Child of Color

by Trevor Rain

Child of Color

As sure as the eastern wind blows, there is the freedom of flight that is in the heart of every pegasus, but none were as free as two who were chosen by their bravery to fight the waters and storms to see what lay beyond the sea. The two gathered at the bay of Manehatten, and took flight, the Mare and Stallion, to traverse where few have gone. The two shared nothing but determination and trusted only in their abilities. Duty bound, they departed, and flew the span of several days with little ability for respite among the desert of waves. They followed the rising sun, letting it by their guide in the day, while allowing the brightness of the starts to lead them in the night.

Most would tire. Most would lose strength and fall to the waves below, but this was what they were trained for. They pushed through the exhaustion and went to complete their mission. They would rise with the waves and avoid the darkened clouds and the winds. It wasn’t till the third day of flight that they found solid ground. They collapsed upon each other on the sand, and allowed the waves to roll over them as they slept.

They had made it, together.

After another day, the pegasus both awoke and set sight on the new land that was spread out before them. The land was unique then that of Equestria, the home of the pegasus. There were vast plains of grassland that followed the shore, and continued on farther than the eye could see by land. The sky was clear, and would continue to be for the span of weeks, but would quickly strike with a torrential rain with very little warning.

The Pegasus built a tower of earth and cloud so they might keep vigil of things to come, as was their charge, as was their mission. To keep watch of any danger that would threaten their homeland, but as impossible as it was to cross the sea by flight, it too was impossible to keep those as gifted with flight as they on the ground. Day by day, they would fly out and discover more about the land. High islands of rock that marred the surface and sought the clouds, thick forests of white trees whose canopy of leaves made it impossible to see what lay beyond. The land was that of a contrasting beauty than Equestria, but there was one thing that made the two fliers uneasy. There were no creatures of any kind to be found.

Well, except for the Gryphons.

A creature of variety. Head, talons, and wings of an eagle. Their body and haunches were that of an lion. the pegasus took caution when seeing this creature, for their first encounter with them was one of displeasure. They viewed one from afar that followed a creature of black and white that ran much like that of the Pegasus, but no wings. The Gryphon felled the beast, then began feasting upon its flesh. The pegasus left quickly, leaving the beast to its fate.

Another difference, they found, from Equestria, was the storms. They came. Winds blew that could not be fought. Rain and clouds came down from the sea and the storm blotted out the sky. It came in swiftly and caught both of the pegasus by surprise. The Stallion took shelter in the earthen tower, as the clouds they built were swept away. The Mare was trapped in the sky and became betrayed by her birthright. The winds tore her wings and spirited her body into the thickness of the forest. The impact below left her broken, and helpless.

The storm passed, and the Stallion went to search for his companion. Night and day passed before he found a trail of blue feathers that lead into the darkness, but he feared not what lay beyond, and entered. The blackness within was near absolute, and what little light that existed came from the cracks in the canopy as the wind blew the trees. What did guide his direction was the sound of pain among the scattered blue feathers.

He found her, a beacon of light shone on her from the broken canopy that was marred by her crash. Her wings were bent, shattered and broken. They would never heal completely, and she would never fly again. The Stallion turn to go back to Equestria, to get some help for the Mare, but she stopped him with a plea:

“Don’t leave me.”

The Stallion decided on a new mission then. One he chose for himself.

He stayed.

Over time, he took care of her. He fed her, nursed her wounds, her wings, and held her close during the nights that ran the coldest. He helped her walk, and stayed on the ground to keep the sting of what she lost from returning to her.

Love began to form.

Through her weakness, the Stallion found his strength, and a purpose that gave him a happiness he had never experienced before. Never did he want it to end. Here, in this foreign land, away from their birthplace and in a place of danger, the Mare grew with child. the Stallion continued to stay with her, taking refuge in the dark forest where no creature ever came. he continued to care for her as the child grew within the Mare, even to the day of birth.

A beautiful filly, born with strong wings that beat as if to take flight from the womb. Eyes that shone brightly to the world that harmonized with those of the Mare as she held the child close to her, and a mane of red that rivaled that of her father’s. It was a moment of joy that filled the mother’s heart, but the joy quickly faded, for the child could not survive long outside of Equestria, and she deserved better than a life in the wilderness. She had one more request of her love:

“Give her a home.”

The stallion hesitated, for he wanted to stay with her, to never leave her. He stayed with her in all these long months, but the the look in her eyes were one of pleading that he could not refuse. He took the child from her arms, gently setting her on his back. He leaned down to kiss the mare he loved one last time, before leaving the forest, and her, behind.

The child would not survive the sea with him carrying her. He knew not where to turn for help. He then remembered the Gryphons. He knew from seeing them that they were an intelligent species, but he did not know if going to them was going to lead to his death, and the death of his daughter. Having nowhere else to turn, he sought out the Gryphons. He searched from the skies till the break of dawn before he noticed structures of wood and grass built beside one of the buttes that dotted the land. The scaffold was made up of walkways which all intersected with one that led to the inside of the rock.

The Stallion then realized the child had become still, and could not be roused. Listening closely, he could hear her breathing, but faintly. He no longer feared for his life. The pegasus flew down into the center of the scaffold, and into the lions den. He landed and gave out a shout for all to hear. Slowly, the Gryphons began to appear at the doors of their homes, many taking flight towards the intruder, others taking the path through the walkways to stop a few feet away from the pegasus, to look at him in wonder and confusion. They did not attack, but spoke in a way that the Stallion could not understand.

One Gryphon exclaimed when she saw the child on the back of the Pegasus, and ran into the hole at the side of the cliff. A few moments passed, and another Gryphon came out of the cave. His features were obviously older than most of those there, and the rest parted away as he passed. The Avian stopped in front of the Pegasus, and eyed the child that rested on him. The Stallion took the child from his back to show the Avian, a sense of shock came over him as he saw the child had stopped breathing. The Gryphon took the child in his wings, and turned back into his home. The Pegasus followed.

Once inside, the Avian set the child on a bed of grass that lay at the center of the room. He started to hum something the Stallion couldn’t understand, but it had a harmony to it, like a song. The Gryphon reached inside a bag that was nearby, and brought out a powder that he mixed with water into a paste, and set it upon the child’s head.

Curiosity took hold of the Pegasus as he looked on. He was shocked to hear the humming turn into a song that escalated to a point where the Avian enshrouded the child with his wings. The Stallion moved forward, as if to stop him, but the room was filled with the brightest light, and blinded him. Before he could regain his sight, he could hear his daughter cry.

He walked over to the bed of grass, and looked down at his daughter, and was at awe with what he saw.

The child was alive, and crying out to show her life, but something had changed. Her mane shown that of a brilliant rainbow, which shown with a bright light before finally dimming and leaving the colors.

The father was joyful that his child was alive, and healthy, but his thoughts turned back to the one he loved that was left on her own. Not knowing if the Avian could understand him, he spoke, asking him to protect his child till she could be taken across the sea to her home.

The Pegasus left. He flew back to the forest and through the canopy where he knew his love would lay. He landed with a shout, but was met with a deathly stillness, and silence. He searched her out, and found her laid down on a bed of leaves, not moving, nor breathing. The Mare that gave birth to the sky-blessed filly lay still on the ground. The Stallion walked over, and touched her. She was cold...

“He wept, and so great was his anguish that the clouds heard from around, and joined in with his sorrow and tears. The legend, as it lives, says that the forest still weeps, and that those who enter can still hear the wails of agony that causes the endless rain. The Stallion is said to still be there, always loyal to the one who he loved, but nothing else on the daughter.”

The Pony that listened to the old storyteller placed a few bits on the table next to him, which drew the attention of his blind eyes. The mare thanked him for the story before she turned and left, color trailing behind her as she stepped outside, and took flight to the sky.

Comments

[Capulus]

Very good. Very well written. The ending brought a tear to my eye, well done. I did notice one or two little mistakes though, such as you said when describing the gryphons: Head, talons, and wings of an eagle. Their body and haunches were that of an eagle. I think you meant lion for that second one. And you changed tenses once or twice, not enough to distract me from the story though. All in all, one hell of a story. Very good. Like and favourite from me.

[Trevor Rain]

1087954 Thank you, I'll work to fix those right away. I'm happy you enjoyed the story.

Never hesitate to tell me of a tense change, they're embarrassing. (Unless I do it on purpose, which at the end, the shift to present tense was. Changed from telling a story, to current events)

[P0NyTPaRTy]

Did the daughter die or did the gryphons take her back to Equestria. srry im alittle incompedent but um just a lil confuesed srry

[Capulus]

1088416 Yeah, it took me a minute to get the bit about the pony listening to the old storyteller, but then I remembered the description.

[Trevor Rain]

1088537 Yep, it's supposed to be a mystery. I'll still look back to see if I didn't just make it confusing, rather than questioning.

[Nokjaw]

Very good origin story. Sure there were a few misspellings here and there but they weren't bothersome to a point where it distracted from the story.
I would've preferred the main characters to have more character but it's fine. All in all, it's was a solid story. Well worth the time.

[Kolwynia]

I thought this was well done. There were a couple awkward phrases here and there, but nothing that distracted from the story itself. One thing I like is how you leave a lot to the reader's imagination, such as the details of what happened with the daughter and the gryphons. My favorite thing you do here comes at the end, when you focus on the daughter, who seems at that moment to be the point of the story...then pull the reader's attention away from her, back to the parents...then finally pull back and reveal that it the story was being told to her about her parents. (So that it felt like, to us, she might be the heart of the story, but to her, they were.) I thought that was brilliant, and it really gave the scene an extra layer of emotion.

Great job.

[Trevor Rain]

1091641 Thank you for your comment. It's possible I'll give them more characterization in the future.

I just need to keep reading these comments to give me motivation to keep writing. It's apprecated.

[Trevor Rain]

1096699 I don't know why I never replied to this, very rude of me. I apologize.

I'm glad you caught that at the end because it was my full intention to do that. The idea was to show a myth or legend through one who looked for that one specifically and found the person who was willing to tell it. Though using the description is a frowned upon way of adding to the story, I thought I'd take the risk in this case. Still surprises me how such a short fiction came with so many positive responses.

Thank you.

[Kolwynia]

2057154 You're quite welcome! (Hope you're feeling better.)

[Trevor Rain]

2057155 Much actually. I took a trip to the library yesterday and knocked out two more pages of the ending. Right now I'm working on my Audiobook project. Still got a few days more of these antibiotics, but I'll be more than fine before long (and writing like a madman!).