Twilight shook her head with a small smile, hearing with her over-sensitive ears as what sounded like Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie rummaged around in her lab. She had stepped out for a moment to clean up after her most recent mishap with chemicals.
Ever since the two had discovered common ground in pranking, and Twilight scared… sorry... set them straight in regards to pranking common courtesy, they had seemingly declared war on the rest of their friends. Rarity had been tricked into sniffing a flower arrangement with sneezing powder in it, and Applejack had discovered the entirety of the Sweet Apple Acres now played host to apples of all colors and patterns. Thankfully they were just painted with flora-friendly paint.
She was honestly curious what the duo had planned for her. As such, she didn’t spy on them with her x-ray vision.
Once the sounds of one tip-toeing pony and one very lightly flapping pair of wings vanished, or at least got outside, she exited the bathroom and went to her lab. With a quick glance she noticed nothing seemed out of place.
Slowly, she walked to her chemical set. Her book was still open to the page she left it at. None of the beakers seemed to have been moved, and they didn’t appear to have anything extra in them. Good. She’d forgive a lot for a well done prank. Potentially endangering her life by tampering with her chemical set was not on that list.
Well, she knew they did something, and so far she couldn’t find it. She considered using her x-ray vision, then decided against it. ‘Well, I guess that means the only thing left to do is set it off,’ she decided.
As such, she grabbed her clipboard, quill, and returned to studying the chemicals. She once more got them reacting, and started taking notes.
Two minutes in, she noticed something in the chemicals and checked her notes to see if she already noted it. Nothing. She started writing again, and then froze. “Wait…” Once more she checked her notes. Blank. There were no notes whatsoever. Curiously, Twilight drew a line. It stayed. She looked at the quill. Nothing seemed odd about it. She looked back at the sheet of paper. The line was gone. She frowned and drew another line.
No matter how long she stared at it, it didn’t faded.
‘Well, that rules out disappearing ink.’ She scratched her head, looking back at the quill. Did they swap her quills? No, it was one of hers, and as far as she could tell it hadn’t been tampered with. She looked back at the paper. It was blank. Okay, so maybe it was disappearing ink.
She frowned. ‘Well, they got me, there’s no denying that. Now I just want to know how they did it,’ she admitted to herself. There was no doubt she had been pranked and had not predicted it, but scientist in her was trying figure out how they got the ink to act the way it did.
“Alright, you guys got me. Now tell me how you did this,” she called out her window, where she could hear Pinkie and Rainbow Dash giggling.
Pinkie poked her head in the window. “It’s invisible ink!” she said happily.
Twilight nodded. “Well, yeah, I gathered that much. Why is the timing different every time I write?” she asked.
Pinkie’s grin stretched wider. “There is no timing. It reacts the moment nothing with physical eyes is looking at it.” Pinkie’s smile turned a bit softer. “I had to get some help from one of my sisters to make that ink.”
Twilight curiously made another line. She looked away and then back. It was gone. Her eyes lit up as she grinned. “That is so cool!” she exclaimed, clapping her hooves in excitement. She looked at Pinkie. “Can I have some to study?” she nearly begged.
Pinkie nodded, motioning to Twilight’s inkwell. “Sure. We filled your inkwell, so there should be enough. I have more if you need it.”
Twilight smiled, levitating the inkwell somewhere else so she didn’t accidentally use it. “Thanks Pinkie. You guys got me. I knew you were likely setting up a prank, but this got me by surprise. Nice one.” She glanced at her still blank piece of paper. “This will wear off… right?” she asked.
Rainbow poked her head in, having finally stopped laughing. She was still grinning though. “Yeah. Just leave it in a dark space like a cupboard overnight. It’ll reappear,” she said.
“I have got to get a look at those spell forms…” Twilight mused to herself. She was already coming up with ideas on how she herself would do it, but magic was just as much art as it was science. To see the many ways ponies could accomplish the same thing was almost as exciting as the accomplishment itself.
“We’re gonna go do some more pranks now. You want to join us?” Rainbow asked. If Twilight wasn’t spouting horseapples the other day, she had gotten into a prank war with the Princess once, and almost won. She was bound to have a lot of ideas.
Twilight shook her head. “No, I’m sorry. The Princess has me studying evocation spells, so I’ll likely be busy for a few days.”
Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie glanced at each other, then shrugged. The two friends left Twilight to her studies to continue their two-pony war on the rest of the town.
---
The next day…
Twilight’s ear twitched just as the sound of a hoof knocking on her front door sounded out. She looked up from her book and, using X-ray vision, discovered a rather upset looking Pinkie Pie at her door. She frowned.
‘Is she and Rainbow having a fight?’ she asked herself curiously. She jogged to the door and opened it. “Pinkie? Are you okay?” she asked, not even pretending to be surprised by the mare’s expression.
“Twilight, do you know what a Griffon is?” Pinkie returned with a question of her own.
Twilight frowned. “Well, yeah. I sorta half-lived in Canterlot Castle for most of my life. I’ve met the Griffon embassador quite often. Why?”
“Are they all as mean as the one I just met?”
“Mean?” Twilight blinked, and then sighed. “Come in and have a seat, Pinkie. I’ll make some tea and you can tell me what happened.”
---
“...and then she told me that Dashie didn’t need me anymore, so I should get lost and never bother her again.” Pinkie took another pull from her tea. (Chamomile, and caffeine-free. Twilight had no desire to see what a wired Pinkie Pie would be like.) She sighed afterwards in relief.
Twilight was rubbing the bridge of her nose, wishing at the moment that she had fingers instead of hooves. Hooves just weren’t cut out for massaging. “Well, it certainly sounds like an interesting issue. Have you tried to talk to Gilda away from Rainbow Dash?”
Pinkie looked up. “Why?”
Twilight shrugged. “Well, it sounds to me like she’s scared you’ll take her friend, Rainbow Dash, from her. Try talking to her when Rainbow’s not around. Maybe she’ll calm down then?” she offered.
Pinkie nodded slowly, before grinning brightly. “I know just what to do! Thanks Twilight!” shouted, shooting out the door like a bullet.
Twilight watched the door swing shut slowly, a frown developing on her face. ‘Griffons,’ her encyclopedia-like mind brought up. ‘A chimeric species sharing the traits of both eagles and lions. Extremely territorial. Natural habitat: High altitude mountains. Culture: Cross between warrior and viking. Respects strength above all else. Reacts badly when feels they are being made fun of.’
Her eyes narrowed. ‘Ever since the signing of the Skyland Peace Treaty three hundred years ago, Griffons have kept to themselves. Ponies are allowed to visit the Griffon Empire, but only for short periods of time. The same is true in reverse. The Emperor won’t let Griffons visit Equestria for any longer than a month.’ Something wasn’t adding up in Twilight’s mind. She was missing something. ‘C’mon Twilight, think! Use those detective instincts Bruce pounded into your head!’
Wait.
‘Pinkie said Gilda went to flight school with Rainbow Dash…’