A Different Kind of Training
Griffons crowded the streets of the town square, looking in awe at the three award winning competitors before them. Their own fellow citizens brought glory and honor to their land, being one of the only non pegasi team to be admitted into the Equestria Games. They stood there proudly, grinning gleefully. The chatter among the crowd filled them with both confidence and a sense of accomplishment. While the griffons were clammering on about the event, a grayscale griffon walked towards the stage, holding his claw out to silence them. Once the square calmed down their clammer, he cleared his throat and began to speak.
“Griffons, your Duke is speaking,” he began, “and I am proud to present to you our honorary Equestria Games competitors!”
The griffons clapped and cheered the group on. The brown griffon stuck his beak up proudly, while the white and gray one waved at the applauding audience. The black one on the far right however stood straight and smiled softly.
“These fellow flyers will represent our kingdom in the most prestigious game in all of Equestria. On behalf of our benevolent king, I grant you my blessings and honorary support for the games."
The three griffons bowed to the Duke, receiving cheers from the audience.
"And now, I would like to present you all with these medals of valor, and an exclusive right to feast with the king tomorrow night. May this be motivation for you to do well in the games. Congratulations once again, our most loyal and talented of citizens.”
The applause continued, with all but one of the griffons waving at the crowd. The audience swarmed the stage, many wanting to chat with the three.
“Well guys, it looks like we have an adoring audience,” the male griffon said, stretching his wings out. “I think we should go out and associate with my fans, wouldn’t you agree, gals?”
“Oh, please, Gaston!” The silver griffon rolled her eyes and chuckled. “The only fans you probably have down their are the ditzes that eat up every story you tell them about your ‘adventure’s through Equestria’.
Gaston tsked, sticking his tongue out at. “Natalya, Natalya, Natalya, you just never quit hating don’t you? Not everyone can be as good looking as me. I’m sure there will be some out there ogling the painfully average ones such as yourself.”
“Keep thinking that, Strike Out. Keep thinking that.” She turned towards her other friend and smiled. “Bet you got some adoring fans out there waitin’ for you as well, Irma. Wanna go give them a little celebratory kiss?”
Irma shook her head. “I don’t think mingling with the crowd is going to help any,” she replied, jolting as Natalya’s wings pulled her close to her.
“Come on! Lighten up, Whinny Irmaini!” she said, pulling on Irma’s beak to tease her.
“I asked you not to call me that…” Irma groaned, glaring at the chuckling griffon next to her.
“Seriously though, we just got invited to eat with the grand daddy king himself! Surely you want to stretch your claws out and mingle for a little while.”
Irma swatted Natalya’s claw away from her mouth, scooting away from her wings. She looked out at the crowd, smiling softly. They did look eager to talk with them, and she did enjoy explaining her methods of flight to anyone who would listen. Normally she would only have the attention of her two companions. With a heavy sigh, she turned towards Natalya and Gaston.
“I suppose I could associate with the ‘fans’, as you call them, for a while.”
“Great!” Gaston, too impatient to wait for approval, flapped his wings. “Time to show them a little bit of the Gaston!”
He flew into the crowd, flexing his muscles while the crowd cheered and applauded. Irma slapped her claw against her forehead, listening to Natalya laugh heartily.
“That big headed oaf. Well, might as well join him. Might find a cutie while I’m out there, if you catch my drift.” She nudged Irma on the shoulder and joined Gaston in the crowd. Irma stood there, shaking her head.
“How did I get affiliated with a bunch of nutjobs?”
Irma got off of the stage and went into the crowd, more reclusive towards them than the other two were. She watched Natalya and Gaston laugh and have a good time while all she did was genuinely smile and wave at the griffons who greeted her. Throughout the session though, all that would cross her mind was what she needed to do to prepare for the games. She didn’t want to embarrass their nation. The pressure of serving the king and bringing glory to their great kingdom was starting to sink it’s teeth into her, sending her brain into overdrive with loaded stress.
The moments flew by, and the crowd eventually left the flyers alone. Gaston continued flirting with some of the female griffons until they eventually giggled and walked away. Gaston walked with Natalya with a smug grin on his face.
“Gee, I wonder what he’s smiling about,” Irma quipped.
“Probably because those ditzes were giving him too much attention,” Natalya responded.
“You were fraternizing with these ditzes, Natalya,” Gaston said, sticking his tongue out at her.
“I just wanted to humor them. Not fun if you don’t chat with the dumb broads a bit.” She grabbed Irma and rubbed her claw against her scalp. “Makes me appreciate the uptight ones more, ain’t that right, Whinny Irma—”
“If you call me that again, you’ll be missing several feathers,” Irma said, growling. Natalya let go of her and waved her claws playfully.
“Okay, okay! Sheesh, you don’t have to be so uptight about it.” Natalya laughed, grasping at her stomach when it rumbled. Irma raised an eyebrow, smirking slightly.
“Anyone else kinda hungry?” she asked. “Haven’t had anything since the preliminaries. The ponies kind of made me hungry, especially the rainbow one.” She licked her lips and smiled. “Oh, I’d eat that mare, in more ways than one.”
“Classy.” Irma shook her head and turned towards Gaston. “Any idea where we should eat?”
Gaston put his claws to his chin, stroking the loose feathers on his chin. “Well, there’s always Freche’s Noodle Bar. Can’t go wrong with a little pasta and mead.”
“Don’t think you need anymore alcohol in your system, pal!” Natalya smacked him on the back, making him jolt and yip. “You might kill more of your brain cells that way.”
“A little drink isn’t going to hurt me, idiot,” Gaston snapped back. “It’s not like I chug glass after glass every five minutes!”
Gaston and Natalya continued bickering and teasing each other while Irma watched. She shook her head yet again and stepped closer to them, pushing them apart.
“If you two are quite done, I think we should get going.”
The two nodded and spread their wings out, flying off to their destination.
“And then, the guy actually flew into the tree!” Gaston exclaimed, slurring his words. “You should have seen- hic -the look on his face… heh.”
Natayla, Irma, and Gaston sat at the counter of Freche’s Noodle Bar, waiting for their meal to arrive. In order to pass the time, the three conversed, most coming from Gaston’s drunken lips.
“Well, there goes you being able to contain alcohol,” Irma said, sipping her cup of tea.
“Hey! Sometimes a griffon gets a little… heh… carried away. Nobody’s perfect!” His head drooped, nearly pounding against the table. He raised one of his claws in the air, waving it around. “Hey, waitress, can you hit me up with some more of that grog!?”
Natalya slapped his claw down. “Ignore this drunkard. He doesn’t need anymore. The lightweight could barely handle the two he already had!”
“No! I can take more…” Gaston tumbled and fell out of his chair. Natalya laughed heartily while Irma covered her face in embarrassment.
“Like Natalya said, he doesn’t need another drink,” Irma said, dismissing the waitress.
“Y-yes ma’am!” The waitress looked nervously at the others, shaking slightly. Irma couldn’t tell what was wrong with her, but was starting to grow concerned when Natalya grinned and leaned towards the counter.
“Well, you look kind of skittish,” she said, winking at her. “Why so nervous?”
The waitress leaned back, blushing slightly. “Well… it’s just… erm… you guys are sooo coool, and I don’t—”
Natalya put a claw against her beak. She could almost feel the heat radiating off the nervous griffons face. It made her chuckle.
“Let me guess. You don’t wanna screw up and have us be angry with you. Did I hit the nail on the head?”
The waitress nodded.
“Well, don’t worry your pretty little feathers about that.” Natalya’s claws danced around the waitresses neck. “My friend here Irma might be a little demanding, but I’m not that picky. Just relax and enjoy yourself. You’re too cute to act like a nervous wreck!”
With that, the griffon’s face went completely red. Irma just sighed and rolled her eyes, tapping her claw against the countertop.
“C-Cute?” the waitress asked, smiling slightly.
“I ain’t the one to tell a lie, sweet cheeks.” Natayla smiled and pushed her mug towards the beet red waitress. “Now, if you would kindly fill my mug with some more grog, I would really appreciate it.”
The waitress was somehow both stiff and loose at the same time. She grabbed the mug within her talons and nodded. “Yes, ma’am. You got it.” She turned away and headed back towards the bar to refill the mug. While she was leaving, Natalya took the time to scope her gray, black spotted flanks, practically drooling at the sight.
“Heh, damn she’s cute,” Natalya said.
“Why do you keep doing that?” Irma asked, grasping her small tea cup.
“What are you talking about?” Natalya asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion. “I was just giving her a compliment.”
“You were flirting with her,” Irma stated.
Natalya gasped, and pointed at herself, feigning offense. “What? Me, flirting with someone? That’s such a mean and inaccurate accusation!”
“Right. Calling her cute while stroking her face isn’t flirting?”
“What? In some countries, that’s a casual way to say hello!”
“Yes, except you weren’t saying hello, and this isn’t that country.”
Natalya cocked her head to the side. “Ah, I see what this is. Little Irmie is getting all jealous because I’m not giving her any attention!”
Irma groaned. “That is not the reason at all. It’s just kind of annoying.”
Natalya turned around in her seat and crossed her legs. “Well, isn’t that cute! You just want a little attention.” She leaned in close and smiled coyly, putting one of her claws on the side of Irma’s face. “I can give you a few compliments if you want.”
“Natalya, please not here,” Irma pleaded, to no avail as Natalya found it the opportune time to embarrass her friend.
“I think that curved beak of yours is pretty sexy, especially when you take the time to polish and shine it. Oh, and those cute, charcoal feathers of yours. I would just ruffle them all day if I could.”
“Natalya!” Irma pushed her away and gritted her teeth, anger seeping through her eyes.
“Oh, and did I mention you look hot when you’re mad?” Natalya continued, not caring about the consequences. “Kind of fun seeing you blow a fuse. Really brings out your eyes when you’re this fie—”
Natalya cringed when Irma used her talons to kick her foot against the stool. She held her beak closed and leaned her head on the countertop to prevent the screams from leaking out.
“Okay, point made,” Natalya squeaked. Irma smirked and lifted her cup of tea towards her lips, downing the rest of it. Within moments, the waitress returned to with a overflowing mug. She gently set it in front of Natalya, who leaned her head up to see.
“Here you go,” she said with a smile. “Your grog, ma’am!”
“Thanks, sweet cheeks,” Natalya groaned, pulling it closer to her face. “Maybe this will numb my broken foot.”
“I sure hope so!” The waitress then turned towards Irma, noticing her cup was empty. “Ma’am, your food will be arriving pretty soon, but do you want some more tea for the time being?”
Irma nodded. “I would appreciate that, thank you.”
The waitress nodded and grabbed her cup. “I’ll be back shortly with your tea.”
When the waitress left the vicinity, Irma turned towards Natalya and glanced at her while she slowly drank her grog. “See, I can request something without flirting with the waitresses. If you had some sort of decency, then you might be able to restrain yourself as well.”
Natalya rolled her eyes, sticking her tongue out at Irma while moving her mug from side to side. “Yeah, but then I would be just as boring and joyless as you.”
“I’m not boring, nor joyless!” Irma defended. “I just know that there is a time and place for everything.”
“Yeah, and that seems to be never with you.”
Irma puffed her cheeks. “Well, you always want to screw around. Even during our training sessions, you always found the time to goof off and laze about for moments on end.”
“Yeah, but I always ended up coming through for you guys, didn’t I?”
Irma tried to think of a rebuttal, but words failed her. All she could do was grumble inaudibly and tap her claws against the countertop. Natalya couldn’t help but laugh at her friends reaction.
“You just need to lighten up a bit, Irma,” she said, patting her on the back. “Life ain’t all work, you know? You gotta be able to see things in a brighter and more fun light sometimes.” She lifted the mug and downed the rest of her grog, slamming the glass on the counter once she finished. “Not only that, but what kind of griffon wants to date a stick in the mud, heh?”
Natalya nudged Irma’s shoulders, causing her to flush and look away.
“Well, that’s not something I want to think about now,” Irma said. “I just want to keep focused on the games ahead. I don’t need fantasies of romance to cloud my vision.”
Natalya’s eyes lit up, and a wide grin formed on her face. “This is about you finding out that Gustave was gay, isn’t it?”
Irma sunk in her seat from the mentioning of that name. Her face reddened even more in humiliation. “T-that’s not it… entirely.”
“Uh huh. And you having a crush on him didn’t make the situation any easier did it.”
Irma’s eyes shifted all over the place, trying to find something to change the subject matter. She took notice of the clock in behind her, which ticked in a hypnotic fashion.
“Gee, it’s been nearly twenty minutes and our meals still haven’t came yet,” Irma said, avoiding the previous conversation. “Can a girl get her food in a timely manner?”
“Well, Ma’am, your food is already ready.” The waitress began carting the bowls of noodles towards them. The waitress picked up the tea cup from the cart and set it in front of Irma. “Sorry for the wait, you thre… erm… two. I hope you enjoy your meals.”
Irma grabbed her chopsticks and nodded to the waitress. Natalya grabbed hers and blew a kiss towards the waitress, causing her to blush and giggle while Irma rolled her eye in at the gesture. Natalya grabbed her bowl and looked into it.
It was filled to the brim with brown noodles, covered in sauce and completely rich with cabbage, shrimp, and carrots. Practically drooling over the meal, she ripped the two chopsticks and clanked them together.
“Alright, this is what I’m talking about!” Natalya exclaimed excitedly, digging her sticks into the pile of noodles. “Time to get my grub on!” She opened her beak to take in the load that was nearly falling off of her sticks.
“Wait, Natalya. I think we’re forgetting something.”
“Yeah? What’s that?”
She kept the food just inches from her mouth, glancing at Irma in confusion. Irma pointed her claw towards the ground, showing her exactly what she was talking about. Gaston was passed out, snoring loudly with drool pooling out of his mouth. It took all the self control Natalya had to stifle a laughter.
“You think we should wake him up so he can eat?” Irma asked. “He did say he hadn’t had anything to eat all day.”
“Nah, he’ll be fine!” Natalya said, while slurping her stick-full of food. She chewed for a few seconds and then swallowed. “You never want to wake up a drunken griffon. They can get really irate if you do!”
“Probably, but what about his food? Didn’t he pay for it already?”
Natalya waved her sticks around. “See, that’s not a problem at all! I’ll just take it off his claws and finish it myself. It’s a hard burden to carry, having to eat all those noodles so they don’t go to waste, but that’s what friends are for.”
Irma raised an eyebrow and chuckled. “You just want to eat his portion of the meal, don’t you?”
Natalya scooped Gaston’s meal into her bowl, overflowing it and having many of the noodles fall on the table. Regardless, Natalya smiled and clanked her chopsticks again. “Guilty as charged.”
Irma watched as her uncouth friend scooped down the noodles swiftly. She wasn’t even sure if she was actually chewing the food at that point. Most of it appeared to be going down really fast, sliding down her throat in whole. Irma just shook her head and focused on her food, eating it in her own strides.
Naturally, Natalya finished first, and to no ones surprise, she was bloated and exhausted from the food she ate. Irma was on her last few strands, slurping them down slowly so she wouldn’t feel the aftermath of the vengeful noodles like Natalya had.
“Hey Granny, you’re taking too long,” Natalya said with a groan.
“I’m going to eat this slowly and methodically,” Irma replied with a grin on her face. “That way, I don’t end up bloated and in pain like you.”
“Hey, at least I enjoyed what I was eati—” Natalya couldn’t finish her sentence. Her stomach began to churn, and she slammed her head onto the counter, turning the emptied bowl over. “Okay, eating both noodles really really fast wasn’t my brightest idea.”
Irma gasped. “Nooo! You don’t say.”
“A smartass as usual. Why do I put up with you?”
Irma patted Natalya on the head. “Well, it’s simple. It’s because I put up with you.”
Natalya’s head shot up and her eyes widened. “Oh yeah.” She giggled before grasping her stomach. “Man, I’m gonna be sitting on the stool for a bit after this one.”
Irma coughed. “Unneeded information, Natalya.”
“Sorry.”
“I bet you are.” Irma looked back towards Gaston, who was still splayed on the floor. “Surprised no one has said anything about this.
“They’re probably too scared to say anything to the ‘greatest flyers in Equestria’.”
“That wouldn’t surprise me. Still, we can’t leave him lying here. One of us has to take him home.”
“Well, if it means that much to you.” Natalya got out of her seat and lifted Gaston onto her back. “I’ll take his heavy ass home.”
Irma was shocked. Natalya taking initiative for once? The food must have went somewhere other than her stomach to have her think so practically.
“Are you sure?” Irma asked. “I’m a little more able than you. You’re kinda, bloated right now.”
“Yeah yeah, I’ll be fine,” Natalya insisted. “The prissy, uptight griffons need more rest than the rest of us. You did want to get up bright and early to prepare for the training tomorrow, right?”
Irma smiled and nodded. “Yeah.”
“Besides, I kinda owe you after all those times you saved my butt from getting in trouble. I’d say, this counts for about half of one. Still got another ninety-nine and a half to go.”
“And when do you plan on making up the others?” Irma asked with her talons crossed.
Natalya brushed her chin and, plucking a loose feather and letting it fall to the ground. “Well, I’d be able to knock off at least half of the favors if you’d just come home with me and sleep over every now and then. You’d be doing both of us a service that way.”
Irma trotted past Natalya, slapping her in the face with her left wing. Natalya rubbed her beak and chuckled.
“You know, a no would have been a better answer.”
“Yeah, well you should have never asked the question to begin with,” Irma responded, glaring back at her.
“Yeesh, it was only a joke.” Natalya heard Gaston groan and turn on her back. She pushed him up more and looked back at Irma. “Flying this guy home is gonna be a hassle, so I better get a good start on it. I’ll chat with you later, Irma.”
“See you tomorrow,” Irma said while Natalya began to flap her wings and ascend into the air. “Oh, and make sure that you two aren’t late! We start practice at nine am on the dot!”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll be there.”
“I’m serious! Don’t show up late. This is important!”
“I get it! I’ll show up on time.” Natalya flew higher and higher until she was at a decent altitude. “Catch ya on the flip side, Whinny Irmaini!”
“Yeah, you to,” Irma called out as Natalya dashed off. “And for the last time, stop calling me that!”
Irma sighed and grinned. “What an idiot.” She stretched out and spread her wings, yawning while she did so. “Guess I should go hit the hay. Tomorrow is gonna be quite busy.”
Irma flapped her wings and flew off into the night sky. Many thoughts filled her mind as she soared through the chilly night air. This was her chance, her one shot at giving the nation the kind of attention they needed. Her one shot at bringing glory to the country. She had trained endlessly to have this moment come to her, and she wasn’t going to let anything stop her from achieving her goals.
Still, a sense of dread and anxiety clouded her vision as well.
What if I’m not good enough? What if I cause the team to lose? If I don’t give it my all, we might not be able to win the games. I’ve seen the competition. We’re going against the Wonderbolts of all ponies!
Irma shook her head, knocking a claw against her skull. No! We will not think that way! You’ve trained hard for this, Irma. All you have to do is concentrate. Keep your head in the game, and focus on the prize.
With a refined sense of confidence, she continued towards her home, ready to pack it in for the night.
I’ll make the Griffon Empire proud. Just watch me.
