Big Sister
"This is so exciting." Twilight gushed. "The map is summoning you to Griffinstone, the very heart of the griffin kingdom! I don't know if either of you have read Bygone Griffins of Greatness, but griffins were known to be-"
"Rude insensitive bullies?" Rainbow cut her off sourly. The pegasus was already grumpy because her nap had been interrupted, but now she was going to have to go interact with griffins? After how Gilda acted towards her friends, she'd left a sour taste in her mouth towards the species in general.
Twilight lowered the book she'd been reading and turned to her friend. "You mean Gilda?" She asked.
"Yeah, I mean Gilda!" Dash snapped. "When she came to Ponyville, she was a total jerk to all my friends, especially Pinkie Pie!"
"She was a bit of a party pooper," Pinkie admitted before brightening up again. "But I sorta forgive her."
Mm-hm- wait what?!" Rainbow shouted after cutting off her own hum of agreement. "How could you, she was such a jerk when she was here!"
"I know that Dashie, and like I said I sorta forgive her." Pinkie said sagely. "She still has to apologize, but if she does I will forgive her completely. I'm just not holding a grudge against her. My Granny Pie always taught me that holding grudges doesn't help anything. You do know that the reason why the three tribes took so long to completely unite was because they were holding grudges towards each other right?"
"Uh, I guess," Rainbow said, not willing to admit that she never really paid much attention to that part of the story outside of the traditional play.
"Exactly. If the three tribes hadn't given up their personal grudges then we wouldn't be friends and we'd all be miserable!" Pinkie Pie said with a cheerful grin and the other two ponies were struck by how profound her words were. "Plus, it doesn't seem very fair to judge an entire species based on one griffin. That would be like saying all ponies are like me, or you or Twilight or Appl-"
"Okay okay, I get it." Rainbow cut her off. "But Gilda had to get her rude attitude from somewhere. When we were at Flight Camp, she wasn't such a jerk and when we graduated she went back home to the Griffin Kingdom."
"Maybe, but Pinkie has a point," Twilight added. "Gilda was a little rude, but you shouldn't judge all griffins based on one experience with one griffin. It's because others like you had that sort of small-mindedness that it was hard to achieve peace with the Griffin Kingdoms. Many conflicts with the griffins actually began because so-called 'diplomats' weren't very diplomatic. They refused to understand griffins and even insulted them to their faces on many occasions."
"Seriously?" Rainbow asked, honestly not sure how to feel about that.
"Seriously. That's why I'd like you to keep an open mind in Griffinstone." Twilight said seriously before breaking out in a grin and brought the book out again. "And according to this book, Griffinstone has a rich and fascinating history. In ancient times, roughly around the time before and after the Great Exodus, griffins were known to be as greedy as dragons, always hoarding their bits and other treasures. But all that changed when King Grover discovered the mysterious Idol of Boreas. Legend says the Idol of Boreas was made from the dust of golden sunsets blown across the mountain by the north winds. Possessing the Idol of Boreas filled the griffins' hearts with pride. It's said that that one great treasure is responsible for turning Griffinstone into the most majestic kingdom of all the land."
"Aha, so why do you care so much about griffins?" Rainbow Dash asked the alicorn as she flipped through the book.
"It was actually Gilda's visit that made me curious," Twilight admitted. "So I picked up Bygone Griffins of Greatness, and I've been hooked ever since! And now..." Twilight sighed at this point. "Now you two get to see Griffinstone with your very own eyes."
"Huh? Just me and Rainbow?" Pinkie asked. This was the second time the map had sent them anywhere and it seemed as though it was sending only two ponies. Interesting.
"Hey, you can totally take my place if you want," Dash said a little hopefully. Even with all the new information on griffins, she still wasn't up to traveling to the Griffin Kingdom. "I still have half a nap to finish."
"Why don't you just come with us?" Pinkie offered. "I mean you are the Princess of Friendship."
Twilight slammed her book. "No, no, if the map wanted me to go to the coolest kingdom in all of Equestria and tour the palace and see the actual idol that unites an entire species, which would be super amazing, I'm sure it would've said so." Twilight then took in a deep breath and sighed as she shut off the map. "You two can handle whatever the issue is just fine. I'll just stay here and do important princessy things. I guess."
"Well then, come on Dashie! We're going to Griffinstone!" Pinkie cheered.
Rainbow Dash sighed in defeat. "Fine." She grumbled.
"That's the spirit!" Pinkie Pie cheered before blowing a party horn.
"Can I come too?" A sudden voice piped up and the three adult ponies swiveled around to face a hopeful Sombra with Spike next to him.
"How long have you been here?" Twilight asked.
"Roughly around when you were giving a history lesson," Spike said. "Sombra wanted to see what was going on and we sorta came in without you noticing."
"Can I go to Griffinstone too?" Sombra rephrased his question then pulled out the pouty puppy dog eyes. "Puleeeeaaaasse?" He begged.
"Sorry Sombra, but only Dash and Pinkie can go," Twilight said apologetically. "They're the ones the map summoned."
"But I never get to go anywhere and Griffinstone sounds so cool!" Sombra whined and Spike smirked in amusement.
"Whining aside, he's got a point." He said. "He hasn't really gone anywhere since he got to Ponyville and even the Crusaders have traveled. Going to Griffinstone could be a fun experience, broadening his horizons and all that."
"But the map summoned Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie," Twilight argued, reactivating the map to prove her point. "See, that means that only they can go."
"And when Princess Celestia sent you to the Crystal Empire, she said that only you could save the Empire, but if I hadn't been there, Princess Cadence wouldn't have gotten the Heart and the Empire would be under the rule of a cruel tyrant this very moment. Thanks to me."
The three mares rolled their eyes when Spike puffed his chest out, but Sombra was looking at the dragon with awe. "You saved an empire?" He asked.
"That's right big guy." Spike preened. "In fact, the crystal ponies practically worship me."
"Wow, how did that happen?" The colt asked and Spike was about to retell the story when it suddenly struck him just who he was talking to.
Suddenly there was an awkward atmosphere thick enough to cut with a butter knife. Spike glanced up at the other mares in the room, their eyes also wide with realization and silently telling him there was nothing they could do. He then looked down at the colt who looked up at him with a wide-eyed, eager and completely innocent look. This was like that time during the Friendship Games when Spike got stage fright trying to light a torch in front of the empire, only ten times worse.
"Um- that's a story for another time when you're much older." Spike finally blurted out hastily, much to Sombra's disappointment.
"Awwww." He groaned and Spike patted him on the back.
"Sorry buddy, but it's not exactly a kid's story." He said and Rainbow had to hold back a snort. Spike had told the story to numerous fillies and colts including the Crusaders. Spike noticed her poorly hidden snort and shot a glare in her direction.
"But this isn't about me, this is about Sombra." He said, stressing his words a bit. "Point is that Sombra here could help a lot. You know it never hurts to bring back up just in case."
Twilight bit her lip and looked down at Sombra who was giving her his best pleading doe eyes complete with puppy dog pout. The alicorn held out valiantly, but even she crumbled before the might of doe eyes and a puppy dog pout. Twilight sighed.
"Fine, just stay close to Pinkie or Dash." She said then turned to the two mares in question. "And you two keep an eye on him." She said sternly. Rainbow nodded and Pinkie saluted.
"Aye aye, mama bear." She said. "You've got nothing to worry about, Li'l Sombry will be perfectly safe with us."
"Yay! I'm going to Griffinstone!" Sombra cheered.
Within an hour, the trio had trotted down to the train station and had purchased their tickets. Before long, they were all settled in their seats and on their way to Griffinstone. Pinkie Pie glanced around the booth at her traveling companions who both had their noses buried in reading material of some sort. Curious, she turned to Sombra first.
"So, whatcha reading?" She asked and Sombra glanced up from his book.
"Its a book on mechanical devices and how they work and such." The colt explained and lifted the book up for Pinkie to see. "Look, its got all these neat pictures with mammoths and such which make it easier to understand, though I do have some additional questions for the train's engineer."
As Sombra hummed thoughtfully as he looked at the page on trains, Pinkie 'oohed' at the pictures before turning to her other traveling companion.
"And what about you Rainbow, what are you reading?" She asked and her pegasus friend sighed.
"Twilight literally wrote a book on what we need to do in Griffinstone." She groaned.
"You mean like a guide on how to figure out what problem we're supposed to fix?" Pinkie asked as she snatched treats off the snack trolley.
"And then some." Rainbow groaned a little dramatically. "It's like Twilight herself in book form." She then combed her mane to look like Twilight's and started imitating the alicorn. "Always carry plenty of bits. The griffins are sure to help you as long as you share the wealth."
Rainbow Dash then looked up and was hard pressed to not let her jaw hang in shock. In the few seconds that she took her eyes off her friend, the pink earth pony had accrued enough sweets from the food cart that Sombra was forced from his seat beside her to sit next to Dash. As she'd looked up, Pinkie Pie had dropped a huge bag of bits onto the cart, essentially cutting out a large chunk of their available funds. As the trolley trundled away, burdened by the large bag, Pinkie swallowed her bite and let out a sheepish laugh.
"Uh, can I borrow some bits?" She asked and one of Rainbow's eyebrows rose.
"I have some bits." Sombra offered with a raised hoof. "I saved up some and Spike said I'd need them for this trip."
"Keep a hold of those bits kid," Rainbow advised. "I have a feeling we'll need them."
Eventually, the train came to a stop at the Griffin Gorge station. Unfortunately, since the Griffin Gorge station was at the bottom of the Hyperborean Mountains with Griffinstone at the top, that meant the three ponies were in for a very long trek. At the start of the trek, Sombra walked alongside his aunts, only being carried when the path became too steep or treacherous. But eventually, the path became more and more treacherous to the point where Sombra had to be carried the rest of the way. As he was riding Pinkie's back, the young colt took the opportunity to read Twilight's guidebook.
Upon arriving in Griffin Gorge, be sure to pause and cast your eyes northerly, up the Hyperborean mountains, taking in the breathtaking beauty of Griffinstone. Once in Griffinstone proper, go immediately to the palace and introduce yourself to the king. Bygone Griffins of Greatness was written a long time ago and it ends with the coronation of King Guto the fourteenth. I have no idea who's in charge now.
Tell the king you've been sent by the Princess of Friendship, and you're there to help with some sort of problem. If for some reason the king can't help, I'd try the Griffinstone library next. It's a little-known secret that if you befriend a librarian, you can usually find out anything. Plus, as a bonus, there's a statue of King Grover outside! Photo op! And don't forget to sample some famous griffin scones. They're supposed to be the best!
"Aw, Twilight should've come along!" The sudden comment from Pinkie startling the colt on her back from his reading. Just in time to see that they were just entering Griffinstone.
"Then she could see first-hoof that Griffinstone is..." The three ponies froze as they got a good look of Griffinstone. Finally, the silence was broken by Pinkie Pie.
"..a total dump!"
Pinkie, Dash, and Sombra were silent at first and then slowly entered, taking in the state of the city. A crack drew Sombra's gaze upwards to a branch that had started to break when a griffin had landed on it. Clearly, the branch was unstable and the griffin would have to move.
"Ugh. Maybe the map should've called Rarity instead of us." Rainbow grumbled and Sombra shook his head.
"Nah, I think Auntie Rarity would probably have a heart attack first if she saw this place." The colt joked and Dash let out a snort of her own in response. Meanwhile, Pinkie rushed towards a griffin with an owl's head.
"Excuse me, sir?" She said to get his attention but when she was ignored, she shoved her face into the griffin's. "This is Griffinstone, right?"
In response to her question, the griffin grabbed her by the face and moved her aside before proceeding down the road with a glare directed towards the pink party pony.
"Well, that wasn't very nice." Pinkie commented as Dash and Sombra joined her.
"See? These griffins are exactly like I'd thought they'd be." Rainbow Dash commented sourly.
"Well, auntie Pinkie did shove her face into his without regard for his personal space." Sombra piped up. "Maybe griffins aren't as okay with that as ponies are. Different cultures and such you know."
"He's got a point Dashie." Pinkie added. "Or maybe he was just rude. No need to condemn the species as a whole. Anyways, we should just find the palace so we can ask the king what's going on."
"We don't have a king, losers." A scratchy female voice interrupted and they turned to face a female griffin that had walked up. Sombra didn't recognize her, but judging by the other's reactions, they did.
"Hello, Gilda." Rainbow greeted coldly.
"Dash!" Came the more aggressive reply.
"Pinkie!" The pink pony broke in with a small cheer. Sombra looked at the three adults in curiosity before voicing his question.
"Auntie Dash, auntie Pinkie, do you know this griffin?" He asked.
"Unfortunately," Rainbow grumbled. "She used to be my friend from when we were fillies, but that was a long time ago."
Gilda gave the smaller pony a scrutinizing look before turning back to Rainbow Dash. "What's with the fun size, and why's he calling you 'auntie'?" She asked. "I thought you were an only child."
"I am," Rainbow said stiffly. "Sombra's just Twilight's kid and since I like to think of my friends as family, I became his auntie. But that's beside the point, what are you doing here?"
Gilda looked at her like she'd just asked a stupid question. "Uh, I'm a griffin and this is where I live?" She said in a sarcastic tone then shot them a glare. "What's your excuse, dweebs?"
"Hey!" Pinkie protested. "These 'dweebs' are here to help Griffinstone!" As she spoke, she raised a hoof only for the raised appendage to be grasped by Gilda's talons and pulled back to the ground.
"Help it what?" She asked in a sarcastic tone.
"Well... we're not really sure!" Pinkie admitted. "But it involves a map and our cutie marks and a problem and-"
"Bored now!" Gilda cut her off as she started walking off.
"Well if you don't have a king, could you at least tell us where the Idol of Boreas is?" Pinkie asked and Gilda stopped with a snort.
"Ha-ha! Don't tell me you really believe in that thing." She said incredulously.
"You'd better believe in it!" A wheezy male voice shouted and every one turned to watch a vulture-headed griffin tumble from his perch in a nearby house with a cough, a wheeze, and a thud. But the older griffin must've been tougher than he looked because, before long, he was out the door and shouting.
"It was the best thing to ever happen to us griffins!" He said and Gilda rolled her eyes.
"Oh, great. Now you got Grampa Gruff started!" She said in annoyance as the ancient griffin approached.
"I'll tell you the whole tragic tale..." Grampa Gruff said before holding a talon out with a cackle, "...for a couple of bits."
Rainbow let out a sigh before supplying the requested bits. Grampa Gruff studied and bit the coins first and when he was satisfied, he tucked them underneath his fez. Then with a clearing of his throat, he began.
"The first griffin king, King Grover, united our kind like we've never been united before or since! And he did it all with that incredible Idol of Boreas."
As the older griffin spoke, Gilda copied his gestures perfectly behind his back. Clearly, she'd heard this story before and Pinkie and Sombra had to stifle their giggles behind their hooves. Apparently, this wasn't a new occurrence either as Grampa Gruff paused his tale to turn to his granddaughter who was looking away casually with an innocent expression. Satisfied that the younger griffin wasn't up to anything, Grampa Gruff returned to his tale.
"And that idol brought pride to the heart of every griffin that saw it! From one king to the next, Griffinstone had our golden idol. We were the envy of all other species." Gruff said, his voice passionate. The older griffin then turned and gestured for the group to follow. As he led them a larger more ornate building not far away, Grampa Gruff continued his tale.
"It held us together and gave us an identity. Right up until the reign of King Guto." Gruff led them into the larger building which the three ponies quickly realized was the palace. Once they were in a room that was clearly the throne room, Grampa Gruff continued.
"That's when Arimaspi came to steal our griffin treasure!" He said, gesturing towards a broken window. "I was a soldier on guard duty at the time and I remember that dark stormy night like it was yesterday. That hideous, greedy mountain goat broke in through that window right there and went for the idol. King Guto tried to fight him off with us at his side, but Arimaspi managed to stop us and while we were dazed, grabbed the idol and made his escape. He didn't get far before we cornered him at the stone bridge over the Abysmal Abyss. But before we could retrieve the idol, lightning struck the bridge and it crumbled. We were safe, but Arimaspi fell to his death and took the Idol of Boreas with him."
Grampa Gruff then gestured to a stump like a pedestal in the middle of the throne room. "This is where the idol used to rest since King Grover, but now it has been empty for the past two generations. They say that when our treasure fell into the Abysmal Abyss, our pride went with it. King Guto was the last king of Griffinstone, and we all lived miserably ever after. The end!"
"That was the saddest story ever!" Pinkie Pie sniffed as she cried.
"Aw, well...Tough tailfeathers! No refunds!" Grampa Gruff barked out before taking off to leave.
"No wonder Twilight's book ended with the coronation of King Guto." Pinkie said. "Who'd want to record a history that sad?"
"It's not sad!" Gilda snapped as her grandfather let himself out, getting caught in the process. "Do we look sad to you?" She growled as Gruff scrabbled to get free until he finally popped through.
Sombra gave her a look that clearly said, 'do you really want me to answer that'? Rainbow Dash, however, wasn't paying attention. She was looking at the pedestal with a thoughtful expression before her eyes lit up.
Pinkie, I think I know why the map sent us here." She said with a confident grin. "We need to find the Idol of Boreas and bring glory and pride back to Griffinstone!"
Gilda snorted and laughed a bit. "Here we go, typical pony hero complex." She said with a roll of her eyes. "None of us care about that dumb old idol except the old timers who even remember it and even they don't care as much as Grampa Gruff. Don't you get it? We don't care about anything and that's the way we like it!"
"I think Rainbow Dash is right." Pinkie said and she appeared on the griffin's back. "The map did send us here to solve some sort of problem."
"The only problem Griffinstone has is you!" Gilda screamed as she knocked the pink pony off her back and flew out. As Pinkie watched the quickly shrinking form of Gilda, Rainbow let out a snort of her own.
"Well, I don't care what she says." She said before getting airborne herself. "We're going to find that treasure, make Griffinstone cool again and get back to Ponyville! Come on!" She was just halfway out the still broken window when Pinkie stopped her.
"Wait, Rainbow Dash. What about Twilight's advice?" She asked and Dash gave her an incredulous look.
"What, taking a bunch of pictures?" She asked equally incredulously.
"She mentioned finding answers at the library." Pinkie corrected. In response, Rainbow Dash tossed the book into her face.
"Knock yourself out." She said dismissively. "But when you get bored of Twilight's tour book, I'll be at the Abysmal Abyss finding the Idol of Boreas."
And with that the pegasus vanished in a prismatic blur, leaving Pinkie Pie and Sombra in the abandoned palace. Pinkie reached down and scooped up the discarded book from the floor then glanced at the silent colt beside her.
"Well, it looks like its just you and me." She said casually before tucking the guidebook into her mane. "Well then, what do you think?"
"About the story or what we should do?" Sombra asked in reply and Pinkie shrugged.
"A bit of both actually." She said and Sombra gave it some thought.
"Well, I think Arimaspi was too greedy and confident when he went after the idol in the first place and paid the price for his hubris." The colt said and Pinkie nodded sagely in agreement.
"Very true." She muttered before turning in a random direction. "Remember kids to never get too greedy or you could end up falling into bottomless abysses." She then turned back to the confused colt before her and pointed a hoof at him. "And that goes for you too kiddo."
"Um.. okay, I won't," Sombra promised before continuing. "I'm also not entirely sure if the griffins are in the right either. I mean if their entire country just collapses because of one missing heirloom, then how strong was it in the first place?"
"Exactly!" Pinkie declared before ruffling Sombra's mane a bit. "You really are Twilight's kid, she's already rubbing off on you a bit. Now then Li'l Sombry, what do you think we should do?"
"Well, I think we should look for the library like you said," Sombra said. "And since we don't know our way around here, we should ask Gilda where it is."
"Well then what are we waiting for, let's get going!" Pinkie said enthusiastically as she led the way out of the throne room and back to the streets of Griffinstone.
It took them a while to track the griffin down, but soon enough they found Gilda walking down the street and pulling a cart with an oven behind her.
"Hey, Gilda!" Pinkie Pie greeted and the griffin practically groaned at her approach.
"Great, here comes the annoyance and fun size." She grumbled under her breath. The griffin didn't have anything against the colt, but the pink pony annoyed her. As soon as she reached the griffin, the pink pony started chatting.
"Soooo, word on the street is that Griffinstone has an amazing library chock-full of answers!" She said in that annoying high-pitched voice.
"Word on what street?" Gilda growled, already aggravated.
"Okay, maybe not this street, but on other streets, your library is the talk of the town." Pinkie amended, the earth pony either not noticing or completely ignoring Gilda's hints. Time to be blunt.
"The libraries right there, so why don't you go inside and leave me alone?!" Gilda screeched as she gestured to the building in question before picking up the pace to get rid of the pony.
Pinkie took one look at the place and wilted. The library looked decimated with very few books left. Some torn and scattered around the ground. Pinkie lifted turned a page in a book that was wide open, only for the page to come off in her hoof. She gasped.
"Maybe it's a good thing Twilight didn't come." She murmured as Sombra began to sift through the books. The colt nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, no kidding." He said. "She'd likely have an aneurysm if she saw this." As Pinkie went to talk to King Grover's statue, Sombra continued to sort through the books. Once she was out of sight, Sombra glanced around. Once he was satisfied that the coast was clear, he removed his saddlebags and opened one of them.
"Okay, the coast is clear. " He said quietly. Upon his signal, four lithe creatures crept out of the bag. Immediately, Onyx rushed up to her favorite perch in Sombra's mane and gave him a sharp look.
"I'm sorry, but you know I couldn't let anypony see you," Sombra said as he shrugged helplessly. Onyx huffed, but in the end, conceded the point. Now while the four ferrets were it the bag they had heard everything but now that they were out, they were able to take in their surroundings and agreed with Pinkie's earlier assessment. This place was a dump. It just baffled them that a kingdom could fall into ruin so completely over a missing chunk of gold.
"Okay, we've got a lot of research to do so would you mind helping me track down some books?" Sombra asked and the ferrets shook their heads then scattered into the ruins of the library.
It didn't take them long to track down every book in the library. It seemed as though at some point, all of the more valuable or useful books had been taken long ago and probably sold. What was left were various miscellaneous books. Sombra tucked a few books on machinery into his bag as they seemed more informative on the subject, but otherwise, he couldn't much. As hey examined some griffin cooking and baking books, a shout from auntie Pinkie startled him from his thoughts.
"NO SINGING, NO PARTY STORE, NO BAKERY?! WHAT IS THIS PLACE?!" She screamed to the sky, drawing Sombra's attention towards her and Gilda. As he tucked the baking and cooking books and Usher Onyx and the others back into his pack, there was an answering scream.
"You're welcome to leave at any time!!" Gilda screeched, propelling Pinkie into a wall.
"Well, that just takes the cake." Pinkie said as Sombra approached. "Wait, no! It can't take the cake 'cause there is no cake! Or muffins! Or griffin scones!"
"Oh, we've got griffin scones," Gilda answered with a small edge of pride as she gesture to her cart. "That's my specialty." Sombra glanced at the scones and honestly, they didn't look appetizing. Unfortunately, Pinkie didn't have such thoughts and immediately piped up.
"I'll buy one!" She said.
"Uh, auntie Pinkie..."Sombra tried to warn as Gilda plucked one off the cart but Pinkie didn't listen and instantly went for the scone as the griffin offered it, only to chomp on thin air when Gilda pulled it away.
"Bits first!" She said, holding out her other claw.
"Auntie Pinkie.." Sombra tried again as Pinkie pulled a bit out of her mane and placed it in Gilda's claw. The next instant, the scone was shoved in her mouth and Sombra watched in horrified awe as she chewed in a manner like one would crunch gravel. Complete with a sound like she really was trying to eat gravel.
"Well?" Gilda asked as Pinkie continued to try to chew the scone. "What, you like it? That's my Grampa Gruff's Secret Recipe."
'What's the secret ingredient, twigs?' Sombra thought to himself as he glanced at the rest of the 'scones' and seeing the twigs sticking out. Pinkie Pie on her part didn't say anything until there was a significant crunch that made her let out an exclamation of pain.
"Ow! I think I broke a tooth!" She exclaimed around her mouthful of 'food'.
"Well, whatever. No refunds." Gilda snapped to hide her disappointment. "I don't even care anyway. I just want to sell enough of these so I can leave this lousy town!"
Promptly, Pinkie spat out her 'scone'. "I can help you with that!" She said and grinned, showing off damaged teeth.
"...Now just pop those in the oven and you'll have griffin scones worth their weight in gold!" Pinkie declared as she slid the pan into the oven. A delicious smell was wafting out and Gilda had to grudgingly respect the baker. But only a little bit. All of a sudden, Gilda heard a collision and a thud just a few feet away. She turned and saw a familiar griffin on the ground and rubbing her head.
"Greta!" She exclaimed and went to help her up. Once she was up, however, Greta yanked her arm from Gilda's grasp and stalked away. As she watched the griffin leave, she was suddenly reminded of the pony's presence.
"Aha! I saw that Gilda!" Pinkie said with a smile. "You may act like a gruff, grumbling griffin, but inside you're gracious and great!"
"What are you talking about?" Gilda said gruffly as she tried to brush it off. Being among ponies had made her soft, she only hoped she could get the annoying pink pony to forget what she'd just seen.
"You just helped your friend up when she got knocked down." She said and Gilda cursed her luck in her head. Darn it!
"What her?" She asked as she indicated the griffin from earlier. "Greta's just some griffin I know. We don't have friends here!" She said then sighed. "I did have a friend once, but you saw how that turned out."
Pinkie suddenly made an expression that made Gilda look at her strangely as her eyes bugged out and went in different directions. Then she gasped. "Oh, my gosh, I gotta go find Rainbow Dash!" She exclaims before vanishing into a pink blur.
"See ya." She said before turning to the fun size. As the pink pony had been teaching her how to bake, the colt had settled on the rock she'd parked her cart on and was reading a book titled The Mechanics of Machines and How They Work.
"So kid, how'd you end up one of the princess' kid?" She asked just to start a conversation and Sombra looked up from his book.
"Honestly, I'm not entirely sure how but I know that she was the first pony I saw who made me feel safe." He said with a shrug. "I can't remember anything before then."
"Nothing?" Gilda asked interestedly. "Not even your folks?"
"Nope, just Twilight," Sombra said. "And Spike too, he's my big brother. And I like to think of Twilight as my mom even though she hasn't said it, I'm pretty sure she feels the same. She takes good care of me and even protects me from all the bad things."
Gilda smiled, it was a tiny one but it was a smile nonetheless. "And what about your aunties?" She asked in curiosity. "Are Dash and that pink ball of energy your only aunties?"
"Oh no, I've got three more aunties," Sombra said as he shut his book, now fully invested in the conversation. "There auntie Applejack, she works on the Apple farm and sometimes sneaks a free apple for me when I visit her stand. Auntie Rarity makes cool outfits for me a lot and auntie Fluttershy helps me out with my pets sometimes."
"Ah, so that's what I was seeing in your direction earlier." She said with a knowing smirk and Sombra's eyes bulged before he tried to act cool.
"I...um...I have no idea what you're talking about." He said with a nervous laugh that made Gilda chuckle.
"Kid, you do know that there's a reason why 'eagle's eye' means someone with acute eyesight?" She asked between chuckles. "And I am part eagle. I can spot things that ponies wouldn't be able to see. I other words, I saw your ferrets."
Sombra wilted in defeat knowing that he'd been had. "You won't tell auntie Dash and Pinkie will you?" He asked meekly.
"Kid, if I wanted to rat you out, I would've said something earlier when Pinkie was here." He said as she ruffled the colt's mane and Sombra perked up. "Now since I already know about them, why don't you introduce me?"
Sombra nodded and, seeing no point in hiding them anymore, he let them out of his saddlebags to get as much air and exercise as they could before they had to leave.
"This is Onyx, Tigers Eye, Moonstone and Smokey Quartz." He said introduced the four ferrets and Gilda nodded in approval.
"I don't really say this often, but they're pretty darn cute." She confessed as she began playing with the little creatures. "You chose well kid."
Sombra smiled widely. "Thanks!" He said happily. "You know Pinkie's right. You try to play tough, but your really very nice under that tough rude exterior. I know you tried to hide it, but you were actually disappointed when Pinkie didn't like your scones."
Gilda gave a hollow snort. "Heh, and I work so hard on my tough exterior." She said ruefully. "Around these parts you have to act tough in order to protect yourself and your bits. Its every griffin for themselves here and any sort of weakness is something to be exploited."
"Does it really have to be that way though?" Sombra asked with a frown. "Can't every griffin just get along and work together?"
"Like I said, kid, we don't have friends here," Gilda said with finality.
Sombra glanced around at the other griffins and observed to the way they interacted with each other. "And all of this because of some missing knick-knack." He murmured. "Aside from being some old trinket, what exactly does the Idol of Boreas do? I know that the Elements of Harmony and the Crystal Heart do something important, so what about the idol? What does it do?"
"Near as I can, just sit around looking pretty," Gilda said with a shrug as she checked the scones.
"That makes even less sense," Sombra said in exasperation. "The Elements of Harmony and the Crystal Heart are relics that are important tools for protecting Equestria and the Crystal Empire respectively so it would make a little more sense if our kingdom were to collapse if they were lost or destroyed. Even then I think Equestria and the Crystal Empire would be more sturdy than that and wouldn't fall to ruin that easily. The Idol of Boreas in comparison is just a worthless chunk of gold so what does it say about griffins when it's loss leads to this?"
Gilda didn't say anything because the kid had a point. What did it say about griffin kind when their kingdom collapsed because of the loss of an idol that was essentially a paperweight? A whole lot, that's what. Especially when their neighbors whom many griffins would call 'weak' were doing a lot better than they were now. As she thought this out, she found that the scones were finally done and after trying one, smiled a bit.
"Hmmm, that pink pony wasn't lying." She said appreciatively. "This is much better than Grampa Gruff's old recipe. Here, try one."
The griffin handed Sombra a scone, and as they enjoyed the warm, delicious scones, Pinkie Pie rushed up in distress.
"Rainbow Dash is stuck on a ledge in the Abysmal Abyss, and I need your help to save her!" The pink pony blurted out and Gilda frowned.
"Not my problem." She huffed shortly. She may have had a lot to think about now, but she was still a little sore about Dash breaking off their friendship.
"Of course it's your problem!" Pinkie rebutted. "She's your friend!"
"Used to be." Gilda corrected bitterly.
"Can't you remember when she was?" Pinkie asked and Gilda nodded.
"Yeah, of course, I can." She said as she let her mind drift back to when she'd first met the pegasus. Her parents had scraped together enough bits to send her to that flight camp in the hopes that it would open up better opportunities than if she stayed in Griffinstone. She was a new creature far from home and a perfect target for bullies. Rainbow had stood up for her and became her friend. Her first and only friend.
Gilda quickly wiped away a tear that had formed a turned to Pinkie. "Fine. I'll help her." She growled. "But that doesn't make me her friend."
"Duly noted." She said and once the griffin had walked away, she turned in a seemingly random direction like she was facing an audience.
"Except it does!" She said in a 'stage whisper' before following. Sombra only spared her auntie before galloping after the two.
It went without saying that Cadence was enjoying her current reading material. The next few entries of the journal told of how they searched the library until they discovered a book titled The Legend of the Tree of Harmony. Finding it to be just what they needed, Celestia, Luna, and Starswirl left to search for it. A few entries later, Discord was imprisoned, Celestia and Luna became alicorns and were made the rulers of Equestria. Celestia and Luna still maintained contact with Sombra and even sent him a gift for his birthday. That entry was one of her favorites.
I received many gifts for my birthday this year. Some were just gifts from nobles to kiss up to me, but there were some genuine gifts from my friends. My favorite gifts were from Celestia. They sent quill pens made from their own feathers. Celestia's was made with Rhinegold with a sunstone to decorate it. Luna's had Mythril silver and a moonstone. I could tell that they put a lot of thought and effort into their gift and that was touching.
There was another paragraph that was written in the strange glyphs, but Cadence was somewhat more focused on one thing. 'No wonder those quill pens looked a little familiar. I've seen feathers like that on auntie Celestia and Luna.' Returning to the present, Cadence turned to page to another interesting entry.
Today was the day of the first Royal Summit, a summit where all the known royalty gathers to discuss things like how things are going on in their countries and form alliances. And you wouldn't guess who I met at the summit, Grover! Of course these days he goes by King Grover, but he'll always be Grover to me. We first met years ago when I was still traveling. I was passing through the griffin lands and by far they were the most unfriendly, even hostile, bunch I've ever met.
Except for Grover. Grover took me into his home, invited me to his dinner table and even shared his bits. Most griffins, if they even deigned to let a stranger into their home would charge them for every single thing but Grover shared without asking for a single gem or bit. I decided that I couldn't just leave without giving him something. So using some gold, a polished boreas stone, a common stone in the Hyperborean Mountains, and some alchemy I was able to craft a statuette to commemorate our friendship. After presenting it to him, I left and I haven't seen him since.
While we were catching up, he told me he used the statuette I gave him to unite his entire species and gave it the name, the Idol of Boreas. I'm not entirely sure how he managed it, but Grover's always been excellent at talking something up. Even if the thing in question is a rotten rat, he could make you think that it is the most excellent delicacy in the world. So, it's not too far-fetched for me to believe that he used a trinket I made from some gold coins and a common stone is some sort of idol.
When I asked him why he did it, he told me that he wanted what we formed with his fellow griffins. Before I came to Griffinstone, he often watched the ponies and wondered if griffins could be just as unified as them. And after seeing that it was possible with our own friendship, he decided to give it a try with his fellow griffins. And now he's the king of griffins. I can't help but wonder if having an idol is really the right way to go in the long run, but it seems to be working so far. Hopefully, the day will come when the griffins won't need a silly little idol to stay together as a nation.
Cadence had heard of the Idol of Boreas, but she didn't know that it'd actually been crafted by Sombra himself. Maybe someday she should pay a visit to Griffinstone to see this infamous idol. And maybe try those famous griffin scones while she was at it. Actually, any scones sounded good right about now. Maybe there were some in the kitchen. After sliding her bookmark into the journal, Cadence set it down and left to scrounge up something to eat.
As Gilda pulled them up the abyss, she was thinking. About the idol and Griffinstone in general. The kid had a point earlier, basing their entire culture on a knick-knack was flimsy, especially if their whole government collapsed when it was lost. A lot of other countries were making all sorts of progress and Griffinstone had made almost none. Especially without the idol. Forget the stupid idol, why did they need that dumb chunk of gold to become a kingdom anyway? They'd probably be better off without it.
WHISH!
Gilda jumped and almost lost her hold on the cliff when something whizzed past her ear at terminal velocity. The next moment she heard a thunk and a cry of shock and pain. Suddenly concerned for the colt they left up at the top of the abyss, Gilda sped up her climb as fast as possible.
"Kid! Hey kid, you okay up there!" She called out as she pulled herself and the two mares up. There was a small moan as they neared the top and Sombra finally answered.
"Y-yeah, I'm okay." He shouted out. Gilda however still didn't feel like the kid was okay until she could make sure he really was. So once they were over the edge, she instantly turned to where the colt was rubbing his head and began looking him over for injuries. The only injury she could find at the conclusion of her investigation was a small bruise forming on his forehead. Satisfied that he was relatively unharmed, her next priority was to figure out what happened.
"When you guys were falling, I wanted to help so I started trying to access my magic so that I could maybe levitate you to safety." He started to explain. "I'm not great at calling up my magic and I've only ever managed to do it on two occasions but they were both magic surges where I had little to no control over what my magic was doing. I was hoping I would get lucky and then I got a spark."
At this point, Sombra's eyes brightened. "I activated a levitation spell and judging by the fact that you stopped screaming at around the same time, I assumed I'd caught you. Then when I tried to pull up whatever I snagged, it shot up at me and smacked me in the face. But on the bright side, I managed to call on my magic!"
As three of the elder creatures smiled at Sombra's positivity and Gilda chuckled as she ruffled his mane. "That you did, fun size." She said. "While I'm pretty sure you didn't snag us, you may have just snagged a rock or something, it's still an impressive feat."
As Sombra beamed proudly while Pinkie fussed over him, Gilda and Rainbow glanced around the clearing to spot what might've struck the kid. Rainbow was the one who spotted the perpetrator and her jaw dropped.
"Uh, hey Gilda?" She called out.
"Yeah?"
"Remember why I went down into the Abysmal Abyss in the first place?" Dash asked and Gilda gave her a funny look.
"Uumm...Yeah? Why?" She asked.
"Well....." She said as she turned with something in her hooves. "It looks like we weren't completely unsuccessful."
Now it was Gilda's turn to stare slack-jawed for in Dash's hooves was the Idol of Boreas. There was a long beat of silence as everyone took in the situation and put two and two together.
"So I guess this is what I snagged in my levitation field," Sombra said as he examined the idol. "It's dirtier than I imagined it would be."
Gilda snorted and Dash flew over to the griffin and dropped the idol in her talons. "Here you go, now you can restore Griffinstone."
Gilda was silent as she looked over the idol, her expression unreadable. Then after a time she turned to Sombra and set it down in front of him.
"Here ya go kid, one souvenir of Griffinstone." She said casually as if she wasn't talking about an ancient relic that had held together a nation. "Put it on your mantle or something."
Rainbow's jaw dropped again. "Wha- You- The- Huh-?" She struggled to form a coherent sentence for a full minute before finally blurting one out. "What are you doing?"
"The right thing," Gilda replied. "It just seems a flimsy to rely on some knick-knack that could get stolen again to hold our nation together. Plus, if I brought the idol back then I would be crowned queen and that just seems like too much of a hassle."
"Seriously?" Dash asked and Gilda shrugged.
"You've seen my 'leadership skills' If you could even call it that," Gilda said. "I couldn't even lead our flying team, what makes you think I could take charge of a kingdom? But it all seriousness, I feel like this is something that needs to happen and when your a hunter, you learn how to follow your gut pretty quickly. The idol has served its purpose in getting us this far, now its time to stand on our own four feet."
"Yeah, but now we'll never be able to solve Griffinstone's problem," Rainbow argued but this time, Pinkie was the one to reply.
"That's what I was trying to tell you!" She said. "The map didn't send us here to find the lost Idol of Boreas. It sent us here to replace it with something better!"
"Nothing's better than gold to a griffin." Gilda pointed out.
"That's because you don't have friendship!" Pinkie said with a smile. "If you can learn to care about each other again, Griffinstone could be a mightier kingdom than it ever was before! And you don't need some golden idol to do that. You just need each other."
"Whoa Pinkie. That was.. really sappy." Dash said and Gilda nodded.
"Yeah, I agree." She said and Pinkie just shrugged.
"Eh, what can I say? That's how I roll." She said before springing forward to bounce back to town. "Now come on, let's get back to town so you can get started."
As Gilda packed the Idol of Boreas into Sombra's saddlebags, the colt looked at her and the pegasus not too far away. "Maybe that isn't the only reason why the map sent you here?" He piped up and everyone paused to look at him as he continued. "Maybe the map sent you here to reconcile with each other."
All three paused to take that in until finally, Gilda turned to Pinkie and Rainbow Dash. "Um, I'm sorry I was such a jerk last time." She apologized. "It was rude and uncalled for. I was just acting how griffins usually do here and completely forgot that I wasn't in Griffinstone. Can you...forgive me?"
"Oh Gilda, I already have." Pinkie said with a pat on her head.
"Yeah, me too," Rainbow added. "I'll admit I've been holding a grudge for a while, but we're cool now."
"Cool. Thank you." Gilda said with a smile.
"Now can we get back to Griffinstone?" Sombra asked a little impatiently and everyone smiled at him.
"Sure kid, let's get going," Gilda answered for the others and they set off for Griffinstone proper.
"I don't know Pinkie. You really think these griffins are up for this? We aren't exactly in Ponyville, you know." Rainbow asked, already having a few second thoughts as they watched Gilda interact with a griffin named Greta. Once they had returned to the cart, Pinkie had given Gilda the (somehow) still warm scones and pushed her off to make a friend. Pinkie didn't reply, but she didn't need to as Gilda rushed up to them looking a little excited.
"Okay, so she was a little weirded out until I gave her the scone." She said. "Then she tried it and said it tasted good! That's the first nice thing anygriffin's ever said to me!"
At that moment, Pinkie and Rainbow's cutiemarks began ringing, indicating that the job was done. "Whoa Pinkie. I guess that really was the problem we needed to solve."
Pinkie grinned and slowly began to raise her container of baking powder. "And we did all with.....baking powder!"
Rainbow sighed and turned to Gilda Well, we'd better be heading home."
"What?" Gilda screeched "Y-Y-You want me to spread friendship here by myself?! How am I supposed to do that?! I haven't even made one single friend yet!"
"No, you haven't. You've made three." Dash said and Pinkie looked like she was going to cry tears of happiness.
"Hugging! Hugging now!" She wept and everyone pulled together for a group hug.
"But you'll come back and visit, right?" Gilda asked worriedly as she ran a claw through Sombra's mane.
"Just try and stop us!" Rainbow declared boldly and Sombra looked up at the griffin as she tried to pry herself from Pinkie's grasp.
"Yeah, and just so you can remember me, here." Sombra then dug around his bag and held out his various cooking and baking books. "I found these at the library and I figured you could make better use of them."
Gilda grabbed the books and sorted through them before giving Sombra a smile and ruffling his mane. "Thanks, kid, these'll help a lot. I'll see you around too, right?"
"Of course. In fact, if you want, I could call you my big sis." He offered and Gilda gave it some thought.
"Big sis huh? I've always wanted a sibling so, why not." Gilda said with a shrug and a light mane ruffle. "You've got a deal...little bro."
Sombra giggled and tried to fight off her talons. Half an hour later, the ponies were finally leaving and as they left, Pinkie glanced back to where Gilda and Greta were enjoying scones and chatting with each other and she knew they'd be okay. She then glanced up at the statue that they were standing in front of and sent a flirtatious wink in its direction.
"Se ya later, you old charmer." She said to the statue.
"Uh, Pinkie? Who are you talking to?" Rainbow asked in confusion.
"Nopony!" Pinkie answered. Come on, let's go home and see how gummy did with Granny Pie's Marjolaine Recipe!"
Sombra, however, wasn't paying attention and was instead glancing between Pinkie and the statue of King Grover as disgust began to well up for some reason he couldn't explain. It was the kind of disgust on feels when their closest family member flirts with a best friend.
"Ew!" Was all the colt could say about the situation.
"So how was Griffinstone?" Spike asked as Rainbow and Sombra entered the map room.
"It was lots of fun!" Sombra answered. "I even got a souvenir."
"Really? Let's see it." Spike answered. Sombra nodded and reached into his saddlebags to pulled his souvenir out and place it on the table.
"It needs a little cleaning, but otherwise it's pretty awesome right?" He said but Twilight and Spike didn't answer as they were too busy staring at the Idol of Boreas with hanging jaws.
Rainbow cackled at their expressions. "Yeah, I had that same reaction too." She said between chortles.
Whew! This is a monster chapter, and probably the longest I've ever published. I hope you enjoyed it and I will see you guys next chapter. Thank you for liking and supporting this story! 
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As always, a great chapter man, keep up the good work.
Huh I thought we were further along the season 5 timeline than episode 2 I'm just waiting for the time travel episode and have 4 year old sombra in his evil timeline and get so mad at starlight he calls her out on her VERY flimsy reason of her village and the time travel mishap or even if he's not angry say that her reason is dumb and why it's dumb
Oh and I hope cadence will share with twilight and the others about the journal and I can wait to see their reaction to spmbras gift being historically significant especially gilda
You might want to re-read your chapter some. There's quite a few grammar and spelling mistakes that I think you should correct. Otherwise, this was a very enjoyable chapter.
SO CUTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[KIND GENTLE SMILE]
"Pinkie
Gilda." Well
Feels a little bit too much like Sombra's being inserted into the plot here in this episode. Oh well. At least Gilda showed her soft side for five minutes for Sombra's older self to poke through some more.
Buh-wah-huh?
Try this:
edit: Quite a few bits in this chapter are like that.