The ponies and minotaurs were still continuously being worked to the bone with guards keeping their eyes on them to see if they did something illegal. Sounds of pickaxes clanging on stone and carts full of gems rolling on tracks filled the air. None of them said a word yet, as they’re frightened to be killed. As the guards kept guard, out of the blue, a small long-tailed rat ran past the guards, much to their surprise.
“Where did that come from?” one guard asked, with a surprised look on his face.
“It doesn’t matter,” the other said. “It’s just a rat. Let that thing eat the remains.” The two didn’t take any notice of the rat who would be smarter than it looked.
The little rat swiftly crawls around the mine, trying to avoid getting stomped on by the miners in there. Eventually, it saw a young colt with three sea turtles for a cutie mark and a yak. They were carrying the carts, waiting to be loaded up with more gems when they saw the rat running towards them. He looked at all the others who were close by, particularly the guards.
“Hey there, little guy,” Sandbar said. “What’re you doing down here?” The rat suddenly climbed up Sandbar's leg so it could get to his ear. It then whispered something to him, which was surprising to the young colt. He then passed the rat over to Yona, where the rat did the same thing. Both of the students then whispered some information to the rat before it jumped down and ran off to an exit.
Skyline had seen what just happened and looked confused. “What was that?” she questioned.
The colt and yak both looked at each other before responding. “You could say… she is a friend,” Sandbar answered with a smirk.
The rodent ran out of the mine, with the guards not noticing it. She quickly ran further away from them, then down the hall, until it stops. Checking its surrounding, a flash surrounds it as it transformed back into ‘Guy’.
“I’ve never seen so many of them suffering down there,” Ocellus said to herself. She then flew back to the workshop, where Quartz, Gilda, Gadget, and Glynn were waiting. As they’re waiting for ‘Guy’ to arrive back, the door opened and saw her coming inside.
“How’d it go?” Quartz asked.
“Great. The guards didn’t suspect a thing,” Ocellus explained. “We’re going to have to use this trick sparingly. They’ll start catching on if I go down there too often.”
“What if you just used a different form instead of a rat?” Gilda suggested. “Like… a scorpion or an ant.”
“There aren’t too many creatures that can pass the guards without notice,” Gadget noted. “We could use Gideon or Gram, but if the real ones catch on, then we’re dead.”
“Exactly. Right now, let’s focus on the information we have,” Glynn suggested. “Go ahead, Ocellus.”
“Right then,” ‘Guy’ agreed. “Sandbar and Yona, two of my friends, one pony and a yak, told me about this mare called Skyline who’s been trying to plan a rebellion to bust everyone out of the mine.”
“I knew it!” Glynn exclaimed, with his fist banged on the table. “I knew this would happen eventually. Is anyone else joining this rebellion?”
“Skyline seems to be the only one going for it with Sandbar and Yona. They’ve been trying to get this minotaur, named Bill, to join them, but they think he’s given up.”
Gadget sighed. “Sounds like they've broken his spirit,” she guessed.
“Still, we’re not leaving them down there,” Gilda stated. “Is there anything in this base that might be helpful?”
Glynn and Gadget both thought about a few things until they came up with an idea. “If we weaken some of their weapons, we should be able to soften their blows,” Gadget suggested.
“Some could imply for their armors,” Glynn said. “Those gemstones are a major factor for their power. If you get them out of the armors and weapons, then we won't have to worry about being burned, electrocuted, or frozen.”
“Yeah, that’s as easy as jumping through a hoop the size of a pea,” Gilda said sarcastically.
“What, you have a better idea?" Gadget asked. The Griffonstone ambassador didn't respond to this. “Then quit standing around and get those gems out of those weapons.”
“And how are we suppose to do that without raising attention?”
“Gilda’s right,” Ocellus agreed, “We’re going to need some kind of distraction. But who or what?”
Quartz, who had been silent throughout most of the planning, decided to speak up. “I’ll do it,” Quartz spoke. “I’m a ninja, and ninjas are the masters of the shadows. I can sneak around and cause distractions and even keep an eye out in case anyone’s going to catch you.”
“Great idea,” Glynn commented. "We're going to need every edge we can get. The best fighters here get armed to the beak.”
“Uh-huh. Not like we had enough to worry about,” Gilda muttered.
“Seriously!? Are you going to be like this the entire time?" Gadget questioned. “Just complain, complain, and complain all the time.”
“Not everyone handles stress that well, okay?”
“Save your arguments for later and focus,” Glynn ordered. “We finally have a chance to take them down, and we’ll likely never get another shot at it.” Everyone knew he was right. Everything needed to be perfect or else they would be in hot water. “Now, let’s go.”
‘Guy’, Gilda, and Quartz left the room to act natural while Glynn went back to the medical center.
Gadget resumed her work on the orders that’d been given by Gideon. She walked to a corner, took out a crate that she had to drag over to her workbench. She got some gloves, a welders mask, and then took a sheet of metal out of the crate. She grabbed her blow torch and started to heat the metal up to try and mold it into the proper shape.
Gallus was still in the barracks thinking of everything he could do. Each idea he thought of was quickly put to rest when he knew how the Gold Gang could counter it. It was one thing for him, but he could only guess how Silverstream was doing. The Gold Gang seemed to have a lot in common with the Storm King, down to enslaving various creatures. She wouldn’t last long. The entire reason he picked her was so he could be by her side and comfort her. Now that the two were kept in separate areas, Gallus couldn’t do that. Since he was just waiting for orders, all he could do was sit on his bunk until he needed to be involved. None of the other griffons paid him any attention as he was just another drop of water in the ocean to them.
Silverstream was too deep in thought to notice any griffon that looked at her. She didn’t want to be here at all. She couldn’t help but think about the Storm King and this is what would’ve happened if he won. The young hippogriff just lay her head underneath her pillow to try and pretend that she was in a happier place. She was snapped out of this by the sound of banging metal, drawing the attention of all of the griffons in the room.
Gideon was standing in the doorway and placed down a mallet that he had used to bang on a gong. “Alright, ladies,” he called, “Before your lights go out, I need some of you to go on a night watch. The men are already being picked as we speak, but we still need some of you to keep watch.” A couple of female griffons volunteered to either stay out of trouble or it was because they owed someone a solid.
Silverstream looked away, hoping that Gideon wouldn’t pick her. After being quiet for about five minutes, she looked at the exit and saw that Gideon had left, so had some of the griffons. The hippogriff lied down on her bunk again and tried her best to get some sleep. This would be difficult as she just had so much on her mind; would she and her friends get out of here? What was going to happen to Smolder? Would they be able to rescue Gabby and the students? It was just too much for her to not think about. Silverstream was at the breaking point of crying.
At least she had a bed to sleep in, the griffs looked in the cells had to try and make themselves comfortable on the hard floors. Smolder was still in her straight jacket and chained to the wall, feeling herself getting weaker and weaker. Everyone in the mine, including Sandbar and Yona, was still being forced to work no matter how tired they were getting. Even when they were given breaks, they would only get a few hours that were barely enough to sleep.
‘Guy’ and Gilda were heading to the barracks after finding out how late it was getting. “We’re playing a dangerous game here,” Ocellus whispered.
“Tell me something I don’t know,” Gilda grumbled. She wasn’t trying to be rude, but this was getting to be a little more than she could handle. When they got to the barracks, ‘Guy’ made sure to inform Gilda about the fact that each gender slept in two different sections. ‘Guy’ went to rest with the boys, while Gilda headed to the girls.
‘Guy’ found his bunk which was right under where Gallus was trying to sleep as if it was decided by fate. She gently poked the griffon to get his attention. “Ocellus! Oh, I’m glad to see you,” Gallus whispered.
“Same,” ‘Guy’ responded. “Where’s Silver?”
“In the other section of the barrack. Can’t see why they’re keeping both genders separated.”
“I do have a few theories, but let’s focus on what’s more important. Gilda and I have talked with some griffons and a kobold who aren’t all for the gang's ways."
"And you sure they can be trusted?"
"I made sure of that. Gilda's taking caution too.”
"Is she in the other section?"
"I’m sure."
“Okay. I hope she finds a way to keep her company.”
Gilda did manage to find the bunk Silverstream was resting in, unable to sleep due to how she was feeling. Silverstream saw her and came closer so they can speak. “Are the others okay?” the hippogriff asked quietly.
“To my knowledge, yes,” Gilda responded. “We don’t know how much time they have, so we have to act fast.”
“What do we do?”
“A while ago, We planned on having Ocellus sneak into the mines to exchange information with Sandbar and Yona, and it was doing alright. But the problem is that we can’t do that too often before the guards there will get suspicious.” The hippogriff nodded as Gilda explained what both she and Ocellus had planned. While they were knowing more about how the griffons made things work, the kobolds were a little difficult to put their claws on.
They weren’t exactly sure how much control the kobold had in the Gold Gang. It sounded like a partnership, but it had been made clear that Gram was Gideon’s right-claw griffon. So where did that leave Oynx? It was something they would have to ask Glynn, Gadget, or Quartz about it in the morning. Despite their worries, Gilda and Silverstream lied down on their bunks to get as much sleep as they could. They had a feeling that they would have a similar situation to the creatures in the mines.
When the morning shined over the desert base, the creatures inside were about to get a wake-up call. The griffs in the barracks were awoken by the sound of an alarm. Silverstream fell out of her bunk, thinking there was an emergency going on. One of the griffons saw the hippogriff stumble and just looked down at her.
“I guess this is the first time you hear the wake-up alarm,” she scoffed.
“You hear that every time you wake up?” Silverstream questioned.
“You get used to it. Don’t worry.” The griffon then looked over to Gwen, or more accurately Gilda, getting out of bed. “Yo, Gwen, wanna head to target practice after breakfast?”
Gilda was barely awake, but she needed to respond fast. “Unless Gideon has something I need to do, I’ll meet you there,” the disguised griffon spoke. The other griffon gave a thumbs up before walking out of the barracks. Gilda and Silverstream followed behind to get to the cafeteria so they could eat.
Gallus was able to meet up with them so they could try and talk. Still, they worried about other griffons seeing them since Gilda would have a high chance of acting out of Gwen’s character. So, it was decided that Gilda and Ocellus, keeping her disguise as Guy, would stay away from the two students until they needed to interact.
Deep inside the mines, Yona and Sandbar were relieved to finally have their break. A few bowls were being provided for the few meals the workers would be provided. The two didn’t remember eating in the past 24 hours, which was concerning to them. “How often do you guys eat?” Sandbar asked.
“I can’t keep track sometimes,” Skyline admitted. “Just eat while you can. They won’t let you know, so you'll just have to hope for the best.” The two students took her advice and had their hooves crossed when they would be fed again.
The griffs locked in the cages were wishing to be let out as they had their meals. They had been stuck in there since their first training session. “How much longer until we’re out again?” Gleaming Pearl asked.
“Quiet!” ordered the guard. The griffs all remained silent as he walked back to his post. Everyone was on the edge of having their spirits are broken, especially Smolder. Unlike everyone else, she wasn’t given anything to eat. She remained chained to the wall, straight jacket and muzzle included. Her body was cramped, her stomach felt like it was shriveling, and all the while she couldn’t anything about it, nor help her friends.
Everyone that was under Gideon’s control was miserable. This was something some creatures couldn’t stand for anymore. Glynn and Gadget were quick to get their meals and find ‘Guy’ and ‘Gwen’. They made sure to be as far as everyone else as they could. This way, they would have an easier time forming an idea of what they could do.
“Okay,” Glynn said, "So, we have the griffons that are locked up, the slaves in the mines, and an unknown amount of griffons who want to get out of here.”
“We can’t all be everywhere at once,” Gadget noted, “but we won’t have a way to communicate with each other either.”
“Then who goes where?” Gilda asked. “I’m supposed to be at target practice with a griffon I don’t even know after breakfast. So, I'm a griffon down.”
“Great. Did you recognize the griffon or even get their name?”
“If I did, I would’ve mentioned it by now.”
“Look, just stay calm,” Glynn requested. “Panicking is the last thing we want to do right now.”
“So, what should we do?” Ocellus asked.
“Well, I’d ask Quartz for what he knew, but sadly the kobolds don’t seem to eat with the griffons?”
“Then where do they eat?”
“Gideon and Oynx keep that classified. Even so, I don’t think they know what Quartz is doing. Hopefully, they don’t get anything out of him.”
“Let’s focus on what we can do,” Ocellus noted. “It’ll be best if I’m the only one who goes into the mine to exchange information to Sandbar and Yona.”
“What about Gallus and Silverstream?” Gilda questioned.
“If we’re all at the base, then we’ll each take a chance to give information to them if given the chance. If one of us is on a mission, then the other one will have to do it.”
“What if they’re on a mission while we’re not?”
Glynn was about to respond until it hit him. He gave a facepalm before he spoke again. “I forgot that Gideon assigns these tests.”
“What tests?”
Gadget decided to explain. “Whenever the gang trusts enough to be let out of their cages, they’ll be taken out on an errand run,” she explained. “Most griffons try and use this as a chance to escape, but very few of them get away.” Given how they’ve seen the griffon here act so far the context didn’t sound pretty.
“Gallus and Silverstream are smarter than that,” Ocellus noted. “Besides, they wouldn’t abandon us here. Not to mention, if I know Gallus, he’s got a few tricks up his sleeve.” She looked over to where the two students were sitting.
They were by themselves until a frail-looking griffon walked over to them. “Gideon says you two are going to help run an errand,” he explained.
“Why’s that?” Silverstream asked.
“It’s the boss’ orders. I don’t question things, I just follow them. Meet Gram outside at the launch bay in half an hour.” He then simply walked away leaving the couple to finish their meal.
They followed the orders and waited outside in the desert, watching one of the airships getting prepared for take-off. Eventually, they heard someone call out to them. “Hey, rookies,” called a voice. They looked to see Gram, who had another griffon standing beside him.
The griffon looked to have dark yellow farther with brown fur and some stitches over his right cheek. His talons were bleached yellow and he looked been through some rough days.
“This is Grayson,” Gram explained. “One of the best captains in the gang. We’re trusting him to keep you two in order.”
The captain eyed the two griffs he would be watching. “These two have interesting looks,” he commented. “No griffon has blue feathers, and not too many griffons with manes.” Silverstream held her talons together as tried to take this comment as a compliment.
“You’ll be going on a run to collect minerals,” Gram explained. “The ponies should have everything we need.”
“Right then,” Gallus commented. “When do we leave?”
“About…” he checked his watch. “… 10 minutes.” The two students were taken on board the ship which was soon loaded and the crew got ready to set off on their runs. Gallus and Silverstream watched the base as they slowly flew away from it. They didn’t know where they were going exactly but knew that they wouldn’t be escaping, given the number of griffons they could see on the deck.
“How much do you think the griffons are paying to buy those materials?” Silverstream asked.
“I doubt they are willing to pay anything they want,” Gallus huffed, “Especially these guys.” Then that got the blue griffon thinking. From his personal experience, the one thing that gave griffon the motivation to mostly anything were bits. Surely, Gideon had to be paying these goons somehow. Or did he?
Gallus decided to think of something that he wouldn’t set into motion after they arrived at their destination. It was a village that looked to be built at the bottom of a mountain. One of the most interesting features was the mineshaft that had a cart sitting outside waiting to be taken down. A couple of ponies were pulling some carts that were filled with bars of metal.
After the ship landed on the outskirts of the town, Grayson took Gallus and Silverstream, as well as some other griffons into town while most of the crew stayed on the ship. They made it to town, where the captain approached one of the stallions. He showed the griffon the slabs they had melted down, however, Grayson wasn’t impressed.
“Is there a problem?” the stallion asked.
“The boss order five carts of this stuff,” Grayson reminded. He pointed out that there were only three carts.
“Sir, we need the minerals too…”
“Are you trying to scam us?!” Without warning, Grayson pulled out a knife and held it to the stallion’s face. The pony started backing up out of fright with Grayson flying closer to him.
“Are the mines drying up?” Gallus asked. The stallion and captain looked over to the blue griffon, who the other griffon was tempted to show what happens when you interrupt something important. Lucky for him, the stallion spoke.
“It’s true,” he spoke. He started sweating as he knew how close he was to the knife. “Because we’re servicing the gang and our village, the mines are nearly out of minerals.”
Grayson looked back from the stallion to Gallus before he slowly put his knife away. “Should’ve known something like this would happen,” he muttered. He landed on his paws before looking the stallion dead in the eye. “Every last spec of minerals in that mine will be given to the Gold Gang. After that, we’re finished.”
“You mean you’ll leave us alone?”
The griffon didn’t give a straight answer, instead, he just remarked, “That’s for Gideon to decide.”
After that was heard, an order was given to take what little bars they had to the base to be taken back to the base. “What’s going to happen to these ponies after the mines close?” Silverstream questioned.
“Eh, they’ll bounce back,” scoffed a griffon.
“You don’t mind me asking another question, do you?” Gallus asked.
“You just did.”
“Well, I’m going to ask a third. How many bits are we getting out of this?”
“This isn’t a money run, kid.”
“Then how much are we getting paid?” The griffon just forced the two students onto the ship, but Gallus’s question stuck in his mind.
On the way back to base, he met up with one of the crewmates about it. “How much are we getting paid?” she questioned. “You’ve been a part of this team longer than I have! You should be swimming in bits!”
“Then how come I’ve barely been given a single coin from Gideon?” The two griffons were starting to feel like they had been tricked for a long time.
Back at the base, Gilda was busy practicing her knife-throwing skills while disguised as Gwen. She was missing the bullseye a couple of times and it didn’t go unnoticed.
“Man, Gwen,” the female griffon commented, “You’re really off your game.”
“I’ve got a lot on my mind,” Gilda explained.
“Like what?”
“Like how some creatures can’t mind their own business.” In her annoyance, she chucked her knife at the board again and missed it, hitting the wall instead.
The griffon just laughed as she threw a couple of knives and had much better accuracy. Gilda was hoping she was just thinking that she was having an off day. “How about you try the crossbow?”
“Yeah, sure.” Just waiting a few seconds, Gilda was given a crossbow to use and a couple of arrows to load it. Since she had never used a crossbow before, she was practically a fish out of water. She just tried thinking about it as a bow, stretching the string back so she could insert the arrow. Once that was successful, Gilda aimed it at the target and squeezed the trigger. With a little kickback, the arrow shot straight into the target, almost scoring a bullseye.
“There, much better. I knew you get back into it.” Gilda gave a smile as she felt like she was in the clear. Unbeknownst to both griffons, somebody was hanging on the ceiling watching from the shadows. It slipped away to tell a certain griffon about what he saw.
Meanwhile, Gadget was making quick work with the metal she had. She had already made some armor for a griffon’s paws, legs, and talons, though there was still a bit of work to do. She had just finished making the torso when she saw that she had run of materials. “Where is that ship?” she questioned. “I’m not getting yelled at by Gideon for something that’s out of my control.”
Just then, Glynn walked in to check to see how she was doing. He was still unsure if he should tell her about the blood test or not. He saw the armor was coming along. “Is that what Gideon's ordered you to build?”
“Yes. Now, I need to wait for the materials to get here because I've just run out." She placed down her tools and rest her head on her talon. "I'm honestly pleased that Gilda and Ocellus have made their way into the base.”
“Me too. I'm hoping that every creature will be free from this nightmare.” Glynn stood beside his partner as he kept trying to think of the right words to use. He looked at Gadget's metal arm and then his wings. “We had a hard life, haven’t we?”
"That’s putting it lightly. Though… the only good thing is that we got these new body parts.”
“They took some getting used to. I’m glad we’re the only ones who had to go through that process.” The two sighed as Glynn still wasn’t sure about his situation. Glynn kept going back and forth until a kobold burst into the room. It wasn’t Quartz nor Onyx, though it looked rather annoyed.
“What are you doing in here?” she questioned. “You’re supposed to be in the medical center. One of the griffons got careless and needs attention now.” Glynn didn’t like the sound of that. Without another word, he followed the kobold to the scene of the disaster.
There, Gabby was holding her arm in pain. One of the students lost control of their weapon and gave her a nasty cut. Despite her efforts to cover it up, she was still losing a good amount of blood. Glynn flew in with his medical kit and saw the damage.
Gram explained what happened and Glynn got to work by wrapping some bandages around Gabby’s arm for a temporary solution until she could be transported to the emergency room. “It’s alright,” Glynn reassured, “I’ve handled worse.”
After they left the room, everyone else was forced back into training. “Remember,” Gram spoke: “the moment you show hesitation, you end up with a spear through your heart. Almost like what your friend experienced.”
Gregoria, who had been the one to injure Gabby, was feeling horrible. It was one thing to see a friend get injured but was another thing when you were the cause of it. Still, Gram didn’t give her a choice but to keep going.
Gabby was still in pain was even crying at the point. Glynn helped her into the medical center and sat her down. He quickly got a needle and filled it up. “Alright, an injury this bad is going to require stitches,” he explained. “Some Tylenol should numb your arm until your stitched up.”
“It’ll be quick, right?” Gabby asked, sobbing a little.
“Don’t worry, once your arm goes numb, everything should be easy for you.” Once that was set, Glynn stabbed the needle into the injured griffon’s arm. Gabby cringed a little bit but a little bit after the plunger was squeezed, she felt her arm going numb. While she couldn’t feel it, she did see Glynn swiftly stitching up her cut. “See, you’re alright.” Gabby managed to smile knowing there was some creature here that care about how she was.
“I felt bad for Gregoria,” Gabby said. “I know she didn’t mean to do that. It hurts so bad.”
“Have you forgive her yet?”
“Not yet. She deserves an apology from me.” She stood silent until he asked another one. “How’s Gallus and Silverstream?”
“They’re doing alright. No worries.” Hearing this made her feel relieved.
Speaking of creatures, there seemed to be more talk going on in the mines. “So there’s no limit to a changeling’s power?” Skyline questioned.
“Well, I don’t think they’re that powerful,” Sandbar noted. “But whatever they transform into isn’t limited by size.”
“So they could just transform into a kaiju and just smash this place?”
The colt and yak didn’t think that was… a good idea. “Yak like smashing,” Yona admitted, “But not want to be one to get smashed.”
Skyline pieced together what she was talking about and admitted her mistake. They passed by Bill again, who was finishing up the rail extension. He was assigned back to mining and would be sent down with the next line of carts. As Sandbar and the girls waiting to be hooked up again, the colt could see the Minotaur wanted to talk.
“You saw a rat run in and out of the mine?” Bill asked.
“Yeah?” Sandbar responded. “Why’d you ask?”
“We barely see a random animal in the mine. I don’t think most would run in and out that fast.”
“It wasn’t a normal rat,” Skyline said, joining in the conversation. They couldn’t explain it safely with griffons hooking up the carts. When they traveled down the mine, they were able to explain who the rat was.
“Changeling? What is that?”
“Magical pony-like creatures who can shapeshift into any species,” Sandbar explained. “Ocellus is currently in the base helping us escape.”
“You think it’s going to work?”
“I don’t see what we have to lose.” Bill looked around at all of the ponies and Minotaurs forced to work. Many of them, himself included had given up any hope of trying to break free. Eventually, one of the guards snapped him back to reality as they were now at the bottom of the mine.
He started digging away as he thought about the first time that he and Skyline met Sandbar and Yona. Then it hit him, Bill remembered the gems that reacted violently with each other. He quickly reminder Sandbar about it, saying that he’d keep an eye out for those two kinds of gemstones again. More and more ideas were piling up, and the griffons might not be able to defend themselves from every direction.
Soon, the errand ship got back, carrying the various metals and a couple of arguing griffons. Gallus stayed quiet admiring the work from the seed he planted while Silverstream stayed quiet to keep out of trouble. Grayson had done his best to keep the crew under control, but it was clear that he needed help. He flew inside of the base, leaving only a few griffons to take the metals inside while everyone else argued. Gallus and Silverstream stayed on the sidelines to stay out of the crossfire.
“You think this is what happens when creatures don’t have friendship?” Silverstream questioned.
“Most likely,” Gallus chuckled.
Eventually, the griffons’ arguments started getting physical. Some started getting into fistfights and some even held out daggers at each other. Eventually, the griffon that Gallus asked about payday flew over and grabbed the friendship student by the neck.
“You think this is funny?” the angry griffon questioned.
“Gah… I just… Air!” Gallus wheezed.
Silverstream was horrified at what she saw and tried to push the griffon away. “Let him go!” she begged.
“Stay out of this, buck beak!” the griffon ordered. With one talon still wrapped around Gallus’s neck, the griffon pulled out some brass knuckles and was about to use them to pummel the student’s face, if it wasn’t for a stray arrow stabbed him right through the palm of his talon.
Gallus was released and fell and his chest. He and Silverstream looked up to see the arrow had been fired from a crossbow wielded by Gram. They then noticed Gideon walked across the deck to look down at the griffon that had been shot, who was still holding his talon in agony. He looked up at the gang leader, who gave an eye cold scowl.
“How did this start?” Gideon asked sternly. The shot griffon was in too much pain to talk, though Gallus would answer.
“I just ask a question,” the blue griffon admitted. “They’re the ones who took it too seriously.”
Gideon growled under his breath before giving an order. “Follow Gram and take the metal inside. Now!”
“Yes, sir,” Gallus and Silverstream responded, both giving a salute. They were taken below deck and started carrying the metal inside to storage. The bars were heavy and the two griffs would’ve questioned why they couldn’t use any carts, Gideon and Gram looked to be in bad moods, so it wouldn’t be wise to ask them this.
Gadget would be one of the first to know about the metals arriving as Gallus would be the one to bring a crate of the metal bars. The second he got the crate into the workshop, he dropped it on the floor and nearly collapsed from exhaustion. Gadget walked over to the young griffon and helped him up.
“Did they order you to carry all of this metal?” she questioned.
“Apparently,” Gallus panted. Gadget quickly got an empty glass and a pitcher of water that she held on to whenever she or anyone else in the workshop had gotten thirsty. She filled up the glass then gave it to Gallus, which promptly drank it. “Thank you. What are you using this stuff for?”
Gadget looked back to the armor legs that she had covered up with a tarp. “By orders, I’ve been told to keep this classified.”
“Gideon?” The griffon with a mechanical arm simply nodded. “Of course. You do what you’re doing, I’m getting back to my friend to make sure we stay out of trouble.” With that, he quickly flew away down the hall.
“Good luck.” Gadget sighed before taking a bar of metal out of the crate then resumed her work with the armor.
Gallus had gotten back to Silverstream, who was being talked down by Gram. “One mission,” he said. “You didn’t have to do anything. You just had to watch and learn, and you couldn’t even do that!”
Silverstream looked rather upset, which was something Gallus couldn’t sit back and watch. “Hey, I was the one who asked the question, and everyone overreacted…”
“Did I ask you to speak?” Gram didn’t hesitate to show the dagger he held onto for ones like Gallus, who learned to stay quiet. “You need discipline, but I don’t have the patience for that right now.” He paused as if an idea struck him. “I’ll ask Gideon if you two can work with Gwen.”
“Um… Yes, sir,” Silverstream responded. She and Gallus were instructed where to go and they soon left. Gram left to see if he could find Gideon and help clear things on the ship.
Gilda was heading to get a drink with the griffon that thought she was Gwen when she saw Gallus and SIlverstram approaching her. “What do you want?” ‘Gwen’ asked, staying in character.
“We've been told to work with you,” Gallus informed.
“Of course.” Gilda looked towards the griffon who was practicing her aim with. She walked off, leaving Gilda with the two students.
"What do we do now?" Silverstream questioned.
Gilda looked over to where she had target practice and got an idea. “We can discuss that in here.” She took the two students into the other room with somebody following them. Once they were in the other room, Gilda had gotten some throwing knives, a couple of arrows, and two crossbows.
“They just have these to spare?” Gallus questioned, seeing the amount of the ammo that was for practice.
"These don’t look like they’re made of the same material that the shurikens in Griffonstone were made of. I guess they're cheaper."
“Maybe.” Gilda started loading one of the crossbows so it looked like she was teaching them how to use it and lower suspicions. Silverstream didn’t want to use it, so it was given to Gallus instead. “I don't think every griffon is getting equal pay. I just asked how many bits we’ll get and that was enough to cause the crew to beat the snot out of each other.”
“Then maybe taking this gang down isn't going to be so hard." The two griffons both laughed as Gallus got into a stance to fire the crossbow. After a second or two, he pulled the trigger and fired the arrow right into the target, surprisingly close to the bullseye. Gilda was impressed. “Wow, that’s a good shot.” Gallus smiled smugly until the base inexplicably started to rumble.
Everyone that wasn’t flying could feel it. The earthquake was coming from the mine, specifically two gems there were blue and yellow. They were glowing and shaking, which Bill knew he had to stop as soon as possible. He punted the yellow gemstone away, which caused it and the blue one to stop glowing and the vibrations stopped. Several griffons flew close to where the earthquake had started, including Gideon.
"What is the meaning of this?" the leader of the gang questioned. He looked and sounded furious. The ponies and minotaurs in the mine were terrified of what was going to happen. The gang leader saw Sandbar and flew down to look him dead in the eye. “You've been messing up a lot around here.”
“It wasn't him,” spoke a voice. Everyone looked towards Bill, who had set his pickaxe down to prepare the worst. “I thought there was something wrong with the gemstones, but I just treated them like normal.”
Gideon would’ve told Bill to get back to building more rails, but his attention was diverted to one of the gemstones that caused the earthquake. He looked over to a guard who had found the gem that Bill kicked away. They brought them together and they gave a glow and vibrated, though not quite enough to cause another earthquake. They moved back and the guard had something to inform.
“Sir, did you feel your gemstone getting a little warm?” the guard asked.
“You're not wrong,” Gideon commented. “Have Gadget look at these when she has the chance. And make sure they are apart from each other.” Another guard was called in to make sure that the gems didn’t cause any more destruction. Gideon then looked back at Bill. “Listen here, bullhead, if you see any more gems like that or ones you don’t know, TELL SOMEONE!”
The griffon’s voice echoed around the mine.
“Yes. sir.”
He soon left, allowing Sandbar to look back at the minotaur. “Thanks for saving me back there,” the colt whispered. Bill managed to smile and give a small salute before getting back to mining.
Gabby was looking at the stitches for her scar. Glynn helped her out of the chair as it wouldn't be wise to put pressure on an injured limb. "How are you feeling, Gabby?" the medic asked.
“I think… maybe something hit my head.” Glynn could tell this wasn't the issue that was bothering Gabby.
“You’re not a warrior clearly.” The young griffon looked at the medic, clearly upset.
“I don’t want to go back to the dojo. What if it’s serious the next time I come back.” Gabby was clearly scared as she didn’t want to fight the griffons and hippogriffs. Not only because they were only teenagers, but the fact she had to have stitches for a minor injury singled other that would be in other parts of her body would also be fatal.
Glynn placed his talon on the young griff’s shoulder to help calm her down. “Gabby, listen. I’ll manage to talk with Gideon and maybe you could help with Gadget and work on maintenance. Would that sound better?"
Wiping a tear from her face, Gabby managed to smile. “I think I’d like that. Thanks, doc.”
Glynn smiled and was rewarded with a surprise hug. He hugged Gabby back to help her feel better before taking her down the hall to show her where Gadget worked. There, the griffon with a mechanical arm was just finishing up with the torso part of the arm. She was impressed she was getting this done so fast, then she heard a knock on the door.
“Hey, Gadget, you have a minute?” Glynn asked.
"Give me a minute," Gadget called. Using some tongs, Gadget placed the hot armor into a bucket of water. Steam hissed before she pulled it out and set it down so it could finish cooling. She removed her welders mask and opened the door to see Glynn and Gabby. “Who's this?”
"This is Gabby. She’s not wanting to be a warrior so I think she’d be a better builder. You said you’d like more help.”
"Hmm, I would enjoy more help. I don’t understand why Gideon has almost every griffon trained to be a warrior.”
“I work as a delivery griffon,” Gabby informed. “Sending and receiving letters all day.”
“Yet another reason why his strategies should’ve backfired by now.”
“I guess this is what happens when someone has too much power. I'll try and convince them to have Gabby work here. If not, well maybe I'll convince him to have another medic.” With that, Glynn left the girls in the workshop, which would be a better environment for Gabby.
The mail griffon looked to the one with a metal arm. “Okay, I’ll explain everything you need to know,” Gadget said. “Orders say that this armor needs to be finished as soon as possible.”
“Right,” Gabby responded. She sat down and listened to every word that was said until the guards from the mine entered with the two reactive gemstones.
“Gadget,” one of them called, “These gems were found in the mine and they need to stay apart.”
“Why’s that?” the gang's mechanic questioned.
“You remember that earthquake we felt a little bit ago?” the second guard asked.
“Yeah? I felt that.”
“These were the cause of that. Again, Gideon said to keep them apart, so this place doesn’t crash down on us.”
“Roger that. Leave them on different shelves over there.” She pointed to the shelves, where the guards placed their gems on the top and bottom shelves. They left to get back to their posts, not even questioning why Gabby was in the room.
“Madam, did those two seem a little, uncaring to you?” the mail griffon asked.
“What are you talking about?” Gadget questioned.
“It sounded like they… had all happiness drained from them.”
“That's due to being in this gang for so long, I think. If you’re not one of the head honchos, you're getting nothing out of it.” Gadget gave Gabby a welders mask so she could show her how to warp the metal into the right shape.
Gideon slowly flew down the hall rubbing his brow. There were a lot of things going wrong today and it was giving him a headache. The sound of somebody landing on the ground could be heard along with that said someone walking closer to him. “You better have a good reason to talk to me,” the griffon said.
“I thought we’d been told to keep an eye on ‘Gwen’,” said a familiar voice. The gang leader looked over to see Oynx, the kobold ninja. Gideon stopped and walked closer to him so they could talk.
“Ah, good, one of the only creatures I want to see right now. What do you have to report?”
“Gwen is acting out of character right now. She’s been nicer to the griffon and hippogriff and her aim appears to be off with knives and crossbows.”
“Then… if that’s the case… she might be an imposter.”
“Shall we take care of her before she does any damage?”
Gideon thought about it for a minute, until he had an idea. “I know just the fate for her. I’ll have my griffons handle it. Though, I have to ask, how’s Quartz doing?”
“Well, we’ve finally found a way to make him useful.” Both creatures snickered as they went off to do their own business.
‘Guy’ wasn't under anybody's suspicion, considering changeling pretending to be other creatures were their bread and butter. She couldn’t help but notice that she hadn’t seen Quartz since yesterday. The fake griffon did her best to stay calm and kept blending in with the gang. Eventually, he passed by the cells where the students were being locked up again. The guards left and ‘Guy’ saw Smolder still locked up.
Her eyes were closed and just before the changeling in disguise could panic, she saw Smolder’s chest moving, indicating she was still breathing. With a sigh of relief, she walked away from the cells as she was feeling guilty leaving the students in there. Still, she wanted to know where Quartz was.
Suddenly, a frail-looking griffon stopped next to her. “Hey, Guy,” she said, “Have you seen Gwen? Gideon’s looking for her.”
“What for?” ‘Guy’ asked.
“He didn’t say. He just told me to tell her to get to the top floor.”
“I’ll take a look around for her and tell her.”
“Great… Th-thanks.” The frail griffon walked away, leaving ‘Guy’ to find where ‘Gwen’ was at. She soon found her in the cafeteria, trying to get something for Gallus and Silverstream to eat.
“You think they keep all the good stuff from the creatures that haven’t been here as long?” Silverstream asked.
“It’s incredibly likely,” Gallus commented. Gilda was staying quiet as she didn't want anyone to get the feeling she wasn't who she thought she was. Soon, ‘Guy’ walked in. She explained what Gideon's orders were, to which 'Gwen' told the fake griffon to stay and watch the students. However, ‘Guy’ wouldn’t fully listen.
‘Gwen’ headed to the stairs and eventually got to the top floor. There, she saw Gideon standing in a room in front of a large vault door. “Hey, boss,” Gilda said, giving a salute. “You wanted to see me?”
“Indeed,” Gideon said calmly. “Are you aware of the way you've been treating the griffs we’ve let out of the cells?”
“You mean the pink and blue ones? I've just been treating them the way every other griffs been treating them.”
“Have you? Because some of the ninjas have been keeping an eye on you for a while. I think they have some interesting details to share about you... Gilda.” The gang leader’s face showed a cocky smirk as Gilda felt her blood run cold. He found out her name, but how? How’d he know that she’s in disguise?
“I’ve… never heard of her. What’re you talking about?”
“Have you? She was a foolish griffon. Can’t believe she tried to take on a ship that has dragon-killing weapons. Not to mention, what did she see in making friends with Gabby. Such a weak link.”
This was enough to make the Griffonstone ambassador lose her temper. She pounced at Gideon and tackled him to the ground looking him dead in the eye. "What did you do to her!"
“Nothing. Some griffons thought she should work as a mechanic or a medic. Something that would make her useful and far less foolish.” Gilda was about to ask what he was talking about until some were stabbed into her chest. Gideon had been hiding a holster under his wing, which hosted a knife that he use to impale Gilda.
The stabbed griffon stumbled backward and grabbed the handle of the knife, which was causing her excruciating pain. As if this wasn’t bad enough, Oynx lept in and jabbed at her pressure points to paralyze her body. Gilda fell onto the floor completely limp, though she was thankful she didn't land on the knife. Gideon and Oynx looked over the ambassador that was unable to move.
“So, what now?” the kobold asked. “Just a quick stab in the heart?”
“Nope,” Gideon stated. He used his wing to block the ninja to keep him back from Gilda. “I didn’t miss her important organs for no reason. We'll have something plan for her tonight.”
Oynx was confused until he figure out what he meant. “A fishy sleepover?”
“Oh, yes.” The two were so busy with Gilda, who was rather scared at the moment, they didn't see a ladybug fluttering around the room. It saw what was going on and figure out what a fishy sleepover was. It flew out of the room, transformed back into ‘Guy’.
“I better warn Gadget and Glynn,” Ocellus said to herself in a scared tone. “They found out her disguise.” She quickly flew towards the medical center to alert Glynn, or Gadget, anybody that could help.