P.O.W.

by Bandit Blue

Chapter 4

In front of a palace, surrounded by a city, several griffon guards armed with spears patrolled the ground and the sky. The city had a large river running through it, the water flowed south and it met a waterfall just outside the city. Around that particular region there were many sloped terrain and entrances to caves. The city had several houses made of wood, mud and hay. Some were one directly into the ground, some stood on trees, which each tree could have from 1 to 5 houses in them. Big corridors around the city that lead towards the palace, acted as marketplaces for the citizens, farmers, travelers and alike. Griffons walked and flew all over the place, but not dared to fly too close to the palace or approach it on foot without a good excuse. Which was surprising for many guards to see a brown griffon in the air heading towards the ground inside the palace walls.

The guards quickly darted towards the griffon, who was able to reach his targeted landing spot, albeit in a less than gracious way, tripping on himself as soon as hit the ground, making him roll on the ground for a few feet. After he stopped rolling, lading with his belly on the ground, he opened his eyes to see the base of several spears pointing at him being held by the guards.

“Halt, Invader! Identify yourself” Said a dark purple griffon that just landed on front of him just as the guards made space for him to do so. He looked at the griffon on the floor, trying to get up, grunting in pain, clearly hurt from the fall but he also looked starved and weak. This made purple griffon less worried about him being a potential threat.

“What…” The brown griffon was able to get up but struggled to talk, trying to catch his breath after a long journey and the rough landing. “What do you mean…” He took a few more breaths. “I’m Prince Grover, Captain Gestalt.”

“Liar!” The purple griffon screamed as he took out a sword from its sheath across his back, and pointed it towards Grover, and in doing so, making all other guards push their spears closer to him in unison. “You may look like him pretender, but prince Grover died months ago. Identify yourself at once or die, I will make no ceremonies on killing you during these times.”

“I am prince Grover! And I didn’t die, I was captured by ponies because you were too incompetent to do your job.” Grover scowled at the captain as he spoke in anger. “Now lower your damned weapons and take me inside, before I die on my own out here.” The captain examined Grover with an worried expression as his sword slowly lowered towards the ground. The guards maintained their position but some quickly moved their eyes towards the captain and the brown griffon.

“Throw in him a dungeon, get him food and keep your eyes on him at all times. I’ll verify if he’s indeed telling the truth, and you are, I apologize, prince Grover, I’m sure you understand I simply can’t let my guard down during these war times.”

“Fine, but bring me good food, not prisoner trash, and a lot of it, and my family will probably be enough to prove my identity, hopefully one of them will even be happy I’m back, or at least curious.” Grover started limping past the captain just as he finished talking, the guard’s spears followed him. The captain sheathed his sword as he looked at Grover simply ignoring the guards, common behavior of royals. He was almost convinced the griffon was indeed the thought dead prince, his death was handled rather unusually, maybe “they” knew the truth, but he didn’t, so he couldn’t risk some sort of copycat spy taking the prince’s place on his watch, as unlikely as that sounded.

“Three of you escort him to a cell, two of you go fetch him what he asked, two of you come with me, and the rest of you go back to patrol.” After seeing the alleged prince being escorted into the palace, the captain took flight, followed by two other griffons. “Go to the cave they said the prince died and look around, then go to the mortician and ask him if a body was indeed burnt, if he sounds convinced, ask what the body looked like. Tell no one and report back to me.” The griffons saluted by clenching their right claw into a fist, bringing it to their chests and quickly throwing it forward, they then flow away from the captain, who flew towards higher quarters in the palace, while wondering to whom he should talk to first.

---

Grover ate to his heart's content, and currently was chugging wine straight from the bottle’s mouth, in his current state he almost forgot he was in a dungeon cell. He was only made fully aware again by the sound of the entrance door opening followed by the sound of many footsteps echoing in the corridor. He kept drinking, hoping he could finish the bottle before someone came to him, which would probably be someone of his family. He knew this moment would come but he was not looking forward to it, at least he would be bailed out and if he was lucky, be treated to a hot bath before being questioned about what happened.

“High chancellor!” Shouted one the guards in surprise, as him and the other two guards saluted him.

Grover questioned in his mind: “Of all griffons, how would the freaking, king loving, ass licking prick, high chancellor be the one to confirm my identity? Maybe he knows my death was faked somehow?”. Grover finished drinking from the wine bottle and looked at a griffon, who had mostly white feathers, except from a few black feathers adoring his head, chest, wing tips, and black fur with white stripes on his lower back and tail, with a white tuft of fur at it’s tail end.

“L-Luca? You the high chancellor now?!”

“Prince Grover, it’s really you!” The white griffon commanded the guard to open the cell and leave, one of the guards questioned if he was sure they should all leave and Luca almost aggressively dismissed him. After the guards were gone, Luca addressed Grover again. “Come, we need to talk, are you okay?”

“A little weak and roughed up but well enough, I thought I’d never see-”

“Come, we’ll talk somewhere more comfortable.”

Grover nodded and followed Luca out of the dungeon, picking up on why Luca interrupted him. He was now able to walk without limping but his body was feeling heavier, maybe from the food, maybe from exhaustion. If he dared to lay down he would fall asleep without doubt. Luca led the way as they climbed up stairs and walked through corridors carefully, making sure no one of importance saw him and claimed his attention and along with it, the attention of the dead prince. Once they reached a certain door on higher levels of the palace, they stopped and Luca took a key from a collar on his neck, hidden by his feathers. He opened the door for Grover to go in, after he did, Luca checked for other griffons once more before going inside and locking the door.

Being cramped inside the small supply closet, with brooms, buckets, and materials, didn’t matter much for Grover as Luca hugged him tightly. Grover hugged him back, truly glad to see Luca again, but a question burned in his mind and he had to confront Luca about it.

“Luca… Why a supply closet?”

“It’s the most private place I could find in the palace. The door here barely lets any sound out for some reason, if we talk quietly no one would hear us even with their ears on the door.”

“I see. My room used to be private enough since no one cared about me, is it still there?”

“It is, but you are wrong, there are spy holes in your room. They kept an eye on you from time to time. I’m pretty sure your father knows you ran away, which, why did you come back? He might kill you if you don't give him a good excuse.”

“I know, but I had pretty much no choice. How much time do we have until every-”

“About thirty minutes I’d say.”

“Okay, I’ll try to make it quick. When I was fleeing, I made the mistake of going through a city, where I got drafted and dragged to the trenches…” Grover proceeded to explain everything that happened to Luca as fast as he could, which turned out to be very easy to sum it up. “So when a Griffon there recognized me, he and other prisoners at the camp found a way for me to escape, they made me promise I’d come to free them all.”

“Well, that’s not going to be easy. We’re not any closer to winning this war.”

“Do you know of this artifact their princess spoke of? Do we really have it?”

“Y-Yes, your father apparently possesses such a thing, I was made aware not long ago.”

“Why don’t we use it then? Is there a catch?”

“No catch, we just don’t know how to use it effectively yet.”

“What?”

“I don’t know where it came from, but it didn’t come with instructions. Sometimes they bring a unicorn pony in and try to use it on them. We learned that the artifact works, but it has proven fatal in many disturbing ways for both griffons who used it and ponies who it was used upon. The kind of thing…” Luca looked away with a frown for a moment before returning his attention to Grover “I was glad you weren’t here. I’m sorry it didn’t work out, Grover.”

“It’s my fault fault for being stupid, don’t worry about it, Luca. It seems like you’ve got your quota of terror to have nightmares about, yourself. I’m sorry I wasted the chance you gave me.”

“Don’t worry about it, I’m glad to see you again. We should get out of here and I should report to your father, here’s what we’re going to tell him. You were-”

“Let's just tell him the truth, let's just leave aside that you helped me flee.”

“Uh… Are you sure? I don’t think he’ll like that you faked your own death to flee and got yourself captured saving an enemy, you know, treason. Besides, didn’t you tell the captain you were captured by ponies when you first arrived? If you fall back from that lie now it will make you look like a liar when it comes up, and that won’t end well for you.”

“You’re right, but you said my father already suspects I didn’t die, so telling him otherwise might make him ever more suspicious, and after I went to war, I was in fact held hostage by ponies. So maybe we say I got captured while trying to save one of our own instead of becoming a traitor?”

“Your logic is sound, let’s go with that then. It might even feed his ego a bit and make him more lenient on you.”

“About the artifact, should he know that you’ve told me about it?”

“Good point… Since you already knew of its existence, I might not matter that I’ve told you about it. Lets keep this story of ours as true as possible then. Lies are difficult to maintain and this approach may end up well for you somehow. You’re ready?”

“As I can be in my current state.”

“As soon as we make your return known, you’ll be able to get some rest, and try not to worry about this war, I can help you live a better life now. Sending little Grover to war is just plain sick.”

“Little Grover?”

“Well… You’re a… Sensitive guy not a-”

“You were going to say I’m a cry baby weren’t you?”

“Yes, but I admire that about you. Many of us lack any kind of compassion, but you don’t, you cared for animals, you treated your servants with dignity, and you… You risked your life for me after all I’ve done to you. Of course you would risk your life for a pony screaming in agony, sending you war is like setting you up to suffer, it’s sickening to think of you in that position.”

“It wasn’t a joyride but I’m stronger than you give me credit for, you know?”

“That’s why you’re special, you’re a cry baby and yet you’re the strongest griffon I know. That you’re standing here right now is enough proof.”

“Oh… I thought you were just mocking me for fun, sorry, Luca.”

“There’s the cry baby.” Luca giggled. “No need to apologize. Let’s go.” Luca put the key into the door and unlocked it, he grabbed the door handle but before he could twist it, Grover suddenly held his wrist.”

“Luca, wait.”

“What is it?”

“Listen… I might already be a traitor but I’ll never betray you…”

“Okay… Are you-”

“I didn’t tell you everything. I have to keep a few things a secret, and it’s not that I don’t trust you, it’s just… They have to remain a secret. You could end up hurt if you knew, or maybe I’ll be making a mistake by not telling you, but it’s what my gut is telling me to do.”

“You know, the more information I have the better, for both of us. Besides I’m more worried about your safety than mine right now.” These words hurt Grover, for they were exactly why he didn’t want to tell Luca said secrets. Grover thought that putting his life at risk without thinking things through was practically his signature move at this point, and it probably wouldn’t end well, but only for him, Luca would be sad but he would live if things went awry. Grover frowned and looked away, after a brief silence, he looked back at Luca.

“Don’t worry too much about me, whatever happens, happens. Just keep yourself alive, I didn’t risk my life for you to die young or be sad, and about these secrets, I might tell you about them if I need to. Otherwise just trust me that I have your best interests in mind, I will never betray you, I promise.” At that moment, the expression Grover had, the tone of his voice, it all reminded Luca of the day he became Grover’s friend, he knew Grover was going to attempt something stupid. Luca wondered if it was best to keep an eye on him to make sure he didn’t kill himself or to let him be, and maybe he’ll succeed in whatever it is he’s planning.

“Sure, at least you’ve told me that you haven’t told me everything, that’s better than nothing. I’ll trust you, but don’t go around being reckless.”

“Thanks, Luca. Let’s just keep on going and forget these secrets are even a thing, and don’t worry, I plan to take it very easy for now, as much as possible for as long as possible.” With that Grover removed his grasp from Luca’s claw on the doorknob.

“‘For now’, huh? Whose life are you trying to save this time, little Grover?” Luca thought as he smiled, staring at Grover. He then proceeded to carefully open the door and check for any living souls around. The coast was clear, but the storm was coming.

Comments

[Scyphi]

The griffons saluted by clenching their right claw into a fist, bringing it to their chests and quickly throwing it forward

What is this, the mirror universe?

“I don’t know where it came from, but it didn’t come with instructions. Sometimes they bring a unicorn pony in and try to use it on them. We learned that the artifact works, but it has proven fatal in many disturbing ways for both griffons who used it and ponies who it was used upon.

Well, all the more reason to get rid of the darn thing, then.

“‘For now’, huh? Whose life are you trying to save this time, little Grover?”

Well, everybody's, technically, but let's not get into that right now.

[Bandit Blue]

10797475

What is this, the mirror universe?

This is so cool, I swear I've never seen this before. I just tried to think of a cool but different way to salute

Well, all the more reason to get rid of the darn thing, then.

Well, if they did...
_{This is a little spoiler, are you sure you wanna see it?}

[Thundercloud93]

Loved it.

[Backlash91]

We need moooore

[Bandit Blue]

10826308
I had to take a break cause of work and that I'm moving to another place/state, but I have the story outline completed and I'll post a new chapter soon!

Also, thanks for the support! I'm really glad you're enjoying the story ^^

[Backlash91]

Inquires with a most curious warble....

[Northern Star]

Any chance of an update?

[Bandit Blue]

10716810
Sorry for the late reply, thank you for reading my fic

Yes, life has been hectic for a while now, but I do have an ending in mind that I want to write. I don't know when but hopefully I'll get to it sooner than later.