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// Chapter Two: We all have a little Griffin in all of us 
// Story: Gabby tries being a Pony 
// by Foal Star 
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The following day, Gabby woke up and was super excited as she flew out of the hut and ran across the "Everfree Forest. But during her walk, she thought things over, getting ready to tell the Cutie Mark Crusaders the truth that she was a griffin. The thoughts were still making her anxious about how they would react, hoping they would understand her situation. The little pegasus came to the treehouse; she continued climbing up the ladder and heard shouting and cawing. Gabby was surprised and a bit worried as she continued to open the doors. As she opened them, she turned to see the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and her mouth dropped. Right before her, she saw three young fledgling griffins all flapping around and arguing with each other. Scootaloo had a coat of bright orange feathers, violet eyes, a flock of violet mane flowing off from her head, and a tuff of the coat on the end of her tail. Sweetie Belle had a white feathery body with bright white wings, lime green eyes, and a swirl of light pink and purple striped mane around her. Apple Bloom was a buttery yellow feathery body with a red coat around her head and a tuff of red on the end of her tail. They all had bright orange beaks, and their hooves were now talons as they were going over a massive board filled with all different ideas of how they were turned into griffins from changelings, Discord, a magic spell gone wrong. They all then turned their attention to Gabby as Scootaloo squealed, "Oh hey, Gabby!"

Sweetie Belle flew over and hugged as she cried, "Gabby, I'm so glad you didn't get turned into a griffin!"

Gabby gulped, feeling that she was starting to sweat bullets. She said, "Yeah, what a relief."

Apple Bloom flew up and cried, "Well, I think being turned into a griffin was weird this morning. But after a while, I must admit flying about was really cool!"

Scootaloo flapped her wings and started to fly about, chirping, "Oh heck ya! Not gonna lie, being a griffin is pretty awesome!"

"I'm glad you two are enjoying yourselves," Gabby whispered as she blushed and looked down, thinking that maybe somehow she was why her friends were turned into griffins. The little griffin was still scared, but she needed to tell them the truth, so she sighed and said, "Um, girls, can you all come down here for a second?"

They all flew towards her as Gabby raised her head and said, "Girls, I have to say something I…I have been lying to all of you… I'm not really a pegasus; I was. I mean, I am a griffin."

The young griffins were now somewhat speechless and looked confused. Still, Gabby continued, "I…came to Ponyville to look for you as I wanted to find a cutie mark. But instead, I ended up with Zecora, and she helped turn me into a pegasus filly."

The news surprised Apple Bloom, who cried, "Wait! Zecora turned you into a pegasus filly!"

The little griffin nodded, then said, "Yeah, she did; she used a magic potion that has me turned into a pony so I can earn my cutie mark! As well, you all know...griffins usually can't get cutie marks."

The filly started to become emotional and and cried, "I'm sorry. I think I'm the reason you all were turned into griffins."

Scootaloo flew over, saying, "Hey, it's okay, listen, we get it. We had also been looking for our cutie marks for so long."

Apple Bloom flew over and added, "Yes, I understand why you lied to us, but you didn't have to. We would have helped find your cutie mark even if you were a griffin."

She wiped the tears and said, "Are you sure?"

"Of course!" Sweetie Belle said, "Look, we can't promise we would have found you a cutie mark, but we would have certainly tried!"

Gabby was struck by how forthcoming the fillies were, and she then said, "Thank you for forgiving me; you guys are the best."

Apple Bloom replied, "Yeah, now that you told us about this potion, we should go to Zecora's to see if she can fix us."

With a smile, Gabby nodded in agreement and replied, "Okay, thank you. Let's go; hopefully, Zecroa can get you all back to normal!" 

As she was about to fly off, Gabby turned to see the three struggling to fly into the air and being batted around by wind gusts. She flew to them and said, "Don't worry; I'll help!"

She then took some time to teach them how to fly, going up in the air and showing them how to lift off and then how to soar with the air currents. It took only a short time until the four flew towards the Everfree Forest. 





The group then went straight into the Everfree Forest. As they approached the hut, they heard screeching and cursing. They found a black-and-white striped griffin with teal eyes, and she looked furious. The angry-looking griffin turned to face the group, then groaned and cried, "Oh, I hope it wasn't true. It seems this griffin curse has got you, too!"

Gabby gawked and was in complete awe as she cried, "Zecora! What happened!? Why is everypony turning into griffins!?"

She wiped a talon over her head and said, "This is my fault, I must confess. The potion I gave you clearly had unknown side effects."

"Is there any way you can reserve this!?" Sweetie Belle cried.

Zecora flew about and started looking through some books, then said, "I am afraid that I am quite unsure as we might have to wait until the potion's effects dissipate."

They all looked at each other with worried looks as Apple Bloom asked, "Could this mean other ponies could have turned into griffins?"

"It might be true, but I am still unsure how the potion has been dispersed without anypony else digesting it for it to work."

Apple Bloom turned to the vial of the potion, then looked over it and said, "Are you sure it couldn't have evaporated and gone airborne?"

Zecora's eyes widened as she cried, "if Apple Bloom's hypothesis is true, we might be too late. If your classmates were turned into griffins, all we can do is wait."

Gabby looked more worried and started to feel a weight of guilt drift over her as she cried, "Oh, know! This is all my fault!"

Zecora shook her head, put a talon on her chest, and said, "Gabby, the blame lies with me, and we must go out and see who else has been turned into griffins quickly."

Apple Bloom nudged her mentor in an attempt to cheer her up. "Hey, we all make mistakes, and it's not all bad! Being a griffin might be fun!"

Gabby blushed, seeing that Apple Bloom may be inferring too much in her new form, knowing full well that being a griffin, even for a day, might not be all cracked up as it seemed. She cleared her throat and said, "Yes, but you should know some things about being a griffin; you're probably going to be a lot more greedy."

Scotaloo laughed, "That's no problem! I'm sure we can handle that!" As she was snatching bits underneath a bed.

"You have to be abit more careful with your talons as they are quite sharp."

Sweetie Belle, scraping her claws on the side of the hut like a cat, quickly stopped and squealed, "Yeah, uh, good point."

"And you might have a craving for fish."

The other two crusaders turned to face Apple Bloom, who had a goldfish in her mouth. She spat it in a bowl nearby and sheepishly said, "Uh, yeah, good to know."

Zecora flew over to Gabby's side, placed a wing over her, and said, "Yes, everything Gabby said is true; these changes can affect ponies and their mood; we better get going with haste! And alert others who have met the same fate."

Gabby flew up, threw a hoof, and said, "Then we gotta go and help spread the word! Come on!" 

The three griffins followed her out of the hut, and they all unfurled their wings, with Zecora being the most cautious as she whispered to Gabby, "Can you teach me to fly? It's something I'm not ready to try."

"Yeah, no problem!" she then taught her how she was with the Crusaders and gently helped her gain some confidence, and once again, the group was flying over the treetops back to Ponyville. 





As the foals landed at Ponyville, they saw that most of the ponies were, to their relief, still normal, just going about their day as if nothing happened. Things seemed fine until they came to the Schoolhouse and saw a bunch of young griffins flying around and playing with an older pink feathered griffin, trying to maintain order flying about and keep the younger griffins from flying off. 

Gabby was in utter shock and confusion, realizing she was the one who had turned all of the Cutie Mark Crusaders' classmates into griffins! Zecora took no time to take charge as she rose, cleared her throat, and shouted, "Everypony, listen to me! I have a message that you must heed!"

They all stopped, and then she glared at them and said, "I am Zecora, and we came to say that you are all griffins from a potion I made. Do not panic, as it is my mistake. By tomorrow, you will be ponies and no longer be this way."

The young griffins started to fly down, all looking confused as they did so. Cheerilee flew towards her and snapped, "So what you're saying is this is your fault?"

Zecora, looking abit guilty, was going to say something, but Gabby came forward and said, "No, the fault is mine!"

Everypony looked to the young pegasus filly as she built up the courage to tell them the truth," I have to confess something to all of you; I am and was a griffin."

There was a murmur among the ponies as Cheerilee eyed her and said, "Go on."

Gabby nods and continues, "The truth is I wanted Zecora to help turn me into a pegasus filly so I could find a cutie mark for myself with the help of the cutie mark crusaders. I lied to all of you because I wanted to keep up the illusion I was a pegasus filly. So if anypony is to blame for this, it's my fault, not Zecora's."

The former zebra beamed a smile, ruffled the filly's mane, and said, "You are brave, little Gabby. It's true, but I also hurried to test my brew."

Cheerilee then threw her talons over her chest, puffed out and looking quite agitated, and said, "I see, so this is both of your faults."

The two shrugged and nodded as Cheerilee turned towards Zecora. "But regardless, I'm not pointing hooves here. I just want to know: Can you cure us?"

Zecora shook her head "no" and continued, "As I said before, I'm afraid the potion's effects will only last a day."

The foals all grumbled, some eyeing Gabby, who came forward then said, "But until then, why don't I show all of you how fun being a griffin is? We can have so much fun and learn so much together!"

The foals all started to get excited as Cheerilee sighed, "Fine. I guess today's lesson can be learning about griffins with Gabby, but I'll be keeping an eye on all of you."

Zecora nodded as she nudged Gabby. "So, little one, what shall we do first?"

"I think we should learn to fly!" she threw out her wings. Come on!" She then led the griffins into the sky. They flapped about aimlessly at first, struggling to fly with their new bodies, but Gabby went back and supported them, cheering them on. They then continued to fly into the air, and they all started to soar into the sky. 

Throughout the day, Gabby taught them how to fly, and they soared about, enjoying the air currents underneath their wings. They flew off towards a nearby lake, and as they landed nearby, Gabby turned to see the rest of her classmates looking rather tired. One of the griffins raised a talon and asked, "What are we doing here?"

Gabby turned and replied, "Well, now that we've got flying practice out of the way, we can really get into some griffin stuff!" 

They all looked around, confused, but Gabby flew up over the lake; despite losing her agility as a griffin, her instincts on how to fish were still innate. She saw a glimmer of light and dove right into the water, grasping one of the fish, then tore it from the water with her mouth and threw it on the ground as it flopped about. The other griffins looked in awe as she tossed it back into the lake and said, "I don't think you guys would want to eat them, but fishing is a lot of fun!" The little filly threw a hoof and said, "Come on!" I'll show you how I did that!" 

One by One, she led the rest of the griffins as they all flew up the air; she then showed each griffin how to dive and identify where the fish were. Some griffins watched on the sidelines, amazed at their classmates' agility. Zecora and Cheerilee kept an eye on the rambunctious fledglings. Gabby then went to her friends to see that Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom were all looking abit hesitant as Gabby came over with a smile, tugged on them, and cried, "Come on! It's so much fun!"

She led them into the sky, saying, "Just remember what I did. Eye the fish. Don't aim for where it is. Aim for where it's going. Then, when you're ready, go in and snatch it up!"

"Okay," the foals chimed at once.

One flew into the water, snatched the fish, and threw it onto the grass as Scootaloo squealed, "Oh, wow, that was so much fun!"

"You don't have to eat them, but a griffins' diet consists of fish and other sea life."

Many fledglings made bleh sounds as Cheerilee nodded, "Yes, that's correct. Griffins are mostly Carnivores, unlike us, who are strict herbivores." 

The talk of food started to make some tummies rumble as Sweetie Belle raised a claw and asked, "Is there anything else we can eat that's not meat?"

Gabby tapped a claw to her chin, and then an idea came to mind as she cried, "If we want to avoid other ponies so as not to spread this griffin curse, I can make some Griffin scones!"

"Griffin scones? What are those?" everypony asked.

Gabby laughed as she flew up, threw her hooves in the air, and said, "There are yummy treats that have become a staple in Griffinstone, and Gilda taught me how to make them, so follow me!" 





They then all followed Gabby to Zecora's hut; there, they watched as Gabby went to work making some griffin scones. She baked them and then hoofed them out to the hungry griffins. Then Diamond Tiara took some of the bits and said, "Look what I found in the lake! Aren't I lucky?"

The rest of the foals looked over almost instantly, their eyes growing wide with envy, some with angry looks as one shouted, "Hey, I found those first!"

"No, I did!"

"Nah, uh!"

"Give me that!"

A brawl broke out almost without warning, and griffins hissed and swatted each other over the bits. Gabby cried out as she ran over and took the bits, then flew up and shouted, "Stop!"

They all did as she asked, and the little filly continued, "Now that you griffins, you're going to have abit of an issue of dealing with a desire for things like bits, but you need to control it." she then hoofed out a bit to each griffin as a pink feathered one with teal eyes bowed her head looking ashamed as she said, "I apologize for my behavior I shouldn't have acted so rudely…It"

Gabby put a hoof on her shoulder and chirped, "It's okay! You didn't mean to do anything wrong; it's something to be aware of and control. I find the best way to control those urges is by sharing!"

She continued to flutter about helping the other fledglings share their bits. Cheerilee came over, hugged her, ruffled the feathers on her head, and said, "It's getting late. Let's get back to the Schoolhouse!"

"awww," many of the fledglings started to grumble and whine, but Gabby came forward and said, "Hey, let's listen to the teacher, ok! We can have more griffin scones when we get back!"

"Yay!" the griffins cried as they flew into the sky. Cheerilee whispered, "Thank you." They all followed Gabby, and she was happy to see they were all flying together without help as she led the flock back from the lake towards Ponyville. 





Back at school, the griffins were all seated, tuckered out from all the flying, and the desks were pushed back as sleeping bags were set up, along with piles of griffin scones to snack on. Gabby then came to the head of the class; she cleared her throat and said, "So uh, while we whine down, I just wanted to say I'm sorry for what happened to you, but I hope you all learned something about griffins. As you saw, we can be mean when we get greedy or try only to look out for ourselves. Still, Gilda is trying to fix that in Griffinstone, and I hope you see that not all griffins are mean and that we can be friends."

The griffins all started to clap, and then Diamond Tiara trotted over and said, "Come on, let's give you three cheers from Gabby!"

They all squealed as they flew over and started to throw the pegasus filly into the air as they chanted her name. 

"Gabby!"

"Gabby!"

"Gabby!"

The pegasus beamed a smile of pride as Cheerilee came in front of the class. "Thank you, Gabby, for that speech and for taking the foals on such a fun field trip. But maybe explaining what is happening to their parents is best so they know they'll return to normal tomorrow."

"Yeah, of course!" Gabby cried.

The pink-feathered griffin then slipped her a list of ponies and addresses to visit, saying, "Also, maybe keep your distance when you go to them."

"Okay!"

"Also, maybe wear a mask!"

"Oh yeah!? But uh, okay!"

The little filly was about to fly off when Cheerilee raised a hoof and said, "Uh, also Gabby."

She looked down and asked, "yeah?"

"You're welcome to come back whenever. Just no more lying, okay?"

"Yeah, thanks," Gabby chirped; she then flew off feeling much better than she had been before, at how everypony was so accepting of her. 

One by one, she told the foals' parents about what was happening to them. Luckily, it seemed that the "griffin curse" didn't spread. Still, they all were aware and agreed to the mass sleepover at Cheerilee's Schoolhouse. By evening, Gabby was utterly exhausted, having flown all over for the past few hours. She climbed up at the Crusaders' treehouse, looking rather disappointed as Apple Bloom looked over and asked, "So how did explaining what was happening feel?"

"Really awkward, but Zecora helped explain things, at least." She sighed as she looked at her flank and gave an annoyed sigh, "After all of that, no cutie mark."

"Yeah, we know that feeling," Scootaloo chimed.

Sweetie Belle flew over and chimed in. "Yeah, but we can look for your cutie mark even if you turn back into a griffin!"

"Yeah! Just because you're a griffin doesn't mean we will give up!" Apple Bloom chirped.

Gabby laughed, seeing how determined and optimistic the three were despite her massive uphill battle to get her cutie mark. 

Sweetie Belle said, "I think you might have a talent for teaching things; you would have been way worse if you hadn't helped with leading today's lessons or taught us to control our greedy natures."

Gabby sighed, stomped a hoof, and cried, "Yeah, but that wouldn't have been needed if I hadn't come here in the first place! I still feel so guilty for turning all your classmates into griffins."

Apple Bloom laughed as she flew and exclaimed, "Why!? Things have been pretty fun as griffins!"

Sweetie Belle nodded as she nudged Gabby, "Yeah, we have been having a blast and learned so much! Don't be so hard on yourself."

Gabby laughed as she threw her wings out. She pulled her friends close to her and said, "You guys are the best. Do you know that?"

"You know it!" the three fledglings squealed.

They all just stayed like that for a minute; they then sat around, talked, and played board games until the sun set and the moon rose. As the other three were about to leave, Scootaloo turned and asked, "Hey, are you still going to Zecora's?"

The young earth pony filly replied, "I might as well; I'll help her dispose of the original potion and clean up."

Apple Bloom nudged her and said, "That's fine. Just be careful, and maybe make sure she's doing okay."

"Yeah, of course!" Gabby chirped. The foals all left as the pegasus filly flew back towards Zecora's hut with a disappointed look. Even though she had made many friends, she was still a blank flank. She knew deep down whatever the Cutie Mark Crusaders said, she might not be able to get a cutie mark, but at least she made some really good friends.