[Bridlebank Beach] No Mare Is An Island (Closed; Sandcat)

[ShadowWalking18]

Razor rubbed his head, "How do you even eat rocks!?" Oh forget it. He really didn't want to know.

Razor went back to the schematics, until Pinkie interrupted.

"Pinkie, I know that I didn't get the best grades in schematics in school, but...I...think...that....." Razor stopped talking as he watched Pinkie rework his blueprint.

Razor looked closely and read the schematic additions over, he did some calculations in his head and felt his brain literally explode. They were all right!!!!!

"But...how....you...that...who...what...how...when....where...what!?" Razor stammered. He gripped his head and felt a massive headache coming on.

"Uh...right....thank you Pinkie." He said, groaning slightly. What was this girl?!? Some sort of biological experiment?

With the schematic done, Razor started grabbing material. He followed the plan to the letter, tying down the wood where it was needed with strong vines and proper knots. He rolled his eyes, but chuckled slightly when Pinkie tasted the tree sap.

"What do you expect. Its not sap from a maple tree. Honestly first glowing mushrooms, now that; is there anything you will not eat?"

With the sap now in hand, or talon, Razor took a flat piece of wood and scooped up some of the sap and applied it to areas of the raft before sticking another piece of wood onto the sap covered area, then tied it down with some vine just to be sure it was secured in place to harden.

"Pirates? Pinkie there aren't any pirates around this area. Besides, even if I wanted a cannon deck, we have no cannon. Not even a mortar. I'm sure we will be fine."

With a few more additions, Razor stepped back to look at his work. Perhaps not high grade quality that proper griffon engineers could make, but he felt it would do. It was at least more stable looking then the rolling pin and dough tied raft they started with. Now they had wood and coconuts for the wood and strong vine and tree sap to hold it together.

"If this don't work, I'll offer to work at Sugar Cube Corner for a month, and in any type of apron you want me to." Razor said, puffing his chest out. He felt confident in his skills, and as long as nothing disastrous occurred he felt secured in his victory.

[Rosewind]

Pinkie Pie picked up her leaf cup of sap, grinning ear-to-ear. She watched Razor piece together their brand-new raft. Using a palm frond, she dipped it into the sticky sap and slathered it over the joints of the craft to water-tight them. She shook her head slowly. "Tsk, Razor! You know pirates can pop up anywhere, at anytime! It's very important to always be prepared for the unexpected. For example, I like to carry a rubber chicken, for rubber chicken emergencies. Ooh, and balloons! I used to carry emergency cake, but after sitting in my bag for a few months, it turns into a rock! Which, isn't as bad as a real rock, you know, but it just doesn't have the same flavor!" Pinkie Pie giggled. "That's a silly bet to make, Razor! If the craft doesn't work, we won't survive to work at Sugarcube Corner! Hey, let's load up our little raft with all of the huge geodes we found and throw this thing over open water! Oh, we need a sail, too!"

The pink mare set the sappy leaf cup in the crook of her arm, then turned about-face, unexpectedly tripping herself over a geode. She stumbled and slammed into the little griffon, crushing the leaf cup. Sap instantly oozed out, gluing the two of them together at the hip. Pinkie grinned coyly, wrapping her arm around Razor's shoulder, which was also promptly glued into place. "Oops! I guess there's no real way to wash off water-proof sap, huh? This is going to be re~ally awkward when we have to use the bathroom!"

[ShadowWalking18]

Pinkie Pie picked up her leaf cup of sap, grinning ear-to-ear. She watched Razor piece together their brand-new raft. Using a palm frond, she dipped it into the sticky sap and slathered it over the joints of the craft to water-tight them. She shook her head slowly. "Tsk, Razor! You know pirates can pop up anywhere, at anytime! It's very important to always be prepared for the unexpected. For example, I like to carry a rubber chicken, for rubber chicken emergencies. Ooh, and balloons! I used to carry emergency cake, but after sitting in my bag for a few months, it turns into a rock! Which, isn't as bad as a real rock, you know, but it just doesn't have the same flavor!" Pinkie Pie giggled. "That's a silly bet to make, Razor! If the craft doesn't work, we won't survive to work at Sugarcube Corner! Hey, let's load up our little raft with all of the huge geodes we found and throw this thing over open water! Oh, we need a sail, too!"

The pink mare set the sappy leaf cup in the crook of her arm, then turned about-face, unexpectedly tripping herself over a geode. She stumbled and slammed into the little griffon, crushing the leaf cup. Sap instantly oozed out, gluing the two of them together at the hip. Pinkie grinned coyly, wrapping her arm around Razor's shoulder, which was also promptly glued into place. "Oops! I guess there's no real way to wash off water-proof sap, huh? This is going to be re~ally awkward when we have to use the bathroom!"

"Of course its a silly bet. Because I can't lose." Razor said, smirking.

He rolled his eyes as Pinkie explained the nature of pirates, but blinked confused and looked at her oddly when she told about rubber chickens, and emergency cake.

'She has a rather short attention span.' He thought before getting back to work. He inspected the raft. It seemed in good shape, save for a lack of a sail as Pinkie said. It was certainly better put together then the first, though he did worry on the carrying weight.

"Well we can't put all of them on it. We need to take into account our own body weight added to the raft. Though with the wood and the shape, it should be better able to handle the weight of us and the rocks. These logs are defiantly more buoyant then rolling pins." He said, thinking.

Bt, as if on queue from above as part of a divine comedy, Razor was slammed into by Pinkie and he felt something gooey on him. He groaned, "What the-Hey!" He protested as Pinkie wrapped her hoof around him, again feeling a sticky gooey substance.

"Ugh what is this stuff?" Razor asked, rubbing his head as he tried to get a grip on what was going on.

Then he noticed that....Pinkie was practically right next to him!

"Ahh!" He said, before trying to back away, the sap stretching before causing him to slap right back against Pinkie.

"We're stuck together!!" Razor proclaimed, starting to panic. His heart was racing as he struggled as hard as he could to get loss from the sticky sap and apart from Pinkie.

He yanked, pulled, but nothing worked, finally he gave up. "Oh great. We're stuck like this till we get back to the mainland. As if things aren't bad enough."

Razor took a deep breath, hoping to calm his heart, and then noticed that Pinkie smelled like sugar and sweets. probably because of her job, 'its a rather nice smell...all things considering.' He thought.

Wait... "No! What am I thinking!?" He shook his head. He placed a talon over his heart and tried to calm down.

"Just stay calm....just stay calm. Okay..Okay..uh...what now?" He asked, finding it hard to think right now other then that a girl was literally stuck to him and he was having a near nervous breakdown!

[Rosewind]

Pinkie Pie scarcely seemed to notice she was joined to the little griffon. She was a rather big Earth Pony compared to the diminutive griffon. She stood up on her four -- well, three hooves with her arm glued to Razor -- and trotted around the boat, inspecting it like nothing amusing was happening. "What now? Mm, we could play a game I guess while we wait for the sap to dry! Let's play charades! Oooh, I'll go first. Ready?! Let's see...OOH! I know! Try to guess this!"

She took a deep breath and held it, until her face turned bright red. Her cheeks bulged out and her eyes watered, until she had to take in another breath. "Heeheehahaha, guess who I was?! Guess guess guess!"

[ShadowWalking18]

Razor blinked as he was lifted up. Yes, his small stature and Pinkie's size actually made it that when she stood up, he was lifted off the ground. Of course that didn't stop gravity from working its magic and trying to pull Razor down to earth. And with the sap still onhim the pull of gravity was causing the sap to pull on his feathers and fur. And he could tell you...it hurt.

"Ow ow ow ow ow.' He thought before using his talons to hang onto Pinkie around the neck in a sort of hug/hanging on. Doing this only made him even more uncomfortable and he could literally feel his heartbeat in his ears.

And if things couldn't get any odder...Pinkie did just that. Charades?

"Pinkie I don't charades is a good thing right now." He said, as he watched the pink pony hold her breath.

He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it and just sighed, "Ugh...oh forget it." After all of this he was now starting to feel the exhaustion from all that had occurred. He rolled his eyes and looked at Pinkie, "I don't know...A cherry?" He said half heartedly as he rubbed his eyes with a free talon, making sure to not let his grip slip.

'First we get stranded on an isle. A jungle trek with near fatal moments, and now Im stuck to the only mare I can think of that not only makes uncomfortable but somehow still acts cute doing it.' He thought as he hung his head and yawned slightly. Goodness now he was feeling a little tired.

"Hey Pinkie...do me a favor...can you at least sit down so I'm not hanging in midair?"

[Rosewind]

Pinkie Pie nodded, sitting her flank down in the sand. She rolled a geode about as Razor guessed at her game. "A cherry?! Heeheehahahaha! No, silly! I'm pretending to be you! I didn't know feathers could change that color!"

"I hope we get at least one geode back to Ponyville! My sister Maud would love, love, love to see it! Do you have any siblings, Razor? I bet you do! Are they smaller than you are? I mean you are a pretty big griffon!"

The pink pony set about digging in her bag. She withdrew a leftover mushroom and took a bite out of it. It squirted mushroom juice between the pair. The sap loosened. She blinked, looking down at her side, then to Razor. "Ooo neat, the sap is coming off! Who knew mushroom juice could do that, huh?!"

[ShadowWalking18]

Razor blinked and gave Pinkie a side glare before sighing, "Me. Yeah well...I guess I do tend to get...flustered and angry easily. Do I seriously doubt I get that red." Of course that was up to debate, since he was blushing a bit now as he admitted that.

He rolled his eyes when Pinkie tried to make his size a positive note, "Thanks for that, but to be honest I'm the runt of my mother's first litter so all my brothers are bigger then me. Though none of us are the size of our father." Razor said as he tilted his head and rested it on his talon.

"Anyway...I've got my littler sister Glimmer. She is the youngest, being the second litter my mother had. And I have a few brothers. Out of my brothers I'm the middle in age by at least seven minutes." Razor smiled and puffed his chest out with pride as he said that, "They've all gone off into business and careers in the military or industry now and I don't really keep in contact with them for reasons. We're not exactly close.

Razor turned and looked at Pinkie, "This Maud mare must be an interesting character. I can tell you hold her in a high regard by the way you talk when you mention her. Though maybe I'm just over thinking it. You always seem to be really close with those you associate with. It actually confuses me as to why you associate with me. We're quiet possibly as opposite as two ends of a magnet....." Razor blinked when he finished that statement and looked at their stuck sides.

He face clawed, "Don't think this is what the say meant." He muttered to himself.

Razor was about to give up on ever freeing his hindquarters from this crazy mare when the mushroom juice lossened the sap. His eyes went wide and he snatched the mushroom from Pinkie so fast the wind was almost cut by the speed.

"Give me that!!!!" He shouted, a manic look in his eyes as he gripped the mushroom in his talons and laughed.

"mwhahha, yes, yes this is it! AHAHAHAHA! FREEDOM!" He laughed before squeezing the mushroom with all his might. His exuberance to be free literally juiced all the moisture from the mushroom till it was dry. With the sap covered in mushroom juice Razor was quick to yank himself off of Pinkie.

The sap was loss and Razor pulled and pulled, though it was still rather stretchy.

"Almost....there....Yes!" Razor shouted as he felt the sap snap. Of course the length it had stretched made it that when it broke free, the piece still on him whip lashed back aaaaannd.

*SMack*

"Ouch!" Razor yelped as his hinds got spanked by the length of sap. He groaned and rubbed his rear in discomfort.

"Ooow. Well that could have been worse. Least my feathers are intact."

[Rosewind]

Pinkie Pie nodded in agreement, cracking an ear-to-ear grin. "Aren't siblings great?! You can't live with them, but when you're away, you totally miss them!".She lapsed into a nostalgic sigh, her large blue eyes falling on Razor's. "We might be opposites, but I like everypony! Er...everygriffon! Everyone! Everyone is a friend, and I like to make everyone smile! It's my destiny, you know!" She pointed a hoof to her flank (still attached to Razor's flank), adorned with the blue and yellow balloons representing her will to make everyone smile. "See that?! My butt likes to make everyone happy! Oh you know, that really doesn't sound good at all! Oh gee..."

She sat on her haunches, watching intently as the young griffon milked the mushroom juice over the sticky sap. When he broke free from her, she sailed into the sand like a rocket, spinning ear-over-tail. She came to rest, snorting sand out of her nose, her tail caught in her face. "Eek! Well then, at least we're free! Let's load up our treasure and get off this silly island! I'm missing Ponyville already!"

[ShadowWalking18]

Razor blinked and covered his trying to surpress a laugh as Pinkie said her butt tells her to make everyone happy.

"*Snicker* Oh yeah...that does sound..." He snickered, trying to hold back a small laugh. He shook his head and took a calming breath.

He checked the raft and felt confident that it would hold, "Yeah. Let's go, I'm starting to miss wandering around Equestria myself."

He went over to raft and moved it closer to the shoreline , then he went to the pile of geodes and picked several of them and loaded them onto the raft.

'Please let this work.' Razor prayed silently.

[Rosewind]

Pinkie Pie, being an Earth Pony, wasn't terribly strong. She was more a mare of endurance, something the bakery (and her constant running around planning parties and hanging out with her friends) demanded. Nevertheless, she still had the strength to push the raft toward the shore, even if it was rife with geodes. She hummed to herself as she shoved and pushed, finally arriving at the shore line. She mopped her pink brow with the back of her hoof, panting gently. "Huh huh, hoo! When we get back to Equestria, I'm so totally marching myself back to Ponyville and getting a hot fudge hay sundae with extra, extra, extra sprinkles and whipped cream. With lots of cherries on top! Hey, let's split one!" With an unceremonious thump of her rump, she shoved the raft into the foamy wash of the open water. It buckled for a moment, looking like it might sink immediately. However, it bobbed up and floated. And floated. No sinking. yet.

She watched the raft bob up and down, gritting her teeth. She cracked a grin as it appeared to float. "Excellent! I guess I'll hop on first, being the heavier one!" She trotted over to the makeshift craft, seawater up to her ankles. She tested it for buoyancy, before stepping on. She jumped up and down to give it one final test. It stayed true atop the water. "Weeee! We did it! Heeheehee, yaaaay! Hop on Razor, let's sail this thing home! Er...whichever way home is!"

[ShadowWalking18]

Razor sighed in relief, glad to see the raft actually stayed afloat with the rock....and Pinkie's...combined weight. Still, he was a cautious griffon and didn't want to take a risk yet, so he flapped his wings and lifted himself up into the air.

"I'll fly for awhile before landing. I haven't stretched my wings in awhile anyway. Anyway lets get this thing moving."

Razor, then flew off over a bit away from the isle to the open water and turned to watch Pinkie move the raft over. He hoped the pink pony knew how to handle an oar....though knowing her she would probably do something out of the ordinary or logical.

"Like somehow pull a boat motor out of her mane or something." He laughed at the hilarity of such a thing.

Though, after spending so long with her, Razor didn't feel very confident what was impossible or too hilariously stupid, counted for Pinkie. The pony was something not normal.

"Sheesh, she would be scary as a marefriend." He said to himself, thinking.....

wait a minute.

"AHHHH! WHY AM I EVEN THINKING THAT!?! OH NO!" Razor shouted, smacking his claws against his head, "Bad brain! Bad!"

[Rosewind]

Pinkie Pie hummed, pulling an oar out of her mane. "Sorry, I left my boat motors at home! They're great for mixing cake batter, you know! Except...Mrs. Cake banned me from doing that. I wonder why she'd never want me to mix cake in her kitchen using a boat motor, huh? Some ponies are so silly!" She pushed the raft off into the wash, looking at the sun. "Lessee, if the sun sets in the west, and Equestria is to the west, we should sail toward the sun!" She nodded sagely, quite pleased with herself. "It's as easy as apple pie with extra sprinkles, frosting, and ice cream!"

As she rowed, she overheard Razor muttering something about a "marefriend" and blushing. She spun the oar in the foamy brine, calling out. "Of course I'm your marefriend! I'm your friend, and I'm a mare! At least, last time I checked! Do you see any land in the distance yet?!"

[ShadowWalking18]

Razor blinked and imagined Pinkie trying to make a cake with a boat motor. The mental picture he acquired was one of both terror, and yet humor and he could not help but snicker, covering his beak to keep from erupting into laughter.

"That sounds like something you would do." He said.

He blushed a bit though, when he heard Pinkie respond to his Marefriend quote.

Duh-That...you...weren't suppose to ....hear that...." He said, gripping his face to hide his ever growing embarrassment.

Note to self, Earth Ponies....or maybe just Pinkie Pie, had really good hearing. Better then a griffons maybe.

Taking a deep breathe he flew up higher, hoping to let altitude give him a better picture to the horizon.

Being so high up, his griffon eyes quickly adjusted and gave him that ever so powerful far sighted vision birds of prey held. At that moment he could make out every speck of shimmering water in the ocean below, as well as the dark shapes of fishes and what he thought might be a whale farther below. But it was hard to make out.

"Hmmmm, I think I see land showing up, but it is pretty far off still. We certainly went out far, but I think we are lucky enough to not ended up somewhere in the middle of nowhere." He called down to Pinkie.

While up here, he noticed that with his griffon vision, he could make out how Pinkie's coat shined in the sunlight, almost sparkling amongst the sea breeze and water. Her mane, though a poofy mess, obviously had a sheen to it that said that either she kept herself well trimmed and brushed....or her mane just didn't stay dirty for long.

'Hmm...pretty....' He thought, before grabbing the sides of his head and shaking his head side to side.

"GAH! STOP THAT!" He yelled at himself and flew down so he was hovering above the raft.

J-Just keep rowing that way!" He said, pointing in the direction of the west, and the sun. And stop making me think!" He sputtered out, before biting his tongue and flapping off to take up the rear in embarrassment.

He had to get away from this girl. She was having the most embarrassing effect over him. He was REALLY glad no one else was around to see this. Or worse, hear him.

[Rosewind]

Pinkie Pie was pretty clueless, meanwhile. She sat on top of a particularly large geode, rowing with her forehooves. She was kind of bored. Nothing had tried to eat her, maim her, and/or chase her the past hour. The island was so much fun! Still, it was time to get back to Ponyville, and her foalsitting, bakery, and party-planning duties. She couldn't wait to tell her friends! Would they even believe her? Probably. She was Pinkie Pie, after all. More importantly, she had managed to bond with a griffon. Her track record with making griffon friends wasn't stellar, especially after the Gilda incident. She inwardly wondered if she would see her again one day, and maybe they could be super best friends. She would try! Maybe Razor could even be the go-between!

She sighed deeply, the sea breeze briskly poofing up her mane. The marine smell and soft call of seagulls above was relaxing, if not for the situation of sailing home on a ramshackle raft. She noticed a chilly dampness on her foot. She looked down. The geodes rocked around on top of the raft, which was quickly taking on water. Finally, some action! Pinkie Pie cleared her throat, calling up to Razor in her playful, sing-song voice: "Heeeey! I think I'm starting to sink! You wouldn't happen to have any extra sap, would ya?!"

[ShadowWalking18]

Razor was taking some deep breathes, as he tried to get his brain under control. He was almost close to regaining his calm when Pinkie said something about sinking.

"Sinking. Right yeah, sinking." He said, nodding his head with a chuckle.

Wait a minute!

"Sinking!!!!" He screamed as his eyes bulged in shock as he looked down at Pinkie and the raft.

She was sinking! She was really, really sinking into the ocean!

'My precious treasure!' He thought, mind already starting to panic at the idea of losing something so important to the briny deep and folded his wings close to him and dived down before spreading them and hovering above the raft.

"Nononononnononononnnono! This is bad. This is bad." He said as he looked around for what was causing the sinking of the raft.

Could it be too heavy? Was there some sort of defect in the design? Was it another kraken baby lost from its mama and causing trouble? He didn't see any large eyes underneath he ocean surface.

"There is probably too much weight for the materials to maintain afloat." He said, deciding that was perhaps the most likely, and least terrifying thing. What did they do? Toss some of the geodes off to get the weight balanced? Did they toss Pinkie off? Both weren't exactly good options. But something inside his brain was telling Razor only one was a good option. Was the right option.

"Okay. JUst...h-hold still." He said before taking a deep breath, feeling his heart racing as he wrapped his talons around Pinkie's stomach and flapped his wings to lift her off the raft. Best case, it was Pinkie's weight that was throwing off the balance. Worse case....the raft still sinks. ...Oh please let it be the first option.

'Please...I don't think my heart can take this contact for long.' He thought, starting to breath a little uneasily and feeling sweat on his brow while his pulse raced he was sure Pinkie could probably hear it.

[Rosewind]

Pinkie Pie was an Earth Pony. She also spent most of any particular day stuffing her face with pies, cakes, cookies, ice cream -- especially ice cream -- cupcakes, muffins, doughnuts, parfaits, and hay fries. So, she wasn't particularly light weight, just as a fundamental fact of being a pony. A pony that ate like a sugar dragon. She was quite surprised when she felt Razor's claws wrap around her sides and... "Weeeee! We're flying, Razor! I had noooo idea you were this strong, since you're uh..." She bit her lip, pausing mid-sentence. She didn't want to mention his size and hurt his feelings.. They had already been through that on the island. Her poofy tail and mane whooshed around in the breeze kicked up by the young griffon's wings. She looked down to see the raft rapidly taking on water. "Heehee, that looks like a sail boat sinking in a biiiiig bath tub!". Bubble bubble bubble, bloop. It was gone. Geodes and all.

Worst of all, they were over the ocean. She broke into a fit of giggles. "Heehee, hahaha! I guess we should've used more sap huh? Oh well." She covered her hoof with her eyes against the setting sun. Something sparkled in the distance. It was golden, which reflected like a bastion of burning fire off the face of the sun. Pinkie pointed her arm out, wagging it frantically "Heeey, that looks kinda like the tippy top of Canterlot Castle! Laaaaaaand ho!"

[ShadowWalking18]

In terms of biology, as a predator species, griffons had some natural advantages over other species. Talons and razor sharp beak not withholding. They were strong and mobile, with flight being their primary advantage for speed. Although griffons were decent when left to run on all fours. Never the less flight was the, preferred, way of travel and hunting.

Now of course in comparison to ponies, there was a bit of a conflict. Strength wise, an average griffon would always best a pegasi or a unicorn. Though would be equal to an earth pony. Never the less, all griffons were strong.

Even some....slightly shorter griffons....would be physically fit and tough. But...only by so much.

And for Razor, he was seeing just where his limits were.

"Ugh....do you, have any idea how long several years studying at one of the most regimental military schools in Aquilla is? With nothing to do, outside of classes and studying, but physical training and aerial exercises. It's living in the bowels of Tartarus!" Razor said, grunting as he flapped his wings to keep them in the air, breathing slowly to both keep his muscles working and his heart from giving out.

"But...trust me. It's worth it. Even with my....disadvantages, I'm more then...capable of....lifting even you....but....not for very long." Razor groaned again. What did this pony eat!?! And how could she weigh this much and a decent figure!?

As he looked down, Razor felt his eyes bulge and his face twitch. Did he just feel a slight pain shot across his brain?

"It sank!!!" He shouted, jaw hanging open as he watched the raft sink....sink........gone.

"It-it's gone....all gone....." He said, another twitch. All that money! All that work!

"All that madness! For nothing!" He shouted, letting his head drop and hit into Pinkie's mane. It smelled like cotton candy and sugar and for a moment he found himself purring as he nuzzled his head against the soft and sweet smelling pillow like hair. And with the heat of the sun, he felt such a strong desire to just laze on this softness and just cat nap.

'AGH STOP THAT!' He thought, yanking his head away from Pinkie's mane and mentally slapping himself seven thousand and ninety three times.

He looked over where Pinkie then made the announcement of land. Oh thank Celestia above!

"Ugh finally." He said with a sigh of relief and flapped his wings harder, and letting himself glide along the air currents.

Already he could make out the line of the coast as they grew closer. Eventually a coast line came perfectly into view, which was good cause Razor was already starting to feel his claws....slipping and aching.

"Finally...land...cause I don't think...I can...hold much.....llllonger." He said, straining as his talons cried in protest for the over usage of carrying such a heavy cargo, even his wings were starting to ache from the excess weight and as he flew down toward the beach they gave out all together, dropping Pinkie onto the sand and himself crashing next to her.

[Rosewind]

Pinkie Pie spread her arms out, the wind whipping around her pink mane. It felt good to fly! She often "flew" with a bundle of balloons, but she didn't have any available at the moment. Her mane was full. Yes, she used her mane as storage. Where else would she keep her stuff? She didn't wear clothes, or have pockets. She flopped down in the moist sand, looking up at the mountain where Canterlot was nestled against. She had never really seen the magnificent castle from this angle; it was often just a bastion against the mountainside from Ponyville. It was breathtaking, all the same. She patted Razor's sweaty head. "Thank you! Wow, what an adventure! It would have really stank to swim alllll the way back from that island!" Just then, her poofy mane wiggled. She looked up, blinking her large blue eyes. It wiggled again.

She shook her head to the side. A crab dropped to the sand. It shook a claw angrily, skittering off toward the foamy wash of the sea. Thump, thump, thump! Several geodes dropped out of Pinkie's mane, followed by a big one. It cracked open from the impact of the sand, revealing big, shiny red crystals, deep crimson. The crystals formed the shape of a heart, which split neatly in half. She grinned, thrusting several geodes into Razor's arms, and half of the heart one. "Mission accomplished, Mister Razor! We did it!"

[ShadowWalking18]

Razor gasped for air. Precious, precious air! He was in good shape. Better then most maybe, considering he spent any free time he had not sleeping or working, exercising. But carrying what he thought for sure was a four hundred pound mare, even if she didn't look it. Was not something he did a lot.

'I wonder if she could function as a weight for workouts?' He thought, chuckling slightly at the thought of Pinkie Pie being used as exercise equipment.

He looked over and saw the sight of Canterlot. He actually had to admit....it was a rather....beautiful sight. A white city on a hill as the old saying went he thought. All the cities in Aquilla were undergoing extensive modernization. With the recent boom in coal and steam, factories, mines and airship ports were popping up everywhere in places like Talonopolis. He sometimes wondered if his own home back in Rockwington would succumb to the industrial presence. A part of him hoped not, cause he found that it would be losing something of the past of his people.

He looked over to Pinkie and laughed, "Swim? Maybe you would have to swim, but flying is my advantage. Though this whole thing has made me all the more hesitant to even go near water again. I'll stick to rainstorms and clouds, at least I can trust my wings not to get so soggy they can't lift me up. But it...was......fun I guess." He said the last part while rubbing the back of his head.

Loath was he was to admit it, but he did find the adventure to be rather enjoyable. The thrill of unforeseen danger, a damsel in distress to save. Wait....scratch that last part!

He got up, stretching like a cat does after a long nap, and flexing his wings to get the stiffness out of the muscles. As he shook himself to get limber he noticed Pinkie messing with her mane and pulled out....a crab.

"A crab? Pinkie does your mane just trap....any.....thing....in....it?" Razor started, but slowly found himself saying each word once as geodes went "thump", "thump", "thump" onto the sandy beach. The last one made his eyes nearly bulge from his sockets! IT WAS HUGE! HE WAS RICH!

'Hey maybe I could get that airship I've been wanting. Heck, maybe I could start my own business?' He thought, before Pinkie shoved several of the rocks, especially the oddly shaped red crystal one into his claws.

"Uh...yeah. I guess so. That puffy mane of yours actually did pulled off a miracle or something. Heh." He said, smiling, "Well, guess we better get these appraised."

As he adjusted himself to walk properly while carrying his cargo of loot, Razor took another notice of the oddly shaped geode and looked at it more closely.

It was shaped like a heart! And it was red like a heart! He felt himself blushing like a cherry by this. Was this the universes way of messing with his head more then he was already!?! Well he wasn't gonna have that! No sir! He was gonna sell this thing and....and....and..

Razor found himself holding the crystal up high, watching as it sparkled when the sun hit it just right. His eyes widened as he marveled in the ruby red glow of sparkling lights it gave off. And a warm feeling spread over his heart, or where he was sure he had a heart.

He then looked at Pinkie Pie, and felt himself feeling embarrassed and shy. He lifted a wing to cover his face as he looked away, and back at the rock.

"This one...I...think I'll keep. It....it's nice looking." He said, mostly to himself as he rested the geode on the top of his pile; so he could be reminded to get it.

He wasn't sure why. Maybe it was the bird like part of his brain telling him to keep shiny things. It didn't happen a lot, but some griffons did tend to get.....distracted...by shiny things. Part bird after all. It's not like it meant anything, surely not that. Afterall,hewasnexttoamarethathefoundcute,andcertainlyhadbeenthinkingaboutoverthecourseoftime! Butjustbecausehewasgoingtokeepaheartshapedrock,thatjustappearedinthemostbizzarecaseofcircumstancesdidn'tmeanthatheliked,likedher!Hejustlikedherlikeafriend!Yeahthatwasitafriend!Shewasonlyafriend!Amarefriend,afriendthatjusthappenedtobeamare!

That made sense right? Right?

RIGHT!?!?!

Razor took a deep breath and fanned his head with his free wing. He was sure he was heating up even more. Darn the sun, that was the cause! At least it was what he told himself.

"Anyway uh...uh...we should...do something else sometime....I guess. That is what friends do right? We are...friends....right?" He said, asking the question of all questions.

[Rosewind]

Pinkie Pie nodded triumphantly, holding up her share of the geode loot. She wasn't interested in the money behind it. In fact, she would probably be sending most of her geodes off to her sister Maud, as Maud was definitely into this kind of stuff. She would keep the big geode with half a heart, though! She would stash it in her room at Sugarcube Corner, next to her other special treasures on a somewhat dusty shelf. She enjoyed a grand adventure, and what an adventure it had been.

She slapped Razor heartily across his back, grinning. "Oh yeah, totally! I had a blast! I especially liked that part with the big wildcat chasing us! I bet he was really hungry, huh? Oh yeah, and we almost drowned like a dozen times! That was fun too!" Pinkie wrapped her large, pink arms around the little griffon, pulling him into a big, crushy earth pony hug. "Heehee, we'll have to do this again! I'll ask Pumpkin to draw us another map. Maybe we'll end up on a frozen mountain up north! Wouldn't that be fun? Oo, or inside a volcano with bubbling lava everywhere!"

She looked up, noticing the sun was starting to descend across a western vista. It was still a trek back to Ponyville. She gave the sandcat griffon a smooch on his cheek. "I guess I have to get back to Sugarcube Corner! I'm really tired after running around, heehee! I'll catch ya later, okay?! Come by and visit, maybe you could help me babysit Pumpkin! Or make cookies! Or we could play hoofball! Or swim, again! Or..." She trotted off, still talking to herself.

[ShadowWalking18]

Razor chuckled, "Yeah he probably was." Pinkie really had an odd sense of fun at times.

When she wrapped him in a hug, he groaned as she squeezed him with all her worth. He struggled to get free as he said, "Yeah sure. Sure...we'll do this again.....now pleas let-"

Then he felt something soft kissing his cheek and his wings went stiff and straight out as his whole body went stiff and still. His eyes widening as he realized that Pinkie Pie had just kissed him.

"Yeah....do this....again....sometime... He said, feeling his entire brain stop functioning.

He didn't even notice Pinkie hopping away as he simply sat there, wings extended and a blush on his face. He stood absolutely still like a statue.

"Yeah....visit.....do this...again...sometime." He said again to nopony in particular.

It was only a few hours later, as the sun was beginning to set that Razor finally did something other then sit there with a shocked look of awe on his face; and promptly fell over, face first into the sand. His pile of geodes falling around him, save the half heart shaped rock which he clutched tight in his talon.

And it could be said that Pinkie did, what probably no pony in all of Equestria could ever do.

Rendering a griffon....unconscious.