Pathfinder and the City of the Griffons (Phil the Time Wizard and SteelEagle)

[RarityDash]

Okay, this story was just all around pretty awesome. It was getting harder to feign any lack of interest; Gilda was hooked. She watched and listened as the crazy adventurer pony continued to energetically narrate, all the while ingesting even more of the candy.

As she continued to listen, eventually the griffon got mildly confused. What was going on now? Wasn't this the same as the beginning? Was the whole thing starting over? Probably not. Not that Gilda would have minded. She could stand to hear a story like this one more than once. Still, she was eager to hear how it all ended.

She didn't say anything. She didn't want to interrupt.

[SteelEagle]

Pathfinder landed in front of Gilda, silent for a few minutes. She thought she had done a good job and was happily eating candy when she saw Gilda was still straining in the slip. Then she remembered that the end of the first book had confused a lot of people. She smiled.

"That's the end, Gilda! Ya see, the author wasn't planning on making a series at first and the whole ending was supposed to be some sort of allegory for how despite the warning from the Great Snake of Tartarus, she has no memory of it and is doomed to repeat her mistakes again and again." Pathfindfer said, chomping on candy, unaware of the rather blunt and ominous warning that it had for both of the them.

[RarityDash]

Gilda's eyes went wide. That actually made a lot of sense! Gilda could almost relate to that. If it was one thing she knew about, it was making mistakes. Not that she would admit that. No, if you asked her, she'd tell you she hadn't made a mistake her entire life and that anything that didn't work out for her was the fault of the other involved parties. Gilda had a hard time admitting otherwise even to herself. It was kind of sad, that, especially given how obvious it was. She had alienated almost everyone she had ever met, didn't really have a place in the world to call herself or anyone she could still call a friend. Maybe she was already there, locked in the same cycle as this Daring Do, and just too proud to do anything about it.

"Ah, I got ya," Gilda said, with some excitement in her tone. "So that's it, huh? That's really a kind of messed up but cool way to end the thing."

The griffon gave a steady nod. "But anyway, you're out of your pony mind, you know that, pony?" She laughed and shook her head for a moment. "But I do have to say that was a pretty awesome story. This Daring Do chick, she sounds pretty cool for a pony. And you said there are more of these stories?"

[SteelEagle]

Pathfinder didn't take much offense at being called crazy. She had been called worse and had accepted it as standard fact for a great amount of time. Besides, if handling a few insults of low caliber could earn her a new friend and lover of Daring-Do, it was worth it. Pathfinder nodded fervently.

"Yes! There are sixteen books in the main series, eight young-mare tales, comics, supplementary materials, all sorts of stuff. I even have fanfiction and my own stuff on it, it's all really cool! I'm the president of the Cloudsdale chapter of the fanclub!" She said excitedly as she shifted through the pile and eventually found fifteen other books and laid them on top of one another, stacked, in front of Gilda.

"You're welcome to read all of them! It's the best series ever, I say! But before we read some more, I need to reform my left hoof a bit, it sorta cracked earlier when I was kicking in the vault door and its' been stinging ever since. Here, you look over this maps and tell me anything you know." She said, taking out several maps of the city and laying them in front of Gilda, locations of various possible locations of the helm located, sewer systems in detail, and general overlays and proposed plans.

[RarityDash]

"Yes! There are sixteen books in the main series, eight young-mare tales, comics, supplementary materials, all sorts of stuff. I even have fanfiction and my own stuff on it, it's all really cool! I'm the president of the Cloudsdale chapter of the fanclub!"

Her eyes went to all the Daring Do stuff as the pony spoke about it. Maybe it was kind of lame, but Gilda was sure she'd be reading more of it at some point. Her reading books? That just sounded wrong. She could just picture a young rainbow-maned face laughing at her for it.

"You're welcome to read all of them! It's the best series ever, I say! But before we read some more, I need to reform my left hoof a bit, it sorta cracked earlier when I was kicking in the vault door and its' been stinging ever since. Here, you look over this maps and tell me anything you know."

This pony continued to surprise. Gilda hadn't ever noticed that the pony had been injured. Wait, so this crazy pony had just put on that crazily enthusiastic act while in pain? Gilda didn't know whether to be concerned or impressed.

Gilda looked at the map and nodded. "I'm afraid I don't know all that much about this town, at least when it comes to specifics. Never really cared enough to pay that much attention to it, you could say. I don't really know where something like that helmet might be held."

"Is it serious?" Gilda asked, looking at the pony's injured hoof, showing some concern, but not so much as to be totally lame.

[SteelEagle]

"I'm afraid I don't know all that much about this town, at least when it comes to specifics. Never really cared enough to pay that much attention to it, you could say. I don't really know where something like that helmet might be held."

That was a major disappointment. To be fair, with that information, a more ruthless explorer may have shooed the griffon away. What use was a novice in a mission where the only advantage it offered was one that, under the best circumstances, was never to come into play? Luckily for Gilda, Pathfinder wasn't ruthless. While a bit of a let-down, Gilda had already stuck her neck out for Pathfinder and she would return the favor ten fold. The first fold would be allowing her to stay here and continue to adventure.

"Aww, that's sad! Well, I guess I can't blame ya. I mean, it isn't like I know all about Canterlot. Well, bad example, I sorta did the same thing there. But...no...okay, Ponyville I've only been to twice. That place I don't know well, so it stands to reason that there are griffons who don't know this city well.: Pathfinder rambled as she entered the tent and started looking for some items. A minute later, she returned with a small sack and white tape. Landing opposite Gilda, she laid them out.

"Is it serious?" Gilly asked, her voice dripping with unrestrained concern. Unrestrained concern!

Pathfinder was touched as she wrapped the tape around the ends of her hooves as tight as she could, then opened up the bag and started applying fine mixtures of already smashed herbal remedies into the cracks. Each time it entered the inner workings of the hoof, a sharp, seismic pain shot through Pathfinder's body, a quick spasm of the body. She applied the remedy into every crack on the affected hoof. and then laid the lag out near the lamp.

"Nah, I'll be fine! Zebras sell some of the kookiest medicines. Cheaper than a hospital trip, for sure. This here helps completely heal a shattered hoof within twenty-four hours. I'm not in as bad a position, so it should only take the rest of the night. I can't move it though, so you can take the tent, okay Gilly? There is a pillow and a blanket inside. If ya want, you can take the lamp inside and read. I'm going to get some shut-eye, Gilly," Pathfinder said, reaching over and grabbing her saddlebag and propping it up on the ground like a pillow.

[RarityDash]

"Aww, that's sad! Well, I guess I can't blame ya. I mean, it isn't like I know all about Canterlot. Well, bad example, I sorta did the same thing there. But...no...okay, Ponyville I've only been to twice. That place I don't know well, so it stands to reason that there are griffons who don't know this city well."

Gilda noticed the noted disappointment on the pony's face as she said this piece. She felt compelled to make herself sound less useless. "It ain't that I don't know anything about this town. I was born here, after all. I just know where the places I go are. And it happens that I'm not the sort of griffon that typically goes to places where they might be keeping awesome old relics like that helmet. At the very least, you could say I know the basic layout and the major landmarks."

"Nah, I'll be fine! Zebras sell some of the kookiest medicines. Cheaper than a hospital trip, for sure. This here helps completely heal a shattered hoof within twenty-four hours. I'm not in as bad a position, so it should only take the rest of the night. I can't move it though, so you can take the tent, okay Gilly? There is a pillow and a blanket inside. If ya want, you can take the lamp inside and read. I'm going to get some shut-eye, Gilly,"

The pony next said as she treated her injured hoof. Gilda just nodded, trying not to say anything lame.

"That's pretty cool," she said looking at the zebra medicine. She turned to the tent. She wasn't going to argue with the pony giving her the tent to sleep in. "And got it. Sounds cool with me."

She was ready to get some sleep. Nodding, she moved toward the tent, passing by the Daring Do books as she did. She remembered the reading lamp Pathfinder had mentioned and stopped to think. Nah. She needed to crash. Staying up all night reading books? That was just too lame. She thought that until something caught her eyes.

"Daring Do and the Griffon's Goblet...?" she quietly read the title. A Daring Do book with actual griffons in it? Now that had to be awesome! Grabbing the book, she disappeared into the tent, a smirk on her face.

[SteelEagle]

"It ain't that I don't know anything about this town. I was born here, after all. I just know where the places I go are. And it happens that I'm not the sort of griffon that typically goes to places where they might be keeping awesome old relics like that helmet. At the very least, you could say I know the basic layout and the major landmarks."

Well, that was useful! Pathfinder had mapped out the city in terms of the intricacies and therefore had the plan on an overall scale, but knowing what was where in terms of shops, griffons, and the subtle variations in neighborhoods that over time could make or break adventurers.

"That's pretty cool," Gilda said as Pathfinder laid her head down, "and got it. Sounds cool with me."

Pathfinder thought so. Gilda didn't seem like such a hard-adventurer like Pathfinder, and it made the Pegasus wonder if she had ever even camped outside! Oh, silly griffons probably slept inside warm, toasty rock houses. She shouldn't try to paint them all with the same brush as ponies could be expected to do the same, but from her experience they were afraid of spiders and seemed indifferent about most things.

Gilda took the lamp and a book, from the writing on the inline that reflected off of the light probably the Griffon's Goblet, and soon Pathfinder was in darkness. And not too long after, as the various arachnids of the sewers encroached in the absence of light, she was asleep.

(Sorry, I'm ill and not really thinking very well. Should be better.)

[RarityDash]

Gilda stayed up until the very wee hours of the morning, reading though the exciting Daring Do adventurer. She couldn't read though it quite as quickly as Pathfinder had been able to act out the similar length first book, so doing it all in a few hours wasn't a possibility for her. The book was really good though. Sure, some of the author's portrayals of griffons wasn't one-hundred percent on point, but Gilda could forgive that. It was pretty good for a pony's take on things. The narrative itself was every bit as exciting as the first though, so it was hard to put down.

Inevitably, tiredness set in and Gilda couldn't stop herself. She needed to sleep. Setting down the book, just under half read, was incredibly hard for her. She needed to crash though. She no longer even cared that she was in a sewer and that stuff might crawl on her. She was too tired to care.Lying back and draping herself in the blanket, the griffon closed her eyes. Sleep soon found her.

((OOC: Short post, I know, but there's really not much I could add. Especially when I'm almost as tired as Gilda here... ))

[SteelEagle]

Pathfinder could be accused of never truly sleeping. This was obviously a lie, as if she never slept she would have died decades ago. Still, these accusations had persisted ever since she was a filly and for two reasons. One, she was a mover and shaker in both her conscious and unconscious lives, kicking about and if the witnesses were trustworthy, dancing. Secondly, she more or less did the same things in her dreams as she did in her day to day life. For many, a curse. For her, a great and wonderful gift. Fighting dangerous creatures, discovering ancient ruins, finding awesome treasure- she could sometimes lose track of whether she was asleep or awake, but when both were equally awesome, she didn't care.

Finally though, long hours after she fell asleep on the room's dank floor, Pathfinder awoke with the most awful taste in her month. Whether it was spider eggs or gunk from the sewer floor was open to debate, but neither mattered. She could feel a somewhat larger arachnid crawling underneath her hoof as she stirred and brought a hoof down with a smile- hey, Gilda needed breakfast too. With that movement and a few brush offs, especially in her mane, the creatures fled once more.

About an hour later, a small fire outside the tent crackled to life. Pathfinder was sore all over as no one could say that the sewer was anything other than an uncomfortable place to sleep, but her hoof had no cracks. The small frying pan, a single egg being cooked over it, popped blue sparks in the darkness. Pathfinder yawned. It was still early, but they could nap later. Besides, she was sure when Gilda woke up she'd love the fact Pathfinder had rustled up some meat for her- did tarantulas count as meat? She honestly hoped so as she finished up her egg, tossed the finished deliciousness into her mouth, and plopped the arachnid on the pan.

[RarityDash]

Gilda didn't want to wake up. She hadn't slept near enough. However when some big ugly spider snuck under the tent and started to crawl all over her, she was startled cleanly awake. She tossed the disgusting creature off of her and then stepped on it. Ugh. She hated these things. She gave a loud yawn. Gah, she was still tired but she was also fully awake now, and also more fully aware of her sewer surrounding. Maybe she'd read more until she passed out again?

Just as she grabbed for the half read Daring Do book, she smelled something. Pathfinder was up, and evidently she was cooing something. Probably pony food, but eh, Gilda spent enough time in Equestria that she had learned to stomach the stuff. She was hungry too. Yawning again, she exited the tent. She saw Pathfinder there with a frying pan.

"Hey pony," she said, her voice still kind of groggy. "What you cooking?"

[SteelEagle]

Gilda's groggy, scratchy voice lazily floated to pathfinder. She couldn't blame the griffon for not sounding like she was all that enthused about being up this early. Between the creepy crawlies, the dank smell and dim light, harsh floor and the lack of security, hard to imagine anypony- or anygriffon- sleeping soundly. Pathfinder was certain she could raise her spirits with a wondrous fried tarantula breakfast.

"Hey there, Gilly! I already had breakfast. I didn't have anything meaty or fit for a griffon, so I took down one of the creepy-crawly tarantulas and am now fryin' it up for you. I figure that spiders have some meat, right? And you look meat! Win-win, Gilly!" Pathfinder chirped with excitement, moving out of the way of the frying pan so Gilly could see the frying spider. Pathfinder hovered over towards Gilly, her mane matted somewhat and with a smell best described as rank.

"Anyway, d'ya know where we can find some sort of bath or any clean water source? I don't mind smellin' bad, it's a byproduct of working hard, but I'd rather not force you to smell me like this for the next several weeks."

[RarityDash]

"Hey there, Gilly! I already had breakfast. I didn't have anything meaty or fit for a griffon, so I took down one of the creepy-crawly tarantulas and am now fryin' it up for you. I figure that spiders have some meat, right? And you look meat! Win-win, Gilly!"

What?! Gilda could hardly believe what she was seeing. Why... no, how did this crazy pony possibly think this was a good idea? She expected her to eat one of these freaky bugs? Er... no.

"I'm not eating that!" Gilda shouted pulling her head back. "It's freaky and gross! The food you ponies eat is kinda bland and stuff, but at least it doesn't crawl on you!"

"Anyway, d'ya know where we can find some sort of bath or any clean water source? I don't mind smellin' bad, it's a byproduct of working hard, but I'd rather not force you to smell me like this for the next several weeks."

Gilda supposed she should answer this too, even if she was still mostly just irritated by being served fried spider. The pony did smell pretty bad, not that Gilda was too sensitive to such things. She was sometimes forced to forego regular baths in her travels, and wasn't a griffon so concerned with all that in the first place. So well the pony's smell could probably be described as offensive, it wasn't nearly so bad as being served a spider for breakfast.

She gave a long sigh. "The hotel I've been staying at has a bath," Gilda said shrugging in annoyance. "But it's in the same building as the museum from last night, so..."

Gilda looked down, trying to think of something else. "There's always the Raptorclaw River, on the west edge of town, even if that's kind of out of the way..."

[SteelEagle]

"I'm not eating that! "It's freaky and gross! The food you ponies eat is kinda bland and stuff, but at least it doesn't crawl on you!"

Pathfinder's ears dropped down like she was a little filly getting scolded for burning toast, which she had done in the orphanage a few times. Well, drat. She had thought maybe getting a griffon some sort of animal to eat was enough, but apparently they could still be picky. Or at least this one could be. Pathfinder thought for a second about telling Gilda she wouldn't have to worry about it crawling as the tarantula was dead and being cooked, but Pathfinder gave it better thought. It made Pathfinder feel more than a little upset- she had killed this creature and what had come of it? She rather quickly grabbed the pan and tossed the spider out of it and into the sewer, glumly packing the pan away without cleaning it.

"The hotel I've been staying at has a bath. But it's in the same building as the museum from last night, so... there's always the Raptorclaw River, on the west edge of town, even if that's kind of out of the way..."

Pathfinder sighed. Darn, Gilda was making her feel like a unicorn without a horn. Why, if Pathfinder had known Gilda's hotel was in the same building as the museum, she would have told the griffon to go hide and let the adventure handle matters. She didn't want anypony or anygriffon to be ruined by her mission and here she had hurt her best adventure buddy!

Pathfinder's wings folded and she meekly walked towards the sewer door.

"...Okay, well, if ya check my saddlebag, there should be provisions. Just a bunch of hay and daisy sandwiches, but you can have an egg or two if you want. I'm going to the River, should be back in about an hour. Then...we go!" Pathfinder said, striking a pose at the entrance before leaping out into the sewer pathway, sighing sadly as she clop-clop=clopped her way away.

[RarityDash]

"...Okay, well, if ya check my saddlebag, there should be provisions. Just a bunch of hay and daisy sandwiches, but you can have an egg or two if you want. I'm going to the River, should be back in about an hour. Then...we go!"

Pathfinder seemed kind of down as she left. Gah, this pony was clueless. She had legitimately thought that was going to fly? Griffons were proud predators. There were far too many links in the food chain between a griffon and that kind of creepy crawly little bug. Still, hearing even a little heaviness in the voice of a pony like this one was kind of hard for Gilda to take for some reason. Despite herself, she felt compelled to say some halfway encouraging words to the pony as she made her exit.

"Be careful out there! It would be totally lame if you got caught now!" she called out after the pony.

She then considered the ponies words. Hay and flowers? Pony food didn't get much lower than that. Didn't the pony have some apples or something? Gilda could get that kind of thing down. Hay? No, she didn't think so. An egg sounded pretty good though. She decided to just make one though. The pony seemed to have more limited supply of the things. She'd supplement it with some of the bread from the daisy sandwiches. Might not be great but it would be edible.

After preparing and eating her breakfast. Gilda started to read more of the Daring Do book while waiting for the pony's return.

[SteelEagle]

"Be careful out there! It would be totally lame if you got caught now!"

Pathfinder couldn't help but agree entirely. Getting caught in the sewer of the griffon capital would be very, totally lame. Pathfinder had no intention of proving or disproving legends surrounding what griffons did to pony prisoners that originated back east. Besides, while escaping from prison would certainly add to her legend, it was also likely going to be a tad harder than she would want. A challenge for the future, maybe.

Pathfinder spent the next hour zooming down the sewer, taking twists and turns where appropriate. It allowed her to clear her mind of the somewhat disheartening breakfast folly and it was an excellent secondary option to her normal exercise routine in the morning. She eventually found herself where she had initially entered the city- a massive drainage pipe overflowing with nastiness. She had to stick to the top of the pipe in order to avoid the filth, but once she reached the end she found herself in wide open space outside the city.

Time to find the river and take that short, five minute bath. Yes, this hours long trip would be worth it. The city on the outside was hard to spot- built into the mountain itself, much of it could be mistaken for rock formations. The area before Pathfinder was open and wide, able to see was she for many miles in every direction. It made seeing the river, which wasn't too far away anyways, a cinch for any reasonable flyer. To make matters better, this side of the city was on the opposite end of trade and residential, meaning what few griffons could be seen were on business likely personal. Or illegal. Truth be told, the second possibility was exciting if unlikely. And she wouldn't do anything about it as long as the task of cleaning herself remained on the schedule.

And with that, she shot her way head-first into the river.

[RarityDash]

Gilda continued to read. An hour quickly passed as she absorbed Daring Do's perilous quest for the Griffon's Goblet. She was really getting into it. Really, it was almost as good as the first one. She didn't even care if reading was totally lame. This book was awesome. She'd have to thank Pathfinder for introducing her to this Daring Do stuff.

Thinking about Pathfinder, she wondered about her. It had been a while now, and she hadn't returned. Eh, the river was kind of far off, so she supposed that made sense. But how long should she wait before she started to really worry? She wasn't entirely sure. It was too early now, but another hour or so, maybe would bring about some concern.

Even that was weird for the griffon. Here she was worried over some insane pony. Was this Rainbow Dash all over again? No, Pathfinder wasn't like her. Pathfinder wasn't as cool as that one had seemed. She was sillier and more out of her mind. Rainbow Dash was much more laid back and cool. They were both different, even if there were shades of this Daring Do character in them both.

Her mind returned to Daring Do, Gilda decided to read some more. She still had a ways to go before the book was complete.

[SteelEagle]

Pegasi, contrary to popular belief, loved water. Life in the clouds was lived amongst it much of the time, a light drizzle that never seemed to end incessantly seeping into every building. The commonly held belief that pegasi would avoid water came from little more than the sparse yet quite communicative speciesists who sought to give each different type of pony some innate and unavoidable flaw. Unicorns were greedy and weak. Earth ponies were dumb and slow. Pegasi were militaristic and afraid of water. All of these were lies. As a pegasus, she was accustomed to water and as an adventurer, water was always a glorious sign. You needed it to live, cook, bathe, all sorts of necessities and Raptorclaw River had some nice water in it.

Pathfinder flew straight into the water, her wings extended and acting as fins as she shot around the river. She wouldn't be there for long, and as she shot through the water against the tide, her eyes were open wide and sharp against it. Good thing, because she eyed something worthwhile- fish! She couldn't make Gilly approve of her earlier breakfast, but surely Griffons enjoyed fish?

An entire school of- salmon, maybe?- shot past her, and all her flailin she finally caught one. She shot up out of the water, having needed only that short span to clean as she needed, flew back from whence she came...

..."GILLY LOOK A FISH!"

Pathfinder didn't really bother to see what Gilda was doing as she zoomed back into the room, still smelling of the river, a salmon cradled in her front hooves.

[RarityDash]

Gilda continued reading for a while. At about the point in which she was three-quarters of the way through, suddenly she heard a familiar voice shout.

"GILLY LOOK A FISH!"

Gilda snapped her head around to find Pathfinder, and sure enough she was carrying a salmon. A tasty, tasty salmon. Gilda had been sated by her earlier breakfast, but just seeing that fish made her hungry all over again.

"Awesome!" Gilda started, unable to retain her excitement. "Salmon? That's like the best!"

Gilda snapped up the fish from the pony, wondering how she wanted to cook it. She then looked over at Pathfinder for a moment, wondering what this meant. Pathfinder had went out of her way to get this? She had felt bad about the earlier spider incident? She had felt it necessary to bring Gilda a meal that would actually satisfy her? Gilda didn't know how to feel about that. She was a bit of a bully. She made others, especially ponies, feels bad all the time. It was nothing new. She hadn't felt guilty about shouting at Pathfinder that morning either. Knowing now that it likely hit this pony a lot harder though, to the point where she had to go out of her way to catch this fish and give it to Gilda to redeem herself, she suddenly felt a little bad about her earlier behavior.

"Hey, thanks, pony. This means a lot," Gilda said, her voice getting quieter. "I'm sorry about earlier. You just didn't know any better. I shouldn't have went off on you like that."

Apologizing to a pony, consciously seemed kind of like a low thing to do, but it also felt kind of right. Sure, if any griffons ever found out about this, she'd destroy them so as not to see it spread and kill her reputation. However, in that moment, it felt like the cool thing to do.

[SteelEagle]

"Awesome!" Gilly the Griffon lit up as she exploded with enthusiasm. "Salmon? That's like the best!"

Pathfinder beamed with pride, her amateur skills in the art of fishing having proven more than ample enough to have completed this mission. It was complete luck, as she was neither one who ate fish nor spent time enough near groundwater to have studied all the fish who swam in the rivers and could thus claim only second hand knowledge. She was more than happy to say that she was lucky. She was even happier that this luck ended in Gilda finally seeming happy- Pathfinder knew what river she'd be going to and what breakfast she'd be collecting every morning for as long as this adventure took!

"Hey, thanks, pony. This means a lot," Gilly said before her voice grow gentle. "I'm sorry about earlier. You just didn't know any better. I shouldn't have went off on you like that."

While touching, Pathfinder didn't really see the need for the apology. She had made a mistake and Gilda had called her on it and while she had been bummed at the time, she had eventually concluded it was her own darn fault. Gilly had already made her fear of spiders well known and here Pathfinder was cooking one up. Stupid and really inconsiderate of Pathfinder, that action was. It only showed how generous and friendly Gilda was that she apologized.

"Awww, thanks Gilly! That means a lot, you're the best friend an adventuring pony could ask for! I was swimming in the river and I saw some fish and thought maybe griffons liked fish, glad I was right! And you CAN use my name, Gilly. Or you can use a nickname, like Path or Finder," She said before landing next to her maps. She gradually pulled a few out as well as two notebooks full of notes.

"Anywho, back to the fun parts of life. Have you ever heard of the Silverbeaks? More to the point, Lola Silverbeak?"

[RarityDash]

"Awww, thanks Gilly! That means a lot, you're the best friend an adventuring pony could ask for! I was swimming in the river and I saw some fish and thought maybe griffons liked fish, glad I was right! And you CAN use my name, Gilly. Or you can use a nickname, like Path or Finder."

This pony really was kind of exhausting. One minute she does something really awesome, then she goes into her naïve buddy-buddy act that Gilda has to resist rolling her eyes at. Gilda could admit this pony wasn't bad as ponies went, but that didn't mean she was Gilda's best friend or anything. Gilda was just gonna rip this pony off in the end after all. It was her mistake to go all trusting and get to attached to the griffon. It was pointless and just made Gilda start to feel pangs of guilt.

Despite those thoughts, Gilda found herself smiling for some reason. She figured that was just the power of the delicious salmon in her talons. Nothing more, nothing less.

"Anywho, back to the fun parts of life. Have you ever heard of the Silverbeaks? More to the point, Lola Silverbeak?"

Pathfinder asked these questions as Gilda began to prepare the fish to be cooked. Gilda gave a nod.

"Everyone in Aquelia knows the Silverbeak name. They're one of the three leading families. Silverbeak, Goldplume and Razorclaw as the top," the griffon said with a laugh. "Bunch of overstuffed, entitled, elitist snobs if you ask me. Can't even understand why so many here obsess over them all."

"Lola's the Silverbeak heiress though. Really into the scientific stuff. Frequently visits Equestria these days. Don't really know or care to know much more about her," Gidla said with a shrug.

[SteelEagle]

"Everyone in Aquelia knows the Silverbeak name. They're one of the three leading families. Silverbeak, Goldplume and Razorclaw as the top," Gilly the golden griffon laughed her golden laugh. "Bunch of overstuffed, entitled, elitist snobs if you ask me. Can't even understand why so many here obsess over them all."

Pathfinder was given to agree. She had found that most of the entitled and elitist creatures in this world weren't worth all the fuss. The way they looked down on adventurers and those outside their privileged lot made her blood boil. But still, the point was that Gilda knew the three families of griffon society worth knowing for more beside just their wealth. They were just as likely to have the helm as any official government source would.

"Lola's the Silverbeak heiress though. Really into the scientific stuff. Frequently visits Equestria these days. Don't really know or care to know much more about her," Gidla said with a shrug.

Indeed, this was true and had it not been for that simple fact Pathfinder may have been in the dark even now regarding the possibility of Silverbeak ownership of the Helm. Her contacts in Equestria only had to reveal so much to Pathfinder in the long haul to add her to the list. Pathfinder dramatically grabbed the floor plan of a rather normal looking mansion and flew up to Gilda.

"Well good enough, Gilly. We're going to hit a private residence, a small mansion, owned by the family. Lola may or may not have purchased, stolen, or found the Helm and placed it in a small mansion on the outskirts of the city that is owned and lived on by another member of the family who moved in sometime last week. There's all manner of private security and after last night, I expect even more to be around areas of high value such as this.

We, my best adventuring buddy, need to plan how to break into a Silverbeak mansion."

[RarityDash]

"Well good enough, Gilly. We're going to hit a private residence, a small mansion, owned by the family. Lola may or may not have purchased, stolen, or found the Helm and placed it in a small mansion on the outskirts of the city that is owned and lived on by another member of the family who moved in sometime last week. There's all manner of private security and after last night, I expect even more to be around areas of high value such as this.

We, my best adventuring buddy, need to plan how to break into a Silverbeak mansion."

They were going to crash a Silverbeak mansion vault? Awesome! Gilda was totally up for that. That would show those upper class nobodies who the real top griffon was. Gilda was liking this plan the more she heard.

"I'm totally down for that!" Gilda said with clear enthusiasm.

The only problem was how they could bust in? Even if it wasn't one of the main mansions, Silverbeaks would have crazy security. How exactly were they going to infiltrate a place like that.

"Busting into this place is gonna be hard though. Make the museum look totally small in comparison," Gilda surmised as she finally finished cooking her fish. "Still, I say there has to be a way. We just need to find it."

[SteelEagle]

"I'm totally down for that!" Gilly said enthusiastically, a fact that made Pathfinder happy in no small measure. It was always harder to adventure when your partner didn't really want to be a part of it.

"Busting into this place is gonna be hard though. Make the museum look totally small in comparison," Gilly pondered as the horrible smell of cooked fish wafted across the room. Pathfinder could never understand how creatures could eat stuff like that- oats and hay were just fine, thank you. "Still, I say there has to be a way. We just need to find it."

And that Pathfinder could agree with entirely. There was always a way, whether it was a musuem, mansion, cave, ruin or fort, to get to the prize. Whether it was an arrow, a spell, a hoof or a claw, always a way to evade attackers, disarm the traps, capture the prize and make do her escape.

"Completely agreed, Gilly. I suspect that they will have upped their security after last night's break in, plus they likely won't be as willing to play softball as those cheap security guards were last night. Still, there has to be a way. Here's what I have of the floorplan," Pathfinder said as she tossed out the full map of the building, or at least, how it had been initially designed. Pathfinder laid down next to it by the fire as she tried in vain to ignore the terrible smell of cooked fish.

"So, you're the griffon here. Is this what the building looks like now? You may not know, but I'm sure you can tell me what some of this means- griffon architecture is not my strong suit!" She said with a giggle, her back resting on the cold ground.

[RarityDash]

"Completely agreed, Gilly. I suspect that they will have upped their security after last night's break in, plus they likely won't be as willing to play softball as those cheap security guards were last night. Still, there has to be a way. Here's what I have of the floorplan,"

Gilda nodded. The three leading families would have heard about the museum break in. Their vaults would all be under tightened security for a while. They wouldn't have cheapo museum security guards either. The Silverbeaks had a lot more money then some shoddy museum. Their guards would be armed to the beak. Gah, this was suddenly starting to sound a little less fun and a little more out of its mind dangerous. Was it rubbing off? Had she taken in so much Daring Do in the last 24 hours that she was now on the same page as Pathfinder when it came to reckless stupidness. As she started to eat her fish, she hoped this mess didn't end up getting her killed.

"So, you're the griffon here. Is this what the building looks like now? You may not know, but I'm sure you can tell me what some of this means- griffon architecture is not my strong suit!"

Gilda looked at the floor plan and nodded. "Yeah. This definitely looks like a griffon structure's floor plan, not that I've ever been in a house quite this big..." the griffon grumbled. She started to point at various things on the map. "These lines separate different floors. Like any other structure in this city, it's built with height first in mind. Makes for a kind of tower like shape. And like the other building, height dictates what goes where. At the very top of any griffon house is the nest, which is basically the family bedrooms. Below that, you got the dining room, general living quarters, assorted functional rooms and such working all the way down until you have the servants and guards' quarters at the bottom."

The griffon studied the map harder. "The placement of the vault, unfortunately, is the one thing that probably isn't uniform between griffon homes. Some would have it in the heart of the nest, some would have it hidden somewhere in the middle. That's kind of the point, you know, not to have it be found, and this floor plan doesn't make it clear.." Gilda sighed and continued eating her fish. "That said, I don't think any proud griffon would put something they consider valuable anywhere in the lower half of their home. That's at least a start, I suppose..."