Gryph fluttered down to the door of the Treebrary. Lifting a hoof up, he pressed down a few wild strands of his black mane.
“Gonna need to get used to brushing with a hoof,” Gryph spoke to himself before using the same hoof to reach for the door and give it a few light taps. “Twilight? You in here?”
“Yup! Come on in!” Twilight’s muffled voice called out from the inside.
Gryph pushed the teak door open, revealing the perfectly pristine library inside.
“Whoa. You really tidied up this place since yesterday,” Gryph remarked, impressed.
“Oh what? That crashing thing?” Twilight asked, dusting off a shelf in the back. “That was no problem at all!”
“Well, that’s good to know.”
“You should see what this place looks like when Rainbow Dash practises her flying moves…” Twilight grumbled.
“Rainbow Dash?” Gryph repeated the curious name he had heard, cocking his head to one side and trotting to one of the shelves.
“Yeah! Didn’t you meet her last night at Pinkie’s party?”
“Umm….no. I kinda didn’t meet anyon- anypony at last night’s party.” Gryph scanned the shelves, seeing several books with odd titles such as ‘How to R.U.N’ and ‘Paper Skies (and other various foallores)’. “She dragged me everywhere, treating me like some sorta guest of honor.”
“O-oh, right. Eh heh heh,” Twilight laughed hesitantly, rubbing the back of her head with her hoof. “R-right. I...I forgot she does that.”
“I don’t really mind though. It was still really nice of her.” Gryph reached for a book, pulling it out and whispering its title to himself. “Always Know More than You Know.”
“Yeah, well. Any plans for today?”
“Not really,” Gryph replied, slipping the book back into the shelf.
“Oh! I know! Why don’t you—” Twilight raised her hoof to finish her sentence, but a loud slam of her door and three blurred objects running in immediately interrupted her.
Gryph jumped back, his eyes darting around to try to get a glimpse of what creature had entered the treebrary. However, all he could catch were light streaks of yellow, orange and white.
“Hi Twilight!” Three high-pitched voices echoed from the blur as it raced towards the purple mare and spun her around.
“Twilight!” Gryph called out in horror, wondering if this was some other magic beast here to take her away. His eyes quickly caught sight of a small chair and, wasting no time, grabbed it in his hooves and lifted it above his head. “Don’t worry Twilight! I’ll—”
Suddenly, the blur stopped and revealed three fillies, all of them wearing huge grins on their faces.
“Girls!” Twilight shouted to them, noticing the strewn books all around the library. “What did I say about running in the treebrary!?”
“That...it’s perfectly okay?” The yellow filly with a huge pink bow atop her head replied with a cheeky grin.
“Yup! That’s totally what you said!” The orange coat and purple mane pony continued, nodding her head lightly. Gryph noticed that her voice was a little more gruff than the yellow filly’s.
“Well, we’re just here to say good morning!” The white foal shouted in a high shriek.
Gryph dropped the chair, lifting his hoof to rub his right ear. “I swear if that white one shrieks any longer, my eardrums will pop,” he softly muttered.
Twilight looked at the three grinning fillies. “Really?” she said with a little disbelief at the white filly’s comment.
“Nope!” The trio sped off into a blur once again, reaching a bookshelf before zipping out the door. “Bye Twilight!”
“What the— Twilight! Who were they?”
Twilight’s mouth turned into a frown as she sped off to the bookshelf the three fillies had just rushed to. She scanned the shelf, eyeing every single book.
“Umm...Twilight?”
“I need to know what book they took!”
“Why? C-could they have taken something unspeakably dangerous?”
“No! I need to organize everything to make up for the lost book! It’s gonna take forever! Argh, those fillies!” Twilight screamed, turning her head up to the air.
“But what about them?” Gryph inquired.
“Oh, they’re just probably out hunting for their cutie marks again.”
“Their...cutie marks? You mean they still haven’t received them yet?” Gryph turned to the door, seeing it swing on its hinges as if a huge gust had blown it. “I thought all ponies receive them at that age.”
“Well, they haven’t.” Twilight replied impatiently, scanning each book individually. “Knowing them they’re probably out doing jobs like demolishing or archery.”
“W-w-what!?” Gryph shouted as loud as he could. “Aren’t you gonna stop them!?”
“Yeah yeah. Later. After I sort out all the books again! Let’s see. Ee comes before Ef so…” Twilight’s words quickly trailed off into a quiet ramble.
Gryph shot his gaze to the door before going back to Twilight. “I… Argh!” He rushed towards the open door and racing towards the town square.
“Twilight said Archery…” Gryph galloped to the town square and stared at the sign in the middle. “Archery….archery...there!” he called, pointing to the wooden arrow pointing right that had the words ‘Archery Range’ scrawled on it. He quickly dashed forward, ducking and weaving through the tight crowds.
“Sorry! Excuse me! Urgent matter!” In a minute, Gryph found himself at the archery range and sure enough, the three fillies stood at one end, nocking the arrow to their bows.. “Well, this can’t be good.”
The three fillies clipped the end of their arrows to the nocking point simultaneously, taking aim at the three targets a few meters away from them.
“Okay girls. On the count of three!” The yellow foal ordered loudly.
“Got it!” the other two girls acknowledged
“One…”
The trio lifted the bows.
“Two…”
They slowly drew their bowstrings back.
“Three!”
Gryph sped forward, standing in front of them. “Wait!”
The three fillies released their strings, sending three arrows flying forward and barely grazing the fur on Gryph’s coat. He stood perfectly still, eyes wide with fear.
“Did we get it!?” The orange peagasus turned to her flank, as did the other two.
A large sigh escaped their lips as they noticed their bare flanks.
“Alright. What’s next in the book?” The white coated unicorn asked, taking out a small book.
Gryph turned his gaze down to the curious object, catching the words ‘How to get your cutie marks: A-Z Techniques’ on the cover.
“Baseball!” The lemon colored earth pony yelled out, raising her hoof in the air. In a blink of an eye, the foals had disappeared, leaving behind a small cloud of dust and three bows where they once stood.
Gryph collapsed to the ground with a soft thud. “Well, at least Baseball’s harmle—” His eyes widened. “Oh no.”
Peeling himself off the ground, he zipped towards where he assumed the odd fillies to be. As he reached the town square once again, he spotted a butter colored mare trotting past the fountain. The mare was trotting with her head bowed close to the ground, each step she took was small and careful.
Without warning, a sudden blur sped past the mare and caused her to leap into the fountain she was standing beside.
“Hi Fluttershy!” the blur called out loudly before racing past the hill in the distance.
Gryph instinctively galloped towards the fountain, taking note of the small puddles that had formed from the splash.
“Hey! Are you alright?” Gryph leaned over the fountain, concerned.
Fluttershy lay in the water, shivering immensely.
“Umm...are you—”
The mare gave a light nod, turning up and seeing Gryph with his grey coat. “O-oh… I’m… I’m so sorry. Did I get you wet?”
“Huh? Oh no no. I’m fine. I’m more worried about you.”
Fluttershy pushed herself up and climbed out of the fountain. “I’m alright. Were you going after Applebloom and her friends?”
“Applebloom?” Gryph repeated, slightly tilting his head.
“Oh yes. That yellow filly is named Applebloom. The peagsus is Scootaloo and the white foal is Sweetie Belle. They’re wonderful fillies!” Fluttershy said with a small smile stretching across her mouth.
“W-wonderful? They’re endangering the lives of the ponies in Ponyville!” Gryph argued.
Fluttershy immediately slinked back down to the ground, covering her eyes with her hooves. “I-I’m sorry! Don’t hurt me! Please!”
“Hurt you? I...I wasn’t going to hurt you.”
“You...you weren’t?” Fluttershy asked with a shaky voice, lifting up the hoof over her right eye.
“No. Sorry if I shouted.” Gryph offered his hoof and pulled Fluttershy upright. “What’s with them anyway? Do they really think this is the way for them to get their cutie marks?”
“Oh, I’m afraid so...umm… oh dear. I don’t know your name. I’m so so sorry.”
“I’m Gryph. You’re Fluttershy right? I heard the fillies call you.”
“Y-yes.” Fluttershy’s eyebrows furrowed when she suddenly jerked her head upwards. “Oh! Gryph! That pony that Pinkie threw a welcome party for yesterday!”
“Yup! That’s me!”
“Oh, its nice to meet you Mr Gryph.” Fluttershy gave a friendly smile towards the pegasus. “And yes, I’m afraid so. They’re three friends, taking on the world together.”
Gryph sighed, his ears drooping. “Big plans in a bigger world, right?”
Fluttershy nodded. “They are probably afraid of being young forever. Only if they could just slow down and watch life unfurl.”
Gryph stared at the yellow mare, who stared back at him. Raising his eyebrow slowly, he haden’t realized that Fluttershy’s head was getting lower and lower. “I’m...I’m sorry. Was that too odd? I borrowed a book from Twilight about how talking with more words could make me seem sociable. And I… I…” her lip quivered as she spoke.
“No no! It was just—” Gryph was interrupted abruptly with the loud thud as a baseball landed right beside him. Fluttershy swiftly leapt back into the fountain, causing a huge splash to wet the ground around Gryph. “Oh pony. Fluttershy! Where’s the baseball field?”
Fluttershy raised her hoof over the fountain wall and pointed to the hill the trio had just zipped past a few minutes ago.
“Thanks! I’ll see you around!” Gryph galloped off towards the direction he was led to.
Reaching the small field, he gazed at the small benches present at the sides with large fences blocking the place where the pitcher was to stand. On the pitcher plate, Gryph finally laid eyes on the yellow filly standing atop it.
“Ready, Scootaloo?” Applebloom asked, glancing right ahead at the pegasus who donned a blue and white striped outfit.
“Ready!” Scootaloo nodded and lifted the bat. Behind Scootaloo crouched Sweetie Belle, dressed in a mask with a catcher mitt levitated just in front of her.
Applebloom reeled her hoof back and tossed the ball forward. However, it landed merely a few centimeters away from her.
“Umm… ah meant to do that.” Applebloom said with shifty eyes as she picked the ball back up once more. Pulling her hoof back again, she tossed the ball much harder, causing it to fly towards the pegasus.
Scootaloo swung her bat and a loud ‘crack’ sound resonated through the field. Gryph’s mouth dropped open as he stared at the ball flying past the edge of the field and disappearing into the sky.
“Oh pony, not again!” Applebloom gave a frustrated shout and kicked the sand into the air with her hindhooves.
“Forget it, let’s just do something else. If you keep losing the ball, it’s obvious baseball isn’t our special talent,” Sweetie Belle suggested.
“She’s right. Let’s try…” Scootaloo reached to her side and flipped open the book. “Cooking!”
“Ah already tried that with Pinkie one time.”
“That wasn’t cooking! That was baking! Come on! Let’s go to the cafe near the town square and help out!” Sweetie Belle enthusiastically squeaked before bouncing off the field with the others.
Gryph stood, awestruck. Only after a few more seconds had passed did he shake his head and snap out of his trance.
“A-alright. C-cooking. Near the town square.” Gryph repeated to himself before spreading his wings. Taking a leap forward, he soared towards the fountain he had already passed two times today.
Upon landing at the square, he looked hastily around for any signs of the restaurant. Looking up, he noticed a small sign that said ‘Cafe Licious’.
“This should be the place.” Just then, a large pan shot out the door which was followed closely by the voices of several shouting fillies. “Definitely the place.”
Gryph zipped into the entrance and immediately ducked down to avoid a flying pot.
“That’s not how you do it, Scoots!”
“Sweetie Belle’s right!”
“Wait wait, just give me time! It says two...oranges? Lemons?”
“Ugh, Scootaloo! Ya got the book upside down!”
“...Oops.”
Gryph raced into the kitchen, and he recoiled at the large mess in front of him. Large amounts of batter were splattered on the walls and ceilings. Lemon slices were strewn about the floor and flour covered the trio.
“This ain’t workin. What’s next, Scootaloo?” Applebloom asked, tossing aside a burnt and liquified cup of hayfries. At least, that was what Gryph thought were hayfries.
“Demolition!” Scootaloo shouted with a grin.
“D-demolition? Wait! Girls!” Gryph screamed in terror, trying to quell the active fillies.
“Cutie Mark Crusaders Demolition...ers!” Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo shouted together, causing whatever remaining pots and pans to fall from the shaking.
Before Gryph could even say another word, the foals were gone once more. He turned around and took the first step to the exit, only to feel a sheet of dough fall onto his head.
“I’m getting really tired of this…”
Gryph laid sprawled out on the ground, several small red rectangles with bright yellow letters ‘TNT’ written on the side. His chest raised and fell in slow successions, his pants clear and loud.
“Well. That didn’t get us our cutie marks,” Scootaloo remarked with a frown.
“Alright. What’s next, Sweetie Belle?”
“Hmm… Excavators!”
Gryph’s eyes grew wide and rolled to the back of his head once he heard their idea.
The crusaders wasted no time, jumping up and running to their destination.
After what Gryph swore was a long while of silence, he heard a gruff voice speak just above him. “Hey, you alright?”
His eyes slowly fluttered open, seeing a bright rainbow shade in front of him. “W-what…”
“I don’t need to call a doctor do I?”
Gryph gave his head a few hard shakes, his vision finally focusing to see the rainbow maned mare in front of him.
“Whoa.” Gryph pushed himself upright.
“Whew. I thought I needed to carry you for a second there.”
“Heh, I’m fine. Just exhausted chasing after those crusaders.”
“You’re chasing after Scootaloo? Yeah, good luck controlling those three.” The cyan colored pegasus remarked, sitting and staring at Gryph.
“Ugh, thanks for the concern...umm…”
“Rainbow. Rainbow Dash!” she answered with a proud grin and puffed chest.
“Thanks Rainbow Dash. I’m—”
“Gryph,”
“Wait, you know me?”
“Oh totally. After yesterday’s party!” Rainbow spoke, grinning.
“Right, right. Well, any idea where three fillies wanting to be excavators would go?”
“Yup!” Rainbow stood up. “Come on. Just follow and try to keep up!” She said with a smug smirk before booming off. Gryph followed suit, keeping right behind Rainbow.
“So, why’re you after them?”
“They’re dangerous!” Gryph answered without hesitation. “The stuff they do could hurt somepony!”
Rainbow chortled softly. “Yeah, you’re definitely new. The Cutie Mark Crusaders do this all time. Most of the residents are already used to this.”
Gryph gave a tired sigh. “I’ll still try to stop them though. Maybe I can tell them that this is no way to get their cutie marks.”
“Yeah, again. Good luck with that. You’d be the, like, 4000th pony to try that.”
“Who knows, maybe the 4000th time’ll go through.” Gryph and Rainbow laughed together.
“Yeah, well. Here we are.” She pointed to the construction site below her and sure enough, the crusaders were at the controls of a huge digger. Gryph dived down as fast as he could.
Landing in front of the digger, he raised his hooves up. “Girls! I need to tell you all. This is no way to get your cutie marks!” However, with a sudden twitch of a lever, the digger’s long arm extended and slammed into Gryph, sending him flying up into the air and past Rainbow. “Rainbow! Encourage them to…” his voice trailed off as he soared past earshot.
Rainbow raised her hoof. “Don’t worry! I’ll deal with this!” she landed in front of the crusaders. “Hey girls!”
“Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo squealed as she rushed out of the digger and in front of Rainbow. “What do you need?”
“Ah bet she’s here to tell us that we’re wastin our time. That we’ll never get our cutie marks this way.” Applebloom hunched over the wheel and controls and sighed.
“Heck no! Why do you sit there sighing instead of trying one more time?” Rainbow spoke, beaming.
“R-really!? You’re the best Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo leapt into her hooves.
“Next on the list is...Fencers!” Sweetie Belle closed the book.
“Go for it squirt!” Rainbow ruffled the purple mane of the pegasus.
Scootaloo gave an excited squeal before rushing off with her friends.
“Rainbow!”
Rainbow turned around to be greeted face to face with Gryph, who had branches stuck out in his mane.
“Oh, hey there Gryph!” Rainbow greeted him with a proud smile.
Gryph’s mouth was a long frown. “What did you do!?”
“You told me to encourage them!”
“Yeah! To stop”
Rainbow gave a few blinks of her eyes before exclaiming loudly, “Ooohhhhhhh… Y-yeah. That...that makes more sense.” She gave a sheepish laugh.
Gryph slammed his hoof against his face.
“Don’t worry! Rainbow Dash’ll fix this!” she puffed her chest out and zoomed towards the trio, who were on their way to the next destination.
“Hey, squirts!” Dash called out. “Look, I’ve been there. I know exactly what you’re thinking. But, you know, why try going up too fast?” she spoke, flying backwards as the fillies stared at her. “I’ve learnt that its so much better living in the moment. Enjoy youth cause it doesn’t last!”
“Heh, nice try Rainbow Dash! But I won’t fail your test! Nothing you say could make me not try everything I can to get my cutie mark! Come on girls!” Scootaloo sped off with the two friends beside her.
Gryph finally caught up with Rainbow, rubbing his forehead with his left hoof.
“Well, I tried! See you around, Gryph!” Rainbow waved before speeding off in a bright rainbow blur.
“Oh pony…”
Sweetie Belle kicked her helmet away, trotting with a frustrated frown.
“Well, we’re obviously not fencers,” Sweetie Belle commented with her signature squeak.
“Alright. So… next we’ll be… goalies!” Applebloom shouted, book in hoof.
“Cutie Mark Crusader Football Keepers!”
As the crusaders raced away, Gryph emerged from the door of the fencing stadium, a fencing sword stuck in his suit. With a soft tug, he pulled the sword out.
“Ah! These fillies are gonna be the death of me!” Gryph screamed in exasperation, galloping towards the football stadium.
As he approached the Ponyville Stadium, he heard the loud shouts of three very familiar voices.
“No no no! You’re supposed to save the ball, Sweetie Belle!”
“But they hurt!”
“Ah don’t think this is our special talent, girls.”
Gryph moved towards the entrance, where he immediately caught the three foals exiting.
Scootaloo flipped the book open.
“Alright. Goalies we ain’t. What’s next, Scoots?”
“Hockey!” Scoots cried out, but as she turned to her friends, she saw the raised eyebrow from each of them. “...What!?”
“Scootaloo, we’re in the middle of summer.”
“O-oh. R-right, I knew that.” Scoots quickly flipped to the next page. “Hmm, what about ice-cream vendors?”
“Of course! We love ice-cream! It only makes sense to sell ice-cream! Let’s go girls!” Applebloom screamed, a bright lightbulb on the top of her head as the zipped away.
“And...ugh.” Gryph facehoofed. “Did they even hear a word I said!? Well, at least being ice-cream vendors couldn’t possibly end badly,” he comforted himself with a smile. However, his smile quickly turned into a frown as his eyes grew wide open. “I better check on them just in case.”
“Thank ya for stopping by!” Applebloom passed the change over with her muzzle to a young couple, who smiled back before trotting off to a table.
“This is going so well!” Scootaloo scooped up a small scoop of marshmallow apple ice-cream.
“I know! This has to be our cutie marks!” Sweetie Belle squeaked, putting in a fresh batch of super-star ice-cream.
Just as she had slid the tub into the freezer, the ring of the door sounded off.
“Hi there! Welcome to Sweet Treat’s Ice-cream Emporium, how may we help you mister?”
Gryph trotted up to the counter. “Hey there. I’m just here to...b-buy a scoop.”
“Of course! What would ya like?” Applebloom reached below the counter, pulling up two cups. “And do ya want it in small or large?”
Gryph trotted up to the display case, seeing a wide array of flavors available to him. “I’ll have the Zucchini ice-cream!”
“...Ya sure, mister? That ain’t our most popular flavor.”
“Yeah!” Scootaloo agreed with a nod of her head. “We have boisonberry, zap apple and whole bunch of other stuff!”
“Nono, I’m pretty sure I want the zucchini ice-cream. Small please.”
“Alrighty! One scoop of zucchini ice-cream coming up!” Sweetie Belle hopped up on a small stool and reached her head into the freezer. Scoop in mouth, she took a small ball of the dark green treat. Just as she trotted towards Applebloom, a stray ice-cube sent the unicorn tumbling and causing the scoop of ice-cream to fly into Gryph’s face, who didn’t so much at flinch at the sudden chilled dessert on his muzzle.
“Oh phooy! That ain’t our talent either!” Applebloom remarked, staring at her flank. “We ain’t there yet! Come on girls!”
Scootaloo pushed Sweetie Belle upright, having caught the filly in her hooves as she was falling. The three exited the shop, leaving Gryph to stand in the middle of the store. He slowly extended his tongue, letting a small bit drop onto his tongue. Pulling it back, he smacked his lips together. “At least it’s good.”
Outside, Sweetie Belle opened the book. “Alright, jugglers?”
“Tried that last tuesday,” Scootaloo reminded Sweetie Belle.
“Right. Karate?”
“Tried it with Rainbow Dash.” Applebloom kicked a small rock, sending it rolling as they trotted past several stores.
“Lunch ladies?”
“...Ah guess we could try that!”
“Alright. Where to?” Scootaloo asked.
“Let’s go to—”
“Hi Applebloom! Hi Sweetie Belle! Hi Scootaloo!” A thunderous and elated shout drew all three fillies attention forward, towards the pronking pink pony.
“Oh, hi there Pinkie Pie!” Applebloom greeted.
“What are you three doing? Crusading for more cutie marks?” Pinkie stopped her pronk, staring the trio in the face.
“You know it!” Scootaloo yelled.
“Oo! Oo! Did Dashie give you three the ‘totally do it’ talk again?”
“Of course. It wouldn’t be a day of crusadin without Rainbow’s speech.”
“Good! So can I sing my ‘You shouldn’t be doing this song’?” Pinkie bounced on her spot excitedly.
“Do you have to?” Sweetie Belle asked, the left side of her mouth raised.
“Of course! How would a day of crusading go without me singing a song to try to discourage you three? I even wrote a new one!”
“Alright ah guess. Just don’t take too long, alright?” Applebloom replied.
“Pinkie promise it’ll only take about 24 seconds!”
Pinkie stood upright, taking a deep breath in.
“You are so young
And you are so free!
But you’re aimless, and I can’t help but see.”
Pinkie appeared behind the three, putting her hoof on their heads.
“That you don’t know, what you really need!
‘Are we there yet?’ “
Sje pretended to mimic Applebloom’s voice.
“A-a-are we there yet?”
Gryph stood just outside of the ice-cream shop holding a scoop of his zucchini ice-cream in a crispy wafer cone in his right hoof. He stared at the pink mare leaping around the three fillies, prodding them in their bodies and faces as she sung out loud. “Strange how everypony just walks past her like its a normal thing… or maybe I’m the strange one for thinking she’s not normal.”
“You’ve done it all, from A-Z.
Are you trying, to find your destiny?
One day you’ll know, what you wanna be!
Are we there yet?
A-a-a-are we there yet?”
Pinkie stood on her hindhooves, raising the forehooves high into the air as she finished.
“That was actually pretty good, Pinkie!” Applebloom remarked.
“Yeah!” Scootaloo agreed.
“Thanks! Well, don’t let me stop you from crusading!” Pinkie happily went the opposite way the crusaders trotted, passing by Gryph. “Oh hi there Gryphy!”
“Hey, Pinkie! Nice song!”
“Thanks! Ooo, is that zucchini ice-cream? I love zucchini ice-cream!” Pinkie joyfully bounced.
“I know right? It’s amazing! So where are those fillies off to now?”
“Oh, just gonna become Matadors. Hehe,” Pinkie giggled.
“Oh that’s alr— Matadors!?” Gryph screamed in terror, shoving the cone into Pinkie’s hooves as he galloped off.
“Oh? Thank you Gryphy!” Pinkie took a lick at the ice-cream. “Mmmm...Zucchininini!”
“Torot! Torot!” Scootaloo flapped the red cloth in front of the bull’s face, who lay on the dirt, staring at the three fillies.
“It’s not torot, Scoots! It’s El Toro!”
“Well sorry I don’t speen ponish!” Scootaloo rolled her eyes before shouting once more, “el toro! El toro!”
Gryph found himself up in the stands, staring down at the fillies. “Oh no.” He galloped down. “Girls! This isn’t safe! This isn’t safe!”
“Forget it.” Scootaloo tossed the red cape on the floor before trotting out, the other two following suit.
Gryph leapt, hoping to save the girls but not realizing they had already trotted away. Landing into the pit, he felt a smooth surface underneath him. As he stood up, he swiped the bright red cloth up from the ground. “What the—”
Suddenly, a loud huff made his ears twitch.
Gulp.
“Ah don’t get it! We’re halfway there already and we still ain’t got our cutie marks!”
“Nurses?” Scootaloo suggested, flipping through the book.
“We aren’t allowed near the hospital anymore after that thermometer incident, remember?” Sweetie Belle reminded the two.
“Oh right. What about Opticians?”
“Same problem, Scoots.”
“Oh...right. Okay, what about plumbers?”
Sweetie Belle and Applebloom lifted their hooves to their chins.
“Ah guess we could try that!”
“Great, let’s go!”
The trio sped off once more. Just then, the doors to the stadium flung wide open with a familiar pegasus emerging from them, covered head to hoof in sand. Gryph landed on the hard ground with a ‘oof!’, letting off a tired breath.
“This. Isn’t. Working!” Scootaloo shouted in frustration, slamming hard on the tool she held in her hooves.
“It’s all in the wrist, Scoots!” Sweetie Belle boasted, using the object like she was a master of plumbing.
“Ah give up!” Applebloom shouted as she tossed it to the floor.
“And...high score! Woo hoo!” Sweetie Belle leapt to her hooves, staring at the ‘999,999,999’ points on the screen.
“No fair! You’ve been playing Mareio for years now!” Scootaloo folded her hooves.
“Don’t be sore losers! Especially when I’m the best!” Sweetie Belle yelled in triumph.
“Well.” Applebloom turned to her flank. “Ah still don’t see mah cutie mark, so plumbing’s out. What’s next?”
“Hmm,” Sweetie Belle swung the book open before slamming it to the floor. “Queen?”
“Ah think that’ll take too long.”
“Applebloom has a point.”
“Okay then, what about Racehorses?”
“Ain’t we tried that already?”
Scootaloo shivered at Applebloom’s words. “Ugh, don’t remind me. I’m not jumping over hurdles again.”
Sweetie Belle ran her hoof along the pages. “Ship Captain!”
“No, no no no no! There has ta be something there that won’t take up so much time!”
“Hmm, tiger trainers… no… Oh! Ushers!”
“Like movie ushers?” Applebloom peeked at the book.
“Mmhmm!”
“Well, I guess it can’t hurt to try,” Scootaloo nodded.
“Alright! Let’s get going!”
Gryph wandered around the streets, rubbing his mane back into shape. “I swore I heard something about plumbing. Ugh. I hope they aren’t causing too much trouble.”
He trotted past a fairly large building with glowing lights and posters adorning every side. “Huh? ...A cinema? Really? Wow. I thought those were purely in big cities. Then again, it does look a lot smaller than I remembered on the TV.” Taking a step inside, Gryph marvelled at the decor. From the beautiful red carpets to the golden railings that were present at each staircase. Gryph gave an impressed whistle.
But one thing stuck out more than the rest; the smell. The smell of fresh popcorn being popped and of the juicy wheat hotdogs, which he remembered buying from a stand in Cloudsdale.
“Well, I guess some food can’t hurt.” Gryph trotted up the short steps towards the candybar counter, his eyes fixated on the popcorn popper.
“Mmm…” he scanned the area at eye level, noticing that the place seemed to have nopony manning it. “H-hello? Anypony here?”
“Down here, mister!” A high-pitched call came from just under him.
Gryph tilted his head downwards, catching sight of a large pink bow. “Hey there mist— oh, its you! Ah remember you from the ice-cream stall!”
“Oh! H-hi there. You work here now?”
“Umm, kinda. We just found these clothes laying in a locker at the back and so we decided to try our luck getting our cutie marks!”
“Oh...right, about that.”
“Oh! Hold on! We ain’t got no zucchini ice-cream or popcorn.”
“No no, I wasn’t going to ask for that. It was just—”
All of a sudden, a loud shriek came from Gryph’s right. Turning his head, he saw Scootaloo speeding away out of one of the theatres. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I didn’t know that seat-side fresh popcorn was a bad idea!”
Sweetie Belle stood beside Gryph, staring at Apple Bloom. “I think we should go, before Scootaloo runs to Canterlot.”
“Yup! Sorry, mister!” Apple Bloom apologized, tipping her hat before galloping off with Sweetie Belle.
“Excuse me.” A hoof tapped on Gryph’s shoulder lightly. “Is the counter empty?”
Gryph turned to face the source of the feminine voice and in front of him stood a unicorn with a beautiful, almost radiant, white coat and long, curled purple mane.
“U-urrr, y-yeah. It’s...t-totally, umm… It’s empty.”
“Oh dear. How am I ever going to get snacks for Ma Belle Licorne?” The unicorn gave a sigh. “Oh no matter, I suppose I’ll have to improvise.”
“Y-yeah, I…” Gryph stammered out, looking dazed.
“Oh, how rude of me. Terribly sorry.” she extended her hoof. “Rarity.”
He stuck out his, gripping it lightly. “G-Gryph.”
“Gryph?” she repeated. “Where have I— aha! I remember! You’re that new pony that Pinkie threw a party for yesterday are you not?”
“Y-yeah. That’s me.”
“Oh goodness. Welcome to Ponyville my dear. Are you enjoying it so far?”
“Yeah, so far. I spent the whole day trying to chase down three fillies!”
“Oh is that so? Wait, they wouldn’t happen to be Sweetie Belle and her friends, would they?”
“Wait, yeah! They are! How did you know that?”
Rarity lifted her hoof to her muzzle, letting off a small giggle. “Gryph, my dear, Sweetie Belle is my sister.”
Gryph pulled his head back from the shock. “S-sister?”
“Yes. Like...sibling?”
“I-I know what sister means but… really? You seem nothing like her!”
“Oh I assure you, we are most definitely sisters. Even if we may not seem like it. You said you spent the whole day chasing those three ruffians?”
“Y-yeah! They were causing mayhem and destruction and—”
Rarity giggled once more. “Oh Gryph, you mustn’t learn to worry. Every pony in Ponyville has already gotten used to their antics.”
“It’s not that. I just want to tell them that—”
“Let me guess. You want to tell them that their young eyes see everything they’ve ever wanted, but you are afraid their hope will die if they don’t come true. You want them to realize that the possibilities are endless and that in time, it will be all for them?”
“I… how did you do that?”
Rarity reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a small purple scarf, wrapping it around her neck. “Darling, being a designer means that I can see even the smallest of details in both apparel and ponies.”
“Wow, that’s an amazing talent to have.”
“Thank you most sincerely. I hate to be the pony to end this conversation, but I do need to get going to the movie. It was a pleasure meeting you.”
“Y-yeah. Don’t let me hold you back!” Gryph laughed heartily. “Bye, Rarity!”
“Goodbye, Gryph.” Rarity nodded before trotting off to one of the many rooms.
“Alright. Now where are they?” Gryph exited the theatre, scanning the streets for any sign of the fillies. “Hmm, maybe they’re over here!”
Apple Bloom trotted out of a small building, her mane in all sorts of weird shapes with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle following suit.
“Alright, so we ain’t valet parkers.”
“And we aren’t wind-tunnel testers too.” Scootaloo reached into her mane and pulled out a few leaves. “Nnngh, ow.”
“We don’t have many tries left,” Sweetie Belle lifted the book up and flipped it to the last few pages. “Xylophone players?”
“We can’t even play the triangle!”
“Professional yo-yoists?”
Apple Bloom lifted her mane, showing a small bruise.
“Oh right. Okay then, the last one is Zebra Herding!”
“Zebra Herding? I...guess we could try that.” Scootaloo trotted off.
Gryph trotted up to Sweet Apple Acres, curious from the large trees and bright red apples visible miles away. As he approached the house, a booming voice called out from behind him.
“Hi there, mister! Here to pick up some fresh apples for yer family?”
Gryph turned around and was greeted by a orange pony, a stetson hat on her head. “Huh? Oh no, I was just drawn to this place.”
“Hmm, hold on a minute. Ah know you! You’re Gryph! That pony we were all celebratin last night!”
“Yup. That’s me.”
“Well, howdy do Mister Gryph!” she grabbed Gryph’s hoof, shaking it furiously. “Mah name’s Applejack, and this here is Sweet Apple Acres!”
Applejack released her grip on Gryph’s hoof, but the pegasus wouldn’t stop vibrating. Only after a fierce shake of his head did everything start to focus once again.
“Nice to meet you, Applejack!”
“Mighty nice ta meet ya too! So, want some apples? We got apple strudel, apple pie, apple apples, golden delicious and—”
“Umm, n-no, Applejack. It’s fine. I was actually just here to look at the orchard.”
“Oh well, that ain’t no problem. Come on over here and ah’ll give you an apple family tour!” Applejack turned around, trotting towards the huge rows of trees with Gryph following close behind.
“Well, this here’s our apple farm!” Applejack used her hoof to present the field in all of its colors.
“Whoa...it’s huge! I mean, I know orchards are big but...wow!” Gryph exclaimed, staring in awe at the perfectly red and shiny apple at the top of each tree.
“Heh, anyway.” Applejack moved slowly forward. “We harvest our apples fresh here every day!”
“I see, they do look amazing,” he said, licking his lips.
Applejack gave a short laugh before bucking a tree and having an apple land perfectly on her hoof. “Here. Give this a try.”
“R-really?” Gryph took the apple from the farm pony’s hoof, examining the shine on each side and the perfectly crimson color. Taking a large bite, he felt a sudden burst of juices overwhelm his taste buds, the amazing sweet flavor unlike nothing he had ever eaten before. Once he had opened his eyes, he saw the large smile of the earth pony in front of him.
“Did ya like it?”
“Like it? I absolutely loved it. It was the most amazing apple I ever had in my life!” Gryph exclaimed loudly.
“That’s good. Being called Apples and all, ah sure hope we’re good!” Applejack chuckled. “So anyway, ah wanna show you the sap collect—”
“No! Not there!” A loud voice erupted from a distance away.
“No! Stay! Bad Zebra! Stay!”
“Wait, ah know that voice…” Applejack squinted her eyes as her ears twitched.
“I do too.” Gryph remarked, recognizing the signature squeak anywhere.
“Oh pony, what did those three got themselves into now!?” Applejack shouted, galloping towards the source of the voice. Gryph wasted no time, spreading his wings and soaring beside her.
As the voices got louder, so did the scene. Until the two ponies could clearly see what was going on. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were chasing after several cats with black, trying desperately to herd them into a small wooden pen. However, the cats would not so much as budge.
“Apple Bloom! What in the hay do you think you’re doing!?”
“We’re trying to earn our cutie marks, sis! But these zebras aren’t...cooperating!” Apple Bloom stressed her words as she tried to push a kitten, but to no avail.
“Umm, those aren’t zebras...” Gryph gave an inquisitive look.
“We know that! That was no way we’d herd actual zebras, so we found the closest things!” Scootaloo tried the same thing as Apple Bloom, but it resulted in the same outcome.
Applejack gave off a large sigh, trotting behind the cats. With a large stomp of her hooves, every single cat leapt up into the air and dashed straight into the pen.
“Alright, that takes care of that.” Applejack gave a sigh of relief, but the three fillies instead, gave a heavy breath.
Gryph saw their expressions and immediately trotted up to the three. “What’s wrong?”
“We failed,” Scootaloo hung her head, speaking in a discouraged tone.
“We ain’t no good at anything.” Sweetie Belle tossed the large book aside, disheartened.
“Ah hate this.” Applebloom grumbled, embittered.
Applejack sat beside the three, putting her hoof around their shoulders. “Alright. Look. Ya’ll ain’t useless and ya’ll ain’t failed. Ya’ll are just trying way too hard to find your special talent!”
“I know I know! We should wait! But what if we don’t want to just wait?” The filly with the bright red bow spoke.
“Ah know its hard, that its something ya’ll think that ya’ll never find. But.” Applejack sighed. “And ah can’t believe ah’m saying this, it’s what Pinkie kept singing through town today.
You are so young
And yer are so free
But yer aimless
And ah can’t help but see.”
Gryph drew a breath, singing along with Applejack.
“That you don’t know, what you really need.
‘Are we there yet?’ ‘A-a-are we there yet?’
You’ve done it all, from A to Z
Are you trying to find your destiny?
Still you don’t know, what you want to be.
‘Are we there yet?’ ‘A-a-are we there yet?’”
“So why don’t ya’ll take it slow? Heck, who knows. Tomorrow might be the day ya’ll get your cutie marks!”
Apple Bloom looked up to Applejack, giving her a soft smile. “Thank ya big sis.”
“Yer welcome, little sis.”
Gryph stared at them, until his eyebrows furrowed and his mouth twisted into an odd shape. “W-wait, sisters?”
“Well, yeah! This here’s my little sister Apple Bloom!”
Gryph slammed his hoof against his face. “I’m...I’m such an airhead.”
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle gripped their face as they laughed. “W-wow. You’re even more of an airhead than me!”
Gryph’s mouth returned to a smirk. “Yeah, well, at least I can make two fillies feel better.”
“And mister, sorry for tossing ice-cream into your face and not serving ya popcorn! Ah’ll make it up to ya!”
Gryph shook his head with his hoof raised slightly. “Don’t worry about it. Well, I better get back to Twilight. The sun seems to be setting already.”
“Alright. Come by now, ya hear?” Applejack said as she waved her hoof.
“I will. You have my word!”
Gryph pushed open the door the library slowly. “Twilight?”
“Here!” Twilight pushed herself off the ladder, landing on the library floor. “Whew, it took a while, but finally every book is in order! Except for that one book I’m missing.”
“You mean...this one?” Gryph reached under his wing and pulled out the large book.
“Aha! You got it back!”
“Yeah, it took a little...effort, but it wasn’t that much of a trouble!”
Twilight surrounded the book with a purple aura, levitating it towards the empty spot in the bookshelf. “And...done. Well, let’s go have lunch!”
Gryph laid his hoof softly on Twilight’s chest. “Twilight? It’s almost 6pm.”
“W-what!? But...but that means that I spent—”
“The whole day sorting up your books. I’m guessing that happens a lot?”
Twilight blushed, turning her head to the side. “N-no… just… a little more than 20.”
The pegasus chortled. “Well, come on. We can at least have lunch together.”
“Great! I invited my friends, I hope you don’t mind.”
“Of course not.” Gryph held the door open with his right hoof as Twilight trotted out. Once she was clear, he released his hoof from the door. “In fact, thanks to those three fillies, I think I might know them a little better now.”