Rainbooms On the Mind

by Kevinltk


Chapter 1: "Friends"

Natalya was walking far off the beaten path. Nobody but her and the rugged landscape the griffon kingdom was known for could be seen. Gravel and dirt crunched beneath Natalya’s feet, but their noise was drowned out by the howling winds. Eventually, she arrived at her destination, stopping right at the edge of a cliff. She stood right before an enormous canyon that stretched further than she could see in both directions.

Natalya craned her neck forward to look down into the chasm. This was the Abysmal Abyss, a large gash across the land near Natalya’s hometown of Griffonstone. Most griffons avoided the area due to the powerful winds that constantly blew through the entire canyon. Getting caught in the treacherous gales could easily toss anyone around like a toy before hurling them into the jagged rock walls.

A brief chill ran through Natalya as she braced herself for what she came here to do. Just one more step would send her tumbling down into the craggy abyss where light could not even find its bottom.

Natalya leapt forward.

With her wings tucked securely to her side, Natalya fell into the Abysmal Abyss. Her descent followed a misshapen, zigzag path as the winds pushed her in every direction. A particularly strong gust suddenly hit her, sending her careening toward a wall, and that was when Natalya finally spread her wings open. But instead of trying to steer herself away from the canyon walls, she rode the current, increasing her speed.

Adrenaline coursed through Natalya as she allowed the rocks to come closer and closer until even her reckless instincts finally made her pull up. Battling against the elements, she had to focus all her energy and attention in navigating the winds to carry her out of the precarious position she put herself in. Her body was constantly twisting and turning to adjust to the winds that came from every direction, but she was able to make a steady climb until she ascended high above the clifftops, safe from the gales.

Not bad… Not bad at all Natalya congratulated herself, a tiny smirk forming despite her heavy panting.

While flying around in the Abysmal Abyss was pretty much asking for an injury or worse, Natalya had found a spot where the canyon widened into a huge, expansive area. The place was wide enough to easily fit the Crystal Empire’s stadium inside it. The winds were still a force to be reckoned with, but the open area neutered them to more manageable levels, and the ample amount of space also allowed more time for any daring flyer to maneuver through it.

Flying in the supposedly-safer area was still a crazy idea, but for Natalya, she swore that it was the kind of intense training needed for an intense athlete like her. It also helped that she enjoyed the thrill and excitement that flooded her body with every run.

Now for some more wingpower exercises, Natalya told herself after she caught her breath and began flying back down into the canyon.

Natalya proceeded through her grueling series of exercises that involved either powering against the wind or flying with it to test her control. Instead of keeping track of time, she measured how much stamina she had left. Upon feeling her wings starting to get tired, she decided to wrap things up with a few stunts before she would take a break and chalk up another flawless round of training. Catching a nice, strong gust, Natalya began shooting through the canyon.

The name’s Rainbow Dash, and don’t you forget it.

Natalya growled when images of the rainbow-maned pegasus from the Equestria Games flickered through her mind. Stupid pony… She closed her eyes and shook her head to try and get rid of the mental image of the mare with the cocky grin. When she reopened her eyes, her breath hitched when she saw the rock wall was mere inches away from her.

Reacting on instincts, Natalya instantly banked hard to the left, her wings almost completely pointing straight up and down and her right arm and leg slightly extended toward the upcoming cliff face. She hissed as her right arm and leg were roughly dragged across the rocky surface for a second before she used them to push herself away from the rocks with all of her might.

Natalya’s narrow escape from crashing put her right back into the open where the Abysmal Abyss’s winds immediately took her, and she struggled to keep herself under control. Unable to right herself, she had to carefully navigate her way through the winds with awkward flaps and body twists. Eventually, she was able to get a shaky flight path and slowly gained altitude until she was high enough for the winds to die down, allowing her to finally regain control without fear of being blown away.

Gasping for air and covered in sweat, it took Natalya a few minutes until she calmed down enough to process what happened. A long, frustrated groan ripped through the air, which was followed by a long string of curses. When her anger eventually receded, Natalya took one more deep breath and then began flying at a sedate speed along the edge of the Abysmal Abyss.

It happened again… It’s been two months since I saw her and yet she still manages to annoy me, Natalya thought while she scanned the ground beneath her. Ever since she saw Rainbow Dash fly, Natalya had wondered if the pegasus could actually match her speed. At the time, it was only a passing interest, so she did not feel the urge to waste her time by pursuing the matter. It did not help that she was still peeved that Rainbow knocked her team down to a shameful third place. Getting Rainbow’s name from the pegasus herself right before the medal ceremony was the last time they interacted with each other.

Much to Natalya’s chagrin, instead of fading away, the nagging thoughts of Rainbow only grew, and they were starting to distract her during training. She wished that she had settled the matter by challenging Rainbow to a race at the Crystal Empire or at least got some more info on the mare. All that she knew was that Rainbow came from Ponyville, and with her limited exposure to Equestria, she had no idea where that was.

What was she going to do? Go search for Rainbow? It would probably take her weeks to find Ponyville, not to mention having to waste even more time looking for the mare in the town.

Natalya shook her head. Her bits and time were valuable, and she was not going to waste them just to satisfy a curiosity. As much as Rainbow was distracting her right now, chasing after the stupid rainbow mare was an even bigger distraction. She would eventually get back to her normal self, and Rainbow Dash would be nothing more than a faded memory.

After a few minutes, Natalya found where she had jumped off earlier and plopped down on her haunches next to one of the few bushes that managed to grow in the area. Reaching inside the vegetation with her left claw, she pulled out her saddlebag that she had hidden inside it and then inspected her right claw and foot.

Thankfully, she made it out of her near-collision relatively well. While her arm and leg were still stinging and had a bunch of scratches, there did not seem to be any serious gashes or signs of bleeding. There was no need to waste any of her supplies to treat her injuries. A good night’s sleep was all that she needed.

Picking up her saddlebag, Natalya decided that it was time to head back home. Even with her minor injuries, it did not take long, partly because she was such an awesome flyer, before the town of Griffonstone came into view.

While Griffonstone was her home, Natalya had to admit that for a city built in the heart of the kingdom, the place was kind of a dump. Instead of green grass and flowers, much of the place was covered with dirt and rocks. The living conditions were not ideal either. Shoddy, wooden shacks that could barely fit one griffon lined the makeshift roads or on the branches of tall, dead trees. In fact, the hotel suite she got to stay in during the Equestria Games was actually bigger than most griffon homes.

“Home sweet home…” Natalya said to herself with an empty laugh. She landed on the rickety roof of someone’s house to take a look around. Gazing toward the center of town, she spotted a bunch of griffons gathering. Since most griffons usually kept to themselves, a group of them often meant something entertaining was going on. With nothing else to do, Natalya made her way over to the commotion.

Natalya could smell what was going on before she reached the group. Wafts of a sugary scent hit her, making her mouth water a bit and her stomach quietly rumble with approval. Somebody was baking, and it smelled awesome.

Landing at the edge of the group, Natalya tried to get a closer look, but the crowd of griffons was too thick to wade through. With an annoyed huff, she was forced to step aside and partake in one of her most hated activities: waiting.

After a few boring minutes, the crowd finally started to clear up, allowing Natalya to finally see the baker. A female griffon was exchanging some sort of pastry for bits from her cart, which was essentially an oven and shelves on wheels. She had a brown body, dark-brown wings, and her head was made up of white feathers. Her yellow eyes were surrounded by gray-purple eyeshadow, and three long, white feathers with a tinge of violet at their ends stretched out from the top of her head to hang over her face.

When the line was finally down to one last female griffon with green accents in her white headfeathers, Natalya started making her approach to the baker.

“Thanks, Greta. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Natalya heard the baker say to her customer as they finished their transaction.

With a smile and a wave good bye, Greta flew away, leaving Natalya alone with the baker.

The baker looked in Natalya’s direction and gave a casual wave. “Hey there, you here for a griffon scone too? I still got a few left.”

“Maybe…” Natalya replied. As much as she hated to admit it, she had developed a bit of a hankering for sweets during her stay in the Crystal Empire. “They any good?” she asked, even though the delicious smell that still lingered in the air was tempting her to submit to the baker’s goods.

“Well, I would think so. They’re my Grampa Gruff’s secret recipe, and everyone else before you sure seemed to like them.” The baker pointed to her side with a talon.

Looking in the direction the baker was pointing, Natalya spotted a few griffons sitting around while munching on scones. What was odd was that they had big smiles on their faces and seemed to actually be having a civil conversation with each other.

“Nothing like some good food to lighten up the mood, huh?” the baker said with a chuckle.

“I guess…” Natalya mumbled.

The baker then grabbed one of the scones in her talons and waved it around. “Come on, I know you’ve been eyeing these. Try one of Gilda’s Griffon Scones. They’re really goooood,” she said in a sing-song voice.

Natalya’s eyes followed the scone swaying left and right in the other griffon’s claw. She had to admit that the pastry did look tasty. It was a round cake almost as big as her claw, and it had an acorn on top. She wondered if it tasted as good as it smelled. Finally, with a sigh, she said, “Fine, Gilda, was it? How much?”

“One bit,” Gilda replied with the smirk of someone who knew they made another sale. “And you’re that competitive flyer, Natalya, right?”

“Yeah, whatever.” Natalya fished out a bit from her saddlebag and flicked it towards the baker.

“Thanks, hope you like it,” Gilda said, holding the scone out while catching the bit in her other claw.

Natalya plucked her purchase in her talons and tilted it left and right as she inspected it. She remembered trying out Gilda’s so-called scone before and almost broke her jaw trying to bite into it. However, the griffon scone she was holding now was completely different. It was soft, and given how she had been lured in by the smell alone, it seemed that the pastry had changed for the better. Seeing nothing in her food that might send her to the bathroom or the grave, Natalya took a small, cautious bite of her bought scone.

Natalya’s eyes shot open when the taste of nuts and sugar filled her mouth, and she had to fight back the urge to gobble up the rest of the snack in one bite. The scone was sweet, and the fluffy texture made it a delight to eat. While Gilda’s scone was not as great as the grub from the Crystal Empire, it still hit the spot.

“Good, huh?” Gilda asked with a small smile of pride.

“I’m actually surprised it doesn’t taste terrible,” Natalya answered, eyeing her scone again.

Gilda’s smile faltered. “Gee, thanks for the compliment,” she dryly replied.

“Just be glad that I was actually hungry enough to give you a second chance. I’ve tried your stuff before and it looked, tasted, and felt like rocks.”

“Oh, right. Yeah, I’ll admit my stuff from before was pretty much trash, but I got some cooking tips from one of my friends when she was here, and she even gave me a bunch of baking powder.”

Natalya merely shrugged and finished off the rest of her scone with a few more bites. It tasted better now that she was not suspicious of it.

“Well, regardless of what you said, it seems that you enjoyed the scone,” Gilda remarked. “I’ll be selling these scones for a while until I use up all of the baking powder. After that, I’ll try and figure something out.”

“What? Your so-called friend not happy with their share of the profits?”

“She is my friend,” Gilda immediately retorted with a glare. “Like an actual one that cares for you and is fun to hang out with… without needing something in return. The reason I can’t get more baking powder is because my friend lives too far away.”

Natalya chuckled. “You almost sound like a pony with all that friendship junk.”

“Yeah, well, that’s probably because my friends are ponies.”

“Seriously? You’re friends with ponies?” Natalya blinked. “Wait, you mean there are ponies here in Griffonstone?”

Gilda shook her head. “They already went back home to Ponyville yesterday.”

Natalya stiffened up. “Did… Did you say Ponyville?”

“Uh, yeah. Why?”

Natalya opened her beak, but she stopped and slowly closed it back up. Earlier, she had committed to forget about Rainbow and concentrate on her training. But now, there was a potential source of info she could use to find Rainbow quicker. After mulling it over for a few more seconds, she asked, “You wouldn’t happen to know where Ponyville is, would you?”

Gilda slowly nodded. “Yeah, I’ve been there once. Why? Planning a visit?”

“You could say that.”

Gilda quirked an eyebrow. “Really? Why would you want…” She paused, stared at Natalya for a moment, and then smirked. “Let me guess, you’re looking for Rainbow Dash.”

Natalya’s eyes widened. “How… How do you know that?”

“I pretty much connected the dots. I thought about why you would want to visit Ponyville, then I remembered that your team went up against Rainbow’s at the Equestria Games,” Gilda explained calmly. “Rainbow sure stole second place from you, huh?”

“I didn’t lose to her!” Natalya roared, shoving her face into Gilda’s. “It was all my lousy teammates’ fault that we did not win!”

Gilda chuckled as she stepped back from the seething Natalya. “Look, I heard about you and your obsession with winning around town. It’s pretty obvious that if you want to see Rainbow, you’re bothered that she’s faster than you.”

Natalya growled. “Nobody is faster than me.”

“You haven’t gone against Rainbow.” Gilda did not even flinch at the scathing glare Natalya was giving her. “I’m sorry, Natalya, but just because you think you’re the best, doesn’t mean that you are the best.”

Then I’m going to just have to fix that then,” Natalya thought as she did her best not to lose her temper. “Just give me some directions to Ponyville and how to find Rainbow.”

“What are you going to do? Race her?”

“That’s none of your business!”

Gilda rolled her eyes. “So that’s a yes then. Well, too bad you didn’t catch her yesterday. Would’ve saved us both a bunch of trouble.”

“Yesterday? Wait, don’t tell me Rainbow Dash is your baking powder friend?!”

“Actually, Pinkie Pie is the other friend that gave me the baking powder, but otherwise, yes, my friend Rainbow Dash was here yesterday.”

Natalya let out a frustrated growl, and her talons dug into the dirt.

“I’m surprised you missed them, to be honest,” Gilda continued. “The two of them aren’t exactly subtle, and they were here for a good part of the day.”

“I was training out at the Abysmal Abyss and spent the night camping out there,” Natalya grumbled.

“Ah… Actually, now that I think about it, Rainbow did mention you,” Gilda added.

Natalya’s foul mood receded, and she looked at Gilda with a perplexed face. “She did?”

“Not by name, but she does remember you from the Equestria Games. How did she describe you again?” Gilda tapped her chin with the tip of a talon. “Ah yes, I believe she called you a self-centered, arrogant jerk that’s going to be sorry if you ever make fun of her friends again.”

Natalya scoffed. “She’s still hung up about that?”

Gilda frowned. “Rainbow is fiercely loyal to her friends. She does not tolerate anyone doing or saying bad things to them.” She sighed and looked down at the ground. “I should know. We were pretty good buds when we were young, but I almost ruined that by being a jerk to her other friends. I’m just glad we finally made up when she came here.”

“Blah, blah, blah, I don’t care about your stupid friendship problems. Would you hurry up and tell me how to get to Rainbow already?”

Gilda scowled. “And why should I? It sounds like all you’re going to do is cause trouble for her and her friends.”

“Because I got what every griffon wants.” Natalya reached into her bag and pulled out a small, jingling pouch. “Turns out the Equestria Games give out decent cash prizes, even for third place. Not to mention how much I made selling off the hotel stuff I looted over there, she added to herself.

Gilda stared at the pouch of bits for a few seconds before she shook her head. “No thanks.”

“What?! Seriously? You would really give up bits for some dumb ponies?”

“My friends are not dumb!” Gilda shouted before taking a deep breath. “Look, I know we griffons really love bits, but there are more important stuff in life.”

“Like friendship?” Natalya asked sarcastically, wiggling her clawss mockingly.

Gilda huffed. “Actually, yes. Think about it, if we got everyone in Griffonstone working together, we could actually improve this dump we call home.”

Natalya scoffed. “Yeah, good luck with that. So is there anything I can do to make you tell me how to get to Ponyville?”

“Not likely, and even if I did, there’s no guarantee that Rainbow will want anything to do with you. As you might guess from her description of you, she’s not exactly fond of you. You were a big jerk to her. Rainbow likes a challenge, but she can really hold a grudge as well. Wouldn’t surprise me if she refuses to see you just out of spite.”

Natalya frowned. The possibility of going through so much trouble just to be snubbed was not exactly a productive use of her valuable time and money. After a few moments of thought, she asked, “So you’re Rainbow’s friend, right?”

Gilda quirked an eyebrow. “Uh, yeah? I think we established that.”

“Then how about you come with me?”

Gilda froze. “W-what?”

“You can guide me to Ponyville and then convince Rainbow to race me.” Natalya took a deep breath. “And you could… I dunno… Maybe keep an eye on me for your precious friends’ sake.” She had to resist the urge to make a gagging sound.

“Um…”

“I promise to try and keep things… civil…” Natalya added with a sigh.

“It would be awesome to see my friends again…” Gilda tapped her beak in thought. “Could also get some more baking stuff from Pinkie…”

“So you’ll do it?”

Gilda sighed. “It does sound like a pretty cool idea, but I’m not exactly swimming in bits. I already burned a bunch to get a seat at the Equestria Games.”

Natalya shot Gilda a deadpan stare. With a loud, frustrated sigh. “Fiiine. I’ll give you some bits to help you get there…”

“Aww sweet! Thanks!”

“But it’s just a loan! From the looks of things, you’re going to make a killing with the cooking stuff you’re going to bring back here.”

Gilda shrugged. “Alright, that sounds fair. I’m just glad I’m getting to see Rainbow and Pinkie again.”

Natalya blankly stared at the claw Gilda held out toward her, silently asking for a clawshake. Her eyes flicked up to Gilda’s eager face and then back down. With a sigh, she shook Gilda’s talon. “Then it’s settled. We’re heading to Ponyville.”

Look out Rainbow, Natalya is coming for you.