Crimson Trail

by Amber Sky

Chapter 2: A New Place and a New Journey

Author's Note:

Well finally here is chapter 2! No real excuse for where I have been for the last year, but mostly I have just lost a lot of my ambition to write. On the other hand, Chapter 3 is already underway so hopefully I will have it out at some point.

Special thanks to EverfreePony who stepped in to help finish the editing for this chapter.

Chapter 2: A New Place and a New Journey

Edited by: EverfreePony and Mischievous Blue

Pre Read by: ElectroPHX228

~~~~~ 16 years prior~~~~~

Keeping my back low and wings tucked under the black cloak I wore, I snuck my way through the torchlit hallways of the Griffon Kingdom’s castle. The small bag of gold I had lashed to my side jingled faintly with every step I took. But the slight amount of sound it made was barely audible over the nervous beating of my own heart. I needed to get out of here as quickly as I could, before anyone had the chance to find out what was missing.

Damn, I hate sneaking around like a rat. Anything, even gliding out a window would be better than this... but then again, I would assume the castle was designed in a way to prevent simply flying in and out. Not like it matters, my wings are still too small to fly on. But they are getting bigger, so in a year I might be able to start looking for a quicker way out.

I grumbled to myself as I continued down the hall, concealing myself even within the faintest of shadows. One plus was the guards were few; for everything the king was, he really didn't like to keep many griffons in the castle when it could be avoided. This was both a blessing and a curse as the few guards who were around were several levels above a common watchman. They were all educated, had advanced combat training, but above all else, they never shunned their duties.

Hearing the steps of a griffon coming down the hall, I turned and slipped into a servant's door. Silently I made my way down the several flights of stairs before stopping at the bottom and placing my ear against the wall. New steps, quiet at first, soon became louder as they approached. Waiting and listening carefully, I heard the steps begin to soften again as they moved past and away from where I hid. As quickly as I could without making a sound, I pushed the small door out of the way and looked down the hall towards the slowly shrinking torch light of the guard as he continued on his patrol.

Almost out!

Slowly, I watched the guard continue down the hall before disappearing into a separate passageway. Carefully I slipped out from where I had been hiding, closing the small hidden door. At the end of the hall was what I was looking for, the door that was to be my escape, situated just across the grand-sized entranceway.

Slowly, I started towards it, crossing the room, but before I had managed more than a few steps, the main door started to open with an audible creak. Panicking, I bolted back and directly into an ornately carved marble pillar. Stunned for a second, I winced briefly before moving behind the mass of stone. Tentatively, I looked back to the hall I had just come from. It wasn't far, only a couple of steps, but to get there would involve moving directly in sight of whomever had just entered the castle. Likely it was just a guard coming in from a patrol, but if they caught me, I would have bigger problems than what to spend my bits on.

Curiosity got the best of me and slowly I peeked out towards the door. There, I saw a dark blue, almost black griffon enter. A moment later another form walked in and a chill ran down my spine, causing some of my feathers to stand up on end. I watched on in fear as the second form came into the candle light of the hall, and Lord Aurun Golden Feather, the Griffon King himself turned to face my hiding place. Pulling back, I swallowed, heart beating so loud I feared it would give away my position.

Out of anyone who could have come through those doors, why did it have to be him?

As I continued to stand there, just waiting to be discovered, a conversation made its way to my ears and I listened more out of habit than actual interest.

“I understand it's a tradition and all. But don't you feel it's a little early?” the dark coloured griffon asked, clearly continuing with a discussion from earlier.

“It wasn't too early for me… or my father, or his father before him. Anyone who has ruled this castle has done it, and I don't intend to break any more traditions,” the king replied in a strong but old voice. His mind was clearly made up by his tone, and nothing was going to change it.

Risking another glance, I slowly peeked out from around the pillar, and saw the other griffon let out a long sigh, not happy with the answer he had gotten, but also not willing to argue with the king.

“Alright then, but I do just want to say that I don't think it's a good idea,” he said, only receiving a scoff and glare from the king. Clearing his throat, he continued quickly, clearly trying to change the topic,“What do you want to do about the pack of manticores that has been seen roaming close to the east side of the city?”

The king stopped for a moment in thought, then asked simply, “Is the zebra caravan still in town?”

“Yes, but only until tomorrow. Why?” The blue griffon asked, intrigued as he turned to close and lock the door.

“In the morning, go and get them to make up a couple vials of antivenom before they go, and tip them well. When you are done with that, go to the barracks and pick out two or three of the more promising guard recruits. I'll personally take them to clear out the manticores,” the king replied, a small grin crossing his beak.

~Ahem...

The sound of a throat being cleared directly behind me instantly pulled my attention away from the conversation. Fear drove me to turn my head as I slowly looked up to see a dark griffon towering over me with a rather displeased look on his face. Before I had time to do anything, the guard reached down and picked me up before walking out into the open.

“My lord!” the guard called out with a slight bow of his head before continuing, “Look at who I found hiding in the shadows.” He placed me down and pulled off my hood with a talon.

Both the king and the blue griffon turned to look. I knew I was caught, and with no way out, the only question was what was going to happen to me.

“Akilina…? Do I even want to know what you were doing?” King Aurun asked loudly, clearly angry and disappointed.

I pulled back, sinking further to the ground, letting my head drop. I let out a defeated sigh before replying weakly, “Sorry, father. I just wanted to go out to the market is all.”

“Are you kidding me! You were trying to sneak out in the middle of the night to do what? Go shopping?” He growled, steadily increasing in volume, then finally just resigning himself to the situation. Not waiting for a reply he shook his head, causing his red and gold feathers to shift briefly in the torchlight before he continued, “Darkwing, take Akilina back to her room and make sure she doesn't try to sneak out again… I'll deal with her in the morning.”

Nodding, the guard behind me picked me up again, this time he placed me onto his back and turned, heading back down the halls of the castle.

~~~~~ Current day ~~~~~

White. All I was able to see was white in all directions. I felt as if I was falling, although it was a distant feeling, hardly noticeable. The last thing I remembered was seeing that bolt of magic shooting towards me…

What was it, and where am I now?

As I lingered in this state, letting my body recuperate from its earlier exertion, a new feeling became apparent, a soft tugging across every part of my body. I felt as if I was being pulled apart from myself, however it did not hurt. Suddenly, a flash of colour interrupted the formerly unbroken light hue of white. Then it happened again, a flash of green then blue, then green again. Feeling came flooding back to me, and realization dawned that I was falling… falling fast.

Looking around I saw a quickly approaching forest canopy no less than a hundred feet down. Without another thought I stretched out my wings as fast as I could. A sharp pain exploded across my back from the sudden amount of air resistance I was fighting against. Almost immediately my descent began to slow as I tried to angle myself out of the vertical fall. I knew it was not enough; I was still moving too fast to stop my descent. The forest directly below me was getting closer, forty feet... thirty feet... ten feet... Last second before I hit the thick woodlands I tucked in my wings and hunched my legs under myself. Hitting the first tree, I bounced off at a steep aggressive angle, my body screaming out in pain. Then the next tree came… And the next… I had no time to react as the mass of green branches battered me, finally a heavy crack echoed across my skull as I felt my head impact a large branch. My vision bled away into blackness, then, nothing.

~~~~~ Alex ~~~~~

“No, I don’t understand! This whole freaking trip was your idea!” I yelled back towards the phone on speaker, sitting on the dash of my car. Angrily I banked around yet another long hairpin turn, taking it faster than I probably should have.

“Look, I am sorry, man, but some things came up. I just can’t come.” The reply came staticky due to only having one bar of reception, but it did not matter as I interrupted him by angrily grabbing at the phone, hanging it up in the process and throwing it onto the empty passenger seat.

I had been on the road for the last seven hours, driving out to what was supposed to be the meetup location for myself and two other friends. One of them came up with this whole idea of ‘Hey, let’s all go off into the middle of nowhere and backpack around for a week!’ But now on the day of, he decides to call in and cancel two hours before we are supposed to meet up. And since my other friend was planning to carpool with him as he does not drive, he wouldn't be able to make it either.

“Goddamn, I am going to kill them when I get back to town!” I yelled outloud, making my car swerve by accident as a result.

Moving back into the middle of my lane, I glanced to my backseat and looked over all of my new camping gear I had bought especially for the trip. The large backpack filled with assorted… well, stuff recommended by both my former friends, and the salespeople at the store. The tent and sleeping bag rolled up separately, I wondered how much of it I would be able to return. Turning and looking back to the road, my eyes soon drifted to the fuel needle as it edged slowly towards the empty side of the gauge.

Letting out a long and anguished sigh, I slowed on the straightaway, and rummaged around with one hand on the passenger seat for the printed map that had been my guide in this maze of abandoned roads and hilly forests. The last town I had been in was almost two hours back, and I doubted my car’s ability to make it back there without refueling. I did have a jerry can in the trunk, but I prefered not to use that unless it was an actual emergency. The next town was only about forty-five minutes away, and seemed to be a decent size for a road side town. I would probably be able to find a nice restaurant to eat at before starting the long trip back home.

As the minutes ticked by, I reached the top of yet another rather large hill. I had been flipping through the radio and was now confident that every single radio station, on both AM and FM was static. Relenting, I grabbed the car's aux cord and plugged it into my phone, setting it to shuffle.

Suddenly my attention was pulled away from the road and to a slight flash of light as it arced its way across the sky. Pulling my mind back from its wandering, I looked more intently this time and saw it again. A bright white streak of lightning splitting the clear blue sky as it appeared from literally nothing, there were no clouds or anything. Slowing and pulling off the road, I hopped out of my car to look out at the spectacle. Several more discharges went off, and then I noticed a small orb of light that seemed to be the source of the phenomenon. As the thunder started to become audible, the ever brightening orb of light started growing larger and brighter, before all at once it collapsed in on itself in a brilliant shimmer of colour. Then something new caught my eye, as a flaming object seemingly left behind started to fall, disappearing behind the treetops.

What the hell was that?

I thought to myself. Taking a couple steps back, I leaned against my car, only to fall hard onto the dusty road. Scrambling up I turned and looked on as my car rolled backwards down the path I had driven up. Frantically I ran towards my vehicle as it steadily increased its pace. The driver seat door was still open from when I had gotten out, and apparently not put it into park. As the gap between us continued to grow I slowed to a stop and just watched, wincing as the back tail light impacted the metal safety barrier with the pop of plastic, the driver’s door slamming shut. Then with a scraping of metal on metal, the car continued its descent, now adjacent to the barrier for several feet before disappearing down the edge of the hill where the safety fence ended. Only the sounds of crashing from what must have been my car tumbling down a long... long… really long hill were left in its wake.

Ooh shit!

Running over towards the barrier where my vehicle had disappeared, I looked down as it finally came to a stop, luckily right side up at the base of several tall and now rocking trees. Half surprised at not seeing a fireball explode out of my now completely totaled car, I hopped over the fence and started to stumble my way off the road and down the slope.

Goddammit, why did this have to happen to me!

Approaching the wreckage, the smell of oil and gas strong in the air, I immediately tried to pull open the driver's door, but the crumpled roof seemed to be holding it firmly shut. Looking through the shattered windows I soon saw what I needed. My phone lay on the floor half under the passenger seat along with the printed map.

Well great, how the hell am I going to get my phone now?

Slowly walking around my car, I found one of the back doors loose, after a minute of heaving and pulling I got it open to reveal my camping gear. Moving it out to clear the seat, I climbed into the back of my car, and just barely managed to reach my phone and map. On a whim I tried the glove compartment and was surprised when it clicked open. Pulling the small emergency kit from it and my registration, I slowly climbed my way free from the vehicle. Looking at the phone now with a new crack through its screen, I clicked it on but was greeted only with blackness. Trying a couple more times and receiving the same response, I let out another long anguished sigh, then just slid the phone into my pocket.

Well, let's take a look at my life today. Friends ditched me, car totaled, phone broken, and in the middle of nowhere. At least my camping gear survived, so I got food and water, but what do I do now…? Guess the best solution would be to walk to the next town and use a phone there, but with my luck it will probably have a power outage or some other nonsense. I swear I am so done with all this shit.

Starting to go through my bags, I packed everything back up and turned heading up the hill, all the while grumbling and thinking about what I was going to do when I got back home. I had taken a month off work for this trip, and despite all the shit that had gone bad, I had been really looking forward to hiking around and camping. Reaching the top of the hill, I looked out over the forested land and to the still beautiful blue sky. What had been that lightning storm and what was that thing that had fallen? Pulling out my map and eyeballing where I thought it could have landed I marked it down. Then an idea slowly crept its way into my mind.

I had enough food for eight days, and it would only be two at most to get to the town. The object fell only about a day’s hike out, so even if I went there, camped a day and came back I would still have five days worth of food. That is almost triple of what I would need to make it to town with, and that is also assuming I don't find someone to hitch a ride... No, this is a bad idea. I need to get to town and at least let someone know what happened… besides I can always come back to check it out after that.

Rationalizing it to myself I turned and continued down the road towards the town. As I walked I thought about the conversation I would need to have with my former friends, and I wondered how much my insurance would jump. I would also probably call my boss and ask to go back to work early because making money is always better than not doing anything, plus I would get way too bored. The more I thought about it, the more I did not want to go back, and the better camping for at least a few days sounded. A few minutes later I turned around and headed back towards where my car had taken its swan dive. At the top of the hill I took one final glance towards the forest, again eyeballing the direction of the falling object. Then I started down the hill towards the thick forested canopy of trees.

Even if I don't find anything, this will at least give me some alone time to work things out, plus it's not like I have much to lose at this point… only my life.

Chuckling darkly at that last thought, I descended into the woods, mind set and eyes forward. I actually found myself kind of excited and looking forward to what I may discover.

~~~~~ Akilina ~~~~~

“Oh, sweet Celestia, my head,” I moaned whilst rolling over.

At least I am not dead, though I feel like that would be less painful.

Sitting up I took a quick glance around at my new surroundings before all the memories of what had happened back at the university came flooding back. The griffons in Canterlot, fighting, running, and… that bolt of magic... What did it do?

Where am I, and how did I get here?

Taking a longer look around, I was sitting in a small clearing, the forest seemed to mostly consist of pines as far as I could tell. Behind me was a clear path of broken branches and stripped bark leading to a long skid mark of overturned topsoil ending at where I sat. Comprehension dawned and my pains all over decided to hurt a little more because of it.

How am I still alive…?

Trying to stand up, I immediately crashed back to the ground when I put pressure on my hind leg. Looking back at it and the way it unnaturally sagged several inches lower than it was supposed to. Wincing at the sight, I lay back down and slowly began working every muscle of my body, trying to visualize all the damage.

Can barely move my right hind leg, but it feels and looks more dislocated than broken. Left wing is badly sprained to the point that I can't even move it to feel where it hurts. My right arm feels like it has a pulled tendon of some kind in the shoulder. I think my lower ribs are heavily bruised, possibly broken, and back of the head hurts too, hope it's not a concussion. I don't even want to try to catalog the countless cuts and bruises that cover my body from beak to tail. But all in all, at least I have all six limbs.

Slowly getting up again, this time being careful to not put any pressure on my hind leg, I tried to move it again, causing it to twitch slightly. Sharp pain pulsed across my body, before slowly fading into a dull throb and cold tingle at the joint.

Damn that sucked. Definitely dislocated, I need to get it set before the swelling makes relocating it harder than it needs to be.

Looking around, I spotted what I was hoping for, a tree that forked off right at the base. Stumbling over to it along the edge of the clearing, I lay on my side, gently placing my dislocated leg into the V. Putting my other leg firmly against the trunk, I closed my eyes, not looking forward to this.

OK. You can do this… it needs to be done… Three… Two, NOW!

With an eagle's scream of anguish I pushed out against the tree, twisting my hips to pop the joint back into its place. A sickening deep pop reverberated throughout the forest, tears forming and rolling to the ground. I lay there for some time, breathing hard through a tightly clenched beak, as throbs of anguish pulsated with every slight movement. As time slowly began to ease the pain, I opened my eyes, blinking the tears out of them. For the briefest of seconds, a small shimmer caught my attention. Angling my head towards the far end of the clearing, I saw it again. The reflection of something metallic on one of the low hanging branches that I crashed through. With a sense of curiosity temporarily filling me, I unhooked my formerly dislocated leg from the tree and began an awkward three-legged stumble across the clearing.

So you survived the fall too.

Sitting, I reached out to the branch and picked up the small wing-shaped pendant the Professor had given me. Gently opening the small latch with both talons, I carefully slipped it around my neck. Feeling a slight warmth briefly spread throughout my body as the many pains started to ease. I was still injured and felt constant reminders with any movement, but it no longer seemed to be as uncomfortable or distracting.

At least when I get home, the Professor will not be able to get mad at me for losing his gift… That is if I ever go home, I still need to stay away from the royal guard until this whole thing blows over. And if those griffons get back to the Griffon Kingdom and tell dad… Well, I will need to stay clear of there, too. Guess I can always try to stay with the zebras... Hope I remember enough of their customs not to make a complete fool of myself.

Looking around for the sun, I gave a quick estimate of how much daylight was left. Normally when you are lost, your best bet is to travel downhill, as that is what water does. Find a creek, follow it till it becomes a stream, then a river, then follow that until you find civilization. To my knowledge very few if any forests in Equestria were pine… Actually the flora here looked eerily similar to the forests that surrounded the Griffon Kingdom. Ideally I would have liked to just fly up to the cloud layer and drift on them whilst seeing if I could recognize any landmarks. But that did not seem like it was going to be an option anytime in the near future, at least not until my wing had time to heal. What I needed to do was find a safe place to recuperate and plan out my next move. So that meant first I needed a source of water, then food, and finally shelter. I turned, heading south and out of the clearing towards where the land very gently sloped downhill. Moving carefully, I began to distract myself from my pains by trying to figure out this whole crazy situation.

How did I get here? That spell must have had something to do with it, but what…? If I had to guess it was likely a grounding spell made to impede my flying ability. Or maybe tracking spell so that they would be able to find me later… On second thought, there was too much potential magic there to have just been a simple tracking spell. And the guards should have known that a grounding spell would not have a big effect, if any, on a griffon... so why cast it at all? Maybe they were hoping to just slow me down for their pegasus teams. No, that is not how the guards do things, they wouldn't have cast anything unless they were certain it would work. It has to be something different, some single instance spell that would not be affected by a griffon’s natural resistances…

Moving through the forest was very slow, every step sending new waves of pain up and down my body. But I wouldn't let it stop me, I knew I needed to move and the pain was not going to hinder my progress. The biggest problem was with the former dislocation of my back leg; there was not much I could do to get over the natural obstacle course the woods formed. Normally if I have encountered a fallen tree, I could just hop over it, but without both of my hind legs, managing to leap any useful distance was completely out of the question. And so I kept having to double back and walk around obstacles, resulting in an annoying amount of wasted time. Luckily there seemed to be quite a few game trails around, and that meant water was sure to be near.

Hmm, a teleportation spell would explain the power behind it, and would be perfectly capable of affecting griffons as the spell resolves instantaneously with no lingering effects. But a spell like that is not normally something that would be subject to an error big enough to cause me to appear out in the middle of nowhere. If I remember correctly, when a teleportation spell is cast wrong or is incomplete it will either do nothing, or the pony will just appear at some point along the line between the starting location and the destination. Also the destination range is subject to the magical talent of the unicorn casting the spell. Any teleportation farther than a few miles being cast remotely would take an absurd amount of magic. It's still possible, especially considering the skill of the royal guard. However, the ability to have moved me anywhere outside of the city boundaries would be pushing it for being at such a distance from the caster. So how I made it to a location not in the same climate zone as Equestria is still a mystery.

As I walked through the tangles of underbrush, the soft sounds of the forest became audible over my pained breathing. The wind blowing through the trees, creaking of insects, the occasional scurrying of a squirrel running across branches and the trickling of a stream. Smiling to myself at that last one, I turned around to distinguish where the sound was coming from, then headed off in the new direction. It was not long before the creek of running water came into view as it paraded down a small rock face. Approaching it, I eyed it curiously, looking for any of the distinct signs of contamination. Satisfied by its appearance, I dropped down to lap up some of the water, carefully swirling it around in my beak before swallowing. It had the taste of strong minerals, but luckily it did not taste like algae or saltwater. Quenching my thirst, I then wetted my talons and started preening, cleaning the tree sap and twigs out of my fur and feathers.

The only explanation has to have been when the spell came into contact with my pendant, it must have changed somehow. But that kind of thing should not have been possible, it is one of the fundamental laws of magic that ‘Once a spell is formed, it can not be changed, only redirected or dispersed.’ But let’s pretend for a moment that there was a way around that, and I did manage to reprogram the spell’s matrix. The amount of magic in the spell would still be the same and so I would have only been able to change the destination within the initial parameters. Presuming the unicorn went all out with the spell I should have still only been able to appear somewhere within the city. Wait... what was it the Professor had said about this pendant? ‘It allows you to focus more magic into specific areas of your body, heightening them to their maximal potential.’

Finishing cleaning the majority of my upper body I finally reached my left wing. As I began to stretch it out, I hardly managed to move it more than a foot before a shooting pain forced it back into its place. Carefully I began cleaning the wing, trying not to hurt myself any more than I had to. However, with my inability to extend it out fully most of my feathered appendage was tucked away underneath itself and out of my reach. Untangling a particularly painful branch, I decided to just move on leaving it for another time.

What if it was not just limited to within my body? Somehow I may have channeled my internal magic into the spell, changing it with the subconscious destination of the Griffon Kingdom. And the spell, still partially incomplete, ended up dropping me off somewhere along the way… it seemed possible, however the odds stacked against the whole situation were outrageous. I did not even want to try thinking about all the things that could have gone wrong, but then again, I was here… and I had no other explanation that managed to come even remotely close to clarify how or why. So I guess until I think up a better theory, this is what I have to work with. Celestia damn not knowing, it is going to drive me crazy.

As I finished, I was already starting to feel a lot better about this situation. I had a theory, albeit a weak one, I had a source of water, but admittedly I was starting to feel hungry. I knew I should be able to go a couple weeks without eating, but judging by the amount of animal tracks I had seen earlier, catching something shouldn't be too difficult. Treating my wounds was the next big problem I needed to focus on. I really did not want to get an infection out here, but there was not too much I would be able to do other than keep the wounds clean. Something else I really needed to look at, was getting a weapon of some sort. If only I had a knife then I could hunt and actually clean my kills, plus I could better defend myself against any wild animals that may be out here.

Wait… I had a knife, where did it go?

Looking to my side where I remembered lashing one before leaving the Professor, I was not at all surprised to see nothing there.

Of course it is gone. Sure hope I just overlooked it at the clearing and it did not get left behind. If it was, then I probably won't be getting it back… I really liked that knife.

Turning around, I slowly began backtracking to my crash site just as the sun started to dip below the horizon. Again seeing the damage I had caused by my fall, it still amazed me to the fact that I had survived. Slowly I inspected the area, carefully looking along the angle I had entered the clearing from. After a couple minutes I finally found the brown strap and sheath tangled in a low branch. But no knife was inside, the button that was supposed to hold the blade in place had apparently been torn off. Several minutes more passed before finally I spotted the silvery length of metal. It had embedded itself into a branch I had smashed through some eighty feet or so up.

Well great, how in Equestria am I going to get that?

Flexing my wings instinctively, I winced back from the pain it caused. Wing injuries always hurt way more than they needed to, but it was expected from such a sensitive appendage.

Flying up is out of the picture, and the tree is way too thick to shake… doubt I would be able to climb that high either, I could always try hitting it with a rock or stick, but I don't think that would be enough to get it down. Celestia dammit, I'll figure something out tomorrow, it's too late to do anything now anyway. Guess this is a good as place as any to spent the night, I just hope no other animals in the area think the same.

Looking around for the best place to sleep, a sight slowly pulled my attention towards the sky. Off to my east a small trail of smoke peaked out from the tree tops. If I had to guess it looked like it came from a small cook fire. Apparently I was not the only one in this forest… but who could it be? Doubtful it would be the guards as they would not want to alert me to their presence like that, plus if it was from a camp they would have had a bigger fire. The more I thought about it, the more I considered it may be good to check it out after I had recovered a bit more. If I was correct in guessing my location being somewhere around the Griffon Kingdom, finding a hunter may be the lucky break I needed to get the information on just where I had actually ended up. Regardless, it was too late to consider trying to make the trip now, and so I just placed some sticks to mark the direction of the smoke. Then I crawled under the thick branches surrounding the base of one of the pines and curled up around the trunk. Slowly as the soft soothing sounds of the night pulled my consciousness away, I fell asleep.

~~~~~ Gray ~~~~~~

Slowly I came into the Canterlot University dorm building, walking towards Akilina’s room. My mind knew the path, Celestia knows I had walked it enough times. But the actual reason for why I found myself here still avoided me. She had asked me to forget about her, and then she just left. Did I really not mean enough to her for at least an explanation…? I guess that was why I had come after all, to get some answers. As I rounded the corner to stare off at the door, or where the door should have been, I stopped. Angry shouts could be heard coming from just inside the doorway before several of the royal guard filed out of the room.

“Look until I see her again. I am not answering any more of your dumb and redundant questions!” the Professor yelled at one guard who seemed to remain in the room.

“We have been over this, we don't know where she is, and we are asking you these questions to help us find her.” The one remaining guard tried to reason out, but was cut off before he was able to continue.

“Sure, because asking, ‘If she has ever tried to eat somepony’ will help find her! She’s not a savage animal!” he yelled back, disgusted, forcing the guard out of the room with a blue glow of his magic.

“Fine, we will come back after you have had some time to calm down,” the lead guard called back to the Professor before motioning to the others that they were leaving. Looking up and noticing me, the head guard came trotting up, the others flanking him on either side.

“So do you want to tell me why, whenever there are a bunch of griffons in one place, a fight always starts?” he said with a scowl.

“What happened to her?” I asked, a little shakily, ignoring his comment. I never much enjoyed dealing with the guards; they all were so patriotic to Equestria that it bordered with ignorance towards all the other sentient races. To them ponies were perfect, and all the problems in society were the fault of the other races.

“We don't know where she is, but it does not matter. Sooner or later she will have to show up; nopony can hide from the Equestrian guard for long.” Then without waiting for an answer he walked past me and called back, “You better keep your beak clean, or I’ll be after you next.”

One of the guards nudged me out of the way as they passed, but I did not really pay it any mind. Any other day I would have gotten upset at the gesture, it was not my fault I wasn't born a pony. However, I was too distracted by the answer he had given, ‘We don't know where she is.’ It was true Canterlot was large, and had its fair share of hiding spots. But the guards had access to magical tracking spells and stuff like that… there had to be something more to it.

Slowly I approached the room, looking around at the open doorway, and the broken remains of the door scattered across the floor. The Professor was sitting at the kitchen table, weeping softly, as he held a small folded photograph.

“I… don't mean to intrude... But how are you holding up?” I asked softly as I glanced to the photo of Akilina in his hooves.

“She was my daughter… and yes I know not by flesh and blood. But still, I felt as close to her as family,” he replied in a quiet, shaky voice.

“I wish I could say I knew what you are going through, but—” I started but was then cut off by the Professor’s interjection.

“No, you don't understand, and I hope you never have to. No one should ever have to feel the loss of their family.” With that said, silence fell over the room for several moments.

“I shouldn't have said anything.” I apologized before standing up and turning to leave. I had come here to get some answers, but I didn't want to press the Professor after what he must be going through. Having Akilina, his own ‘daughter’, wanted by the Equestrian guard, it must have been awful.

“No... Please, don't go,” he said, reaching out to me with a hoof. Turning and walking back to the chair I sat back down, the Professor noticeably calming a bit. After a few seconds he started up again, “I am not mad at you, it’s just… when she ran... the look in her eyes, she looked so young… so scared...”

“Well, the Equestrian guard was after her, if I was her I would have been scared too,” I said, trying to reason out the situation.

“No, it wasn't like that. I know Akilina, and I have never seen her scared. She could be in a staring contest with a manticore, and still have a smile on her face. But this… it was different, it was a fear that went beyond her situation. It was something more.” The Professor tried to explain but fell short. And thinking back on it, I could not remember a time in which I had seen Akilina scared either. Nervous yes, but never genuine fear…

“I don't want to worsen the moment… but do you want to talk about what happened?” I offered. In response the Professor put down the picture and looked to me. Trying to keep the uneasiness as much out of my voice as I could manage, I quickly added “I don't know anything that happened after she left me. And I wouldn't mind getting the full picture.”

“That’s right; she mentioned you were in the fight too. Are you alright?” he asked sincerely, his question catching me slightly off guard.

“Oh, yes I am fine, but how did you know about the fight?”

“Akilina mentioned it before she flew off. She said it was with some other griffons,” he said, faltering a little at the mention of Akilina as he took another long glance at the photo.

“Honestly, it was not much of a fight at all, I never knew she was so good at martial arts!” I explained a little more excitedly than I wanted to, the adrenalin of the situation running through my veins again as I thought back to it.

“Martial arts?” the unicorn questioned with a slight raise of one of his eyebrows.

“Yeah, you know like karate and stuff. It was awesome the way she fought those other griffons, dropping them one after another. It was like something out of a Daring Do book,” I tried to clarify, then looked down sheepishly as I realized how excited I must have sounded.

“She never took any fighting classes, or at least none that I knew about… I just can't see her wanting to hurt somepony.” He went silent and I could see his mood had shifted. He seemed now to be more intrigued than anything, but the sadness, although faded, still gripped at his heart.

“I never thought I would see her hurt somepony either, but she really did not like those other griffons… I just wish I knew why. How long do you think it will be before we will be able to talk to her?” I asked, but at the Professor's expression I felt something was off.

“You don't know what happened, do you…?” he said. I only replied with a blank look before he continued, “Tell me everything that happened to you first. Then I’ll fill in my side.”

Nodding in agreement, I was happy to finally get some answers. This was why I had come here in the first place, but why did I feel like something was wrong? I stared off into the distance for a moment, organising my thoughts, then I began to explain, slowly at first.

“We had stopped off for food and when we were done, we headed off back to my place. To save time we took a shortcut through some alleyway, but we ended up bumping into some griffons. I think they must have known Akilina ‘cause one said her name, before we could talk she ran off, pulling me along. The griffons chased us and soon we got dead ended, and that is when Akilina attacked them. I don't know how she did it but she managed to fight off all of them by herself, even after one pulled a sword on her.

When they were all down, she flew off toward here. I tried to follow her, however she was too fast, so I thought I may be able to get some answer from the other griffons. But not wanting to go back alone, I told the guard about what happened. After that I showed the guards where the other griffons where, and they were taken in for questioning. A few minutes later I was getting questioned by one of the guards and I heard the explosion and looked up to see that ball of magic… and that is about all I know. I assumed Akilina came back here and the guards are now looking for her.” As I finished I gave a small shrug. Thinking back on it, there were a lot of things I wanted to know about. Like what had happened to the other griffons, and what that ball of magic was. Maybe the Professor's side of things would clear it up.

The Professor thought for a moment, presumably about what I had just told him, but soon enough he started explaining his side of things.

“I was just marking some work when she walked in. I noticed she had streaks of blood across her chest. When I asked her about it, she told me that ‘she had gotten into a fight with some griffons from her past.’ I asked her to elaborate but she instead just went to her room. I followed her and she retrieved a knife and a bag of bits from a box under her bed. She then told me that ‘she was sorry but needed to leave, however she would return someday’. After that the guards arrived and she fled out the window. The guards, not able to chase her, tried teleporting her directly into the dungeon, but something went wrong with that spell… When she was hit it formed that magical explosion, and now we don't know what happened to her. The guards have been searching for her since then, but they are still lost with no leads. And I have just been asked questions till… well I guess you saw what I did when you arrived.”

“Wait… what? Are you saying she was in that explosion… and now she is just gone? Like poof gone?” I asked, trying to clarify.

“Well, yes and no, as far as I have been told nopony knows where she is. But it is assumed she is still alive and just hiding out somewhere,” he answered, down casting his gaze again, this time in thought.

“She can't be gone for too long, the guards can track her with a spell or something, right? Sooner or later she will show up, and then be brought in for questioning like the other griffons... And maybe if we can convince them not to press any charges she won't get in too much trouble…” I reasoned out, stating hopefully, looking towards the Professor as he just shook his head.

“It won't be that simple, the Equestrian legal system is not very favorable to the other races. Ponies are all about peace, assault is not something that can be overlooked that easily. All those griffons need to do is make any formal complaint against her, and she will be facing a banishment from any pony cities,” the Professor explained in a somber tone.

“That's just not fair, she has lived here for years. They can't just banish her like that!” I blurted out in response, not really thinking about what I was saying.

“It's the law, to the guards she is seen as potentially violent, and evading arrest. Unless we can find a life or death reason for why she attacked those griffons, our hooves are tied in this situation,” as he finished in a deep sorrowful tone, I finally understood why he was so depressed. His options were to leave Equestria to live with her in exile. In which case he would lose his job, all his standings, and the years he spent working his way up in the system. Or he would have to leave her, only being able to visit by leaving Equestria. Which admittedly was not the worst solution, however the Professor was starting to get up there in the years, and sooner or later it would become too difficult for him to be able to make the trip.

As I continued to ponder over the situation, trying to find a different solution or some loophole we might be able to use, I stood up and began pacing around the room, soon my attention was drawn to Akilina's door. Easing it open, I stepped inside. The room was simple in layout, only having her bed, a small nightstand, a desk, and a couple bookshelves placed against the walls. Everything was usually kept perfectly clean, but now with the mess of all the broken glass that glinted on the floor and bed the room seemed alien. A soft breeze blew in from the shattered window, and the realization that I may not ever see Akilina again started to settle in. She had been my first real friend, someone who had accepted me for who I was, and not just the way I looked. She had shown me how griffons use their tails in flight, and how to correctly preen my wings during molting season. She had become someone I could talk to about things that the ponies just could not understand. She had showed me that I did not need to act like a pony just to be able to fit in... And she taught me to not be ashamed of what I was, but instead be proud of who I became.

Can I really just continue with my life when she is gone, as if nothing had ever happened…?

Breaking out of my internal monologue as I heard the Professor trotting up to join me in the room, something caught my eye. Sitting on the bed, partially covered by the messed up blanket was a small, oddly shaped brown bag. Walking over I picked it up and pulled the string before dumping the contents out onto the mattress. Several dozen golden coins poured out, and recognition from the Professor’s story jumped to the forefront of my mind, intrigued I looked down and underneath the bed. Sure enough a wooden box lay there, haphazardly slid most of the way to the center of the mattress. I pressed my chest against the floor and reached for it before a soft glow engulfed the box, slowly sliding it out and onto the bed next to the bag of coins.

“I don't think she would like us snooping through her things,” the Professor said simply, but I could hear the slight interest of what we might find in his voice.

“Well if she is gone, and there is a clue to find her in here, it would be better for us to see it first. Besides, when the guards find out about this they will probably take it, and there is no way you will get it back until after this whole thing is over,” I reasoned out, convincing myself and apparently the Professor as well.

The box was well made, but with only one small hinge on the back, carefully I slipped one talon under the top panel and opened it to look inside. There were two other bags of bits, a well-made book with one of Akilina's primary feathers fastened to the cover, a small wax seal with an emblem I did not recognize, a framed photo of her and the Professor at the Grand Galloping Gala and a slightly faded letter addressed to the Professor tucked along the side. Before I was able to make a comment, a blue aura picked up the letter and unfolded it, then the Professor started reading aloud;


To the Professor, there should only be two reasons you are reading this, first being you are going through my stuff, in which case stop reading this, and get out of my room! But more likely, you have found this letter due to me either leaving on good terms, or running from bad ones. If it's the latter case, I just want you to know, I am sorry. Honestly, I wish there were better words to use, but I don't know any. The years I have already spent with you have been amazing. I don't know how much longer I will be able to stay, truly I hope this letter is never read, but clearly that's not the case if you've gotten this far already. I want you to know you have shown me a world that I had never thought I would experience, and for that I am forever grateful. Please believe me when I say, I didn't want to leave; I did it to protect you. The Griffon Kingdom is not a nice place like Equestria. Someday, I know my time here will come to an end, and when it does all I wish is for you to stay safe. Please don't chase after me, don’t try to find me, and don't get hurt because of me. Live your life, be happy, and never forget the Akilina you knew, regardless of what you may hear about me. You were always the father I wish I had, and I will never forget about you.

~Akilina

As the Professor finished, tears forming in his eyes, I finally made up my mind.

I am not going to let it happen, I'm not going to just forget about her like she had asked me to. I don’t know why she needs to run, or why she thinks it would be safer without us… but there was no way I was going to let her face this alone. She had always been there for me, and now it was my turn to return the favor. I will clear her name, and bring her back, if only so she could say goodbye on her own terms.

~~~ End Chapter 2 ~~~

Comments

[nighters]

nice to see this after awhile!

[Starlight Nova]

Why did you delete those comments?

[Amber Sky]

8559566
It was someone talking about how the 'gore' and 'dark' tagged stories are awful and that no one should read them. I then explained that I don't even have the dark tag and that the only reason that I have the gore tag is because there are fights with blood in my story, and I think it is a little graphic to just be rated teen.

After that I was just trying to move the comments cause each was like a paragraph long and was more or less just a stupid off topic argument. And now I regret it, because now it looks like I just delete bad comments about my story, wish I could undo it but dont know how.