Wanderlust (1)
Wanderlust
Seth
I awoke early in the morning, by which I mean 10 AM, due to the sunlight streaking in through my window. I had done my best to ignore the thing but waking up cannot be put off forever. I blearily squinted my eyes, rolled over and hopped out of bed, stretching as I landed on the floor to be rewarded with some resounding pops coming from my spine. Entering the bathroom, I looked in the mirror and saw the face of an exhausted griffin staring back at me. Dark circles and bags under the eyes, messy feathers, everything out of line. I stepped into the shower and gave the cloud anchored above me a hearty smack, scrubbed myself down, then dried off by opening the hatch above, flying out into the morning sky, and grabbing a new cumulus to replace the one I had just used. Haphazardly running a comb over me, I left the bathroom and headed downstairs.
"Mornin Seth." Dad was already up, reading the paper. "Ready for today?"
"NNnnnnnnrrgg.... coofffffeeee." I replied, animating my shadow to grab hold of the pot and a mug. I drank it black, downed it, then poured a second one to have with my breakfast. I cracked two eggs into the pan on the stove then stared intently at the thing, willing it to heat up. I threw a fillet of fish on it as well, while I was at it. A few minutes later, the sizzling breakfast was unceremoniously dumped onto a plate and I started to eat.
"Late night?" Dad asked, drinking his own cup of the life giving elixir.
"Yeah, excited... couldn't sleep much."
"Seth are you sure you want to do this?" Mom asked ask she entered the kitchen of our island home.
"Ya." I replied.
"Gilda it's the wanderlust, just the same as when we were younger. If he sits around anymore he'll go nuts."
The wanderlust, the great journey, whatever you want to call it. Some people get bored if they stick around the same place for too long. I'm one of those people, so are they. Griffins, in general, feel the need to travel more strongly than others, probably something to do with migratory instincts. I had already been all over the New Dominion and my curiosity demanded more.
"Yeah, It's just hard to think that my little boy is all grown up." Mom sighed. Mom and Dad are... weird. Everyone on the island acts strangely around them, like there's some big secret they don't want to talk about, something about 13 years ago that people don't want to bring up. Dad works as a teacher at the school, and also with the council, while mom works with the weather crew. Whenever I'd ask Dad about it he'd always say 'Well, your mother and I used to be pretty important back in the day, but things have calmed down since then. We prefer to take it easy now.' It's still strange that just about everybody knows him, and there's a kind of deep respect there. Sometimes I get a faint memory of back then, a sense of meeting with important people.
"Ugh, mom." I groaned as she gave me a hug. "You're going to spill my coffee."
I finished breakfast then packed the few things I would be bringing with me into my backpack. A few textbooks, my own personal notes, some clothes because even though most people don't wear them I do, some inkwells, combs, nail files for my claws, and a number of other personal effects and basics for travel.
Once I had everything ready I prepared so say my goodbyes. Mom was emotional, while dad just watched with hidden anxiety. Mom always said he was a worry wort, and he's clearly doing his best to hide it.
I also said goodbye to my friends. I didn't put much emphasis on having relationships but I still had a couple acquaintances. Capca the changeling, colorful little bug horse that he is, wasn't too happy to see me go. He had always valued our friendship, though part of that was because it was literally food for him. Apparently changelings used to be weird black bugs, but a fiasco with the queen about a decade ago changed that. Dad had been extremely upset about it, he told me he knew her as well and questioned 'why wasn't it enough?'
Having said all my goodbyes, I took to the air and headed west to Baltimare. I could have taken a ship but that'd be too slow for my taste. As I traveled I'd occasionally take a rest on a cloud before moving on though, when I saw a striped blue and green one. I knew I had to stop and investigate.
"Hey Uncle Discord!" I shouted into the candy cane nimbus. Sure enough, he poked his misshapen head out, licked his snaggletooth to get some confectionery that was stuck on it, then flew next to me, flitting about in the sky haphazardly as is his usual method.
"Seth! It's been years my boy!"
"I saw you two weeks ago Discord." I deadpanned. I was accustomed to his antics. Also, does anybody else think having the spirit of chaos as an uncle/godfather is strange? It's been that way my whole life, so I'm used to it, but still.
"Riiiight, when you told me you'd be taking this little trip. I honestly had forgotten. I certainly didn't know you'd be heading this way and intentionally put myself in your flight path so we could meet up." He turned his head and looked at me with one eye.
"No, of course not." I replied with a small smirk.
"So you're heading to Equestria, where do you plan to go when you get there?" Discord inquired.
"Well I'm thinking I might explore a bit, then I'll probably apply to a school once I get the lay of the land."
"I know, you should apply to Princess Sparkle's magic school." He suggested.
"Nah, not really interested in learning pony magic."
"Who said you'd be learning? I was thinking less of a student and more of a troublemaker, really get her mane frazzled."
"Hmm... tempting." I replied with a sinister grin. "I'll have to think about it."
"In any case, where are you staying?"
"Oh, I've got a place in mind."
Before I reached Baltimare, Discord got bored of flying with me and went off to do his own thing. Probably for the best that he doesn't cause a scene. As soon as I drew near I could tell. The scent changed from 'ocean' to 'city' almost like crossing a line, sudden and distinct. I landed, got myself a map. Truth be told I knew exactly where I was going, I didn't want Discord to know. As much as I like him he tends to cause problems wherever he goes. First things first, It was approaching night, and I'd need a place to sleep before I continued my journey. I found a large river outside of town.
Going to the shore I stretched and strained, feeling a satisfying pop in my joints.
"Alright, this seems to be good." I dipped my claws into the water, poured my magic into it, then exerted my will upon it. Steam began to rise and form clouds. Using my wings to control the air currents, I condensed and shaped the clouds until I had formed a small house. Well, less than a house, it was just a bedroom. I had done this dozens of times before back home and would often sleep in a little cloud room when I felt like I needed to get out of the house. It was a nice house but it being on the ground just felt wrong. I used a small rope of cloud to tether it to a tree, that way it wouldn't drift away, then poked a small hole facing east so I'd be woken by the sun before flopping onto a cloud bed and heading to sleep.
Morning came and I was awoken by the sun shining on my face. I blinked the sleep from my eyes and got up. Flying down to the shore, I set my belongings by the tree I had tethered my cloud room to, flew under it, poked it, and had my morning shower dismantling the room at the same time. I allowed myself to dry off in the sun before gathering my things and continuing my journey, but not before I brewed a cup of coffee. While I prefer freshly ground beans instant will do in a pinch, besides I wanted to save the GOOD coffee for when I was settled in. I would eat later.
Continuing west I left Baltimare, crossing small rivers and streams as I went. The shoreline gave way to rolling, windswept grasslands and the smell of the city was left behind, as was the scent of the ocean that I had known my entire life. What replaced it was the smell of fresh grass, fresh air and sun. As I flew I watched the weather ponies pushing clouds from, I assume, Cloudsdale, east towards Balitmare to give it it's scheduled rain. Why they don't just make clouds from the ocean I'll never understand. Probably something to due with centralized industry, business contracts and other such nonsense.
In case it isn't obvious by this point, I'm a free spirit. People should be free to do what they want, the government sucks and should only exist as a bare minimum to ensure the safety of it's people, as well as minor organizational roles, and the state only exists because if it didn't someone would create it and then it would. Even though I know my dad works with the council, as he put it 'It's less about governing and making laws, and more about ideas to solve problems that crop up.' People listen to the council because they're in charge, but the only reason they're in charge is that they have good ideas that people want to listen to. If that were to change a council member would quickly find themselves out of a job. Of course there's still a few laws that are outright set in stone, like don't kill anyone outside of the arena, but even the arena doesn't see much use. People mostly get along pretty well besides the occasional dispute.
This meant that as I approached Canterlot, the ultimate symbol of Equestrian authority, law, order, and dullness, I tried my best to ignore those aspects and marvel at the architecture instead. The city hung off the side of a mountain, a river flowing through it caused by an underground lake being heated by the inactive volcano, rising up, making mineral deposits in the caves beneath the city, then condensing and flowing down in a near constant flow. I have to admit it's quite a marvel to look at, but I can't help but think that they're wasting a massive resource of natural steam power. Probably for the best, wouldn't want to ruin the pristine aesthetic. They must have designed it to be beautiful and interesting to distract from the dry politics that takes place there, and I can hardly blame them.
I decided that the Canterlot gardens would be a nice place to sit and have my breakfast, though it was more along the lines of brunch now. Despite the gardens being open to the public, I didn't have any company. I unfolded my map again to try and plot out my next route.
"Oh, I wasn't expecting anyone would be here at this time of day, would you mind if I joined you?" I heard a soft, smooth voice from behind me. I didn't bother to look, as I was much too concerned with deciding whether I should circle north to Manehatten or straight west through Ponyville. While I knew where I was going I wasn't certain on how I wanted to get there.
"Sure, I don't mind." I replied as I ate some cashews and dried fish. Salty. "Hmm... Ponyville would be the faster way to get to Cloudsdale but Manehatten is the scenic route and brings me through Whitetail Woods, then again I could go through Appleoosa, but then I'd have to make a stop over in Dodge Junction and I don't think I want to head through the dust. What do you think?" I asked as I turned to face my companion. When I saw her face I would have bowed except that I was already laying on the picnic blanket I had set out, and Dad had taught me not to bow because sycophancy is annoying.
"That depends on what you're looking for." Princess Celestia replied as she sat next to me.
"Well, I plan to spend my summer vacation traveling, seeing what Equestria has to offer and deciding what to do with myself, maybe make some money doing odd jobs. Then I'll find a school to go to that teaches something interesting. If I get bored I'll find something else to do until I get tired of that."
"You remind me of someone I know. Oh, forgive me, I haven't introduced my self. I am Princess Celestia. What is your name?"
"Seth North." When I said that, her face went a little pale, or, maybe really pale but it's hard to tell beneath white fur. Noticing that she was somewhat startled by that was enough for me to put 2 and 2 together. "Let me guess, you know my dad as well."
"Indeed I do."
"Seems like everybody does though nobody will explain why."
"To think he'd go that far." Celestia pondered. "Your father has done all that he can to ensure his own past isn't a blight on your future. To be honest, it really is best if you just let it go but if you're anything like he is you won't be able to."
"What is that supposed to mean?" At this , Princess Celestia abruptly got up. "If you're looking for a school to go to, I would have to suggest Princess Sparkle's School of Magic."
"You're the second person to suggest that, but I have no interest in learning pony magic." I replied.
"Well then you definitely shouldn't enroll in 'Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns.' Unlike mine, Twilight's school caters to all forms of magic, not just Equestrian. Give it some thought." With that, she headed back inside.
Twice now fate has nudged me towards this school and yet deep in my soul I feel the need to be contrary if only for the sake of being difficult. Yet the Princess had given me an interesting suggestion, even if it's not what she intended.
I felt myself overcome by a wicked smile. Even if I didn't plan on attending, that doesn't mean I shouldn't apply. After all, it's quite common to get rejected from the school of your choice and apply to a different one, or get accepted to two and have to turn one down.
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I'm ALIVE! Fair warning, don't expect any reasonable update schedule to this story, I'm taking a far more relaxed approach to writing. I'm doing it for fun, the way it's supposed to be, rather than for a deadline. A deadline makes it feel like a JOB, and that makes pressure and is part of why I took a break from writing to begin with.
It feels so weird thinking of Griffin & Gilda as parents >.<
HOLY SHIT YOU'RE BACK! DREAMS DO COME TRUE!
YAY new stuff!!!
Nice to see you writing again. I look forward to seeing what kind of antics ensue.
Seths going to end up leader of the Goony Squad, with the extra rare hybrids like Hippogriff, Kirin, Quetzal etc?
Now, who will be the Third Witch/Fate, given weve had the Hag/Past and the Mother/Present, and need Maiden/Future?
holy shitballs I can die with no regrets
The ending to the last book still feels like a kick in the teeth, but seeing that this is still alive in some form dulls the ache it left.
8579386
Yeah, well, I also don't like how the last story ended, but it NEEDED to end. To me it felt like a dying animal that I was putting out of it's misery, months would go by and I wouldn't have any creativity at all. It was a story that was over but kept going anyway. With this I have fresh characters, new adventures and plot lines, no pressure to write so I can just let the creativity flow naturally rather than spending every waking moment running through it.
8579680 I agree that the story needed to end, but my contention is that it didn't need creativity at that point, it needed payoff. That’s why the ending felt like such a kick in the teeth, it drooped everything that was previously built up and basically outright said that everything that happened, including the character development did not matter.
But that's just my opinion.
It's like Dragon Ball, where everyone is old as the series gets older and... wow. Saddening thought.
HOLY SHIT YES i love this series i read both of them and loved them hell yes
Give Seth your luck
This is one of the best stories on Fimfiction and Is there any way you could bring back Griffin and Gilds Pretty Plz with a big fat cherry on top!
Awesome that you’re back! I loved these stories.
I agree with some of the other people here, the ending of Falling Feathers kinda felt forced and it left me feeling like there was something missing, now we have the next chapter, this is great!
Also, why does Griffin care so much that Seth not find out about his past? Does it matter that much? Why did Griffin step down in the first place, seemed like he was on a roll then just kinda lost it.
8582926
That's something I hope to explain in the story.
I missed your stories, I've read them all except one, glad to see your back though.
Great to see you writing again. I wish my feed would have told me then I would have already read this.
ITS ALIVE, and you to BlackWing (;
Deadlines shouldnt be a thing anyway, as long as im alive to read the ending when its finished thats fast enough.
WOW you started the seires in 2012. 5 years Good job.
Well, I'll keep an eye on this, since I've always enjoyed your stories. Even if you killed best Trixie, you monster
Coolio, i can already see Seths face when he finds out what his homely daddykuns used to be up to.
Next chapter: Toilet Sparkle meets the one responsible for the nickname.
I'm still kinda unsatisfied with how abruptly you ended Falling Feathers. You left so many awesome cliff hangers, but I can understand why you needed to stop.
8961969
Yeah. I hate it when stories end in an abrupt brick wall. Ah well....
8579241
You should really tag the sequels in the story settings, so people can more easily see there's more to the series than just the first one.