//------------------------------// // Chapter Thirteen // Story: Codex Ponera - Cliffside Eyrie // by Pepperbrony //------------------------------// “Woohoo! This is brilliant!” Gabby cheered. “I can’t believe nogriff ever thought of this before!” “Probably… because it… ain’t so easy… from this end,” panted Apple Bloom. “Next time… you can do… all the runnin’… and I can… be the kite.” Gabby was gliding along over a dirt path, wings outstretched and broken leg held close. She wore a makeshift harness of vines, with another vine serving as a tow rope attached at Gabby’s chest. The far end of the tow vine was tied to the back of Apple Bloom’s own woven-vine harness. The filly was galloping along the road, towing Gabby through the air. Despite the extra drag caused by the airborne griffon, Apple Bloom was able to run at quite high speed, getting further and further away from Bowl Valley and the monsters within. Gabby laughed, before shading her eyes with her good foreleg. “The path ends at a road up ahead,” she said. “Turn left for Eyrieport. The right road leads to Cliffside Eyrie.” “Left. Got it,” replied Apple Bloom. When she reached the stone-block road, she turned left without slowing. Gabby whooped as she banked left, swinging from side to side before centering out behind Apple Bloom again. Apple Bloom rolled her eyes at Gabby’s exuberance. She didn’t mind helping her new friend, but she was beginning to feel a bit fatigued. “How much farther?” she asked. “Um…” Gabby checked the road markers, counting out how long it took to travel from one to the next. “About half an hour at this rate.” “Half hour,” Apple Bloom muttered. “I can do that.” After they had finally made their way out of the rainforest and out of the valley, Apple Bloom had quickly fashioned the harnesses out of the vines they had collected. Once she had attached herself to Gabby, they experimented to find the best way for Apple Bloom to tow Gabby through the air. They quickly settled on a simple run-and-glide technique and had spent the bulk of the afternoon making fairly good progress toward the griffon city of Eyrieport. Now, as they made their way east, Gabby decided to try to find a way to make it easier on Apple Bloom. She experimented a little, angling her wings to adjust her height or pulling herself along the towing vine to glide closer to Apple Bloom. She had just discovered the optimal position was close in behind the pony and just above the ground when Apple Bloom came to the top of a rise in the road and pulled up to a sudden halt. With a yelp, Gabby released the slack in the tow line while pulling up and flaring her wings out, trying to bring herself to a full stop before she pulled Apple Bloom off her hooves. Flapping her way back to the ground, Gabby looked reproachfully at Apple Bloom. “Hey, a little warning next time?” “Sorry Gabby,” replied Apple Bloom. “But, well, just look. It’s beautiful!” Gabby looked to see what had Apple Bloom so entranced. “That’s Eyrieport.” She briefly glanced over at Apple Bloom. “You really think it looks beautiful? Maybe ponies and griffons can be friends after all.” The road ahead led through a wide wall-like fortress, protecting the city beyond. The fortress was three levels tall, with griffon soldiers peering between crenellations along the roof. Comprised of some sort of white stone, it gleamed in the late afternoon sun. The road led through a gate wide enough to allow five wagons to pass each other at the same time, and deep enough that a line ten wagons deep would all be under cover. The road continued onward, over a bridge and onto a great round structure shaped like a giant lily pad built out over the ocean. It was even green to enhance the illusion. Several houses ringed the platform, and there were several bridges leading from the first lily pad to a number of others. The entire city was built out over the sea in this manner, with dozens if not hundreds of green platforms of varying sizes supporting buildings of all sizes, from small houses to a huge palatial structure built on the largest platform in the middle of the city. The southern side of the city, furthest from the shoreline, held two or three large platforms with long and wide jetties radiating outward, providing berths for four or five large ships each. Apple Bloom stood, taking in the sight. “Do all griffon cities look like this?” she asked. “No, of course not,” Gabby replied. “One city is built into a mountain. From the outside, you wouldn’t even know it’s there, because all the houses and shops and stuff are in caves carved out of the mountainside. We build each of our cities with a different theme in mind.” She enjoyed the view for a moment before blinking at Apple Bloom. “Wait, if you thought that all our cities looked like this, does that mean that all pony cities look the same?” Apple Bloom thought a moment before replying. “Well, the only city I’ve ever actually seen is Cliffside Eyrie, and that place was built by you griffons before ponies took it. But I guess some pony cities look pretty good too. I’ve heard some ponies call Equinopolis the ‘Rainbow Mountain’ before. And then there’s Carousel o’ course. But usually I think we just build houses and barns and markets and stuff where ever we need ‘em. Each of our buildings usually look pretty good, but our cities as a whole are just sort of… a big group of buildings, all thrown together. They don’t usually look like art.” “Huh. I never thought it wouldn’t occur to anyone to make all their cities this way,” mused Gabby. “Just another way we’re different, I guess,” replied Apple Bloom. “But this is a difference I like.” With a final look at the sight, she started making her way toward the fortress. “Come on Gabby, we’re almost there.” Apple Bloom began trotting onwards while Gabby flapped her way back into the air. Once Apple Bloom had increased her speed through canter to a full gallop, Gabby slowed her flapping and reestablished her glide posture. She pulled herself along the tow line again to ride in the slipstream behind the pony, reducing drag and thus making Apple Bloom’s job a little easier. As they approached the gate, a pair of heavily armoured griffon soldiers spotted them. With Gabby gliding along just behind Apple Bloom, they couldn’t tell that she was a griffon, and so they assumed the pair were both ponies. They crossed their spears and called out, “Halt!” “Keep going,” Gabby told Apple Bloom, dropping the slack in the tow line again and powering her wings to shoot ahead. Her sudden appearance surprised the guards, and when she suddenly flared her wings out to bring herself to a full stop right in their faces they dropped their spears and ducked in shock. That was when Apple Bloom caught up, and she simply leaped over the prone guards and continued through the passageway towards the city. Gabby quickly flapped her way back to her gliding position before the tow line could snap taut and the pair blew through the city-side of the fortress before the guards on that side even noticed them. Gabby glanced back at the guards just now beginning to react and shook her head. “That should not have worked,” she said. “Those guards are going to get yelled at by their bosses.” “I ain’t complainin’,” said Apple Bloom. “Which way do we go?” Gabby directed Apple Bloom through the lilypad maze that was Eyrieport, gradually getting closer and closer to the manor in the centre of the city. Griffons of all ages watched in surprise as they passed by; the older griffons yelling complaints about passing fads while the fledglings cheered at the excitement of something new happening. One pair of griffons looked closely at the harnesses and the vine connecting them before exchanging calculating expressions and setting off for the marketplace. Before long, a group of lightly armoured griffons from the fortress launched themselves into the air and sped off in pursuit of the speeding pony and her griffon kite. Despite the pace that Apple Bloom was making, the griffons easily caught up with her and dropped out of the sky to surround her and Gabby. “Stop!” they cried, leveling spears and aggressive glares at Apple Bloom and Gabby. Apple Bloom stopped while Gabby flared her wings again, before landing on her three good limbs. “Howdy fellas,” greeted Apple Bloom. “My name is Gabby,” said Gabby, cutting the vines comprising her harness then moving on to Apple Bloom’s. “And this is Apple Bloom. We need to speak to Nest Leader Gilda immediately.” The guards maintained their posture, while one of them stepped forward. “You, pony-” “I said her name was Apple Bloom!” snapped Gabby. The guard spokesgriff ignored her. “Pony. What did you do to her leg?” Apple Bloom winced. “Well, first I landed on it, but then I put in a splint and made that sling. Guys, it’s really important-” “Glen, take the fledgling to the hospital and have her leg treated properly,” interrupted the guard. “The rest of you will take the pony to a holding cell. Move out!” “No, wait-” Gabby was taken away by one of the guards while the others moved in to apprehend Apple Bloom. Once Apple Bloom had been shackled, one of the guards picked her up and the group launched themselves back into the air to fly back to the fortress. They landed behind the crenellations on the roof and took Apple Bloom down into the fortress itself. They passed the ground floor, and Apple Bloom grinned when she saw a griffon chewing out the guards she and Gabby had taken by surprise. Finally, Apple Bloom was led down one more set of stairs and into a corridor with several small barred cells. Apple Bloom was pushed into one of them and locked in. Their prisoner secure, the guards marched back to their posts. Apple Bloom looked around, finding a sleeping pallet on the floor and a bucket whose smell betrayed its purpose as a chamber pot. Shaking the door, Apple Bloom found it quite secure. She lay down on the pallet and sighed. “Well, dang.”