Chapter 6: Friendly Competition
Sparrow stepped off the train and onto the platform, steam hissed from the train behind him. The whistle sounded, announcing that the train was ready for its next passengers to begin boarding. Sparrow noticed that he was getting a few strange glances his way from the ponies. He decided to just smile to them kindly as he made his way across the platform. He realized that he had no idea where to start his search for the two mares he'd made this journey for.
Sparrow decided that instead of just trying to find them himself he would ask the station attendant. The stallion was happy to provide the information to Sparrow and shared that Pinkie Pie would most likely be found in the town's confectionary and bakery Sugarcube Corner. Rainbow Dash would be a little harder to find without the help of one of her friends however as she usually spent the day in the sky or napping in a tree away from everyone else. Sparrow thanked the attendant graciously for the information and handed the stallion a few bits which he insisted that he keep. Hey I think I'm getting better at this being friendly thing! Sparrow started towards Ponyville.
The town of Ponyville was bright and lively, with ponies darting around on the streets or just relaxing about on benches nearby. There were vendor stalls set up throughout the streets with ponies selling their wares that included freshly picked farm food or small trinkets they'd made with their own hooves. Sparrow continued to get a few awkward glances sent his way as he stepped through the town, to which he responded with a smile and wave, that seemed to help put them at ease with his presence.
Sparrow finally found the structure the attendant had described to him. To say that it looked like a giant piece of candy would be an understatement. The outer layer of pink gave way to bits of blue and yellow that looked like gumdrops all around the house. It even had a white frosting like substance for the meeting points of the structure. All in all it looked like a giant pink gingerbread house. Sparrow stared in marvel at the building as the smell of freshly baked treats wafted outside to make his gizzard begin grumbling. He finally reached for the front door and opened it.
Inside the structure it was pitch black. Aside from the light being let in from outside Sparrow couldn't see anything. "Hello?" he called out, hoping that he hadn't walked in after they were closed. Sparrow yelped as the door was wrenched from his talons and slammed shut behind him. With nothing but darkness around and the shuffling noise of someone moving in the darkness Sparrow began to worry.
"SUPRISE!" A loud blast echoed through the house and the light were flipped on blinding Sparrow and he reached a talon over his eyes in pain. There was a slight ringing in his ears as the sound of music playing crept through the house. He finally pulled his talon away from his eyes and blinked a couple times to adjust to the light before his vision was assaulted with so much pink he couldn't even think. "Hi there! I'm Pinkie Pie and I threw this party just for you! I saw you come into town from the train station and I thought 'Who is that, probably someone new and I need to get a party ready for them right away before he gets to Sugarcube Corner' so here I am throwing a party for you, it's your Welcome to Ponyville Party!"
Sparrow's mouth hung open as he stared at the pink mare, he blinked once more before he was finally able to respond "Th-thank you. For the party I mean. It looks like you went all out."
"Of course silly, why wouldn't I go all out for a Welcome to Ponyville Party." Pinkie said as she booped Sparrow's beak. "What's your name by the way? I was so busy setting up the party that I forgot to ask anypony."
"Oh I'm Sparrow," he held out his talon to shake Pinkie's outstretched hoof. "who are all these other ponies?" Sparrow asked as he scanned the crowd.
Pinkie scoffed "These are all my awesome amazing friends that I invited to the party to welcome you, well besides Mr. and Mrs. Cake, they own the place."
The group of ponies waved to Sparrow and all said hello. After introductions were done the party was in full swing, there were a few simple games set up for anyone to enjoy and a large cake was set up for all to grab a piece and eat. Sparrow being rather hungry ate 3 large pieces of the cake, he knew he would probably regret it later but it was cake. No one says no to cake, that and he wanted to be as polite as possible. From what he gathered he wasn't the first griffon to visit Ponyville. That honor went to Gilda actually, and she hadn't been the best of a guest. Guess that explains the strange looks I've been getting.
The afternoon soon turned to early evening and Sparrow found himself yawning more and more. Pinkie noticed this and decided to wrap up the party and send everypony home. A few minutes were spent cleaning up the confetti spread out across the floor and the rest of the games and treats that had been left out. Pinkie had tried to get Sparrow to leave but he insisted on staying to assist with the clean up. How could he try and be friendly if he wouldn't help out those who needed it?
When everything had been cleaned up Sparrow and Pinkie sat down in the booth at the corner of the shop. "Phew," Pinkie sighed "that would have taken most of the night to clean, thanks for all the help Sparrow." she grinned at the griffon.
"Oh come on, it's the least I could do after you threw me such an amazing party." Sparrow smiled to her before growing somber at a sudden realization "actually, that's the first party I've ever had." Pinkie was visibly shocked and gasped to match the look. "It's not a bad thing, it's just that griffons don't really celebrate anything. But it was the best first party I've ever had, thank you Pinkie Pie."
"I should have asked if it was your first party ever earlier! Then I could have made it ten times bigger and even more fun. Nopony should have to go without parties." The mare tried to come to terms with what Sparrow had told her before she hugged him "I'm sorry Sparrow, the party should have been better."
Sparrow surprised her by laughing and wrapping his own talons around her for a quick hug, these seem to be getting more common the more time I spend with ponies "It's alright Pinkie Pie, for my first party, it was the best one ever."
The mare looked up at him with a sniff "You sure? I can throw you another one tomorrow if you want a do over."
Laughing again to try and clear the tension Sparrow patted her mane noting the fluffiness of it "No, this party was perfect. Thank you for the offer though." He then remembered why he had come to Sugarcube Corner "If you really want to make it up to me, could you tell me what you gave to Gilda in Griffonstone to fix her scones? Oh and where can I find Rainbow Dash?"
Pinkie giggled at the question "Sparrow, you could've just asked Gilda what I gave her, it was baking powder. The recipe was just missing that so that the scones would be light and fluffy instead of how they were." She shuddered at the thought "But why do you want to find Dashie? Gonna profess your undying love for her?"
Sparrow rolled his eyes and pushed the mare away "Oh har har, no way. Gilda told me she's the fastest flyer she's ever seen. I'm probably the fastest flyer from Griffonstone so I came here to challenge her to a race, and also find out about the scones."
"That was days ago that we were there though. Why'd you wait so long to take the train if you were coming here?" Pinkie asked Sparrow to which he scratched at the back of his head nervously.
"I actually didn't have any money for the train ride from Griffonstone, so I tried to fly here. Long story short I got hurt and had to walk here until I found a train." Sparrow explained
"Well what's the long version?" Pinkie asked expectantly bouncing in her seat in the booth.
Sparrow told his story of how he'd gotten to Ponyville, Pinkie was a great listener throwing in "Oh no's" and "Hooray's" in the highs and lows of his tale. Once he had finished the sun had already set and the moon shone brightly through the window next to Sparrow and Pinkie. Sparrow tried to excuse himself to find a place to sleep for the night. As he reached the door however Pinkie yanked him back inside and insisted that he stay in the guest bedroom upstairs, "What kind of friend would I be if I let you sleep outside." she said as she led him upstairs and showed him the room.
Sparrow thanked her for the room before she stepped across the hall and entered her own room, he swore he could see balloons and streamers all throughout the room. He watched her door close then turned back and shut his own silently before heading straight to the bed.
As Sparrow was lying there looking up at the ceiling he found himself smiling. He'd made another friend today, and plenty of acquaintances from the townsfolk. Tomorrow he would find Rainbow Dash and he would finally challenge her. What then? Sparrow wondered, I could head back to Griffonstone. Maybe I could stay here for a little while, meet the rest of Pinkie's friends that she mentioned earlier. Too bad they were busy today He rolled over and stared out the window and at the moon. He'd grown fond of looking at the moon every night since he'd started his journey. It always comforted him, being the one constant thing he could always count on seeing, no matter where he was. Eventually the lullaby of the crickets outside gave way to sleep.
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Sparrow's eyes opened as the smell of freshly baked goods drifted to his nose, it was a familiar scent that he hadn't experienced since Griffonstone. Quickly noting his surroundings and making sure he wasn't still at his nest in Griffonstone, Sparrow hopped out of the bed and made it as best as he could. He couldn't remember his dream from the night before so he once again skipped writing in his journal. He didn't really want to write in it anyways, he felt like he should leave his note to Princess Luna as is and maybe add to it in the future instead. Another time maybe. Right now though, the cake he had last night was delicious and filling, but this familiar scent was making him hungrier than before the party the previous night.
Rubbing the sleep from his eyes he stepped lightly down the stairs hoping he wouldn't wake up anyone who was still sleeping as it was still rather early in the morning. When he reached the bottom of the stairs he noticed that the store hadn't even opened yet, and that Pinkie Pie was in the kitchen wearing an apron and a chefs hat pulling something from the oven. Sparrow walked into the kitchen as well and grabbed some hot pads from the counter and grabbed the second pan for Pinkie to which she smiled at the help "Mornin' Sparrow. How'd you sleep?" she asked as he set down the hot tray.
"Like a rock!" Sparrow answered to which he received some giggles from the mare, he couldn't tell why though. That's when he finally noticed what Pinkie Pie was baking, "These are Gilda's Scones! She gave you the recipe?"
"Well yeah, how could I not get the recipe from her before I left Griffonstone, these things are so good!" Pinkie said excitedly and bounced up and down. "Go ahead and try one, I want to know how they compare to hers, it might be a little hot though."
Sparrow reached to the tray and tenderly plucked one of the scones it was a little warm in his talon but he could see the steam rising off of it. He gave it a few gentle puffs of air before biting into it. He could feel himself pulled back to that street in Griffonstone as the taste took over his senses just like it had before. However, this scone was still missing something, it was delicious of course, but there was just something not there that Gilda's scone had over Pinkie's. Pinkie noticed the shift to Sparrow's expression and he swallowed the bite so he could answer her before she asked. "It's great Pinkie, really" Sparrow began "it just doesn't taste exactly the same as Gilda's did"
Pinkie smiled "That's okay, I didn't really expect it to taste the same as hers, I took out a couple of things that only griffons like to see how ponies her in town would like them. When the store opens I'm going to give out free samples."
"Oh, that's a good idea." Sparrow grinned and took another bite, he took note of the texture and felt with his tongue. The scone was indeed missing some of the extra seeds and such that would make it taste better to a griffon. He still didn't think that was what made it taste all that different but he wasn't going to make a fuss. "These are so good I'm sure you'll have ponies lining up to buy them after the samples."
Pinkie Pie lifted a hoof and waved downwards "Aw shucks, thanks for that Sparrow. If they sell that well I'll need Mrs. Cake's help to make them to keep up with the demand for our supply." she giggled and Sparrow found himself laughing with her.
They shared a few scones together for breakfast with some juice to wash it down. Sparrow needed to get his energy up for his race today if it indeed was going to happen. After a few questions to Pinkie Pie asking where Rainbow Dash was Sparrow left Sugarcube Corner in search of the blue mare. Thanking her again for her kindness and a small hug between friends Sparrow stepped into the cool morning air of Ponyville.
Sparrow couldn't help himself any longer. After his stunt yesterday he just couldn't wait to get back into the air. After a few test flaps of his wings to make sure that the muscle had healed correctly, Sparrow took to the sky. Blasting off the ground with a powerful gust billowing outwards, the ground fell away from him and the sky opened up. Up here Sparrow knew the possibilities were endless, not like down below, where things could catch him.
After a few minutes of flying around and passing by a few pegasi from Ponyville's own weather team, Sparrow began searching for Rainbow Dash in earnest. Hoping to catch her while she was in the air already he began asking a few ponies from the weather crew if they had seen her. Of course no one nearby had. They told him that she usually took a large section to clear all by herself and prided herself on clearing it in seconds. There weren't weather pegasi in Griffonstone, so Sparrow didn't really have a reference point for what they were telling him. It sounded fast though, incredibly so, especially after watching the weather team take minutes to clear a small swath of clouds away from the area.
Deciding to search in another section of town, one populated by far less clouds, Sparrow had more luck. As he flew high above Ponyville he continued to see streaks of rainbow pass through whole sections of clouds before they broke apart. Approaching slowly so as to not get hit, Sparrow eyed a particular cloud and gave it a small punch with his talons. It easily broke apart and disappeared into thin air. It even made a small *puff* sound as he hit it. Sparrow moved over to the next cloud *puff* and another *puff*
An hour later and Sparrow had cleared a small swath of clouds around himself and was having great fun doing so, he couldn't help it, the sound mixed with the popping of the fluffy things was just a pure joy he couldn't explain. While he was doing this he didn't notice the attention of a certain blue mare he'd gotten.
"Sup, Sparrow!" the mare called out.
"Gah! Who! What!?" Sparrow faltered in his flight just as he was about to blast through another cloud and found himself tangled inside it before popping out on the other side. The blue mare flew around to his front and caught him and helped him get steady before she stopped to look at him. Their eyes met and he stared at her. Then she burst out laughing.
"You should've seen yourself dude! You looked ridiculous!" the mare exclaimed before finally calming herself and holding out a hoof "The name's Rainbow Dash, but I assume you already knew that."
Sparrow reached over and shook her hoof "How do you know my name? Also, I knew it mainly because I already met Pinkie Pie yesterday. Big party, lots of balloons, you should've been there."
Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped in disbelief "I was so busy yesterday I missed a Pinkie Party? I-" she began giving him puppy dog eyes"Tell me, was there any cider there? She usually has cider." Sparrow shook his head and the mare immediately stopped making the face. "Well at least there's that."
"Excuse me but how did you know my name already?" Sparrow asked, "Did Pinkie somehow tell you before I got up here?" He received some more laughter for his questions.
"No no, I got a letter yesterday from my old friend Gilda. She mentioned that you'd be arriving in Ponyville soon with the intent on challenging me to a race. And as much as I'd love to do that, I got work right now so ya, maybe tomorrow."
Sparrow hung his head and creased his eyebrows in thought "That's cool that she let you know and all but tomorrow? How about a competition now?"
Now he was speaking Rainbow's language "What kind of competition?" she asked crossing her hooves over her chest and tilting her head, her eyes half lidded in skepticism.
Sparrow grinned "First to break apart all these clouds over Ponyville wins."
"You are so on!" Rainbow asked her grin spreading to match his "What does the winner get?"
"Whatever they want I guess." Sparrow shrugged "If I win, we race after we're done here, this'll be a good workout"
Rainbow laughed and reached out a hoof to Sparrow which he bumped in reply "If I win we race and you get Pinkie to throw me a party in my honor, with lots of cider."
"Then let's get to it." Sparrow and Rainbow Dash lined up next to each other looking at the clouds dotted around Ponyville. One final flap of their wings and the griffon and the pony began their competition.
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