Twilight's Secret

by Distorted Flare


Hunting boar

The talk with Gilda last night, whilst brief, had at the very least helped her to form a plan. She knew that at some point, she would be forced to tell her friends about her strange eating preference. Twilight would have to be tactful and approach the subject cautiously. Rainbow Dash and Princess Luna, given their interaction and friendships with Gryphons, were the best place to start if she was going to tell somepony. Neither of them would like it, but they would hopefully be the least likely to judge her.

The prospect of telling Princess Celestia honestly terrified Twilight. Which is why, unless it was necessary, she had no plan of telling any of them. At the same time, however, her secret was very likely to get out at some point, and Twilight had to have a contingency plan in place to minimize the panic and potential damage to her friendship with her mentor.

The mare could not remove the nagging fear she had of disappointing or upsetting her past mentor and fellow princesses, but it was something that would eventually have to happen. Lying was an easy way to lose friends. She, of course, had plans should the result be ill in her favour. The gryphon king had kindly offered her shelter, should she ever require it, but, deep down, Twilight had faith in her friends. They may be repulsed by her eating habits, but she knew that they would begrudgingly accept it, yet not without an earful about how horrible it is.

For the moment though, Twilight planned to help herself to a large helping of eggs and bacon. Twilight’s mouth salivated in delight at the prospect of bacon. Grabbing a plate the mare ravenously tore into her meal. Wishing to appease her stomach, the mare quickened her pace, swallowing each bite faster than the last. Over time Twilight had noticed that more and more of her diet had become meat based. Now it was at a stage where she was actually consuming more meat than vegetables and fruits. Her diet was not the only one that had changed. Spike barely touched vegetables now.

The drake in question was idly cleaned his claws which had grown sharper due to his recent diet change. The pudgy baby dragon had shot up in height over the past few weeks, and his head was now level with her snout. With meat available at all times, the drake had been growing constantly for the past few nights. In fact, he was nearly too big for her to carry, and she feared that soon it would be him carrying her around.

Smiling mischievously, the mare flicked one of her wing tips in front of the sleepy dragons nose, resulting in a sharp sneeze. Twilight giggled as Spike muttered darkly under his breath, one of his claws poking her in the ribs, causing her to squeal in surprise.

"Oh dear Celestia this tastes amazing!" Spike laughed mid-chew, his mouth full of sausage as Twilight grimaced. With a sharp flick Twilights wing clipped the drake’s ear causing him to wince.

The quality of food was never any excuse for ill table manners, especially when they were representing Equestria and in the presence of Gryphon nobels. Neither of them could afford to leave a bad impression with them for fear that she embarrassed not only king iron Beak but the princesses as well.

The Gryphon culture was quite different from her homeland, but she had to admit that part of her loved being able to gorge herself here. Eating meat without hiding like a criminal in her own home was a huge improvement. It was nice not having to put on a disguise or cast an illusion charm and, most of all, she didn’t have to worry about receiving looks of disgust. She would have to thank the King for this wonderful meal later.

Twilight looked up from her meal once King Iron Beak strutted into the large room, his eyes locking onto Twilight's. “Excellent, I was hoping I would find you here. I have heard reports from my scouts of an incredibly rare and dangerous breed of boar, not native to my kingdom. I was wondering if you were interested in joining me for a mid-afternoon hunt? Given your performance with the deer, I feel that you would be an excellent hunting partner for my daughter." he said, smiling at the end of his sentence. Twilight paused as she felt the familiar feeling of nausea.

“Cheer up dweeb, I'll hold your hoof if I have to." Gilda snidely chipped in from her seat, Her tail swishing animatedly from side to side.

"Thanks, I... uh appreciate that. ” Twilight grinned sheepishly, her stomach sinking at the thought of hunting again. The boar they were hunting was apparently quite dangerous which was why the king was so eager to hunt it. Killing a dangerous creature was used to show a Gryphons strength and skill. It was not unheard of disgraced or old Gryphons to die whilst hunting to redeem or prove themselves one last time.

Ignoring Twilight's uneasiness, King Iron Beak continued his long tirade about most ponies’ reluctance to hunt. Sitting himself down next to the mare he tucked into his own plate.

"I honestly just do not get it, what better thrill is there besides hunting down your meal? I will never understand the thrill an equine gets from eating hay. Where is the sport of plucking grass from a meadow and frying it?" he laughed, in between mouthfuls snapping up a chicken leg, cracking the fragile bone with his beak.

Twilight was grimly reminded of how dangerous Gryphons were. It amazed her just how easily their beaks could shred flesh and crunch bone. Given that the front half of their bodies were avian, they did not possess the ability to chew properly, which could make meals unpleasant. Like piranhas with wings, gryphons could shred a bovine’s carcass down to bone in minutes.

Smiling pitifully, Twilight followed the king and Gilda to the others, already having second thoughts about the hunt.

-----------

“Uh Dweeb are you trying to give away our position to every feathering creature in the forest?” Gilda growled. The two of them had been searching for two hours and despite the brash gryphon’s boast of being one of the best trackers, the two had still seen neither hide nor hair of the boar.

Gasping, Twilight collapsed beside a rotting log, sweat trickling down her forehead. Two hours of climbing uphill in search of the boar had left the mare exhausted and in dire need of a drink.

“Pathetic.” Gilda growled, turning her back as the alicorn glared at her rude partner. “Wait here and I’ll go fill up your canteen.” She huffed. One of the main rules of the hunt was that it had to be done on hoof, or claw in the gryphon’s case. This made the hunt more “thrilling”, as the king had put it. The tradition also tested Gryphons tracking and stalking skills.

Twilight was starting to regret hunting as her aching hooves began to throb uncomfortably. Around her, the cacophony of animals and insects kept the mare on high alert. Gryphonia’s many forests were renowned for their exotic and dangerous predators.

Slung across her back was the bow that she had used during her first hunt. She had been given the bow as a sign of respect for killing the deer. It was no secret that many Gryphons viewed ponies as inferior, or at the very least weak, but by hunting with them and successfully killing something, she had proven her worth as a hunter and fellow team player.

snap

Twilight’s ears perked up as she looked around for the source of the noise. Her ears flickering from side to side, looking for any indication of where the noise had originated from. Smiling, Twilight relaxed, it had most likely just been a deer.

SNAP!

Twilight flinched as yet again another branch snapped, this time from behind her.

“Hello... Gilda, is that you? Twilight called out. The mares ears swiveled from left to right, trying to pick up any trace of noise as she got to her feet. The Alicorn’s tail twitched in annoyance. Assuming it was Gilda, Twilight wandered over to the edge of the small clearing. The colossal trees blocked most of the light making it hard to locate the source of the noise. Small strands of light that escaped the trees clutches allowed the mare to see the outline of nearby trees.

“Gilda this is not funny! Come one we ha—.” A speeded blur slammed into the mare’s side pushing the two of them into a bush as Twilight went to scream. A claw wrapped around her mouth made the mare freeze as Gilda’s face filled her vision. Placing a claw to her beak the avian pointed to a spot near the back as the two sat in unabated silence.

A sharp snort made the alicorn freeze as a giant form appeared from the darkness. Twilight felt terror well up inside her being as she took in the sight of the beast. Its eyes gleamed menacingly in the low light, its fur a ghostly white as a pair of mangled tusks protruded from its mouth.

Towering above both herself and Gilda, the two watched as the beast lumbered into the clearing and headed straight for her bag. Twilight twitched as the boar tore into it; scattering books and quills as it scavenged for food. Its body was coated in scars, and to Twilights disgust, a few spears. Its left eye was a milky white to go with a gruesome scar.

This was the rare species of boar that the Gryphons had been desperate to hunt. The thing was bigger than even a manticore. She had been expecting a medium sized boar, like the ones that lived in the Everfree back home. Not bigger than Big Macintosh, but this thing easily dwarfed them.

“Whats the plan?” Twilight stuttered with a shaky voice as Gilda grimaced, a look of uncertainty appearing on her face for the first time. Great, she thought, neither of them had any idea how to even tackle the beast, never mind kill it. Pulling her bow from her back the mare moved painfully slow as Gilda watched her.

“I am going to aim for its head. When it strikes I want you to grab your spear and aim for its eyes. If we can blind it, we have a chance.” Twilight instructed, Gilda went to argue, but was cut off by Twilight. “Just do it.” the mare hissed, not in the mood for any back chat. Glowering, Gilda gave a small nod of understanding.

Slowly pulling the string to full draw, Twilight breathed out. It was now or never.

“NOW!”