995 CE
(Fluttershy)
SHE. WAS. SO. CUTE! We were all a little anxious when the egg started to hatch. After Miss. Sparkle told us that it cursed me with an evil spell that would drain my life force and cause the egg to stalk me like some of those weeping alicorn statures Dr. Hooves told me about; I was sure it would hatch into some hideous monster or a dragon or something else scary. What emerged from the egg wasn't some dark beast from beyond reality, but a normal little griffin.
The baby chick was a little smaller than a pony foal but otherwise looked very similar to Elizabeak's chicks after they hatched, smelled similar too. She has piercing, slitted, yellow eyes, and her fur and feather colors looked very similar to her egg's. Her feathers are mostly white with occasional black feathers creating spots across her upper body. A particularly thick ring of darker feathers around her neck gave the impression of a natural necklace. Unlike most griffins, she didn't have any discoloration around her eyes or any ear fluff. The fur on her lower half is similarly white with little circles of black giving her a spotted look. All of which combined would give her excellent camouflage in a snowy forest. And the chick was a her, or at least I was pretty sure she was. I could tell right away she was an arctic owl, snow leopard mix. While I am no expert on griffin biology, I know that male snowy owls are almost purely white. Although, now that I think about it, snowy owls don't normally have slitted eyes.
"Everypony back off. I need to check the hatchling."
Nurse Redheart's declaration remained me of the wider world. While I let the nurse do her job, I looked around the room. I could tell all my friends thought the chick was just as cute as I did, although Rainbow was trying her hardest not to show it, which was cute in its own way. The S.M.I.L.E. agents looked much more nervous, I could tell some of them were struggling to stay professional and vigilant. Miss. Sparkle in particular looked like she was going to be sick. This must be her first birth or something.
"I... I think she is healthy, but Miss. Sparkle, could you have a look at this."
That doesn't sound good. I hope there is nothing wrong with the little grif. I nervously begin to rub my wrist, reminding me of the marks I had found there not long ago. Of course, there is something wrong. This poor creature had a strange foalhood even before she was even born, the magic that cursed me probably did something to her as well. I just hope it isn't anything serious.
"That spell you did earlier on Fluttershy, the one that made her fur invisible, do you think you cast it again?"
The rude mare scoffs a little at the request but follows through with the spell. Soon, the black and white fur and feathers of the griffin chick vanish, revealing the pale flesh underneath. What it reveals makes me nauseous even to look at.
"What under Celestia's yellow sun are those!?"
(???)
Everything was blurry. I couldn't make out anything more than basic colored blobs. Did I get reincarnated blind? Maybe my lack of proper sight is a result of having just been born, or hatched I think. Considering I had to break something hard, that must be the case. I could tell my hatching had not gone unnoticed. The weird talking from before stopped and I could feel the eyes on me, even if I couldn't make them out yet. I could feel my little heart beat faster. I was never particularly socially anxious, but having everyone stop talking and stare at you as you enter a room, or in this case, a new world, is enough to give even the most social of extroverts pause.
Chirp, chirp
Was... that... me?! I sound like a baby chicken! I suppose with the hatching and the wings that made sense. Was I some sort of bird person? That makes me feel like I should make a Rick and Morty reference.
"Neigh, whinny, nicker, snort."
That sounded like some of the noises I heard before! It was coming from the red and white blob that was currently getting larger. It was very weird, it seemed like a language but was made up of mostly horse noises. It was distinctly musical though, not gruff like one would expect a horse language to be. Great, I can't understand the natives. At least I won't have to explain how a baby knows words like antidisestablishmentarianism.
I felt something touch me, causing me to let out a completely dignified chirp. It was the red and white blob, pulling on my wings and forcing me to roll over. Being so small was surprisingly frightening. My rational brain knew the blob was probably just a doctor or something checking up on me after my hatching, but my monkey... er, bird brain forced me to be keenly aware of how easy it would be for the blob to hurt me. At least my sight was getting better. The colorful blobs were all at least all vaguely quadrupedal at this point.
The white one made some more horse noises and moved what I assume is its head. It seemed distressed, at least as far as my complex and nuanced understanding of an alien horse language that I first heard less than a minute ago can tell. A purple blob responded and begin to approach. I could tell this one had something sticking out of its head. A horn of some kind? I wonder if it is a different species? The blobs seemed to look and sound similar, so maybe it is a sex thing like with deer? That might be it, the white blob is female and the purple blob is male.
My theorizing was interrupted when I felt something strange pass over my entire body. It was like all my hair, or feather, or whatever started standing on end. Apparently, the blobs could feel something too because a hush came over the room. I could tell I was once again the center of attention as an orange blob made a very distressed sound. That didn't seem like a good sign.
(Twilight Sparkle)
That thing is evil. I am not sure how everypony else can stand it. That thing is radiating so much dark magic, I am sure Celestia can feel it back in Canterlot. Just standing in the same room as the monster is enough to make me sick. It might look cute now, but so does a baby hydra. Don't think I didn't notice its wicked sharp beak or its cruel claws, even its color pattern would make it all the easier for it to hunt ponies in the winter. I am afraid I might have to make a tough call, just like a baby hydra it is better to kill it now before it has the chance to hurt anypony.
"Everypony back off. I need to check the hatchling."
The nurse spoke up before I could state my concerns. I suppose it would be good to know what we are up against before we had to put it down, but I wasn't going to let my guard down. The nurse begin her examination of the little monster and it was immediately clear something was wrong. Surly proof of the griffin's insidious nature.
"I... I think she is healthy, but Miss. Sparkle, could you have a look at this."
I approached with caution. It hadn't done anything yet, but that was no reason to let my guard down.
"That spell you did earlier on Fluttershy, the one that made her fur invisible, do you think you cast it again?"
Do I think I can cast it again? Please, that is such a basic spell I am sure even a laypony could do it. I know she was just being polite but she should be more careful with her words. That said, her suggestion is quite pragmatic, that spell can allow a basic examination without directly interfering with the griffin's mana network. A quick cast later and everypony in the room is speechless.
Runes. There were runes everywhere. Just about every surface of the chick's flesh was covered with the things. Unlike the primarily anchoring runes on the yellow one, these were clearly the result of dark magic. Just looking at the runes left a feeling of wrongness and that was when they would stay still. Several rows of the symbols would twist and move like snakes across the newborn's skin. A few S.M.I.L.E. agents and every single one of the locals looked like they would be sick, and frankly, I don't blame them.
"What under Celestia's yellow sun are those!?" one of the locals cried.
Right, I wasn't here to gawk, I was a professional and I needed to find answers. The runes changed things. If it was some sort of monster disguised as a griffin, it wouldn't need all those runes, especially not dark magic ones. If anything, that would just be counter-productive as it would attract more attention. No, it is more likely that this is a cursed griffin. That would still explain the presence of dark magic, it was coming from the runes, not the creature itself. But how did it get cursed? I have been with it since the literal moment of its birth, and I can confirm it didn't touch anything that could cause this. Similarly, I would easily have been able to detect if anypony had cursed it in the few moments since it came into the world. Then it was cursed before it was even born? But that is impossible! While, there was that one experiment, but it failed spectacularly. Although, maybe with dark magic? If that was the case, that leads to some troubling implications. While I suppose there is nothing to do but share my theory with the class.
"Everypony calm down. I think I have some answers."