//------------------------------//
// Chapter 55: Runaway 
// Story: Secrets of the Everfree 
// by PaisleyPerson 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 55
Runaway



Charcoal had ducked into a rather busy intersection of the plaza before taking shelter behind a vendor’s wagon. He knew very well his father would come after him, but he wasn’t really in the mood to listen to another one of Torchwood’s lectures. He waited behind the stall until he saw his father bolt past.
“Can I help you?” the baffled vendor raised an eyebrow and looked down at the colt.
“Sorry!” Charcoal hurriedly tripped out of the way, and reentered the bustling square. He wasn’t quite sure where to go at this point. Back to the cabin? He quickly scurried behind another storefront as he watched his mother lead Lilac in that direction. He didn’t want to have to deal with either of them yet, either. Back home? He didn’t want to have to explain why he’d returned home alone so early to their friends, either, but he was running out of options. He wasn’t really sure which way Ponyville was, though. Should he just follow the train tracks home? That would mean taking a long detour and follow it back to the stations at Filly Delphia and Canterlot before returning to his hometown, and he really wasn’t strong enough to make that long of a flight. Maybe he could just fly over the mountains and take a shortcut? From looking at the map, the mountains should point him in the general direction of Canterlot, and he could find his way from there. Aunt Twilight sure took them there often enough that he knew Canterlot almost as well as he did Ponyville. Now with a plan in mind, he spread his wings and headed up the mountain.
Unfortunately, his parent’s map hadn’t prepared him for the sheer size of the mountains. He’d sorely misjudged the scale, and the altitudes required to keep him above the pine trees was becoming overwhelming. Even worse, the growing altitude came with even lower temperatures. Suddenly, Aunt Rarity’s accessories didn’t seem so bad. He was really beginning to wish he’d thought to bring his saddlebags.
The air was getting thin, and the mountains were only growing taller. Charcoal was becoming dizzy from such shallow breaths. His wings were taking a beating from the icy air, especially as the winds picked up. His maneuvering became unsteady, and it was a challenge just to stay airborne. He wasn’t getting enough oxygen to properly function. 
Charcoal finally hit a rather strong drift, which caught his wing the wrong way and dragged him down, down, down. The thestral narrowly missed the needle-lined branches of the pines and crashed into the several feet of fresh powder below. Fortunately, the snow acted as a cushion to his fall, and Charcoal was mostly unharmed. 
He unsteadily picked himself up, shivering violently. ‘What was I thinking?’ he ruefully thought to himself. ‘Dad’s lectures aren’t that bad. Why couldn’t I have just stayed put?’ He looked around at his frigid surroundings. ‘Focus, Charcoal. Worry about that later. Dad won’t stop looking ‘till he finds you. Until then, you just have to survive.’ He realized with a heavy heart that this may be easier said than done. These mountains looked like nothing more than an icy wasteland. This far out, his chances were slim, especially for a thestral. ‘Shelter. Find shelter.’
Charcoal trudged upward to the cliff, hoping that if he followed the steep incline he might find a cave. His joints were creaking from the cold, and eventually he even had to look down just to be sure his legs were still moving. They were so numb from cold he wasn’t sure. He could barely feel anything, for that matter. 
The shadows of the pines were growing longer as the sun sank in the sky. He’d still found nothing, and his progress was slow. Every bone in his body rattled with shivers. He tried working up a flame to keep warm, but with the wind howling as it was, he didn’t have the strength to keep it from blowing out.
He was now up to his chest in snow. He still hadn’t found any caves or other forms of shelter. Maybe he could dig out a makeshift shelter in the snow itself? Or would that just freeze him faster? He was weighing his options when he tripped over a large log concealed beneath the snow and fell face first into the powder. 
“Whoa! Hey, watch where you’re going!” A pony wriggled out from beneath Charcoal and glared down at him from above. Charcoal gave the stallion a queer look, noting with great confusion the fluffy plumage displayed on his chest. “Hey... you okay?” The pony pulled Charcoal out from the snow when he didn’t respond. Charcoal’s teeth were chattering too badly for him to respond. “Good grief, you’re froze! We gotta get ya warmed up, pal!” The feathered stallion tucked him beneath his own large, feathery wings to share body heat. Charcoal looked back at them in grateful confusion. They were nearly as large as his own wings. He’d never seen a pegasus with such large appendages. Something cold and almost scaly brushed ankle, attracting his attention. It was a bird talon, not unlike a gryphon. ‘A gryphon claw on a pony?’ A swaying lion tail matching his rescuer’s colors swung to and fro with each step they took. Charcoal’s fuzzy mind was finally putting the pieces together.
“Hippogryph?” The stallion just cast him a sly grin.





“Any sign of him?” I desperately ran to meet Charcoal as he landed on the cobblestone walkway.
“No,” he regrettably reported, just as frantic as I. 
“Torch, it’s getting dark, and he doesn’t even have his scarf. He’ll freeze!” I cried.
“I know. I’ve already contacted the local police station, and they’re out looking. I’m going with them. Stay with Lilac.”
“Be careful,” I hugged him tight, tears in my eyes.
“Uh, guys?” Torchwood turned around with great surprise to find Gilda. 
“Gilda! What’re you doing here?”
“I was going to ask you the same thing.”
“We’re on vacation,” I hesitantly explained.
“Hippogryph hunting?” she dryly joked. 
“Charcoal hunting,” Lilac corrected.
“He’s missing!” Torchwood added.
“Yeah, I know.”
“YOU DO?!”
“We found him,” she assured. “He’s safe, thawing out at my Nana’s.”
“Thank Celestia,” I sagged. 
“Come on. I’ll take you to him.”
“We should inform the police,” Torchwood decided. “They’re still out looking.”
“Sure, but, just bring your family,” Gilda directed. “Nana’s not too keen on visitors.”
“Sure thing, Gilda,” I promised, baffled but eager to comply if it meant I got to see my son.
Lilac had already pulled her winter gear back on. “Come on, Bandit! Gilda found Charcoal!” The ferret had been moping by the fireplace since we got back, but now scurried up to her, burrowing under her scarf. I hoisted both of them up on my back, extinguished the flame in the fire place, and waited for Torchwood to return from speaking with the police. It didn’t take him very long, and before long, we were following our gryphon friend out into the blustery night.





“CHARCOAL!” Gilda held the door aside, and I rudely bolted in without waiting for an invitation. 
“Mom!” In my haste, I vaguely registered the fact that Charcoal was surrounded by hippogryphs, but focused only on reaching my son. He was wrapped in several wooly blankets on an antique looking couch. The other end of the couch was already occupied, so rather than waiting for her to move, I bounded behind the chair and hugged him from behind. Usually he barely tolerated any physical contact with me, but now I got a real hug back. Lilac, who was still on my back, half slid, half fell into her brother’s lap. He caught her with his free hoof, and welcomed Bandit who slinked up his neck and finally settled in his hair. The mare previously occupying the couch had moved, making room for Torchwood who tucked us all under his wings.
“Don’t you ever do that again,” I tearfully pressed closer.
“Not going to be a problem,” my son readily agreed. Only after he was safe in our embrace did I really pay any attention to the others in the room. The mare who’d moved from the couch wasn’t actually a pony as I’d previously thought. She had the kind, freckled face of one, but her ears were pointed and feathered. Though she was the same intense light blue through and through, it was evident that fur gave way to feathers right around her chest. She had two standard pony hooves in front, but her hind legs were truly interesting. Her feathery ankles gave way to bird talons that deeply resembled Gilda’s forearms. She had a mane of matted purple hair, but her tail was a furry coil that matched a lion’s, though blue in color and ending in a purple tuft. She had a cutie mark of an inflatable raft being whisked away by particularly violent-looking rapids. Her eyes were a dull olive in color, but watched us with intense curiosity.
A second hippogryph mare leaned against the wall a little farther off, but no less interested. She was bold red, accented with a pale green mane cropped close to her head in a pixie cut. Her large wings were currently tucked in neatly by her sides, but when she unfurled them, we would find the undersides to be striped with thin layers of green, not unlike the rainbow transformation of our pegasus and alicorn friends back home. Her eyes were brown, the same color as the green-striped feather on her flank.
Besides Gilda, there was one other form in the room. This hippogryph was a dull green, which his stark white mane boldly contrasted with. It was brushed forward, but still stuck up in wild spikes. His spunky hairdo was matched by the lopsided grin on his face. His eyes were a much deeper green than the rest of him, and stood out well against his pale coat. His cutie mark depicted a snow-dusted evergreen tree with one of the lower branches completely devoid of snow, as it had already been dumped to the ground.
“You’re... hippogryphs...” I slowly observed. 
“You’re not,” the witty green stallion shot back.
“Mom, Dad, Lilac, meet Winter Green, River Rush and Hawk Stripe,” Charcoal introduced.
“Gilda said you’ve been lookin’ for us,” the red one, Hawk Stripe, acknowledged.
“That’s right,” Torch cocked his head. “Wait... how does Gilda know you?!” we all looked to the gryphon for an explanation. She chuckled and clambered into a free armchair. 
“You remember me telling you about my Nana?”
“You said she was sick, and that’s why you stole from the dragon hoard,” I surprised myself when I recalled the bit of information from fifteen years ago.
“Yeah,” she blushed at the unpleasant memory. “Well... I guess it’s time you meet her.” She hadn’t been in the chair for a whole minute before sliding back out of it and opening up the door just behind the couch. Even Charcoal, still wrapped in blankets, followed to steal a glimpse at Gilda’s kin. The open door led into a bedroom where a frail looking hippogryph was tucked under the sheets. The tan-coated pony squinted against the light. She had reflective orange eyes and a short, thin mane of many shades of orange. I didn’t spot a single gray hair in her whole mane, despite her old age.
“Gilda?”
“Hey, Nana.” Gilda made her way to the bedside. “I brought some visitors. I hope that’s okay.” Her ‘nana’ sat up a little higher in bed to get a better view.
“These ponies aren’t hippogryphs,” she narrowed her eyes.
“I know, Nana, but it’s okay. These are a few of my Ponyville friends I told you about.” The elderly mare looked us over again in new light.
“Well, what are you all standing around, for? Take a seat!” she gestured around the room. I saw no other free chairs, but said nothing about it and politely remained standing. The hippogryphs, on the other hoof, were more familiar with the room, and the stallion brushed aside an assortment of stray books and clothes that had been disguising a long, cushioned bench in the corner. He sat down, and the blue one, River Rush, took up residence on a bean bag by the door. Hawk Stripe remained in the doorway, leaving any other seats open for the rest of us. Lilac, meanwhile, flapped up onto the edge of the bed for a better view.
“You’re... a hippogryph,” I stammered. “Gilda, your nana is a hippogryph!”
“This is where I go when the dragons migrate south,” she chuckled.
“Wow! You found real, live hippogryphs, Char! They exist!” she excitedly buzzed.
“Well... more like they found me. Winter Green did, anyway,” he scratched the back of his head and nodded in the direction of the green hippogryph stallion. “Brought me here before I froze to death.” Torchwood moved toward the stallion and gratefully and firmly clamped a hoof on his shoulder.
“Thank you for saving my son,” he said, establishing direct eye contact to emphasize his gratitude.
“Aw, it warn’t nothin’,” Winter Green casually shrugged. “And it’s really Nana you should thank. This is her place, after all.”
“And what might your name, be, little one?” Nana amusedly turned back to my daughter.
“I’m Lilac Bud,” she introduced. 
“I’m Torchwood, and my wife, Acrylic,” Torchwood also spoke up. I nodded upon hearing my name mentioned.
“Yes, Gilda’s told me about you two,” she kindly smiled. “The hippogryph hunters, if I recall.”
“Looks like ya finally found us!” River Rush cheerily piped. “You must have a ton of questions!”
“That’s an understatement,” Torchwood chuckled.
“Well? Fire away!” Hawk prompted.
“Really? Just like that?” I remembered our first encounter with the hippocampi. Most of them had been less than willing to share any information until they warmed up to us.
“Why not? You’re already here.”
“Well... it’s just... usually when a whole species goes into hiding, they don’t want to be found,” Torchwood scratched his chin. I nodded agreement.
“Thestrals went into hiding because the princesses tried to exterminate them, and after that they just sort of... hated everything,” I mused. “And hippo-” I stopped myself from finishing the word as hippocampi. That wasn’t our secret to tell. I cleared my throat and tried again. “Uh, and hippogryphs? What about them?” 
‘Nice save,’ Torchwood didn’t have to speak- his look said it all.
“I don’t really know how we originally split off, to be frank,” Winter Green furrowed his brow. “You have any idea, Nana?”
“We weren’t trying to go into hiding when we first moved up into the Foal Mountains,” she recalled. “But we hippogryphs are mountain folk, built for the cold. Unfortunately, not everypony else is.” She gestured to the contrast between Winter’s thick plumage and the scarves we all wore. “Travel to and from the mountains wasn’t as easy back when we first split off. I suppose after being isolated for so long we’d simply been forgotten. The first visitor we spotted after all those years ran from the sight of us, and from that day forward, we mutually decided it was best to stick to our own.”
“But ‘our own’ extends to the Gryphon Kingdom, too,” River voiced.
“Yeah, our counterparts are okay, too,” Hawk caught Gilda in a headlock and fondly ruffled her feathers. Gilda grinned and swatted her away. I assumed this was a similar relationship as thestrals shared with dragons, and from the looks of things, I wasn’t too far off.
“Not all of us migrated here from the Gryphon Kingdom,” Nana nodded.
“So hippogryphs originated from gryphon territory?” Torchwood raised an eyebrow. “Interesting. Most of the books I’ve read theorized that you originated closer to the Crystal Mountains up north.”
“You’ve certainly read up on us!” Hawk exclaimed.
“A little creepy, honestly,” Winter shied away and narrowed his eyes.
“I didn’t mean to come off that way,” my husband sheepishly apologized.
“What’s with the obsession in mythical creatures anyway?” River asked. 
“Supposedly mythical,” I corrected.
“As ponies who used to be considered ‘mythical’ ourselves, it was an interesting hobby,” Torchwood shrugged. “And... let’s just say we had some friends tip us off that hippogryphs were a good start.”
“Who was that?” Gilda furrowed her brow. 
“Yeah, who, Mom?” Charcoal looked up at me in bafflement, trying to place who it could have been. “Discord?”
“Absolutely not!” I laughed.
“Whoever it is, do they know for sure, too, or are they just theorists? Will they tell anypony?”
“We can’t really say who...” I apologized. “But believe me, they won’t tell anyone. They’re really good with secrets like this.”
“Is that so?”
“Gilda, you’re just going to have to trust us. We can keep your secret, but we also have to honor theirs.” Gilda looked as though she was catching onto the fact that our source was another ‘mythical’ creature, but I couldn’t be sure. Either way, she backed down. 
“Okay.”
“So, are we going to get to meet these friends of yours?” Winter asked.
“They don’t really travel.”
“That’s a shame. We don’t get a lot of visitors up here,” River mused.
“Speaking of which, you guys are going to come visit us now, aren’t you?” Hawk prompted.
“Ooh! Can we! Please, Mom?” Lilac begged.
“Ya gotta come see us sometime! Charcoal and I are buddies now,” Winter slung a wing around the other green colt, jostling him a bit. Charcoal sheepishly laughed as the force unbalanced him, and more importantly, Bandit. The ferret was thrown from his nest in Charcoal’s hair, and barely caught himself on Charcoal’s extended hoof. He angrily chattered at Winter for a moment before resettling between his wings.
“I don’t know how I feel about that, considering I almost became a popsicle,” he spoke.
“Oh, we won’t bring you this far up,” Winter promised with a laugh.
“I can show you where we usually meet down closer to the bottom of the mountain. It’s not cold down there,” Gilda offered.
“Yeah, we used to meet her dragon friends down there,” Hawk recalled. “Before they got too big and it looked suspicious to bring six huge dragons out into the middle of nowhere.”
“You took Garble’s gang out to meet them?” I grinned at Gilda. 
“Our first trip was the day after you went back for Blaze,” she told us. 
“They never told us about that.”
“Good. Then they kept their promise.”
“Fair enough,” Torchwood shrugged.
“In that case, I guess I’ll see you in month or two,” Charcoal agreed.
“Whoa! What’s with the gap?” Winter disappointedly frowned.
“I’m probably grounded after today,” he flattened his ears and pleadingly looked to his father for mercy. Torchwood’s expression hardened at the reminder.
“You better believe it.” The surrounding hippogryphs all squawked with laughter, and Charcoal blushed.
“We can’t be too hard on him, Torch,” I grinned. “He did find the hippogryphs for us.”
“While running away,” he reminded.
“That was our fault,” I shamefacedly acknowledged, turning to my son. “I’m sorry we left you kids. But never again. We are a real family, and families stick together. I promise, okay?”
“Okay,” Charcoal happily let me hug him, accepting the fact that he’d misheard us last night. “And I promise no more running away.”
“YAY!” Lilac rejoiced, pouncing him. He tumbled back from the extra weight, crashing into Winter and landing all three in a dog pile. The whole room erupted with laughter once more. It was good to be able to share a secret like this with our friends, both old and new. It was good to be able to finally share this secret with my family. I would even let Blaze know when we returned home. We’d kept this from them for far too long, and it almost destroyed our relationship. From now on, this would be a family affair; something to bring us together rather than tear us apart.