//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: The Apophenia Sisters // by HocusPocus //------------------------------// 400 years in the previous war Lasted 25 years, and no more The Griffins started, the Griffins lost To a secluded island and high tax, the cost -Excerpt from 25 Year’s Epic         There was a pitter patter of rain as Gilda and Dad entered with a loud screech from the metal sheet known as a door. Dad stumbled a bit going through but Gilda helped him move across the 50 year old carpet his father scavenged before him. Kerri turned around, delighted that both had made it home safely.         “Glad to see that you don’t have that much soot on ya. Easier job for me.” She smiled as she said this in the sweetest voice. The younger sister had most of the cooking done, trying to make something at least edible with the small amount of food that they had left. Her older sister and dad were crushed by their own weight, and relaxed a bit as they slumped in their respective corners around the little dining room table. Their bellies howled, longing to be fed after a full day’s labor with only breakfast to digest. From the crack of dawn to the setting sun, they pulled, lifted, and sorted as they breathed in the fumes from the rainbow factory. The days blended from day to day except for tomorrow Breakday, in which work was illegal.         By the time Kerri set the table, the cabbage stew began to boil. Earlier that day she caught three rats and seasoned them with the salt water that surrounded the cramped island. She knew that she didn’t work all that hard so she insisted that Gilda and Dad take her portion of the meat.         “But pumpkin, you caught these three all by yourself. Surely you deserve something for that.”         “It’s okay dad, I’m perfectly fine with the soup. You deserve it for keeping the house payments up to date.” She smiled again and started to ladle the stew into the makeshift bowls, pouring equal amounts into each so that there would be no cause for quarrel.         “Oh! And I found some spices alongside the shore so hopefully the cabbage won’t taste as bad. I know how much you don’t like it Gilda.” She continued to smile, but Gilda just stared at her soup, giving a short thanks. Kerri sat at her spot as Gilda swallowed the first rat down. Dad looked down at the soup and put on a small smile on his face.         “You really put some spices in here?”         “What you don’t believe me old man? Try it for yourself.”         “Hey, grayed feathers are a sign of wisdom, not age.” He took the bowl and put a large amount into his mouth. He immediately regretted the decision and downed a cup of water. He let out a small sigh of relief. “Just a bit too hot at this point. Once I can taste again maybe it will be good.” He chuckled to himself and Kerri just kept on smiling.         Gilda kept silent, switching from the activity of staring into her bowl to playing with the crisp end of the rat’s tail. She hasn’t smiled once since she returned from the games. The relationship between her and Rainbow Dash ended after a bitter fight, and she couldn’t even make contact with her at the games. Dad was still angry over that stunt, taking most of the family savings to pay for the event.         “I can’t have cabbage stew again.” Gilda pushed it away from her, but her stomach growled in rebellion.         “I’m sorry sis but that’s all we can afford at the moment. I’ll make some apple tarts just the way you like ‘em as soon as you get paid next week!” She took another sip and put on a promising smile, vowing to create her legendary sweets. Dad grumbled something under his breath.         “What was that Dad?” Gilda responded in an aggressive tone.         “I said that maybe if someone were to have went on and been an athlete, we could eat whatever your heart desired.” He puffed out his neck and face, making himself look bigger and showing the dominance he had over the household.         “Well I’m sorry.” She stood up from her spot. Kerri looked down at the table, not wanting to see them fight again over the decision Gilda made three months ago. “Sorry I didn’t want to be a traitor to my people, my own race! I’m sorry, Dad, that I didn’t want to become the scum of the Griffin Kingdom!” She puffed out her speckled feathered chest as well.         “You were going to be the best of the best. They said they have never had seen a faster flyer in all of their days. You were this close.” He held up his claws to demonstrate the short distance. “And then you blew it! You refused!”         “And now look where I am now. I am the only one after the 25 Year’s Wars to deny such an offer. I am the most loyal of all griffins on this island.”         “Loyalty doesn’t mean anything when the rock you call a kingdom are full of slums and next to low wage laborers. You are loyal to the least-”         “I think I’m sick, I need to go into the other room.” Kerri announced but neither one seemed to notice. She pulled the curtain back to enter a room with a little bit of straw bedding. She covered her ears to drown out as much as she could hear from the fight in the other room. She wondered why they were so angry at each other all the time. She understood both points of the broken record, but she couldn’t pick a side. Her father was someone she should respect always, and her sister is always there for her when she needs her the most. Gilda may not be the most appreciative of griffins, but that doesn’t mean she is a mean person, it’s just her personality, part of who she is. She apologizes sometimes if she caught herself being insensitive, but most of the time she doesn’t even know that she is doing it. *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *         The argument went on for what seemed like two more hours but was probably around one. Dad pulled back the curtain to find Pumpkin on the floor sleeping. Her burnt orange feathers slightly colored the room, reflecting off the one gaslight lantern shining in from the center of the shanty. He nudges her to get up since the bed is his, an old griffin whose bones are aging twice as fast as he is. Kerri rubbed her eyes together and stretched out like a cat, letting out a small screech. She looked in the other room to find her sister missing. Puzzled, she looks up at Dad to which he replies, “She’s at the sister spot.”         When Gilda went through the hard days of her teenage rebellion phase (which she still is kinda going through) she would always run off and say she wasn’t coming back. At first Dad was scared, but as time grew on he knew she would always come back because her bottomless pit would get the best of her. One time Kerri went out and followed her secretly to a place that Dad never found out about, nor would want to at this point. He called it their sister spot, because they would always fly back together, happier than before. Kerri stretched out her wings and flew into the beautiful cool night. The clouds from the storm were taken care of probably in the afternoon by the older griffins of the village who in turn were cared for by the rest of the villagers.         Kerri looked down upon the city of slums that was once the pinnacle of the great Griffin Kingdom. The faint glow of fires dotted the blackened streets. Young ones were nowhere to be found, except for the few adolescent rebels who spend their nights stealing whatever they can get their claws on. She flew past the magnificent houses of the athletes, who used their day to practice and reap the benefits from the Equestrian Empire. They were basically a market item for the Equestrian Games fanatics. All they needed to do was almost win so that the rest of the ponies felt like we weren't a big deal. We griffins know that we could beat them any day, the Wonderbolts were jokes to us. We only placed third in the games because that’s probably what Celestia told them to do in order to receive their proper payment. Everyone hated, rather envied them to their core. Kerri just didn’t care, a griffin is a griffin, and good for them for reaping the benefits, but sharing wouldn’t hurt.         As she passed the city, she looked up at the huge horn-like rock that erected from the side of the island. On the other side, the land fell straight into the sea with no coastline. Kerri circled around the spire once before plummeting toward the ocean, then spread her wings to slow herself and entered the softly carved cavern.         “What took you so long?” Came a familiar voice.         “Dad forbade me from coming to this place.” Kerri tried to sound serious. “So I did what you taught me best, rebel against him.”         “Oh how funny.” Gilda responded with an annoyed tone. She came out of the backside of the cave and hung her talons off the edge, staring off into the lunerescent ocean. Kerri sat next to her, trying to crack the hard shell that Gilda covered herself with. “I came here to be alone.”         “Then I guess I came here to bring you bother you.” Kerri put on a sarcastic smile, but her older sister didn’t seem to notice. “Plus you got into another fight-”         “I didn’t mean for you to hear it.”         “Kinda hard when we’re living in a single floor house with one room.”         Gilda sighed, “Not you too-”         “No, I really don’t care about it all… in fact I’m kinda conflicted about it all.” Kerri began to nervously scratch her claws against the rocky cliff. Gilda gave no response as usual. The ending of her relationship with Rainbowdash  may have been a larger problem to her than Kerri anticipated.          “That’s not the point why I came up here though. I know you like to deal with things by yourself, but sometimes you just can’t do that, especially when it begins to hurt other people.” Gilda rolled her eyes. “The breakup between you and Dash is hard, but you just-”.         We weren't like that!” She blushed, then turned away from the younger sister. “It was merely platonic.         “Whoops! Sorry, didn’t mean to use breakup.” Now curiosity welled up in her head, but was quickly waved off. “Dad isn’t the reason you took a turn for the worst.”         “I don’t care! He’s a terrible father for not supporting me when I decided not to become a high class asshole!” Kerri flinched at the word, as all cursed language was banned throughout Equestria. “Sorry, I-I’m just… so frustrated right now. I just.” Gilda sputtered as she held up a cloud-and-rainbow-lightning pendant that she wore around her neck. A single tear formed before quickly wiping it away, then clenched it in her claw.         “Why?” She whispered before closing her eyes. Her sister walked up to her and hung her arm across hers.         “You can’t dwell in the past so much. That was the past and we can’t change that.” Gilda looked up at her.         “What kind of cheesy remark is that?”         “One a caring sister came up with.” Kerri smiled and her sister gave a hint of a grin which was more than enough to know that everything may be alright, but Gilda quickly returned to looking at her necklace.         “I just can’t believe that she would turn on me like that. We were supposed to be together always. Looking out for each other, getting a house together…”         “Totally platonic I assume?” Kerri quipped. Gilda shoved her off and punched her in the shoulder.         “Of course it is!” Though her blush told a different story. “Maybe she didn’t understand me. My irrational personality that is.”         “At least you have someone who does.” The younger one massaged her shoulder, looking at her with hopeful eyes. Gilda wondered why Kerri kept being friends with her. All Gilda did was act like she didn’t care at all about her younger sister, she even told it to Kerri’s face a couple of times. Maybe her younger sister actually understood that Gilda didn’t mean everything she said. Maybe she even cared about her. And for the first time in years, she hugged her sister. Kerri was surprised at first, but it didn’t matter, this feeling was wonderful. When she broke the embrace, she wore the tough face once again.         “I am so fortunate to have a sister.” Gilda mused. “I should appreciate it especially since most griffins never have one.”         “Oh stop now you’re the one sounding cheesy.”         “Hey, let’s get you some rest OK? Tomorrow is Breakday, and I think I want to stop sulking for a while if that’s fine with you?”         “And maybe you should also talk to other griffins because you are kinda seen as-” As Kerri was walking towards her sister, she slipped on a small pool of water, sliding into the back of the cavern.         “You klutz.” Gida walked down to her relative location, finding her little sister recovering from a few scrapes. “You’ll be alright.”         “Thanks for voicing your concern.” She commented. Her back paw slipped and hit a stone in the wall. It sunk into the side of the rock, revealing a doorway that opened up behind her. The startled girls turned around quickly, peering into the dimly lit room. There was a dripping sound that probably came from the hole in the ceiling, granting a small amount of light to illuminate a novel on top of a pillar.         “What is it?”         “Gilda it’s a book.”         “I know that.” She glared at Kerri. “I mean, what’s in it?”         “I’m not sure, I don’t think that we should go-”         “Sweet, let’s go check it out!” Gilda took a few steps forward, but her sister threw her arms up quickly to block the doorway. “Hey! What’s your problem?”         “Uh, gee, let me think... There’s a spooky entrance to a mysterious book. Kinda the start to every horror story ever.”         “Pfft. You read too much.” Gilda lowered her appendage and added, “Besides, what’s the worst that can happen?” That phrase alone scared Kerri more than the passage itself. As the other one started to walk in, she gave a sigh and reluctantly followed close behind. When they came up to the dimly spot-lit book, there was enough dust to match the size of the book itself. Gilda gave a big huff and filled the room instantly with the fowl powder, sending the two into a coughing fit. Once the room finally cleared out, Kerri took a swipe at the cover to clear off the remaining dust. “The Complete History-” She gasped and stumbled backwards, her eyes lit with disbelief. “There’s no way. There’s no-”         “What is it?” Gilda asked, but her sister kept on mumbling to herself. Turning back to the book, the griffin read, “The Complete History of the griffin Kingdom, and the Tyranny of Equestria.”