400 years ago, the griffins lost the 25 Year's War, shrinking down their population and land size to fit a small island. Griffins slave labor in the Equestrian Empire as a result. But what happens when two sisters find a banned book?
400 years ago, the griffins lost the 25 Year's War, shrinking down their population and land size to fit a small island. Griffins slave labor in the Equestrian Empire as a result. But what happens when two sisters find a banned book?
I don't want to reveal too much because the prologue will unfold as I go along with the story, it's the style in which I like to write things. Makes a little mystery for you guys to solve, like a game inside of a story. Be prepared to be thrown right into the action and also be prepared to be thrown into different time periods in every chapter. Why? Because it's more fun as both a reader and a writer (also I like to write chapter by chapter instead of a huge outline).
Thanks to my editor best college pegasister ever. Also thanks to the Penn State Bronies for encouraging me to put this on FiMFiction.net and for being awesome. Most important, thanks to all who read my story it really means a lot. Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated in the comments (constructive).
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.”
“Gilda, I’m talking to you!” The griffin snapped back to attention as fast as she could in a hull history class. Some of her peers stared at her at her, some even dared to smile as they held in their laughs. For those who did, she showed them her talons and gave a sadistic smile. They gave an audible gulp and went back scribbling on their papers. “Now Gilda if you please, answer the question.”
“Uhhh…” She started looking around the room to try and find some sort of clue. From the black chalkboard, to the death stare the grey pony gave her, to some of the Junior Flyers’ papers. “Uh, could you repeat the question?” The whole class roared in laughter. The teacher however was not as amused.
“Typical answer coming from a griffin. And they told me you were gifted.” She paused and looked around the room for her next victim. “Now, Rainbow Dash if you could answer-”
“I’d hate to break it to ya Ms. Chalk… Er-”
“It’s Chalk Dust!” She stamped her hoof down in frustration.
“Yeah, whatever. Point is I study probably as much as she does.” She explained, pointing a hoof in Gilda’s direction. The teacher held her hoof to her forehead, asking herself why she was teaching a history class for wanna be wonderbolts.
“And why would that be Rainbow Dash?”
“Surely you heard of the time that I did a sonic rainboom before!” She got up from her seat and started to fly around the room, exploding with excitement. “I, Rainbow Dash, am the best flyer in all of Equestria! Who needs to learn history when I’m a living legend and future Wonderbolt? Why, they would see my speed and probably accept me in an instant!” The teacher held up a ruler just in time for Rainbow Dash to smack right into it. She fell straight to the ground, rubbing her hoof to her face.
“Need I remind you that to get into the Wonderbolts’ Academy, you must have decent grades? In your case, passing.” She gave a long stare at the pastel blue pegasus. “An inflated ego won’t get you to the top. Go back to your seat now.”
Dash gave a nervous laugh before walking to the back of the room. The teacher piped up once more, “Can anyone answer the question! So help me Celestia if I don’t get...”
“Show off.” Gilda gave Rainbow Dash the hushed remark. She stopped in her tracks and gave a villainous look.
“It’s not showing off if you back it up.” She returned, a smug smile inching up her face.
“Ha, please. I could beat you in a race even if I had both wings tied behind my back.”
“Oh, and what makes you so sure?” Dash got a bit closer.
“Griffins are the best. Flyers. Ever. Period. No pony has ever gotten close to beating my kind.” Gilda went nose to nose, locking eye contact. Ponies around them started to look at the two.
“Oh really? Then what about the Equestria Games since, I dunno, forever?”
“Do I really have to split you two up?” Chalk Dust came trotting up the aisle.
“Oh you know those are rigged for you to win. We don’t even try.” Gilda slouched back in her seat, examining her right claw while putting her other arm on the back of the seat. The class started softly chanting, “Race, race, race.”
“Really? I bet you can’t prove it.” She tossed her mane and looked away for a moment, slipping the words, “Because Griffins are so slow, they would get third place in a two pony race.” Gilda thought it wasn’t a good dis, but when the entire class gave a round of oooohhhhs so she had to get up from her seat. Chalk Dust stood between the two just in time.
“Sit back down, NOW!” She commanded, but the fire inside Gilda prevented her from caring. The rainbow maned pegasus gave a sly smile which only helped to stoke the flame.
“You. Me. Race at 5. Behind the officer’s tent.”
“Can’t wait to win again.”
“Both of you return to your seats this instant!” The teacher yelled over the cheers of the other Junior Flyers. “The rest of the class shut your muzzles right now!” The chaos slowly ended as Rainbow Dash took her seat, slouching back in the same cool manner Gilda did previously. Gilda also sat back down, despite her longing to injure that narcissist. Chalk Dust took back her usual position at the front of the class, trying hard not to imagine a chimera eating up the whole class so she could go on her trip to Los Pegasus.
“Now, back to the question. The reason that the griffins lost the 25 year’s war was due to a plethora of things. The great strategic planning from Celestia is one factor to be noted, but the most prevalent variable was the amount of soldiers ponies had at the time. The reason for this was because, what?” Gilda raised her claw in response. ”Ah, you aren’t sleeping? I’m surprised.”
“Let me answer your question with another question. How are months and Rainbow Dash’s half mile sprint similar?”
“Oh for the love of-”
“They both are measured by calendars.” The teacher walked out of the room as the rest of the students went wild. The two competitors glared at each other and giving a toothy grin.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
“I’m sorry, what?”
“Don’t you understand what this is?” Kerri was careful to pick up the book. “This-this is the real history of The Griffin Kingdom! The real thing that happened during and before the 25 Year’s War. This is simply incredible! I can’t even imagine-”
“Now wait, how do you know that this is the absolute truth?”
“The same reason that I know that whatever history books we have now are not true.” She put the book back down on the pedestal and started pacing around the dimly-lit room. “You see, they there was a massive libricide.”
“They? Who’s they and what is a libricide?”
“It’s a book burning and it was enforced by the Equestrian Empire. Didn’t you learn that in history?” Kerri looked at her sister who looked back at her.
“Pft, I didn’t go to school to learn, it was all about flying.”
“Oh, uh right.” Kerri went back to pacing, increasing her speed by how fast she was talking “There was a mass libricide 25 years after the war. The explanation was very vague as to why they were doing this, but if you were caught having one of these banned books you would be locked away for a very long time or executed. They claimed that the past was all false and was biased against ponies, and now this!” She pointed at the book as if it were some sort of monster. “This is from before, and we could get in a bunch of trouble, and we can’t-”
“Sis, stop for a moment.” Gilda rested her claws on Kerri’s shoulder. She stopped moving up and down the stone floor and returned to a normal breathing pattern. “You are getting worked up over a book. Trust me, no griffin and no pony will find this book.” Kerri looked up at her sister.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. It’s been down here for 350 years and-”
“So what’s inside of it? We haven’t even opened any of the pages yet.”
“Oh yeah! I guess that’s kind of important.” Kerri walked back up the pedestal that held the ancient texts. She gulped, thinking a scorpion or something was hidden within as a trap to make sure no griffin ever opens the document ever again. Reluctantly and carefully she opened the cover ever so slightly to reveal the first page.
“What’s it say?” Gilda started to walk up to it.
“The Complete History of the Griffin Kingdom, and the Tyranny of Equestria. Duh.” She turned to the next page which held the table of contents. The names in red ink read name like, “What We Thought was the End” and “25 Year’s Scorn”. The first chapters caught her eye though. It was full of pre-war history from, “The Earliest Years of Griffin-kind” to “The Great Compromise and Violation.”
“There! We should start there! Maybe it has details about who actually started the war and broke the truce between the kingdoms. Oh this is so excellent!”
Gilda gave the snide remark, “Woah, when did you become such a nerd?”
“I prefer the term intelligent.” She shot back. “Besides, what else do you think I do all day? I can only clean a dirt floor so well. Oh! I’m turning the pages and they smell like an elder’s house!” Gilda turned away, looking back at the entrance to make sure that the coast was clear. They would be in massive trouble if anyone caught them, even though Gilda is hailed as a hero. A griffin’s got to eat, and if someone is turned in for obtaining a banned book, they get to live in an athlete’s home with an athlete’s pay until death. Then a screech rang through the cave. Gilda turned around to see Kerri once again stumbling backwards, her eyes wide in disbelief.
“Hey, shut up it’s just a-“
“An empty book.” She finished the sentence. She looked back up at her sister. “Gilda the book is empty. The whole book is empty. THE WHOLE BOOK IS EMPTY!”
“What?” The older sister went back to check the empty pages of what was thought to be a full book. Old pages were all that remained, as if the ink ran away from the paper. She opened and closed the book again; just to make sure she wasn’t being fooled or if there was any magic used on it. Setting it back down, Gilda took two steps back. Kerri brushed up beside her.
“There’s just no way. How... what the-“
“What the hell!” Kerri filled with rage and stepped back towards the pedestal. “We were supposed to go free! This was our salvation!” She grabbed hold of the brittle binding, and dug her claws through the delicate white pages. She threw the book towards the end of the cave, narrowly missing Gilda who was in shock that her sister could be this angry. She then proceeded to stare at the grey floor, chest puffed out and shoulders squared.
“What did you do that for?”
“Gilda, I don’t want to hear it right now, please leave me.”
“Kerri you just torn up old documents, ancient texts-“
“The only ancient texts in that book were the chapter names and the title of the book! And since when have you become interested in the books or even me?” The younger sister glared straight at Gilda. “You never paid attention, you were always worried about flying and going to be an athlete but you dashed those dreams because your pride got in the way didn’t it?”
“You take that-“
“And another thing, you never appreciate what little we have, and you expect more. Maybe Dad is right. Maybe you did blow it!” She walked closer and closer. “We could have had all that you ever wanted and we wouldn’t be stuck in the hole that only gets deeper. Athletes may be assholes, but they could never compare to you!” At that point, Kerri got too close both physically and emotionally. Gilda swiped at her sister’s face. Orange feathers and blood dropped to the floor. There was a moment of silence, and then a scream of pain.
“I thought I loved you.” Escaped Gilda’s beak as she flew out of the cave; leaving her sister to bleed on her own.
The cut went from her left cheek down to her beak. Crimson beads fell off the tip of her mouth unto the ancient texts. She applied pressure to her wound, trying to allow the cut to clot. She sat down on the cold floor, a tear shedding from her eye, wanting to disappear forever. I can’t even pretend it was better for her. Kerri rested her head on the book. A feeling of regret welled up inside her. Gilda has been carrying alot of baggage for a long time, it’s not my place to add more to her pile. She knew she would eventually return home, and face her only true friend who now would never want to see her face again. Closing her eyes, she listened to the waves crash against the rocky wall and wishing she could the same. She let her emotions get the best of her all over a stupid book and she took it out on the wrong person.
She quickly wiped away the tears and got up from the book which was stained with blood. But the stains were forming in strange symbols, almost like-
“Impossible!” Kerri opened the book to the first blank page after the table of contents. Letters and hieroglyphics began to form, red in color. She started to flip through page after page, each containing more words and pictures meaning words, but only showed up when there was a presence of blood. Kerri let go of her wound and started to let the blood drip onto each page, magically creating the ancient text that was to be expected. Eyes wide and mouth agape, she couldn’t believe what was happening before her very eyes. Insensible yes, but a step in the right direction! She jumped and smiled, ready to tell her sister.
But would she care. Wouldn’t it be best to keep this to herself? No, not after she was the reason I came to this cave in the first place. I wouldn’t have tripped on that rock otherwise. If she wouldn’t have cut me, then I would have never found out how to activate the scripts; she has every right to know about this! But first, I have to finish up the pages. Page after page, she bled out the writings, determined to solve this mystery no matter the cost. She knew this was going to be for the greater good, maybe even restoring the former glory of the griffin kingdom! There wouldn’t be slave labor, and there may even be room to create artisan jobs like professors, metal workers, and hopefully writers. She couldn’t stop thinking about the idea that she may become a writer some day, creating a loving culture out of oppression.
After some time daydreaming, she came upon the last page. Her cut seemed to close itself so she reopened it, letting the blood drip on the page, forming a readable language in between the tares in the book. What? Kerri waited until the letters were evenly distributed to reveal cursive writing.
Recipe for a delicious breakfast,
Main Dish: Fruit Kolash, preferably peach-apple tart Side Dish: Toast, Flavored with Yam butter W/sugar Drink: Whatever you want to Drink.
If you experience nausea, carrots and turnips easily remedy all of the symptoms. When preparing, make an evaluation; adherents always tell the principle understanding of how you did on your piece of work. And know this, ponies yearn; live intently loving great food. The audience, not yourself, is the most important. Always remember this.
