The Quail, The Ambassador, and The Griffins (revised)
The royal airship, Solar Wind, was quite an impressive structure. The golden cabin hanging underneath could easily accommodate over a hundred guests and the two dozen crew members. The envelope was filled with high-density clouds that, in conjunction with an integrated cloud-walking spell, provided tremendous lift. The whole behemoth easily was the size of Canterlot castle. Twilight was impressed at the size of the craft, truly a marvel of pony engineering. And she was going to have the penthouse suite for the three day journey to the capitol of the Griffin Kingdom, Mosclaw.
Twilight watched out her window as ponies, griffins, and an occasional minotaur boarded the vessel. Although it served primarily as a mode of long range transport for the Equestrian nobility, the Solar Wind also ferried anyone with deep enough pockets to wherever they needed to be.
The final passengers on board, the crew cast off. The Solar Wind drifted upwards before spinning about and setting off for Mosclaw.
The two oldest alicorns were walking down one of the halls in their castle. “Luna, did you happen to speak with Twilight Sparkle before she left?” There was an odd tone to Celestia's voice.
“No, sister, we – errr… I – did not. Why do you ask?” Luna tilted her head.
“I wondered if anypony else had spoken with her. During my conversation with Twilight, I noticed something… off about her.”
“Off?” the younger inquired. Her hooves stopped walking.
“When we talked, I noticed two things. Firstly was her height. It could be my imagination, but I swear that she looked taller, if only by a tiny amount.”
“Sister, she is an alicorn, like us. Of course she will get taller.” Luna stated with matter-of-fact tone.
“No, she should not. We were born, while she was made. Look at Cadance," Celestia said while tossing her head in the general direction of a stain glass window. The one indicated depicted her niece. "She has not grown past the height of a normal pony. Although—" Celestia paused "—it may have just been the light in the room that made Twilight look taller.”
“It is possible. Perhaps we should keep an eye on her, just for her sake. What was the other thing you noticed?”
“I trust you understand how well I can read ponies' body language?”
Luna nodded. “Far better than I can. What did you pick up from Twilight?”
“That is the question. Honestly, I don’t know, and that bothers me. The look in her eyes is not something I have seen in ponies before.”
“This is troublesome indeed.”
The voyage to Mosclaw passed almost without incident. Spike overdid it on the dessert buffet and ended up with a stomachache for the first day of the trip.
Later, after he was feeling better, Twilight and Spike ordered room service. The griffin waiter that delivered the quail dish gave a curious look at Twilight, not seeing Spike at first. That had led to a rather awkward few moments wherein Twilight tried to convince him that the dish was not for her, but for her roommate.
As soon as the waiter had left, the pair split the mushroom stuffed quail between themselves. “This is good, but not the best thing I have tasted,” Spike said. “You’d think that a boat as fancy as this could hire better chefs.”
“Unfortunately, I don’t have anything to base this on, so I don’t know if this is good considering how it is supposed to be prepared,” Twilight said. The scientific part of her mind was busy analyzing the dish, storing it away for later reference.
They continued to chew their way through the dish in comfortable silence.
Within a few minutes of their arrival in Mosclaw, Twilight and Spike were escorted off of the Solar Winds and to a waiting carriage. Out in the frigid air, King Grendel Ironbeak stood by his transport. Ironbeak's large, scarred frame gave him an intimidating appearance, but his eyes held a gentleness uncommon among griffins.
“My my my, when Princess Celestia said she would be sending an ambassador, I had assumed it would be Mrs. Peace Treaty. Instead, I get Princess Twilight Sparkle. It is an honor to meet you,” The griffin king spoke in his deep voice. He offered out a claw.
“The honor is all mine, King Ironbeak.” Twilight shook his claw and then gestured to Spike. “This is my number one assistant, Spike.”
“Hi, nice to meet you! I’ve never met a griffin before. Well, there was one, but she was rather mean. She even yelled at Fluttershy! I mean, who does that?” Spike said.
“Especially considering how much she valued her image. Although it’s sad to lose a friend - even a shallow one - over a fight. I wonder if Gilda ever apologized to Rainbow Dash?” Twilight said.
“You know my daughter, Gilda Ironbeak?” the king asked. “I knew she made a fool of herself, but to think she did it in front of an Equestrian Princess.”
Twilight blinked, then said, “Wait, Gilda, as in the griffin that Rainbow Dash made friends with in Cloudsdale flight camp, is the princess of the Griffin Kingdom?”
“Yes, that is my daughter.” Grendel faceclawed. “I hope her behavior did not offend you too badly, your highness.”
“It is all in the past, your majesty. I was not even royalty at the time, and it was not me that she offended.” Twilight shivered as a blast of snowy air assaulted the group. “Brrrr… Let’s get out of this cold.” She turned to Spike, who was busy warming his claws with a small jet of green flame. “Come on, Spike.”
Within twenty minutes, the carriage arrived at Grendel Ironbeak’s castle. The servants escorted Twilight and Spike up to their rooms. They were amazed by all of the artwork that adorned the walls. Paintings of various battle scenes, warriors, and hunts adorned almost every wall. Mounted underneath the torches that lit the walls, various weapons were on display. As they passed through the main throne room, they couldn’t help but stare at the distant ceiling. The mural painted upon it was far more graphic than any of the other artworks. Nevertheless, it possessed a level of quality far beyond that of any of the other paintings. Twilight did not know what to do: look up at the enchanting beauty or look down and hurl. So she took the third option: crashing headfirst into the oncoming griffin that she had failed to notice.
“HEY! WATCH IT! I’M WALKING HERE!” a familiar voice yelled.
“Oh, my apologies. I was not looking where I was going,” Twilight sheepishly apologized.
“You better be,” the griffin growled.
“I said I was…” the Equestrian princess trailed off as she recognized who she was looking at. “Princess Gilda.”
“That’s my name, don’t wear it out. Who are you?” Gilda asked, the annoyance evident in her voice.
Twilight’s eye twitched in annoyance. ‘She’s as bad as before.’ The alicorn took a calming breath. “Princess Twilight Sparkle, ambassador for Equestria. More importantly, I’m Rainbow Dash's and Fluttershy’s friend.”
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Gilda? a princess? oh dear...
chapter was shorter than i would like and... didn't feel as good as past chapters, not sure why though
BOOYAH! SUCK IT SECRETIVE AUTHOR!
Mosclaw
lol
Hooray! I wonder what Griffon tastes like.
Anyway, Gilda is in for a shock when Twilight eats whatever they server without missing a beat.
Man, when Twilight is inevitably caught by Fluttershy, Twilight will be...
*puts on sunglasses*
(⌐■_■)...( •_•)/⌐■-■(⌐■_■)
YEAAAAAAH!!!
2685566
missed the punchline
2685586 I think that was the point
2685586
Damn it. REDO
Hooray! I wonder what Griffon tastes like.
Anyway, Gilda is in for a shock when Twilight eats whatever they server without missing a beat.
Man, when Twilight is inevitably caught by Fluttershy, Twilight will be...
*puts on sunglasses*
(⌐■_■)...( •_•)/⌐■-■(⌐■_■)
Dead meat
YEAAAAAAH!!!
2685605
SUCK IT
The Griffon Empire is responsible for Twilight's cravings. Working through their double agent Derpy, they've been drugging Twilight's food to make her crave meat so that, as a Princess, she'll increase the meat trade with the Empire and possible trigger some sort of meat eating fade that will sweep Equestria and make the Griffon Empire a fortune.
Celestia knows this, which is why she's sending Twilight to the Griffon Empire. This is both to subtly remind the griffons that she knows their plan, and prevent Twilight from triggering a fade or increase meat trading.
Reader input is a go!
Oh, Gilda, you grump! Better not offend the foreign ascended demigod dignitaries
Boy I hope he got a stomach ache. I mean, who even eats one entire desert all by themselves? All that sand and cacti are a sure way to get painful constipation.
Wild theory time!
Twilight's being influenced by the Nightmare. Remember those pointy teeth?
Twilight's DNA almost made her a batpony, and her ascension has scrambled her genetic code such that it's starting to express itself. (assuming there are vampire batponies, and not just fruit batponies).
Twilight's just going stark raving mad.
Twilight isn't entirely equine:
--She has some amount of changeling blood.
--She accidentally gained some draconic tendencies when she hatched Spike.
--She's not an alicorn at all. She's actually a not-quite-yet-draconequus.
Aaaand that's all I've got for now.
This is the kind of story I've been waiting 2 years for :l
fun256.com/photos/1521.jpg
so something has changed in twilight's body language, im guessing she has a bit of a predatory gleam in her eyes, which celestia doesn't recognize cause she's either not used to seeing it or she can't make the connection.
Apparently, eating meat makes ponies grow... and dragons.
2686277
I like that one. Would also give some kinda parental or sibling-ish bond with Spike, story wise.
2685813
Thanks for pointing that out. Fixed.
One of the writers said once that at least all hoofed creatures have some form sentience. Pony's, cows, goats, horses and zebra's. But also deers, rhino's, hippo's and even whales and dolphins. There are a few special cases like Griffins and Dragons but my own canon is the same as the writers in this case.
2688973
In the event of conflicts with cannon:
cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/400x/35015171.jpg
But that's not very likely.
2688987
I know, and it's your story so you can make the rules. But I like the "hoofed-creatures are sentinent"-rule cause it quite clear and there is still room for your own things in it, like the level of intelligence.
This clashes with my own head canon. But that's alright, I don't even like human obsessed Lyra as an example.
Also, how did the Princesses not comment on Spike's 'suddenly wings?'
2689590
They are still just bumps on his back.
And Twilight IS the Mare of Thrace...
Beef, its what's for dinner.
I'm just waiting for the line 'Where's the beef?
I can see Twilight being found out eating meat like a rabid wolf a la Light from Deathnote.
It's a very cool yet disturbing image.
May I make some menu suggestions?
What is that? Yes? Okay then.
Have Twilight try to consume the tasty oddity that is Escargot: Snails in garlic-herb butter. Can she handle it?
Frogs legs maybe?
Pate (duck's liver paste)
Caviar?
Shellfish is easy since she went to fish first.
I would like her to be caught eating rabbit by Fluttershy. That would be epic.
2690500
Yes, yes you may.
Also, have you heard of Ascended Fanon?
I have to admit, part of me is pissed. Namely, that you beat me to a story like this; it's been my headcanon for a while now that ponies can eat meat, and furthermore, alicorns must eat meat in order to get enough calories for themselves. (Although Celestia's cake binges work well enough at times.
) Although in my head any pony that eats meat gets stronger and grows canines.
Ah, well, it's still an interesting story you have here. I definitely want to see more. And she'd better try bacon, dammit; bacon is one of the greatest proofs that there is a God and He loves us very much.
So, did you have the same idea about hoofed animals? That they're 'normal' (i.e. non-sapient) outside of Equestria (only Equestria's high background magic levels make cows and other livestock smart enough to talk and reason), thus no smart cow was killed for that tasty, tasty steak? Or should this story have a "dark" tag?
Anyways, have a watch.
2690768
Well, my story/head-cannon is violating your head cannon. Ponies eating meat isn't natural. Celestia has never eaten meat, same as Luna. (NMM has, however. Where do you think ponies got the idea that she gobbles other ponies up?)
In other news, bacon is on the menu.
Very neat story so far, looking forward to more!
I had an idea of where this was going but Celestia's comment about the look in Twilight's eyes made me wonder.. Also, it seemed like Twilight became comfortable with the physical act of eating meat very early in the story, although you show she continues to have moral qualms about doing it. As of chapter five, is she still bothered by the act at all or is it all feeling very natural to her?
2690790
And they'll be 40% more awesome. 
In that case, I shall still have to investigate in fictional format my own ideas.
Still wanna see where this story goes. And good thing 'bout the bacon, otherwise I'd have to pummel you with soft, adorable ponies.
2690959
Maybe we should make group for stories about ponies eating meat. There are a few good ones floating around.
2690931
She is comfortable eating meat, but terrified of the repercussions of being found out.
2690959
Let me know if you ever write that. I will gladly read it.
2691045
I would join that group.
2685608 Called it. :successkid:
2690541 More dish suggestions! She's eating meat, fair 'nuff. But she's missing all the blood now. Svartsoppa is almost entirely made out of goose blood and spices. It's pretty tasty, from what I hear.
It's not just meat that could be taboo you know.
Damn, I knew that it's eating meat which made humans so terrible, even the vegetarian ones :D Well, I agree with many commenters, many hooved animals can talk and I suspect all mammals are sentient and it would be superimmoral to eat them even for Griffins, I think
I think if Gilda was a princess, she wouldn't shut up about it, somehow :)
Well, fic isn't bad, though, character's names written with lowercase often irk me. I'm curious what happens next...
2692896
Thank you for pointing that out. I've fixed it now. I'll pay more attention to that in the future.
Darn it man, you stole my story idea. Oh well, I probably wasn't going to write it anyway.
2692840
Better than Countess Elizabeth Bathory who bathed and drank the blood of young girls in hopes of staying young.
2692891
That's one of the most disgusting things I've ever come across next to haggis.
2691058
What would we even call the group?
1) Carnivorous Equines
2)Ponies partaking of protein
3) Nom nom nom nom nom.
What would we even do with such a group. Just store stories or actually try to do things?
Imagine the writing prompts:
Everypony tries to make the bast sandwich ever and AJ runs out of bacon.
Pinkie discovers where gelatin comes from.
2696363 If someone offered me to taste I would. There's not a lot of places around here that serves it though.
Great story! I cant wait to read the rest of it!
2698977
I have the same thoughts. If they can put it in their mouths, they can digest it.
I am very interested in seeing where this goes.
Gilda is sooooo gonna blackmail twilight after catching her in the act.
Hmmm Twilight in the griffin palace... This is going to be awesome.
I wonder how our brand new omnivore will handle the mandatory hunt.
2685611
you may have saved Black Neissagh Mr.Freemane but *bursts out laughing* I will 
oh god, this is wonderful, it is making me hungry
You sure that's correct?
2831986
Thank you, I fixed that.
Typo:
-capital
You're killing me.