//------------------------------//
// Bound Pegasus 
// Story: Bound Snow 
// by notaproxy 
//------------------------------//

995 CE

(Twilight Sparkle)

"Everypony calm down. I think I have some answers."

I could feel everypony staring at me after my decreation, the weight of their eyes boring into me. Taking a deep breath, I prepared myself for what Spike called my 'lecture mode'. If I could just get lost in the science, I could ignore all the stares. I take a deep breath and begin.

"So has anypony here heard of designer babies?"

"Like the foal-fashion designer?" The white one asks.

That completely threw me off. Why would you think I was talking about a fashion designer? What logic did you use to connect a griffin chick covered in dark magic with somepony who makes clothes for young ponies!? This was going to be a long explanation. 

"No... I... I will just start from the beginning. About a decade ago, a geneticist by the name of Crisper Case the Ninth came up with an idea for the creation of permanent, passive enchantments. Something that had eluded the magical community for centuries. "

"So like with the thing with Fluttershy?" The blue one asks.

"Not quite. A teleportation enchantment like that is active. It isn't always on, so it doesn't interfere with her baseline magical signature." I was getting a disturbing number of blank looks. "Okay, look at it this way; I can cast the spell that makes fur invisible for a little bit; I can enchant a bracelet that makes the fur of anypony who puts it on invisible; I can't cast a spell that makes somepony's fur invisible for the rest of their lives."

That got some nods. I doubt they fully understood, but it would be enough for now.

"Crisper Case nine theorized that an enchantment applied properly to a foal before birth could be incorporated into the subject's magical signature, it would become permanent. The implications were enormous. With this method, dozens of diseases could be cured. You could create a foal that would rarely become sick, have reduced rest requirements, enhanced strength, stamina, and magical capacity. You could even decide the foal's sex or coat color."

The white one speaks up again. "That is all well and good, but if this method is so revolutionary, why haven't I heard anything about it? I assume this is where you tell me it didn't work."

"The theory worked, but it turned out to be incredibly unstable. Dr. Case and his team tried his method on one hundred fertilized chicken eggs, the enchantments became unstable for all of them, and only one ended up surviving long enough to hatch. Even the survivor died within the week."

"Oh my..." The yellow one looked quite distressed at the news. 

"After the results were released, the Princess declared further research unethical and forbid any more experiments until a more humane method was devised. Most other nations quickly followed suit."

"So you're saying this little griffin is a mutant who was subjected to illegal and unethical experiments? I wonder if she is going to get metal claws and super regeneration and then meet up with a bunch of other mutants who will form a team called the X-ponies and they will fight an evil villain with magnet powers and be discriminated against in an allegory for racism!"

All the S.M.I.L.E. agents, including me, looked at the pink one blankly, the locals just sighed and said something about Pinkie being Pinkie. When did she change into that ridiculous yellow and blue spandex outfit? I know the Princess always said I didn't pay enough attention to my surroundings, but this is impossible! I was about to say something when agent Tight Lips poked me gently on the side. She had the pink one's S.M.I.L.E. person of interest profile. Prominently highlighted at the bottom of the page was a note.  DON'T QUESTION PINKIE!  I was going to have a talk with whoever wrote that, it was very unprofessional.

"So what's up with this chick then? Is she just like twenty percent luckier or something?" The blue one asks, bring the conversation back on track. I could study the pink one later. Now I have more pressing issues.

"No, I believe they used a slightly different method to stabilize the enchantments. I won't be able to give any details without a proper investigation, and even then it will likely be classified. Nurse, is the chick able to be moved? I think it would be best if we went to the hospital to do a proper examination. Agents TL, DR,  XK, and CD, should accompany us. Everypony else should wait here."

There was no reason to burden the locals with any of the details, especially because I fear they might be a little grim. If my theory is correct, dark magic's inherent effects on a creature's magical matrix was utilized to solve the stability problem. Like all magic, dark magic is linked to emotion, particularly pain, hatred, and fear. To get so much power that I can feel it even without a detection spell? That bird must have had a lot of blood on her hands before she was even born.





(Fluttershy)

Nurse Redheart agreed to the rude mare's suggestion and most of the S.M.I.L.E. agents headed out of the library, leaving just my friends and two agents guarding the door. It wasn't complete privacy, but it was the first time I could start to relax since S.M.I.L.E. came to Ponyville. Now us girls could have a nice calm talk and figure out what everypony was thinking. Just so long as nopony said anything too stupid, the agents would probably leave us alone.

"Can you believe that mare! She was so rude I wanted to strangle her!"

And of course, Rainbow imminently begins threatening bodily harm to the magic expert. I don't think anypony disagreed with her, but Rainbow really needs to learn about subtly.

"Now now, she was a little uncouth, but no need to get violent." Rarity responded, looking nervously at the agents across the room who were staring menacingly back. 

"Now what did eveypony think of that poor little griffin?" She quickly changed the subject. "She is cute as a button and I suspect she will be quite the looker when she grows up. Although I must admit she gives off a rather sinister aura, even without considering her... birthmarks."

"Oh, I don't think she was so bad," I respond, rubbing my hoof again. All the girls could see me do it, and the mood dropped. The girls were probably all worried about me and my curse. I always seem to make others worry.

"While ah didn't have no problem with the little guy. Though it is a mite frustrating that she don't got no name. There is only so many times you can call somepony 'the griffin' before it gets right confusing. Seeing as the little feather duster is an owl, what do you all think of Owlowiscious as a name?"

"Nope! That name is already taken!" Pinkie interrupted. "Her coat kinda looks like snow right? How about we call her Snowy Owl. Nice and simple." 

"Snowy Owl is the name of her bird species, I think it would be strange if it was her name as well." I humbly point out. I hope Pinki isn't mad that I didn't like her idea.

"While, she was magically bound to Fluttershy, and the spots on her feline half look a little bit like chain links, so what about Bond Snow?" Rarity suggested.

"Roll credits!" Pinkie said as a ding was suddenly heard throughout the library. The S.M.I.L.E. agents looked around concerned for the source of the noise, the locals just accepted it. 

"Come on girls, you are going about this the wrong way. Everypony knows that griffin names always start with a 'g'. It is something to do with how their language is translated or something. We can't just give her a pony name! How about we call her Gwen. Apparently, it means white in the langue of a dragon clan that lives near Trottingham."

Everypony mulled over Rainbow Dash's suggestion. Dragons were pretty scary, and it was a little weird compared to a normal pony name, but it did fit. Although I do wonder how Dash knew about words in an obscure dragon language.

"While I think that is a lovely name, my dear Dashie. I have no problem with Gwen the Griffin, at least until we find her parents."

Just like that, the mood soured again. We had all been eager to distract ourselves with our little baby-naming exercise, but there was still the manticore in the room. Gwen was found abandoned on a bakery's doorstep, had been subjected to a dangerous experiment, and somehow survived while being covered with runes that hurt to even look at. Maybe she had a grieving family, likely in another country, to find, but there was a good chance her parents were neglective, abusive, or worse. 

"I wonder what will happen to Gwen." The pink mare had gotten some of the poof back in her hair while we were naming things, but it was gone now. It was always a little hard to tell what Pinkie was thinking due to her mood swings, but it didn't seem like she was handling what she had almost done very well. 

"Well, there is no orphanage in Ponyville, so maybe she will be taken to Canterlot or Griffinstone?" Dash suggested.

"But what about dear Fluttershy then? If she is still cursed, Gwen would have to stay near her. As much as I adore Canterlot it would be absolutely tragic if Fluttershy had to move away from her animals to live in a big city like that. Maybe a local could look after her. Pinkie, don't the Cakes want a foal?"

"Ya, but they aren't ready yet! They won't be able to support a foal until season two and don't think they want to adopt. What about Lyra and Bon Bon?"

"They're alright, but Bon Bon always seems to be busy, and Lyra has a few screws loose. Do you really think somepony who believes in humans would be able to care for a griffin like Gwen?"

I let myself drift out of the conversation as my friends continued to discuss who would be the best foster parent in Ponyville, suggesting eveypony from Mayor Mare to the scary zebra that had moved into the woods recently. 

As they talked, I kept rubbing my hoof. Even without Miss. Sparkle's spell, I could occasionally make out the runes the scared my flesh under my fur. I guess that means I am still cursed, still bound to that snowy little owl. That is one thing we have in common, both of us marked by runes we can't understand against our will. She did look very cute, just like some of the other babies that my animal friends have had. I helped a lot of my animal friends raise their young, I wonder how hard it would be to raise a griffin? I suppose I wouldn't have to worry about her accidentally activating the curse if she lived with me. And I already have access to meat for some of my carnivore friends so diet wouldn't be an issue. It all seemed to make sense, so much so I wonder if that was what whoever brought Gwen to Ponyville in the first place's plan was all along? 

"I could always take her."





(Twilight)

I meet back up with Spike outside of the hospital. I had dropped him off at a local bakery and he had gotten involved with some foals and somehow ended up covered in tree sap. Frankly, I was glad he had avoided all the drama in the library. It would have either been too much for him or would have gone over his head. The situation in the hospital was not much better. Well physically fine, magical scans seemed to confirm my theory. Strength, speed, disease resistance, all seemed to have been magically enhanced. Whoever did this even solved the nearsightedness issue most griffins have. All while using more dark magic than most crystal or nightmare cults had access to. 

Two of the enchantments stood out. One affected the visual and auditory parts of her brain and had some sort of external component. If my theory is correct, this could allow somepony to send the young griffin hallucinatory sights and sounds, allowing for indoctrination without anypony the wiser. The second was much more sinister. It appeared to be some kind of failsafe, an enchantment that would crush her heart into a fine paste with a similar external component. In summary, somepony had created a perfect super-spy, able to receive orders anonymously, unable to disobey, and able to be disposed of at a moment's notice. It makes me sick to think somepony would do this to an unborn chick.

The Princess will need to know about this.