The Griffon Conspiracy

by The Reluctant Brony

Chapter 1: The Letter

Chapter 1: The Letter

The sun shone through the window of the library. There had been a light shower the morning before, and the pegasi weren’t scheduling another storm for a couple days. It was the perfect day to spend some time outdoors and relax, and that’s exactly what a certain purple unicorn planned to do.

“Spike!” called the equine as she packed a couple books into her saddlebag, “have you finished making the sandwiches for the picnic yet?”

Spike’s voice rang from the kitchen, “Yup, we’ve got dandelion, barley lettuce and tomato, a few deli filler sandwiches, and an emerald sub for me! Now we just have to wait for my homemade cookies to come out of the oven,” he said, appearing at the doorway.

“Ok,” she said more to herself than to Spike, “books: check. Sandwiches: check. Cookies?” She looked through the doorway to see her assistant pull a steaming tray out of the oven, “Check. Well, I guess that’s everything. Applejack said she’d bring the fruit like she always does, Rarity has the dishes and blanket, Fluttershy is making the salad, Pinkie Pie has the punch and whatever desert she’s bringing this time, Rainbow Dash has the Frisbee, and we have the sandwiches and cookies. Ready to go?” she asked as Spike entered the main area of the library with a wagon full of food.

“Ready,” he replied as he made his way towards the exit. Twilight soon followed him out while closing and locking the door behind her.

-<-^->-

There is a rule in good writing involving descriptions of characters. Since the writer hasn’t described how any characters look, the reader technically should not know that Spike is a purple baby dragon with green hair-like scales on his head. The reader also shouldn’t know that Twilight is the purple unicorn mentioned in the first paragraph, since the name “Twilight” wasn’t mentioned until the end of the last scene. Twilight has a lavender coat, and a violet mane with a single pink stripe through it. Since this writing is fanfiction, the reader is expected to be familiar with the fandom, and thus know basic knowledge about the main characters and setting. This is similar to how if someone reads a sequel, they usually have read the previous book or books in the series, yet even in sequels, writers of good stories often repeat descriptions of characters and events in case the reader hasn’t read the previous works in the series. Writers that don’t repeat such information probably wrote poor descriptions of things in the previous novels, and therefore the reader wouldn’t be missing out on anything by skipping them. If you are a reader unfamiliar with My Little Pony, then the writer feels less of a fool for repeating common knowledge, especially when comparing himself to you, who somehow managed to find this story, and then decided that you would enjoy it without getting lost during the story even though you know nothing about the characters or setting. If you are such a person and wish to know exactly what Spike and Twilight look like, but don’t want to watch the show, then you can find out what they look like by watching the show.

-<-^->-

As Twilight and Spike walked through town, they failed to notice two silhouettes sitting in the shade at a table nearby: one appeared to be a griffon, and the other, a unicorn. The griffon, named Gilda, observed the pair as she munched on her sandwich she had ordered from the diner nearby. The eagle half of her body was a milky white while the lion half and wings were a light brown. “So, according to ‘HQ,’ the purple dweeb is supposedly on the list of possible threats to the organization's plans.”

The unicorn, who had a light blue coat and an even lighter blue mane, watched them disappear around the corner, “Which one?”

“The dragon, Trickster. Everyone knows how dangerous baby dragons can be, because it’s not like we’ve taken down a couple teenage dragons before,” the griffon replied sarcastically.

The unicorn glared, “Call Trixie ‘The Great and Powerful Trixie,’” she said as she flourished her hoof, “or ‘Trixie.’ No nicknames!” She slammed her hoof down on the table, “And how could a baby dragon possibly threaten the mission, or is he some sort of secret society leader with diamond dog henchmen?”

Gilda blinked once with a blank face that soon turned into a sneer, “Seriously? I was kidding, idiot. The unicorn’s the threat. Her name's Twilight Sparkle. She’s the star student of Princess Celestia, and is most likely going to receive a letter from her soon.”

“So… we’re going to capture her and bring her back to the main factory?”

Gilda rolled her eyes, “Sure, then we can get caught, lead the royal guard to HQ, and spend the rest of our life in prison.”

Trixie raised an eyebrow, “Trixie thinks she can come up with a better plan.”

“It’s called sarcasm, genius.”

“Trixie doesn’t care what it’s called, it sounds stupid.”

“That’s because it is!”

“Then why are we doing that?” Trixie questioned.

“We aren’t. It was a joke.”

“…Trixie didn’t find it funny.”

Gilda rubbed her face with her talon, which resulted in a sharp pain when she accidentally jabbed herself with a claw, “I don’t care. And stop talking in the third person!”

Trixie harrumphed as she turned away while crossing her hooves, “The Great and Powerful Trixie will maintain her image by staying in character. How she got stuck with an unskilled planner like you is beyond her.”

“How I got stuck with a dunce like you is beyond me,” Gilda grumbled.

They resumed with their lunch in an angry silence for a moment, until Trixie remembered something important that she didn’t know the answer to.

“What’s the plan again?”

-<-^->-

When Twilight arrived at the park, she saw that Rarity and Fluttershy were already there with their assigned picnic supplies of dishes, blanket, and tossed salad. There were also a bowl of punch and a giant chocolate cake slathered in vanilla frosting. Huh, that’s funny, she thought to herself. I thought Pinkie Pie was bringing tho-

“HI TWILIGHT!”

“Gah!”

Pinkie Pie abruptly popped up out of nowhere right in front of Twilight, darted to the wagon Spike was pulling, and started rummaging through it.

“WhatdidyoubringforlunchTwi?OohIloveBalognaandmustardsandwichesMmmsomeofspike'scookiestootheselookreallygreaterrificwhyareyoumovingsoslowlyTwi?WaitsoisRarityandFluttershy!ThisisreallyweirdliketheonetimeI…”

“Hi Twilight,” greeted Applejack, who had just trotted up with a bag filled to the top with fruit. “By the way I sorta accidentally introduced ‘er to caffeinated coffee for the first time this mornin’ if you didn’t notice…”

“You what?” exclaimed a surprised Twilight, “She’s taking it better than I would have thought. I mean, I would have expected her to explode on consumption, but what were you thinking giving her coffee?”

“OhI’vehadcoffeebeforeTwi,” Pinkie shot back over to Twilight and Applejack, “It’sjustthatthismorningApplejackcameovertohelpmemakeabunchofcakeandstuffandIaskedhertostartthecoffee,Imeanwhodoesn’tlikecoffeeright?Especiallyinthemorningandsheusedthecoffeebeansthatthecakesdon’tletmeusebecausetheysaiditwascaffeinatedbutshedidn’tknowthatandthecakesweren’ttherebecausetheyhadanearlymorningdeliveryoffivedosendonutsthey’renotassugarygoodasPonyJoe’sbutstillprettygoodandthenshegavemesomeofthecoffeeitwasthebestIeverhadandthenIstartedfeelingsortafunnyand…”

“...What?” Twilight tried to concentrate to sort through the myriad information she had just been given, and failed.

“Ah accidentally made her coffee that was caffeinated,” Applejack explained, “But in my defense, ah thought she drank caffeine, and that that was why she's so wild all the time. At least she’s not as bad as she was earlier. Right after s drank it, she ran straight from Sugar Cube Corner all the way ta Sweet Apple Acres an’ round Ponyville twice. It was crazy!”

“Oh, so that’s what woke me up at the absurd hour of nine in the morning,” spoke a new, slightly raspy voice. The five mares and dragon turned to see a blue pegasus who had just flown up to them.

“Rainbow Dash! Late again I see,” chided Rarity from her spot on the picnic blanket.

“Fashionably late, Rarity. It’s totally unradical to be on time. I mean, just look at Twilight!” Rainbow Dash pointed a hoof at said unicorn, who responded with a deadpan, “But anyway, next time you make coffee, you should brew it with Red Minotaur instead of water and then you might actually be a challenge for me on the race track.”

Pinkie looked confused, “What’s Red Minotaur?”

“It’s a brand of energy dr-”

Applejack stuck her hoof in Rainbow Dash’s mouth, “It’s nothing! Nothing important!” And the last thing that mare needs, she added in her head.

For a brief moment, the pink earth pony’s face showed a combination of emotions ranging from suspicion to anger before reverting to an enormous smile, “Okiedokielokie!”

The 6 mares and dragon enjoyed their lunch, and afterwards Rainbow Dash pulled out her Frisbee. Spike, Applejack and Pinkie Pie went to join her while Fluttershy and Rarity stayed on the blanket and talked. Twilight decided to sit under a large oak tree and read one of her books.

“Hef Shpike, Cafch!” called Rainbow Dash as she snapped her head around to launch the Frisbee.

“I got it, I got it!” shouted Spike as he ran back to catch the disc. Suddenly he stopped as he felt a familiar burning sensation in his gut.

Twilight looked up from her book to see Spike clutching his stomach like he was going to be sick. She was used to the unique form of mail delivery by now, and trotted over to see what the princess had to say. But when she reached Spike, something was wrong. He still hadn’t belched the letter out yet.

“You ok, Spike?” called Rainbow Dash.

“Just-mmf let me-holmf get this-rmf what’s going on?” Spike cried out as he remained caught in the delivery process, “It’s like the letter got stuck on the way here, but that’s impossible!”

Spike continued to clutch his stomach in pain while Twilight and Rainbow Dash stood by, unsure of what to do.

-<-^->-

Gilda and Trixie watched in the shadows of the nearby forest as the seven started their picnic. Gilda recognized her old friend Rainbow Dash and that jerk Pink…something.

“Ok, so HQ says that the princess just got her spy’s information, and should be sending them the letter soon, and when she does, you have to intercept it before it reaches them. Got it?”

“The Great and Powerful Trixie has it,” replied Trixie as she started telepathically probing the complex web of magical ley lines, searching for the one that the letter would soon travel on to reach the dragon. She found the line and continued to check it for about ten minutes, until a thought crossed her mind. “By the way, how is this going to help prevent the unicorn from investigating again?”

“It doesn’t. Investigation is inevitable. We’re just going to see if we can find out how much the princess knows, and strategize from that information.”

“But what if she suspects that somepony might do what we’re doing right now?

Gilda smirked, “If she did then she’d have to be smart, patient, and endurant. Haven’t you studied ley line science like this?”

Trixie frowned, “Trixie probably has, but Trixie didn’t. She just knows how to use the spell.”

Gilda groaned, “Ugh. Ok, so most of the ley lines are watched by unicorn guards, right?” Trixie nodded. “But the line you’re on isn’t monitored because it was encoded, and the hard part was for you to hack in and steal the password, so according to magic theory, the only way she could really find us is if she spent at least half an hour probing the line while using a ridiculously complex enchantment to root out the cloaking spell you added to your probing spell. You did remember the cloaking spell, right?”

Trixie paled slightly, “…No.”

Gilda looked horrified, “Shoot! Terminate the spell! Cancel it and start it again with the cloaking spell!”

Just when Trixie started to mentally withdraw from the jumble of ley lines, she saw something enter the line she was watching, “Oh no!” She hastily started the spell again, abandoning the idea of cloaking it since it no longer mattered, and caught the scroll right as it was about to reach the purple dragon. “Got it!”

Gilda grinned as she watched the letter pop into existence, and carefully opened it so as not to make it appear to have been intercepted and resealed, and eagerly scanned the contents. As she read, however, her smile sagged into a frown of dissatisfaction, which then turned to a scowl.

“Toying with me huh?” she growled, “Two can play at that game.”

She rewrapped the scroll slower than necessary, and after Trixie sent it to its original intended recipient, they retreated into the forest.

-<-^->-

Everypony had now gathered around Spike with looks of concern on their faces. Spike had now curled up on the ground waiting for his nausea to be relieved by the delivery.

“Are you alright Spikey?” asked a worried Rarity, “Is there anything we can do to relieve you of your illness?”

“Maybe I could…um, y’know, help…cause I’m good at taking care of animals…If that’s ok…Oh! N-not that I think of you as a non-sentient creature. I just want to…Nevermind,” squeaked Fluttershy.

Twilight examined him as he moaned from his discomfort, “I don’t understand. This has never happened before!”

“Maybe we should kick it out of him!” suggested Rainbow Dash, who darted forward only to have her tail pulled back by Applejack.

“Ugh…Make it stop! Wait, I think this might be the real thing!” Spike stood up and got ready to burp out the letter, only to stand there awkwardly while nothing happened.

“…Rats, I thought that was it for real that t-BELCH”

The stubborn parchment finally came out with the edges singed from an accompanying flame much larger than usual.

“Finally!” shouted Rainbow Dash, “That took like forever!”

Twilight opened the letter and read out loud,

“My dear student Twilight Sparkle,

Recently, I ordered to have somepony investigate rumors suggesting that a griffon corporation had made a deal with the changeling empire. I will have to explain the situation with you face to face because somepony is hacking the ley lines in order to intercept this letter. They are remarkable incompetent, as they forgot to use a cloaking spell which I surely wouldn’t have bothered to search for, and will probably intercept this letter at the last moment, causing Spike to suffer slight nausea until the letter is sent back on track. I hope to see you and your friends in Canterlot this Friday.

Sincerely,
Princess Celestia.

P.S. To whoever is eavesdropping: Nice Try!"

-<-^->-

If you are a clueless reader somehow hopelessly lost on the internet, then the most you know about Twilight’s friends is what the writer told you, which is that Rainbow Dash is blue. You would also make the assumption that Pinkie Pie is pink. Rainbow Dash is in fact cyan, with a ruffled rainbow mane and a short temper. Pinkie Pie has a bubble gum pink coat and a curly, darker pink mane. Applejack is a well-toned orange earth pony with a habit of bending the truth to the point of breaking and a golden mane tied into a ponytail. Rarity is a dazzling white unicorn with a perfectly kept, ugly, wavy mane. Fluttershy is a yellow pegasus with a free flowing light pink mane and a painfully annoying personality. What’s this, a message from the writer? “I didn't hire you to add your opinions or…” HA HA HA! What will you do about it? Fine, I’ll humor you for now, no matter how awful your writing may be, but one of these times, I’m going to ad lib on the history of the phrase “Trollestia.” “The writer would like you to know at this time that the narrator is not the writer, and they are in fact two separate beings.” How redundant. “The narrator’s name is-” ...No, I refuse to reveal myself in the first chapter. Where’s the fun in that? “The readers can probably guess from your giveaways.” Maybe, but they don’t know for sure, now do they? “The writer has nothing else to say and is ending the chapter.” Oh good! I get to improvise. This has been “The Griffon Conspiracy.” Tune in next time for Chapter 2: “The Meeting with Trollestia!” Good day or good night!

I should probably practice that…

Comments

[The Reluctant Brony]

This is my first time really sitting down and writing a story, so if you happen to read this message, then writing tips and suggestions are welcome.

[Wilhelm]

Deals with Changelings?


That would be... silly.

[Mother3Forever]

Hmmm....This intrigues me... Carry on...

ALLONS-Y!!!

[Tisbutascratch]

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