Hippo Posted May 10, 2023 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2023 "I will, Dad!" As Silverstream prepared for a flying depart of the tavern, Sky Beak toss several coins onto the bar's countertop as payment and gratuity of the services and beverages rendered during the special guest social gathering. Silverstream gave Gallus a cute glance and nod, an invitation of a trip to somewhere else that held an ambiguous meaning behind it. Gallus would likely be confused. But honestly, Silverstream wasn't privileged with the knowledge of what all the non-verbal cues she gave either, and would have no explanation if asked. Once out of the tavern, Silverstream flew up to get an arial view of their surroundings. "This way!" Silverstream started gliding towards an open vista, an opening among the Aris mountaintops that featured a healthy ecosystem in it, but had little hippogriff intervention. "Let's go here first. I can't possibly go the rest of today without showing you the harmonizing heights!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelEagle Posted May 12, 2023 Report Share Posted May 12, 2023 Gallus was just happy he hadn't made a fool of himself too much in front of the dad. A little bit of a fool maybe. More than a little, perhaps. But hopefully he wouldn't find himself banned from Sequestria and contacting Silverstream outside of scholastic activities due to being a total loser fool in the eyes of Skybeak. Knowing Silverstream she'd read the news out loud in excitement thinking it was a nice, happy letter and then everycreature would think (and know) how stupid he was. Luckily for him that didn't happen, and Skybeak probably thought that Gallus was a totally cool dude. And he'd be welcomed back and they'd wing wrestle and it would be totally cool because Gallus wasn't a loser. Okay, his thoughts were getting away from him. He felt a little light-headed- he had barely been breathing before, and the rush of oxygen nearly made him lose his wings as he flew next to Silverstream. "Oh...oh, yeah. Harmonizing Heights. I've heard about it before from Professor Rarity's little sister. We aren't gonna be singing any songs while we're up there, are we?" He asked in faux annoyance before looking around, keeping to himself the songs he'd like to sing with her. A duet of a sort..."Wow. This place is beautiful. Does anygriff live here, or is it like some sort of park or nature reserve?" 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hippo Posted June 24, 2023 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2023 Silverstream was excited to show somegriff the Harmonizing Heights. It was a rare thing to witness since it was tucked away in a small valley on top of Mount Aris. Also, she was excited to see if some of the legends she had heard were true. One legend suggests that if two who possess a special bond with each other enter the heights together, that they are overcome with joy and spontaneously jump into song. Within earshot of the vibrating melodies, Silverstream cringed slightly at Gallus' desire to not sing. "Um, What? Oh, no! Heh, you don't have to. I mean I don't have to, either. We don't have to together. Or separate. We don't need to sing, yeah." Silverstream looked away. "Um, but anyway, here it is. In ancient Hippogriff times, King Vetera helped construct the Iron Citadel, and also fortified the island with these huge walls. Legend says that the walls were built with the magic of love and harmony that came from all creatures that live around the island. It is said that magical songs are emanated here by the trees, the rivers, and the critters and echo indefinitely off the walls that possess the spirit of the ancients who love to hear the songs." "Nogriff lives here. It's not completely protected, but most hippogriffs just allow it to be a place to visit. It would be kinda hard to sleep with the constant ringing though, I would imagine." Silverstream chuckled. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelEagle Posted June 27, 2023 Report Share Posted June 27, 2023 "Aww, no singing? And here I thought you were going to sweep my off my wings and force a song down my throat," Gallus said with an delightfully impish little laugh, hiding the fact that he knew well enough that she had some disappointment in him. Had he done something wrong? No, no he had not. She knew he wasn't a song and dance bird. Well, at least until the whole group started- he was a sucker for the saccharine despite all protests to the contrary. He took a perch when she started giving the history, mythological or not, about the heights. Seemed weird that a King would build a fortified island with love and harmony but then again hippogriffs were related to ponies in a few ways and they sure did fortify themselves with love and harmony, so why not the hippogriffs? made him wonder what songs were sung that best fortified the walls. Were they songs sung in the affections of the moment alone, or did they come in duets and ballads sung with others? He could think of some songs that could be sung with love and harmony that would be very, very strong material for the wall. But whether it would be safe for all ages as they were sung infinitely from everything in the Heights? Well, maybe that was best left to his imagination. "Ringing?..." he waited a few seconds. It took a few moments, but he started to hear what he felt was a small harmony, deeply sung but barely heard. No words, just a harmony. "Ahh, yeah. I can hear why somegriffs might not like it...but it is pretty soothing, isn't it?" 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hippo Posted August 16, 2023 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2023 Sweep him off his wings? Silverstream would appreciate a good sweeping from Gallus, though it would be completely out of nowhere and considerably out of character for the griffon. She supposed it would be more likely that her over-excited personality would eventually sweep him up in some way shape or form, but she hadn't planned for it, at least for now. "Yeah it is pretty soothing. Tonight is a special night for it too, as the entire hippogriff community will join together in a wind song. And you can come participate, too!" Silverstream swooped down to the ground within the heights and started perusing around for something. "Come down here, Gallus. We need to collect our tribute." 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelEagle Posted August 19, 2023 Report Share Posted August 19, 2023 Gallus had to admit, the entire Hippogriff community coming together to sing sounded special. Before he went to Equestria he would have told you that the idea of a bunch of creatures coming together to sing songs was cheesy, corny, and the antithesis of cool. And now that he had experienced it in the first-griff, he knew that it was cheesy, corny, and not cool at all, and he loved it. Though he also didn't really know what she meant by tribute. He could only guess that she was about to ruthlessly collect the voices of the less fortunate Hippogriffs to power whher own royal voice. Now that he set it up that way, he'd be a little let down if it didn't turn out that way. As she took off Gallus followed, gliding energetically behind her."I think it could be fun. I'll make sure to get my pipes ready. Just promise not to get too emotionally charged by my singing voice. I'm told by reliable sources that it is pretty damn good. But I have to ask, what do you mean by tribute?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hippo Posted August 21, 2023 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2023 Gallus had questions. Silverstream expected he would and counted on it. It allowed her to pour out to him her understandings of her kind and gave her an excuse to ramble on like she enjoys. "When they expanded the freedom celebration to three days, one of the things they added was a symbolic bonfire on the second day. Hippogriffs join together and gather debris from the storm that passed us during the Storm King's tyranny, and burn it away as a metaphor for our vanquishing of old material possessions. Of course, hippogriffs also do bonfires to burn away fallen sticks and leaves when it storms for real, but the event is an excuse to do both!" Silverstream started picking up medium-sized sticks, as if she was attempting to build a fire for a campsite. "I'm surprised the horn hasn't sounded yet. The fire should be lit pretty soon. So we might as well get our tribute ready. Oh, and by tribute, I mean our offering for the fire. Some hippogriffs offer to add old possessions and belongings that they feel is keeping them from enjoying life to its fullest, or as a way of renewing our perspective on how we use resources on the island and respecting our home. But, most of us just grab sticks that need to be cleaned up. I figured the sticks in the harmonizing heights need to be picked up anyway." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelEagle Posted September 18, 2023 Report Share Posted September 18, 2023 Gallus was fascinated by Silverstream's story. Most creatures just went about their traditions without understanding all the nuances that lay at the foundation. Gallus was no better than most in this regard and would easily admit that only a smattering of Griffon holidays and customs found within him the knowledge of what created them, their meanings and places in society. She was royalty and hadn't led him astray once so far, but still, the fact she rattled it off as easily as she did and how off base he was came together to create a rather inspiring piece of off-winged oratory. He followed her, picking up sticks as he went. "Well, not exactly what I had in mind regarding tribute but certainly a lot nicer. So this bonfire- I bet it gets pretty big, right? Can't imagine wanting to toss away old possessions, though. Probably just my innate Stonebird coming through," he chuckled as he started rapidly adding to his stick collection. Most of the sticks were right and ready to be tossed, though he wasn't being too picky. If it was easy to grab, if it was a stick, if it could burn, he was gonna grab it. He was trying his best to get into the mood of the thing, cleaning the island and helping the hippogriffs think about their world with...well, with a huge fire. He was excited to see the big fire. "How do you stop the bonfire from getting out of control? Seems like half the island could go up in flame with the wind being a little active." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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