Gerrard

"Alas, I have some pressing business back at the university. I will be free in a few hours if you want to wait for my return," he explained with a smile for her, the griffon standing up from the table and looking at the patrons around them. "Griffons are people too, perhaps not ponies, but I am still a person," he explained in a stern manner to those around him, scaring the onlookers off.

The black griffon listened intently to her request for further treatment, the hybrid nodding in agreement as he listened to her groan about her treatment. "Okay, just keep still and I'll patch up your knee," he added, putting some ointment on her injury before wrapping it in a bandage. With the wound wrapped awkwardly, he cut off the excess wrapping with a slash of his talon, leaving her with a treated injury. "That should be good until you get to Appleoosa," he explained warmly for her, the boisterous griffon seeming able to tone it down a bit when he needed to.

As Colton went over the items in his bag, Gerrard listened intently, the hybrid not hearing anything particularly exciting. The journal piqued his interest, but he decided against investigating further, especially when Colton apologized to him. Part of Gerrard wanted to reply in an exceptionally snarky manner to get revenge, but he decided against it. He listened closely to the apology with the most stern of faces, it appearing that the griffon wasn't willing to accept it. But when Colton offered his hoof to shake, a diabolical grin crept across his black maw.

As quickly as the friendly gesture was made, Gerrard knocked his hoof away and leaned forward, the griffon roughly wrapping his forelegs around the pegasus as he squeezed him in a tight bear hug and lifted him off the ground. "Ahh man , I can't stay mad at my favorite white horsefly. Of course I forgive you," he replied with a cheer, swinging the pegasus around a bit before carefully placing him back on the ground. "Real men hug," he added with a grin for the pegasus, wondering if he had startled Colton.

Gerrard could detect a bit of concern on the face of Telki as she investigated the belongings of his pegasus employee. "Oh yeah, the other container that he is carrying is a big ol' bag of piping. We were on our way to extend the pipes from this town over to a local coal mine. We heard you roaming about the town and Colton wanted to investigate you! I suppose we can delay our job if you need an escort back to town. It's about an hours walk south of this city," he explained, the griffon pointing off into the distance where she probably needed to head off towards.

"And the meanie called me a stupid blank flank. What do I do Miss Asty, they are so mean," a young filly wept in a clearly distraught voice, her blue eyes red from crying as she sat at the black hooves of a stoic looking unicorn mare. The earth pony child was having a bad day in her orphanage, the other children deciding to tease her, for not discovering her special talent. After running into the local park, she spotted one of her few friends, a strange unicorn who donated goods and toys regularly to the understaffed orphanage in Fillydelphia.

The black unicorn mare paused for a moment to examine the wailing of her little friend. Her naturally red eyes looked the scene over carefully and could detect that the pony was indeed crying with the most sincere tears she could probably muster. Asteria blinked her eyes as she thought the situation over, her tall cloaked form lightly shifting beneath her cloak as she thought up a rationalization to make to her younger counterpart. "Lady Sapphire, the children tease you because they are insecure about their own abilities. Some fear that you may be assigned a more diverse set of skills than them and they believe that you are currently less skilled than them. Their estimation is poorly conceived though because your innate skills are currently undefined, giving you unlimited potential until the parameters of your skills are more clearly defined," she explained in a rather objective manner, not exactly stating that the earth pony was superior or inferior to her mean peers.

This explanation served only to further confuse the young filly, causing her to weep at an even greater degree. "But what do I do about it. They never stop teasing me," she snorted in a sad tone, not sure of what to do about the other children. Asteria blinked, not one manipulate the actions of others herself. "Lady Sapphire, if you rationalize that their words lack no merit, they can cause you no harm. They would simply be lying and such actions would eventually discredit themselves. If you seek additional protection from their words, you would need to ask for the assistance of other adults," the black mare explained calmly to Sapphire, her words ringing true, but in such a manner that were not the most comforting.

"You don't understand! You're just like them, everyone says to go to an adult but they never do anything. You don't really care about my problems!" the young filly screamed into the ear of Asteria before running back to her orphanage, still crying as she did so. The black mare didn't as much as flinch at the scream, standing up as her young friend fled for home. Asteria's eyes traced the movements of Sapphire, seeing that she was safely returning to her home. "Perhaps I have been ignorant of the needs of young children, perhaps it is inconsiderate to believe that others can adapt to situations in a manner that worked specifically for me. I need the opinion of an objective third party to assist in my diagnosis of her treatment," she reasoned in her mind, Asteria lightly dusting off her cloak with magic as she left the park and entered the vibrant city.

The unicorn felt that her response was partially responsible for the outburst caused by the child and she felt that it was necessary to find assistance for the filly within the city. Of course this lead to another question in the mare's mind, who in this town was qualified to teach self defense tactics to a filly. After roaming the city streets in the twilight of the evening, the black mare came upon a flyer for a dojo that helped orphans on the edge of town. The stoic unicorn took a long trip into a mountainous area near town and spotted his dojo. Luna's moon was not out that night, Asteria unable to make out any of the fine details of the manner as she approached the entrance. She knew that martial arts taught self discipline and tactics for defending one's self, the stoic mare carefully knocking on the door of the dojo. She hoped that whomever answered would be able to assist her in the tutoring of her young friend.

"Thank you for your patience sir. I must continue on to Ponyville. I have a client waiting on my arrival and it would be rude to delay him substantially longer," she explained calmly to the black pegasus as her eyes drifted towards the path to the exit. "May our next meeting be in more amiable circumstances," she politely added, doing a subservient bow before him, the unicorn quickly returning to a normal posture and going back to her work.

The griffon was glad to see that she vaguely remembered him, the dark hybrid seemingly not going to get frozen by the wizard. As the swirl of magic and snow died down, Gerrard let out a sigh and looked his body over, the black hybrid noticing his form was painted white with snow and ice. He probably had more incentive than her to remember the homeland of his species, the hybrid stuck in a world that was more alien to him than her.

"It's hard to forget the only unicorn I knew growing up. You probably knew a lot of griffons out in the bad lands. I'm not offended," he explained with a smile spreading across his black beak, the hybrid beginning to feel a bit cold as she suggested they go inside to avoid the cold. His keen yellow eyes looked in awe as she melted the snow on their water source with what seemed like minimal effort. He covered his face with a talon a bit as she did an hours worth of maintenance work in a moment. He wondered who could have had such an oversight on the maintenance of the pipes when it could be taken care of so easily.

When she mentioned that they should head back to town, the griffon let out a sigh of relief, moving his lightly frosted feet after her as they started heading back into town. He was well traveled, the griffon climbing up the hill with ease as they entered the town. The buildings had a noticeable difference in architecture from the ones he was used to, their style and materials having a certain aura of ruggedness and determination about them. Gerrard glanced over the door with his keen eyes, marveling a bit in it's craftsmanship.

"Thanks for the hospitality Destiny. Maybe you can recognize me better after I get dried off," he explained, the snow blasted griffon walking up to the fire in her home. He paused for a moment and took off his brown bag, placing it a safe distance from the fire as he warmed himself up. The white of the snow began to melt away, revealing the hybrid's black form to her. He was a griffon of average stature that had a body that was masked completely in black, his silver head feathers and keen yellow eyes being the lone exceptions. He stood out drastically from most griffon's his dark colouration letting him move about safer at night.

When asked about his presence in town, Gerrard paused, the hybrid standing in a puddle of water as he prepared to explain himself to her. "Yeah, there were reports of water shortages in your town, and my investigation basically verified that. Whoever was assigned to maintain the heating systems and the piping of your town has clearly shirked their duties. The heating systems can keep the pipes unfrozen of course, but if they aren't maintained, they just break and everything starts going downhill," he explained to her, looking around the fancy gothic home as he spoke. "This is quite the interesting home. I wouldn't have expected gothic decor in such a cold area," he added in a surprised manner for her.

What are your thoughts on Gerrard Grayfeather. I have heard that he is a pretty cool griffon, what do you think?

Gerrard subconsciously patted his backpack after he was sure that the his fire breath was safely put away. She didn't give him the expression of sheer amazement at his ability, but Pathfinder seemed to accept it for whatever reason. Perhaps she thought this was all a game for her own amusement. The griffon couldn't know for sure, but he intended on amusing her whenever such an opportunity arose.

When she asked him a flurry of questions about his 'gift', Gerrard put a warm smile on his face. He loved to indulge his fans, even if it was nothing more than a fancy ruse. "Well, I normally fly over dangerous areas my dear pegasus. Why wrestle a gecko when I can fly over it's head. "I've cooked food with it on occasion, not celery though, I like my food a bit heartier, fish or eggs perhaps, as long as they aren't griffon eggs," he explained with a laugh for her, Gerrard following after her as they started walking over to the salt bar. "It's awesome, aside from the heartburn," he replied, jokingly elbowing her back as he made fun of his own trick. "But ya, I normally use it to burn metal pipes and reform them, they have high amounts of iron in them, yummy," he added with a laugh, rubbing his stomach as if he was trying to say he actually ate the metal pipes, something he obviously never did.

"I actually let my friend Asteria handle the orphan work. She donates a lot of money to their causes and works to help them out. I help her out whenever she asks, my life too busy helping ponies drink to pry myself away usually," he explained to her as they entered the building. Gerrard had to focus on investigating the actual pipe line, but it wouldn't hurt to have a diversion. Perhaps there was a clue here that might help them, although the griffon hoped it was just a massive leak somewhere on the pipe that just needed a patch up. Life had a tendency of never working out in the most convenient ways as a loud crunching noise filled the air of the dusty saloon.

Gerrard glanced down and saw a crunched up water bottle beneath his talon, the hybrid letting off a sigh as he swatted the trash away. "Today must be your lucky day to run into me. I am rather awesome, just ask me, I'll say so," he chuckled, looking at the tables, cards still strewn about the tables. "You know, maybe you were on a mission and the hypothermia and medication unlocked a hidden memory. Did you write down the details of it, perhaps there is a zebra waiting for you to return with the idol of the silver hare! But still, you must be pretty tough to survive a billion mile throw into a frozen lake. Perhaps the criminal has less aggressive goals with his criminal activity. If I was going to destroy something, I would do it from a place that has no guards to spot me. But I digress," he commented in an interested manner as she mentioned the zebra homeland. He wasn't exactly sure what the plan of any villain might be, but it was always fun to come up with absurd scheme explanations.

"Still, isn't something strange about this saloon? Why are cards on the tables still? Don't you think that the owner might have tried to clean up a bit before he left? It seems like everyone ran off while in the middle of something. Almost like the got scared off or rounded up like cattle," Gerrard explained in a concerned tone as he roamed around the saloon. When she spotted the cellar entrance, Gerrard looked around for a thing to make a torch out of, the griffon figuring that Pathfinder didn't have any magic goggles to see in the dark. Nobody had such a tool, right? "Okay, be careful, and lets not try to burn down the joint," the black hybrid explained with a laugh as he grabbed a stool and turned away from the pegasus. After a few seconds of 'conjuring' up his fire, the griffon managed to light one of the legs on fire as broke it off and made a make shift torch. "You can have the honor of exploring the cellar Pathy, here's a torch, cooked it up myself," he joked with a smirk, presenting her with a torch to purge the darkness with.

It was a brilliant afternoon in Canterlot, the famed city bustling as ponies enjoyed a cool autumn afternoon. The capital of Equestria was moving along its usual schedule, children getting out of school and heading home while day laborers returned to finish of their day's work. Of course life wasn't always perfectly uniform in all regards, a particular mare returning to the town after quite the venture outside the walls of the famed city.

By any measure, most ponies would be horrified to have a dragon try and eat them. Anyone would be scared to be lunch for such a large monster, well anyone normal at least. Asteria was hired to deliver a care package to a dragon and the large winged reptile thought that the unicorn was part of the delivery. After consolidating her position in the dragon's lair many times, the fire breather reluctantly agreed not to eat her, the sheer challenge of the hunt deeming the action not worthy. In doing so, she proved herself a worthy client for a potential repeat customer, her ability to remain calm in the face of danger extremely developed.

After receiving a generous payment from the dragon, hazard pay included of course, the mare left the dragon to his own devices on the far side of the Everfree Forest while she returned to Canterlot. She made a quick return to Canterlot, as fast as an athletic unicorn could run across Equestria at least. Asteria found herself back in her native city, the black pelted mare wandering through the crowded streets of the city, her tall form hidden beneath a heavy dark cloak. She soon found herself in the one of the many parks of the city, the experienced courier cutting her way across the green expanse as she made her way back to her office. Her body was somewhat sore from making such a long trip in such a short time, though nobody would ever be able to tell by looking at her. The almost melancholy looking mare wore the most stoic of expression on her face as she moved on, the talented magic user highly adept at masking her thoughts from those around her.

Gerrard grinned devilishly as Falco claimed to have stop searching through the trash. The black griffon tried to be an optimist, even if it made him seem outlandish, the hybrid rubbing his talons together in anticipation. "Luck is a very great skill to have and I cultivate it well. My keen eyes can spot the unnoticeable and pry it from the doldrums of despair," he cheered in an upbeat manner. When Falco asserted that Gerrard liked to dig through trash, the younger bird shook his head while chuckling, placing a claw on the shoulder of his friend. "While griffons may not be related to vultures, we are wise enough to know that scavenging can be very profitable," he explained in an upbeat manner, not taking any noticeable offense to his friend's playful insult.

The black hybrid loved to make completely baseless claims on the off chance he might be correct and come off as omniscient. He really didn't expect to destroy all the glasses so easily, but it would be quite the sight if he did by accident. "Oh Falco, you have so little faith. While you may be able to make great shots, you lack the schooling required to apply advanced geometry to your craft. If you hit the bottle at just the right angle, you can shatter the glass and spray the nearby bottles with shards, shattering them as well. It isn't actually that hard, just watch an expert handle it," he explained with a smile, knowing perfectly well that even in theory, such a feat was probably impossible. These were glasses, not bowling pins after all.

Gerrard picked up the bow and it's bolts, looking them over as he theorized how to load them. "A crossbow is just a bow that has the pull locked back by a mechanism, I just need to pull the string and lock it into place and all the hard work is done," he thought in his mind, the youngster trying to pull the string back with one talon while holding the crossbow in his other. The string didn't even budge, essentially feeling like a metal rod. Gerrard let out a faint sigh, knowing he had bit off more than he could ever hope to chew. "Quite the crossbow here, I was expecting you to use a lighter gauge Falco," he replied, trying to cover up his inexperience by asserting the sergeant used a child's crossbow. He then pressed the bow against his chest and tried to pull it back with both of his talons, his face visibly straining as the cord almost reached the proper latch. He released it again, gasping lightly and grumbling to himself. Gerrard may not have been an exceptionally strong griffon, but this was a pain in the claw. "I just need more leverage, that is all," he thought in his head, placing the crossbow on the ground beneath his paws as he pulled the string directly up with all of his might. He finally latched it into place, readying the fire mechanism. The whole scene was quite the spectacle, but it was probably to be expected from Gerrard.

"See, not that hard Falco! Just stand back, this will be quite the spectacle," he cheered to his friend, trying to hide his heavy breathing as he pulled a bolt out and placed it into the channel. The tired youngster haphazardly removed his talon from the bolt, Gerrard not noticing that he had sliced the bolt with his claw. He gave it one last verification before holding the crossbow with both of his talons, the dark hybrid having the most awful hunch imaginable in his form as he tried look down the sights. He looked through the scope, feeling as if he was reading a foreign language, numbers and lines fulling the glass tube as he tried to aim with his shaky claws. The griffon clearly had no formal training, his body drifting lightly as he failed to brace himself in any meaningful manner.

He had no idea what the scope was telling him, and simply decided to put the most central mark on the scope atop his target at the edge of the table. He tried to hold the crossbow as steady as he could manage, the irrigation worker pulling the trigger in the least fluid manner imagineable. "Twang!" the crossbow squealed as the force of the bow threw his unprepared body to the dirt. It fired awkwardly, the mechanism attempting to launch the bolt, which promptly discharged, most of it anyway. The griffon didn't bother to adapt at all for the light breeze, not to mention the poor flying of the bolt he damaged. And as quickly as he had fired, the event was over with a loud crunch, none of the glasses looking remotely injured at first glance. Gerrard completely missed all of them, instead the hybrid shooting clear through the leg of the rickety table as he snapped one clear off. With it's foundation destroyed, the table lurched over and crashed into the ground, taking all the glasses with it as they shattered into a heap of broken glass.

Gerrard's eyes widened, the Canterlot native messing up his shot in the most awful of manners. "And, there ya go. One shot, and I broke all of glasses. Didn't even need a second shot," he tried to claim victory after making the worst shot ever attempted. He had succeeded in fulfilling his claim by failing at a new level. Gerrard wasn't proud of himself, but he didn't want to admit defeat.

The griffon smirked, seeing her blushing for him already. "What an interesting theory. I suppose that means two griffons can't celebrate this holiday. But then again, you aren't a griffon, are you?" he slyly remarked, leaning in, the hybrid lightly bopping her snout with his smooth black beak. His yellow eyes looked across to her and he smiled, gently nuzzling the unicorn for all the other patrons to see. "We will have to see I suppose," he remarked, pulling back to a normal position at the table.

The mare cocked her head to the side as he shrugged, her eyes watching his movements closely. "Sometimes we can not change things despite our best efforts. You can never really know if your efforts will always be futile though. I would suggest taking countermeasures perhaps. I wear a cloak to make myself less noticeable," she suggested calmly to him.

When asked about her demeanor, the unicorn blinked, glancing back to him. "Voice inflection is not necessary for communication. I prefer to avoid extraneous things. Is that an acceptable explanation," she explained calmly, not exactly answering his question as they stood in the middle of the dangerous forest.

Gerrard's experiences were never truly made in jealousy of pegasus, the griffon much more pleased with the abilities of his own species regardless. He would much rather have dextrous talons and a sharp beak than be able to control weather. That didn't mean that he approved of pegasus manipulating the weather to bring harm or discomfort on others. Of course a part of him didn't like that weather control sometimes marginalized his work, ponies having a great ability to regulate the amount of waters their cities received.

The black griffon carefully descended into the junkyard beside his older friend, the irrigation specialist listening in anticipation of a glorious story. Gerrard nodded, hearing tales of great treasure recovery, his expression changing into a frown slightly as Falco claimed to have made quite a bit of money finding hidden treasure. After thinking it over a bit, Gerrard grinned and chuckled a bit, deciding to be more upbeat. "So you took all the good stuff for yourself? I just gotta find things that you don't know the value of. Just tell me what you don't know," he playfully teased, lightly jabbing Falco with a balled talon before he gave a lesson on crossbows.

"Bolt channel, drink?" Gerrard thought in silence, the griffon knowing enough to guess what the channel was, his actual experience with what hindered the weapon non-existent though as he walked around a few pieces of s**** that jutted from the dirt beneath them. "Yeah, don't want to get the channel sticky and mess up the release mechanism?" he commented in a halfhearted manner, not really having any idea what he was talking about. Regardless, it seemed to make enough sense in his head that he just rolled with it, the black hybrid willing to amend his statement if Falco disagrees with him.

Gerrard raised his brow at the mention of repeating crossbows, the hybrid having no idea at all that the Aquellian military actually used them. Then again though, he wasn't exactly versed in what that crossbow was other, just hearing the explanation and rolling with it. He really felt like a pony talking to a griffon at times, not that he would ever admit something like that, his pride as griffon never allowing it. "Well, I guess you don't really need to be accurate when you have five griffons launch fifty bolts at a target," he mused, stroking his beak as he thought over the advantages of a custom crossbow. "I guess going with accuracy over quantity makes for a better representation of skill. Not to mention that you don't need to carry around nearly as many bolts. If I remember right, bolts are considerably more bulky than arrows too," he reasoned aloud about small bits of minutia. The weight would be noticeable of course, but proud griffons would never complain about it, or at least he thought in his head anyway.

As they finally marched into the shooting range, Gerrard looked the area over with his keen eyes. He could see a table and the targets, glass bottles in this case. Falco went on about his deft talons, both griffons agreeing that they were quite useful tools. "These are why I am out here after all. Only unicorns can safely use my tools, and they can't fly. "I'm the only one in Canterlot who can travel across Equestria in a day and work on location. They know that, and here I am," he explained proudly, the dark hybrid revelling in his sharp black talons, very pleased with himself.

His trance was broken though when Falco asked if wanted to shooting a bottle off the table. He blinked a bit in disbelief, the younger hybrid amazed that he would trust him with his sacred crossbow. "Oh, yeah. I could shoot it once or twice. Probably could clear the table of bottles in one or two shots. Just think of it like bowling," Gerrard explained with a chuckle, trying not to sound too excited about it in front of his friend. He literally had no idea what to do, but with such an exceptional crossbow, he figured it would do all the work for him regardless.

He let out a sigh, finding it hard to believe that the locals were so disinterested in keeping their water running. Maybe there was a misunderstanding or something, freezing pipes being a rather serious problem. "Time to go back to town and give the mayor a stern talking to. I don't ever want to get assigned to come into another blizzard," he grumbled to himself, the griffon just glad to have a thick coat of fur and feathers. Before he could head back into town though, the shout of a feminine sounding guard caught his attention. He let out an audible sigh, the griffon probably figuring that any guard out in this weather was probably as angry as him.

As the snow around him swirled about furiously, the griffon figured he was in for a long arduous evening. He roughly s****ed the frozen ice off his beak and dusted the snow off his dark form as he prepared to defend himself against the dangerous accusations that were shot his way. "I'm fixing your city's frozen pipe system. You guys need to make sure that the heaters work and that the whole system isn't under a giant pile of snow. Freeze proof pipes can only work to such a degree, after all," he explained, hoping the unicorn that was pressing him was ready to listen and hear him out. Gerrard tried to make out who it was, but it was hard to see anything with his black tinted goggles, especially in the poor weather. He lowered the goggles and revealed his keen yellow eyes to the mare, the griffon looking her over again as she got close to him. That stern look, the distinct byzantium coat with a unique amethyst mane, he recognized her, the griffon raising his brow in disbelief. "Hey, you're... Destiny, from the badlands, right? It's me, Gerrard! I could never forget a face. How's life been for the best spell caster I've ever met?" he cheered playfully for her, the griffon having a wide smile on his black beak.

The pair hadn't seen each other since he was sent off to Equestria of all places. The pair spent many desert days together and to meet her in the middle of a blizzard, what were the chances? Gerrard never thought he would see her again, especially in the country of her species. He never really did get to ask her many questions back in their younger years, the duo getting into too much trouble to ask anything meaningful in their younger days. Then again, kids were kids and they were really only interested in playing and having fun. Gerrard really hoped that she remembered him, the griffon not wanting to be an ice sculpture to be put on display in front of town hall.

Gerrard glanced down on the desolate landscape beneath them, the griffon thinking over his youth spent playing in the badlands north of the griffon capital of Talonoplis. He was always told that it was dangerous, but he was a griffon, and it was his job to show all the scary monsters who was in charge. Normally it meant getting beat up by some wild animals, but those animals never messed with him again (probably because they couldn't find him again)! Those were stories for other days, but perhaps he could dig one out some day and... 'touch it up' for some of his fans. "I suppose so this would be a good place to make such a yard. You could always pester some pegasi to give you some water, they do like to manipulate weather for their own needs, why not yours?" the hybrid commenting about the situation, his voice showing some faint disdain for pegasi and their control of the weather.

He spotted the airship graveyard beneath him, the wreckages intriguing him somewhat. "So, are there things down there aside from the ships?" the irrigation worker asking in a curious manner, interested if there were any treasures hidden in the sand. There weren't many opportunities in Equestria to really scavenge for loot, one of his favorite pass times back in Aquellia. "I remember how excited I was when I found a crossbow out in the badlands when I was just a young kid. When I brought it home, I got punished for pointing the loaded weapon at one of my brothers. Who would have thought it had ammunition in it? Wait, don't answer that, it was rhetorical," he explained with a laugh, the griffon poking fun at himself, hinting that he probably didn't think things through much as a child.

The black griffon put a talon up to his beak as he mused over the incident. "I never did fire it, or any crossbow for that matter. I think it was a standard issue crossbow, a bit different from your own. Yours isn't the standard issue is it? It looks to be a bit higher quality than the spartan ones issued to all the standard recruits, right? Perhaps it has something to do with the crossbow, or you having talons," he jokingly asserted, Gerrard having no idea what made shooting so hard. "You gotta admit you have a bit of an edge of the ponies on this side of the border, right?" he added playfully, as he wondered where Falco wanted to go practice shooting.

Gerrard normally didn't like pegasi, the griffon finding their arrogance and ceaseless desire to race him absolutely annoying. They seemed to manipulate weather on a whim, the flying ponies attempting to control nature completely, a few rogues even trying to assault others with lightning. They did know that clouds managed to get by in other places around the world right? Regardless, Gerrard was a braggart by nature, and as long as it didn't involve clouds or flying, he was always for it. Her claim seemed far-fetched but plausible. Did she do that, or was it Daring Do? He wasn't a buff on the series, but he had glanced through it many times and couldn't remember if it was one of the tales.

Still, she wasn't a flying fanatic, her Daring Do diguise at least stating that a bit, his keen eyes able to barely detect a purple base beneath her black dyed mane. Not many ponies at all had such a mane and it was a welcome departure from all the pastel painted ponies he normally had to deal with. If she wasn't the nine thousandth pony to spout on about The Wonderbolts, she was A-okay in his book. "Ahh, the helmet of Commander Hurricane, the hero honored during Hearth's Warming Eve. The pegasus leader who helped in the defeat of the dreaded windigos. I know him well, required reading for the History of Equestria course," he explained, the griffon seeming rather versed in Pony Culture. He seemed knowledgeable enough to be assigned on a secret mission, but what made him so special? Gerrard knew what would seal the deal or completely destroy his credibility. That would be his finale after he explained everything.

Gerrard did a second survey of the area around them as if he prepared to tell her the most top secret information of all. "Lady Pathfinder, my department in Canterlot has detected that some evil entity has been siphoning water from this very ghost town. While you may not know, Equestria leaves water on in some remote places, even abandoned ones in the event of an emergency or immediate need for service extension.They figure that nobody is gonna steal the water in an abandoned town, and of course this is usually the case. That was until last month," Gerrard explained to her in a dramatic voice as he extended a large black wing like a cloak as he hid his maw from her. He had spoken the truth, but perhaps made the situation seem a bit more dramatic than necessary.

His yellow eyes narrowed in a dramatic fashion, the hybrid looking excessively menacing as he prepared to explain the final part of his mission. "Someone, or SOMETHING, has been taking the water from this town, and we can only assume it is for the most nefarious of deeds. As of today, they have already siphoned thousands of gallons of water. With that much water, they could cause a catastrophe of mythic proportions. They could cause a severe water shortage for Appleoosa and use that water to bury a city under a deluge of stolen liquid! That is why the princesses have assigned me, Gerrard 'fire breath' Grayfeather, to this remote ghost town. Only I have the abilities to eliminate any water attacks by evaporating it with the hottest of fires. Dragons envy my very breath, and for good reason. My fire is so hot that it has scorched my beak black. It is so hot that it has transcended the normal fire colour of red and evolved into blue with a temperature that rivals that of the sun!" he explained in the most dramatic of manners imaginable. His claims seemed impossible at first, there being no recordings of griffons with such a powerful ability, but would he just make a lie and not back it up?

The best kind of allies were the ones who believed in you wholeheartedly, and this would be his coup de grace. This would prove that he was someone of great power that needed to be trusted. His large chest inhaled a deep breath of air loudly as he prepared to let out a deep breath. He quickly turned his head to the side, giving her a good view of his cheek as a focused jet of blue flames seemed to shoot out of his maw. The fire hissed with an intensity that almost screamed power. It's shape was unusually uniform, possibly hinting to the degree of which he had developed the skill. Of course he could have been faking it, but they wouldn't send a faker out to save the world would they?

And as soon as the fire had started, it was gone, almost on a whim. However it happened, it was quite the spectacle to the untrained eye. After a bit of light shuffling beneath his wing, Gerrard slowly returned his black 'cloak' to it's normal position, the griffon standing before her as he was before, the only thing between the pair being the large backpack that was strapped around his neck. "You ready to check the town for clues? We can start at the salt bar," he remarked, pointing to the rickety building that housed a pair of damaged swinging doors. It looked dangerous, but that only made things more interesting, right?

Her expression remained absolutely stoic, even with his sharp teeth showing to her.

"It is safer to avoid conflict than it is to initiate. In regards to if I am being tailed, I am not aware of any. I am not arrogant enough to think I am omniscient though, and it is always a possibility that one has eluded my detection," she modestly explained to him in her usual monotone voice. Something about this mare was in the very least, odd. Something was also amiss with the black pegasus, but she was too polite to bring it up to him.

Gerrard listened carefully to Falco as he introduced himself, the former sergeant seeming to be a bit more interesting than he let on. He mused for a moment, stroking his long black beak as he tried to put a face on the name, Kestrelson. It didn't sound like a very common griffon name, not that Gerrard actually knew many griffons. "I really know more about ponies than griffons, I could name all the Mayors in Equestria and I can't name a single one in Aquellia," he sighed, in an almost embarrassed manner as he tried to keep his keen eyes focused on Falco.

When the lighter hybrid stated that he was going to go shooting, Gerrard couldn't help but raise his brow. He took off after the pawn shop owner, glad that he wasn't flying too fast. "Wait, what sort of junkyard is it? They normally avoid making them in the heartland, some stuff about it being bad for the environment, tree-hugger stuff," he Gerrard remarked, showing a bit of Griffon pride as he flapped his wings alongside Falco. "Better to make a spot where people can scavenge for old junk than just bury it out of sight. You know what I mean?" he added, looking over to his older associate for his opinion on the matter.

"I wouldn't mind watching an expert take a few shots with a crossbow between junk piles. Assuming that is okay with you?" he added, his long black tail wagging lightly. His mother was in the military when he grew up, but was rarely around home. Gerrard never bothered to press her for information like his siblings, the black hybrid having other interests. In fact, he didn't know much about any modern weapons, Gerrard only seeing pictures and reading about them in the odd book he came across. He was probably too proud to admit it though, the griffon hating to be shown up in anything, even things he had no idea how to do.

She blinked a bit, thinking over his response. He hadn't given her any reason to doubt his intentions. If what he had said was true, which his appearance would seem to validate, it was unlikely that he had many connections outside the forest to ought her regardless.

"Okay, I will accept your terms, please keep my words confidential. I am a courier who delivers items that require or desire secrecy. If a thief is tailing me, entering a place that is perceived as dangerous can be a strategy to elude them," she explained in what seemed like a genuine manner.

The griffon finished off his ice cream and noticed the mare looking around the shop at all the ponies. He shrugged, not sure what the bug deal was as he waited for her to finish. When she mentioned it was that holiday though, he gulped nervously. "Oh, Hearts and Hooves Day? How could I forget," he remarked in a confused manner. "Alas, I have no hooves, it must not be meant to be for us," he playfully teased, lightly grabbing her hooves with his talons as they sat across from each other.

Falco was onto him, his expression of disbelief could see through his hyperbole and Gerrard knew it as well. He hoped his new acquaintance would let him slide by with his assertions because he clearly couldn't keep passing them off as truth. He didn't call him out, the younger griffon seeming to dodge a bullet as he told himself to stop laying it on thick with strangers. Of course, if anyone could hear Gerrard promise himself that, they could measure how long he could last in minutes.

When Falco expressed that he didn't care why the city was called Beakbreak, Gerrard knew his ruse was over, the black griffon forced to raise his brow in alarm. When the ex-sergeant dropped the P-bomb on Gerrard though, he couldn't help but visibly cringe. One chink in his armor was clearly visible, the over compensating griffon chuckling weakly as his proud eyes weakly glanced down at the ground. "Uhh, I'm not a plumber," he remarked simply, the griffon trying his best to look him in the eyes as he spoke. Plumbers go into the homes of ponies and fix their pipe systems. I go across Equestria and fix their pipe system-" he remarked accidentally describing himself as a one before correcting himself. "I also help design and lay them out, plumbers don't do that at all. I even have a certificate to prove it!" the griffon explained long windedly, trying to make himself sound extra important. He quickly fished out his certificate from the university to prove his assertion, the black hybrid showing it to Falco.

While the document was clearly legitimate, it was also true that it was worn and tattered, clearly damaged from being presented to many people. Gerrard was not as infallible as he let on, the griffon on his heels after one comment regardless of what his weak smile declared. He folded his arms as he sat on his haunches, his long tail not wagging at all as he searched for the words to salvage the situation. It suddenly struck him, he had an easy way to change the subject. "So uh, Mr... I don't think that we have introduced us to each other yet. I am Gerrard Grayfeather... uh as my diploma stated. And you are named what fair crossbow griffon?" he asked his voice sounding as if he we unsure of what to call Falco. He just needed a good time to lay it on thick with Falco.

"Oh and yes I figured out what was wrong with your water, yup, took me about... three minutes," Gerrard replied vaguely to Falco, not stating what exactly was wrong to begin with. Gerrard nodded to himself a bit as he spoke to Falco. "Yeah, three minutes was a good pick for time, very modest!" he thought to himself in his head, the hybrid slowly starting to forget his previous promise to himself.

"It would be unsafe for both of us if I told you what I did for a living. I could only tell you if you agreed to not divulge my personal information to anyone," she explained ominously. to him, her words seeming to hint that it was something he might not want to know.

The mare glanced down at one of her hooves, spotting a large spider climbing up the side of her cloak. Even then, she maintained her composure, the unicorn carefully picking it up in her magic and placing it on a nearby tree. "This location is relatively safe as long as one does not dawdle in one place needlessly as we are now," she explained calmly to him. She seemed almost robotic at a glance, this mare was definitely strange as the very least.

Her soft black ears perked up as he spoke up about his occupation. "Normally, security guards only have the same authority as private citizens, the exception being that they have full reign and permission to be in the area they are hired to protect. Being a certified peace officer as well is quite rare, your clients must appreciate having such a person on their pay roll. Not being a royal guard allows more freedom and personal direction in your life as well. You appear to have a unique collection of credentials and availability," she replied mechanically, the unicorn dissecting his comment thoroughly. Asteria seemed well versed in the limitations abilities of security personnel, perhaps she was very familiar with such people for reasons unknown.

"I am a native of Canterlot, although my talents are not uniquely suited for living in that town on a permanent basis. I was returning from business when I was accosted for play with the young ponies," she explained vaguely for him, the odd mare never seeming to give him exactly the information he needed. Her polite mannerism and vaguely fancy tone seemed to hint that Asteria was indeed from Canterlot, although she didn't exactly look like a normal member of the city by any means.

When he referenced her cloak, the unicorn paused and glanced over it again, her keen eyes verifying it's integrity. She paused again, the unicorn seeming to piece together a suitable response to his question. "There are many reasons I wear a cloak. While it is indeed heavy, growing used to it's weight will allow me to function at a higher level. I wear a multipurpose cloak to be ready for poor weather events that I have not forseen, and while it may make me look suspicious, the alternative may be much worse. Criminals are less likely to mess with dangerous looking characters, and while it may make me a target of policemen, I have nothing to hide and do not fear being arrested," she explained calmly to him. Her expression was just as serious as when he first spoke, and while she did answer his questions, it seemed as if she avoided describing what exactly she did.

Asteria looked over his face, her expression unchanging even as she saw his eye. She seemed very collected and calm for reasons unknown. It begged the question of how it got there, but the mare was far too polite to ask such a personal question.

She paused as he inquired into why she was here, the unicorn sensing that he was pleased to see her arrival. "I enter the forest to free my trail from anyone who may be following me. I feel that this forest is safer than being blindly followed after," she remarked calmly for him, not exactly explaining herself too well. It still begged the question though, what was she doing that was more dangerous than the forest?

"You must be great at hiding, I would remember such a striking young mare," he playfully replied, the griffon carefully enjoying his mango ice cream as he sat at the table. The hybrid carefully shuffled his food between his two dark talons, as he looked her over patiently. She did seem like the type who didn't get out enough, hopefully this might help her open up to others better. "You like your ice cream, best in town I think," he remarked in a happy tone, clearly liking his.

The ears of the black mare perked up as she heard the faint clicking noise of a camera. She had been caught, and by a photographer at that. Had he taken pictures of her client as well? She wasn't entirely sure, but lives could be in danger if she didn't stop that photographer. If everyone knew that her friend Gerrard had received such a valuable tool, he would become a massive target for greedy thieves. If her own identity was posted in a newspaper, she could be outed as a secret courier and that would make her job even harder to manage.

"Sir photographer, you I am going to request that not publish any of the pictures you may have taken of my or my colleague. Doing so could cause danger to many ponies and non-ponies alike," she replied calmly, her voice showing no sign of fear or worry as she cantered along towards the tiny photographer. The unicorn didn't sound guilty, but she definitely looked suspicious, her fierce crimson eyes locked on the thin white pegasus. With a good look at her face, the young colt would be able to see her black pelt and scarlet mane, the two rare traits making her easy to identify. Her expression was rather neutral though, the unicorn seeming unassuming as she approached him.

She hoped he would hear her our, the intimidating mare not wanting to chase after a young pony. If he did decide to run off though, Featherweight would learn what was hiding beneath her cloak. Asteria ran between Aquellia and Equestria on a weekly basis and could easily be argued to be one of the most athletic unicorns around, easily able to keep pace with any earth pony and young flier. They were rather close to Ponyville and she could only hope that the whole situation resolved itself very fast. Mugging a young pony would probably look even worse than dealing with shady characters in secret, she didn't want it to come to anything like that.