I found myself sprawled face-down in the grass with a face full of dirt and a hand full of feathers- I hoped they weren’t Sveti’s- struggling to catch my breath through the painful throb the sudden impact had left in my side. I staggered to my feet and found Sveti curled up a few feet away... and between us stood an entirely too familiar sight.

The tercel who’d nearly killed Ensemble during the first attack on the embassy was staring back at me, talons digging into the ground as he prepared himself to launch himself at me again. Questions of how he’d found me and what his intentions were fell away as he leapt; as his wings spread, I spotted an open patch in the feathers of the left one, a part of my mind noting that I might have handicapped him even as I jumped to the side, his claws catching only empty air. I managed a serviceable shoulder roll and clambered back to my feet, my fingers hitting a small rock and grabbing it and I stood, intending to fling it at my assailant when I saw something else in the air behind him-

thwip

-and recognized the shape of a crossbow held in the claws of a second airborne gryphon almost too late, instinctively throwing myself to the side and just barely evading the crossbow bolt-

crash

-no, the syringe that had been fired at me. Another goddamn abduction attempt, I realized, even as I hurled the rock at this second attacker, only to have it- her?- veer sharply to evade. “Sveti!” I called out, risking a glance back to see her getting back on all fours; I was relieved to see that she didn’t seem to be badly hurt.

“Peter?!”

I made sure to speak in English so our assailants couldn’t understand. “Gryphons! Call for help!”

“...I can’t! It was in the basket!”

Ah, shit. The picnic basket had been obliterated when we’d first been hit, its contents scattered in the grass, and the emergency charm we’d brought in case we needed help- a disc-shaped device small enough to fit in my palm- was nowhere in sight; finding it while under attack would require a miracle. “Get to Ponyville!” I shouted.

“I’m not leaving you!”

The female gryphon was just landing beside the male, pulling something out from the harness wrapped around her midsection and placing it into her crossbow. “This isn’t a fight we can win!” I replied, even as I threw myself into a sprint, charging towards the attackers. “We need help!”

Sveti hesitated for half a second- and then the choice was taken from her when yet another shape swooped in on her. Thankfully Sveti saw it coming and braced herself for impact, which sent both gryphons tumbling along the grass.

Part of me ached to run back and help her. But I knew that the hen with the crossbow was the primary threat- I wasn’t immune to tranquilizers, and me going down to one left Sveti in a one-versus-three scenario against what were obviously trained soldiers. While she’d had some self-defense training since the first attack, she wasn’t a skilled unarmed fighter, and the other gryphons would know exactly what she was capable of.

I, on the other hand, was still completely alien to them.

The hen with the crossbow had gained a noticeable look of worry as I charged her, trying to rush the reload of her weapon while the tercel next to her moved to intercept me. I anticipated another leaping tackle, and when he obliged with outstretched wings and claws, I dropped down and slid under him, forgoing an opportunity to get in a good kick on his unprotected underside so that I could slam my foot into the hen’s crossbow instead.

snap

I’d hoped to completely break the thing, but whatever wood it was made from was strong- but I’d delivered just enough force to crack one of its limbs, which rendered it just as useless for firing. The hen let out a frustrated squawk and let the weapon drop to the ground, jumping back from my follow-up kick aimed at her head, and I scrambled back to my feet before her partner could get at me. “Come on, you overgrown pigeons,” I taunted in Equish. “You gonna let a monkey win?”

The tercel took some serious umbrage to that, letting out something between a falcon’s cry and a lion’s roar as he charged me once again. I waited until he was just beginning his jump towards me before I lunged forward, meeting his chest with my shoulder; the impact sent us both sprawling, him with likely bruised ribs and me with a stinging shoulder and a couple of light scratches from where his talons had caught my skin.

I risked a glance back at Sveti as I got up and saw her still wrestling with her assailant; every time she got clear to try to get airborne, he was back on her, trying to restrain her. Against my better judgment, I turned my back on my opponents and rushed towards Sveti, hearing the attacking hen shout something behind me as I ran- probably to her partner, but why did it sound so angry?- to help my love. I grit my teeth and put as much speed as I could into my sprint when I saw her attacker slash his claws across one of her wings, making her cry out in pain. “Sveti, hold on, I’m coming-” I began.

thwipthwipCLUNK

Something wrapped around my ankles, binding them together, and I fell to the ground hard. I looked back to find bolos tangled around my feet, and the hen who threw them rushing towards me with another of those syringes in one of her claws, obviously looking to deliver the dose personally. Rather than try to pull the bolos loose, I yanked my feet out of my shoes, which gave me just enough freedom of movement to get my legs free- and by the time the hen was on me I was back up; I kicked the still-tangled shoes towards her, catching her by surprise and making her drop the syringe as she instinctively brought her forelegs up to protect her head.

This fight’s going on too long, I thought as I spun around once more to head for Sveti. All I’ve got going is luck, their unfamiliarity with what I can do and what are probably orders to take me relatively unharmed. The first two can’t last and the third might get tossed aside if I’m enough of a pain in the ass. Get Sveti in the air and going towards Ponyville, then make a run for the woods, and hope I can evade well enough to last until help arrives.

As I closed in on Sveti and her opponent, I could hear the woosh of wings behind me and knew that pursuit was closing quickly- which prompted me to do something utterly stupid. Just as Sveti once more got clear to try to fly off, and her attacker tried to restrain her again, I jumped, both legs forward, in my best attempt at replicating every last drop kick I’d ever seen watching professional wrestling as a kid. My heels slammed into the tercel’s side hard enough for me to feel at least one rib crack, and the soldier tumbled across the ground. “Sveti! Go!” I screamed.

She did, juking past the other hen and spreading her wings as I squared off against the tercel who I’d recognized; he completely ignored Sveti as she dashed along the ground, wings spread- and the injured one dripping blood- and leaping into the air....

...only for a fourth soldier to glide in behind her.

“Oh for fuck’s sake!” I growled, doing my best to get around my opponent, only to have my arm snagged by both of his claws, his talons piercing through skin and drawing blood. I whirled on one heel, smashing my other elbow into his head and laying him flat, almost falling myself before I could regain my balance. I turned once more-

THWUMP

-and took the entire weight of the hen to my midsection as she slamtackled me. I collapsed, clutching at my gut and trying desperately to draw in a breath, and felt one of her paws drive itself into my back, pinning me down. “Sveti....” I wheezed, trying to raise my head up enough to look around- and saw her caught in a gryphon version of a half-nelson by the latest arrival, this one a female as well.

“Peter, I’m sorry, I couldn’t....” I heard Sveti call out.

The tercel who’d first attacked me limped unsteadily in my direction as the hen holding me captive yanked me up to my knees, holding me up roughly by my hair as she stood at my side. The male glanced towards his compatriot that I’d dropkicked, still clutching at his chest and groaning loudly, then at me.

Then he balled his claw into a fist and slammed it into my already-abused stomach.

The hen holding me growled something at him, though she didn’t loosen her hold in the slightest. He snarled something in return before turning back towards where Sveti was held; a wicked grin crossed his beak, and he spoke a single word. And while I didn’t understand what was said, the look of fear that crossed Sveti’s face, followed by her captor drawing a small hidden dagger from her armor, made the meaning frightfully clear.

Kill her.

I moved, like I never had before, twisting away from my captor and slamming the edge of my hand into her unprotected throat, actually feeling her windpipe cave under the blow. She suddenly forgot all about restraining me as she fell back onto the ground, clutching at her neck and letting out a weak gurgle; before the tercel in front of me could react, I lunged forward and drove my fist into his face, careful to avoid the sharp edges of his beak. As he stumbled, I practically fell on top of him, rolling him onto his back and running my palms along his chest, looking for- there!- and finding the hilt of an identical dagger hidden in his leather armor. As I stood, I drove the heel of my foot into his groin, getting a high-pitched scream from him as he curled in on himself... but I was already moving again, the pain of my abused abdomen ignored for the moment, my vision starting to blur and darkening around the edges but determination driving me on.

The hen holding Sveti captive caught sight of me as I charged, and actual terror crossed her features for the slightest of moments- and then she raised her own weapon and brought it down. Only a last-second movement saved Sveti from taking the dagger in her neck, the weapon instead carving a line down her back and slicing across the base of her already-injured wing; she let out a cry of pain as she fell to the ground, trying futilely to press her claws against the wound. The soldier drew her knife back again, prepared to plunge it into Sveti’s defenseless back.

shhhnk

Flesh parted before metal, and the soldier let out an agonized cry as my stolen dagger sank through her forelimb just as she was about to stab Sveti. The hen fell on her back, clutching at the weapon stuck in her limb, but I ignored her as I staggered my way to Sveti’s side and knelt down next to her. The wound in her back was bleeding badly, and her wing hung limply at her side, but she was still conscious. “Oh my God, Sveti....” I gasped. “Can you stand?”

“I- I think....” She slowly made her way to all fours. “Gah... Ancestors, that hurts....”

“We need to get out of here. There might be more of-”

“Peter!”

thwack

I didn’t even see the tercel’s fist coming until it was connecting with the side of my face. I felt my jaw crack from the blow, and I went down like a sack of potatoes, groaning weakly and holding a hand against my head. I heard Sveti growl something in her native language, followed by a meaty thud and a yelp as she went down as well. “Sveti....” I mumbled, my mouth not wanting to work properly. “Run... get out of here....”

I felt a large claw grab hold of the front of my shirt, talons ripping through the fabric, and the tercel hauled me up into a sitting position with my amulet almost touching his chest. I could see a lump already forming on his head where my elbow had struck, and his face was contorted with pain and hatred. “You miserable sack of minotaur scat,” he snarled in Equish. “I should gut you right here and now for what you’ve done.” He drove his fist into my stomach again as if to express his displeasure, and I fought the urge to vomit, retching weakly as bile burned at the back of my throat. “But some plucking egg-sucker of a politician wants to get his claws on you, alive, and my honor depends on making that happen.” He reached into his leather chestpiece and pulled out something horribly familiar. “So let’s take a trip together, shall we?”

“No... wait....” I rasped, but it was too late; his talon pierced the small gem within the teleportaion charm he held in his claw. My vision went white as agony lanced through me; an impact like a sledgehammer struck my chest a half a moment later, and I knew nothing more.

(-)

A blood-curdling scream cut short almost as soon as it began, coupled with what almost sounded like a gunshot, brought Sveti out of her pain-filled daze. The world seemed to sway around her as she struggled to stand, agony and dizziness threatening to send her into unconsciousness, but she clamped her beak down on her cries of pain and forced herself to move.

What she saw in front of her when she finally got her eyes focused made her want to be sick. Peter and the tercel that had struck him were both splayed out on their backs, feet-to-hindpaws; Peter was unconscious, twitching madly, his skin clammy and coated with sweat. Shards of his amulet were scattered across a large burn mark in the center of his chest, a few embedded in the skin but none deeply. And opposite of him, the body of the tercel lay at the narrow end of a cone-shaped area of blood and gore, with a small smoking hole in his own chest. His eyes were rolled back, and clutched in a death grip in one claw was a spent teleportation charm.

Realization and terror struck Sveti all at once. Oh, Ancestors, the amulet! The teleportation spell must have overloaded it! But then-

There was a rustle in the grass not far away, and she tore her gaze away from the sight before her to see one of the soldiers- the other tercel- limping towards her, knife in claw. He was obviously injured, but she was even more so, and she knew she’d stand a candle’s chance in a blizzard in a direct fight.

It didn’t cow her in the least, though. “Don’t you dare touch him,” she growled, raising her uninjured wing in a threat display.

The soldier let out a pained snort. “You’re no threat. Stay out of the way if you’d like to continue breathing.”

She began to sidestep around Peter to try to get an angle of attack, only to nearly tumble over one of the other soldiers- the hen who’d had the crossbow, now laying lifelessly on the grass, her eyes wide and unseeing and her purple tongue hanging out from her beak, her claws still clutched around her throat. Sveti could see a small pouch hanging on her side, and a pair of long glass vials with needles attached still in it- the knockout syringes, she realized. Pretending to trip and stumble over the corpse, Sveti yanked the pouch free as she rolled- and let out a weak screech of pain as her wound complained at the movement. “If you want to take Peter,” she growled through her clenched beak, “then you have to go through me.”

“Fine, if that’s the way you want to play it.” As he spoke, Sveti quickly dropped one of the vials onto a leaf, folding it over and then pressing her claw against it; the crunch of breaking glass seemed deafening to her, but he didn’t seem to catch it. As quickly as she could, she scooped the folded leaf up, disguising the action with a stumble that wasn’t quite as faked as she would’ve liked. “Have to give you credit for being tough,” the tercel remarked as he advanced towards her. “A pity you never joined the ranks; you might’ve done well.” He closed in on her, his expression becoming flat as he reached towards his chest.

Throwing the broken vial seemed to take every ounce of her flagging strength, but it proved worth the effort as shattered glass and tranquilizer splashed across the soldier’s face. “Gah- my eyes!” he snarled, dropping his half-drawn dagger to press his claws against his face. “Oh, you plucking little-”

shhhnk

The needle clutched in Sveti’s claw sank easily through the thin leather protecting the base of his neck, and the force of delivery proved enough to set off the automatic injector inside the syringe, sending the tranquilizer into the tercel’s bloodstream. His stream of curses quickly turned into incoherent mumbling, and within half a minute he collapsed onto the ground, his eyes fluttering closed. Sveti fought the urge to fall over right next to him, pulling together what little strength she had left, starting to turn towards Peter once more.

“...not bad.”

Now she did fall over, almost lacking even the energy needed to turn her head towards the source of the voice. The last of the soldiers, the one who’d stabbed her, had managed to pull the knife from her own forelimb and wrap the wound in an emergency bandage of some kind; she gingerly held the limb off the ground, but otherwise didn’t seem terribly hampered by the wound. The bandage is probably enchanted and coated with healing agents and painkillers, Sveti realized with an inward groan.

“Why are you even fighting us?” the soldier asked. “The Empire needs that creature; we need what he knows, what he can teach us. Haven’t you been paying attention to the news, or have you been too busy romping around with ponies?” She spat in disgust. “We could finally win the White Plains War with what that creature knows. We could finally put Equestria in its place! Have you forgotten your duty as a citizen of the Empire?”

“My duty,” Sveti replied, trying her best to keep her voice from breaking, “is, first and foremost, to him. My honor is him. My life is him! And I will die before I let you put him in a cage!”

The contempt that showed on the other hen’s face slowly faded away, replaced by a flat, impersonal expression. “So then your death will be for him,” she said.

She took one step forward.

FWOOOSH

Something large soared past overhead, so quickly that it was gone by the time either griffin could look up for it; its passing brought a burst of wind that rustled leaves and grass and almost toppled Sveti over on her side. The soldier drew her dagger with the claw of her uninjured forelimb, looking around in a panic as she held the weapon close. “The pluck was that?!” she exclaimed.

A moment later, something flew out from the treeline, crossing the face of the sun and casting a wide shadow over the field. The soldier let out a screech of horror and Sveti felt her beak drop open as the form swooped in for a landing- a manticore, scarred and ferocious, slammed down all four paws onto the field as it slid to a halt. Its burning yellow eyes narrowed as they took in the sight of the two griffins, and lips parted to reveal sharp fangs as it let out a guttural growl.

The soldier turned and fled, knife tossed aside, three legs pumping for speed and wings flapping wildly to get lift. As she gained altitude and distance, the manticore simply watched with a derisive snort before turning its attention to Sveti, who was hobbling across the field towards the creature. “Get... away,” she murmured, fighting off her body’s attempts to faint with pure willpower. “Get away... from him. Don’t... don’t hurt him.” Her hind legs abruptly gave out, leaving her to pull herself forward painfully with her claws. “Don’t hurt him... please....”

The creature stared down at her for a moment, then at the unconscious form of Peter; it lowered its massive head towards him, and Sveti’s blood went cold as she waited for the snap of bone between teeth....

...only to see it nuzzle him gently, a deep rumbling purr coming from its throat.

She stopped in her tracks, uncomprehending, until her gaze wandered along the manticore’s side and spotted a trio of broken sticks poking out from the creature’s hindquarters. Wait, no, she thought. Not sticks... crossbow quarrels! This is the manticore who attacked the sideshow the night Peter and I escaped! Her breath caught in her throat for a moment as her gaze shifted back to its eyes, catching them focused on her once more. “...you remember Peter, don’t you?” she asked quietly. “You remember that he rescued your cub? Did you hear him and come to protect him?”

That massive head tilted to one side curiously... and then in a single fluid move, the manticore reached out with a forepaw, slipping it underneath Sveti before she could even react and gently pulling her closer to Peter. The creature snuffled quietly, nudging him with its nose, then turned its head towards the nearby forest and let out a short growl.

A second manticore, this one much smaller and still showing the gangly proportions of youth, came running out from the treeline, its barbed tail waving back and forth wildly as it moved until it came to a stop next to its- mother, Sveti realized. The cub peered curiously down at the unconscious human, directing a squeaky-sounding roar at him, before its mother nudged him a little ways away with a gentle push of its snout before returning its gaze to the hen.

“I... I have to get help for him,” she said, without any idea if the beast could understand a single word. “He needs help.”

The yellow eyes stared at her a moment longer, then returned their gaze to the human. Sveti turned her head, craned her neck and let out the loudest signal cry she could manage; even if no one in the area recognized it, hopefully at least someone would come to investigate what made it. The signal charm is a lost cause, she thought, gazing at the carnage that had been wreaked across their former picnic site. I’ll never find it in this mess....

The sound of feathers rustling in the wind made her look up, and she saw a blue speck in the distance. “Oh, thank the ancestors...! Rainbow Dash!” she cried out.

The blue speck quickly approached, eventually resolving into the familiar form of a multihued-maned pegasus; Dash halted in midair as her wide eyes took in the sight before her- dead griffins, an unconscious human, two manticores sitting peacefully, blood and carnage everywhere. “Sweet Celestia...!” she breathed. “Sveti...?”

“Dash! Get help! Please!” Her voice cracked as she held Peter’s limp form against her.

Dash seemed to move faster than the sound of her voice, and as she flew off, Sveti felt the last vestiges of her willpower evaporate, her head coming to rest against Peter’s as she sobbed in pain and fear.

(-)

“Sveti will live, I’m most thrilled to say.” Zecora slid the last of her empty vials into her traveling bag. “She’s dosed with a mixture to take pain away, and to close and clean wounds sustained in the fight.” Her brilliant blue-green eyes looked up at Twilight. “But I worry for Peter... will he be alright?”

The alicorn met the zebra’s gaze silently for a moment before turning away. “I....” Twilight’s voice cracked. “I... no. No, he won’t.”

Dash blinked, her mind refusing to process those words for a moment. “Wha- what do you mean ‘no’, Twilight?!” she demanded. “Why?! Why won’t he be alright?!”

“The griffins tried to teleport him away again, Dash! The spell... it overloaded his amulet. We haven’t got the materials we need to make another, and even if we did....” She paused for a moment. “The spell caused a backlash. The magic he’s built up is unstable now, and it’s only a matter of time before....”

“Before...?” Dash shook her head. “No, no, no! That can’t be right, Twilight! Call the Princesses, call Discord for buck’s sake!”

“I already did, Dash! None of them can do anything!”

“I’m gonna stuff that draconequus so far up his own miserable...!” Dash flew towards the makeshift tent that had been put up for Peter and Sveti- only to find Discord floating out through the flaps, his bizarre face more serious than she could ever remember seeing it. She didn’t let that stop her, though. “Discord!” she growled. “Who the buck do you think you’re fooling? You can stop this!”

His mismatched eyes locked onto hers. “No I can’t, Rainbow Dash.”

“Don’t give me ‘no I can’t’! You’re the avatar of Chaos itself! Snap your talons or whatever and just change everything around!”

“I can’t, Rainbow Dash.” Discord’s tone was as flat as his expression. “I can change nearly anything I want to... on this plane of existence. All that magic is sitting beyond the boundaries of this place, a bubble in an ocean even I can’t swim. And chaos magic used on Peter just gets absorbed into that like everything else.” With a soft sigh, he looked away. “I actually wish I could do something. It’s just... it’s just such a waste. Sometimes I don’t know how you mortals get through a single day without going crazier than me....”

With that, he floated by her, his expression and posture dejected. Dash felt like somepony had dropped a bucket of ice water in her heart as she turned towards the tent again; after a moment, she spotted something in the distance- a flat platform being carried by a quartet of Royal Guard pegasi, with a pair of earth pony Guards sitting on top. They landed next to the tent, and the two earth ponies quickly trotted into the tent. “...what’s going on?” she wondered aloud.

“They’re taking Peter to the cairn.” Twilight came to a stop next to her.

Dash blinked in confusion. “The what?”

“When we were investigating how to stop the backlash... as a precaution, I developed a plan for the possibility of failure. We constructed a cairn- a small underground bunker, of sorts- designed to draw away a massive amount of magic in a short amount of time and dissipate it into a number of leylines.”

Dash stared at her friend incredulously. “So- so what? You’re just going to stick him in a hole in the ground?! Are you giving up on him?!” Dash heard the flapping of wings and turned to see the platform being pulled into the air by the pegasi, with both Peter and Sveti loaded on it. “Did he go through all that just to die while we stand around and do nothing?!”

“Dash! This is the only thing we can do! We have at most maybe a couple of hours before the backlash begins, and if it does so while Peter is out in the open, the damage could be devastating!”

“But that-” Dash looked between Twilight and the departing platform, already a good distance away. “It’s not right! This isn’t right, Twilight! You’re telling me I’m just supposed to stand here while an innocent creature- our friend- dies in front of all of us?! We’ve fought Nightmare Moon, we beat and then reformed Discord, we practically trampled Sombra... but we can’t save one innocent creature?!” Dash slammed her hoof into the ground. “I can’t accept that, Twilight! I can’t!”

Twilight’s head lowered. “I can’t either, Dash. But....” She went silent.

“We hear tales of great heroes, their victories hard-won.” Zecora followed her words up to the two ponies. “But sometimes, even heroes see their efforts undone.” Tears began to drip down the striped fur of her cheeks. “Even when they do all that they can for a friend, they are left to, regretfully... witness that one's end.”

“But... but...” Dash couldn’t find any more words, and the icy feeling in her chest stayed with her even through the mass teleport Twilight used to bring her, Zecora and a hoofful of other ponies near where this “cairn” had apparently been dug. It looked like some sort of giant clay jar buried in the earth- and “buried in the earth” was a terrifying phrase to the pegasus- and Peter was being carefully brought towards it by an armored earth pony, with a heavily-bandaged Sveti close by his side. The human seemed to come awake as he neared the cairn, and the griffin immediately leaned in close to speak to him in Peter’s strange language.

They had just a moment to clasp hand and claw together before the earth pony began to help Peter into the cairn. He was shivering violently, his entire body soaked in sweat, and he huddled up in a ball as he watched the four pegasi Guards pull a thin lid with two heavy-looking clasps over the cairn. Twilight’s horn lit up, and the clasps locked themselves around the cairn’s rim. With everything settled, everypony moved a respectable distance back, and Princesses Celestia and Luna made their way to stand by Sveti, their quiet words of comfort lost on the seemingly catatonic griffin.

It was a couple of minutes that seemed like an eternity before Rainbow dared to speak again. “...what happens now?” she asked.

“I... I don’t know.” Twilight didn’t even seem to be blinking as she watched the cairn. “There’s no data on this phenomenon, no history. It could take seconds or hours-”

khwoooom

Something that wasn’t physical seemed to strike Dash in her very core, a jolt that raced across her nervous system like the remnants of a lightning strike. Everypony in the area seemed to react to it. “...it’s starting,” Twilight whispered.

A deep rumbling seemed to start up from everywhere around them, just within Dash’s hearing, gaining intensity with every second, and after a few moments there was a second sound from the cairn that made her ears splay back-

-oh sweet Celestia he’s screaming-

-both noises growing in intensity, and a glance towards Sveti showed a look of pure anguish in her eyes that broke Dash’s heart in two; the griffin’s body twitched as if she were fighting an urge to tear the lid off of the cairn and throw herself in the human’s arms.

Then, for ten seconds, everything went dead silent and utterly still, and Dash found herself scarcely daring to breathe. Is it-

SHAH-THWOOM

It felt like being hit by an invisible explosion, pure force slamming into Dash- not enough to cause injury, but more than enough to take her off of her hooves. There were various cries of distress and fear as everypony managed to stand back up. “Is... is it over?” Dash whispered.

“I....” Twilight’s face scrunched up in concentration. “I think so. Celestia? Luna?”

The royal sisters shared a glance, and then Celestia nodded. “It seems to be,” she said. “Let us wait a minute or two more to be sure.”

After three minutes had passed with no further magical activity, Celestia gave the word for the cairn to be unsealed. Twilight’s horn immediately lit up, and her magic popped both clasps open; the pegasi returned to lift the lid, and Dash found herself rushing up to look inside as soon as it came up... only for her heart to seemingly stop for a moment at what she saw.

The cairn was empty.

Dash heard a quiet whimper next to her, and she turned to see Sveti staring into the cairn as well, her expression utterly defeated. The pegasus opened her mouth to say something... but words crumbled like ash in her mouth, and felt just as flat. What could she say to this poor griffin who’d had everything she loved taken from her? “I’m... I’m sorry, Sveti,” she whispered after a moment, gently brushing her wing against the hen’s shoulder in a show of sympathy.

Sveti didn’t move, hardly even blinked, even as both Princesses Celestia and Luna came to offer their condolences, and Zecora performed some sort of ceremonial chant over the cairn while the lid was placed back over it. Dash watched as Twilight gently placed something at the griffin’s side. “Sveti,” she said quietly, her voice choked with emotion, “I’m truly sorry for this. We’ll find out what happened, and whoever’s responsible will be called to account. You can stay here for however long you need. I’ve left you another signal charm; if you need help, just use it.” She lightly touched the hen’s back with a hoof. “He’ll... he’ll be missed by all of us. I’m sorry.”

And after a short while, only Sveti and Dash were left in that lonely field in the middle of nowhere, the late-afternoon sun shining down on them as though it were just another day- but Rainbow Dash knew better. This day had seen the loss of one of the bravest, toughest creatures the pegasus had ever known, and a crushing blow dealt to a young hen who’d already had been through far more than she could ever have deserved.

And, realizing that there was nothing else she could possibly do for Sveti aside give her the time she needed to grieve, Dash too eventually took to the skies and headed towards her home, to try to do what she could to return to her own life.

(-)

A chilly wind ruffled the feathers of Sveti’s wings, waking her from the uneasy light sleep she’d fallen into. I must have fallen asleep, she realized, blinking as she looked around; the sun had set, and a three-quarters-full moon was just above the horizon, filling the field she was in with soft white light. A few fireflies danced through the air, their bellies winking a soft green as they signaled each other with messages only they understood.

Some part of Sveti’s mind noted that anything could have come upon her as she was sleeping, but the rest of her simply didn’t care. What do I even have to live for now, without Peter? she thought, fresh tears springing to her eyes as she gazed down at the cairn once again. The one thing I had left in this world, taken from me by my own species. She let out a choked sob. If only we hadn’t come here... if only I hadn’t asked him to! I’m sorry, Peter, I’m so sorry....

She closed her eyes again, remembering the last words they’d shared.

“Peter, don’t move. The amulet....”

“I know. I think I can actually feel the magic building up inside of me. It’s weird....”

“Peter... I don’t want this to happen. I don’t. I don’t want to lose you!”

“Sveti, I promise you- if there’s any way for me to come back to you, whatever it takes... I will.”

She didn’t know how long she was lost in her grief, but when she looked back up, the first thing she noticed was a lot more fireflies in the air around her; it almost seemed as though she were in her own constellation of gently-flashing green stars, swarming around her.

Then she realized something. Not around me... around the cairn!

The insects were slowly gathering on the lid of the cairn, one after another landing atop it, until eventually the entire thing was covered in dozens of the little creatures, turning it into a brilliant, glimmering emerald disc. Sveti found herself enthralled at the sight, watching as the fireflies began to glow almost in sync with each other.

Then she felt something beneath her paws, a deep, rhythmical thrumming that felt like the heartbeat of some impossibly large beast. The entire area around her seemed to brighten ever so slightly, awash in a pale green glow, as the wind picked up just a little. She found herself frozen in place, confused but not afraid, feeling somewhere deep in her soul that something was about to happen and that she needed to be here when it did.

After another minute of watching the area grow brighter, and the wind become gentle gusts, she felt as though she were somehow approaching the crescendo of an unheard symphony. The fireflies began to glow all at once, their light nearly blinding, and the rhythmic thumping beneath her sped up to a staccato beat.

chooooom

Something passed by her, through her, like a warm summer wind flowing through the very essence of her being, leaving her with a feeling of being loved and comforted by some powerful yet gentle force. It lasted for only a moment, fading from her body, and when Sveti came back to her senses, she thought that she caught the scent of cinnamon trailing through the air. The fireflies were already dispersing, the calming winds carrying them off until they became nothing more than tiny green specks in the distance, leaving the stunned hen alone with her thoughts, the rustle of the grass, and a faint, almost inaudible noise that resembled claws on a tile floor.

tik tik tik tik tik

Something that Celestia had said to her a long while back popped up unbidden in her mind. “The forms of magic employed here are powerful, but to simply kill a living creature is against their very nature.” I remember... she’d said that when Peter had first been pulled into the Astral Plane. She stood stock still for a moment, the thought chasing itself around in her head.

And then realization hit, and she practically threw herself at the cairn, her talons scraping against the lid as she struggled to get leverage, the complaints of her still-healing wounds ignored in her frantic efforts. Finally, she managed to get a clawhold, and tugged as hard as she could, pulling the lid open far enough to see inside.

From within the cairn, a pair of storm-grey eyes gazed back at her.

(-)

“So you must be Sveti Windwhisper.” She held out a claw, and the other hen shook it uncertainly, worry plain on her features despite a credible effort to hide it. “I’m Gunfrid Stormcry. Did you not get the letter telling you I was coming?”

“No, no, we did. It’s just....” The younger griffin let out a quiet breath. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Stormcry. Things have been hectic for us here, and the letter didn’t give us much time to prepare.”

“I’m afraid that was deliberate.” Gunfrid gave her a slight smile. “The diplomatic corps wants an honest look at how things have been handled.”

“I see....” Sveti looked behind her, then stepped aside as a young-looking earth pony stallion appeared beside her. “Mrs. Stormcry, this is Quick Service; he’ll bring in your baggage.”

“Good morning!” the stallion said. “We have two rooms available for you; let me get your baggage, and then I’d be happy to show them to you so you can choose which you prefer.”

“I would appreciate that; thank you.” Gunfrid was pleased to see that this Quick Service lived up to his name quite well, stacking the heavy suitcases on his back with no complaint and hauled them up to the second floor with practiced ease. She decided upon the corner room for its more airy feel and the fantastic view of Celestial Valley it afforded; Quick carefully laid out her luggage for her, describing the amenities and the meal schedule that the embassy held to. “Thank you, young stallion,” she said once he was finished. “I believe I’d like to get started immediately by speaking with Mrs. Windwhisper.”

“Of course, Mrs. Stormcry. She’s waiting for you in the study; I’ll show you there right away. Would you like a beverage?”

“I would. Peachberry jasmine tea, if you have it.”

“We do!” Quick opened one of the doors that lined the hallway. “Please step inside and I’ll have it ready for you in just a few minutes.”

She did so, finding Sveti waiting for her in a plush chair facing a fireplace with a warm, roaring fire within; the younger hen immediately stood to come greet her. “How was your trip, Mrs. Stormcry?” she asked in Griffinic.

“Just ‘Gunfrid’, please.” She clasped the other hen’s claw firmly. “And it was... well, boring, all told. Though there are worse conditions.”

“I can imagine.” Sveti waited until Gunfrid took a seat before returning to her own. “I’m sorry for the haphazard welcome, Gunfrid, but like I said, the way events have been rushing along has honestly caught us by surprise.”

“You don’t need to apologize.” She waved a claw. “We’re all playing catch-up these days. We’re not used to Celestia pulling such bold moves.”

“She, um... may have taken recent events personally....”

“And I will not blame her in the slightest. I’ve heard enough about what’s happened to piece together the rest.” Gunfrid chuckled. “We in the diplomatic corps are not neophytes in assembling fragments of information.”

There was a knock at the door, and after Sveti called for entrance, Quick opened the door and pushed in a drink cart with a tea set and a coffeepot and mug on it. “Would you like service, Mrs. Stormcry, or do you prefer to brew your tea yourself?”

“I’ll take care of it, young stallion. Thank you.” Gunfrid smiled as Sveti dismissed the servant. “He’s a professional one, for his age,” she said, once the door was closed again.

“He prides himself on it. It’s hard to find his like.” Sveti looked away for a moment, pouring herself some coffee and mixing in various ingredients. “I really would like for him to stay on, Gunfrid. I was hoping that we might negotiate some agreement to keep the current staff on; if you give them a chance, you’ll find them dedicated-”

Gunfrid raised a claw. “There won’t be any negotiation needed,” she replied. “Sveti, I’m an old hen, and I do not welcome unnecessary difficulties. Replacing staff who are obviously competent and dedicated to their jobs- so much so as to stay on after two of their number were victims of violence- ranks very high on the ‘unnecessary’ scale to me. I will need to have griffins on my own personal staff, according to provisions in the treaty, but I don’t think I’ll have too much difficulty finding some who’ll be willing to work alongside your current employees.”

Shock crossed Sveti’s face. “...you’re sure?” she managed to get out.

“Very.” Gunfrid let a small smile cross her beak as she took a sip of tea. “Oh, that’s quite good! Now, Sveti, I know that you’ve been more or less cut off from the Empire since your father’s unfortunate passing. Let me tell you this- what’s happened since then has caused something of a stir in the circles I frequent.”

“It... it has?”

“The Emperor’s abandonment of relations with Equestria didn’t go over too well with the diplomatic corps; we knew we needed the support of the Crowns. So we independently kept contact with some trustworthy ponies to try to keep informed on what was happening over here. And when it turned out that Arnfrodr’s daughter had turned up alive, claiming to have been kidnapped and held captive by a pony, we took notice. And then your story started getting more and more complex- your entanglement with the never-before-seen creature called the ‘Everfree Yeti’, your placement as the embassy’s caretaker, your altercations with Equestrian nobility. Unfortunately, we weren’t the only ones who took notice of you and those near you.”

“I’d figured.” Sveti stared down into her coffee for a moment. “I’d wondered just who it was that managed to secure soldiers and jump charms and organize what was essentially a hostile incursion; I knew the Emperor himself wouldn’t green-stamp an operation like that.”

“I’m afraid I can’t give a name, but rest assured that that particular individual has been... solved.” She gave the younger hen a meaningful look. “The Emperor was less than pleased that vital assets were being diverted and a crucial alliance threatened for the sake of crass opportunism. The individual who thought up that crazy plot had some strange ideas on how payoff versus consequence works. Astounding, what some griffins will do to advance themselves.” She shook her head. “But I’m getting off-course. Sveti, we kept close watch on how you handled the stewardship of the embassy, and all of the controversy that ended up surrounding you. And for a young hen with no real formal diplomatic training, thrown into a situation like that, you performed admirably. When the first incursion on embassy grounds happened, and one of your pony staff was nearly killed, we were terrified of the likely backlash- but not only did you manage to weather that storm and help keep things under control, but your staff chose to remain out of loyalty to you and your companion.” She took another sip of her tea. “You don’t pluck your primaries in the middle of a flight. The staff you’ve gathered together are assets, strong ones, and the diplomatic corps would much rather keep them than disrupt things just to put more griffins in the building. The only caveat is that it’s against the treaty for the Empire to pay non-citizens directly, but I have an idea I can present to Princess Celestia that should neatly fly by that problem.”

“...thank you.” It was an obvious look of relief on Sveti’s face. “Those ponies are practically family to me now. I wasn’t looking forward to sending them away.”

Gunfrid smiled. “Oh, speaking of your companion... I was hoping I’d have the chance to meet him. I’ve heard quite a bit about him.”

“Really? Well, certainly. Right now he’s probably in his ‘inspiration room’ working on one of his sketches. He said he wanted to stay out of the way when you arrived.”

She pulled on a nearby bell cord, and a moment later Quick opened the door. “Yes, Miss Windwhisper?” he asked.

“Quick, please ask Peter to come here. And tell the rest of the staff to forget about packing- Mrs. Stormcry has asked that you all stay on under her administration.”

A wide smile crossed the stallion’s face. “At once, Mrs. Windwhisper!” he said, before closing the door.

Gunfrid took the opportunity to relax in the comfortable chair and enjoy her tea before the door opened once more and a tercel strode through. She gave him a smile as she stood from her chair and extended a claw, which he clasped firmly. “Good afternoon, Mrs. Stormcry,” he said in slightly-accented but perfectly serviceable Griffinic.

“And good afternoon to you, Peter Collins. Or should I call you Petr Windwhisper?”

He chuckled. “Peter is fine, thank you.”

“And please, call me Gunfrid.” She returned to her seat, watching as Peter took his place next to Sveti. “Amazing. Aside from your rather striking eye color, I wouldn’t be able to tell you apart from any other tercel.” She took a moment to refill her teacup. “I have to say that it was a stroke of genius, making part of your settlement with the Empire a demand for official recognition of your identity and dual citizenship. No griffin would dare risk an attack on you now since the Empire would be forced to safeguard your rights as one of its own.”

“Well, Princess Celestia’s terms on the whole collaboration thing pretty much shield me from that, but yeah... like we say back where I come from, that’s icing on the cake.”

Gunfrid chuckled, filing away that little idiom for later use. “An absolute power play, the whole collaboration proposal. I’d expect nothing less from Princess Celestia; offering to share incredible technology and concepts with all allied nations... provided they’re not involved in any hostilities with any other allied nations. Quite frankly, at that point the White Plains War had taken on such a life of its own that I’m not sure it could’ve ended any other way aside from costly victory for one side and crushing defeat for the other.”

Sveti chuckled. “Of course both sides complained about outside interference, but it wasn’t hard to see that both the Empire and the Cervinae Confederacy were happy to take the excuse to stop fighting without losing face.”

“And as a mother who has two sons and a daughter in the military, I was beyond happy to have that excuse provided.” Gunfrid set down her teacup. “Peter, let me say that I’m honestly impressed by how well you’ve managed all you’ve been through. You and Sveti are quite the couple. I don’t suppose either of you has met my other daughter, Gilda? I know she’s been spending her time in Equestria.” Both of the other griffins shook their heads. “Ah, a pity. She’s always been the blackbird of the family, generally being a troublemaker. I’m tempted to drag her here by her tail in hopes that she learns something from good examples like the two of you.”

The conversation continued for a little while longer, until Gunfrid caught herself yawning. “I think it might be time for me to go take advantage of that comfortable-looking bed,” she chuckled, getting out of her seat. “And then we’ll start planning out what needs to be done to return this building to being a fully-functional embassy of the Griffin Empire.” She opened the door of the study, then paused a moment as she looked back at the pair. “And by the way... congratulations to the both of you,” she said, giving Sveti a meaningful look.

The other hen blinked, and then blushed. “Um... yes, thank you very much,” she replied.

She couldn’t help but chuckle to herself as she made her way back to her temporary quarters. It may have been a decade or two since Gunfrid Stormcry had served as a biomancer in the Imperial Reserves... but she still knew an expectant mother when she saw one.

(-)

And so that’s the story of how Equestria’s first human came to be who and what I am now. Though, well... most of what I didn’t experience myself came from what I heard from others during it all and after, and some of it I just sort of made up as being what I think probably happened. But you can’t deny that it makes for an interesting story, right?

What happened in the cairn that night? To be perfectly honest, I have no idea. I don’t remember much of anything between the cairn being closed and Sveti opening it again... but for a week afterwards I kept having a recurring dream of a white alicorn with a red mane standing by me with a wing over my back. I asked Princess Luna about that dream, but she said that I probably wouldn’t understand- though I heard her mumble something like “Mother hasn’t lost her touch”. Princess Twilight thinks that the teleport charm that soldier used on me twice left some sort of magical imprint on me, and that when the magic sort of reassembled me inside the cairn, it used that as a kind of template. Princess Cadance thinks it was more the fact that I spent so much time with Sveti; Rarity insists that it was the power of “true love”, and even if I do have to laugh at that, I like to think that maybe she’s closer to the truth than she knows.

Yeah, it’s been an adjustment suddenly being a different species. I mean, I had to relearn how to talk due to having a syrinx, let alone other things like flight or heightened senses, or... well, natural reactions when a female of the species goes into a heat cycle. But despite all that, I think I’m still the same person I was before. Maybe a different-shaped container with a new interface, but what’s under the feathers up here on my head still maps out as Peter Collins.

...what? Ha ha ha! Was everything peaceful after that? I wish! Sveti and I are just destined to lead “interesting” lives... that’s actually a curse in one of the cultures where I come from. “May you live in interesting times.” The wedding saw an actual stampede happen; our honeymoon almost sparked a riot in Neighagra when our friendly manticores decided to come visit. Sveti and I actually have a picture of the two of us and the manticores standing at the edge of the falls; the cub was sticking its tongue out. Even flight lessons with Rainbow Dash ended up with Fluttershy saving my life- not that she’d ever call it that, the sweetheart that she is. But I wouldn’t trade a minute of any of that for anything in the world.

So what exactly happened afterwards? Well... that’s another story in itself, and honestly, I’m pretty tired. It was a long flight before the storm forced me to take shelter here- that’s what I get for not checking weather schedules along my route- and I’m still not a very strong flyer. I’d like to get some rest so that I can get an early start tomorrow once the storm is cleared; I’ve got a mate and cub waiting for me back home.

And believe me, as drastic as adjusting to being a new species was, it was a walk in the park compared to becoming a father.

Have I given up on going home? Let me put it this way... I haven’t given up on seeing Earth again. Neither has Twilight, and she tells me she’s making strides every day towards narrowing down how to regain contact with her beacon spell. I honestly think she can do it, too. But... Equestria is “home” to me now. I have a home and family here. And as much as I miss Earth, even if I were still human I couldn’t just leave all of it behind to go back permanently, and I wouldn’t expect my family to just pull up roots and adapt to an entirely different world. But... one day, I’d like little Androder to meet his grandparents and uncle.

I’m glad you enjoyed the story. Thanks again for the drinks. Until we meet again, as we gryphons like to say: Health to you, kin and clan.