The train ride to Aderleth went well… aside from my girlfriend almost pissing herself. That soured her mood a little to be sure, but I’m still gonna tease her for it.

I was just hooking myself to a small wagon which held our belongings when she walked out of the bathroom. I just smirked at her.

“Damn girl, were you fryin’ chicken in there?” she blushed and elbowed my side, hard. I just laughed.

“Shush.”

I just smiled at her then smacked her on the butt with a wing. “Lead the way, honey.” she rolled her eyes and I laughed at her expense.

The town we were walking through was like a New England port/ fishing town. The docks were lively with the smell of saltwater and fish, the markets were full of fishermen hawking their goods, and the college was full of scholars and tradesfolk of all varieties. The north side of town was full of, dare I say it, old Yankee style mansions owned by some of the oldest and richest families in the area.

The dockside was full of brick warehouses and train lines which would deliver imported goods and fish all over the country- and the coastline was so beautiful and blue that I couldn’t help but smile.

In fact, I was so distracted taking in the town’s aesthetics that I failed to watch where I was going.

“Oof!” I accidentally knocked some guy over, causing him to spill his books all over the place. He was a unicorn- light blue with a blonde mane and dark blue eyes… or rather, eye. He wore an eyepatch over his right eye- but he didn’t look much older than us, either. His cutie mark was an odd one, too- it was an eyeball overlaid atop shadowy tendrils surrounding it.

“Woah, sorry, bud!” I quickly bent down to help him recollect his books.

“Ah, appreciate it, Miss!” he spoke in a faint English accent which wasn’t too grating on the ears, thankfully. I just shrugged him off.

“Eh, no big deal. I wasn’t paying attention, it was my fault.” I couldn’t help but notice all the books he was carrying. “Say, you wouldn’t happen to be attending the college, too?”

“Oh, yes I am, actually! I take it that’s what you’re here for?” He had an overall friendly disposition about him. Dee spoke up and said,

“Yeah! My marefriend and I are gonna be attending for the next few years or so, actually!” I just snorted.

“Do I look like a mare to you?” she elbowed my side once again. “What? Tell me I’m wrong.” eyepatch guy gave us a good laugh for that one.

“Anyways, my name’s Leona. Her name’s Diamond Tiara.” I held out a hand. “Nice to meet you, pal!” He shook my hand with a smile.

“Mind’s Eye. A pleasure to meet you both!” That name’s a mouthful.

“How about I call you Emmie instead?” he just cocked an eyebrow at me. “You know, because your initials are M and E.”

“Do I… Do I have a say in the matter?”

“Nope.” After a few moments he chuckled and shrugged.

“Eh, far from the worst thing I’ve ever been called.”

“That’s the spirit!” I gave him a wide grin and a slap on the shoulder. Dee just rolled her eyes.

“Tell you what, I could show the two of you around town if you like?” I was about to open my mouth to respond, but Dee beat me to the punch.

“Oh, we’d love to!” I mean, shit, what else was I gonna do? Sit at the apartment and masturbate meditate?

And besides, I kinda like this guy.

“Throw your books on the cart. Let’s walk and talk.”

And we did just that. Honestly, I really liked this guy. He said he’s attending the college mainly for archaeology, history, and occult research- but he would also be attending chemistry with me as well.

He looked at me and asked-

“So, you’re attending chemistry, smithing and woodworking?”

“Hell yeah I am! And Dee over here is going to learn about business management, marketing, and a little bit of history on the side.” He blinked his eye at us and asked,

“Wait… you wouldn’t happen to be the ones who invented that… thunderpipe the professors were going on about?”

“Damn right! Wanna see it?” I asked, pulling the Mark 1 out from the cart. “And for the record, it’s called a gun.”

“Mind if I-” I nodded and he took it in his magic, examining it. Then he turned it to look down the barrel.

“NO-NO DON’T DO THAT!” I ripped it out of his magical grasp and he damn near jumped. “Always treat a gun as if it were loaded. If this were to go off somehow… well, they’ll be scraping your brains and your one good eye off the nearby wall.” I was… fairly certain it was unloaded- but it’s not like I could do a quick chamber check, now could I?

“O-oh, uh, my apologies.” He looked flustered and I just laughed.

“Eh, fuhgeddaboudit.” I set the Mark 1 back in the wagon. “Anyways, what’ve the professors been saying about it?”

“Well, a lot of the excitement is coming from the griffon professors. Many of them were forced to leave their homeland, so… I can imagine some of them are still a bit bitter, if you catch my meaning.” I snorted.

“Fuck, you’re telling me.” I clicked my tongue and asked- “What’s your opinion on the dogs, anyway?”

He cocked an eyebrow and asked, “You mean the diamond dogs? Or dogs in general?”

“Both, I suppose.” I said with a shrug. He bit his lip and thought for a minute.

“Well… As for regular dogs, I’ve never really been a fan. I’ve always been more of a cat person.” A smirk appeared on my face. “And as for the Diamond Dog situation… Well, I don’t agree with what they’re doing. They’re basically willing to let an entire nation collapse because they felt they got a mediocre deal.”

I slapped him on the back with a wing. “You and I are gonna be good pals, I can tell you that much.” He smiled in response.

“Glad to hear it.”

The rest of the trip was spent bullshitting with each other, but I did have to make a stop at the butcher shop on the way. Emmie parted ways not long after that- but promised we’d probably be seeing each other soon enough. It was getting late, anyway.

I was munching on a stick of pepperoni when we pulled up to the apartment. On a side note- being able to buy meat on the regular is something I planned on taking full advantage of.

And the apartment we were gonna be living in… well, to call it an apartment would be an understatement. See, we let her father pick the place out. Dee trusted his judgement and he fuckin delivered, lemme tell ya.

It was a two story house, basically. It had a front porch and the front door led to a hallway with a staircase. To the left was the living room. To the right was the dining room, with a decent sized kitchen attached. Down the hallway was the bathroom. Going up the stairs and facing forward you’ll find a large office room, with the master bedroom to the left. When you go right, you’ll come across the semi-open smoking balcony.

The house came pre-furnished and the pantry and fridge were well stocked with everything except meat and liquor. We wasted no time unpacking, leaving all our books and stuff in the upstairs office, along with my gunpowder and saltpeter supply. Our clothes, for when we did wear them, were sequestered into drawers and the closet.

This house… is fuckin sweet.

---

After a few months, the school year was in full swing- and I’d already made several improvements to my designs. In fact, talking to the griffon professors has been fantastic, as some of them were soldiers in the past.

In terms of overall ergonomics, I’ve found that pistols would likely be the most practical for combat. Anything that requires two-hands to use gives you a disadvantage by default- since we’re quadrupeds, that almost completely limits one of our planes of movement. So as a result, the majority of griffons throughout history have preferred to use one handed swords with either a buckler or completely forgoing the shield.

There are some historical exceptions, however- I remember one time when I could’ve sworn I read about a griffon warrior who wielded a greatsword made from a black dragon's scale and flew into battle carrying a unicorn on his back- but that might have also been a made up fever dream from when I caught the bird flu. Apparently, weapons like that are far more practical mid-flight.

As for things like crossbows- rather than a proper stock which you would shoulder, most crossbows are either stockless or have a long piece on the back, which you could tuck under your arm for stability.

As a result- the tanegashima form factor I already made would potentially be quite practical. The other thing I wanted to try my hand at was an arquebus type rifle with one of the “stick stocks,” as I’ve begun to call them.

Although first and foremost, I want to make a proper rifling machine before I even attempt to design a rifle. After all, they would be quite cumbersome and difficult for a griffon to handle and load, so I would want to ensure that the accuracy will be good enough to make up for it. I’m thinking of making it a proper .69 caliber, firing a sort of minie ball. I know the E is supposed to have an accent above it- but I don’t care.

The pistols, however, are where I would be putting the most thought into.

I’m still planning on using a flintlock mechanism for them- but I’m also planning on using rifled barrels for them as well.

I can imagine you’d have an army fielded with rifles firing volleys at the enemy from range- and whenever they get close, engage them with your sword. Someone tries to sneak up and gang up on you- whip out the handcannon with your offhand and blast them away! OH, OH! BAYONETS! Gotta have bayonets- that way you can have a rifle and a spear! Triangular shaped, of course- wouldn’t want our enemies stitching themselves shut, now would we?

Speaking of melee- Emmie convinced me to join the after school sparring classes with him. While I don’t claim to be anywhere near an expert with melee weapons- unless you count an icepick- it turns out, I’m pretty decent with a cutlass.

Not only that, but dueling with ponies, unicorns in particular, has much more nuance than I initially thought. The one fighting method all ponies share is mouthguard fighting. Basically, the pony wears a specialized mouthguard to protect their teeth, and uses their head and upper body to swing their sword. It’s surprisingly versatile, too- pony necks are much more flexible than you’d think.

It does have its disadvantages, though- First problem is dampening communication. After all- it’s hard to speak with your mouth full. The second problem is lack of thrusting capability. And the third? Well, a hard enough strike could easily break their teeth and jaw- so not ideal. This method is really only good for close quarters combat in tight spaces, or as a last ditch effort.

Generally, this is the pegasi’s method of fighting- but the pegasi have the advantage of flight and nimbleness, much like the griffons. They also often will mount spears to their side, tucked beneath their wings, or drop heavy flechettes on their enemies heads. They’re essentially bombers and scouting troops- and they can also affect the weather. I’ve read of pegasi army’s moving lightning storms over their enemies heads, flooding the battlefield, or creating fucking tornadoes to fight their enemies.

Griffons can also do that, to a lesser extent, though. But generally, we let the weather do its own thing, except in sensitive farming communities where the weather could make or break the populace.

Earth ponies on the other hand, rely much on their hooves to inflict damage. Even weak ones have much, much stronger muscles than the other races- remember when Dee was literally kicking trees to make the apples fall? Imagine if she continued to develop her muscles and strength? How firm and well toned her flanks would be?

…

Unf. If I had proper lips, I’d be biting them.

Where was I… ah, yes. That’s why in terms of weaponry, earth ponies tend to use forms of caesti or reinforced gauntlets to fight. I’m sure that, if ol’ Big Mac wanted, he could probably uproot a tree with a kick. Imagine what he’d do to someone’s skull? BONK!

And unicorns, unsurprisingly, often take advantage of their magic. Thankfully though, few unicorns are actually proficient in combat magic apart from the basic stuff- so your run-of-the-mill unicorn warrior will typically hone their telekinesis and can use it for either melee or ranged fighting with crossbows.

Initially I thought that fighting against a unicorn would be an unwinnable fight- but I was wrong. It’s quite hard for a unicorn to focus on finely controlling multiple objects at once, so my theory of them jamming a dagger into your back while you’re focused on their front is… well it could happen, but it’s rare.

Their telekinesis, while quite precise and agile, has a distinct disadvantage; A well placed hit against their sword will essentially knock it out of their grasp, leaving them wide open for a counter attack.

And as for the dogs? Well, their fighting style varies between the clans. Some prefer melee, some prefer ranged, and some prefer to just bury themselves and hide. But one thing is shared among them all- their stature. While they can stand bipedally, the large majority of them are knuckle walkers, and that translates into their fighting style. Their legs are quite weak- so being able to stand up and charge like a human is… possible, but impractical.

They’re still quite versatile fighters, especially when you consider that they can easily turn the battlefield itself against you. I have a few ideas for ensuring victory, though.

Phase one- is a secret. But the idea is to flush them out and make them experience terror and heavy losses before they even think to dig up. Once they’re out of their holes, I’ll have a company of soldiers begin firing volleys from an advantageous position on the emerging beasts.

After that? Charge! Emerge from the gunsmoke like demons! Break their will, show them no mercy! Round them up, look into their eyes, they beg for their lives!

KILLING GROUND!

Wait. What?

But anyways.

I, personally, have mostly been doing well. It’s been… difficult, knowing how far away I am from Mamma. It… it hurts, to be honest. She was always there for me- when I needed company, morally sound advice…

I remember one time, I came down with a real bad case of bird flu. She took a week off of work just to help nurse me back to health. It would’ve healed on its own- but I like to think Mamma made it go away faster. She would sing to me, provide me company, make my meals… all for my sake. I feel undeserving of it all and when I expressed that sentiment to her, she told me to shut my beak.

Fair.

It’s just… I feel like I owe her the world, but she insists that I don’t owe her a thing. But- I suppose that the best I can do is just keep writing back and forth with her.

In fact, I recently sent her a “care package” of a variety of cured meats and other assorted goodies for her birthday. You know- stuff that wouldn’t go bad in transit. It’s the least I could do.

But thankfully- I have the best mare in the world at my side here. She knows how hard it’s been for me to be away from Mamma for so long, so she’s really made sure to be there for me when I needed her and helped me get through many of the difficult early nights.

One time she jokingly called me a “Mamma’s filly” and you know what my response was? I said Fuck yeah I am! And don’t you forget it!

I honestly feel kind of bad for her- her mother’s always been a cunt, and her father, though he loves her with all his heart, has always been distant because of work. It’s… a shame, really.

But, as long as we’re here for each other, I believe we can make the world our bitch!

“Baaabe!” I heard my darling whine from behind me- “When are you coming to bed?” I looked up from the desk I’d been writing at- My glass of whiskey on the rocks has long since melted, and it was pretty dark outside.

“Huh… I guess I’ve been at it for a while.” I quickly slammed back the glass of watered down whiskey and shut my journal.

I followed her into the room, and I wasted no time hopping on the bed. She turned out the lights and joined me, and I grabbed her and pulled her into my body. She made for an excellent little spoon. Her mane was soft, and smelled like strawberries, too.

“I love you, baby.”

“I love you too, sweetie.”

I actually have an image reference for Mind's Eye!

He's an old OC of mine- and the image was made by @MiniKrasnyy aaages ago.

As always, thank you for reading! Likes and comments are encouraged and appreciated greatly :3