A young colt living in the griffion kingdom celibrates Hearts and Hooves Day all alone while his parents are away in Equestria. It's going to be a lonely and boring holiday, or is it?
Note: This story is on Hiatus! A full rewrite is planned for the future with updated knowledge about the Griffon Kingdom!
Courtier, a young Pegasus living in the Griffon Kingdom, has recently become a Squire of the Sky King. As the only pegasi his age in the Griffin Kingdom, he has to struggle with his role in society, how he fits in, and what he is meant to do.
Normally he doesn't have time to think about these things. But as it is the national Griffon Holiday he has plenty of free time on his hooves. There's just one problem, its also Hearts and Hooves day, and Courtier won't have any pony around to celebrate with, or so he thinks.
Hello everypony! This is a little story I am working on inspired by living in a country that celebrates radically different holidays then the ones you I grew up with. It's turning into something a little more exploitative of pre-show history but thats what you get.
“I bet you don’t even have a very ‘special somepony’” Gilda snickered as she used her raised claws to emphasize the words “special somepony”.
“Shut it Gilda!” Oliver said as he playfully slapped his little sister in the back of the head with his wing. “She didn’t mean anything by it Courtier.”
“It’s cool dude.” The young blue colt shrugged with his wings. As a pegasus it was always a little painful to shrug like that, but it was the easiest way to make Griffins shut up and stop apologizing. Courtier had lived with Griffins all his life but his smaller pony wings had always had a hard time expressing the wing language that the Griffins used to communicate ideas without saying them things directly. Oliver was Courtier’s best friend and was normally a joy to hangout with him. But it was the holidays now and his kid sister was back from school. You would think that Gilda would have gotten less annoying by attending school in Equestria, but instead it just gave her fuel for making fun of Courtier. Oliver had assured Courtier that she wouldn’t have to hangout with them all the time, but at the moment she was such a nuisance it was all Courtier could do not to ditch his friend and go back to his room. Then again his room in the castle wasn’t really some place he wanted to go to begin with. A few months ago Courtier’s grandmother had gotten very ill and his parent’s had gotten permission to step down from their ambassadorial duties and return to Equestria to care for her. At the time Courtier had been very happy that the Sky King had offered to take the young colt under his wing and let him stay at his school and squire for him in the evenings and on weekends.
“But seriously dude, what are you doing for Hearts and Hooves day.” Oliver asked, switching from Griffianin to Equestrian to say the name of the pony holiday. Courtiers brown mane bristled at the question but he didn’t let his wings flare to give away his discomfort.
“I though maybe you could help me with my hunting practice.” Courtier proposed.
“Dude. One: you’re going to need a lot more help then I can give if you’re ever going to be a true hunter. And two: that’s the first day of the new year, got to spend it in the nest with my sister and parents.” Oliver’s comment caused Gilda to snicker but a quick glare from her brother stopped any comment that might have followed. “Plus, if the rumors are true you will be busy helping his majesty entertain the diplomatic visit from Equestria.”
“Oh Pony Feathers!” the expletive received a concerned look from Oliver, and a smirk from Gilda. “Sorry, just remembered that I have to check in on the entertainment for the visit.” Courtier apologized as he grabbed his saddlebag from under the table and leaped into the air, beating his wings hard to speed away into the city.
“Well, maybe he will forget its Hearts and Hooves day and keep him self busy.” Oliver muttered out loud, forgetting his little sister was standing next to him.
“Bro, why do you hang with a feather head like that?”
“Shut it sis.” Oliver shot her a glare, “Courtier doesn’t have it that easy, he used to spend every Hearts and Hooves day with his parents, celebrating like we celebrate New Year, its got to be rough with his parents gone.” Gilda rolled her eyes at him as he continued to glare at her, “What about how you felt during your first few months away from mom and dad, it’s the same for him, but now he doesn’t have any other pony to help him figure out where he fits in among us griffins.”
“Pfft, I did just fine in Equestria. Plus a lot of my friends have their cutie marks already, he’s older why doesn’t he have his yet?”
“You think he has time to think about his ‘special talent’? He’s squiring for the King, and struggling with school! Of course he doesn’t have a cutie mark, not with his mind on the King’s prediction.”
“Becoming a ‘skilled hunter’, yeah right. That colt couldn’t even take down a one legged rabbit.” Gilda laughed.
“He’s not a Griffin, he shouldn’t have to worry about hunting.”
“What ever!” Gilda said, flicking her wings to show her boredom, “Let race bro!”
“Oh these pony lessons got you thinking you can take on your big brother? Your on!” And before she could comment he was airborne racing towards and cliff side to their own favorite flight course.
Courtier normally highly enjoyed his duties as squire to the Sky King, but in the Griffin kingdom this time of the year was meant to be spent with family. It should have been a relief to him that he would be at the Sky King’s side instead of alone with his parents away, but he couldn’t help but feel that he was missing out. Courtier had never actually celebrated Hearts and Hooves day with a special somepony, but his parents had always made the day special for the whole family. And with the griffin New Year on the same day all of his friends would be hunting and eating with their families, something he was rather ill-equipped to participate in. Standing on the balcony of the Sky King’s castle Courtier couldn’t help but wonder why the King himself had no hunting plans. It was not common for a squire to ask the King personal questions, but Courtier couldn’t help but wonder.
“Sire, why don’t you hunt on the New Year?” The giant Griffin looked down at the small blue squire, a slight smile playing across his beak.
“Why do you say I do no hunt, young one?”
“Well your meeting with diplomat from Equestria.”
“Must I hunt for food? Can I not hunt for the continued happiness of myself and my kingdom?” The kings way of only answering questions with questions was part of the reason the small squire normally didn’t ask questions, but today Courtier was bursting with agitation he could not keep them in any longer.
“And what about the diplomat? Don’t they celebrate Hearts and Hooves day?” Before the Sky King could answer or Courtier could continue, a trumpet blared from the castle tower above them. Courtier stood straighter and flared his wings to griffin salute as his head went forward to see who had been sent as diplomat from Equestria.
Much to his surprise I very tall winged mare landed on the balcony before them. Her light pink, almost white, coat glimmered in the sun, and as she folded her large wings her horn came into view and Courtier recognized the sun cutie mark on her flank.
“Princess Celestia, may I greet you to My Kingdom.” the Sky King said in perfect Equestrian.
“It is my pleasure to be here!” The princess replied in heavily accented Giffianian. As they bowed to each other Courtier also remembered his manners and folded his wings as he took a knee before the princess. Rising from his bow the Sky Lord looked beyond the princess.
“And who else has the pleasure of joining us?” Just then Courtier noticed a unicorn filly stepping down from a chariot pulled by two of the Equestrian royal guard. The filly must have about his age or a year older with a light yellow coat and a red and yellow wavy mane and tail.
“This is my personal student Sunset Shimmer. Sunset this is his majesty the Sky King.” Sunset bowed to the griffin king. Courtier couldn’t help but feel a slight pang of envy as he noticed her cutie mark, a red and yellow sun flare. “And I see, that my protégé will have some company during our visit” princess Celestia said looking down upon Courtier. “What is your name young Pegasus?”
“I’m Courtier your majesty. Squire to his majesty the Sky King, and son of former Equestrian Ambassadors to The Griffin Kingdom!”
“Ah yes Courtier, I was saddened by the news that your parents would be leaving The Griffin Kingdom, but I am surprised to find their son here in their absence.”
“It was at my request your majesty.” The statement from the Sky King took Courtier by surprise… he had thought that his parents had asked the Sky King to take him as a squire not the other way around. “Now Courtier, if you would be so kind, and take our younger guest on a tour of the castle ground. The Princess and I have matters to discus and I will not be needing your assistance for the rest of the evening.”
“Of course Sire!” Courtier saluted and waved Sunset Shimmer towards the open doorway.
“So… What exactly do you do for the Sky King?” Courtier was used to showing new guest around the castle, either when they were his age or when nopony else was available to do so. But Sunset Shimmer was by far the most inquisitive and most straightforward filly he had ever met. “I get the idea of being a squire, but its not like he actually goes into battle.”
“His majesty,” Courtier emphasized the honorific, “has many duties to preform and often needs someone to do things like fetch water, and food, or even send important messages.”
“Doesn’t he have servants to do that for him?”
“Yes, but…”
“I’m just saying that the whole things seems a little odd, does he really treat you like a servant, how the buck can you be okay with that?” Courtier was taken aback, how could Sunset talk so casually, and with such bad language, about the lord of all the Griffin Kingdom. Courtier’s wings arched defensively, a gesture that would be lost on most Griffins but was certainly not lost of Sunset Shimmer.
“I’m not a servant! I may serve him, but he is my mentor, and I have learned much from being at his side.”
“Oh so he’s your teacher?”
“No… I normally go to school when were not on holiday.” Courtier turned his head away, pretending to look down the hallway towards the kitchen, “He just helps me with my hunting practice and...”
“Hunting!” Sunset giggled, “You want to learn to hunt?” by this point Sunset couldn’t help but burst into a smile “A pony hunting for food, what’s next ponies walking around on their hind legs?” Courtier blushed furiously as the filly leaned against the wall to stop her self from tumbling over as she continued to laugh at this idea.
“Oh Yeah! What exactly does Princess Celestia teach you?” The comment was more biting then intended, but Courtier didn’t really care if he hurt the filly’s feelings, she would probably just start to list all the things that the Princess had taught her, hopefully forgetting about his hunting exploits. But a sudden silence caught his attention. Looking up he saw a very sober expression on the filly’s face.
“She doesn’t, teach me anything.” Sunset said in a barely audible voice. Courtier caught his breath, the look on Sunset’s face was so miserable; he couldn’t help but feel bad for her.
“That can’t be true, you’re by her side.”
“I hardly see her, she assigns me books to read and leaves me to it. I’m not even allowed to go to court with her. I had to make up a break up with a ‘special somepony’ to even get her to agree to let me come here instead of spend Hearts and Hooves alone in Canterlot. And now she has pushed me off on you instead of letting me listen to the diplomatic talks.” Courtier was horrified, how could Sunset feel anything less the honored, to be taught by the princess. But her confession got him thinking, was his relationship with the Sky King any different.
“I’m sorry I asked…” Courtier looked down at his hooves, feeling ashamed and worried about the conversation. A silence fell over the two as they both looked down at their hooves. “Well, we still haven’t seen the east wing…” Courtier said lifting his hoof to point down the hall. “Don’t worry about it…” Sunset stated a little crestfallen. But as Courtier started to trot forward something in Sunset’s demeanor, her eyes sparkled and a roguish grin crossed her face “Let’s go to Lions Claw Cliff!”
“What?” Courtier just starred at her in shock. How could she know about that place? Lions Claw Cliff was the spot where young griffins tested their wings, but it was also the place where young griffin couples would go in the evenings to get away from the preying eyes of the parents, but sunset couldn’t know that and couldn’t mean that… could she? “I… I…”
“Oh, are you scared to leave the castle with out the Sky Kings permission?” She teased, giving Courtier a light shove. Regaining his composer Courtier puffed himself up a little, a Griffin trick learned from Oliver.
“Of course not. I just thought you would be too afraid of falling.” Courtier said trying to counter her sarcasm with his own. “It will be a dangerous walk for you, but I guess I will be their if you fall.” Courtier had tried to sound as if he was unconcerned, but one glance at sunsets Smirking face told him that she could see right through his performance.
“Oh don’t worry about me feather head.” She laughed as they started walking towards the front entrance of the castle.
It would take them roughly forty five minutes of walking and climbing to reach the top of the Lions Claw. The terrain was rough with no clear path due to the distinct lack of hooftraiffic. From the castle it would have normally taken courtier no more then five minutes by wing, but he found himself enjoying the time talking with Sunset Shimmer. As it turned out, she wasn’t as closed off to him as she had seemed before. He had spent the first part of the trek telling Sunset about his parents, their duties as ambassadors, and the sudden events that had led to returning to Equestria and him becoming squire of The Sky King. After he had finished she started telling him about the mistaken fire that had destroyed her Aunt and Uncle's house two years ago after she had moved in to live with them, and how they had sent her away.
“They sent you away for an accident?” Courtier asked skeptically.
“It was my first spell, and they though I did it on purpose.” Sunset said rather glumly.
“Wait, your first spell burned a house down?!” Courtier was shocked… he may not have lived among unicorns, but he was pretty sure if accidents like what Sunset described were regular then he would have heard about it.
“It was an accident,” Sunset blushed angrily, holding her tongue trying to prevent another spat similar to the one earlier. “I was attempting to create a light with my magic, a basic spell many unicorns are able to do as foals. For me it was a little harder, I have never had much raw magical power.”
“Enough to burn a house down?”
“I said it was an accident!” Sunset clenched her teeth, but she could tell the Courtier was more curious then mocking, and didn’t seem to realize the effect his words had. “It wasn’t until I discovered my special talent the I realized why a simple light spell, that took all the magic I had to conjure, could turn into a spark the quickly burn down the house.”
“Your cutie marks a fiery sun, does all your magic turn to fire?” Courtier guessed rather dumbly. Sighing Sunset replied.
“It’s a sunburst, a sudden outpouring of energy, my special talent is my ability to cast and change simple spells without the immense magical energy it would take your average unicorn or even an alicorn to accomplish. I guess the princess knew before I did, because she took my as her student soon after the fire.”
“That must have made your parents proud.” Courtier said as he looked up the see they had almost reached the top of the cliff.
“My parents are dead Courtier.” He froze and then slowly turned to face her, “They died two and a half years ago, that’s why I moved in with my Aunt and Uncle.” She was looking down at he forelegs and Courtier couldn’t tell what she was feeling.
“I… I’m… I’m so sorry!” he whispered.
“Its okay, I didn’t say it outright. Let’s forget it and look at this cliff.” Sunset said shaking herself and trotting quickly up to the peak. Courtier cursed himself for being blind to such an obvious point and followed after her.
As they reached to top of the cliff courtier couldn’t help but be glad that it was a holiday and there was no griffin about to see them, not only because he was not sure he was supposed to have taken Sunset out of the castle, but also because of the romantic implication taking someone to The Lion’s Claw at this time in the evening implied, especially since they couldn’t race or anything like that.
As if reading his mind sunset asked, “Can you fly the racecourse down there?” She pointed down at the jagged rocks that provided a challenging flight path down near the base of the cliff where it met the sea.
“I’m one of the best young fliers in the Griffin Kingdom,” He tried to puff out his chest again, “helps that I’m smaller and quicker, but even still I am faster then many older Pegasi who come to visit.”
“Race ya.” Sunset said, a tone of glee in her voice.
“What? You don’t have wing…” turning his head Courtier had to stop in mid sentence as his eyes fell on Sunset Shimmer who had her eyes closed and whose horn was glowing a shimmering green. Courtier stared in amazement as out from Sunsets back grew four slim green teardrop shaped wings. “Wha… wha… what?” he stammered staring.
“What do you think? They’re an upgrade from the typical magic wing spell, much faster, similar to those of the changelings.” Courtier was speechless, “I was hoping this trip would give me a chance to show the princess that I’m ready to move on in my training, but she doesn’t seem to be interested in spending any time talking about my studies.” Looking over at Courtier Sunset couldn’t help but laugh seeing the dumbfound expression on his face. “Your better get your wits about you if you’re going to win.” Sunset giggled as she spread her wings and galloped towards the edge of the cliff.
“Wait don’t!” Courtier shouted, suddenly regaining the power of speech. But it was to late as Sunset leapt off the cliff edge and disappeared from sight. “I hope she Knows what she’s doing.” Courtier thought as he grounded himself and spread his wings. Moments later he was airborne, a streak upward that only moments later changing direction to hurtle down towards the sea after the implosive Sunset Shimmer.
Dropping altitude as quickly as possible Courtier couldn’t help but wonder what was going though the head of the princess’s student. It was true that Sunset Shimmer had managed a spell that had given her wings, but she was new to flying, how could she even think of doing a full dive off a cliff. It had taken Courtier weeks to learn how to pull out of a full dive like the one she was attempting. But then, a moment or two earlier then was optimal, Sunset spread her wings wide, shifted her weight, and straightened out, flitting quickly forward towards the maze of rocks that made up the racecourse. Courtier came out of his dive a little lower and slightly more graceful then Sunset had, but he had to admit she was quite a good flier for only having a maximum of a years worth of practice, and even then not having wings at all times.
Courtier was easily able to keep time with Sunset, but it seemed to be more of a challenge to catch up or overtake her. Her wings seemed to help her make tight hairpin turns without losing much speed in the process, but he knew this course much better and all he had to do was bide his time until the straight away at the end. Putting on a burst of speed he was able to get himself close enough behind her to speak with her.
“Be Careful Sunset, these rocks can be dangerous for someone who doesn’t know them!” He called making sure to project his words forward so they would not be lost as the both cut their way through the air.
“I told you not to worry about me!” Sunset basically shouted over her shoulder. Courtier smiled to himself, she might be beating him at the moment, and be handling her flight rather well, but she was still a beginner and had no idea how loud her words had been when they were blown back to him.
“Well in that case I won’t go easy on you then!” Courtier grinned, making sure that his voice would be heard even as they shot around another bend in the rocks.
“Catch me if you can!” Sunset shouted as she tucked her legs in tighter and buzzed her strange insect like wings a little faster, shooting ahead and through a gap in the rocks that Courtier had not considered for a shortcut. A single curse escaped Courtiers mouth as he rushed the long way around the boulders Sunset had just avoided. As she came back into view Courtier realized they had reached The Vultures Tongue: the final stretch of the course, walled on either side by broadly spaced boulders, and a straight away over open water. This was part of the course where races could be won or lost, and he wasn’t planning on losing this one without a fight. Sunset had a decent lead on him, but he could tell she was struggling with the powerful wind currents that burst past the boulders on the ocean side of the course. Making his body as small and aerodynamic as possible Courtier put on a burst of speed leaning into the new side wind to lower its effect on his increasing speed.
Sunset was struggling but she didn’t seem to let that hold her back, she increased her speed probably assuming that Courtier would be doing the same as she flew towards the arching rock that she had correctly assumed to be the end of the racecourse.
Courtier smiled as he started to gain on her, he was glad she had come. Sunset had presented a pleasant distraction to what could have been an absolutely miserable weekend. In fact he had forgotten all about Hearts and Hooves day, and Gilda’s teasing that he didn’t have a special some pony. Suddenly a though hit him, almost causing him to slow down: although Sunset was as rude a Gilda could ever be, she was actually sort of nice when you got to know her, and she seemed to be ligamently curious about his place as The Sky Kings Squire, not to mention she seemed to have not only tremendously powerful magic but also a confident appearance he couldn’t help but be drawn towards.
Before all these thoughts could really condense into anything specific, something struck him as odd. The water didn’t seem right, in fact it seemed to be moving out from under them. Snapping his head sideways he saw something that made his wings stiffen. A large wave was approaching them at tremendous speed, forgetting the race he changed course and rocketed upward above the top of the wave as it past through the boulder wall and started to crash into the middle of The Vulture’s Tongue. Looking down he saw Sunset Shimmer still speeding forward 10 seconds away from the final arch, but also just moments away from being pulled under by the wave crashing in.
Diving as fast as possible he shouted her name as the wave crashed over her pulling her underwater and out of sight. Knowing that he was her only hope he put clenched his hooves together tucked his head down and prepared to dive underwater in the same method Griffins used to catch ocean fish.
The Cold water struck his body as he tucked his wings tight to his sides to keep the inner feathers dry enough escape the watery depths. As his whole body submerged he caught sight of Sunset thrashing slightly as her magic wings dissolved slowly in the salty water. Fighting to keep his eyes open, wings tight and mouth shut Courtier hooked his forelegs around Sunset’s shoulder and started kicking towards the surface. Trying to remember everything the Sky King had taught him in their training sessions Courtier prayed to the Princess that they would not be caught again by the power of the wave and slammed against the boulders or cliff on which the wave would be breaking.
