Griffon of Canterlot
Chapter 77.5 – Sailing the Moon Light Sky
Grifshore Bay a busy port mostly populated by merchant Griffons, ships sailing in and out from the seas to the the skies, even at dead of night as it near midnight the port was still heavily busy, at one of the sky ports on the higher levels of the town built below and up the side of a steep cliff, a large ship differs from the others with blimps attached to them.
This one had no blimp but hovered against the dock tied to it, the ship had a white with golden brown colour with blue on the upper half to the back end, it had two sails on either side of the bow with four large thrusters attached to the very back, it had three large masks attached to the mid front to middle, with a griffon on a glass orb at the front, the long mask leading out of it, above the crow nest a flag of Grover's Griffina era being displayed.
The short orange with black striped griffon checked the paper work. “I gather all the paper work is good for the HMS Victory?” His deep voice made the much taller red griffon flinch slightly.
“Yes everything is good for your voyage to Manehatten, still this airship is really something, Big-Rig.” The red griffon took from the talons of Big-Rig checking that he signed it. “Powered by a gravity magical crystal, how the blazes did you get your talons on something that rare?”
Big-Rig chuckled. “My connections, not yours kid, I am a very successful business griffon.”
“That you are, well have a safe journey and see your ship by next week for first cargo to Las Peagsus.” He checked through the final parts of the paper work. “I can see good profit coming from this ship of yours.”
Big-Rig rolled his eyes. “Money isn't everything cub, you need to see beyond it, that how I got this beauty built.” Big-Rig salutes and fly up to the ship deck.
The dock griffon shrugged. “Weird shorty.” He turn away to get a squash hitting him in the back of the head, turning around and looking up to see a really anger griffon.
“CARE TO REPEAT THAT CUB!?”
“Oh buck, I broke the number one real dealing with Big-Rig!” The dock griffon quivered in fear quickly putting his talons together raising them to Big-Rig. “I am sorry! It was the slip of the tongue! Please don't take your business elsewhere!” He begged.
Big-Rig laughed as the ropes was removed and raised by his crew. “You got me in a good mood cub! So I'll let you off with a warning, but if I get wind of you or any of your team talking behind my back about my size, my business will go elsewhere!”
“Oh thank you! I'll make sure!” The ship lifts up and the sails open up, many griffons with some ponies watch it leave dock, they amazed by the way it was moving in the sky without a blimp.
Big-Rig turn to the helm. “Gritter take us out on the heading south west by west on a heading of 2, 1, 0, 1.”
The light grey finch griffon turn the wheel. “Heading 2, 1, 0, 1 aye sir!”
“Full speed ahead! Let's show them what HMS Victory can do!”
Another griffon salutes. “Aye sir!” She speaks into a pipe. “Full speed!”
The town watched the ship's thrusters engage and it flies off from the port at high speeds.
Big-Rig removed the talon gloves, he flexed the forepaws. “Finally get out of those daffed talons.” He threw them on top of a create. “At current flight speed and weather, we looking at morning sunrise at best on arriving at Manehatten.”
Gruff looking out to the sea of clouds sailing by, sitting at the port side of the ship. “Good to hear.”
“I don't know what Maple sees in you, but I am not one to judge a book by it cover, you two had waaay more time together before I was even born, enjoy the trip cause you never get another like it.” Big-Rig turn to walk up the steps to the captain's cabin, Maple walking down the steps to the left of him. “That makes us even on that mishap a few years back.”
Maple smiled warmly at the small griffon. “It does Big-Rig and do not worry, you will still get your moment back home.” She walked on down the steps. Maple glanced back. “Also that doesn't make us even on the other subjects at paw, so don't think I forgot.” She said in a sweet calm tone of voice.
Big-Rig shuddered. “I hate it when she speaks like that, it really creepy.” He muttered and continue to walk up the steps. “Captain, I like to inspect the pride of the ship itself.”
The yellow finch griffon with black spots all on the fur and feathers, wearing a blue jacket with gold trimmings salute. “Aye sir, come this way.”
Big-Rig rolled his eyes. “Just show me the damn gravity crystal core!” The captain flinched and lead Big-Rig through the door down below deck.
Maple walked to join her husband at the port-side of the ship, she looking around at the finch griffon crew at work around her. “Gruff, what you think of our ride?”
“Nothing that I seen before, and that is saying a lot for a grumpy old griffon like me.” He glance over at her as she stood by him, jumping up on her hind legs, with forepaws on the ship side.
“Grumpy? Yes. Old? Nah, your way past old my love.” Maple put her wing over him looking out at the view before them, the stars littered the sky around the moon. “Happy 100th my grumpy, moody griffon.” She put her head against his as the view of Grifshore Port disappear into the distance.
Gruff nuzzle his head gentle against hers as it did past midnight. “Happy 100th my crazy smart griffon.” He whispered to her. “Thank you for getting me out of Griffonstone.”
Maple thought about it. “You should thank that young prince, if it wasn't for him, Greystorm wouldn't have been hit by him with pure magic, allow him to withstand the stun rifle Sunflower used on him, that lead to a chain of events that lead to this very moment.” Maple said sighing in relief. “I was at first so conflicted on this day to come, now it here I am happier than I ever been in a long time...” She purred putting her paw on Grandpa Gruff's talon.
The old griffon turn her paw around closing his talon around the padded side between and around around the paw fingers. “That cub has something about him that I haven't felt being near for a long time, I just can't place my claw on it.” Gruff said quietly looking out to the stars above as the ship rose above the clouds. “If he the reason why we are here at this moment, I am glad because this greedy bits griffon now has the most valuable thing in his life beside him once again, sailing high above the clouds bathed in the moon light with stars twinkling like pure white diamonds.”
Maple hummed happily. “You make it sound like we in a story, a story of Gale the Griffon of Canterlot, the prince that is the main character and we just secondary.” She said softly staring at the stars and the moon too with little to no clouds obstructing their view.
“Maybe we are Maple, but frankly I do not care, this is a moment I will keep to my heart.” He hummed.
“To secondary characters and their 100 year love life.” She giggled softly,
Gruff chuckled. “To our love life and for many many more, for this moment we hold together.”
They turn their heads to face each other and kissed in front of the moon to the view of the finch griffons at work, they paused for a moment till got a grunt from the second command griffon, they got back to work, that griffon hinting them to work pulled out a camera and snapped a short of them, the polaroid comes out. “Get this framed and put in their cabin.” He paws the photo to another griffon.
“Aye aye sir!” The griffon salute and leaves.
The low hum from the gravity core of the HMS Victory filled the air of the engine room, finch griffons at control stations, others regulating the energy out put generating from within the diamond -gold reinforced casing the magical gravity crystal sat within, the wires and piping pumping the energy it generates to the solar sails above entering the chamber.
Big-Rig opened the door into the engine room doing his rounds around the ship once again in the early hours of the morning. “Big-Rig sir!” One of the engineer Finch Griffons saluted, the others did too.
“Keep working cubs, and give me the report on our beautiful heart of Victory, Chief Solarsail.” Big-Rig step up to the screen displays seeing data coming in from the core beyond the control room.
The chief engineer a female Finch Griffon with white fur and feathers, black strips over the neck down to the tail, and wing tips, greenish-gold eyes wearing a blue jacket with a crystal on the badge stepped up with a tablet in one foreleg. “The solar sails at at 21.2% efficiency from the light of the moon, the gravity core still running a nice warm efficiency of 98.3% and holding stable.” She said with a thick northern accent.
She sat on the hunches using the other forepaw fingers to swipe up on the screen. “The anti-gravity is working at normal levels, thrusters still running nice and hot, lighting, air-conditioning and pretty much everything else working like a charm for a brand new ship on it madam voyage, Boss Big-Rig, sir.”
Big-Rig gave a sly toothy smirk at Solarsail. “You did that last part on purpose didn't you?”
“That I did sir.” She put the pad under her wing, standing up on all fours. “I can understand that you want everything to be perfect, but nothing is truly perfect and one of those is that old chap inside the GC room.” She hints to the window.
Big-Rig flapped his wings to fly up to it, he saw inside sitting on the outer wall looking up at the core near one of the pipes was Grand Gruff Clawhowler. “How long has he been in there? And how in the name of all sanity is he sitting almost upside down in there!?”
Solarsail step up beside him looking into it. “About a hour at least and from the readings the gravity inside had a effect that allow you to walk on the outer wall as if it down and the central core casing is up, it a effect from the gravity crystal from what we can tell, still doing some tests on how that works and the old chap been a great help so far, we been going in every so often to check up on him.”
“What of the catwalk?”
“You can still walk on it as if it never affecting you, still working on how that exactly work boss.” Solarsail told Big-Rig. “I got to get back to work, enough chit-chat for now.” She turn and head back to the main control console.
Big-Rig rubbed the underside of his beak. “Never thought the gravity crystal would have that effect on gravity in such a way, yet this is the first to be made and used in the last 200 years.” He shrugged, flying up to the door he press his paw fingers on the pad, the door beeps and unlocks, it slide open.
Big-Rig fly in and as the door closed he felt the strange effects the GC room was having on his flight. “Urrr... That is some weird effect, it feels like I am flying upside down, to the right side and left side, it as if I am being hit by minor waves of gravity.” He flew with some difficult to Gruff landing a bit roughly on the outer casing.
“Experiencing the joys of gravity waves within the secondary chamber?” Gruff said with his good eye looking at Big-Rig for a moment before going back to staring at the central chamber, the light orange gravity crystal through the glass glowing with waves of energy expelling from it. “It been a long time since I been in one of these, last time was at the very heart of Flaputa itself.”
Big-Rig walked up to the old griffon, sitting by him looking up at the crystal too. “I only seen photos, design plans, heard stories from Maple and read about it in journals, this is my first time being close to it being active, when we tested it before installing the crystal into the heart of HMS Victory, we were on the otherside of the glass so to speak.”
Gruff chuckled lightly. “Quite the feeling isn't it? The way laws of gravity being magically influenced in ways you never dreamed.”
“That it is, I heard from the chief you been in here for quite some time, why aren't you with Maple?”
“Straight to the point, you are a business griffon for sure.” He said without looking at Big-Rig. “Never underestimate your type of griffon, but to answer your question, I told her I had to come here.”
“And she didn't?”
“Would you like to be inside the chamber that effects gravity and was part of the reason your whole floating city was supposingly obliterated to atoms?” Gruff asked a counter question and answer in one.
Big-Rig got a understanding. “I gather she told and showed you?”
“Yes...” Gruff took off his fez looking at it as he ran the talons through it. “If they knew, the banning of the crystals would have never happened.”
“The banning of the crystals happened because of that day, we can't change it Gruff, we can only move forwards.”
Gruff sighed. “I know...”
“It took a lot of money and jumping through red taped hoops. This ship and it core has been a two year up hill battle, but as always every Finch underestimated Big-Rig.” He said with pride. “If all goes well in the next few months I will have planning to build more of these ships, get my cargo out there far and wide, even transport others cargo too.”
Gruff put his fez back on his head. “Grifshore being your key interest isn't it?”
“It already is.” Big-Rig got up on all fours. “It been fun having this little chit-chat, but I got rounds to make, enjoy the rest of the trip and get your old ass out of my core, and back with Maple.”
Gruff chuckled. “Fine, be that way you little brat.”
“Fossil.” Big-Rig responded as he left.
Gruff huffed. “That small fry...” He got up walking to the door. “Well better get some rest with Maple.” He opened it, looking back at the core. “Hmm... Do not worry Pistol, Maple will be saving that tail of yours soon enough, just you wait.” Gruff leave the chamber and the door closes behind him.
Standing before Berk only a short walk away as the first light of the sun appear over the horizon Hiccup and Toothless stood. The Viking pondered. “How am I going to explain this one to Dad, Toothless?”
Toothless looked back at the five Griffons, one wolf, Alicorn and little purple dragon behind them, he shrugged. “Thanks for the suggestion bud.” Hiccup rubbed his hand over his hair. “This is way over my head...” Toothless licked it. “Aww seriously Toothless!?”