• Published 9th Dec 2013
  • 882 Views, 107 Comments

Half-Hour Horses - HoofAndQuill



A collection of short prompt-based stories, from Thirty Minute Ponies.

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Making Friends in High Places [Action, Drama?]

(Prompt: FFAF, no prompt)

This one seemed better before I wrote it. I think it's worth revisiting in a non-TMP format, but I don't know.

Scootaloo grumbled to herself as she buzzed her wings and sped through town on her scooter, only slightly paying attention to her path. "Stupid Sisterhooves Social. Stupid Crusaders with their stupid sisters that don't have stupid Wonderbolts training every stupid weekend."

It was the kind of angry grumbling that tended to distract a filly, and Scootaloo didn't notice as the smooth, packed-earth road became a bit rougher. She didn't notice as the open fields and nicely tended gardens changed into scraggly trees and overgrown vines. She didn't notice the light being dimmed by the canopy above her, or the eyes peering out between the tree trunks on either side.

She did however notice the loud roar.

Scootaloo turned her scooter hard, skidding to a stop and looking around in a panic. Where in Equestria was she? This looked like the Everfree forest! That was when she saw the timberwolf prowling slowly toward her, its empty eyes glowing a bright green. Scootaloo's ears folded back, and she jumped back on the scooter and took off at full speed, screaming in a panic. "Aaah! Get away get away get away!"

The timberwolf charged after her, and matched her pace easily, and she couldn't help glancing back every few seconds as it chased her. She bounced the scooter over rocks and roots in the path, her wings buzzing as hard as they could go. She looked back again, only to see the wolf's teeth snap just behind her tail. She turned back around just in time to see the branch right in front of her face.

"Awaugh!" Scootaloo tumbled forward in a mess of helmet, scooter, and filly. When the world stopped spinning, she found herself on her back, with her helmet beside her and several feet from her scooter, with the timberwolf between them. She looked at the approaching predator, and suddenly couldn't tear her eyes away from the glowing green ones staring back.

Suddenly, the forest echoed with another roar, and everything seemed to happen at once. A wall of brown fur seemed to land right in front of her, and the wolf jumped back in surprise. Scootaloo kicked her hooves and scooted backward away from the newcomer. It was a griffon!

The griffon grabbed Scootaloo's discarded helmet and threw it toward the timberwolf, before launching herself into the air toward it. The wolf batted the helmet away only to get talons dragged across its face, leaving deep gashes in the wood. The wolf yelped in pain, and the griffon took the momentary distraction to take Scootaloo's scooter and swing it in a wide arc, shearing off the wolf's wooden muzzle with the wheels. The wolf exploded into sticks and leaves.

Howls broke out all around them, and the griffon's eyes widened. She darted toward Scootaloo, and before the filly could even react, she found herself lifted up above the trees, and being carried higher and higher. She wasn't ashamed to find herself screaming in a panic.

--

Scootaloo tumbled head over hooves as the griffon tossed her to the floor of a small cave, high on the side of one of the mountains in the Everfree forest. This time Scootaloo managed to find her hooves and stop tumbling right side up. She stood up in a defiant pose, though she could feel her whole body shaking as she looked up at the white and brown griffon.

The griffon seemed unimpressed as she shouted angrily. "What are you doing out in the Everfree Forest?! Are you trying to feed the wolves or are you just stupid?!"

"Don't eat me! I'll go home and never come back I promise!" Scootaloo didn't even recognize the voice as her own. The griffon had just taken down a timber wolf in only a couple seconds, as cool as it was to see, it meant that Scootaloo couldn't even start to fight her.

The griffon squeezed her eyes shut and then made a dismissive wave of her talons. "Whatever, you're just a cub. Or filly or whatever. I'm not going to eat you, dweeb."

Scootaloo pulled her foreleg off of her eyes, and let herself look up at the griffon. She'd already walked across the little cave, and was digging through a small bag. She tossed an apple over to Scootaloo, who fumbled only slightly before managing to catch it. "Here, eat that. You're not gonna be able to fly home on an empty stomach."

"You... don't eat ponies?"

"Not since flight camp, kid." The griffon remarked dryly as she pulled what looked like a dried fish from a small rack in the side of the cave, and tore a strip of it off before swallowing it down. "What were you doing in the forest? I thought you ponies didn't come out here. Look at you, you don't even have your uh... booty mark."

"It's 'cutie mark'! And I'm not a baby, I'm almost out of school! Anyway, I don't know why I'm out here. All my friends ditched me, so I just left." Scootaloo munched on the slightly-too-old apple, and tried to ignore the meat-eating griffon. "And I'm Scootaloo, not 'kid'."

"Scootaloo, huh? I'm Gilda. Doesn't matter anyway. Just eat your apple and fly back home. You lame ponies don't need to be out here." Gilda lay back on a bed of furs while finished off her fish, and then chucked the bones out of the front of the cave and over the edge of the landing outside.

Scootaloo felt herself sink lower, and she pushed the rest of the apple away. "I... can't fly. Rainbow Dash tried to teach me but-"

"Wait, you know Dash?" The griffon sat up again, looking Scootaloo over.

Scootaloo grinned proudly. "Yeah, she's my big sister! Or kind of like that anyway. But she still can't make my wings work, and she's busy with her stupid Wonderbolts stuff today. She's always too busy for me lately."

Gilda managed to grin despite not having lips. "So she got in? Cool. I knew she had the stuff." The griffon ran her talons through her head feathers. "So what, you're her adopted charity case or something? I thought all pegasus ponies your age could fly."

Finding the courage to stand up and flaring her wings defiantly again, Scootaloo frowned at the big griffon. "Hey! Just 'cause I can't fly doesn't mean you have to be a jerk about it!"

Gilda laughed, but held up a talon defensively. "Alright, calm down. Look kid, I'll fly you to the edge of the forest, alright? But only if you tell Dash something. Tell her I'm out here, and I'm not comin' back 'till she apologizes. And hey, they had me teaching kids to fly at camp. Maybe if you get her to say she's sorry, I'll even help you out. Deal?"

Scootaloo looked down at the griffon's talon, curled into a fist, and then gave her a hoof bump. "Deal."

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