Waking up the next morning, I looked to my side to see Rarity's smile, even when sleeping she always looks on the bright side of life. I then whistled a quick song before getting out of bed and walking downstairs. As I made a pair of morning hot cocoas, my cutie mark began to flash, looks like I was needed to be at Twilight's Castle.

I drank up my hot cocoa quickly and gave the other to Rarity and told her that I was needed at the castle. She was a little down, but she understood about our cutie map objective, so after a loving kiss and embrace, I traveled to the castle, but when I got there, Rainbow and Pinkie were there too.

"Morning Bond Racer!" Pinkie greeted. "Did you get it too?"

"The cutie flash thing? Yeah I kinda did." I replied. "But why?"

"This is so exciting. The map is summoning you to Griffonstone, the very heart of the griffon kingdom!" Twilight answered showing up the map and the three cutiemarks near a desolate canyon and mountain. "I don't know if either of you have read "Bygone Griffons of Greatness", but Griffons were known to be-"

"Rude, insensitive bullies?" Rainbow said, cutting her off.

"You mean Gilda?"

"Yeah, I mean Gilda! When she came to Ponyville, she was a total jerk to all my friends, especially Pinkie Pie!"

"Oh I remember that, wasn't that the time we all played pranks because she bullied Fluttershy?" I asked.

"She was a bit of a party pooper." Pinkie replied.

"Mm-hm." Rainbow nodded.

"So, maybe Gilda was a little rude. You still get to go to Griffonstone, and according to this book, it has a rich, fascinating history!" Twilight continued as she began to tell a quick story. "In ancient times, griffons were known to be as greedy as dragons, always hoarding their bits and other treasures, but all that changed when King Grover found the mysterious golden Idol of Boreas. Legend says the Idol of Boreas was made from the dust of golden sunsets, blown across the mountains by the north winds. Possessing the Idol of Boreas filled the griffons' hearts with pride. It's said that that one great treasure is responsible for turning Griffonstone into the most majestic kingdom of all the land."

"Cool story bro." I commented. "Uhh I mean sis..."

"Why do you care so much about griffons anyway?" Rainbow asked.

"It was actually Gilda's visit that made me curious." Twilight answered. "So I picked up "Bygone Griffons of Greatness", and I've been hooked ever since! And now...Now you three get to see Griffonstone with your very own eyes."

"Really? Just the three of us?" I asked.

"Hey, you can totally take my place if you want. I still had half a nap to finish." Rainbow said as she yawned.

"Why don't you just come with us? I mean, you are the Princess of Friendship."

"No, no, if the map wanted me to go to the coolest kingdom in all of Equestria and tour the palace and see the actual idol that unites an entire species, which would be super amazing, I'm sure it would've said so." Twilight replied, a little glumly. "You three can handle whatever the issue is just fine. I'll stay here and do important princessy things. I guess."

"Well then, come on, girls! We're going to Griffonstone!" I declared.

"Fine..." Rainbow sighed.

"That's the spirit!" Pinkie exclaimed, blowing a party horn.

But before we could leave, Twilight gave us a quick guide and it took a long while for it all to sink in.

"Upon arriving in Griffon Gorge, be sure to pause and cast your eyes northerly, up the Hyperborean Mountains, taking in the breathtaking beauty of Griffonstone. Once in Griffonstone proper, go immediately to the palace, and introduce yourself to the king. "Bygone Griffons of Greatness" was written a long time ago, and it ends with the coronation of the fourteenth king of the griffons, King Guto. I have no idea who's in charge now. Tell the King you've been sent by the Princess of Friendship, and you're there to help him solve some sort of problem. If for some reason the king can't help, I'd try the Griffonstone library next. It's a little known secret that if you befriend a librarian, you can usually find out anything. Plus, as a bonus, there's a statue of King Grover outside! Photo op! And don't forget to sample some famous griffon scones. They're supposed to be the best."

"Okay, I think we have all of that lodged in our brains and we are fully packed, let's get going!" I said.

"Just be careful, out there." Twilight warned.

"We will be..."

Pinkie, Rainbow and I then left the castle and took the next train that went to Griffonstone. As we set close on one table, I could tell that Rainbow was not really keen on this quest and I felt a little concerned as she read a book.

"Watcha reading, Rainbow?" Pinkie asked.

Rainbow sighed. "Twilight literally wrote a book on what we need to do in Griffonstone."

"You mean like a guide on how to figure out what problem we're supposed to fix?" I asked.

"And then some. It's like Twilight herself in book form." she then put on her best Twilight impression. "Always carry plenty of bits. The griffons are sure to help you as long as you share the wealth."

Pinkie and I giggled, before Pinkie placed a tiny bag of bits on the now empty food cart that went by us, I guess she ordered a lot of food.

We then arrived at Griffon Gorge station and began to continue our journey on hoof, thankfully, we had warm clothing and hats to cover ourselves from the cold wind. We then looked up and to the left and saw a couple of homes far away on top of a mountain. Rainbow already shuddered at the thought, but we couldn't fly at a time like this.

After climbing for what seemed like an hour, we finally approached the entrance to Griffonstone.

"Aw, Twilight should've come along!" Pinkie said. "Then she could see first-hoof that Griffonstone is...!"

She paused as we looked at the houses and they were in rough shape.

"A total dump!" I finished.

"Ugh, maybe the map should've called Rarity instead of us." Rainbow said.

"Are you kidding? She would rather get scratched by Opal then climb a mountain." I replied as I intimidated my fiance's actions.

We tried asking a few griffons, but they completely ignored us.

"See? These griffons are exactly like I'd thought they'd be." Rainbow said.

"Maybe we should just find the palace so we can ask the king what's going on!" Pinkie suggested.

"We don't have a king, losers!" a voice exclaimed a bit away from us.

We turned around and gasped...Gilda!

"Hello, Gilda." Rainbow hissed slightly.

"Dash." she hissed back.

"Pinkie!" Pinkie said randomly.

"Donkey!" I added out of the blue.

"What are you doing here?" Rainbow asked.

"Uh, I'm a griffon? What's your excuse, dweebs?" she asked back.

"Hey! These 'dweebs' are here to help Griffonstone!" I answered.

"Help it what?"

"Well... we're not really sure! But it involves a map, our cutie marks, a problem, and-"

"Bored now!"

"Well if you don't have a king, could you at least tell us where the Ideal of Boreas is?" Pinkie asked.

"Ha-ha! Don't tell me you really believe in that thing."

"You'd better believe in it!" A voice muttered from inside one of the houses.

A small window opened and out came an older griffon with a hat that I thought looked familiar.

"Tommy Lee Cooper, is that you?!" I asked randomly.

"No it's Shirley Temple." he replied, coughing and wheezing before getting out of the house. "It was the best thing to ever happen to us griffons!"

"Oh, great. Now you got Grandpa Gruff started!" Gilda moaned.

"I'll tell you the whole tragic tale...for a couple of bits!"

Rainbow sighed as she gave a few bits to Gruff, he then placed a few under his hat, we then fell silent as Gruff explained the tale.

"The first griffon king, King Grover, united our kind like we've never been united before or since! And he did it all with that incredible Idol of Boreas. That idol brought pride to the heart of every griffon that saw it! From one king to the next, Griffonstone had our golden idol, we were the envy of all other species! It held us together, it gave us an identity, right up until the reign of King Guto. That's when Arimaspi came, to steal our griffon treasure! King Guto tried to fight him off, but Arimaspi managed to get away with the idol! That thing and our treasure fell into the Abysmal Abyss, our pride went with it. King Guto was the last king of Griffonstone! And we all lived miserably ever after, the end!"

"That was the saddest story ever!" Pinkie said with a few tears.

"Aw, well, that's tough ponyfeathers! No refunds!" Gruff then flew away, fast.

"No wonder Twilight's book ended with the coronation of King Guto. Who'd want to record a history that sad?"

"It's not sad!" Gilda protested. "Do we look sad to you?"

"Does this look unsure to you?" I asked back with an unsure expression that looked familiar.

"Pinkie, Bond, I think I know why the map sent us here!" Rainbow said. "We need to find the Idol of Boreas and bring glory and pride back to Griffonstone!"

"Ha-ha, here we go, typical pony hero complex." Gilda sniffed. "None of us care about that dumb old idol, don't you get it? We don't care about anything, and that's the way we like it!"

"I think Rainbow Dash is right! The map sent us here to fix some sort of problem!" Pinkie replied.

"The only problem Griffonstone has is you!"

And not saying another word, she flew off in a huff...I'm glad she left, she was getting on my nerves after what happened last time she was around.

"Well, I don't care what she says." Rainbow said. "We're gonna find that treasure, make Griffonstone cool again and get back to Ponyville! Come on!"

"Wait, what about Twilight's advice?" Pinkie asked.

"What, taking a bunch of pictures?" I asked back.

"She mentioned finding answers at the library!"

Rainbow then threw the book she had on the floor by Pinkie.

"Knock yourself out. But when you get bored with Twilight's tour book, I'll be at the Abysmal Abyss finding the Idol of Boreas."

"Wait Rainbow, I don't like the sound of that at all." I said with a hint of concern. "What if we come across a foe that nearly took away all our hard work last time?"

"You mean Starlight Glimmer? But she's gone for now, she can't hurt us." Pinkie said.

"I know Pinkie, but I'm referring to a foe that may be waiting for anypony that dares to enter anywhere near that abyss."

"How can there be a foe?" Rainbow protested with her hooves in the air. "Cause if there was one, Twilight would've mentioned it."

"Well okay, maybe I overreacted, but still, not all seven of us are here together, so we don't have the full might to accomplish this task. It wouldn't hurt any of us, including you, to do a bit of research in a library around here."

Rainbow looked back, she knew that she was defeated, she sighed and flew back down. "Alright."

"Thank you, I know you don't wanna be any longer because of Gilda, but this quest is far more important than reopening old grudges."

"You know, he does have a good point." Pinkie added.

"Okay, okay, I get the point." Rainbow exclaimed. "Let's go find a library."

And with that, we then walked around the town and everywhere we looked, each griffon was grumpy and miserable.

"I know what Griffonstone needs!" Pinkie said.

"A Countdown conundrum?" I asked.

"A song! I've got a super song about smiling that sure to make even the most grumpy griffon grin!"

She was about start when I suddenly noticed a sign, Rainbow blocked Pinkie's mouth to stop her.

"Can't sing here!" Rainbow said, pointing to the sign that had a circle and a line going over a griffon with musical numbers.

"That's a shame...it's just like the movie Footloose, but with voices instead of feet." I sighed. "I miss the 80's..."

"But- how do you break into uplifting musical numbers with no singing?" Pinkie asked.

"Yeah, that's Griffonstone's biggest problem, lack of uplifting musical numbers." Rainbow replied.

"Well if I can't sing, how about a party? If there's one thing these griffons need, it's a good cheer!" she looked around for something, "No party store? Aw. How about cake? Nothing cheers folks up like cake! Where's a bakery?"

None of those places were here when we walked around a bit more.

"No singing, no parties, no bakery?! What is this place?!"

"You're welcome to leave at any time!" a voice yelled above us, it was Gilda again and flew away from us.

"Well that just takes the cake. Wait, no! It can't take the cake 'cause there is no cake! Or muffins! Or griffon scones!"

"Come on Pinkie, let's just find the library." I said.

Afterwards, we came across what did look like a library, although it wasn't exactly like a library. We then looked around for any kind of book that would relate to what we were looking for.

"Well, that was hardly helpful...none of these books proved any use to us." I sighed in disappointment.

"See, we could've been saving that idol minutes ago instead of wasting our time." Rainbow complained.

"At least it didn't hurt to try, Rainbow. I guess we'll have to deal with the matter without knowing all the facts."

"Well I'm gonna scout ahead, don't wait for me..."

And before either Pinkie or I could answer, she zoomed away.

"Pinkie, go and find a supply store, I have a feeling that Rainbow's gonna need help." I advised.

"Okie dokie lokie!" she replied and she bounced away.

I decided to get to the bottom of the friendship that Gild and Rainbow used to have before that prank event a few years ago, there must be something that she cares about deep down inside, even if she never wishes to show it. I flew up above the town and before long, I saw Gilda by a stall, she seemed to be selling something.

"Uhh hey Gilda, you probably don't know me as much as the others." I said.

"Actually I do know about you" she answered back. "All of Equestria heard the news when you became a Prince and how Twilight Dweeble got her own castle."

"Ohhh...you caught me off guard there, but that's not what I'm here for. Rainbow Dash just went off to find the idol and I have a bad feeling that she may get stuck in the abyss. If you have any sense of decency left, you would come along and rescue her if she needs it."

"Not my problem."

"Well it should be your problem! She's your friend!"

"Used to be."

"Well what I can't understand is your back story about you and Rainbow, do you remember when she was?"

She sighed. "Yeah. Of course."

Gilda explained how she and Rainbow first met during the Junior Speedsters Flight Camp and after dealing with a few bullies that sounded very familiar to me, they became friends and stood by each other ever since, even doing the chant they had to learn. When she finished telling the story, she began to shed a tear, looks like it may have opened up an old wound from long ago.

"Well, that explains a lot, but still you should ask yourself this. Do you want whatever good times you had with Rainbow fade away completely  and be replaced with whatever tragic moment will happen to her and therefore, haunt you for the rest of your life?"

"Fine, I'll help her. But that doesn't make me her friend."

"That's fine Gilda, you don't have to say you're her friend, but if you can help her, I'm sure she'll appreciate it."

She then showed me the way to the abyss and when we got there, we heard screaming from far down the ravine.

"Rainbow! Pinkie!" I called out.

"Bond! We're down here and we're stuck!" Pinkie yelled.

"Hang on losers, I'm coming!" Gilda exclaimed as she swooped down.

I followed her and we found Pinkie and Rainbow who looked like she may have hurt something. Gilda grabbed on to Rainbow and I grabbed Pinkie.

"Hold on tight, you two!" I said.

In no time at all, we flew out of the ravine and down on a flat ground when Pinkie hugged me for saving her.

"You're more important to me than some chunk of gold." Gilda said and she seemed to say it in a genuine manner.

"Speaking of gold, I saw that idol as we were rescuing you, but it fell off a rock and...it's gone now." I sighed. "Dear Hunter, we failed our quest..."

But Gilda seemed more interested in talking to Pinkie and Rainbow so I remained quiet to see what happened.

"I'm really sorry about how I treated you two." she apologized. "And I'm really sorry for all I did at Ponyville, I guess somewhere along the way, I lost nearly everything I worked so hard on."

"Thanks, Gilda." Rainbow replied as she and Gilda did a claw/hoof shake.

"Apology accepted." Pinkie added. "And we're sorry for pulling those pranks on you."

"Uhh, thanks..." Gilda replied.

"And I'm just sorry we didn't get your idol back." Rainbow said. "Now I'll never be able to solve Griffonstone's problem."

"Wait a minute, I figured it all out." I gasped. "The map didn't send us to find the lost Idol of Boreas, I now think that it sent us here to replace it with something better!"

"Nothing's better than gold to a griffon." Gilda protested.

"That's because you don't have friendship!" Pinkie responded. "If you can learn to care about each other again, Griffonstone could be a mightier kingdom than it ever was before! And you don't need some golden idol to do that. You just need each other."

"Whoa, Pinkie, that was...really sappy." Rainbow said.

"Eh, what can I say? That's how I roll. Go on, Gilda! Go make a friend!"

"I don't know, Pinkie, you really think these griffons are up for this? We aren't exactly in Ponyville, you know."

"Wait a second, are those the griffon sconces?" I asked.

"Yeah, but they taste awful, I just don't know why." Gilda replied.

"Baking powder!" Pinkie exclaimed. "There's no baking powder in these." she then brought out a cup of baking powder out of her travel saddle bag. "Lucky for you I never leave home without it! Now just pop those in the oven and you'll have griffon scones worth their weight in gold!"

Pinkie then went to work and after several minutes, they came out looking so much better, we all had a piece and I found it quite tasty.

"Wow Gilda, with that baking powder added to these sconces, they're really tasty, you should start a business in this town."

"That's the first nice thing any...welll, pony has ever said to me!" she replied back.

"I guess that really was the problem we needed to solve." Rainbow said.

"Baking powder makes baked goods and friendships fluffy and delicious!" Pinkie declared.

Our cutie marks began to flash, meaning that our work was done here and it was time to leave.

"Well girls, we'd better be heading home." I said.

"What? Y-y-you want me to spread friendship here by myself?!" Gilda exclaimed. "How am I supposed to do that?! I haven't even made one single friend yet!"

"Not really, as of today, you've made three."

"But, you'll come back and visit, right?"

"Depends if we are sent on another quest here. But what about you, are you planning on visiting Ponyville?"

"Don't push your luck...ahhh I'm joking of course."

We then shared a laugh before Rainbow, Pinkie and I left Griffonstone and got on the train all the way back to Ponyville. It was around sunset time when we got back, I told them both that I'd go to Twilight to tell everything that happened. So we went for a group hug and Rainbow Pinkie left. I walked into the castle and in the map room, I told Twilight what happened.

"Well, so that was the reason why you three were went over?" she asked.

"Yeah, I guess sometimes, this map likes to troll with us." I smirked.

Spike laughed. "Nice one, dude."

I then said my byes and began walking back to Rarity's home, I walked on in and was welcome with open forelegs and a loving kiss.

"I'm so glad you're home darling, how was your quest?" she asked.

"It's a long story, I'll tell you about it in bed." I replied as we shared a moment of embrace before going upstairs and into her bedroom.

It felt quite interesting to see a Griffon village up in the mountains, but it was such a long while since we saw Gilda and at first, it didn't look liked she changed at all, but thanks to me, Pinkie and Rainbow, she brought out her good side and she learnt something.

Although I knew that Gilda would never show it, I think her friendship with Rainbow may have reunited. Next Chapter: Slice Of Life Estimated time remaining: 4 Hours, 21 Minutes