Gabby sat in bed, watching a female griffon walk around the room and gather items. The griffon was grey just like Gabby and had big purple eyes.
“Where are you going Mom?” Gabby asked, staring up at the griffon. The griffon packed a bag, filling it with food, a map, a tent and a flashlight.
“I’m going far away from here. It’s not safe for us to be here.” She said, pulling Gabby into a tight hug.
“Can I come with you?” Gabby asked. Her mother shook her head.
“I can’t bring you with me, it’s too dangerous. I don’t even know where I’m going to go.” She said. Gabby looked up at her mother with a large frown. Her mother looked down at her and kissed her forehead.
“I promise when I find somewhere safe for us to stay, I’ll come back for you.” Her mother said, giving her a little poke on the beak. Gabby giggled and hugged her mother tightly.
“Now you should be going to sleep, it’s midnight.” She said, stroking Gabby’s head. Gabby let out a yawn and laid down in her hard bed. Her mother gave her one last kiss on the cheek.
“I’ll see you later my butterfly.” Her mother said while stroking her heads. Gabby drifted off to sleep, seeing her mother for the last time.
“Gabby wake up.” Spike said, nudging her awake. Gabby groggily opened her eyes, rubbing her cheeks. Her feathers were wet.
“You were crying in your sleep.” Spike stated. Gabby sat up and looked in a mirror that wasn’t too far from the bed. Her eyes were red and puffy.
“I’m fine, that just happens sometimes.” Gabby reassured, dismissively waving her claw. She looked upset. Spike frowned and reached his hand out to rub Gabby on the back for comfort, but quickly jerked his hand back and reached into his blue backpack that he had gotten the day before. He pulled out a map and showed Gabby.
“I marked down all the places we could go. Where do you want to go first?” He asked. Gabby glanced at the map and pointed to a random spot. Spike looked at the spot and picked up a pencil, crossing it out.
“Rainbow Falls is a good choice. I read in a brochure that it has cool waterfalls. Are you ready to go see it?” Spike asked. Gabby rubbed her eyes again, tearing up.
“I think I saw a train station not to far from here, how about you get some train tickets. I need a little time to myself.” Gabby said. Spike frowned and put on his backpack.
“I’ll be back soon.” Spike stated, hopping off of the bed. He walked over to the door and looked back at Gabby who was sulking sadly. He opened the door and left the room. He shut the door behind him and let out a sigh.
“I wonder why Gabby is sad.” Spike wondered to himself, walking down the hallway. Dragons were never the best with friendship or emotions. Spike walked down the hallway, thinking about how he could cheer Gabby up.
“Maybe I can give her cool shiny rocks? That always cheers me up.” He said to himself. Spike shrugged his shoulders and walked out of the inn. It was worth a shot.
Spike and Gabby sat on the motionless train. Gabby stared out the window, her wings drooping a bit. Spike reached into his bag and pulled out a large, shiny rock. It had light blue stripes all over it.
“Here.” Spike stated, handing Gabby the rock. She looked at the rock in her hand and gave her friend a look of confusion.
“Um, thanks?” Gabby thanked in confusion. She placed the rock in her bag and looked back at out the window, leaning into her hand. Spikes scales flattened against his head.
“It didn’t work.” Spike thought sadly to himself. He looked around, looking for something to cheer Gabby up. The train started to move, rocking the train a bit.
“We should go to the food car, I heard it has really good snacks.” A mare said, passing by. She walked to the end of the train car and opened the door, walking inside. Spike cause a glimpse of booths and food from the inside of the train car. An idea popped into Spikes head and he turned to Gabby.
“Gabby, can I have some bits?” Spike asked. Gabby reached into her bag and pulled out ten bits.
“Don’t spend too much, we need to save.” Gabby stated. Spike got up out of his seat and walked down the isle. He wobbled a bit as the train rocked back and forth. He made his way to the end of the car, opening the door. The smell of various foods made Spike’s stomach growl. He walked into the car and closed the door behind him. He walked up to the counter and sat on a seat, spinning around.
“What can I get for you?” A stallion with a gruff voice asked from behind the counter. Spike hummed to himself, tapping his chin. He wasn’t used to eating pony food.
“What can I get for this?” Spike asked, sliding over ten bits to the stallion. The stallion took the bits and walked into the kitchen. He walked back out with a large chocolate chip cookie the size of Spikes head and a bottle of milk.
“Thank you.” Spike thanked with a smile, grabbing the sweets off of the counter. He hopped off of the swivel chair, walking towards the door. He opened the door and walked back into his car. He walked down the isle and sat down next to Gabby.
“I got you a cookie and some milk.” Spike said, handing Gabby the large cookie. She gave a soft smile and took the cookie from him.
“Thanks.” Gabby said, breaking the cookie in half.
“I can’t eat this whole thing by myself.” Gabby stated as she gave Spike the other half of the cookie. She smiled a bit and took a bite of her cookie before looking back out of the window. This was all going according to plan.
Spike and Gabby got off of the train to Rainbow Falls. It was late in the afternoon and the sun was high in the sky.
“Where should we go first?” Spike asked. Gabby pulled a brochure out of Spikes bag.
“The brochure said that there’s a camping store nearby. We should get a tent and some food, it’ll cost too much money to go to another Inn.” Gabby explained. Spike nodded his head in understanding. They walked into town and marveled at what they saw. Large waterfalls splashed into a pond.
“It’s beautiful.” Spike marveled. Gabby nodded her head in agreement before looking around.
“I can see the store over there, let’s go.” Gabby said, grabbing Spikes hand. A small blush appeared on his face and he followed his friend.
“Gabby still looks sad, I need to find another way to cheer her up.” Spike thought to himself. He looked around, trying to think of another way to cheer his friend up. He looked over at a sign that read Glow Butterfly Migration at 10pm. It was dated for that day. Spikes eyes lit up. That seemed like a perfect thing to cheer her up. He had seen the Glow Butterfly Migration before and it was beautiful.
“After we go get some sleeping bags and a tent, we should go get food that’ll last us a few weeks.” Gabby instructed.
“We should camp out up there.” Spike said, pointing to the ledge on top of the waterfall. It would be the perfect spot to watch the butterflies go overhead.
“That looks like a perfect spot. It doesn’t seem like anyone would go up there.” She said. Spike broke out into a wide grin. She was definitely going to feel better after this.
Spike dropped a pile of sticks to the ground and quickly lit them on fire. He reached into a large duffel bag and pulled out a bag of vegan beef jerky. He looked over at Gabby who was staring at the ground.
“Hey Gabby, you want some?” Spike offered, holding the bag out to her. Gabby glanced up and took a piece of jerky. Spike looked up at the sky to see a glowing green butterfly. Spike beamed happily. It was starting!
“Gabby look!” Spike exclaimed, pointing up at the sky. Gabby looked up to see millions of butterflies that were glowing green. They danced in the night fly, lighting it up beautifully.
“Isn’t it amazing?” Spike marveled. Gabby’s eyes widened and she let out a gasp.
“Mom...” She muttered.
“Mommy mommy look, a pretty butterfly!” A young Gabby exclaimed, pointing to a butterfly that landed on her mother’s head. Her mother chuckled and picked Gabby up.
“That’s a Glow Butterfly, they mean true love. If you see they land on someone, that means they love you.” She said, giving her daughter a kiss on the head. Gabby let out a laugh and hugged her mother.
“I love you Mommy!” Gabby exclaimed. Her mother smiled and hugged her tighter, making the butterfly flutter of of her head.
“I love you too my little butterfly.”
Gabby quickly blinked, snapping out of her daze. She looked over at Spike and smiled. A butterfly landed on Spikes nose, making him blink in surprise.
“Gabby look! A butterfly landed on me! Isn’t it beautiful?” Spike asked happily. Gabby broke out into a grin.
“Yeah, it is.”