Talons of the Storm

by Storm Talon

Chapter 7: Crusaders and Princesses

Discord had grumbled about being used as “a glorified dry-cleaning service”, but had ended up doing as Fluttershy asked. After Discord had cleaned the mites out of Talon's coat he had mentioned something about bothering a sun-butt. Talon spent the rest of the morning practicing reading. He remembered the letters, but hadn't gotten to use them in a long time, so it was slow going. While the books Fluttershy had gotten were easy to read, he still ran into a lot of words he didn't recognize.

After they had lunch, Fluttershy offered to introduce him to the Cutie Mark Crusaders. “It's important that you get to know some foals around your age, and they really are quite nice. Besides, they're going to Sugarcube Corner today, and maybe we can get you something from there.”

The store was in a lull as they entered, guards in tow, and the fillies were easy enough to spot at their usual table. “Hey girls, I wanted to introduce you to my new friend. His name is Talon.” She nudged Talon towards the table lightly.

“Uh... hello?”

“Hey there!” greeted one of the fillies. “I'm Apple Bloom.” She gestured to the two sitting next to her with a hoof. “And this here's Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. We're THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!” The others joined for the last part of her introduction, shouting at the top of their lungs in excitement. “We've got our cutie marks, but now we... wait a minute, where'd he go?”

Fluttershy glanced to where Talon had been moments ago to see only a few stray downy feathers.

“Oh dear...”

---

After a short yet frantic search, they went to enlist Pinkie to help find Talon.

“Whaddaya mean find him? He's right there.” Pinkie pointed her hoof towards a patch of ceiling. Talon was perched on one of the rafters, the beam held in a death grip. He looked toward them as he heard his name before tightening his grip and closing his eyes.

Fluttershy rushed to stand beneath him. “Oh my, oh dear, umm...” As she shuffled her hooves, the door opened and a familiar voice drifted in.

“Heya, Pinks, you ready to... uh...” Rainbow trailed off as she noticed the cluster of ponies standing to one side of the room. “What's going on in here?” Rainbow trotted over to look up where the rest of the ponies had fixated their eyes on the shivering Talon. “Oh, come on! Isn't anypony going to get it down?” Both guards looked at each other awkwardly.

“Well, I um...”

“Oh, hi, Fluttershy. Hold on a sec.” Rainbow took off, returning a moment later with a shaking Talon in her hooves. “Here you go. Hey, wait a minute...” Rainbow looked more closely at what she had just carried down. “What the heck is this thing?”

Talon looked up from his position in Rainbow Dash's hooves, still quivering slightly. “Hi.”

“Gah!” Rainbow dropped Talon, who let out a short 'oof' when he hit the ground. “It can talk?”

Fluttershy walked over to help Talon up, checking him over for any new injuries.“Um, Rainbow, this is, um, Talon.”

“Wait, this is Talon?” Rainbow looked him over critically for a moment. “He's kinda not what I expected. How did he even get up there?” She looked over to Fluttershy, indicating the cast and splint holding his win closed. “He obviously can't fly right now.”

“Umm...” The two pegasi turned to look toward Talon as he spoke up. “Talon jump.”

“What the hay? You jumped up there?!” Rainbow's eyes widened as it sunk in. “How did you do that? Why would you do that?”

“Um...” Talon shuffled his paws for a moment before muttering his answer. “Loud.”

The Crusaders looked away at that, and Rainbow could guess pretty easily what had happened. Scootaloo was the first to speak up. “I'm, uh... glad you're okay.”

“Yeah,” Apple Bloom said sedately. “We're real sorry fer scaring ya. It's,uh... it's nice to meet ya.”

---

After his initial scare, Talon was reluctant to sit with the three fillies. He reluctantly agreed after they promised to try and avoid shouting. While they chatted with each other, Talon mostly sat and listened. As the three ate their choice of pastry, Pinkie brought out a tray with a single small muffin on it.

“Here ya go, one fresh muffin from your auntie Pinkie. And Fluttershy, there is no way he's older than me!” Pinkie glared at Fluttershy for a moment before her smile reappeared. “Plus, I made this special using stuff I know he can eat, and some moonstones!”

Talon picked up the muffin and took a bite of it. That bite turned out to be the entire muffin, which was why his enthusiastic praise of Pinkie baking came out as “Umph!” as well as a generous spray of crumbs.

“I, uh, might need to teach him some manners...” Fluttershy admitted, smiling sheepishly toward Pinkie.

“That's okay.” Pinkie's tongue snaked out, capturing the stray crumbs off of her face in one sweep.

“So,” began Rainbow, “How did he jump that high?”

“I don't know,” Fluttershy admitted. “Maybe it has something one of his parents could do?”

Rainbow watched as the crusaders laughed at a comment Talon made. “I dunno, not even griffons jump that high without using their wings. You think Twilight might be able to cast some spell or something to figure it out? It's kinda bugging me.”

“We can ask her when we see her tomorrow, if you'd like.”

---

Fluttershy woke up the next morning with a slow stretch. That morning, she was planning on letting Talon help feed some of the animals. She hoped he'd help with the rabbits so they could get more familiar with him.

Her train of thought was interrupted by a small whimpering noise coming from under her bed. Puzzled, she looked down to find Talon curled up with a blanket in the small space underneath.

“What are you doing down there, Talon?”

“Dream bad. Fluttershy good.”

“Oh, dear. Talon, if you have any more bad dreams, feel free to wake me up if you need to.” Fluttershy extended one wing and used it to pull Talon to her side. She kept her wing tucked tightly around him until he stopped shaking. “How long have you been awake?”

“Not long.”

“Are you feeling a little better now?”

Talon leaned slightly into Fluttershy's side. “Yes, good.”

“Well then, why don't we go feed the animals. If you'd like to, that is.”

---

As Fluttershy closed her front door, Talon waited by the bridge that spanned the stream.

“Today, I'm meeting with Rarity for a spa day. You can get cleaned up while we do. You want to look your best for the Princesses, after all.”

“What spa?” Talon looked around as they walked, his eyes curious.

“A spa is a place ponies go to get special baths and do things to make themselves look nice.”

“Okay.” Talon smiled for a moment before frowning slightly. “What is princess?”

“Oh, well, a princess is somepony who is in charge of someplace. Equestria has four princesses. You've already met Twilight, but there's also Cadence, Celestia, and Luna.”

Talon froze for a moment before trotting to catch up “Luna princess?”

“Oh, have you met Princess Luna?”

“Dream Luna. Talk good.”

“Oh, that makes sense. Luna helps watch over dreams.” Fluttershy ushered Talon in the door of the spa as they arrived.

Lotus sat at the front desk, glancing up as they entered. “Hey there Fluttershy! Here for your appointment?”

“Yes, but can we add Talon to our reservation? He's coming with me to meet with the princesses later. He just needs some basic styling.”

“Nonsense!” Rarity swept into the room, followed closely by Sweetie Belle. “If any of your friends are meeting with the princesses, they simply must look as fabulous as possible!”

Sweetie rolled her eyes in exasperation before turning towards the others. “Hi! Nice to see you again, Talon. Rarity said I could come with you guys today.”

“Oh, is this that colt you met the other day, Sweetie?” Rarity examined him more closely. “He'll be a challenge, but I'm sure Lotus and Aloe can handle it. Right girls?”

“Oh, absolutely, Rarity. We have some treatments that we use for griffons on occasion that should do wonders for him.”

With a bit of encouragement from Fluttershy, Talon followed the others to a large tub situated in the middle of one wing of the building. Fluttershy was sure to carefully wrap his wing to prevent the cast from getting wet, and they all settled into the soothingly warm herbal bath.

As Talon soaked, he failed to notice Sweetie's slow approach until it was too late, letting out a surprised squeak as she dunked him quickly before paddling away.

Sweetie giggled as she watched Talon splutter. “Sweetie! It is not ladylike to play around in the spa,” Rarity admonished. Sweetie just shrugged and splashed her sister in return.

“Oh, that is it, Sweetie!” Rarity giggled as she used her magic to splash Sweetie from behind. Fluttershy and Talon joined in with them, Fluttershy using her wings to make tiny splashes while Talon flailed more than splashed.

As the splashing continued, Fluttershy noticed that Talon was starting to look green. As she was about to ask if he felt alright, she was preemptively answered by the sound of Talon retching over the side of the tub.

---

After they had helped clean up the mess on the spa's floor, which was thankfully tile, Fluttershy turned to Aloe. “I wonder why Talon got sick.” She watched as Lotus led Talon away so she could give his coat a good scrubbing and brushing.

“I honestly don't know, dear. The catnip bath you picked out usually helps settle upset stomach.”

Fluttershy's eyes widened as she put a hoof over her mouth. “Oh my. I wonder whether Talon swallowed some of the water by accident.”

Aloe turned to Fluttershy, one eyebrow raised slightly. “I can see how that would make him a little queasy, but not how it would make him this sick.”

“He can't eat certain herbs or flowers. They did some kind of test at the hospital, and some things we eat all the time are poisonous to him.”

A look of horror took over Aloe's face. “Poison?! Is he going to be alright?”

“Well, when he threw up he should have gotten most of it out of his system. He should be fine after a while. I'll keep an eye on him, though, just to make sure.”

---

After Talon getting sick, the rest of spa day went by with no problems. Each of them walked out more or less relaxed, with a glossy sheen to their coats, freshly manicured hooves, claws, and horns, and perfectly preened feathers.

Rarity and Fluttershy walked along in the front of their procession. “You know, darling, now that his feathers have been cleaned and preened, I can't help but notice that his feathers have a particularly lovely blue color to them. Do you think he'd mind letting me have a few?”

“I don't know, Rarity. He's still missing most of his primaries from when Show Stealer clipped them. Taking some of his feathers might remind him of that.”

Rarity glanced back to where Talon and Sweetie were doing their best to keep up with the adults. “Oh. Perhaps when he molts?”

Fluttershy looked back to Talon as well. “Maybe. You'd have to ask him.”

“Well, of course I'd ask him. What kind of barbaric pony would simply take somepony's feathers?” Rarity frowned deeply as they made their way into a cafe for lunch.

When the waitress came by, Fluttershy ordered plain toast and apples for Talon to help settle his stomach. She also made sure that he used his utensils; he had just gotten clean, after all.

---

Talon glanced around as they passed through the busy market, doing his best to stay close to Fluttershy as his eyes darted back and forth. The market was the fastest way to get to Twilight's castle, but the Saturday crowd was out in full swing. The last thing she wanted was for him to get scared and run off while they were outside, so she was glad that he was staying close. As they made it to the last stretch of path going to the castle, she smiled down at Talon.

“You know, I still get nervous in big crowds, too.” Talon nodded while keeping his eyes on the ground as they approached the door.

One knock was all it took before Spike opened the door. “Hey guys! We're still waiting for Rainbow and Pinkie before we can get started, but come on in.” Leaning around Fluttershy, his face took on a surprised expression. “Oh, hey, you must be Talon! Twilight told me about you.”

“Is Talon,” Talon affirmed before looking up at Spike. “Who?”

“Oh, I'm Spike, Twilight's number one assistant.” Spike puffed out his chest as he stepped aside to let the group in. Talon looked between him and the ponies a few times before standing up on his hind legs. Alarmed, Fluttershy, Rarity, and both guards rushed to catch Talon before they realized that he wasn't falling over.

“You can walk like me? Sweet!”

Talon walked inside a few feet before lowering himself back to the ground. “Show Stealer make walk.” A frown tugged at the corner of his mouth as he thought about that.

“Well, darlings,” Rarity began, hoping to salvage the good mood. “Let's get inside, shall we? No sense making the Princesses wait for us.”

As they stepped into the main hall, Day and Emerald taking up posts beside the entryway, they spotted Applejack chatting with Starlight, Cadence, and Shining Armor. Twilight was next to Apple Bloom, talking animatedly with Celestia, while Discord chatted with Luna, a smirk betraying her otherwise long-suffering expression. Several turned to see who had entered before returning to their conversations. Luna, however, came over after spotting them, her eyes wide as she approached.

“Fluttershy, I did not think you would be bringing Talon to the summit.” Luna turned to Talon. “It is nice to see you again, young one. How have you been?”

“Luna! Good.” Talon smiled up at her as she approached.

Rarity looked down at him. “My, you must have made a good impression, Princess. When did you two meet? If I'd known you were in town, I'd have invited you over.”

“Oh, I didn't come to Ponyville. I met Talon in a dream of his. In fact, It was due to that dream that I ordered your guards here.” Luna tilted her head to indicate the guards standing by the door. “I trust they have been helpful?”

Fluttershy turned to follow Luna's gaze. “Oh, yes. Emerald Cut even helped me with one of my animals.”

Luna looked shocked at that. “Really? I've never known Emerald to be very good with animals.”

“Well, he, um, actually distracted a badger for me by, um, letting it chew on his leg,” Fluttershy explained softly. “Talon was very helpful this morning as well.”

“Not in the same way, I hope?” Luna smirked.

“Oh no, he just fed the rabbits.”

“Well,” Luna sighed as Rainbow and Pinkie made their way into the hall. “We may as well see about getting this meeting started. I would like to have a break before I meet with that ambassador.”

As they walked up to the others to start the discussion, Talon noticed Celestia and had a strange look on his face as he glanced between her and Discord.

“What is the matter, little one? You need not be anxious around my sister. She is one of the kindest and most compassionate ponies I know.”

“Not afraid.” Talon still had that same look on his face as he glanced between Celestia and Discord.

“No? Did you perhaps have a question for her?”

“Yes,” Talon stated. He looked over to Discord as he pointed to the cutie mark on Celestia's flank. “Is Sun Butt?”

Luna didn't think she had seen Discord laugh quite that hard since he had been reformed.

Author's Note:

Don't kill him Celestia! I still need to write more chapters.