With a yawn and a stretch, Apple Bloom woke up. The sleeping mat in the griffon holding cell was not as soft as her bed back at Sweet Apple Acres, but it was good enough for her to get in a good eight hours of restful sleep.
Apple Bloom rolled to her hooves and got up. She stepped up to the iron bars, but found them as firmly rooted to the stone walls and floor as they had been last night. Staring pensively at the stone floor for a moment, Apple Bloom tried taking a stance she had seen Big Macintosh take when he drew on his earth fury. She focused on the stone beneath her hooves and drew in her strength, before whirling around and bucking the iron bars as hard as she could.
CLANG!
“Ow.”
The bars remained unmoved. Apple Bloom’s back left hoof ached.
“Oh well,” muttered Apple Bloom as she shook sore hoof. “It was worth a shot.”
“Hey, behave in there, pony,” called a voice from along the hall. The voice’s owner followed it, a griffon guard bringing a plate of oatmeal. “If you keep on acting up like that, you’ll go without food!”
“Yeah, well,” said Apple Bloom. “I’m locked up in here for trying to bring a message to your nest leader. Wouldn’t you be tryin’ to break out if you were in here?”
“Ha! A likely story,” replied the guard as he slid the tray of food through a slot in the door. “More likely you’re a spy!”
Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow. “Seriously?” Shaking her head, she took the tray and started eating. “Do you really think a little filly like me would be a spy? Hay, I can’t even furycraft!”
Snorting, the guard waited for Apple Bloom to eat her morning meal. Although it was simple oatmeal, she wolfed it down. She finished quickly, and returned the bowl. “Thanks,” she said. The guard made his way down the hall, only to spring to full attention.
“As you were, private,” said a new voice, and the guard carried on, moving out of sight. The newcomer, another griffon guard but with fancier armour, stepped up to Apple Bloom’s cell just as she finished her breakfast. “Is this the pony who came into Eyrieport last night with you?”
“Her name is Apple Bloom,” snapped a voice Apple Bloom recognised.
“Gabby?” she said, looking behind the newcomer. Sure enough, Gabby stood behind him. “Gabby, thank goodness. Tell the guards to let me outta here!”
“That’s why we’re here, Apple Bloom,” replied Gabby while her companion busied himself with unlocking the door. Apple Bloom stepped out of the cell and Gabby continued. “I told everygriff who’d listen to me that we had to speak to Gilda, and finally somegriff actually went and told her about us. And then she came to the hospital to see me!”
“Wow,” replied Apple Bloom. “So you told her what’s goin’ on?”
“Yep,” Gabby said. “And now she wants to talk to you about it, so we’re going to Eyrieport Chalet, to see her.”
“Yes,” hissed Apple Bloom. “The sooner we can sort this all out, the better.”
The group left the gatehouse and began the trot to the manor house in the center of the lilypad city.
“So how’s your leg doin’?” asked Apple Bloom.
“It still hurts a bit,” replied Gabby, “but the doctor said that you did a pretty good job with it, ‘for a pony in a jungle.’ I still can’t walk on it, but I can get around on three legs for now.”
“At least it’s gettin’ better,” Apple Bloom said. “Hey, we could always tow you around like we did yesterday.”
Gabby glanced up at their escort. “No, we probably shouldn’t,” she said. “I don’t think Captain Gerald here would like that.”
The guardsgriffon huffed out a breath in agreement.
Apple Bloom and Gabby chatted as they continued into the city proper. When they reached the marketplace, Gabby’s attention was caught by something in one of the stalls. “Ooh, wait here for a moment, could you? I saw something I have to buy,” she said, trotting over to the stall that she had spotted.
“But Gabby, don’t we have to see Gilda?” called Apple Bloom, getting nothing but a wave in response. With a sigh, Apple Bloom turned to the guard. “So, Captain… Gerald, Gabby said? How’s bein’ a guard workin’ for ya?”
Gerald turned his head to glare at Apple Bloom, before looking back to Gabby.
“Chatty fella, ain’t ya,” Apple Bloom muttered to herself.
Suddenly, there was some kind of commotion from the far side of the market. Griffons were shouting in surprise and alarm, some of them taking to the air.
“Look out!” cried a voice, before a griffon wearing a harness burst out of the crowd, running as fast as he could. Attached to his harness was a rope, the other end of which was tied to another griffon. This individual was being towed through the air, holding his wings out to sustain a glide. The pair quickly crossed the marketplace and moved along one of the bridges to a neighbouring platform.
“Huh,” Gabby said, having joined Apple Bloom and Gerald while they were distracted. “Look at that. We invented a sport!”
“I… I guess we did,” said Apple Bloom, still looking over at the other platform, which the pair of griffons were now circumnavigating. With a shake of her head, Apple Bloom refocused on Gabby. “So what was so important that you had to make us wait?”
“Well, I felt bad about you losing your mane ribbon,” said Gabby. “If I had recognised Bowl Valley when we first saw it, I wouldn’t have let us go in. And then we would never have gone into the rainforest, and you wouldn’t have lost your ribbon.”
“Oh, Gabby,” Apple Bloom said, putting a hoof on Gabby’s shoulder. “It was just a ribbon. And it wasn’t your fault anyway.”
“Well, either way, I still felt bad about it,” replied Gabby. “So I got you this.” Gabby held a wing out to Apple Bloom, presenting a wide fuchsia ribbon, decorated with a few winding green lines intersecting each other along the full length of the ribbon. The green was the same shade as the lilypad-like platforms the city was built upon. “You said you thought that Eyrieport looked beautiful, so I thought this ribbon might remind you of your visit here.”
Apple Bloom took the ribbon and admired it. “Wow, Gabby. It’s perfect! Thank you.” She tied her mane up with the ribbon, quickly recreating the bow she had worn for years. “How’s it look?”
Gabby and Gerald both blinked. “Uh, it looks great,” Gabby said. “But… How’d you do that?”
“What do you mean? I’ve been tyin’ up my own mane for years,” replied Apple Bloom. “Now are we goin’ to see Gilda or not?”
They once again set off for Eyrieport Chalet, making their way there with no further distractions, though Gerald would occasionally glance at Apple Bloom’s hooves in confusion. Upon reaching the chalet, Captain Gerald waved away the guards and led Apple Bloom and Gabby inside and to a door along a hallway. He knocked on the door, opening it only after a voice from within called out to invite him in.
“Nest Leader Gilda,” he said, “I have the pony you asked for.”
“Thank you, Captain,” said the griffon within. “You can wait outside.”
Apple Bloom entered the room and saw that it was some kind of office. Sitting behind the desk that formed the centerpoint of the room was a large griffon female. The feathers on her head and neck were white, while the fur and feathers on the rest of her body, including her wings, were brown. Her golden eyes took in Apple Bloom, making the pony feel nervous. “Sit down, pony.”
“Her name is Apple Bloom!” said Gabby.
“And she’s a pony,” replied the sitting griffon, before turning back to Apple Bloom. “I am Nest Leader Gilda. I’m told that you saw some kind of deal between your own ponies and some Effai griffons?”
“Well, they weren’t my ponies any more than the griffons were yours, but yeah, I saw somethin’ bein’ arranged between ‘em,” replied Apple Bloom. She described the discussion she heard the previous morning, making sure to mention the agreement to attempt future trade negotiations - Apple Bloom thought that mentioning the possibility for trade between griffons and ponies might make Gilda more receptive of the idea of helping Cliffside Eyrie, if she could get Gilda thinking that her clan could benefit in place of their rivals.
“And those griffons you saw, where they the same ones who followed you into Bowl Valley?” asked Gilda.
“Eeyup, that was them alright,” Apple Bloom replied.
“And they were definitely Effai griffons,” stated Gabby.
“Hmm.” Gilda turned to look at a map hanging on the wall.
Apple Bloom looked at the map, tilting her head when she did not recognise the landmass represented. Then she nodded, having spotted a city in the south-west of the map labeled Eyrieport, a short way along from another city labeled Cliffside Eyrie. She realised that it was a map of all the griffon-held lands, of which Ponerans were largely ignorant. Having puzzled out the map, Apple Bloom looked around the office, noting a few bookshelves and filing cabinets.
“Looking for something?” asked Gilda, looking at Apple Bloom glancing around the room.
“Huh? Oh, sorry,” said Apple Bloom. “I was just thinkin’ that this office is a lot like Duchess Coloratura’s, back in Cliffside Eyrie. I guess a nest leader like yourself probably has to do a whole lotta the same sort o’ stuff a duchess has to do.”
Gilda blinked her. “I… I never really thought about it.” She tilted her head at Apple Bloom. “I guess it’s probably true though.”
“Nest Leader Gilda,” began Apple Bloom, “I know that ponies and griffons have some bad history. But for several centuries now we’ve peacefully stayed out of each other’s way. Maybe it’s time to try to be friends?”
“Yeah!” agreed Gabby. “I mean, just look at us. We only met yesterday, but we’re already friends. Why not try it out for everygriff else?”
“But if you let the Effai Clan attack Cliffside Eyrie, then Ponera won’t know the difference between Effoh and Effai, they’ll just start a war with all of you,” said Apple Bloom. “So please, do somethin’ to help Cliffside.”
Gilda considered for a few minutes, looking from Apple Bloom to Gabby and back. She looked over at her map for a moment, before turning back to the pair of youngsters before her. She glanced at Apple Bloom’s ribbon, raising an eyebrow when she recognised the design as one made by griffons.
“Pony. Apple Bloom,” Gilda said. “You said before that the Effai griffons made some sort of
trade deal arrangement.”
“Um, sort of,” replied Apple Bloom. “More like a deal to make a real deal later.”
“Would your… Duchess, was it? Would your duchess be willing to make trade agreements with Effoh clan?” asked Gilda.
Apple Bloom shrugged. “I don’t see why not. But I’m just a farmer’s daughter, I can’t make the duchess agree to anythin’. But then, she’s a friend of the family, so I’m pretty sure I could get her to at least talk to you about it. If you make a fair offer, you could probably make some kind of deal. Does… does that mean you’re gonna help?”
Gilda looked again between Apple Bloom and Gabby. Finally, she sighed. “I’ve made my decision. Captain?”
Captain Gerald entered the room. “Yes, nest leader?”
“It’s time griffons returned to Cliffside Eyrie,” stated Gilda. “Summon General Gertrude. Effoh Clan goes to battle.”