A Special Visitor (Closed: Mojo, Gerrard)

[Gerrard]

The black griffon followed the small herd of ponies as he was lead over to the tall treehouse. He looked up as he took in the building, letting out a whistle as he was quickly impressed by the structure. It was much larger than the little ones he had seen in comics. "Wow, I think it's bigger than my house, he complimented while clapping excitedly for her. He looked over it one last time and turned his gaze back to the hay sisters. "Ladies first," he politely commented while doing a light bow for the sisters.

He wondered what all was hidden inside the building. A ball pit perhaps? Those were fun. A telescope for... looking 'at the stars'. A stash of fireworks? He couldn't know until he got a good look inside. He decided to give the filly a trivia tidbit that was both fun and appropriate for the situation. "Griffons like building homes in high up places like this and they almost never build ladders and stairs for them. You gotta fly in! Swoosh," he cheered for her as he made flying gestures with his talons.

[Mojo]

As Haymaker and Gerrard approached the treehouse, they could see it's a very large structure, two whole floors in the upper part of a very large oak tree. It is also plain to see that one half of it had been recently rebuilt with a few burnt pieces of lumber laying on the ground at the bottom of the tree. The nimble Haywire jumped on a nearby rope swing, and after getting enough swing momentum, let go of it to launch herself upward, landing on all four hooves on the upper deck. The giddy blank flank filly then slid down a rope ladder to reach the bottom floor. Finally, the blonde filly reached a large spool-type gear lever and began to crank it downward until a lage wooden panel slowly lowered down until it touched the ground.

"There ya are! C'mon up! Ain't often I git ta show this here place off ta guests! Mah brother helped me build the basic structure, but then I added a few more touched of mah own! And Gerrard, no offense, but I think ya best walk up here rather than try ta fly. If'n ya git hurt durin' this tour, that Doctor feller's likely ta yell at me, a LOT!"

"Don't worry, sis," Haymaker said confidently, "I wouldn't let him meanmouth ya at'll! Shall we go in together, my love?"

[Gerrard]

"Of course my dear," he replied to his marefriend as he nuzzled her, only to be interrupted by the excited antics of her sister. Gerrard watched the filly fly around at a breakneck pace. He had no idea how she managed to fly about at such speed without hurting herself, but decided to say nothing about it as she lowered the stairs for them. When she mentioned they should come up, he chuckled lightly and walked himself up the ladder with his love and stood at the side of the filly and her older sister. "I guess I can't go visit my parents at their roosts for a while I guess," he commented with a chuckle as he looked at his bandaged wings.

"So, do we have permission to enter your lair now," he asked playfully while looking over to Haymaker for approval. For as much as it was touted, the griffon really wanted to see what secrets she kept hidden here. Gerrard lined up behind Haywire, eager to get a tour of her hopefully safe tree home.

[Mojo]

When Haymaker and Gerrard reached the top of the lowered gangplank, Haywire began her tour.

"Here on the first floor I keep mah stuff in this here carved out closet space," Haywire said, opening a small door to show many shelves with bottles of chemicals in them, 'I figgered out how ta mix household cleanin' items an' a few more things, inta the black powder I use ta power mah rockets. And here's where I keep the wood I carve inta slingshots! I break'm all the time, so I need ta make more. Mr Gerrard, would ya like one? I kin even show ya how ta use it!"

"Why don't ya tell our guest about the little, accident, ya had up here a while back?" Haymaker asked sternly.

"I was afraid you was gonna bring that up, sis," Haywire said with an embarrassed grin, "that happened a few months ago. Mah big sister says I shouldn't be mixin' up any firecracker rocket powder, but what kin I do? Oncest them merchant poines wouldn't sell me no more rockets, i read up on mah chemistry and decided ta make mah own! I know what i'm doin', well, most of the time nothin' goes wrong."

"An' durin' one of yur experiments, ya durn near blew up the whole treehouse!" the red maned mare added.

"But I got out jist in time thanks ta the emergency floor exit! No harm, no foul, right Gerrard?"

[Gerrard]

The golden eyes of the black griffon looked over her relatively normal treehouse, well normal beyond all the dangerous chemicals. He looked the containers over as he walked by, letting out a nervous glance as his limited knowledge of dangerous chemicals was tested. When she mentioned the sling shot, he blinked blankly before shaking the concern out of his hhead a nodded for her. "Sure! Maybe I can show you a trick or two? Griffons use all kinds of projectiles! I even used a crossbow once. I blew up ten glasses in one shot before," he gloated proudly while leaving out the terrible mistake that let him accomplish the feat.

He listened to the filly as she argued with her sister over the validity of her chemicals. The griffon didn't like to pick sides between his marefriend and his biggest fan as he mused over a solution. "Hmm well I will say that it is good that you have an escape plan. Your lair is pretty dangerous, but I can help you make it safe. How about I get you a few proper chemistry books from THE Royal University over Canterlot. I am a graduate of it and I do work for them after all," he suggested warmly hoping the books had better and safer answers for her.

[Mojo]

Haywire's face brightened.

"You'd git me some university chemistry books ta read?" the rust colored filly asked. :"That's fantastic! That'd take a whole lotta the guesswork outta mixin' up mah firecracker rocket fuel!"

"I'm all fer that too!" Haymaker interrupted, "If'n yur gotta keep dabblin' in this stuff, ya best learn how ta do it right, and SAFE!"

"Now that that's all settled, on with the tour!" Haywire neighed, "over here's mah storage closet, see how I dug it right inta the tree? And in here, I keep a lotta mah mixin' powders and also, all the slingshots I made!"

Haywire holds up several wooden slingshots in her hooves.

"I'm always breakin' mah slingshots, so I make more fer me, then I sell some to mah classmates too! Mr. Gerrard, would ya like one?"

[Gerrard]

Gerrard smiled as he seemed to bring a shimmer of hope to her day. It always made him feel good to cheer up kids, a thing his associate Asteria always tried to do. When she mentioned guessing on her chemicals, he visibly winced, wondering how she and her treehouse continued to... exist!

When Haymaker spoke up, Gerrard reluctantly nodded as he tried to get the thoughts of explosions out of his mind. "Yeah, Canterlot demands that you be careful with what your doing. If you blow up their book I could get in trouble, " he teased playfully as he hugged his love and poked his tongue out at the filly. Before he could use the moment to get too close to his date, the filly eagerly lead them onward, deeper into her lair.

He looked into the storage area and raised his brow as he saw the chemicals stored with the toys. He hoped she didn't use the sling shots to propell her experiments haphazardly around. When offered one, he looked over to Haymaker, hoping she didn't disapprove of him taking one of her toys. "Can I get the family discount, " he asked with a wink for his marefriend while he looked over one slingshots.

[Mojo]

As Haymaker smiled back at Gerrard, little Haywire handed the griffon a slingshot.

"Discount? Shoot! I've give'n this one to ya!" the rust colored filly neighed. "Any friend of mah big sister is a friend of mine too!"

Haymaker was very pleased with Haywire's proclamation.

"That was very kind of ya, sis, thank you," the red maned mare said.

"Wanna come up to the top ta see mah greenhouse and observatory, guys?"

[Gerrard]

Gerrard was glad to hear that the hyper little sister thought of him as a friend, or at least close enough to be treated like one. The griffon carefully scooped up one of the sling shots and tucked it away in his bag. If he had learned anything in his past year in Equestria, it was that his hand eye coordination left something to desire. "I will treasure it and become a legendary sharpshooter in your honor Haywire," he joked in a semi true manner.

When she mentioned another room, the griffon blinked in awe, closing his maw with a free talon in a dramatic manner. "This lair has another floor? Making my house look even smaller, I might have to expand it to compete with you," he announced in an impressed manner, wondering what all was waiting him at the top of this 'manor'.

"Lead the way! Point out any traps in our way please," he joked while hugging his marefriend and waiting to be lead on.

[Mojo]

"Right up here!" Haywire neighed as she rushed up a small set of wooden stairs.

"Reckon it looks safe enough, c'mon my love," Haymaker said, beckoning the griffon to follow her up the stairs. When the couple ascended up the stairs, giddy Haywire cheered!

"Look what all I got up here!" the rust colored filly neighed as she pointed to all of the areas and things as she discussed them.

"Over thar's mah observatory! Kinda gives it away with the telescope and star charts on the wall an' all, don't it? I love lookin' up at the sky at night! And over thar's my little greenhouse. I grow cute flowers ta sell ta tourists an' I also got some tree seedlings I'm carin' fer too! Thar's a few rubber trees on our farm, and rubber trees make the rubber I need fer mah slingshots! And over here's mah top deck labratory. See all them glass test tubes an' such on that table over yonder? I jist got those from some old Pegasus dude with a funny accent. I only mentioned to him how much I love chemistry an' he gave me all this here stuff! Said it was all his extra stuff from his own lab and he knew I'd put it ta good use."

"It was that crazy Professer Clyde Krashkop! Fer somepony who's supposed ta be smart, that Pegasus sure can't fly worth a hoot! Ever heard of him, sweeite?" Haymaker asked.