Part 6 - Before the Meeting
Griffon the Heave-ho
by CrowMagnon
"One hundred forty-four... one hundred forty-five..." Gilda grit her teeth as she pushed her way through the wing-ups that she had been made to endure by her superior after 'the worst introduction of an Emperor he'd ever seen'. If those stupid ponies had just calmed down and told her where she could find Rainbow Dash, it wouldn't have been a problem! She might have been able to keep her head in the game. Her rekindled anger toward those screaming cowards in the market gave her the drive she needed to finish the last few wing-ups.
"One hundred... fifty," she grunted, getting back up on all fours.
Her superior officer grimly looked her over as she stood at attention. "What're you waiting for, a medal? Fly ten laps around the mountain, then hit the showers!"
"Yes... sir," Gilda replied, stretching her wings out. They were already aching from the six-hour flight in full armor, and felt like they were burning after the wing-ups. Still, she could manage ten laps around a dinky little mountain and have enough left in the tank to fly her way back to Podunkville and meet her old friend in time for lunch.
Just before she could push off and start, though, her superior snapped, "Hold it!" When she did so and gave him an irritated look at being interrupted, he sneered back at her and said, "I'm still hearing an insubordinate tone. Discharge first."
Gilda clenched her talons. "What?! That's--!"
"That's twenty laps, now! Discharge!"
As much as Gilda might have wanted to tear the other griffon's throat out in that moment, she ground her teeth together and pushed all of the lightning magic that her thundersteel armor had stored up down into the ground. It would accumulate again over time, but the way that the magic interacted with a griffon's natural storm-shaping abilities was what kept it relatively light. The innate magic of the wearer essentially treated the metal as if it were an extremely dense storm cloud, allowing her to push it through the air.
Gilda slumped down as the metal plate grew heavier and heavier. Discharging the lightning out of the metal meant that until it recharged, the only thing holding it up was her own strength.
"Well? What are you waiting for? Start flapping!"
Gilda grunted and replied, "Yes, sir," with as much energy as she could muster before pushing off from the ground and spreading her wings to catch the wind. She stumbled at first, nearly crashing back down to the ground, but she managed to find an updraft at the last moment and flapped her wings as hard as she could in order to get enough height to sluggishly soar around the mountain.
Twenty laps... that's nothing, Gilda thought to herself, despite the growing pain and fatigue in her wings making a mere five increasingly unlikely. Nevertheless, she grit her teeth and fought against gravity's pull. Just twenty laps... Then... then I'll go see Dash and give her exactly what she deserves...
-----
Gertrude looked out the window and frowned as she watched the herald who had introduced her to the Imperial envoys flew past.
Sensing a faint chill coming from his grandmother, Gunther came up alongside her and followed her gaze. "Well, I suppose somegriffon must have found that performance as disrespectful as I did. Still, what sort of world is it where a soldier can be led to believe that sort of behavior is acceptable in the first place?"
"A new one," Gertrude replied. "One that we are guests in. Whatever our place is to be among our fellow griffons, remember that, Gunther."
The younger of the two albinos glanced at his grandmother out of the corner of his eye and said, "Perhaps, but I don't believe that they will be inclined to view us favorably if they see you fidgeting when we meet." When Gertrude arched an eyebrow at him, he pointed a talon at the spearhead hanging from her neck, which her own talons were unconsciously grasping.
"Of course," she replied as she let go of the talisman. "No need for worry, Gunther. This is hardly my first time in the political arena, after all. And the griffons of our own time were far less charitable."
"The griffons of our time knew everything that you had done for them," Gunther countered. "Don't forget that I've also read the history of what our people went through after your fall from grace, grandmother... I've seen the legends that replaced the truth of your rule in the twelve centuries since. The way that the Empire has twisted your memory. You cannot tell me that there is no need for worry. We may be guests in their world, but are we welcome ones?"
Gertrude stretched out a wing to wrap comfortingly around Gunther as she let out a warm chuckle. "Gunther, do you remember the story your grandfather always told you of my return to the Snowheart clanhold?"
Gunther sighed and let out a quiet laugh in return. "I should. He repeated it often enough."
"Then trust me," Gertrude replied with a wan smile. "Trust me as you did when you and everygriffon in that camp down below decided to follow me into this era... I know exactly what I am doing," she assured him.
Liar, Gungnir whispered from its necklace.
Gertrude made no effort to correct it.
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Short, but good
How many chapters do you think this will have? Also I like the thundersteel. I always figured that the Griffins had some kind lightning control ability.
4762342 I don't really have a solid plan, but based on the general outline in my head... probably around 15 chapters of the average length so far, give or take.
I like the idea behind how the thundersteel armor works.
4762342
4764035
Thanks, the thundersteel is built off of a couple of ideas that meshed really well. Given that Gilda was able to stand on clouds in the show, I ran with the idea that griffons also have an innate weather magic like pegasi. But, being predators, they're more attuned to violent weather.
Then there's the idea of 'thunder-forged iron' from the Winning Pony series, which is metal that's been worked by pegasi, using lightning clouds to heat and shape the metal. Horseshoes made of the stuff allow earth ponies and unicorns to stand on clouds without a cloudwalking spell, so I expanded the concept a little and tweaked it into something that the griffons would make extensive use of, in both utilitarian and military ways.
4764406 Cool, but maybe you should rename the Griffin metal "Storm steel". It rolls off the tongue a little easier, sounds fiercer, and it will help to better differentiate from "thunder-forged steel".
4765056
Hmm, I appreciate the thought, but 'thundersteel' sounds better to me. Plus I don't mind the comparison, since that was one of the major influences in creating it.
4766099 I like thundersteel as well.
It's a pretty cool idea, to be sure.
Though I wonder if I was too hasty when I suggested Gilda didn't want to kill Dash...
Yeah, I always figured griffons had similar magic to pegasi. I think that the lost treasure of griffonstone adds more probability to that idea - when a cub, Gilda had proportionately tiny wings, yet she flew really well, which makes me believe that griffons also have the flight magic that allows pegasi to fly with tiny wings.
The concept of thunder steel is awesome, I hope you don't mind if I employ it in an RP I'm partaking in?
Cya
Raziel-chan