On a stormy night, two figures sat in a small apartment building in a nice corner of Canterlot, one a small purple unicorn filly, the other a white unicorn mare. Clear Belle was in bed, ready for her mother, Sweetie Belle, to tell her one of her favorite stories.
"Mommy," asked Clear Belle, "Tell me a story. You know, the one about the Griffons."
"Ah, yes," said Sweetie, "I remember that one. Its one of my favorite stories, too. Now, where to begin?"
Sweetie pondered about how to start. She remembered the days when she was a filly trying to earn her cutie mark, how she and her friends would go on all sorts of adventures as the Cutie Mark Crusaders. She remembered the time they did a column in the Foal Free Press as Gabby Gums. She thought back on this time on occasion.
After she had found her special talent in singing, gaining her a cutie mark of two silver bells ringing, she began to go on a tour as the lead singer in a band. Eventually, though, she couldn't keep up with the times, and retired from the music scene. After much job searching, she found a job as a reporter in a newspaper, the Equestria Daily, and she signed up. After having an interview and getting the job, she decided to write columns, once again under the pen name of Gabby Gums, because she figured she could give the name another chance.
"Ah, I know," she exclaimed, "I shall start from the beginning, when I found out about the assignment."
Sweetie Belle looked up at the tall building in front of her. She took a deep breath. Today was the big day, time to finally get a real story that could wow her readers. Gabby Gums had taken off with a small column in the newspaper. Everybody enjoyed reading about the secret lives of newspaper reporters, which was the new take on the gossip columns that had made everybody angry in her youth. Now it was time for her to gain a new level of entertainment, mostly the "Crimes and Consequences" column.
Within the last twenty years technology had advanced considerably, introducing such things as firearms, and in that time the world became a very dangerous place. Street and organized crime had sprung up, creating a new criminal underworld. The Princesses couldn't keep up with the rapid change in pony society.
Sweetie entered the building and into the lobby. Inside, she walked up to the elevator and pressed the button to rise to the top floor. Once there, she entered the room where the President of Equestria Daily sat behind tall stacks of paperwork.
"Sit down, please," came the deep and calming tones from behind the pile of paper," Now, I understand that you have become very popular lately. As such, I believe it is time for you to move up the ladder from these back page columns to the front page. Everypony enjoys reading about our lives as the news, but what ponies really want to see is how the world of crime works, so that they know just how hard our police are working. Your assignment is to discreetly follow around a griffon named Hookbeak Skysword. He is an important figure in the Skytalon family. Find out everything you can about their operations. Is that understood? The more you do jobs like this, the more stories you'll be able to write."
"Thank you, sir," said Sweetie, "I will do my best."
With that, she left to go to her office and pack her things. She would only take the essentials, such as pens and paper, money, and makeup. She knew that her sister would not approve of her going anywhere without that.
She looked at the picture that she had received upon leaving the President's office. The photo looked very distinct. The griffon pictured had a distinctly curved beak in that the hook at the end was actually bent so that it looked like a fishing hook. Another feature was the fact that the feathers on the side of his face were colored to look like a blood-red sword coming from a golden cloud. It was easy to see how Hookbeak got his name. All in all, he had a menacing face.
Sweetie was to move into the large villa across the street from the Skytalon mansion, located on 300 Gateway Drive.
Her new lifestyle was completely funded by the newspaper for as long as she needed. It would take quite a lot of work just to get close enough with the Skytalons to get any information from them. She knew she would have to use all the tricks that Rarity taught her to use to do her job. After setting up her things in the lavishly furnished house, she decided to try to get to know the neighbors. Hopefully they were nice enough to accept her friendship, or at the very least, give her their trust.
Walking up to the gate, she noticed right away the magically linked screen and sound system. She pressed the button, and the face of a pony showed up on the screen.
"Who're you?" she asked roughly.
"My name is Sweetie Belle," Sweetie replied, "I am the new neighbor, and I was hoping to get to know the neighbors a little."
"One moment please," sighed the gatekeeper, "I'll go and fetch Mrs. Skytalon. Please sit tight."
With that, she left the screen. Moments later, the face of a griffon appeared.
"Oh," she began, "You must be our new neighbor. Please, come in. Hookbeak is away on official business."
With a buzz, the gate opened, allowing Sweetie Belle entrance to the estate. She walked inside, admiring the topiary garden that dominated the front yard so no one could simply look inside the house. Passing that, she arrived at the massive wooden door. The door opened slowly with a creak, revealing a maidmare. She pointed Sweetie toward the foyer. The high vaulted ceiling made the place look a lot bigger on the inside of the already huge household. Once in the foyer, she noticed the elegantly carved statues situated around the room. The carped was a wine red color, and the walls were white with gilded gold accents. She noticed another maid standing right next to another large doorway.
"This way, Miss," said the maid politely, "The mistress has been expecting you."
Inside the apparent living room, Sweetie met the matron, a griffon with a kind face, despite the hawk-like appearance. She gestured Sweetie to come closer.
"You must be Sweetie Belle. My name is Cassandra Skytalon, but please, call me Cassy. Oh, I recognize the name Belle from somewhere. Are you perhaps related to the amazing fashion designer Rarity Belle?" At this Sweetie nodded. "Oh, I just love her designer dresses. I have a huge closet full of them."
"Yes, I enjoy her designs too," said Sweetie, "though, I do not believe I've had the pleasure of wearing any of them."
"So, what do you do?" asked Cassy.
"Oh, this and that. I was the lead singer in the Haywood Beauties. I made quite the impact, but unfortunately, I could not keep up with the rapid change in the tastes of music. I retired a few years ago. Lately, I've been trying to find a place to settle down. You know, to find a nice stallion and raise a family. My sister already has children. Speaking of which, I don't believe I've seen them recently."
Cassy was about to speak when a huge griffon entered through the doorway. Looking around the room, he noticed Sweetie sitting demurely on a small chair. He looked at her before speaking, "Hello, you must be the neighbor," he said in a gruff yet polite manner, "I see you've met my wife, Cassy. My name is Hookbeak Skytalon. Its a pleasure to meet you, Miss..."
"Sweetie Belle," said Sweetie with a polite bow, "The pleasure is all mine, I'm sure."
Skytalon stood there for a few moments before grunting. "I hope you don't plan on staying. I have a very important meeting tonight, and it will not be postponed."
"Please, dear," said Cassy, looking quite dejected, "I was hoping to get to know her better."
"Please don't make it an issue," he said sternly, "You know how important these meetings are. Its business, and she'll just get in the way."
Cassy just pouted.
"No," said Sweetie, "If its that important, I believe I shall leave you to it. Thank you for this chat. It was lovely."
With that, she left the room, going through the large building again. She smiled. Step one was complete. She now had access to the house via the friendship of Cassy, whether or not Skytalon liked it. She had also secretly placed tiny magical cameras in important spots in the three rooms she was in. The next step was to get a tour of the mansion to place more of the viewing devices at key points. She left the yard and walked across the street to her villa. After making herself some dinner, she washed up and went to bed.
Author's Note
I decided to use the human pronouns everybody and everyone in order to be more considerate towards the griffons.
