Prologue

⠀

Griffons were stupid. What did Rainbow Dash need with them, anyway? So what if she was a griffon herself, she was way cooler than any of those dweebs. Even Gilda! Wait, no, especially Gilda!

Rainbow was twelve years old, which made her practically a teenager, which meant she was basically an adult. That meant she could get by just fine on her own. Who needed to hang out with a bunch of dumb griffons, anyway? Not Rainbow Dash. No, she was better off without them.

Not like anygriff would missed her. Even her own parents probably didn’t care that she was gone. Sure, they were better than all those dumb pigeons, but so what? Rainbow didn’t need them any more than they needed her.

And the others? Forget missing her, no one else would even care that she’d run away. Not even Gilda. It wasn’t anything personal; griffons were just like that. It wasn’t like they hated her or anything, it was fine when she was around. But then it was fine when she wasn’t too. That was just how griffons were.

So yeah, she was just better off alone. So what if she didn’t really have a house to crash in anymore? She had the tree cover in this forest, which was almost as… which was something. And who cared if she suddenly had to hunt for her own food? She did pretty well. She’d even managed to steal a picnic basket from that young pony couple. They thought she was some sort of wild animal, which scared them away pretty good.

Rainbow smiled at the thought, at least until her stomach rumbled. She had gotten the picnic basket, but it hadn’t really done her a lot of good. Why didn’t they have anything besides plants and stuff? A few carrots, sure, Rainbow was okay with that. But even their sandwiches were full of flowers and junk. She’d tried one bite, which had tasted awful and couldn’t have been edible, then she dumped everything off and just ate the bread.

Where was the meat? Not one bit of meat in the entire basket! And despite Rainbow’s best efforts at catching fish in a stream she found, all she managed to do was get herself all wet. At least the water had been good for drinking, so she wouldn’t die of thirst.

Hunger, however, was another matter… Rainbow curled into a ball and held her stomach. “I’m gonna die…” she grumbled. Rainbow was practically a teenager, but that hardly felt old enough for that.

And yet, that was the situation. It was a tough thing for Rainbow to accept, but she didn’t know the first thing about hunting. And even if she found more ponies to steal from, it seemed that all they ate was plants.

The truth was plain: If she didn’t go back to Griffonstone, she would starve. But that was easier said than done. Going back was never supposed to be an option, but even if she was willing to return, how was she supposed to get there? She’d flown until she couldn’t fly any more, and now that she was stranded and exhausted, there was no hope of making it all the way back in her condition.

She let out another miserable groan. It wouldn’t help, but her stomach hurt with emptiness, and somehow groaning seemed like it might help. It didn’t, but it also didn’t hurt.

“What do you eat, little one?” a voice asked from somewhere above her.

Rainbow looked around, but she didn’t see anything. Just trees stretching out forever. She hadn’t heard a voice, and if she somehow did, there was no way that it would be asking her what she liked to eat.

It almost made Rainbow smile. Sure, she was losing it, but it wasn’t like her situation was getting any worse. And anyway, even if she was going crazy, imagining food appearing before her would be better than feeling how hungry she was.

So with nothing to lose, Rainbow answered the question. “Uh, fish would be nice…”

The closest thing to a reply she got was a gust of wind. Rainbow groaned again. What had she expected? A pile of fish would just drop from the sky?

The smallest bit of humor that the situation had held seemed to vanish. Rainbow was alone, she was wet, she didn’t have her parents to look out for her anymore, she was starving to death, and to top it all off, she was hallucinating. Great. Just great. Running away sure had done wonders to improve Rainbow’s life.

A few minutes passed with nothing to occupy her thoughts aside from the pain in her stomach. Then there was the sound of something falling onto the ground, and she turned to see a fish lying in the grass right in front of her. She couldn’t believe it! A bird or something must have dropped it, but she was too relieved to question it. The answer to her prayers had arrived.

But just as she went to grab it, another fell, and another. Moments later, a steady stream of fish fell into a pile as big as Rainbow Dash was. She squawked and looked around, but she still didn’t see anyone.

She was alone, yet somehow, a pile of fish had fallen in front of her. There had to be at least two dozen fish there, enough to feed Rainbow for days. She could even make the trip back to Griffonstone with that many fish.

Rainbow inched towards the pile. It looked real, but how was she supposed to know what hallucination fish looked like, anyway? “Can I… really eat this?” she asked no one in particular. She tentatively reached a talon out for the fish.

“No,” the same voice from before answered. This time, however, a body accompanied it, and Rainbow’s beak fell open as she watched it appear.

A great snake rose before her, and if Rainbow had been able to make a sound, it woud have been a scream. Her wits came back to her a moment later, so she fluffed up her feathers and took a defensive stance. Not that it was likely to help her much; she would be nothing but a bite-size treat to a monster like that.

“Oh, you’re so adorable!” the snake squealed, clapping its paws together.

‘Wait, paws?’ Snakes didn’t have paws. Nor did they have pony heads and long pink manes, come to think of it. In fact, the more Rainbow looked at this thing, the less sure she was of what she was seeing.

The creature roughly resembled a griffon-snake hybrid. It had a long serpentine body, but had four limbs and wings. The wings looked like they came from a blue jay, and the front paws belonged to some sort of wild cat, but that was all Rainbow’s experience with griffon biology could answer. Its hindlegs looked like some kind of striped pony’s, and it had a fish-like tail. Its pony head also had horns and sharp teeth.

All of which told Rainbow one extremely important fact: Every part of this creature was deadly. To make matters worse, it also had some sort of magic, since it floated in the air without needing to flap its wings. And, of course, it was many times Rainbow’s size.

Rainbow was able to process all of that information in an instant, and it all came back to one thing – she was going to die, but now she knew she would not have the luxury of starving to death.

Whether she liked it or not, Rainbow was a griffon. And griffons did not die without a fight. So she held her stance, locking eyes with the snake. But instead of pouncing, the creature turned away from her.

Rainbow kept careful watch, sure that it would strike at any moment, but the creature seemed wholly uninterested in her. All it seemed to do was float around aimlessly. As it went, rocks, dried leaves, and branches would levitate off the forest floor and follow behind it.

Well, ignoring her was going to cost this thing its lunch. Rainbow was ready to make a run for it, but she hesitated for just a second when she considered how hungry she was. Her eyes flicked between the thing and the fish, and she made a decision.

Rainbow was fast. In an instant, she sprung towards the fish and had one in her beak. One instant after that, and she had made it into the trees. Although she was faster in the air, this creature was also a flier. Rainbow was part peregrine falcon, part cheetah; she was built for speed whether in the air or on the ground. This creature’s long and awkward body with its hooved hindlegs and clawed forelegs would drastically slow it down on the ground.

All Rainbow had to do was keep low, let the overhanging branches of the forest prevent the larger creature from flying, and she’d be out of there in ten seconds flat.

For a second, she thought she would make it.

But then, as if from nowhere, it appeared in front of Rainbow Dash. It held out its paws and spoke as if it were scolding a rambunctious fledgling. “Now hold on, let’s –”

Rainbow screeched. She once again took up a defensive stance and fluffed out her feathers as much as she could. It was time, she knew it. It was time to learn what this creature could do to her.

“Now now, there’s no need for that.” The creature seemed completely unaffected by the ear-piercing screech coming from the griffon. “We need to cook that, or else you might get sick.”

The creature floated back to the pile of fish with all of the miscellaneous things that had collected themselves floating behind it. It would have been a strange enough sight, but then everything sorted itself without the monster so much as looking at it. On their own, the stones formed themselves into a circle, while the leaves and branches filled in the middle.

Even so, nothing prepared Rainbow for what happened next. With nothing more than a snap from the creature’s paw, a fire erupted in the stone circle.

Forget the fish, Rainbow was making a run for it! If she was lucky, the creature would be too distracted to notice her departure.

But then, Rainbow was never that lucky. She didn’t even reach the trees before she found herself moving backwards. Within moments, she was stuck sitting next to the creature, unable to do anything as she was held in place by some unseen force.

The creature sighed. “I promise I won’t hurt you. My name’s Fluttershy. What’s yours?”

Rainbow just stared in awe. The creature’s fierce appearance contrasted with its soft voice. It seemed to be waiting for Rainbow to speak, but she just gawked. Eventually, the creature – Fluttershy – spoke again. “It’ll be okay, little one. You don’t need to be shy with me. Will you please tell me your name?”

Since there was no way she could do anything else, Rainbow swallowed the lump in her throat and answered. “Rainbow Dash.”

“It’s nice to meet you Rainbow Dash.” Fluttershy showed a soft smile, but all it did was remind Rainbow of how sharp her teeth looked. Still, she really didn’t seem to want to hurt the little griffon. Oh, Rainbow decided she was a ‘she’, not an ‘it’. It was hard to tell by looking, but her voice sounded feminine.

That hardly began to scratch the surface of questions, though. Rainbow tried to keep the terror from her voice as she asked, “W-What are you?”

“I’m a draconequus,” Fluttershy said simply, apparently thinking that was all the answer that was needed. “And if you let me, I’d like to be your friend, too.”

Rainbow didn’t answer unless staring blankly counted as an answer. She didn’t want to be friends with anyone, let alone with some drac… whatever she was.

But escape clearly wasn’t an option, so even once she wasn’t being held in place, Rainbow continued to sit quietly. At least, she was quiet on the outside; the inside of Rainbow’s head had become unbearably loud as she tried to figure out how she might get away. All Fluttershy did was smile contently as she skewered a couple of the fish and set them to cook.

But while her head only had thoughts of escape, her stomach spoke much louder. It spoke of hunger, and of not having a real meal since she’d left Griffonstone. No matter how wary she was of Fluttershy, Rainbow could not help but notice the tantalizing aroma of the cooking fish, and how it seemed to sweep away thoughts of escape.

On some level, she still knew she should refuse the food. It could be poisoned or something! Rainbow could be walking right into a trap, but…

But she was just so hungry, and in the end, she didn’t have the willpower to resist.

Which was why when Fluttershy offered Rainbow the first fish, she devoured it ravenously. A little too fast, since she burned her tongue on it, but she hardly noticed that.

“Careful,” Fluttershy chided. “Here, have some… Oh my, I forgot the water. Uhm, wait right here, I’ll be back.”

With a snap, Fluttershy instantly disappeared again. Rainbow looked around for some sign of where she might have gone, but she found nothing.

It was her chance, probably the only one she’d get! If she made a run for it now, she could be long gone before Fluttershy ever made it back.

Rainbow looked at the open path in front of her, then turned back to the fish. This was it. Her instinct was to run, but… how far would she get on a few bites of fish? And so far Fluttershy didn’t seem like she wanted to eat her.

Besides, the cooling fish was finally edible. Though her fears didn’t quite leave, one thought spoke louder than all others as she ate: This was, without a doubt, the best fish she’d ever had.

She was still eating when Fluttershy returned. “Glad you’re enjoying it.” Fluttershy held out a canister for Rainbow. “Here, I brought you some water from a forest spring.”

Rainbow eyed her skeptically, but she took the water all the same. If Fluttershy wanted to poison her, she could’ve done so with the fish. She wouldn’t even have needed to; if Fluttershy planned on hurting her, she had more than enough ways of doing just that.

Starting to accept that Fluttershy was just trying to help, Rainbow took a long drink of the water. It was cold and refreshing, but she was back to the fish after just a moment. She’d been able to find water on her own, after all.

“Where are you from, Rainbow Dash?”

Rainbow wondered why Fluttershy would ask such an obvious question. She spoke in between bites of food. “Griffonstone.”

“I see. Is that far from Everfree?”

She’d never even heard of Griffonstone? Fluttershy must not know many griffons. Well, to be fair, Rainbow had never heard of Everfree; that must be the forest they were in. “It’s basically on the other side of the world.”

“Oh my goodness! Did you come all this way by yourself?”

“Sure did!” Rainbow took a break from eating to pose dramatically. Whatever was left of her reservations melted as Rainbow got the chance to talk herself up. “You’re looking at the bravest, fastest griffon that’s ever lived!”

The effect was lost when Rainbow’s stomach grumbled. Fluttershy giggled. “And the hungriest too, it sounds like. Please, eat as much as you’d like.”

Although it was unfortunate that her moment was ruined, that wasn’t a big concern in light of the prospect of getting to eat more. Fluttershy handed her a second fish and put a few more on the fire.

“Why are you so far from home, little one?”

Rainbow shot her a glare. “I’m not little!”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Fluttershy smiled. “Uhm, well then Rainbow Dash, how come you’re out here all alone?”

Rainbow tore a strip of meat off the fish, paying more attention to it than to Fluttershy. “Griffonstone isn’t much of a home. Griffons are all just big jerks.”

“They can’t all be bad. You’re not a jerk, are you?”

Rainbow turned away from the fish for just a moment. “What? Of course I’m not!”

Fluttershy inclined her head. “You can’t be the only griffon who isn’t a jerk. What about your parents?”

“They’re okay, I guess.” Rainbow shrugged and returned to the fish. “For griffons, anyway.”

“I see. And your friends?”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. Fluttershy really was clueless. “I don’t have any friends.”

It wasn’t a complaint, or even something Rainbow felt bad about. It was just a fact, just the way griffons were. But Fluttershy didn’t seem to take it that way. When a moment passed and she didn’t say anything, Rainbow cast her a glance. What she saw was Fluttershy looking at the young griffon as if she were injured.

Feeling vaguely uncomfortable from the look, Rainbow dug a little deeper for an answer. “I mean… I guess there’s one other griffon who’s kinda okay. But she’s just… someone I hang out with sometimes. I don’t think she’s a friend or anything like that.”

“What’s her name?”

“Gilda.”

For some reason, that got a smile back on Fluttershy’s face. “What kind of stuff do you and Gilda do together?”

Rainbow shrugged again. What did any of this matter anyway? “I don’t know. Just stuff.”

Fluttershy giggled a little. The sound was odd coming from such a fierce creature, although Rainbow was beginning to think that maybe Fluttershy wasn’t as fierce as she looked. “Sounds really exciting.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes and tore away another strip of fish. She spoke as she chewed. “We race and help each other train to get better and stuff like that.”

Fluttershy nodded. “Oh, okay. That’s definitely not a friend, then. You do share interests, spend time together, and help each other, which sounds like your friends… But if only you also talked and joked around with each, then you’d really be friends.”

Rainbow frowned and busied herself with her food. Fluttershy giggled and started eating a fish of her own.

“I guess we talk. Sometimes.”

“Hmm. I may not be an expert, but I think if that’s the case, she does sound like a friend.”

Rainbow looked down at the mostly skeletal remnants of her fish. If she stayed out here, she would never get to see Gilda’s annoyed face after she lost a race. Or hear her gloating when she won at arm wrestling. Or joke and talk about dumb stuff like how lame Griffonstone was.

“What are you thinking about?” Fluttershy asked.

Rainbow looked up at the dracwhatever. “Can I have another fish?”

“Of course.” Fluttershy passed Rainbow a fish. “I don’t know how much griffons eat, but I can always get more if this isn’t enough.”

“Cool,” Rainbow said as she started on her third fish.

“Maybe you could bring Gilda here someday.”

That made Rainbow stop eating for just a moment. “I… I don’t know.” Realizing she might look weak again, Rainbow took a huge bite as if to make up for lost seconds. She resumed talking while she chewed. “I’d have to go back to Griffonstone.”

Fluttershy cocked her head. “Did you want to leave forever? Won’t you miss your friend?”

It felt weird to think of anyone as a friend, even Gilda. But… Rainbow wasn’t really sure she never wanted to see Gilda again either.

“How about this,” Fluttershy said. “You need to rest up before you could make it back to Griffonstone. So spend a few days here with me, then you can decide what you want to do. If you decide to go back to Griffonstone, I’ll make sure you’ve got plenty of food and water for the return trip.”

The idea of making a return trip was a little daunting, if only because the look on Gilda’s face when she learned that Rainbow had come back was not something she cared to see. But then, the more she thought about it, the idea of never seeing Gilda’s face again also didn’t sound so great…

Unsure of which choice to make, Rainbow decided to focus on something else. Fluttershy’s offer didn’t sit right with her, so she decided to ask about it. “But why?”

Fluttershy seemed amused by the question. “Well, I imagine you’ll get hungry on the way back.”

Rainbow shook her head. “No, not that. I mean why are you doing this? It’s not like I have any bits or anything.”

Fluttershy looked just as confused as Rainbow felt. “Bits of what?”

Rainbow faceclawed. “Just bits. You know, money?”

“Oh.” Fluttershy smiled. “We don’t use ‘bits’ in Everfree. But even if you did have the kind of money we use here, I wouldn’t want it. I just want to help you because you need it. That’s just the sort of thing friends do for each other.”

Friends. Fluttershy sure cared a lot about that word. Rainbow wasn’t even completely sure she understood what it meant, but she knew no griffons ever went around calling each other ‘friends’.

But… there was something about Fluttershy that made Rainbow want to understand. “Even if I can’t do anything for you?”

“Especially when you can’t do anything for me. That’s when you need it the most.”

If anything, Rainbow Dash was growing more confused. Everything Fluttershy was saying was completely different from how griffons usually acted.

It must have shown because Fluttershy giggled again. “That’s called kindness. Maybe over the next few days, you’ll learn a little about that.”

Rainbow shifted uncomfortably. “Is this going to be like school or something?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “No, nothing like that. Besides, kindness and friendship aren’t things you learn about in school. They’re just things you learn by experiencing them. And it sounds like you could do with experiencing a little more of both going your way.”

“Fluttershy?”

“Yes, Rainbow?”

“You’re pretty cool.”

Fluttershy smiled. “Thank you. You too.”

Thank you. That was another thing that wasn’t said very much in Griffonstone. Usually, when griffons were happy with something, they just said so. If something was ‘cool’ then gratitude was implied. Why say more than that?

Hearing the words spoken so plainly made Rainbow feel weird. But looking up at Fluttershy, looking at her… her friend, Rainbow got the impression that this was going to be the turning point in what would become a very weird and interesting life.

1 – Through the Streets of Griffonstone

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Chapter One

Through the Streets of Griffonstone

⠀

Griffonstone had seen better days. That wasn’t very noteworthy in and of itself; the once glorious kingdom had fallen far since the days of King Guto. Everyone knew those old tales so well that they were sick of them, even if they kept them in treasured places deep in their hearts. A secret hope that glory may someday be restored to the proud griffons.

No, it wasn’t notable that Griffonstone had seen better days. But it was notable that Rainbow Dash could remember some of them. Not the days of King Guto, of course, but the days of her childhood. Griffonstone hadn’t been much even then – she’d tried to run away from it when she was only twelve for a reason – but it had been more than this.

Which was why Rainbow was going to do something about it. Things could be better. She’d seen for herself what life could be like with friendship and kindness. It may have only been for three days, but in those three days that Rainbow had spent with Fluttershy, she learned there was another way – a better way.

Rainbow just needed to show them how. Which, to be fair, was a lot easier said than done with griffons. She was well aware that the few griffons who paid her any attention mostly did it to laugh at her. Either that, or the free food Rainbow provided.

But at least she didn’t have to try and do it alone. “Pretty big crowd out there,” Pinkie Pie said. She was referring to six griffons, only two of which seemed particularly interested in anything other than their free meal. Those two both beamed and waved at Rainbow enthusiastically, which might have been a consolation if they weren’t her parents.

Rainbow ignored them to survey the rest of their audience, meager as it was. She didn’t like what she saw. “Great, Grandpa Gruff is out there…”

Pinkie turned to her in surprise. “Gruff is a great grandpa now!? That’s so exciting!”

“What? No, he’s…” Rainbow sighed. “I’m saying it’s ‘great’ that Grandpa Gruff is here.”

“Wow, really? And all this time I thought you didn’t like him.”

“Pinkie, I was being…” Rainbow gave it up as a lost cause. Even if Pinkie wasn’t doing this on purpose, it still wouldn’t be worth the effort to explain.

And if she was, that would hardly be a surprise coming from Pinkie Pie. The word eccentric might as well have been made for her specifically. Even her appearance was strange. Of course, that was partly because she was a full-blooded lynx griffin of the mountains, not one of the local pigeons they had in Griffonstone. It definitely showed, too; she was larger than the more common griffons, although she was about average for a lynx griffin, but even among them her bright pink fur and feathers stood out.

Being a cross between a laughing falcon and a lion, she might have still had a bit of an intimidation factor if not for her curled feathers. Not only did it make her look ridiculous, it led to a significant decrease in her flight proficiency. Pinkie claimed it was worth it for her ‘increased snuggliness’. Rainbow Dash preferred not to comment on the matter.

Not that Rainbow didn’t also add to their flair. Although she’d been born and raised in Griffonstone, her parents had been among the nomadic kestrel tribe, and they’d passed on the tribe’s trademark coloration. She was a brilliant blue, darker along her feathers and lighter along her fur. Her tail had totally awesome rainbow stripes, for which she’d been named.

Between the two of them, they were a sight to see. Although a lot of griffons had blood from one of the other tribes somewhere in their family lineage, it was usually only enough for strongly colored accents, with lots of whites, browns, and greys otherwise. It made Rainbow and Pinkie stand out, which Rainbow liked to think helped at least a little with their endeavors.

Not that griffons cared much about that sort of thing. Truthfully, the two of them were outsiders for a different reason. One that was very closely tied to the seminar they were about to put on.

“Ready to get started?” Pinkie asked.

‘More like ready to get this over with…’ This may have been Rainbow’s idea, but it never quite seemed to work out, and she was getting tired of failing. But for now, it was time to try again. “Let’s do it.”

As usual, only two kestrels applauded when Rainbow and Pinkie walked onto the stage. Just Rainbow’s parents, no one else. There was no clapping from the others, no cheers. Hell, there weren’t even any other pairs of eyes pointed in their direction. Just like the last time, and the time before that, and before that.

“Thank you for coming out!” Pinkie announced. “We’re gonna have a lot of fun today, and we’re gonna learn a lot about kindness!”

“Whoo!” Windy Whistles called out, disturbing the crickets in the audience.

“That’s my daughter up there!” Bow Hotpaw said to somegriff. Whoever it was only coughed in response.

“She sure is!” Pinkie announced. Rainbow wished she could disappear. “Right, so let’s start with a common scenario.” She turned to Rainbow, who forced a grin. As always, she swore to herself that she’d never do this bit again. “How many times has this happened to you? You’ve got yourself two scrumptious fish, but then your neighbor…”

Rainbow held her stomach and frowned. “Oh, woe is me! I wasn’t able to get any fish today, and I’m so hungry!”

“Oh no!” Pinkie dramatically put one talon on her cheek. “Whatever should we do?” She looked to the audience. Rainbow’s parents both threw their talons into the air, but it didn’t do any good to have them answer every time, so Pinkie and Rainbow had decided to only call on them as a last resort.

Pinkie tried clearing her throat, but none of the others seemed to care. Just before Rainbow caved in and let her parents answer, Pinkie pointed to a young griffon. “You there, what do you do if you have two fish but your hungry neighbor doesn’t have any?”

The young griffon shrugged. “Ask if she has any bits?”

Somehow, Pinkie managed to keep her smile in place. She laughed nervously and turned to Rainbow. “So, uh… got any bits?”

“No,” Rainbow deadpanned, her interest in doing this properly fading.

“Anyone else?” Pinkie asked. On the surface she almost seemed unphased, but Rainbow could tell by the way she shifted her paws that the nerves were sinking in for her as well. “How about you?”

A middle-aged griffon sized Rainbow up than grinned. “I eat both fish.”

“No!” Rainbow said.

Although the correct answer was painfully obvious, the other griffon still looked confused. “You want me to rub it in too?”

Rainbow was going to reply, but Pinkie cut her off. “Let’s try a different approach. What if you were the one without any fish, and your neighbor had two fish. What would you want them to do then?”

Grandpa Gruff glared. “Are you implying I can’t catch fish!?”

“No, not at all! I just –”

“And where’s our food? We were promised food if we showed up, and all this talk of fish is just making me hungry!”

“But I didn’t even get to my song!” Pinkie frowned. “It’s a really good one about the importance of sharing and caring!”

“No singing in Griffonstone!” someone yelled out.

Rainbow groaned. “Let’s just… give them the food.”

For a second, Pinkie looked like she might protest. But with a look at the angry pigeons in the audience, her protests melted away. She and Rainbow gathered the food and brought it out to a long table that they’d set up for griffons to eat at. Of course, that was supposed to be after the seminar, but at this rate, it didn’t seem like it mattered too much.

“Remember,” Rainbow said as the other griffons swarmed the table, “this meal is a gift of kindness to show our appreciation for listening to us, and… oh, screw it.”

Rainbow turned and walked away. None of them were listening to her anyway. It was the same every time; they’d show up, heckle or ignore Pinkie and Rainbow’s attempts to teach them about kindness, then scarf down the food that was supposed to be a reward for learning something important.

She didn’t get very far before she was flanked by two very eager kestrels. “You were wonderful out there, sweetie!” Windy Whistles said.

“Just for the record, I knew exactly what the answer was,” Bow Hotpaw said with a playful nudge.

“I know, Dad,” Rainbow said. “You know all the answers. You come to every single seminar…”

“And they’re always so enlightening!”

It had been six years since Rainbow had run away from home, and her parents still hadn’t stopped overdoing it. That moment seemed to give them the wake-up call they needed to stop being like the other griffons and start showing a genuine interest in their daughter. Quite the opposite from how it was back then, these days she could do with a little less interest.

But she knew they were trying, and she appreciated that. “Thanks, Dad. It’s always… really great to see you two out there!”

Even though her tone was clearly forced, her parents didn’t seem to notice. They both just clung to her tighter.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, Pinkie decided this was the perfect time to join in. “Group hug!”

Rainbow squawked and pushed away. “I, uh, I think I need some air.”

She worked her way out of the group hug, which was probably only possible because Pinkie came to her rescue. She started amiably chatting with Rainbow’s parents, which gave her cover to escape.

This time, she made it as far as the door before a cocky voice stopped her. “This has got to be a new record.”

Rainbow turned and glared. “Can it, Gilda.”

“What? I’m impressed. You normally flounder twice as long before calling it quits.”

Rainbow huffed. “If you’re gonna hang around near the door, you could always come inside once in a while.”

Gilda laughed. “And be seen watching some dweeby show about kindness and friendship and other pony crap? Not for all the free food in Griffonstone.”

Rainbow just gave her a deadpan look. “We’re the only ones giving out food in this town, Gil. We have all the free food in Griffonstone.”

“Yeah, and you don’t have enough for me to be caught dead here! Besides, I’d hate to be there to interrupt such a touching family moment.”

Rainbow sighed. She knew Gilda could do this all day. “What do you want?”

Gilda stretched out. “Race me and I’ll tell you.”

That got Rainbow to grin again. “Ha! You in the mood to lose, pigeon?”

“More like in the mood to wipe that smug grin off your face once and for all!” Gilda punched her on the shoulder, just a little harder than was really called for. “And that’s eagle, featherbrain.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Rainbow waved her off. “Anyway, if you’re that desperate to get a nice long look at my backside, I guess I can let you chase my tail around. Just give me a minute.”

Gilda scoffed. “Of course. Better make sure you’ve got mommy and daddy’s permission.”

“Okay, first off, I don’t need anyone’s permission,” Rainbow said defensively. Gilda snickered. “Secondly, shut your ugly face before I shut it for you.”

“And here I thought you were all about that ‘kindness’ crap.”

“You’re the exception.” Without waiting for any more of Gilda’s teasing, Rainbow went back inside to look for Pinkie and her parents.

As soon as she stepped in, her parents were back by her side. She could’ve just left them, but she did want to tell Pinkie where she was going.

Unsurprisingly, the food table was ravaged, and the griffons were on their way out. Pinkie was still trying, though. “Just remember that kindness fills you with all sorts of warm fuzzy feelings! It’s the best reward all by itself!”

“They’re gone, Pinkie.”

Pinkie sighed, so Rainbow patted her on the back. It backfired on her when Pinkie nuzzled against her, so Rainbow had to pretend not to like it and hope that Gilda didn’t see.

“At least we have each other,” Pinkie said.

“Yeah…” Rainbow scratched her neck awkwardly.

“Aww…” Windy Whistles ruffled Bow’s crest feathers. “They remind me of when we were their age.”

Rainbow blushed, knowing Gilda was sure to be laughing up a storm at that. “Er, anyway, Pinkie… Gilda wants to race, so maybe we could hang out later?”

“Oh…” Pinkie deflated for a moment before perking back up. “Alright, well, you’re still coming to dinner, right?”

“Of course!” Rainbow said while backing away. “Wouldn’t miss it.”

Rainbow’s retreat didn’t matter because Pinkie caught her in a hug anyway. And as usual, she wouldn’t let go until Rainbow hugged her back.

“Okay, okay,” Rainbow said after quickly returning the hug. Pinkie was still keeping hold of her, so she had to wriggle her way free and bolt towards the door. “I’ll catch you later, Pinkie!”

“Good luck!” Pinkie called, Rainbow’s parents echoing the sentiment. Not that Rainbow would need any of that to beat Gilda, but she appreciated being cheered on, so Rainbow shot the three of them a confident grin on her way out.

Her grin only lasted a moment, however, as her hopes of not being seen were dashed when she got to the door and found Gilda was already there. “Aww, wasn’t that just so sweet?”

“Shut it, Gilda. Unless you want me to make you eat those words as well as my dust.”

“Big talk from the dork who has to be home in time for family dinner.”

Rainbow punched her on the shoulder, just as hard as Gilda had done earlier. “We talking or racing?”

“Alright, alright. Let’s race to… that cloud up there.”

“That it?” Rainbow smirked. “Come on, G, give me a challenge.”

“That’s just a checkpoint, dweeb. From there we’ll fly down to the old library. Touch down there, and go through town square. On foot.”

Rainbow grinned. “A mixed race with moving obstacles? Now that’s what I’m talking about!”

“Thought you might like that one. From there, we’ll keep on foot all the way to the city wall. We’ll run across that until we reach the base of Grover’s Tower, then whoever flies into it first is the winner.”

“That’s a pretty big course. Sure you’re up for it?”

Gilda grinned. “I’m not gonna be the one who’s all worn out before the halfway point. You just worry about making it through the whole thing.”

Rainbow stretched out and locked eyes onto the cloud that would be their first checkpoint. “You done talking yet?”

“Sure am.” Without announcing the start of the race, Gilda launched herself into the air. Not that it mattered; that would be the only time Gilda would get to be in the lead.

Rainbow righted her positions and kicked off as hard as she could, letting her powerful back legs launch herself into the air. She extended her wings as she rose, waiting until she was nearly at peak jump to start flapping.

There was nothing quite like flying. The wind rushing past her, the buildings disappearing as Rainbow flew too high to see them, the freedom that came with knowing her wings could take her anywhere she wanted to go. It made her feel like all of her problems were left behind on the ground.

But this wasn’t a joy flight, and Gilda had given herself a head start. Despite all the trash talk, Gilda was a damn good flyer. All those years that she and Rainbow had spent training together had paid off for her, after all.

Rainbow pushed a little harder, but she couldn’t beat Gilda to the cloud. Gilda dove straight through it, coming out the other side and looping around. She shot Rainbow a grin on her way past.

Within seconds, Rainbow was at the cloud herself. She splayed all her limbs out, bringing her momentum to a halt as the cloud exploded into nothing more than puffs of moist air.

After that, it was up to gravity. Rainbow let herself enter a freefall, turning her body so she was pointed straight down. She could see all of Griffonstone from where she was, see every dilapidated building and every crumbling tower.

But more importantly, she could see Gilda in front of her. Rainbow rapidly rebuilt speed on her descent, becoming a bullet tearing through the air. And if she was a bullet, then she had only one target.

Still, Gilda eluded her. Rainbow watched her as she banked towards the library. It was time to close the distance.

She spread out her wings and instantly shifted direction. Considering the speed she’d built, she didn’t bother to flap at all, allowing herself instead to glide at faster speeds than she’d be capable of flying.

Nothing was quite like a freefall to build up speed, but she still had to push herself as hard as she could to close the distance. Little by little, she managed to get closer and closer to Gilda.

Until there was no more distance. Gilda was beside her for just a moment, then she wasn’t even that anymore. Rainbow pulled ahead, making a much ruder gesture than a grin as she passed.

After that, she was practically home free. Still, she had to give it her all if she wanted it to stay that way. On the rare occasions Gilda had beaten her, it was always because Rainbow had been too cocky.

Next stop was the library. Rainbow touched down right in the center of it, using its lack of roof to her advantage. It didn’t have much else, either; Rainbow ran straight through, as the dilapidated building had no walls to stop her. Not like anyone was ever there to care that she tore through the historic building.

Rainbow wasn’t just the fastest thing in the air, she was the fastest thing period. She tore across the ground with nearly as much speed as she’d had in flight.

The feeling was different, but just as good. She felt all her muscles working to propel her forward, her lithe form really coming into its all. The force of each step caused her talons to dig into the earth just a bit, so with each push forward, she got to feel it move beneath her. Meanwhile, her hindlegs propelled her with all the speed of a true kestrel.

She launched herself down the street, her hawk eyes keeping everything in perfect focus despite the speed. She saw every griffon as they huddled in the ramshackle houses, saw that the coast was clear because no one ever wanted to be out and about in Griffonstone.

The few griffons who did serve as obstacles weren’t difficult to avoid. Rainbow saw them easily and swerved accordingly to each one. And since Gilda never could keep up with her on the ground, nothing was going to stop her.

At least, until something did. A kit ran into the street while Rainbow had been paying more attention to dodging someone else. With no time to stop and even less time to think, Rainbow tried to jump over him. It would have been an easy feat, but she managed to jump headfirst into a hanging sign. She tumbled to the ground, rolling to a stop.

Fortunately, Rainbow was known for being hard-headed and was used to crash landings. It only took a moment for her to get up, and nothing hurt too badly. Unfortunately, Gilda was closer to her tail than she expected.

“Nice one, dweeb!” Gilda called as she ran past Rainbow and into the lead.

Rainbow scowled as she took off after Gilda again, determined to regain her rightful place in the lead. There wasn’t much time left, but as long as she pushed herself, she would make it. She was faster on her feet, there was no way she could lose.

Wary of another accident, Rainbow didn’t allow herself to reach top speed as she chased Gilda down the market square. She couldn’t pass her, but she did stay close on her tail.

Gilda made it to the city wall just before Rainbow did. She jumped onto the wall in a single leap, Rainbow doing the same just moments later.

The wall, like all of Griffonstone, was in poor repair. It was often said to be more hole than wall, and that wasn’t much of an exaggeration. As such, it was impossible to actually run across – they more or less had to jump from one solid patch to the next.

And while Rainbow had no problems managing the feat, it wasn’t something she could do much faster than Gilda. With every step, she was just behind the other griffon, and she was forced to realize that she had desperately needed to be in the lead before reaching the wall.

All she could do was follow Gilda as closely as she could while looking for any opportunity to pass her. It wouldn’t be the first time that part of the wall collapsed as someone jumped on it, and being in the lead, Gilda had a higher chance of being the one to cause a section to collapse.

But the wall held fast. All Rainbow got was a second where Gilda lost her footing on a loose stone. But if that was all Rainbow was going to get, then she’d just have to make sure it was all she’d need. She used the spare second to bring herself neck and neck with Gilda, even if she couldn’t yet steal the lead.

“Oh, you’re still here?” Gilda asked between panted breaths.

Rainbow saved her energy by not responding, but she used the jab as motivation to push herself just a little bit harder.

She wasn’t the only one pushing herself, however. Gilda kept the race even all the way to Grover’s Tower. They were still side by side when they pushed off, leaping straight up into the air to fly the sheer vertical incline.

Even if Grover’s Tower had been a grand castle at one point, not much was left of it. It was a relatively short distance compared to the rest of the course, but that was all Rainbow needed.

Gilda couldn’t keep up with Rainbow once they were airborne. She could come close, probably closer than anyone else in Griffonstone. But close didn’t win races, and Rainbow pulled ahead.

It was only by a second or two, but Rainbow touched down in Grover’s tower first. She barely had time to turn and see Gilda fly through the hole in the wall after her, but she wore the same cocky grin she would’ve if she had been waiting for minutes.

“Told you there wasn’t ever any hope for you against me!” Rainbow said.

“Gotta hand it to you, Dash,” Gilda said as she brushed herself off, “you sure are lucky.”

“Lucky!? That was pure skill, G!”

“Oh yeah?” Gilda gave her an unimpressed look. “Your skill made me stumble when we were back on the wall, huh?”

“That was just balancing out the time I crashed into the sign.” Rainbow crossed her forelegs. “Besides, you gave yourself a head start.”

“Yeah yeah.” Gilda finally broke into a grin and punched Rainbow on the shoulder. “You always were a hell of a racer.”

That was a bit unexpected. It was hardly a sentimental declaration, but coming from a griffon, coming from Gilda, words like that meant a lot.

There was only one appropriate response, whether Gilda liked it or not. “Thanks, G.”

As expected, Gilda wasn’t sure how to respond to being thanked and fell back on her usual gruffness. “Yeah, well, don’t get all sappy on me or anything.”

Rainbow just smirked. That was more like the Gilda she knew. “Wouldn’t dream of it, dork.”

Gilda stepped up to the edge of the room, where there was a hole that overlooked Griffonstone. “Anyway, I guess it’s time to answer your question.”

Rainbow cocked her head to the side. “What question?”

Gilda turned back to her with a critical look in her eye. “The reason we raced? You asked what I wanted, and I said I’d tell you if you raced me.”

“Oh.” Rainbow scratched her chin. “I guess I thought the race was what you wanted.”

Gilda chuckled. “Yeah, you would. You’re a hell of a racer, but you’ve never been good at looking at the bigger picture.”

Rainbow held up a fist. “I’ll show you something else I’m good at if you don’t get to the point. If the race wasn’t what you cared about, what’s going on?”

“I’m getting to it!” Gilda snapped. She brushed her crown feathers back and wore a tense expression. “Look. You’re good at a lot of things, Dash. But one thing you’re pretty awful at is this whole teaching kindness crap. Because this?” Gilda gestured towards Rainbow’s aggressive stance. “This is you.”

“So what?” Rainbow asked, dropping her talon back to the ground as if she could pretend she hadn’t threatened to punch Gilda. “Like I said, you’re the exception.”

“You’ve got a lot of exceptions. And you know, if you’d just stop and think about it, that’s not a problem. Pinkie has that sickeningly sweet thing that you don’t, and she still can’t teach Griffonstone eagles to give a damn about being kind and making friends.”

Rainbow arched an eyebrow. “So is this the big thing you wanted? To tell me I’m wasting my time?”

“Yes!” Gilda exclaimed, causing Rainbow to growl. “Look, maybe you’ve noticed, but Griffonstone has kinda gone to hell, and it’s getting worse by the day.”

Rainbow nodded. “Which is exactly why we need to learn to be better!”

“No, it’s exactly why we can’t have one of the only griffons who gives a damn waste her time like this. I know you want to make a change, so make one.”

“I’m trying to –”

“Stop trying to. Step up and do something. Maybe it was worth a shot, but your whole thing has never worked. Help me figure out what we can do to lead Griffonstone to be better.”

Rainbow wasn’t sure she liked what she was hearing. “What do you mean lead Griffonstone?”

Gilda smirked. “See, you can pay attention. Since no one else wants to do it, I’m assuming control of Griffonstone. Plus Grandpa Gruff is the closest thing we have to a leader, so as his granddaughter, why not me?”

“Assuming control?” Rainbow shook her head to try and shake the confusion away. It didn’t work. “So what if you’re Gruff’s granddaughter? That doesn’t mean you can just take control of Griffonstone.”

Gilda nodded and began pacing. “No, but name one griffon more qualified. You know, I’ve actually read all those books we keep losing back at our wreck of a library, so I know how the griffon kings of the past ruled.” Gilda stopped and fixed Rainbow with a confident look. Not cocky, for once. But a look that promised she knew what she was talking about. “I know I can do what they did, Dash.”

Rainbow shook her head in disbelief. “Look, I’m not even getting on whether you can lead or not because it doesn’t matter. No one will follow you! We’re griffons, G. We don’t follow.”

Gilda took a deep breath, and her eyes shot to the ground. “I know, which is why I need you.” She shook her head a little and looked up at Rainbow. “I need you to be with me on this, Dash. I need you to be my right wing, and to help me convince others to follow me by being the first.”

Rainbow took a step away. What Gilda was talking about went a lot further than Rainbow was prepared to go. “You’re asking the wrong griffon.”

“Dash, I…” Gilda shook her head. “Just think about it, okay?” She turned and flew out of the hole in the wall, leaving Rainbow alone with her thoughts.

It was true that Griffonstone had some serious problems, and Rainbow could even see that it went beyond personality flaws like a lack of kindness among its citizens. She could even see that they did probably need an actual leader to organize the massive amount of work the city needed to get things back on track.

But that leader being Gilda? Rainbow wasn’t so sure about that. Even if some of what she said had rung true, Gilda embodied a lot of the problems in Griffonstone.

Rainbow sighed. It didn’t matter anyway; complicated things like leading Griffonstone went way beyond Rainbow’s expertise. She knew some things from a friend she met years ago, and that was it. Let someone else figure out all that complex stuff.
Besides, she did have dinner to get to. Rainbow took a long look through the hole that overlooked her city, then she put thoughts of it behind her as she flew off. She set a course for the Pie family house, which was well outside of Griffonstone, and didn’t think any more about what Gilda had said.

2 – The Call

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Chapter Two

The Call

⠀

If there was one thing Rainbow could count on, it was that dinner with the Pies would never be normal. That wasn’t to say it was bad by any means, just very different than anything she would experience in Griffonstone.

For starters, if Rainbow wanted to eat with the Pies, she was expected to work with the Pies. Griffons rarely worked together, while that was just part of everyday life out in the mountainside. Being lynx griffins and separate from others, the Pies had a certain freedom to do as they pleased without worrying about what others would think. Of course, that did come at the cost of the ability to casually coast through life as many griffons did.

But the Pies were built differently, both in body and spirit. They were lynx griffins, a tribe that predated Griffonstone and refused to even spell the word the same way as a result. She’d tried to ask about that once, and Pinkie’s dad told her. Only problem is he didn’t stop telling her, all about the time before Grover when everygriff spilled it ‘griffin’ and how they stuck to the old ways.

Which was fine, but it didn’t really need to be an hour-long lecture. How was anygriff supposed to remember that? Rainbow didn’t even know that much about her own tribe! For her part, she was a kestrel. And the only thing anyone needed to know about kestrels was that they were awesome.

Well… there were probably more differences than how a griff spelled a word or whether they were as awesome as kestrels were. Rainbow’s parents were a testament to that – they were nothing like the pigeons of Griffonstone.

But the kestrels were a nomadic tribe, so it wasn’t like Rainbow could find out much about them firstpaw. Isolation from other kestrels had always caused her parents to come across as simply eccentric. Maybe other kestrels behaved like them, maybe not. In the end, there was no way to know.

So it was the Pie family that became Rainbow’s first real experience of how things worked for other tribes. Like most lynx griffins, the Pies lived out in the mountains, forgoing society in favor of a simpler life. Somehow, that brought them closer together than any griffons Rainbow had known. In place of neighbors they didn’t care about, they had each other. Family was everything to them, it was all they had.

For all its simplicity, it also gave them a more orderly structure than Griffonstone had. Pinkie’s parents – Igneous Rock Pie and Cloudy Quartz – were in charge, but all of their daughters had a voice in family matters.

And somehow, Rainbow found herself included in this whole affair. It had started with the occasional invite, then lending a talon here and there, and now, she was expected to show up regularly and asked to participate in family activities. It had been years, and Rainbow still wasn’t used to it.

Well, used to it or not, it was time for another Pie family dinner. First that meant finding one of them and figuring out how she could help. Rainbow scouted the area below her as she flew out of town and over their territory. She could always go to their house if she couldn’t find anyone, but it was likely to be empty until dinner time. Besides, there was somewhere else more promising to check first.

It was hard to see through the tree canopy, but that was only a preliminary scan anyway. It was only when she got out farther that she really started looking. The Pies worked in a rock quarry, which was much easier to see through. No matter what else was going on, there was sure to be a Pie or two at the quarry.

It didn’t take long to find exactly what she was looking for. Even though they were far enough below her to look like ants, Rainbow’s excellent vision could still make out the form of three griffins below her.

The eldest Pie sister, Maud, was busy chiseling away at huge chunks of rock. Like most griffins, she had a muted coat of grey feathers and fur, with darker grey talons and beak. The only color on her was the light purple accents that dotted the ends of some of her feathers, but even those were covered in dust from the rock she was hacking away at.

Meanwhile, Limestone and Marble were hauling away the rocks Maud cut. Aside from Pinkie, Limestone was the most colorful of the Pie sisters, with a dark greyish-blue making up most of her coloration. It was brightest around her face, and extended to the tips of her ears – a trait most griffons didn’t even have, but which she had inherited from her father. Marble lived up to her name with her varied shades of grey in a marbled pattern, and she differed from most of her sisters by having her mom’s yellow beak and talons.

Knowing better than to interrupt Maud when she was chipping away at what had to be a solid ton of rock, Rainbow approached the other sisters instead.

“Hey, need a talon?” Rainbow asked.

Marble smiled at her and started to nod, but Limestone cut her off. “Nope. Go find someone else.”

Rainbow frowned. She had to remind herself that this was how Limestone always was, and that it was nothing personal. Still, she wasn’t ready to give up that easily. “Come on, you can’t want to haul all that rock by yourself! Just let me help! What do you say, Marble?”

Marble looked surprised to be put on the spot, and just turned to her sister. Limestone sighed. “Look, Mom’s up hunting over at Crescent Peak. Why not see if she could use some help instead?”

Hunting sounded better than hauling around rocks, anyway. “You got it! See you later!”

Limestone was already ignoring her to get back to work, but Marble waved her off. She opened her beak as if to say something, but as usual, she closed it without a word.

Even with Limestone’s rough directions, Cloudy Quartz wouldn’t be easy to find. Crescent Peak was a big place, and unlike the rock quarry, a griffin wouldn’t stand out in it. The mountainside was expansive and full of nooks and crannies a hunter could hide in, and that wasn’t even counting the trees and shrubberies. Even with her excellent eyesight, there was no way Rainbow would find her by flying up to get a bird’s eye view.

So Rainbow just had to find a griffin who didn’t want to be found somewhere in the endless expanse of wilderness without using her most reliable tracking skill.

No big deal or anything.

She’d always heard that kestrels were expert hunters, second to none. They were faster than other griffs and they had better eyesight. This was what she was born to do. How hard could finding one old lady be?

She searched for at least an hour, but there was no sign of Cloudy Quartz. She even began debating if Limestone had misled her as a prank; it wouldn’t be the first time, although it would be surprising that Marble went along with it.

But just when she was ready to call it quits and head for the Pie family house, she heard someone speak up from behind her. “Ah, Miss Dash. I had wondered after what could have made such a ruckus while I was hunting. Perhaps you could assist me in this?”

Rainbow smiled, although she wouldn’t soon live down the fact that Cloudy had been the one to find her. “Of course, Mrs. Quartz! Happy to be –”

Rainbow stopped in her tracks with her beak hanging open when she saw what she was helping with. She had expected a few small critters, maybe some foxes or marmots. Instead, she was dragging the bodies of two bighorn sheep.

She may have killed them, but she was having difficulty carrying them. “It is a shame that I had not come across thou sooner. There were three of the beasts, but I had not thought I would have the means to carry the third.”

Rainbow composed herself with a chuckle. “Yeah, too bad. That sheep wouldn’t know what hit it.”

“They never do.”

Cloudy Quartz carried one of the sheep, leaving the other to Rainbow. She was amazed that the older griffin had been able to carry both at once; Rainbow was struggling with just one.

Just another difference between lynx griffins and other griffs. Rainbow was built for speed, not power. And even though she was on the small side for her family, Cloudy Quartz was bigger than Rainbow was. Lynx griffins were the largest and strongest of all the girffs, and this was one area that Rainbow just couldn’t compete in.

Well, Rainbow may not have been built to endure the harshest of mountain conditions, but she was no slouch. And since there was no way she was going to allow herself to look weak in front of Pinkie’s mom, she bore the weight like a champ. She even made conversation as she did, albeit with less ease than Cloudy Quartz.

“So you wouldn’t believe the way I raced today!” Rainbow said, doing her best to ignore the strain from carrying the sheep.

“Truly?” Cloudy Quartz asked, looking as if she had no difficulties in the slightest. “Thou should know I have seen a fair amount of races in my day.”

“Not like this,” Rainbow said confidently. “I totally owned Gilda!”

“Thou… owned her? Pray tell, I thought slavery was outlawed in the city. Surely thou wouldst not partake in such barbarous fare?”

“No, in the race.” Rainbow would have faceclawed if she weren’t straining to carry her half of the meat. “Like, I beat her really bad.”

“Thou owned and beat her? Miss Dash, I have to confess that I do not like this side of thou of which I’m learning now. I fear thou must make amends for thine actions with haste!”

“No, I –” Rainbow shook her head and grinned. “You’re just messing with me, aren’t you?”

Cloudy Quartz came dangerously close to a giggle. “I admit I was. Thou ought to realize Pinkamena isn’t the only one with a sense of humor in this family.”

Rainbow laughed. She didn’t mind being the butt of Cloudy Quartz’s little joke. In fact, it was nice seeing this side of her. “I suppose Pinkie had to get it from somewhere.”

“Aye, she did indeed. Although I could not even begin to tell thee where all of her eccentricities came from. Of course, thou knowest as much of that as anyone though.”

“Yeah, that’s for sure.” There weren’t many griffs who knew Pinkie like Rainbow did. Certainly no one aside from her family was as close to her.

“There is something concerning Pinkamena I had wished to speak to thee about, in fact.”

“Oh yeah? What’s up?”

“Igneous and I have spoken, and we hath decided… well, that is to say…” Cloudy Quartz coughed to clear her throat. “If thou wert to come to us and ask for our blessing…”

Rainbow grimaced as she saw where this was going. “Oh wow, these sheep sure are heavy.” She made a show of stretching. “Geez, I don’t know how you do it. I better, uh, save my strength if I’m gonna make it all the way to the house!”

Cloudy Quartz gave her a surprised look. “I can understand, but all I’m trying to say is –”

Rainbow grunted with exaggerated effort as she resumed dragging the sheep behind her.

Cloudy Quartz dropped her own load and gently put her talon on Rainbow’s until she stopped. She still wouldn’t look at the older griffin, though.

“Miss Dash, I simply wish to say that if thou wert to ask for our blessing, thou needst not have fear of our disapproval. Although it is not traditional for a lynx griffin to wed out of the tribe, both of us would approve of the match.”

That was exactly what Rainbow was afraid of. She could deal with it if they didn’t approve, that would be easy. If they didn’t approve, then so what? Not like it would matter anyway.

But… they did approve, and that made it so much worse.

Unable to answer that, Rainbow focused instead on what she understood. “You know, we should get these to the house.”

Cloudy Quartz seemed to study Rainbow for a moment, but if she reached any conclusions, she kept them to herself. “As thou wishest.”

They managed to steer clear of any other awkward conversations as they made their way to the house. It was easy enough when they didn’t talk at all.

The uncomfortable silence carried them the rest of the way to the Pie family home. The house wasn’t really large enough for a family of six to live comfortably, despite the fact that they had built it themselves. Rainbow had never understood that – they had as much room as they wanted out here to expand the house and plenty of griffins that could help, but they kept their house so tiny that all four of their daughters shared one room.

But whether she understood it or not, it wasn’t really Rainbow’s place to say anything, so she just silently followed as Cloudy Quartz led them to the backyard. They left the sheep at a shed, where some of the meat would be prepared for dinner and the leftover would be readied for storage.

It seemed Rainbow was wrong about no one being at the house, because Igneous Rock Pie came out to the shed as they brought the sheep up to it. “Greetings. It seems you two have made quite the haul today.”

“Oh, I just helped carry them,” Rainbow said. “It was Mrs. Quartz that did all the real work.”

“I came upon Miss Dash on my way back,” Cloudy Quartz said. “But she made the return trek easier, and for that, I am grateful.”

Igneous nodded. “It is good to hear. Now, leave these to me.”

That suited Rainbow just fine. It wasn’t that she didn’t have the stomach to prepare meat, but she’d still gladly hand over that job.

The two of them walked into the house through the back, which led directly into the kitchen. “What can I do now?” Rainbow asked.

“Thou canst allow me to get things in here ready in peace,” Cloudy Quartz answered. “Forgive my forwardness, but I do believe we’ve all learned that thou hath no place in the kitchen, Miss Dash.”

That was true. “Sure thing, Mrs. Quartz.”

Free from having to work on anything, Rainbow made for the living room to wait for dinner. She was stopped along the way by Limestone, who must have returned home while she was looking for Cloudy Quartz.

“Rainbow, you know the rules. No slacking.”

Rainbow frowned. “I just got done helping your mom.”

Limestone matched her frown and then some. “And I just got done working in the quarry, but you don’t hear me complaining. Come on, give me a talon getting the dining room cleaned up.”

With a groan, Rainbow followed.

Dinner with the Pies was always fun. From Limestone’s squabbling with her sisters to Pinkie’s jokes and even to how delightfully out of touch their parents were, there was always something fun going on with them.

Things didn’t stop at dinner, not with the Pies. As always, they all gathered around in the living room, sprawling around the various furniture and on the floor. In the center, Igneous sat in the biggest chair and told them stories.

The stories were mostly of the family’s past, but it was a good way to pass some time. A big meal, and then a lazy evening lounging around with Pinkie and her family. And because all the Pies were big on physical affection, she didn’t have to worry about what anyone thought when she made use of Pinkie’s fluffy feathers as a pillow.

“Course there was only the one-room schoolhouse back then. And your Granny Pie, she never did get on with Missy Fritter. But of course the new teacher wasn’t to know that…”

As Igneous continued his story, Rainbow lounged on Pinkie with her eyes closed. She smiled as Pinkie started grooming her feathers for her.

“And let me tell you, crystal bats are not a pleasant surprise in your outhouse. He never tried that recipe again.”

Pinkie laughed, which in and of itself wasn’t strange. What was strange was that she managed to laugh without stopping her preening of Rainbow. And that her voice seemed to come from farther away than where her beak should be. And, come to think of it, that she even managed to reach Rainbow’s feathers from her position underneath her…

Rainbow’s head shot up, startling Marble into backing off of her. Rainbow met Marble’s eyes and realized it was never Pinkie who was preening her, and panicked as she tried to figure out what she was supposed to do in this situation.

It was one thing for the Pies to all be so touchy-feely with each other. They were a family, and that was just how their family dynamic was. But Rainbow? She usually only acted like that with Pinkie, and even then, only when she was sure no one around would care.

But Marble was… Marble. She was fragile, and Rainbow didn’t want to hurt her feelings. As much as she didn’t like for anygriff other than Pinkie to touch her wings, she didn’t have much of a choice.

She stretched as if that was why she sat up in the first place, then rolled over so Marble wouldn’t be able to see when she inevitably winced at her touch. Then, resigned to her fat, Rainbow extended a wing as an invitation for Marble to continue.

As predicted, she winced as Marble took the invitation, but she didn’t say anything. Pinkie looked down at her and smiled, no doubt knowing that something like this would make Rainbow uncomfortable but just as powerless to stop it without hurting her sister’s feelings as Rainbow was.

“…spent hours crying that she’d ruined her only dress, poor thing. Didn’t realize the pockets sew right back in. Still, she carried a purse for the rock samples ever after…”

Everyone continued as if nothing was amiss, so Rainbow buried her face in Pinkie’s neck and pretended she felt just as indifferent to the affection as the others were. If it had been anyone else, she wouldn’t have cared. Or well, she would have cared less. But of course, it wouldn’t have been anyone else. Maud, Limestone, and Cloudy Quartz would never have tried to preen Rainbow.

Rainbow’s thoughts trailed back years, to the day when she had found poor Marble lost in Griffonstone. She had come to the city with Maud to deliver some rocks to a customer, and they had gotten separated.

Of course, Rainbow would have helped her anyway, but she had only recently returned to Griffonstone with lessons of friendship and kindness, and she was eager to put them to use. She helped Marble find her way back to Maud, and then offered her talon in friendship to the shy griffin.

That was how Rainbow had met the Pie family, which had become a formative part of her life. She eventually became closer with Pinkie than any of the others, the two of them instantly falling together as quirky outsiders among the self-centered and fun-hating griffons of Griffonstone. But even so, Marble kept a soft spot in Rainbow’s heart.

“…well, turns out there was a Fell Spar Cat outside on the roof, with pads and all. Horace must have sensed it. Just goes to show, never argue with a cheese.”

The remainder of the storytime was much the same, with Rainbow only hearing bits of every story. Even when Marble finally finished preening Rainbow’s feathers, she decided to lounge against her, ensuring the Kestrel would remain vaguely uncomfortable the whole time.

It was a relief when the time grew late enough for most of the Pies to turn in for the night. They always did like going to bed early. Granted, after the hard day’s work they all had certainly put in, Rainbow could hardly blame them. The fact that they didn’t ever seem to sleep in after the same hard day’s work… that was another matter entirely.

At least Pinkie would be up for staying awake a little longer. So as not to disturb anyone else in the house, they left for the rock quarry. To some surprise, Marble followed along as well. To no surprise at all, she remained silent as she followed.

“And then Gilda says she wants to rule Griffonstone!” Rainbow said as she finished getting Pinkie caught up on her day.

“What!?” Pinkie said with an exaggerated look of shock. “Wow, Gilda leading Griffonstone? Never would have expected that one!”

“Yeah, I know, right? Because she’s gonna teach them to be nicer…” Rainbow tossed a stone and watched it bounce along the ground.

“You know…” Pinkie pounced on the stone and began swatting it between her talons. “I think Gilda might actually do a good job. She could probably get a lot done.”

“You can’t be serious…” Rainbow faceclawed. “She’s… she’s Gilda! Don’t get me wrong, she’s good at a lot of stuff, but leading?”

Pinkie shrugged as she sat up, apparently content that the rock had been vanquished. “Well, no one else is doing it. Even if she’s not perfect, she’s better than letting things keep getting worse, right?”

Marble nodded. “Mhm.”

Rainbow couldn’t believe even Marble was against her. She just… she just didn’t know Gilda like Rainbow did. “It doesn’t matter anyway. It’s just like I told her, there’s no way a bunch of griffons are gonna follow.”

“Well… you might have a point there…” Pinkie shrugged, which summed up how Rainbow felt on the matter as well.

Who cared what Gilda decided to do? Let her go humiliate herself if that’s what she wanted. The three griffs just walked along aimlessly, and Rainbow didn’t spend any more time thinking about Gilda.

She didn’t think of much at all until something caught her eye. Or… not her eye, really, but caught something. She pointed to a small cave. “What’s over there?”

“Oh, that?” Pinkie glanced at the cave, but was more interested in scratching the side of her head with a hindpaw. “That’s an area Maud and Limestone were excavating, but it’s not safe, so they gave up on it.”

“Oh…”

Pinkie nuzzled against Rainbow, causing her to swat her away and look around as if there would be anyone else out here at night. “You know, if you don’t think Gilda can lead, maybe there’s someone else who should.”

Rainbow frowned. She wasn’t thrilled to be back on the topic of Gilda’s leadership, but she was curious what Pinkie had in mind. “Who?”

“You.”

That got a laugh out of Rainbow. “Me? You’ve gotta be kidding, I can’t even get a clawful of griffons to listen to me when I bribe them with food.”

Pinkie stopped in place to consider that. “Hmm… maybe the two of you could work together? You’ve been friends for a really long time.”

“I’m not really sure if Gilda and me are friends, exactly…” Rainbow decided not to point out that Gilda had suggested exactly that. She shook her head; she was tired of talking about Gilda. “Seriously though, there’s something about that cave… I want a closer look.”

Rainbow flew over to the cave, with Pinkie and Marble right behind her. “Careful!” Pinkie said.

“I will be,” Rainbow assured her. She landed near the cave. There was definitely something about the place that pulled her in. “I just… I just want a closer look is all.”

Pinkie ran up beside her. “It’s just an abandoned cave, Dashie. There’s nothing special about it.”

“I know, I just…” Rainbow looked at the others. “Come on, let’s look around a little.”

“What? But it’s not safe.”

Rainbow took a step closer and felt Pinkie’s talon on her. She turned and smirked. “Come on, we won’t touch anything. Just a little look.”

Without waiting for any confirmation from the others, Rainbow entered the cave. It was dark, but there was a lamp near the entrance. A leftover from when Maud and Limestone were working on it, or left so they could go back and make the cave safe.

Either way, Rainbow took it and lit it. There was nothing visually special about the cave. Rainbow had explored a few with the Pies over the years, although that was usually in the day and with Maud’s expert guidance. Even so, she knew enough to know this one was nothing special.

At least, it was nothing special to look at. But there was something more here, Rainbow could feel it. She walked in farther.

“Rainbow, we really shouldn’t be in here,” Pinkie said quietly, as if talking too loudly might cause a rockslide.

Rainbow knew she was right, but the feeling only grew as she walked in further. She had to know what it was that was so special about this place. “Just a little bit more.”

A little more turned out to be more than a little. Even though they clearly didn’t want to be there, Pinkie and Marble both kept following Rainbow as she went deeper in.

‘Just a little farther,’ Rainbow kept telling herself. ‘Just a little more.’

It lasted until Pinkie flew in front of her. “Rainbow Dash. We’ve gone far enough. We need to turn back around!”

Rainbow was torn. She knew Pinkie was right, but the deeper she went, the stronger the pull got…

Then Marble nudged Rainbow, and she saw how scared the shy griffin was. This was stupid, Rainbow was risking more than just herself here. “You’re right. Let’s… let’s go back.”

Maybe she could come back with Maud sometime. She’d know how to explore safely. Or she’d insist Rainbow never came back… That was a distinct possibility too. Maybe Rainbow could just sneak back by herself, that way she wasn’t putting anyone else in danger? No, that was a terrible idea.

She contemplated her options as they walked back the way they came. Her mind raced for ways she could ensure she got the chance to explore the cave, and barely spent a thought on trying to figure out why she wanted to. Perhaps that was why she didn’t notice where she was walking as she crashed right into a low-hanging rock.

It shouldn’t have been a big deal. Rainbow hit her head all the time, and she was always fine. But as she stepped back rubbing her now sore head, she saw the rock she hit topple to the floor.

And then another.

And another.

Almost faster than she could react, the rocks started falling exactly where they were standing. She barely had time to grab Pinkie and dive out of the way before the rocks fell down on them.

They scampered away from the rocks, covering their heads as well as they could. The sound of rock falling was all Rainbow was aware of for a moment, then little by little the sound stopped and Rainbow realized why it was only the sound she noticed – it was almost impossible to see.

They did still have their light, which was a miracle in and of itself. But it only illuminated dust as far as Rainbow could see. She slowly realized she was coughing it out, and could hear Pinkie doing the same. It was impossible to see the griffin through the dust. “You okay, Pinks?”

She knew Pinkie was alive and didn’t seem to be any worse off than Rainbow was, but it was still a relief when she realized she could make out her friend’s silhouette in the dark. If she’d gotten hurt…

But Pinkie had other concerns, and with one word she chilled Rainbow to the bone. “Marble?” There was no sign of her anywhere. Rainbow began looking around frantically as Pinkie’s hoarse voice called for her twin sister. “Marble!? Marble, are you here!?”

“Marble?” Rainbow joined in the calls. No… No, nothing could have happened to Marble… Not when it would be Rainbow’s… Nothing could have happened to her!

She looked towards the rock slide, but she could barely even see the rocks through the dust. She did not see a griffin, however.

They both ignored the cloud of dust and raced to the cave in, but they found nothing but solid rock and more dirt than they could move. Excruciatingly slowly, the dust began to settle, and it seemed clear that there was no sign of Marble, no matter how much they called her name.

Eventually, Pinkie turned to address Rainbow. “She got out, right?” She asked desperately. “She’s just… she’s on the other side, right?”

“Of course,” Rainbow answered without hesitation, hoping it was true. It had to be true. “She must have just run the other way.”

Pinkie looked like she was going to cry. “Marble! If you can hear me, stay where you are! We’ll come find you!”

“Pinkie…”

Pinkie wheeled around to look at Rainbow, and her expression was one that Rainbow had never seen on her. One that didn’t look like it could ever belong on that happy-go-lucky face. Pinkie looked angry. Really angry. And she backed up that look by grabbing Rainbow and pinning her down. “You idiot!”

“Pinkie! I –”

“I told you not to come in here!” Pinkie looked like she might attack at any moment. “I told you it was dangerous!”

“I’m sorry!” Rainbow closed her eyes tight. They stung from all the dust that had gotten in them, but that was nothing compared to what Rainbow felt inside. “I… I didn’t mean for this to happen!”

“Well, it did happen, Rainbow! And now Marble, she… she…”

In an instant, Pinkie’s anger faded as she fell into Rainbow, crying. Rainbow wrapped her talons around Pinkie. “Hey, it’ll be okay. We’ll find her, and everything will be okay.”

“My baby sister…”

“I know.” Rainbow wished Pinkie would attack her. She’d never stop her if she tried to, not when she was right this was all Rainbow’s fault.

But if it was Rainbow’s fault, then she owed it to her friend to fix things. “Come on, we’re not doing any good sitting around here.”

Pinkie got up and wiped her eyes, then stopped to look at her talon. Rainbow saw it too. Pinkie’s talon was bleeding; it must have happened in the cave-in, but Pinkie hadn’t noticed it because of the adrenaline rush.

“Oh geez, let me see it…” Rainbow took a good look at Pinkie’s injury. It didn’t look broken, but Rainbow didn’t know anything about medical treatment. “We’ve gotta get you out of here quickly.”

“Not without Marble.” Pinkie’s look dared Rainbow to disagree with her, but she was not about to.

“Of course,” Rainbow said, meeting Pinkie’s eyes. She couldn’t leave Marble, but she did know getting Pinkie to safety also had to be a priority. She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do, but she knew there weren’t a lot of options available to her. They couldn’t go the way they came, so they would have to look for another way. And if they found an exit, then Rainbow could look for Marble herself once she knew Pinkie was safe.

Rainbow’s mind raced some more, this time taking in details. They still had the light, and it didn’t look any worse for wear. That was good, except that it meant Marble was lost in the dark…

More details. Rainbow looked around for some sign of where they were, but she couldn’t tell. There was only one way to go, but was that the path out, or would they only be going deeper? She knew enough about cave safety to know that if they went in deeper, they were going to die.

Still, they didn’t have a choice. Sitting around wasn’t going to get them out, so she led and Pinkie followed. She had to walk on only three legs, but she managed well enough.

It wasn’t like Rainbow had to do much to lead them, of course – not when they only had one path before them. But it was all she could do, so Rainbow took the lead. Whether it was because Pinkie was angry with her, or because neither of them knew what to say, they walked in silence.

That gave Rainbow plenty of time to reflect on how this was all her fault. Not to mention what was at stake. If she hadn’t suggested they explore the cave, if she hadn’t listened to that stupid pull she felt…

The pull. She realized she still felt it, but it pulled her in a different direction. She walked over to where she felt it coming from, and she found a fork in the path that she almost hadn’t noticed.

“Pinkie, check this out.”

Pinkie hobbled over to look at the other path. “I don’t think we came down this way before.”

If the pull was coming from here, it had to be leading them in deeper. But then… “I think we’re going deeper no matter which way we go. But… but I think this way also leads out, eventually.”

Pinkie looked at her uncertainly. “What makes you say that?”

Rainbow hesitated, wondering how to explain. There was no real explanation, she knew that. She just felt it.

“Rainbow?”

“I… I don’t know. But we don’t have anything else to go on, so just trust me on this.”

Pinkie looked off to the side, breaking her eye contact with her friend. “I trusted you when we came in here…”

Rainbow winced. It wasn’t like Pinkie to be angry, it certainly wasn’t like her to stay angry. Not that Rainbow could fault her for it. But still, she knew they needed to go down that fork.

“I know, Pinkie… But what do we have to lose? We’re already lost in here, and I can’t explain it, but I know this is the way to go. Please, trust me.”

Pinkie didn’t move for a moment. When she did, she stepped towards the fork with her head hung low. Rainbow wanted to believe that meant Pinkie still trusted her decisions, but she knew it might just mean she was too beat to argue.

Rainbow kept leading them down their new path. It was smaller than the last one, although it opened up a little after a while. Whenever there was a choice to make, Rainbow would lead them. Each turn she grew both more and less sure – more sure that she was getting closer to whatever was calling to her, less sure that it was anything good.

“Seriously, you don’t feel anything?” Rainbow asked after a while.

“I feel like this was a bad idea…” Pinkie said. “Maybe we should’ve tried harder to get through the rockslide earlier…”

“Yeah, and cause another one? Not a good idea.”

Pinkie turned to face her. “Well, neither is walking through caves when we have no idea where we’re going!”

“I know that! I just…”

“You have a feeling.”

Rainbow wished Pinkie could just go along with it. Hearing her doubts almost made Rainbow doubt herself, and if she did that, then it was all over. Knowing that the only choice left to her was to dig her talons in, that was exactly what she did. “Yes, Pinkie! I know it’s not a lot to go on, but that’s what we have! It feels so strong, it’s like… it’s…”

Rainbow turned and looked at an alcove. “It’s right over there.”

“What!?” Pinkie flew over to the wall. “There’s nothing over here! It’s just –”

She stopped suddenly, so Rainbow walked over to her and cocked her head to the side. “Pinkie?”

“Shh. Listen.”

Rainbow and Pinkie both put their heads against the wall to listen closer. “Is that… is that wind?”

Pinkie threw her one good talon around Rainbow. “Rainbow, you did it! We just have to get through this wall, and we’re outside!”

Rainbow beamed, almost as happy to have Pinkie happy with her as she was to have a way out. “I told you! Come on, let’s get to digging.”

The wall didn’t seem to be solid, but that didn’t mean it was easy to get through. Pinkie was stronger, and if she had both of her talons, work would’ve been much easier. But there was no sense dwelling on that, they would just have to make do with what they had.

Rock by rock, they moved through the wall. Eventually, they could feel the wind. That caused them to redouble their efforts, motivated by the fact that they were almost through.

It was Pinkie who moved the rock that opened the way outside. It was a small hole, but the wind whipped right through it. Feeling the chill against her fur and feathers, Rainbow realized she’d never felt anything so comforting in her life.

They both turned to beam at each other. After a moment, Pinkie turned around so her hindlegs were facing the wall. “Hold on, Marble…”

Pinkie aimed one last kick to push out the rest of the thin layer of rock that kept them inside. Rainbow steadied her on her injured side so she could kick with both her hindlegs. The rock wall gave way, forming a big enough hole for them to get out of.

But it wasn’t just the wall. Pinkie was sucked through as well, pulled straight out of the wall. Her talons reached for something to grab, but found only loose stones, and Rainbow saw her disappear.

“Pinkie!” Without thinking twice, Rainbow lunged after her, grabbing hold of her outstretched talon in her own. She could feel the wind threatened to rip her away too. Using her free talon, she grabbed at anything that might save them, feeling her claws wrap around something solid.

“Pinkie, hold on!” Rainbow shouted, but the words whipped away in the wind. That was when Rainbow realized where they were. The cave had let out directly into the Abysmal Abyss, where no sane griffon would ever go.

She looked down and saw Pinkie was dangling, trying in vain to get a hold of the rock wall with her free paws and talon. That was the good talon; the wounded one was gripping desperately to Rainbow, but the blood was making it difficult to hold on.

Pinkie dug her talons into Rainbow, but she couldn’t even feel it. She was only aware of one thing: if she dropped Pinkie now, then she would die.

That was the simple truth of the situation. The winds were too strong to fly, and there was no hope of climbing on a wounded talon. One wrong move, and her best friend in the world was going to die.

Rainbow tried to pull them up, but she just wasn’t strong enough. With both her talons preoccupied, she tried to kick against the rock wall with her hindpaws, but it was useless. She couldn’t climb up any better than Pinkie could. It was all she could do to keep them from falling.

And so they did the only option left for them: they screamed. The sound never reached their own ears, as the intense winds of the Abyss whipped their screams away. All they could do was hope that the winds carried them to someone who could help.

There was no way to tell how long they dangled there. Minutes? Hours? Rainbow didn’t know. All she knew was that her grip on Pinkie’s talon was made slippery by blood, and there was no telling if she could hold out for long enough.

Then she felt everything shift. Just a little, but a little was too much. She looked up at what she had hold of, seeing it didn’t look like a rock at all. Some sort of cup wedged into the rocks? Rainbow wasn’t sure, but it was starting to come free.

“Pinkie, I’m so sorry!” Rainbow called, unsure if Pinkie could even hear her. It didn’t matter, she had to say something. “This is all my fault, but I promise you I’ll get you out somehow!”

They shifted a little more, and the wind whipped more than words away as tears escaped Rainbow’s eyes.

“I won’t let go of you!” she promised. It was true because it had to be. “I’ll save you somehow!”

There was no time to grab anything else. There was no time to do anything, as they suddenly jolted down farther. Whatever she was holding onto must have come free, although it seemed to have caught on something else again, because they stopped.

Then, somehow and against all odds, they started moving back up. Rainbow looked up in confusion, then saw a talon reach down and grab her own, then another one. Inch by inch, she rose as someone pulled her up.

She let go of the thing she was holding to get a better grip on the wall once she was securely in someone else’s talons. She helped pull herself as much as she could, and eventually, she saw Maud’s face as she pulled Rainbow inside.

As soon as she was back on solid ground, she stabilized herself and reached back out to help Maud pull Pinkie up. Between the two of them, she came up easily.

Once Pinkie was through, she threw herself around Maud and cried. For her part, Rainbow fell onto her back and breathed deeply. She looked over to where the thing she was holding onto was and saw it was more like a trophy than a regular cup.

Although she could hardly bring herself to care, Rainbow forced herself up to examine it, giving Pinkie and Maud a moment alone while examining the thing that had saved their life. It was a little hard to make it out clearly under the layers of dirt that clung to it, but the top part curled around a red stone with what looked like an ornate wing design, and the base seemed to be modeled after a talon.

She vaguely wondered what the heck it was, but even if Pinkie or Maud knew, this wasn’t the time to bring it up. Maybe someone back in Griffonstone would know, maybe not. Rainbow Dash was alive, and more importantly, so was Pinkie. That was what mattered.

At least, until Maud’s sharp voice cut through her thoughts. “What were you two thinking?” Well, her tone was sharp for her, at least.

“It’s my fault,” Rainbow said between deep breaths. She forced herself to stand and better look at Maud. Finally, all the other concerns raced through her head, of the Pie sisters, of the relationships she may have damaged, of Marble… “I was the one who wanted to come here. Pinkie tried to tell me how dangerous it was.”

“Why didn’t you listen to her?” It was usually hard to tell how Maud felt, but this time, Rainbow was positive that she was pissed.

“Because I’m an idiot!” Rainbow faceclawed, well aware that there could never be enough of an explanation for what had happened. “I’m so so sorry, I never should have led us down here! I’m just… I’m an idiot…”

Maud held her eyes on Rainbow for a moment, but she didn’t say anything. Instead, it was Pinkie who spoke next, her voice uncharacteristically small. “Did… did you find Marble on the way in?”

Maud sighed, but she lost the edge in her voice. “Marble’s the one who came and got me. She’s at home. Everyone else is here looking for you.”

Relief was instant. No matter what happened after, the worst hadn’t come to pass. She had no idea how she would make things better with the Pies, but at least she would have that chance with all of the sisters.

Rainbow gave a few sharp nods, aware that if she kept that train of thought going, she was going to start crying. “We better get back to the others then.” The last thing she needed was for someone else to get hurt because of her.

Maud looked at her as sharply as she ever looked at anyone, and Rainbow averted her eyes. She kept her eyes on Rainbow as she addressed her sister. “Are you ready to move, Pinkie?”

“Yeah, we should go,” Pinkie said.

Maud started walking, with the other two following behind. “Next time Rainbow tries to do something dangerous like this, don’t you dare go with her. If you can’t change her mind, don’t let her drag you down with her.”

That hurt to hear, but Rainbow knew it was good advice. Maud let Pinkie lean on her and led them out, so Rainbow followed. Almost as an afterthought, she grabbed the cup to take it with them, but whatever was calling to her before was no longer there. She walked along a good distance behind the sisters with her tail tucked between her legs.

3 – Revelations

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Chapter Three

Revelations

⠀

There weren’t many rules in Griffonstone, but there were a few guidelines. For example, it was considered particularly heinous to wake a griffon while they slept, and that went double for Rainbow Dash.

And yet, someone was pounding on her window. Not her door, which her parents might answer, but her bedroom window. Since no one else was going to answer that, Rainbow had only one option.

She covered her head with a pillow and hoped that the banging would stop. Obviously.

As was too often the case, however, the universe didn’t adhere to Rainbow’s wishes. The knocking continued, and despite her best efforts, there was no ignoring it.

With a groan, Rainbow pushed herself out of bed and ambled to the window. It was a second-story window, but that hardly mattered in Griffonstone.

When she looked outside, she saw Gilda staring back at her. Rainbow shot her a nonplussed look and debated flicking her off before going back to bed. She would have done it if there was any chance that Gilda would actually leave.

Her eye twitching slightly, Rainbow opened the window. Gilda wasted no time in climbing through it. “Hey, nerd.”

“Hey, Gil,” Rainbow answered in her grumpiest tone. “What do you want?”

“Wanted to talk to you about something, but right now, I’m more wondering why you look like shit.”

Rainbow glared at her. “Had a crazy night last night.” That was an understatement, to be sure. Rainbow had nearly died, and worse, she’d nearly gotten two of her friends killed while she did it. If she ‘looked like shit’ as a result, well, that was only fair. “What’s your excuse?”

Gilda ignored her dig. “And not the fun kind of crazy, huh?”

“No. Very much no.”

Gilda looked her over more carefully, while Rainbow closed the window. “So what’s the other griff look like?”

Rainbow spun around and barked, “I wasn’t fighting!”

Gilda smirked and shook her head. “You look like that and it wasn’t a fight? Just what the heck did you do, Dash?”

Well, it seemed there was no getting out of it. Rainbow sighed. “Me and Pinkie were exploring a cave when it caved in on us.”

Gilda let out a low whistle and helped herself to Rainbow’s bed before she could return to it. “You made it, though.”

“Yeah, thanks to Pinkie’s sisters. If they hadn’t come just in time, then our bodies would still be blowing around the Abysmal Abyss.”

“The Abysmal Abyss?” Gilda cocked her head to the side, giving the impression of a true Griffonstone pigeon. “What the heck were you out there for?”

“Sightseeing. Move over.” Rainbow punched Gilda’s shoulder, so she made room on the bed for both of them. “The cave let out into the Abyss. We didn’t even know it until Pinkie got sucked through it.”

“Pinkie make it out too, then?” Gilda asked. There was a subtle shift in her expression that carried into her tone. It was hard to make out, but Rainbow had known Gilda for most of her life.

She smirked. “Oh, someone’s worried about Pinkie Pie!”

“What? No, I’m not!” Gilda’s feathers ruffled and she ignored the fact that Rainbow was injured to shove her roughly. “I just don’t want to deal with you being all weepy if your girlfriend died on you!”

Rainbow swatted away Gilda’s talon and laughed. “Yeah, whatever. Deny it all you want, but you’re worried. Anyway, she’s fine. Hurt her talon in the cave-in, but it’s not broken or anything like that.”

“Cool.” Gilda looked around nervously. “So… I guess that means you haven’t thought much about our talk yesterday, huh?”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Considering me and my best friend almost died? No, haven’t given it a lot of thought.”

“Fair enough. But now that you’re both okay, how about giving it some thought? The two of us ruling Griffonstone, how does that not sound awesome?”

“Maybe because I never wanted to rule Griffonstone?” Rainbow’s tail flicked back and forth. “I just want the griffons here to try and look out for one another.”

“Right, all that friendship and kindness crap.” Gilda threw out a talon. “It’s pony stuff, Dash! We’re griffons.”

“It’s not just pony stuff!” There was a lot about what Fluttershy was that Rainbow didn’t understand, but it was clear she wasn’t a pony. “I’ve never even met a pony. And neither have you. How would you know what pony stuff is like?”

“Fine, whatever.” Gilda got up and hovered with her forelegs folded. “But it’s not griffon stuff. We need more concrete leadership than just ‘be good to each other’. And I need your help if I’m going to pull it off.”

Although she had barely spared them a thought with everything that came after, Pinkie’s words from before the cave came back to Rainbow. She thought Gilda could actually do a good job of ruling. And hadn’t she even said Rainbow could too?

But it wasn’t Pinkie’s choice to make; she didn’t even live in Griffonstone. This was Rainbow’s decision, and it didn’t even feel like a real one. “Look, Gilda, just… do what you want, but leave me out of it this time. I’m not a leader, and if there was any doubt about that before, last night proved it to me. I almost got Pinkie and Marble killed for that.”

Rainbow gestured towards the trophy or whatever it was that she had found in the cave. She had meant to clean it up after she brought it home, but then she didn’t have the energy and went to sleep instead.

Gilda swooped down to look at it better. She turned to Rainbow with a wide-eyed expression. “You found this in the Abysmal Abyss?”

Rainbow shrugged. “Yeah. So?”

“Do you know what this is!?” Gilda barely looked like she even wanted to touch the old piece of junk.

“Some old hunk of metal that you’re going to geek out about?”

For some reason, Gilda looked at her almost sympathetically. “Geez, did you sleep through all of Grandpa Gruff’s history lessons?”

“Yes.” Rainbow flew over to the… whatever it was. Despite her tough persona, Gilda was actually a major history buff. She was always geeking out over old crap, then doing her best to pretend that she hadn’t been geeking out.

Meanwhile, Rainbow just saw a reminder of how close she had come to causing a disaster. She grabbed it and shoved it into Gilda’s talons. “You want it?”

Gilda’s beak fell open. “Are… you serious?”

Rainbow grinned. “See, what’s happening here is that I have something I don’t need and you want it more than I do, so I’m giving you it as a gift. Know what that is? It’s kindness! Not such a bad thing now, is it?”

Gilda’s look of irritation almost made Rainbow think she was going to refuse, but she looked down at the object and clutched it tightly. “Tell you what. Spare me the kindness lesson, and I’ll spare you the history lesson.”

“Deal,” Rainbow said without having to think twice.

Gilda turned back to the object. “I can’t believe it. The Id–”

“No history!” Rainbow reminded her. She leaned back in her bed. “Anyway, I’ve got some serious napping to get back to.”

Gilda scoffed. “You know, maybe it’s for the best that you won’t be my second in command.”

“That’s the spirit!”

Gilda rolled her eyes and stepped closer to the window, the object firmly in her talons. “Later, Dash. And… thanks.”

Rainbow shot up to cast Gilda a bewildered look, but she was already flying away. Gilda had never thanked her for anything before. She collapsed back into her bed with a smile. Maybe she was finally getting through to her after all.

Rainbow’s second awakening was much better. She stretched and yawned, enjoying the chance to wake up at her own pace. And she kept that pace at ‘leisurely’ even as she made her way out of her bedroom.

Rather than walk, Rainbow flew lazily through the home. She made her way downstairs and found the house was empty. That was a little strange, and she vaguely wondered where her parents had gone, but it wasn’t worth giving too much thought to.

What did catch Rainbow’s attention was the noise coming in from outside. No one liked being out and about in Griffonstone, yet Rainbow heard voices talking excitedly.

When she went to the window to see what was going on, she saw a tide of griffons all making their way down the street in the same direction. For a second she just watched. She wasn’t sure if she had ever seen that many griffons all in one place, and she got the impression this was only a small part of the crowd that was gathering.

Puzzled, Rainbow stepped outside to see what all the commotion was about. She watched as two griffons held a discussion.

“Guess things will be changing around here,” a middle-aged griffon said. He scratched his head as he watched the crowd.

The other was a little younger and looked like he was related to the first. He also looked over the wave of griffons. “So you really think it’s true then?”

The first jerked his head in the direction the others were going in. “Only one way to find out.”

As they both flew off along with the others, Rainbow just stared in puzzlement. She thought about asking someone what was happening, but she wound up just following along instead. Trying to keep an ear open didn’t help, as the din of everygriff conversing at once made it impossible to listen in on any one conversation.

It wasn’t too long before Rainbow found herself in the town center. It seemed that all of Griffonstone was there, more pigeons than Rainbow knew even lived within the city. That made it impossible to get close, and craning her neck to try and get a better view got her nowhere.

It was also impossible to hear over everygriff, but after a few minutes of frustration, Rainbow could make out the sound of someone knocking something heavy on wood. The sound carried through the crowd, and slowly the talking died down. Rainbow tried to move around for a better vantage point, but it was hopeless.

“Griffons of Griffonstone!” a voice called out, ringing over the crowd. It stopped Rainbow in her tracks; it was a voice she knew all too well.

“No way…” she muttered to herself. It was Gilda. She was actually doing it. And more surprisingly, the others were listening to her.

Well, there was no way Rainbow wasn’t going to see this up close. She flew over the crowd, but of course she wasn’t the only one who’d had that idea. The skies were at least as crowded as the streets below.

“For too long we’ve let ourselves wither away. Look what’s become of our proud heritage! A town falling apart, citizens who would rather hole up in their own walls while the city crumbles around them!”

Rainbow swerved around as best she could, but there was no getting around it. She eventually landed back on the ground, where she could just barely manage to see some of Gilda, who was standing on a pedestal in the middle of the crowd.

“It’s time for someone to take a stand and lead us. It’s time for someone to organize a proper effort to repair our town and our legacy. It’s time for someone like me. As your new queen, I’ll lead Griffonstone to be even better than it once was!”

Their new queen? She was really pulling out all the stops. But there was no way that would sit with the others. There hadn’t been a queen or king of Griffonstone since King Guto had lost the Idol of Boreas. Even Rainbow knew that.

“And for those of you who doubt I’m the one to lead us, I present this!” Gilda held up something gold, which glistened in the sunlight. Rainbow squinted, trying to get a better look at it. “The Idol of Boreas! Hidden in the Abysmal Abyss for centuries, and finally found by yours truly!”

The Idol of Boreas? Gilda had actually found the Idol of Boreas!? But when? How? Rainbow craned her neck for a better view and got shoved out of the way by some griffon doing the same.

“With the Idol, I can unite Griffonstone once more!” Gilda proclaimed. And the crazy thing was that it was true; even someone like Rainbow knew how important the Idol of Boreas was. She didn’t know much about her own history, but there was nogriff that didn’t know about that.

“And with the city in the state it’s in, it’s important that we don’t waste any time. So as my first proclamation, I decree we will organize a reconstruction effort that’ll help all of us. I want every griffon to come see me so we can figure out what your role will be in repairing the damage done to Griffonstone over the years. Now, let’s form a line and get to it!”

Griffons started shifting around as they failed at forming anything as organized as a line. But it did give Rainbow a chance to finally get a good look at Gilda, and that hit her almost as hard as the cave-in had.

Gilda was holding what must have been the Idol of Boreas aloft, and Rainbow recognized it immediately. Not as the Idol, though. She had never known what the Idol of Boreas looked like, after all.

No, she recognized it from her bedroom only hours earlier. Gilda had gotten it cleaned up and shimmering again, but it was unmistakably the same object she had given Gilda, the thing from the cave.

She had known. Gilda had known exactly what it was when Rainbow gave it to her, and just as importantly, she had known that Rainbow didn’t know. Gilda had tricked her into handing over the Idol, and with it, all of Griffonstone.

It wouldn’t stand. Rainbow wouldn’t let her get away with it. She flew up in the air and made straight for Gilda, determined to make her tell them the truth about who had found the Idol, but she was stopped by a griffon pushing her back down.

“Hey, what gives?” Rainbow asked, taking a defensive stance.

The other griffon didn’t seem interested in fighting, just testily replying, “You gotta wait your turn like every other griffon here.”

“You don’t understand, I found that Idol!”

He just rolled his eyes and turned away from her. “Yeah, and I bet you’re King Grover’s long-lost descendant too. I ain’t buying it!”

“What? Ugh, just get out of my way! You’ll see once I talk to Gilda!”

“What’s going on?” another griffon asked.

“This one’s trying to cut in line.”

“Wait your turn like the rest of us!”

Rainbow faceclawed. “There isn’t even a real line!” she shot back, but it didn’t seem to matter to them. She was getting the attention of other griffons, and all of them clearly shared the same opinion.

Well, there was no way Rainbow was waiting her turn to chew Gilda out. She kicked off and again took to the air, but this time, she flew away from the town square.

She landed on a building a ways away, careful that she wouldn’t damage it further than it already was. She looked back and could see Gilda trying to organize the griffons into something manageable.

Rainbow weighed her options as she watched the failed efforts. It was nice to see Gilda squirm in her first attempt to do something as queen, but it hardly made up for how things got to this point.

It wasn’t fair, and it wasn’t right. Rainbow had been just trying to spread a little kindness, and Gilda had betrayed her. Like always, kindness just blew up in Rainbow’s face.

Maybe Gilda was right. Maybe kindness wasn’t for griffons, and Rainbow had been wasting her time all along. No, not maybe. Gilda was right, and it was time Rainbow accepted that.

And she did accept it. Rainbow was done. Kindness got her nothing but misery, and she was done with it.

Which meant that now it was time for Gilda to realize how much Rainbow’s kindness had helped her. She’d learn that soon, just when Rainbow tore it all away. Gilda wanted to steal the Idol from Rainbow? Well, two could play at that game. Rainbow knew where Gilda lived, and she had to go home sometime.

All Rainbow had to do was sneak in and take the Idol. Then she would be Queen of Griffonstone. Or better yet, then she could just chuck the thing back into the Abysmal Abyss. Not like she wanted to be queen anyway.

But Gilda wasn’t an idiot. She’d know others would want the Idol, and she’d have some sort of defenses set up. Rainbow could handle them, but maybe it would be best to not handle them alone.

Well, there was only one griffin she could trust to stick with her on a job like this. With her mind made up, she flew off toward the Pie household and just hoped Pinkie would still want to stick with her after what she’d done.

It had been years since Rainbow had started going to the Pie home, and it had always felt warm and welcoming to her. Well, okay, the house was a little drafty and crowded, but that was part of its charm. And more to the point, the Pie family had always been warm and welcoming.

But that had been last night, before Rainbow’s dumb decision to go into the cave threatened everything. Now, she had no idea how the Pies felt about her, but she knew the little house somehow looked much bigger and more daunting than she had ever known it to be.

She stood outside, and she considered her options. She could go back to Griffonstone, no one had seen her yet. She would meet with Pinkie another day, once they’d given the dust Rainbow had kicked up enough time to settle.

Or she could knock on the door, apologize to the only griffin she felt really understood her, and ask for her help committing what may very well be treason. That last part notwithstanding, she knew there was no choice for the rest. Pinkie was her best friend, and while she hated to think it, she was aware that Pinkie may in fact be even more than that…

There was only one choice. She didn’t know if Pinkie would help her with the Idol; she’d been absolutely furious the night before. But Rainbow owed it to her friend, she owed it to Pinkie to apologize.

And she was stalling, because she was afraid. But even if she was afraid, she was no coward. Rainbow steeled her nerves, and she knocked on the door.

The seconds after were even worse. She knew the Pies were rarely home at this time of day, so there was no guarantee that anyone would answer. In some ways, that would be better. Even if Pinkie didn’t want to help her with the Idol, it would be enough to see her and know that things could work between them. But what if one of the others answered? Rainbow couldn’t decide which of them would be worst…

She didn’t have long to debate though, as the door opened to reveal Pinkie Pie. Rainbow smiled nervously and tried to greet her friend. “So… hi, Pink–”

She didn’t even get the whole name out before she was tackled to the ground. Her first thought was that Pinkie was still so angry that she was attacking her, but then the lynx griffin started nuzzling against her. “Oh, Dashie… I’m so sorry!”

Rainbow tried to get away, but Pinkie held her tightly. “What are you talking about? Why would you be sorry?”

“Because I was so mean to you last night!” Pinkie sounded like she might start crying, which blanked out all of Rainbow’s thoughts. “I was just so scared for Marble, but I took it all out on you, and… and…”

“Pinkie, it’s fine,” Rainbow insisted when she found the words. “I deserved it. All of it, and then some. I was a total jerk last night.”

Pinkie buried her head into the crook of Rainbow’s neck. “I’m just so happy you came back!”

Since it was all she could manage to do, Rainbow awkwardly patted Pinkie on the back. “I’m happy to see you too, but maybe you could let me up? Kinda uncomfortable down here…”

“Oh! Sorry…” Pinkie got up and extended a talon to help Rainbow up as well.

Rainbow accepted, then brushed herself off as best she could. Once she’d gotten the worst of the dirt off her, she turned back to Pinkie and looked her over. She was a little banged up, just like Rainbow was, but didn’t look too bad. “How’s your talon?”

Pinkie held up her right talon to show it was bandaged but looked fine. “All good here! Mom bandaged me up and scolded me, but I feel fine now. Maud said I wasn’t allowed to work today, though…”

Well, that explained why Pinkie was home, at least. And when it came down to it, Rainbow was probably in for more than a scolding when she next saw the rest of the Pie family. “So… did they say anything about me?”

Pinkie deflated a little and wouldn’t look at Rainbow. “Uhm… a bit.”

Rainbow nodded. The words her mom had said the night before echoed in her head, about how they’d approve if Rainbow asked for… Well, whatever, it wasn’t like she was going to do that. She hadn’t even wanted their approval anyway.

At least, not until she might not have it anymore… “Guess I should probably stay away from family dinner for a bit.”

“They’ll calm down,” Pinkie promised, but her heart didn’t sound like it was in it. “And I’ll, uhm, I’ll come visit you in Griffonstone a lot.”

Rainbow nodded. It was the best she could hope for. And yet, she had to hope for more. “Speaking of Griffonstone… Something happened.”

“Something bad?”

“Something I need your help with.”

For some reason, Pinkie’s mood turned around in an instant and she beamed at Rainbow. “You got it! Just say the word and I’m there!”

Rainbow cocked her head to the side, wondering where the change of heart was coming from. “You don’t even know what you’re signing up for…”

“Doesn’t matter, as long as I’m there doing it with you.”

Rainbow frowned. Pinkie was too good for her. She knew that already, but that fact stood more clearly than ever.

It was almost enough to make Rainbow hope Pinkie would change her mind and refuse when she heard what was about to be asked of her. “We need to sneak into Gilda’s house and steal the Idol of Boreas from her.”

Pinkie shook her head and, if possible, fluffed up her feathers even more than they usually were. “What!?”

At least she saw how serious this was. “Remember that thing I found last night? That was the Idol of Boreas! Any griffon who owns it is the rightful ruler of Griffonstone, and right now, that’s Gilda. But she tricked me into giving it to her, and now she’s claiming she found it!”

Pinkie gasped. “But she’s your friend! Why would she do something like that?”

“Uh, because she’s not my friend and never has been! She just wants power!” Although the whole situation made her blood boil to think about, Rainbow forced herself to continue more calmly. Her brash actions had gotten them into trouble already, she needed to address this reasonably. “She was already talking about ruling Griffonstone, remember? Then I just played right into her plans.”

“I… I guess.” Pinkie looked in the direction of Griffonstone. “I didn’t think she’d try to lead like that.”

“I didn’t either,” Rainbow admitted. She didn’t want to admit to how much it hurt to find that Gilda would do this to her. “But, you know… she’s a jerk. We should’ve known something like this was coming.”

“But you and Gilda have known each other for so long…” Pinkie frowned and pulled Rainbow into a hug. “I’m sorry she’s being such a meanie right now.”

Rainbow squirmed until she got away. “I don’t care about Gilda! Or well, I don’t care that she’s mean. I just care about giving her a taste of her own medicine and getting that Idol back. See how well everyone follows her once she doesn’t have that!”

Pinkie looked uncertain. “But… maybe there’s another way? What if we just talked to her about it? We could explain –”

“Explain what? The kind thing to do?” Rainbow scoffed. “Gilda doesn’t care about kindness, and neither do I.”

Pinkie’s beak fell open. “You can’t mean that.”

“I do,” Rainbow said defiantly. “Look, Pinkie… I still care about, you know, being kind to griffins like you and your family. But those pigeons will never get it, and trying only makes things worse. If we’re going to stop her, we have to know that.”

“Do… do we need to stop her?” Pinkie asked quietly.

Rainbow blinked. “Of course we need to stop her! Look, it’s messed up what she did, but it’s even worse than that. Think about it. If she’s willing to do this to get power, what else is she going to do?”

Pinkie slowly nodded as Rainbow’s words reached her. “Okay,” she said after a moment. “So… how do we do this?”

4 – The Heist

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Chapter Four

The Heist

⠀

It was with a great amount of reluctance that Rainbow suggested what she knew she needed to suggest: they form a plan. Since it was dangerous to stay at the Pie family house given Rainbow’s drop in reputation, they instead went back to Griffonstone.

Along the way, there were a surprising number of griffons scattered about. They all seemed in oddly good spirits, considering what had happened. She overheard a conversation.

“I got stationed on the wall,” one griffon said, sounding almost proud.

“Lucky you!” the other said, although he didn’t sound upset about his own role. “I’ll be making food for the construction crew, so think of me when you get your daily slop!”

They both laughed, and Rainbow scowled. Once upon a time, this would have been all she could have asked for – seeing griffons care about their city. But they didn’t care, they just cared that their new queen had ordered it.

She flew to her house as quickly as she could with Pinkie following her, which was much slower than if she had gone by herself. Pinkie was not a strong flyer, and it wasn’t like Rainbow was going to leave her behind.

Once home, she ignored the door and went in through her bedroom window. Pinkie followed, barely squeezing in due to her larger frame.

Since she wasn’t going to fly inside, Rainbow instantly fell to pacing. She grinned at her friend, who jumped onto her bed. “So… here’s what I’m thinking.”

Pinkie turned her attention to Rainbow, who launched into an expert plan: Pinkie would kick in the door, and then beat up anyone who got in their way while Rainbow made a beeline for the Idol.

Although that plan was awesome, Pinkie gave her a concerned look. “Fighting? Dashie, we can’t fight innocent griffons…”

Rainbow frowned. “Gilda is not innocent.”

“But what if she has guards? They’d just be doing their jobs.”

Pinkie had a point. And even more of a point was the fact that Pinkie probably couldn’t fight off a bunch of guards. She was a lynx griffon, but she did have limits. Rainbow considered that.

“Well,” she said eventually, “what do you think we should do?”

Pinkie rolled onto her back and stared at Rainbow’s ceiling. “We really can’t talk it out with her, huh?”

They had already been over that – there was no reasoning with Gilda. But Rainbow didn’t blame her for wanting to take that route. She would, too, if it only had some chance of working.

She sighed and tried to explain it better. “Look, I tried talking to her. They wouldn’t let me anywhere near her! And there’s no reasoning with Gilda. I know her, Pinkie. And I know that she’ll never back down, ever.”

“I guess…”

Rainbow hopped onto the bed with Pinkie and used her beak to nudge her gently. “I wish it would work, Pinks. But all we’d do is alert her that we’re not going to sit back and follow. And then there won’t be any hope of getting it back!”

Pinkie rolled over and put her talons around Rainbow. “Okay… But if we can’t talk and we can’t fight…”

Rainbow thought for a moment. They only had one other option. “We’ll have to steal it from her.”

“But how?”

Rainbow tried to sit up, but Pinkie gently held her down, so she gave up. Instead, she rolled onto her back and let Pinkie rest her head on her chest. “She’s gotta take it home, right? We’ll sneak in.”

“Break into her house? I don’t know, Dashie…”

“It’s a risk, yeah, but what other choice do we have?”

Pinkie was quiet for a while, and Rainbow was pretty sure she understood. It was a lot to take in.

But when Pinkie spoke, Rainbow was not prepared for the words she said. “Maud said… I shouldn’t do dangerous things with you anymore.”

Rainbow tensed at that, but carefully controlled her reaction. She had agreed with Maud saying that, and that had just been the night before!

Neither of them said anything. Pinkie kept lying on Rainbow, but her head was turned away from her, so she couldn’t guess what the griffin might be thinking. Eventually, Rainbow pulled her talon out from under Pinkie’s body and rested it on her head instead.

Rainbow was not a griffon of words. They never quite seemed to do what she wanted them to, and at times like this, she couldn’t even form them at all. So instead she held onto Pinkie, and she hoped that would say whatever she couldn’t say with words.

It was, if nothing else, a nice moment. She reminded herself this was what she really wanted – Pinkie to stay by her side, to keep being her friend. Or to keep being whatever else she might be. She didn’t think she could do it alone, but she also could never push Pinkie to do anything like this.

The quiet moment was, in fact, only a moment before it was ruined. She heard her mom from the doorway. “Aww! Aren’t you two just the sweetest thing?”

Rainbow scowled and shot up, ignoring how she disrupted Pinkie in the process. She glared at her mom, and suddenly found words that could express what she wanted to say with ease. “Mom! You could knock!”

“Your door was open, sweetie.” Windy Whistle turned around and walked off, but called behind her, “Come on down for lunch, you two!”

Rainbow sighed, but when she turned to Pinkie, she found her smiling. So Rainbow smiled as well, though she did roll her eyes. “Parents, right?”

“Aww, your parents are great, Dashie.” Pinkie nuzzled her. “Hungry?”

Wary that somegriff may still be lingering, Rainbow stood up quickly. “Yeah, sure. let’s go.”

She led the way downstairs, but the whole way, she found herself wondering how she was going to pull this off on her own.

She waited until nightfall because that was objectively the coolest time to do a super awesome stealth mission. Also because she needed to wait until Pinkie left for dinner. But she told herself it was because she wanted to do things the awesome way.

It would just be Rainbow, and she wasn’t sure what she was going to do. Gilda was smart. Rainbow would never admit it to her, but she was smarter than Rainbow was. She was maybe the smartest griffon Rainbow actually knew. There was no way she’d leave the Idol unprotected.

Which meant that somehow, Rainbow had to outsmart her. It was a battle of wits as much as anything, and the only saving grace was that Rainbow was the only one who knew it was going on. Still, she wished she had Pinkie beside her.

For her strategy, all she could do was hope Gilda went to sleep. So Rainbow waited until her parents fell asleep, then snuck out of the window and onto her roof.

For a while, she just looked over Griffonstone. She asked herself, not for the first time, if this was really something she needed to do. Gilda was… well, she was a lot of things. And right now, Rainbow was not happy with her. But… she remembered Pinkie saying that maybe Gilda could lead.

But somehow, Rainbow knew this was bigger. She… she felt it. It was similar to what she felt in the cave. The Idol… was it the Idol calling to her?

She didn’t know, but she knew she had to get it back. She spread her wings, ready to make the flight to Gilda’s house, but then she caught sight of something.

Something pink.

Rainbow’s mouth curved into a smile as she realized Pinkie was coming back to her. She was confused, but she was happy.

Pinkie landed on the roof beside her and smiled. “So, ready to go?”

“Go?”

Pinkie laughed. “To Gilda’s, silly!”

Rainbow shook her head slightly. “But you said…”

“I said what Maud told me.” Pinkie smiled as if nothing was amiss, as if she wasn’t disobeying a direct order from her older sister. “But it’s not her decision, it’s mine. And my decision is to trust you.”

“Pinkie… Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Pinkie leaned her forehead against Rainbow, and their beaks clicked together.

Rainbow could only blink. Pinkie had never done that before. Nogriff had ever done that with Rainbow before. That was…

They both knew what it was. And yet, when she pulled her head back, Pinkie just smiled as if it was nothing more significant than a friendly hug. “Ready?”

Swallowing a lump in her throat, Rainbow nodded. “Yeah. Let’s do it.”

They both took to the air, and Rainbow led the way. She flew quietly and slowly through the night air. There was no rush, after all; the worst thing would be if someone saw them racing there and tried to stop them.

Unfortunately, that forced her to think along the way. Specifically, to think about Pinkie, and what Pinkie meant to her, and what Rainbow meant to Pinkie. She had a pretty clear indication of the latter thanks to what Pinkie had just done.

Rainbow hated thinking. She was itching to do something.

And as she approached Gilda’s house, it was time to do just that. She touched down a ways away, with Pinkie right behind her. Rainbow turned to her and nodded, a silent signal that it was show time.

Using her superior kestrel vision, Rainbow analyzed everything around them. “Okay.” This needed to go right, so Rainbow pushed all thoughts of everything else from her mind. In place of those thoughts, she focused on what was in front of them. “There’s two guards out at the front door, and there might be more inside. That means we’ve gotta do it quietly, but we still need to get rid of those guys.”

Pinkie nodded. “Right.”

Rainbow kept her eyes on the two guards, who didn’t seem to be in a hurry to go anywhere. “So here’s what I’m thinking. I fly in from above and do a triple flip into a roundhouse kick to take out the one on the left, which is your cue to come in and bodyslam the one on the right. You’ve gotta make sure you keep his beak closed so he can’t yell for help though. Then we can… Pinkie!”

As Rainbow was trying to explain her plan, she saw Pinkie walking up to the guards. A quick look to her left showed Pinkie had somehow snuck off without Rainbow even hearing her. All she could do to watch as the very obvious griffin approached the guards like it was no big deal.

While Rainbow waited with bated breath, sure that everything was ruined, both the guards just flew off on their own. Pinkie waved to Rainbow, who blinked a few times, then flew over to the front door and landed beside Pinkie. “What was that?”

Pinkie just shrugged. “I told them that we’re their relief so they can go home.”

Rainbow faceclawed. She couldn’t believe that worked. “Good job, but no more running off on your own. If we run into more guards, we need to talk about what to do before doing it.”

“Okie dokie.”

Rainbow glanced around and then opened the door. She ducked in, with Pinkie close behind her, then she closed it as quietly as she could.

Gilda’s house was only one story, but Rainbow wasn’t exactly sure where her room was. That was the most likely place for the Idol to be. Of course, it was also the most likely place for Gilda to be, so they would have to be careful.

But before they could even survey the room they were in, they heard the sound of someone else nearby. For a second, Rainbow panicked, but then she realized it was only the sound of snoring. A quick look around revealed an open doorway from which the snoring was coming.

Unfortunately, that was the only way to go. They were in a small foyer with just the one doorway, so their only hope was that whoever slept in the next room was not a light sleeper.

Rainbow gulped, then she carefully took point. At least there was no door, so they didn’t have to worry about creaky hinges or sudden light differences giving them away. She pressed herself against a wall and looked through the opening. It seemed to be the living room, which only had one griffon in it. Rainbow squinted and could barely make out the form of Grandpa Gruff, snoring away on a couch.

That was good – everygriff knew that Gruff was half deaf, so they were probably in the clear. Rainbow looked back at Pinkie and jerked her head towards the room, then quietly walked into it. The pads on her hindpaws were silent, but there was a tiny tapping sound every time her talons touched down. There was nothing to do for it though; flapping her wings would be even riskier.

Once in the living room, Rainbow looked around carefully. They were alone aside from Gruff, who didn’t seem to notice them. Unfortunately, that was where their luck ended. There were two doors, a hallway, and another open doorway, any of which could lead to Gilda’s room.

Making a quick decision, Rainbow led them to the open entryway. It didn’t have a door to worry about, so it was the quietest option, and that made it the best one.

A quick glance revealed that to be the kitchen, however, which seemed useless to them. That left the hallway and the two doors. She decided to whittle down their options by checking the doors, one of which was sure to be a bathroom. Even a dead end was important intel.

There was a light on in one of the rooms, so that would be far too dangerous to check out. Instead, she turned to the other. It seemed to be dark inside whatever room was behind it, so Rainbow pressed her head against it to see if she could hear anything.

There was no sound. Meanwhile, being in the same room as Grandpa Gruff drove her anxiety sky-high even if he was asleep. She turned the knob and opened the door just a little, waiting to hear if anyone would notice.

No one did, so she carefully pushed the door open, wincing as it creaked a little. Although she was sure someone would catch them at any moment, the only reaction was Grandpa Gruff snoring louder.

Turning back to the door, Rainbow poked her head in the now open doorway. She cursed her luck as it turned out to just be a closet full of boxes of random crap. Not the kind of place Gilda would store something like the Idol of Boreas.

She closed the door silently and turned her attention to the only place they hadn’t explored – the hallway. They had ruled out everything but the room with the light on, which meant they were getting closer. Rainbow led them down the hallway, cursing the sound of Pinkie’s talons gently tapping on the floor behind her.

Of course, there were more doors. There of them, and there was no telling what was waiting on the other side of any of them.

The nearest door was cracked open and the room was dark inside. That made it a safe choice, so Rainbow crept up to it and took a look inside. She found it was a bedroom, and there was no one in it.

Hoping it would be Gilda’s room and that she was conveniently out, Rainbow pushed her way in. It felt good to be a room away from anygriff, but they wouldn’t be safe until they were out of the house with the Idol in claw.

Pinkie tapped her on the shoulder and pointed to a window. She put her beak beside Rainbow’s head and whispered, “We could make a getaway through there so we don’t have to go through the front door.”

Rainbow nodded. “Good thinking. I don’t think the Idol’s in here though.”

Pinkie looked around and shrugged. “Maybe it’s Grandpa Gruff’s room?”

That would make sense, but if that was the case, they weren’t going to find the Idol in his room. “Let’s go back to the hallway.”

Pinkie led them to the door, and Rainbow led them out of it. She immediately turned down the hallway once again. Two more doors, behind one of which had to be the Idol of Boreas.

The farther one was open, but Rainbow pressed her head against the first one that she came to. It was dark, but she heard noises coming from inside. That would be a good indication that she should leave it be, but recognized the gruff voice she heard muttering.

She turned to Pinkie and pulled her close enough to whisper to her. “I hear Gilda inside.”

Pinkie nodded. “Are we going in?”

Rainbow looked towards the open door. It would be stupid to not check it before going into a room that she knew had an awake Gilda inside. She motioned for Pinkie to wait for her, then went to get a better look.

There was no sound coming from that room either, so Rainbow poked her head in the open doorway. It was another bedroom, which seemed to be just as empty as the last one. That was disappointing, as the only option left had Gilda inside of it.

With a soft sigh, she returned to Pinkie. They could wait until Gilda was asleep, but who knew how long that would take? Anywhere in the house would be dangerous to wait, and there was no guarantee they could get back in later.

More choices, and Rainbow hadn’t proven good with those. But Pinkie was waiting for her signal to move, so it was time to think of something.

What would happen if they went in and got caught? There didn’t seem to be any guards inside, so if it came to a fight, it would be two-on-one. She glanced at Pinkie, who was bigger and stronger than Gilda, but it was hard to imagine her using that strength.

But then if they did get caught, Rainbow could also confront Gilda about what she did head-on. That was what she had initially wanted to do. And besides, even if Pinkie wouldn’t help, Rainbow was reasonably sure she could take on Gilda.

One way or another, something was going to change, and that was good enough for Rainbow. But that change was only going to happen if they stopped waiting around a dark hallway, so she fixed her face in a determined stare and nodded.

She took hold of the doorknob and turned it as slowly as possible. She tried to time her pushing the door open with Grandpa Gruff’s snoring to cover any noise it made. There was no sign that they were noticed, so Rainbow positioned herself to enter the room.

Taking a look around before she did, she saw Gilda hunched over at a desk with only a small light on it. She was muttering to herself and seemed to be too preoccupied in whatever she was doing to notice that someone was looking in from her doorway.

More details. Rainbow noticed the light barely illuminated anything, so they could stick to the shadows. It only showed Gilda and…

And the Idol! It was on the desk beside Gilda, opposite the light. But it was unmistakable, the low light shining on the golden Idol that Gilda had polished so carefully. It would be exceptionally hard to get to it without alerting Gilda, but there was always plan B of confronting her directly.

With a steadying breath, Rainbow stepped into the room.

And then it all fell apart. There was the sound of someone screaming, though Rainbow didn’t recognize her voice. She was briefly aware that Gilda had tensed up at the sound of the scream, but Rainbow was already launching herself further into the room before Gilda could do anything.

Rainbow ducked behind Gilda’s bed, putting it between the two of them. She stared out of the hallway door, where she heard a female griffon yell, “Who are you, and what are you doing in our house!?”

Three thoughts occurred to Rainbow in one instant. The first was that the room with the light on had been occupied. The second was that Pinkie was trapped in the hallway, around the corner where Rainbow couldn’t see her.

The third was that this was once again all Rainbow’s fault.

The instant passed, and there were more voices joining in with the mystery griffon. Grandpa Gruff’s was the first, his voice carrying in from the living room. “Huh? What’s that?”

“What’s going on?” Gilda called, though she didn’t seem to be leaving her place. Rainbow wished she could see someone, but the bed blocked her view of Gilda, and the wall blocked everything else.

“Oh, I’m… one of the new guards!” Pinkie said. She never was the best liar, and she didn’t sound very convincing.

Somehow, it seemed to work, though. The unknown griffon still sounded confused, but she didn’t sound worried. “Oh, well, in that case, what are you doing inside?”

For half a second, Rainbow thought it might actually work. Then she heard Gilda, and those hopes crashed down around her. “Wait a second… I know that voice.”

Crap. Crap crap crap crap.

“Oh, silly me! I’ll just, er, see myself out then.”

“Pinkie Pie!?” Gilda roared. Although Rainbow couldn’t see her from her hiding spot, she heard her jump out of her seat. “Gabby, don’t let her out of here! Get her!”

In one move, Gilda jumped over the bed and landed in front of Rainbow. She never turned back, however, instead leaving Rainbow to stare as she ran out of the bedroom and into the hallway.

Then there was the sound of complete chaos in the other room. Rainbow could easily imagine everygriff trying to act at once, but it was impossible to figure out from the clatter what might be happening.

It didn’t matter. Rainbow couldn’t let Pinkie face this alone. Even if it wasn’t three-on-one, it was Pinkie. If Rainbow owed anygriff support, it was her.

She sprung up and ran to the door, looking out just in time to see Gilda’s tail disappear into the other room they had checked earlier. ‘Pinkie ran for the window!’

That didn’t mean Pinkie was safe, but it meant she wasn’t cornered. Another choice, and again, only a split second to make it. There was no sound of Pinkie being apprehended.

Seizing the only chance that she was likely to get, Rainbow wheeled around and bolted to the Idol. She grabbed it and looked around wildly for her escape. She found one in another window in Gilda’s room.

She pushed it open and shimmied out of it, then took the sky. The night air was quiet, so Rainbow flew around the house looking for something that might tell her what to do next.

What she saw was Pinkie flying down the street towards the Pie family house. She did not see anyone else. If there was no sign of Gilda, had Pinkie already lost her somehow? If she had, then she was safe, and if she hadn’t, then all she needed to do was get home. There was no way Gilda was going to get to Pinkie if Maud was around to stop her.

Wherever Gilda was, Pinkie had a head start. She wasn’t nearly as fast as Gilda, but she didn’t have to be. She was smart, and if she hadn’t already, she could lose her. If that somehow failed, then she didn’t need Maud to overpower Gilda.

Meanwhile, Rainbow had the Idol, which she needed to get somewhere safe. Besides, Pinkie would be safer if they never found out the Idol heist was successful; even if she was caught, she didn’t have what they wanted.

So Rainbow flew in the other direction towards her house, only hoping that this would finally be a decision she didn’t have to regret.

5 – Fractions of Seconds

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Chapter Five

Fractions of Seconds

⠀

The past couple of days had held a lot of new experiences for Rainbow Dash. She had gotten trapped in a cave-in, found herself lost in the cave thereafter, almost fallen to her death in the Abysmal Abyss, gotten betrayed by Gilda, and then snuck into her house to steal The Idol of Boreas, of all things.

It had certainly been an eventful few days. And now, she could add her first ever sleepless night to the list. She’d always found sleep came to her easy, no matter what she had going on. But for once, the thoughts racing through her head just would not stop, and sleep did not come to her.

Though not her biggest concern, she was worried someone would come looking for her once Gilda realized the Idol was gone. What would they even do with her? This would be the first instance of treason Griffonstone had seen in centuries!

And as horrible of a thought as that was, she actually had bigger worries, like if Pinkie hadn’t gotten away. She could be found guilty of treason as easily as Rainbow could. Sure, she didn’t have the Idol on her, but she was in Gilda’s house!

The best that Rainbow could do was hope that Pinkie made it back home. She reminded herself that Pinkie had been fleeing the scene by herself when Rainbow had last seen her. There was no telling what happened after, but it wasn’t like Gilda or anygriff else had been hot on her paws.

Still, all Rainbow could think was that if anything happened to Pinkie… Well, actually, she didn’t let herself think beyond that point. She didn’t want to think about what she would do if Pinkie had been caught.

There was only one thing to do, though. As soon as morning came, Rainbow was on her way through Griffonstone toward the Pie household. The streets were crowded, no doubt due to Gilda’s orders to fix up the city. But if they were talking about that, then Rainbow didn’t notice.

Only… maybe she should. Pinkie wasn’t a Griffonstone griffon, she was a lynx griffin from the mountains. She was an outsider, and even if they didn’t usually care about that, nogriff was going to ignore news of an outsider stealing the Idol of Boreas.

Rainbow landed, determined to catch some bit of conversation that would tell her what she needed to know. It didn’t take long to catch something of interest to her.

“Hey, Grizz, you hear about what happened last night?” a female griffon asked.

“Oh, hey, Grace. Yeah, and that didn’t take long…” a male griffon who had to be Grizz replied. “And it doesn’t speak well for Queen Gilda’s reign.”

Even through her concern, Rainbow was a little disappointed they were still calling her Queen Gilda. But she kept her head down low and waited to see what else they had to say.

Grace just shrugged. She seemed less concerned than Grizz was. “I guess, but you know, they did at least catch the griffon who did it.”

Grizz nodded. “Yeah, I heard it was that pink griffin who’s been hanging around here for years. Wonder why she did it?”

“Why’d she do it?” Grace scoffed, and Rainbow felt her fur and feathers ruffle. “She’s a lynx, Grizz. She’s not like us eagles, they don’t really get what it means to be a griffon.”

That made Grizz smirk, and that caused Rainbow’s muscles to tense up. One more wrong comment and she was going to… “Well, wanna go see if we can ask her about it? Maybe the jail will let us see her.”

“Sure, I’ve got nothing better to do. Let’s go.”

Rainbow was left glaring as they flew off, but a moment later, her anger gave way to disbelief, then panic. She looked around frantically, catching bits of conversations as she did.

“…always knew we had to watch out for that one.”

“…I always say, keep those griffs out of Griffonstone.”

“…eagles first, you know?”

“…say we go into the mountains and clear ‘em out. Only way to be sure.”

This was… How did this happen? Rainbow hadn’t wanted this, and Pinkie…

She had to shake her head to clear it, then there was only one thought in her mind. ‘Where the heck is Gilda?’

This was unacceptable. Even if Gilda was Queen – and that was big ‘if’ as far as Rainbow was concerned – she couldn’t just arrest Pinkie. The Pies weren’t even citizens of Griffonstone, not to mention she didn’t have the Idol. This was an outrage, and Gilda was going to start a damn race war over it.

This had to be a ploy to get Rainbow to come out. That was the only explanation that made any sense. But so what? If it was a ploy, it was working. It didn’t matter that Rainbow could see right through it; she couldn’t leave Pinkie in jail.

Rainbow flew as fast as she could, easily passing the two griffons she had overheard moments before. She was headed for the jail, since that was her best clue as to where Gilda might be. And if she wasn’t there, then at least she knew Pinkie would be there. Rainbow didn’t know what she’d do when she saw them – either Pinkie or Gilda – but she knew she had to see both of them.

She thought of Pinkie in a jail cell. She thought of her friend, her best friend, Pinkie Pie, whom she had just shared that moment with the night before… And she thought of what Gilda might be doing to her. Maybe she was there interrogating Pinkie, using force to get information out of her. The thought made her fly faster.

There was little else on her mind as she flew; only Gilda and what Rainbow would do to her when she found her. If she hurt one feather on Pinkie’s head… Well, for Gilda’s sake, she better not have.

She was still a ways from the jail when she was stopped by a voice calling her name. “Dash!”

Just like that, all other thoughts were gone. No more reason to think about what she’d do when she saw Gilda. It was time to find out.

She came to a halt immediately. She turned upwards and narrowed her eyes, seeing Gilda was above her.

Rainbow flew into the air, but she didn’t wait to be closer to Gilda before yelling at her, “What did you do to Pinkie!?”

Gilda hovered in the air, folding her forelegs. “She’s okay. For now.”

Rainbow closed the distance between them and put her face in Gilda’s. “Let her go!”

“I will.” Gilda’s voice was calm and cool, which filled Rainbow with even more rage. “You don’t really think I believe someone like Pinkie Pie could sneak into my house and get the Idol, do you?”

Rainbow could feel her talons balling into fists, but she didn’t pay that much attention. “Then why did you arrest her!?”

“Because I’m not dumb, Dash,” Gilda said, arching an eyebrow. “If Pinkie was involved, so were you. So where’s my Idol?”

“Your Idol?” The only thing stopping Rainbow from lunging at Gilda was that there was nothing to kick off of in the air. She was tempted to do it anyway. “I found it.”

Gilda nodded. “Yeah, then you gave it to me. Didn’t want the history lesson, you said.”

“That’s not fair! You knew what it was, and you knew if I knew I wouldn’t of given it to you!”

Gilda smirked. “Yeah, that’s true. I did try to tell you though. Anyway, catch me and maybe I’ll let your friend go.”

“What?”

Before the word finished leaving Rainbow’s mouth, Gilda was off. Did she think this was a damn game? Rainbow flew after her in an instant, but not to win some stupid race. No, Rainbow tore after her because when she caught her, there wasn’t going to be anything left of Gilda.

There was no question that Rainbow was faster than Gilda. Gilda was a damn good flyer, and if they landed, she was a damn good sprinter. But Rainbow was just built better – she was a kestrel. She was a hunter, and Gilda was her prey. Rainbow would catch her, it was only a matter of time.

Still, Gilda was really giving it her all. She made sharp turns that left Rainbow guessing at where she was headed. Every time Rainbow almost caught her, Gilda would do some trick to get some distance. Once, Rainbow even reached out to grab her tail, but Gilda entered a free fall while Rainbow wasted seconds speeding ahead and then pivoting to continue the chase.

It was hard to tell if this was all part of some plan, or if Gilda was figuring it out as they went. Little by little, they seemed to be heading out of the city, though.

When they were close to the edge of Griffonstone, Gilda turned sharply towards Grover’s Tower. She was headed for the hole in the wall, giving Rainbow a clear idea of where she was going. She put on a burst of speed, determined to close the gap.

They met as soon as they reached the hole, with Rainbow tackling Gilda into it. She pinned her to the floor and glared down at her.

“Where. Is. Pinkie!?”

Gilda just smirked up at her. “She’s being kept somewhere safe. Chill, I haven’t hurt your precious girlfriend.”

Rainbow gritted her teeth, once again feeling all her muscles tensing. “Tell me where she is right now, or I’ll… I’ll…”

Gilda actually laughed at that. “You’ll what, Dash? We both know you’re not actually gonna hurt me!”

Maybe Gilda would have been right only a day before. But now, after everything Rainbow had been through, and with Pinkie’s safety on the line… Rainbow narrowed her eyes, then curled one of her talons into a fist. She pulled it back and brought it crashing into Gilda’s face.

“Ow! Damn, Dash, I didn’t think you had it in you!” Gilda turned back to face her, but she didn’t try to get away. It was only just dawning on Rainbow that Gilda hadn’t once tried to get up. “Look, we don’t have to do this. It’s simple, really. Like I said, I don’t want to hurt Pinkie. I just want my Idol back. Give me that, and she goes free.”

“I don’t have the Idol!” Rainbow yelled, her face mere inches from Gilda’s. “And neither does Pinkie!”

Gilda narrowed her eyes. “How stupid do you think I am? Pinkie was caught in my house right before the Idol went missing. Pinkie doesn’t even know where I live!”

It was a stupid bluff, but Rainbow dug her talons in anyway. “Maybe somegriff told her. Come on, what would Pinkie want with the Idol anyway?”

“Nothing, except to give it to you. You’re right that she doesn’t have the Idol, and I don’t think she ever did. But come on, it’s obvious that while she was distracting us, you came in and got it!”

Rainbow shook her head. “And what would I want the Idol of Boreas for anyway? You know I don’t want to be a leader.”

“Yeah, that’s what I’ve been wondering.” It seemed that Gilda finally had enough of being pinned down, as she pushed against Rainbow with all her strength, throwing Rainbow off of her. She got up and brushed herself off while Rainbow was scrambling to get up, then she calmly sat down on the opposite side of the room from the wary kestrel and pointed a talon at her. “Why did you steal the Idol?”

“I didn’t steal it!” Rainbow insisted. She was caught, she knew that. Despite what some griffons might think, Rainbow Dash was not dumb. But even so, she wasn’t ready to admit defeat. “But taking it away from you would be reason enough!”

Gilda regarded her for a moment, then sighed. “Look, I wanted to tell you what the Idol was, but you wouldn’t listen!”

“You could have made me listen!” Rainbow glared and pointed a talon accusatively. “You tricked me into giving you all of Griffonstone.”

“Tricked you?” Gilda arched an eyebrow, then shook her head. “Look, you don’t even want to lead, you said so yourself. So what did you give me? A job that you didn’t want? A job I’m good at?”

Rainbow simply held her glare.

“I’m good at this Dash.” Gilda spoke more softly, but her tone was still proud and definitive. “In one day, I’ve already motivated Griffonstone to get to work on fixing up the city. One day, Dash! I can do this!”

Rainbow narrowed her eyes. “You told everyone you found the Idol.”

“Yeah, because neither of us wanted them going over to your place and electing you queen instead.” Gilda threw out a foreleg. “Honestly, what did you want me to do?”

“Tch.” Rainbow turned away, content in the knowledge that Gilda didn’t seem interested in escaping. “Whatever. It doesn’t matter, since I don’t have your Idol.”

“Fine. Then I guess you’ll just have to find it, for poor Pinkie’s sake.”

Rainbow’s head snapped back towards Gilda. “Pinkie has nothing to do with this, let her go!”

“Do you think I wanted my first act as Queen to be throwing Pinkie in jail!?” All at once, Gilda’s calm collected demeanor fell away. “I’m backed up against a wall here, Dash! I don’t have the Idol, and if I let her go now, I risk looking weak on top of that! I could lose my crown before I even have one!”

“You put Pinkie in jail. Whether you wanted to or not, don’t expect me to be sympathetic to you. Besides, why should I even believe you? You’ve never liked Pinkie.”

“Dash, please…” Gilda’s voice was starting to sound desperate. “I don’t want things to be this way. I asked you to be my second, remember? This isn’t how I wanted things to go.”

“You asked me to be your first lackey.”

Gilda sighed. “Look, you’re right, I don’t like Pinkie. But I don’t want to arrest her! I just…”

“Just what?”

Gilda narrowed her eyes at Rainbow then turned away. “Forget it.”

“No, what? You got something to say to me!?”

Gilda curled her talon into a fist and slammed it on the ground. “I just wish I could’ve been the reason you wanted to stick around Griffonstone, okay!? When you left six years ago, I didn’t know what to do with myself! And then you came back, but suddenly Pinkie was all you cared about!”

There was nothing that could have prepared Rainbow for that reaction, but it didn’t matter. She might’ve been shocked by it, but she was more focused on something else. “So you did want to get rid of her?”

“No!” Gilda held her face in her talon. “There was a mob, Dash, and I didn’t know what to do. Griffons heard us chasing her through the streets, and then Gabby told them why we were chasing her, and… they wanted to execute her.”

Rainbow’s beak fell open, and for a second, she forgot to look angry. “They what!?”

“You know what the Idol means to Griffonstone, and when they found out an outsider had stolen it…” Gilda took a deep breath. “I said we couldn’t figure out where she hid it if we killed her, so I had to lock her in jail. I had to, Dash. Do you know what it’s like to try and reason with a mob of angry griffons?”

“You… but… you’re their queen!” Rainbow threw her talons into the air. “You could have ordered them to calm down!”

“I’ve been their queen for less than a day!” Gilda spat, a little blood from where Rainbow had punched her mixing in with the saliva. “You think I wanted this? Have you heard what they’re saying? They’re talking about hunting the lynxes from the mountains! This… Dash, this would be a massacre, and it’d be on my talons. You cannot think I wanted this!”

Rainbow narrowed her eyes. “So you just want me to believe you threw Pinkie in jail to protect her and the other lynx griffins? That’s a load of crap, G!”

“Believe what you want. You never did have any faith in me…” Gilda sighed, and she looked exhausted. “But one way or another, I’m sneaking Pinkie out of the jail tonight. I… I don’t know what they’re gonna do to me when they find out I lost the Idol and our prisoner, but I really don’t want Pinkie to stay locked up. Not that you’ll believe that…”

“Why?” Rainbow asked, shaking her head. “What do you get out of that? You don’t even like her.”

“You know, you’re a really horrible teacher, Rainbow.”

Rainbow didn’t see why that mattered now. “Yeah, you’ve told me. But what –”

“I know you’re a horrible teacher, because I watched every single kindness seminar you’ve put on.”

Rainbow blinked. She’d found Gilda outside of the seminars a number of times, but she had watched all of them? “You… have?”

“Yes. Because no matter how bad you did at trying to teach it, deep down… you were right. Griffons need to be better to one another. And for me, I guess that starts with Pinkie. Time to see if it works better for me than it did for you.”

Rainbow looked at Gilda doubtfully. “Queen Gilda’s reign of kindness? Yeah, I don’t see it.”

“Look, just because you were right doesn’t mean you weren’t also short-sighted. We need more than just kindness, we need a strong leader who can organize us. I can still be that, I…” Gilda let out a mirthless laugh, but didn’t elaborate.

“What?” Rainbow asked.

Gilda regarded her as if she was appraising her, and Rainbow wasn’t sure how much worth she saw there. “You know, the whole reason I even wanted to be a leader was because of you leaving? I thought, you know, I could make Griffonstone into a place that kids don’t want to run away from.”

With each new comment, Rainbow was finding it harder to keep being mad at Gilda. “I didn’t leave because of you, you know.”

“You didn’t stay because of me, either,” Gilda said bitterly. “It doesn’t matter. Along the way, I realized this is bigger than us. I can do what’s right for Griffonstone. And… and it’s not too late for you to help me. Give me back the Idol, Dash. If not for me, then do it for Griffonstone.”

Gilda crossed the room and stepped up to the hole. Rainbow didn’t try to stop her, but she did ask a question before she left. “You’re really going to let Pinkie go?”

Gilda didn’t turn to face her as she answered. “Tonight, yeah. This isn’t just a choice about what I want to do. This is about what kind of leader I want to be.” Gilda turned to Rainbow and nodded. “I’ll go let her in on the plan now, so you just let her family know she’ll be coming.”

With that, Gilda spread her wings and flew out of the tower, leaving Rainbow alone with her thoughts.

None of that had been what Rainbow expected. Gilda really cared that much? And she was going to release Pinkie? Not to mention that she was just keeping Pinkie safe…

She stepped up to the hole in the wall, where she could still make out the shape of Gilda flying back into town. Just what the heck was going on? Gilda was supposed to be a jerk, and giving her a taste of her own medicine was supposed to feel good.

Rainbow didn’t feel good. In fact, Rainbow was pretty sure she was the jerk this time. She sat on the floor, staring out the window at Gilda’s rapidly disappearing form as she thought about the words that lingered in the griffon’s wake.

The only thing to do was to go through the conversation one more time. That would give Rainbow the clarity to know what she needed to do. That would let her make the right choice for once.

Only… only the words just buzzed around Rainbow’s skull, nothing sticking anywhere she could access it for more than a fraction of a second. It felt like that’s all Rainbow had these past couple of days – just fractions of seconds to make decisions where everything was in the balance.

If Rainbow made the wrong choice, Pinkie would suffer. Her whole family, no, her whole tribe could suffer! And Gilda… Rainbow didn’t know what to think of Gilda at the moment, but she was pretty sure that she didn’t want Gilda to suffer either.

She could no longer see the pigeon – no, the eagle griffon in the sky. Instead, she looked over Griffonstone. It had been her home for her whole life, her parents having decided to settle in the city for reasons that Rainbow had never cared to learn. Not that Rainbow had ever learned her lessons well. She couldn’t even learn what the Idol of Boreas looked like, the single most important relic in all of Griffonstone’s history!

She cared about Griffonstone, though. There was nothing about the city that was worth feeling proud of, but she cared about it all the same. It wasn’t pride that she felt. More like… she knew she’d do anything for the city if only someone showed her the right choices to make!

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. There was no one to tell her what choice to make, and she had more than a fraction of a second to make her decision. She couldn’t focus on what Gilda said, and she couldn’t name what she felt, but she knew she felt something. And not just about Griffonstone. She felt the same dedication to Pinkie as she did to the city. She even thought she maybe owed that same thing to Gilda after listening to her.

With her eyes closed, she could almost see a face. The face of a friend, even if it was a friend she had only known for a few days six years ago.

“What would you do?” Rainbow asked quietly, although she knew Fluttershy was nowhere nearby. “You’re the expert on this stuff…”

In her head, she could see Fluttershy’s smile. That was it, just her smile. That was how Rainbow usually remembered her, because the draconequus had smiled often and broadly. Rainbow nodded, as if that smile was the only answer she needed.

Rainbow Dash was not Fluttershy. She had tried to spread the lessons Fluttershy taught her so easily, and she had failed. And when it got a little too hard to live up to the lesson of kindness herself, she had given up on it.

She was not Fluttershy. But maybe… Maybe Fluttershy wasn’t what Griffonstone needed. Rainbow wasn’t sure she was what Griffonstone needed, either. Maybe Gilda could be, maybe not. In the end, Rainbow still didn’t think what Griffonstone needed was really a leader, anyway.

But they needed a teacher. Not to learn kindness, though. Well, a little extra kindness would not hurt the city, but that wasn’t really how griffons were. They needed…

Rainbow placed her tallon on her heart. That’s what they needed. They needed that feeling, the one Rainbow felt for Griffonstone, Pinkie, and Gilda. Rainbow nodded again, imagining Fluttershy smile.

Then she imagined Pinkie Pie, and Marble, and all the other Pies. She imagined her parents, who had always believed in her. She imagined Gilda, who had cared so much more than she had ever let show.

She focused on Gilda, and she knew they were the same. “You feel it too, huh?” Rainbow asked. It didn’t matter that Gilda wasn’t around to answer. Rainbow didn’t need to hear, she already knew.

So what was she doing moping around an old tower? Rainbow stood up, took one more look over the city, and leaped out of the hole in the wall.

She spread her wings once she cleared the wall, placing a confident grin on her face as she flew off. She was pretty sure that she was going to wind up arrested for what she was about to do. But so what? This was the way she could help everyone at once. It didn’t matter what happened to her, she needed to do this.

She flew straight to her house, vaguely wondering why Gilda hadn’t even tried to search it for the Idol. She had to know that was where Rainbow had stored it, she was smarter than Rainbow ever was.

‘Because she wouldn’t stoop that low.’ Rainbow frowned at the thought. Gilda knew exactly where the Idol was, but she hadn’t tried to get it. She hadn’t tried to do anything other than reason with Rainbow. That left her with a question, but not one anyone could answer, even if there was someone around to ask it to.

Although many griffons saw Rainbow fly over the city, nogriff tried to stop her. It seemed that Gilda hadn’t put out the word that anyone should apprehend her. That was convenient, but it did further Rainbow’s question.

She came to her house and threw open the door, heading straight for the basement. It had been the best place she could think to hide it – everyone knew eagle griffons hated being underground. She descended the stairs in a leap, leaving the door open for light.

The Idol of Boreas, tucked away in a box in the corner. The basement was full of so much crap that finding the Idol in it would have been a challenge if Rainbow didn’t know exactly where she’d left it – that had been the other half of her plan.

As she pulled it out, she stared at it. There was no way it could answer, but she still needed to ask. “You chose me, right? That was the call?”

The Idol just shone slightly in the dim light.

“Well, why didn’t you pick somegriff better?”

As she expected, it did not answer. She sighed and turned to leave, but bumped the box on the way out. Something fell from it.

It was a little plush tortoise. Rainbow picked it up and frowned. That had once been her prized possession as a kit. Now it was tucked away in a dusty box, where no one would ever care about it. Why had her parents kept that?

She placed it in the box again, but she didn’t leave. She set the Idol off to the side, and she grabbed something else at random. A small flight visor that hadn’t fit Rainbow for years. Not that she needed it to; she’d learned how to keep her eyes open in the wind. After that, she found a tiny winter scarf, and a poster of a pegasus mid-flight, and dozens of other things she’d stopped caring about years ago.

“Oh, that’s you down here.”

Rainbow turned to see her dad at the top of the stairs. He descended them one at a time and grinned at her. “What are you doing down here, Dash?”

“I, uhm…” Rainbow looked at the Idol, then to the box. “Why do you have all this stuff?”

“Oh, this? It’s all treasure!” Bow Hotpaw grinned and sat down with Rainbow. He pointed at the poster Rainbow was still holding. “Remember when you wanted to start the first Griffon flight troupe?”

Rainbow blushed. “Yeah. Pretty dumb, trying to get a group of griffons to work together.”

Bow shrugged. “Well, I don’t know that it would have worked, but I liked your passion.”

Rainbow looked at the box and frowned. “Is, uhm, is that what you think of the kindness lessons?”

Bow looked ahead and lost his smile. “I think… you’re really onto something, Dash. I do, you know? And I don’t know if other griffons will ever get it, but I know you’re not the one who’s wrong.”

Rainbow shook her head. “I… don’t think I ever really tried to learn what other griffons are like. I think I should have tried something else.”

Bow smiled again. “Never too late to start something else. What did you have in mind?”

Rainbow smiled as well. “I think… we need to look out for each other, but I don’t think ‘kindness’ is the way for griffons to do it.”

“Maybe not. But it sounds like you’re starting to figure this one out on your own.”

Rainbow nodded. She didn’t know what was going to happen, and if she never got another chance, then she’d regret not taking this one. “Hey, Dad? Thank you. For, er, everything.”

Somehow, Bow Hotpaw smiled more at that. He clapped his daughter on the back. “You’re welcome, Dash.”

When she looked into her dad’s face, she could see the same thing there. The same feeling. He loved her, she knew that, but that wasn’t the feeling. It was related to love, just as it was related to pride, but… Rainbow knew it was different.

And it was time to test it out. She was a horrible teacher, and this time, she only got one more shot at it. Griffons didn’t need kindness, but they needed this. If Rainbow couldn’t teach them…

No, she had to. This had to work. She grabbed the Idol, and flew off to the top of the stairs. She turned back to look at her dad, who seemed to be trying to get a better look at the Idol. Best to get out of there before he knew what it was.

Knowing no words would suffice, Rainbow just gave him a grin and a wave before turning to leave. Her resolution hardened, even though she was scared. Depending on how things went, that might be the last time she ever saw her father.

But she knew what she had to do. So once she was out the door, she took to the air and made for the jail. She kept the Idol obscured from sight as much as she could, hiding it with her talons as she flew.

It wasn’t the smartest way to travel with it, but nogriff seemed to pay her any attention anyway. They all seemed…

Rainbow stopped for a moment as she realized how angry everygriff was. And they were all making their way towards… no…

Rainbow sped to the jail, not caring if anygriff saw the Idol. She had to beat them there, had to put an end to this before they did.

When she arrived, she found Gilda and a handful of others blockading the jail. Gilda was barking orders, but no one seemed to care.

The same passion from before burned in Rainbow’s chest, and she narrowed her eyes. She couldn’t leave this to Gilda. She put on an extra burst of speed and landed on top of the building.

“Everyone!” she yelled, but she was barely audible over the crowd. “Listen to me! I have the Idol!”

No one paid her any attention, so Rainbow did something no self-respecting griffon would ever willingly do: she inhaled, and let out the loudest squawk she could manage.

All eyes turned towards her, so she held the Idol aloft. “Listen! I have the Idol of Boreas!”

Murmurs broke out, but griffons were giving Rainbow their full attention. Rainbow took a deep breath, but she was interrupted by someone cheering. “She got the Idol back from that dirty lynx!”

Rainbow’s eye twitched, but she held her anger in check. “Pinkie didn’t steal the Idol.” Rainbow jumped down beside Gilda, putting her trust in the eagle to keep her safe. “I did.”

Again, the crowd roared, but Gilda roared louder. “Let her speak!”

Rainbow smiled her appreciation to her friend. “So, uhm… I’m actually really bad at this. I mean, anyone who’s gone to one of my seminars knows that.”

“She’s the one who’s always going on about that pony crap!”

Rainbow gave a small smile, if only because the alternative was panicking. She knew this would take delicate words, and she just did not have that gift. “I’m, well… I’m not here to teach you about kindness today. There’s… there’s something else I wanted to talk about.”

Rainbow closed her eyes, for a fraction of a second she wondered if she’d made the wrong move. But no one moved to attack her as she opened them.

“Griffonstone… it needs somegriff who will do anything for it. And that griffon? That’s Gilda!”

Gilda turned wide-eyed towards Rainbow.

“Gilda, she’s a lot like me. But unlike me, she’s never going to back down from doing what’s right when it’s hard. And she knows all this junk, if she was talking, she’d probably be doing a better job than me, and…”

“Rainbow…” Gilda looked out to the crowd and frowned.

They weren’t calming down. “She’s friends with the pink one!” someone yelled, sharpening the word into a weapon. “I say we tar both of them!”

There were shouts of agreement.

Gilda turned a harsh glare to Rainbow, and for a moment, she thought she’d made a mistake. “Give me the Idol.”

But then her expression softened, just for a fraction of a second, and she added quietly, “Please…”

Rainbow understood. She didn’t know griffons, but Gilda did. She knew what had to be done, she knew that she had to look strong by their standards. So Rainbow nodded, and when she spoke again, the words she spoke were only for Gilda; only for her friend.

“G, when I gave you this, I said it’s a symbol of kindness. But it’s not. I’m not giving you this because I’m kind or anything, but… because I trust you. Because I want Griffonstone to be better than it is. This Idol, it’s not a symbol of kindness. It’s a symbol of loyalty. My loyalty to you, and both of our loyalty to Griffonstone.”

Gilda held out her talon and nodded. Rainbow nodded as well, and gave her the Idol of Boreas.

Or… she tried to. “Uh, Dash?” Gilda said as the Idol began glowing.

“I…” Rainbow couldn’t think of what to say. This wasn’t part of her plan, and whatever words she did have failed her.

“Knock it off, Dash,” Gilda said in a worried tone.

The light was growing brighter. Rainbow could barely see through it. “I’m not doing this! I don’t –”

That was as far as she got before everything faded away.

6 – Loyalty

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Chapter Six

Loyalty

⠀

If it wasn’t for the fact that the griffons only had one major city, Rainbow would have guessed she was in a different one. Sure, the streets were vaguely familiar, but she’d never seen the city look, well, good.

She wandered around, looking for somegriff who could explain things. That was the other thing, though – there was nogriff around. Seconds earlier, there had been a mob, but now, Rainbow was all alone.

Rainbow looked all around. She checked down deserted alleys, in the empty sky, she even looked into some of the buildings. There wasn’t one single griffon to be found anywhere in the entire city.

The only thing that stood out was one lone cloud floating overhead. With nothing else to do and the idea that she might get a better vantage point in the air, Rainbow flew to it.

A look at the city from above revealed that she truly was alone. As well, she wasn’t anywhere near the jail anymore. She had to get back there, get back to Gilda and Pinkie. She owed it to them, they needed her.

Or… or maybe she needed them. Maybe those two things weren’t really different.

Rainbow shook off the thoughts and flew aimlessly. Along the way, she saw the library, restored to its once proud stature; she saw the market streets, which oddly seemed more full of life in this empty Griffonstone than in the normal one; she saw the wall, an impressive feat of engineering that would keep anyone that couldn’t fly out.

Not quite sure why, that was the direction Rainbow found herself going towards. She flew along the wall, wondering if anything existed beyond Griffonstone in this place. She wasn’t entirely sure why she had the thought, but looking in the distance confirmed it. She could see clearly for miles, and all that there was beyond the wall were vague shapes. She didn’t know what would happen if she flew out into that, but she didn’t think she could go to the surrounding area.

She stopped at the tower, which did not have a hole in it. It did have a balcony, though. That was strange; Rainbow had never known that there used to be a balcony on the tower.

‘Used to be?’

It was hard to place how she had come to the conclusion, but she realized she had already come to it. This was Griffonstone as it was back its golden days, back when King Grover watched over the city.

But that didn’t explain much of anything else. Since it seemed as good a place to stop for a break as any, Rainbow flew up to the balcony. She perched on the railing and looked out over Griffonstone.

It was a grand sight. And yet, it made her heart ache. She wanted Griffonstone to look like that in the real world. Or, well, whatever the normal version of Griffonstone was. She wanted other griffons to be able to see what she was seeing.

“It’s quite a sight, isn’t it?”

Rainbow squawked and jumped into the air. She glared down to see a griffon below her. He was brown with a beige face, and Rainbow knew there would never be a griffon who called him a pigeon; he was an eagle, through and through.

Not that something like that mattered to Rainbow Dash. “What’s the big idea?” she asked, frowning at his sudden appearance. “Why’d you sneak up on me?”

“Are you not a kestrel?” he asked with an eyebrow raised. He seemed to regard her critically, and he did not seem impressed. “How did you not hear my approach?”

Rainbow landed and glared at him. She gestured at the empty city. “Look, there’s no one else here! I let my guard down for one second, and you took advantage of that!”

The eagle frowned, and then sighed. “One such as this was chosen, then?”

“Chosen?” Rainbow reared her head back. “Look, I have no idea what you’re talking about. Want to try making a little sense here?”

“Yes, I suppose you must have questions. And I am here to answer those questions, and to answer the questions you are too shortsighted to ask. But first tell me, are you the first or were others chosen?”

Rainbow’s eye twitched. “Dude, I told you, I have no idea what that means.”

“Likely the first, then. It does not matter. The Elements call to one another. With one found, the rest will follow.”

Rainbow had to take a second to compose herself. This guy was frustrating, but he did say he was going to answer her questions. Might as well get started with that so he didn’t keep rambling on about stuff Rainbow didn’t understand. “So, uh, where are we?”

That made the mysterious griffon grin. “We’re in Griffonstone, though some years before your time, I imagine. Pray tell, what year is it in your day?”

“Uhh…” Rainbow shrugged. “We stopped keeping track of years and stuff.”

The eagle griffon blinked and gaped at her. After just a second, he regained his composure enough to ask, “How far has Griffonstone fallen?”

“It’s uh…” Rainbow scratched her neck. “Well, let’s leave it at ‘you don’t want to know’.”

The griffon looked over the city in silence for a while. Rainbow wanted to ask what was going on, but she got the feeling that he needed a moment.

Eventually he sighed. “I have spent a long time waiting for news of the present. I had not expected it to be so grim…”

Rainbow didn’t say anything. What was there she could say to some… what was he, anyway? A ghost or something?

“But you have more questions.” He turned to face her, and there was a cold resignation on his face.

Rainbow felt bad for him. She knew how much Griffonstone sucked, but this guy was part of its golden timeline. He never would have imagined what would have become of his city.

“So like…” Rainbow joined him in looking over the city. “I’m guessing you don’t know the Idol of Boreas was lost?”

“Lost?”

“By King Guto.”

The eagle griffon pondered for a moment. “I do not know that name. He would be of the royal line, I presume?”

“Yeah, direct descendant from Grover.” For some reason, that made the griffon smile. Only for a moment, however, then Rainbow dashed his momentary good mood. “Didn’t keep him in power. After he lost the Idol, that was it.”

“I see.” The griffon contemplated Rainbow’s words for a moment. “And what became of him?”

Rainbow shrugged. “I don’t know, I never paid much attention to history. All I know is that after Guto, things just kinda… sucked.”

The griffon nodded. “It pains me to hear that, for more reason than one. But you found the Idol.”

“Uh, yeah…” Rainbow scratched her neck. “More like it found me. I could…” She stopped short. She didn’t want to admit what happened.

“The Idol chose you.”

“I guess.” Rainbow shifted in place. “Do… you know why? I mean, I’m not cut out to be the queen of Griffonstone.”

“Queen?” He smirked. “The Idol did not choose you to be the queen. It chose you to be its bearer.”

More of his confusing answers. But it had chosen Rainbow, that was the important part. “Yeah, but why?”

“I do not know.” He regarded Rainbow for a moment, but he kept his thoughts to himself, only saying, “It knows what it needs, though.”

Rainbow sighed. This wasn’t helping, and she had more important things on her mind. “So, uh, how do I get back? My friends and I, we kinda need each other.”

That got the griffon to smile. “More than you know. It is imperative that you lean on your friends, and they on you.”

“Uh, okay…? So… getting out?”

“Soon, kestrel. But first, I must tell you a story.”

Rainbow winced. Get old griffons talking, and they never stopped. “That’s, uh, I mean that sounds cool! But I really need to get back to my friends.”

He regarded her blankly. “You were summoned to a visage of Griffonstone’s past to speak with its once proud king. Do not be so hasty to turn down what I have to say.”

Rainbow scratched her head with a hindpaw. “King? look, gramps, you’re great but I already told you we don’t have kings anymore.”

“Yes, but you see –”

“Say, how about, like, I come back?” Rainbow had no idea how she was going to do that, but that was future Rainbow’s problem. “Really do have to run now, though.”

“Now just listen here!” the would-be-king said. “I assure you, more than you know hinges on the knowledge I am here to give you! And you want to just… abandon it?”

“I said I’d come back!” Rainbow flew into the air. “So here’s what I’m thinking. I’m gonna just… fly until something happens. Pretty sure nothing except Griffonstone exists in this place.”

“Well, no, it doesn’t. But –”

“Great!” Rainbow saluted the older griffon. “See you later, Gramps!”

“Wait! There’s something you must know!”

Although tempted to fly off, Rainbow waited. She did shoot him an irritated expression. “Okay, fine, one more cryptic message. What do I need to know about?”

He stared at her for a moment, and Rainbow yielded. She landed with a huff, which seemed to appease the other griffon. With a nod, he said, “The Nightmare.”

“Nightmare?” Rainbow quirked her head.

He nodded slowly. “An ancient evil being. It comes to Equestria again, and soon after, the world. You asked why you were chosen? I pray that you find out before it returns.”

“Okay, that sounds awesome!” Rainbow grinned. Out of everything he had said, that was the only thing Rainbow really focussed on. “So what do I do?”

“Now?” he smirked at her. “Now, you return to your friends.”

“I, what!?” Rainbow landed. “But you just said –”

“One more cryptic message,” he reminded her. Then, for some reason, he laughed. Grinning, he put a talon on Rainbow’s shoulder. “I worried that the Idol had made the wrong choice, but it did not. It does not. It knows what it needs, and it seems what it needs is you.”

Slowly, things started to sink in just a little. Somehow, this whole thing was starting to feel just a little bigger than Rainbow’s other problems. “But… what do I do?”

“You lean on your friends, and you let them lean on you.” The eagle, or king, or whatever he was turned from her back to his city. “It is imperative that whatever comes next, you will stand with your friends. They will need you.”

Rainbow followed his gaze, looking over the city. She owed it whatever she could give it, but she owed her friends so much more. She nodded. “Okay. I’ll go back to them now.”

“No more questions?” he asked with a smirk.

“So many more questions.” Rainbow jumped onto the balcony, and she grinned at him. “But like I said, we need each other, and I have to watch out for them right now.”

That made the king grin. “Never doubt that you are what is needed for this, I see it clearly. Very well, kestrel. Go now, and may your friends know how blessed they are to have you.”

Rainbow flashed a cocky grin, then took to the air, flying past the wall. She did not look back, focusing instead on what lay ahead of her.

It wasn’t that she didn’t care about what else he had to say. Some ghost king wanted to talk to her in a recreation of Griffonstone’s past? That was awesome! She hoped she would get back to this place, somehow.

But for now, she needed to get to her friends. They were waiting for her, or at least, she hoped they were. She had no idea how much time she’d already wasted, or what happened to them while she was chatting with some old dead guy.

That just left one thing to do – she flew with all her might, until eventually, everything went white.

Rainbow sat up with a start, finding herself in a bed she didn’t recognize. A very uncomfortable bed, which was way too small for two griffons, but which held her and another, anyway.

Rainbow looked around wildly, which disturbed the griff sleeping on top of her. “Rainbow Dash…?”

That stopped all of Rainbow’s other concerns. “Pinkie Pie? What… where are we?”

The only answer she got was Pinkie throwing her forelegs around Rainbow. “Oh, Dashie… You’re okay…”

“Uh, yeah, you too…” Rainbow shifted away a little, and Pinkie looked hurt that she would. It wasn’t that Rainbow didn’t want to hold her, there was just too much else going on. “Where’s Gilda?”

Pinkie smiled again, and she rubbed at her eyes with a talon. Even in the low light, Rainbow could tell there were tear stains on her facial feathers. “Oh, she’s just outside. Lots of meanie griffons out there.”

“Don’t worry,” another griffon said. “Gilda is the coolest! She’ll handle all those meanies!”

Rainbow twisted to see who spoke. She saw a grey griffon that she didn’t recognize. She had a white spot on her neck, and a few of her feathers were tied back.

But that wasn’t really what caught Rainbow’s attention the most – she saw this griffon through bars. She was inside a jail cell.

Pinkie didn’t seem concerned about that, but of course, she’d been in a jail cell all night. “Are you sure she can reason with them? Those griffs were pretty angry last night…”

“Psh, trust me, my Gilly can do anything.”

Rainbow scrunched her eyes together and shook her head. Out of everything that happened over the past few days, this was maybe the weirdest. “Your… Gilly?”

“Shh!” the other griffon said. “She doesn’t like when anyone but me calls her that.”

“Er, right.”

It seemed that Pinkie was finally ready to start filling in Rainbow. “This is Gabby! She’s the one who caught me, and now we’re friends!”

“You’re…” Rainbow shook her head. “But… she threw you in a jail cell!”

Pinkie laughed. “Gabby couldn’t put me in jail, silly. That was Gilda!”

“Which, uhm…” Gabby was tapping her claws together. “Was only because she needed to protect you…”

“Well of course, silly!” Pinkie waved a talon. “Gilda knows what she’s doing. And now that Rainbow gave the Idol back, everything’s going to be just fine!”

A door opened somewhere they couldn’t see. Gilda walked down with two other griffons flanking her. She looked every bit the queen she called herself, holding her regal poise as she entered. She nodded to the guards, and they left.

Once the door was shut, Gilda bolted to the bars and took hold of them, a look of pure panic on her face. “We are so screwed…”

Rainbow shook her head. “What!? But I gave you the Idol!”

“No, Dash, you didn’t.” Gilda faceclawed. “You tried to give me the Idol, then it… disappeared.”

“It what!?” Rainbow shook her head. That couldn’t happen!

“Yeah, and instead, we have this.” Gilda held up a golden necklace with a red lightning bolt as the centerpiece. “Do you know what this is, Dash?”

Rainbow stared at the necklace for a moment. There was something familiar about it, but she knew she hadn’t ever seen it before. She shook her head. “Uh… no…?”

“Neither do I!” Gilda threw her talons into the air.

“Hey, hey…” Gabby walked closer to Gilda and took her head into her hands. “Relax. Just breathe, Gilly…”

Gilda took a deep breath and leaned her head against Gabby’s, clicking their beaks together. Rainbow respectfully averted her eyes.

“Dashie…” Pinkie said. “Do you have any idea why the Idol did that?”

“Do I… no!” Rainbow shook her head. “How the heck should I know!?”

“It doesn’t matter.” Gabby’s voice drew Rainbow’s eyes again. She took the necklace from Gilda’s hands and put it on her neck. “There. This was the Idol of Boreas, and griffons will still respect you while you wear it.”

“If they even believe –”

Gabby silenced Gilda with a talon to her beak. Amazingly, Gilda didn’t seem to mind. “Uh uh, none of that. You know the Idol didn’t mean anything, really.”

““It… what?” Rainbow scrunched up her face. “Of course it means something! It’s the symbol of the ruler of Griffonstone, even I know that!”

Gabby glanced back at her. “Well, sure, but it doesn’t really mean anything.”

Rainbow shook her head and flew to the bars. She addressed Gilda, sure that she would understand. “Gilda, I almost died for that thing! And then I almost lost Pinkie, and you threw us in jail over it, and… and…” She thought of the little bit of information she’d gotten in the past-Griffonstone from the spirit king. “It does not mean nothing!”

“Well, duh.” Gilda rolled her eyed. “What Gabby means is that the Idol of Boreas only means as much as it does because Griffons decided it does. Before Grover became king, the Idol was just some fancy thing he owned. But he made it the symbol of Griffonstone. No idea why, but that’s not the point. The point is that Griffons chose to follow Grover not because of the Idol, but because of it represented.”

Gilda turned from Rainbow and addressed Gabby instead. “But griffons did choose to follow him because the Idol represented something to them. I can’t just replace that with… with… this!”

“Sure you can!” Pinkie hopped off the bed and joined the others. “You think griffons followed Grover because he had a really cool thing? They followed him because they respected what he stood for, and they saw the Idol as a symbol for that.”

“She’s right, you know,” Gabby said.

Gilda ruffled her feathers. “Yeah, but that was him! Now I need the Idol!”

Rainbow stared at the necklace. That had been the Idol of Boreas, which had chosen Rainbow because it was… well, she forgot what he’d called it, but that dead dude had told her it was important for kicking some monster’s butt or something.

“Uhm, actually…” Rainbow frowned, knowing this would not be taken well. “I think I kind of need that back, actually.”

All eyes turned towards Rainbow. Gilda looked at her sharply, but it was Pinkie who spoke. As she did, she placed her talons on Rainbow’s shoulders, massaging her gently. “Dashie, you gave that to Gilda. She needs it now.”

Rainbow looked down and nodded. “I know but… Look, this isn’t like before. I met with some… I don’t know, old king or something? When I was blacked out. He told me that some monster thing is coming and I need the Idol to help stop it.”

“You’re joking.” Gilda looked down at the Idol, or what it had become. “You want me to give you the only thing that might save my skin because you had a dream that you need it!?”

Was it a dream? Rainbow didn’t think it was, but… How was she supposed to get Gilda to believe that?

Or… or maybe she shouldn’t. Gilda did need that thing, it was her new symbol of power. But when Rainbow looked at it, she just felt like it was true.

She took a deep breath. “Look, G… I’m not going to argue with you. I gave you the Idol, so this is your choice. But I know I need that thing. I don’t know how I know that it wasn’t a dream, but I do. I trust you, and I’m asking you to trust me too.”

When she looked up, she saw Gilda had reared back. “You trust me? Even after everything, you trust me?”

Rainbow met her eyes and nodded. “Look, Gil, all we have here is each other. And I’ve been a lousy friend, but… but I’m ready to be better.”

Pinkie nuzzled against her. “Told you she’d come around.”

Rainbow glanced towards her, then looked back to Gilda. “I do. You asked me to be your second, right? So that means you have to trust what I have to say right now. Because me? I trust you, Gilda. Whatever that thing means, it’s not what Griffonstone needs. What it needs is you. But the thing is, you’re going to have to believe that yourself. If you show them you can be their Queen without the Idol, they’ll follow you.”

“Yeah!” Pinkie beamed at her. “You’re a way better queen than some hunk of metal!”

Gilda reached her talon for the necklace. “Leading without the Idol… You really are something, Dash.” Gilda looked down, but she smiled. “Something crazy, but something.”

Rainbow snickered. “Hey, you’re the smart one. Don’t be surprised when I do dumb stuff.” She took a deep breath. It was time to make a choice about her future. Time to answer the question that started everything.

“And, you know…” Rainbow couldn’t help but smile a little as she spoke. “If you still need me, then you got me, Gil. I meant what I said. That thing?” She pointed at the necklace. “It’s Loyalty. My loyalty to you. Whatever I was told by some old dead king, my loyalty to my friends comes first. So if you want me to be your second, well… guess you better get started telling me what to do.”

“Dash…” Gilda looked at the ground. Then a moment later, she looked back up with a fierce expression. “Are you out of your damn mind!? You’re the most hated griffon in all of Griffonstone right now, and Pinkie isn’t exactly far behind!”

“W-what!?” Rainbow and Pinkie exchanged nervous looks.

“Relax,” Gabby said casually. “Gilly has a plan.”

“What is it?” Rainbow asked.

But before Gilda could answer, the door opened again. Two griffons walked in, escorted by guards. “Dashie!”

Rainbow was partly relieved to see them again, but mostly she just wished they would have come just a bit later. “Hi, Mom, Dad.”

Windy Whistles flew to the bars while Bow Hotpaw addressed Gilda. “Queen Gilda, please, you know our little Rainbow couldn’t have done what they said she did. She’s never even seen the Idol of Boreas!”

Gilda looked like she might start yelling, but first, she addressed the guards. “Return outside. I’ll let you know if we need anything.”

The guards looked at each other and shrugged, then sauntered off. Gilda had a long way to go before Griffonstone guards had their fabled soldier obedience, it seemed.

Gilda took a deep breath as they left the room. “Look, Dash totally trashed the Idol. But I don’t –”

“Oh, Dashie, why!” Windy Whistles cut Gilda off. “No, no, you had your reasons, I know you did.”

Gilda’s eye twitched, but she forced her voice to be calm as she spoke again. “Which is why I’m –”

“You!” Windy Whistles turned heel to glare at Gilda. “I don’t care if you are the queen, if you lay one talon on my baby’s head, then I’ll rip you to pieces!”

Gilda looked taken aback, and Gabby inserted herself back into the conversation. “Which is why Queen Gilda was saying she’s letting them go. Right, Gilly?”

Gilda took a deep breath. “Yes, I’m sneaking them out tonight. Both of them. I suggest you two pack up house and leave soon after, it might be dangerous around Griffonstone for you.”

Windy Whistles and Bow Hotpaw looked at each other. “But… Griffonstone is our home.”

Gilda pressed a talon to the bridge of her beak. “Please don’t make me exile you.”

“Mom, Dad…” Rainbow looked between the two of them in turn. “It’s okay. I’ve done a lot of dumb things lately, but… this isn’t one of them. Because right now, I’m placing my trust and my loyalty in a friend, and if that’s wrong, then…”

“No.” Windy Whistles smiled at her daughter and wiped her eyes. “That’s not wrong, sweetie.”

“We can live with my family!” Pinkie said happily.

“Uhm, your family is kind of close to Griffonstone,” Gabby said tentatively. “Maybe you should travel for a bit while things calm down.”

Rainbow smirked at Pinkie. “Or maybe we’ll just sic Maud on anyone who tries to mess with us.”

“I don’t think Maud would like that much, but…” Pinkie deflated a little. “What would she say about us moving away? What would anyone say?”

Rainbow sighed and held Pinkie close. She leaned her forehead against her friend’s and clicked their beaks together. “I don’t know, Pinks. But I know Gabby is right. This place isn’t safe for us right now.”

“Look, I’ll make sure you can come back someday,” Gilda said. Rainbow turned to see her twirling her talons around. “If, you know, you want to.”

Rainbow grinned. “Hey, I meant what I said, G. You’ve got me. I’ll go around the world and learn how other species run things, then I’ll come back here and tell you how much they suck and why we can do better.”

Gilda grinned at that. “Cool.”

Gabby placed a talon on Gilda’s shoulder and smiled at the others. “She won’t say it, but Gilda really still wants you to come back and help her rule.”

“Gabby!” Gilda recoiled, then she actually blushed. “Don’t tell them that…”

Rainbow snickered and pulled Pinkie closer. “Hey, Gil? Don’t ever think I’m letting you make fun of me and Pinkie again.”

The day passed in its own time. Rainbow’s parents left with promises to meet her in some pony town in two weeks. Gilda had to go make public appearances and pretend the captives were secure in the prison and that everything was under control. Gabby stayed with them for a while, but eventually, Pinkie asked her to go tell her family what happened.

That left just Rainbow and Pinkie. They were pressed up against each other on the bed that was too small for them, but Rainbow didn’t mind. It at least gave her an excuse to be close to her… whatever Pinkie was.

“So, uh…” Rainbow struggled for words. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “You know, what I said to Gilda goes double for you, Pinkie. From now on, you’re number one for me. Whatever you need, I got you.”

“You’re always number one for me, Dashie.”

She got the feeling that was meant to make her feel good, but really, Rainbow was just guilty that it took this long for her to come around to that.

But in the end, all she said was, “Thanks, Pinkie.”

There wasn’t much time to say anything else, anyway. The door finally opened, and somegriff walked in by themself. Rainbow turned to see Gilda, who had a bag strapped to her side.

“It took forever to get everyone to leave this place alone,” she said. “You ready to bust out of here?”

Rainbow grinned. “Born ready.”

‘Busting out’ of jail was a pretty easy feat – Gilda unlocked the cell, so Rainbow and Pinkie walked out. Although she’d had plenty of room to stretch in the cell, Rainbow still took the chance to stretch her back once she was free.

Meanwhile, Pinkie looked around the empty jail. “So what do we do now?”

“Now, we gotta get you two out of here. Put these on.” Gilda took a mass of something from her bag, then she gave each of them a black cloak. Pinkie slipped hers on instantly, but Rainbow hesitated.

“So, uh… we can’t fly in these.”

Gilda nodded. “My guards are escorting us out. With how much you two stand out, it’d be too risky to go out uncovered. ”

That made sense, even if Rainbow hated not being able to fly. “Okay, but how do we know the guards won’t rat us out?”

“Trust me,” was all Gilda said on the matter. “Now suit up and shut up. No talking until we’re out of the city.”

Rainbow did as she was told, draping the musty cloak over her. She wondered when – or even if – it had last been washed. Deciding she didn’t want to know, she kept her beak closed.

With Gilda in the lead, the three of them made their way to the top of the stairs. Gilda took a moment to steel her nerves, then opened the door.

It was amazing that Pinkie didn’t give them away. She immediately bolted to their guards and pulled them into a fierce hug. Her sisters didn’t seem to mind.

Rainbow looked around for onlookers, catching Gilda doing the same. Deciding the coast was clear, Rainbow turned back to see the Pie sisters separate. Maud was as hard to read as ever – she just stared at Pinkie for a moment, then gave Rainbow the most cursory of looks, then turned ahead. For a second, Rainbow thought Limestone was actually happy they were leaving. She wore a grin, the most positive expression Rainbow could recall seeing on the lynx griffin. But even with only the starlight to see by, Rainbow could tell by her eyes that she was upset. And Marble…

Marble was looking at the ground, and she seemed like she might cry. It made Rainbow’s chest hurt to see. She knew the soft griffin would take it the hardest, but she didn’t want to see that!

Gilda stepped towards the sisters, and Maud nodded. She took the lead, which was probably a good thing. Of everygriff there, she would be the least likely to blow their cover.

Gilda followed behind her, with Pinkie and Rainbow ever so slightly behind. They were flanked by Marble and Limestone in the back, so that the three Pie sisters formed a circle around the others. To any onlookers, they really would seem to be a proper guard.

Even so, Rainbow hoped that there wouldn’t be any onlookers. What would it look like if Queen Gilda was seen walking through the streets with two cloaked griffons? It would raise questions that Rainbow didn’t want to have to find out the answers to, that was for sure.

The walk through town was torturous. Rainbow couldn’t help but glance around the whole way, terrified that somegriff would see them. If anyone did, they never knew. The six of them managed to get through the city without incident, unless Rainbow’s near heart attack counted.

Stepping through the gates was a relief, but they kept walking. Rainbow wasn’t sure if it was okay to say anything right away, so she kept her beak shut. Considering that none of the others broke formation, that seemed to be the right thing to do.

Eventually they moved behind some rock cover, and the group came to a stop. Pinkie was the first to throw off her cloak, with Rainbow soon to follow. Gilda took them both, but before anyone could say anything, Pinkie was back to hugging Maud.

“You should be safe from here,” Gilda said.

Rainbow nodded. “G… Thanks for all this. You really came through for us, and I’m gonna remember that.”

“Yeah, well…” Gilda shifted in place and her feathers ruffled. “You’re welcome, I guess…”

There was no way Rainbow was going to hug Gilda, but she wanted to do something. She settled on extending a fist, which Gilda mimicked to bump Rainbow’s.

It seemed she wasn’t getting out of hugging though. She felt a pair of talons wrap around her from behind, and turned to see Marble with tears in her eyes.

Rainbow smiled for her friend. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of your sister.”

Marble shook her head and then buried it into Rainbow’s neck. She went wide-eyed in turn, but just patted the shy griffin on the back. Rainbow could count on her talons the times she’d heard Marble speak, but very quietly, she said, “You’re my sister too.”

At that, Rainbow froze completely. After just a moment, Marble let go of her to hug Pinkie.

Then Limestone broke her out of it by punching her shoulder. “Well, don’t expect me to be all weepy. I’m looking forward to the peace and quiet.”

Rainbow grinned at that, but she knew better. If Limestone was happy to see her go, she wouldn’t have said anything at all to Rainbow. “Peace and quiet? Yeah right, if you had either of those you’d tear them to shreds.”

“Ugh, look, I’m going to spend all day with Marble and Maud now!” Limestone gestured to her sisters, who were both within earshot. “I don’t have a choice, I’m getting peace and quiet.”

“You’re getting extra chores,” Maud said with what passed for a teasing edge to her voice. Then she seemed to almost smile as Pinkie pulled an unwilling Limestone into a hug. “With these two gone, we’ll all need to do more.”

That made Rainbow feel guilty, but not as guilty as the realization that Maud hadn’t said anything else about her. It seemed to be all she was getting however, so Rainbow moved to where Pinkie was standing. As she let go of her Limestone and rubbed her eyes, Rainbow put a talon on her shoulder and addressed her sisters. “Look, I know I blew it big this time, but… I’m gonna look out for Pinkie. I promise.”

Maud gave her a flat look, then turned to her sister. “Pinkie, make sure Rainbow doesn’t starve to death.”

Pinkie giggled, and her voice only shook a little when she answered. “You got it, Maud.”

Aware that she didn’t deserve even that much sentimentality from Maud, Rainbow just bowed her head.

Gilda spoke up, putting a firm end to the moment. “Look, this is nice and all, but you two should get out of here.”

“Yeah, okay.” Rainbow turned to Pinkie. “So, you ready to get going?”

“No…” Pinkie took a deep breath and smiled a little. Not her usual light-up-the-room kind of smile, but one that was filled with resolve. “But we’ll make it through this anyway.”

“One more thing,” Gilda reached into her bag and pulled out two objects. The first would be important, but it was the second that made Rainbow’s beak fall open.

“But… that’s –”

“A map to Ponyville,” Gilda said as she thrust both objects into Rainbow’s talons. “I know you’d get lost without it.”

Rainbow shook her head. “Yeah, but –”

“Get going, Dash.” Gilda fixed her with a hard glare.

Rainbow looked down at her talons, barely noting the map. But that necklace… The Idol of Boreas was no more, and without it, that necklace was meant to be Gilda’s symbol of power.

By the time she looked back up, Gilda was in the air. “I’ll send one of these three to Ponyville with news. You two… take care of yourselves…”

Before anyone could say anything about Gilda’s sentimentality, she flew off. Rainbow looked down at the necklace, then just nodded. She’d repay Gilda for this, even if she didn’t know how.

She felt a talon on her shoulder, and looked to see Marble again. She was holding out a bag of her own, which Rainbow took.

“That’s got enough food that you two won’t have to hunt for at least a few days,” Limestone said. “Figured you’d need it.”

Looking back down at the bag, it had the Pie family crest on it. So why had they given it to Rainbow and not Pinkie?

She looked at the pink griffin and almost asked, but somehow, she knew not to. Instead she just nodded. “Thank you. We’ll figure this whole thing out. Ponyville sounds like a dumb place, but I guess we can lay low there.”

“Just come home someday,” Maud said. Rainbow looked up in amazement, only to realize she was talking to Pinkie. But then as she took to the air, she added, “Both of you.”

Maud flew off, so Marble and Limestone both waved and did the same. Rainbow and Pinkie sat and watched them leave, neither one wanting to be the first to make a move.

But someone had to, and that someone might as well be Rainbow. She opened the bag, tucking the necklace into it between two packages of dried meat. Then she unfolded the map to figure out which way they needed to go.

“So it says Ponyville is to the east,” Rainbow said. “Right near some big mountain called Canterlot and a forest called… no way!”

“What is it?” Pinkie asked, causing Rainbow to realize she had been crying. But she still smiled, and Rainbow didn’t want to bring her back down, so she grinned as well.

“So Ponyville? It’s right next to Everfree!”

“Isn’t that where you ran away to when you were young?” Pinkie asked.

“Yeah.” Rainbow nodded. She had a plan, and that plan revolved around taking their time getting to Ponyville so that Pinkie could see all the sights and find more reasons to smile. That was the most important thing, staying by Pinkie’s side and being the loyal friend that the bubbly griffin deserved.

But in the end? It seemed that Ponyville was not going to be the really interesting part of their new lives. “I think you and I should go meet with a very old friend of mine.”

Pinkie grinned, which did a lot to lift Rainbow’s spirits. She flew into the air and motioned for Pinkie to follow. Together, they flew away from the city, letting the light from the mare in the moon guide them.

Call of the Mountain

by Krickis

Prologue

1 – Through the Streets of Griffonstone

2 – The Call

3 – Revelations

4 – The Heist

5 – Fractions of Seconds

6 – Loyalty