//------------------------------//
// Finding a Filly 
// Story: Family Frustration 
// by PonyPixel 
//------------------------------//

Gallus, Silverstream, and Gold Digger raced down the street in search of the runaway filly.  "Where could've she gone?" the hippogriff asked.

"I don't know," Digger replied.  "She could've gone to a friend's place or the park or...  I just don't know."

"We should probably split up," Gallus stated.  "We'll find her faster that way."  The three split up at the next intersection, Digger went left, Silver went right, and Gallus went straight.

The griffon looked around and saw the express coming into the train station.  He flew down towards there and looked around for Copper.  The filly didn't seem to be there so he asked the pony at the ticket booth for answers.  "Sorry sir," the pony said, "I haven't seen the filly you have described."

"Okay, but if you see her, don't let her on the train."  The griffon took to continue searching for the missing filly.

Silverstream had flown to the park and turned into a seapony to check the river.  She swam around for a bit but Copper was hiding under any of the bridges.  Silver turned back into a hippogriff and decided to check the tree, Copper wasn't in any of them.  She flew off towards the ice rink hoping that she would have better luck there.

Gold Digger had raced to Babs's place, Copper wasn't there either.  He checked in with her other friends, again, not there either.  He was starting to get desperate, he checked by the diner just to be sure, nothing.  Not know what to do, he started looking for places that Copper visited once or twice.

The three returned to the apartment all empty-handed.  "I checked all the places where she could get a ride out of here," Gallus informed, "Nothing."

"Same with the park and skating rink," Silverstream said.  "I checked the theatre as well."

"None of Copper's friends have seen her either," Digger replied.  "Their parents are keeping a lookout but it's slow going."

"Gah," Gallus groaned, "How hard is it to find just one filly?"

Digger thought for a moment until he realized something.  "Uh oh."

"What's wrong?" Silverstream asked.

"This may sound crazy, but I think she's in the south of Manehattan.  This city gets worse when you go south."

"How far south is it?"

"South."





"Oh, why didn't I take a map with me?" Copper asked herself as she walked down the sidewalk.  "I can find my way to the park and rink but not to the station."  When she stopped to take a look at her surroundings, she could see she was in a dark part of the city.  Many buildings had their windows boarded up, several homeless ponies out in the streets, and some wild dogs were wandering around, some fighting each other.

The filly was now scared as she knew these were all bad signs.  "Man, I knew this was a bad idea."  She looked around to head home, but every way looked the same to her.  She turned around and took a left just as her brother, Gallus, and Silverstream came racing down the street.

"So, this is the south of the city," Silverstream said looking around.  "It looks...  Pretty bad."

"Looks like luxury compared to my home," Gallus commented.  "Should we split up again?"

"No, even from the air you could get lost here," Digger replied.  They then heard some thunder as dark clouds started to form.  "And it's going to rain, big surprise."

"Well, now we definitely can't fly up there.  We'll get struck by lightning."

"There has to be an easier way to find her," Silverstream said.

"If you have any ideas, shoot," Digger said.  The three carried on calling out for Copper but the filly didn't reply.  "Maybe she's still angry at me."

"But not at Silver," Gallus said.

"Yeah, but still she hasn't responded to my voice," the hippogriff said.  She looked at her bag and her saxophone.  She then had an idea.

Copper had hidden in one of the boarded-up buildings.  She started crying.  "I'm such an idiot," she wept.  "Why didn't I stay with Goldie?"  She cried into her hooves until she could hear some sort of music.  Not just that, but a voice.

"Copper?  Where are you?" the voice cried.

"G-Goldie?"  She slowly stepped out of the building in the cold rain.

"Sis, can you hear me?"  The filly walked closer to where she heard the voice and the music.  She peaked around the corner and could see Goldie calling out her name as Silverstream played her saxophone as loud as she could.  A bit of guilt was holding her back, but Gallus saw her head.

Before Copper could runoff, the griffon landed in front of her.  "Found her," he said.  Goldie and Silver ran around the corner and the unicorn used his magic to pick up his sister.  Once he got Copper closer to him, he hugged her.  "Don't scare me like that," Digger said.  He was crying at this point and his sister seemed pretty confused.

"You're...  Not mad?" Copper asked.

"I'm too happy to know you're safe to be mad."  He let her go so they could stand up.  "Come on, let's get somewhere dry."  The group walked back North as they didn't want to stay in the South part for too long.

Later, they got back to the diner.  Gallus sat with Copper, both of them were drying off with the towels Crystal Dish had provided for them.  "Feeling better kid?" the griffon asked.

"A little," Copper replied shivering a bit.  "I still don't understand why he went from angry to sad so fast."

"That's family.  From what my friends have told me, one minute you hate each other's guts, the next you're best friends.  To be honest, I wouldn't really know how that feels."

"Were you an only child."

"Yes, and an orphan."

"Oh.  That..."

"I know."  The filly stayed quiet for a minute.  "Your brother does a lot for you.  He works hard to keep you safe."

"I know."

"He could've just left with some other pony, maybe one you don't even know.  Even then, you would still have a better home than me."

"Where do you live?"

"Out in the cold.  Rain, snow, and not to mention having to get your own food.  Consider yourself lucky kid, appreciate your home and your brother's work."

Copper sighed.  "I will."

In the kitchen, Gold Digger and Silverstream were busy making some soup.  "So, why did we come here?" the hippogriff asked.

"I don't have the ingredients at home," Digger replied as he chopped some green onions.  "Besides, Dish let me do this before.  Can you hand me those bowls from the cupboards?"

"Of course."  The hippogriff flew up and took out four bowls.  "Do you cook food like this at your home?"

"Sometimes.  Copper really likes the grilled cheese sandwiches I cook."

"Oh, Gallus told me about those.  I'd like to try one, but I'll stick with the soup."  She placed down the bowls and sniffed the finished soup.  "Smells good.  I don't know why Copper wouldn't be happy having you as a brother.  She seems like a fun filly."

Digger chuckled as he poured soup into the bowls with a ladle.  "Yeah, kind of wishing I could spend more time with her.  I can't remember the last time I went ice skating with her.  I've been wanting to see if I could beat my limbo record."

"Wait, you can play limbo on the rink?"

"Sure can."  They took the bowls of soup over to were Gallus and Copper sitting.  "Hope you're hungry."  By the looks of, Copper sure was.  She started slippering while the others just used spoons.

"This is almost as good as the grilled cheese," Gallus commented.

"Thanks."

"So, Copper and I talked a bit."

"So did we," Silverstream said.

"About what?" Digger and Copper asked.

The siblings looked at each other before the brother spoke first.  "I'll go first," he said.  "I'm sorry for my outburst.  I was just at a breaking point."

"Sorry about that," Silverstream apologized.

"Don't be.  Copper, I'll try my hardest to find time to see if I can get more time off."

"Good," the filly replied.  "Sorry for pestering you for so long.  I just...  I miss mom and dad."

Digger sighed.  "Me too.  Listen, we'll try and work this out.  Just remember, I'm doing this for you."  The filly stood up so she could hug her brother.  Gallus and Silverstream smiled at this and were surprised when their beaks started glowing.

"Do all of your species do that?"

"No," Gallus said.  "But it's a sign that our work here is done."

"Aw," Silverstream sighed, "I was enjoying this soup."

"I'll get you some to-go bowls," Digger said as he walked off.

"You think you could all get us an umbrella?" Gallus asked.

"Sorry, not a chance."

"Worth a shot."  After getting their to-go bowls, the griffon and hippogriff raced down the sidewalk.  They got to Rarity for You as soon as possible and got inside, soaking wet.

"Gallus, Silverstream," Rarity gasped.  "You're soaked."

"You don't say?" Gallus said flatly.

The generous mare gave them some towels and after they dried they each got an umbrella and headed back to the train station.  "So, how was your first mission?"

"A little bumpy," Silverstream said, "But we got it done.  And I got to see more of Manehattan.  Did you know this city had an ice rink?"

"Why yes.  By the sound of it, it seems like you enjoyed it.  But who needed your help?"

"Two siblings," Gallus explained.  "A young stallion name Gold Digger and a filly named Copper.  Digger's a really good cook, let me tell."  The two students explained their adventure to their professor as they made their way back to the station to get back to the school.