It was in Gryphus where I got my first hint at where my adventures were leading me. What I had started to transform into during my first visit to Equestria. But a hint is not enough to understand, nor is it enough to make sure that the path will not lead you astray. Nevertheless Gryphus played a pivotal role to my future choices and I can’t say that I look back at them with regret, such thoughts just aren’t me. However I understand that all this sounds cryptic and strange but I’m afraid you’ll have to read my words to understand my journey and my destination. I can tell you this though, I am not becoming a damn alicorn.

Our group left the rusty feather inn early the very next morning after having arrived. Reaching the town on the other side of the forest would be a two day trip, and thus we had hit the road with the same haste as we had during our previous days. So in the cold autumn air our collective steps were the only sound to be heard throughout the otherwise silent forest. No words of encouragement had been needed either since we all felt it. We had a target and we were getting closer to our goal. And even if I mentally prepared myself for the worst possible outcome with this lead I dared to hope that this would lead to a breakthrough. For if I dared not hope, what hope was there to be found?

As we walked through the forest I thought back to the words I had exchanged with Ranger once the rest of the group had gone to sleep. Most of them had been words of encouragement from Ranger, and I understood the reason well enough. He wanted to anything but fall into that same pit of helplessness he had been in when his wife had fallen ill. But some of the words towards the end had been those of just two individuals making observations and conversations based on those observations. What I’m saying is that there had been room for talk between the two of us. Although it had been rather stiff, and at times even forced. Given the circumstances though neither of us had really been in a position to complain about quality conversation. In the end it was all the same, a small moment of respite from the thoughts that would otherwise haunt us. In that regard Ranger and I were very similar. Sure we may be griffin and human, and he may have years of life experience on me. But in terms of mentality and how we could accept the present for what it was we were similar. Of course there were differences there too, but we understood the value of letting ones’ mind rest.

However the most important piece of information that Ranger had shared was that he didn’t blame me. Since he hadn’t exploded in my face when I had first seen him I had dared to hope, but actually hearing it was valuable to me. The one issue that remained though was that still partly blamed myself. But if anything I would let my actions speak for themselves, I would find Stella and I would bring her back safely. Anything that stood in my way would be dealt with one way or another, if not for my own sake it was for Stella’s. With such thoughts bolstering my commitment the first day passed in a blur, ending with us just having cleared the forest. Again I volunteered to take first watch and as the rest settled in for the night I overheard something that brought a small smile to my lips. The hushed voices of Rainbow Dash and Gilda could be heard and given the words I managed to catch Rainbow had finally gathered enough courage to ask some questions. Most of it seemed to deal with how Gilda had gotten to know me but despite being a bit curious I decided to zone out from the conversation. I had no intention to eavesdrop if I could help it, the distance between them was theirs to cross after all.

I awoke the next day to the rumbling of thunder in the distance, however refusing to lose time due to bad weather conditions I hurried to rouse the others. There were some grumbles at the forceful wake up process I had them go through, but after having the others eat a quick breakfast while packing up the sleeping gear we were soon ready to go nonetheless. We even managed to make about an hour of progress down the road before the first raindrops fell. But onwards we went, mostly due to the fact that I didn’t stop. And towards midday the rainfall had increased to a steady stream water from the grey skies. It wasn’t enough to hinder vision although the roads themselves had long since turned muddy and hard to traverse. And hadn’t it been for the fact that we had managed to spot the next town about fifteen minutes ago morale would probably have gone straight down. What was driving the group forward now was the collective wish to get away from the weather.

At least that was what the ponies wanted if the mutters about the rain was anything to go by. Strangely enough I had started to feel at home in the rain pelting the ground and light wind scattering the raindrops. I could feel the buildup of lightning in the distance long before the flash and even longer before the thunder. The last time I had felt something similar to this was that one night in Canterlot where I had actively sought to connect with the storm. At present time though this was nowhere close to the connection I had experienced that time. No this was a more subconscious thing, but there definitely was a connection serving as a reminder of my heritage. A build up straight ahead caused me to focus my gaze forward moments before a flash lit up the sky. Ahead I could see our destination, much more clearly than before, its walls seeming almost imposing in the rain.

Speaking of the town we were heading to I realize that I haven't mentioned its name yet. This town, being the first griffin town I had seen with a wall, was called Heralds’ Roost. And every step now brought us closer to this fortified town that easily rivaled Sky reach in size. Within the next two hours our morale rose quite drastically as the other started to notice just how much closer we seemed to get to our destination. And during the third hour we finally reached the wall. After being screened by a couple of guards at a large wooden gate we were allowed to enter the town, although I had to question why there was a wall in a nation of flying creatures. Such questions were not of importance though, no our first step should be to find an inn and after that see if we could get in contact with Ranger’s former associates.

As our party walked through town I was subject to stares and hushed murmurs, something I had once again grown accustomed to during the past few days. But from what I could gather they weren’t the whispers of disgust I had heard in Canterlot, here they were instead of the curious nature. I was something new, or perhaps they had heard about the weird creature from a few months back that worked at the inn a few days down the road. Whatever the cause may be I was still grateful to slip away from their gazes as we entered a three story building of stone that advertised itself as the Wolf’s rest tavern and inn. I let Gilda handle the talk with the inn keeper, but I had asked her to make sure we got three rooms. As soon as we had our rooms ready I caught the attention of everyone in our group and motioned for them to gather around me.

I waited a few seconds to take in their expressions before speaking. “Aight, we’ve come this far. Now the next step will be to try to get into contact with Ranger’s old friends, however I don’t think we should bring the whole group with us on this.”

I saw Twilight nod thoughtfully at my words, while Bonbon and Rainbow seemed rather indifferent. Lyra was the one to actually speak up and ask the question I had been expecting though.

“So how many will go then? And who of us will go for that matter?” She questioned.

“I’d say no more than three and I was thinking it would be me, Gilda and Bonbon.” I told them. And at this information Bonbon’s expression changed from indifferent to surprised.

“Why me? I can’t bring anything useful to this, can I?” She asked.

“On the contrary I believe that you can. You seem to have a way with words and I believe you may ask questions that Gilda or I would otherwise overlook.” I told the cream colored mare sincerely.

“Okay then I will do my best.” She promised, a small blush blooming on her cheeks.

“Well that reasoning is all well and good, but what about the rest of us?” Twilight interjected.

“Ah, yes. I was getting to that.” I said, pausing for a second to collect my thoughts before continuing. “I want the three of you to ask the population in the town about the deserters. Right now we can’t turn away any piece of information so we will cast our nets wide. However keep I mind that you might ask the wrong individual the wrong question so make sure that you have at least one of the others within shouting distance. We have entered uncertain territory now.” I told them.

The faces of the ponies in front of me, save Twilight as she was in her griffin form, were determined. They knew that I counted on them and they looked hell-bent to try their best to find as much information as possible out the population of Herald’s roost.

“Alright then let’s do it.” Rainbow spoke up.

“Yes let’s get going. We’ll meet back here later tonight to go over the information we’ve gathered.” I agreed, before we split into our group into two. Now was the time to act.

The group I had led towards the garrison had found Ranger’s contact easily, and they had been more than happy to share what they knew. It even seemed like Ranger had had the presence of mind to give them a prior warning that I wasn’t a griffin since they didn’t even raise an eyebrow at my appearance. The other guards at the garrison though seemed mildly intrigued at what I was, but not enough to interfere with our business at the garrison. However the more Ranger’s friends spoke the more our dismay grew. It started to become apparent that the progress that had been made on the case regarding the deserters was minimal at best. So instead of the major breakthrough I had been hoping for we had taken perhaps half a step forward. With an effort of will I held back my bitterness as I thanked the group of griffins we had been talking to for their time. As we rose to head towards the exit one of the older griffins we had talked to, Elli I though her name was, offered to show us out. And as she led us through the corridors towards the exit we passed another group of soldiers that were heading in.

Normally I would have just ignored them but seeing how one reacted very differently to the other griffins I had seen today he caught my attention. This one griffin with yellow markings did not seem surprised to see me, quite the contrary actually. This griffin seemed to recognize me, but the moment he noticed that I had seen him he hurried along down the corridor, quickly disappearing from sight.

I turned to our guide. “What was that group that just passed us?” I asked her.

“Those? They were members of the investigation team.” Elli supplied.

“Oh.” Was all I said in response, but in my mind my thoughts had started to race.

I had no memory of ever seeing that particular griffin before which meant that someone had to have described my appearance to him before. Furthermore the way he had hurried away from me just made it all seem that much more suspicious. Have I stumbled on a key here? I questioned myself as we exited the building, finding that the rain that had been falling earlier had stopped.

“So what do we do now?” Gilda asked in a disappointed voice, breaking me out of my thoughts.

“Well split up and ask questions like I sent the others to do, it’s too early to give up. Although stay with Bonbon for now Gil.” I told her. I didn’t want to tell her about the soldier that had recognized me yet should it prove to be just a coincidence.

“Okay, meet you back at the inn then.” She agreed after a moments silence, sounding doubtful.

I nodded in agreement and stayed in place just long enough for Gilda and Bonbon to disappear into the crowd that had formed on the street before bursting into action. I needed a spot where I could observe everyone leaving the garrison. I had to know what connection that soldier had to me. So without wasting any more time I extended my wings and with a few quick beats I took to the sky for short flight up onto a rooftop. Once on the roof I settled down to sit and wait, and I was willing to wait for as long as I had to for the griffin to exit the military compound. So wait I did with the first hour passing before I knew it, one hour would turn into many more before the unnamed griffin showed his face at the entrance. He cast a few glances up and down the street before hurrying off into the crowd that was still slowly milling about in the street.

I hurried to my feet and started to follow my target from above, skipping from rooftop to rooftop to avoid being seen. And it wasn’t just the particular griffin I was trying to stay hidden from, no I anticipated that I would cause a stir if I walked around in the streets and that would give away my position. So on the rooftops I stayed, doing my best to keep up with the griffin as he moved through the crowd. I followed him through a couple of streets, taking note to be extra careful as the crowded streets slowly emptied in sync with the decreasing daylight. Eventually he entered one of the smaller buildings, and from first observation it looked to be a pub of sorts. This posed a dilemma for me as I was unsure whether to follow him in or wait outside for him to exit. Then in the middle of my ponderings I saw a window open and small bird the size of a Pidgeon flew out. My eyes widened as quickly ran the implications of this development and with a curse I launched after the bird. If that was a message sent to warn those we were hunting this would be my only chance to intercept it.

The small bird flew in a straight line towards the northern border of the town but I had no trouble keeping up with it. And as soon as I had put some distance between the town and myself I went down low to scoop up a handful of small pebbles. I took care not to lose track of where the messenger bird was as I flapped my wings to get some elevation on it. I would only get one shot at what I was going to attempt, so I made it a point to align myself carefully. Then I dove, throwing the pebbles in wide spread some which struck the smaller flyer across the wings. The pebbles had the desired effect as they stunned the bird long enough for me to swoop in a catch it. Bird in hand I landed on the ground and grabbed the small capsule that was attached to the bird’s leg. Keeping the bird firmly in my left hand I struggled slightly to open the capsule with my right hand. When I finally got the small strip of paper out of the capsule and started to read my expression turned into a frown.

The message, although readable, seemed to be in some sort of code and without a proper cipher I wouldn’t be able to read the true message. Shit, I guess I need to go back and try to find that griffin again. I thought bitterly. Perhaps I could force him into telling me the message’s contents, or perhaps I could bluff him into admitting to having a connection. Whichever method I ended up having to resort to I needed to move fast, there was a small chance that I could still catch the griffin as he left the pub he had entered earlier. With a frustrated growl I snapped the bird’s neck before taking to the sky again. I reasoned that it would be better for no bird to arrive at all than for a bird without a message to show up. Deep down I realized that my actions so far were completely unjustified but my instincts were telling me that the griffin from earlier was the key to everything. So I discarded whatever feelings of right and wrong I currently had, if I had to become a devil to find Stella so be it.

On swift wings I flew back towards Herald’s roost, crossing over the wall not twenty minutes later. From the sky I searched for the pub where I had last seen the griffin, sweeping back and forth over the streets. Just as I was about to give up hope due to the dying light of the day ending I flew over a familiar building. Not that I had any idea what the building was but I remembered it from when I had followed my target, and from this building I was able to retrace my steps to the pub from earlier. After landing in front of the entrance I reached for the door handle but hesitated. If I entered there was a risk that I would spring a trap, but I needed to know if the griffin was still in there. It’s worth the risk. I ultimately decided, but carefully made sure that I could throw off the cloak at a moment’s notice.

I pushed open the door and stepped into a rowdy bar room with plenty of griffins enjoying either a drink or piece to eat this autumn evening. My presence had barely caused a stir yet and so I took advantage of those few moments of respite to scan the crowd. My eyes darted back and forth trying to identify the griffin again, but every face I let my eyes fall on was wrong. I let my gaze sweep up towards the bar, just in time to catch three griffins exiting through a back door. Quick steps carried me across the room, announcing my presence to the room. But I didn’t care about the murmurs that were spreading, nor did I care about the complaints from the bartender as I pushed the open the backdoor.

I found myself in a dark alleyway, the three griffins I had seen exit hurrying towards an intersecting alley. Having no intention of losing them I rushed after them, despite having no confirmation that the griffin I was looking for was one of them. In front of me the trio turned the corner, disappearing from sight and about four seconds later I had reached said corner. But as I started to round the corner a flicker of motion caused my reflexes to kick in as one of the griffins I was following came leaping at me claws first. Before I knew what had really happened I had already moved out of his path while simultaneously grabbing one of his wrists with one hand. The other hand I quickly placed behind his head as I ended up slamming him into the ground using his own momentum against him. He never rose from after the impact, but I didn’t have time to check for damage as another of the three griffins was already approaching. I a swift motion I threw the cloak of me so that it wouldn’t hinder any movements.

An almost manic grin split my face as the second griffin, this one a female, reared up on her back legs claws raised to strike. What would’ve been possibly fatal attack on another creature only ended up being a perfect opening for me though. Something this female griffin learned the hard way when a palm strike carrying my full body weight impacted her exposed abdomen. I heard the forced exhale accompanied by a dry retching sound as her body attempted to empty the contents of her stomach. Normally I would’ve stopped attacking at this point as this opponent was clearly disabled but I wanted to have my back free as I confronted my original target. So without a shred of remorse I lashed out with a leg, my heel connecting with the side of her head causing it to jerk violently the left before she collapsed in a heap. I turned away from the female, looking down the alley they had come from only to find the griffin with the yellow markings backing away slowly. The fear in his eyes became more and more apparent as I started to slowly walk after him. Then finally with terrified yelp he turned to run, but the moment I saw him move I dashed forward. I reached out felt one of my hands close around the tip of a wing. With a quick, but determined, pull I caused him to stumble. Using the time I had just bought myself I readjusted my grip, adding my second hand before turning him around just to slam him into the alley wall.

By pressing my forearm to his throat I effectively pinned him against wall as I stared him down, my mouth locked in a vicious snarl.

“Now you will tell me exactly who you are and what you know.” I demanded in a low voice.

A defiant light awoke in the previously terrified eyes of the last griffin. “Do you really think they’ll just let you walk after I tell you that you attacked me, a selected investigator?” he questioned with a smirk.

I applied more pressure to his throat as dug out the note I had intercepted earlier. “Do you really think they’ll trust you after I show them this?” I answered with my own question, waving the note in front of his eyes.

The terror returned to his eyes as he started to babble, he told me how he got the position after having been in contact with the deserter faction for quite some time. How he had agreed to work from the inside to keep any real investigations from finding the deserters and how he had become a trusted asset to them. But that wasn’t what I needed to know.

“I don’t give a damn about your life story! I want to know where you’ve taken Stella Rustfeather!” I growled out.

“Stella? Who is that?” The griffin asked.

I applied more pressure to his throat. “The little griffin that you fuckwits kidnapped, now speak.” I growled again.

“I think they took her to the fortress, that’s a four day trip from here to the east.” He croaked out.

I paused at that and eased up on the pressure slightly. I needed to tell the other somehow of what I had learned just now.

“Now what?” he asked, sounding drained when he realized that my questions had ended.

That was a good question. Now what? I thought to myself before a plan started to form in my mind.

“Now you will go and turn yourself in at the garrison. And you will confess to the others what your crimes are with the condition that the griffin by the name of Gilda Rustfeather gets to take part of the information you tell them. You will tell them everything you just told me, however you will not mention anything of what transpired in this alley. Do I make myself clear?” I told him, still pinning him to the wall.

“Nonono, I need to run when the deserters find out that I told you they will hunt me down!” He forced out in a panicked voice.

With an almost jagged motion I let my right arm slip past left that I was using to pin the griffin, fingers brushing across the image of Imagination. With a clanging sound I brought the spear into the wall just next to his head, causing him to stop struggling as his eyes fixated on the spears blade about two centimeters from his head.

“I can end your life right here and now if you feel that’s a better option.” I told him through clenched teeth.

He swallowed loudly once. “I- I will go to the garrison right away.” He stammered.

I kept him pinned for a few seconds longer before slowly easing up on the pressure, and at the same time I let Imagination dissipate.

“Then get going.” I told him, my voice was iron. He nodded hastily before taking a shaky step away from me.

“Oh and one more thing.” I said, causing him to freeze in place. “Don’t even think about trying to run, if you do you’ll wish that the deserters were the ones that found you.”

He gave another sharp nod before scrambling away into the dark, leaving me in the alley with the two griffins I had disabled earlier. I released a shaky breath as I forcibly dropped the mask of anger I had just worn. What the hell am I becoming? I questioned as I stared at my hands. I had just casually threatened to kill him if he disobeyed me. And I would’ve done it. I realized, causing my head to spin violently as felt my legs start to give out. I reached out with hand to steady myself against the wall, and a few shaky breaths later I stumbled away from the alley. Stopping only momentarily to pick up my discarded cloak and to check on the two griffins I had fought earlier. Seeing how both were breathing I left them where they were, although the one I had slammed into the ground had a cracked beak. And as I made it out onto the real streets of Herald’s roost I swore to myself that the others in my party would never hear of what had transpired this night.

Upon my return to the inn the others all but ambushed me, asking if I had found something. However seeing how I had already vowed to share what I had just done I told them that I had found nothing. What followed were the quick reports of what the others had been able to find out, and from what I heard they had done a good job at gathering information. Although from the information they had been able to find little was of use to us. It would seem that Gilda had come to the same conclusion as I had as she looked rather depressed. Had it not been for the fact that I had already been able to find the location of our goal I would’ve more than likely mirrored her feelings. So I displayed a mask of calm outwards, hoping that it would spread to the others.

Before any further planning was made though, a pair of soldiers from the garrison entered the tavern’s ground floor. They let their eyes sweep across the few patrons that were still there before approaching our table.

“Is any one of you Gilda Rustfeather?” One of them asked.

Gilda tilted her head in surprise. “I am her, what’s going on?” She asked, sounding confused.

“Could you please come with us.” The same soldier said, his tone betraying that it wasn’t a request.

Gilda looked over at me, her eyes hesitant. In response I just nodded reassuringly to her. She rose from the table and walked up to the guard, her steps still betraying a bit of hesitance something the other soldier seemed to pick up on.

“Don’t worry ma’am we’ll escort you back here once we’re done.” He told her in a soothing voice.

After throwing a final glance at us Gilda agreed to accompany the soldiers, leaving me with other four members of the group. And as speculations as to what was going on I acted just as oblivious as the rest of them were. I even pitched in with a couple of made up theories to further shift any potential suspicion that I was somehow involved.

When Gilda finally returned it was late in the night, and the ponies had already retired to their rooms. Tired but full of determination Gilda marched up to the table where I had been waiting since she left. With quick words she retold everything I already knew, but I made point to continue playing the part of someone just being informed. I embraced her in a quick hug and agreed that we would set out immediately tomorrow, or at least after we had resupplied our rations.

And as the next morning came about we shared the new information and our new plan with the ponies. I could tell that the information was well received although Twilight did seem slightly skeptical. From that point the morning progressed in a high pace to get everything done, and Twilight seemed to just accept that we were heading out again without any questions. About an hour after we had concluded our breakfast we were outside of Herald’s roost and traveling down the road. In about a mile or so we would reach an intersection and from there we would head east.

Four days later we finally found ourselves in sight of the so called abandoned fortress. However in the quickly decreasing daylight we could clearly see that the fortress was anything but abandoned, especially considering there was small airship currently in the process of dock with a small bridge. I turned to Twilight with a question that had been on my mind for quite some time now.

“Twilight, is there any chance that you can use a spell to find out if Stella is in there?” I asked the alicorn turned griffin.

“I could cast a quick scrying spell but I’d need something of Stella’s to allow the spell to home in her specifically. Otherwise the spell will not be able to distinguish between her and the other griffins in that fortress.” She told me thoughtfully.

I turned to Gilda. “Do you have anything like that with you Gil?” I asked my griffin friend.

Gilda paused for a moment before digging out a small locket from one of her saddlebags, handing it to Twilight. Twilight dropped her transformation so that she could utilize her horn again. Closing her eyes I could tell that she was concentrating as her horn lit up and a familiar pink aura enveloped the locket. The aura seemed to pulse like a slow heartbeat for a few seconds and then Twilight’s eyes snapped open once more.

“Okay, the good news is that Stella definitely is in there.” Twilight said causing my hope to rise.

“The bad news though is that there are way more than the twenty griffins Ranger predicted. In fact I think there’s closer to fifty of them in there.” She continued, causing my emotions to land in some weird sort of equilibrium.

Author's Notes:

And there you have chapter 17 as a Christmas present sort of deal. Anyway I hope you enjoy the new chapter and the comeback of the notorious cliffhanger. The next chapter will probably be released sometime during the first days of the new year so until then have a good one.

Oh and before I forget next chapter will most likely be called, A storm without clouds