Chapter 3: Long Walks and Great Views
Sparrow breathed in the fresh morning air as the sun rose above the horizon. He had been walking for a few minutes now, leaving the giant Auronipsie behind to walk back to his own home. Sparrow was thoroughly glad he had met the giant; if he hadn't, his wing would be in even worse condition and he wouldn't have even made it this far. He looked somberly to his right wing and moved it a little, Sparrow felt the muscles protest in the movement and the stinging sensation was still there. It's my own fault anyways but I wish it would heal faster Sparrow thought to himself.
Continuing through the grass Sparrow noted the trees that were dotting the landscape as well, making their way towards the mountains and still more appearing in front of him as he walked. He could smell the pine needles of the trees as they sat there basking in the morning light. Morning dew sitting gently upon the trees and the grass under Sparrow's talons and paws. He enjoyed the soft feeling of the grass after walking along rocks for the better part of the night.
One thing was definitely bothering Sparrow though, he hadn't eaten anything since Gilda's scone yesterday evening and his gizzard was grumbling in anger. He stopped and looked around himself, at all the trees and the grass, "There must be something around here to eat," his head hung down "of course if I could fly I could spot whatever I needed to hunt for." Sighing he turned to the nearest tree, "Hate to do this to you but I gotta climb up, I'm not too heavy, promise."
Grasping the nearest branch with his talons, Sparrow lifted himself up and used his lions claws to hold himself in place on the trunk of the tree. As he climbed the branches gave a little but never snapped. Good thing one scone didn't do too much Sparrow smiled to himself as he reached as high as he dared to go in the tree. He peered through the branches and thick needles all around himself looking for any sign of life he could try and catch. He could eat the small seeds in the pinecones if he really needed to but getting some fresh meat would be much better. I should have asked if Auronipsie had any extra food he could spare. Then again, I have no idea what his kind eats.
After an hour of nothing showing up nearby Sparrow had found himself grumbling as he pecked at the pinecones he had gathered around himself and was eating the seeds from. It didn't taste as exquisite as the scone he had eaten yesterday but at least his body has some fuel back in it. Letting the empty pinecones fall down to the earth Sparrow climbed over to a small grouping of branches and nuzzled into them. After staying up all night flying, then running, and now walking, he found it harder and harder to keep his eyes open. Well this place doesn't have much life in it anyways so I should be fine getting some sleep Yawning, Sparrow closed his eyes and let himself be lulled into sleep by the gentle sway of the branches.
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Sparrow was in the sky, soaring above the clouds and smiling in pure bliss. He felt free again, like he could take on anyone. As long as he was in the sky, nothing could touch him. He was going the fastest he'd ever flown before and could feel the wind parting in front of him making way for his speed. All was right with him in this realm, everything was as it should be. No sprained wing, no hunger pangs, just his flight and nothing else.
That is until the black cloud appeared behind Sparrow. He noticed it immediately and thought nothing of it until it continued to catch up to him. Every time it did he would fly faster, but it still caught up to him. That's not right, I'm the fastest here, nothing else. This is wrong. Sparrow gave one final burst of speed and still the cloud caught up to him. Fine, if I can't run then I'll go through! Sparrow maneuvered himself upwards and flipped himself around to face the black cloud. He shot straight into it as fast as he could go.
Lightning crackled along the cloud as he flew through it and a blast deafened Sparrow. A pain unlike any other struck his right wing and then he fell. Watching as the world crumbled away and he fell through the cloud cover around him, as he fell the rest of the clouds turned black. Then the world under him disappeared as he fell. Falling, falling falling...
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Sparrow woke up with a yelp and winced as his right wing he'd been lying on shifted in reflex. Breathing heavily trying to calm himself Sparrow once again employed the breathing technique his mother taught him. Breath in, hold for four seconds, breath out. "Ouch," He spoke to himself while sitting on the branches of the tree "must've turned over in my sleep or something to cause that ending." Pulling out his journal from his saddlebags Sparrow made notes on his most recent nightmare. He made a mental note to try and sleep somewhere he couldn't roll over onto his wing next time before lowering himself down to the ground.
Looking up to the sky again it was clearly night time. Slept through the whole day, I gotta stop this sleeping during the day thing before it becomes a habit. Sparrow thought to himself. He began walking through the forest again with the grass crinkling under his talons and paws and the crickets making the only bit of noise. A very serene area without too much life in it, Sparrow enjoyed that. The calmness of the evening helped him walk and keep his thoughts in check. He would begin thinking about what he would do first once he got to Ponyville, he didn't even know when he would get there let alone what he would do first. Find Pinkie Pie and get her to make him some scones, or challenge Rainbow Dash to a race?
Sparrows thoughts were interrupted as his talon bumped into something hard, looking down at the ground he had to wait for his eyes to adjust a bit better before he could see the train tracks. Well if I follow this I bet it will get me somewhere with a population more than just me Sparrow smirked at the thought and began following the train tracks.
He had been walking for nearly thirty minutes when he picked up a peculiar smell. It wasn't bad, in fact it smelled rather good, like flying through a particularly rainy cloud. Sparrow picked up his pace to a trot following the tracks until finally, the forest broke away and in front of Sparrow there was a large body of water. "By old Grover's beard. It's beautiful." Sparrow said to no one in particular. He looked out across the bridge, it wasn't terribly long it would most likely only take half an hour to cross by foot. Then he looked to his left and saw the water expand out towards a small island in the distance. To his right the water just kept going and going towards the cold and lonely looking mountains. No time like the present I suppose Sparrow thought and began crossing the bridge.
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He had been wrong about thirty minutes to cross the bridge. It had taken Sparrow nearly an hour, mainly because he kept on stopping to look at the sea below the bridge and the stars reflecting off the water. Listening to the waves lap at the stone supports and just enjoying the feeling of the night. Still as beautiful as ever, the moon shined brightly and illuminated Sparrow's way across the bridge. Once he had gotten across he saw the train tracks head towards the north and towards more mountains. And to the left there was more grassland next to the sea. Sparrow decided he'd seen enough of the mountains for a lifetime and headed to the left.
The grass here was much longer than in the forest as it tickled Sparrow's underbelly. The wind began to pick up as the night progressed and shuffled the grass into imitating the sea waves not twenty feet away. The shoreline didn't have much sand Sparrow noted and it looked more like a dead drop off into the water. Sparrow thought a little about going for a swim before backing away from the option. His wing would just get hurt more and the bandages would get soaked. He'd rather not ruin all the help Auronipsie gave to him.
Continuing his walk down the shoreline the crashing of the waves kept Sparrow company. The sound of the water soothed him as the noise was mostly all he could hear besides the grass brushing against him and creating their own waves. Off in the distance Sparrow could swear there was some kind of low rumbling noise. It seemed like it was coming from the direction of the mountains that were to the right of the grassland Sparrow walked on. Shuddering at the thought of the mountains having that much power Sparrow kept moving forward towards the noise. He had to at least see what it was.
Staring ahead Sparrow watched as the moonlight reflected off the cascading water bounding down from the top of a mountain. The white mist sprayed off in all directions and the sound of it all was almost deafening. Sparrow stepped tentatively closer towards the waterfall expecting it to spray out and aim for him. It instead continued to fall onto the river below and go out into the sea further away. Sitting down on the ground Sparrow decided to just watch the water for a while. It's almost as calming to watch as the waves Sparrow thought, only much more of a majestic power than a simple one He decided that this was one of his favorite spots from now on. The list of said spots included Sparrow's own nest back in Griffinstone and now, this waterfall.
Sparrow was finally able to pull his eyes away from the waterfall and began looking for a way over the small river it formed under it. He approached the shoreline and looked over the growing reeds in the water to see there was nothing but muddy and muck filled water below that, in his current condition, he thought better of walking into. He looked to the small river directly by the waterfall for some kind of crossing. He couldn't tell how deep the water was there however and the current looked strong enough to pull him under given the slightest chance. Okay now the waterfall is starting to lose it's position as a favorite place Sparrow scowled as he thought. Just then he noticed a bright light flash near the waterfall right at its base.
Getting closer to the stone Sparrow saw the flash again, now noting the reflective look of it. The waterfall was bright enough from the moon shining onto it, but every once in a while there was a break in the water, and the wet stone behind the falls shone through. Sparrow approached it slowly looking around the falls to try and see if there was another way across the river behind the waterfall. To his disbelief the next time the falls broke and the rock behind shined through again, he saw a small pathway that reached into the area behind the falls. He grinned at his luck, however, the opening of the light was much too small to fit a griffon through.
Looking around the grassy area Sparrow soon found himself gathering large rocks thinking that maybe if he could dislodge something behind the falls, it would open the path. After few dozen pebbles Sparrow thought he had the aim figured out and how he had to ark the throw. Using his talons to grip the large rock tightly he threw as hard as he could at the area above the hole in the falls. It made a loud *CRACK* as it hit the wall but nothing else happened. Oh well, nothing was gonna happen on the first throw anyways hefting another stone in his talons he threw it again *CRACK*
"Nothing was gonna happen on the twenty fifth throw anyways!" Sparrow shouted sarcastically as he flung another stone at the spot he'd picked for the past thirty minutes. He was panting from exertion now and sat down glaring at the waterfall. Really losing its place as my one of my favorites Sparrow thought as he grabbed a small stone, barely larger than a pebble, and threw it nonchalantly. *CRACK* That didn't sound right as Sparrow's ears pricked up and looked at where he had tossed the stone. A gigantic flat stone had fallen down and was held in place by stones around it, supporting it. It looked like a part of a bridge to Sparrow, he thought he could even make out some hoof prints. This was also the first time he looked higher up the falls and saw the ice connecting to the falling water. It was melting as it got closer to the ground and created the waterfall underneath the ice. Either way, the path under the falls was open now and Sparrow stepped in through the opening in the water.
The cave was incredibly cold and Sparrows fur stood on edge, he decided he didn't like caves. It reminded him of being trapped in the rocks on the mountain. He began to step through the rocks and weaving his way past stalagmites that were rising from the ground. Sparrows eyes were slowly adjusting to the dark of the cave and he tried to angle himself along a path towards the other side of the falls. The sound outside the cave had been loud. Inside the cave where there was an echo that multiplied the effect tenfold. That's not right though, shouldn't there not be an echo if the cave just goes behind the falls? Sparrow wondered. That's when his eyes adjusted fully and he saw what was to his right.
The stalagmites and stalactites opened up into the maw of a great mouth of complete and total blackness. Sparrows eyes grew wide with terror looking at it, he felt like not even the brightest light could shine in that pit of dark. His gizzard knotted in despair as he backed away from the pit and began to move to his left and towards the light of the moon once again. He was sure as soon as he turned his back on the cave something would jump out at him, so he kept his front to it and backed slowly to the light, using his left wing to feel his way along the outer edge of the cave. The waterfall's noise blocked out all other sounds as Sparrow made his way through and finally he found the other side of the falls and an opening through the water.
Passing through and out of the cave Sparrow released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. The fresh air began to sooth him and he had to sit down on the grass and just look at the stars for a bit. It helped calm him down being in the open again. I really really don't like caves Sparrow thought as he laid his head down on the grass in front of him. He hadn't expected to see anything quite so dark on his journey. Once my wing heals, no more mountains or caves Sparrow decided as he stood himself back up. He started walking south again along the grass and shoreline of the sea, the moon high in the sky keeping him company.
It had been another hour of silent walking and looking along the mountain line before Sparrow saw what looked like a small ravine that created a sort of pass. He sighed to himself at the sight of the mountain pass. It looked like the only way through that would take him somewhere besides the shoreline. Plus the shoreline looked like it was ending soon and there wouldn't be anywhere else to walk. Sparrow decided to take the chance and head through the ravine.
Turns out that ravines aren't fun at all to traverse. Thick brambles kept sticking to Sparrow's feathers and tugged at his fur, doubled with the vines that grew out from seemingly no where Sparrow wasn't having much luck getting through. After about thirty minutes of walking through the muck below Sparrow found that the easiest way to get through things was to use his sharp talons to rip through the vines as he moved forward and found his way through. Passing through thickets and more mud than he thought was possible, Sparrow finally made it through the ravine. Gasping from the whole ordeal Sparrow fell down onto the dirt ground.
When Sparrow finally caught his breath he looked around himself and found it to be an arid location. He spotted a few tumbleweeds nearby but other than that nothing else in the valley. "Great," Sparrow spat "another place like Griffinstone" The flat landscape seemed to stretch for miles and miles as far as Sparrow could tell. Until he picked up a strange shape in the moonlight, far away, but it might be something interesting. Sparrow decided to check it out as he was heading in that direction anyways. It's not like those shapes in the distance could be houses anyways. No one builds houses in straight lines.
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