Gerrard

Asteria blinked as Gilda appeared, the cold unicorn showing no reaction at all to her entrance! It was almost as if she didn't want to acknowledge her presence to the few strangers who could overhear them. Asteria ushered Gilda into the unicorn's private quarters, closing and locking her door with a deft use of her crimson magic aura. "I'm glad to hear that you are willing to spend your free time on the arts. While the museum is obviously pony slanted, I believe that you will find a wide variety of cultural artifacts of the many species that exist in Equestria," Asteria commented in a cold voice that almost didn't seem to believe her own words. The unicorn stood up from her bed and walked in front of Gilda before drifting her eyes back to her bed. "Would you like to take a seat? And what would you like to do before the museum opens? The nightlife of Canterlot is much more active than you might imagine," Asteria replied unusually. She had avoided calling her friend by name, and now seemed interested in going to the crime scene in broad daylight! She was either the most diabolical and brazen thief around, or she just wanted to look at art.

Gerrard had quickly sprinted around a corner and was out of sight of his adventuring partner. He was having an awkward time climbing over machines, the griffon having to squeeze through conveyor belts as he tried to make distance between himself and the ghost. For one reason or another though, the ghost had slowed her pace considerably, not seeming to have any interest in actually catching her prey. The black hybrid spotted a dark room down a long hallway, the most logical base of operations for any good villain. He hoped he could barge in and browbeat the big bad into dispersing their ghosts, assuming they had some way to do that. A ghostly blue light entered his vision as he neared the dark room, Gerrard noticing that the ghost merely matched his speed, almost like it was trying to tire him out instead of eating him. "These ghosts might not be any real threat. Just a tool to weaken and scatter us," the heavily breathing griffon thought as he saw his world turn upside down. The fleeing hybrid had stepped on a loose water bottle and lost his balance, doing an awkward front flip as he tried to avoid smashing his beak on the metal floor beneath him. His world spun before he was greeted with a surprisingly soft landing, the architect hearing a voice cry out as he collapsed on top of a stranger. The ghosts flickered at the sudden crash of the griffon, their forms struggling to remain seen as they stopped moving entirely! Gerrard was completely oblivious to this sudden change, the black-feathered flyer untangling himself as he crawled off of the back of an unconscious unicorn stallion. The hybrid was completely dumbfounded by the entire situation, the odd light gone along with the threatening presence of the ghost. A flickering floating picture harmlessly stood at the entrance to the room. He had no idea what had turned off the frightening monster, but he figured it had something to do with his amazing wipe out! "Ha ha, cower in fear of my martial prowess you foolish specter," Gerrard declared loudly in a hearty voice as he realized this was all just an elaborate ruse to scare him off. He found it was really easy to be brave when the frightening ghost somehow turned off or became defective. "Come on over here Pathfinder, assuming you are still in one piece. I have a person I need to know if you know," Gerrard called out as he examined the unicorn he squished with his bulk. It was a rather spooky looking unicorn who had the stereotypical black mane with a devilish looking cutie mark. This had to be the mastermind, a unicorn who scared ponies away with spooky magic! Like any great half-baked hero, Gerrard seized the opportunity and wrapped his foreleg around the head of knocked out unicorn as he displayed his trophy to anyone willing to praise him. While it may have been an accident, nobody had to know the truth! "Maybe I meant to do that, griffon instincts kicking in," he silently thought to himself, trying to convince himself before he had to convince his equally crazy friend.

Gerrard paused for a moment, the griffon having a proverbial sweet tooth. He opened his black maw to accept the offer, the griffon getting interrupted by his least favorite earth pony in town. The flying architect gave Harshwinney a passing glance before clearing his throat. "Ah, I would love a serving but it appears that our third wheel is flat. I'm gonna hold you to that offer friend, just another day. Farewell friend, till next time," Gerrard commented with a smirk as he waved goodbye to his pegasus friend.

Gerrard smirked and hopped into the air, flapping his large black wings as he hovered in place just above the ground. He heard the two ponies banter back and forth and had to laugh when the mare admitted she may have gone overboard. "Yeah you did go a little bit overboard," Gerrard commented with a smile spreading his talons far apart as he revealed what he really thought. "In regards to the project, I think our current design is satisfactory. It is better to roam a little bit beyond the established norm. There is always a risk of over designing a building and nobody wants to be that person," the griffon explained thoughtfully while he glanced over to the pair on the ground. "Anything else?" he added, folding his arms while waiting for any parting words.

Gerrard let out a sigh as the greedy mare twisted his words for a shot at glory. He covered his face with a talon and shook his head before glancing over to his friend. "Harshwhinney, I would advise against searching for glory. People are more apt to remember failure than success. I don't think Princess Celestia would approve of you trying to take the spotlight of such a big event for yourself, Gerrard commented in a warning manner to her. "Please be the voice of reason Professor. Our appointment is about to run over my dear. I don't think you want to to pay overtime for my consulting," he commented aloud in an attempt to stop the rampaging mare.

Gerrard paused, unsure of what else could be done. He made a thoughtful humming sound before glancing over to the professor. You could increase the amount of windows on the floor level and accent the strength of the design by staggering a few extra pillars about the layout. "You can also add transparent floors between the first and second floors, but that would require a great deal of planning and money to properly execute. You can budget another 30 percent cost and a month of building with your strict guidelines, he explained with a chuckle. Gerrard was a talented architect, but there was only so much he could do to light up the first floor of a building. "What are your thoughts Harshwhinney? Your name will be on it after all," the griffon added with a chuckle as he let her decide to pull the trigger.

It was rather unfortunate that Pathfinder was not accustomed to the luxuries of modern life, Canterlot in particular. While machines that turned energy into cold were few and far between, Pathfinder sorely underestimated pony and griffon ingenuity! Needy uppity ponies had always devised clever ways to avoid summer heat. To the pegasus who lacked expert knowledge of both technology and magic, it was an understandable conclusion, one he would explain futher if she expressed her discontent to him. That of course would have to wait until the matters at claw were dealt with! The one thing that scared Gerrard more than anything was staring back at him, a ferocious griffoness with rather sharp looking talons. Like many before this ghostly griffon, she wanted to claw his eyes out, clearly in agreement of his social advances! A screech filled the air as the ghost lunged at Gerrard, the monster letting it's presence known to him. Gerrard's golden eyes went wide as he jumped back from the fervent slashes. "Sometimes, you just gotta play hard to get! Pathfinder, while you wrestle ghosts, I'm going to uncover the true villain," Gerrard explained the most aloof way he could master. While he was sorta telling the truth, he was absolutely terrified, the hybrid running absurdly fast away from the ghost.

Gerrard nodded as his pegasus friend suggested she pull herself together. The griffon was glad to finally be able to move on from her untimely delay. The pity parade was over with the mare finally regaining her composure. "Yes, it is not the time for foolishness. I will sweep your foolishness under the proverbial rug," Gerrard sternly remarked, knocking a cloud of dust into the air with a powerful flap of a strong black wing. He thought over her comment and nodded in agreement. "I would reserve such a high risk project for a less critical project," he explained calmly to her in a suddenly wise manner, almost as if the wily hybrid was holding back the entire time. "Elevated glass? I could see that working with a few minor adjustments. We should place glass panels on the roof itself to allow light and moonlight in. It could double as a light source and an access route to the night's sky. Add a few complimentary sources on the walls at critical points and you will have a satisfactory building that will draw the eyes of Canterlot upon your radiance," Gerrard explained formally, the griffon glancing over to the professor with the straightest face he could manage.

Gerrard's expression changed from one of enjoyment, to one of annoyance. He was starting to feel that the made was playing him for a fool. Surely nobody would actually say woe is me. And if they did, they were probably crazy and needed to be reported anyway. Gerrard crossed his talons in disgust, letting out a sigh. He shook his head in dissapointment and paused to think over the situation. "Well, are you done floundering in self pity? If not, I will request Celestia assign another person to mediate my work," Gerrard sternly declared in a more serious tone, the black hybrid looking across for help from his friend. Gerrard was jovial, but even his patience was limited.

This mystery couldn't be as lame as it seemed. Surely there had to be some reason for the ghosts and fish in this strange area. Regardless, it seemed as if all would be revealed soon. When she spoke of his beak, the griffon smirked devilishly as he turned to address her. "You know what they say about griffons with big black beaks? They have big senses! You should be aware of griffon predatory senses from experience. A good secret passage is hard to smell, but the presence of it can be felt if you know what to look for. A building like this would get really hot, but I imagine they cool it off with some sort of air conditioning. That means be on the look out for irrational airflow," he explained with a naughty chuckle before he gave some serious information to his friend. The griffon showed her one of toned forelegs, a keen eye able to see some sort of wind crossing over his coat even though they were inside a facility. He followed after Pathfinder as she hovered over the plant. It was an illegal bottling plant and as boring as it was, surely this couldn't be the extent of it all, right? "Surely there must be something going on here, a good adventure never let's you down, at least not until the last page," he explained with a serious expression as he hovered with his talons folded at his chest. Things didn't seem to make sense! That was until things began to come together behind them. Two ghosts slowly began to phase through the wall from out of sight and gently patted the pair on the shoulders. "Surprise. Two orders of fast food, delicious," a ghastly voice whispered to the pair. Gerrard felt his coat stand on end and turned to see the horrifying visage of two ghosts. These were nothing like the ones from before, they seemed to mean business!

Gerrard smirked devilishly at her self inflicted plight, the hybrid finding it hard to believe that anyone could be so mortified of a pony princess. He slipped off his grin and put on a frown as he approached the nervous mare. The black griffon gently hugged the made and gave her a soft pat on the back. "It might be better to get ahead of this my dear. Imagine if Celestia had to hear of this from one of your subordinates. She might not be too pleased. It's not like she has ever banished anyone to the moon at least," Gerrard explained in a comforting voice as he feigned ignorance to the legend of Nightmare Moon. He of course knew, but she didn't have to know! He carefully released her and stared into the eyes of the organizer as he prepared to speak. "Of course, Celestial might just look at it is a desperate power grab by one of your employees if it turned out that we were actually friends who were playing around. This is all up to you of course. You should know the capabilities of Celestial better than me. She just raises the sun, right," he added with more fake ignorance as he deftly winked at the professor behind her.

Gerrard loved to play with ponies and his friend knew this well enough. Part of him wanted to toy with the emotions of the mare while another part of him wondered what she was actually like when the public wasn't looming over her. He paused for a moment to collect his thoughts before turning to address the mare. "I must agree with the professor on this point. I am a very qualified bachelor if I do say so myself. I am wealthy, friendly, reputable and handsome, or so I have been told. Anyway, I think you could use a bit of socialization with my kind. I mean, imagine what Celestia would think if she heard how heartlessly you reacted to my appearance. She would probably make you take some counseling with a grizzly griffon shrink. Or even worse, she could replace you as the chair of this committee," he explained in a harsh manner as if he wanted to help her avoid trouble while scaring her. Gerrard had managed to keep a straight face, even as he wanted to burst out laughing. After just a moment of silence, Gerrard turned to the professor with a look of shock on his face. "Oh, how could I forget! The representative from Aquellia will be in Canterlot next week to tour the facility. Mr. Bloodtalon was his name I think. I've heard he is one oc the military leaders there. He is quite the imposing figure. All muscle and instinct with scars to accent his noble image. Quite the fierce negotiator if I remember correctly. Do you know anything else about him professor," Gerrard commented thoughtfully as he completely made up the scariest sounding individual he could imagine. He hoped that his friend would catch onto the ruse. Harshwhinney was the type of made who needed a bit of prodding to react in a certain way, and Gerrard wondered if he could get her to agree with his false assertions.

"Most unfortunate indeed. I mean, imagine having to apologize to all the families that you hurt while in search for fame of fame and glory," he added devilishly, the black hybrid loving to toy with her. When she spoke of her rival though, Gerrard was frozen for a split second. "You should know better than dating the competition! They are out to ruin you! I hope you didn't tell him your secrets. If you want to date anyone, it should be someone who isn't in the same field as you. You are a manager of some sort, you should date someone out of your field. Someone like me, someone who can't steal your job," he explained, almost seeming to suggest that they go out on a fate even! "Isn't that right professor? Just stay calm my dear. You look positively uncouth at the moment. Anything I can do to help out," he asked again in his original fancy accent while tending to the problem he had gleefully created.

Of course she hadn't read about him in any newspaper, a true secret agent would never actually take public recognition of his achievements. His enemies would be onto him in a moment, especially because his form made him stand out among ponies! That being said, another reason why she may not have heard about him was simply because he had never done anything heroic, aside from watering dry ponies of course! He did get an intriguing idea though, the griffon panning over to his friend as they flew through the rocky terrain. As he prepared to ask for her help, he saw the distracted pony headbutt a rocky wall. While she may have been hard headed, the Griffon guessed that her face didn't defeat too many rocks. "You okay Pathy? I can smell secret passages. No need to face check the walls," he joked while following the pegasus into the lair of the big bad. The light ringing of metal filled the air as the duo found themselves inside a water bottling facility of some kind. Some monster was stealing water and putting it into bottles! Who knows what evil things they might be doing with an army of water bottles! Gerrard was familiar enough with water to understand what was going on, strange looking magic devices sorting water into containers of different shapes. Gerrard chuckled a bit as he figured that someone was just trying to profit off of the water. This of course didn't stop the hybrid from having some fun with pathfinder though" "I have a favor to ask of you. When I bring justice to this evildoer, you need to take credit for everything. Nobody can know of my secret identity! Please use a pet name of some sort if you must speak of my amazing deeds! I can't allow pride and vanity to ruin my promising career of secret pony saving," he dramatically explained to her as they stood on a ledge over the primitive factory. Of course Gerrard was exaggerating again, but he wanted to have as much fun as his clearly crazy associate.

Gerrard knew how mares like this worked. It was always about them and what they could do for themselves. Ultimately, it was understandable, but not something he had to like. Luckily for the griffon though, these types of people were also the easiest to manipulate! "What, I agreed with you on the elevator. You can't expect me to just eat some hay though. That just isn't in my diet dear," he added with a chuckle, doing his best to subtly prod the mare. Gerrard glanced over to his friend, unable to control his grin as he struggle to not outright cackle at the mare. "Wait, you are right! You could become the most famous person in Equestria," he commented with the most nefarious expression on his face while he wrapped a talon around the made and leaned on her. "Ms. Harshwhinney, creates first elevator in Equestria! While giving a tour of it to the princesses, the device breaks, hurdling the guests to the first floor. Harshwhinney, first pony banished to the sun! Everyone would know who you were for the rest of your life," he cheered excitedly, painting a picture of the scene with his claw as he spoke. "Wouldn't that be something, right Professor," Gerrard added with an out of place smile as he waited for his friend to play along. The griffon had heard of the idea back in his homeland, his kind using pulleys to get large objects into very tall residences.

Gerrard wondered why anyone would want to avoid stairs at all. Most buildings in Equestria weren't tall enough to need such a contraption. Then it hit him, only lazy ponies would need an elevator. If only he could find a place with rich lazy ponies. The griffon soon had an epiphany and turned to his old friend. "Oh, we could install elevators in the homes of all the flightless ponies! Then they could be uppity on every floor without breaking a sweat! I like your thinking! Together we will go far! He announced excitedly, wrapping his talon around the neck of the pegasus while he gestured with his free one. He then glanced over to the mare, expecting her to be aghast at his agreement. A grin kept back across his face while he decided go limit the teasing of the mare. "Ah, but I must agree with Miss Harshwhinney. We don't have the budget to build a prototype elevator. We will have to settle on stairs. Not everyone can fly up to the second or third floor," he explained, pointing a talon at the orange pony while he mentioned stairs.

Asteria stared up into the sky one last time as if to verify something before she decided to leave for Canterlot. The stoic mare presented her paperwork to a griffon guard who seemed familiar enough with her to not even verify it. "I have a guest who may be arriving soon. She is a female griffon and might request me by name or description. Please grant her passage if possible," she vaguely explained to the guard. For one reason or another, she didn't speak the name Gilda, either respecting the privacy of her guest or simply respecting the anonymity of another 'thief". The guard nodded, his keen eyes locked on the staircase that funneled the flightless to the airship. Asteria took a steady step onto the deck, examining the vessel while she waited for their departure. A handful of nondescript ponies and a few elderly griffons hopped aboard, everyone seeming ignorant to the motives of the dark individual among them.

Hello stranger! I'm a guard in real life. Protecting the streets from trouble making ponies out of the kindness of my heart.

"It was as if I was designed for this job! How many architects can fly to a job site and manipulate it like I can," he asked with a grin, seeming to pull a wrench out of nowhere as he deftly juggled the metal object between the dexterous digits of a claw. "I'll get the job done on budget, and I am known for speed, at least my constructing anyway," he explained nefariously as he gave the mare an insidious look. He looked his surroundings over and nodded, seemingly pleased with the conditions he had to work with. The griffon knew there were many in town who prided themselves on their work. A few choice words and the griffon figured he would practically have volunteers. "Yes Ms. Whinney, I will deliver you the greatest of victories! So long as a meteor doesn't crash into the site from outer space, everything will be great! And in the unlikely even that a celestial body ruins the project, I'm sure you can explain to your bosses why you failed," he added coyly, almost as if it were a common occurrence. For the sake of everyone here, they had better hoped it was just a funny tangent.

Gerrard grinned as she explained that they probably wouldn't get a parade. "Oh, they haven't given YOU, a parade yet? That's a bit odd, maybe you lost the artifact that you eventually had to recover. To get a parade, you need to do something that seems more substantive to the average Joe. An artifact is something foreign to them, but rescuing a drowning foal out of a burning building that was getting dragged into a sinkhole, that gets you on the front page of the newspaper. Not that it was too much for me to handle," the griffon smuggly explained as if it happened. It seemed that a bit of her insanity was rubbing off on the griffon. Surely that never happened, right? Gerrard didn't let her words get him down though, the hybrid knowing that a true hero does things because they are right. Fame, glory, women, those were all perks or penalties that came later. His golden eyes scanned the rocky walls around them as the pair slowly meandered through the tunnel. It was long and boring. Too boring, at least that was what Gerrard thought as he saw a cave in the face of the canyon. Water seemed to trickling out of it, a strange sign considering that the area had no water anywhere else above the rocky canyon floor. "There, that must be the lair of the big bad! Ready to lay the smack down on a criminal mastermind," he asked with a grin, deciding to treat this like something normal. This was all too crazy to Gerrard for it to be real. This was a dream or some game to be played for fun. It had to be, right?

Gerrard followed after his friend, the golden eyes of the griffon examining the building plans in silence. He nodded while moving from section to section, the hybrid not seeming to find any problems. Gerrard paused for a moment, placing a talon up to his face while he coughed loudly. Ah, yes good sir. Your design is simply marvelous. I can't think of much else to improve it. If anything, I would suggest some post construction motifs to help inspire unity and cooperation. You know, a griffon greeting an ungulate, preferably one that is a bit, down to earth if you know what I mean sir," Gerrard explained in the original voice he had used earlier. It was a bit unclear as to which was his actual voice , but his puffed out chest and extended pinky talon did seem to indicate that he was fancy. Assuming of course that ponies knew anything about hands in the first place. "That settles it! The work will start tomorrow. Any last requests my friends?" Gerrard commented in a less formal manner as he seemed to count both ponies as his friends again. There didn't seem to be any real rhyme or reason to his sudden shift, but the Griffon probably preferred being hard to understand.