Griffon of Canterlot
Chapter 65.75 – Maple
“Yes my name is Maple and I can vouched for by those lovely love birds over there.” She pointed at Greystorm and Octicovix.
They both nodded. “We both know Maple, long story short looking into griffish past we entered up meeting Maple.” Greystorm start to explain.
Octicovix continues. “We unwittingly trespassed on her lands, and her granddaughter used an magical stun artefact on us, I was knocked out but Greystorm wasn't.”
“I was mostly immune to it due to the effect of the pure magic in my body still.” Greystorm then gestures to himself. “The mixed result of the artefact and pure magic. I was stripped of 20 years making me look the way I am.”
“Good.” Maple sat on her hunches putting down her saddle bag, the magnet. “Now we got a summary on how we met, let's get to the nitty-gitty part of how I got here. And how I found you all within five hours flying here, that way we don't go into twenty questions, and not waste valuable time.”
Gale came up to her. “You real, you not comic, how?”
“Long story short, we like our privatise us finch griffons, so fictional comics like that we allow ourselves to be part of.” She made up a story on the fly to Gale.
“Erm... Okay... Confused...”
Maple put a forepaw on his foreleg. “How about after we get home, I sign one of your comics.”
Gale nods with excitement. “Okay deal!” He gave her a happy hug and released stepping back to Gilda. “Okay listen ready!”
Maple stared into space from the surprise hug. “Sure...”
“You get use to it dweeb, it his thing.” Gilda chuckled.
Maple finally snapped out of it. “Alright, here is what happened between one minute after midnight to now all compressed for time...”
Maple holding her hot chocolate still found herself no longer in front of Sunflower her nine hooves tall granddaughter. But at the entrance of the dome with one of the large metal doors sealing the dome off from the environment outside on the ground, the other hanging with vines all over it.
“What the bloody heck!?” Maple looked around in total confusion dropping the cup smashing on the ground, the contents soaking into the soil. The finch griffon quickly opening her wing flew into the dome to see the inner doors were open slightly enough for her to get through with ease.
What Maple found was everything overgrown, foreign plants and the massive tree was also unmanaged with the top of it pressing against the glass of the dome itself. “This is insane, it as if no one lived here for somewhere between 100 to 150 years!”
Stepping out of the towering sunflowers a black old finch griffon wearing a green tatted robe over him, he had a glasses hanging on the bridge of the beak. The tired looking finch griffon raise the forepaw to the glasses adjusting them. “Hello deary, I don't offer get guests here any more, what a young finch like yourself need?”
Maple gave him a very odd look. “What I need? What the heck are you talking about!?” Maple begins. “This is my home! I want to know who you, and what are you doing here!?”
He chuckled lightly. “You do resalable my great-grandmother, but younger, and I only know of her through photos I kept.” He wave a paw to have her follow. “Come I'll show you youngster.”
Maple growls. “I am not old! I never age, I've been stuck like this for well over 200 years!” She followed him through the sea of sunflowers. “Also I was with my granddaughter Sunflower a second ago!”
“Then it has begun.”
“What begun?”
He glance over his right side at her. “The final day of course, GGM left a message to be past down generations, she said something special happened 150 years ago.”
Maple was very confused as she followed him out to the large tree stair entrance. “There is your answer.” He shakingly point a paw to the diamond steel forged caskets.
Maple flew over him to them, her heart skip a beat with a gut sickening wash over her. “Maple to Maple, we lived a long wonderful life, 150 years to this day you will look down on us on the final day.” Maple saw both names. “Maple and Pistol Clawhowler... Beloved beyond life...”
She quickly turn to the old griffon. “Who the blazes are you!?”
“Oak Clawhowler, now go do what you need to do, and I can finally rest.” The black finch griffon walk back into the sea of sunflowers. “Return to the reality you belong before midnight or it will be too late, also some you met are also here, that should make things easier shouldn't it?” He was gone.
Maple went after him but after ten minutes of searching from the air above the sunflowers, there was no sight or movement of the old griffon. “Okay... I met my dead self in a casket, lived to about 150 years ago a avenge finch griffish life...” She muttered. “Now he said there was others here I met...”
Maple gasped quickly flew inside, running to her workshop through the corridors misshapen with growth of the tree, she made it to the workshop seeing dust covered everything. “Okay time to get creative and messy!” She clapped her forepaws together rubbing them together. “First build a tracker to track Greystorm, that be my best bet.”
Maple got to work breaking apart some of the machines she created in the past, taking out wires, screens, motherboards to processor chips, grabbing the welder she go to work making a tracker with a mishmash of technology. “Good thing the welder works.” She said behind the face mask, wearing long sleeve rubber gloves and apron.
Soon the early sun rays shine through the dome Maple step out of the tree. “Let's see...” She activated the tracker. “Good it working.” Adjusting the saddle bag the finch griffon took off, she leave the dome to see the large floating city Flaputa high above a healing creator, trees growing around a new freash water lake.
“They really did it, these finch griffons made their dream come true.” Maple smiled. “Got to admit that one heck of a view.” A beep came and locking eyes on the display of the tracker. “Ah I found you!” Maple felt something hit her.
Struggling against it at first, she finally got free to find it was Oak's cloak. Looking around her eyes lock on to the old griffon smiling to her, he give her a weak salute and nod. “Thank you Oak! I do not know who you are but your a good cub!” She called out.
Oak weakly laughed. “Oh to be called young, that made my day.” He watch her put it on, and he watched her fly away.
Maple knew she wouldn't make it all the way by flying alone, the finch griffon lands at the train station just as a train arrived, getting onto the train after buying a ticket Maple rode it all the way to Canterlot. “This thing better be pointing me in the right direction.” She muttered under her breath.
“And that's it.”
Rainbow Dash rubbed her talon over the feather fluff on her head. “Soooo... Where the heck are we?”
RS blurted out the answer. “We in another Equestria, this isn't our home, what more concerning is this final day, Oak spoke of.” RS raised a important fact.
Gale's mind started to race as his mind start to piece things together. “Wishes? Maple birthday cake wish?”
Maple looked over at him. “Last time was 150 years, I don't want to talk about it.”
Gilda caught on what she said, what Gale just asked. “That not good...”
“Create, transfiguration wish vanish, end midnight, create wish mum, Gilda wish transfiguration Rainbow pony to griffon.” He randomly saying words.
Rainbow Dash now caught on. “G...”
“Yeah I see it too...”
Trace felt a slight discharge of pure magic. “Gale?”
Shining Armor tap a hoof on the maple flooring. “It sound like a wish is coming to a end at midnight from how Oak put it.”
“Bye bye af-af-after mid-midnight?” Gale shaking with fear growing, the horror becoming of his mixed up mind came up with a solid conclusion.
Greystorm answers without realising the mood of the question. “Yes that what birthday wishes with creating and transfiguring does at midnight, the one changed forms go back to what they were, well that what should happen part from Rainbow Dash.”
Maple shrugs. “Guess by final day means final day, if that the blatant answer to this.”
Rainbow Dash gulped. “G-guys...”
Gale was breathing in and out rapidly. “Bye bye us midnight... Bye bye no want... Bye bye... Bye bye...” Gale looking around for answers, nothing was coming to mind, no solution, no way out.
Gilda growls. “You nitwits! Stop talking about this in front of Gale!”
“Why?” Shining asked and saw how terrified Gale looked. “Oh no...”
“Oh no-” Maple saw a faint glow come off Gale. “-What...”
Gale shook his head rapidly. “No want bye bye! Want home! Go home! No no no no!” Magic started shimming from Gale as he was hyper ventilating with total panic.
“What happening!?” Octicovix put a wing up in front of her as energy pulse out of Gale.
Maple shouts as a new roaring sound comes as more magic builds up. “His having a panic attack! His freaking out!” She ducks as a magical pulse almost knock her off her paws, the door behind slam shut. "His surging!" Another huge pulse of magic set her flying against the door, pinning the finch griffon to it.
Gilda gets pushed back with her talons digging into the marble flooring holding herself in place as others now pinned against the walls. “Gale! Chill!” He didn't hear her call to stop.
“I want out! I WANT HOME!”