The time has come.

We were all in the courtyard at the royal castle and I was standing off to the side of the king beside his daughter and his wife, who seems to be trying to stay awake and is being held upright with the assistance from a royal guard. I don't know if she finds this boring or had a rough night and didn't get much sleep.

Either way, she is here and is at least making the attempt to stay awake while the king drones on about honor and other crap that I am too nervous to properly remember.

The griffon king was standing on a raised platform as he gave a rousing speech on how I, an Outlander that had nothing to gain from this but a contract from an aging griffon to retrieve the Idol of Boreas from the Abysmal Abyss. He talked about how I risked my life and that of my diamond dog friend to rescue his daughter from her diamond dog captors, and afterward when she was captured by Tazul and his crew of bandits. He also talked about how I brought Tazul to justice for trying to overthrow him and that those that assisted him in capturing his daughter and stalling her return from Equestria will be brought to justice.

My ceremony for kicking ass and taking names, saving a princess and retrieving an ancient relic from the depths of an abyss that nobody else could have done all in a nutshell.

Now normally I would be ecstatic that I was receiving such an honor but seeing how I have to stand in front of a massive crowd of griffons, both high born noble and commoner alike standing in front of me, watching my every move all the while listening intently to their king talking about me. I am not one for being in front of a crowd because I hate being the center of attention, it makes my legs turn to jelly and the fact that so many people are paying attention to me means that if I fuck up, they will probably remember this for the rest of their life.

So, no pressure on my part.

I was being held up by a crudely made crutch and that I was slightly wobbling in place due to my legs still being pieces of shit but for the moment I can endure the hot garbage and suck it up until this is over.

"And now, Ian Wilkinson, come forward." The griffon king said and for a moment I thought he said something else, but when my nurse nudged my left leg I realized that he was actually calling for me to step forward and present myself to him.

There is literally no way I could fuck this up for all eternity.

You would be surprised what the masses will remember these days little mortal.

'Oh fuck off, will you! I do not need you trying to fuck me over mentally! I am already stressed the fuck out on the inside!'

And now soon you will be stressed out on the outside too! Just imagine all of those lovely noble hens out there vying for your attention! An outsider, made into a noble no less who was also blessed by the king himself! All of them will be trying to get your undivided attention along with throwing themselves at you to sire your child! Oh, this is so exciting!

That grabbed my attention instantly, why the hell would they be throwing themselves at me? Aren't griffon nobles normally prideful and wouldn't ever go outside the species, even if that outsider has a high position in griffon society? Maybe those that aren't nobles and highborn would be coming after my ass cause they want a piece of the exotic, but the nobles?

Isn't it grand! Now not only are you working pretty much as a slave to that nag of a hen who you rescued but are now also have to do with the deadly decadent court that is the Griffon Nobility AND you have to deal with a bunch of hens and a few cocks that want a piece of your meat!

'Stop enjoying my misery and pain!'

Never!

Feeling another nudge from my left side, I exhaled quietly to myself and slowly made my way forward towards the king, my crutch creaking along the way as I put my weight onto it.

I was about halfway to the king when that piece of shit crutch cracked in half and I nearly toppled over and ate shit in front of well over three hundred griffons, but by the grace of god, Morgan Freeman, or that cunt of a god/goddess that brought me here I caught myself from falling completely over and landing face first.

Catching myself from falling I landed on my left knee, my right foot still maintaining a firm hold on the stonework as my nurse and a pair of royal guards came up from behind me to try and assist me up but I waved them off.

'I will not let my crap body fail on me now! I did not kill a bunch of griffons, beat up a couple of diamond dogs, and whooped a bat horse's ass just to fuck up and embarrass the human race in front of a bunch of fucking griffons!'

Good luck with that.

Clenching my teeth at the wobbly numbness that my legs are currently going through, I forced myself to stand up as I tried my best to ignore the burning sensation that was now climbing up my legs as I made steady progress to the king who was giving me a look that mixed with admiration and curiosity. Bet he is curious why my crutch broke on me in front of the locals.

The moment I got to the king he spoke again but this time he was stone-faced and was speaking with a loud, clear authoritative tone in his voice.

"Ian Wilkinson, Outlander from beyond Griffonia, you have been deemed worthy for this high estate by the Lords and Ladies of Griffonstone and beyond, and have indicated your willingness to accept this honor from Our talons."

'Wait, did these people really discuss this with each other to see if I should be a freaking noble or not?'

It appears so, I never did understand the way these griffons run things here...it is so much better to let the natural order of things dictate everything!

"Do you now swear by all that you hold sacred, true, and holy that you will honor and defend the Crown and Kingdom of Griffonia?"

'Is he making me a noble or a knight? This shit sounds like something the king n queen of England would say before knighting some poor bastard.'

Seems like it, but I wonder which will bother you more?

'Don't know, but I really want to know which is a higher step on the social ladder of the two.'

Fuck if I know, I hardly pay attention to what these griffons do with their time, but I bet you will be getting love letters soon after this is over with! So go get em, tiger!

'Oh go fuck yourself.'

I would if I could! I'm so hot that I would gladly fuck myself!

'So petty...'

Don't be trying to talk to shit to me mortal, I am quick with the shade today so take a step back bitch.

'Damn girl you spicy.'

Don't you forget it, boy, I can easily turn you into a pile of shit with the snap of my paw if I wanted to!

Hesitating a bit from what the unidentified deity said to me and from what the griffon king said aloud, I took a deep breath, nutted up, and said what I hope was to be expected of me to say.

"I will."

Next to speak up was the queen herself, and I must say, if she was a tavern worker I would probably try to get a roll in the hay with her...if she was human that is...definitely not going native...

"Outlander, will you honor, defend, and protect all who come before you and those that are weaker than you in their time of need?"

"I will." Not that I have much of a choice, people tend to ask the bigger, stronger person to save their skin when shit goes downhill.

It went back to the king as he took a step forward.

"Outlander, will you always conduct yourself proper and just, to honor your peers and to Noble and Commoner alike?"

"I will." Well, not always, I am pretty sure I will be blunt with anyone who talks to me, but I can pass it off to them that is just how I am. That and I can honestly give two shits if someone snitches on me, I rescued your princess and got your gold trophy back, so go fuck yourself I did the impossible twice!

"Outlander, will you conduct yourself in all matters as befits a knight, drawing your sword only for a just cause? That you will secure in your heart the noble ideals of chivalry to the benefit of your own name and the greater glory of Griffonia?"

"I shall." So I can't take my sword out and bitch slap someone with the flat part of my sword if someone is being an asshole? Eh, I am sure I can do it if it was someone that was deserving it.

Probably.

The crowd behind me start to rumble and mumble, what is happening is clearly getting them all antsy in the pantsy, but that isn't bothering me. What is bothering me besides my numb legs is that the king just drew his sword and was holding it high above his head.

'Motherfucker you better not cut me down in front of everyone! I still didn't get to fuck one of you!'

Really now? Is that going to be your last thought on this planet? That you didn't get to fuck a griffon? If I knew how to properly motivate you into doing your job I would have manipulated quite a number of lonely hens to come after you as if they were in heat and you were their only source of relief.

'Shut up!'

With the gilded sword now in his talons, the king looked at me long and hard as he slowly lowered the blade towards me, not in a killing blow but more like a love tap.

"Then having sworn these solemn oaths, know now that We, Guto and Victoria, by right of arms, King and Queen of Griffonia, do dub you with Our sword, Sky Render, and by all that you hold sacred, true, and holy..."

"Once for honor..." I felt a tap on my left shoulder, the elation that I was feeling right now...

I am just praying now that I don't shit myself, oh the humiliation that would be.

"Twice for duty..." A tap on my right shoulder.

"Thrice for chivalry..." And lastly a tap on my head.

"Now arise, Sir Ian of House Wilkinson-" I think I just shit myself...there is no way he just said the one thing I was hoping he was going to say.

Standing up slowly as to not get my legs to betray me by toppling out from underneath me, I rose to my full height

Welcome to knighthood, now you get to escort little old ladies cross the street, stop purse-snatchers and rescue the princess stuck in a tall tower from a nasty dragon. Good for you!

'Wait, but if I am a knight, where the hell am I going to be staying? I know my tenure with the griffon princess isn't going to be forever, and usually, knights either have their own chunk of land to rule over or a house/manor/castle to call their own.'

Oh, you are going to love your new home.

'I already got a feeling of dread and regret...'

Coming up beside the king, the queen had what looked like a sash made of some sort of leather, if the odd coloration and thickness was any clue. I don't really know my medieval stuff but if this is part of the whole knighting process than I am all for it. The leather sash has been dyed a sky blue color, probably matching the griffons affinity for flying, imprinted in the middle of the sash was the symbol that the griffons were using probably for their flag, it was a three-headed griffon, or probably three griffons just closely packed together as it had six arms and each one was holding something different.

I saw a bundle of arrows wrapped around a sword, a sack of coins, a hammer, a bundle of scrolls, a sickle, and a staff of some kind. Don't know what it means but if its anything like the eagle on the dollar bill and some other government shit than it is probably important.

Assuming that this sash isn't some kind of mark for death kind of thing.

"Sir Wilkinson, accept this sash, symbolizing your honor, the sign of the Order of Talons, and of your knightly rank." Queen Victoria says as she hands the sash to the captain of the guard, the veteran accepts it from his queen before walking over to me, flaps his wings and with a few wing beats was in the air and the sash was placed around my waist.

This thing was more akin to a belt for me but eh, guess they had to make due to me being a big ass alien to them.

Taking a step back and away from both the king and myself, the queen moved back beside her daughter as another griffon steps forward, this time carrying with them a rather large case.

I didn't have to be a genius or a history buff to know what was supposed to be inside.

This new griffon that was stepping forward I have never seen before, but I can bet whatever money I got that this guy right here must be the castle's blacksmith or master forger or something related to the title of creating weapons and armor for the royal guards. Said griffon approaching looks like he is covered in soot and smoke, unless that is his fur and feather color cause this would be the first all-black griffon I have ever seen...not being racist now, its just all of the other griffons I've seen so far have at least two to three different colors of fur, feathers and fluff on them.

Anyways...this griffon was wearing a fancy looking blacksmith apron, it was thick-looking leather, an even thicker-looking glove on his left talon, and what looks like a sweat-rag of sorts tied around his forehead.

Taking the sword out from the case, it was sheathed in a scabbard appears to be made out of some sort of metal or scales, if the segments that line the thing is of any indication. Another thing about this sword is that it appears to be one hell of a blade, fuck the damn thing looks like it almost belongs in an anime show...not saying that I watch anime, the blade on the sword just looks both unwieldy and unnecessary.

"Accept this sword which shall symbolize your duty and your bond as a Liege-Lord in fealty to the Crown of Griffonia. Never forget the burden that now bears its weight upon your shoulders. With this sword, you now act in our stead when you are beyond our reach, your actions and judgment will reflect upon Us both and upon all griffon-kind."

Before the king could hand the sword over to me, he held it out before my gaze, the sword truly looked beautiful but for a moment I thought he was going to say something but when the queen kneeled close enough to me to whisper into my ear, I heard what I had to do next.

Swear fealty to the crown.

I was expecting this, to pretty much give my loyalty to the monarchy even though I am an outsider to their nation, hell, I wasn't even expecting them to make me a knight or a noble, just someone to be called an upstanding citizen so that the rest of the griffons would look up to me.

But to be made into a noble or a knight...well I guess I should have seen this coming, I did save the king's daughter and retrieve their holy idol so yeah...go me.

Taking a deep breath I thought up of something to say, anything that came to mind and uttered out loud enough for all to hear me.

"I swear upon this day that I render fealty to my Sovereign Lord and Lady, the King and Queen of Griffonia and all of their domain, who shall forth from this day be my Liege Lord and Lady. I will remain true in all of my ways, serving crown and country faithfully until my dying breath. Upon this oath I swear, by sash and blade, by honor and faith, I shall carry out your will on this day and for all days to come."

Looking down at me as I stared into the king's eyes, I saw for a brief moment a hint of something in his eyes, possibly acceptance of my fealty, or maybe acknowledging that I am now one of his own citizens. Whatever the case may be I saw the faintest hints of a smile upon that beak of his before he went back to his stony expression.

Sheathing the sword away, the king placed it back where he got it before the royal captain took the sheathed blade away from him and passed it on to me. Taking the knightly weapon from the royal captain I strapped the weapon to my belt and made sure it was secured to my waist with a tight yank on the leather strap, almost making me wheeze just from how I tight I accidentally made it.

"Sir Wilkinson, let this be the last blow you receive unanswered." and before I could ponder what he meant by it, he raised his right talon at me and brought it down across my face.

I was not truly expecting to be smacked in front of an audience of well over a few hundred griffons, but what made me more caught off guard was the fact that this was a part of the knighting ceremony.

Now thankfully, his talons were closed into a fist so instead of slashing my face up some more, I instead got decked in the face. And to make this worse for me, he was wearing some large fucking rings, and those fucking things hurt! They might as well be god damn brass knuckles with how large and heavy those things are!

Getting clocked in the face I was knocked off my already wobbly legs as I fell to my face, the pain from getting hit and the resulting stinging sensation from the blow was keeping me from getting back up.

While he wasn't using his talons to strike me down, those rings of his did a bit of damage to me. And by damage I mean he cracked a tooth that was already fucked up, so that blow finished the job and popped that fucker out. Rotating my jaw a bit when I felt something inside my jaw rattle around so I spat it out and sitting there in a small puddle of spit and blood was a molar, or well...the cracked half remains of a molar.

Looking back up to the king I saw that he grimaced ever so slightly, I guess that he wasn't expecting that to happen but then again I take it that his knights are all griffons so they wouldn't be losing teeth when cracked in the face with those heavy ass rings of his seeing how griffons don't have teeth.

Steadily getting back onto my knee to kneel before the king as he continued to talk.

"Now rise, Sir Wilkinson, a Knight of the Endless Sky! Go now, and may the winds of fate lift you ever higher in the eyes of the gods!" The king helped me stand up and spun me around, facing the massive gathering of griffons as he proclaims me a knight of his kingdom.

The griffons of the lower class, aka the ones I have talked to and ate with, were cheering the loudest while many of the nobles were cheering, sadly there were a few that kept silent and were glaring up at me.

It would seem that the nobles that are not too happy to see that an outsider has suddenly risen up to knighthood before any of them. While they were glaring at me, a few of them were already plotting to remove me from my position as a knight. How could I tell they were trying to get rid of me? The fact that they were giving me the stink eye and that they looked agitated at just the sight of me.

Ignoring the uptight snob fucks in the front row I turned my attention to the rest of the crowd, my eyes scanning the crowd to try and find those I called friends and to my surprise, they were standing just behind the nobles. The few friends I do have were waving at me, I saw Scrawny was standing beside Grandpa Gruff, the diamond dog was still bandaged up but he looks like he is getting better. Grandpa Gruff was standing beside his two bodyguards and he was wearing what amounts to a fancy shirt for griffons, it was a semi-high collar vest with a sash around his neck and to top it off he had a belt with a sword sheathed to his right side.

Gilda and Greta were present as well and the two were just wearing what looks like half of a shirt with a partial high collar and a long dress skirt. From here I see that Gilda does not approve of what she is wearing and is trying her hardest not to rip the damn things off while Greta on the other hand, she looks like she has done this before and is simply bearing through it with a smile on her face while internally she is thinking on setting her clothes on fire the first chance she gets.

With it all said and done I was allowed to walk among the masses and talk to them although all I wanted to do at that moment was to get some salt water to wash out my mouth and to get an icepack for my jaw cause it was hurting like a motherfucker.

Hobbling off of the stage I made my way towards the crowd of griffons and I must say that for the most part, I was expecting only for about half of the griffons here to even acknowledge the fact that their king made an outsider a knight but it would seem that every single commoner is in attendance here and that they all approve of my elevation in station. The wealthy and the highborn on the other hand, it was a split choice on the matter, half of them seem to be accepting of me while the other half is glaring daggers at me.

Walking into the crowd of griffons I shook talons, hugged commoners who wanted to hug the one who recovered their sacred idol and rescued their princess from a bunch of rogues.

Next came the questions from both commoner and noble alike.

"Where did you come from?"
"What are you? You don't look like the typical diamond dog or minotaur?"
"How old are you? You look a little young to be traveling the world."
"How did you get into the abyss! None of us could fly in there and you don't have any wings!"
"Can you tell us why Lord Tazul tried to usurp the throne from our king?"
"Are you single?"
"Why were you knighted when the rest of us nobles have yet to receive such an honor!"
Are you looking for a flock yet?"
"Are you a grass-muncher or a meat-eater!"
"Why are you crippled? Are you sick or were those from an honorable battle?"

Now, normally I would answer all of these questions in the most asinine or dickish manner, but seeing how I have been knighted by the highest authority in the land and that he was standing right behind me on stage, it would make him look bad for making the worlds biggest asshole a person with power and authority.

Seeing how I cant answer these griffons in my normal manner, I had to do it in my most unused manner.

I had to be nice.

Just being nice makes my skin crawl, and for good reason.

I got into trouble for being nice, so I stopped being nice and went full neutral just to stay out of trouble.

"Alright calm down everybody, calm down. Now I know that all of you want your questions answered, so I will try to do it to the best of my abilities." And by answer I mean try not to get flustered or awkward while I say that I am single to a crowd of griffons in which about half of them are female.

And what do single female griffons do when there is a single male knight who just said that he is single? Try to get his attention by flaunting their body, being seductive, bribing me for a good time, trying to get me drunk for a one-nighter, actually asking me out on a date or outright forcing themselves upon me.

Two of those things are bad and they don't belong there, but sadly I know that some of these lonely hens out there will try one, some or all of these methods to try to get into my pants for an easy way into nobility.

I ain't having any of it...alright maybe a little bit of griffon, I will not be carrying a virgin card in this world, I will do what Captain Kirk of the Starship Enterprise has done in his time, sleep with all of the alien species out there.

Regardless if it is possible or not!

"Alright, so what was your question again?" I said as I pointed to some random griffon in the crowd.

The griffon I pointed at was chestnut brown in body fur color with beige head feathers and deep blue eyes. This griffon was wearing an aquamarine and white striped headband with a matching aquamarine collar that had what looked like rubies embedded in it. Seeing that I was pointing at them, the griffon in question stepped up towards me and stopped about three feet away from me.

Straightening out the collar they were wearing the griffon in question opened their beak and the voice that came out was feminine and refined, obviously a hen of either high class or was educated and was taught some manners.

"Yes, my question is that where did you come from? You do not look like any Minotaur from the Andersite Mountains nor do you look like any Diamond Dog from any of the clans, so from where do you call home?" Ah, just like with the princess and the diamond dogs, always gotta be someone who asks me of my origins.

Rolling my eyes at the basic question I answered her the same way I did the princess. I told her that I am from anther continent and that it is hard to reach. And as for the griffon that asked me about what I am, well...

"I am a human, what we lack in size and strength of the minotaurs and diamond dogs, we make up for our industriousness, our persistence and also our immunity to magic." And seeing how that I have the means to pretty much give these people the great advancements of human ingenuity and creation, I could make myself into a billionaire if I sold the means to the right people.

And as for the rest of the questions they had to ask me, I answered them in rapid succession.

"My age is not of your concern, just know that I am young, spry and still in relatively good condition."

"I climbed into the abyss by anchoring myself to the ground with some rope and steadily made my way down until I got the idol, sadly that was also the same time that I got captured by diamond dogs that was living nearby cause they were watching me the entire time."

"I dont know why he tried to take the throne, but if its like any other power play, Tazul probably thought that he could do better than the current guy on the throne. Most times those people are not worthy of the throne and their rule ends in an uprising that either restores the old rule or instates some bright-eyed idealist."

"Yes I am single, and what the hell is a flock? Is that some sort of harem or something?" It was oddly quiet from the griffons when I asked what a flock is, just from the context clues I bet its more of a family unit thing or something related to family.

"No I am not a pure grass-muncher nor am I a pure meat-eater, I can eat both fruit and vegetables along with meat, but I prefer my meat and fish cooked, not raw."

"And the reason why I am crippled is that it pertains to my knighting, I went down into the Abysmal Abyss and retrieved the idol only to be captured by diamond dogs and it was during my brief captivity that I met your princess behind bars along with her entourage of royal guards. I was released from the prison cell because the d-dogs thought I was one of them so they had me work for them brief amount of time and with it I thought of a way to escape. The moment I saw my chance I took it, broke out the princess and her guards and got out of there."

"Another reason as to why I was knighted is that when we away from the diamond dogs, Tazul's goons were upon us and we were captured, he let me go along with my diamond dog companion because he thought that he could buy my silence about his plan but it didn't work because I was going to tell the king regardless if he paid me or not, but his plan was going to fail because he made an enemy out of me by giving me a fake idol and handing me a bag of fake gold. The moment the king and I found out that the gold and idol were both fakes I went back to where Tazul was hiding out and laid siege to it while the king's own task force of loyal knights were making sure that no one else was hiding."

"My injures came from the numerous bandits that were under Tazul's employment along with Tazul himself. While I may be immune to magic it didn't mean that talons and metal weapons don't work against me. I nearly died from my injuries but it only makes me stronger, so the next time Tazul or any of his cronies that wanted to rebel against the king comes along, I will be more than ready to take them on!" I shouted to the masses, letting them know that I couldn't be bought off and that I will relentlessly pursue someone if they try something they shouldn't be.

After a while the questions from the griffons started to die down and soon enough we were allowed to retire for the day so every single griffon that was in the crowd went back home.

Meanwhile the royal griffons, the guards and myself headed back to the castle as a group but when I opened my mouth regarding my punishment to serve Princess Eraclea came up...well it ended as well as one can expect.

"So...I take it I am still your daughter's retainer?" there was hope in my voice but like all things it was dashed aside like a fart in the breeze.

"Of course you still are Sir Wilkinson, this is your punishment after all so don't try finding a way to wiggle out of it." The king said with a bit of a grin to his beak as he looked back at me. At least lie to me you old bastard!

"Damn it, I was hoping that by being a knight that it would except me from this punishment." And like all things, hope is a lie!

"Ha! Don't worry, in five years time I am sure that you will have worked off your assignment and be able to live your life no longer being chained to my daughter's side. Just take your punishment like a cock and be happy that you are able to be by my beloved daughter's side where so many other highborn have only dreamed of having!"

Looking at the king before turning my attention to his daughter, I could only roll my eyes and discreetly cough into my hand.

Oh stop being such a sourpuss! Maybe someday you two can get used to each other's presence long enough to actually enjoy one another! I can hear the wedding bells now!

'I hate you so much right now that I bet you can just feel the hatred radiating from me from here.'

"Now then, my newest knight, accompany us back to the castle and escort my family to their rooms before going to your own. One of the maids will guide you to your new home for the time being." And with that said the four of us were off, heading back to the royal castle with a contingent of royal guards in tow.

While most people would say that being near the royal family back home would be something you could remember for the rest of your life, but for me it is starting to feel like it might actually be the death of me.

Dropping off the king and queen in their quarters, which happened to be in a tower that was connected to the castle by a short stone bridge. The path leading up to their quarters was heavily guarded and it was only because I was a knight and that I was escorting the royal family that I was even allowed to be in that particular section of the castle. And as for the princess that I rescued twice now, well she seemed to be keeping a fair distance away from me but she was still within reaching distance in the event we get ambushed by would-be assassins.

Following the young griffon princess to her room I hobbled steadily beside her, it turns out her room is across from her parents in the sense that it was within the main castle itself, it was just in the same hall as the one that leads to the tower.

And as for where my room is located...

It is right next to the princess's on its right, it is connected by a hidden door that she showed me while I was in her room briefly. This hidden door was only to be used in the absolute of emergencies such as a coup happening, an invasion from a foreign kingdom, or a full-scale dragon attack.

I dont know when any of those would ever happen but it is better safe than sorry.

When I entered my room I saw that it was bare of anything, it was spartan to such a degree that all it had was a bed and a single cabinet with a small closet and bathroom. It wasn't the best looking of rooms but it sure as hell was way better than the prison cells I was thrown in and the shitty stone one I was given when I was with the diamond dogs.

'Well, it is better than nothing...guess this is all I have to work with until I either get my own place to live in or get more furniture for my room. Either way I am getting more things to fill this empty ass space up.'

I wonder what my life has in store for me now that I am working as somebody's retainer.

Probably going to be boring as fuck lectures and some other bullshit educational dribble I am also expected to learn.

Fuck me! Its going to be like high school all over again!

Next Chapter: Intermission: Canterlot News Estimated time remaining: 11 Hours, 16 Minutes