• Published 21st May 2012
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True Black - Leonofsweden



Black Star is a rare talent in black magic. And she is on the verge of something amazing.

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Chapter 24 Sanctuary Days

True Black
Chapter 24
Sanctuary Days

18 of April

There came a rapid knock on the door. Raven quickly jumped out of bed and made her way over to open it, while Zig Zag groggily looked around himself. He gave a big yawn, and then he proceeded to stretch the way Lobo usually did when he woke up. He stood up with his back legs straight and his front two legs stretched as far forward as they could reach, as if he were doing a very deep bow. Zig Zag even mimicked the clawing motion Lobo did with his own two front hooves. He then proceeded to stand up on his front hooves while stretching his back legs one at a time. To end it all, Zig Zag jumped off the bed and gave himself a good shake. As he glanced over to the now open door, he could see both Raven and Robin watching him curiously.

“What?!” he asked defensively. Robin had burst out in a wide grin.

“Well… nothing… nothing at all,” she said while looking at Zig Zag as if he was one of the most adorable things she had ever seen. Raven, however, was looking at Robin with narrowed eyes.

“Right… you want something?” Raven asked the older gryphoness.

“Hmm... oh right! I was able to scrape together some things you might find interesting. If you two would follow me, I have set it up down in the common room,” Robin said and made a beckoning motion with a talon. Zig Zag and Raven immediately followed, their curiosity now peaked. As they made their way down, they could hear loud noises of crates being dragged or dropped on a wooden floor. When they entered the room, Zig Zag could see several female gryphons unloading bits of armor and weaponry on the floor in the middle of the common room. Every single gryphon halted what they were doing at the sight of the little pony that was now merrily trotting up towards this literal treasure trove. For the Gryphons though, the pieces in the boxes were all mismatched armor, and, more often than not, practice pieces for some of the apprentices at the forge. This said, a gryphon blacksmith apprentice could put out some truly fine quality work, if you knew what you were looking for. And, unbeknownst to any of the males, Robin had managed to sneak in some really nice pieces of armor as well.

“Wow! Is this all ours?” Zig Zag wondered enthusiastically, while he was smiling from ear to ear and his tail was switching from side to side behind him. Many of the Gryphons around them were once again slowed to a complete halt when Zig Zag´s canines became visible.

“No, don't be silly. You three will be allowed to take the pieces you need. The rest will be brought back to the forge again,” Robin said with a little giggle, while Zig Zag bounced around checking one piece of armor after another.

“Ohhhhh! Look at this!” Zig Zag called back to Raven while he vigorously tried to pull out a big chest piece from one of the crates. Raven and Robin made their way over to him. Zig Zag tried to pull it out a couple of times more before giving up; that thing was really stuck in there.

“I think that's a little too big for you, Zig Zag,” Robin said with a little smirk, while she made her way over to another crate. After rummaging through it a little bit, she pulled out a solid piece of steel. It was a piece of plate armor meant to protect the thigh of a gryphon, but if Robin had any eye for it, which she did, this piece would probably work very well as a back armor for Zig Zag. She walked over to him and put the heavy piece on his back, and strapped it on with two straps around his midsection. She then produced a vicious looking dagger and proceeded to smash it point first into Zig Zag´s plate covered back, so hard as to making him grunt in effort to stay on his hooves. A loud ringing noise reverberated through the room. Raven viciously grabbed ahold of Robin’s wrist, giving it a quick twist so that Robin dropped the dagger with a squawk.

“What the hell!” Raven roared at Robin while the daggers point dug into the floorboards where it landed. Robin had hit Zig Zag a lot harder than what had been necessary for a demonstration.

“Take it easy! It was all in good fun! I just wanted to see how ‘you’ would react…” Robin said looking pointedly at Raven. Zig Zag thought that the question was directed at him.

“No problem! I've been training with my dad! That hit was nothing!” he said proudly and turned around, only to see Raven glaring at Robin. Raven gave an annoyed huff.

“Well… see that you don't do that again,” she said heatedly, while giving a last little twist to Robin’s wrist before letting go.

“Okay! Okay! No more jokes…” Robin answered, while she walked over to another crate and started looking through it intent on finding some more armor she could hopefully strap onto Zig Zag’s small frame.

****

Lobo was slowly heading back to their recently acquired room. His little excursion to the kitchen had become quite a trip when it turned out they had nothing for Zig Zag to eat. He had walked back to where he had met the gryphon elders, to make this oversight known. But, when he had arrived, he had been denied access, been told that the elders had gone home for the day, and that he would have to come back tomorrow. He had growled fiercely at the two guards, because his sensitive ears could easily pick up noise from inside the building indicating they were clearly still there. Just as he had been about to demand being let through, he saw the elders take off from the roof of the building. The two guards had stood with smirks, looking up at the receding elders. They both turned towards Lobo grinning, but when they looked back to where he had been standing, Lobo was gone, as if he had just melted back into the shadows. Both of the two guards now looked at each other a bit uneasily, the wolf had been standing right in front of them, and they didn't even notice when he had moved away.

Lobo, for his part, was quietly stalking one of the elders back to his home, moving quickly through the dark streets, which seemed to suit him perfectly. The whole village of Crown Peek was made out of dark volcanic rock, which Lobo blended into almost seamlessly even when he wasn't walking in the deepest shadows. The only thing giving him away was his damned mythril war collar. Just as the Gryphon elder landed in front of his door, Lobo made himself known.

“Elder Leonard…” Lobo said calmly. Leonard given squawk in surprise as Lobo seemingly materialized out of a shadow on the other side of the street. Leonard gathered himself quickly and gave an annoyed look towards the Wolf.

“Who told you where I live?” he demanded to know. Lobo walked up towards Leonard in a way that made him feel very uneasy. He had been sneering openly down at the wolf from the raised elder table, surrounded by gryphon guards on all sides. Now, when he was alone with the wolf, it was quite easy to feel that the power balance had shifted dramatically.

“No one told me… I'm a wolf, there is nothing that can hide from me when I want to find it,” Lobo continued just as calmly. This truly sent a shiver down Leonard´s spine.

“Do you want something, Wolf? Or are you just here to threaten me? Which, I must emphasize, is a very bad move on your part,” he said, trying to sound calmer than he was.

“I'm not threatening you… I only told you the truth. No one told me where you live elder. And I just wanted to find you, since our agreement has already been breached,” Lobo said and looked pointedly at Leonard. The elder lifted an eyebrow at this, not really seeing how that could be so.

“If you do not like your room, Wolf, you should have specified a standard when you negotiated for it,” Leonard said forlornly and tried to wave Lobo away, thinking that was the end of the matter. Lobo had made his way over while they were talking, and now shut to door forcibly in front of Leonard, who was startled and jumped back wings flared in a defensive posture.

“I do not care about the room, but my pup is hungry! And the contract clearly states food is to be made available for the three of us. I just wanted to be courteous enough to give you a chance and rectify your mistake, before I solve the issue myself! If I remember correctly, the contract never specified in which manner I was allowed to obtain said food while I'm in the village. Something you should really have specified at negotiations. Because the way I'm going to go about that in a couple of minutes… will be quite costly for you and the village,” Lobo stated with steel in his voice. Leonard took a step back while he narrowed his eyes at Lobo; one could clearly see the gears started turning his head. After quickly deliberating with himself, he gave an annoyed squawk.

“Very well… Wait outside, I think I have some grain and other garnishing that might be suitable for a pony to eat,” Leonard scoffed, while he walked in and close the door firmly behind him. Some harsh commands were then yelled throughout the building. It didn't take long before the door opened a little bit and small gryphon girl exited holding a basket filled with grain, bread and other flowers and plants. The little girl held out the basket trembling towards Lobo.

Didn't even have the guts to give the basket to me himself… Lobo thought, and then smiled down at the little girl. He gently took the offered basket from her.

“Thank you, young one. You are a brave little one, aren't you? I hope you have a pleasant evening,” Lobo said, giving a little bow to her and then disappearing in amongst the shadows. The young gryphoness just stood there completely stunned, trying to looking after the giant wolf. A creaking sound was heard behind her as the door was once again pushed open to reveal a second small gryphoness looking worriedly at her sister.

“Are you okay sis? Did he hurt you?” she asked apprehensively. The first young gryphoness just shook her head.

“No… he… thanked me?” she said, still not believing what had happened.

Lobo , meanwhile, had taken the long route home, checking the perimeter of the village while carrying the basket in his jaws. And, even though he wasn't exactly trying to be stealthy, not a single one of the guards had noticed his passing. Gryphons were clearly not a nocturnal species, something he had suspected from the first time he met Jaggar´s eyes on that rock covered field. They had quite spectacular eyesight, but they only work in daylight. Which was quite perfect, since all of the hatchlings had so far been taken during the night. So the fact that he could see in the dark would be a monumental advantage against any future gryphons who would dare come here to abduct another one. Satisfied with his first exploration, Lobo walked into the common room of the inn, carrying a sturdy meal for all three of them.

To his surprise, he found Raven and Robin standing amongst crates and pieces of armor strewn about. In front of them stood a statue of metal, but it suddenly lurched forward.

“Dad! Look at this! Isn't it perfect? You could drop a mountain on me and I wouldn't even get a scratch!” Zig Zag said confidently. Lobo almost dropped the basket he was holding, before giving an aggravated grunt and shaking his head. He carefully put the basket down on the nearest table, and then took a fighting position. Zig Zag immediately understood what was about to happen, and took on a similar one. As Lobo shot forward, Zig Zag tried to jump out of the way like he always did, but the weight of the armor only made him stumble to the side. Lobo seized him easily in his jaws, then proceeded to pick him up and slammed him down hard on his back. Zig Zag was completely out of it already; Lobo had one paw on his stomach pressing down hard, while the other now tilted his head back exposing his throat. Before anybody could act, Lobo had Zig Zag in a vice grip cutting off his air supply some. Zig Zag desperately tried to get loose and quickly understood it was quite impossible.

“I give! I give! I give!” Zig Zag wheezed desperately. Lobo immediately let go, and stood looking down at his pup who was frantically panting where he lay.

“Take it off Zig Zag… That armor will kill you, no doubt about it. The one reason you're alive today has been your agility… Weighing yourself down like that will only kill you all the quicker,” he said, looking harshly at the two gryphonesses, who had obviously tried to dress him like a gryphon warrior. They were both, in return, gawking at him, not having expected Lobo to go on an all-out attack against Zig Zag like that. It had been ferocious and quite frightening to observe, but they quickly understood that that was the usual means of how Lobo was training Zig Zag. Slowly, the two of them moved to assist Zig Zag in stripping off the armor they had so painstakingly put together.

“Then… What would you like from us?” Robin asked carefully. Lobo thought for a while before answering.

“I want a light leather armor for Zig Zag, something that will give him protection without weighing him down, and, the most important thing, keeping him warm. Make sure it’s got good insulation, and also… do you remember the bags Zig Zag had on his hooves when you met him, Raven?” Lobo asked.

“Yeah… What about them?” she wondered.

“Could you make something like them… But even better?” Lobo said hopefully. Raven just rolled her eyes.

“Yeah… in my sleep,” she answered.

“Good! Make them and a good set of leather armor for him,” Lobo told her, walking over to one of the boxes containing plate armor.

“Wait… You want me to make the armor? Isn't it better for someone's who is actually good at it to make them?” Raven asked. Lobo looked at her questioningly.

“I thought you did a very good job with that weapon harness earlier,” Lobo answered.

“Ohh that… That was just an emergency patch job. I'm sure one of the gryphons around here would be much better than me. Who do you think we should go talk to?” Raven asked Robin who burst out in a smug grin.

“Well, that would be me! Or my mother… We're the ones who make all of the leather armor for us girls. I made this myself,” she said, and showcased the armor she was wearing. Raven started to inspect it closely, and finally nodded her head.

“This is good work… If you could make something like this for Zig Zag… What am I saying! Zig Zag will be bullied to no end for just being a pony! Making him wearing leather as well… Let's just say it will not be good. It's almost unheard of for males to where only leather armor voluntarily! For Pete’s sake, it is seen as an insult if a male gives another male leather armor as a gift!” Raven said, while looking accusingly at Lobo.

“Nonetheless, that's what he will have, if they start bullying him, he'll just have to stand up for himself, and it will be good training,” Lobo said with a hint of a smile. Zig Zag took a deep breath.

“Just do it Raven… Dad´s right, I have to stay quick and agile. And it's not like I can´t take care of myself,” he said with a sly grin towards Raven and Robin. The two gryphons just nodded.

“Okay Zig Zag… If you come to mine and mum´s workshop we will most likely be able to come up with something good in about a week,” Robin said enthusiastically.

“Good! Then you three know what you have to do during the next week; leather armor for both Zig Zag and Raven. Do remember to send the bill for all the work to the elders. It is, after all, part of my deal with them,” Lobo said with a wicked grin. Robin´s eyes almost sparkled when she thought about that.

“Don't you worry, Lobo! We'll make the best leather armor Zig Zag could possibly get anywhere,” Robin said while she walked up to Zig Zag and gave him up a playful punch to the shoulder, which actually sent him stumbling.

“That just leaves you, big guy! What do you want?” Robin said and started to rummage through the boxes of armor, looking for the breastplate Zig Zag had tried to dig out in the beginning. Lobo, meanwhile, pulled out two steel bracers and drop them in front of him.

“This will do nicely. I'll find myself wanting to block a blow every now and then, but, so far, I have been unable to do so. This will put an end to that without weighing me down too much,” Lobo said and smiled at Robin’s shocked expression.

“Are you sure… not even chainmail or a helmet?” Robin asked, while looking at all the armament she had worked all day to drag over here, apparently completely unnecessarily. Robin looked back towards Lobo while Raven fastened the steel bracers to his front legs.

“No, this is quite all right. I'm just like Zig Zag in this way; my strength is my agility, speed and endurance. All three would be hampered by too much armor,” he informed Raven, who just gave a sigh in defeat.

“Alright… I'll make sure someone comes and removes all this crap later, and I'll come collect you two tomorrow. My mum is going to be positively giddy about making armor for a male. Even though you're just a little pony,” Robin said with a smirk while she exited the inn.

“She's right you know… Zig Zag will get pummeled the first day he walks through town wearing leather armor…” Raven said worriedly.

“They'll have to catch him first. Something not easily done and I speak with experience on the matter,” Lobo said confidently, and then looking down at Zig Zag who was in the middle of inspecting the steel bracers now adorning Lobo´s front legs.

“You might have forgotten something important… we’ve got wings,” Raven said, spreading hers out to put extra emphasis on her words.

“And there are a lot of nooks and crannies for Zig Zag to use in this village where a gryphon will not be able to follow. Besides… I will keep a close eye on you two until I'm convinced we are safe here. Most of my work will be at night, so I will be able to keep you safe for a little while during the day as well. But you two will have to start working together, to keep one another safe, when I'm not around,” Lobo said with serious tone, while he looked at Raven and Zig Zag who were now both sitting in front of him. Raven immediately draped a wing over Zig Zag who responded by pressing himself against Raven.

“I think we might be able to swing that,” Raven said with an almost-purring sound emitting from her.

“Yeah! No problem!” Zig Zag proclaimed loudly, full of confidence. Just then, both their bellies decided to loudly proclaim their displeasure of being empty. Lobo smiled down at them both.

“So, would you two be interested in joining me for an evening snack?” Lobo asked, while raising an eyebrow. The two wide smiles and sparkling eyes looking at him was all the answer he needed. He quickly picked up the basket with food for Zig Zag and walked into the kitchen of the inn. He came out moments later with two oversized piece of smoked meat.

“Memmlitmmhmmlp?” Lobo mumbled.

“What?” Both Zig Zag and Raven answered simultaneously. Raven, however, walked up and removed the two pieces of meat Lobo was carrying.

“Thanks… And I said a little help,” Lobo informed them with a grin. Zig Zag immediately bounced forward so that Lobo could place the basket on his back, before reclaiming one of the large chunks of meat from Raven. Then, with each one carrying their own long overdue meal, they retreated back to their room for the evening.

****

23 of April

Zig Zag jumped out of the bed, startling the still sleeping Raven. Today was a special day, not only because he was finally going to receive his armor from Robin and Redwing, but also because he was fourteen today Even though no one else knew, it was still somewhat of a connection to his mother. However, at the thought of his mother, Zig Zag came to a shuddering halt in the midst of his joyous celebration. Raven looked curiously at him, seeing the dramatic change from happy to unbelievably sad. She immediately knew what had caused it.

“Thinking about your mom?” Raven asked carefully. Zig Zag nodded.

“Yeah… Me and mum would have gone to Cherry Blossom and her mum's place today…”he answered, while tears started to flow down his cheeks. Raven groaned a bit at the display, still holding a bit to her gryphon way of thinking. Still, she patted the bed indicating he should jump up to her. Without a second thought, Zig Zag did so and buried his head against Raven's chest while her wings closed around him in a comforting embrace. Raven knew he was missing his home something fierce, or at least the ponies that used to live there. She also knew he still had nightmares every night, since she often woke up holding onto a still sleeping, but crying and struggling, Zig Zag.

He is at least not waking up screaming any more… Those screams still make my blood run cold… Raven thought sadly.

“So, why did you do that? Was it something you two did often?” Raven wondered. Zig Zag shook his head.

“No… It's… It's my birthday today, and we would go celebrate together with friends, have a nice meal and I would get a present or two… ” Zig Zag said with a far-off look in his eyes, while memories of happier days played in front of them.

“Birthday? Is that like the day you were hatched or something?” Raven wondered.

“You've never had a birthday?” Zig Zag asked in disbelief.

“Well, no… I don't remember which day I was hatched,” Raven said defensively.

“Well, others have to remind you in the beginning, at least until you're old enough to remember it by yourself,” Zig Zag told her, as a matter of fact.

“Well, excuse me… I wasn't exactly in a loving environment when I grew up. There was no one there to tell me when I hatched. Besides, we don't really celebrate that anyway,” Raven said quite heatedly.

“Ohh… right… sorry…” Zig Zag said apologetically before he shone up again.

“You want to share my birthday? It would be awesome! We are both going to receive our armors today, so that will be like perfect birthday presents for our celebration! And we would both turn fourteen the same time! It will be amazingly super-duper fun!!! ” Zig Zag said gleefully while he smiled at Raven, who, for her part, didn't really understand what the big deal about birthdays was. But the fact that Zig Zag had forgotten to be sad was enough for her to go along with his shared birthday plan.

“Sure… that sounds nice,” Raven said, now smiling at him. Zig Zag burst out in a big grin, and then promptly jumped down on the floor, once again excited about going to get their armor. Raven just giving a little shake of her head before following him.

It didn't take long for the two of them to make their way through the village, ending up at Robin and Redwing´s leather armor shop. Of course, they produced a lot more than just armor, since that was a rather limited market. Both Robin and her mother were running the store, but the owner of the shop was Redwing´s husband, Iron Beak, who was also the village smith and had his forge located just across the street. The first few days Lobo, Zig Zag and Raven lived in the gryphon village, both Lobo and Zig Zag had been stared at openly. And even more so when it was made clear that the gryphoness walking alongside Zig Zag was firmly claimed by him. And anyone who had a disagreement with this would have to take it up with his father, the giant black wolf that was now helping them guard their village each night. Most likely, Lobo was the only reason none of the male gryphons hadn’t tried to make a move on Raven, who was constantly drawing the attention of many a young gryphon boy around town. Both Zig Zag and Raven had, so far, just ignored the open stares from the villagers. And all that was far from their minds right now as they walked into Redwing´s store and bid her and Robin a good morning.

“So are they done?” Zig Zag asked, practically bouncing on the spot.

“Well, Raven's armor has been done all along since it's more of an off the hook armaments, but we still wanted you two to have them at the same time,” Redwing said with a smile, while she looked at the enthusiastic little pony.

“You armor is over there, Raven. Why don't you strap it on while we help Zig Zag with his.” Robin pointed towards a plain, but functional looking, leather armor mounted upon a mannequin in the corner of the shop. Raven nodded and headed over. Meanwhile, Zig Zag was helped up on a worktable. This would make it much easier for the two gryphonesses to assist Zig Zag with donning his armor.

“Now then, just like your father asked for, we have made these light, durable shoes for you. As you can see, we have made some improvements against what you wanted, we have modeled them after your fathers own paws,” Redwing said proudly, showing the underside, which had a big pad at the back, and three smaller ones at the front, simulating the way Lobo looked under his paws almost completely. This little fact made Zig Zag shine up with excitement. The four shoes were quickly secured to his feet. He tried them against the hard surface of the table and noticed quite excitedly just how well they muffle the sounds when his hooves made contact.

“Now, this I must admit is my daughter’s doing. She pointed out the fact that you're a male, and is therefore allowed to have steel in your armor. We, therefore, inserted three steel rods in your leather bracers. There is one rod running down both edges horizontally, and one running down the middle, giving the bracers a much higher defensive capability while remaining very light. We also took the liberty of adding three dagger tips at the bottom of the front two bracers giving you a weapon that will always be at the ready,” Redwing said, while she and Robin strapped the leather bracers onto Zig Zag´s legs. He, in turn, looked down at them, completely awed. The three dagger tips were angled slightly downwards so it actually looked like he had three claws sticking out from his hooves. Zig Zag just couldn't help but grin widely.

“And, finally, the main piece of the leather armor, which I must say I'm quite proud of, I hope you will agree on that soon. It's a two-piece armor, with the first being the chest and underbelly piece,” Redwing said, and brought out a chest piece that ran all the way from his throat, down across his under belly, and didn't stop until just in front of his unmentionables. They also enclosed up two thirds of his sides and neck. Deftly, Redwing and Raven secured straps across his back, so it now fit snugly against him. Nodding their approval, they brought up the last piece.

“Now, here's the clever part. As you can see, you have a whole row of steel clasps running down the sides of your lower armor piece. So when I apply the upper piece to your back, I can hook it into whatever clasp fits for the moment, and thereby ensuring you can grow with this armor for a couple of years at least,” Redwing said, beaming with pride at her ingenuity. Zig Zag just didn't know what to say, he had expected something cool, but this!

“Wow! Thank you! Thank you so very much! This is great!” he said, while spinning around on the table trying to look at all of himself at once. Redwing and Robin were practically bursting at the praise they were receiving, not being used to receiving it from a male. Even if it was just a little pony, it felt incredibly satisfying.

“Now, now, calmed down Zig Zag. We're not through with the armor orientation yet. As you can see, the inside of the armor is very well insulated with thick wool, just like Lobo wanted. Although, that much insulation would be a problem in summer. Therefore, we have made it so you can remove the wool when it becomes too hot. And all the ridges you can see running through the armor are inserted steel rods, once again adding much more protection against slashes and blunt trauma, without adding too much weight. We also took the liberty of exchanging your daggers with two that my husband made. They are both of better quality than the ones you had, and, since they are exactly the same, you won't have to get acquainted with two different daggers. This will make it much easier to learn and handle both of them quickly. They both have integrated holders on your back armor, so you'll be able to draw them out just like you did with the weapon harness. And, in the front of your neck lining, there are also a few hideaway pockets where you can store various items you want within easy reach,” Redwing said proudly while she simultaneously uncovered two beautifully crafted daggers on the table in front of him, and then slipped them into place on his back. Zig Zag quickly made sure he could reach both of the dagger handles, and made a few practice swings with each one of the daggers. To his surprise, and delight, they were both better balanced and lighter than his old ones. Finally, he looked up at Redwing and Robin, grinning from ear to ear.

“I don't know how to thank you for this! This is better than I could ever dream of… I bet even Iron Rod will run screaming when he sees me in this!” Zig Zag said with almost palpable hatred showing across his face, while he uttered the name. Both Redwing and Robin looked at him curiously, never having seen that expression on the little pony before.

“Who's Iron Rod?” Robin asked. Zig Zag looked away but did not answer, since he still had problem uttering their names if they didn't happen to slip into a sentence without him thinking about it.

“He's one of the creeps that murdered his mother in front of him… That's why he’s training so hard, so he can go back home and take revenge on them,” Raven said from behind, while she stepped up to Zig Zag. Her eyes went wide upon seeing him.

“Wow, that's some really good looking armor you got there… you look… fierce!” Raven said with approval. Zig Zag studied Raven´s armor in return, noticing it was more or less exactly the same as Robin’s. She had four plain looking leather bracers on each of her legs, and her chest and back piece was a much simpler one piece where she had to insert her head and then carefully thread her wings through two openings to allow her flight. But the thing that really made her stand out was the fact that she had every dagger the three bandit brothers had previously owned strapped about her person. Two were secured at the front of her chest, two jutted out over her shoulders in a similar fashion to Zig Zag, that she had one dagger strapped to each one of her front legs, and the same with the rear. To finish it all off, Raven had a dagger secured against either side of her just beneath the wings so that they would be hidden when she had her wings folded. Zig Zag was gaping at her.

“You look like a damn weapons arsenal!” he said with a mischievous grin. Raven gave Zig Zag a playful punch in the side.

“Yeah! So you better watch it from now on!” Raven warned him, the flick him on the forehead. Zig Zag gave a little yelp, was just about to rubbed his forehead when he realised that would be a bad idea, since he now has three very sharp claws on his hooves. Redwing and Robin both looked horrified at what Raven had done, thinking she would be in serious trouble now. But they were once again reminded of just how different Zig Zag functioned compared to gryphon males when he burst out laughing and surprised them all by pouncing on Raven. It didn't take long for Zig Zag to end up on his back, being tickled viciously in his still exposed armpits.

“HAHAHAHAHA!!! I give! I give! I give!” he screamed out, laughing. Raven let him go while grinning down at him. Redwing and Robin just shook their heads at the whole thing now, although there were secretly feeling a bit jealous at Raven for having found such a caring male pony willing to claim her. Both Lobo and Zig Zag had quickly become popular amongst the gryphon females around town, simply because of the fact they treated all the females with dignity and civility.

“Happy birthday, Raven,” Zig Zag suddenly said to her. Raven smiled down at him quite lovingly.

“Happy birthday to you too, Zig Zag,” she answered.

“Birthday? Was that?” Robin wondered. Both Zig Zag and Raven groaned simultaneously.

“You gryphon´s really don't celebrate that?” Zig Zag asked forlornly.

“Told you…” Raven said.

“Well… today I was born fourteen years ago. Had I still been home… My mom and my friends would have celebrated by having an extra nice dinner, and maybe give me a gift or two. So, when I found out Raven didn't know hers, I thought we could celebrate both our birthdays together. It was perfect since we were both getting our armors today. We could both celebrate together, so the fun would be doubled!” Zig Zag burst out grinning like a mad pony. All three of the female gryphons were giggling at Zig Zag´s quite contagious enthusiasm.

“That really sounds nice actually… Wait here a moment, I think I might have something for you,” Redwing said, and she disappeared back into the shop. She came back a couple of minutes later, and held out two bottles in front of Zig Zag, who looked carefully at them.

“What is it?” he wondered.

“It's to help with your revenge. The pink bottle contains a slow acting poison, which will kill, very painfully to boot. If you coat your daggers with this, it won't matter if you only manage to scratch this Iron Rod; he will die screaming in agony within twenty-four-hours,” Redwing said with an evil grin. Zig Zag´s eyes were almost sparkling while he looked mesmerised at the little pink bottle. Carefully, Redwing place the bottle in Zig Zag´s left-most hidden pocket situated around his neck. Then, she held out the other bottle in front of him.

“Now this green bottle contains the antidote to that poison. One third of the content of this bottle is enough to counteract it without any future problems. In other words, you have three chances if you happen to poison yourself by accident. Do you understand?” Redwing asked carefully. Zig Zag nodded and then watched as Redwing placed the green bottle in his right most hidden pocket. Afterwards, she ruffled Zig Zag´s mane while smiling down at him.

“Happy birthday Zig Zag. I hope my gift will serve you well in your hunt for justice,” Redwing says, feeling quite good about giving him this valuable and rare gift.

“Thank you Redwing… I'm sure they will,” Zig Zag said smiling up at her with true gratitude for the gifts.

****

Thanks to Syvvak for the Pre-read/Edit