. I think... Need... doctor.”

“Your sickness I can treat. So please, drink and eat.” Zecora pointed at the ground in front of me. I looked down to see an actual cooked fish. I only then noticed how hungry I was, I hadn’t eaten in...

“How long was I out?” I managed to ask in between eating and coughing.

“I found you two days ago by the river, the sight of you made me shiver.” After I finished eating, I had a look at the drink she offered. It looked a weird purple. Zecora picked up on my nervousness. “The potion will heal your wing, it will not even sting.”

Her rhyming made me feel comfortable, so I chugged the potion in one go. “Thank you,” I said to her as I tried to make myself comfy in bed.

“I need to go to Ponyville, to see if somepony needs me, still.” Zecora said as she grabbed her cloak.

At the name Ponyville, I jolted upright. “Please don’t mention me there. It was just some sort of misunderstanding...” I suddenly felt drowsy. Probably the potion... “I didn’t... hurt...her...” I felt myself fall back into the bed.

Immediately after being released from the hospital, I was escorted to court. The courthouse was a majestic building, entirely built out of marble. It was decorated with several statues and carvings depicting the great moments of our clan. Among them were the carving of our first laws in stone, the building of the courthouse itself, the first trial and the trial of Shadowscale, the dragon, which was considered to be the absolute height of justice.

Shadowscale had caused massive damage to the Greyfeather clan and he was sentenced to help with the rebuilding. Dragons had great respect for laws, even those of other creatures. So, he was obliged by his own to help rebuild, until he had paid for his damage. This in turn, had helped better the relations between dragons and the Greyfeather gryphons, which had been very sour up to that point.

The Greyfeather clan was the first of the southern griffon clans to have written laws. Since we border Equestria, we pretty much absorbed the Equestrian laws into our society. Because we take pride in that, ideas like justice and responsibilities were drilled into our minds from the day we were born. Our eastern neighbours, the Yellowbeaks, were much like us in that regard. To the three other southern clans, the Swordbeaks, the Blackpaws and the Eaglewings, we were often considered to be weak, pony-loving idealists, but we knew how to fight when we had to.

The Swordbeaks lied the most central of the southern griffon clans, south from the Greyfeathers. Because of that position, they were a community of mostly traders. They would trade between the griffon clans, as well as the Zebras from further south and the ponies from the north. They had a huge bazaar, which was always crammed full of all kinds of exotic things and foods.

To the south and east of the Swordbeaks lied the Blackpaw territory. They were the largest of the southern griffon clans, since they had gained most of their lands from the zebras through many conquests and wars. Needless to say, they were mostly military griffons. At all time, about half of the army were Blackpaw griffons.

To our west were the Eaglewings. They were a simple folk of mostly fishers and farmers. If you ate a fish anywhere on this continent, chances were it was fished by an Eaglewing. Despite being only fishers and farmers, they had a monopoly on their hands, so they were probably the richest of the southern clans. They were also the only griffons to have a railroad built to them.

Finally, to our east lived the Yellowbeak clan. They had split up pretty recently from the Greyfeathers, wanting to colonize new lands. Because of their close location to the mountains, they try to build actual cities out of stone, whereas all the other clans usually build their houses out of wood. They are very ambitious and adventurous.

My musing was rudely interrupted by one of the guards escorting me. He pushed me along, clearly not wanting to waste any time. It was going to be just another amount of whips anyway, just like any other military court for desertion. When we arrived at the court hall, I waited for my name to be called before I entered.

Something was wrong. Instead of a judge and jury consisting of senior officers in the army, I was greeted by a civilian judge and jury. And not just any judge, no it was ambassador Whiteclaw himself. I remained calm however, I had been to many a court session as a cub, so I knew what was expected of me. I sat down in silence.

“Talon Sharpbeak, you are being tried for desertion, assault of Baldwin Whiteclaw and rape of Amber Goldfeather. How do you plead?” ambassador Whiteclaw spoke.

I remained calm, I hadn’t done anything of the sorts, so I was innocent and I had faith in the system that my father had lead all those years ago. “I plead guilty to the accusations of desertion. I plead not guilty to the accusations of assault and rape,” I replied as calm as I could be.

I looked over to my left to see Baldwin covered in bandages. I had done nothing to him. He was the one that had beat up me. He was the one who had sex with Amber… I sighed. So, Amber had chosen him over me. Maybe I should have pushed her a bit more… No, I couldn’t do that. She had made a choice, and I would have to live with it.

“Very well. We will now hear Baldwin tell his side of the story.” Ambassador Whiteclaw motioned for Baldwin to stand up and speak.

“Well, I was spending the night with Amber. We were engaged in… certain activities when I heard the door of our room open. I saw a gryphon standing in doorway, but I couldn’t make out who it was, but to protect Amber I flew at him and threw him to the ground. Amber then recognized him and stopped me.” Baldwin spoke.

“Do you confirm or deny this story, Talon?” ambassador Whiteclaw asked and turned to me.

“All of those things happened. After I was thrown to the ground, I was knocked out. I woke up in the hospital only today.” I told the ambassador.

“How did you gain access to the Goldfeather household?”

“I picked the lock using my talons. Amber and I were good friends, even though I thought we were more. We had gone stargazing together on numerous occasions. The sole reason I went out of the military camp was to visit her. Even though I was interested in her, I would never force myself on her.”

“Liar!” Baldwin shouted. “When I had brought you down, you stood up. Your eyes had turned completely red. You beat me senseless! After that you went up to Amber. She begged you to stop, but you threw her on the bed and then forced yourself on her. You made me watch the whole thing.”

“No…” I whispered. “Not like that. I can control myself. Why didn’t I control myself?” I turned to the ambassador. “I am what is known as a berserker. When my emotions become too strong, I lose control over my body. My body gains a huge increase in strength, but I pay the cost for that later. When my emotions fade, I usually black out for a couple of hours or days. I thought I had learned to control it, but I failed. I never remember what I do during the berserk.”

“I see,” the ambassador said with a look of fear and contempt in his eyes. “Talon Sharpbeak, you are a danger to the Greyfeather society. I hereby banish you from our lands. You have three days to prepare your departure.”

“Your judgment is merciful. I deserve death,” I spoke with disgust for myself.

“No, your condition cannot be helped. Once you can prove you can control yourself, you are allowed access to our lands again. May justice look up to you,” the ambassador finished.

“And up to us all,” I finished the hearing with the words of tradition. My punishment was now accepted and set in stone; it could no longer be altered. I left the courthouse in shame.

I jolted upright, sweating. Blast, I hate nightmares. I looked around to see that I was alone in the hut. Preening my feathers, I remembered that Zecora had told me my wing should heal during my sleep. I stood out of bed, and extended my wings slowly. There was no pain at all, and so I extended my wings to their full span. Wow, those potions are great. I started preening the underside of my wing, because it was itching so much it felt my wing was on fire. I usually preened my wing after every sleep, so not preening them for a couple days in a row could do that for you.

“Do you need a hand? Itches I cannot stand.” Surprised by the sudden words, I jumped back, knocking a bottle off one of the shelves. Before it reached the ground, I managed to grab it with my tail and put it back in its place. “I’m sorry I scared you, I’m feeling pretty blue,” Zecora said.

“No problem, what’s the matter? Anything I can do to help?” I tried to comfort her.

“Fluttershy is in a coma, still. All is up to her own will.”

“She’s in a coma!? How?”

“I think you were too late. Manticore poison sealed her fate.” Zecora was on the brink of tears.

“I think I know what’s going on, I hope I can help. I need you to tell me where you found me and you need to figure out a way for me to into the town unseen.” We both hurried outside where Zecora pointed a hoof at where the river was. I grabbed my saddlebags and flew off.

It felt great being able to fly. My wing was still a little stiff, but that would soon wear off on its own. For now I had to focus. I quickly found my camping spot near the river and I flew to the open area where I saw Fluttershy. The manticore’s corpse was still there, but the smell of decomposition was intense. I yanked the manticore tail out of its skull and gave it a little pinch. A small droplet of green poison formed on the tip. I put the tail in my bag and flew back to Zecora’s hut. She was awaiting me there with a cloak in her hooves.

“I hope you can act old and wise, for you’ll be my mentor in disguise.” She handed me the cloak. “This cloak is magical as you can see, may it serve you well, as it once did for me.” I put on the cloak and had a look in her mirror. My talons and paws would prove that I was a griffon, but there was no telling it was actually me.

“Let’s go, Zecora, time is running short.” We both ran towards Ponyville. I hated running, it was really uncomfortable with both talons and paws. Each set required a different balance and I had to alternate between it for every step. I didn’t walk enough to ever get used to it, since flying was both faster and more comfortable. But I couldn’t fly with the cloak, so I didn’t really have another choice. On the way we talked about how we should act to remain convincing

We arrived in Ponyville a couple of minutes later. I quieted down my run to a hasty walk, trying to get into the role of old mentor. It would be unheard of to have an old griffon being able to keep up with a young zebra mare while running. I took the opportunity to have a look around Ponyville.

Everything was completely different from my old clan. Our houses had been functional, without many decorations. Even though we had our beauty in unity, there was far greater beauty in difference. There were so many different colours, so many different styles, yet it all came together in harmony. I wish things would have gone differently for me; this would have been a very interesting place to live in.

We arrived at the Ponyville hospital. Zecora quickly showed me to Fluttershy’s room. In there I was greeted by five other ponies, all having worried looks on their faces. One of them I knew, the rainbow-maned cyan Pegasus was the one that had knocked me out of the sky. When she saw that I entered, she flew up to me, eyeing me up. “Who the hay are you?” she asked, causing all the other ponies to look my way.

I turned to Zecora. “I appreciate you held your promise of keeping me a secret, Zecora.” Ignoring the Pegasus, I walked up to Fluttershy until I was stopped by a magic field. “It would be far easier to inspect the patient if there wasn’t a magic barrier surrounding her,” I said, not turning around.

“I’m sorry, sir, but I cannot allow letting you come closer to her until you explain who you are.” I turned around to see a lavender unicorn facing me with her horn glowing.

“All you need to know is that I am a doctor.” I said, then I turned back around to go up to Fluttershy, but the barrier still blocked my path. “Fine, so be it.”

“Twilight, he’s my old mentor,” Zecora said. “He saved my life when I first came to the Everfree. He basically taught me everything.”

“Zecora! Uhm... why didn’t you rhyme?”

I snorted. “Do you still rhyme all your sentences, Zecora? I thought you would have grown out of that by now.” This was all part of a little act that we had planned, an so far it worked flawlessly.

“I only stopped doing that out of respect for you, master,” Zecora said. “I still enjoy the theme of the mysterious potion brewer, I confess.”

“There’s no need to call me master, Zecora. Your potion brewing skills have far surpassed my own. In my eyes, you are an equal.” I turned to the other ponies. “I am Greywing. I live in the Everfree forest. I like being on my own, so please don’t go looking for me. If there is an emergency, notify Zecora, she knows where I live. I am a doctor. Now will you please let me examine the patient?” The barrier dissipated in front of my eyes. “Thank you.”

I had a look at Fluttershy, she looked so peaceful. “Could you please elaborate on what happened?” I asked the ponies.

“Well, this griffon was carrying Fluttershy by his talons. So I knocked him out of the skies. They captured him and Twilight over there sent a message to the Princess. She immediately sent an escort to arrest him. I never heard what happened to him,” the rainbow-maned pegasus said to me.

I snorted. “You do realise that griffons have to carry stuff with their talons to be able to fly fast right? A griffon’s back isn’t as stable as a pegasus’. In order to fly safely with something on their back, they would have to fly slower. Anyway, that’s not important. What happened with her?” I nodded at Fluttershy.”

“Well, the doctors saw that those dreadful cuts were made by a lion-like creature, most likely a manticore,” a white unicorn with a purple mane said.

“Yes, but cuts alone usually don’t make a pony slip into a coma. I need to know what did.” I responded.

“Frankly, we don’t have a clue,” the orange pony with a Stetson hat said. “We were hoping you would know.”

“How did she slip into a coma? Was it painful, was it during sleep? Please provide as many details as possible.”

“Well, it was painful. She woke up for the first time and she screamed, yelling that everything burned. We thought the antidote worked, but apparently it didn’t,” Twilight said.

“An antidote for manticore poison, I presume?” Twilight nodded. “Could you show me the entry wound of the stinger?”

“It has been healed up by magic, there’s nothing visible,” she said. “It was on her back, however, and it wasn’t very deep.

“That’s impossible. Manticore poison contains a substance that causes necrosis. It kills the flesh surrounding the wound, and magic can’t restore dead flesh. Further, I think she knew what she was doing when going in the Everfree, am I correct?”

“Yes, she went in regularly, to help sick animals,” the white unicorn said. “Even though she’s a very timid pegasus, if there was an animal in danger, she would go to the end of the world and back for it.”

“Then she probably would have been careful not to threaten manticores. It’s more likely that the manticore hunted her. Yet a manticore will only use its stinger as a defensive mechanism, because why would it want to kill the meat it wants to eat? So my conclusion is that she probably wasn’t poisoned, and that the puncture wound was from something else.”

“That makes even less sense. Why is she in a coma then?” the rainbow-maned pegasus asked.

“Manticore poison is a neurotoxin, it paralyses and causes nerve damage. Zecora, what is the antidote made from?”

“It’s made from nightshade, master Greywing,” she responded. I motioned for her to continue. “Nightshade extract is a poison as well. It is actually the opposite of a neurotoxin; it causes the nerves to become extra sensitive.”

“Exactly. When she woke up, she felt everything burning, because of the nightshade extract. It gave her a sensory overload, which caused her to slip into a coma. You’re lucky the dosage was small; else it could have easily killed her. Luckily, I brought the antidote, because I figured this would be the case.” I pulled the manticore stinger out of her saddlebags. Before anypony could stop me, I plunged the manticore stinger into one of her veins and squeezed it a little, releasing the poison.

“Cover her eyes and plug her ears. Lift her onto the sheets, so that she doesn’t touch too many things. She will still be very sensitive when she wakes up, so be careful,” I said as I walked to the door. I was stopped from exiting by a pink pony.

“You’re him, right? The griffon that brought Fluttershy here?” she asked.

I sighed and took off my cloak. “Yes, I am. Now, I have to leave, will you please let me pass? I hoped to avoid this confrontation,” I stated, not showing any emotions.

“No, you saved Fluttershy’s life twice. We have to have a Welcome Fluttershy’s saviour party! Yay!” the pink pony shouted. “Do you love cake? Of course you do. Who doesn’t love cake? I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t like cake. Well there was this one pony who liked muffins more than cake, but she still liked cake. That doesn’t count, does it?”

“How did you get out of Celestia’s dungeon?” the rainbow-maned pegasus asked. “You didn’t escape the dungeon, right?”

“Not exactly, no. It’s worse, but you shouldn’t concern yourselves with matters like that. Trust me.” I tried to leave, but the pink pony kept stepping in my way..

“How can we not be concerned with matters like that?” the white unicorn asked. “You’re a hero! You deserve the recognition.”

I sighed. “Yes, but I’m also a wanted man. The Court of Nobles found me guilty on the charges of attempt at murder. I was to be executed, but I escaped.”

“What?!” the five ponies and the zebra exclaimed. “I’ll write a letter to the Princess, she’ll annul the Court’s decision,” Twilight said, grabbing a quill and a scroll.”

“I studied the laws before coming to Equestria. There’s nothing that Princess Celestia can do. The Court of Nobles rules over all cases involving a non-citizen of Equestria. And since I’m not a citizen, they have authority over my case. Yes, Princess Celestia might persuade them to annul my case, but I doubt she will. The situation between the nobles and the princess is pretty tense as it is, and I don’t think she can afford a noble uprising.”

“Where will ya be livin’, then?” the country-pony asked. “And what’s yer real name? Because Ah know it’s not Greywing.”

“I’m Talon Sharpbeak. Zecora knows where I’ll be living; it’s where she found me. If you need me, ask her for directions.” I opened the doors, ran to a window, opened it and flew off in the direction of the Everfree Forest.

Comments

[Fanskapet]

ooh getting good keep writing

[Belgianchief]

498408

Thank you

[Evocator]

BRAVO!
i love this story by
OVAR NINE TOHUSANDDDDD

[Sparklight]

The Court of Nobles would have to answer to the Princess, wouldn't they? According to wikipeadia:

Traditional membership in the nobility is highly regulated by monarchist governments, which grant the ranks and titles to members of the elite.

Unless I am mistaken, Princess' Celestia and Luna represent the monarchy (making it a diarchy). If their rule is an absolute monarchy, they have absolute power, and can pardon Talon.
If it is a constitutional monarchy, where the monarch serves as a ceremonial figurehead symbol of national unity and state continuity, they typically would still have the power to grant pardons.

Sorry if I'm being annoying.

[Belgianchief]

500757
All of that had crossed my mind, but I'm going to go over how the Court of Nobles was formed in a later chapter. But basically it's the idea of the Magna Carta, as the nobles want to limit the absolute power of the Princesses:
The nobles were unhappy with some of the decisions of the Princesses, which had favoured the lower classes. The nobles then form the Noble's Guard, swaying recruits and officers with promises of nobility. About a fifth of the Royal Equestrian Army joins the Noble's Guard.

Celestia doesn't want a civil war, so when the nobles ask for some authority, she cedes some of it to the Nobles who then form the Court of Nobles. She does have a veto, but she won't use it now because the situation as it is, is too unstable. As far as the Nobles know, Talon is a rapist and a murderer. They believe they would do the world a favour by executing him. Pardoning him without cause (apart from him being innocent, which the nobles wouldn't believe, because they're the apex of righteousness and they judged him guilty, yada yada) would be unwise.

However, the Noble's Guard has to enforce the decisions of the Court of Nobles, while the Royal Equestrian Army is under the Princess' direct control. As long as she doesn't proclaim Talon to be an outlaw, he has nothing to fear from the R.E.A, only from the Noble's Guard.

Thank you for being so interested in my story though, it pleases me to see that you are genuinely interested enough to point out possible flaws in my story.

[Sparklight]

502166

Pardoning him without cause (apart from him being innocent, which the nobles wouldn't believe, because they're the apex of righteousness and they judged him guilty, yada yada) would be unwise.

But that's the thing, she has cause to pardon him. He saved the life of a bearer of an element of harmony, the very one he has been accused of trying to kill. The other element bearers can support him in this case, so she could at least get the leverage to delay his execution until Fluttershy either dies or recovers enough to provide a statement.

[Belgianchief]

502612

Hmm, I hadn't thought of it like that, but you are right. It wouldn't make any sense for Celestia not to pardon him.
Maybe I'll have to change my story outlines a bit. I know, I could do (that) and (that), and even Celestia wouldn't be able to pardon him without cause then. (Nothing serious, but no spoilers... xD)
Again, thanks for pointing out the obvious.

[Sparklight]

502634

If you wanted to take it a bit further, Celestia could use this as leverage to disolve the Court of Nobles because of corruption. They tried to execute an inoccent gryphon for saving the very soul they accuse him of trying to kill, without even giving him a fair trial.

And you'd think that something as big as an execution would have to go through the Princess' first, wouldn't you?

God, I'm turning into a troll.

[Belgianchief]

502651

I don't think Celestia could risk dissolving the Court of Nobles, just because of the risk of a civil war breaking out. The Noble's Guard would have to end up fighting the Royal Equestrian Army and there would be victims.

There could be personal repercussions though, Prince Blueblood being removed as head of the Court because of those charges of corruption and for having an execution without consent from the Princesses.

And no, you're not a troll. You are in fact helping me a lot by having to think to finish up any loose ends. Thank you