It was a bright sunny morning in Ponyville, the sort of morning that everypony would greet with enthusiasm. Ponyville's resident weather pony was napping on a lone cloud, enjoying a dream of flying around with her friend Gilda, a dream where the cerulean pegasus was flying around as a griffon. The sun's rays woke the sleepy pegasus, but her dream lingered in her mind. She resolved to have the town's resident librarian work her magic on her, even though several previous attempts had met with no success. She looked around and saw how nice the day was and figured one more try wouldn't hurt as she flew down to the library and almost hesitantly knocked on the door.
"Rainbow? Don't you usually fly through the window when you want something from me?" the librarian asked, noticing the aviatrix's demure appearance. "Let me guess -- you've come by to ask me to transform you into a griffon again, haven't you?"
"C'mon, Twiley, how long have I gotta keep bugging you about this?" asked a nearly exasperated Rainbow Dash. "Ever since you showed us you were able to transform us into Breezies, you know I've been wanting this!"
"Ugh! Fine! If I don't do this for you, I'll bet you'll keep pestering me until I do!" replied an equally exasperated Twilight.
"Yes!" exclaimed the pegasus in jubilation.
"Keep in mind, Dash, that I'm only going to let you experience this for one day -- and don't ask me to do this for you again!"
"One day? C'mon, Twiley, you gotta let me be a griffon for more than just a day!" she pouted.
"Let me put it this way, Dash -- you get one day as a griffon, or nothing at all -- you should be thankful I'm even considering doing this for you," the lavender Alicorn grumbled.
"Okay, okay, Twiley, I get it. I'll accept one day as a griffon," the pegasus offered begrudgingly.
"I'm going to need you to stand still for a few moments so I can cast the spell on you," Twilight noted as she selected the needed book from one of the shelves. Rainbow fluttered her wings excitedly at the prospect of having one of her dreams realized, her impatience causing her to hover above the floor. The librarian returned with a book and set it on the floor, opening it to the page with the transformation spell and began her incantation. Her horn glowed with her magic and her eyes shone white as the spell intensified, a second aura appearing around her horn.
"I fell kinda funny," the pegasus mused as her body began to change. From her neck to her head, white feathers appeared except for her crowning plumage, which took on the colors of the rainbow. Her facial structure changed and a beak took the place of her muzzle. A bird-like squawk escaped her mouth as this particular change surprised her with its swiftness. Her forelegs changed into aquiline legs with talons at the ends and the back half of her body took on a leonine quality, her hind legs becoming far stronger and more muscular, though it retained her cerulean color. Her tail became tightly wound with a rainbow-colored tuft at the very tip, which she swished around to see. Her wings became much larger and stronger as well, also remaining sky-blue as they changed in size.
"Whew, that took a lot out of me," the librarian sighed and wiped her forehead with her right fore-hoof. "Hope you like the changes, Dash. If you freak out a little, don't worry -- you'll turn back into your old self tomorrow."
"Hey, Twiley, you got a mirror so I can see what I look like?" asked the newly transformed griffon. Without answering her question, Twilight teleported a mirror in front of her friend so she could examine the changes more closely.
"Aww, YEAH! This is AWESOME!!" she shouted jubilantly, flapping her wings and lifting off the ground with ridiculous ease. "I gotta show EVERYPONY what I look like now!" she added as she flew out one of the windows, causing the librarian to shout after her to use the door like normal ponies do. A loud chuckling was heard as Rainbow flew around the town looking for her friends. She marveled at how easy flying was now, even considering the possibility of performing another sonic rainboom before she spotted Carousel Boutique and landed right at the front door and pushed the doorbell.
"Just a moment, darling," came Rarity's sing-song voice as she made her way to the front door. "Gaah! R-Rainbow? W-what h-happened to you?"
"Twilight turned me into a griffon! Pretty awesome, huh?" she asked, grinning broadly.
"Well, your plumage is magnificent! Perhaps you might let me have a few feathers?"
"Um, I'll have to think about that, Rares," the griffon replied hesitantly, backing away slowly as the fashionista showed a gleam in her eye. She took to the sky again and landed at the front door of the bakery, entering it somewhat slowly. She was tackled to the ground by an energetic pink earth pony who grinned from ear to ear.
"Dashie! You look really cool like that! Twiley must have finally given you what you've been bugging her for for the last week or so," Pinkie mused.
"Uh, Pinks? Twiley's told you about that?" she asked sheepishly.
"Well, duh! You've been making it really obvious you've been wanting to try being a griffon for, like, the past six months!"
"Oh ... yeah ... I guess I have, haven't I? This is kinda embarrassing..." she muttered as she made her way back out of the bakery and took to the sky again. "I wonder what Gilda will think," she mused to herself as she continued to fly towards Cloudsdale. She picked up speed as she anticipated a positive reaction and before she knew it she found herself pushing against very hard wind resistance. Redoubling her effort, she willed herself to fly even faster until the resistance gave way with a massive booming sound and a rainbow-hued cone-shaped cloud behind her to signify her feat. She turned around briefly to see what had happened and giggled at how easy it had seemed to perform her trademark move. This caught the attention of a certain brown griffon who tried to get her attention. Upon seeing her, Rainbow slowed down to meet up with her, the two of them alighting on one of the base clouds which formed the foundation Cloudsdale rested upon.
"Dash? Is that you?" asked Gilda.
"Yep, it's me! Whaddaya think, Gilda?"
"Um...I dunno, Dash -- I guess if you wanted to be a griffon, that's cool, but ... why?"
"Well ... there's a part of me that wanted to see what you'd think if I could pull it off. Twilight told me I could be a griffon for a day, just so I could see what it'd be like. I was kinda hoping you'd find it as awesome as I did!"
"Listen, Dash, it's like this -- being a griffon can be cool sometimes, but -- sometimes it's a real pain. You'd better hope you're not seen by some of the other griffons here -- they might take you to see the Emperor, and I don't think you'd like that very much."
"Is he anything like Princess Celestia?"
"I dunno, Dash -- I've never met her. Emperor Swift Strike wouldn't take too kindly to seeing a pony transformed into a griffon, though. What do you think your Princess would say if she saw you like that?"
The cyan griffon hung her head, her plumage drooping a little. "You got a point there, Gilda. Hey, what say we do a little flying? Hang out for a little while?"
"That sounds cool -- your pink pony friend isn't going to be bothering us again, is she?" asked Gilda as she cast nervous glances around.
"She's in Ponyville right now, so I don't think she will," Dash replied.
Gilda continued to stare at her recently-transformed friend, taking in the unusual coloration. Rainbow was a little perturbed by this and decided to break the awkward silence that had fallen.
"Hey, Gilda, ya gonna keep on staring or what? C'mon, let's hang out for awhile -- ya wanna race again?" the cyan griffon asked, grinning broadly.
"Yeah, you're on!" Gilda retorted as she took off swiftly.
"Oh no you don't!" Rainbow shouted after her and took off to give chase.
The two griffons chased each other around for awhile, racing to and fro through the sky around Cloudsdale, occasionally diving towards some ponies and scaring them a little. Eventually they got winded and alighted on a different cloud in the city.
"That was lots of fun, Gilda, but I'm getting hungry! Got any suggestions?"
"Yeah, I know just the place -- they serve great Griffon food there. Guy by the name of Olaf runs it -- wanna give it a try?" asked Gilda, flashing a sly grin.
"I've never eaten Griffon food before, Gilda -- is it any good?"
"Sh-huh, it's like, only the best!" she chuckled. "C'mon, Dash, let's go," she added before flying towards the restaurant. The cyan griffon followed suit, a quizzical expression marking her features.
I don't know if this is such a good idea, Rainbow thought as she approached the restaurant, Gilda already having reached the front door.
"Are you coming or not? Don't be so lame," Gilda chided.
"Okay, okay, Gilda -- I've heard about this place, but I'm not sure if eating meat is such a good idea," the cyan griffon offered almost meekly as she followed her friend inside.
"You're a griffon now, Dash -- you only live once, you know!" she chuckled. The two made their way to the front and met up with Olaf himself.
"Welcome back, Gilda -- who's your new friend? She looks kinda familiar ... you wouldn't happen to know of a pegasus named Rainbow Dash, would you? You look almost exactly like her," he mused as he stared at the cerulean griffon.
"Uhhh ... no?" she offered meekly, turning away from his gaze.
"Hmmm..." he hummed. "If you're not her, what's your name?" he asked, flashing a big grin.
"Uhh, Flashy Feathers!" she replied, her grin matching his, though her eyes betrayed her attempt to lie.
"Hmm, okay, Flash, welcome to my place! Have a seat, your first meal's on me. I recommend the fish, it's quite fresh!" he chuckled as he turned his back to them and re-entered the kitchen.
Rainbow had to force herself to keep from making a bitter face at the mention of meat, causing Gilda to chuckle loudly at her.
"You're not scared to eat a little meat, are you, Dash?"
"Uhh..." she hesitated, giving her friend a rather uncertain look.
"So, you're chicken, huh?"
"N-nopony calls me chicken!" Dash retorted almost angrily as the two sat at a table. They waited patiently for their food to arrive, Gilda smiling while Dash appeared rather nervous. As their plates were brought out to them, Gilda's mouth started watering at the sight of freshly fried fish, the scent of the food causing her to breathe in deeply, a big smile on her face.
"This is one of my favorite dishes, Dash -- you really should try it. As a griffon, you'll find you might actually like it!"
She looked at the plate of food, the fish pan-fried to perfection. The scent normally should have rankled her nose, but the sense of smell through her beak beckoned her to try it. Using her talon, she lifted a fork and cut a small bite, gingerly lifting it to her beak. She stuck her tongue out and gave the small bite of fish a quick lick, causing Gilda to start laughing.
"Stop being such a dweeb and bite it already!"
The cyan griffon gave the food another tentative glance, then popped it in her mouth and let it slide down her throat, getting the full flavor of the taste. "Y'know, this isn't bad!" she grinned as she cut another bite and ate it.
"Told ya so, Dash!" Gilda chuckled through a mouthful of her food. Presently they finished eating and Olaf returned to their table.
"How was the food, ladies?" he asked expectantly.
"This was really good, Olaf, I'm gonna have to come back here more often!" Rainbow chirped.
"Excellent as usual, Olaf, thanks for your generosity," Gilda replied warmly.
"Great! Glad to hear it. I'm always looking for more customers, you know! I'll give you a free meal for any new business you bring me!" he chuckled. "Oh, and Flash? You should be more careful about the lies you tell," he added, flashing a stern look at the cyan griffon. "Your eyes gave you away."
"Oh, uh, sorry, Olaf -- you got me there," she responded meekly. "Gilda, let's get out of here before anything bad happens," she whispered in her friend's ear. The words hadn't even left her beak when a group of four griffons sauntered over to their table.
"So, Gilda, who's the new recruit?" asked a male griffon. Rainbow's eyes went wide with fear at this and she got up from the table, but as she tried to, another male griffon pushed her back down into her chair.
"Oh no you don't, you're not going anywhere until you answer a few questions," said the one who had pushed her back down, his voice a low growl.
