• Published 12th Dec 2012
  • 2,118 Views, 67 Comments

The Griffin's Apprentice - Perpetual Lurker



Gilda and Lyra form an unlikely duo as they travel to the Griffin Empire, becoming involved in an undertaking far larger than they had ever imagined.

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In the Spirit of Things

"Hey, Gilda," Lyra called from her bunk as she stared out the nearby porthole. "What's it like to fly?"

"We're on an airship. Why don't you tell me?" the griffin replied from her own bed on the opposite side of the cabin. We've barely even left the ground, and already she's asking stupid questions.

"I mean with wings. Soaring through the open skies. Having the freedom to go anywhere." Lyra sighed, obviously lost in her own fantasy.

"It's just something I do. Nothing special about it."

"Oh, I see..." the unicorn said despondently, before snapping back to her normal cheerful demeanor. "I think I'm going to head above deck to get one last look at Manehattan. Wanna come?"

"No."

"Suit yourself, Miss Grumpy Feathers." Lyra trotted out the door, and closed it behind her.

Finally. Gilda sighed. She tried to enjoy what time she could get to herself, but her thoughts kept coming back to her earlier words. Freedom to go anywhere? If you had that, you'd never have left home...



"Gilda!" a deep voice shouted, echoing across the courtyard. The the young griffin lounging on a cloud above payed it no mind, pretending she didn't hear it. "Gilda!" Groaning, she finally answered.

"What do you want, Dad?"

"Gilda, get down here this instant! I will not allow you to shirk your studies any longer!"

"Oh yeah? Then come up here and make me!" Gilda smirked. She knew that he couldn't, even if he wanted to. "I'm just gonna fly for a while. I'll be back when I'm done."

"Do you have to fill your days with such frivolous activities?" Her father asked.

"Flying is my life, Dad. Just because you're missing a few too many feathers doesn't mean you get to say it isn't."

"Alright," her father sighed, and then smiled. "When will you be back?"

"In a few hours. Promise."

"I'll be at the forge when you get back. We'll talk more then. Just stay safe for me, okay?"

"Sure thing. See ya!" Gilda began to take off into the sky, but stopped just after leaving the cloud. "Oh, and Dad?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks."



"Suit yourself, Miss Grumpy Feathers." Lyra trotted out the cabin door, and closed it behind her. As soon as she was out of sight, her smile vanished. Why do I even bother trying? the unicorn asked herself. You know exactly why, a part of her answered. She's the first griffin you've had for company you've had in years, and some things never change...

"Come out for the view, Miss?" a gruff voice asked, startling Lyra from her thoughts. Apparently she was so distracted she hadn't even noticed that she had made it above deck. "Manehattan's got quite the skyline." Turning, Lyra saw that the voice belonged to a rather burly brown Earth Pony standing beside her. "Captain Windfall of the Fortunate Breeze, at your service, Miss."

"Oh, uh, yes actually," the unicorn replied. "Thank you, Mister Windfall." When she had bought tickets for an airship to Stormtalon the day before, she was expecting a passenger liner, but apparently the Fortunate Breeze was primarily a cargo ship, only occasionally selling passage in the odd spare cabin. The crew member that had showed them to their room when they boarded had seemed most displeased to see them there, so having someone, the Captain, no less, be so personable was a great relief.

"I hope my crew here didn't give you and your friend hard time. Some of them have had bad dealings with the Griffins in the past," the stallion explained, "and the fact that we're making a shipment to them has them on edge."

"The one crew member we met just seemed a little annoyed, so it's not a problem." Lyra said. "So, where-" She began, only for a the sound of a ringing bell to cut her off.

"I suggest you hold on to something!" Captain Windfall shouted over the ringing. "We're about to hit The Wingstream!"

"The what?" Lyra asked as the ringing stopped, but before the Captain could answer, the whole ship began to shake, and the sound of howling wind filled her ears. The force of it all would have knocked her off of her hooves if she hadn't used a little bit of magic to anchor herself to the floor.

"Deploy the sails!" Windfall yelled to his crew, who pulled tight on several ropes that were tied to the airships main balloon, unfurling a set of large sails that had been bound to either side of it. With a sudden jerk, the airship, which had merely been gaining altitude up until this point, quickly accelerated to a cruising speed as the wind filled the sails. Then, just as quickly as it began, the shaking and howling ceased. Noting Lyra's confusion, the Captain chuckled. "I take it you've never crossed the ocean before?"

The unicorn simply shook her head.

"The Wingstream is a high-altitude air current that connects the Equestrian and Gryphonic continents," Windfall explained. "It was created as part of a trade agreement years ago, and is maintained by the joint efforts of griffin and pegasi weather teams and powered by the warm waters of the Aquastrian ocean current, created long ago by the sea ponies. Thanks to it, we should be across the ocean in about a day and a half."

"That's great!" Lyra said giving a small, excited hop. I was expecting at least three days to cross the ocean. Now I'll get to see Cambiare by the end of the day tomorrow! Trotting over to the back of the deck, she took one last look over Equestria, as the shoreline faded into the mists behind them. And just like that, Equestria was gone. Goodbye, everyone. I'll come back some day. I promise. Once again, the smile faded from her face.



"Lyra."

"Huh?" Heartstrings asked, confused. "Who's that?"

"You," Cambiare answered. "You did such a good job at your first concert tonight, I think the name Lyra suits you rather well. Think of it as a nickname." The griffin stoked the coals of their campfire with a stick, sending flickering lights dancing through the air.

"Lyra..." Heartstrings whispered the name to herself, still somewhat confused. It did have a nice ring to it, though.... "Um, Maestro?"

"Come now, Lyra, I think we know each other well enough at this point to not have to use such titles when we're alone. Call me Cambiare."

"Okay... Cambiare? What's it like where you come from?"

"Well, the Griffin Empire is a land of magic and wonder," the griffin began, waving a claw in a grandiose manner. "But, of course, so is Equestria, so that's not saying much." He laughed. "Really, it's not all that different at all. The people are just shaped different, and maybe they're a bit more concerned with their own egos than your average pony. Just a little."

"Could I see it someday?" Lyra asked.

"Someday, I'm sure you will," Cambiare answered, smiling warmly. "I think you'd really like it there..."



Why did I have to go and get myself into this? Gilda asked herself for the umpteenth time. And once again, she couldn't come up with a satisfactory answer. Neither Equestria nor the Empire held anything for her anymore. Just hang in there. You'll be set for a long while once this is all over. That will give you tons of time to get yourself together.

Maybe it's time I just start over again. Go find another land where I haven't messed everything up... Before she could finish yet another self-deprecating thought, Gilda was interrupted by a knock on the cabin door.

"Gilda?" Lyra's voice came from the other side. "I'm coming in!" Sure enough, Lyra pushed the door open and stepped inside the cabin. Gilda immediately noticed that she lacked the spring in her step that she usually had. She almost seemed melancholy. The unicorn promptly flopped onto her bunk. "I hope you're feeling better, because I'm sure not."

She wants me to ask why, doesn't she? Gilda thought, annoyed at the obvious bait. Does she really expect me to-

"It's just that... this is it, you know? This is the culmination of all of my dreams. I should feel amazing, right?" Lyra sighed. "Instead, if I feel anything, it's terrified and homesick, and we've barely even left." She looked at Gilda. "What about you? You've barely talked about yourself since we've met. How are you feeling about all this?"

"Well..." Gilda began, deciding to humor the pony. "I feel-" terrified, too, her mind told her, completing the sentence. She paused, surprised to find any common ground with Lyra. "I feel... fine."

"Oh come on," Lyra replied. "You're telling me that you, the antisocial griffin living in Equestria who would never have entertained the thought of returning to her homeland without a reward for doing so, is doing 'fine' when she ends up escorting a pony to the one place she clearly doesn't want to go!"

"You..." Words failed Gilda as she processed everything that the pony said. All of it was true. "You... don't understand."

"Then help me!"

"I am literally no one! Nameless!" There. It was out. And with it, a great weight began to lift from her shoulders. For the first time in years, Gilda allowed herself to cry.



"I think you're ready, Gilda."

"Ready for what, Dad?"

"Ready for your final lesson in the family trade." The elder griffin led Gilda into the back of their home, where the family forge resided. She had watched him shape metal, using his own wings to fan the flames to supernatural heights. Now it was her turn. In his old age, he could no longer use his wings to fan the flames as hot as he used to, and he had lost his ability to fly long ago. His feathers were falling out faster than they could grow back. It was up to Gilda to carry on his legacy. To carry on his name. "Come. Stand in front of the fire, Gilda."

Gilda did as she was told, standing before the forge, its idle heat washing over her.

"This technique is an ancient one. One that has been passed down from generation to generation. By calling upon the power that allows us to shape the weather, we can control the strength of the fire."

"But... how?" Gilda asked. She blown her fair share of clouds around as part of her studies, but she couldn't see how it could relate to this.

"The air, Gilda. We move the air. Trust me, I will guide you."

"Okay..."

"Begin by rearing up onto your hind legs. Use your wings to steady yourself." The young griffin did so. "Now, starting slowly, use your wings to push air into the forge. With each flap, focus on the air, and build the strength of the wind. Focus until the flames are white hot, and do not stop." To her surprise, her efforts seemed to be working, as the wind flowing through the forge grew with each flap of her wings.

"I'm doing it!" Gilda shouted in excitement.

"Yes, excellent!" her father shouted over the roaring wind. The pair worked in tandem. Under her father's instruction, Gilda smelted metals in the forge, altering the temperature of the flames to create the best mix. The heat felt like it would light her fur and feathers afire, but she continued. Eventually, she had completed her task, and the new metal was poured into molds and carefully cooled.

"I'm proud of you, Gilda," her father said with the largest smile Gilda had ever seen.

"I... I did it!" Gilda said, panting. Her wings and hind legs hurt, but she was happy. She did it. And then she saw it. Three wing feathers, falling through the air, burnt black by the fire. Her feathers.

"You truly are worthy of the name Flamewing. Gilda Flamewing."

"No..."

"I'm sorry?"

"No. No no no no no!" Gilda began to panic as she put it all together. "You burnt your wings away! You want me to burn my wings away! To give up flying forever!"

"It's the way things are meant to be, Gilda. I'm sorry you had to find out this way, but-"

"But nothing!" Gilda shouted. "I won't give up flying for this! Not for a stupid name! Not for anything!" And so she turned and ran, ignoring the calls of her father behind her. Taking to the skies, she never stopped.


For a griffin, a name is everything. It's an indicator of their accomplishments, and of their potential, given by an elder who recognizes those accomplishments. A griffin with nothing but their birth name is either a young child, or a pariah. A stain on their family's honor. Gilda could have earned her name, just as her father earned his name, and his father before him, but she didn't. She ran. She ran and ran until she had crossed the ocean itself to get away...

Comments ( 16 )

4627859
4626725

Sorry about the bump, accidentally hit publish and had to revoke it immediately. But the good news is that the chapter is out for real now! :twilightblush:

And yes, this is a bump to a story that I haven't touched in a year. I've been dealing with some tough stuff, and my writing skills have probably decayed in the meantime, but I do mean to finish this, one way or another.

4628164
Oh, hey, congrats on finally getting something out again. I hope you're doing better. I see some tinges that you're out of practice, but fundamentally this is nicely compelling. Gilda needs to stop being such a sad-sack and regretting her decisions. I'm sure Lyra can break through eventually!

The back and forth between present and past is kind of awkward. Other than that, interesting so far. It'd be nice to hear a bit more about how Griffin society works in here and more of Gilda's past.

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4628983

Yeah, looking back at things, I used the flashbacks as a crutch here. I need to lay off them in the future. Oh well, I need to relearn some things after being gone for so long, anyway. Thanks for the support and criticism!

Damn, quite the cost for a family trade.

I do question why they need to fan the flames with only their wings, and why it has to be done close enough to ruin the feathers... but I've heard of dumber traditional crafting methods.

Glad to see this update. Glad you are back.

That Wingstream idea is an interesting bit of world building. It makes a certain amount of sense that stuff like that could exist in a world where the inhabitants have such control over what are normally natural processes.

I just noted, when I started to read these titles, these are kansas songs. Good ones too.

This is extremely interesting! I love the world-building, your characterizations, everything! I am totally hooked, and I got back just in time for you to pick it up again! :yay:

Please keep writing, I'll keep reading!

I never got the notification from this story... Thankfully I mentioned it to a friend last week and that brought the update to my attention. That's an interesting chapter, I see the story taking a curious shape. Griffins have no cutie mark, but they do!

I never got a notification about this, but somehow the favorites getting sorta-wiped brought it back. Hooray!

Got directed to this story. I like it! Looking forward to more!

Just finished reading the whole thing, and I have to say, I really, really hope this isn't dead.

The world building, the characters, all of it is fantastic. I love where this is going and dearly hope there will be more.

Very good idea, was a very enjoyable read so far.
Lyra gained her name from an Gryphon high councilor, wonder how Gilda will react to that?
Hope you update soon, good work.

This is an interesting fanfic and I hope to see the ending.

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