A griffon see's a chance to expand his horizons and takes it for all it's worth.
Sparrow is a destitute griffon who lives in Griffonstone. He goes about his day living life as he can. One day, a couple of ponies show up in town and start shaking things up. A very particular scone inspires him to make a trip out into the world. Why? Because anywhere is better than being stuck in Griffonstone any longer.
Sparrow woke up as a gust of wind went through his coat and brushed against his face. He groaned as he turned over so he was no longer facing the wind. He tried to wrap his wings around himself to make some extra warmth. The twigs that made up his nest cracked in protest of the movement making him more alert of the fact he was now awake. He opened his eyes to look around at the ruined houses around him. The day was just beginning and Celestia’s sun had begun to rise. A semi thick layer of clouds spread across the sky as the breeze continued ruffling Sparrow’s feathers and fur. Luckily the cold didn’t bother him much, perks of being a griffin, you get used to the cold weather.
He stretched out his wings and legs to ease some of the aches that had built up overnight. He couldn’t remember his dream from the previous night, so he decided today wasn't great for a dream journal. Sparrow always found solace in doing that. It let him run away into his imagination as he wrote, and if he was lucky, he could fall back asleep to return to his dreams. Today he wasn’t so lucky.
Finally standing up from his nest, Sparrow ran a claw through his feathers around his head and looked down at a puddle in the street nearby. Flaring his wings he gently flew down and landed next to it. Slowly he regarded his features in the brown, but still reflective, water. White feathers spread from his beak up to his head where they turned black on the tips. One bent down near his eyes and the next rose above his eyebrows with the third following close behind in a kind of cowlick. His mother had always tried to preen them down but he liked them sticking up. He turned to the side to see his feathers go down his neck with black spots randomly making appearances until it reached his midsection. In the middle of his front legs was a large patch of black feathers that sprouted about. A golden coat of fur stretched along the remainder of his body continuing all the way down to his tail with the few bits of hair on the end. He grinned at his reflection, he didn’t look half bad.
Sparrow was the name given to him after hatching from his egg. His brothers and sisters were all much larger than him, and due to him being the “runt” his mother thought it would be cute to name him Sparrow, after the small bird. Being teased most of his childhood had led him to grow distant from most other griffins, but, anytime they challenged him to fly a grin would spread across his face. Sparrow loved to fly; it was his form of escape from the bullies behind him. They would challenge him and then he would fly, really fast. Being so small meant less weight to carry around and maneuver. It allowed him to try out some advanced maneuvers at a young age to boost his speed, and in doing so, win every race. So when they challenged him to a race, he would meet them at the starting line, and proceed to leave them in the dust. He was elated to be able to beat them in at least one thing. After a while, this had started boosting his ego as one after the other, griffins would challenge him and then lose to Sparrow the runt. He liked to win and show them up. It got him bits and he could prove once again that he was the best flyer in town. Once he was fully grown he was only about a claw shorter than another griffin named Gilda. She was about a head taller than most ponies with a golden lions coat and white feathers that spread up to her face and beak. The tips of her feathers had a bit of violet on them that he always thought was a little cute. Sadly her personality was quite lacking, she was quite short tempered. Either way, that helped with being picked on over his size, for the most part. Over time though, they stopped challenging him, then stopped bothering him. Now he didn’t really talk to anyone except maybe Gilda once in a while, at least she would still angrily respond to him if he said hello. It must have been because he beat her in a race after she’d gotten back from that Young Flyers camp. She’d challenged him to a friendly race once she got back and without even considering what “friendly” meant, he rubbed her beak in the defeat. He didn’t feel bad about it either; all the other griffins would have done the same. After that she didn’t talk to him unless he approached her first and said something. Most griffins just ignored him at this point though, which suited him just fine. It did make him miss the racing though.
Stepping away from the puddle Sparrow began walking through the streets of Griffinstone. There were puddles scattered through the streets randomly from a slight shower a few nights before A few houses had lights shining through their boarded up windows and Sparrow could smell the faint aroma of bread. That reminded Sparrow that he hadn't eaten much yesterday and his gizzard replied with a grumble. Such things were becoming a commodity in Griffinstone. Not many griffins kept the things around to make bread as well, “too expensive” most of them would tell you, along with not enough bits for them making it for others.
If he had some money right now he could just go to the local restaurant and get himself something to eat. Sadly there were no odd jobs that needed completion and no one had bet they could beat him in a race for over a month now. Sometimes it sucked being the best. He sighed as he decided that was enough walking. Flapping his wings he rose into the air and decided to go into the fields outside of town to find something to eat.
After about thirty minutes of hunting Sparrow was rewarded a small field mouse. It wasn’t much, but it gave him enough energy for now. While flying back to town leisurely, he noticed two pastel colored creatures. One was a light shade of blue with wings flapping away keeping it aloft, and the other was pink, just pink, and was hopping up and down in a way he’d never seen done before. Getting closer he deduced finally that these were indeed, ponies.
“Why in King Grover's name are there ponies in Griffinstone” Sparrow muttered to himself.
Getting closer still he noticed the blue one had a rainbow colored mane and tail with a rainbow lightning bolt cutie mark. The other had a mane that was, of course, pink, and looked almost like cotton candy. Sparrow crossed his front legs and tilted his head in thought “Three balloons, does that mean her special talent is helium? I’ll bet her voice is really high pitched if it is.”
Deciding against introducing himself, Sparrow flew back towards his nest in town. With a little food in his gizzard he decided to stop at the local library and grab a book to read since he didn’t have much else to do today anyways. Scanning the bookshelves nothing really jumped out at him, and he’d already skimmed through most of the books on flying or the records on The Wonderbolts. He liked the idea of the fast flyers but couldn’t see why they stuck together. Wouldn’t they just get angry at each other over who was the fastest? He finally decided on one he’d read before that helped him get to where he was now, The Wonderbolts guide to Speed, when he was still a hatchling he would read parts of this book when he could get his claws on it. When bullies stole the book from him he would challenge them to a race to get it back. This continued for a few years until they wizened up that they couldn’t beat him. Eventually they just started tearing pages from the book much to Sparrows dismay. So he stopped trying to read things where others could see, he snuck it to his nest right before bed and he would read until he fell asleep. Today the afternoon was slow and didn’t seem to have anything interesting in store for him, so he sat in his nest and began to read his book.
****
A delicious smell roused Sparrow as he opened his eyes and saw his talons gripping the book tightly. Gasping to himself he carefully released his grip on the book; thankfully it was safe and no worse for wear. Just a few crinkled pages where Sparrow had nuzzled it like a pillow. Whatever was causing the aroma Sparrow guessed he’d smelled it while he slept and that’s what caused the drooling, yup, he’d go with that. The smell was coming from the middle of town which Sparrow recognized that's where… That couldn’t be right, it was coming from Gilda’s cart, and griffins were nearby her. Griffins were actually buying Gilda’s scones! Sparrow shot out of the nest like a bullet and dove immediately towards the small cart. He had to know what this smell was and then eat all of what was making the smell. At the last second before hitting the ground Sparrow flared his wings and stopped short of the cart and dropped to the ground. It was there he got a full whiff of the newly made muffins.
The smell was entrancing as Sparrow noticed how these scones looked, full and fluffy, completely alien to him and the other griffins around him. He made his way up to Gilda fully intent on getting one.
Sparrow eyed the muffins “Hey there Gilda, mind sparing a scone for an old friend?” looking at Gilda’s expression of distaste he guessed they weren’t exactly friends.
“Friend? I don’t think we’re quite there yet Sparrow” Gilda responded
Sparrow placed his claw over his heart, “After all we’ve been through?” Gilda raised an eyebrow at the question needing an example clearly. Sparrow threw a wing around her shoulder and stood close “Come on! There was that one time where we raced…And, that’s about it. See all the good times we’ve had together? Now how about a freebie?”
Gilda eyed Sparrow warily and almost said no, but, a little pink pony had reminded her of the true joy friendship could bring, and she wasn't about to ruin that lesson. Plus Rainbow Dash would have told her to give in if only to see his reaction to the new scones. Holding out one for Sparrow she said “If it gets you out of my feathers, then here. Free of charge” handing the scone to a shocked Sparrow she smiled back at him.
Sparrow had never seen this kind of display from Gilda. He was taken aback completely as if she'd lost her mind. "Thanks Gilda" He said with as much sincerity as he could muster.
"Don't worry about it dude, but next time you'll have to pay live everyone else alright?" Gilda responded with a friendly tone.
Nodding to her and smiling he trotted away from her cart and rounded the corner before looking at his prize. He bit into the delicious smelling treat and stopped. His eyes went wide as the flavor spread across his tongue. It was almost as if his mind was pulling the reigns on the rest of him because this thing demanded his attention before anything else. He slowly began to chew; the scone coated his taste buds in sweetness and fluffiness that he’d never experienced before. Sparrow’s mouth almost hurt from the sugar and he couldn’t help but smile as wave after wave of flavor passed through each bite.
Sparrow knew that this wasn’t fully Gilda’s baking. It was just too good. He spun around and dashed back down the street towards the now extremely crowded cart. Gilda was already busy with customers but Sparrow needed an answer now. He decided that shouting would be an effective tactic “GILDA! WHO HELPED YOU MAKE THESE!?”
Gilda glared back at Sparrow then turned and smiled to her customer as she handed over a scone and got some bits for the exchange. Before dealing with the next customer she waved Sparrow over and got a few annoyed looks for her trouble “Sorry guys, this’ll be quick.” She called out to her line.
Sparrow flew over and landed besides her anxiously awaiting an answer “So who helped you Gilda? Please let me know because I have to find them and, I don’t know, figure out how to get an endless supply. It’s incredibly important.”
Gilda sighed “It was one of those two ponies who came to town today. Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash.” Sparrow cocked his head to the side as Gilda looked down and scratched her other claw, “Pinkie gave me the last bit my recipe needed and now everyone wants some of my goods.”
Sparrow grinned at that last bit which he received a smack to the shoulder for. Rubbing his shoulder in pain Sparrow asked, “So where are they now?”
“On their way back to Ponyville on the train; what, did you sleep through their entire visit?”
Blushing Sparrow nodded “So they left what, a few hours ago?”
“Yup” Gilda responded while quickly handing over some scones for a bag of bits, “You could try to catch the next train to Ponyville, but knowing you, you’re completely broke.”
“Good to see you know me so well,” Sparrow rolled his eyes “I can just fly there, it should only take me a day or so.”
Gilda stared at him wide eyed and her mouth hung open for a second before she closed it “Sparrow that flight is dumb, even for you. That’s a lot of uncharted mountain terrain to cross, not to mention what would happen if you got hurt.”
Sparrow raised an eyebrow and looked at Gilda smugly “What’s this, Gilda the Griffin is worried for my safety? When did you start caring about anyone but yourself?”
Gilda blushed and took a step back towards her cart “Since, shut up! It’s a stupid idea and you shouldn’t do it.”
“You know, if you tell me that I shouldn’t do it, that just makes me want to try even more” Sparrow responded before lifting off the ground “See ya Gilda, might as well get out of this town while I still can.”
Gilda clicked her tongue and turned back to her cart. Then promptly turned back towards Sparrow and shouted after him “Rainbow Dash is the fastest flyer I’ve ever seen, I bet she would give you a real run for your money!”
Sparrow heard her as he flew away towards his nest to grab a few things. He grinned at the thought of someone who could be as fast as him. Now that he had to see to believe. The scones would just be a welcome side effect of the visit at this point. Plus he’d wanted a reason to get out of Griffinstone for a while now. Might as well test his endurance with the trip, he’d always had speed, but now he could see how long he could continue to fly.
In Sparrows nest he had a set of saddlebags that he’d used during school a long time ago, now he filled them with whatever provisions he had stashed away in his nest. This turned out to be nothing except the book he nabbed from the library. Well if he had to stop and rest he could at least read something. Looking out across the horizon Sparrow decided to leave while there was still some light out. Flapping his wings he took to the sky and started flying south, towards Ponyville
Sparrow flapped his wings as he soared through the evening sky. Finally, he had found a reason to leave Griffinstone. He hadn't particularly wanted to stay there of course, but it was his home. That was what he was always told anyways. The wind whipped at his feathers as he stared out across the horizon, some clouds poked out around the mountainous area that was the Griffon Kingdom. Such a sad looking place, Sparrow thought, if only someone would find the Idol of Boreas, that would set things right.
The sun continued its downward slope into the shadow of the mountains as Sparrow continued flying. He knew to follow the general direction of the train and that would lead him to Ponyville. He also knew that the mountains liked to play tricks on poor travelers. Many a tale had been told to Sparrow about the mountains when he was a hatchling.
"Don't go into the mountains little Sparrow, the rocks will come alive and eat you!" He remembered his mother teasing him.
Sparrow rolled his eyes at the thought, ya right, like a rock could do anything other than sit there. He was aware that going through the mountains could be dangerous of course. And that's why he was flying instead, he smiled at his idea, thinking he could trick the mountains. As the sun dipped below the horizon Sparrow could feel the wind immediately pick up. Not by much, but just enough to make flying a strain on his muscles. He continued to push through it as the stars started to shine brightly across the night sky and the moon came up from the horizon. Sparrow had always found an unspoken beauty in watching the stars and the moon. Like they were arranged in some kind of dance that only he could enjoy.
****
The wind continued to belt Sparrow as another hour passed. His wings were beginning to hurt from the gusts constantly billowing through. He didn't want to admit it to himself that he needed to land.
He could take a beating, he'd flown through worse, he was strong enough for this. All these things he kept telling himself but one thing still stood out to his mind. He couldn't land. The mountains would swallow him up if he did.
Without thinking, Sparrow looked downwards to the jagged edges of the rocks below and could see the sharp bits poking up, he imagined himself dashed against them and gulped looking back up and forward.
"Come on Sparrow! You can do this at least!" he said to himself as he flapped his wings.
As Sparrow flew a particularly strong gust of wind shot through his wings, hyper extending one of them further back than he could take. He yelped in pain as he began to plummet from the sky.
His eyes wide with terror, he flared his wings again, excruciating pain assaulted his right wing an tears began welling in Sparrows eyes.
"Not like this," Sparrow pleaded to the mountains "I can walk, just let me land, please!"
Right as Sparrow said that he felt the wind become calmer, like the mountains had actually listened to him. They couldn't have, no way Sparrow thought as he angled himself downwards and slowly drifted to a small clearing of rocks. Once he landed he dropped down to the ground gasping for air. His lungs burned from exhaustion and he lay his wings out on the ground. His wing hurt, badly. With no expertise in healing all Sparrow could do was reach up along his back and feel around his wing with his claw. Moving the wing in any direction stung like a manticore's poison. Of course it wasn't poison, and as he felt around the bones he figured it wasn't broken. Just sprained badly. That meant no flying for a while. That meant walking. That meant staying in the mountains.
Sparrow sighed "Stupid mountain wind trying to kill me" As he said that a few pebbles clattered along the cliffs around him and fell onto the ground. "Uh, I mean nice mountain for allowing me to land, ya, totally!" The rocks stopped falling. Okay no insulting the rocks here I guess. Sparrow finally looked around him to see the area he had landed in. It turned out to be a flat bed of stone perched atop other boulders with more rocks raising up around the area behind him. They almost looked like plants with how they were raising up, their own claws reaching towards the moon.
Lifting himself from the ground, Sparrow folded his wings back and winced at the twinge he felt in his right wing. How long will that take to heal, how am I supposed to race if I can't fly. How am I supposed to win? Sparrow stepped lightly as he hopped down from the perch he had landed on. The cliff arched downwards in a natural slope with rocks strewn all around. One wrong step and Sparrow would turn into a griffon kebab on the sharp rocks pointing ever upwards. The wind was still blowing through the mountains and gently brushing against Sparrow's feathers. He appreciated the gesture, almost like the wind was apologizing for what it did.
The moon was fully in the sky now as Sparrow picked his way through the terrain. It had been two hours and he couldn't tell where he was going, just that he was heading downwards and attempting to stay in the direction of Ponyville. It probably would have been wiser to try and return to Griffonstone, but being wise was not one of Sparrow's strong suits. As Sparrow walked, he was ever aware of the pain in his wing and did all he could to keep it still. Any movement was painful and he hadn't wanted to hurt himself any worse than he already had.
Sparrow had heard stories about griffons injuring their wings before. If the injury was bad enough, and they didn't get to a hospital quickly enough; the wing might not heal correctly and they might be stuck on the ground forever. Sparrow shook his head at the thought. No way I hurt myself anywhere near that bad. I've just got to find my way out of these mountains and try not to mess my wing up any worse. While Sparrow was pre-occupied with his thoughts, he didn't notice something peaking around one of the rocks nearby. It wasn't until the thing had moved away that Sparrow noticed the movement. It was already gone by the time Sparrow had turned his head to look.
"Okay, officially creeped out at these mountains now." Sparrow unconsciously began shivering.
"Goooo awwaaaay..." the voice carried along the winds
Sparrow looked around him once again, now getting unsettled. "Wh-who-'s there? I'm a griffon you know! Sharp talons and claws with a beak to match!" He stepped faster down the mountain hopping from rock to rock and stumbling every once in a while when one would give out beneath him. He jumped back and yelped as he pressed himself against a rock wall. His wing ached as he pulled himself closer to the wall.
A voice called out right next to him from the stone "Geet ooooouuuut..."
Sparrow jumped and started running down the cliff. Stupid stupid stupid; I should have just kept flying. Now the mountain is talking to me, I know I'm not crazy! Darting between the rocks and boulders was becoming a challenge and Sparrow needed to stop and rest, he couldn't though or the mountain would get him he told himself.
As Sparrow rounded a corner he came face to face with a large slab of stone. There were walls on both sides of him as his eyes darted around looking for an escape other than back the way he came. He couldn't go back, he had to keep running forward or the mountain would catch him.
He used his talons and claws and began to climb. His body strained in the effort but he managed to pull himself up and over the slab. He swung himself to the other side and dropped down. His wing screamed in protest from the sudden movement on landing. He had to keep moving though.
It had been well over thirty minutes of running through the mountainous terrain and Sparrows lungs burned as he gulped down a few breaths of fresh air. He hated running. Flying was so much easier. Flying, you just pick a direction and go. With running you could do the same thing yes, but you had to avoid obstacles and other annoyances.
Like griffons wanting to steal your books and tear the pages out. Sparrow's breathing began to slow as he caught his breath. He focused on a breathing technique his mom had taught him for when he was tired or angry. Breath in, hold for four seconds, breath out, repeat for however long it took to calm down. Sparrow did this for a few minutes as he sat down and leaned against a wall. His body ached all over from moving for so long, not to mention his injured wing. His nest sounded awfully comfy right now as he closed his eyes thinking on it. Sparrow yawned and didn't feel himself lowering to the ground and curling up, unfurling his left wing and wrapping himself in it's warmth. I should be moving right now but, Sparrow yawned again I'm sure the mountain monster won't mind if I just catch some sleep for a bit Sparrow's breathing slowed as the world slipped away from him, lulling him into a deep sleep.
****
Sparrow opened his eyes slowly and groggily rose up. Yawning and stretching he remembered his wing. "Ouch, why does it have to hurt still." he complained. Rising from the ground completely it was only then that Sparrow noticed the rocks. He remembered clearly falling asleep with his back to a large stone, now there were boulders stacked all around him only giving him enough room to turn around. He looked up to the sky to see the moon staring back at him with the stars blinking gently. Why does this mountain want to kill me so badly Sparrow thought as he sat down, yawning again, well this is obviously bad, guess I'll climb out again.
As Sparrow stood up and giant voice boomed across the rocks, echoing all around him "LEAVE NOW OR SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES!"
"To Tartarus with this mountain!" Sparrow yelped and jumped at the rocks attempting to claw his way up. He had pulled himself up halfway when he lost his grip and slid back down to the ground.
His heart was beating heavily in his chest and he tried again to climb up the rocks. Once again almost by some magical force, his talons couldn't find any grip where he had plenty before. "Come on! I've gotten through worse!" Sparrow said it to reassure himself somewhat, even though he knew for a fact this was the worst situation he'd ever been in.
Trapped like a bird in a cage, with nowhere to fly to with an injured wing. He slid back down to the ground and began whimpering "Please don't kill me"
The voice echoed again "FLY AWAY FROM HERE!"
Sparrow cried out "I can't!" he punched lamely at the rocks trying to get them away. Stupid mountain he thought as tears streamed down his face. Suddenly the rocks began to shift, Sparrow saw claws reach through a crack in the boulders, and begin moving them apart. "What in Grover's name-" Sparrow was cut short as an almost ten foot tall bipedal creature stepped through the new opening it had created. The being had two large horns like a goat sticking out behind its head. Along with a very large mouth with a few sharp teeth sticking out Sparrow noticed. And one large yellow eye in the center of its head. Sparrow remembered the story of the creature that had stolen the Idol of Boreas and began trembling. Standing on its hind legs and looking down at Sparrow the creature looked...confused.
No longer having an echo but still a powerful voice the creature asked "Why do you not fly away griffon?"
It took Sparrow a second to comprehend that the creature was actually speaking to him. Opening his beak Sparrow responded, once he started he couldn't stop "I was flying over here and the wind picked up and hurt my wing. Then after I fell I started moving through the mountains and then I started seeing these creepy shadows, and then the rocks started talking to me so I ran away and when I finally thought I escaped I wake up to find myself surround by rocks and there's no way out. And then you show up and what are you and are you going to eat me? I promise I don't taste good at all." He finished, out of breath and gasping. The creature stared back at Sparrow with its large eye. It looked puzzled for a moment before it leaned its head back and began, laughing.
"Griffon thinks it is rocks talking to him so he runs." the creatures laughing dies down and it grows serious again, "We have had griffons land here before; but never one who does not fly away. I will not eat you little griffon, do not worry."
Stepping a little closer Sparrow tilted his head at his new acquaintance "So are you related to Aramaspie at all? Cause you look just like him from all our story books. And for the record I didn't think it was the rocks talking, more like spirits of the dead trapped in the mountain." Sparrow concluded.
The creature shrugged "I do not think so but our people all look relatively the same. He left us a long time ago and never returned, good riddance I say." taking another look at Sparrows injured wing the creature asked "Do you need help little griffon? I have some healing supplies I could use, they will not fix your wing right away, but if given a few days you will recover."
Sparrow felt wary of this creature but still, his wing really hurt, "If you wouldn't mind sharing the supplies I'll take all the help I can get right now. What's your name by the way. I'm Sparrow." He held out his talons to shake the creatures hand.
"I am known as Auronipsie," he took Sparrows talons in his hand and shook once before letting go and moving to his side. He pulled out some kind of bottle and popped open the cork on it, it smelled horrible to Sparrow and his gizzard lurched at the thought of having to drink it.
Auronipsie laughed a little at Sparrow's expense as he poured some of the mixture onto the griffons wing. "This will help with the pain, and once it seeps into the skin under your feathers it will begin healing the muscle underneath. You are lucky you did not hurt your wing worse little Sparrow, you have sprained the muscle inside the wing. If you had exerted the wing any more you could have torn the muscle completely. That would take months to heal."
Sparrow shuddered at the thought of not being able to fly for that long. A few days he could handle though. "So first you try and scare me away and now you're trying to help me? Why?"
Auronipsie shrugged again, then he smiled a toothy grin at Sparrow and thrust a thumb towards its chest "Because if I, Auronipsie, do not help a griffin escape the mountain, it will trap him here forever."
Sparrow's eyes grew wide "So the mountain actually is alive!?"
Auronipsie continued to grin "Of course, why do you think they have grown so tall? How would they move the rocks around you?"
"You mean," Sparrow realized "the mountain was the one using the rocks to catch me, and you were trying to just get me out of here so it doesn't trap me?"
Auronipsie nodded as he continued to spread the poultice on Sparrow's wing "My people are strong enough to move the rocks away to find food hidden in the caves. The mountain does not like other visitors though and tries to trap them. We think it believes it is a game but we have never figured it out completely."
Sparrow shivered and looked up to the stars. What have I gotten myself into he wondered. Sparrow looked back at Auronipsie wrapping a bandage around his wing. Once the giant was finished Sparrow folded his wing back and he felt the warm healing herbs taking effect, it felt much better than it had a few hours ago. "So what now?"
Auronipsie smiled kindly at Sparrow "Now I will help guide the little Sparrow down the mountain and back to his griffon kingdom."
Sparrow began laughing "ahahaha, kingdom, hahaha!" he beat his talons into the ground as his laughing slowly died down "Auronipsie, we don't really have much of a kingdom anymore, it's become more of a shanty town I would call it. Anyways, I'm not heading that way. Would you be able to guide me towards Ponyville?"
Auronipsie crossed his arms and looked down to Sparrow until he stopped giggling "What do you mean shanty town little Sparrow?"
Sparrow looked at the giant in disbelief, he really didn't know "Um, Auronipsie, your Aramaspie came to our town all those years ago and stole an Idol from our kingdom, then we fell into disrepair after we couldn't get it back. It's been that way for as long as I can remember though. So about Ponyville."
Auronipsie's eyebrow furrowed "So that is what happened to him. It is a shame that one of our people was the cause of such sadness to your people. Alright, I will guide you little Sparrow. We will move faster than when you were walking on your own, the mountain will make way for me."
Sparrow shrugged at Auronipsie's statement "Hey it's no feathers off my back what happened in the past, far as I'm concerned Griffonstone was always just a boring town." He began following the giant before piping up "Oh and thanks Auronipsie, I didn't think you would help me"
Auronipsie looked back at the griffon "Why would I not help you little one?"
Sparrow looked disbelievingly at him "Because I didn't have anything to give you in return. No one in Griffonstone would have helped me if I couldn't pay them back somehow." Except maybe Gilda now. he thought to himself
The giant shook his head and turned around to face Sparrow " I saw someone in need of help, so I helped. It is disheartening to hear that your people have put so much power into money alone. But enough of that. Follow close behind me little one, I will take you to the base of the mountain and point you in the right direction."
Sparrow nodded and continued behind Auronipsie. As they walked Sparrow felt the cool breeze brush against him and it seemed to kiss his wing, still apologizing for what it did. The moon was high in the sky and Sparrow became entranced with watching it as he walked. Such a beautiful bright object, not unlike the sun. But again, unlike the sun, he could look at the moon and admire its brilliance. The crumbling of rocks under Sparrows talons and Auronipsie's giant hooves were the only sound as they walked.
Sparrow could swear that the rocks were moving out of their way naturally. He had believed Auronipsie that the mountain was alive, but not to this extent. He could see shifting movements along their path as they always walked forward, never twisting and turning, just straight downwards. Sparrow had been so focused on the rocks that he hadn't seen the sun begin to peek along the horizon and spread its pink light over the mountains.
****
The sun was shining in the sky now and was almost blinding to Sparrow as he stood behind Auronipsie. He and the giant had shared little conversations throughout the evening as they went down the mountain. Mainly just each of them asking the other about their town's culture. Sparrow had explained how Griffonstone looked now and how greedy most of the residents were. In return Auronipsie told Sparrow of his culture, how his race had resided in the mountains for centuries always keeping an eye out for travelers who got stuck in the mountains and trying to guide them out. Mostly he mentioned how Sparrow was the first visitor to actually speak with one of their race though, outside of Auronipsie and his village residents just scaring the others away with their voices.
Sparrow began to feel grass beneath his talons and paws instead of rocks. Auronipsie turned back to Sparrow and smiled kindly once again "Here is where I leave you little Sparrow. It has been an-" he chewed his lip "interesting evening." He pushed his giant hand towards Sparrow and they shook once again. Sparrow smiling at the contact.
"I don't think I would have made it through there without you Auronipsie. Maybe if I come back through you can guide me again?"
The giant laughed " I would hope you could fly through at that point little one. But I would not turn away the visit. Your company has been, acceptable."
"Oh acceptable that's it? And enough of the 'little one' I'm a full grown griffon you know" Sparrow faked being insulted
The giant smiled and leaned down to Sparrow "Anything smaller than me I consider a 'little one'" standing back up to his full height Auronipsie turned around and started to walk back towards the mountains. "Goodbye Sparrow!" his voice boomed out.
Sparrow grinned and turned towards the open green expanse before him. Auronipsie had pointed to the southwest for him to go towards Ponyville. It would take a few days to reach it now. But at least Sparrow had found his way through the mountains. He was one step closer to his race with Rainbow Dash.
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.
****
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...
****
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.
****
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.
Sparrow stared across the large open expanse in front of him. Though it was still a little dark out, he could still make out what looked like two rows of houses and one large house at the beginning of the rows. Whoever designed that eyesore needs some serious help Sparrow thought to himself as he walked towards it. I may as well go there. After going through that ravine my feathers are all out of sorts sniffing himself Sparrow almost gagged definitely a bath too
As sparrow continued his walk towards the town, he noted how he looked as far as his head would turn to let himself see. Clumps of mud had caked his fur and matted his feathers. Thorns on some of the vines had torn into Sparrow's skin as well and small bits of his blood dripped down his side. Seeing the blood worried Sparrow greatly, aside from his wing he'd never gotten any kind of injury that caused bleeding or much pain. The bullies had usually left him alone since they couldn't catch him. However now looking at himself he saw how broken down and torn he had become from only two days of traveling. Of course most of the injuries came from the ravine, but the mountain had tried to kill him as well. Sparrow was quickly realizing how much the world did not favor the unprepared.
Sure Sparrow! Just leave town on a whim without any other preparations, such a great idea! Now becoming irate with himself for the whole situation Sparrow realized he didn't have anyone else but himself to blame. He continued to walk towards the town as the sun rose above the valley and began shining down on him and the rest of the area.
Sparrow mainly kept his eyes to the ground muttering to himself and cursing often. He didn't have anything else to do; once he reached the town that would give him something to do and get his mind of this whole debacle. "Right," Sparrow started "As soon as whoever lives here realizes I don't have any money they won't give me the time of day. But," Sparrow raised a talon to his chin "maybe they're like Auronipsie and will help me for free. King Grover I hope so..."
"Halt! Who goes there!" A distinctly male voice shouted out. Sparrow looked up to see not only had he reached the outskirts of the town; there was also a pony on guard. A white skinned and white haired pony with three snow flakes as his cutie mark. He stared at Sparrow threateningly, ready to fight if he had to.
"Sparrow of Griffonstone oh mighty knight! Please don't slay me." Sparrow bowed down and flared his one working wing in a sarcastic gesture. He raised himself up and smirking to receive a deadpan look from the pony.
"Well Sparrow" said the pony while eyeing Sparrow from head to toe "You came from the mountains. Did you happen to see a lavender colored mare with a dark purple mane and blue streak? Her cutie mark is a single star with a blue wisp of smoke rising up. You'd better tell me now or the whole village will think you're working for her."
Sparrow nonchalantly approached the pony's right side and threw his left wing over him before he could move away "That's awfully specific but I think after walking across some plains and through a ravine, not mountains, I can honestly say. I don't work for any lavender mare. Unless she paid well." Finishing Sparrow gave a wide grin as the pony nudged him away.
"Well from the looks of you," the pony started "you definitely went through the ravine like you're saying. In any case let me be the first to welcome you to Our Town. My name is Double Diamond." he finished while pointing a hoof to his chest.
"A pleasure DD." Sparrow said as he took the pony's hoof and shook it with vigor. "So glad you don't suspect me anymore; hey your town wouldn't happen to have some kind of public bath and sleeping area would it?"
Pulling his hoof away from the eager griffon Double Diamond put on his best smile "Well firstly, don't call me DD please-"
"Sure thing DD!" Sparrow said while giving a faux salute and began snickering.
Double Diamond sighed "Fine, DD but only from you, if you let it start catching on I'm done with you." He finished while smiling at the griffon. Sparrow stopped his antics and decided to play it straight, he didn't want to anger his host. "Secondly, we don't have a public bath, ew, and thirdly, we sort of have a sleeping area but..." Double Diamond trailed off
Sparrow looked at him quizzically "But what?"
Double Diamond frowned "That mare I mentioned to you, she used to live here in this town. She used this building for her brainwashing to turn innocent ponies to join her cult. It was nasty business," the pony shivered "She would use a spell to take away our cutie marks, then force us to think that we were better off without our special talents. That is until six mares from outside showed up and reminded us all of how we used to be. I used to be a skiing champion until that mare took it away from me. Now I'm sort of the town's only guard and I go skiing in the mountains nearby on my free time." He stopped and realized how long he'd been talking "Sorry heh, you're the first newcomer we've had in a while and I guess I got carried away in my own exposition."
Smiling reassuringly Sparrow patted the pony's shoulder "Hey, I find myself going into monologues in my head all the time. No worries. Any chance we could go into the town now though? I'm kind of bleeding here and in a lot of pain."
Double Diamond shook himself "Oh man! Sorry, I completely spaced out there telling the story. Ya let's go." he motioned for Sparrow to follow him. They passed the first large house at the beginning of town. Or end of town, Sparrow couldn't tell the difference honestly. "To our right was that mare's old house where she 'watched over us' such baloney." Sparrow noted that it was larger than all the other houses in town as they passed. The early morning sun shone down the street but left only small shadows of street lamps and tables on the ground as the two rows of houses only left their shadows reaching outside of the town for now. As they walked one of the doors opened and a pink mare with a purple mane that reminded Sparrow of Pinkie Pie's own cotton candy poofiness. "Hey there Sugar Belle!" Double Diamond called out to her before turning back to Sparrow who looked curious "She's our resident baker. Makes all kinds of delicious treats, but her specialty is cupcakes as you can see by her cutie mark."
The chipper looking mare waved back at the two "Hi there Double Diamond! Who's that you've brought with you," she took a look at Sparrow before covering her mouth with a hoof "Oh my you're hurt!" looking crossly at the pony to Sparrow's left she started fuming "Double Diamond! The first guest we get here after those six mares and you don't get him settled for somewhere to rest right away? What were you thinking?"
Double Diamond just blinked "Uh, I wasn't thinking." he offered as an explanation
Sugar Belle shook her head and smiled "You're such a doofus Diamond." She approached Sparrow and he looked down to see her joy filled maroon eyes looking back at his, "Hi, I'm Sugar Belle," she offered a hoof which Sparrow shook as he smiled. "Sorry about Diamond, he's a nice guy, but sometimes he doesn't see things that are clearly in front of him. What was your name again?"
"The name's Sparrow," he said jabbing a talon at himself "came here through the ravine so if you know a place I could go wash off all this mud and sleep for a while I'd really appreciate it. But..." Sparrow drooped as Sugar Belle looked to him curiously "I don't have any money so if you just have some kind of pond or something that's fine."
Suddenly Sparrow was booped on the nose by Sugar Belle's hoof "Come on silly, I'll show you where you can stay. Hold on for one sec though okay?" Sparrow nodded as she disappeared inside her house and Diamond finally approached him again sighing.
"Sorry, I didn't even consider your injuries, or even how long you've been traveling. I think I know where she means to have you stay though." Double Diamond finished as he pointed a hoof towards the large house at the beginning of the town.
"No way," Sparrow whispered. This was the second time someone had helped him without asking for anything in return. This seemed to be turning into a common theme for him. Being poor back in Griffonstone had gotten him nothing but looked down upon. Out here in Equestria though, ponies and creatures alike were happy to show Sparrow kindness anytime. "You can't honestly mean to let me stay there without any charge."
Double Diamond smiled at the griffon "Why not? You're in need of help and we have the things you need to get better. We might as well." As he said that he could swear he saw a tear appear on the griffons eye before he raised a talon and wiped his eyes.
Sugar Belle came back out of the house panting for breath smiling. "Did you run a marathon Sugar Belle?" Sparrow asked, she shook her head and motioned towards the large house at the beginning of town. "That's where you want me to stay?" Sparrow already knew the answer from Double Diamond but he wanted to double check. The vigorous nodding let him know that he indeed was going to stay there.
The three walked down along the street towards the large house as the sun continued to rise behind them. Finally having caught her breath, Sugar Belle nudged Sparrow to get his attention "Hey so, how'd you get so beat up? I mean you've got blood on you and mud and your wing looks pretty bad."
Sparrow looked to his right wing and gave it a test wiggle, it didn't hurt much anymore. Now it was just sore. Sparrow smiled at the mare "My wing actually isn't bad anymore, I hurt it trying to fly over the mountains by Griffonstone. Then I spent the night walking down the mountain range, and I spent the next night walking along the shoreline by this valley's mountain range before passing through a ravine to find this area and your town. I met a giant, um, creature, and he put a poultice on my wing to help it heal. I'm about ready to fly again though, maybe one more day and I should be good." Finishing his little story Sugar Belle looked even more worried than before. "Hey I'll be fine," Sparrow reassured her, "I'm sure that staying in such a nice place will make me feel right as rain tomorrow"
Sugar Belle smiled at the compliment to their town and turned to Double Diamond scowling "Still can't believe you didn't just have him stay at the house right away," her features softened "but I'm glad I saw you two first. Else I wouldn't have been able to make some preparations." Double Diamond eyed her curiously before smiling and shaking his head.
Once they had reached the house Sparrow could swear he smelled baked goods. Double Diamond and Sugar Belle both approached the door and looked back to Sparrow smiling at him. He gave an awkward smile back as they motioned for him to go in. He gripped the doorknob to the simple looking cottage and pulled the door open. Sparrow was greeted with a simple looking house with a hearth in the back corner and two doors on either side of the small living room. In the center of the room however, was a small table, all set with food and baked goods.
Sparrow looked back at the two ponies behind him now both in the house with him. "Is this what you were doing Sugar Belle?" Sparrow asked the pink mare.
She beamed proudly at him "Hey how are we going to be great hosts if we don't even get you some food. They were just done in the oven too so I thought I would share them."
Sparrow walked slowly to the table with the ponies following him "The door to your right will lead upstairs, in there is a bath and a bed so you can rest for a bit," Double Diamond started explaining "But you look ready to drop from exhaustion so why don't you eat? Sugar Belle's food never disappoints since she got her talent for it back." he elbowed Sugar Belle playfully as she batted his hoof away then smiled to Sparrow again.
Sparrow approached the small round table and saw all the food that was on it. Two muffins with blueberries poking through on the tops, a cupcake with pink frosting some orange juice that looked freshly squeezed and even a sandwich with seeds and some flowers in it. He figured Sugar Belle didn't really know what griffons ate so she just played it safe with what ponies usually eat.
Sitting down on the other end of the table the two ponies sat down with Sparrow. "Why are you guys being so nice to me?" He asked, genuinely curious "In Griffonstone the only other one who's taken care of me is my mother, and she stopped doing that after I reached adulthood."
"We're not allowed to be kind?" Sugar Belle tilted her head at him "As I recall, you're the one in need of help. So we have what can help you, simple as that." She almost repeated what Double Diamond had told him word for word "Please eat, I just want to hear what you think of my baking, then we'll get out of your feathers." She finished grinning maniacally.
Sparrow chuckled at her over the top nature before reaching down with his talon to pick up one of the blueberry muffins. Bringing it up to his beak and taking a bite, the fluffy texture washed over his tongue and it took all his resistance to not devour the tasty morsel in one bite. As he chewed he looked at Sugar Belle and to Double Diamond, two ponies who knew basically nothing about him and yet they had helped him so much already. He felt the first tear begin to streak down as he said finally to Sugar Belle "It's good. It's really really good." It was all he could get out before Double Diamond reached his hoof over and held Sparrow's shoulder. His kind smile and strong energy helped Sparrow as he looked to him and back to the muffin in front of him. Then he felt a smaller much more gentle hoof on his left shoulder holding him. He looked over to see Sugar Belle reaching out to him as well.
It was safe to say that Sparrow had never experienced something like this before. Was this, friendship? True friendship? Deciding on what to do next he set the muffin down and pulled the two ponies towards him into a large group hug. "Thank you. So much." his tears fell down onto the table and the ponies held him and he held them. They didn't care that he was covered in muck and grime, they saw someone in need of a true friend and they acted on what a certain group of six had shown them.
"Hey, a friend in need right?" Sugar Belle said to him as Sparrow released the two ponies and the backed away wiping their own tears.
"I'm your friend?" Sparrow asked, he honestly didn't know. He'd never had any, all he knew is that these ponies were showing him kindness not unlike Auronipsie the giant.
It was Double Diamond who responded "Hey, anyone who's never been treated with kindness and needs it can definitely be my friend." He smiled at the griffon.
"Friends," Sparrow said, trying out the word. It felt so foreign to him but it carried a weight that he found powerful. "Ya, I can try friends." He finished grinning at his two new friends at the table while wiping away the last of the tears.
"Well eat up, you'd better not let my baking go to waste" Sugar Belle said to Sparrow in a stern voice before breaking into a smile again.
"Okay, did either of you want anything?" Sparrow offered the other muffin to the ponies. He was incredibly hungry, but he thought he could try sharing as long as he was trying friendship as well. Double Diamond reached out and took the other muffin before splitting it in half and giving the other half to Sugar Belle.
The three of them sat around the table swapping stories and enjoying the food laid out. Plenty of questions were directed towards Sparrow about his trek through the mountains and about the giant Auronipsie. Sparrow in turn asked questions about the town itself and what had happened when six mares had shown up and started breaking the mold that this so called town's "leader" Starlight Glimmer had created. Sparrow was increasingly curious once he'd heard the name of one of the mares. Rainbow Dash, she'd been here. He asked the two ponies to describe her and it was definitely the same mare he had seen outside Griffonstone. "How fast was she though?" Sparrow asked his friends, his competitive spirit coming back to him.
"She wasn't," Sugar Belle told Sparrow and he tilted his head in confusion "well until she got her cutie mark back. You know that mountain waterfall you passed on your way here?" she asked as Sparrow nodded "Once she had her cutie mark back, she flew from town to the top of that mountain and back in under ten minutes." Sparrow's eyes widened "Ya she was pretty fast after she got her cutie mark back." Sugar Belle repeated smiling and giggling at Sparrow's reaction.
"Why do you ask?" Double Diamond nudged Sparrows side "Thinking about asking her out?"
Sparrow blushed and sputtered for a moment before responding "Wha- No! I'm going to race her and win!" Sparrow found his resolve as thrust a talon at himself
"Well well, that's a pretty tough order you've got for yourself then. Maybe you should work on getting your wing healed up first?" Sugar Belle said to Sparrow, snapping him out of his fantasy.
"Ya I suppose you're right." Sparrow said while finishing the last of his sandwich. The three of them sat and talked for a little longer before Sparrow started yawning often, interrupting the flow of conversation and earning him a few giggles from Sugar Belle. The two ponies, no, his two friends both waved goodbye as they closed the door and left Sparrow to go clean himself up. Now that he had a full gizzard he felt alive again. Nothing but seeds for a few days will do that to you Sparrow thought to himself as he walked upstairs and into the bathroom. He spent an hour washing himself in the bath, he'd had to remove his bandage around his wing and throw it in the waste bin before stepping into the warm water. He scrubbed away the aches and pains of his travels and let himself relax for a bit before stepping out and drying himself off with the nearby towel. He noticed a small lavender spot on it where it looked like some make up had been wiped off with it.
Lying down on the bed Sparrow pulled the sheets up and around himself, nestling under their warmth. Friends! He had actual friends. Sparrow could hardly believe it. Not even a few hours into the day and he'd made two friends, whereas his whole life had been spent without friends before. He couldn't imagine life without them now and he resolved himself to trying to make more before he ever went back to Griffonstone.
The cloud was back again. A deep blackness that swept across the sky and seemed to eat away all traces of light. Sparrow was flying again, doing his best to stay away. He remembered the searing pain the last cloud had caused him and he didn't particularly want to feel that again, so he flew. As fast as his wings could carry him though, the cloud was always there to meet him in any direction he decided to take. Thunder crashed throughout the sky and Sparrow was truly afraid of what would happen.
He looked down to the ground below him. The clouds had already moved to block him from seeing the ground or even consider flying that way. Sparrow looked to the sky above him, before he'd even turned his head he noticed the movement of the clouds again and they blocked out the sun and the stars that had tried to shine through. So Sparrow hovered in place, trying to find some sort of exit. A form of escape for him. There was nothing. Only the black clouds that covered all.
Sparrow felt not unlike a bird trapped in a cage as he saw the clouds begin to shift and rumble closer to him. This time he couldn't even try to fly away, they had him trapped. They wanted him to feel pain. They wanted to hurt him. And he knew why.
"Why can't I catch a break here, Grover?" Sparrow sighed to himself as he awaited his doom.
Just then, a bright flash of light struck through the clouds and Sparrow braced himself for the coming pain. Instead of the scorching pain that had gripped him before, Sparrow felt like something had brushed gently across his feathers. Then the clouds parted to reveal the moon and some one coming through the clouds.
"Be gone from this one's dreams foul creatures!" A commanding voice boomed through the sky. At once the clouds either flew away or turned back to their normal white and fluffy properties. The moonlight streamed fully across the night sky now that the clouds had cleared away. A lone creature flew towards Sparrow, a pony, he realized. One with a dark blue flowing mane that looked like it was made of starlight and a midnight blue coat to match. A crescent moon cutie mark shone brightly against the moonlight behind the large pony and Sparrow realized that this pony had both wings and a horn. He had heard tales about this creature from the older griffons back home and now feared for his life to an even greater extent. "Do no be afraid Sparrow, for I am Princess Luna, guardian of dreams and princess of the night."
Sparrow was confused "Wait, so you're not Nightmare Moon? And you saved me from my dream, why? I'm not a pony."
Princess Luna flew near Sparrow and began to explain "I once was known as Nightmare Moon yes. I have since recovered to my true self and taken my place back and the princess of the night. As to saving you, any creature that sleeps under the stars of my night sky and requires my help from a nightmare, receives it. I noticed you were having a recurring nightmare and decided to step in."
"Oh," Sparrow rubbed the back of his head with his talon "Sorry about assuming you were Nightmare Moon still. And thank you for the help."
"It is understandable." Luna responded and smiled warmly at the griffon "And you are welcome Sparrow." She then grew serious in tone and stared at Sparrow directly into his eyes "You know what these dreams mean do you not?"
Sparrow nodded then looked down and began scratching at the ground with his talons "I do Princess. But I don't know how to stop them."
"I believe you should look to yourself for the answer." Luna walked to him and lifted his chin up with her hoof. He stared into her deep blue eyes and he could see the stars staring back at him. It was like staring into and abyss, one of pain but also of understanding. He felt himself slipping away into the night sky as he stared at the princess before he finally pulled away.
"How am I supposed to do that?" Sparrow pleaded to the princess
"Look to yourself." Princess Luna repeated as a mirror appeared in front of Sparrow. He raised his head and saw the reflection of himself staring back. It was muddy and distorted and Sparrow couldn't make out all the features of himself in the mirror.
"I barely recognize myself." Sparrow realized as he turned away from the mirror and back to Princess Luna and found her smiling warmly at him. "I can make out a few features but it's still blurry. I can't see myself yet because I'm not truly myself yet. But I think, maybe with the help of some friends I could find out who I'm supposed to be in that mirror." Luna bowed her head to the griffon as he smiled to her, finally understanding.
"Now go Sparrow. Find yourself." Princess Luna said as she began to fly off the ground and away towards the moonlight. With a bright flash she was gone.
****
Sparrow woke up slowly as his eyes adjusted to the room around him. He was comfortable, he realized, not sore, not in tree, or a nest. He was in a small bed, well not small for a pony, but small for a griffon. Either way it had been some of the best sleep Sparrow had ever gotten. He lifted his lower half up and sat on his haunches on the bed yawning. Before he forgot Sparrow reached for his saddlebags and grabbed his journal. He began writing down all the details of last nights dream that he could remember. Of the dark clouds once again coming for him. The fear of being locked in a cage. Princess Luna. Finding myself Sparrow thought and wrote down.
Once he had finished recounting the events of the dream he put the journal back into his saddlebags and got up off the bed. Stretching himself Sparrow noticed another thing seemed to be off. Stretching once more he realized it wasn't that something was off. It was that something was on, fixed, back again. Smiling in glee Sparrow looked at his right wing which was extended fully, giving a few test movements he found it to be back in working condition completely. Sparrow couldn't hid his excitement as he grabbed his saddlebags and darted out of the room and out of the house.
Closing the door behind him he saw other ponies in the streets looking at him. Sparrow smiled and waved to them and they waved back cheerfully. Double Diamond and Sugar Belle must have told them about me "Hey do you guys want to see something cool?" he said to the ponies nearby. They gave some nods and he immediately obliged. He tore off his saddlebags and jumped into the air and began flapping his wings. As he reached past the tops of the buildings and higher still, he stopped his wings and leaned backwards. He began freefalling towards the ground and saw a few ponies gasp, and one pegasus smirk, they knew the trick he was pulling off. An old Wonderbolt favorite, the peregrine dive.
Holding his wings to his side and wrapping them around himself he began spinning in the air as he dropped faster and faster. The fresh air passed through Sparrow's nostrils and filled his lungs. Gravity did it's work and pulled Sparrow closer and closer to the ground. At the last second before hitting the ground he flared his wings and passed right over the ponies' heads. Sparrow cheered at the fun he was having and the ponies cheered with him. He flew back over to his bags before pulling them back on. The ponies now done watching him show off, dispersed and were talking amongst themselves of the griffon. The lone pegasus approached Sparrow, a female sporting a white mane and a small amount of pink if Sparrow was seeing right. Her coat was also a darkened blue hue, I seem to be catching the attention of a lot of dark blue colors today, and a cutie mark of a crescent moon with two light blue feathers circling it.
"Nice moves there dude. That's a tough trick to pull off. The name's Night Glider." The mare held out a hoof to Sparrow which he curled his talons and bumped against. "My buddies Sugar Belle and Double Diamond told me that you were staying in Our Town for a night, said that you were recovering from some scratches and a hurt wing. Seems like that's not the case anymore though huh?"
Sparrow grinned at the pony "Eh, the trick I've known how to do for years, I just needed to get it out of my system. I haven't been able to fly for two whole days!" Night Glider's jaw dropped.
"Two Days!?" Night Glider exclaimed getting a few wayward glances their way. "No way I could last that long without flying somewhere. Though Starlight Glimmer always hated when I flew."
Glad that he could talk to a fellow flyer who understood Sparrow nodded "But now I'm good as new and I bet I could fly all the way to Ponyville."
A familiar voice called out to them from a store "Oh no you don't!" Sugar Belle stepped out of her store front holding a pan of muffins on her back "You're not fit to fly that much distance, not yet anyways."
"Oh ya how do you know?" Night Glider questioned her confection making friend
Sugar Belle stumbled a bit over her words "I-I just do okay?" blushing a bit before recovering "Sparrow please don't try to make that flight. I know you feel up to it but I think you need at least one more day before you should try anything that long distance."
Sparrow tilted his head and opened his mouth to object but saw the concern in his new friend's eyes. Sighing, he agreed "But how am I supposed to get to Ponyville today then?"
Night Glider laughed "Besides walking?"
"Hardy har har" Sparrow responded
Sugar Belle giggled at the exchange "Take the train silly."
Sparrow's eyebrows raised up "There's a train here?"
Night Glider nudged his side playfully "Uh ya, how else do you think we get any food supplies and water out here?"
"Well I don't have any money for a train ride anywhere sadly." Sparrow said to the mares.
As soon as he did another mare ran up to him "Hi there, that trick was really impressive. Thanks for sharing." The mare reached into her own saddlebags and grabbed a small bag and dropped it into Sparrow's outstretched talon. He heard the clink of bits inside.
"I can't accept this-" He started
The mare interrupted him by putting her hoof over his beak "No no, you showed us a talent that you've been practicing obviously. I wouldn't take no for an answer anyways. Come back and perform again sometime!" She turned and walked away as quickly as she had shown up
"Guess that takes care of that." Sugar Belle said while giggling.
"Did you two plan this?" Sparrow sat on his haunches and crossed his arms.
"Maaaayybe." Sugar Belled said again while giggling "Hey, you needed money, and some seems to have found its way to you. I say don't question it." She smiled at Sparrow and they began laughing together as Night Glider joined in.
****
Standing at the train stop Sparrow breathed in the fresh morning air. He'd found out that he had slept through the entire previous day and into the next morning from Double Diamond. Sugar Belle had invited Sparrow and Night Glider in for breakfast after his little stunt and he'd had a delicious breakfast of sweets and other snacks. Double Diamond had showed up to eat as well and they sat and ate together like the previous night swapping stories. Now with the addition of Night Glider, Sparrow was able to share plenty more of his flight stories with the group. He'd asked more about the group of six mares who'd saved the town. Particularly about Rainbow Dash. Now that he had his wings back he was back in a challenging mindset.
After the group had finished eating they had all walked with Sparrow out of town and towards where they had built their impromptu train station. It was only a small wooden deck with an overhang meant to keep the rain off of anyone waiting. They explained that the train stopped by once every couple days to drop off food and supplies for the town. Sparrow had never heard of a train just bringing supplies to a town for free before. Griffonstone had always had to pay in large sums of bits. His friends explained that any town that was struggling out in the empty lands of Equestria usually were given royal aid. It made sense to Sparrow. The kingdom offered help outside its borders for a cost and in doing so creates the funds needed to distribute food to any towns needing help.
Sparrow heard a train whistle in the distance, not long now until it would be here and he would be on his way. He'd already said goodbye to his new friends when they arrived at the station. He hugged them all again in a group and told them thank you for everything. They had shown him what true friendship was and given him something to strive for in the future. Sugar Belle, Double Diamond, and Night Glider all said their goodbyes as they walked back towards the town and left Sparrow to wait for the train.
He'd opened his journal and this time instead of jotting down something about his dreams, he made a few notes instead.
Dear Princess Luna,
No Idea if you'll see this, I assume you'll find it if you check up on my dreams again. Well I think I've made the first few steps in finding myself. My new friends have shown me such kindness and I don't think I can ever truly repay it. The only thing I can do is take the lesson they taught me to heart and treat any and all who need help with kindness in turn. Sometimes all anyone needs to make their lives better is a little kindness.
Sincerely, Sparrow the Griffon
Sparrow finished writing and closed his journal before putting it back into his saddlebags. The train whistle sounded again as it crossed the horizon and cam into Sparrow's view. It was brightly colored and a small puff of smoke shot out of the top of the train. Once it had finally stopped at the station Sparrow paid the attendant and let him know he was heading to Ponyville. He went to the train car for guests and sat down in one of the many open chairs. Seemed that not many ponies came out this way very often. After the train had offloaded its supplies for the town it began to back up and chug along the tracks again. Sparrow couldn't wait to get to Ponyville. Pinkie Pie would be there with her famous treats and he would finally be able to challenge Rainbow Dash. Just one more day.
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.
****
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.
The sky of Ponyville had never been clearer as the sun waned in the horizon leaving the last of it's rays to shine upon the sleepy little town. Sparrow hovered in the air next to Rainbow Dash and they both panted, attempting to catch their breath. They had completed the entire skyline around the town in a few hours, what would have been days of work for a group of trained pegasi, the two flyers had finished.
Once he had caught his breath Sparrow looked to Rainbow and gasped out "426 clouds, how about you."
"You were counting!?" was all Rainbow could yell back as she continued to breath heavily, then she laughed "427. Nice try newbie." She leaned over and nudged him with her hoof and grinned at the griffon which he returned with a smirk of his own.
"Well at least we finished the job, now what?" Sparrow asked Rainbow as they began to lower themselves down to street level.
Reaching the ground and touching down Rainbow motioned for Sparrow to follow her "Let's go."
Sparrow tilted his head and scratched at the ground with his talons, thankful for the earth beneath them again, his wings were about to give out if he had flown any longer. "Where to?"
"My friend Applejack has a big house with plenty of rooms, I can't even fly more if I wanted to today, so she won't mind if I crash there, you included." Rainbow explained to Sparrow as he followed beside her and she flicked him with her tail when she mentioned him.
She was becoming more friendly now, Sparrow realized, after they had shared an afternoon of work together. "She won't think it's strange you bringing a guy home from work?" he snickered.
Rainbow couldn't help but laugh as they walked "Oh please, like you'd have a chance flyboy."
"Such cold words Miss Dash, I can't believe you'd treat a friend of Gilda's this way." Sparrow feigned sadness and held a claw over his heart.
The two friends continued their walk through Ponyville as the sun set and the shopkeepers started closing up. Buildings were locked up for the night and friends and couples wandered the streets as the night sky shone brightly down upon them all. Sparrow couldn't help but smile as he and Rainbow meandered through the town, it was so peaceful. Just the sound of crickets all around and the light chatting of ponies enjoying their evenings. Life here was peaceful.
****
A knock on the door of the Apple family house distracted an orange mare with three apples as her cutie mark. Applejack was putting the final touches on the meal for the evening when she heard the knocking before she called out to her younger sister, "Applebloom, can y'all go see who in tarnation that is?"
"Sure thing sis!" The bright yellow filly with no cutie mark looked up from her book in the living room to respond before standing up and trotting over to the door. Opening the door slowly Applebloom smiled to the cyan blue pegasus she had grown to be friends with over the past year or so, and then she noticed the rather large figure to the mare's left. Gasping she called out "Applejack, come and see this!"
Before Rainbow Dash could catch the filly, Applebloom had taken off to grab her sister, Rainbow rolled her eyes and grimaced. "What, don't want her reporting to Applejack about the strange male you brought along?" Sparrow chimed
"Not helping Sparrow." Rainbow Dash sighed.
Applejack rounded the corner with Applebloom tugging on her until they were in front of the door and she began pointing "See? I toldya Rainbow brought somepony along!"
Applejack looked to the griffon who gave a meek smile and a small wave in his defense "Well I'll be a pickled egg in an egg basket. Didn't expect Rainbow Dash of all ponies to bring over a feller for dinner. Applebloom can you go finish up supper while I talk to these two here?" Applebloom nodded and trotted off to the kitchen.
Rainbow sat down hard and put her hooves over her face "ARGH! It's not like that! We just need a place to crash for the night."
"Y'all are just makin' it sound worse." Applejack raised an eyebrow to her friend
"Look, we met earlier today and we had a competition to clear the sky above Ponyville of its clouds and now we're both about to drop from exhaustion, if you had a couple beds to spare I would really appreciate it." Sparrow decided straight to the point would help all involved in the situation currently
"Darlin' I got plenty of beds to spare, what I want to know is if you two are gonna be using just one and if I'll need to have Applebloom go spend the night somewhere else." Applejack decided to be straight and to the point as well.
"ARRRRGH! It's not like that AJ! We just had a friendly competition and we're both pooped and need a place to crash." Rainbow shouted to her friend, becoming increasingly red in the face.
"S'true, I almost beat her too. But that pony with the flying contraption got in the way of the last cloud." Sparrow grinned to Applejack hoping for an in. The eyebrow being raised in his direction caused him no end of concern however.
"Well whatever y'all say, you're both welcome in the Apple family home. We were just about to sit down for supper. Come on in" She stood to the side of the door and motioned for the two to enter her home. Closing the door behind her and following the two through the hallway towards the dining area she couldn't help herself. "So are y'all gonna be sitting across from each other to get a better view?" Both Sparrow and Rainbow Dash groaned loudly.
The rest of the evening at the Apple family household flowed smoothly. Dinner was a mixture of simple breads and fruits cooked to perfection. Sparrow and Rainbow Dash both ate ravenously, earning looks from both Granny Smith and Big Mac, pieces of food flew off their plates which they promptly grabbed and ate up as well. Cloud busting was hard work but Sparrow had never worked that hard in his whole life. His whole body was sore already, and he loved every second of it.
After dinner Sparrow and Rainbow Dash were shown to their individual rooms and found beds already made up for them, courtesy of Big Mac. A quick goodnight later and Sparrow was asleep in the quaint but comfortable bed.
Morning arrived much too quickly for Sparrows taste with the sound of a farm rooster crowing. He arose out of his bed and looked through the nearby window to see the sun shining through the apple orchard to reach the farmhouse. It was serene and felt like it was plucked out of a painting and placed in the world for Sparrow to enjoy.
A knock on the door drew Sparrow's attention away from the window, "Come on in," he called out.
The door creaked slightly as it opened and Applejack's orange snout poked through followed by her flowing blonde mane and rugged cowboy hat. Sparrow wondered why she wore it, but thought it would be rude to ask. "Mornin' Sparrow, Rainbow Dash already took off earlier, probably to get out of doing chores." Sparrow tilted his head and raised an eyebrow "Seein' as you're still here you can help with her share of the chores today." Applejack grinned to Sparrow.
"Figures she'd ditch, she probably knew that we would be doing chores." Sparrow quipped "Is that usually the deal for staying the night at the Apple Family's home?"
Applejack gave a vigorous nod "Eeyup, now follow me, you'll be helping me buck the apples around the orchard. How strong are your legs by the way?"
****
Sparrow's legs felt like they were going to fall off. The sun was beating down upon him from high in the sky as sweat made his feathers and fur clump together and begin matting. I'll need to preen myself tonight to fix all this mess For now though he was heading back towards the Apple farm house. The lunch bell had been rung and Sparrow couldn't wait to get back and enjoy more of the famous Apple family cooking.
Sparrow had been given a quick tutorial on how to buck the apple trees around the farm and then Applejack had left him to his own devices for the time being. He enjoyed it at first, it was a good workout and he was glad to be alone again. He didn't particularly care to be on his own, but being alone let him enjoy the nature around him. After a few hours though, Sparrow was almost regretting staying the night. His legs were burning as he walked, he was almost limping at this point and he had no energy to fly after yesterdays workout coupled with today's work.
Sparrow crossed through the last row of trees in the orchard and saw the Apple Family house down a small slope. He could smell the food they'd been preparing and it forced him to walk faster, if only to sit down sooner and begin eating. As he drew near the table set up outside he saw Applebloom running outside to set some jam on the table. It looked like Rainbow Dash's mane to Sparrow weird, I wonder if Rainbow helped make that
"Hey Sparrow!" the griffon jumped at his name being called as he was lost in the thought of the strange jam. He turned to see Applejack making her way down the hill. She was covered in some dirt and he could see a sheen of sweat on her fur, It suits her Sparrow thought. "Good to see that you made your way back okay. Figured you'd just fly though." she joked as she neared him and nudged his shoulder.
"Oh ya, after flying harder than I have my entire life yesterday the first thing I'm going to do after working for hours again is to fly, right." Sparrow deadpanned before breaking into a genuine laugh, which Applejack joined in with.
At that point Applejack's grandmother came outside, an old mare with green fur and a white mane tied up into a bun with some hairs poking out. She had and apple pie cutie mark, Go figure. Once the old mare had seated herself Applejack's older brother, Big Macintosh, came around the side of the farm house and sat at the table right next to Sparrow. Sparrow decided to break the ice as he hadn't met the gigantic stallion the previous night, only heard about him. "Uh hi, Big Macintosh, have a good time in the fields?"
The stallion turned his head to Sparrow slowly and blinked once, "Eeyup"
Sparrow swallowed before sitting down at the table. The food was served up, various fruits and vegetables with breads to supplement them. Sparrow decided to ask about the jam, "So the uh, rainbow jam," this earned him looks from the whole family "Does Rainbow Dash help you make it somehow?" Suddenly everyone at the table burst out laughing. "What? What'd I say?"
Applejack was the first to regain her composure enough to answer "Sugar cube, that's Zap Apple Jam, it comes from a storm that blows through here once in a while. It changes some of the apple trees to start growing these apples with a rainbow pattern on them." She began giggling again "Hoo boy, if Rainbow Dash thought these apples were caused by her, that ego of her's would inflate beyond the size it's already at.
"Oh, I see." Sparrow said meekly and decided to be quiet and just eat his admittedly delicious food.
At this point Applebloom piped up "Hey Sparrow, I saw you bucking the trees out there, your form need some work but I think you've got a natural talent for apple bucking."
Sparrow raised his eyebrows and looked at the filly "How so?" Applejack was looking up from her food as well to see what her sister's answer would be.
"Well we were all only working for about five hours, and I saw how many trees you got done before the lunch bell rang." Applejack looked extremely interested at this point as Applebloom looked back to her older sister and grinned "He finished six rows Applejack!" The filly grinned at Sparrow now and he couldn't help but sheepishly smile back.
"Well that is pretty good for someone who's never bucked apples before." Applejack said to Sparrow, "But I don't want to boost that ego too much, you and Rainbow are a lot alike." Both Applejack and Sparrow shared a short laugh.
The rest of the meal passed quietly and then the rest of the work day. Sparrow didn't even notice the dinner bell ring until Applejack approached him through the trees. "Oh hey Applejack, I just have a few more to do in this row."
"Sugar cube, you don't have to finish the row right now, I can just do it tomorrow." Applejack quipped to Sparrow as he began on the next to last tree. "Anyways, don't you need to be getting home?" This caused Sparrow to stop as he turned to Applejack.
"I uh, don't really have any place to stay here in Ponyville. But I suppose I should try and head back to Griffonstone soon, I don't think I even want to try racing Rainbow Dash at this point." Sparrow sat down and began clawing at the dirt lightly.
"Well why the hay not? You kept pace with her in cloud busting didn't you?" Applejack asked the griffon as she sat next to him.
"Well that was with cloud busting, not a straight race through the sky with no obstacles. I feel like I wouldn't even have a chance." Sparrow's head drooped down before Applejack's hoof reached up to raise his beak.
"From what I hear you are an excellent flyer. You deserve it to yourself to at least try and race her, that's why you came to Ponyville at all isn't it?" Applejack let her hoof fall down back to the dirt as she nudged Sparrow's side "Besides, if you did end up beating her could you imagine the look on her face?"
Sparrow shared a laugh with Applejack as the sun was setting "Ya, you're right Applejack, I came all this way. There's no point to backing down now. There's only one problem."
"What's that?" Applejack asked.
"I need a place to stay for a couple weeks while I get trained up for the race." Sparrow looked to Applejack with a smile
Applejack tipped her hat to the griffon "Well you're welcome here Sparrow, especially with all the help you've been today. I would ask you to help all you can in between your training though. Can't have you staying here for free now can we?"
"Oh thank you!" Sparrow cried out and hugged Applejack, she returned the hug and they both laughed.
"Eenope." came from behind both Applejack and Sparrow as they were embraced and quickly broke away to see Big Macintosh standing at the edge of the treeline before the large stallion immediately turned and walked away back to the farm. Both Sparrow and Applejack fell to the ground laughing.
The sun was waning on the horizon as the two friends just lie there, enjoying each other's company. Finally Applejack spoke "Well, Sparrow, we should head back. I'm sure Big Mac will be giving both of us a look when we get there, but don't worry, he knows I can take care of myself."
"Oh good, I was worried about getting pulverized during dinner." Sparrow said and they giggled together.
Both Applejack and Sparrow walked back to the farmhouse, Sparrow was content that he had made another friend today and even found a place to stay for his training. It would be a busy few weeks ahead of him. "Hey Applejack?" Sparrow began as they walked together.
"What is it Sparrow?" The orange mare looked at him
"Thanks for being, what's the best wording... Thanks for being you." Sparrow said to her.
Applejack nudged his side as they walked through the door of the Apple Family Home "Thanks for being you too sugar cube."
The door shut behind them as the sun sunk below the horizon outside and Luna's moon began to rise. I think I'm figuring myself out more and more every day Princess Luna Sparrow thought to himself as he stepping into the dining room with the Apple family all gathered at the table, I'm finding what I've been searching for.
After the first week of work, Sparrow had grown accustomed to the work load expected of him and his muscles had started to hurt considerably less each day. His body was becoming tougher with each tree he kicked and with each day that went by. Applejack was always around to help him out when he got too tired to finish a tree, he thought it was incredible, how she never seemed to run out of energy for her work. She was always cheerful and was always glad to lend a hoof. Big Mac was the same, in a way; while he would never do too much to help Sparrow out, he made sure that the young gryphon knew exactly what needed to be done to finish the job. So it went for that first week, the apple-bucking took up the day for work, and in the evenings Sparrow was surrounded with good company and great food. He truly couldn't have asked for more.
****
Sparrow woke up with the sound of a rooster crowing outside. He shifted on his bed for a bit before finally standing up. Stretching out his wings and yawning he looked outside his window to see the sunrise. It never ceases to amaze me Sparrow thought as he stepped into the washroom across the hall. He washed his head off with some water and proceeded downstairs. He had begun to bathe himself in the evenings instead of in the mornings, that way the filth of the work day wouldn't follow him to bed and he could start each day as fresh as possible.
Once Sparrow reached the kitchen he heard humming, it was low but definitely feminine. He crept down the stairs as silent as he could to see the event in action. Sparrow was rewarded with seeing Applejack in the dining area, setting up plates for each spot on the table. Each plate was then filled with plenty of oatmeal and a few apple slices from a pot in the center of the table. The tune that Applejack was humming was nothing Sparrow had heard before. He'd heard her sing before while they were working, he even joined in when he could pick up the melody. But this tune was more subdued, soft, and harmonious. It seemed to fit with the house itself and the life Applejack led. Simple and sweet.
When Applejack turned away from the table and began to head back towards the kitchen, Sparrow decided to speak up. "That's a lovely tune." He saw Applejack almost jump and laughed a little before continuing, "How come I've never heard you sing it before?" Sparrow began humming a few bars that he could remember, savoring the melody as it crossed his ears.
"Well you see," Applejack began "it was a song granny sang to me when I was a filly and when Applebloom came along, I sang it to her so she would sleep easier."
"Oh. Well I suppose that makes sense," Sparrow sat at his spot near the table and eyed his food. He knew better than to start eating before everyone was gathered, especially after he committed that faux pas at his first Apple family breakfast. He'd received a stare from granny, a gasp from Applebloom, a nudge from Applejack, and Big Mac had pulled him away from the table to tell him "Eenope."
"So where did your granny learn the tune from?" Sparrow continued.
"Her granny." Applejack said with finality. Sparrow rolled his eyes to which Applejack responded "I heard that." Sparrow pouted.
"Mornin' Sparrow, mornin' Applejack, what'd you make today sis?" While Sparrow wasn't looking, Applebloom had made her way downstairs and was headed towards Applejack in the kitchen, she stopped on the way to peak at the plates and Sparrow saw her lick her lips. "Oatmeal and apple slices, how'd you know what I wanted before I even asked sis?"
Applejack turned away from what she was doing to smile at the filly "Cause you're my little sister, and I know exactly what you want before you'll want it. Like right now you want, a big hug! C'mere you!" Applejack began chasing the filly around the downstairs area with Applebloom giggling as they ran around. Finally Applejack caught her and they giggled together as the sisters embraced. Not long after that Big Mac and Granny Smith both came downstairs and sat at the table. Once everyone had seated they began eating. It was sweet and simple.
****
The days work was tough. There were plenty of trees to kick for apples, but Sparrow always hated hauling the bushels back to the house. Usually Big Mac would be doing that in between other jobs of his, but today the stallion had to run some errands for Granny Smith in Ponyville, which left the job solely to Sparrow.
In between rows of trees that he apple bucked, he would then grab a cart and hook himself up to haul all the bushels that he'd gathered. He grumbled and complained at first, until he ran out of energy to even do that. He could feel his muscled straining and groaning at all the work that he was putting out. But he knew he couldn't stop, if he stopped he would be letting the Apple family down. Sure it wouldn't be such a big deal if it weren't all done today, but Sparrow knew he would feel more accomplished if he did finish it.
After a few more hours the sun was high in the sky and the heat was bearing down oppressively on Sparrow. He had to stop and drink water after bucking each tree at this point. His body ached and creaked at every movement and he had to flap his wings to keep himself slightly aloft so that he wouldn't have to walk as much. He knew this used more energy than it was worth, but his claws were beginning to cramp and his hooves were giving out.
Sparrow didn't feel the need to let Applejack know he needed help, after all he'd been doing this for a week now, and who's to say he couldn't handle the same work load as Big Mac. Even though he was bigger, stronger, and more red. It was getting hard to think as Sparrow kicked another tree, so he stopped. Then he lied down on the ground. The ground felt nice. I should take a nap. Start up again when I'm awake
****
There's that song again. Why is it following into my dreams. All I did was take a nap, no reason to get a lullaby as well. I even feel like my body is wet. Probably from sweat, or something. Maybe I should wake up. Ya that sounds like a good idea now.
Applejack stopped humming as Sparrow started to open his eyes "Sparrow! Wake up! I was so worried, are you okay?"
The sun was setting as Sparrow opened his eyes slowly, he grinned as he saw that all the bushels were gone from the trees. "See, I can do as much as Big Mac without help." He felt a sharp knock of a hoof on his head and he looked up to see Applejack with tears in her eyes.
Applejack was clearly disappointed, "You're a right git you know that. Thinking you could do all that work and not get anypony's help. Why wouldn't you come get me when you were getting tired? I would've dropped what I was doing to help you finish the work."
Sparrow didn't know how to respond without sounding like a 'git' so he instead asked the most obvious thing first, "What happened?" He tried to sit up from the ground but Applejack held him down, it was a good thing too because his head was absolutely swimming.
Applejack sat down next to Sparrow "You did too much work too quickly and you got dehydrated. You really weren't drinking enough water with how much extra work you were doing Sparrow. I wasn't sure if you were going to wake up. When I saw you just lying here next to the trees I grabbed buckets of water as fast as I could and had Applebloom help me by having you drink it and by keeping your head wet while you were in the shade. It's been hours and I sent Applebloom to town to get somepony from the hospital over here, you probably still need medical attention even after waking up. Why would you do this to yourself Sparrow?"
The stars began to blink in the night sky and Sparrow raised his head to look at them and then back to Applejack. "Why were you singing that tune?"
"Sparrow, I..." Applejack began before Sparrow cut her off again
"Who did you really learn it from?" Sparrow asked. He could feel Applejack's muscle tense up as she pressed against him "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, I'd just like to know, seeing as you were singing it to me after I had a brush with death."
Applejack looked at him and he could see a deep sadness well up in her eyes as memories flooded back to her that she had not particularly wanted to remember. "My mama taught it to me after she had Applebloom. She told me it was a song to keep somepony you care about safe. She would sing it for me and Applebloom every night before bed." Applejack stopped and looked away
Sparrow shifted himself closer to Applejack and draped his wing over her "Thanks for caring so much. It means a lot."
Then Applejack continued "When my mama died...I would go to her room and sing it to her empty bed every night, and then go to Applebloom and sing it for her again." Sparrow heard her breath catch " I sang it for you Sparrow because I didn't want you to go, just like I didn't want my mama to go. So please... Don't ever do that to me again, I couldn't bear to lose somepony else in my life."
The stars were out in full force now and Sparrow sat next to the orange mare, his wing draped across her as he felt wet tears splash onto his wing. Then, it was Applejack's turn to be surprised.
Sparrow began to hum Applejack's song. She turned and looked at him with tears in her eyes as he looked up to the sky and continued the tune. It carried through the trees and grass and into the night sky where it disappeared. Applejack then shuffled closer to Sparrow and laid her head down on his back. She began humming with him. The tune harmonizing and spreading farther than before.
The moon shone brighter on the two of them as they sat in the grass. It was definitely an interesting first week.
Sparrow woke up in the bed provided to him by the Apple family. His body hurt, no specific area, just a general pain all throughout. He had a terrible headache to top it off. It was still dark outside and Sparrow could hear the crickets chirping outside his window. He turned onto his side and stretched out his legs, pushing out past the covers on the bed. He thought of what had happened earlier that night. The song he and Applejack had sang together brought a feeling to his heart, it was warm, content. He wanted to sing it again.
Sparrow shuffled from his bed and got up slowly, he was dizzy too, Oh sweet Grover why, he thought. He stumbled through the room until he reached the door and opened it, the lights were on in the hallway and Sparrow could hear someone talking downstairs.
"You did well enough but he's going to be out of commission for at least 2 days. He needs plenty of rest and water before he can attempt working again. If you hadn't helped him he would be dead right now." Someone Sparrow didn't recognize was giving a lecture, he winced as he pushed the door to the bathroom open and the old door let out a slight squeak. Stepping through the door he saw his goal, the water basin.
"Well that makes me all the happier I got to him when I did. I really appreciate you comin' all the way out here Nurse Redheart." Sparrow recognized the voice of Applejack, "Like you said, I did well enough, but I've only dealt with this maybe one other time. You sure he doesn't need to be at the hospital?"
Sparrow slaked his thirst as Applejack finished asking this so called Nurse Redheart about him going to the hospital. "Oh no dear, he'll be okay after some rest, in fact I think I'll leave now as it sounds like your patient is awake." Sparrow approached the stairs and looked down to the living room below, he saw Applejack with dark bags under her eyes and the same from a white earth pony wearing a nurses hat on top of a light pink bun who he assumed was Redheart. "Hello there Sparrow, you should thank your friend here, if she hadn't stepped in you might have really been in trouble."
"I gathered," Sparrow responded "Thank you Nurse Redheart for all your help, sorry you had to travel so late just for me."
Redheart waved a hoof "It's my job Sparrow, I wouldn't be a nurse if I didn't do it. Now you get back to bed mister before I sick this distraught filly on you."
Applejack and Sparrow both laughed at the joke before saying goodbye to Nurse Redheart. Sparrow looked at a clock in the living room, it was nearly four in the morning. "Alright sugarcube, you heard the nurse, back into bed."
Sparrow rolled his eyes but complied, "So two days huh?" he turned and asked to Applejack as she had followed him upstairs.
"Yup, two days of you getting to lounge around, be thankful, I never got such a long time off even when I was sick." Applejack quipped.
"Oh ya I'm sure." Sparrow joked as he stood outside his door, Applejack bumped his side with her own and they shared a smile to each other. "Thanks again Applejack, if you hadn't found me-"
Applkejack put a hoof over Sparrows beak to stop him from finishing his thought, "Twern't nothin' Sparrow. Anyways, what was I supposed to do, just sit and watch you suffer? What the hay do you take me for?" She finished her question smiling at the griffon.
Sparrow shrugged "I take you for a hard working farm gal who knows how to help her friends no matter what. How's that?"
Applejack mimicked Sparrow with a shrug of her own "Eh, I'll take it. Now get to bed you goof, don't need you bein' as tired as I am."
"Fine fine, so what time are we starting tomorrow?" Sparrow pushed the door to his room open and turned away from Applejack. He was near his bed before he felt a shove and he landed on his side looking at a disgruntled Applejack "Ow, sorry sorry, just joking. I'll stay in bed like a good griffon." Her scowl disappeared and was replaced with a smug grin.
"Good to know I can get you to do what I want with a shove." Applejack giggled
"Oh yes, didn't you know I'm not very confrontational? With one shove you can force me to do just about anything." Sparrow struggled with his wings and the bed sheets for a second before wrapping himself in a ball of blankets with only his head poking through.
"Oh really? I might take advantage of that sometime then." Applejack raised an eyebrow.
"Please do, I've got two days to be shoved around before I can retaliate in full." Sparrow shuffled his feathers and raised them up around his head to make himself look bigger. This got a giggle out of Applejack and Sparrow laughed as well. "Until then, I'll do my best to get well."
Applejack turned to leave and when she reached the door she looked back to Sparrow "Well I appreciate that Sparrow, you sleep well now y'hear? Whenever you wake up just come find me and I'll make you something to eat alright?" Applejack closed the door silently behind her. Sparrow could hear her step down the hall and into her own room.
The griffon shuffled around under the sheets some more before he was comfortable, he still hurt, he was still dizzy, but at least he was being cared for.
****
A crash of thunder outside woke Sparrow, after having his fair share of nightmares based around storms he was afraid he might still be dreaming. The pain he felt was real enough, though it was more subdued now, likely his muscled were relaxing more with water flowing back into them.
Sparrow didn't notice how heavily he had been breathing and did his best to slow it down. Breath in, four seconds, breath out, four seconds. After about a minute of doing this he felt much better. Still slightly dizzy however, Sparrow decided to get another drink of water. He got up from his bed and stepped lightly along the wood so as to not make any creaks in the old house.
Exiting his room there was another crack of thunder and Sparrow yelped involuntarily, Why do storms have to be so loud, what are they out to prove With Sparrows yelp he could hear a door creak open down the hall.
"Sparrow?" Applejack stepped towards him from her room rubbing the sleep from her eyes "What are you doin' shrieking in the hall?"
Sparrow didn't want Applejack to know he was afraid of a little thunder "Oh I thought I saw a, uh, spider! Ya, a spider."
Applejack raised an eyebrow "Uhuh. You sure it wasn't something else scarin' you? You're mighty big to be scared of a little thing like a spider."
"What? No, they're creepy little things that steal ponies in their sleep and take them to Tartarus, why wouldn't I be scared of them?" Sparrow responded as he stepped into the bathroom and pushed his beak into the water and started drinking. When he was finished he looked back to see Applejack leaning on the door frame smugly grinning like a filly. "What?"
"Scared of a little thunder Sparrow?" Applejack teased
"Pshaw, me scared of thunder? Come on, I can fly and mess with clouds myself, why would I be scared of-" Another lightning strike followed by thunder caused another yelp from Sparrow.
Applejack started laughing as the griffon glared at her "Hoo boy, who would have thought that you of all griffons would be scared of a little weather." She finished laughing and wiped away a small tear, then she noticed how upset Sparrow looked "Aw shucks, that was mighty disrespectful, sorry Sparrow.
Sparrow sighed, he couldn't stay mad at Applejack "It's okay, I just don't like storms, it was a thunder storm that caused my wing injury in the first place. After that I've just kind of been on edge about storms."
Applejack nodded and walked over to Sparrow and put a hoof on his head, "Well your temperature seems to be fine. How are you feeling over all after sleeping for a good fifteen hours?"
Sparrow's beak lay open incredulously, Applejack stepped back out into the hall and started going downstairs, he followed with his beak open still "Fifteen hours? How in the name of Grover did I sleep that long?"
Sparrow could hear the eye rolling from behind Applejack "Cause you were tired Sparrow, you needed time to patch yourself up so you slept a while. Certainly a mite longer than I woulda thought you capable of, but then again you're only the second griffon I've met."
"Well sorry for waking you, were you sleeping for long?" Sparrow asked Applejack as they reached the kitchen
Applejack shrugged as she began grabbing food from the cupboards "Not particularly, honestly I thought you'd have been up much earlier, so I'm making you food now, no ifs ands or buts. You need food in you."
Sparrow felt his gizzard warble in protest from no food for so long. "Thanks, guess I'm pretty hungry after only having water in me for almost a full day."
Applejack made Sparrow a simple plate of pancakes with some apple glaze and an extra large glass of water. She made some for herself as well and they sat and ate together at the table. There wasn't any real need to speak while they ate, they just enjoyed a companionable silence. The pancakes were delicious, but gone too fast for Sparrow's hunger, he ate another two apples before his hunger was slated.
After the meal Sparrow helped Applejack with cleaning up, "It's the least I can do right now, please, let me help you." He tried to put on his best suave look to convince her, after a short smack on the head Applejack complied and let him help. The dishes went by quickly with the two of them working on them. Applejack said more than once how useful Sparrow's claws were for this kind of work, he puffed up his head feathers once again "Careful all this praise is going to my head." That earned him a sincere laugh from Applejack.
When clean up was all said and done Sparrow found himself sitting on the couch in the Apple family living room, it was pitch black outside and all he could hear was the howling of the wind and the pattering of the rain on the windows, along with the occasional thunder clap. "Well Sparrow, I'm gonna head to sleep, you holler if you need anything alright?" Applejack said to him as she stepped to the stairs.
Sparrow, feeling braver than he had in a while decided to speak up "Hey Applejack?" The young orange mare turned her head and looked him in the eyes "Could you sit with me for a bit? I can't sleep with that noise going off every few minutes."
"Of course, Sparrow." Applejack smiled and walked back over to the couch where Sparrow was sitting, he scooted over and let her hop up beside him. The warmth she gave off was immediately comforting to the griffon as he shuffled his feathers and preened at a wing.
They sat in silence with each other for a few minutes until Sparrow decided to speak up "My mother died in a thunderstorm." Applejack tensed up next to Sparrow, she turned her head and looked at him, he stared straight ahead out a window. "She left in the afternoon when the clouds still looked nice. Said she was going to get more things to build a nicer nest. We didn't really have a roof or anything like that, so she decided to go out that day and get the supplies for it."
Applejack brushed Sparrows side "Sugarcube, you don't have to..."
Sparrow continued "None of the shops in town would help her out, we didn't have any money, we always had to go and hunt our own food. She assumed anyone in that town would help her. Instead they turned her away because she didn't have any money. So she had to fly out near the mountains to find what she needed. She made it back a couple times and left the sticks with me, she showed me how to thread them through the nest and then she left again. Each time she came back it got later and later, my claws were starting to hurt from working by myself. But I kept at it because it was our chance to have a better home for ourselves."
Sparrow swallowed as a lump began to form in his throat. "Once the storm began it was all I could do to make a small cover for myself in the nest. I kept building when I could and I would go back to the nest when I got too cold. I sat there all night in the nest, shivering, wondering where my mom was. I was cold, hungry, and alone. When I tried to sleep the sound of the thunder would wake me up every time I got to sleep."
The rain pattered outside and a lightning strike flashed brightly. A tear rolled out of Sparrow's eye "It was in the morning that I realized my mother wasn't coming back. So I did the only thing I could. I just sat there and breathed deeply. Something she taught me to do, breath in, hold for four seconds, breath out, hold for four seconds. I kept on doing that, hoping that after each breath she might swoop in from the sky and hold me close. I spent the whole day there doing that."
"Once I collected myself I realized that I had to keep going, I couldn't just stop because of what had happened, I was still expected to go to school and put on the same facade everyone else did. So I did, then I got picked on for my size, until I got better than them at flying. I always flew away from my problems at that time. Now I don't really have that luxury. I'm trying to do better now, better than I did before because I finally have a chance to find something of my own and once I do, I don't ever want to let it go." Sparrow sighed as he finished "Sorry for talking your ear off, rain gets me sentimental I suppose." Sparrow looked to his left to see a teary eyed Applejack staring back at him.
"Thanks for sharing, you didn't have to, but you did. Thank you Sparrow." Applejack moved closer to Sparrow's side, he felt warmer now, warmer than he'd ever felt before in his whole life. This wonderful place with these wonderful ponies, maybe they were what Sparrow really wanted instead of just bragging rights from yet another race.
"Applejack, could I ask you to do one more thing?" Sparrow looked to the mare next to him, her blonde main all mussed up from sleep and her emerald eyes shining at him.
"What is it?" Applejack asked
"Could you stay here tonight and keep me warm during this thunderstorm?" Sparrow whispered
"Of course." Applejack responded and pushed her head onto Sparrow's neck. He draped his left wing over the mare to keep her warm as she held close to him and kept his heart warm. They stayed that way until the sun rose hours later.
"They look pretty cute together don't they? A young voice chirped out.
"Eeyup." said another voice which was much deeper and more authoritative than Sparrow would have liked.
Sparrow opened his eyes to take a look at the voices around him. Turns out that the storm was there all night, and so Applejack had slept on the couch huddled up next to Sparrow using his wing as a blanket. As his eyes adjusted to the light around him he saw the figures of both Applebloom and Big Mac standing in the living room discussing the current situation they all found themselves in.
"I mean, he's only been here for a week, you think they're movin' a little fast?" Applebloom wondered aloud
"Har har little sis," Applejack stirred under Sparrow's wing and lifted herself off the couch. He shifted up himself and stood off the couch to stretch out his wings and legs as well "Maybe it's too fast, maybe it's just the right pace. Either way, I like how it's goin." Sparrow turned his head and grinned at Applejack, she returned the grin and nudged his side "Don't be gettin a big head about it now."
"Oh never, I'm known for my humility." Sparrow sat on his haunches and straightened his back. Applebloom snickered as Applejack crossed the room to give her sister a playful noogie. "What? You guys don't believe me? I'm the best source on information on me that I know." Sparrow breathed on his talons and rubbed the sharp edges against his chest to brighten them. Fits of giggling filled the room as Sparrow lost his bearing as well and chuckled at his own dumb joke. Big Mac even seemed a little amused.
****
After helping to clear the table from breakfast Applejack whispered to Sparrow to follow her outside. Once he had exited the front door a hoof wrapped around his left claw and pulled him around the corner of the house and into a secluded area next to a tree. "I wanted to wait until we were alone to talk a bit more about last night and the last week you've been here."
"Oh" was all Sparrow could say as he sat down across from Applejack, her orange coat was shining in the early morning sunlight. All of the clouds of the previous night had disappeared giving way to a bright blue empty sky. Sparrow shifted uncomfortably.
Applejack continued "So last night was..." she looked like she was having trouble describing it, so Sparrow decided to interject.
"It was special. To me at least." Sparrow placed a claw on his chest for emphasis, he felt his heart beating faster and faster. "That was the first time I've told anyone that story, and with how much you've shown that you care what happens to me maybe it was wrong of me to be so forward, but I really feel strongly about you after everything that's happened and with you taking care of me. Besides a few other ponies you've been the single kindest pony I've ever met besides my mother."
"Sparrow please..." Applejack took her hat off and brushed her golden mane out of her eyes, he noticed a tear hovering in her left eye before she brushed it away. "I understand how you feel, I feel it too. But don't you think that all this might have just been brought about by a rush of feelings after staying here with us all? What if, what you're feeling is just a spur of the moment and you'll just move on once your goal here is met?"
Sparrow looked down to the ground as blades of grass rustled freely. He thought of his answer and looked Applejack in the eyes, her beautiful emerald eyes. "I came to Ponyville to race Rainbow Dash after hearing about her speed from Gilda. Through my journey across Equestria I've learned that life is more about just trying to be the best. It's about all the ponies and griffons and giants you meet along the way. It's also about finding a place you can really be yourself, either a place in the physical world, or finding a place within your own mind where you can finally accept yourself and your place in the world, if that makes sense. I understand your hesitation in, us," that felt weird to say, but it felt right "but I think we should give it a shot. I felt happier than my entire life when you sat with me last night Applejack, and I wouldn't ever give that feeling up on finding a new goal for myself. I want to sit with you again, and again, every night, for as long as I can."
Applejack stared into Sparrow eyes looking for any shred of a lie. There was none. Sparrow could see her mind racing as she thought about all that he had said and he thought for sure that she would reject his feelings. Instead she crossed over to him and laid her head on his shoulder. Sparrow felt her mane brush against his feathers and he lowered his head to press against hers. "Okay then Sparrow. I'm a little scared of what might happen, but let's give us, a chance." Sparrow couldn't help himself as he wrapped his claws around Applejack's slightly smaller frame and pulled her close to hug her. His heart was beating furiously in his chest, and he felt warm.
****
The rest of the day passed fairly uneventfully. Sparrow and Applejack would both steal glances at each other every once in a while and smile to each other before getting back to work. During their breaks they would sit together and just enjoy each others company before getting back into the job at hoof. It was late into the day when they had finished their work on the trees and were heading back to the house.
"Those were some pretty good techniques you were using today Sparrow." Applejack noted to him as they walked together "Where'd you pick them up from?"
"From watching you buck." Sparrow grinned like an idiot to the mare even as she gave him a light smack to the head. "What? I have to learn from the best to do my best right?" Applejack just sighed loudly and laughed as they continued on.
They spent a few minutes in silence as crickets began chirping throughout the orchard "Well Sparrow, if today is any way to go by how we are going to work out, then I'd say there's a pretty darn good chance we'll get along better than a hog in mud."
"That's good to hear. I think." Sparrow spoke hesitantly.
As they reached the farmhouse they noticed a blue mare with a rainbow colored mane leaning against the farm house waiting for them munching on an apple. "Took you two long enough, get lost in the orchard for some fun?" Applejack blushed and Sparrow couldn't help himself as he giggled.
"What're you doin here Rainbow? Come to gloat about somethin'?" Applejack pointed a hoof at Rainbow as the mare finished her apple.
"Nah, I'm here for my race." Rainbow stepped forward from the house up to Sparrow "Unless you're not ready?" Her nose was right next to Sparrows beak, close enough that he had to back up onto his haunches a little.
"Wasn't that until next week though?" Sparrow asked
"Eh, I figured one week was plenty of time for you to prep, you seem to be capable enough. So, wanna go?" Rainbow Dash looked like she was practically twitching with anticipation.
Applejack leaned close to Sparrow "You don't have to you know, you just recovered from bein sick, no need to go pushin yerself right?
Sparrow looked to Applejack and beamed "Nah, I think I'm ready as I'll ever be."
"Alright!" Rainbow Dash whooped and did and back flip in the air "Let's go right now, we're burning daylight here!" As she finished she took to the skies and motioned for Sparrow to follow. He complied and spread his wings to lift himself from the ground.
Applejack reached up to grab Sparrows leg, he turned around at the contact and smiled at her "Don't you fall an hurt yerself now ya hear? I don't need to take care of you by myself for another couple days." He nodded to her and took off with one large flap that sent him whizzing into the sky.
Once Sparrow reached a cloud that Rainbow Dash had been resting on he sat down on it as well. "Took you long enough. Anyways-" Rainbow stood up and stretched out her wings "You ready? Were going to be flying in a large circle around Ponyville to come back down above Sweet Apple Acres. After hearing about you from Gilda and how well you kept up with me on cloud busting, I'm expecting a good challenge. Don't let me down alright?" She playfully nudged Sparrow's side as he nodded.
The griffon and pegasus took to the air from the cloud. Rainbow began counting down "3...2...1...GO!"
****
Rainbow and Sparrow lowered themselves to the ground as Applejack and Applebloom with her friend, a small dark orange pegasus with a magenta mane, approached them. The small filly shouted out "Rainbow Dash! That was AWESOME! I don't think I've ever seen somepony keep that good a pace with you before!"
Rainbow Dash walked over as she panted for breath, she placed a hoof over the filly's mane and patted softly, "Thanks Scootaloo, couldn't have done so well without you cheering me on."
Then filly then left Rainbow's side to trot over to the griffon who was breathing heavily drinking heavily from a water bucket that Applebloom had supplied, "Hey mister, I know you did your best up there. Thanks for racing with Rainbow Dash though, that was so much fun to watch!"
Sparrow swallowed and looked to the filly "Thanks for the thanks and all the cheering, it was nice to hear something like that. Even though I lost, I still had so much fun." He grinned to the filly "My name's Sparrow by the way. And you are?"
"I'm Scootaloo, the president of the Rainbow Dash Fan Club!" She puffed her chest up and spread her small wings and buzzed them.
Sparrow grinned at her "Well if I had known I would be meeting the president of Rainbow's club today I would have worn something more formal." They both shared a laugh before they both returned to the group of Applebloom, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow Dash stepped over to Sparrow and nudged him "Hey, no hard feelings right?"
"None at all. That was by far the absolute best race I've ever been a part of. I gotta get your training program." Sparrow replied to Rainbow with enthusiasm.
"Well my training takes up most of my day, if I'm being lazy then I can do stuff like this, but most days I'm busy working on my flight routines and other stuff." Rainbow Dash shined a hoof on her chest and grinned proudly.
"Never mind, I like free time." Sparrow joked, which everyone responded with laughter. "Well, at least the race was kind of close right?
"Eh, maybe. I couldn't tell because I was in the lead the whole time, or maybe you just like looking at my flank, HA!" Rainbow Dash was laughing loudly to herself as Applejack raised an eyebrow to her and both Applebloom and Scootaloo were already off whispering about what Rainbow Dash had implied. "Well either way Sparrow, it was a good race. So thanks for indulging me." Rainbow Dash reached out a hoof with Sparrow bumped with his talons all balled up, something he had seen other ponies do but he did the best he could with what he had. "Anyways, I gotta get going so I can write this letter."
"What letter?" Applejack asked as she stepped over to Sparrow and stood next to him.
"Oh nothin, just a letter of recommendation to Spitfire about Sparrow here trying out for the Academy." Rainbow said quickly before she took off and flew away before either of them could say anything else.
"Academy?" Sparrow looked to Applejack who looked surprised.
"The Wonderbolt Academy, where the team of Equestria's greatest flyers train others to join their ranks." Applejack stated.
"Oh wow. I didn't think I warranted that kind of recognition." Sparrow sat down on his haunches and swished his tail around on the grass behind him. "Would that be something you think I'd do well with?"
Applejack tilted her head and took a minute before she responded "You'd definitely be good at it, but that would mean leaving here."
Sparrow felt Applejack press closer to him "Oh..."
"It's fine if you want to go Sparrow. I know you said you weren't gonna leave here in search of another goal, but if you didn't go I think you'd regret it for the rest of your life. If it goes through, then do it. I'll be here when you get back, the whole family will be here and we'll all welcome you back." Applejack sighed.
Sparrow looked up into the sky as night started to overtake the day. He would have to make a choice, he knew that the Academy could be an amazing chance for him. But he had found such an amazing place here with the Apple family. Do I really want to leave after such a short time here? "I don't know Applejack, I definitely feel like I should, but I don't know if I want to leave here either. Would you hate me if I left?"
Applejack pressed closer to Sparrows beating heart and he could feel her tail lay on top of his behind them both. "I don't think I could ever hate you Sparrow. I think you should follow your dreams though, you've found one part of your dream here, why not chase the second part there and find that one too?"
Sparrow took a minute to process what she had said to him, "Alright, I'll do it. I'll go to the Academy." He turned his head and looked into Applejack's eyes before she shut them and brought her face up to his and kissed his cheek. It felt funny against his feathers, but he still loved the feeling. Sparrow craned his neck down and nuzzled Applejack and wrapped a wing around her as the evening pushed ever forward.
Sparrow and Applejack sat outside the farm house that night. He wouldn't have traded that night for anything else in Equestria.
Sparrow had been flying for over and hour now, he had left Ponyville behind him on his way to the Wonderbolt Academy. As he understood it, the Academy moved around on its own, being a giant flying landmass it made some sort of sense. Sparrow didn't want to think too much of the technicalities of it. Maybe some kind of weird pony magic.
On his way there, Sparrow had passed by a few geese flying in formation and he'd flown over a few storm clouds that were starting to brew. Applejack had explained that pegasi were the ones who controlled the weather in Equestria, so they would make thunder clouds and rain clouds then release them to travel where they needed to. Again, he didn't understand how it works, but he had been able to mess a little with the clouds above Sweet Apple Acres for someplace to sit for a little while.
Sparrow enjoyed flying by himself, maybe a little too much. It was just too peaceful for him not to enjoy it. He could do any kind of flying tricks he felt like, whistle and sing, even though his singing sounded more like squawking, and the heady feeling of freedom that came with the territory of the sky. He didn't realize how much time he had spent on the ground around Sweet Apple Acres. Most likely due to the work he was doing, and his time spent with Applejack.
"Applejack." Sparrow whispered to himself as he flew, it sounded wonderful to his ears, and just hearing her name made him think of her. He couldn't help but miss the simple orange mare, she'd saved him, in more ways than one. He realized that, and he felt an ever growing need to go back to her as soon as he could. Just the short week he'd spent with Applejack and her family had given him a taste of something he'd never had, and he didn't want it to end. But if he never gave other avenues in life a chance, he'd still be stuck in Griffonstone.
"Heya griffon!" A males voice called out "What are you doin' way out here? Thought your kind is supposed to be uh, what's the word, located else-wheres." A mid sized cobalt blue pegasus with a black quaffed mane and a single bright red streak within it flew up next to Sparrow. Considering Sparrow was small for a griffons size, this pegasus was still smaller than he was, only a little though.
"Well, I left Griffonstone a while ago. Now I'm headed to the Wonderbolts Academy. And you?" Truthfully, the pegasus showing up during Sparrow's solo flight time bothered him a little, it felt petty, but this was his time to ruminate on things and get the brooding out of his system before he got to the Academy.
"Oh same," The pony said it so nonchalantly it made Sparrow turn and look at him in confusion, just how many ponies actually go to the Academy? "name's Shifter by the way, Split Shifter. What's yours?"
"I'm Sparrow." The pegasus reach out a hoof to Sparrow and he bumped the knuckles of his talons against the hoof. "You said you're going to the Academy too, did you get an acceptance letter or something like that or did Rainbow Dash just tell you to go?"
"Ha!" Split doubled over in the air, doing a small loop "I wish Rainbow Dash even knew who I was let alone tell me personally to go to the Academy. Ya I got a letta in the mail," he craned his neck in Sparrow's direction "what you didn't?"
Sparrow scratched the back of his neck "No, I got told to go, do I need the letter to get in or something?"
"Told?" Split tilted his head at Sparrow "By who?"
"Oh," Sparrow realized he hadn't explained "I was told by Rainbow Dash to go, so I thought she had told you to go as well."
"Wait. You're telling me, Rainbow Dash told you," Split motioned towards Sparrow "to go to the Academy, without an acceptance letter?"
"Yes." Sparrow nodded.
"THE Rainbow Dash?" Split asked again.
"Uh, ya" Sparrow said.
Split flew closer to Sparrow and eyed him up and down. "The Element of Loyalty, Rainbow Danger Dash, told you personally to go to the Academy?"
Now Sparrow was confused "Element of what now?"
"Ha! I knew you were jerkin' me around. No way you wouldn't know about that if you met her." Split broke away and continued his normal flight pattern.
"Blue mare with a rainbow colored mane, one hell of an attitude, and probably the fastest flyer in Equestria?" Sparrow said as sarcastically as he could "I know that Rainbow Dash, but I don't know what the Element of Loyalty is."
Split's jaw dropped, "Holy canoli, you really did meet her?"
"Yes!" Sparrow shouted for the third time "We raced and she beat me, but suggested I go to the Academy to work on my skill at flying because I almost beat her at cloud busting."
"And she never mentioned anything about how she saved Equestria like, 3 times?" Split asked.
"Nope, just introduced me to her friend Applejack and I stayed at Sweet Apple Acres for a week or so to get ready for my race with Rainbow. Now I'm here. What is the Element of Loyalty?" Sparrow questioned the pegasus, he wanted to hear this story for sure.
"You met Applejack too? What I wouldn't give to meet that pony, I bet she's got quite the attitude too." Split saw Sparrow frowning at him and coughed. "Well it's actually an extremely long story," Split waved his hoof "Plus you can ask someone else I'm sure." Split smiled at Sparrow.
Sparrow grinned smugly "How long would it take you to tell it then?"
"Probably till we got to the Academy honestly." Split said quickly, then slapped a hoof against his forehead "Well now I have to since I told you how long it would take." Split sighed as they flew. "Okay, so it started a few years ago, on a night of the Summer Sun Celebration. Guess I'll have to tell you what that is too ARGH!"
****
A few hours later Sparrow and Split arrived at the Academy, a large chunk of earth that floated through the sky. There was a few buildings scattered around the area along with a runway that other ponies were landing on. Sparrow didn't recognize anyone there, he know he wouldn't but he'd hoped that he would see Rainbow Dash just so he could say hi to his friend. Split was a nice enough stallion though, Sparrow wasn't sure if he could call him a friend but he was definitely interesting.
As Sparrow and Split landed a mare wearing a Wonderbolts uniform approached them both, she had a bright orange and yellow mane that blazed like a burning fire, along with some dark aviator sunglasses, Sparrow noticed Split almost drooling as she approached and he nudged him.
"Welcome recruits, I'm-" The mare began.
"You're Spitfire! Captain of the Wonderbolts, holy canoli ma'am it's an honor!" Split shouted out before he was smacked on the head with a hoof.
Spitfire's eyes burned with rage through her sunglasses "It's great you know who I am and all recruit but if you interrupt me again I'll kick you off this rock with your wings tied to your back! Now get back in line with your companion here and stand at attention. NOW!" Split yelped and got next to Sparrow and stood straight with his hooves all close together and he stared straight forward, Sparrow looked at him and did his best to emulate the stance, his tail swishing nervously behind him. "And who in Celestia's green Equestria are you? You get lost in the corner of Griffonstone and wind up over here? Huh? Answer me!"
Sparrow blinked and looked at the considerably smaller mare shouting at him. She was so much smaller than him but she was more intimidating than anyone he'd ever met. "Ma'am I'm Sparrow, I was, uh, directed to come here by Rainbow Dash."
The mare tilted her head and squinted at Sparrow "A likely story. Do you have the proper paperwork with you?"
"Paperwork?" Sparrow tilted his head before he got a sharp smack on his own head this time.
"Paperwork, ma'am!" Spitfire shouted at Sparrow. He stood up straighter than before and continued.
"No ma'am, I don't have any paperwork." Sparrow said as loudly as he dared. He could hear the grinding of Spitfire's teeth from where he was standing.
"Follow me recruit." Spitfire motioned to Sparrow, "As for you," Spitfire turned to Split Shifter "Do you have your paperwork?"
"Yes ma'am!" Split was quick to shout out.
"Good," Spitfire started "go over to the main building, there's a line of other recruits, go stand in that line and turn your sheet in. You'll be assigned a partner for your training at that time and then a dorm. Now GO!" She finished with a shout. Split took off at a breakneck pace to get to the line, almost running into other recruits landing on the runway, "newbies, never checking the runway." Sparrow heard her mutter quietly. He didn't say anything, fearing her wrath and the pain of a hoof against his head again. "Let's go recruit, you'd just get turned down at the line without your paperwork, and I need to find out if you're lying, if you are so help me..."
"I swear I'm not ma'am." Sparrow said with conviction.
"We'll see, follow me." With that Spitfire led the way and Sparrow followed.
Nice welcome party, what have I gotten myself into here? Sparrow thought, he was beginning to regret his decision of coming here.
Sparrow walked through the Wonderbolts Academy following closely behind his now commanding officer, Spitfire. She stepped with purpose and always what felt too quick to Sparrow for a normal pace, not that it was hard to keep up with her. As they walked through the halls Sparrow caught glances of classrooms set up with desks and chairs; Wonderbolts memorabilia scattered freely on the walls in all the rooms. He saw other ponies wandering around wearing the Wonderbolt uniform as well. None of them looked nearly as serious as Spitfire however.
Sparrow wondered how Split Shifter was doing, if he was still in the line or if he'd gotten into the facilities yet. Such an interesting accent too Sparrow thought to himself. Sparrow almost tripped as Spitfire rounded a corner and it led right to a door. She pushed the door open and stepped inside.
"Well come on recruit, or are you gonna just stand there?" Spitfire flashed a quick grin that Sparrow almost didn't see, almost.
"Yes ma'am" Sparrow, stepping over the threshold couldn't help but admire Spitfire's office, he had thought the building itself had plenty of Wonderbolt memorabilia, but this was on another level. Posters lined the walls and the whole room was the bright shade of Wonderbolt blue. A trophy case was in the room as well with at least five 1st place trophies along with plenty of blue ribbons. Spitfire sat down at her desk in the back of the room and motioned for Sparrow to stand in front of her desk to be addressed.
Spitfire sighed loudly before reaching into her desk and pulling out an un-opened letter, there was a small muffin stamp in the upper right hand corner that Sparrow noticed, he gulped thinking of the delectable treat. He also saw Rainbow Dash's name on the letter as Spitfire pulled out the note.
Spitfire began reading the note "Hi there Spitfire, I know we haven't really been in touch since the Equestrian Games but I'm writing to you with a real reason. This griffon showed up in Ponyville the other day and he's great, just great. Let him in to the Academy whenever he shows up because he's worth the training, trust me. Sorry I can't write longer but this new Daring Do book just came out, I can't ignore it anymore." Spitfire set the letter down after she finished a small chuckle escaping her lips. She looked at Sparrow from behind her dark aviator glasses. "So you're the griffon then." Reaching up with a hoof, Spitfire took her sunglasses off to look Sparrow directly in the eyes. She had a piercing gaze with a shining orange iris. Sparrow caught a bit of a mischievous light to them, hinting that this all business instructor might just be putting on a facade.
Sparrow realized that she was waiting for his response and he fidgeted before answering "Oh, um, yes ma'am." He kept his gaze fixated onto Spitfire, he felt that if he broke contact she would kick him out then and there. He shuffled his feathers a bit but kept eye contact still. Spitfire's gaze was ever constant, she was looking for something in him, doubt maybe. Sparrow couldn't tell. All he could do is stare.
Spitfire began tapping a hoof on her desk as Sparrow stood across from her gently tapping a talon on the ground as well. The unblinking gaze of Spitfire bored into Sparrow, the intensity almost like a flame, his eyes were beginning to hurt as well as he hadn't blinked either. Then they began to water. He almost felt like his eyes were going bloodshot when he finally had to blink.
Sparrow kept his eyes closed to try and calm down the burning sensation before he heard it. Laughter. Coming from across the desk. Sparrow opened his eyes and looked across to see a teary eyed Spitfire laughing hysterically. It was a full minute before the mare composed herself again enough to speak, "Well recruit," she had to stifle a giggle again "that's a new Academy record."
Sparrow tilted his head and raised an eyebrow "Ma'am?
Spitfire got up from her desk still laughing to herself before she pushed a chair over to Sparrow "Have a seat recruit." Sparrow complied and gave his legs a rest. "First of all, you're in. Congrats. We'll train you to be the best flyer you can be if you want to."
Sparrow felt his feather fluff up from excitement "Thank you ma'am!"
Spitfire raised a hoof before bringing it back to her snout to muffle a snort "The second thing, is that that was by far THE longest staring contest I've ever had."
Sparrow looked at the instructor incredulously. "It was a staring contest? Not you testing my resolve for the Academy, or looking to see if I was lying, just a staring contest?" Sparrow slumped down into his chair pouting.
Spitfire reached a hoof over and poked at Sparrow's shoulder "Yup, and it was a good one too. You've got the resolve for sure kid, I see it in you. Now, you need to get back out there and into the line to be assigned a dorm space. Tell 'em I sent you and you'll be fine." Sparrow nodded and stood up to leave, not before Spitfire called out to him once more "Oh and don't think this makes you and I buddies. Until you complete training you're another recruit, can't have you being friends with the instructor now can we. But a short staring contest might be okay when we meet up." Spitfire grinned brightly at Sparrow and he couldn't help but smile back.
One hell of a mare there Sparrow thought as he stepped out of the office and into his new home.
Sparrow stepped out of the dormitory building and looked across the sidewalk to see the line of ponies still standing still. Split Shifter was at the end of the line still and seemed to be in the same position since they both first arrived. Ponies turned their heads and looked at Sparrow as he approached the line, Split Shifter lifted his head up above the ponies in front of him and waved to Sparrow, motioning for him to join the line.
Sparrow arrived behind Split and the pony shifted around to look at the griffon and smile "Heya friend, you been gone a while, almost thought you got the boot."
"I think I almost did but it worked out well enough." Sparrow quipped as he stood behind Split. Strangely enough, the line started moving as the finished their exchange. It moved rapidly enough that they didn't have a chance to talk anymore as the line continued moving.
Once Split reached the booth next to the main building Sparrow saw the mare who had been speaking to each of the candidates. It was Spitfire herself taking down registration. That would explain why the line didn't move while I was gone. Sparrow couldn't hear the exchange between Split and Spitfire but the stallion seemed a little shaken after their conversation. Split finished and stepped inside the building past the booth. Now it was Sparrow's turn to step up.
"Hello again noobie," Spitfire smirked at Sparrow, he blinked at the bright yellow mare in response, "are you ready?"
"Ready ma'am?" Sparrow puffed up his chest and flared his wings "I was born ready for this chance."
"Good to hear, don't mess it up. Head on inside and then you'll get the full tour." Spitfire finished and stepped out of the door on the side of the booth and stood next to the door of the main building. "Well trainee? Am I gonna have to yell at you to open the door or are you just going to stand there?"
"Oh!" Sparrow leaped forward and pulled the door aside to let Spitfire through, he could see her smirk through the glass before he followed behind her to join the other trainees.
It's going to be an interesting few weeks Sparrow thought to himself as he stood next to Split.
****
Sparrow woke up to the same trumpet song that had been playing every morning since the training had started. He still hadn't asked for the name of the tune, but he knew that once he was done he didn't ever want to hear it again. Split Shifter hopped off the bunk above Sparrow and began his own morning routine. Sparrow groggily got up and made his bed before heading to the restroom. Every morning had been the same after that first day of signing up. He and the rest of the trainees would wake up and go for a 30 minute flight around the local area to work up a sweat and burn some fat.
After that they would all head inside for a quick bite to eat before more training began. They used a machine called the Dizzotron to practice recovery from dizziness in flight before a landing. Every pony handled it differently, Split had been the fastest to recover from it, he did not however break the Academy record on it. Sparrow broke the Dizzotron itself when he went the first day though, the restraints on it had been too small to hold him in place, it launched him early and all the straps broke off. He got to help clean up the machine for the rest of the day even though it technically wasn't his fault it had broken.
In the afternoon they would go for another fly around the area, this time however they spent an hour straight going as fast as they could. The other Wonderbolts there besides Spitfire would fly with them and shout for them to go faster at all times. It was hectic the first few days but as time went on Sparrow began to enjoy the flights, it let him unwind before the next bit of training for the day.
In the late afternoons all the trainees would sit down in one of the many classrooms around the facility to learn about the history of the Wonderbolts. Sparrow didn't care too much about the history as he was just there for the flight training mainly but he did enjoy learning about General Firefly, the original Wonderbolt who began the whole idea of the flying group. Once they're studying had concluded they would go eat dinner which would generally consist of a large amount of starch based foods, Sparrow guessed it was to help everyone's bodies keep up with the tough amount of training early in the morning. That's how it had been the past 3 weeks, today however, was a little different.
On his way back to the dormitories after breakfast someone called out, "Yo Sparrow!" A wing tapped against Sparrow's side as he turned his head to see Split Shifter grinning brightly at him, "good speed at the flight today, probably still due to your size but you definitely got a knack for flying."
Sparrow grinned before elbowing Split in the side "Oh ya like my speed matches up to your technique. Don't think I don't see you getting yelled at every morning when you're trying to pull off some crazy trick."
Split lifted a hoof up to scratch the back of his mane, "What can I say, I love to impress the ladies, especially one in particular." He winked somewhere past Sparrow, the griffon turned his head to see a disgruntled Spitfire with a small bit of red on her face. "She doesn't know it yet, but I've got her right where I want her." Split chuckled to himself and Sparrow rolled his eyes.
"Trainees!" A Wonderbolt instructor belted out for everyone to hear, Sparrow recognized her as Fleetfoot, all of the other trainees turned from their own little cliques they had made to look at the Wonderbolt. "From today onward you are going to be assigned a flight partner, you will stick with them through thick and thin and you will take care of each other as if you were family. The idea is to promote the idea that we are all family and we should treat each other as such. Do you get me!?"
"YES MA'AM" The crowd shouted out.
"Good!" Fleetfoot continued "Now, on to who your partners will be. You most likely already know them," a few trainees eyed each other warily before focusing back on the Wonderbolt, "it will be your bunk mate. No ifs ands or buts about it, you two are now an inseparable team and are expected to be seen everywhere together. If any of us catch you without your wingpony, you will be disciplined. You don't want to know how." Fleetfoot glared at the crowd as if that made her point more intimidating.
"I know how I'd want to be disciplined." Muttered Split Shifter. Sadly just loud enough for a certain Wonderbolt to hear.
"Who said that!? Who in Tartarus said that?" Fleetfoot shouted out, no one in the crowd of trainees responded "It was Princess Celestia herself that said that then huh?"
"It was me ma'am" Split straightened up and called out.
Fleetfoot approached Sparrow and Split Shifter glaring, both of them stood straighter. "Congratulations on being the first."
When she didn't look like she was going to say more Sparrow piped up "Being the first for what ma'am?"
"Oh you didn't know?" Fleetfoot sneered "The first trainees ever to fly 500 laps around the school. Better get to it. You've got an Academy record to set."
Split Shifter scoffed "You can't be serious ma'am, it was just a dumb joke."
Fleetfoot got right up next to Split's snout and stared him down. "I was joking too." Split looked a little hopeful, then she dropped the bomb "600 laps now, hilarious, I know." Sparrow could see Split visibly droop lower before Fleetfoot stepped away. "The rest of you get to training, you aren't here to stand and gawk!" Sparrow started to step away from Split before Fleetfoot called out to him "Ah ah ah, you're his wingpony, or wing griffon in this case. You stick with him." Sparrow could feel his feather droop a little lower as well now. It was going to be a tough afternoon.
"Come on Split." Sparrow nudged the pegasus to break him out of his stupor.
"Well I guess now we know what they do for discipline eh?" Split grinned at Sparrow.
Sparrow couldn't help but grin back "You really are a pro at pushing ponies buttons."
Split took a bow "Don't I know it."
Sparrow scratched at his chin for a moment "Hm, that's actually pretty good sounding."
The two began walking towards the flight line to begin their disciplinary training. Split tilted his head and cocked and eyebrow "What sounds good?"
Sparrow smiled, "Your nickname, I just thought it up. Split Shifter Pro."
Split couldn't help but burst out laughing "Pro huh?" he continued chortling till he calmed down "Yeah I suppose that fits."
Sparrow looked forward to the end of the flight line and into the open sky. "You ready? This is gonna suck."
Split looked forward as well, "My ma always told me, 'If something sucks, embrace the suck, and having a friend along is a good help too' I think she was right."
Sparrow smiled "Ya I think she was right too Split. Let's get this over with."
"I," gasped Sparrow, "Can't" another breath, "breath." He finished before going back to panting. Next to him Split Shifter was gasping for breath as well. Both of them were clearly in pain, but then again, it was 600 laps. They did them all, not stopping for a second. Sparrow tried to tell Split they should stop as they wouldn't be expected to actually finish, but Split just kept on flying, so Sparrow kept up with him.
"Hey," Split was actually able to lift his wing up and pat Sparrow on the shoulder as they lay on their backs in the grass, "we did it didn't we?" his wing slipped off Sparrow's shoulder and back to the ground. The sun had begun its descent in the sky and they lay there panting for what felt like an hour before one of the Wonderbolts wandered up to them. Sparrow immediately recognized the fiery yellow and orange mane, Split must've seen her too but they couldn't stand at attention even if they wanted to right now. So they both settled on just trying to calm their breathing.
"Congrats on setting a new Academy record." Spitfire started, then smirked, "Not so much on making Fleetfoot angry though, that was a mistake. Hopefully you boys learned your lesson?"
"Yes ma'am." Sparrow responded.
"Yes ma'am" Split Shifter replied as well.
"Good to hear, we had the cooks leave some dinner in the warmers for you. Go get cleaned up and eat. You two will be up bright and early tomorrow morning for our normal flights. If I hear of any more funny business going on it's both your flanks on the line, do you get me?"
Sparrow struggled for a full minute, his every bone aching as he tried to stand, his legs screaming in protest telling him to just stay down. But he knew he needed to do this if he wanted to be seen as anything more than a miscreant. Halfway through standing, Sparrow collapsed, his body screeched in agony, he might've stayed there if he didn't feel a hoof stretch under his right talon and begin to lift. Sparrow looked to his right and Split Shifter was halfway off the ground and struggling just as badly but found the strength to try and lift his friend up. Sparrow renewed with determination grabbed onto his wing pony's hoof and together they stood up fully off the ground.
Spitfire's sunglasses lowered to her snout as her mouth hung open slightly. As she stood there in awe of the two recruits, both Sparrow and Split looked at each other and smiled before facing Spitfire and suddenly, standing at attention, offered a crisp salute and both responded, "YES MA'AM!"
****
The next morning came too early for Sparrow's liking. His body was wracked with pain as he stood up from bed, he wanted to lower himself back down to the bed and just stay there. He knew that wasn't the best of ideas however. He started walking towards the exit of the dormitory, joining a line of other trainees groggily proceeding forward. Some ponies looked forward to the morning flights as it was their way of waking up for the day. Usually Sparrow was in that group, not today however as he was still sore from yesterdays punishment flight.
Sparrow saw Split Shifter a few spaces forward in line, looking just as tired. "Hey," Sparrow called out to him "you good?"
Split turned his head and grinned with his eyes closed "What do you think?"
Sparrow chuckled, "I'll meet up with you once the flight starts." Split nodded and turned back to the front of the line.
****
The flight hurt more than usual, but that was to be expected. Anytime Sparrow or Split slowed down they encouraged each other to keep going. When they both started to slow down an instructor flew up beside them and asked them if there was a problem. It was a long 30 minutes to say the least. Sparrow and Split were some of the last to return to the food court. They were both drenched in sweat and their bodies ached worse than before. Sparrow knew that if he and Split weren't given any time to recover soon, they wouldn't be able to keep up with the training.
After the two of them finished breakfast Sparrow decided to see if he could find Spitfire and explain the situation to her, she needed to know that Split might not be able to recover from this if he wasn't given a proper recovery time.
****
"But ma'am! He can barely even walk at this point, his body is giving up on him!" Sparrow pleaded
Spitfire waved him off, "You both brought this on yourselves. If we don't stay adamant in your punishment then the other trainees will think that we'll take it easy on them, that is not the purpose of this training." She took her sunglasses off and rubbed the ridge of her nose. "Look, I hear what you're saying Sparrow, I do, but if we go easy on you guys after what you did then our credibility goes down. You need to learn to bear it as a team and keep each other going, it's what we're all trained to do as Wonderbolts, if you can't do that, then you both don't have a place here. Now get back to class trainee."
Sparrow was filled with rage but offered a salute "Yes ma'am." he turned and left the office, almost slamming the door behind him.
****
Sparrow stayed near Split as much as he could, keeping him motivated to keep on going through the day. Split did the same for Sparrow when he almost gave up. They functioned together as a team and kept pushing themselves that day. Classes were tough to stay awake through, food didn't taste good but they both needed to eat, further training pushed their bodies into overdrive and they both struggled to keep up with the other flyers.
The week passed by in a blur for Sparrow. The only thing he remembered throughout it all was how much he ached for the first few days. After about three days however, he began to grow accustomed to the training, it became easier to stay awake in class, the food still didn't taste good but he was thankful for the meal. Both he and Split were getting leaner, stronger, faster. The daily training became a warm up for them both and they excelled in further exercises that were given to them.
Split didn't fall apart like Sparrow thought he would, in fact, the pony was doing better than even Sparrow could in some aspects. Sparrow was still faster than him, but Split was able to maneuver himself in such an impressive way. The instructors took notice of the team and began giving them both tougher exercises to complete. Sparrow felt strong, stronger than he ever had before, here he was in a training school for flight in Equestria. He never thought he would make it this far.
****
During lunch on the 6th week of training Sparrow thought about somepony he hadn't in a while. Applejack. He realized that in all the excitement of the training he hadn't sent a single letter to her. His gizzard knotted up and he got up from the table, Split looked up at him "Where ya goin?"
"I forgot to do something, something really important. I'll be back in a few." Sparrow stood up from the table and walked away from a confused Split Shifter.
"Well I'm takin' your food then!" Split called after Sparrow.
Sparrow cracked a grin as he walked. He made his way back to the dormitories and found some writing supplies kept in a desk near his bed. He didn't have a writing quill but he did have some ink. Well, I guess it can't be helped Sparrow tilted his head back and grasped a feather from his wing, he tugged gently and pulled the feather out, a sharp pain hit him and then disappeared. He grasped the feather in his talon, feeling slightly uncomfortable but nonetheless he needed to write. He dipped the tip into the ink and brought it down to the parchment.
Applejack,
I hope this letter finds you in good health. Things have been fairly tough up here and I'm sorry I didn't write sooner. There's just been so much on my mind that I couldn't find the time to sit down and write you, I know I know, excuses.
The good news is that I've been training a ridiculous amount with a new friend, his name is Split Shifter, once we're done with the training I'll have to see if he wants to come to Ponyville to meet you and everypony else. He's a nice enough guy, maybe a bit too interested in mares more than anything else but he's been keeping it under wraps.
It's been painful sometimes here, not just physically, but mentally too. I don't think I would have made it this far if it weren't for Split. He's almost like a brother to me. Weird right?
Well I can't think of anything else to write for now, and I need to get back before training starts up again. I... I miss you Applejack, I really do. I still think about our night in the rainstorm. How you stayed there with me and how we comforted each other. I want to experience that with you again, even if it takes me longer to get back to Ponyville, I want to be there with you again. I miss the Apple Family orchard too, thinking of the smell of the apples is making me hungry even. I'm rambling at this point. I'll try and write again soon Applejack. Take care.
Yours truly,
Sparrow
Setting down his feather next to the parchment, Sparrow looked over it for any glaring errors. Smiling to himself he rolled up the parchment and sealed it with some ribbon before bringing it to the front of the room where they had a mail drop off point.
Another night of restlessness, another day of boredom. Sparrow found himself becoming too accustomed to the trainee lifestyle. It had been 2 months now since he left Ponyville. He hadn't received a letter back from Applejack yet, she seemed too busy for him. His bond with Split Shifter was as strong as ever, but none of the training seemed to be sticking with him. The exercises were fine, but not enough. The classes were interesting, but they didn't force Sparrow to excel. He knew he was growing bored, and was worried about what was to come if he was already considering this kind of life tedious.
Sparrow started sticking to himself more than ever, just going on his own back to the dorms to clean, or just sit and ponder the future. He didn't really know what to expect from a full blown Wonderbolt lifestyle besides the things he'd read in his book. Which all of those things sounded wonderful to him, he just wanted more of that now, rather than later.
****
"Hey!" Split shouted into Sparrows ear.
"Gah!" Sparrow yelped out and fell over. He had been lost in a daze over the last few minutes. "Sorry Split, what'd you say?"
Sighing Split repeated "I said, I hope you're ready for the flight exercise today. Remember?"
Sparrow thought for a moment, "Sorry, no, what was it again?"
"Princesses, what is with you Sparrow, you've been out of it for a while now. Anyways, the Academy is going to be floating over the Everfree Forest." Split looked absolutely giddy with excitement, "They want the trainees to practice flight in actual dangerous conditions!"
Sparrow remembered one of the professors mentioning this training a few days ago. A monitored flight over the Everfree Forest to see how trainees can handle tougher flight conditions that can change at a moments notice. They'd had trainees get caught up in thunderstorms that turn into snowstorms and they even had one year where the clouds turned pink and started raining chocolate milk. It was all the instructors could do to keep the trainees from drinking their fill. "Yeah, I remember. You sound excited Split. You think it's your chance to impress Fleet Foot again?"
Split gave a half grin, "Oh har har. But yes, that's exactly what I want to do. I want her to see us flying and say to herself 'Holy mackerel! I need to be flying with those two sexy boys!' You get the basic gist of it though I'm sure."
Sparrow just nodded. He was excited for the flight as well, it would finally be something to break up the monotony of school life and basic training exercises. In fact, the more he thought about it, the more he saw it as a chance to prove to himself again how good of a team he and Split were.
Later on that night, Sparrow couldn't get to sleep because of how excited he was for the next day's flight. Then thunder crackled outside. Sparrow hadn't been in a storm since the farm, with Applejack. The sound of the storm brought back that happy memory, and then with it came the worse memories. He began to toss and turn in his bunk. Listening to the rain patter against the window, Sparrow would be lulled to sleep almost, just to be awakened by a crash of thunder a few minutes later.
Sparrow wanted to go over to Split's bed and wake him up to talk, to just sit and be comfortable. But he couldn't bring himself to just get up and reach over to him. He didn't want to ruin his friends sleep as well as his own. So he let it be and stayed in his bed wide awake all night, with nothing but the storm and its anger keeping him company.
****
"Alright Trainees! Listen up!" Spitfire walked down the row of trainees all in their uniforms, they stood along the flight line staring straight ahead at the dense fog that lay just outside the academy grounds, "Today, you and your wing pony will be making a trip into the air above the Everfree Forest. I know all of you have been briefed on the risks countless times at this point but we need to ask once more. Are each and every one of you sure you have the strength and fortitude to make this flight. If even one of you needs to step out now then everyone must step out." Spitfire stopped in front of Sparrow, staring directly into his eyes, he could feel her gaze drilling into him as he stared straight ahead. He was tired beyond belief, but he wasn't about to let that get in the way of Split getting to enjoy himself and all the other ponies standing here today. "Remember, if you hear the horn blow, then you must return immediately to the academy grounds, failure to comply with this will bring nothing but risk to yourself and your wing pony." Spitfire took one last look at all her trainees, then turned around to face the fog ahead. She'd never seen it this thick before, but these ponies, and griffon, needed to experience the danger of the Everfree if they were to become Wonderbolts. "TRAINEES, MOVE OUT!"
Sparrow and all his fellow trainees lifted off and headed straight into the fog. As soon as he and Split hit the wall of the fog they couldn't see any other of the trainees, just barely each other. "Split, stick close okay?"
"You got it. Man, this is disappointing." Split looked dejected.
"How so?" Sparrow tilted his head to look at his partner on his right.
"With all this fog, how is Fleet Foot supposed to see me?" The two shared a quick laugh and continued forward into the unknown.
****
The fog disappeared. There was nothing in the sky with Sparrow and Split Shifter, except for one single lonely black cloud.
"What in Celestia's name is that?" Split said drawing a little closer. Sparrow reached out with a talon and stopped him.
"I don't know, but I don't think we should go near it Split." Sparrow didn't like this one bit. They were in a section of sky with the fog clearly in a circle around this one cloud, almost as if it was avoiding it. Below them Sparrow could see the twisted and gnarly trees of the Everfree.
"No Sparrow, you don't understand, I think this is a pony made black storm cloud. I think it wandered out here to the Everfree and never found its way back to any pegasi. I've never seen one that black before. We need to take it back with us." Split pulled away from Sparrow and continued slowly flying towards the cloud.
"Split, this seems like an incredibly bad idea. C'mon, Fleet Foot won't care if you bring a silly cloud back with us." Sparrow joked.
Split looked back at Sparrow, frowning "This isn't about Fleet Foot, Sparrow, this cloud is an incredible find for all pegasi, it must be hundreds of years old. If we brought it back and released the energy it has stored up, we might be able to bring water to some towns in Equestria that are really struggling right now. We'd be recognized all over the place for finding this, here, help me with it."
Sparrow began to back away "I can't Split. I'm sorry but I can't go near that thing."
Split looked at Sparrow like he'd gone insane "Are you serious? After all we've been through and now you won't help me with something so simple as moving a cloud?"
"You don't understand Split, I just can't" Sparrow turned away from his friend.
"Fine, then I'll do it myself." Split Shifter said. That was the last sound Sparrow heard before a deafening CRACK blasted through his ear drums.
Sparrow screamed in pain and as he recovered himself he saw his friend plummeting towards the ground.
He flew as fast as he could. Faster than he'd ever flown before. His body cried out in protest, but he needed to catch his friend.
Split wasn't moving, wasn't flying, wasn't flailing. Sparrow saw traces of blood along Split Shifter's muzzle.
Faster damnit! Go faster! Sparrow's right wing was screaming at him to stop. Horrible pain hit Sparrow all at once and he let out a scream as he reached out his talons towards his friend.
He caught him, and then pain, horrible horrible pain as tree limbs crashed against Sparrows body, he held close to his friend, shielding him from all the pain.
An eternity of pain passed before Sparrow grew aware enough to notice he was on the ground. He looked around only to see ponies standing near him and Split, he couldn't hear what they were saying, he didn't know what they were doing. The pain blocked out everything else. A white unicorn mare stepped close next to Sparrow and he could barely focus on the light of her horn, before he slipped into unconsciousness.
*********
Muffled voices and a blurry white light greeted Sparrow as he awoke, he could hear the consistent beeping of some machine that he realized beeped along with his heart rate. All he could do is look around barely as he noticed a single nurse walking around the room, a white unicorn mare, she was levitating a clip board and making notes as she walked around the machines in the room.
Sparrow couldn't feel his body at all, he wanted to move, but couldn't. All he could do is look around slowly. The last thing he remembered before getting here was catching Split, then pain. Unimaginable pain. He decided to just go back to sleep. That was easier than thinking right now.
****
Sparrow woke up and realized he was able to move a little more now. He couldn't lift his body, but he was able to barely raise a talon. He did his best to stay awake until the nurse came back in to check the machines. It took all of his willpower to lift his talon towards her and in a whisper "Nurse." It was all he could say but it was enough. She looked at him and her eyes grew wide before she darted out of the room without a word.
When she returned she was followed by a stallion in a white coat, he wore black glasses and had a stethoscope wrapped around his neck. He had dark blue fur and a white mane with a small mustache over his muzzle. "Hello there, uhm," the doctor took a look at his clipboard "Sparrow. I'm Doctor Oats, pleased to meet you. I hope you've been feeling comfortable during your stay with us. We've been doing all we can to keep you without pain. Hopefully you aren't too groggy from all the magic and medication."
Sparrow nodded, he couldn't really bring himself to speak.
Dr. Oats continued "Well my friend." He took another look at his clipboard "You, are one lucky griffon. That high of a fall has never been seen before with a survivor." Sparrow didn't know whether to be happy about that or not "Now, this is going to be a bit of a shock, but you have been asleep for, 9 days." Sparrow's eyes widened in terror. He thought about Split and wondered if he was okay. He had protected him, hadn't he? "Now Sparrow, I need you to stay calm. This next bit of news may hurt a bit. I need to know you are ready for what we tell you. Do you think you can handle it?" Sparrow didn't want to know but felt that he had to, so he nodded again. "I'm afraid your friend, didn't survive the fall."
All Sparrow could do was whimper. He felt warm tears begin to flow. The machine on his left began beeping faster and the nurse started turning a knob on the medicine bag attached to him. He felt the drug immediately in his system as his heart slowed down. The tears didn't stop though, and his heart hurt. "I am sorry Sparrow, we tried all kinds of healing magic on him. But the damage was too great on him." Dr. Oats began to turn away, "We will be back tomorrow for another check up Sparrow, you still have a few days of recovery ahead of you, and some other news we must attend to. But we can speak on that tomorrow." Dr. Oats made another check on his clipboard, then he and the nurse left.
Sparrow laid there sobbing. His friend, gone. Just like that. There was nothing that would change it and he had to accept it. But he had done all he could, hadn't he? Hadn't he?
****
A few hours or a few days, Sparrow felt so numb from the medications he couldn't even tell anymore. Dr. Oats and his nurse would come in and ask a few questions, then leave. It didn't matter anymore, Sparrow just wanted to be out and back at the Academy, if they would have him.
"Sparrow, did you hear me?" Dr. Oats said.
"Huh?" Sparrow replied groggily.
"I said it's time we told you some news." Dr. Oats looked solemn, "We recently got in contact with the Wonderbolt Academy and we asked them if they would be able to take you back in. They said no."
Sparrow lowered his beak to his chest as he lay there in the hospital bed, they didn't want him back. "Was it because I couldn't save my wing pony?"
Dr. Oats looked kindly at Sparrow and put a hoof on his shoulder gently, it was cold. "No Sparrow. They actually commended you for how much you two accomplished together, they intend to give you a medal for what you did. No. There is another reason for why they can't take you back. You have been under such strong anesthetics to keep the pain to a minimum and you've been so out of it, I thought for sure you might have noticed by now. I'm sorry Sparrow, we should have told you sooner."
"Told me what?" Sparrow raised himself up from the bed a bit and felt light headed.
Dr. Oats pushed lightly on Sparrows lower beak and turn his head to look at the right side of his body. Sparrow caught a scream in his throat, not a scream of terror, it was a scream of anguish. Where there had once been a strong limb of bone and sinew, there was now a bandaged stub. The machine on Sparrow's left side began to beep rapidly and if it weren't for the medication, he would have jumped out of the bed. "I know Sparrow, I know. You must understand, when you fell out of the sky, you first broke your wing from how fast you were going, and then once you hit the trees the limb was nearly torn off. We found you two in a pool of blood and if it weren't for the loud crack of that cloud, we wouldn't have know where to look. Call it a blessing in disguise."
Sparrow looked at the Dr. incredulously "A blessing in disguise!? My friend is dead and I can never fly again! How is that a blessing?"
"Please Sparrow, calm down. If you move much more you will likely tear open your stitches. Please don't hurt yourself anymore." Dr. Oats put his hooves on Sparrow and slowly lowered him back to the mattress of the bed. Sparrow's heart was still beating madly and he slowly became aware of the pain on his right side.
"How long will it take me to recover fully Dr.?" Sparrow asked as he tried to calm his breathing at least. Breath in, hold 4 seconds, breath out, hold 4 seconds.
"Around a year I would say, but I never studied griffon physiology much, it could be faster. I truly am sorry about what happened. I think tomorrow we might have a visitor for you though. Someone who's been neglecting her work for days to come and see you." Dr. Oats smiled as Sparrow looked at him.
"Who is it?" Sparrow asked.
"Who do you think?" Dr. Oats replied teasingly, then left the room.
Left alone with his thoughts, Sparrow looked at his right side once more. No wing in sight. It was terrifying. The more he thought about never being able to fly again, the more he slipped into despair. But maybe it would all work out. He didn't know anymore, he didn't care anymore. Sparrow looked out of the window on his left, and it was the first time he noticed what he saw outside. The streets of Ponyville. He knew who it was now. The pony who was going to visit him.
****
"Sparrow? Sugar cube, you awake?" A familiar voice called out to him. Visions of her blonde mane and orange fur with a few apples on a cute rump were what Sparrow envisioned, before being rudely awoken. By the real one.
Tears filled Sparrow's eyes as he saw Applejack sitting on a chair next to his bed. There was a basket of fresh pick apples on the table next to him, their sweet fragrance filled up the room and blocked out the ever present smell of formaldehyde. "Hey Applejack, how's it going?"
"Two months and you come back here missing a wing and that's what you start with?" He could see a single tear in her eye before she embraced him, she was careful to avoid his injury as she held him. He reached his talons up and wrapped them around her as well. After what felt like a comfortable eternity Applejack pulled away sniffling still and Sparrow's eyes were red still from all of his previous tears.
"Sorry, it just seemed like the right thing to say first. I don't have an excuse for the wing though." Sparrow grew somber, "Did they tell you what happened?"
Applejack nodded "They gave me the basic details but they didn't want to tell me everything."
"Do you want to know everything?" Sparrow asked her.
"Only if you think it will help Sparrow." Applejack placed a hoof on his talon. He felt the weight of her hoof press slightly onto him and he turn his talon over to grip her hoof and hold it closer. It turned into his lifeline, his link. He felt stronger with her there. So he told her. He told her all there was to tell, about every day at the Academy, his friendship with Split, and what had happened over the Everfree. She sat and listened, holding onto him and he held on to her.
He finished by telling her that the Wonderbolts couldn't take him back, "I don't know what to do anymore, maybe I should just go back to Griffonstone."
Applejack pulled on his talon and pulled him in to nuzzle his beak. "You're not going anywhere sugar cube. I want you here, with me."
"But I won't recover from this injury for a year. I'd be useless on the farm." Sparrow looked at her feeling broken.
"Granny gets plenty of things done and she's as old as Ponyville, if she can still help, then so can you. Either way, I wouldn't care if you couldn't help. I want you with me Sparrow. For the long haul."
Sparrow raised his head and looked at her, at her beautiful emerald eyes, full of conviction and honesty. He knew she meant it, and she wouldn't ever give up on him. "I'd like that I think."
****
The next day Sparrow was released from the hospital , Dr. Oats and the nurse both waived goodbye to him and Applejack as she wheeled him out in a wheelchair. Once they were outside he stood up from the chair and he and Applejack began to walk along the path back towards Ponyville and back towards Sweet Apple Acres. It hurt to walk but he managed well enough, but he felt so off balance now. There was too much weight on his left side now that his right wing was gone. So he put his wing over Applejack's back without asking first. She looked at him and smiled and stood closer to him and brushed up against his side to nuzzle his neck.
At that moment, Sparrow realized something. That this is something he'd wanted all along. To love, and be loved in return. And he would never give it up. This was his home. His love. And he couldn't be happier in that moment.
