//------------------------------//
// 3 – Revelations 
// Story: Call of the Mountain 
// by Krickis 
//------------------------------//


Chapter Three


Revelations

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⠀
There weren’t many rules in Griffonstone, but there were a few guidelines. For example, it was considered particularly heinous to wake a griffon while they slept, and that went double for Rainbow Dash.
And yet, someone was pounding on her window. Not her door, which her parents might answer, but her bedroom window. Since no one else was going to answer that, Rainbow had only one option.
She covered her head with a pillow and hoped that the banging would stop. Obviously.
As was too often the case, however, the universe didn’t adhere to Rainbow’s wishes. The knocking continued, and despite her best efforts, there was no ignoring it.
With a groan, Rainbow pushed herself out of bed and ambled to the window. It was a second-story window, but that hardly mattered in Griffonstone.
When she looked outside, she saw Gilda staring back at her. Rainbow shot her a nonplussed look and debated flicking her off before going back to bed. She would have done it if there was any chance that Gilda would actually leave.
Her eye twitching slightly, Rainbow opened the window. Gilda wasted no time in climbing through it. “Hey, nerd.”
“Hey, Gil,” Rainbow answered in her grumpiest tone. “What do you want?”
“Wanted to talk to you about something, but right now, I’m more wondering why you look like shit.”
Rainbow glared at her. “Had a crazy night last night.” That was an understatement, to be sure. Rainbow had nearly died, and worse, she’d nearly gotten two of her friends killed while she did it. If she ‘looked like shit’ as a result, well, that was only fair. “What’s your excuse?”
Gilda ignored her dig. “And not the fun kind of crazy, huh?”
“No. Very much no.”
Gilda looked her over more carefully, while Rainbow closed the window. “So what’s the other griff look like?”
Rainbow spun around and barked, “I wasn’t fighting!”
Gilda smirked and shook her head. “You look like that and it wasn’t a fight? Just what the heck did you do, Dash?”
Well, it seemed there was no getting out of it. Rainbow sighed. “Me and Pinkie were exploring a cave when it caved in on us.”
Gilda let out a low whistle and helped herself to Rainbow’s bed before she could return to it. “You made it, though.”
“Yeah, thanks to Pinkie’s sisters. If they hadn’t come just in time, then our bodies would still be blowing around the Abysmal Abyss.”
“The Abysmal Abyss?” Gilda cocked her head to the side, giving the impression of a true Griffonstone pigeon. “What the heck were you out there for?”
“Sightseeing. Move over.” Rainbow punched Gilda’s shoulder, so she made room on the bed for both of them. “The cave let out into the Abyss. We didn’t even know it until Pinkie got sucked through it.”
“Pinkie make it out too, then?” Gilda asked. There was a subtle shift in her expression that carried into her tone. It was hard to make out, but Rainbow had known Gilda for most of her life.
She smirked. “Oh, someone’s worried about Pinkie Pie!”
“What? No, I’m not!” Gilda’s feathers ruffled and she ignored the fact that Rainbow was injured to shove her roughly. “I just don’t want to deal with you being all weepy if your girlfriend died on you!”
Rainbow swatted away Gilda’s talon and laughed. “Yeah, whatever. Deny it all you want, but you’re worried. Anyway, she’s fine. Hurt her talon in the cave-in, but it’s not broken or anything like that.”
“Cool.” Gilda looked around nervously. “So… I guess that means you haven’t thought much about our talk yesterday, huh?”
Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Considering me and my best friend almost died? No, haven’t given it a lot of thought.”
“Fair enough. But now that you’re both okay, how about giving it some thought? The two of us ruling Griffonstone, how does that not sound awesome?”
“Maybe because I never wanted to rule Griffonstone?” Rainbow’s tail flicked back and forth. “I just want the griffons here to try and look out for one another.”
“Right, all that friendship and kindness crap.” Gilda threw out a talon. “It’s pony stuff, Dash! We’re griffons.”
“It’s not just pony stuff!” There was a lot about what Fluttershy was that Rainbow didn’t understand, but it was clear she wasn’t a pony. “I’ve never even met a pony. And neither have you. How would you know what pony stuff is like?”
“Fine, whatever.” Gilda got up and hovered with her forelegs folded. “But it’s not griffon stuff. We need more concrete leadership than just ‘be good to each other’. And I need your help if I’m going to pull it off.”
Although she had barely spared them a thought with everything that came after, Pinkie’s words from before the cave came back to Rainbow. She thought Gilda could actually do a good job of ruling. And hadn’t she even said Rainbow could too?
But it wasn’t Pinkie’s choice to make; she didn’t even live in Griffonstone. This was Rainbow’s decision, and it didn’t even feel like a real one. “Look, Gilda, just… do what you want, but leave me out of it this time. I’m not a leader, and if there was any doubt about that before, last night proved it to me. I almost got Pinkie and Marble killed for that.”
Rainbow gestured towards the trophy or whatever it was that she had found in the cave. She had meant to clean it up after she brought it home, but then she didn’t have the energy and went to sleep instead.
Gilda swooped down to look at it better. She turned to Rainbow with a wide-eyed expression. “You found this in the Abysmal Abyss?”
Rainbow shrugged. “Yeah. So?”
“Do you know what this is!?” Gilda barely looked like she even wanted to touch the old piece of junk. 
“Some old hunk of metal that you’re going to geek out about?”
For some reason, Gilda looked at her almost sympathetically. “Geez, did you sleep through all of Grandpa Gruff’s history lessons?”
“Yes.” Rainbow flew over to the… whatever it was. Despite her tough persona, Gilda was actually a major history buff. She was always geeking out over old crap, then doing her best to pretend that she hadn’t been geeking out.
Meanwhile, Rainbow just saw a reminder of how close she had come to causing a disaster. She grabbed it and shoved it into Gilda’s talons. “You want it?”
Gilda’s beak fell open. “Are… you serious?”
Rainbow grinned. “See, what’s happening here is that I have something I don’t need and you want it more than I do, so I’m giving you it as a gift. Know what that is? It’s kindness! Not such a bad thing now, is it?”
Gilda’s look of irritation almost made Rainbow think she was going to refuse, but she looked down at the object and clutched it tightly. “Tell you what. Spare me the kindness lesson, and I’ll spare you the history lesson.”
“Deal,” Rainbow said without having to think twice.
Gilda turned back to the object. “I can’t believe it. The Id–”
“No history!” Rainbow reminded her. She leaned back in her bed. “Anyway, I’ve got some serious napping to get back to.”
Gilda scoffed. “You know, maybe it’s for the best that you won’t be my second in command.”
“That’s the spirit!”
Gilda rolled her eyes and stepped closer to the window, the object firmly in her talons. “Later, Dash. And… thanks.”
Rainbow shot up to cast Gilda a bewildered look, but she was already flying away. Gilda had never thanked her for anything before. She collapsed back into her bed with a smile. Maybe she was finally getting through to her after all.







Rainbow’s second awakening was much better. She stretched and yawned, enjoying the chance to wake up at her own pace. And she kept that pace at ‘leisurely’ even as she made her way out of her bedroom.
Rather than walk, Rainbow flew lazily through the home. She made her way downstairs and found the house was empty. That was a little strange, and she vaguely wondered where her parents had gone, but it wasn’t worth giving too much thought to.
What did catch Rainbow’s attention was the noise coming in from outside. No one liked being out and about in Griffonstone, yet Rainbow heard voices talking excitedly.
When she went to the window to see what was going on, she saw a tide of griffons all making their way down the street in the same direction. For a second she just watched. She wasn’t sure if she had ever seen that many griffons all in one place, and she got the impression this was only a small part of the crowd that was gathering.
Puzzled, Rainbow stepped outside to see what all the commotion was about. She watched as two griffons held a discussion.
“Guess things will be changing around here,” a middle-aged griffon said. He scratched his head as he watched the crowd.
The other was a little younger and looked like he was related to the first. He also looked over the wave of griffons. “So you really think it’s true then?”
The first jerked his head in the direction the others were going in. “Only one way to find out.”
As they both flew off along with the others, Rainbow just stared in puzzlement. She thought about asking someone what was happening, but she wound up just following along instead. Trying to keep an ear open didn’t help, as the din of everygriff conversing at once made it impossible to listen in on any one conversation.
It wasn’t too long before Rainbow found herself in the town center. It seemed that all of Griffonstone was there, more pigeons than Rainbow knew even lived within the city. That made it impossible to get close, and craning her neck to try and get a better view got her nowhere.
It was also impossible to hear over everygriff, but after a few minutes of frustration, Rainbow could make out the sound of someone knocking something heavy on wood. The sound carried through the crowd, and slowly the talking died down. Rainbow tried to move around for a better vantage point, but it was hopeless.
“Griffons of Griffonstone!” a voice called out, ringing over the crowd. It stopped Rainbow in her tracks; it was a voice she knew all too well.
“No way…” she muttered to herself. It was Gilda. She was actually doing it. And more surprisingly, the others were listening to her.
Well, there was no way Rainbow wasn’t going to see this up close. She flew over the crowd, but of course she wasn’t the only one who’d had that idea. The skies were at least as crowded as the streets below.
“For too long we’ve let ourselves wither away. Look what’s become of our proud heritage! A town falling apart, citizens who would rather hole up in their own walls while the city crumbles around them!”
Rainbow swerved around as best she could, but there was no getting around it. She eventually landed back on the ground, where she could just barely manage to see some of Gilda, who was standing on a pedestal in the middle of the crowd.
“It’s time for someone to take a stand and lead us. It’s time for someone to organize a proper effort to repair our town and our legacy. It’s time for someone like me. As your new queen, I’ll lead Griffonstone to be even better than it once was!”
Their new queen? She was really pulling out all the stops. But there was no way that would sit with the others. There hadn’t been a queen or king of Griffonstone since King Guto had lost the Idol of Boreas. Even Rainbow knew that.
“And for those of you who doubt I’m the one to lead us, I present this!” Gilda held up something gold, which glistened in the sunlight. Rainbow squinted, trying to get a better look at it. “The Idol of Boreas! Hidden in the Abysmal Abyss for centuries, and finally found by yours truly!”
The Idol of Boreas? Gilda had actually found the Idol of Boreas!? But when? How? Rainbow craned her neck for a better view and got shoved out of the way by some griffon doing the same.
“With the Idol, I can unite Griffonstone once more!” Gilda proclaimed. And the crazy thing was that it was true; even someone like Rainbow knew how important the Idol of Boreas was. She didn’t know much about her own history, but there was nogriff that didn’t know about that.
“And with the city in the state it’s in, it’s important that we don’t waste any time. So as my first proclamation, I decree we will organize a reconstruction effort that’ll help all of us. I want every griffon to come see me so we can figure out what your role will be in repairing the damage done to Griffonstone over the years. Now, let’s form a line and get to it!”
Griffons started shifting around as they failed at forming anything as organized as a line. But it did give Rainbow a chance to finally get a good look at Gilda, and that hit her almost as hard as the cave-in had. 
Gilda was holding what must have been the Idol of Boreas aloft, and Rainbow recognized it immediately. Not as the Idol, though. She had never known what the Idol of Boreas looked like, after all.
No, she recognized it from her bedroom only hours earlier. Gilda had gotten it cleaned up and shimmering again, but it was unmistakably the same object she had given Gilda, the thing from the cave.
She had known. Gilda had known exactly what it was when Rainbow gave it to her, and just as importantly, she had known that Rainbow didn’t know. Gilda had tricked her into handing over the Idol, and with it, all of Griffonstone.
It wouldn’t stand. Rainbow wouldn’t let her get away with it. She flew up in the air and made straight for Gilda, determined to make her tell them the truth about who had found the Idol, but she was stopped by a griffon pushing her back down.
“Hey, what gives?” Rainbow asked, taking a defensive stance.
The other griffon didn’t seem interested in fighting, just testily replying, “You gotta wait your turn like every other griffon here.”
“You don’t understand, I found that Idol!”
He just rolled his eyes and turned away from her. “Yeah, and I bet you’re King Grover’s long-lost descendant too. I ain’t buying it!”
“What? Ugh, just get out of my way! You’ll see once I talk to Gilda!”
“What’s going on?” another griffon asked.
“This one’s trying to cut in line.”
“Wait your turn like the rest of us!”
Rainbow faceclawed. “There isn’t even a real line!” she shot back, but it didn’t seem to matter to them. She was getting the attention of other griffons, and all of them clearly shared the same opinion.
Well, there was no way Rainbow was waiting her turn to chew Gilda out. She kicked off and again took to the air, but this time, she flew away from the town square.
She landed on a building a ways away, careful that she wouldn’t damage it further than it already was. She looked back and could see Gilda trying to organize the griffons into something manageable.
Rainbow weighed her options as she watched the failed efforts. It was nice to see Gilda squirm in her first attempt to do something as queen, but it hardly made up for how things got to this point.
It wasn’t fair, and it wasn’t right. Rainbow had been just trying to spread a little kindness, and Gilda had betrayed her. Like always, kindness just blew up in Rainbow’s face.
Maybe Gilda was right. Maybe kindness wasn’t for griffons, and Rainbow had been wasting her time all along. No, not maybe. Gilda was right, and it was time Rainbow accepted that.
And she did accept it. Rainbow was done. Kindness got her nothing but misery, and she was done with it.
Which meant that now it was time for Gilda to realize how much Rainbow’s kindness had helped her. She’d learn that soon, just when Rainbow tore it all away. Gilda wanted to steal the Idol from Rainbow? Well, two could play at that game. Rainbow knew where Gilda lived, and she had to go home sometime.
All Rainbow had to do was sneak in and take the Idol. Then she would be Queen of Griffonstone. Or better yet, then she could just chuck the thing back into the Abysmal Abyss. Not like she wanted to be queen anyway.
But Gilda wasn’t an idiot. She’d know others would want the Idol, and she’d have some sort of defenses set up. Rainbow could handle them, but maybe it would be best to not handle them alone.
Well, there was only one griffin she could trust to stick with her on a job like this. With her mind made up, she flew off toward the Pie household and just hoped Pinkie would still want to stick with her after what she’d done.







It had been years since Rainbow had started going to the Pie home, and it had always felt warm and welcoming to her. Well, okay, the house was a little drafty and crowded, but that was part of its charm. And more to the point, the Pie family had always been warm and welcoming.
But that had been last night, before Rainbow’s dumb decision to go into the cave threatened everything. Now, she had no idea how the Pies felt about her, but she knew the little house somehow looked much bigger and more daunting than she had ever known it to be.
She stood outside, and she considered her options. She could go back to Griffonstone, no one had seen her yet. She would meet with Pinkie another day, once they’d given the dust Rainbow had kicked up enough time to settle.
Or she could knock on the door, apologize to the only griffin she felt really understood her, and ask for her help committing what may very well be treason. That last part notwithstanding, she knew there was no choice for the rest. Pinkie was her best friend, and while she hated to think it, she was aware that Pinkie may in fact be even more than that…
There was only one choice. She didn’t know if Pinkie would help her with the Idol; she’d been absolutely furious the night before. But Rainbow owed it to her friend, she owed it to Pinkie to apologize.
And she was stalling, because she was afraid. But even if she was afraid, she was no coward. Rainbow steeled her nerves, and she knocked on the door.
The seconds after were even worse. She knew the Pies were rarely home at this time of day, so there was no guarantee that anyone would answer. In some ways, that would be better. Even if Pinkie didn’t want to help her with the Idol, it would be enough to see her and know that things could work between them. But what if one of the others answered? Rainbow couldn’t decide which of them would be worst…
She didn’t have long to debate though, as the door opened to reveal Pinkie Pie. Rainbow smiled nervously and tried to greet her friend. “So… hi, Pink–”
She didn’t even get the whole name out before she was tackled to the ground. Her first thought was that Pinkie was still so angry that she was attacking her, but then the lynx griffin started nuzzling against her. “Oh, Dashie… I’m so sorry!”
Rainbow tried to get away, but Pinkie held her tightly. “What are you talking about? Why would you be sorry?”
“Because I was so mean to you last night!” Pinkie sounded like she might start crying, which blanked out all of Rainbow’s thoughts. “I was just so scared for Marble, but I took it all out on you, and… and…”
“Pinkie, it’s fine,” Rainbow insisted when she found the words. “I deserved it. All of it, and then some. I was a total jerk last night.”
Pinkie buried her head into the crook of Rainbow’s neck. “I’m just so happy you came back!”
Since it was all she could manage to do, Rainbow awkwardly patted Pinkie on the back. “I’m happy to see you too, but maybe you could let me up? Kinda uncomfortable down here…”
“Oh! Sorry…” Pinkie got up and extended a talon to help Rainbow up as well.
Rainbow accepted, then brushed herself off as best she could. Once she’d gotten the worst of the dirt off her, she turned back to Pinkie and looked her over. She was a little banged up, just like Rainbow was, but didn’t look too bad. “How’s your talon?”
Pinkie held up her right talon to show it was bandaged but looked fine. “All good here! Mom bandaged me up and scolded me, but I feel fine now. Maud said I wasn’t allowed to work today, though…”
Well, that explained why Pinkie was home, at least. And when it came down to it, Rainbow was probably in for more than a scolding when she next saw the rest of the Pie family. “So… did they say anything about me?”
Pinkie deflated a little and wouldn’t look at Rainbow. “Uhm… a bit.”
Rainbow nodded. The words her mom had said the night before echoed in her head, about how they’d approve if Rainbow asked for… Well, whatever, it wasn’t like she was going to do that. She hadn’t even wanted their approval anyway.
At least, not until she might not have it anymore… “Guess I should probably stay away from family dinner for a bit.”
“They’ll calm down,” Pinkie promised, but her heart didn’t sound like it was in it. “And I’ll, uhm, I’ll come visit you in Griffonstone a lot.”
Rainbow nodded. It was the best she could hope for. And yet, she had to hope for more. “Speaking of Griffonstone… Something happened.”
“Something bad?”
“Something I need your help with.”
For some reason, Pinkie’s mood turned around in an instant and she beamed at Rainbow. “You got it! Just say the word and I’m there!”
Rainbow cocked her head to the side, wondering where the change of heart was coming from. “You don’t even know what you’re signing up for…”
“Doesn’t matter, as long as I’m there doing it with you.”
Rainbow frowned. Pinkie was too good for her. She knew that already, but that fact stood more clearly than ever.
It was almost enough to make Rainbow hope Pinkie would change her mind and refuse when she heard what was about to be asked of her. “We need to sneak into Gilda’s house and steal the Idol of Boreas from her.”
Pinkie shook her head and, if possible, fluffed up her feathers even more than they usually were. “What!?”
At least she saw how serious this was. “Remember that thing I found last night? That was the Idol of Boreas! Any griffon who owns it is the rightful ruler of Griffonstone, and right now, that’s Gilda. But she tricked me into giving it to her, and now she’s claiming she found it!”
Pinkie gasped. “But she’s your friend! Why would she do something like that?”
“Uh, because she’s not my friend and never has been! She just wants power!” Although the whole situation made her blood boil to think about, Rainbow forced herself to continue more calmly. Her brash actions had gotten them into trouble already, she needed to address this reasonably. “She was already talking about ruling Griffonstone, remember? Then I just played right into her plans.”
“I… I guess.” Pinkie looked in the direction of Griffonstone. “I didn’t think she’d try to lead like that.”
“I didn’t either,” Rainbow admitted. She didn’t want to admit to how much it hurt to find that Gilda would do this to her. “But, you know… she’s a jerk. We should’ve known something like this was coming.”
“But you and Gilda have known each other for so long…” Pinkie frowned and pulled Rainbow into a hug. “I’m sorry she’s being such a meanie right now.”
Rainbow squirmed until she got away. “I don’t care about Gilda! Or well, I don’t care that she’s mean. I just care about giving her a taste of her own medicine and getting that Idol back. See how well everyone follows her once she doesn’t have that!”
Pinkie looked uncertain. “But… maybe there’s another way? What if we just talked to her about it? We could explain –”
“Explain what? The kind thing to do?” Rainbow scoffed. “Gilda doesn’t care about kindness, and neither do I.”
Pinkie’s beak fell open. “You can’t mean that.”
“I do,” Rainbow said defiantly. “Look, Pinkie… I still care about, you know, being kind to griffins like you and your family. But those pigeons will never get it, and trying only makes things worse. If we’re going to stop her, we have to know that.”
“Do… do we need to stop her?” Pinkie asked quietly.
Rainbow blinked. “Of course we need to stop her! Look, it’s messed up what she did, but it’s even worse than that. Think about it. If she’s willing to do this to get power, what else is she going to do?”
Pinkie slowly nodded as Rainbow’s words reached her. “Okay,” she said after a moment. “So… how do we do this?”