Inside the throne room of the Castle of Friendship, Riku and Twilight sat in their seats as they looked over the Galactic Map. There had been a couple worlds that were in trouble earlier, but Aqua and Ventus were the first to respond to the threats. They watched the last of the dark clusters in the Dwarf Woodlands disappear, the world where one of the Princesses of Heart, Snow White, lived. Terra wanted to join them, but he decided to stay behind just to be cautious of Xehanort. Unfortunately, without the enchanted crystal transceiver earpieces Aqua has yet to make due to the lack of crystals needed for intergalactic communications, they couldn't tell who went to which worlds to take care of the Heartless.
"Riku, you think I'm strong enough to handle taking on a world infested with Heartless yet?" Twilight asked.
"You may have the strength and magic, but you're still a bit inexperienced going in alone," Riku said. "I mean, you have gotten better. Just not with solo missions."
"I fought Tirek on my own and managed to do a lot better than Sora at his strongest," the alicorn argued.
"With five of our Keyblades and every single ounce of alicorn magic from Celestia, Luna, and Cadence," Riku countered. "You had a pretty big boost in power and magic, so that doesn't really count."
Twilight sulked and slumped down in her throne, letting out a groan in annoyance. "You and Sora did ok on your own when your got your Keyblades," she grumbled.
"And the only experience we had was our duels back home. We were quick to adapt and survive since we wanted to see what other worlds there were, and we knew we would end up in trouble at some point." Before Twilight could try to argue with her coltfriend any further, the stallion gasped as his cutie mark began glowing. The map was calling him, the aura of his cutie mark peeling off his flank as it hovered over the Cutie Map, both maps now returning back to Equestria's world and landscape. "I don't think I'm gonna get used to that odd feeling."
"But the map wants you to do something," Twilight said, watching the Keyblade cutie mark curiously as it hovered over the table.
Pinkie hummed a little tune at Sugarcube Corner, having the whole bakery to herself as she had big plans for the day. She had gathered a plethora of ingredients for a very special cake, mixing up the batter in a bowl as she splashed some on herself and her pet, Gummy, the dopey alligator staring blankly as he sat stood on the counter.
"This is gonna be great, Gummy!" Pinkie said. "We have absolutely nothing to do today except bake! And I've been waiting for the right time to finally try Granny Pie's super-special triple-chocolate, fifteen-layer marjolaine recipe!" Gummy licked the batter off his face in response. "I know, right!? It's gonna be amazing!"
Pinkie began double checking her ingredients, frostings, and toppings to use for each individual layer on her multi-layered cake. The timer rang as the first of fifteen separate layers was already done baking, carefully taking the piping hot layer mold out of the oven with a mitt and placing it on the counter to cool. Before she could get the second layer prepped up for baking, Sora walked into the bakery, freezing at the doorway as he saw the mess the earth pony had made.
"...Whoa. That's a lot of baking ingredients," he said.
"Hi, Sora!" Pinkie greeted. "Bakery's not open since the Cakes are off visiting their family for the day, and I'm in the middle of making the bestest cake you will ever try! As soon as all the layers are all done, that is."
"Uhh, ok. That's a lot of busy work, though...How many layers, exactly?" Sora asked curiously.
"Fifteen! And each one is completely different!" she answered.
"Well, it certainly sounds delicious." Sora stepped inside, being mindful not to step on the splattered batter on the floor. He noticed Gummy still had some batter on him after getting splashed, the gator's eyes blinking separately as he stared at him. "How do you manage to stay sane with Pinkie as your owner, Gummy?" Gummy stuck out his tongue and licked his eyeball in response. "...That explains so much."
Suddenly, both ponies gasped as they felt that familiar tingling sensation coming from their cutie marks as they began glowing. "Oh my gosh! Our cutie marks!" Pinkie exclaimed. "You know what that means!?"
"The map is calling us?" Sora answered with his question.
"Yes!" Pinkie sped out the door, her tail stretched out as it stayed inside, only for the mare to come back inside with her usual, random style. "Oh, but my cake!" She looked at Gummy, apparently finding someone who could bake her cake for her while she was gone. "Gummy, you think you can take over for me while I'm gone?"
"Wait, you're going to let Gummy, your pet who's just as random as you, bake the rest of your cake?" Sora questioned.
"Let me just measure the baking powder for you." The stallion sighed as Pinkie ignored him, something he should have expected after knowing her for a few years. After measuring the baking powder in the measuring cup, she carried a whisk and brought it over to the alligator. "And when that first layer cools, you can drizzle some of the chocolate ganache over it! And don't forget to beat the egg whites for the meringue!" She placed the whisk in Gummy's mouth, but from the look of the gator's blank expression, it didn't seem like he was listening. "I know you can do this, Gummy! You're the best alligator baker I've ever met!"
She then gave Gummy a kiss on the snout and ran right back off again. Sora looked at the door, then back at Gummy, watching his head slowly be lowered down by the heavier whisk until his back legs were raised in the air, his chin hitting the counter.
"...If we come back and I see a perfectly made cake in here, I'm going to wonder what works in your mind next, Gummy." Sora made his leave and quickly caught up with Pinkie Pie as they ran toward the castle.
"So, did you have any chores at Sweet Apple Acres, Sora?" Pinkie asked.
"You know I do them pretty fast," he said. "Though, I had to do Applejack's chores. She went off to Appleoosa with the Crusaders to fill in for Braeburn at the rodeo they're having there. Brae injured his leg while practicing the hay toss event, so she's going to take his place. And Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo wanted to try getting a cutie mark in something rodeo related."
"Ooh, I heard that there was somepony causing some trouble with the rodeos lately," Pinkie noted. "Most of the other rodeos around Equestria are being cancelled because of this pony named Troubleshoes."
"I read about that, but if it's in Appleoosa, I'm sure the ponies there would be too stubborn to even cancel a good rodeo like the Apple family." Making their way through the castle, the duo entered the throne room, already finding Riku, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash inside, the two pegasi's cutie marks already floating around the map as Sora's and Pinkie's joined them. "What's the map want with us this time?"
"It hasn't really told us anything yet," Twilight said. "I thought it was just Riku and Rainbow Dash, but let's see if your cutie marks will do something." The four cutie marks finally floated down over the map, circling around a large tree with several houses built around the base of the trunk and branches, almost like they were meant to look like nests. Twilight gasped, her eyes glinting with excitement. It was located far to the east of Equestria across the ocean, but there was a railroad system that lead around to the continent it was on from the north. "Oh my gosh! The map is summoning you four to Griffonstone, the very heart of the griffon kingdom!"
"The griffon kingdom, huh?" Riku said. While the others were interested, Rainbow was the only one who wasn't as she leered at the location she was being sent to. "Don't really know much about them except they're a hybrid between a lion and eagle."
"I'm not sure if any of you have read 'Bygone Griffons of Greatness', but griffons are actually known to be-" Twilight was interrupted by Rainbow as she let out an irritated grunt.
"Rude, insensitive jerks?" she grumbled.
"You're still upset about Gilda?" Sora asked, the pegasus mare nodding her head as she crossed her forelegs over her chest.
"Who's Gilda?" Riku asked.
"Somepony I thought was my friend, but she turned out to be a complete bully to everyone else!" Rainbow exclaimed. "Especially Pinkie Pie and Sora!"
"Yeah, she wasn't exactly the friendliest griffon we met," Sora said.
"And she was a big party pooper," Pinkie added. "She couldn't even take a few funny pranks Sora did at the welcome party I threw for her."
"I set those up to mostly show Rainbow how she was behaving around others without her around," Sora corrected. "I'm not sure if griffons are supposed to be better than how Gilda acted, but if they really had, then Gilda gave us a terrible first impression of her kind."
"Actually, Sora, they have some really interesting history, especially in Griffonstone," Twilight said, summoning a book from her library, a thick bronze-colored history book with a griffon on the cover. She opened it up to the page detailing a memorable moment in Griffonstone's history and read the excerpt. "'In ancient times, griffons were known to be as greedy as dragons, always hoarding their bits and other treasures. But that all changed when King Grover found the mysterious golden Idol of Boreas. Legend says the Idol of Boreas was made from the dust of golden sunsets, blown across the mountains by the north winds. Possessing the Idol of Boreas filled the griffons' hearts with pride. It's said that that one great treasure is responsible for turning Griffonstone into the most majestic kingdom in all the land.'"
"An idol that gave the griffons pride and changed them from being greedy hoarders?" Rainbow scoffed. "Yeah, right. Gilda was from Griffonstone, and she sure did have some pride being a complete mule to us. Why do you even care, Twilight?"
"Ever since Gilda's visit, I was a little curious, so I picked up 'Bygone Griffons of Greatness'," Twilight said, holding up said book she had just read from. "I've been hooked on it ever since, and I wanted to see Griffonstone for myself!" She then sighed, staring at the other ponies' cutie marks floating around the griffon kingdom's land while hers didn't join them. "Now you four get to see it for yourselves..."
"Twilight, you can come with us, you know," Riku said. "Just because we have to go and solve some friendship crisis, that doesn't mean you can't join us and see Griffonstone for yourself."
"No, no! The map called you guys," Twilight assured, though her annoyed expression said otherwise. "Even though I'm the Princess of Friendship, I can't exactly get in the way of who the map sends. I'm sure the issue isn't that complicated if Sora's going, since he makes friends quite easily."
"Except for Gilda," the stallion reminded. "She didn't even bother giving me, or Pinkie, a chance when we first met."
"Then how about you take my place instead," Rainbow said as she lounged on her throne, letting out a yawn. "I was in the middle of a nap before I was called, anyway."
"Nice try, Dash." Sora and Riku picked up the pegasus, setting her by Pinkie Pie as she held a party noise blower in her mouth. "The four of us have to go. So suck it up."
"Off to Griffonstone!" Pinkie cheered as she blew her noise blower in Rainbow's ear.
Before Riku could follow Sora, Pinkie, and a grumpy Rainbow, Twilight pulled him back toward her with her magic by his tail. "Wait, before you go, you think you can do some sightseeing for me in Griffonstone and take some pictures?"
"Twilight, just come with us," Riku said.
"I know, but I don't want to get in your way of solving a friendship problem." The pegasus stallion let out a sigh and shook his head. He was then given a small journal filled with different things he and the others should expect, and a camera to take pictures of the different sights she specifically wants to see. "Make sure to also have plenty of bits on you guys, too. The griffons will surely help as long as you share the wealth. And tell me how their scones taste, too. In fact, write down on the last few pages of this journal about your experience there so I feel like I was there."
"...No matter how many times I'm going to say it, you're still going to follow the made up rules the Cutie Map is giving for all of us, huh?" Riku asked. Twilight nodded her head in response, making him sigh again and comply with his girlfriend's requests. "Alright. I'll bring back your little souvenirs after figuring out the problem in Griffonstone."
"Thank you!" Twilight quickly said, giving Riku a quick peck on the lips before shoving him out the door to catch up with the others.
As soon as he was gone, the alicorn sighed and slumped in her throne, staring at the map as she wished she could have gone, too. The cutie marks of Sora, Riku, Pinkie, and Rainbow shrunk as they returned back to the castle, following their movements as they left and headed for the train station. This was an interesting feature she didn't know about since all twelve of them had left to stop Starlight Glimmer, and finding them traveling as cutie marks instead of small dots of light was a small change, thinking it was something that only occurred if there was a problem in Equestria.
She was distracted from her thoughts as she saw Kairi walk into the throne room. "Hey, Twilight. I just bumped into Sora a minute ago. Said there was a Cutie Map mission he needed to do with Rainbow, Pinkie, and Riku." Looking at the map, the pink unicorn noticed the four cutie marks slowly traveling toward the station in Ponyville. "Wow. That's new. We can actually see who's going where on Equestria's map, but not any of us in the other worlds. Where are they going?"
"To Griffonstone, where I was unfortunate to not be called to go to," Twilight grumbled.
"...You know you could have come along with them if you wanted to go somewhere they did," Kairi reminded.
"Yes, but I didn't want to distract them from whatever friendship problem they are meant to solve," Twilight said. "If the Cutie Map specifically requests certain ponies to go to a specific location, then they are the ones who need to fix it with no interference from other members of this castle."
Kairi shrugged her shoulders, even though Twilight made her situation more complicated as she stared longingly at the large tree. "Well, since you're not busy, and you need a distraction, want to do something? A bit of Keyblade magic training?"
"...I guess." The alicorn forced herself to look away from the map and follow Kairi out of the throne room, neither of them noticing a small black dot had appeared around a canyon close to Griffonstone.
The long train ride over to the griffon kingdom was a bit uneventful, aside from Pinkie ignoring Riku's warning for them to share their wealth with the griffons to figure out what friendship problems need solving. She nearly bought out the entire trolley of snacks on the ride over, leaving her with barely any bits left on her. It would have been a little faster if Sora and Riku used their gliders to get across the ocean, but they didn't want to cause any commotion with their vehicles scaring the griffons into thinking they were under attack.
They reached the end of they station in the griffon kingdom, Griffonstone just a small hike up to the tall, curved tree in the distance. Pinkie and Rainbow grabbed themselves some hiking gear at the station and walked along the path Griffonstone.
"So, Twilight really wants you to take pictures of Griffonstone while we're here?" Sora asked Riku.
"Yeah. And detail every single thing we experience up there," Riku said. "I don't think there are any rules for the Cutie Map or the Galactic Map at all. Though why the four of us are being sent there is a question needed to be answered."
"I'd rather have stayed behind," Rainbow grumbled. "I do not want to see Gilda again."
"Maybe she's finally had some time to cool off and realize she was too much of a jerk and you can make up again," Sora said, which only made the pegasus mare scoff. "Sooner or later, you two are going to realize your mistakes. You two were best friends since you were little. Once you're friends while that young, there's no way your friendship can tear apart."
"You and Riku nearly had yours broken after all you two went through." Rainbow reminding the two best friends' past made them wince, mostly Riku.
"Well, I guess that was more my fault," Riku said. "I believed Maleficent and got jealous of Sora when he hung around Donald and Goofy. I was too stupid, panicked, and listened to a complete stranger I sided with over my best friend."
"And that stranger happened to be a witch who wanted to take over Kingdom Hearts, but couldn't because her plans were backfired by somepony else who took over Riku," Pinkie summarized, which only made Riku groan in misery.
"Thank you all for reminding me how much of an idiot I was. I love a good kick in the butt to get my friendship mood started," Riku uttered sarcastically.
"You're welcome!" Pinkie said, making the white stallion facehoof.
"Ok, change in topic; what exactly will we be seeing for Twilight?" Sora asked, Riku silently thanking his friend for deviating from his past mistakes.
Riku pulled out the book Twilight gave him and looked at the list of different items to see on their tour of Griffonstone. "Ehhh. Sightseeing of the mountains, entering the palace that resides at the top of Griffonstone, meet with the current king since the last one mentioned in that history book Twilight read was a griffon king named Guto. Then the library if the king can't assist us, because of course Twilight would want to see the library there." Sora and Pinkie laughed with Riku at the alicorn's obsession with her choice of tourism ending up at a library, though Rainbow didn't as she focused on traveling through the pass. "Then get a picture of the statue of King Grover outside the library, try some scones they make there, yadda yadda yadda, boring tourist stuff she should be doing herself but is a bit too stubborn to go because of rules she made up in her head."
"I'd like to try griffon-made scones!" Pinkie said. "I bet they're really tasty!"
"Pinkie, you had pretty much everything the train had on their snack cart," Sora reminded. "How are you still hungry?"
"Walking up a mountain can work up an appetite," she responded.
"...Eh, I guess that makes sense," Sora said.
It wasn't long before they finally reached the entrance to Griffonstone, traversing along the trail and leaping between cliffs to reach the top. They passed the stone archway and entered the griffon kingdom's capital, but instead of a grand city, their jaws dropped at the horrible mess of a town they looked at. All the houses they see look worn down and in disrepair, made worse by the gray and muggy atmosphere of what was supposed to be a prosperous kingdom. Even the griffons wandering around looked shifty and leery of everyone around them, almost like someone was ready to steal their money from under their noses.
"...Ok. Looks like I won't be taking any photos for Twilight now." Riku stashed the camera away in his jacket pocket, not willing to shatter Twilight's visions of what used to be a great kingdom now nothing but a worn down slums. "The heck happened to this place? Is this even Griffonstone, or did we make a wrong turn?"
"This is clearly the place if the tree is any indication." Sora approached one of the griffons wandering around, hoping to get some guidance in this run down city. "Excuse us, sir? Is this Griffonstone?" Instead of giving an answer, the griffon grabbed Sora's face and shoved him harshly out of his way. The pegasus rubbed his face, thankful he didn't leave any claw marks on his face. "Well, hi to you too, you jerk."
Riku approached the griffon to tell him how disrespectful that was. "Hey, he asked you a simple question!"
"Buzz off, kid!" the griffon exclaimed, but unlike Sora, Riku grabbed the rude hybrid's claw before he was shoved aside.
"You do not want to mess with me, or my friends," Riku warned, holding up his other hoof to summon his Keyblade. Having his blade appear in front of the rude griffon finally got his attention. "Are we in Griffonstone or not?"
"Y-Yes! Yes, you're in Griffonstone!" he said fearfully. "Please don't take my money!"
"I'm not a mugger-" Riku flung the griffon's arm away, dismissing his Keyblade. "-and that's all we needed. Thank you." The now terrified griffon flew away in fear of the Keyblade wielder, though he didn't apologize to Sora for shoving him out of his way. "I don't think we'll get much help from anyone here unless we threaten them. And we're supposed to be doing the exact opposite."
"I knew it," Rainbow said. "These griffons are exactly as I thought they would all be."
"Maybe the king here is friendly and we should start at the palace," Pinkie suggested.
"We don't have a king, losers." Out of the four of the only ponies in Griffonstone, Sora, Pinkie, and Rainbow recognized the voice that spoke to them.
Turning around, they saw Gilda standing behind them, leering at the Three Goofballs. "Gilda."
"Dash," Gilda said back.
"Gilda," Sora said.
"Sora," Gilda replied back.
"Pinkie!" Pinkie chimed in randomly.
"Ok, enough playing the name game," Riku interjected before everyone started spouting random names, mostly Sora and Pinkie.
"What are you dweebs doing here?" Gilda questioned.
"It's a pretty long story," Sora said. "Not sure if you or any griffons here in Griffonstone have heard about the new castle that appeared in Ponyville, but there's this map that-"
"Don't care," the griffon interrupted, not even bothering to listen anything Sora was saying.
"You should!" Rainbow exclaimed. "We're here to help Griffonstone, and the reason I'm here is because that map you think isn't important like us 'dweebs' called all four of us here!"
"Help with what, exactly?" Gilda asked skeptically.
"That...we don't know," Pinkie said. "But, if you don't have a king anymore, then you can maybe tell us where the Idol of Boreas is?"
Gilda stared at them for a moment, only to burst out laughing to the ponies' confusion. "You idiots really believe that thing exists!?"
"You better believe it existed, and still does!" Gilda winced as an elderly voice spoke up from one of the dilapidated houses. An elderly male griffon looked down from the window, a scar running down his left eye, the past injury also blinding his eye, and wore a red fez. Gilda groaned as the elder marched out of his house and approached them. "And it was the best thing to ever happen to us griffons!"
"Oh, great. Now you've got Grandpa Gruff started," Gilda grumbled.
"I'll tell you lot the whole tragic tale..." Grandpa Gruff held out a claw, flexing his talons as he giggled manically. "For a couple of bits, that is."
"...Seriously?" Riku questioned. "We're here to help you, and you demand we pay you?"
"Either you pay me or get nothing!" Gruff argued. "You young kids don't get your education for free, you know."
"That's why they made public schools." Seeing the old griffon wasn't going to be assuaged, the pegasus grumbled as he gave in and gave Grandpa Gruff a couple bits.
Gruff checked the bits with his good eye, even bit it with his beak to make sure it was real currency and not a fake coin before stashing them away. "Now, the first griffon king, King Grover, united us griffons like we were never united before or since!" Behind him, Gilda mimicked Gruff's movements and mouthed whatever he was saying, apparently hearing this story several times to the point of making fun of the elder. "And he did it all with the Idol of Boreas! With that idol, it brought pride to the heart of every griffon who saw it. From one king to the next, Griffonstone kept that golden idol and we were the envy of every other species across the land."
Pinkie had to stifle a giggle as she watched Gilda copy Grandpa Gruff, the female griffon stopping as the elder looked back to see what was so funny. "And it seems like that pride had turned into greed," Sora said. "So, what exactly happened?"
"That idol had held us all together," Grandpa Gruff continued. "That is, until the reign of King Guto."
Riku looked in the journal Twilight gave him, where she mentioned the last recorded king to be known in 'Bygone Griffons of Greatness'. "Guto was the last known king in the history book Twilight read...Was he actually the last king?"
"Indeed he was!" Gruff said. "Until King Guto's reign, that's when Arimaspi came to Griffonstone to steal our treasure!" He held up an illustrated image of the thief. Arimaspi was a huge, cyclops goat monster bearing some golden accessories on his wrists, horns, and in his hair. "King Guto tried to fight him off, but Arimaspi got away with the Idol of Boreas! He didn't make it far as he tried to cross the Abysmal Abyss, rumors saying the dreaded monster fell with the idol. And without the Idol of Boreas, our pride was lost with it. King Guto was the last king of Griffonstone, and we all lived miserably ever after. The end!"
As Grandpa Gruff finished telling the tale of what had happened to the griffons, Riku had written down the bit of history in the blank pages for Twilight. While Rainbow and Sora pondered if it was possible to find the Idol of Boreas, Pinkie had teared up after hearing the story.
"That was the saddest story I ever heard," Pinkie said.
"Aw, well...TOUGH TAILFEATHERS!" Gruff shouted. "No refunds!"
The old griffon flew off, baffling the ponies as they basically paid for a history lesson and at least got some information out of Grandpa Gruff. "...Is that guy really your grandfather?"
"Yes, and he gets annoying repeating that same dumb story over and over," Gilda said.
"Well, it was no wonder that bit of history was never recorded in that book on the griffon kingdom," Riku said after putting the journal away. "The decline of the griffons' pride and prosperity taken away and making you all miserable wouldn't sell well."
"We're not miserable!" Gilda defended. "Do we look miserable to you!?"
"You very clearly are," Sora argued. "Just look at this place! It's like a forgotten, lower-class slums in this kingdom! Houses are in poor state, everyone's shifty and making up random stuff to make a quick bit, and none of you actually tried to find the Idol of Boreas again to regain your pride!"
"Then that must be why the map called us!" Rainbow said. "We'll find the Idol of Boreas for them, and you'll be thanking us when we get it while you couldn't, Gilda!"
"As if you'll even be able to find it," the griffon glowered. "We don't even care about that stupid idol anyway! We don't care about anything, and that's the way we like it!"
"But Dashie's right, Gilda," Pinkie said. "The map sent us here to solve a problem."
"The only problem Griffonstone has is you!" Gilda shouted before flying off in a huff.
"Geez. She must be really irritated by you three," Riku said, wincing as he felt a rock smack him in the back of the head.
"You, too, for hanging out with those losers!" Gilda yelled out before flying off again.
"She hasn't even known me all that long and she's judging me just because I know you guys," the white stallion muttered as he rubbed the bump on his head.
"Forget her," Rainbow said. "She's nothing but a jerk now. Let's go find that Idol of Boreas and bring Griffonstone back to its normal, glorious self again."
"But what about the library!?" Pinkie asked. "Didn't Twilight tell us to check there to get more information?"
"You can go ahead and check, but I'm going to search this Abysmal Abyss and find that idol. And when Gilda sees how much of a change Griffonstone is when their idol is back, she'll have to thank us for giving back some joy in that black heart of hers." Rainbow Dash flew off to find out the location of the Abysmal Abyss, leaving the other three behind.
"I'll go with Rainbow," Sora said. "One: to make sure she doesn't do anything stupid. And two: there might be a chance we can find that idol. And maybe you can take one decent picture around here for Twilight so she knows you weren't slacking, Riku."
"I highly doubt I'll take any pictures of this place, but that sounds like a plan," Riku said. "Pinkie and I will search the library to find another solution."
They then split up, Sora quickly flying after Rainbow while Riku and Pinkie walked around Griffonstone to find the library.
While looking around the outskirts of Griffonstone, Rainbow Dash and Sora found a store that also set up tours for visitors in the griffon kingdom. There probably wouldn't be much business since the Idol of Boreas was stolen and lost in the Abysmal Abyss, that and with how poorly the griffons took care of their homes and lack of a diplomatic ruler some would expect to see. Rainbow flew straight through the door of the shop, acting like the shop owner's savior, Sora shaking his head as he walked inside after her.
"We're here to find your missing idol!" Rainbow announced to the bored female griffon behind the counter.
The door fell off its hinges a few seconds later, finally worn out after lack of care with Rainbow Dash's dynamic entrance. "...Yeah, ignore my friend. She's likes to show off," Sora said, making the mare scowl at him. "Anyway, we are here to help find your missing Idol of Boreas. So, we'll need some rope, a grappling hook, and maybe a guide to show us where the Abysmal Abyss is."
"And I'll need some bits," the griffon demanded.
"...Stupid statement to say, considering we are going to buy that stuff," Sora uttered as he fished through his pockets to pull out some bits. "So, how much for all the stuff and a tour?" The shop owner rang up the price on the register, both ponies' jaws hitting the floor as they saw the price. "Holy cow! It's that expensive!?"
"For two sets of mountain climbing gear and the guide," the griffon said monotonously. "Pay up or leave."
"...Let's just do one set of gear and the guide instead," the stallion grumbled.
"You sure about that?" Rainbow asked.
"Hey, I might be rich from hunting Heartless all the time, but the currency exchange from Munny to bits with Celestia is pretty costly," Sora said. "In bits, I have about an eighth of what Munny I still have on me, and that's not much. And with how greedy these cheapskate griffons can be, Riku and I will need all the bits we have on us."
"Thank goodness Twilight didn't come along." Rainbow messed with her mane and made it look like Twilight's hairstyle. "'The griffons are sure to help you as long as you share the wealth.'" She shook her head, her hair back to its messy and wild style. "I'd rather not give away all my hard earned bits to greedy birds if they set prices up that high."
"Same here, but better to be safe than sorry." Sora bought the one set of gear and the tour of the Abysmal Abyss, the griffon leading them to the abyss after stowing away all the bits the stallion paid.
"Sir, can you tell us where the-" As Riku asked a passing griffon about the library, he ignored the stallion as if he wasn't there. "-library...is..." He growled in annoyance and tried again with another griffon that walked past him. "Ma'am, can you show me where your library's at?" She ignored him and kept walking. "Ok, seriously, there's no way all these griffons are equally this moody. At least have the courtesy to at least give directions to someone who's new to your town to places they want to visit!"
While Riku continued to try and ask any other griffon who didn't brush him off about the location of Griffonstone's library, Pinkie managed to find Gilda in another part of the city. "Hey, Gilda!" The griffon winced, unable to escape the pink menace even after a couple years without seeing her. "We heard word on the street that Griffonstone has an amazing library chock-full of answers!"
"Ugh, why do you always bother me?" Gilda muttered under her breath. "If I tell you where the stupid library is, will you leave me alone!?" Pinkie nodded her head, though the griffon was expecting her to bug her again in the next few minutes. "It's over there. Now go away!"
After being pointed in the right direction, Pinkie bounced off toward the library, giving Gilda some reprieve from one of the two more annoying ponies that were in Griffonstone. As Pinkie found the library, or what was left of it, the mare winced at the crumbled ruins of the building, books littered across the ground, and the statue of King Grover slightly cracked and ready to fall apart with enough force.
"Ooooh...I guess we're glad Twilight didn't come along after all," Pinkie uttered. "She would probably destroy Griffonstone after seeing this mess. 'Off with their heads for this travesty of all book-kind!'" She looked through what books were still salvageable, though there weren't any that were in readable condition that would help them. "Boy, it's sad to know what had happened to your town, King Grover. But I hope Rainbow isn't right. This can't all be because of a missing hunk of gold." Pinkie climbed up the back of the statue and moved the stone griffon's lower beak, deepening her voice as she pretended to talk for the King Grover statue. "'You are right, Pinkie! And you've got amazing hair!' Oh, Grover! You're such a charmer! But I've got another pony who stole my heart away."
"Pinkie, what are you doing?" Looking down, Riku stared in confusion as she talked to herself. "And who exactly are you talking about who 'stole your heart away'?"
"Just talking to the king!" Pinkie said, Grover's stone jaw dropping to the ground after being moved enough to be detached from the statue. "And I was talking about Cheese Sandwich."
"Oh..." Riku shuddered at the thought of the two random party ponies getting together to cause even more random chaos, though the mention of Cheese Sandwich did bring up some questions about her sudden romance with him. "Wait, are you two really going out? He's only been in Ponyville once since we last saw him."
"It's a long-distance thing, but he sends me letters!" Pinkie said. "And pictures of the parties he threw in Equestria since he left!" She leapt down beside Riku and pulled out some pictures out of her mane. There were several photos with the party stallion in most of them, showing the good time ponies across Equestria were having, even other species like minotaurs, zebras, and even diamond dogs. There weren't any with griffons in them, though even if he did throw the griffons here in Griffonstone a party, they would have kicked him out for being a nuisance. Riku could have sworn the next one she showed him had Cheese laying on his side with a red rose in his mouth, gazing sultrily at the camera, but Pinkie swiped that one away with an embarrassed blush. "Oopsie! How did that get mixed in there!?"
"...I'm just going to pretend I did not see that." Pinkie stashed away Cheese's pictures, to Riku's relief of the last one he barely glanced at. The pegasus looked around the ruins of Griffonstone's library, thankful he decided on not taking any pictures after all. "Great. So much for figuring out what to do next."
"I think I know what Griffonstone needs!" Pinkie exclaimed.
"Fewer ponies?" Gilda asked, rolling up a mobile baking cart she pulled behind her.
"No! A song! And I've got just the song that'll turn all these griffons' frowns upside downs!" Riku rolled his eyes, ready to join in if needed as Pinkie took in a deep breath.
Before she even let out a single sound, Gilda swiftly threw her talons out, grabbing Pinkie's face and kept her mouth shut. "Can't sing here!" she exclaimed, pointing to a sign that had a crossed out symbol of a griffon singing happily. "Not allowed in Griffonstone. And I don't want to hear any coming from you or this dweeb!"
"You're not allowed to sing in Griffonstone?" Riku questioned, Gilda letting Pinkie go as the mare stared at the sign in exasperation. "Who made up that rule?"
"Don't know, don't care, don't bother," Gilda said as she set up her stand.
"Well, if there's no singing allowed, then how about a party instead?" Pinkie suggested. "Everypony loves a good party to cheer them up! Where's your party store?" Gilda leered at Pinkie, raising a brow, though remaining silent. "...You really don't have a party store? Uhh...then cake is the next best thing! Where's your bakery?" Gilda groaned in annoyance with a roll of her eyes, unable to take the pink earth pony's incessant chattering. Pinkie gasped in horror at how terrible Griffonstone was without three of her favorite things to be able to do. "No singing, no party store, and no bakery!? What kind of place is this!?"
"You're all welcome to leave at ANY TIME!!!!!!!!!!!" Gilda shouted, right in Pinkie's face as well, sending the mare tumbling back to a slab of wall that was part of the library.
"Hey, lighten up!" Riku exclaimed. "Clearly, Griffonstone's in need of help, and it seems like all your moods could do with a change, Gilda!"
"We don't need any of your stupid help!" Gilda yelled back. "And who are you anyway? You dress up weird like that skinny, porcupine-haired pegasus dork."
"If you're talking about Sora, then you should know that he's my best friend," Riku said. "And if you want to beat someone up with that attitude of yours, take it out on me, because you won't even land a single scratch on me."
"Oh. That makes plenty of sense," Gilda muttered. "You're just as much of a dweeb as him."
"You barely know me and you're making assumptions of who I am just because of the way I look," Riku said. "Are you griffons racist?"
Pinkie managed to peel herself off the wall and walk back up to Riku and Gilda. "Actually, I think you mean 'speciest', and Gilda didn't seem to be when she was friends with Dashie."
"I just don't like you. Or her, or that punk who humiliated me in Ponyville!" Gilda turned away from them, ignoring them and continued to set up her stand while placing some slightly charred looking pastries on the shelves.
"...Well, this takes the cake," Pinkie mumbled. "No, not cake, because they don't have any! Or muffins! Or cupcakes! Or even griffon scones!"
"We have those," Gilda said. "Griffon scones are my specialty, and with my Grandpa Gruff's secret recipe, too."
"You actually bake?" Riku asked.
"Got a problem with that, Whitey!?" Gilda exclaimed in offense.
"My name's Riku, not 'Whitey'," the stallion stated. "And I was just curious. You just didn't seem like the type to be a baker."
"I'll buy a scone!" Pinkie said, but as she was about to bite down on one, Gilda forcefully shoved the mare's face away from her cart.
"Bits first!" the griffon demanded in irritation.
Pinkie rubbed her nose, then looked at Riku. She spent all her money on snacks on the train ride over, begging for him to buy one for her like a puppy begging for a treat.
"I'll buy one, too," Riku said, ignoring Pinkie's puppy-dog face a lot more than when Twilight pulled the same face for him in the past. "Might as well try some foreign delicacy here for Twilight's sake." He paid Gilda the bits, exchanged for a couple griffon scones the griffon forcefully placed in the ponies' hooves. Pinkie shoved the whole scone in her mouth and began chewing, the crunching sound she made making Riku cautious as he tried to take a bite out of his. "Agh! W-What in the name of-!?"
Pinkie winced as she stopped chewing, barely able to make a dent in the hard scone. "Ow! I think I broke a tooth!"
"Oh well," Gilda said with any lack of care for her customers' satisfaction. "No refunds."
"Uhh, yes, refund!" Riku exclaimed, tapping the hard scone with his hoof as hard as he could. "You practically gave us an inedible stone, not a pastry! Either comp us another scone, but in better quality, or give me back my money!"
"I don't even care what you think about them anyway!" Gilda said. "I just want to make enough bits so I can leave this stupid place!"
"Not with money you practically stole from me by feeding us rocks!" Gilda let out a lion-like growl in warning, but Riku didn't back down from the glaring griffon.
"You really want to go at me, dweeb?" Gilda brandished her claws and flared her wings to intimidate the pegasus, but the stallion lowered his stance, taking it as a challenge. "Then just try to take back your money!" The griffon let out an eagle-like shriek as she flew into him. As her claws were about to scratch Riku's face, the stallion disappeared at the last second, only to appear behind Gilda. Confused, she turned around to find him standing there, too shocked to attack again as he saw him tossing the bits he just paid her up and down in his hoof with a serious expression on his face. "H-How-? Where did-!? What!?"
"Told you so," Riku said, putting away his money. "Don't underestimate this 'dweeb', Gilda."
She growled, but gave up trying to fight back after being reminded of her embarrassing loss against Sora when she tried attacking him. "You two in some kind of army or something?"
"You could say that. I guess Sora must have done something similar to surprise you with what he can do compared to how he looks." Gilda grimaced and let out a huff, giving Riku the answer he expected. "Don't underestimate someone just by-"
"Yeah, yeah, shut up!" Gilda interrupted. "He said the exact same thing, and I don't need to hear it from you! Now leave me alone and let me sell these stupid scones in peace!"
She tried to walk past him, but the stallion stopped her. "You're not going to get anymore money with crappy scones like those."
"None of the other griffons complain when they eat one," the griffon growled. "Maybe your pony teeth aren't strong enough to bite one like our beaks can."
"If they're that good-" Riku grabbed a scone, ignoring the look Gilda gave him for taking one of her products without paying before she balked as he held it up to her face. "-then you try one and show us they're actually good."
"...F-Fine." Gilda took the scone, hesitating as she stared at the poorly made pastry she made. Looking up at Riku, he waited patiently for her to take a bite out of it to prove him wrong. She opened her mouth as she slowly brought the scone to her beak, and as she bit it, she couldn't even break through it herself. Grunting in frustration, she let out a disgruntled sigh as she dropped the scone. "Ok, fine! They're too tough to eat and they taste terrible! There! Happy!?"
"I'm not trying to provoke you. I'm just proving a point," Riku said. "If you want money to get out of here, you'll have to at least make them a little bit better...and bake them a little less longer."
"Ooh! I can help with that!" Pinkie said after spitting out the hard scone she still had in her mouth, her grin slightly cracked from trying to eat the pastry.
Sora and Rainbow Dash followed the greedy tour guide griffon further out of Griffonstone to where the Abysmal Abyss was located. Ironically, it wasn't really all that far as the split in the mountain where the former prosperous city of griffons was located was indeed the very deep gorge they were looking for. From Grandpa Gruff's telling of how the Idol of Boreas was taken, there didn't seem to be any signs of a mountain bridge across the chasm as they reached the end of the path. Looking over the edge, the abyss really held up to its name as they could barely see the bottom, and it was incredibly dangerous to fly down with the harsh gale winds blowing through the crevice.
"Wow. That's a long way down," Sora commented. "And Aramaspi fell down this place. He clearly couldn't have survived a fall like that."
"Well, one of us has to go down there," Rainbow said as she began putting on her climbing gear. "Since you're stronger than me, you can help pull me back up in case something goes wrong."
"As bad of an idea that is to let you go down something that dangerous, you do have a point." Sora helped Rainbow get her fitted into her gear, but the helmet was a bit of an issue. The stallion turned to the tour guide for some help. "Hey, can you help Rainbow strap this helmet on?"
"Can you give me more bits?" the griffon asked.
"...Seriously?" Sora questioned. "Paying you to help fit someone up in the 'expensive' climbing gear I just bought?"
"Nevermind, I got it," Rainbow said, sparing the mercy of Sora's wallet. She looked down the abyss again, gulping a little in fright. "Uhh, how deep is this abyss anyway?"
"How deep are your pockets?" the griffon asked, irritating the pegasi.
"Can you talk about anything other than bits!?" Sora exclaimed.
"Give me some bits and I'll answer," the greedy tour guide said.
Sora and Rainbow looked at each other, sharing the same annoyed, blank expressions. "You know, I think hanging out with Gilda is a lot better than any other griffon."
"Same here," Rainbow agreed.
Back in Griffonstone, Gilda remade a new batch of griffon scones for Pinkie to try, this time not as hard as stone despite Riku thinking the pink mare needed to see a dentist after eating one earlier. "Hmm...Grandpa Gruff's recipe is good, but it seems to be missing one important ingredient."
"Ugh," Gilda groaned. "Let me guess. 'Friendship'?"
"Uhh, no. I was going to say baking powder," Pinkie said.
"Though, to be fair, you do need to put some care in making food, so friendship is also a bit right," Riku said.
"Lucky for you, I never leave home without any baking powder!" Pinkie mysteriously pulled out a box of baking powder out of nowhere and made a new batch of griffon scones. Looking a little more livelier than Gilda's, Pinkie popped them in the small stone oven on Gilda's cart and let them bake. "Now these griffon scones will metaphorically have their weight in gold once they're done baking!"
While they waited for the scones to bake, a female griffon flew overhead. She smelled the delicious scones that wafted from the stoves smokestack, too focused on the mouth-watering scent to pay attention to another griffon flying toward her and knocking her out of their way. She fell and hit the ground, Gilda gasping in shock as she seemed concerned for the knocked aside griffon.
"Greta!" To Riku and Pinkie's surprise, Gilda tried to help Greta up, but the other female griffon pulled her arm away from Gilda and continued on her way.
"...Well, so much for not caring about anything here in Griffonstone," Riku said.
"Aha!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Don't think we didn't see that, Gilda! You may act like a gruff, grumbling griffon, but inside you're gracious and great!"
"What are you talking about?" Gilda questioned.
"You helped a friend of yours up after they fell," Riku stated.
Gilda scoffed, though she couldn't hide the fact she wasn't as mean as she was to them a moment ago. "Greta's just a griffon I know. We don't have friends here!" She then let out a sad sigh, staring at the ground in misery. "I had a friend once...but you saw how that turned out..."
"Because you overreacted when you got pranked by Sora when he wanted to show Rainbow Dash how mean you were to us during the party I threw for you to help you fit in?" Riku expected Gilda to grumble or growl at Pinkie for bringing up what destroyed her friendship with Rainbow Dash, but the griffon said nothing.
Riku and Pinkie could clearly see the regret on Gilda's face. She knew she screwed up, though why she acted the way she had back then seemed to make sense with how the other griffons in Griffonstone acted. Riku understood exactly what Gilda had gone through; seeing her best friend after a while, only to find out Rainbow made other friends and didn't want anyone else taking her friend away from her. He remained silent, not willing to agitate Gilda in the depressed state she was in as they waited for the scones to finish baking.
"I wonder if Sora and Rainbow found the idol yet," he uttered. "Though, I doubt that's why we're all here to begin with."
Once Rainbow Dash was all ready for the climb down, Sora made sure the rope tied around her was secure, along with the heavy rock near the cliff acting as the anchor. The pegasus mare looked down the edge again, worried about falling down with the heavy winds battering against her as she made her decline into the Abysmal Abyss.
"Uhh, is there a chance we can fly down there instead?" Rainbow asked, getting her answer as she tried to flap her wings up into the air, only to quickly be carried by the wind before closing her wings back to her sides. "Ok! Never mind! Flying bad!"
"Should I tie your wings down in case you instinctively open them if something spooks you?" Sora suggested.
"No, I can handle this," Rainbow assured, though beginning to lack confidence in herself. "At least, I hope so...Just find the idol, and then we're golden..."
Taking in a deep breath, Rainbow slowly began climbing down the side of the rocky cliff, Sora and the tour guide keeping the rope taut so she wouldn't plummet down deeper into the abyss. Sora was at least a little grateful to see the griffon actually doing her job, though he doubted her help would last for much longer. While Rainbow looked down, much to her chagrin, neither of them noticed how poor in quality the rope was as part of it began to slowly break apart. Sora heard the light snap and looked down, gasping in shock as he saw the rope was going to break.
"Rainbow, grab onto the-!" He warned too late as the rope finally gave out, Rainbow screaming in fright as she suddenly fell.
Unable to control her instincts, she tried to fly to safety, only to be carried by the wind and slammed into the side of the gorge, dazing her for a moment as she fell down a few landings. She finally came to a stop, yelling out in pain as she landed hard on one of her back legs. Rainbow winced as she tried to stand up, unable to move with her injury.
"Sora, help!" she called out. "I hurt my hoof! For real! Not like back at Rainbow Falls for the prelims!"
"Hang on, Dash!" Sora pulled up the broken rope, realizing too late that this rope had seen much use in the past and was bound to break apart with enough weight at any moment. He looked back at the griffon tour guide, who was completely uninterested despite one of her customers was in grave peril. "You gave us a faulty rope!"
"You paid for gear, and you get what you bought," she said, only angering the stallion further.
"Then how about you get us a better length of rope so we can pull Rainbow out of there before she falls any further!?" he exclaimed.
"Got any bits?" Sora's face turned red in pure anger, unable to believe just how selfish these griffons were and preferred Gilda's yelling over this one's greedy needs.
"Are you kidding me!? My friend's in trouble because you were too lazy to check the quality of the rope you gave us, and you're demanding me more money to get another rope when this is an emergency!? One of your customers' life is on your head, and you want bits!?" The griffon just shrugged, baffling Sora as she just turned around and walked off. "Wha-buh-gigh-HEY! Where are you going!? Don't you dare walk away from me! If something happens to her, not only will I sue you for neglect of your own job, but I will also throw you in a jail cell for endangering someone's life because of your greed! And I want my money back!"
"No refunds!" the griffon said, making the stallion facehoof and growl in frustration.
"Sora! Where'd you go!?" His ears perked up as he heard Rainbow's terrified voice, quickly running back to the edge to see her huddled by the wall. She had bandaged her bad leg, though it wouldn't be enough to numb the pain. "Please don't tell me our tour guide just walked away on us because you refused to pay her!"
"I'm not giving money to someone who won't even bother helping save a life!" he said. "Trust me, I'll report this to Celestia after I get you out of there, and we'll both see some justice against one of these greedy bird brains!"
"How are you going to get me out of here!?" Rainbow asked. "Don't you have any magic to stop wind or something!?"
"Aero spells are like a protective barrier of wind to increase defense or prevent Heartless from getting in close contact with someone!" Sora tried to think of anything to help her without a good-quality rope, having no clue how long the small landing Rainbow was trapped on would hold. Summoning his Keyblade, he struck the blade into the side of the wall after casting Aero on himself, testing to see if the protective winds will keep him from being buffeted by the stronger gale blowing throughout the abyss. He hung off the edge of his blade, but the winds still pushed back against his spell. Grunting in frustration, he climbed back up to the cliff edge. "I don't think Aero can keep me from being knocked back by this wind!"
"Can't you use any of your Drive Forms to save me!?" Rainbow asked. "You could climb down, tie us together with whatever's left of that rope, and climb us out of here!"
"Uhh, you forget that these forms have a time limit!?" Sora reminded. "And I don't want to take a risk using any of them unless you want my Anti Form to drop down and attack you against my will!"
"...Ok, good points," Rainbow muttered to herself.
Sora untied what rope was left off the anchor, but even knowing how unsure the rest of the remaining length was ready to break as well, there wasn't enough to reach down to Rainbow Dash. He could try to use one of his summons, maybe have Genie come down to save her, but the wind in Abysmal Abyss felt so unnatural, he wasn't sure the blue genie from Agrabah could fight back against the gale if his Aero spell failed. He needed to get help, but he knew he couldn't leave Rainbow Dash down there by herself.
"I need to get the others," he said to himself, making his decision despite Rainbow's worries. "Rainbow, I'm gonna get Riku and Pinkie! I'd rather trust them more than any other griffon around here!"
"And leave me all alone!?" the mare shrieked.
"Don't worry! I'll be back soon! Just stay put!" Sora quickly ran away from the cliff before flying the rest of the way back to Griffonstone.
"Mrf...Where does he think I'm gonna go?" The rocky platform she was on slowly began to crumble at the edge, making her panic as she huddled closer to the wall. "At least I hope I don't go anywhere!"
Far down into the abyss, the bits of rock that fell hit something large in the darker area of the ground. The bit of darkness stirred as a glowing yellow eye opened and looked up at the sky, a low rumble barely reaching the rainbow-maned pegasus's ears as the harsh winds drowned it out.
Pinkie pulled out the freshly baked scones, already a lot better in presentation with the party pony's baking skills than Gilda's. "And voila! Delicious, softer griffon scones that everypony can eat!"
"They do smell good." Riku took one and blew on it to cool it down a little before taking a bite out of it. "Mmm. Now that's definitely a much better scone."
Curious, Gilda took one a nibbled on it, surprised at how much better it tasted than how she made it. "Huh. That is good. Probably should have added that baking powder for these scones earlier."
"And yet you bake them without realizing baking powder is pretty important when baking any kind of pastry." Gilda leered at Riku for the snarky comment he made.
"Guys!" The trio looked up to see Sora flying toward them in a panic, diving to the ground and landing before them. "Rainbow Dash is in trouble!"
"What's going on?" Riku asked. "What happened?"
"We got a guide to help lead us to the Abysmal Abyss to find the Idol of Boreas, and that griffon was so cheap she made the gear and the tour to that deadly canyon so darn expensive!" Gilda snorted, knowingly expecting Sora to get ripped off and finding it hilarious. "Rainbow climbed down there, even though I should have gone down, but I could have pulled her out of that windy abyss without any problem, but that stupid guide gave us an old rope that snapped, and now she's stuck down there on a ledge with no way for me to even get her out! And the stupid, greedy tour guide cared more about the money she hawked off me, bird pun intended, and just walked off without caring about facing serious jail time for not doing her job keeping any paying customers safe!"
"What!?" The ponies looked at Gilda, who was smirking as she heard Sora explain what had happened. "Why are you grinning like that!? Your friend's in trouble!"
"Ex-friend," Gilda corrected. "Serves her right for dumping me like that after Sora made me look like a mule in front of the whole town when I visited!"
"What is it with you griffons caring about nothing but yourselves!?" Sora exclaimed. "You brought that upon yourself, first of all, so don't blame me for nearly sending Pinkie falling to her death and pretending you care about anyone else at all! Not even your best friend you grew up with!"
"I did care, you stupid jerk!" Gilda shouted. "If only you two didn't show up, then maybe I wouldn't have kept holding myself back from punching your snouts in!"
Before Sora and Gilda's arguing escalated into a fight, Riku intervened by slapping Sora upside the head. "Sora, stop. I'll talk with Gilda. You and Pinkie head back and try to help Rainbow. We'll catch up with you in a bit."
The tan pegasus grumbled and rubbed his head, but he nodded his head. Knowing Riku and Gilda were neutral toward each other since they don't know each other much, he had a better chance of convincing the grumpy griffon to help them save Rainbow. Sora and Pinkie ran back to the Abysmal Abyss to help Rainbow, this time making sure to bring better rope than the guide gave them to rescue the trapped pegasus.
"I don't know what you mean by we," Gilda said. "I'm not helping her."
"Ok, let's get down to brass tacks and quit beating around the bush, Gilda," Riku said. "You still care about Rainbow Dash. Even though you were mocking us about Rainbow being trapped, you just admitted you still cared about her."
The griffon balked, leering at the stallion as she stammered, trying to make up excuses. "I-I don't! She ditched me for those other ponies! Even Sora and Pinkie Pie!"
"Is that what she did?" Riku asked. "Or is that what you think she did and you became jealous of Sora and Pinkie being Rainbow's newer friends?" Gilda grunted and opened her beak to retort, but the words died in her throat as she stared at Riku. He could definitely see it in her eyes; she was jealous of them, just like he felt when Sora was with Donald and Goofy when he was reunited with his best friend. "I'm right, aren't I?"
"...N-No," Gilda lied, unable to look him in the eye.
"Yes, it is," he said. Riku let out a sigh, brushing some of his bangs out of his face as he began to recall the similar situation Gilda had been in. "You know, I was in the same situation you were in once. Although, it wasn't a few years since I last saw Sora when I got jealous of him, since the two of us always hung out back where we're from."
"What do you mean by that?" Gilda asked, already curious despite hating having any common ground with someone who was friends with the stallion who humiliated her.
"The two of us were inseparable," he explained. "Ever since were were little, we hung out together and did all sorts of things. It wasn't that long ago when things suddenly went bad for us. Just a few years ago, actually." While thinking back to the time Destiny Islands was swallowed by darkness and getting separated from Sora and Kairi, he needed to paraphrase his story so he wouldn't reveal to Gilda who he and Sora really were. "We got split up from our home by dangerous monsters, and we wound up in different places: myself, Sora, and his girlfriend, Kairi. I was really worried about them, but I had no idea where I was or how I could find them.
"I made a horrible choice trusting some stranger I just met to help me find them, but that was just the beginning of the poor choices I made." Riku clenched his eyes shut, always reminded of how careless he had been trusting Maleficent of all people to help him, the start of almost ending his friendship with Sora. "Eventually, I managed to find him, but I noticed he was with two others while he tried to find me, his new friends named Donald and Goofy."
"Those are dumb pony names," Gilda commented.
"They weren't ponies," Riku said. "They were a griffon and a diamond dog." Gilda's eyes widened at the mention of Sora making friends with a griffon. "When he talked to them, he sounded a lot more excited hanging around with them than he did with me and Kairi. The stranger who helped me even warned me he would have forgotten about me...and like an idiot, I believed her. I began growing jealous, and hated him for not caring about his best friend or the girl he had a crush on ever since they first met in school. In spite of him, I grew too stubborn to listen to him and only focused on hating him and showing him he made a big mistake dropping us for some other friends he made.
"When we met again, we got into a pretty serious fight. It was almost deadly when I intended to make it that way. In the end, he actually beat me, and it frustrated me...My mistakes only got worse when I trusted someone else who gave me a dark, dangerous power that could help me show Sora who's stronger and how wrong he was to abandon us..." He looked down at his hoof, never forgetting how powerful he became, or how he was corrupted into having his body taken over by Xehanort's Heartless after trusting someone more dangerous than Maleficent. "...I still lost, but in the end, I thought I would have lost my best friend after I saw him literally sacrifice his heart to save Kairi, who I managed to find when he couldn't."
"...How was that possible?" Gilda asked skeptically.
"It's hard to explain, but I had thought I would never see my best friend ever again..." Riku looked up at Gilda, placing his hoof over his heart. "But even after I hated him, after everything I said to him, even after I wanted to kill him, he never gave up on me. Ever."
"Seriously?" Gilda asked. "If I were him, I'd hate you for the rest of my life."
"Then you don't know Sora. There's one thing that he has that far surpasses even the strongest of powers, even what I had that almost bested him." Riku tapped his chest, emphasizing the exact part of Sora that was strongest. "His heart was stronger than my own, and he relies on his friends to give him the power he needs to keep fighting, even when the odds are against him. After he saved me from my inhibitions and the darkness in my heart, we were separated again, and he still desperately searched for me when it seemed impossible for me to ever come back. I don't deserve a friend like him after how I treated him, and when he rescued me, I realized I acted out of jealousy and was afraid of losing my best friend forever.
"I still feel responsible for what I did, but he doesn't blame me for making a mistake...despite how I almost got him killed on several occasions." Gilda mulled over the pegasus's tragic backstory. It may have been a lot more serious than hers and Rainbow's friendship breakup, but like Riku, she had been jealous of her for making new friends and feared Rainbow would have left her behind. In the end, her jealousy caused her to lash out and showed her best friend how she treated everyone else she knew. "Sometimes, I think back on how Sora and I met. When we were kids, we got into a bit of a fight that got the two of us in some serious trouble, but after that, we made up and immediately became friends. We're both pretty competitive, but it's all in good fun as we test each other and see which of us is better.
"What about you, Gilda? You still remember when you and Rainbow Dash first met?" he asked.
"Yeah...How can I ever forget that day?" Gilda reminisced on the day she first met Rainbow Dash, back when they were younger in Junior Speedsters Flight Camp back in Cloudsdale.
Up in the cloudy camp for young pegasi to practice their flying in a spacious and safe environment, a young Gilda sat by the entrance as her parents dropped her off for the summer. She was incredibly shy, being the only griffon in the camp as she saw only pegasi flying around the obstacle courses with the help of the counselers and instructors. She was excited to go at first, but now she felt self-conscious being the only griffon at Junior Speedsters Flight Camp.
Two of Rainbow Dash's bullies flew over Gilda as they judged the little griffon fledgling. "Hey, doesn't that griffon know she's supposed to fly at the Junior Speedsters Flight camp!?"
Overhearing the bullies making fun of the new griffon, filly Rainbow Dash sped past them, sending the colts spiraling in the air until they were good and dizzy. "Maybe she just doesn't want to make you jerks look bad!" Rainbow flew down and hovered in front of the timid griffon, a little surprised to have a pegasus filly her age stand up for her. "Hey, I'm Rainbow Dash! What's your name?"
"Uhh...G-G-Gilda," Gilda stammered nervously.
"You sure about that?" Rainbow joked, getting a small grin from the griffon. Looking back at the bullies, the filly snorted as they snapped back to their senses. "Stick with me, Gilda, and these dumb colts won't give you any more guff. Let's see you fly!" Rainbow sped off, her welcoming friendship toward Gilda giving her some confidence in herself. The little griffon flapped her wings and zoomed off, surprising the bullies as they saw she was as fast as them despite their difference in species. Even Rainbow was surprised to see her manage to catch up with her as the two new friends flew around. "Whoa! You're awesome!"
Gilda giggled at the compliment, though she was even more amazed by Rainbow's own speed. "You too, Rainbow Dash!"
"Come on, Gilda! Let's show those doofuses how flying's really done!" Gilda nodded her head as the duo flew together, performing a synchronized aileron roll as they headed straight for the colts.
They yelled out in panic, but were too slow to fly away as they rammed through the colts like bowling pins,
sending them flopping onto the soft clouds below. After dealing with the bullies, the two friends laughed and began reciting the camp's special cheer.
[Gilda]
Junior Speedsters are our lives
[Rainbow Dash]
Skybound soars and daring dives
[Gilda and Rainbow Dash]
Junior Speedsters, it's our quest to someday be the very best!
Gilda's eyes welled up with tears as she strolled down memory lane, forgetting Riku was still standing in front of her. The stallion grinned as he saw the change of heart in her teary eyes, though that changed as she realized she was with someone. She wiped her tears away, back to giving that usual scowl of hers, but she wasn't a grump like before.
"Fine," she said. "I'll help her, too...But this doesn't mean we're still friends."
"Right," Riku said, watching Gilda walk past him as she made her way to the Abysmal Abyss to help her best friend. He followed after her with a chuckle, knowing she wanted to be reunited with her old friend after their little fallout. "However you deny it, Gilda, you can never forget your first friend you had a close connection with. Not even Sora or myself will ever forget..."
Sora and Pinkie ran up the path to the Abysmal Abyss, carrying several yards of fresh rope the stallion swiped from the cheap tour guide's shop when she was too busy counting the money she swindled off of him. "You sure you didn't want to pay for the rope!?"
"She's got plenty of my money already!" Sora reasoned. "Just think of it as a bit of compensation for endangering one of her clients when they were planning to mountain climb down a dangerous chasm filled with harsh winds that make it impossible to fly in! I'm still going to report her to Celestia and Luna about this and get all my bits back!" As they reached the cliff side of the Abysmal Abyss, Sora and Pinkie looked down to see Rainbow Dash still huddled on the ledge she was stuck on. "Hang on, Rainbow! I'm coming down!"
"It's about time!" Rainbow yelled out. "I'm starting to get claustrophobic down here!"
"But there's lots of room down there!" Pinkie said.
"Not when I'm stuck on a ledge that's about to crumble at any moment!" Rainbow shouted.
"Oh. That makes sense." While Pinkie wondered what to do, Sora had already tied the rope around his waist and anchored it to the same rock they had used earlier.
"Ok, let's hope the rock won't give out on the both of us when I carry her back up," he said, tugging the rope to make sure his life line was secured. "At least I won't blame that griffon for the rock giving out. Alright, as soon as I call you, Pinkie, help lift us up."
"Got it!" Pinkie said with a salute.
With the rope tied tightly to the heavier stone, Sora leapt and dove down into the chasm. Summoning his Keyblade, he stabbed it into the wall to slow his decent, keeping a firm grip on his blade as his back hooves slid along the wall with his blade. He didn't want to bungee jump down and risk breaking the rope, making it at least halfway down to where Rainbow was.
"Hurry it up!" Rainbow shouted, huddling closer to the wall as more and more of the ledge began crumbling away. "I don't know how much longer this is gonna hold!"
"Just stay calm and try not to move!" Sora responded, grabbing onto a part of the rocky wall as he pulled his Keyblade out, ready to drop another few yards down.
As he slowly descended down, Riku and Gilda made it to the edge of the cliff, the griffon bringing her own climbing gear with her. "Pinkie, where's Sora!?"
"He's climbing down now!" she said. Suddenly, the ledge Rainbow was on finally gave away, making the pegasus fall as she screamed in terror. Pinkie gasped, grabbing the rope Sora was tied to without thinking and tied it around her own waist. "Hang on, Dashie! I'm coming!"
"Wait, Pinkie!" Riku and Gilda warned too late, the earth pony jumping down after Rainbow.
Sora was about to leap down after her, but when he saw Pinkie jump down, he couldn't question what she was doing before he was yanked down with Pinkie's free fall. After a deeper plunge, Pinkie managed to wrap her hooves around Rainbow Dash right as Sora thrust his Keyblade back into the wall, holding onto his weapon tightly as they slowly came to a stop. Rainbow clung onto her pink friend for dear life as Sora looked down.
"Pinkie, what the heck is the matter with you!?" he shouted. "That was supposed to stay connected to the rock!"
"I couldn't help myself!" Pinkie said apologetically. "But I saved Dashie!"
"Hurry and pull us up! I don't know how long I can hold onto-!" Suddenly they all heard a roar loud enough to be heard through the powerful gale brushing against them. Looking down in the deepest part of the abyss, the trio gasped in shock as they saw a glowing yellow eye staring at them. They knew exactly what kind of creature has glowing eyes like that in the dark abyss, Sora feeling the wall vibrate as whatever it was was climbing up after them. "Oh crud! Sora, pull us up!"
"Great. What perfect timing," Sora muttered under his breath. He was about to dislodge his Keyblade, only to quickly grab on as the Heartless down below opened its maw and let out a bellow, the gravity around him growing heavy as he held on for dear life. "Gravity! Of all the worst places for a Heartless to have this stupid spell! And in an abyss that's abysmal!"
Riku and Gilda also saw the glowing eye, the stallion growling in frustration while the griffon stared in shock. "What the hay is that!? No living thing actually survives down in the Abysmal Abyss!"
"It's a Heartless," Riku said. "You felt that slight shift in gravity, right?"
"Yeah! That's not supposed to happen!" Gilda exclaimed.
"Just get down there and help them while I keep it distracted!" Gilda was about to ask how Riku was going to distract the Heartless, only to have more questions pop in her skull when he mysteriously summoned his Keyblade out of thin air. She was even more shocked to see him casting magic with it, firing a volley of powerful Thunder spells down on the Heartless down below to stall it as it let out a roar of pain with each bolt that struck. He noticed Gilda was still standing there, watching him and not helping Sora, Rainbow, and Pinkie. "Explanations later! Go!"
"Uhh, right!" Gilda quickly got herself tied up with her rope and used the rock as her anchor. "You're not going to pull the same stunt Pinkie did earlier, are you!?"
"I'm not that insane!" Riku responded as he fired more Thunder spells, hearing Pinkie and Rainbow scream as it's Gravity spell continued weighing down on them.
Gilda steeled her nerves, having no knowledge on what a Heartless was, but she needed to save her friend. She dove down into the abyss, grabbing the wall with her talons to slow herself down. She gripped onto the wall tightly as another wave of heavy gravity tried to pull Sora, Pinkie, and Rainbow down, feeling the earth rumble as the Heartless continued climbing up. Once the spell ceased, Sora struggled to climb up, already feeling his strength drained away from the Gravity spells as he carried two mares by a rope tied around his waist.
"If only I was able to fly us out of here!" Sora said to himself, grunting as he stabbed his blade into the wall and pulled himself up. "Damn these winds! Should have been called Windy Deathdrop instead!"
"Hang on, guys!" Gilda called out as she climbed down. "I'm on my way!"
Rainbow looked up, surprised to see Gilda helping them. "Gilda?"
The Heartless beneath them roared and increased the Gravity spell it cast, making Sora nearly lose his grip on his Keyblade. Rainbow and Pinkie screamed as it felt like their bodies were being crushed, fearing their weight would end up snapping the rope. Gilda, unfortunately, wasn't prepared for the spell as she lost her grip and fell slipped off the rocky surface. She yelled and landed with a painful grunt on the edge of a ledge, groaning in pain as she clutched onto the side as she struggled to regain her breath. As she looked up, she gasped in shock as she stared at the remains of what appeared to be a large, one-eyed goat skull on the ledge she hung on.
"What the hay?" she uttered. "Is that...? No way that's Arimaspi's skull..." A glint caught her eye behind her as she turned her head. She gasped as she saw the missing Idol of Boreas resting on the other ledge across from her. It was exactly how her Grandpa Gruff described it all those years of retelling that story she loathed to hear every day: made of gold, similarly shaped like a goblet as it took the shape of a curved wing, and inside of the beautifully designed cup was a red jewel. "The Idol of Boreas..." The Heartless's roar down below suddenly caught her attention as the black monster climbed up high enough to be seen in the light. The griffon's eyes widened as the Heartless looked a lot like Arimaspi, fitted with the same golden accessories the goat cyclops wore when he took the idol, looking back and forth between the black beast and the skull of the real thief. "W-What the hay...? There's two of them???"
The Heartless Arimaspi roared again, creating another Gravity spell that nearly dragged Sora down along the wall, Rainbow and Pinkie's grips on each other slowly loosening as their strength was giving out. The shifting spike in gravity caused the ledge the Idol of Boreas was on to slightly crumble, giving away enough for the golden trinket to dangle over the edge. Gilda gasped in shock as she desperately reached out for it, unable to fly in the abyss due to the dangerous gale winds.
Pinkie and Rainbow dared to look down, both mares screaming as they saw the Heartless goat monster getting closer toward them. "Sora! Hurry!"
"I'm...trying!" the stallion grunted, climbing as fast as he could until he struck his blade into the wall, reaching the ledge Gilda clung onto. He panted heavily, getting very exhausted as he strained to pull himself up and grab onto the edge, only to lose his strength and dangle helplessly by his Keyblade. "T-Too much...Gravity..." He looked up, hearing the Arimaspi roar as another bolt of lightning struck him as he saw Gilda reaching out to the Idol of Boreas. "Gilda, help me up!"
"I've almost got the idol!" she said. "Just...a little...closer!"
From the top of the cliff, as Riku recharged his mana with a couple Ethers, he looked down and saw the Heartless getting closer to his friends. "Gilda, grab them! Forget the idol!"
"I can reach it!" she yelled out, baffling the white stallion as she paid more attention to the golden idol over the lives of Sora, Pinkie, and Rainbow Dash.
He tugged on her rope, snapping her back to attention as she looked up at him. "What's more important to you, Gilda!? Gold!? Or friendship!? Make the wrong move, and I won't hesitate to hit you with the next bolt I'll shoot down!"
Gilda began to panic as she was stuck between two different choices. She desperately wanted to make amends with Rainbow Dash after her chat with Riku and apologize for acting like a jerk when she visited. But on the other hand, the Idol of Boreas was thought to have been lost to Griffonstone for many years. If she got that, her home would be prosperous again and all the griffons can stop acting so greedy and cruel. She didn't have any time to think too much as she looked down to see the dark Arimaspi nearly within reaching distance of Rainbow and Pinkie, Sora reaching his hoof out to her as he tried to lift himself again for her to grab him.
Gilda growled, finally making her choice. "Aww, screw it!"
The griffon lifted herself from dangling over the edge and dove over to Sora, grabbing his hoof and helping lift him, Rainbow, and Pinkie up. Once the tan stallion was up on the ledge, he quickly turned around and helped Gilda pull Rainbow and Pinkie up before the pegasus mare lost her grip. Once they were safe, Pinkie untied herself, retied herself, and used the last bit of rope left to tie Rainbow together with her and Sora, the pegasus staring at her old friend in surprise.
"Gilda, you saved us," she said.
The Heartless roared, forcing the Gravity spell on them again as their bodies sunk to the ledge. As Riku continued distracting it with Thunder spells, the ledge the Idol of Boreas was on finally crumbled away, sending the goblet down into the abyss. Gilda sighed in misery as Griffonstone would forever be miserable without it, but she wasn't going to let her friend perish without making up with her.
"Your worth more to me than a dumb chunk of gold," Gilda said.
Before the two friends could hug, the ledge beneath them was about to give out. "Ok, kiss and make up later! Let's get out here!"
After Sora caught his second wind, he and Gilda raced back up the wall, Pinkie and Rainbow dangling from Sora's rope for dear life as they watched the ledge crumble away, revealing the gold-wearing Heartless goat cyclops still chasing them. They finally reached the edge of the cliff, Riku helping Sora up while Gilda lifted herself up and helped him pull Pinkie and Rainbow up and away from the dangerous abyss.
"You three hurry and get far away from the abyss before that thing climbs up here!" Riku ordered.
"You're actually going to fight that thing!?" Gilda questioned.
"Trust us, Gilda, they can handle this!" Rainbow said, wincing a little as she tried to back away with her bad leg. "Can you and Pinkie help me? I hurt my leg when the rope snapped on me."
Gilda cringed, regretting thinking Rainbow deserved to fall now that they had made up, helping her friend get away from the edge of the abyss. As soon as the two mares and griffon were far enough away, they turned around in time to see the Heartless Arimaspi's hand rise up and grab the side of the cliff, Sora and Riku backing away with their Keyblades at the ready as they watched it pull itself up. It let out a roar, slamming its fists down on top of the two stallions, Sora and Riku quickly leaping back as it unleashed a shockwave from its hands upon impact.
"So, this Heartless looks just like Arimaspi from that story Gilda's grandfather told us," Riku said. "But that doesn't make sense if that thing had died several years ago and his Heartless just now woke up after all this time."
As Sora looked at its eye, he noticed that there was something off about the coloring of the glowing yellow eye. If it were a normal Heartless, it would have taken a different shape physically and the eye would have just been an eerie yellow. The Arimaspi Heartless somehow had a paler yellow iris in the middle of the brighter yellow the rest of the eye had, almost similar to what happened to Twilight and Sunset's darkness forced out of them, their eyes green and red respectively as their iris instead.
"I think that Heartless really is Arimaspi," Sora said. "His eye looks different from other Heartless. It's almost like how Twilight's and Sunset's incomplete Heartless looked when they were overwhelmed with a desire that was poisoned with darkness."
"If that's the case-" The Heartless let out a bellow as it began casting Gravity on the two Keyblade wielders. Sora and Riku dodged out of the massive ball of pressurized magic's radius before they were crushed by the shift in heavy gravity. "-then how come this thing looks exactly like that dead cyclops!? I thought these kinds of Heartless could only be pulled out by Kairi's light or with the Keyblades of Harmony!"
"Maybe Arimaspi was corrupted before he actually died from the fall!" Sora theorized, blocking an incoming fist that he struggled to push back against. "I really don't know, but this things eyes bug me just like they had with Twilight being jealous with Kairi and Sunset being incredibly mad at not getting what she wanted!"
Sora pushed back Heartless Arimaspi's arm, but before he could run up the dark goat cyclops's limb, its horns began glowing a dark aura as it unleashed a shockwave around it. Riku leapt away to avoid it, but Sora wasn't as lucky as he somehow couldn't move, his body floating in midair as he was caught in its Zero Gravity spell. Unable to defend himself, Arimaspi punched the stallion hard, sending him spiraling out of control in his frozen stasis, feeling the heavy blow of its fist while also getting incredibly dizzy from the nauseating zero gravity he was stuck in.
Right as the Heartless was about to deliver another punch to Sora, Riku quickly ran up to defend him, deflecting its arm away. He saw its horns glowing again, ready to perform the same Zero Gravity shockwave to trap the white pegasus, quickly leaping up and slashing its horns clean off its head. Heartless Arimaspi roared in pain as it clutched its head in agony. While it was distracted from the pain it was in, Riku hurried over to Sora and stopped his spinning, the tan stallion's eyes spinning around in his head in disorientation.
"You alright, Sora!?" Riku asked.
"Uuuuuuuuuh...Mommy, I want off the hurl-a-whirl," Sora slurred. "I think I'm gonna sick."
The spell wore off, sending the dizzy stallion plopping to the ground. "Yeah, I think you're fine." Riku turned around to face the Heartless Arimaspi, the dark creature roaring in rage as it began slamming its fists down on the ground, releasing several shockwaves around him as he ran toward the two Keyblade wielders. Riku quickly grabbed his delirious friend and tossed him over to Pinkie, Rainbow, and Gilda. "Watch him! I'll handle this!"
Sora tumbled across the ground, quickly standing up as soon as he stopped, only to fall on his face as his legs didn't cooperate with him. "Why do these clouds taste like grass???"
"Is he alright?" Gilda asked.
"I think he's just dizzy," Rainbow said. "I thought he could handle spinning around that fast."
"He spiraled out of control," Pinkie corrected. "Sora may do all those cool flippy tricks and stunts, but when he does it, he doesn't get dizzy at all. But getting all tossed and turned like that while stuck in no gravity, that's very disorienting."
Riku continued dodging Heartless Arimaspi's fists, slashing at the Heartless's hands to avoid getting struck by the shockwaves it released when they hit the ground. Jumping over another punch, Riku landed on its arm and ran up toward its face, stabbing his Keyblade straight through the dark cyclops's eye and blinding it. Heartless Arimaspi roared and swung its arms in a frenzy, trying to swat away the white pegasus that rendered it unable to see. Flipping off its face and soaring high into the air, Riku dove back down, slamming into the Heartless as he thrust his Keyblade straight through its chest. The force of the impact sent the Heartless off its cloven feet and straight over the Abysmal Abyss, the Keyblade wielder pulling his blade out and pushed off the falling cyclops as its body faded away into nothingness.
Once Heartless Arimaspi was completely gone, Riku dismissed his Keyblade and calmly walked back over to the others. Gilda's jaw dropped after watching the two stallions manage to fight off and kill something that was even more dangerous than the real Arimaspi. She'll remember never to try to pick a fight with them ever again after seeing they were more skilled than they appeared to be. Riku approached Sora as the tan pegasus laid on his back, his senses slowly coming back to him as he seemed the most exhausted out of the two stallions.
"Ugh. Never, ever rock climb with constant Gravity spells weighing you down heavily," he uttered. "I've never felt so drained in all my life." He looked up at his friend, who began smirking at him, knowing he was going to say something snarky to him. "No. Don't you dare say it."
"What?" Riku asked innocently.
"I know you're going to say it, so don't say it!" Sora exclaimed.
"Say what?" Riku asked again.
"Riku, don't even start!" Sora yelled.
"...I thought you were stronger than that," Riku said, making Sora groan in exasperation.
"I knew it!" Sora quickly sat up and leered at his friend as he began snickering. "You try climbing up a wall with no holdings for hooves to grab onto properly while having at least a ton of heavy pressure weighing you down! Along with carrying two ponies!"
Riku couldn't hold back his laughter, Sora pouncing his friend as he tried to wrestle him to the ground. Gilda was a little surprised to see the two friends acting like facing monsters like that wasn't a big deal, and despite the danger they just got out of, they were messing around as if nothing happened. She looked at Pinkie and Rainbow, even more shocked to see them not as freaked out seeing the Heartless.
"...Does...this happen a lot in Ponyville?" Gilda asked. "And...who are those two? And those weird weapons?"
"It's a long story, Gilda," Rainbow said. "I don't think Sora and Riku won't mind if we tell you everything that's been going on. Even before you came to visit me in Ponyville a couple years back."
"And what a story it is!" Pinkie added. "Action! Adventure! Drama! Feels! Hearts! Doors! And keys!"
As much as Gilda wanted to question what Pinkie was talking about, she let Rainbow tell her everything that she hasn't seen or heard around Equestria.
As the group walked back into Griffonstone and returned to Gilda's cart, the griffon was astounded by what she didn't know. Just hearing that Rainbow had actually encountered the Heartless before she visited her and almost got killed by them nearly scared her to death. If Sora didn't save her, she wouldn't have been able to see her best friend again after Junior Speedsters Flight Camp. And hearing that Sora and Riku weren't really from Equestria, it made a lot more sense as to why their clothes looked so out of the ordinary compared to their world's styles of clothing today. Now she was really glad not to have messed with Sora and Riku too much, having dealt with so many dangerous monsters she never knew even existed.
"I guess I shouldn't have acted like such a jerk back then if I knew what you were capable of, Sora," Gilda said. "Sorry for everything. To you, Pinkie, Riku, and even you, Dash."
"I'm actually a little glad we could start things over and actually be friends like we tried doing the first time we met," Sora said. "Too bad about the Idol of Boreas. We are NOT going back down there and getting that thing if it went further down in the Abysmal Abyss."
"Actually, I don't think the idol was what we really came here for," Riku said. "The Cutie Map sent us to solve a problem around friendship, just like back in that weird equal town Starlight Glimmer created and molded everyone into thinking they weren't special."
"Exactly!" Pinkie said. " And friendship is the best replacement for that idol!"
"Well, good luck trying to convince everyone," Gilda said. "Nothing's better than gold to a griffon."
"Which is why the best way to make any new friend is with something these griffons are sure to like more than gold!" Pinkie pulled out the tray of scones she made earlier, stuffing one in Sora and Rainbow's mouths as they haven't had a griffon scone. "Scones!"
Sora and Rainbow Dash wanted to complain having food shoved in their mouths, but the delicious scones overrode their taste buds as they chewed the pastry. "Mmm! These are really good!"
"Good thing you didn't try the ones Gilda made earlier," Riku said. "You'd be heading straight to the dentist if you bit into those ones."
"How are these scones even going to convince the other griffons around here to stop being greedy?" Gilda asked in confusion.
"It's not the scones themselves, silly," Pinkie said. "If you all learned to care about each other again, then Griffonstone would be an even mightier kingdom than before when you had the Idol of Boreas. You're not like the other griffons, Gilda, and we think you can help start making Griffonstone a much more friendlier place!"
"M-Me!?" Pinkie suddenly placed the tray of scones in Gilda's claws, spun her around, and gently shoved her forward.
"Yes, you!" the pink earth pony said. "Now go and make some friends!"
"Uhh, you sure this is gonna work, Pinkie?" Rainbow asked after swallowing her mouthful of scone. "Griffonstone's not like Ponyville."
"It might if the griffons get away from anything shiny and made of gold," Sora said.
The ponies watched Gilda approach Greta, the closest griffon she could easily try to befriend. She talked to the other griffon for a bit, but it didn't seem to be working. Gilda then offered a scone to Greta, the other griffon liking it after taking a bite, the first any of them had seen another griffon actually crack a smile over something other than bits. After the griffons talked for a while, Gilda came back with an excited grin, leaving the scones with Greta.
"Ok, so Greta was a bit weirded out when I started talking to her," Gilda said. "I was thinking of giving up until I offered her a scone. She tried it and said it tasted good! That's actually the first nicest thing I've heard any griffon say to me!"
"That's some good news," Sora said. "Nothing gives a good first impression than something delicious. And actually being nice." He grinned at Gilda, the griffon rolling her eyes as she shook her head. The ponies soon winced as they felt their cutie marks glowing, signalling them their job here in Griffonstone was done. "And the glowing butts mean our mission is accomplished."
Pinkie held up the box of baking powder she brought with her, a backdrop suddenly appearing behind her. "Baking powder makes baked goods and friendships fluffy and delicious!" she said with a squee, sounding like she was making a commercial endorsing the baking powder with a slogan.
"...Are you implying that spreading baking powder on someone will make them edible?" Riku questioned jokingly. Pinkie looked at the box curiously, sprinkling some on her hoof and licked it. She gagged, regretting tasting the basic white powder as she pawed at her tongue to get rid of any that had dissolved on her tongue. "Pinkie, I was just kidding."
"Well, I guess we better get back to Ponyville," Rainbow said, which made Gilda worry.
"Wait, now?" she asked. "You're telling me I'm going to have to spread friendship here by myself!? How am I supposed to do that!? I haven't even made a single friend yet!"
"Not including that one?" Sora asked as she pointed at Greta, who happily ate another scone.
"...W-Well, we're not there just yet," Gilda uttered.
"You really haven't, Gilda." Sora, Riku, and Pinkie gasped in shock as Rainbow said that so seriously. Gilda seemed to look dejected, but Rainbow grinned as she hovered beside her, staying off her bad leg, and pointed her hoof at the others. "You made four friends today."
Pinkie began tearing up while Sora and Riku grinned. "Hugging! Hugging now!"
The four ponies and griffon got into a group hug, adding another friend to their group while two old friends were reunited after their fight. As they broke apart, Pinkie still clung onto Gilda, Sora and Riku pulling the mare off of the griffon. Before they left, Gilda and Rainbow gave each other a friendly hug, both of them glad to have mended their friendship.
"You'll come back and visit soon, right?" Gilda asked.
"Just try and stop us, G," Rainbow said.
Gilda chuckled, realizing she asked a stupid question, though she was pretty nervous taking charge in spreading friendship around Griffonstone for Rainbow, Pinkie, Sora, and Riku. She wanted to do one more thing with Rainbow before she left. Even though she told her before when she last visited she didn't like the chant for Junior Speedsters Flight Camp that much, but she also could never get it out of her head.
[Gilda]
Junior Speedsters are our lives
Rainbow grinned and joined in, remembering the chant as a filly just like the day she first met Gilda.
[Rainbow Dash]
Skybound soars and daring dives
[Gilda and Rainbow Dash]
Junior Speedsters, its our quest
To someday be the very best
The two Junior Speedsters chuckled and fist/hoofbumped before parting ways, the ponies heading back to the station while Gilda walked back over to Greta to get to know her some more. "What was that you two just did?"
"Just a little cheer we did back at Junior Speedsters Flight Camp," Rainbow said. "I thought Gilda didn't like it we recited it in front of Pinkie when she visited, but I guess she still likes it after all."
"It was funny, but in a good way!" Pinkie said. As they passed the library, Pinkie looked back at the statue of King Grover, spotting a glint in the stone statue's eye. "See you later, you old charmer."
"Uhh, who are you talking to, Pinkie?" Sora asked questionably.
"She's talking about that statue," Riku said. Sora just shrugged his shoulders, letting Pinkie's randomness go as they began their climb down the mountains back to the station. "Well, seems like Twilight's going to be disappointed to know that Griffonstone isn't as prosperous as she thought it was. Not really much for her to know in the journal or any pictures with the camera."
"I can't wait to get back home!" Pinkie cheered. "I want to see how Gummy did with my Granny Pie's marjolaine recipe!"
"Wait, you left your pet alligator in charge of baking a cake?" Riku questioned.
As evening rolled around, Kairi and Twilight returned to the castle after a long magic training session. Both mares were slightly scorched from the Fire and Thunder spells they cast on each other, mentally exhausted after Twilight tested varying uses of her spells through either long range or in close quarters.
"I have no idea how I survived running through that maze of Mines you had kept setting up," Kairi said. "But adding other elements to them to deal more damage is pretty smart."
"Too bad we were evenly matched. Next time, we'll need to get one of the boys to be our magical sponge and take the hits from our spells." The two mares giggled at the idea, both wondering who they would end up tricking first to be their training dummy.
After getting cleaned up, they headed to the foyer to check on the maps in the throne room. Sora and Riku walked through the front doors, surprising the mares asthey returned.
"Hey, girls!" Sora greeted. "Back from Griffonstone!"
"Yay!" Twilight teleported in front of Riku, fidgeting excitedly with a wide grin on her face. "So, how was it? Did you get plenty of pictures? How were the scones? Did the king seem friendly? How many different books are in the-?"
Riku pressed his hoof against Twilight's lips, ceasing her excited barrage of questions. "Honestly, Twilight, Griffonstone's...not in the greatest of states when we got there."
The alicorn blinked as Riku put his hoof down. "...It wasn't?" He shook his head. "Well, what happened? Did you at least take any good pictures?"
"Nope. You wouldn't want to see how bad the library looked, anyway." The stallion walked past his girlfriend, his statement only making her more curious as she followed him.
"What do you mean by that?" Twilight asked. "How 'bad' did it look!?"
"You will not like what you'll hear," he answered.
"Stop being mean and just tell me!" Twilight demanded, but Riku refrained from answering.
"So, wasn't as great as it seemed to be, huh?" Kairi asked.
"Not a bit," Sora answered, letting out a heavy sigh as he slumped his head down. "I am exhausted. And not from the ride back. We fought a Heartless up in Griffonstone, and it was a giant, one-eyed goat monster."
"...That's...new," Kairi muttered as she never heard of a kind of Heartless like that.
"I think it was actually the same kind of Heartless that was pulled out of Twilight and Sunset," the stallion said. "Its eye was yellow, but the iris was a bit paler in shade."
"Another one, huh? That's so strange..." Sora told Kairi that the Heartless Arimaspi was already around some time after the real cyclops had perished in the Abysmal Abyss, which puzzled the mare as the only way those kinds of Heartless needed to be purged with the power of a Princess of Heart's light or the Keyblades of Harmony. "First was Twilight with her envy toward me, then Sunset Shimmer with her anger toward Celestia and denial of getting what she demanded...and now Arimaspi, though his darkness was born after his death..."
"I think there's a meaning to their eye color as well," Sora pondered. "Twilight's Heartless had green eyes, and green is the color of jealousy."
"And you said Sunset had red eyes, which makes sense with her anger," Kairi added.
"And Arimaspi's pale yellow eyes..." He looked at Kairi as they both began making a connection between the Heartless, their oddly colored eyes, and how their actual selves behaved as they were born. "...He was greedy and stole the Idol of Boreas from the griffons...His heart must have been swallowed by the darkness before he had fallen in the Abysmal Abyss and his Heartless had been laying dormant until someone got too close to that idol."
"Envy, wrath, and greed," Kairi said. "Three of the seven deadly sins...Heartless created from the darkness of those actions. This has never happened to anyone else in the past, right?"
"Not anywhere outside of Equestria..." Sora scratched his head, utterly baffled by these new Heartless. "But unlike Twilight and Sunset's Heartless, Arimaspi's was able to use magic. Mostly Gravity spells, but they sure were irritating and powerful."
"I think we should tell Aqua about this in case we run into another pony, or creature, who ends up acting out any of those sins." Sora nodded his head in agreement. "I only hope we don't encounter anyone with the other four, or anymore envy, greed, or wrath."
"I'd rather not see anymore Corrupted Heartless." Kairi cocked her head, curious to know how Sora came up with that kind of name.
"...That does sound fitting for them. Though, we may have to wait until tomorrow to tell Aqua," Kairi said. "She and Ven have gone off to stop some Heartless in a couple different worlds, and they haven't returned just yet."
"Great..." Sora let out a yawn and stretched, rubbing his sore forelegs after all the "extreme" climbing he did. "I'm gonna hit the hay. I'm really sore after almost having my shoulders pop out after nearly getting dragged down a bottomless abyss."
"Couldn't you have flown out instead?" Kairi asked skeptically.
"And get slammed into the wall by harsh winds blowing endlessly through the gorge the moment I open my wings?" the stallion responded with his own question.
"Ah. I see." Kairi grinned and brushed up alongside Sora. "How about I give you a massage to loosen those strained, lanky muscles of yours?"
"Hey, I'm not that lanky!" Sora exclaimed. "I've got muscles in these guns!" He began flexing his forelegs, making Kairi giggle at the silly faces he made as he stood in random poses. He finally stopped goofing around, chuckling a little as he rubbed the back of his head. "And I would like a massage...Hooves or magic?"
"How about both?" Sora dumbly nodded his head, making Kairi laugh again at his silliness. "Alright, then. Let Dr. Kairi tend to your tired body."
"I can't wait." The couple walked together through the halls, Kairi already teasing Sora with light tingles of magic running down his back as they made for one of their bedrooms, whichever it was didn't matter as long as they entered the closest one.