private The Key To Trust (1x1 between Courageous Thunder and Dark Horse

[Dark Horse 12,795]

@Courageous Thunder Dash

Grovus acknowledged Thundy's reassurances, though he struggled to shake the cloud of doubt weighing on him. He knew how damaging anger could be. He felt his own anger had driven others from him, and how he had allowed it to rule his heart and sink him into a pit of apathy and emptiness. He just didn't know how else to feel.

"Maybe your friend can explain more to me. Where do we go to find her?"

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,809]

@Dark Horse

”She lives at the Outer Flanks. The beach is a special place for her. Again, she had quite the tragedy happen to her, but she didn’t let that define who she is.” Thundy explained leading the way. 

[Dark Horse 12,795]

@Courageous Thunder Dash

The beach? Curious, thought Grovus. He'd never known another Griffon to live near the shores. Normally his kind preferred the mountainous regions. He couldn't imagine what was special about it.

"Maybe it's better if she tells me herself, but... what was this 'tragedy' she experienced?" He asked inquisitively.

Grovus wondered if she had been as affected by the fall of the Griffon Kingdom as he was, or was it perhaps something else?

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,809]

@Dark Horse

”I’ll let her tell you.” Thundy stated as he continued to walk. The path started to become sandy. Thundy let out a sigh of content as his paws and talons traversed the sandy path. “I love the feeling of soft sand.” Thundy said. 

[Dark Horse 12,795]

@Courageous Thunder Dash

The soft sand of their path cushioned Grovus' talons as they walked, and he found that the sensation helped put his mind at ease. His years spent as a scout had conditioned the Griffon to take in his surroundings with particular attention to detail, and it enabled him to have good perception of any recent tracks or activities that may have occurred. In his earlier years, he had sometimes come to secluded places to meditate and relax, and would sometimes feel a serene sense of bonding with the land itself, as though an even deeper form of magic perhaps existed within him. Unfortunately, he had never had the time to really consider it further, and when the Kingdom fell and Grovus' sense of purpose with it, his clouded mind and weighted heart prevented him from feeling how he once had. Now he assumed that he was simply too jaded and numb to feel anything.

Grovus lifted a talon full of sand and allowed it to run through his claws. "Look how easily it can all slip away from you.." he muttered somberly.

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,809]

@Dark Horse

Thundy’s left ear twitched, causing him to stop. He sighed. He felt Grovous’ pain. It seemed it affected him so much, that it prevented him from taking in even the littlest of things, like the feeling of the sand. “Grovous…it’s hard I know. But you have to start telling yourself that you can overcome this. Start believing in yourself…it will take time. Start appreciating the little things like the feeling of the sand or the wonderful colors of nature…” Thundy said as the smell of the saltwater ocean drew upon them. 

[Dark Horse 12,795]

@Courageous Thunder Dash

Grovus wished he could have had more faith, but he found it like an insurmountable wall was in front of him. This was all he had known for so long, and the idea of being free of it just seemed so... impossible to him. But was it really impossisble, or was he just looking for an easy excuse? It was a question he did not want to answer right now.

Grovus began to pick up on the scent of the ocean, and he found that it immediately relaxed him, bringing back fond memories. "Long ago, when I was only young, I used to play around the shoreside a lot. I liked imagining what was out there, and how far it went on for. They were simpler times." He said with a sense of tenderness, and the very hint of a smile formed upon his face.

"Your friend chose a good place to live."

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,809]

@Dark Horse

"The ocean is home away from home for her. It means so much for her due to her past, like I said before." Thundy said. 

Chelsea was in her feral form, sitting and looking out into the ocean. However, she felt an odd and rather unstable energy. She started to pant lightly, looking around, wondering where the energy was coming from. As Thundy and Grovus drew closer, Chelsea started to pant a little more, her panting becoming a little faster. Thundy slowly approached Chelsea and rested a talon on her back. Chelsea tried her best to stop panting, and turned and saw Thundy...with another griffon. "It's okay Chelsea...I know you're really sensitive to energies. This other griffon, Grovus is in need of help. I figured I'd come to see you so we could talk." Thundy said. 

"I feel his...impure heart...it's like a looming darkness..." Chelsea said putting a talon over her heart. Her pony ears came into view for Grovus to see. Chelsea looked at Grovus and saw right through him. "Grovus...I feel your struggles. You can't let them take you down...for I...I had to overcome a lot because...*sniffle*...because my...*sniffle*" Chelsea tried not to start sobbing in front of Grovus. Thundy hugged Chelsea close, but Chelsea still broke down to painful sobs of sadness. Chelsea dearly missed her parents. Thundy looked at Grovus, still hugging the crying Chelsea. 

[Dark Horse 12,795]

@Courageous Thunder Dash

Grovus didn't know what to say. He stood there almost dumbstruck, paralyzed by the sight of this Griffon he had only just met breaking down in front of him. This griffon, Chelsea, had said that she "felt his struggles"... but how could she possibly know that from just meeting him? Yet Grovus believed her. Her reaction was too sincere to be a lie.

Grovus remembered what Thundy had told him, that Chelsea had faced her own darkness and how it had changed her. He had to know. Could he be changed as well?

"Chelsea... I- I'm sorry... I didn't mean to bring up bad memories for you. But you feel it correctly. My heart... it's burdened by darkness. It's been that way for a long time, and I've let it almost consume me. I... I don't know how to change. But seeing you here now, I also feel something. It's like a ray of hope, a voice that tells me things don't have to be this way. It's like a door that I can open."

The griffon closed his eyes and tried to focus into his mind. It was like a swirling cloud of darkness and confusion, with many conflicting thoughts. And yet, through all the chaos, Grovus could feel something warm and welcoming. Something that felt much more steady and stable. A light shining in the darkness.

As Grovus focused on this, his body subtly began to glow with the faintest of light, though he himself did not realize it. For a brief moment, it felt as though a huge weight was being lifted from his heart, helping him to think more clearly. It made the light in his mind bigger, stronger. He could see through it more clearly now, almost like a--

"NRGH!!"

His eyes snapped open as a jolt of sharp pain surged through his head, and was gone as quickly as it came. As though something had acted in desperation to keep him from pursuing those thoughts any further. Grovus hung his head, dejected.

"I can't... there's too much holding me down." He said shamefully. "Please, how can I let go of this? What must I do?"

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,809]

@Dark Horse

Thundy looked at Grovous. "...It's not your fault...Chelsea has been holding strong all these years." Thundy said stroking Chelsea lovingly, sensing a faint light within Grovus, before it faded. "Your mind is fighting your heart. I saw a light. You had it, but self-doubt and the anguish took over and smothered it." Thundy said. Chelsea slowly recovered from her sobbing. "Grovus...Thundy's right...my...*sniffle*...my parents died in a shipwreck, and it was an unarmed ship...all we griffons wanted to do was make peace with Celestia...but her cowardly general Iron Hoof brainwashed all her army to make them think we were savages. I was the only survivor...the seaponies found me and took me to their Queen...and...she saw a light within me..." Chelsea explained as she slowly gathered some water energy and formed a sculpture from water.  

[Dark Horse 12,795]

@Courageous Thunder Dash

Grovus couldn't quite believe what he was hearing. Had something like this really happened? Were so many of his own kind brutally slaughtered through manipulations? During his time as a royal agent of Griffonstone, he had heard only fringe stories about activities involving Ponykind. His missions often took him to the furthest reaches of Equestria, far from the likes of Canterlot, and so he supposed he would have had no reason to know. But still... all the lives that must have been lost. The thought weighed on him heavy.

"I'm sorry, Chelsea. I didn't know. I've spent most of the past several years trying to avoid other Griffons." He supposed that this could have happened after he had distanced himself from his people, but that honestly just made him feel worse. Out there, there were many Griffons like him still hurting, and he simply chose to ignore it. Selfishly, he focused only on himself. He felt like such a fool.

Shaking the thoughts from his mind, he asked "Seaponies? I don't think I've heard of them. How did their Queen help you?"

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,809]

@Dark Horse
 

"She...saw the light within me, that I still wanted to help the Griffon Kingdom even after what happened. So...she unlocked secret abilities within me, because of how pure my heart was. I was absolutely devastated to hear my parents died. But...I couldn't get angry. I just wouldn't let myself do that. Then...that general planned his "final attack" on the griffons, but...I stood in front of everyone...and used my abilities to make a wall of water, and engraved on that water wall was a sign of...peace...that's all we wanted. We didn't want to fight...and...that's actually how I got...this..." Chelsea said turning around and showing...her cutie mark, a blue ying-yang sign surrounded by two tidal waves. 

[Dark Horse 12,795]

@Courageous Thunder Dash

Grovus listened intently to Chelsea's story. It sent a flurry of emotions running through his mind. She too had experienced a terrible event that left her troubled, and yet she had found a way to not let those feelings take control. She had overcome, and with it shone a light within the darkness. She was tired of the fighting, and could see how the other Griffons must have been tired too. Grovus... he had never really tried to consider the feelings of other Griffons. What sort of pain and hurt they could have been going through. Chelsea did, and she demonstrated that empathy through her actions to protect the others. Was this what it meant to have a pure heart? Was that something that existed within himself, too?

"So your hybrid blood allows you to have a Cutie Mark?" Grovus said, impressed. "You're the closest I've seen to one of my kind possessing such. Everyone believed them to be only carried by Ponykind. Well, I suppose I've never met a Pony-Griffon hybrid before. Seems I still have much to learn about Equestria and her creatures." He chuckled, before making his voice more serious again.

"I'm... sorry for what happened to you. You're obviously very strong to have not let it affect you as badly as it may have done. I can only wish I had such strength within me..."

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,809]

@Dark Horse

"You'll get there Grovus. I know you will. It will take time, but as I've said before, it's up to you. Even then, things could still try to nag at you...like my other friend Nitro Spark, who was affected by his past so much, it put a strain on his mental health." Thundy said. 

"Sparky's a tough stallion who nearly lost his life..." Chelsea said. "Nitro isn't really fond of being called Sparky, but Chelsea likes it." Thundy commented. 

[Dark Horse 12,795]

@Courageous Thunder Dash

Grovus tried to take the young Griffon's words to heart, but he found it difficult to reconcile with the weight he felt within his own heart. But even so, one specific part of what Chelsea had said to him repeated in his mind:

"It's up to you."

Maybe she was right. Maybe he needed to stop thinking that those feelings controlled him, and instead took command of his own path, be the change he wanted to see. Why should he continue to feel hopeless about it? There was little else in his way except his own feelings.

"Well, I know how it feels to stare death in the face." Grovus replied to Thundy. "For a while, I think I didn't really care if my life ended. I just carried on waiting for one of these jobs to be my last. I didn't know what else to live for." Hearing himself admit this made him feel shame and regret inside, but it was the truth. He had been troubled for a long time.

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,809]

@Dark Horse

"You know what, let's visit Nitro Spark. He's probably back in Detrot hosting a street racing tournament of some sort, or managing his School of Street Racing. Turns out his father was trying to make him "The Best Delivery Pegasus that ever lived, but Nitro had other plans, which...were very hard to achieve...as Chelsea said, Nitro has gone through so much." Thundy explained spreading his wings. 

[Dark Horse 12,795]

@Courageous Thunder Dash

"Heh, his father reminds me of mine." Grovus snorted in response. "Always trying to push us to be something they themselves couldn't achieve, as though we're just puppets to be used for their own agendas. I know that feeling well... and you say Nitro is a street racer now? I guess he's still putting those talents to use in his own way."

Grovus had never met somepony from the Equestrian street racing scene before. He had held little interest in such frivolous activities during his time in the Royal Guard. Yet if this Stallion had too gone through a path of darkness and come out the other side...

"Yes. I would like to meet him." Grovus assertively nodded. "Maybe he can tell me his story."

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,809]

@Dark Horse

"Well then, let's head on over to Detrot then. It won't take that long flying. I just hope he doesn't fall into a panic attack. It's really hard for him to tell his story due to how traumatizing it was and how his father reacted to the whole incident." Chelsea said as she took to the skies. Thundy followed. 

[Dark Horse 12,795]

@Courageous Thunder Dash

Grovus flapped his wings hard and took off after his two companions. The midday sky was fresh and chilly, and the Griffon found himself relaxing in the freedom of the skies. He had always taken to flying like a natural.

"Well, he doesn't need to tell me any more than he has to. I don't want to force someone to relive such painful memories." Grovus said, recalling how often he had tried to forget his own troubles. Maybe that was part of the problem. Had he been running away from something all this time, rather than facing up to it and finding peace?

Slowly, perhaps, these answers would be made clear to him.

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,809]

@Dark Horse

The facade passed over. A road started to form as they got closer to Detrot. Skyscrapers and smokestacks from factories started to come into view. “We are getting close.” Thundy said to Grovous. 

[Dark Horse 12,795]

@Courageous Thunder Dash

Detrot... Grovus had never been here before. He usually steered well clear of Equestrian cities, preferring the silence of more rural towns and wilderness. His trained instincts felt like they would be on overdrive here, seeing every possible corner as a potential threat. There was just too much happening too fast. The griffon grimaced slightly as he kept a steady pace with his companions, keeping above them in the gradually more sooty air.

"So where exactly are we supposed to find your friend in a place like this?" Grovus asked incredulously.

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,809]

@Dark Horse

"He has a car garage close to the speedway. Sometimes, he's out driving an orange Saleen S7..." Thundy said. Chelsea looked keenly...then spotted an orange Saleen S7. "There he is!" She cheered as she dove towards the car. "He's probably headed back home. Let's follow him and meet him there." Thundy said. 

[Dark Horse 12,795]

@Courageous Thunder Dash

Grovus was about to ask just what in Equestria a "Saleen" was, when he found himself swooping after the bright orange vehicle. It was pretty fast, but it didn't take much effort to keep up, and it's vibrant colour made it easy to spot amongst a sea of dull, neutral hues of a typical city. The experience brought Grovus back to his old days as a royal agent, tailing targets across the land, keeping himself as inconspicuous as he could. He smiled at the memories.

"Hope he doesn't mind us dropping in uninvited."

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,809]

@Dark Horse

”He won’t. Some of his friends sometimes surprise him, so he’s used to it.” Thundy said as he continued to follow Nitro’s Saleen as Chelsea followed next to him. Thundy descended a little more as Nitro neared his place. 

[Dark Horse 12,795]

@Courageous Thunder Dash

"I see.. well, I'm glad to hear that." Grovus said, pondering. "I hate to ask a stranger to recall a traumatic memory... but then the only way we can truly overcome that weight is to accept it happened and come to terms."

Grovus was a little surprised with what he heard himself say. 'Accept that it happened'? He had never been able to come to terms with his past before.. was it really that easy? Why hadn't it been so for him? Had he even tried...?

He put those thoughts out of his mind for now. Let's just hear what this friend of theirs had to say first.