Griffon the Brush Off
“Oh, so that’s why you guys all seem to have the same shield cutie mark.” Spike said, finally having received an answer to a question he’s had since noticing a certain trio of matching marks.
“Yep. A little club we made as fillies. I miss that time a lot. We can’t spend as much time on our duties as crusaders anymore. The most we can do is act as counselors and help foals looking for their own marks, offering opportunities like learning an instrument.” Sweetie Belle explained.
“Or workin’ with a team of friends.” Apple Bloom chimed in.
“Or building machines and doing stunts. We’ve even got a little ‘Cutie Mark Camp’ thing that we’ve got coming up in fall to help kids get their marks. We set it up for a few days around the start of every season.” Scootaloo added.
“Maybe I’ll sign Twilight up for it.” Spike thought out loud. “She’s pretty confident in what she wants to do, but her mark still hasn’t appeared yet.”
“Yeah, that’s not as uncommon as you might think. Most of the time when someponies’ mark appears, it’s when they finally know what they want to do, but figuring out a goal isn’t strictly the cause of it appearing. Has Twilight ever mentioned what she wants to use all that stuff she’s learning for?”
“To further our understanding of magic, I think.”
“She wants to further her understanding of magic. Beyond that? She clearly doesn’t have much of a direction at all. I’d place my bets on that being the problem, that her special talent isn’t just knowledge oriented. She’s gotta have a more specific purpose.”
“I suppose so. Is there anything I can do to help her with that?”
“If you can get her to participate in something that she can apply her knowledge to, she might find a purpose and her mark could appear. Other than that, it’s just something that needs to happen on its-” Before Scootaloo could finish, something swooped by at mach speeds, pulling her completely out of the circle that the ponies and dragon had formed.
“Aaaaahahahahaha!” An unknown voice cackled in excitement.
“Gabby?” Scootaloo groaned. “What in the world are you doing here?”
“Are you kidding?! Did you think I wouldn’t fly straight here the moment I got your letter?”
“I didn’t expect that, no. I thought you were going to send a note back just saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’.”
“Is everything alright here?” Spike asked.
“Oh!” The unknown intruder was suddenly invading Spike’s face. She was some kind of light gray bird-cat. A griffon. “You’re not a pony! I didn’t know there was anything other than ponies in Ponyville. Hi! I’m Gabriella, but my friends just call me Gabby. What’s your name?”
“Gabby, focus.” Apple Bloom interrupted. “Not that I’m not happy that you’re here, but what are you doing all the way out in Ponyville?” She asked. Gabriella pulled out an opened envelope from a bag on her waist the handed it over to the yellow mare, before immediately returning to interrogating the dragon. Sweetie Belle peered over to watch as Apple Bloom pulled out the letter.
“Hey Gabby.” Sweetie Belle read aloud. “I just got an invitation for an important event that’s happening in the summer of next year. I can’t invite my parents because they’ll just try to embarrass me in front of the Wonderbolts and ruin my shot at getting in, so would you wanna use my extra ticket and come to the Grand Galloping Gala with a few other Crusaders as my plus one? It’s happening on July twenty first. You don’t have any holidays or birthdays around then, right? If you do, that’s fine.”
“Aw, it’s like a reunion.” Apple Bloom smiled. “We’re getting the band back together for an adventure at the Grand Galloping Gala.”
“That’s a great idea! I should go offer my ticket to Babs, then. We can bring the whole club!” Sweetie smiled for a moment before a thought occurred to her. “But that would mean nopony would be left to watch the farm or Applejack, and I still need to get someone to look after Rarity while I’m gone too.”
“AJ can take care of herself and the farm. Only thing I’m worried about for her is cooking, so I’ll have to get that taken care of.”
“You guys could leave the foals with Twi for the days while we’re away.” Spike offered. “Her foalsitter already agreed to come into town to look after her. She loves kids, so looking after a few more shouldn’t be anything resembling a problem if I let her know what’s up.”
“Can we not bounce around topics faster than I can move?” Scoots said. “Seriously, I can’t switch gears that fast.”
“Sorry, Scoot.”
“Right! Sorry! You asked why I was here?” Gabriella apologized.
“Scoots’ extra Gala ticket, we already covered that.” Apple Bloom said. “You’re more than a little bit early though.”
The gray griffon, Gabby, giggled. “Yeah, but I’ve got a reason for that! I’ve been thinking about something for a while now, and Scootaloo’s letter ended up tipping me over the edge. I can’t make a whole lotta money back home, not like I can here, and if I wanna go to the Grand Galloping Gala of all places I’d need to be able to dress nice.”
“If you needed money for a dress, you could have just asked one of us, Gabby.” Sweetie Belle offered. “None of the Crusaders are exactly hurting for bits, and you wouldn’t be bothering us any to ask for help.”
“Nononono- no!” Gabby hurriedly shut Sweetie down before she could summon and reach into her bitbag. “That’s not it at all. I wanna earn my own bits. Not just for a dress, but a house too, and food, and furniture, and all kinds of other stuff that aren’t always easy to come by in Griffonstone. That’s why I’ve decided... I’m moving to Equestria to be closer to you guys!”
“Hi! I’m Gabby!” the excited griffon announced, pulling a random pony off the street and into a tight hug. “I’m new here. What’s your name?”
Spike leaned in to whisper to Apple Bloom. “So... who is Gabby and how do you guys know her?” He asked.
“We went on all kindsa adventures after forming the Cutie Mark Crusaders. One of our attempts to get our marks brought us to Griffonstone, where we met Gabby. She’s helped us out a lot through the years, and ended up becomin’ the club’s first official non-pony member.”
“First? There’s other non-ponies in your club?”
“Sort of. Sometimes Gabby gets a few little griffon cubs and chicks to come participate in the camp with the colts and fillies, but they only ever come if there ain’t someone else to take care of ‘em.”
“Hi!” Gabby zipped off to hug another random pony. Zephyr this time, funnily enough. “I’m Gabby! Who’re you?”
“I don’t think Twi’s ever met a griffon before. Any regulars like Gabby that she could hang out with?” The drake continued, watching as Zephyr absolutely lost it over Gabby’s remarkably soft fur and feathers. If Spike was honest, he might admit that he was a bit envious. He’d been hugged by a griffon once before during one of Luna’s meetings with Griffon Lord Gestal. Granted, the hug was part of a condescending remark by Gestal’s swan-mixed assistant towards how he was raised by ponies, but he couldn’t deny that well groomed griff-fluff was probably one of the softest things he’d ever felt.
“Gabby brings her siblin’s every time we set up, but I think that’s just ‘cause their grandpa makes ‘em go. None of ‘em really seem t’like the camp all that much.”
“If they’re anywhere nearly as friendly, or at least civil, as your friend seems to be, I don’t think Twi is gonna mind. Plus, I’d prefer her first interaction with a griffon be with someone like that rather than someone... well, more griffon-like, to be blunt. Oh, that reminds me, I need to go pick up Twi up from her grounding at Carousel Calliope.”
“I thought her groundin’ was just for the weekend?”
“It was.” Sweet explained. ”But Rarity has wanted to play some roleplaying games for a while and never had a playmate. Twilight mentioned that she knows how to play Ogres and Oubliettes and started a campaign with her. Now she’s with Rarity whenever she’s not with Zecora.”
“Zecora?” Scoot gave Spike an amused look. “Wasn’t your sis goin’ into the Evermute like, a whole thing with you?”
“My problem was personal, bad first experience, but it’s nothing that should stop Twi from learning and having her fun so long as she doesn’t go too far in. I have a condition for her learning there though. She needs someone to guide her in and out of the forest before and after her lessons, which is what I’m gonna go do now. Anyway, see you later.”
“Hold on, I’ll go with you to grab Rarity. She can get lonely when she doesn’t have something to do.” Sweetie Belle said, joining Spike on his walk.
Gabby watched as the purple and green dragon, Spike, walked off from the group with Sweetie Belle. She looked forward to getting to know the friends of her friends later. She had no idea that the Crusaders knew anycreature from a race other than ponies or griffons... Well, no, Apple Bloom talked about the cattle and sheep that lived on the ranch portion on Sweet Apple Acres. So cows, sheep, ponies, and griffons. And now she knew a dragon too! Exciting!
Oh wait, the ranch! She should probably introduce herself to everyone living on Apple family land, too, not just the ponies in the village itself. She maybe she’d ask Apple Bloom to introduce her to everyone after she was done in town. And ask how the whole ranch thing worked for creatures that weren’t animals. Wait, wasn’t everycreature technically an animal? Creatures with the ability to think and speak then, she supposed.
A tap on her back pulled Gabby out of her thoughts. She whipped around to look at the pony who’d been brave enough to tap a strange griffon. She liked them already!
“Hello. My name is Maud. Welcome to Ponyville.” A stone gray earth pony said, a bored expression plastered on her face.
“Hi! I’m Gabby! Do you live here? In this town I mean. Or is it a village? It has ‘ville’ in the name, so it’s a village, right? Or is it both? Does it matter if I call it a village or a town or a city or a kingdom or whatever other synonym?” The mare, Maud, just slowly blinked.
“I wanted to welcome you to Ponyville. I also was wondering why my friend looked so excited.”
“She’s so soft!” Zephyr exclaimed, darting under the griffon’s wing. “I’ve never seen feathers this soft! Even the feathers on my dove aren’t this soft!”
“Ah.” Maud looked Gabby in the eye and pointed towards her other wing. The griffon tilted her head in confusion before realizing what the gray mare was indicating.
“Oh, sure.” Gabby held out the wing in front of her for the pony to feel. Maud smiled briefly as she ran a hoof over the griffon’s feathers. That smile dropped after she took the hoof away and placed it back on the ground. She thanked the hen and walked away, leaving Gabby feeling somewhat awkward.
Creatures were pretty polarized with Gabby. They either loved her, or they hated her. There was very little in between, and she knew that. Fellow griffons tended to fall in the latter category, and ponies in the former. This pony on the other hand, Maud, was the first, and only creature that seemed to do the impossible and fall in the middle. Lightly shaking the aquamarine pegasus off her wing, she flew after the mare. “Hey! Where’re you going?”
“There’s a gem quarry about two miles outside of town.” Maud explained.
“Oh! I love gemstones! They’re always so pretty and cool looking! Mind if I join you?”
“No.” The mare said simply.
“No I can’t go, or no you don’t mind..?”
“I don’t mind. No one else should be there today, and it’d be good to have someone with wings there if one of the subterranean tunnels collapses under me.”
“Don’t you mean on top of you? Aren’t you gonna go into those tunnels?”
“No.”
“So... why are you going to the gem quarry then, if you’re not gonna go into the tunnels?”
“To collect a few rubies for Mrs. Paleo because she asked me to. She’s a jeweler, and gemologist.”
“But you’re not going in the tunnels for those rubies?”
“I haven’t found an entrance to them, and I don’t really need to.”
“You don’t need an entrance to use a tunnel in the quarry to find your gems?”
“No, the tunnels are under the quarry.”
“I’m so confused.”
“Gabby, hang on!” Scootaloo called, rushing up to the pair of gray creatures. “Don’t you want somepony to show you around Ponyville? I thought you came here to hang out with me and the girls.”
“I did, but I’ll need to make some more friends if I’m gonna live here, right? I’ll get somepony else to show me around, and we can hang out after.”
“Alright. Just don’t ask Spike, he only knows a hoofful of routes. He’s no more of a local than you are yet. Maybe Maud can help you. Right Maud?”
“Sure.” The mare accepted, her ever present monotone shifting slightly. Gabby couldn’t really tell if the shift was good or bad though.
Gabby had no idea what to make of Maud’s ability to find gemstones. The mare explained that she was studying with the Paleo family to be a geologist, but the rate at which she managed to completely fill the pockets of her frock with gemstones, most of which Gabby couldn’t identify, bordered on the edge of supernatural. Was that just how Equestria was, she wondered? Were gems so plentiful in places like the quarry that you’d have a more difficult time not finding one?
Then again, ponies practically overflowed with magic. Maybe earth ponies were more connected with the earth, like how pegasi were more connected with the sky? Was that why Maud was studying to be a geologist? “Hey, why are you trying to be a geologist anyway?” The hen asked as the pair reentered the town after their excursion.
“I like rocks.” Maud replied.
Okay, maybe not. Gabby found the mare really really difficult to read. It was kind of scary in a way. Even other giffons would express themselves. The emotions they expressed were usually negative, but still, Gabby knew what to expect. Ponies were kinder though. Patient. Maybe Maud was actually super annoyed, but was too nice to take it out on her..?
“Here’s the market.” Maud said suddenly as they passed by various stalls, ponies lining up to purchase random goods. The actual buildings seemed to be spaced pretty far apart from one another, creating something of a field to contain the stalls. “It’s open every other week for anyone to set up and sell things.”
“Oh, you’re just gonna do like, a regular tour?”
“Were you not expecting me to show you around?”
“No- I mean yes, I was, but thought you were gonna show me places that you liked to hang out at. Not... the market.”
“I did.”
“You hang out at the market?”
“No.”
“The... quarry?”
“Mhm.”
“You hang out at a quarry? Even though you were worried about a tunnel collapse?”
“I wasn’t worried.”
“But you brought it up as a possibility! I thought my wings were the reason you brought me along!”
“They were.”
“I- wh- I don’t-... you’re messing with me.”
Maud gave a brief smile. The second one of the day.
“You are! You are messing with me! Haha! Thank Grover! I was worried that you were mad at me.”
“Why would I be mad at you?”
“Idunno, everycreature usually loves me or hates me right off the bat, and you didn’t seem to like me, so...”
“I don’t hate you. You’re like my sister, and I could never hate Pinkie.”
“Like your sister?”
Maud nodded. “Really high energy. She didn’t like just moving rocks around very much, but she always did her best to put a smile on everyone’s face whenever she was around.” She directed a smile towards a pebble she began to roll under her hoof.
“Oh- I... Sorry for your loss.”
“What? Oh-!” Maud’s eyes widened in surprise as she looked back up to the griffon. “No. She’s fine.”
“Why did you talk about her like that then?”
“She moved away a few years ago, a while before I came here, to become an entertainer. That’s actually the reason I’m in Ponyville to begin with, besides my studies. The circus that she’s part of comes through town every so often, and we get to catch up.”
“Oh! Maybe I’ll get to meet her then!”
“I’m sure you’d like her. Do you want to continue the tour? I know a few hidden shortcuts that you might find helpful.”
“Sure! The sooner I get used to the town, the better. I think I’ll love living here.”
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I wish I had the skill and mental capacity to make this chapter longer. I don't like going below 3k words. I was looking forward to this episode since before November too... I really like Gabby, but I really didn't want to go longer than a week without posting something. I'll have to make it up to her in another episode I suppose.
Maybe I'll write up some mini episodes or something. Justify the delay to myself with shorts. Not all that sure what I could do as a 'short' though...
Anyway, I wanna thank Comickook for the idea of switching Gilda for Gabby. That led me down a rabbit hole of ideas that started with me switching out the Young 6, which I originally didn't think about, but is probably gonna have some noticeable effects on stories involving their siblings. Mostly Smolder I think, who was probably my favorite character from the original Young 6 because I thought her big sister type of behavior with Spike in 'Father Knows Beast' was adorable.
Good chapter
Splendid work on this latest chapter. Definitely loved the effort you put into the exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up in all the right places. I especially thank you for liking one of my ideas enough to do something loosely based on it.
Greatly enjoyed Gabby showing up and meeting Spike, as well as Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Sweetie explaining how they knew Gabby already. Definitely liked Spike reflecting on the last time he actually met a griffon and how Twilight meeting and befriending other species could be very helpful to her development. Also loved the nod to Cadance and mentioning that she would be fine with sitting for AJ and Rarity as well as Twilight long as Cadance were told ahead of time. My favorite part, though, had to be Maud bonding with Gabby and the discussion on Pinkie's whereabouts.
Plus, yeah, love the idea of an older Smolder trying to be a responsible sibling to Garble as well as befriending Spike. Yeah, Smolder being the older sibling might provide Garble with a more positive example and more encouragement on his fondness for poetry, so Garble would actually be at least slightly less of a jerk at first, which would be good for Twilight, Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow getting to know dragons besides Spike and maybe even good for providing Gilda with another friend down the road.
And the stuff about Pinkie being part of a circus? Definitely makes sense, especially if she still inspired Cheese Sandwich like in canon. Cheese being part of a circus too would combine the best of him getting to already know Pinkie (if they were in the same circus) and getting to travel a lot. So, yeah, Pinkie and Cheese already being very good friends (just one admission either way from being coltfriend/fillyfriend) would be downright great.
But I digress.
At any rate, very certainly looking forward to more of this.
11090983 Don't feel pressured to make chapters longer just because you want them to be longer. Write what you wanna write when you wanna write it.