Friends in the Frozen North!

[Gerrard]

The wind howled defiantly in the northern reaches of Equestria as the city of Stalliongrad did it's best to endure another harsh winter. Snow poured down from the sky as it contemplated the formation of a blizzard. Most of the reasonable ponies in town had already sought out shelter, a few stragglers and unlucky guards the only ones braving the freezing cold.

A lone visitor hovered above the frigid town, a large griffon with an enormous black wingspan that was painted white with ice. He flapped his wings roughly and descend to the ground, the hybrid unable to keep flying with iced wings. The griffon glanced back with his yellow eyes and roughly brushed the ice off his wings. "Gah, if it wasn't the fire, it was the ice. Those Canterlot ponies stick me with the worst assignments imaginable. If this job turns out to be a waste of time again, I'm gonna flip some unicorns over," he complained, the griffon rubbing his black talons together as he tried to stop them from freezing.

He wandered along the outskirts of town as he remembered back to his briefing about the irrigation system of this town. "Freeze proof pipes accented with a heating system and elevated above the ground to prevent the system from getting buried in snow," he remarked aloud, the griffon wondering how many violations this system had. Gerrard pawed his way over to the irrigation system, his feet doing well enough to ignore the cold snow as he came upon the system he was hired to fix.

A mess of steel pipes littered the landscape as they stretched out over the distance, fanning out towards all the homes in the frigid city. He strapped on his black tinted welding goggles, the griffon deciding they would best protect his eyes from the frozen weather while he worked on the pipes. He traced the pipes back to their source and saw the main line buried beneath the snow, Gerrard groaning because he realized it would be an absolute pain to fix this system on his own. "Okay, damaged heater, and no snow removal, they only failed two of the three antifreeze precautions," he explained to nobody in particular as he looked over the situation. "Let's see how deep the pipe is under the snow," the griffon remarked, pulling a long crescent wrench out and stabbing it into the snow. When he didn't reach the pipe, Gerrard glanced back to town, knowing that this assignment was much worse than he could have imagined.

[Solaria]

A cloaked and cowled figure fought its way slowly through the snow, an orb of fiery red energy floating steadily through the turbulent air before it. The ambient glow from the spell cast a fair amount of light into the unicorn's hood, for that's what it obviously was all things considered. Destiny was returning home after a long day spent in the library, researching the existence of a possible Discordian relic in Equestria's Heartland. Most of the documentation on the subject was grey and vague at best, and it seemed like nothing more than an old mare's tale. Though, after all, wasn't that how most ancient magicks avoided detection in the first place? She'd return tomorrow and look further into the subject, but for the time being a warm hearth and soothing cocoa were foremost in her mind.

The snow was especially blustery, and the mare's conjured heating spell didn't do much aside from keeping her warm and providing a small bit of extra visibility. When she started to pass the water main like she always did on this particular path home, she stopped to admire the city from her vantage point. Stalliongrad: austere in an unforgiving landscape, but prosperous nonetheless. The ponies here were hardy and warm in spite of their harsh home. It was always rather impressive. The architecture was pleasant to look at as well.

As she started to move on however, she noticed a large black shape moving along the snow below her raised pathway. Watching in curiosity, the unicorn looked on as the figure seemed to inspect the piping about it before pulling a large, heavy wrench from its pack. Without hesitation it plunged it into the snow, right where the water main should be. A vandal! If that pipe was punctured it would not only deprive many ponies of water, it would also spill out and cause a large freeze that would effect the other flows around it!

"Hey!" she snapped out in her best military tone, her horn glowing brightly as the snow around the intruder swirled and lifted into a tight, shimmering vortex. "Just what do you think you're doing?" she asked, the icy veil parting to allow her entrance into her magical cage.

Her eyes roved the other creature now that she could see it up close, and it appeared to be a well-built male griffon behind protective goggles. There was something vaguely familiar about him, but Destiny couldn't quite place it. It wasn't that all griffons looked alike either, because she had quite an eye for detail. Either way, she waited sternly for her answer, a disproving look on her face as her spell orbited lazily about her head, occasionally casting a fiery glow across her shadowed features.

[Gerrard]

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.

[Solaria]

Destiny was prepared to defend herself should the griffon come at her, but he only moved to brush himself clean and lower his goggles. As he revealed more of his face, the mare was struck even more with the familiarity about him. It wasn't until he mentioned her name with such certainty that she relaxed even a bit. Was that why he struck such a chord in her memory? Destiny prided herself on her sharp mind, but she was drawing a blank.

To be fair, she couldn't remember much, if anything, about the Badlands, but Gerrard obviously did. They'd even been friends if she was reading him right. She could at least give him the benefit of the doubt. Her localized snowstorm lost cohesion and momentum, falling lifelessly to the frozen ground.

"That's quite a memory you have," she said amiably, allowing herself a small smile. "It's been a long time. I'll gladly tell you about how everything has been, but let's get out of the cold first. You don't look like you're enjoying it."

Before leaving, the unicorn turned toward the mess of half-buried pipes and directed her heating spell over the jumble before feeding it a great deal more power. The orb blossomed, expanding exponentially and turning nearly all the snow nearby to harmless steam, which revealed the metalwork underneath.

"Don't worry," she added, recalling her magic as it shrank once more. "I didn't produce enough heat to effect the pipes and crack them. That should just buy us enough time to talk and let you warm up a little."

With that the shrouded pony turned and led the way up the hill, twisting and turning through some of the more recent houses until she came to a secluded residence near the white-capped woods. The dark stone of the home stood starkly against its bleak background, but the torches crackling in their braziers helped to soften the image... a little.

After opening the heavyset oak door and allowing Gerrard inside, Destiny hung her immaculate cloak on the rack. Her minor repulsion enchantment had done the trick, there wasn't a speck of powder on the garment. She then showed the way to her study, a cozy room with a roaring hearth that blazed into life at the spark of her horn. High-backed leather chairs stood facing the fire, with an intricate rug covering most of the stained wood flooring. Scrolls and books where everywhere, but it was much more comfortable than the blizzard roaring outside the frozen window. All in all, the house looked more like a gothic castle than a place to live, but it was home.

"So, you were hired to come and check our piping?" the mare led, absentmindedly levitating tea cups and saucers through the air behind her. "Was it really that bad?"

[Gerrard]

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.

[Solaria]

Destiny watched closely as the griffon dried off, the barest of recognitions dawning in her mind. It had been a long time, but she did remember Gerrard. It was no wonder that it was so difficult however. She'd only been in the Badlands a comparatively short time out of her entire life. It was fairly wonderful to see such an old friend though.

"Well, now that you're dripping and cold in my house you do look a bit more familiar," the mare teased gently, running a cloth over the floor before sending it flying out of the room to the laundry. "Here, have some warm tea. It should help."

The china behind her had finished swirling about and was now hovering as two steaming mugs of tea, one of which sat itself in the air directly before Gerrard.

"It's possible of course," she continued in thread with her companion's statement about the piping. "Our network has been so resilient for years that our maintenance crew could easily have become lax in their inspections. Although if they weren't," she gave a coy smile, "wouldn't you be out of a job? That's how Equestria works!"

Destiny sipped slowly at her own hibiscus tea, savoring the sweet flavor. She had been planning on taking a steaming bath to remove the chill from her body after walking home, but sitting in front of the fire with a ghost of the past was almost as warm and twice as interesting.

"Surprised?" she echoed. "It's almost normalcy in this district. The further from the warehouses and factories you go, the more personalized the architecture becomes. Besides, I've always liked this style. How did you learn so much about heating systems anyway, coming from a desert?"

[Gerrard]

Gerrard chuckled lightly as she mentioned he looked familiar while being a bit cold. "Hey, I don't remember a lot about the badlands, but I don't remember it being very cold," he retorted with a chuckle as she cleaned up the mess he made on her floor. "Sorry about the floor, I don't usually encounter snow," he added in an apologetic manner to her, rubbing his smooth beak with a talon as he stood beside the warm fire.

He always marveled in the use of magic, granted he was a griffon who had talons that worked very well at manipulating objects. His keen eyes watched as her magic deftly carried the china to him, a trail of hot steam exiting the liquid as the container floated in front of him. "Oh, tea, it isn't often that I am presented with such a lovely gesture. I can't remember the last time anyone poured me a cup of tea, thank you," he added with a smile, his long black tail wagging lightly as he carefully picked up the china with his keen talons, the griffon holding his cup in a claw as he carefully took a sip of the incredibly hot liquid. He shivered from the immediate warmth, enjoying himself as he slowly regained his normal body temperature.

He listened as she theorized how the network could have fallen into disrepair, the griffon nodding in agreement as she spoke. Her reasoning seemed sound to him, complacency being a big problem for ponies in Equestria. But to be fair of course, he understood why, the nation nearly a utopia aside from a few bullies and world domineering monsters. When she asserted that he would be out of a job if it wasn't for lackadaisical ponies though, Gerrard couldn't help but raise his brow in obvious disagreement. "Now now Destiny, if I was some sort of outside plumber who fixed the mistakes of others, that might be true. But I went to The Royal University of Canterlot and earned a degree in irrigation architecture and engineering. I'm not some plumber, I design and layout the very pipes that supply the water for this country," he explained with an angry huff, the griffon sensitive about having his abilities diminished, even if it was only a playful joke.

Gerrard stood before her in the most awkward of manners now, the griffon knowing he might have let his temper get the best of him, if only for a moment. He took a quick sip of his drink, forgetting to cool it as the liquid rushed over his tongue, the hybrid coughing up some of the tea into the fire as he burned his tongue. "Ahhh so hot," he whimpered in a defeated voice as he looked away in an embarrassed manner. When she mentioned her architecture again, he looked it over, agreeing that it was very personalized. "Yeah, I didn't take you for much of the rugged castle type. Interesting style though, and I must admit I love being able to shed a white coat of snow with a warm fire. It would be a shame to hide my smooth black frame from the public," he explained with a joking laugh, flexing his forelegs a bit before deciding to explain his experience. "Well, as I said, I helped design the heater used here. I have a degree in design after all. I had to learn about all the various climates and the different practices required to supply them with water. We expected ponies to check up on it for monthly maintenance, materials of course not having infinite durability after all. Perhaps you can see to it that the mayor doesn't forget his managerial town duties," he explained, crossing his arms as he sat on his haunches again, the griffon patiently tapping a sharp black claw on his own arm as he waited for her response.

[Solaria]

Destiny watched somewhat impassively as Gerrard took a quick gulp of his tea, which promptly ended up in the flickering flames. Embarrassment, followed by a cover action. Her mind would often flick through things she'd read or learned when situations relevant to them occurred in day-to-day life. She hardly acted on such trivial things however, and didn't mention her observation. They simply had differing views of the same subject, after all.

"You can't mean to tell me that you're constantly in demand to create entire water supply systems. I could understand upgrading the efficiency of possibly outdated standing methods, but at some point you can't fix what just isn't broken. And it's not every other day that a new settlement appears either," she added, lifting her cup of tea with her aura and taking a delicate sip.

"I'm afraid my word wouldn't do much to sway the mayor from his usual habits, either," the unicorn explained. "I'm considered a bit of a recluse out here, since I don't venture much into Stalliongrad proper. I'm just the REA mage that everypony knows lives here, but hardly sees even when off-duty. I could make mention the next time I'm out his way though."

The mare wasn't entirely sure how she felt about suddenly happening upon Gerrard again after all this time. After all, they'd both changed quite a bit hadn't they? He was a proud engineer who traveled all over, and she was a student and servant of her country. His familiar demeanor with her seemed to transcend all of that in his mind, to which Destiny continued to acquiesce for the time being. After all, friendship had saved their home time and again at the hooves of the Element Bearers. Surely they'd find some common ground soon enough as they spoke with each other.

[Gerrard]

The griffon was the type who loved to chat about himself, but he felt that everyone needed and wanted to know how awesome he was. As true or untrue as it truly was another issue altogether for him, the griffon flexing his black talons for her as he decided to make a point. "When I first came to Canterlot, ponies there loved to scoff at me. You are probably aware of how the uppity noble ponies looked down on 'lower class' citizens, now just imagine how they treated someone who wasn't even a pony at all. They came up with insults I could never have even imagined, and they seemed to wholeheartedly mean every one of them," the griffon explained to her, his expression a smile as he seemed to reminisce over his past a bit. It almost seemed as if he liked being insulted by the ponies for one reason or another.

"People like to harass and antagonize others simply because they are different. I know from experience that it can be hard going from an area where you seem 'normal' and going to an area where you don't fit in at all. I also know that although some people can be mean, there are always ways to get them in line," he explained with a chuckle, flashing his sharp talons in a playful manner. "Apparently it wasn't fun to harass a griffon as soon as I showed them how sharp my claws were. Now I never clawed one, but still, bullies can be such a pain in flank," he added with a delighted sigh as he looked over to her.

He paused for a moment, the griffon managing, even if only for a brief moment, to realize that he wasn't alone in the world. He glanced over to Destiny, making sure he was properly seated before deciding to ask her a question. "I know you didn't live in the badlands for terribly long, but I imagine it was a bit strange for a unicorn to be living so close to the griffon capital. Did the griffons mess with you a lot when you were there, only messed with you a little bit myself," he asked, playfully winking as he made a nudging motion with his forelegs. This brought up another question to him, the black hybrid needing to ask it to sate his own curiosity. "Did other ponies have any issues with you living in the badlands? I know I got heckled by some griffons for making a living by 'watering' ponies," he explained with a bit of an annoyed frown, making quotation symbols in the air with his dextrous claws.

Gerrard paused and pulled out a gleaming crescent wrench from the the backpack that was fastened around his neck. The tool was clearly of an extremely high level of craftsmanship and material, the object a keen eyed person could probably identify. He deftly spun the object in his talons and looked back at Destiny, deciding to make a final rebuttal to her playful assertion that he thrived on breaking systems. "Unicorns are the only types of ponies who can safely use all of my tools, and yet I am the only qualified person who can also fly. I'm practically the only person in Equestria who could possibly do my job in a timely manner. And even if pipes never broke, like all things in the world, you gotta keep paying for maintenance, even when a toll road is completely paid off. But enough about me, what brings you out here? Are you assigned here, or does REA let you pick your location," the griffon smirking a bit as he spoke, knowing such fancy roads would always charge a fee for something.

[Solaria]

Destiny sat back a bit, brushing a stray tendril of mane from her face as she settled to listen to Gerrard reminisce a bit. She'd expected this, after all. That's what old friends did. Comment on the present, then venture into the past. It was almost cyclical. Good to know the griffon wasn't atypical after these years. She hadn't actually known that he had been heckled as a fledgling in Canterlot, but it made sense. That's almost all she heard about creatures with childhood time spent in the capitol, though she'd personally seen very little of it. Maybe she just didn't care enough for it to notice it.

"I never really had any issues," the unicorn said flatly, draining the rest of her tea and setting it aside. "In my experience griffons are a bit more 'might makes right,' and I've never been lacking in their general concept of power. After all, what is technology when it can be torn asunder by a simple focused thought? Minds that fuel magic are like the mechanical marvels of your kind: precise, finely-tuned. But no living being can attain such a symbiosis with a construct as they can with their own mind, something that is part of themselves. In other words, a small display of magical prowess goes a long way, even if it's ultimately a light show."

As if to make a point, the mare stared at the wrench in her friend's claws as her irises were lost to a surging red-violet of magical effervescence. Her horn thrummed with steady light and power, which in turn levitated the tool and rotated it slowly in the air.

"If I may," she murmured, focusing on her work.

After a few moments glimmering lines appeared throughout the metal. They were very fine, nearly unnoticeable, until Destiny made them glow more brightly.

"Imperfections," she mentioned in a neutral tone. "Everything has them, even masterworks. Enough stress on the weakest point, and an entire system collapses, as I'm sure you well know. The mind, however, has natural ways to keep functioning even when damaged or in distress. Many machines have a tendency to simply stop working. Don't worry, I'm not going to snap apart your nice wrench to make a point," she laughed, releasing her hold on it and dropping back to its owner. "To be succinct... No, I did not have those problems."

[Gerrard]

Gerrard listened as the mare made assertions that magic was completely better than the tools his species liked to use. He raised his brow, finding such an unneeded assertion particularly perplexing. Had he said something to bother her, the griffon normally respected unicorn magic, but he didn't need anyone talking down to him or his talents. "There is a tool for every situation Destiny, and with proper training, anyone can learn how to use them. The same can not be said of magic, most ponies have magic that is limited to their special talent, and that is the extent of their magic power. You seem to forget that you yourself are not a disembodied mind, and in fact, your flesh is far less durable than any mithril wrench," he explained, watching her levitate his lightweight tool, the mare seeming intent to show him how pathetic his tools were as it started to glow.

He noticed the lines, his keen eyes watching them as she tried to assert that a simple use of force on a certain portion of his tool could destroy it. "And it seems that you are intent on proving the superiority of tools over magic. While you could destroy this wrench by applying many tons of force on a particular portion of it, the same could not be said of a unicorn," he explained with a sigh, the magician so caught up in her vast magical abilities that she seemed to forget about herself. "No, you see, any amount of force with a tool on a unicorn would indeed injure them greatly. In fact, only a tiny fraction of the force required to destroy my wrench would be needed to destroy your soft unicorn body," he explained with a sigh, gently tapping the crescent wrench on his talon.

Her assertions were quite bothersome and demeaning, the griffon trying his best not to let it bother him. Regardless, this was the most arrogant unicorn he had ever met, but the griffon maintained his composure knowing that many had done the same for him when he boasted. "The nice thing about tools, is that there is a tool for every situation, and everyone can use them. If you want to shoot something, there is of course a crossbow. If you want to mend metal together, I can hand ten blow torches over to ten griffons and with a few minutes of explanation, they can all be fixing pipes. And if I want to tighten or loosen a bolt, I have my wrench, which also doubles as the worlds toughest club," he added with a smirk, slipping it back into his bag before she decided to try and knot it into a bow.

"Tools are a creation of the mind, just like magic, and while they may not be as dextrous, they are continually evolving. They can be given to everyone, and have no real limitation. You don't need to learn an advanced magic spell and exert yourself to take a step into an airship and fly across the county. And while they are breakable, the source of both is as well. And as a wise princess once said, no magic lasts forever," he replied with a stern tone in his voice, the black hybrid shaking his now warm body as he basked a bit near the fire. He could hold his own in a discussion, and was trying his best to avoid letting it become heated, even as his pride started to taint his opinion.

[Solaria]

"I'm not insulting you at all," Destiny said calmly, her eyes dark yet unmoved. "Unless you are your tools, and even then I'm just being objective. There's no reason to take offense, Gerrard."

As she spoke, she poured more tea for herself and sipped carefully at it while digesting his injured dialogue. Perhaps she hadn't accounted enough for his pride? It was unfortunate that pragmatism was often misunderstood.

"And while magic also has flaws, it's bound to its user. You can destroy a tool with no harm to the maker, and it's easily replaced. Manipulation of the arcane is inherent in the pony, so you would cause injury to sever the tie to the metaphysical flows." The unicorn took another swallow of tea. "You seem to be quite confident that any griffon can operate any tool within minutes of its properties being explained to them. Is that not a recipe for disaster? Your kind truly may be that quick on the uptake, personally I've not met many that can do so."

Her gaze followed her winged friend's movements, watching them closely. After all, he was speaking directly of bodily harm, and Destiny's military training did call for protection of oneself. As it was, she didn't make any movements yet.

"I suggest we move on to another topic however, as you seem too emotionally invested in this one. Unless you plan on proving your point, in which case I'll ask you to go into the snow and finish your project while setting a meeting for another time."

[Gerrard]

"Oh how you goad so well. You assert that magic is a force without equal, and when I refute your statement, you claim that I am mad. How... quaint," he replied to her in a slightly amused voice. She was the one who initially asserted that one force was better than the other, yet he was the angry one. Regardless, he was going to drop the whole argument, the griffon unwilling to debate the whole situation further. He was here to meet an old friend, but that had clearly been forgotten in the heat of an argument.

"So, how do you like the city? I imagine it takes a specific personality to enjoy this particular climate? I have to admit that Canterlot is a bit more mild than the badlands. It is nice if you prefer less extreme weather," he commented, trying to change the topic. He wanted to reminisce a bit about their youth, but she apparently didn't remember much about it, him in particular. Gerrard guessed it made sense though, a unicorn would be a lot more memorable in the griffon centric badlands.

[Solaria]

Destiny sighed, forgetting that this wasn't one of her scholarly colleagues but a fiercely passionate creature who dwelled in the realm of metal and machines. It was hard to make the transition sometimes, being shut away from the social world for weeks at a time. It wasn't often that she got visitors after all. While letting Gerrard say as he pleased to dissipate his temper, the unicorn added a little chamomile to her tea and left it to steep for a few minutes while nodding silently in agreement.

"I enjoy the cold, it has a way of attracting the hardier residents. Canterlot is too prim and proper, too dominated by commercialism and politics. Here is Equestrian industry, one of the beating hearts of my land. I'd much rather prefer to be here with gruff neighbors rather than listen to passerby argue about which dress is in fashion. What's your favorite area in which to have work orders called?"

[Gerrard]

Gerrard was a highly schooled and individual, scholarly even when need be. Regardless, the Canter lot trained architect decided to just go with the flow, giving up for on arguing with such a self righteous individual. She seemed to love looking down on others and Gerrard figured it wasn't his place to ruin her fun.

The black hybrid listened intently to her, deciding to do his best to refrain from triggering one of her rants about magic. "I like the cold, my body being well suited for it. There is of course a limit to it. I wouldn't mind a scarf for a blizzard. As for heat, my black fur and feathers tend to turn me into a heat magnet," he explained with a chuckle as he plucked one of his long and majestic black wing feathers and presented it to the unicorn. He paused for a moment to think over her question.

"If you're asking what city I like the most though, I would say Manehattan. Lots of work and people there to do it. Hard work builds character, don't you agree," he explained simply, the black hybrid expecting her to agree.