Time to Shine

by Easysnuggler

17. Wakey, Wakey Eggs and Catfish

“Now this is where the record gets strange. Far Seer, a distant ancestor of mine and the namesake founder of Farsai once personally asked the celestial alicorns about the true history of the world and magic once at a state dinner, after the sisters had retired. They had all indulged in drinking to an outrageous extent and were quite intoxicated. He recorded the conversation on some magical device and wrote down his recordings.”

—Pena “On the Origins of Ponies*_{(*and Others)} and Magic”

17. Wakey, Wakey Eggs and Catfish.

Gwendolyn awoke in the dark, a blade was at her throat.

“It's time to go pretty cat bird.” said Rizi tapping the griffon’s chest gently with the point of her own spear.

The griffon made to lunge forward and grab the spear, but found her wings wrapped in her own blanket and her overcoat sleeve laces tied behind her legs. She rolled onto her face gracelessly and stared bound helplessly up at the kobold who chuckled.

“Pretty quiet now, yes, eh?” She smiled down at the griffon. Gwen began to panic. What had happened, how had the little lizard gotten the drop on her? Rizi just sat there for a moment.

“Serious lesson, stay awake on watch, ok?” Rizi tapped her beak gently then tossed the spear aside. She waited for Gwen to calm down a bit and then undid the griffon's little bindings.

“Not funny, lizard. I would've peed myself, but I was too scared.” The griffon angrily retied her laces.

“Rizi sorry but was not Rizi’s idea,” she guessed meditation with her inner dragon wouldn’t be necessary this morning.

“Well, whose idea was it! I don’t see anybody else here with us?” Gwen asked angrily. She started gathering her things together.

“Little blue ghost Dragon Lord super angry. She says:” and Rizi’s voice completely changed - it was similar but higher and somehow more authoritative “Rizi, that idiot griffon Gwen fell asleep. She said she was a soldier. I thought I was dealing with professionals here. Quietly now, tie her legs to her sleeves and wrap her wings up tight in that blanket. If she was under my command, I'd have her court martialed or worse. We’re at war. That’s it, now poke her awake with that.”

“At war, at war with who, with what?” Said Gwen, very disturbed. It was like there had been a third person there for a moment, a third person that reminded Gwen very strongly somehow of a very loud drill sergeant Giron at the Pinnacle academy.

“With the last nightmare Rizi hopes.” Rizi finished packing and passed Gwen a strip of dried meat.

“What? Nightmare, what nightmare, Nightmare Moon?” She packed hurriedly, as Rizi was already leaving. How could someone fight bad dreams?

“Rizi thought Rizi explained.” She began to lead Gwen back to the highway east. “Rizi on a quest from Dragon Lord Scorch.” Rizi hopped over one crack, then another using her walking stick.

“Got that.” Gwen was having trouble keeping up and had to hop soaring from cracked concrete block to block.

“Magic back, quest is to learn why.” Rizi hopped over a stream without getting wet and scrambled an embankment in three bounds.

Gwen gave up walking after her and took to the air. “Got that too, but I thought you said Scorch became Dragon Lord and then the magic returned.”

“Dragon Lord effect, magic back is cause.”

“Okay” well that made more sense. Gwen hurried to catch up to the quick little kobold, then landed while listening.

“Way back, all of Equestria fought nightmares.” Rizi said, hopping over another crack in the pavement with her sharp stick.

“Uh ok, who?” Gwen flapped her brown wings and caught back up.

“Alicorn, griffon, dragon, zebra, yak, even monsters.”

“Griffons too. Huh.” Well, if everyone else was fighting it sounded like something griffons would do. “Um ok.”

“Alicorns say nightmares kill everyone unless stopped.” Rizi said, stabbing a beetle with her stick and preparing to pop it into her mouth.

“That sounds bad.” Gwen looked at the bug. It didn’t look particularly appetizing, but she’d eaten worse in basic.

“Very bad.” Crunch. “Everyone gave up magic to stop nightmares.”

“Okay.”

“Magic back, maybe nightmares.” Said Rizi, taking a drink from her canteen.

“Maybe or definitely?” Being tied up and poked awake felt like more than maybe.

Rizi sighed. “Definitely at least one.” She looked Gwen in the eye. “Looked like shadow with black eyes.”

Looking into Rizi’s orange eyes, Gwen could not doubt that Rizi was being truthful. Gwen swallowed and shifted in her armor.

It was warming up. The clouds were thinning as they often did around noon by the seacoast.

“Heard it too, in dream, make threats.”

“You’re serious, aren’t you?” Gwen said. It seemed hard to believe in, horrible shadow monsters in the bright sunlight. It was a strange thing to be afraid of in the bright daylight. Still…. Gwen remembered the steel at her throat. Obviously, the little kobold believed what she was saying.

Rizi nodded. “Nightmare enemy to all.” She began to walk carefully towards a stand of familiar trees. “Nightmare can tempt other creatures with power”. Rizi looked at Gwen and stopped walking for a moment. “Strong magic like alicorn.” She looked down at her claws for a moment, rubbing them together. “Faeries let those nightmares loose.”

“Fey destroyed a thousand dragons making us,” Rizi gestured at her chest with closed eyes. “Maybe using nightmares to finish the job?” She looked up and steadily at Gwen. There was a bright fire in her orange eyes. “Rizi must save dragons and try to stop.”

Turning she gestured to the clearing they had reached. “Here is camp, see fire and bones?”

Gwen carefully walked through the camp, gesturing for Rizi to remain in place.

Scattered among the fire were the remains of seven sets of tracks that Gwen could find. Rizi and her own and five other griffons. Gwen picked up a stone that didn’t belong. Rizi hadn’t noticed it before. Lifting it carefully straight up Gwen showed her that on the underside was a scrawled arrow. The arrow pointed north.