The Golden Armor Part II: Lost chapters

by Comet Burst

Welcome Home

In the dim torchlight, the faded and crumbling stone cast eerie shadows everywhere. They clung to the walls like pitch, slowly sinking onto the splintering floorboards. The only window in the room was tightly shut, wooden shutters bound together by sturdy steel braces. Cobwebs hung from the beams on the roof, holding back torrential amounts of dust. It was obvious this room was of no importance to the owner of the building, who sat on a rickety stool in the corner.

The pale gold eyes of the gryphon king lazily flicked about the room, wondering why he was wasting his time here. This was no place for him, a proud and regal ruler. This room would normally be reserved for begrudged guests of his, namely foreign diplomats known as ponies. He coughed and spat on the ground, disgusted by the word. His rich brown feathers ruffled as he shook his head in revulsion. Their species name alone was an embarrassment, enough to make him glad he wasn't of their kind. As he thought about how pathetic they were, his thoughts went into the grand retrospective of things.

It was an utter disgrace to the gryphon race to know they had to be peaceful with the pony race. The two were fundamentally different in every way, ponies being the weaker of the two. Gryphons were naturally larger, stronger and more predatory than the weakling grass eaters. While the ponies frolicked about in their homeland of green fields and harmony, gryphons were forced to fight for their homes in a land as hostile and rugged as the beasts that roamed here. Ponies had made ties with all the other races in the world while gryphons had been forced into peaceful relations with them.

In this way, the real truth was obvious to the king. Ponies were born into a weak way of life, one focused on making friendships and harmony while gryphons were bred to be warriors, fighting and refining themselves through the constant struggles they endured. They were superior in every way, down to the fact they had claws and the ponies had hooves. Gryphons were built to do so much more, to accomplish things that other species could only dream of. They were warriors, fighters and conquerors, not the ponies. Yet, the opposite was true; ponies dominated the world while gryphons scratched out a meager living.

These thoughts naturally made the proud king irritable, causing him to flex his claws and glare at the figure he was waiting on. Standing at a rickety wooden table was another gryphon, this one bearing white feathers groomed to be impeccable. His beak was almost non existent, a short, sharply curved line on his face. His other half had white fur and black speckles, what the other races would refer to as a snow leopard. His tail swept back and forth slowly as he worked, showing he was in deep concentration.

On the table itself was an assortment of random vials and rocks, each bearing a specific color. In order, they were sky blue, bright red, deep purple, light pink, blazing orange and dark lavender. The snow gryphon worked diligently at the lavender vial, gently dropping in a very fine powder of unknown origin, causing the vial to shake gently.

"I grow weary of this," the king stated irritably, expecting to be heard.

The snow gryphon didn't even break his concentration.

"Patience is a virtue, my lord," he spoke in a matter-of-fact tone.

The king growled angrily and stood up, a snarl etched onto his pale gold beak.

"Feh, a pox on you," he spat, "I have waited and my patience is wearing thin!"

The snow gryphon raised an eyebrow, but did not look away from the vial.

"Really? Is it that bad?" he asked in a sarcastic tone.

The king dug his sharpened talons into the floorboards, leaving fresh marks into the wood.

"Do not test me, subject," he snarled, "You are here for one reason and I expected you to have your job completed by now."

"And have I not delivered?" the snow gryphon asked in a toneless voice, sweeping his tail to the five vials.

"I have yet to see any proof they will work," the king snapped back.

The snow gryphon laughed at that, as if it was a funny joke.

"My king, there are no gaurantees when toying with magic, especially this kind. What I am trying to replicate is how to seal away the best magic in the world."

The king ground his beak together, but held his tongue.

"So, you can see that this takes time and, even then, we have only a hunch of how this will work. It could be exactly what we expect or it can have a wholly different effect."

"Then you profess no knowledge on this subject?" the king growled.

The snow gryphon stopped at that and turned to him slowly, his yellow eyes flashing dangerously behind a small set of glasses.

"My lord, there hasn't been a gryphon with magical abilities since your ancestor made the bargain that placed you on your throne," he spoke with a hint of anger, "I am trying to replicate magic not seen in almost a millenium, so forgive me if I am not sure of the effects."

"Just make sure it will do what it's supposed to do," the king grunted, placing himself back onto the stool.

"Right, I will make sure they will fully seal away the most powerful magical objects in the known world," the snow gryphon bit back, returning to the vial, "I can't believe you think it's so easy to seal them away."

"We're not sealing it away," the king growled, "We are taking back what is rightfully ours. The means to bend the world to our will."

---

Valyrie stood before the forged steel gates of her home. The city was far more menacing than she remembered, but that might only be because she had spent nearly two years in Equestria. The gates stood nearly three stories tall, emblazoned with the red markings of a wyvern wrapped in flames. There was no welcome sign, no smiling faces from those entering and exiting the town and certainly no bright and cheery looking buildings.

The town was dilapidated at best. Ancient wooden buildings sat against the snow that covered the entire place, each with a harsh yellow light coming from their windows. A dark shadow was cast over the town, made by the summit of the great mountain they called home. The jagged edges of the mountainside looked like the teeth of a menacing, primal beast made from the planet itself, ready to devour the town in one bite. There was nothing close to what Valyrie had come to be fond of in Equestria here. The sky was cloudy and gray, as if the world was depressed. The woods surrounding the buildings were not comfortable and inviting forests, but rather looked like the trees themselves would eat you if you dared to get within ten feet of them.

"Welcome home," her father grunted as he pushed past her, knocking Valyrie into a snow drift.

Valyrie wasn't in any hurry to pick herself up from the snow, wishing her father would keep walking and she could escape. This was not what she wanted, not anymore. Wyvern Pass couldn't even hold a match to Canterlot, though she boasted differently when she had first arrived. Picking her head up, Valyrie saw her father glaring impatiently at her, waiting for her to get up. Morosely, she lifted herself from the snow and shook the remaining flakes off of her feathers.

As she walked to her home, a variety of strange, yet familiar, noises and scents came to her from around the town. The acrid smell of sulfur hung in the air from the local blacksmith while the sounds of battle cries pierced the air. The buildings all creaked and seem to lean in to look at her, as if they didn't recognize Valyrie. She gulped hard as the residents of Wyvern Pass stopped what they were doing and glared over to her. They were not the welcoming smiles of her friends in Equestria, but rather the stares of suspicion.

"Keep walking," Samson grunted to Valyrie, pushing her forward.

Valyrie did as she was told, hanging her head in shame. The walk through the hardened snow and dirt was something she was glad to forget in Equestria, but found it to be a grating reminder of where she hailed from. There was no grass here, no soft breeze or warming sunshine that Canterlot had comforted her with. The walk seemed so long and tedious, going on until her father barked at her.

"Stop," he growled to her, "We're home, or did you forget where we live?"

Valyrie picked her head up to see a larger, but no less dilapidated, building. It was easily three stories tall, with angry yellow lights burning inside. Frost hung onto the windows in an endless embrace, leading down to icicles that looked like teeth hanging from the windowsills.

"What are you waiting for?" her father snarled from behind her, "No guards are going to open the doors for you here."

"Just another thing that made Equestria better," Valyrie mumbled back.

A sharp pain struck the back of her head and Valyrie whimpered, rubbing the spot gingerly.

"Don't talk back," Samson growled.

Inside, the place was no better. The walls contained almost nothing, save for trophies her father had wanted on the wall. The wood was rotting, flaking off in splinters at the edges. It had no color, looking as pale and dead as the sky outside. A faded rug sat on the floor, torn and frayed from claws. Walking inside, Valyrie traced the familiar route to the kitchen where, much to her surprise, a couple gryffons were waiting for her. One even ran up and hugged her before she could react.

"Valyrie!" she shouted in glee, "Oh, my sweet baby! I've missed you so much!"

Valyrie found it hard to breathe as the gryffon pressed her into her white plumed chest. A beak gently nuzzled her crown, a feeling Valyrie absolutely loved.

"Hi mom," she grunted out.

"That's it?!" her mother nearly yelled back, "My precious daughter is away from me for two years and all you say is 'hi'?!"

"I would say more if I could breathe," Valyrie choked out.

Her mother released her and a small blush crossed her face. Valyrie was the spitting image of her mother, a white feathered and brown furred gryffon with gold eyes and black claws. Her mother was a bit heavier than her, but that was due to her laying a clutch of six eggs, one of which was Valyrie. Four of the other six smiled over to her, three of her brothers and younger sister. The gryphons heavily resembled their father, all gold with brown fur on their hides. The younger sister was a mix of both parents, white feathered with golden fur.

"Hey Val, long time," one of her brothers spoke.

"No see," came another one.

"You owe me twenty gems," came the little sister, smiling smugly at her older brother who spoke first.

"Nice to see you all too," Valyrie said with a nervous smile.

"Holy--! Valyrie's smiling?!" one yelled.

"At us?!" came another one.

"The snow will finally melt!" the third one cheered.

"Enough!" came her mother, glaring back at the three gryphons, "Valyrie has had a long trip and the last thing she needs is heckling from you three!"

"Yeah!" came her little sister, "Shut up!"

The trio rolled their eyes at once and kept quiet, sulking. They were triplets, all three hatching at the same time in different eggs. They were younger than Valyrie, but by a couple of weeks.

"Fine," one commented.

"Whatever," came the one next to him.

"I ain't paying you nothing then," the last one chimed in, looking at the younger sibling.

"Argo! Draco! Rainier!" came their mother, "Don't even start! We are happy Valyrie has come home!"

"Yeah, and that she's not a pony like you said!" chimed in the youngest girl.

"Celebi," her mother spoke in a warning tone, "Don't you dare bait them."

'Home sweet home,' thought Valyrie as she chuckled a bit.

Comments

[Raul]

Shit! I finnaly realized what he plans to lock away... Maybe. Dang it, I'm lost again.

And Valyrie seems now 50-50 on it... No friends, but family.

[Guner]

hhhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmm?