Tales of the Core Realm: Spirits

by Hikarikurai24587

Thom

Spirit Two: Thom

Fluttershy walked in silence next to the gryphon. She wasn’t sure if he could speak or not, he hadn’t before yet that was a different situation. Here in the moment there was no danger, yet there was still not a word. The silence was beginning to gnaw at her yet she knew that it wouldn’t be right to force him to talk. He needed to speak when he was ready, so it was walking in silence at the moment.

“I-I’m Fluttershy,” she said, deciding to introduce herself. It was alright to be polite, she didn’t really expect an answer from him. The gryphon turned to look at her as he stopped. She looked back at him when she realized that she had moved further than the spirit. “Oh! Thank you for saving me back there!”

She then gave a polite bow, getting increasingly nervous as the gryphon stared at her. “I don’t really mind if you can’t or don’t want to talk.”

“It… has been… a while,” the gryphon explained, struggling with the words. “You… do not… need… to thank me.”

Fluttershy looked at him in confusion before replying. “Of course I do! Duty or not you saved my life. That deserves a show of thanks.”

“I had… also meant to attack you,” the gryphon pointed out and Fluttershy shook her head. “You… do not care?”

“I would’ve cared if you continued when you paused, you protected me from the other one,” Fluttershy explained as she sat down at the edge of the arena. The gryphon laying down next to her listening carefully. “I don’t know why you did it, but it showed that you had a kind soul.”

“You were… scared… I once protected many who were scared,” the gryphon spoke as he began to recall what he could. “Conscripted them to teach them to fight and defend. So they could defend others.”

“You are noble as well as kind,” Fluttershy pointed out and the gryphon scoffed. “What?”

“No… I am not… I lied about who I was,” the gryphon explained and Fluttershy looked confused. “I… don’t remember cleary… but I lied about who I was. Took on the identity of someone far nobler than I.”

“But you didn’t use his name for your own gain, right?” Fluttershy asked and the gryphon shook his head. “Was anyone that you trained harmed or even killed because of the way you instructed?”

Again the gryphon shook his head.

“Then what happened when you hid who you were?”

The gryphon looked away as he thought about it. He couldn’t really remember a lot about his past besides his regrets. He couldn’t even remember his name or what he did after a strange person with pointed ears met him. After that… the only regret he had was lying to her and those he worked with. He didn’t even remember their faces, another regret. Now he worked with these strange demons. When this small one and her friends entered into their realm did they attack. They were supposed to attack those that entered here, it was their purpose. Yet when he saw this yellow one, Fluttershy, not even try to defend herself from the raven’s attacks he couldn’t stand by and watch. He defended her, just like he would others. That was when the memories started to eat away at him again. Being near Fluttershy was like a calming presence surrounding him.

“I don’t remember, I was happy, I only remember my regrets,” he admitted and Fluttershy looked up at him. “My last regret was not being able to protect those that I love and not being able to find someone here.”

“This someone… is important to you?” Fluttershy inquired and the gryphon looked up at the sky saying. “Yes, she gave me a time that I do not regret. If there was one thing that I do remember is that I had lied to her about who I was. Yet it didn’t matter to her, she gave me my goal and my purpose.”

“She seems like a good leader and a wonderful pony,” Fluttershy mused with a smile on her face. The gryphon looked down at her before saying. “She isn’t like you, not a pony. She was different, stood on two legs. Flatter face… I think she was called an Inquisitor?”

Fluttershy tried to imagine a species similar to that and all she got was Twilight’s description of a human. “No, not Inquisitor, that was her title. Her species was an Elf. Yes, an Elf. Pointed ears and smaller than a Human. That is what I was.”

“Yet you seem to be a gryphon now,” Fluttershy pointed out and the spirit nodded. “How did that happen?”

“I don’t remember,” the gryphon answered honestly, staring up at the strange sky. “But I remember what the sky looked like.”

He sighed, shaking his head. “I would love to see it again with my own eyes, one last time.”

“If I could make it happen I would,” Fluttershy answered, reaching up with her wing to pat the gryphon. “Maybe one day….”

The silence came once again, but it was comforting for the both of them. The gryphon’s tail moved back and forth. He wanted to protect this pony now. To stay with her. Perhaps this would be his chance to repent for everything. He failed his world and all the children there. The people who perished. The innocents who suffered. Now this was a second chance, he didn’t need all of his memories to know that this was what he wanted. He turned his head to look at the other spirits. He always felt a connection with them before and now, the ones that were healing, he felt closer to.

“Do you know them?” Fluttershy asked, turning her head to observe the other spirits as well. The gryphon nodded his head. “I think so, they feel more familiar now then they did before.”

The gryphon sighed. “Perhaps one day I will remember.”

“I think we will need to make a list,” Fluttershy tried to make a joke but felt like it fell short. That was when the gryphon let out a laugh. He wasn’t stopping for a while. Fluttershy turned red as she tried to hide behind her hair. She saw the wings spread and she was wondering if she should run or not. That was when he got comfortable once again and settled down. He blinked for a moment. Something was gnawing at him, in the back of his mind. Glancing forward he saw a white wolf staring at him from across the way at the maze from before.

“Thom,” he whispered and Fluttershy looked up at him. “My name was Thomas Rainier.”

He wasn’t expecting Fluttershy to give him a hug, holding him tightly, almost shouting. “Congratulations!”

Thom smiled as he returned the hug knowing that Fluttershy had to return soon. He didn’t know how he was going to protect her. No matter what.