"Are you sure you won't tell me what happened with that Jaguar knight, Watercolor?" Fresco asked, nearly dying of curiosity. "I mean, you were gone with him for an awful long time!"
"No, it's really none of your business, and I really don't want to talk about it." The Pegasus replied, happily humming to herself as she went about her work. "So would you please stop asking me for the millionth time, and concentrate on what you should be doing right now?"
It was the next day, Watercolor and Fresco had turned their attention towards the art and architecture restoration, and were hoof deep in their respective projects. Fresco was going over the blueprints of the royal palace, while Watercolor was unrolling several tapestries, hanging them on the walls of the great hall. The two artistic ponies carefully went over every detail of their respective works, restoring old masterpieces to their former glory.
"Good grief, I can't believe how much these Maretonians let the foundations of this castle suffer from erosion damage." Fresco muttered aloud, as he directed two other stallion construction workers carrying materials. "It's made even worse by the fact the palace is built on the ruins of the earlier Miriatian royal palace on the exact same spot. I'm going to have some serious problems shoring up the foundation stones."
"You think that's something? HA!" Watercolor chuckled, directing two flying Pegasus mares to hang up several of the tapestries in a row. "I've got a whole bunch of two thousand-year old cloth murals I had to re-stitch by hoof, add a fresh coat of dyes to brighten the fading colors, and hang them in the proper order to tell the history of the kingdom!"
As the two were hard at work, the duke of Maretonia came into the ballroom, flanked by two of his Jaguar knights. Looking around at all of the scaffolding, ladders, and worker ponies with paint brushes and construction tools, the earth pony monarch only nodded in approval.
"Very good, you two, muy bueno." He complimented their work. "I can see you were both very excellent choices for this project. But will the tapestries and the architectural renovations be done in time for our fiesta?"
"Oh, don't you worry, Duke Tlahtoque. Our work will be finished on time." Fresco reassured him. "Watercolor and I are going to restore this place to it's former glory. And I promise you, that this will indeed be a fiesta that you're subjects will never forget..."
...
In the large banquet hall of Coltapec castle, Duchess Cihuapilli was busy working with two of her handmaidens with choosing the drapes and table settings, and the castle's staff ran about, trying to accomplish their tasks. The proud unicorn moved about in her body-length dress, busily giving orders and helping to place things.
"No no! Es el color incorrecto!" The duchess proclaimed, motioning for her servants to take the red tablecloth they had brought out away. "That will not match the drapes, and will look terrible with the flower settings!"
"Si, mi duquesa." One of the ladies in waiting bowed, as she and the others took the fabric away. "We shall bring out the other fabrics for you to select from."
As she and her staff were busily at work, a familiar white pegasus mare came trotting into the room.
"Your highness, my I speak to you privately for a moment?" The artist pony asked in a flat tone.
"Oh, Watercolor! Of course." The success made a motion with her hoof for her servants to leave, then turned back towards the white pegasus, levitating several place mats and silver ware settings onto the table with her horn. "I hope you don't mind if I work while we talk. Now what is it you wished to discuss?"
"The Griffins, you're really opposed to their interference in your kingdom, aren't you?" The other mare asked bluntly. "Despite the fact your husband, the duke, trusts them implicitly."
"Oh, sou you've been hearing about that issue during your visit here in Maretonia, si?" The duchess sighed. "Listen, I have nothing personal against the Griffiths, it' just ever since they arrived here, there have been... problems. Ever since those feathery troublemakers arrived, there have been some shady, underhanded things going on, and the griffo' s feathery claws seen to be all over it. Since their arrival, the come and corruption here in Maretonia has tripled, and all evidence points back to them.
"Yet the duke does not see it that way." Watercolor countered. "He believes the griffins will bring prosperity to Maretonia."
"That is because my husband believes they are benevolent spirits, who have helped our kingdom once before." The duchess looked back at Watercolor. "There is an old legend, that the first Mirtanian empress was looking for a site to build her new capital on. When her royal court came to the shores of lake texicoco, she saw a Griffin perched on a cactus, holding a snake in it's beak. She took this as a sign from the great God Itzamna, and built her capital right here on the lake."
"Yet you still doubt their good intentions, and you are trying to convince the duke to expel them from Maretonia." watercolor replied coldly.
"The good deeds of one griffin long ago, does not mean they are all good."The duchess muttered bitterly. "Trade with the griffins has changed Maretonia a great deal over the past several centuries, we have even adopted the griffins language. I don't want them to poison our culture entirely."
"It seems such a shame the ponies of your kingdom are divided over this issue." Watercolor added. "Whole families are split down the middle over the issue."
"Yes, even the royal household, here in the palace, is split." The duchess snorted, levitating the flower placements for the banquet table, and going back to her work. "My husband and my son, the crown prince, disagree over the griffins being here. They have done nothing but fight and argue so much these past several months, and our son has taken to disguising himself as a commoner, and going out into the city to spend time among our subjects to escape the fighting."
"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that." Watercolor replied, narrowing her eyes. "But don't worry, I'm certain the whole griffin issue will resolve itself very shortly."
Just then, a Pegasus serving mare came into the banquet hall, carrying a tray of drinks in her wings. Seeing Watercolor and the duchess over in the corner, she trotted over towards the to ponies.
"Mi duquesa I brought you and the senorita Walercolor some ponche." She said with a smile. "I know how hot it can get in here, and-"
It all happened at once... Watercolor pulling the knife seemingly out of nowhere, and lunging forward at the unsuspecting duchess. Cihuapilli was too busy with her magic to see the blow, and watercolor sent the dagger plunging deep into the shocked Duchess's back.
"Watercolor, ¿Qué haces?!" Duchess Cihuapilli cried out. "Dios Mio!"
The duchess then collapsed to the floor, her sun-shaped crown tumbling off of her head. As the scowling Watercolor glared down at her, a large pool of blood formed beneath Cihuapilli's body.
"What... what just..." The shocked and terrified servant whimpered, as she stared at the body of her ruler. "I don't..."
"Hmmm, a witness." Watercolor then glared at the terrified serving mare. "Now we can't have that, can we?"
At those words, the handmaiden went galloping away, screaming in terror as she fled from the duchess's killer.
"¡Asesinato! ¡asesinato! ¡nuestra querida Emperatriz, el corazón de Maretonia, ha sido asesinada! ¡La puta Equestrian había matado a nuestra diosa! ¡alguien, ayuda!"
And as the frightened mare's screams echoed though Coltapec castle, the evil reflection of Watercolor smiled as she faded out of existence, having completed the mission her griffin creators had given her.