//------------------------------// // Fillynapping // Story: Flying Forward // by Tofu-Monstrosity //------------------------------// It took Pinkie Pie all of half an hour and two cupcakes to get Rainbow Dash to calm down. “Feeling better Dashie?” Pinkie Pie asked after Rainbow Dash had finished her last cupcake and stopped sniffling. Rainbow Dash nodded a bit. “Bedder.” She rubbed her eyes with her hooves. “Good! We can’t have fun when you’re a blubbering mess!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she bounced out of her chair and opened the closet door to rummage around. Rainbow Dash giggled and followed her. “What are we gonna do Auntie Pinkie?” She asked as she dodged a pair of boots and other things being thrown out of the closet as Pinkie Pie looked for something. “You’ll see!” Pinkie responded before she stopped digging. “Found it!” She smiled as she pulled out a sled. Rainbow Dash’s face lit up. “We goin’ outside?” She asked, bouncing around in excitement. She wiggled with energy as she watched Pinkie Pie get herself ready. Pinkie turned to Rainbow and wrestled with the filly to get the snow boots and hat on her. “Geeze Dashie maybe two cupcakes was too much sugar.” She giggled as the two headed outside. By now the snowstorm had lightened up to a consistent snowfall. The powdery white substance was at least two inches thick with a few thicker snow piles here and there. Rainbow Dash didn’t hesitate to run into it and bounce up and down. “Come on! Get in the sled!” Pinkie Pie encouraged. Rainbow hopped right in as Pinkie pulled her swiftly down the streets of Ponyville. She buzzed her wings as they rocketed down the streets and past the closed shops. Together the two of them careened around corners and shot up slopes of snow. Both of them were giggling like mad ponies. As the day wore on, the snowfall stopped and more and more ponies continued with their daily lives, going outside and doing business. Pinkie Pie slowed the sled to a trot as they walked back to Sugarcube Corner. On their way they ran into Applejack who had a stand selling hot apple cider. “Hi Applejack!” Pinkie Pie greeted her friend as the sled slowed to a stop. She quickly unharnessed herself from the sled. “Howdy Pinkie Pie, howdy Rainbow Dash.” Applejack tipped her hat in greeting. Rainbow jumped out of the sled and walked over to the cider stand. She smelled the aroma wafting off the cider and smiled. Getting on her hind hooves, Rainbow tried to peer over the counter to maybe get a taste of whatever was making that delicious smell. “Ah, ah, ah.” Applejack pushed the little filly back on all fours. “That’s not for you.” Applejack lightly scolded. "We just ran out of filly friendly cider, this stuff is for big ponies.” She explained, briefly getting a flashback to the old Rainbow Dash, who was able to challenge her to drinking contests with barrels of the stuff. She quickly shook those thoughts out of her head. Rainbow Dash pouted dejectedly, hoping that giving her best puppy-dog eyes would sway Applejack like it does with Twilight. However, Applejack knew exactly what Rainbow was trying to do. “No. You can’t have any.” She stated flatly. “C’mon Dashie, we’ll get some hot chocolate at home!” Pinkie Pie proposed, an alternative that the filly simply couldn’t refuse. Pinkie harnessed herself, as Rainbow hopped back into the sled. “Mush!” Pinkie giggled as she pulled the sled back to Sugarcube Corner, but not before she waved goodbye to Applejack. Rainbow Dash sipped on cooling hot chocolate and nibbled on a muffin that Mrs. Cake made her. “Did you have fun?” The matriarch of the Cake family asked the two ponies. Pinkie Pie nodded as she swallowed a bite of her muffin. “Of course we did! We raced all around town. We had tons of fun, right Dashie?” Pinkie Pie asked the filly who nodded happily. “When’s Mommy comin’ back?” Rainbow Dash asked once she swallowed the muffin. A flash of uncertainty crossed Pinkie Pie’s face momentarily before it was replaced by a smile. “She’ll be back soon Dashie, I’m sure of it!” She reassured the petite prismatic pegasus pony with a pat on the head. The door suddenly swung open with a huge gust of air, as an orange earth pony stumbled in with eyes as wide as saucers. Pinkie turned her head towards the door, as she was not expecting a visitor. “What’s the matter Applejack? You look like you’ve seen a Timberwolf!” She giggled in her usual fashion. Applejack didn’t return the smile. “Pinkie, I need to talk to you for a second.” She stated flatly after she caught her breath. She was obviously holding something back. “Why can’t you tell me now?” Pinkie Pie chirped. Applejack bit her lip and looked to Rainbow Dash, who was enamored with what was going on. She leaned in and whispered into Pinkie Pie’s ear. The pink mare’s face went grim. “Dashie, why don’t you go upstairs and play with the twins.” She suggested to the filly, who shook her head in the negative. “No! I no baby! I wanna stay wif Auntie Pinkie and Auntie Applejack.” She protested indignantly. Pinkie Pie’s voice no longer held the bubbly chirp, “Rainbow Dash, go upstairs, now.” She told her in a manner that was unheard of by both Rainbow and Applejack. The filly promptly scampered upstairs. Applejack was stunned by Pinkie Pie’s sudden change of mood. “Right then.” She stated before she looked around to make sure they were alone. “I was at my stand selling cider when a griffon came up to me.” She told Pinkie, who nodded in response. “He was all hoarse and asked me where he could find Twilight Sparkle.” She explained further. “I told him that Twilight was away on business but I could help him if’n he wanted. That’s when he grabbed at me!” She pulled down her scarf to show a few claw marks around her neck. “He scratched me up, then flew off in this direction.” She told Pinkie, her voice shaking as she recalled the incident. “I made a cake for a griffon once, she didn’t seem like a happy person.” Pinkie Pie stated. “Yeah, but this guy was weird, first off he wore some kinda red jacket with a symbol I ain’t never seen before.” She detailed to Pinkie Pie. “Mah point is, that griffon was after somethin’ and…” She trailed off as Pinkie Pie suddenly started to twitch. Her tail, ears, and nose all convulsed at the same time before it passed. To Applejack, that meant one thing: “Pinkie sense?” She asked. “Yup.” Pinkie Pie informed her. “Though that one was weird, I’ve never had one like that before.” She stated. Just then, a sound like shattering glass could be heard upstairs. Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Mr. and Mrs. Cake raced upstairs to the nursery where the noise came from, only to find that the window was smashed in and the twins crying on the floor. Missing from this scene however, was Rainbow Dash. “What in Tartarus happened?” Applejack cursed as Mrs. Cake attended to the crying twins. Pinkie Pie raced to the window. “Uh Applejack, that griffon you saw earlier…did it have dark brownish wings? And huge brown paws? And a red jacket?” Pinkie asked as Applejack raced to the window. She was just in time to see a griffon, carrying a prismatic blur in his claws, dive into the Everfree forest. “Damn it.” Applejack hissed under her breath. “We need to get the girls.” She told Pinkie Pie. “Go fetch Rarity and Fluttershy. Meet me at the farm.” She instructed the pink party pony, whose mane was starting to deflate with each word Applejack stated. “What about Twilight?” Pinkie Pie asked, her mane almost framing her face now. Applejack sighed in response. “Shouldn’t she know?” Applejack didn’t have time to answer; she had already raced down the stairs and towards the Everfree forest. Pinkie Pie shifted on her hooves nervously before she too ran off to the Carousel Boutique to get Rarity. -- “Where is she?” Fluttershy asked as she looked out the window for what seemed to be the umpteenth time in the past thirty minutes. Rarity sat at the kitchen table sipping tea and shaking slightly due to fear and nervousness. “What is taking Applejack so long?” She asked. “She ran into the Everfree after we saw the grumpy griffon fly that way.” Pinkie Pie explained, her mane now completely plastering her face. Fluttershy bounced on her hooves nervously, “What if she’s lost? Then we would have to find two ponies instead of one! What was she thinking?!” Fluttershy exclaimed, as she grew more and more anxious. A few moments passed breathlessly before the front door burst open with a burst of cold air from the bitter outside. In walked a tired and torn pony, her hat was askew and her mane and tail were frayed, with a few twigs in it. Applejack’s sad eyes gazed towards her friends. “I followed as far as I could.” She explained to them. “I lost their trail a ways into the Everfree.” She collapsed on the couch, not looking at her friends as they gathered around. “I don’t know where they took her.” She explained. “What do we do?” Fluttershy asked, her meek voice held a notion of urgency. “We have to tell Twilight.” Rarity interjected, Applejack grimaced. “It’s the right thing to do.” She added after seeing Applejack’s look of discomfort. “I’m just worried as to what will happen when she finds them.” Applejack stated. She bit her lip and looked outside to the snow-covered fields. -- His flying was sporadic at the least with a screaming, crying and struggling filly in his arms. The griffon was holding the kicking filly in his arms as he flew high above the treetops. “You’re giving me a headache, just hold still kid so I can fly.” He growled. Amber Wing’s head throbbed as he banked around to head towards the Griffon Kingdom. He looked back and saw that nopony was following him; the plan to ditch any pursuers in the Everfree had worked. “No!” Rainbow screamed, thrashing and trying to bite him. He snarled at her in response. “I’ll drop you if you keep doing that.” He warned, to emphasize his point, he loosed his grip on her. The prismatic filly whimpered and grabbed onto him in fear. He chuckled as he gripped her tighter and continued his flight to the east.