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How to Lose a Griffon in Three Days (Hippogriffs/Seaponies only, ask for invite)


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Yeah, Terramar seemed like he was hopped up on something. Unless he was indicative of what most seaponies were like. Silverstream was an excitable chick herself all the time as well. Was that standard seapony level of happiness or something? He was seeing a pattern and he wasn't sure whether to be excited by that or worried. He wasn't sure he had the energy to keep up with an entire species of energetic go-getters and do-gooders. It'd do his heart well if he found a single bad seed among them. Heck, even ponies had Cozy Glow! So far the shadiest Seapony he had met turned out to be a pretty perfect example of Seapony altruism. 

 

They all seemed to have pretty singing voices too. Not that any could really compete with the majesty of a whale on their own but once again they showed off their peculiar relationship with the whales of the sea. It was beautiful the first time ad it a beautiful the second time but Gallus didn't know exactly why it still scared him. The size of that whale was...awe-inspiring. There was nothing in the sky that lived that was anywhere near that big. A Roc wasn't even close and yet that was all he could fathom approaching its size. It, along with the seapony response to it, was something he was still processing when it came time to go with the flow. The super fast, super quick, flow.

 

It snatched Silverstream and sent her giggling away in a moment. He gulped and tossed himself into it as well. The vertigo he got from the speed increase as quick as it was sent his head spinning. He bit his tongue to stop himself from making an embarrassing "whoooooaaaahhhh" like sound as he sped through the water. After a few moments though he settled. Swimming wasn't like flying but this? This felt a lot more like flying. He spread his fins out and while he didn't flap, he felt like it made him more stable as he moved his way next to Silverstream. "This...isn't half bad!"

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  • 1 month later...

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As the whale went by Terramar offered his own baritone to the others. "Hmmmmmmmmm." He had always loved the big whales that co inhabited the sea with them! They were so strong and powerful and majestic!

 

Soon it was their turn to hit the current and his sister was first to be swept away! He loved the feeling he got right before taking a trip down the stream! It made his stomach churn just a little and his anticipation for the turn of speed made his heart race. He smiled at Gallus, challenging him in a friendly way. 

 

"You got this right buddy?"

 

It wasn't long before Gallus was swept away as well. "Hmm, not even sound!" Terramar had to admit he was a little impressed. The first time he'd swam with the flow he'd made some kind of shocked noise. Well, he figured he had. Terramar had been pretty young his first time. But Nothing from Gallus? He shrugged, if this was a tough guy act it would only get him so far.

 

"Yeah!" He laughed out as he lunhed into the flow and zipped away. The world seemed to fast forward and he swam with the current to catch up to Gallus and Silverstream. When he did catch up he noticed them side by side. Terrmar swam up, clapped Gallus lightly with a fin on the shoulder.

 

"Not bad for your first time Gallus! I like your style!" He flipped onto his back, watching the light change up above in rapid succession. "Just like when we were kids right sis?

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  • 3 weeks later...

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Once Gallus had caught up to Silverstream, she was impressed by his ability to keep cool. However, it was all in the context of knowing how to move across a current, which was not too disimilar from flying. This might just be the moment Gallus was most comfortable with under the waves. Silverstream gigglesnorted. "I know right. I'm not the best swimmer, but this ride always made me feel like I could be."
 

"Hmhmm." Silverstread nodded to her brother's recollection of their younger days. "I remember I would try to do tricks in the current before I tried them in normal waters. You should try some, Gallus, it'll probably be just like flying. You should try spinning, that's a cool trick!" Silverstream spun in place while facing the same direction. As she stopped her spin she continued in a faux backstroke while swimming underneath the seagriffon.

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He returned Terramar's smile as he navigated the current with relative ease. He wasn't as fluid as either of them in the water but it was close enough to flying that a lot of the mechanics worked well enough. "Heh, well, it feels like flying. And I'm not feeling the same crushing fear of claustrophobia when I'm moving this fast, I guess," he said with a smirk as he powered his way forward, his form being well-suited to this type of movement. He surged forward with his power and felt pretty good about it. This was way better and way less awful than being inside of the ocean normally. Feeling the current around him was so similar to a nice jet stream. He'd have to show off once they were up top because as good as he was doing now this was nothing compared to Gallus in the sky! "Think this is cool, wait until we're in the air!"

 

He spread out further, allowing his large form to fully extend. He was quite large all things told. His wings unfurled to their great length even i the water, seemingly specially designed to withstand the rigors of the ocean current. Combined with his large tail and body it was hard to see past or around him as Silverstream swam below him. And close, which allowed him to share a half-smile full of cockiness as she also seemed to pull off her nice backstroking moves without flaw. Of course this whole combination was both intensely flirty and also something that Terramar couldn't see. For the time being though, this was fine. He winked at her. "Hey, wanna see a cool move?" He asked as he moved in closer, hoping she'd say yes. Mostly because he felt like he looked super awesome when he was doing it.

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  • 2 weeks later...

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The current tugged Terra along next to Silverstream and Gallus. It wasn't that he didn't like this new guy, he just wasn't totally sure about him. He had to be especially vigilant since it seemed there might be something sparking between him and Terra's sister. He moved a bit closer just as Gallus was offering to show off a trick.

 

"I'd like to see a cool move!" He smiled dangerously towards the sea griffon. "Would kinda take a lot to impress us. We've seen pretty much every sort of stunt that can be pulled here!" It was a friendly challenge. Terra was interested to see what Gallus could do.

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"Yeah", Silverstream said in unison with her brother's egging. She giggled but then tried to allow the inexperienced swimmer attempt to impress. "Sure, go ahead." The pink seapony relaxed her paddle as she let the current carry her effortlessly in the direction they were going, which was often disorienting. The roller coaster of the current maintained efficient speed while also twisting and turning up and around itself, sometimes looping, and twisting upside down. The three were about halfway through the stream. The only true perspective Silverstream could gain of which end was up, was the brightness of the water's blue hue. The surface was always in the direction of where it was brightest.

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  • 3 weeks later...

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Good. Those two wanted to see something, he would do it and make them think he was the best. He pulled her in close, keeping his breathig under control. "Watch this!"

 

With the pair now close, Gallus looked ahead in the stream. He didn't know whether they had the time for it but his brain was good at making this calculation in the air, so he'd take his chances here. The stream made them move fast and for a seapony that was enough but his body was different. It felt very, very different powerful and he was going to use that here. He started using that power to swim, to flap, faster and faster. The pair moved faster and faster and faster, creating a vapor trail behind them. When they had enough speed he held her even closer and started doing a barrel roll, going down and out of the highway-live stream. There was a small bit of resistance with the cross-section but he broke through it, gaining even more speed as he went down.

 

He used his lower body to wrap around her and pulled up, creating a shockwave underneath as they went up and up in a corkscrew fashion. In time he breached the water, the two spinning as he shot up and into the sky. Eventually the spinning stopped and he positioned her under him, spreading out his wings. Because of his size he completely blocked her from the deluge of water that was coming down around them due to his breaching. He was silhouetted against the sun, peaking over his head and giving him a cool water halo. He hadn't planned on that he had just planned on going fast and improvised after that.

 

He looked amazing. He looked awesome. 
And then his tail, which was hammering with pain, accidentally slapped around Silverstream and sent her into him, and sent the two of them dropping back to the sea.

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  • 1 month later...

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Silverstream was amazed at the speed and force Gallus was able to carry her through the water. Also, highly illegal. Seaponies frowned upon dangerous stunts that involve leaving the hypercurrent, but even Silverstream knew...    ...they would get over it. After they splashed into the air dimension, Gallus seemed to be able to use his fully functioning wings just fine over the water and she was hung with him in the air for a moment. Silverstream could fly and swim, but she couldn't fly-swim. Gallus' unique anatomy gifted to him by the pearl gave him capabilities seaponies were unable to obtain. Silverstream was taken aback by his gusto. Silverstream always liked adventureous attitudes, but coming from him it was attractive to see since he was basically acting on instinct. Her impression of him and his moves would only last a short moment.

 

Along with the large pair of wings that did not shrink to the size of small pectoral fins, he was also given a generous tailfin that rivaled that of large sharks. Unfortunately for Gallus, using it for balance like he did his feathery cat tail was a much for difficult calculation and would end up slapping Silverstream around so that both of them would lose their aerial energy and fall straight back to the sea. Silverstream was able to quickly adjust in the air and with a healthy amount of grace and she cut the water smoothly like a hot knife through butter. Gallus might not be as fortunate.

 

As soon as they both were under the waves and the bubbles from the residual splashes returned to the surface, Silverstream could see Gallus and their distance from the rest of Seaquestia's surroundings. Terramar was no where in sight. "Yeah so, it's actually against the rules to leave the hypercurrent like that, but I don't think they will be too mad at us. I'll just explain to them you didn't know what you were doing." She giggled.

 

While they were both above the water, Silverstream remarked on how late the evening had gotten. "It's actually pretty late and I want us to have a good amount of rest for tomorrows events on Mount Aris. So is there anything else you thought about seeing down here before we leave it?"

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Terra did a slow fin clap as the two emerge back into the current. 

 

"Uh," He smirked. "Great job? Gallus." His sister was right, that move was not allowed. And for good reason. It was dangerous. He wanted to add in 'thanks for not killing my sisrer' but he kept that to himself. 

 

Gallus was the new guy down here and obviously used to being cool. The move he had just pulled was a hard try at impressing and Terra didn't want to let him down too much. "Naw. It actually was a really awesome move! I haven't seen anyone jump clear out of the current like that...probably ever!"

 

When Silverstream mentioned resting for tomorrow Terra shrugged. "Not sure. Anything catch your eye you want to check out Gallus?"

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Nothing worked as he had intended in life. Like most of his successes, this was undone by a certain trait of his. He overdid it and he forgot some small detail that he didn't consider at the time. In this case, it was a big detail. He was an idiot and he forgot about his damned tail and it sent both him and Silverstream plummeting back into the water. She had the grace to fall through and slice like an experienced swimmer, which she was. He was not. And even at his best, grace was not his calling card.

 

He slammed into the water back first, flipping wildly as his cat-like reflexes were not to be found in this fishy body. He went down further than his friend as he tried to regain his composure, failing for a time until he managed to get his bearings. By the time he did with the help of Silverstream, his height of coolness had been seen for the folly it was, as he wallowed in the muck of his own avarice. Luckily, she helped inform him that it was against the law. And if it was against the law, that meant he was a rebel. And being a rebel was cool in any culture, talon, hooved, or fin. "Oh. Well, what can I say. Some places can barely contain my skills," he said with a laugh, though his confidence could be mistaken for a joke. After all, he had just failed in a pretty epic fashion. 

 

So epic that his intended target of his radius of cool was less affected than her brother, who came in to give him a little pick me up- hey, nocreature said a Griffon was immune to compliments! "Heh, thanks. You should see me in the jetstream though. We gotta fly some time, right?" He asked with an attempted cool demeanor, though he winched a little as the pain from his fall caught up to him. That made him pretty excited to hear that they were gonna leave this place before his particular jig was up. "Nah, you've been a good tour guide. I'm ready for fresh air now!"

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"Let's head towards the shore then. I guess you'd rather sleep above the water, huh?" Silverstream teased the seagriffon, knowing now that his anxiety was released a little in the form of getting out of this magnificent fish body he was granted by the pearl shard. She swam in a direction opposite Seaquestria proper. It was hard to tell where she was going, but she had swam these waters for so many years, she had a good sense of where she was going. Eventually, she spotted evidence of shallower waters and beach boulders that fell of the island bluff and into the deep blue waters. Though the water was a very dark blue, the ocean was now dimly lit by the bright moon that glowed above them. There were no clouds in the sky.

 

She popped her head up and looked at the island. Indeed, it was Mount Aris, but she was puzzled a little bit before realizing where she was in respect to the docks and the train station they arrived in. But then it clicked. "Oh, I remember this place! My friends and I used to hang out here all the time when I was a little fingerling." Silverstream swam towards the blunt ends of the island and into a sea cave. There we no beaches for several meters on each side, and the sea cave had no discernible depth from the mouth of the ridge.

 

Spoiler

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She swam in and kept herself looking above water to inspect the dry parts of the cave. The cave had flat dry land spots but every part of it was accessible by water. The cave was only a few meters deep once you went inside of it, and the water was practically see-through. "Sometimes we spent the night here, even without permission. Me and my friends would tell stories and sing songs and talk about boys." Silverstream blushed.

 

She activated her pearl shard and breached the water and flew to a dry spot in the cave. After looking around at the walls around the area she looked back at Gallus with an idea. "Would you like to sleep here?"

 

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  • 4 months later...

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Gallus tried to keep his cool as much as he could but considering the warmth of the waters between them he wasn't sure how much of a lost cause it was. All he could manage as a smile and a shrug, or what passed as one down under the waters of the endless seas. "Given a choice, yeah. I mean this isn't bad, kinda fun, but I'm a sun cat at heart," he said as he swam behind her. "Can't keep me away from it too long. Gotta keep my blue as blue as could be, right?" He said with a laugh. He followed her as she brought him closer to the promised land, though after a while even an aquatic newbie like him could spot the telltale signs of the encroaching homefront. The rays of the sun sliced in shallow cuts through the water until it became a warming blanket just above the surface. It looked like home long before it felt like home.

 

She popped out first. Then she started more excitedly zipping around and started talking abut how she knew this cave, knew this place, from the before times, in the long long ago of pre-School of Friendship. He wasn't as much a fan of dank dark caves as much as he was as fan of the free air warmly caressing his feathers in the embrace of a new day, but he knew better than to squat over somepony else's nostalgic high and ruin it with his own cold misgivings about it. There was enough space in his head for his cynicism. Leave it to the real world to get his full force effort in the arena of giving a damn about others.

 

She opened up a bit more as she explored. He knew that the Hippogriffs had spent a long time in Sequestria but truth was it was often very difficult to imagine that it had been anything but a choice. After all, they made living down there look so easy, so nice, and they seemed to enjoy it more than he could imagine anycreature else liking just about anything else. He wasn't sure if the griffons could do the same but he guessed it not. It took a certain confidence of character to accept such a wild change and then create a great life for yourself. It was very admirable, and it was this rabbit hole of a thought process that led to him not fully correcting her. "Yeah, my friends and I would do the same thing. Just replace cave with rock-tree," he said with a laugh as he was transformed, and came flying out of the water. "We share a lot in common, right?"

 

He was so lost in the love of feathers as he flew around the cave in circles that he forgot to answer for a second. He'd rather not be in a cave, but he guessed it had its...qualities. "Oh, here? Sure," he said as he landed. "It could be fun."

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  • 1 month later...

Silverstream had mistakenly forgotten her classmate here needed help from her doodad in order to turn back into a griffon. She blushed and returned to the water to give him the touch he needed to give him back his original form. Once they were both out of the water and standing on the rocky surface of the cave, she responded to him suggesting how much they had in common, all while look at the wet hair on his hind legs standing up trying to reject the water they had to endure until he was dry. "Uh, yeah. Practically twins." Silverstream related with Gallus on flying, but the truth is, someone like Headmare Twilight had spent more days flying than she did. Most of her life was spent in a corral reef underwater, only recently had she been able to explore her hippogriff nature, typically with the same kind of enthusiasm of learning new things she found while she was attending the school. She wondered if Gallus was too different from her. She knew he was a friend, but could there be any room for closer relationships with others from another wing of life?

 

"I figured you have dealt with enough culture shock for one day, and wanted to give you the opportunity to escape it. I could have introduced you to my father in order to allow you to use the spare nest on the mountain top, but we can do that tomorrow. There's no telling how many hours he will spend lecturing you on tactical findings in the hippogriff navy." She rolled her eyes, attempting to inform Gallus that this cave was less a memory and more a chance to breathe. She knew her kind could be vexing, especially to somegriff who hadn't been part of a closely-knit familial culture until this year.

 

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"When the sun comes up, we can return to the station and get our bags, and I can show you Mount Aris. We got a whole day ahead of us." Silverstream sat down, contemplated the awkwardness of sharing the cave with Gallus, and then laid down. She kept view of Gallus in case he objected to it.

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She was very correct in saying there had been enough culture shock for one day. He had to wing it to her, she didn't let him off easy when it came to getting thrown into the deep end. He was pretty happy with himself that he was able to handle the water as well as he did. A pessimist would point out that he had to assume a completely different physical form but he was going to shut that thought from the very loud nosebleed section in his head. He was a claustrophobic cat and there was no real way around it. He had nightmares about it. And being underwater was like being trapped all the time in the smallest of spaces, the pressure crushing you into a smaller and smaller ball. Yet he managed to survive it- yes because of the body, but also because of her help. And that had been just the start of the shock.

 

They were so...nice. He couldn't shake it. The fact was that he should be sued to it by now. They were just like flying, swimming ponies, who also were too nice and made it hard for him to fully understand. But she was part of their royalty, yet it never mattered. She just swam around free and clear of any threat or danger. She wasn't a griffon so she couldn't know the predatory instincts that informed every decision. How you moved, who you hung out with, how you tried to gian advantage on others- and yes, how and what to eat. He was ashamed to say those instincts never left him. He didn't want to be ashamed of them. He just wanted to be a griffon like any other but he wasn't. He was always told he was weak back home, yet in Equestria and now in Sequestria he still felt like the awful outsider with the bad thoughts and intentions.

 

So yeah, she was right to say it had been a shock to the system but he was more certain now than ever that it would be fine as long as he had somegriff like her to help him along. When you had somegriff to depend on, even your own bastardized internal thoughts, your worries, your concerns, your failures and your foibles, they could be a lot easier to stomach and move through. He could handle this cave tonight with her and, with a more certain turn of the wing, deal with her father and his advertised boring speech tomorrow. "No, you're right. This cave will be fine tonight. We'll see your papa tomorrow and I'm sure he'll be as awkwardly pleasant as your mom and it won't make me feel out of place at all," he said as he landed next to her, "if anything, too in-place!" He said with a laugh as he stretched out and yawned.

 

The yawn helped him deal with the large bundle of nerves he had rolling the back of his neck as he contemplated sharing the cave with her. "I'm beat. Today was a workout on muscles I didn't know I had! Well, mostly because I didn't have them until just a few hours ago, hehehe," he laughed at his own joke, as all good joke tellers do. He looked around and found a tall rock in a good position that offered shade and protection and started making himself comfortable. "Gotta say, the day wasn't...half bad."

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  • 3 weeks later...

Silverstream kept a half-lidded eye on Gallus' reclined position until it seemed he was out, and eventually fell asleep herself, with the echoing sound of waves crashing behind her. It made sense for Gallus to be tired, with all the imaginary muscle cramps he might be having. It's what happens when seaponies or hippogriffs transform into their counterpart for the first time in a long time, and it's one of the habitual natures of the society at Mount Aris and Seaquestria that kept the cultures divided. Fortunately, there were still plenty of amphibiously curious citizens that got plenty of both worlds to taste.

 

 

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The coastal cavern began lighting up with the sun that reflected its way in. The sounds of waves crashing all night continued into the daybreak, along with the added outside sounds of seagulls squawking for their day's first meal. Added even more was the sound of faint crackling, spontaneous and with less pattern than the ocean's repetition. What was originally a dark damp cavern was now filling up with the smells of firewood and cooked flesh of fish.

 

Within sight of Gallus, Silverstream had set a campfire on a dry patch of flat cavern floor. She was slow roasting six mackerel fishes on wooden sticks over the flame, the sticks being propped up by large rocks.

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Gallus' dreams were a little more lively than usual. There was very little that happened for him at night, or at least little of it that was positive. Usually there was nothing or the old worries about life in Griffonstone, resurfaced in new and inventive ways to terrorize him. That had lessened considerably once he moved to Equestria, though it never fully left him. But tonight was a good night. He fell asleep quick, his eyes shutting just the once before he allowed himself to sleep. His sleep was marked by happiness for once in hued colors of pink and light blue, of wetness and laughter and worry misplaced being proven wrong. He could never really piece it all together but he remember feeling warm even when the warm breeze of the sea was stopped by the frigidly anointed air of the cave. It went by well and it went by well and quick.

 

His eyes shot open, his predator's heart quickening with fiendish delight at the sound of seagulls. It was smothered by his more sensible nature, developed at times under duress while in Equestria. His nose twitched as he smelled...cooking meat? Nah, couldn't be. He dare not dream. He pulled himself up to the sound of crashing waves and the warm breeze, supplied with greater force by the sun, breaking through the cave air and warming him. He stretched and yawned, cracking his back as the smells continued to assault him. He finally looked over and saw the most beautiful thing he had ever seen: A hippogriff and some fish being cooked. The hippogriff was nice, but finally something to eat in this world! He got up and flew on over, landing next to the food. It was mouth watering.
"Now this...this is a breakfast I can get behind! How'd you sleep? Gotta say, you do seem to know about the most comfortable cave. Ever wanna write a book on it? Could be as exciting as plumbing," He said with a laugh, yawning once again big and bold with his canines flexing their weight once more, ready to finally eat something good.

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  • 4 weeks later...

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While carefully monitoring the fish she was cooking, Gallus approached Silverstream with delight and eagerness in his face. She could tell right away he was happy about what she was developing. "Oh! You're up." Silverstream shyly expressed her meditations. "I got up before you, so I decided why not get something to eat before we start the day. I know you probably haven't had anything like this since you left Griffonstone. I haven't eaten it in a while either, but I tend to enjoy salads more than you do I think. I can tell by the look on your face in the school cafeteria." She giggled. She knew Gallus would love this, she just hoped that the fish she was cooking would also be good in comparison to the other times she tried to cook. She isn't the best at preparing meals, but she did manage to build an impromptu fire pit in the cave well enough.

 

She held a stick with a fish on it out of the flames, and looked at it closely. "This one should be done." She offered it to Gallus to take, wondering if he would devour the thing really fast or if he would be afraid to touch it. It wasn't like they were doing anything illegal down here, but the feeling of partaking in prohibited meals seemed archaic after spending so much time in a pony town. At any rate, Silverstream would feel really awkward if any of her new pony friends were here, or even Yona! "And don't worry, these fish aren't from Seaquestria's regional drift. It's always a good idea to get fish from a different ocean community. That way, it prevents any amount of animosity, no matter how small, from the sea creatures that inhabit the area near us." She shrugged. "At least that's what Queen Novo always told us."

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His eyes continued to shine bright, like orbs in the dark. "Oh yeah. Haven't had a good bite since....feels like forever. Well, discounting the Blue Moon Festival," he said sheepishly. He tried his best in Equestria to keep up with the customs but it was a total bummer that he was essentially starved much of the time. Well, felt like it anyway. he ate what they offered without complaint but that didn't mean he was happy about it. There were fisheries and hatcheries he could contact about it but most of what Equestria made was purely for export, leaving the small stock expensive, and the rivers, lakes, and oceans of the nation were protected from illegal predation. So no Gallus, the Swooping Hawk for him. "Really, thanks for this. It means a lot," he said a little lower as he tentatively grabbed one of the finished fish and licked his lips. Then he annihilated it.

 

If there had been any possibility of a delayed devouring of the fish it hastily died when it met the reality that Gallus, for all of his slowly developing Equestrian ways, was a predator at heart. He started on the first fish slowly but once he got the taste of meat back it started to move quickly. A griffon could hardly be sated by anything that would pass as an normal Equestrian diet. Even with the best substitutes he could find Gallus had been steadily losing muscle mass and weight since he had arrived in Ponyville, and routinely had digestive issues. He did well to keep his feathers and fur kept up to such a nice level because he was very certain that Smolder would start ragging on him if she saw just how he had lost. It was, Boreas be his witness, a miracle to finally have fish. It tasted so good, and it tasted so right. Still, he managed to pay attention even as he lost himself in the succulence of the best meal he had in months, as indicated by his tail which was uncharacteristically excited.

 

So, these came from outside the regional drift of Sequestria? He hadn't given any thought as to the concept of the ocean's drift before, but it made sense. he wondered if they had the sort of boundary issues down here that Griffons did in the sky. A griffon makes something in the sky, it drifts somewhere, now another griffon claims it. The more communally minded Hippogriffs probably solved it with a drum circle. And he certainly never gave any thought as to the relations between griffons and their prey, as long as that prey wasn't sentient. Predators ate prey and prey were eaten by predators. That was the whole circle of life, right there. "So, you only take fish from outside the drift? Why worry about the relations with other sea life? It isn't as if the squid is talking to the cod, right?" He thought about it. Well...in Equestria it seemed like some animals certainly spoke to others, so it was possible, he supposed. 
 

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  • 3 weeks later...

"Yeah, I don't know." Silverstream admitted. "I think it was just a precaution. Seaponies haven't been around for all that long, you know. It's not like we knew what we were doing from the moment we flopped into the water. Since I was born a seapony, I was one of the first ones to not know what it's like to go from the air to the water. I can't imagine what it would have been like to spend your whole life flying and then the Queen says," Silverstream changes her tone suddenly to a more regal heavy tone. "Everygriff in the water, learn to swim to survive." Silverstream took a bite out of her fish on a stick and then swallowed. "Must have been awful."

 

Silverstream finished nibbling on her fish and then started cleaning up her setup. She splashed some water onto the flames to put it out, and then one by one threw the rocks that made of the campfire into the shallow water. She cleaned the fish off the sticks and pout the sticks to the side of the cave wall. "Well, it's day two of the Three Days of Freedom Celebration. Today the festival is atop Mount Aris. You get to meet my dad and everygriff at the summit. They really like it up there, especially today. And I'm sure you will, too. Flying might be more your kind of thing. Oh, and Terramar, we might run into him again. When you're ready, we should fly up there." Silverstream began doing stretches.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

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Gallus listened, eating his fish but in equal measure taking it slow so he could pay attention to her. That must have been strange for so many griffs. She had been born underneath the waves so had been spared the shock of losing so much. Your freedom of movement, your livelihood, your nation, even your identity. It was a credit to them that they adapted so quickly and evenly to their new lives. Silverstream was lucky in that regard, but it did make him think. She had been born a seapony, right? Was she technically a seapony who transformed into a hippogriff or a hippogriff who transformed into a seapony? He didn't expect it would matter, but what would happen if her pearl broke? Would she be stuck in whatever form she was at the time, or revert to what she was born as?

 

In time the pair finished and Silverstream went about cleaning the area. Gallus did what he could but honestly the place was a cave and he didn't really know what to do so, so he just parroted whatever he saw her doing. In a moment they were done and she started talking about the second day of the celebration, and this one seemed way more up his alley. Mostly, it was because it was above the waves. He could get behind just about ANYTHING over having to experience it in the water. He just loved the open air, like most griffons. "So, what's your dad like? If he and your mom live separate, how do they take care of your brother?" He asked, honest curiosity filling him as he followed her in her steps out of the cave.

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  • 3 weeks later...

zWKvQX6.pngSilverstream finished cleaning the cave and leaving reusable materials behind in their place and started walking towards the mouth of the cave. The morning waves crashed their reminder of where they were. The breeze was refreshing and smelled of algae and fish as it poured crosswind of the cave. Silverstream held her wings up to test the wind before darting into it. Once out of the cave, she unfolded her wings again to send her higher. She looked back to see Gallus follow her and then she responded to his question while maintaining a light flight tempo. "My dad?" She rolled her eyes. "Is really energetic! Everyone jokes that I get it from him and not Mom. He didn't want to stay in the water once we were allowed to go back to Mount Aris. My brother and I stayed with Mom most of the time, but we spent time with Dad often enough before I went to school. Terramar told me he hated having to choose, but then realized they he could just do both. And he's old enough now, he can take care of himself." Silverstream paused. "I think."

 

Ahead of the two flight buddies was the incline of Mount Aris. Having already left the oceanside and flown over the port town, they followed the lonely path up to the main city. The path was small and overgrown because it was only used commonly by flightless tourists who added Mount Aris to their list of destinations. A large stone wall used in ancient times and still used today encircled the city, which for a time protected it from historic foes during battles long since been forgotten. Today, they act as a statement of hippogriff architecture and accomplishment.

 

 

As the two neared the city, Silverstream had to get a reaction from Gallus. She knew he had seen it in books, and even seen it from a distant last night at dusk. But when one got this close to the mountain, the walls had a sense of making you feel less significant the more you approached topside. "So!!? Whatdaya think!?"

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  • 4 weeks later...

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Well, Gallus had to admit to himself that he was more than a little apprehensive about meeting her father. He had been just as worried about the mother but he had a good rapport with the mothers, or so he was told. Fathers had sharper claws and beaks. Or else, he imagined they did, and imagined what they could do to him. It did sound like he was pretty laid back hippogriff though and Gallus allowed himself to rely on a daughter's glowing endorsement. Those had never failed. "Well, good to hear that. I was worried that Terramar was caught between two homes or that there were....ya know, problems," he trailed off before perking back up, "glad to hear that's not the case. Pretty excited to meet your dad, not gonna lie," he said, not fully lying but not being very honest about the reasons why.

 

As they flew higher and higher, Gallus could feel his heart beat returning to normal and his mood come down. It was a natural reaction for a griffon. From birth they were told that the higher up you were the better off you would be- more movement, better angles for hunting and retreat, all that in-built stuff that came with being a griffon naturally. But it had become culturally important as well. It was the poor and destitute who lived near the ground. The sky-tall buildings of the big cities were built off of successive layers of success and wealth until the very best lived in their perches high above the rest, deigning to inspect the bottom only to ensure the stability of their world- in all the ways they would care about, anyway. So for him, Mt. Aris' tall construction meant safety. It meant success. It meant they were both in the right wings and he felt all the tension ooze out of him.

 

"This look amazing," he said and this time he didn't have to choke down the truth. While the city was far from being as glamorous as it used to be, it was still impressive. Griffonstone was apparently impressive back before it became a roiling pit of decay and awful and other griffon cities were impressive, but mostly from a modernistic, characterless standard. But this was ancient, revered, and still super cool. "I can see why he wanted to stay up here. Look at how nice it looks up here!"

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  • 1 month later...

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As the two used the sea breeze to glide up the island mountain, the tops of the villages could be seen in greater detail, the architecture showing off it's crystalline and aestuarium style. Within an earshot of the new Hippogriffia, screams and shouts of joy were screeched from the town center and several feathered hippogriffs could be seen doing aerial stunts and jousts above the city center. An occasional trumpet would sound off inadvertently.

 

"Oh, looks like the air jousting tournament has begin already!" Silverstream said excitedly before meagerly asking for Gallus' interest. "Have you ever seen an air jousting tournament? Do they have those in Griffonstone?"

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Mount Aris was pretty dang impressive. It was commonly just treated like one big city but it wasn't- it was a collection of small villages separated by small roads and trees that formed in their totality a larger, beautiful city. It wasn't as big as Canterlot or Manehattan, but based on what she said  next it was way cooler. "Air jousting! That's so cool," he asked with genuine excitement, his eyes sparkling with possibility. "Who does it? Guards? or do you have...like, pro jousters?" He asked out loud a question that was in his heart. And if it was a pro job, could he become one? Or would he have to be a Guard?

 

He pondered it for a moment before he really started thinking on an answer to Stream's question. "Oh? Me? I've never seen one ingriff before. I did see murals of them growing up. The kings of old would host them, big spectacles. Once the city started falling apart I think that is when they stopped. He sold the equipment to pay bills, if I had to guess," he responded while looking for his pockets. "Think I could pay for...one jousting helmet. Hey, a good start for the Griffonstone Team."

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  • 5 weeks later...

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"Anygriff and everygriff can participate! Of course, the members of the hippogriff navy have their own jousts, they usually do public jousts where anyone is allowed to try. They give out medals, and free food, it's awesome! Let's get closer so you can see." She lead him to a more central part of New Hippogriffia. As they approached, jousters could be seen ascending above the trees, flying at each other a few times, and then retreating to the ground. She glided to a spot where other hippogriffs were spectating the show. Many hippogriffs noticed that a griffon was among them, but they made no worried expressions, and greeted both of them with smiles and waves.

 

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Two hippogriffs wearing military helmets approached each other. They both bowed to one another and then took off for the sky. They took turns darting at each other, like it was a respectable game of tag in the air. The hippogriffs around the area cheered the acrobatic aerial moves they made, and Silverstream joined in. "Hahaha, yay! You got 'em! Oh! Look at that barrel roll! Do it again! Do a barrel roll!"

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