II. Chapter 20: An eventful day

At the morning nothing special happened. I got up, I eat breakfast, I fed the animals together with Nightmare Moon and Fluttershy and I started the day which was sunny, but sometimes the sun itself was curtained by clouds. However, today was different because I had to race with Rainbow Dash. Applejack joined the race. The race began at the near town hall, we were to reach the end of Ponyville, and then back to the town hall. I, Rainbow and AJ, we were standing on the starting line. No one was around because we didn't tell anyone about it. It was not a real race, just more like a friendly game.

"You have no chance, kid. Give up if you can." - Rainbow said, smiling mockingly at me.

"In your dreams, Dashie." - I smiled at her slyly.

AJ only shook her head, sighing softly. Apple Bloom stood, with the flag she raised - "Ready, steady." - And at this moment she waved the flag. - "Go!"

I, Rainbow Dash and Applejack we started to run. We ran through Ponyville with high speed, passing residents who paid attention to us. AJ was on the lead, I was in the middle, while Rainbow tried to keep up and she even managed to do it.

"You better give up! You don't have a chance with me!" - Rainbow said, catching up with me. She was running right next to me.

"You sure?" - I Speeded up, after which Dash was behind me again, but she didn't want to give up. She was very determined and she started to run faster, and then she was next to me again.

AJ was on the lead all the time. I didn't expect that she's so fast. I tried to keep up with her, just like Dash. We began to get closer to the end of the village. When we got to it, we turned back and we started running through the village again. Residents only watched us, while taking care of their everyday affairs. We began to get closer to the town hall. Applejack was on the lead, I and Dash were still trying to keep up. The race ended so that Applejack won, while I and Rainbow took the second place together. We were breathless, and Rainbow was the most.

"It was amazing, sis!" - Apple Bloom said excited, hugging Applejack.

"See? I showed them who's the best." - AJ looked at us and smiled - "Do you want the round two?"

"Applejack, please." - Rainbow said. - "Well... We have the same speed, kid." - Dash said, smiling at me.

"Tie?" - I reached my hand to her.

"Tie. After all, you were good." - Dash shook my hand.

"You too, sis. You fought like a lion, I'm impressed."

"As you can see, I'm like that when I'm trying to be the best."

"Okay, AJ. We lose, what do you want us to do?"

"Meh, nothing. Just enjoy the day and that's all."

"We'll try. Okay, kid, what will we do now?" - Dash asked.

"I don't know, maybe..."

"Wait, I know. Tell me, did you talk with Lyra yesterday?"

"Yeah. Why are you asking?"

"You were to tell me what was in this letter."

"Oh, uh... Well, so we have a problem." - I said scratching my head.

"Why?"

"I asked her and she didn't tell me anything. I'm sorry, Dash."

Rainbow only sighed. - "Too bad. Nothing happened, little brother."

I thought for a moment and decided to visit Twilight. I didn't see her for a long time, so I thought it was a good idea.

"I'm going to visit Twilight, Dash. I'd like to see her."

"Cool, I'm going home. I have to finish another book about Daring Do. By the way... Have you read it already?"

"I read it and I must admit that it's cool."

"I told ya. Bye, Colin." - She said, leaving.

"Bye, sis."

I started to walk through the village. Nothing special happened, but then...

"The monster has returned!" - I turned back and I saw Diamond Tiara, who was looking at me with hatred and she was throwing small stones at me. - "You come back to devour us?"

"Leave me alone." - I said, going forward again. I felt something hit my head by something very hard. "She threw a bigger stone." I thought, turning to her. - "What do you want? Can you leave me alone?" - I asked, looking at her with anger.

"Come on! Do it! Kill me and eat me, monster. I know you want it!"

All residents have paid attention to us. - "I don't want it! You know what? You're really annoying, I'm not a monster." Among the crowd, I noticed that one of them was in the hood. He was watching me closely and he was silent.

"Of course you are! You are just pretending, but the truth is that you will kill us all!"

At this moment all residents began to laugh, just as I did. But... That character in the hood was still seemed to be quiet. I admit, it disturbed me a bit. After a while, the character left but the residents still laughed at Tiara, who tried to denigrate me all the time, which didn't work out.

"I'm telling the truth, it's a bloodthirsty beast!"

I just decided to leave. I was thinking who this character was.

"Come back, I'm not done with you yet, beast!"

"But I do." - I said leaving and not turning back.

"I said come back!"

I did not pay attention to her. I ignored her insults thrown in my direction, I didn't care. It took me some time to get to the Twilight's home. I knocked on the door, which after a while was opened by a purple unicorn.

"Hey, Twilight!" - I said immediately hugging her.

She was a bit surprised. She also hugged me. - "Hi, Colin." - After a moment I let her go and she invited me inside. - "How are you, kid?"

"It's ok. I just raced with Rainbow and Applejack." - I said, going up to the bookshelf.

"Oh, what's the score?"

"Applejack won. I and Rainbow took second place." - It was then that in front of my nose I saw a levitating cup of tea. - "Thanks." - I said taking a cup.

"How do you feel? Rainbow told me that Nightmare Moon lives with Fluttershy." - Twilight looked worried about this fact.

"Yes, they live together..." - I said, drinking tea.

"Fluttershy isn't afraid of her?"

"No, and you?"

"Uhmm, I... A little bit yes."

I drank my tea and I put the cup down on the table. - "You don't have to be afraid. Moon isn't dangerous."

"I know, but... I'm just not sure."

I sighed. - "Do you need help with anything?"

"Actually, yeah. Could you help me clean up?"

"I'll help."

I cleaned the house with Twilight. We sorted the books, I cleaned up the kitchen and we talked about different things, like, for example... What's going on. I was still thinking about Nightmare Moon. I remember the dream in which I saw Luna changing into her. I saw Celestia who was fight with Moon, and I... I could only watch it. I had this dream many times. Every time I tried to somehow prevent the fight, standing between them but... I never succeeded, even if it was close. Every time I saw how they fight and every time I heard the Nightmare Moon's scream, who was crying and calling for help. Now both Luna and Moon are here. Sometimes they even met and talked to each other, but I was still afraid that a tragedy would happen. Moon hated Celestia, which worried me a lot. When I was alone with her, sometimes I wanted to talk with her about it and I wanted to reconcile them. However, I had always been afraid of obvious reasons. I walked through the village and after a while I came to the marketplace. Then I stopped and... I saw her. Griffon in a brown cloak. She stood at the stand with various objects, like decorations or... Some pendants or rings. I decided to come closer to her. When I was about half a meter away from her I stumbled over something. I fell to the ground, I closed my eyes a bit, and when I opened them, I saw paws in front of me. I looked up and I saw her. She was looking at me. She looked very familiar, I realized it was the same griffon I saw in the train.

"Uhmm... Hi." - I said, timidly smiling.

She helped me to stand up - "You alright, kid?" - she asked.

"It's okay, I'm fine." - I began to look at her again. She was a little bit taller than me.

"What? I have something on my face?" - She asked after a moment.

"Oh, I... I'm sorry, I just... I really like the griffons. They are amazing."

Griffon looked in a slightly different direction. She looked like she was thinking about something. - "You're Colin, right?" - she asked. - "I'm Lara, it's nice to meet you, kid." - She said, smiling.

"Wait... How do you know my name? After all... Stupid question, I..."

"From Ashley." - She answered.

I froze. I looked at Lara, who was smiling but after a while, she looked a little... Concerned.

"You know Ashley? Wait..." - I remembered. I learned about Lara from Blueblood who told me that she saved Ashley. - "Wait, I know who you are! Blueblood told me about you! "

"Bluey? And what about him? Actually, I was going to visit him."

"Please, I need to know if Ashley is alright, it's very important for me." - I said grabbing her by the shoulders.

"Woah, hey. Relax, kid, I'll tell you everything, but... Not here, let's go to the park, okay?"

I wasn't sure if I could trust her. But... She knew Blueblood, she said she knew my name from Ashley. That's why I went to the park with her, I wanted to know if everything was okay wit Ashley. I and Lara sat under a tree, we talked. Ashley everything was fine, Lara visited her two weeks ago. I decided to not waste an opportunity and ask her about things about her species too.

"So... You like griffons, huh?" - Lara asked.

"Yeah, it's my..."

"Favorite mythological creature, I know, Ashley told me about it." - She laughed and shook her head. - "Okay, what do you want to know? As for food, we feed on meat, we're not very nice and... After all... I think I don't have to say more."

"I think... You're very nice."

"Thanks, but believe me, I'm one of the exceptions, like Asriel and Saskia. Most griffons are very unpleasant."

"Asriel and Saskia? Wait... I think I heard about them."

"Well, Asriel is the Emperor and Saskia the Empress, the Griffon Empire... Before... It was a Griffonstone, I... I don't know how this kingdom looked like BEFORE Griffonstone, although we have many ruins in the kingdom, so... I can only speculate."

"Griffonstone? But... What actually..."

"Let me explain. Griffonstone was a very poor kingdom... Every day was hard and... It wasn't easy... Guto ruled us, and... He wasn't so bad, but one day he died and then Gabriel was ruled. Our kingdom was only limited to Griffonstone, but as I said... I don't know what happened before, the lands that are now inhabited by us didn't belonged to anyone."

"What happened next?"

"Well, many griffons had enough of it, the first rebel was Asriel, he formed a Rebellion that was growing stronger and eventually... He started the Civil War. All Griffonstone residents rebelled, Asriel killed Gabriel in a duel. Asriel became the new king and later the emperor. It was the best time for us. The griffons colonized the whole kingdom. Asriel lives now in... Well... It's a huge city. We call it the Capital. It's a city in the mountains. Damn... Kid, you must see it by yourself. The Capital is as beautiful as Canterlot. Even the castle is bigger!" - Lara turned her head towards the mountain where Canterlot was. - "Griffonstone is a ruin now. No one wants to go back there and I'm not surprised."

"Okay, but what about Saska?"

"Saskia was a girl in which Asriel was in love just before the Rebellion was created. She was one of his motives to free the griffons from Gabriel. He didn't want her to live in such a terrible place. Today... Saskia is happy with him."

"Wow... Awesome. What about the ruins? How do you think... How this kingdom could look like before Griffonstone?"

"You know, the Capital was actually such ruins, but the griffons rebuilt it. There are a lot of ruins in this kingdom. Old guard towers, old villages and... I remember there were also several fortresses. I think that the Griffon Empire was probably even stronger than now."

"I wanted to ask something... Are humans..."

"Relax, kid. None of the griffons believe at this bullshit. To be honest, I do not know who wrote that humans are aggressive, bloodthirsty, blah, blah, blah..." - Lara looked at me and smiled. - "Don't worry about it, kid. It's nonsense and nothing more." - She said putting her paw on my shoulder. - "Look, I have to go. I'm going on an adventure."

"Okay, see you, miss."

Lara smiled. - "Do you wanna see something cool?"

"What?" - I asked.

I didn't know what she meant, I was curious. At that moment, Lara pulled a crossbow from her cloak. I stepped back a little, I was afraid something could happen to me.

"Woah..." - I said, stepping back a bit.

"Sorry, I had to show off. There he is. What do you think about him?" - She asked.

"Wait... Him?"

"Well... My crossbow. I called him Ripper."

"Wow... That's pretty cool."

"I know, kid. Do you want to shoot from it?" - Lara asked.

"No, thanks. Maybe another time."

"How do you want. Bye." - Lara began to leave.

I have stayed for some time in the park, I don't know how long, maybe even for a moment I fell asleep. I thought about Ashley, I really wanted to visit her and see her. I was lying on the grass, unfortunately... My peace was quickly interrupted.

"You still here?" - I heard. I opened my eyes and I looked at Diamond Tiara.

"What do you want from me, Tiara?"

"Nothing, I'm just waiting for someone you'll devour for getting the final proof."

"Fuck..." - I said quietly. - "Tiara, please. Leave me alone."

"Or what?"

"What do you think... How my mom would react if she learns that you were teasing me?"

"She wouldn't worry about it."

I frowned. I rose to a sitting position and I looked at her. - "Really? Why?"

"Do you really think that Princess Luna adopted you in because she just cares about you?"

"What?..."

"Don't pretend, she just did it out of pity. She doesn't really love you."

I stood up and clenched my hands into fists. - "You're wrong. She loves me!"

"You are not her biological child, do you really think she would love you?"

At that moment I was going to say something, but... I realized that Tiara might be right. Why would Luna actually love me?

"Tiara... Do you really think that could be a truth?" - I asked, looking at her.

"Of course yes. Think for a moment."

"Shit..." - I sat down and I covered my mouth with my hand. - "So... No, it's not like that, Luna loves me. She told me that many times, she took care of me, I... "

"Think about it, Colin." - Diamond Tiara has gone.

I was sat on the grass, and I was thinking. Tears flowed from my eyes and I began to cry softly. Diamond Tiara could have been right, which made me feel worse. "It's not like that, she loves me..." I thought, crying softly. I curled up, I didn't know how long I sat, but when I opened my eyes, I noticed that it was dark. I stood up and I began to return to Fluttershy's house. When I was walking through Ponyville I felt uneasy. The village at night looked creepy. It was completely quiet, I could only hear the sound of my own steps and the sound of the leaves of trees moved by the wind. I was looked at trees, buildings, and alleys. I saw silhouettes of various figures in the darkness. One of them resembled a lion, or rather... a Manticore. "No, there's nothing there. It's not real." I said to myself, constantly moving forward. I got to Fluttershy's house. I saw Nightmare Moon who was laying on the grass, she was covered Fluttershy with wing, but... Luna was also there. I smiled, but after a moment I lowered my head. I remembered what Diamond Tiara said. Maybe... She was right, but...

"Colin!" - I looked at Luna, who was running to me and hugged me.

"Hey, mom..." - Luna kissed me on the cheek. I smiled, but only for a moment.

I sat with Luna next to Nightmare Moon and Fluttershy. I looked at the starry sky, all the time thinking about what Tiara said. It just didn't want to leave me alone.

"How was your day, little one?" - Moon asked.

I looked at her and I smiled. - "It is okay."

"I heard you raced with Applejack and Rainbow Dash, who won?" - Luna asked.

"Applejack, I didn't expect that she's so fast."

"Well, the master has finally been defeated." - Luna said, chuckling.

"Master? No... I wasn't a master." - I said, lowering my head a bit.

"Oh, I know that face. Something happened, little one?" - Moon asked.

"No, it's okay."

"Colin, tell me what happened." - Luna touched my arm. I looked at her face. - "Wait..." - She touched my cheek and looked at me closely. - "You cried?"

"N-no ..."

Luna frowned. - "What happened? Someone teased you?"

"Mom... It's okay, really."

"Colin..." - Moon touched my arm. - "Please, tell us." - I looked at her. She looked worried.

I looked at Luna again. - "Mom... Are you love me?"

This question surprised her. She looked at me a little bit strangely. - "Honey, of course, yes. I love you very much." - She touched my cheek.

Several tears flowed from my eyes. - "Mom... Today in the park I met Diamond Tiara. She told me that... You don't really love me because I'm not your biological child."

"Oh, sweetie..." - That's when Luna hugged me gently. I wrapped my hands around her neck and I hugged to her too. - "Do not listen to what she said. It doesn't matter if you are or aren't my biological child, I love you, sonny." - I began to sob softly. - "Shh, it's okay." I looked at Luna's face. She smiled and kissed me on the cheek and hugged me again.

"What a little bitch... I swear, she will regret what she did."

"Moon, calm down, I understand that you're angry, but don't do anything. I'll take care of it myself, and you can only accompany me." - Luna said.

"Okay, Lulu, but if he does it a second time..."

"Do not hurt her, please." - I said, staring at Moon with watery eyes. When she looked at me, she immediately mellowed.

"Look, I don't want to look, how she treats you, do you understand? I love you, little one." - Moon kissed my cheek, then she hugged both me and Luna.

"Colin, I .. I wanted to tell you something." - Luna said. I looked at her, she smiled at me. - "Look... I've talked to the Emperor and... You'll be able to visit Ashley soon."

"Ashley?!"

"Surprise! Are you happy?"

At this moment, I hugged Luna tightly. - "You are the best mom in the world." - I kissed her cheek.

"Hey, what about me, kid? I'm not the best?" - Moon asked.

I let go of Luna and I looked at the black alicorn. - "Oh, uhmm... You're the best too." - I said uncertainly.

"Oh no, no, no. Only one of us can be the best. So?"

"I..." - I dropped my head down. I didn't know what to say.

"Oh, I was just kidding, little one. Come to me." Moon gently hugged me and embraced me with her wing. I wrapped my hands around her neck and I hugged to her. I felt how Moon kissed my cheek.

I heard Luna laugh. I looked at her, still embracing Moon. - "I have to go back to Canterlot. Bye, Colin." - She said kissing my cheek again, then she stood up.

"Bye, mom. I love you."

"I love you too, sweetie." - Luna's horn shone, and she just disappeared.

I looked at Moon, who still hugged me and smiled at me. - "So... Are you happy you will meet Ashley again?"

"Yeah... I like her a lot."

"I can guess, little one." - She looked at the night sky. - "It's late. Time to sleep." - At this moment, Moon's horn shone. I don't know then what happened. I opened my eyes and I realized that I was in bed. I was wearing pajamas and I smelled soap. I looked at Moon, who was laid with closed. She had wrapped wings around me and Fluttershy. After a moment she opened her eyes and smiled when she looked at me. - "Honey, why you don't sleep?"

I rose a bit - "How did you do it? I'm in pajamas and..."

"Well..." - she giggled. - "Magic."

I lay back and I closed my eyes. I felt Moon gently hugged me and Fluttershy. - "Goodnight, honey."

"Goodnight, mom. I love you."

"Wait, have you called me mom?" - I rose up again and I looked at Moon's face. A few tears flowed from her eyes.

"Yes."

Moon smiled at me, wiping her tears. - "I love you too, little one." - She kissed me. I laid down and I wrapped my hands around her neck and I hugged to her. Moon gently pressed me to herself and stroked my hair. I knew she was happy when I said 'mom' to her. I called her like that because I just knew she wanted it and... She reminded me of her just like Luna. After some time I fell asleep, despite the excitement. I was about to visit Ashley soon.

Author's Note

This chapter wasn't very good.

I'm sorry. Next one will be better.