Chapter 30
Missing Gryphon
“Whoa! What the...?” Rainbow opened her door to greet two thestrals and seven dragons. “Guys, whatever you think I did, I swear it wasn’t me.”
“We know it wasn’t, Dash. It was your old friend, Gilda.”
“Gilda? What’s she got to do with anything?”
“It’s a long story.
“Can we come in?”
“Sure, I guess.” She opened up the door wider. “Make way, Tanz. We got company.”
“Hey, Tanzi,” I cast the familiar thestral a crooked grin. My old friend from Blade Wing Sector Four had been rooming with Rainbow Dash since our return. Now she looked up from a magazine on the couch. Her eyes widened.
“Acrylic! Torch! I don’t believe my eyes! Dragons in Ponyville? I never thought I’d live to see the day.”
“What about me?” Blaze frowned.
“Listen, Tanz, could you give us a minute?” Rainbow interrupted. She didn’t know what was going on, but even Rainbow gathered that it must be important to bring the whole dragon gang along.
“Sure,” baffled Tanzanite shrugged, rolling off the couch. “I’ll be upstairs if you need me.”
“Thanks.”
“So what’s this about?” Rainbow took over Tanzi’s spot on the couch, and the rest of us found seats where we could, mostly in the floor. Torch and I were fortunate enough to claim the remainder of the sofa, and Garble was testing out the unfamiliar pony architecture of an armchair. I turned to him.
“Garble, tell Rainbow what you told us.”
“Acrylic said you’re friends with the gryphon Gilda,” he suspiciously began.
“I used to be,” Dash rolled her eyes, “until she got ‘too cool’ for my new pony friends. I didn’t like how she treated them, so I had to make a choice. We haven’t talked since. Why? What’s up?”
“She got mixed up with some nasty characters,” Fizzle reported, “and owes them some money.”
“She tried stealing from the dragon hoard to pay it off, but now she’s taken off and left us with the debt. We have to get the money by the end of the week, or else,” Vex shivered.
“Whoa, whoa. I know Gilda’s not the most considerate gryphon out there, but that’s stretching it,” Rainbow argued. “She’s not that bad.”
“Are you calling my boy a liar?” I narrowed my eyes.
“He’s not really yours,” Rainbow quietly pointed out.
“Yes. He is,” I growled in a voice like venom.
“Alright, alright,” Torchwood broke us up. “Dash, please, could you just help us out? We need to find Gilda so we can get this mess sorted out. Do you know where we might be able to find her?”
“Last I heard, she was still living in Cloudsdale,” Rainbow shrugged as though nothing had ever happened.
“Right. I’ll go there now, and see if I can track her down,” Torch offered.
“Aren’t we coming?” I asked.
“We can’t bring seven dragons on a tour through Cloudsdale,” my husband pointed out. “And besides, it might be a good idea if you talked to Twilight. I’m sure she’ll know what to do.”
“Oh, yeah. Great idea. While we’re at it, why don’t we tell all of Ponyville?”
“We’re just trying to help, Clump.”
“Twilight is a Princess. Even if she doesn’t know what to do, she’ll know others who will.”
“I don’t like it either,” Fizzle agreed. “This is too many ponies for me. You said we’d only be dealing with one or two, Garble. This ‘Twilight’ will make four already.”
“This is bigger than any of us,” Torchwood thundered, silencing their grumbling. “Like it or not, you’re in trouble, and we need all the help we can get.”
“I’d rather do the time with the rogues,” Pierce huffed.
“You don’t mean that.”
“None of us want to go work for the rogues, you guys,” Garble spoke. “Let’s just let the ponies do their thing. It can’t exactly hurt anything at this point, can it?”
“It can’t help, either.”
“Do you have a better idea, Vex?” Garble growled. The periwinkle-scaled dragon backed down instantly. “Then let’s all just go.” The frustrated gang leader marched to the door, his younger brother sticking to him like glue. Blaze was evidently the only one Garble seemed to be on good terms with at the moment, because Garble let him climb up his back for the ride. The rest of them slowly and begrudgingly followed.
“Thanks, Dash,” Torchwood bid, dragging me out behind him. He paused on the porch for a moment, waiting to make sure the dragons were out of earshot. “What was that all about?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing? This makes two arguments with your friends in two days. I don’t remember the last time you snapped at your friends. Is everything alright with you guys?”
“Everything’s fine,” I angrily barked. Torch almost jumped at my burst of anger. I sighed, trying to cool down. “Look, I’m sorry. I’m just stressed. Motherly instinct kicking in, I guess. I’m so worried about the boys.”
“Are you sure that’s it?” he pressed.
“Can we please talk about this later? We both have places to be.”
“Alright,” he pecked my forehead. “I’m just worried about you.”
“I’m more concerned about the boys right now. I just want to make sure they’re okay.”
“And I’ll do everything in my power to keep my family safe,” he assured, “but that includes you.” I hugged him, and did my best not to break down. I was so sick with worry that all I wanted to do was cry. “It’ll be okay. Everything will turn out alright, you’ll see.”
“It had better, because if it doesn’t, I’ll never forgive myself.”
“That would be no good. The Element of Forgiveness can’t forgive herself? Then we’ll all be in trouble.” He chuckled to remind me it was a joke, but it only made me more miserable. I accidently let a tear slide down my cheek. He gave up with the wisecracks and rocked us both. I cried a little longer, but held it together for the most part.
“We’ll get through this,” he soothed, drying my eyes. “All of us. Do you trust me?” I sniffed to regain my posture, and nodded.
“Yes.”
“Okay.” His lips met mine in a farewell kiss. “I’ll see what I can find in Cloudsdale. You go talk to Twilight. I’ll be back as soon as I can. I love you.”
“I love you too.” With a smile of reassurance, he took off.
“You coming, Pony?” Soot called from behind me.
“Yeah. Coming.” I wiped away the last of my tears so no one would know I’d been crying, and hastily flew to catch up.
No one suspected a thing. They were all just a bit annoyed that I took so long. All but Blaze, who knew me better. The flight did wonders for my nerves, but I flew point so no one would see if I had another breakdown. The Golden Oaks Library came up all too soon, and we finally had to land.
Twilight was just as surprised to see the lot of us, but welcomed us in. She had no visitors besides Spike, who nearly jumped out of his scales when he saw the old gang. Even the sight of Blaze wasn’t enough to reassure him, and he hastily excused himself to finish his chores in the other room.
Twilight listened respectfully and intently as Garble repeated his story for the third time, and stayed quiet until the end. I couldn’t say the same of her facial expressions.
“Ten thousand bits?” she quietly repeated, finding it difficult to comprehend the situation.
“I just don’t know what to do,” I desperately shook my head. “Would a bank give us a loan for that sort of thing? I’ve never even been to a bank. I don’t know how that works.”
“I don’t know,” Twilight finally said. “I’ve only read about this kind of thing in books- fiction novels. I never thought I’d actually be faced with a situation like this. To be honest... I don’t know what we could do.”
“So they can’t help us. Just like I’ve been saying all along,” Fizzle hissed. “Let’s get outta here. We’re wasting our time.”
“Please, Twilight? Can’t you help my brother?” Blaze pleadingly looked up to the Princess with the widest, wettest puppy dog eyes he could manage. I could practically see Twilight’s heart melt. A new look of determination was consequently set in her eyes.
“I’ll write to the Princesses,” Twilight promised, “to see if I can get some advice. Meanwhile, I’ll do my own research here.”
“I don’t care what it takes, Twilight. I just want them safe.”
“We’ll get it sorted,” she promised.
“So what do we do? Just sit on our tails while we wait for the namby-pamby pony princesses to try and reason with rogue dragons? I don’t have a death wish!” Pierce threw his arms up in despair. Again, Garble thwacked him as a reminder that they were supposed to be staying in our good graces. Twilight went rigid upon hearing her mentor insulted in such a manner, but kept her cool.
“Princess Celestia has had experience with these kinds of situations,” she patiently explained. “That’s more than any of us can say. Unless you have a better idea?” After receiving so many death glares from the rest of his comrades, I didn’t think Pierce would have spoken up even if he did have an idea. “In that case, Spike? Could you come down here and take a note, please?”
“I could do it for you, Twilight,” Blaze offered, eager to impress his brother.
“Why, thank you, Blaze,” the princess smiled. Blaze wasted no time in fetching a sheet of paper and quill from the drawer. She cleared her throat before beginning.
“Dear Princess Celestia,
“I’ve learned much during my time in Ponyville, but a situation has come up that I am not prepared to handle. Some friends of ours have run into a bit of trouble with some rogue dragons. They’ve inherited a debt from the missing gryphon Gilda, and the rogues are demanding the amount of ten thousand bits by the end of the week.
“They’re more than just friends, they’re family,” I interjected. “And make sure she knows that we’re willing to do anything to make sure they’re safe.” Though I had my back turned to them, I could practically feel the dragons stiffen from being called ‘family.’ Whether or not they took that as a good or bad thing I wasn’t sure. Twilight nodded with complete understanding, and motioned for Blaze to add that as well.
“I imagine that you must have far more experience in dealing with situations such as this. I hoped you could recommend the wisest course of action.
“Signed Princess Twilight Sparkle.” Blaze stamped Twilight’s royal insigne on the ribbon, and bathed the entire scroll in his ruby flame.
“That’s one S.O.S letter safely on its way to Canterlot,” he proudly boasted.
“How cute! Blaze is pen pals with the Princess, too!” Clump teased.
“Lame,” Soot agreed through a cackle.
“He’s just trying to help, guys,” Garble scolded. “Knock it off.”
“What’s with you, anyway?” Vex huffed. “You’ve been like that since we got here. It’s like you’re going soft.”
“I AM NOT GOING SOFT!” he roared, jumping to touch noses with the periwinkle teen.
“It’s that pony mother of his,” Soot smirked.
“Are you challenging me?” Garble snarled. He was quite literally steaming, snorting the smoke buildup out his nose.
“Guys, GUYS!” I pushed my way between them. “Enough! Instead of trying to pin each other to the ground for the title of gang leader, why don’t we try doing something productive? Like coming up with ideas on how to raise ten grand before the end of the week, maybe?”
“That’s an easy one. Just throw a fundraiser, silly!” Pinkie chirped from the doorway. I reared in surprise, and the dragons all snapped to face the intruder. My pink friend remained completely oblivious to the fact that she’d almost been fried.
“Who’s this?” Garble demanded, trying not to let on that her sudden appearance nearly scared him out of his scales.
“Where’d you come from?” I should’ve been used to Pinkie’s odd behavior by now, but she never ceased to amaze me.
“Wait, Pinkie, say that again,” Twilight requested.
“I said that’s an easy one. Just throw a fundraiser, silly!” she offered a wide, cheesy smile.
“That’s it! We can raise the money through a fundraiser!” Twilight exclaimed.
“Ooh! Ooh! Can I organize it? Who’s it for?” Pinkie eagerly bounced.
“Garble and his friends need it.”
“Oh! Don’t tell me! Gilda the gryphon owed some really mean dragons a lot of money, so she tried stealing from these other dragons to pay them off, but they caught her and made her give it back, and Gilda ran away so now the mean dragons are coming after these dragons for the money, and if they don’t get it all by the end of the week they’re going to be in deep, deep trouble!” She took a deep breath to refill her supply after that long spew.
“How long were you standing outside the door?” Garble irritably snorted.
“Not long. I just got here. Was I right?”
“Spot on, Pinkie,” Rainbow confirmed.
“Don’t mind her,” I nudged them apart. “She does that.”
“Let’s see...” Pinkie mused, emphatically rubbing her chin and squinting in thought. “I bet Rarity would put on a fashion show! Or Applejack could hold a bake sale! Or everypony could pitch in to one ginormous yard sale!”
“What are we talking about?” Pierce rejoined the conversation.
“The fundraiser of course!”
“Who ever said we wanted a fundraiser?” Fizzle challenged.
“We’ve already told more ponies than we meant to. Now you want to go right out and tell the whole town? Ha! I don’t think so.”
“Need I remind you that you currently don’t have the luxury of declining?” I snapped. “You’re in over your heads. We need all the help we can get, so you’re going to have to sacrifice your pride to save your life. Get it?” Even Garble was surprised at my reaction, but I was getting fed up with their arrogance. At least it got the message across.
“Yeah, we got it,” Vex quietly mumbled. With a grunt of satisfaction, I turned back to the girls.
“You tell me what I can do.”
“First we have to find somepony who could host it. A fashion show would be a great idea, Pinkie, but I don’t think even Rarity would have enough time to put something like that together on such short notice. A bake sale might work, but I know Applejack’s been busy as it is. She might not have time. So who else do we know that could not only put on a show but would be willing to do it?” The whole room fell quiet in thought for a moment. Then the corners of my mouth began curling up into a grin.
“I think I know just the pony.”
“Glitter, would you get that? The Great and Powerful Trixie is a bit busy at the moment.”
“Sure, Miss Trixie!” the familiar young voice chirped. I heard hoofsteps plodding across the wooden wagon, and finally the door creaked open.
Her blue eyes lit up upon registering the familiar face. “Miss Trixie, it’s Acrylic!” Shuffling could be heard at the back as Trixie abandoned whatever it was she’d been doing, and opened the door wider.
“Acrylic! What a surprise! How can the Great and Powerful Trixie help you?” I tried to smile, but my disheartened disposition must’ve showed through, because she seemed genuinely concerned.
“Trixie, I have a favor to ask.” One of the dragons cleared his throat behind me, drawing her attention. Surprise reflected in her wide eyes. “A big favor.”