“This place is a dump.”

“Mister Teapot, that was entirely unnecessary.” Irked, Daring Do shot a dirty look at her associate and her lip curled back in disgust. “The griffons have fallen upon hard times.”

“Griffonstone? More like Griffonstain.”

“Mister Teapot, you are positively monstrous at times.”

“It’s like the land just withered and died here. I feel really weird. I don’t feel comfortable at all. My skin is crawling and I feel out of sorts.”

“There is a lot of truth to your statement, Mister Teapot. The land here is dying. All of the earth ponies have departed from this place, off to find greener pastures. Soon, this place will be little more than dust and crumbling hovels.” Daring Do’s lip relaxed and her spine sagged a bit, though it was difficult to see beneath her down-filled parka. This place was already nothing more than snow and crumbling hovels. She shivered and wished she was someplace warm. A pegasus though she might be, Daring Do was a tropical pegasus, a pegasus of paradise, and she was not fond of the cold.

“We should go and do our little good deed,” Rainbow Dash suggested, her voice almost drowned out in the howling wind. “I wonder how Gilda is doing?”

Glancing over at Rainbow, Daring nodded. “Let’s go find out.”

When Tarnish heard the metallic click of the gun being cocked, he thought to himself, At least this time, it won’t be in the ass. Standing very still, he stared at the griffoness wrapped in a heavy poncho that was pointing a battered, rusty-looking revolver at him. She was sitting on a half-rotten wooden chair that was missing one of its legs and wobbled with her every movement. He was almost certain that if she fired the decrepit contraption, the gun might explode in her claws.

He would help patch her up, no doubt, but she’d hear about it. Oh yes, he would tell her off. The memory of being shot was far too fresh in his mind and Tarnish found himself a little jittery. A jittery Mister Teapot made bad things happen.

“Gilda!” Rainbow Dash stepped forwards and pulled off her ushanka, revealing her multi-hued mane. “Gilda, put that thing away!”

“Dash?” With a click, Gilda un-cocked the revolver and it vanished beneath her poncho when she tucked it away. “Dash, am I glad to see you! Sorry about the greeting! Bandits, you know! Greta, you can put away the rifle!”

There was a second muffled click and Tarnish relaxed his sphincter a little bit. A moment later, a heavy door opened and a second griffon came out. Greta too, was wearing a heavy woollen poncho and there was a rifle slung over her back, an ancient fusil. He watched as both griffons began hugging Rainbow Dash and the sound of Dash’s laughter lightened the tense mood a bit.

“We’ve kept your pony friends safe,” Greta said to Rainbow as she pulled away. “Come on in, they’re further in the compound.”

The compound was really just an old mine, but it was a nice mine, and it was warm enough. You didn’t freeze right away and your breath was only somewhat visible. Several griffons eyed him as he passed and Tarnish suspected that all of them were armed. They were guarding something precious, and Tarnish was both thankful and surprised by the sheer number of griffons present, protecting the precious treasure of the mine.

At the end of a long, sloping passage, there was a large circular room that was lit by torches, which offered light, but very little in the way of heat. Several familiar faces stood in the middle of the room and they were surrounded by adorable, fuzzy little griffon cubs. Tarnish could feel eyes on him, watching him, and he did his best to ignore them.

“Scootaloo!” Rainbow Dash hurried forwards, breaking away from the group, the packages tied to her back rustling and thumping. “Squirt! Oh my gosh, Squirt!”

“Rainbow!”

The two of them collided in a hug and Cheerilee, wearing a long, heavy coat, watched with misty eyes. Tarnish’s eyes weren’t misty, nope. He was fine. But the dust in the mine was making him sniffle. Or maybe it was the greasy smoke from the torches. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom had both piled onto Rainbow Dash, and the four of them were now crying. He felt Vinyl brush up against him, and he could feel her trembling through his pea coat.

“We’ve brought the supplies and medicine you needed,” Daring Do said to Cheerilee. “It is really quite remarkable that you are doing this. You are a very brave pony indeed.”

Flustered, Cheerilee batted her eyelashes and drew one foreleg up to her barrel, as she tried to think of some way to respond. Little curious eyes watched her every movement and the griffon cubs cast worshipful, adoring gazes upon their beloved teacher.

After a long moment of just standing there, Cheerilee finally found a few words to say. “They needed a teacher. What else could I do?”

With his magic, Tarnish began unloading boxes and packages. He carried some, as did Rainbow, Vinyl, and Daring. Supplies, medicine, treats, care packages, and letters from home. Rainbow had three foals in a tight, over-protective embrace, and she was sobbing with relief to find that they were okay.

“How’s things been, Miss Cheerilee?” Tarnish asked, his voice husky from the dust.

The schoolmarm’s soft expression hardened and she advanced on Tarnish. “You… you dropped out of school! You showed so much promise and you just walked away!”

“I’m getting educated!” Tarnish whined as he began his retreat.

Looking very stern, Cheerilee halted her advance, and she tilted her head back to look up at Tarnish. “You’d better be… I’m coming back to Equestria come spring and I’ll find out!”

Chuckling, Daring Do covered her mouth with her wing, amused by how Tarnish looked like the world’s largest foal right now. She looked at the fuzzy little griffons all watching, and wondered if Cheerilee was trying to teach a lesson right now, the importance of education. Moving with a cat-like nimbleness, Cheerilee sprung and gave Tarnish a powerful hug, which Tarnish returned once he recovered a bit.

“You three! I’m so proud of you!” Rainbow Dash pulled her head back and had a good look at the three foals all looking up at her. “I know that if Rarity and Applejack could be here, they’d be proud of you too!”

“How long can you stay?” Greta asked Daring Do.

“Not long, I’m afraid,” was the regretful reply.

“A real shame.” Gilda let out a low, lingering moan. “When we have guests, we put two lumps of coal into the furnace. I was looking forwards to being warm again.” The griffoness’ eyes glittered with mirth and then she laughed about her own misfortune as her clenching claws clicked on the stone floor.

Opening up one of the boxes, Vinyl Scratch pulled out a bright, fuzzy, miniature Twilight Sparkle whose frizzy fuzz was a bright, oversaturated lavender. The little plush doll had a small pink plastic comb connected to her leg by a clear loop of plastic. With a mute grin, she held the doll out, offering it to the griffon cubs that were now watching her with keen eyes.

One very brave little cub, a male, crept forward and took it, slunk back, and passed it to a much smaller female, who closed her eyes while she hugged it to her chest. Vinyl pulled more plush dolls out of the box, some white, some blue, some pink, and some lavender. The little cubs eyes brightened at the sight of the toys, their curious little heads tilted in an avian sort of way, and the braver ones came forward to claim a plush, brushable pony princess for themselves.

“And just who do we have to thank for this?” Gilda’s voice sounded as though it was on the verge of cracking while she spoke and the feathers on her neck puffed out.

“Two very nice mares named Rarity and Fluttershy contributed the necessary funds to make this happen.” Daring Do made a gesture at the box of toys, and then, with a turn of her head, she addressed the foals. “Don’t give up. Things are hard right now, but that is not a valid reason to give up. Study hard. Get good grades. Master reading and writing. Also, you must remember, you have friends. Don’t ever forget that, little ones.”

“Fluttershy… I treated her so badly.” Hanging her head, Gilda squeezed her eyes shut and her claws clenched so hard that they left scratches in the stone.

In a cool, collected voice, Daring Do drew attention away from Gilda’s moment of suffering. “Who needs medical attention? Mister Teapot is no doctor, but he is a skilled healer. Step forwards, form a queue, and remember, cubs and hens first. Now now, come on, let us make the most of the time we have. Mister Teapot, if you wouldn’t mind…”

When most of the room began to gather, Tarnish hurried to do his job, hoping that he could do enough.

Author's Notes:

Another short, fun chapter.