Griffon of Canterlot
Chapter 82 – A Crusaders Sunday Part One
The sun rising in the morning sky, birds chirping at Sweet Apple Acres, Applebloom awoke from her peaceful night sleep, she yawned a little as she sat up, rubbing her eyes with a foreleg. Applebloom got out of bed walking up to her wardrobe to pull out a bow from it putting it into her mane.
“Today the day ah and mah friends get to meet Sunflower again!” She said to herself walking up to the window pulling the curtains back.
To her surprise upon opening it, she was greeted by a pair of purple eyes for Sunflower looking back at her. “Good morning Applebloom, hope we didn't wake you.”
Applebloom's mind took a few seconds to process what came out of the beak of Sunflower, she slowly peer through the window to see Applejack and Big Mac sorting through the baskets of apples. “What the hay goin' on here?” She open the window up. “Ah thought me and mah friends were meetin' ya at the clubhouse! Not ah seein' ya right outside mah home!”
Sunflower put a basket full of apples into the wagon, followed by another as Big Mac hook himself up to the harness. “I woke up early, just as the sun started to shine and dude these two were already working on the farm, so I offered to help and here we are.” Sunflower explained.
“Eeyup!” Big Mac confirmed as he started to pull the wagon into the barn.
Applejack finished stacking a pile into one basket left behind. “Ah said no at first, but than Sunflower showed a picture of her home, she and her grandma tend to more sunflowers than ah ever seen, so with that how can ah not accept help from her.” Applejack put a hoof out to the basket. “They all yer's sugarcube, chow away.”
Sunflower grabbed a bunch with one forepaw. “Don't mind if I do.” She dropped the apples into her beak and happily chewed on them.
“What about Granny Smith!”
“What about me Applebloom?” The old mare step into view carrying a single pie, held on her forehoof.
Applebloom jaw just dropped. “Dude, your not asleep before you think of it, Nanner Smith is cool as a cucumber, not the first oddest thing she seen.”
Granny Smith looked up at her. “Indeed it is cub, but it Granny.”
“Granny, Nanner, mean the same thing, just the way I was brought up calling a grandmother.” Sunflower shrugged. “That cool with ya, dude?”
Granny Smith smiled. “Ah can live with that, and here is ya award for ya hard work, here one of mah own special applepies, enjoy!”
Sunflower carefully took it from her hoof with the forepaw, pulling out with the other a oblong object, she flicked it to have a stick come out with a tiny folk at the end of it. They watched her take a piece with the folk and place it into her beak, happily chewing on the little amount she scooped up. “Hmm... That some good pie.”
“Glad ya like it cub, now Applebloom come on down for breakfast and ya can take Sunflower to meet ya friends at the clubhouse of yer's.” Granny Smith walked back into the house.
Applebloom still stunned. “A-ah ah coming... Today goin' to be awe-” She closed the window.
Sunflower continue to enjoy the fruits of her labour, wings fluttering slightly from each tiny piece she chewed on. “Ah think Granny got a winner.”
Big Mac returned from the barn. “Eeyup.” They continued to watch the nine hooves tall griffon happily eat Granny Smith's signature apple-pie.
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle sat in the Cutie Mark Crusaders Tree House waiting for Applebloom to arrive, they both eager to meet Sunflower again and made aware by the adult family members of the terms of meeting Sunflower again.
Sweetie Belle flip a page over with a hoof as she laid there reading, Scootaloo pasting back and forwards. “Do you think any of these ideas to get our cutie marks will work with help from Sunflower?”
Scootaloo continue to walk back and forwards as she respond. “Maybe, but I don't think it gonna work, specially with Applejack and Big Mac keeping a watchful eye of meeting Sunflower again.”
Sweetie Belle closed the book up. “Rarity said that the grown ups all were good with Sunflower, and she the one that suggested it to ease their fears, she even suggested if this goes well we could even hang out with her without adult supervision.”
Scootaloo stopped pasting. “I guess...” She stared out the window. “What do we exactly do with her today? I mean we can't go into town.”
“Guess we didn't think this far ahead when we asked her to come back for a visit.” Sweetie Belle stood up walking up to the window looking out of it with Scootaloo. “What are the chances she already here?”
Scootaloo turn her head to Sweetie Belle. “How awesomely she moves! I say definitely.”
They went to the door opening it to have Sunflower's face before them with Applebloom sitting on top of her head waving at them. “Howdy girls!” She leaped of the head landing on the wooden surface. “Yer been waitin' long?”
“Not really.” Scootaloo answered looking past her at Sunflower. “It awesome to see you again Sunflower! My aunties asked me to give you these cookies!” She went back inside and came back with a bag of cookies held in her mouth placing it down before the griffon.
Sunflower smiled. “Thank you Scootaloo, and tell your aunties thank you for the cookies too.” She reached over to the bag, she picked it up empting it into her other paw before throwing the whole lot into her beak. “Hmm...” She closed her eyes with a very satisfied look on her face. “Those cookies were awesome dude! I mean seriously! How can something so small have so much flavour!? How can anything here taste so much better!?”
“You don't have anything like this?” Sweetie Belle asked.
Sunflower pulled out a wrapped up bar from her bag. “This is a high protein bar, it has some flavour, but mostly bland, when you are my size you really burn through a lot of energy dude, I mean serious amount!” Sunflower shift her foreleg close to the fillies on the treehouse walkway. “Take a feel of my foreleg, that is nothing but muscle.”
“Whoa! You can feel it through the fur if you push hard enough.” Scootaloo exclaimed with surprise. “Is that cause of your size?”
“Pretty much dude, I need that muscle.” Sunflower said. “Also worked on my internal flight magic to beyond it normal limits too, it why I move around so light on my paws.” Sunflower step back and do a few spins, with a shift of body along the forelegs with tail, wings and hind legs to stand on all fours again. “It all pretty much second nature to me now.”
The fillies were amazed. “That really awesome! I mean I can dance, but your moves are so breathless!” Scootaloo said admitting she can dance. “It how come I am awesome with my scooter!”
“I saw dude, those are some sick moves you can pull.” Sunflower smiled.
“Really!?” Scootaloo screeched.
Sunflower laughed. “Really dude.” She turn to Applebloom and Sweetie Belle. “Now little fillies what shall we do today? We got a whole day to burn away.”
Applebloom rubbed the back of her head with a forehoof. “We didn't think that far ahead, the usual thin's are out the window.”
“Yeah, last time you was being all stealthy.” Scootaloo added.
Sweetie Belle also confirmed it. “Even if you weren't, I don't think you could fit in anything there.”
They were expecting the massive griffon to respond badly to it, all they got was a simple shrug. “Same old song and dance fillies, I been through it all already.” Sunflower took off her bag placing it down before her, sitting down she shuffled her forepaws in the pockets and main compartment. “That why I already thought ahead of it.”
Applejack and Big Mac supervising the meet up curiously watched from where they sat. “You did?” Sweetie Belle walked down the ramp up towards the big bag. “What did you bring?” She asked as her friends gathered beside her.
Sunflower pulled out a few boxes. “I brought with me some boardgames.” Next thing she pulled out was a set of comic books. “Comics of a bunch of super heroes.” Sunflower pulled out next a bag full of marshmallows in it, they were mix of different sizes in them. “Marshmallows for a nice camp fire for later on.”
Sunflower put a flat table down on top of the boxes. “A music device to do some fun dancing.”
Last thing she pulled out was a harness with what look like seats on the back of it, safety belts on them. “Finally a flight harness for giving others a ride from yours truly.” Sunflower bow with a foreleg across her chest with a cheeky smile.
Applejack and Big Mac approached. “That some harness, there even seats on it, yer took that into account for sure.”
“Of course, it was one of the things Nanner Maple and I thought of, dude” Sunflower answered. “Also all the stuff we can do for now, nothing too crazy part from the flight part.” Sunflower looked around the set piles she created.
Big Mac curiously picked up a comic with his hoof, flipping a page or two through it the curiosity grew. “Ah believe ya.” Applejack said seeing her brother read one of the comics he picked up.
Applebloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle talked among each other till they parted. “We just talked it over, and we go with the flight first.” Scootaloo said with the others nodded in agreement.
Sunflower turn to Applejack and Big Mac. “With your permission to give these fillies a short flight, to experience how I fly.”
“Yer went out of ya way to put this harness together for their safety, ah can safely say yes.”
“Eeyup.” Big Mac and Applejack allowed it to go ahead.
Sunflower fitted on the harness, adjusting the straps to make sure it is secure, the nine hooves tall griffon lay down on her front with a wing open out to them. “Crusaders welcome on board the Sunflower Finch Express, take your seats do your seat belts up and prepare for a flight of an awesome griffon like me.”
The three crusaders cheered and raced up her wing, they sat into the seats putting the seat belts on. “Ah can not believe ah'm doin' this!”
“Me neither, but how often do we get to fly?”
“Like never! I am totally in!” Scootaloo said after Sweetie Belle with excitement.
Sunflower stood up, they were expecting to be rocked around but it felt very smooth. “That felt as if we weren't moving.” Sweetie Belle stated.
Sunflower grinned. “Oh that just the beginning.” The wings open up and with two flaps she took off, hovering a bit above the ground and the adults felt nothing from the wings flapping, they couldn't even hear the flapping sound.
“Ah seen the dance, but this...” Applejack was left speechless.
Big Mac nodded. “Sunflower somehow makin' herself feel absent to the area around her...” Sunflower took off with the girls screaming with joy, if it wasn't for their screams and their eyes on the griffon they would never knew Sunflower took off. “Ah wish to know how she can move so silent.”
“Yer just wonderin' to be like her, big and move with such silence that yer never knew ya there.” Applejack took a sharp look at Big Mac, he nervously laughed with a hoof behind his head and Applejack just rolled her eyes with a shake of the head, they turn to the sky seeing the large griffon flying around at great speeds.
Sunflower flew around a few clouds, skimming them with her wing tip to doing a few twists, she zoom down over the tree line just metres from them and took high into the sky again to hover high above Ponyville, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were giggling and laughing with joy, the movements felt as if they were not at all.
“That was so awesome! We span, went fast and drove, I felt nothing from it! How can you even do that!? Scootaloo said with high levels of excitement to asking for a straight east answer.
Sunflower drift down on top of a large cloud standing on it with all four paws squishing against the white cotton fluff of the cloud, she walked up to the edge of it looking down to Ponyville towards the city of Canterlot on the mountain side. “Alot of hard work, to get where I am today, took determination, sweat, pain and tears. Including a awesome grandmother for support.”
“So no easy way?”
“No little filly, no easy way.”
“Darn.” Scootaloo crossed her forelegs with a pout.
Sunflower laughed a little. “Scootaloo, dude, cheer up and smell that air.”
“Yeah! We got a amazing view from up here! Look at all that land!” Sweetie Belle point out her hoof to the view before them.
Applebloom agreed. “Ah for one happy that Sunflower did train a lot, mah brother had to work hard to come as good as he is like mah sister at the farm, they do EVERYTHIN' day in and out on a almost daily bases.” Applebloom point over to the farm below. “Ah help time and again, but nothin' too crazy.”
“Your young and full of life, you three have each other, I never had that chance when I was growing up, first it was my parents than soon after dad managed to help fix my growing problem with the Zebras help-”
“Zebra? Yer know Zecora?”
“I sure do, met her a few times over the years.” Sunflower confirmed. “I was only a cub when I first met her in the lands she came from.” Sunflower pushed off the cloud flying down slowly with each steady flap. “The Zebra have a very rich history, both good and bad like any other culture, even my own and even yours.”
Scootaloo looked around and saw a rainbow blur moving across the sky. “I can believe it, we deal with these two ponies that bully us because we don't have cutie marks, we try so hard to get them.” The others sighed.
Sunflower gave a soft smile from her beak turning her head to them. “My young friends, the best comes to those that work hard and wait, don't rush and do something silly, trust me I been there many times before.” Sunflower caught the rainbow blur at the corner of her eye. “Talking about rushing.” She quickly turn to come face to face with Rainbow Dash. “BOOOO!” She bellowed at the rainbow maned pony.
Rainbow Dash screech with fright flying backwards rapidly getting a set of laughter from below and from the fillies. “Ho-how the hay did you know I was there!?”
“One the vibration in the air I felt, two that unmistakeable rainbow streak you leave behind you and three me.” Sunflower answered as she hovered before Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow Dash crossed her forelegs. “As if you were not being subtle too Sunflower, I saw you flying around up there, got to say for a griffon your size that was...” She squealed the last word. “Awesome!”
Sunflower drift down a bit more to land. “I wasn't trying to be, if I were I be on you faster than you can say Rainbow Dash.”
Rainbow Dash descend alongside her. “If what Pinkie Pie says about you is true, most definitely.” She felt uneasy not feeling any air pressure from Sunflower as she descended to the ground. “I can also believe you when you'd said about a lot of hard work to the Crusaders too.”
“Ah I see.”
“See what?” The fillies asked together.
“Something between experienced fliers like ourselves little ones.” Sunflower said as she land on the ground gracefully. “Now we get to fly again a bit later, but for now who up for some boardgames?” She said as she let them get off her back.
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Board games really?”
“Afraid to lose to a big super awesome griffon like me? Dude.”
Rainbow Dash smirked. “I am going to make you eat those words!”
“Awesome! We get to play with not only Sunflower, but with Rainbow Dash too! On some of these weird looking games! This day gets better and better!” Scootaloo said with total excitement, she saw a pack of cards and took it with a hoof. “UNO, what is UNO?”
Sunflower took the deck, open it up with her large paws and even shuffle the deck. “It a really simple game, the object of the game is to clear your hand completely.” They seemingly not paying attention to her but the paws. “What?”
“How in the name of Equestria are ya doin' that?” Applejack asked.
“Yeah! Your paws are massive and yet your doing that!?” Rainbow Dash point her hoof at the forepaws. “How the heck is that even possible!?”
The CMCs all nodded with muzzles hanging open.
Sunflower looked to the cards and back at them. “Oh? This?” She continue to shuffle the deck. “It’s my secret.” She grinned. “Now ready to hear the rules? So we can play?”