10. Of Dreams and Feathers
Author's note: I know these usually go after the story, and there are some after this, but you kinda need to read this one before you read the story. I have made a few little changes to the previous chapter, namely putting the Tears into Pinkie's bag instead of Applejack's, and switching Applejack and Rarity's places (Applejack has been captured along with Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, while Rarity has escaped with the others). I hope that clears things up, and you can go back and reread the previous chater again for full clarity on the changes. With that said, let's get started and see how things are going with our seven little ponies!
Book 2
Allies and Enemies
Dragons truly were some of the most mysterious of Equestria’s creatures. Little was known of their behavioural patterns, besides that they were extremely territorial, greedy and vicious when provoked. Even less was known of their physiology. How they created the fire in their bellies, how they aged, why some seemed intelligent while many were feral and bestial, all these questions had gnawed away at the mind of many an Equestrian biologist. But most mysterious was the question of what happens to a dragon’s body, after they die?
Fresh bodies of recently-dead dragons had never been found, for some strange reason. On the rare occasions when a dead dragon was found in the wild, it was already a skeleton. And yet, analysis would sometimes indicate that the dragon had been alive a matter of days beforehand.
And a matter of hours earlier, before Twilight Sparkle, Starswirl, Rarity and Pinkie Pie’s astonished eyes, this question was answered. As the warmth left Tharos’ body, and his dragonfire was extinguished for the last time, he began to change. His armoured scales lost their sheen and became almost like withered flower petals. Then, as if burnt away by some invisible fire, his scales and flesh began flaking away into grey specks and motes of dust, and were carried away on the wind in a large white cloud of dust and ash. It was only minutes until all flesh and tissue were gone, leaving only the bleached white bones as any evidence that Tharos the dragon ever existed at all.
That night, dinner was had in silence by the four ponies, in the shadow of the massive skeleton. Each pony kept to themselves and their own thoughts, both on the events of the day and what might lie ahead. It was a sombre affair. Even Pinkie Pie, that endless walking party herself, was uncharacteristically quiet and restrained.
“So...” Rarity was the one to finally break the silence. “Where do we go from here?”
Twilight looked up from her meagre meal of trail mix and dried fruit, and sighed. “I’ll be honest, I have no idea.”
“Now there’s something I never thought I’d hear Twilight say,” Pinkie murmured to Starswirl.
“Yes, I know, but it’s the truth,” Twilight replied. “I mean, let’s take stock of where we are in all this for a minute. Firstly, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Applejack are missing, presumed captured by those Blight things.”
“If they’re still alive, that is,” Starswirl added under his breath, too quiet for anypony else to hear.
“The four of us, meanwhile, are marooned out here in the middle of…Celestia knows where, with no indicators of where anything is, or even if we’re still in Equestria,” Twilight continued.
“And we can’t travel as fast as we had been, now that Tharos is…gone,” Pinkie finished, choking ever-so-slightly on the last word. Her hair had returned to its bouncy curls, but her chirpy attitude had not. “ we do have got a bit of good news, though.”
“Really?”
Pinkie popped open her saddlebag, and pulled out the little black box. “At least we still got the Tears.”
“Yeah, I guess we do have that going for us,” Twilight said. “If nothing else, at least the Tears and those Blight things are far away from eachother.”
“As far as we know.” Starswirl took his hat off, running a hoof through his grey mane. “We have no idea where we even are, so who knows if the Blight are present out here…Wherever ‘out here’ may be.”
Silence descended on the group again, with nothing but the crackle of the fire and the occasional whistle of the breeze.
Pinkie suddenly stretched her forelegs into the air with a mighty yawn. “Well, I dunno about you guys, but I could sure use a good nap right about now.”
Rarity frowned at the pink pony “How can you think of sleep at a time like…ti-time like…” But before she could finish, she herself yawned.
“Miss Pinkie is right,” Starswirl said. “The more we stay awake rattling our brains for ideas, the worse off we’ll be in the morning. A good night’s rest may clear our minds.”
Twilight nodded, lying down with her cloak draped over her. “Alright. But first light tomorrow, we strike camp and get on our way.”
“But where to?” Pinkie asked.
“I’m not sure. Any settlement nearby, a landmark, just something, anything, that might give us a clue as to where exactly we are. And maybe some indicator for where our friends are.”
So the four ponies lay down to rest, gathered around the dwindling fire, cloaks wrapped snugly around their bodies. Sleep did not come easy, however, as each pony tossed and turned as they tried to find rest.
Finally, however, their own exhaustion took over, and one by one, the ponies drifted off into deep sleep.
For the first time in weeks, Twilight found herself completely calm.
All the troubles they had faced, all the trials and tribulations, all the sadness and fear they had felt since their departure from Canterlot, it all seemed to float away like a leaf caught on the breeze. It felt as if she was lying in some great grassy meadow, surrounded by white clouds in the clear blue sky, and nothing but soft grass beneath her, and a gentle wind blowing across her fur and mane.
Imagine her surprise then, if you will, when she opened her eyes and found that, indeed, that was exactly where she was lying.
“…Wha?” was just about all she could manage to say as she looked around in utter confusion. Gone was the arid wasteland where she had fallen asleep. Gone were her friends who had lain down with her for the night. Even the mighty skeleton of Tharos was nowhere to be seen.
Did I teleport in my sleep, she thought to herself. Is such a thing even possible? Twilight looked up at the sky, where nothing seemed off or peculiar either.
“This…this can’t be real… It doesn’t feel right…” she thought aloud.
“How can you be so sure?”
Twilight jumped to her hooves as she heard a voice echoing to her on the wind. “Who’s there?!”
The voice did not answer. She looked all around her, but saw nothing but green hills as far as they eye could see. As she glanced about, she saw her saddlebags on the ground a few feet away. The matter of the mysterious voice remained in her mind, but she paid it little heed. She hurried over to it and rifled through it, and was relieved to find everything, books, food, supplies, all accounted for. As she breathed a sigh of relief, her searching hoof nudged a book out of her bag and onto the ground. But as she levitated it back into the bag, it fell open and she froze.
The page was supposed to be detailing the diplomatic alliance between the Griffon Kingdom and Equestria. But about three paragraphs down, the text seemed to devolve into pure nonsense and gibberish. “What the…?” Twilight mouthed, before it struck her. “Of course… This is a dream!”
“But of course it is.”
That voice again! Twilight’s head whipped around, frantically seeking out the source of the voice. She knew not why, but it seemed almost familiar.
Then she saw her.
Just on the next hill stood a figure, an old mare. Her grey mane and tail blew in the light breeze, and her face wore a gentle, kindhearted smile. But what really drew Twilight’s attention were the clothes the old mare was wearing. A simple, dark blue nightgown…
“Rowanoak?!” Twilight cried.
The old mare nodded. “Hello again, Twilight Sparkle. Nice to see you again.”
Twilight called back, “Wha…what are you doing here?”
“How should I know?” Rowanoak replied. “It’s your dream, dear.”
“But is it really you? I mean, are you just a dream version of you, or is it you for real?”
Rowanoak smiled. “Yes, I am a dream version of me. But why should that make me any less real?”
“Well… it’s…I...huh?” Twilight sat down on the grass, no answer coming to mind. “Well…okay, so you’re here, and you… might be the real you. But what are you doing here? N-not that I’m not happy to see you, Rowanoak, it’s actually great to see you again! Especially… y’know, after everything that’s happened lately.”
“I know, I know. And I’m sorry for what’s happened to your friends,” she replied as she approached. “But I can promise you that they’re alright, for now.”
“But how do you… You know what, don’t answer that,” Twilight chuckled. “You just know, right?”
“Exactly.”
Rowanoak reached the top of the green hill, and stood beside Twilight. For a moment, not a word passed between the two.
“Still, thank you,” Twilight said. “I don’t know how you know all these things, but if you say my friends are alright, I suppose that’s a bit of a relief…”
“I only said they were alright fer now, Twilight,” replied Rowanoak. “How long they remain alright is up to you and your other friends.”
The unicorn froze. So much for reassurance. “So…what do we do now? I mean, we’re stuck in the middle of some wasteland with no landmarks, far outside of Equestria, we lost our dragon, and we have no way to find the others…”
“That is why I am here,” Rowanoak interrupted. “I have information that may help you.”
Twilight’s eyes widened. “Really? Like what? Right now we could use any help we can get!”
The old mare closed her eyes. “Very well then. I have three things for ye to remember. They will help you in your journey ahead. And when they have all come true, then you can begin your search for your friends.”
“Wait, only then?” Twilight frowned. “Why not sooner? Why not just go as soon as possible? They need our help!”
“Not as much as ye’d think. I’m not sure how, but I expect that yer friends will be receiving some help of their own, and not from you,” replied Rowanoak. “But you must wait until after these things have come to pass, before you can seek to rescue them.”
“But why? You’re not making any sense!” Twilight shouted. And here I am saying that as if it’s unusual for her. "Just who are you, Rowanoak? Ever since we first met you back at the Falls, I still haven't been able to figure you out. How do you know all these things? Where did you even come from?!"
“I can’t say, Twilight. I’m just telling you what I have learned. They are what they are, don’t blame me. As for where I come from, the real question is, where have you gone?"
"But that makes even less sense!" snapped Twilight.
"Do you want to hear these three things or not?”
Twilight opened her mouth again to argue, but thought better of it. Whoever this Rowanoak was, and however it was that she knew these things about her journey, they had been right so far. Her riddle had led us straight to the Tears, she mused. Not to mention she was right about bad things happening whenever we left the path. “Alright Rowanoak, let’s hear these three things.”
The old mare nodded. Clearing her throat, she said, “The first thing is: The mountains to the West house feathered friends.”
Oh great, Twilight thought. More riddles. And more mountains, for that matter. “Mountains in the West, feathered friends… got it. Next?”
“The second thing is: The artisan shall defeat the warrior thrice.”
The unicorn nodded. “Artisan, defeats warrior thrice. And the third thing?”
“And the third thing is: The prodigal son will be found.” Rowanoak said with a nod.
Twilight repeated the three phrases in her head, over and over until she had them memorised. “…Prodigal son, found. Alright, so what do all these things mean?”
“What do they mean?” Rowanoak cocked her head. “They are riddles, Twilight.”
“Yeah, I noticed that,” she deadpanned.
Rowanoak shrugged. “I’m not doubting yer perception. But the point is to figure it out for yerself, Twilight. I don’t even know what they mean meself! I’m just telling you what I was told. This is all I'm permitted to say. Once these three things have happened, ye’ll be able to find your friends. But search any sooner and you will only meet with disaster and death.”
Twilight sighed, rubbing her temples with her forehooves. “Sorry Rowanoak, but do you ever just give a straight answer?”
“What do you think?” Rowanoak replied with a smirk.
The unicorn groaned. “Alright, I’m sorry… I know, you’re just saying what you know, but I just wish we had a little more to go on than riddles and vague hints like that… But I guess we do have somewhere to head for now, heading West to the mountains, so that’s a start.”
“There, see? At least now you have somewhere to go,” Rowanoak said reassuringly. "Now, give me something."
"Huh?"
"I said, give me something. Anything, just something that is recognisable as yours." Rowanoak replied, taking a step closer.
Twilight was clueless. It just seemed like such an odd request! "Um...Okay, I guess. Like what? What would you...like?"
"Some sort of token, maybe? A trinket that you have with you?" she said, nodding in the direction of Twilights saddlebags. "It doesn't matter, just as long as it's something of yours."
The unicorn nodded and started to rummage through her bag, before coming back out with a small bookmark. It was a simple thing, a strip of cardboard wrapped in golden-coloured string. It was an old thing that she had bought in Ponyville, at an old crafts booth on market-day. It had apparently hitched a proverbial ride when she packed her books for the journey, but had fallen to the bottom of the bag, its string beginning to unravel and lose its colour. "Uh...will this do?" she asked, now thoroughly baffled by the old mare's odd request.
Rowanoak nodded as she took the bookmark. "I will return it to you, when you find these things to be true."
Twilight scratched her mane. "But how will you...? Y'know what, forget it, I don't really care anymore. Knowing you, you'll find some way!"
The old mare smiled. "True. I don't know how, but it will return to you soon eough. I’m sorry I cannot say anything more. But I can predict that you and yer friends will go through many hardships on this journey. But in the end, you’ll all come out of it stronger and closer than before.”
She paused as the air around them seemed to ripple for a moment. “Ah, looks like me time is up. Remember those three things, Twilight. I’ll leave you now, it looks like it’s time to wake up.”
Twilight squinted as she opened her eyes to the harsh morning sun overhead. Rubbing her eyes with a hoof, she sat up and looked around.
“Ah, you’re awake, that’s good,” she heard Starswirl say behind her. She turned and saw him getting to his hooves as well, dusting the grit and sand off his cloak.
“Morning Starswirl. Did you sleep well?”
“Indeed, my dear Twilight, like a log. Once the others are up, we can plan what our next step should be,” he replied as he went over to Rarity and Pinkie, nudging them gently.
“Actually, about that… you see, last night, I had this dream, that…”
“Aww, why’d you have to wake me?!” Twilight was interrupted as Pinkie stretched and yawned widely. “I’d just learnt how to bring food to life! Lemme tell ya, when it comes to Scrabble, that pizza pony is a pro!”
Rarity could only stare with a mix of incredulity and contentment. “Well, I’m glad to see we have our old Pinkie Pie back. I must admit darling, your rather dour mood had me worried last night, even with… well, all that had happened.”
Pinkie, however, simply grinned at her. “Oh Rarity, I’m fine now! Sure, everything that happened last night was sad and all, but it looks like old Starswirl was right!”
The bearded stallion raised an eyebrow. “Old Starswirl?”
“I mean, I’m totally gonna miss Tharos, but at least he got to be free in the end. And I dunno about you guys, but a good sleep definitely cleared me up a bit.”
“I must agree,” added Rarity. “We were all a little on edge with what had happened yesterday. But now that we’re fed and rested, we can tackle our next step of the journey with new vigour! So then, what is the next step?”
Starswirl frowned. “That’s the problem. We can be as rested and well fed as we want, but we still haven’t a clue for where we are or where we should go.”
“I think we should head west.”
Three pairs of eyes turned to look curiously at Twilight, who faltered slightly, but regained her composure quick enough. “I mean… well, it’s as good a way as any to go, right? If we keep heading west towards those mountains,” Twilight turned until the rising sun was at her back, facing a distant ridge of tall mountains. “At the very least, we’ll have a better view of the surrounding land. We might be able to spot some landmarks or something.”
The others did not look convinced. “I dunno, Twilight. Don’t you usually like to try all choices and being super-efficient and scientific and stuff?”
“I know it doesn’t seem to make much sense, but I just…I have a good feeling about going that way, y’know?”
“No Twilight, I really don’t know. Pinkie has a point dear, it’s not like you to try something purely on a hunch, so to speak,” replied Rarity as she rolled up her cloak and slipped it into her bag.
“Now now, don’t dismiss Twilight’s idea so quickly.” Starswirl stepped to Twilight’s side. “At this point we have as much chance of finding anything if we go in any direction. But as she says, the mountains will give us a good vantage point to see any settlements, landmarks or, Celestia forbid, roving bands of Blight.” The old stallion gave Twilight a smile and a knowing wink. She smiled gratefully back.
Rarity rubbed her chin in thought a moment. “Well, I suppose that’s true… Alright, you can count me in.”
“And me too!” Pinkie squeaked. “It’s like a new adventure! And yeah, I bet the view at the top of the mountains will be awesome!”
Twilight started packing her bags up as well. “Then let’s not waste any more time. If we get going now, we should reach them before sunset.”
As she shouldered her bags and started in the direction of the mountains, Pinkie raised a hoof. “Hold on a second! What about breakfast?!”
“We can eat as we walk, now let’s go!”
So the band of four were on their way across the plains. With the sun at their backs and the mountains before them, they walked in relative silence. A few times Pinkie Pie started humming a little tune, trying to compose some new walking song to keep spirits up, but the forbidding mood of the arid wastes around her would stop her, leaving her whistling and humming echoing on the wind.
Twilight and Starswirl took the front of the group, walking side by side. Starswirl lowered his head, muttering in a low voice, “So, my dear Twilight, what’s the real reason we’re going this way, towards the mountains?”
Twilight gulped nervously. “What do you mean?”
“Oh come now Twilight,” he replied with a chuckle. “Even I can tell that you weren’t just acting on a hunch. Why are we travelling to the mountains, really?
Twilight grinned awkwardly, trying hard not to look at Starswirl’s knowing gaze. “A-alright… Look, I didn’t want to say anything. You’re probably not going to believe this, but before we met you, me and my friends had stayed or the night at this place near Neighagra Falls…”
“Ah yes, I went there as well. The old mare there said I just missed you leaving.” Starswirl said.
“Well, that old mare, Rowanoak, she... oh, how do I put this without sounding crazy…”
The old stallion grinned. “I’ve seen and heard things that would make your tail curl. Try me, my dear Twilight.”
“Well, alright,” Twilight took a deep breath and continued, “I don’t know how, but she seems to know things and do things that an ordinary earth pony shouldn’t be able to do. And last night, she visited me in a dream and told me that if we head west to those mountains, we’ll find something that will help us find the others.”
She closed her eyes. It sounds even more ridiculous saying it out loud! She tensed slightly, waiting for Starswirl to call the hike to a stop and berate her for leading them on a wild cockatrice chase.
Instead, she heard him chuckle. “Oh Twilight, I’ve heard far stranger tales than that before.”
She opened her eyes. That was unexpected! “So… you don’t think that’s crazy?”
“Not at all, not at all!” Starswirl replied. “I remember when I encountered that Rowanoak character before, and I must agree there was something… odd, about her. There was something in her aura, in the air around her… I’m still not sure what it was, but she was certainly no normal earth pony. Perhaps she as some way of entering one’s dreams, similar to Princess Luna.”
“Ah yes, I’ve heard about that,” Twilight said.
“Yes, rather reassuring to know that we’re even protected from our nightmares in Equestria. But whether it truly was her, or just some part of your mind talking to you, either way it gave us direction where before we had none. So for that, I’m at least willing to try.”
He gazed ahead at the massive mountains that loomed ever closer. “And besides, if the Princesses in all their wisdom trust in you, then I see no reason why I should not. You don’t seem like the kind of mare to deceive or mislead, so I trust you.”
Twilight smiled, trying desperately to contain her nerdish glee. The greatest sorcerer of all time just said he trusts me!
“Thank you, Starswirl… but I guess that’s why I didn’t say anything to the others. I mean, they’re my best friends in the whole world, but… well, I guess it does still sound pretty far-fetched.”
“I completely understand,” the old stallion replied. “But speaking of the Princesses, I had been meaning to ask for a while now: How did such a young unicorn as yourself get to be the personal student of not just royalty, but divinity?!”
Twilight grinned. “Well, it’s a funny story really…”
Delighted to have an attentive listener, Twilight regaled the story of how she first enlisted in Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, the peculiar incident of her entrance exam, and how Celestia intervened, offering to tutor her in her studies. All the while, Starswirl listed with rapt attention to the young unicorn’s tale, asking questions and responding with amazement at the story, acting for all the world like an eager schoolcolt!
But as Twilight finished telling of her friends’ defeat of Nightmare Moon, Rarity trotted up alongside them, casting a furtive glance behind her. “Forgive my interruption, but I think we may have company.”
Twilight and Starswirl froze on the spot. “Where’d you see them?”
Rarity pointed over her shoulder, up at a small cloud not far above them. “I think I saw them peeking out from behind that cloud up there.”
“Blight?” Starswirl frowned, squinting up at the cloud.
Rarity shook her head. “I’m not sure… maybe, but its eyes didn’t look like those beasts that attacked us before. At least, I don’t think so…”
Twilight stared intently up at the cloud as well. She could just make out a small shape, standing top it. “Hmm… let’s keep going, pretend we didn’t notice it. If we don’t give it any trouble, it should leave us alone.”
Rarity, Starswirl and Pinkie nodded. Rearranging themselves into a line, the four ponies continued westward towards the mountains. They intently did not look up at the cloud, but none of them failed to notice that it seemed to be hovering right above them always, following them.
They carried on for about five minutes, concentrating on the journey ahead, but never letting their guard down against whatever this mystery stalker was.
Finally, their patience paid off. Pinkie’s ears pricked up as she heard the tell-tale flapping noise of feathered wings. She whipped around as the sound came closer and closer, ready to catch out their assailant. All she could make out before she was bowled over was a pair of clawed yellow forelegs, and a pair of brown wings. Anything else was blotted out as something small, but extremely heavy and bulky, bowled into her with a squawk.
She grabbed frantically at the stranger, but whatever this thing was, it was fast. Wriggling out of her grasp, it grabbed into the saddlebags on her back, wrenching them from her shoulders.
Before it could fly away, however, the flapping bundle of fur and feathers found itself contained in a bubble of magical energy, blue, magenta and yellow energy mingling together into a single bubble.
“Hold still Pinkie, we almost got it!” Twilight shouted as she galloped over to her, wrenching her magical grip upwards and lifting their attacker into the air, saddlebags and all.
Quickly helping Pinkie back to her hooves, Twilight, Rarity and Starswirl gathered around the magical bubble to get a good look at their attacker. From the waist downwards, it had all the size and appearance of a small cat or lion cub, with sandy brown fur and a fluffy tuft of hair sprouting from the tip of its tail. But everything else was covered in soft, downy, white feathers. Yellow eagle-eyes glared at them through a pair of black goggles, and it wore small black gloves on its clawed hands.
“A griffon?!” Rarity exclaimed. “What’s a griffon doing out here in the middle of nowhere?”
“And a young one at that, even stranger.” Starswirl added.
“Lemme go!” It squeaked in a young, boyish voice. “Get offa me! Lemme go, I said!”
“Be silent!” Starswirl shouted back. “We’ll let you go when you tell us why you were following us!”
The griffon struggled inside the bubble. “Lemme go, please! I was hungry, alright? I was just flyin’ around on my own and I saw you hrossa walking around down here, and I thought to myself that you might have some good food or somethin’, so…”
“Wait, hrossa?” Rarity interrupted. “What does that mean?”
Twilight replied. “It’s Griffonic. It’s the closest word they have for ponies. So, you just decided to help yourself to our food then?”
The griffon nodded fervently “I didn’t mean anything by it! I’m sorry, alright! You got your veske back, I said I’m sorry, now lemme go, hross lady!”
Pinkie leant over to Twilight. “If he’s out here, his mum and dad must be nearby too! Maybe they can help us or something!”
“Exactly what I was thinking, Pinkie.” Twilight smiled back at her, before turning back to the young griffon with a frown. “Alright, young man. We’re not going to hurt you or anything, but we will be making sure you don’t bother anyone else. Where are your parents?”
He pointed a claw towards the mountains. “They’re just up that way. We were stopping on our way to Fjaereir, and I got bored, so I went for a fly.”
The three unicorns released their magical holds, and the griffon took to the sky. “Take us to them. We want to have a word with them,” Rarity said.
In an instant, his proud fierce demeanour faltered and his face grew concerned. “You’re not gonna get me in trouble are you? I really didn’t mean anythin’ by attacking you. I was just hungry!”
Rarity smiled back, the griffon’s attitude reminding her of Sweetie Belle and her friends, who would similarly always go for the pity act whenever they were in trouble. “It’s alright, you’re not in trouble. We were mostly just shocked. But next time, you would do well to ask permission before helping yourself to somepony’s belongings.”
The griffon child giggled a little. “Heh, she talks funny. But yeah, I promise I’ll ask next time.”
“Good,” Twilight replied, speaking over Rarity’s offended mutterings (“’Talks funny’?! Ooh that little…”) “Now, will you take us to your parents? We’d like to meet them.”
He nodded eagerly, and took off into the sky above them, flapping his wings as strong as he could. “I’m Gerard, by the way!” he called down to them. “What’re your names?”
“I’m Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight replied. “And these are my friends, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Starswirl the Bearded.”
Each pony smiled and waved up at the young griffon as their names were given. Gerard scoffed, “Huh, you hrossa have weird names. Nice, but still weird.”
“We have weird names?! What kinda name is Gerard, anyway?” Pinkie giggled.
Gerard swooped low, flying just above Pinkie. “Hey, it’s a cool name! It means ‘spear of the brave’ in Griffonic!”
The two of them bickered playfully back and forth over what constitutes a ‘cool name’, until the group passed over a small hill and saw a small dirt road leading across the plains and up to the mountains. Standing by the side of the road were a pair of older griffons, a male and a female. The male griffon was of average build, with tawny brown plumage and darker brown fur.
He wore similar goggles as Gerard’s perched on his brow, as did the female, who shared her son’s white plumage.
As they came into view, the mother swooped in and grabbed Gerard in a hug. “Gerard! There you are, you little troublemaker! Your father and I told you to be back in half an hour, where have you been?”
“He’s been with us, ma’am,” Twilight spoke up. “He was flying around nearby, looking kinda lost, so we found him and brought him back.”
Before Gerard had a chance to respond and detail how much of that was fabricated, he caught the stealthy wink from the unicorn, and kept quiet about it. “I’m sorry mum.”
“Oh it’s alright.” The female griffon hugged him closer as she landed back on the ground by her husband.
“Thanks, you four,” said the male. “We were starting to get a bit frantic when he didn’t turn up after an hour. It’s remarkably easy to get lost round here, and there’s talk of strange folk around too. Who knows what he could have run into.”
“No problem, Mr Griffon!” Pinkie replied with a smile.
The male griffon reached out a claw. “Please, call me Gilbert. And this is my wife, Gunda. I see you’ve already met Gerard.”
Starswirl took his claw in a hoofshake. “Well met, Gilbert. I am Starswirl the Bearded, and these young mares with me are Twilight Sparkle, Rarity and Pinkie Pie.”
“A pleasure to meet you,” Rarity added with a slight bow.
Pinkie bounced right up to the griffons and shook their claws as well, with a chirpy “Hiya there!”
“Now tell me,” Starswirl continued, “Your son mentioned a place called Fjaereir, and said you were travelling there. Where is that?”
Gilbert pointed towards the mountains. “It’s a griffon settlement up in the West Mountains over there. Big place, almost like a fortress. Like I said, there’s some strange creatures abroad, so we decided to travel up there for safety. Apparently a lot of griffons are headed there.”
Twilight’s ears pricked up. “Creatures? Um… these creatures, would they happen to have strange eyes, yellow and black?”
“Yes, yes!” Gunda cried. “That’s them, they’ve been causing trouble back where we came from. All weird looking creatures with spines and claws and the like, and yellow eyes, but the whites are black. Have you seen them too?”
Starswirl nodded mournfully. “Unfortunately, indeed we have. We originally numbered seven in all. But we were attacked, and three of our friends were kidnapped by them.”
Gunda gasped and raised a claw to her mouth. “Oh, I’m so sorry!”
“And I’m guessing that’s why you’re out here then?” Gilbert chimed in. “You’re looking for these creatures that took your friends?”
The old unicorn nodded. “Indeed.”
Gerard clung closer to his mother, who tousled his headfeathers reassuringly. “Well, we haven’t seen any out here on the plains, I’m afraid,” Gunda replied. “And you’re the first ponies we’ve seen in months.”
“Ponies?” Pinkie interjected. “I thought you griffons called us 'Rossa' or something.”
Gunda chuckled. “Hrossa, you mean? You picked that word up from Gerard, I’m guessing. No, we can speak common Equestrian too. Little Gerard here’s still learning… but anyway, if you need help, maybe you should come along to Fjaereir with us? If anybird’s seen your friends or those monsters, they’ll probably be there.”
The mountains in the West hold feathered friends.
For the briefest of seconds, Twilight’s mind went blank. Blank, save for Rowanoak’s words, as they echoed through Twilight’s mind. Was this what she had meant? No way it could be a coincidence, she reasoned. If these riddles are true, we’re bound to find some answers in this Fjaereir place.
“Oh yes, if you could take us there, we’d be very grateful! There’s bound to be somepony… rather, somebird there who can help us.”
“Then let’s get going. Just follow us!”
At that, Gilbert and Gunda took to the air, flying low at the head of the group, followed closely behind by Twilight, Rarity and Starswirl. Pinkie brought up the rear, playfully jumping up and trying to grab Gerard, who would hover teasingly above her. Together, the seven travellers made their way towards the Western Mountains, with the afternoon sun shining above, and castng long shadows behind them.
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Good to see this has updated, the chapter was a nice read.
Edit: Why do I keep getting first, this can't be right.
Typo.
Aaand that's another milestone hit, with our 200th subscriber! Congrats and thanks to Serpentking789, and thanks again to all you guys out there for subscribing.
Nice to see this updated again. It wasn't that long of a hiatus, after all. ;)
I laughed at the "straight answer" part. It was exactly like a scene from a Sonic Underground episode. :) Did you by any chance inspire yourself in that?
Nice Middle-Earth feel going on this story. At some point, someone added this fanfic to the Incoming folder on Twilight's Library, and I'm going ahead and adding it into the group...
Wikipedia tells me that hross is Old Norse for "horse", but my first reaction was "Wait, Malacandra?"
I love Rowanoak. I wanna be like her.
For some reason, I can't shake the strange feeling that Gerard is somehow correlated with Cheek, from Mattimeo...Like, "I didn't mean anything by it." Hmm..........
I once heard somewhere that it was the case in dreams that you couldn't read written script. That was a very nice touch here.
2329435 I believe it's like Old Norse for "Horse".
3706904
Unless you know a book back to front and could recite its text in your sleep (literally, in this case!), then yes, you can't read very much in dreams.
So, why the change from Applejack to Pinkie Pie? Was it because you were interested in the dynamic? (Applejack mingling with Fluttershy and Dashie make for a good combination) or was it because Applejack and Rarity have been done a few times and you wanted to do a different dynamic (Twilight having to deal with two extraverts as well as StarSwirl?) Because, I can tell you this, I would've not known you changed anything if I didn't read tht note up top.
Well o course, that is the fun of a journey after all.
Anyway, I love the naming scheme with the griffons and the excellent shout out to Skyrim with Tharos's death. I alos love the mane six here. Firt thought is how to find their friends, no second questions asked!
Seems pretty straightforward. In the mountains to your West there are allies with feathers. I guess griffins, but I will admit to using the book cover as a hint.
Blinded by unicorn magic, she knows not the more mysterious ways of unseen power. Sympathetic magic is probably to be done with this token.
Huh. From his introduction I expected Gerard to either be an orphan or a runaway. I guess this was a game rather then a living.
Well, assuming it's societal rather than personal, it makes sense that if one party finds the other strange on any given axis, in this case names, the vice versa would also be true.
each other
the