Trixie in the Gryphon Empire

by Phaoray

Working on a New Outlook.

What is wrong with this city!?

Nervously, Trixie opened her door, and headed for the stairway.

Trixie's morning had gotten off to the best start she could of hoped for after last night. Meaning she was still alive. Thankfully, Gretta had only been joking last night about the lack of vegetables in Gryphus. The potatoes and carrots were a lot better than being forced to eat potted plants. Though they were raw and barely constituted enough for a meal, she felt it best not to complain. After eating in her room, Trixie cautiously descended the stairs. Thankfully, it sounded as noisy as ever in the common room.

At least that means they are busy with their own things. M-maybe that gryphon last night was just a fluke?

Trixie's descent from the second floor turned out to be a fairly mixed affair. On one hoof, the room didn't go silent at the sight of her, which was good. On the other hoof, it was clear to Trixie that she now had most of the rooms attention in one way or another. While attention was something she'd normally have loved, last night's incident made every glance her way feel alot more sinister. Some of those glances only seemed curious, some humorous, but others ... she preferred not to think of the intent behind them. Warily, Trixie made her way over to the bar, where she spotted Gretta speaking with a young, eager-looking gryphon.

"Oh, her? Yeah, sche'll be down soon, Groat. Good luck, I believe sche vill be harder zan you sink."

Well, that's not ominous at all.

Just as she was contemplating going back upstairs for the day, Gretta's eyes turned towards her.

"Ah, Hello again, Miss Trixie. Preparink to head out?"

No way out now, she thought. Trixie nodded to Gretta as she approached, keeping her eye on the brown and white gryphon she had just been speaking to. The young gryphon wasn't too much taller than Trixie, so at least he wasn't very intimidating. He also seemed a little unique due to the yellow dye he seemed to have used on his wing tips. He gave her a grin and moved over to give Trixie some space at the bar. "Hello, Gretta. Trixie was just looking to see if you could give her directions. She is looking to speak with your....Prince? Princess?"

"Tch, such shtrange titles. Zose are Ze honorifics of your Alicorn rulers, yes?"

Groat gave a loud grunt, and started preening his claws. From the way he kept glancing at Trixie and exaggeratedly moving his paws, it was clear he was trying to show off to her. For what, she couldn't imagine. She regarded him with a raised eyebrow for a few seconds. He doesn't look drunk, is he interested in Trixie? It's understandable if he is, Trixie does project an aura of power around her after- No! Stop that! Trixie's ears gripped her skull as her mind reprimanded her. The elements aren't that vain, are they!? Nopony is going to think you changed if you keep thinking like this." Silently agreeing with herself, Trixie then turned her attention back to Gretta.

"Right, so could you point Trixie in the direction of your nearest ruler?"

"Ah, you vish to shpeak with Uber King Greyclaw sen? Zat vill not be easy, especially for you. You might be able to shpeak viz someone else at the palace, but he is usually occupied, from vat I know. Just look for zee large castle in zee middle of zee city."

She paused at that. "Wait...the castle isn't on the side of the cliff, or in the air?"

Gretta waved a dismissive claw. "Of course not. Zee Uber King is zee center of zee city, so he lives in zee center. It vould be difficult for other races to get zeir if he lived in a aerie."

"That...makes alot of sense, actually. So the center of the city? Great, Trixie will be on her way then."

Nodding to Gretta and Groat, she turned around and headed through the room. Halfway to the bar exit, the sound of clawed paws on the floor behind her caused Trixie to turn her head. Groat seemed to be following Trixie out. His face made it clear he was nervous, but he was watching her with an intense interest. A creepy interest even. Growling a bit under her breath, Trixie made sure to keep her tail tucked tightly between her legs. There's always one pervert in every city. Hopefully Trixie just met him and can get this over with quickly.

Still, nopony would be impressed if she broke her conviction to be a better pony. she had to be nicer than usual, and not toss him into a building like the last time somepony wouldn't take no for an answer. Sure, her reputation was in shambles, but she didn't need a stallion...or in this case gryphon, for comfort. All of her struggles would be pointless if she was willing to settle for anypony less than her after all.

Ignoring the gryphon behind her, Trixie made her way to the exit. Just as she reached it, Gretta called out.

"Oh, and Trixie? No violence is allowed at zee palace, under penalty of death. So, consider it a safe zone. You vill probably need one."

"And just what do you mean by-OOF!"

Trixie was abruptly pushed from behind, causing her to roll out of the inn and into the street.

---

Gretta sighed as she saw Groat violently push Trixie through the doors and out of the inn. She had been very firm that no violence or hunting would be done in her bar, but, he was young and ambitious. So she forgave him the slight bending of her rules. This was his first hunt after all. Poor kid didn't even have a chance anyways. Of course, neither did the unicorn.

Vell, at least I gave her a decent last night.

---

"Just what do you think you're doing, you stupid foal!" She screamed, picking herself up from the street.

"Of all the insulting...what are you doing now?" Trixie asked, having looked back at Groat.

Groat was doing his best to loom over her, despite barely being taller than Trixie. His face was scrunched up, almost like he was having a nasty stomach ache. It would have been nearly laughable if his claws weren't out and he wasn't so close to her.

"Foolish unicorn! I, Groat of the plucked feathers clan, youngest son of Grogar, and favored egg of-OW!"

Trixie bopped him on the beak with her hoof, causing Groat to flinch back and bring a paw up to rub his beak.

"There." Trixie said, using her hoof to seemingly rub the inside of one of her ears. "Much better. What were you doing, shouting at Trixie like that? Were you trying to make her deaf!?"

Groat glared daggers at her, puffing himself up like an angry peacock. "How dare you assault me! You're the prey here! I will be the one who claims your hide you little-HEY!"

The other gryphon, who had grabbed Trixie and took back to the skies in one fell swoop, ignored Groat's ranting as he carried the screaming unicorn off.

---

Well, this isn't good. Trixie thought while trying to hold down her breakfast. The amount of times she had been violently jarred were taking their toll on her stomach. Struggling only caused the gryphon's grip on her to become painful, causing her to struggle more. After what felt like a minute of screaming and struggling like this, Trixie was more then sure the gryphon's claws were cutting into her. Her breathing became ragged as little black spots started appearing before her eyes.

"Pfft, well, this was disappointingly easy. Quit struggling, enjoy the view, and just accept a prey's destiny."

Trixie went limp for the moment, simply concentrating on not passing out. As the spots went away, her mind went into overdrive. She quickly began thinking through the unpleasant situation she now found herself in.

The gryphon had his paws around her sides, and was working to get more elevation, something Trixie was not that keen on as she looked down to the ground. They weren't too far up yet, but falling would most likely involve her breaking something she'd rather not break. Looking over at the gryphons who passed them by, Trixie was mildly upset as she saw a gryphon or two in guard's livery ignoring her plight. Is this really considered normal here!?

Glancing back to her mud colored captor again, Trixie noted how much his grip had loosened since she had stopped struggling. He can't really believe Trixie gave up this easily, can he? If she twisted a little, Trixie was pretty sure she could angle her horn enough to gore him.

But....that's not right either is it? How would one of the elements handle this?Let's see ...

Trixie quickly began taking stock of what she had on her.

Dice, bag of bits, list of the elements, sparklers, a carrot, smoke bombs, fire crackers ... yeah, this could work. Surprises are kind of like laughter, right?

---

"Y-you didn't even announce yourself!" Groat screamed. "I was hunting her first! Y-you big jerk!" Groat sniffed, feeling himself well up at the thought of failing his first hunt. Father would have been so-

CRACK-CRACK-CRACKCRACKCRACK!

Startled at the loud noise, he looked up and to where he last saw the other gryphon flying. Now, there was nothing but bright flashes and loud coughing amidst a cloud of smoke. A brief flash of blue caught Groat's attention from the cloud, causing him to dumbly gape at just what he was seeing. The blue pony emerged from the cloud, her cloak doubled over and clutched between her front hooves. Her horn glowed as she held the cloak above her head, the cloak looking to act as some sort of balloon. He watched the pony slowly descend to the street to the gawking stares of everyone around her. Once she set down, she placed the cloak back over her shoulders and looked around, a sense of relief over her face. Seconds later, Groat saw her ears flatten, and her eyes widen. Then, she started running like mad as a small flock of gryphons quickly followed after her down the street.

After a minute, Groat's sense came back to him. "No fair!" he cried, flapping his wings awkwardly. Teenage gryphons were not the most graceful of fliers on the best of days, and Groat was no exception to this rule. "I called her first!"

---

Hah! Victory!

Trixie gasped for breath as she hid in the mostly empty trash can. Wisely, she decided not to look down, considering how most creatures in the city seemed to be carnivores. Placing a hoof over her nose to drown out the horrid smell, Trixie worked to calm her breathing before peeking out of the can.

Most of the gryphons after her had moved on when she ducked down this alley, apparently not noticing her sudden shift of direction. One still lingered behind though, confused at where she went, but not immediately blindly following the rest of the flock. The red and brown gryphon was searching around fruitlessly, much to the apparent annoyance of someone over head. Glancing up, Trixie noted several larger, older gryphons watching the 'hunt' with amusement.

"Really now Gertrude! Can you look any stupider? You're not a Diamond dog! Stop sniffing at the ground like one! You Can take this hunt seriously, can't you!?"

... Trixie is starting to think he knows where she is ...

"I am taking this seriously Uncle! Stop telling me how to hunt, I can do this without being babied!"

Trixie saw the older gryphon groan and put a paw to his beak as Gertrude gave up on her search and ran off down the street. A couple of the others chuckled and flew off in the same direction Gertrude had gone. Trixie breathed a sigh of relief, which stopped dead as the Uncle looked over at her. For a moment, there eyes met, and the gryphon gave her a weird, lopsided grin, and a shrug, as if to say "Kids, am I right?" before taking off to follow Gertrude.

The gryphon at the bar looked young ... and the one who picked up Trixie didn't seem 'that' much older ...

Trixie didn't have time to think this over, she'd briefly glimpsed the castle when she was in the air, and was pretty sure it should just be a few blocks over from her now. As quiet as she could, she got out of the trash can, and started down the alley.

Cautiously, Trixie made her way down several narrower streets, avoiding any she could that looked to have younger gryphons on it. She still got looks, and a few seemed to quicken their flight, or pace when she went by, but none pursued her.

Okay, so it seems like it's just the younger ones after her then. That's good to know. All Trixie has to do is avoid them, get done with her business at the castle, and get out of this city. She may just live through this after all.

---

Trixie is not going to live through this.

Groaning with frustration, she proceeded to shuffle her hooves and ignore the stares that kept getting thrown her way.

She'd managed to get to the castle, only to find out that speaking with the Uber King was apparently on everyone's mind in this town, as the line for audiences spanned far past the castle gates by the time she had managed to get there. At least Gretta's words were true, and noone tried to attack her in line. Though it was clear that a few outside of the line had wanted to.

Over the span of an hour, Trixie had seen most of the younger gryphons walk up to the castle, spot her, deflate a little, and slowly trudge off, or fly away. A few started towards her, much to her alarm, before an older gryphon would stop and talk to them. Though Trixie wasn't sure what was being said, it always ended with the two gryphons leaving, sometimes with a forlorn look back at Trixie from the younger one.

Trixie would feel bad if those looks weren''t because they couldn't tear her apart today ...

Only one had been an actual issue, and, of course, it was Groat. He had spotted her, and angrily started walking towards her before getting noticed by one of the guards and stopped. For about five minutes, alot of angry gestures had been sent her way while Groat and the guard argued back and forth. The whole thing ended with Groat being picked up and tossed out of the gates on his rear. He still wound up staying there and staring at Trixie for close to an hour before leaving.

At last, Trixie was able to relax, the threat of imminent danger over with.

---

"E-excuse me, could I just-"

Less than an hour later, and Trixie was under siege again. Only in a different manner.

"No! She will not hear of this again! Be gone from Trixie's sight, you fraud!"

Trixie's going to lose it if this keeps up. She thought as the donkey walked down the line, giving the same sob story as the others had to a gryphon.

At first, Trixie had remembered generousity, and let a few others ahead of her when they spoke of having horrible troubles that required them to see the King, or more often, the chancellor's, as soon as possible. Her generous mood changed however, when the stories started repeating. After looking around at the line for a bit due to her suspicions, she began to notice a pattern. Many others of various races were circling the line, trying to edge their way in when no one was looking, or preying on others pity to be let into the line as opposed to waiting at the end. A couple actually pushed their way in and glared at anyone who thought to say anything to them about it. Apparently this method was greatly disliked, as most of those were reported and forced out, with only a few getting away with it.

Glaring at the backs of two of the ones she had let in line, a griffon and a donkey, Trixie couldn't help but feel like she had to say something. Well, she felt like she wanted to grab them with her magic and toss them out and into the road. But the whole death if violent thing made that a bad idea, so words would have to do.

"Was it really impossible for you two fakers to get in line earlier like everypony else? Do you have any idea what Trixie went through to get here!?"

The gryphon rolled his eyes as he looked back at Trixie. "Not my fault you're gullible, right? Don't feel bad about it, I get someone with that every day. First time I tricked a unicorn though. Besides, my need to see the chancellor far outweighs yours."

"And what makes you think that!?"

"Mine actually has a chance to happen. I just gotta push this one guy my way for a few more days, and I'm sure they'll agree to my proposal. You, on the other hand, I don't see being allowed through the door. In one piece, anyways."

"Oh leave the poor girl alone, would ya?" The donkey ahead of them said, "Unlike your asinine reason, I actually have a family riding on this. Thank you again for the help, ma'am."

"Pfft, sure ya do. Just keep that act up donkey, and maybe one day someone will believe you."

"Hmph. You're just lucky she hadn't heard your story from one of the others before you approached her, ya greedy gryphon."

Trixie tuned out the arguing duo. Thinking back on the stories used so far, Trixie was quite sure she knew of a few that would work to get her to shave off hours on this wait if she liked in the future. She hadn't been a stage magician all those years without learning a few tricks and how to be dramatic, after all. But ...

Honesty. Just Trixie's luck that would be an element too, wouldn't it? Sighing, Trixie resolved to see her wait through fairly, and not resort to tricks to cheat her way to the king, despite how much easier it would be. The stories she'd heard said good things about the bearer of honesty, and her work ethic. So perhaps if Trixie worked hard and fair, this would turn out good for her too?

... Why does that seem like a load of garbage to Trixie? Sure, it had worked out for the Element bearer, but it just seemed a bit too ... idealistic for Trixie to swallow. Maybe it would be better to try a more ... 'realistic' approach instead?

That's just great, Trixie. Let's just ignore honesty. How about we toss out generousity next? And maybe kindness for the heck of it? I mean, its not like your way of thinking hasn't gotten you far in Equestria, right? Those element bearers aren't that important after all. Surely they'd be further ahead if they thought more like you do.

Fine, fine. We wait in this stupid line, go see the king, and hope not to be eating on the way back to the inn. Trixie's really in a bad state if she is arguing with her own-

"Ma'am, please state your business, or remove yourself from my sight. It's not lunchtime just yet."

"Pfft, good one, Greg."

Coming out of her thoughts, Trixie stared at the two gryphon guards in front of her, realizing that she had actually made it to the front of the line while she was talking to herself. The guards were large, even by gryphon standards, and towered over Trixie. Both wore regal looking blue leather armor, providing them with protection, yet looking light enough to not be an issue for flying. Beyond them was a large, well decorated metal door, much like the one at the entrance to the city, only half its size. Still, two gryphons could have easily walked through at the same time if it was opened. Now if she could only get it to open ...

Honesty, stick with the honesty thing.

Giving a smile, Trixie took a step forward while she gave the guards a small nod. "Trixie has come here to speak to your Uber King in regards to Equestria."

Confusedly, the non-greg guard looked past her. "Okay....and where is this Trixie? Is she the gryphon behind you?"

"W-what? No, Trixie is Trixie." She said, pointing a hoof at herself.

Chuckling a little, Non-greg elbowed Greg "Is she for real?" Greg seemed to ignore him for the moment.

Eyeing her a little, Greg replied. "Are you an ambassador of some type? Pretty ballsy of a little unicorn like you to come here alone. Let alone ask to speak to the Uber King himself."

Trixie shook her head, slightly confused. "No, Trixie came here on her own. Nopony sent her."

"Ah, then ... are you a merchant of some type? You must have some strong pull if you came looking like that."

"No, Trixie is not with anypony else. And what do you mean? Is there something wrong with Trixie's attire?"

With a blank look on his face, Greg looked at non-Greg, who looked back with a 'Are you serious?' expression on his face. After a moment, Greg refocused, and turned back to Trixie.

" ... Right. Well, try again tomorrow. Maybe I'll let you in then if I think the Uber King isn't too busy, though its pretty doubtful. But hey, maybe I'll be impressed if you somehow manage to survive that long. Stranger things have happened."

Trixie stared at him, wide eyed and slack jawed. "W-what do you mean!? T-Trixie spent hours waiting in this wretched line!"

"And we apologize for the inconvenience, but everyone must wait their turn."

"B-but, it IS my turn!"

"Nope, sorry. Your request is denied for today, please try again tomorrow."

"B-but-!"

Rolling his eyes, Greg said, "Let me break this down for you. You have no backers, you aren't here under official business from Equestria, you are not part of some large, influential family, you're a unicorn, AND ... you have no idea about why I find the way you look odd. Am I correct in all of this?"

" ....Yes?"

Greg nodded to Non-greg, who gave a devious grin. "I love this part." Before she could react, Non-greg had grabbed Trixie with one large, clawed paw, and picked her up.

"Thank you for visiting the royal palace, please return tomorrow at regular business hours."

With those final words, Non-greg tossed Trixie out of line like a bowling ball. Trixie tumbled for nearly half a block before the guards lost her to an alley, where they heard a resounding crash. Grinning, Non-greg turned to Greg again.

"Wouldn't trade this job for anything."

Comments

[DracoDarastrix]

Okay I must be honest, is it really mean of me, as a Trixie fan that I actually laughed when she was thrown like a bowling ball?

[mexfan]

Im enjoying this story a lot, espeacially the way you write Trixie's hilarious toughts. You just earned a fav.

[Redwolf777sg]

LoL! Every young gryphon is out to get Trixie! I hate to be in her place. This story is getting good, it's so funny. I look forward to reading the next chapter, when it comes out.

Keep up the good work.

[Tome]

Good stuff so far

[Emperor]

Trixie really needs to go back to being Trixie. Then bragging and showing off, and maybe beating up a few of those young gryphons and getting them as admirers instead of predators.

Honestly, I could way to easily see this degenerate into a romcom, but alas the story tags don't have comedy. Instead it'll probably turn out to be more of a trial-by-fire adventure fic for Trixie.