Authors Note: This is my first time writing a story and I want to thank my Beta/Collaborator DarkWolfPrincess for helping me out. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I in no way, shape or form, have any rights to MLP:FIM. All rights belong to Hasbro and Lauren Faust. The only rights I have are my OCs in the story.

Chapter 1- The Griffinstone Race

It was a beautiful day in Equestria, the sun was shining brightly over the land and everypony seemed to be enjoying the beautiful day. Even some of the more fearsome creatures were out, taking the nice weather as an opportunity to explore the lands and hunt.

But in one area of Equestria, the land was dark and gloomy. Not one Griffin stopped to greet one another in their rush, flying to and from to get where they needed to. Griffinstone was one place in Equestria where the creatures didn't get along so well, they fought and argued almost all the time, never a nice word came from their beaks.

A few Griffins stopped and turned their heads as the sound of hoofsteps was heard down the road, becoming closer with each passing second. Soon enough it was clear who it was, a lone pegasus passing through, concealed with a cloak.

Many of the creatures turned away and departed from the area once the pegasus arrived, feeling it was too much trouble to welcome the stranger and would rather be elsewhere.

Glancing around, the pegasus trotted on through the town, but stopped when the sound of interesting gossip could be heard. At the closest corner was a group of three griffins, speaking about something that seemed to draw a few more close, before they took off.

"Did you hear?" one of them exclaimed, his friends staring intently.

"Some pony managed to pull of the legendary Sonic Rainboom awhile back" there were murmurs among the other two of amazement and wonder.

Upon hearing this, the pegasus moved closer, clearing his throat to draw their attention. "Excuse me"

The griffins became silent and turned to the stranger. "What do you want?" one of them asked gruffly.

"I couldn't help but overhear your conversation"

"Yeah, and…?"

"Is it true, about the pony that can pull off the legendary Sonic Rainboom?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Well, I've been looking for some good competition, but unfortunately nopony has been able to give me such a challenge. Perhaps you can direct me to this pony who was able to break the legend"

The griffins laughed hysterically, slowly composing themselves before one of them spoke. "You? Against a Sonic Rainboom?" he wiped away a tear from laughing so hard. "I doubt you could even beat a griffin, let alone the pony who pulled that off"

The pegasus only smirked. "Is that a challenge?"

"What? Are you scared to lose?" he taunted.

"When I win, I'm going to make you eat those words"

The griffins only laughed. "What's your name stranger?" he questioned.

"Tell you want, you beat me in a race and I'll tell you," this caught their attention. "If I win, you tell me where this pony is. Deal?" he held out his hoof for an agreement.

The griffin smirked and shook the pegasus' hoof. "Deal. Three laps around Griffinstone and finish at the center of town...against all three of us" he threw in the game changer.

"Three against one? That's not very fair, now is it?"

"You wanted a challenge" one of the other griffins noted. "Unless you're too chicken"

The pegasus narrowed his gaze. "As long as you keep your end of the deal, this will be a piece of cake"

The three looked between one another, unable to believe this stranger could beat all three of them. "We start at the center of town" they flew off, leaving the pegasus to follow them.

Once they were at the center of town, many of the other griffins turned their gazes up to the three and surrounded them once they touched down.

"Listen up!" the Griffin announced. "This pony has challenged us to a race, so we're going to give Griffinstone one of the best races it's ever seen!" he declared.

There were low murmurs and gossip started to be passed from one to the next. Some were saying that the whole thing was a joke and the pegasus wouldn't stand a chance against three griffins. Others were more positive, believing that it was going to make the day more interesting and draw away the boredom that had settled.

As the race was being prepared, the pegasus removed his cloak, causing more murmurs to chorus through the crowd. Many of the females became quite fond of the pegasus, trying to piece together the mysterious stranger.

The stallion heard their talk and gave them a wink, causing a few silent squeals of joy.

"Enough messing around, let's race" one of the griffins declared, glaring at the pegasus.

Tossing his cloak aside, the stallion took to the starting line and positioned himself at a starting stance. "Whenever you're ready" he smirked knowingly.

The three griffins got ready to take off, all of them wanting the win.

An older looking Griffin approached to start the race. He looked around as the crowd silenced before starting the countdown for the race to begin.

"3"

The competitors crouched down lower to get a better starting point while murmurs ran through the crowd.

"2"

Their wings unfurled, flapping a few times to get ready to go.

"1"

The whispers got a bit louder and every Griffin was on the edge of their seats when suddenly…

"GO!"

The four competitors took to the sky, leaving behind a crowd of cheering Griffins.

The stallion easily took the lead and made his way outside of the town, the wind whipping through his blue fur, throwing his red and yellow mane this way and that as he flew.

Behind him, the Griffins were catching up. They looked to one another with a knowing grin and increased their speed, coming up beside the pegasus, almost surpassing him.

"Still think you can beat us?! Griffins are the best flyers around!" one of them exclaimed before shooting ahead, followed by the other two as they were now in the lead.

"Time to kick it up a notch" he flapped a bit harder and zipped past, leaving the three of them shocked and a bit dazed. Glaring at the stallion, they pushed their speed and once more passed him coming ahead and going into their second lap.

Glancing back, they could see the pegasus lagging behind and laughed. "There's no way he can win now" they continued to fly, but found themselves getting tired. Still, they continued to fly, persistent to win.

"Yeah, no way he can win"

"Guess he was all bark and no bite, never stood a chance" the other griffin agreed, causing a chorus of laughter.

But their laughter was short lived as what looked like a ball of fire flew past, leaving behind a blue dust with sparks of lightning emanating from it.

The three Griffins were knocked from the sky, spinning out of control for a few moments before settling and sped up to catch him, but their hard flying earlier made it more difficult so they stayed behind the pegasus for the last lap.

The pegasus saw the three behind and knew he was going to win, he set his crimson eyes on the finish line as he neared the end of the third lap and crossed the finish line, landing in the center of town.

The Griffins landed right after the stallion did, panting and out of breath from the race.

"That sure was great, got to race some Griffins today" he chuckled, brushing himself off casually.

The main Griffin looked up at him, sweat beating down his forehead. "You were holding back on us, weren't you?"

He only grinned. "You got me" he held his hooves up in defeat. "I wasn't really trying"

His comrades growled in anger, tails lashing and eyes narrowed at the pegasus. The lead held up a claw to silence the two, causing them to cease their growls of annoyance.

"A deal is a deal"

"So, where's this pony who pulled off the Sonic Rainboom?" he asked.

"Ponyville" the griffin replied casually.

The stallion thought for a moment. "Ponyville, eh?" he shook his head, chuckling slightly. "Thank you for the information, but I really must be going" he turned to leave, but paused and spun back around to face them.

"If you ever want to race again, come find me. The names Flamebolt" he left them with that and flew off, away from Griffinstone and to the town of Ponyville.

"Flamebolt...I'll have to remember that" the lead griffin spoke to himself, glancing back at his comrades then up at the sky to watch him leave.

"Next stop, Ponyville!" he exclaimed, speeding off through the sky, his mind reeling as he didn't know what was going to happen next, but he was going to be ready for anything.