Three Gryphons and a Fashion Pony

Even with the night sky as dark as the deepest coat of royal purple, the city of Manehattan was shining brightly as a beacon against the tranquil Equestrian landscape. With the way the massive buildings stayed fully illuminated, and the seemingly endless traffic of ponies that constantly moved through the streets below, it would’ve been hard to find much of a difference between Manehattan in the nighttime as opposed to the day. And with almost all the businesses in the area boasting signs about being open twenty-four hours a day, it was clear why it was named the City that Never Sleeps.

Of course, despite being just as lively as the rest of the city, the quaint district of Greenhoof Village was much less congested of impatient ponies or carriages. Along its cobblestone streets, most of the buildings were fairly small and self-contained to make the area feel more like a gentle town than the rest of Manehattan. However, near the edge of the district closest to Middle Park, one of the largest buildings in the area towered almost thirty stories high in the night’s sky. Not only did it overlook most of the city, but its location made it one of the most sought-after real estate properties in all of Manehattan. But due to its lavish apartments with massive square footage, only the wealthiest of ponies could get a piece of its prime property.

One of those ponies, a unicorn who carried a lush navy coat alongside a coiffed silver mane, had a smile as wide as a colt in a room full of bouncy balls. Given how much his teeth were showing as he trotted cheerfully, it could’ve been assumed that the purple sunglasses he had over his eyes (at night, nonetheless) were only there to keep himself from being blinded by his own pearly whites. With each spring in his step, the plaid red scarf tied around his neck bounced up and down while flowing against the spring air; his saddlebag, which carried the same pattern as his scarf, hung on his back while holding his purchases from the night’s charity auction. And on the pony’s flank, three yellow stars stuck out tremendously against his blue fur.

Of course, the stallion made sure to keep his flank in constant motion as he walked. Knowing how well the colors of his cutie mark differed from his tail and coat, he knew that any eyes that were peering back at him would be directed towards his rear. His tail swished around with each pronounced sway of his hips, intentionally giving the slightest hint of a teasing display without being so obvious. Besides, the night was young, so it probably wouldn’t have been appropriate to be too blunt this early.

And given the three gryphons who were following him and cackling with each other playfully, the last thing the stallion wanted was to give a poor impression~

Humming a cheery tune to himself, the unicorn’s horn lit up with a glittery yellow aura as he pulled a key card from the inside of his scarf. After using the card to open the main door of his apartment building, the stallion held the door open to allow his three guests to enter the lobby first. Inside the massive and luxurious space, two security ponies behind a round desk watched with narrowed eyes as the three gryphons stepped inside and gawked at the size of the place. Even though the building did have a gryphon guest on the seventeenth floor, that gryphoness looked nothing like the three here who carried identical brown feathers and tan bodies. However, as soon as the unicorn came in from behind them, both guards relaxed and sighed.

“Ah, Mister Fashion Plate!” said the security guard with a grey coat and an orange mane underneath his cap. “How did that art auction go?”

Carrying a giddy smile on his face, Fashion Plate giggled as he trotted up to the desk. “Oh, believe me,” he said with a raised brow to the guard and his brown-coated partner, “I have a feeling that event might end up in the papers first thing tomorrow!”

Fashion Plate then lit his horn to pick up the clipboard on the desk. “But for now, I was itching to show my three guests some proper Manehattan hospitality~” Motioning to the gryphons behind him, who were helping themselves to the giant bowl of candy that was by the door like a group of kids, the stallion saw both guards chuckle with knowing smirks back at him.

“Again?” asked the brown guard with both brows raised. “I mean, I’m not judging, but I’m surprised you’re even able to walk after those Wonderbolts on Monday!”

“Oh, you!” Fashion Plate jeered with a wave of his hoof and a giggle. Even though he liked to keep his endeavours private, he didn’t mind a little teasing from the building's security staff every now and then. After all, they happened to have the same brand of hoofcuffs as he did, so he liked being on friendly terms in case he ever needed an extra key. But with more prominent ideas swimming through his head, the stallion signed his name in the clipboard while saying, “Well, if you two don’t mind, I’d like to get my friends upstairs pronto, if you catch my drift.”

“Absolutely sir,” said the grey stallion with a nod. He then leaned out to catch the attention to the three gryphons who mowed down half the bowl. “Gentlemen? We need some IDs for verification, and you also need to sign your names for access.”

All three of them paused and looked back at the desk with a unified, “Hmm?” After swallowing whatever candy was in their beaks, the group went up to the desk while leaving a large pile of wrappers on the floor. Fortunately, all of them had their passports from the Gryphon Kingdom to hand to the two while signing in the clipboard.

“Alright then…” The brown guard pulled his hat up a bit so it wouldn’t cover his eyes from the names listed on the IDs. The picture of the first one was for a fairly muscular gryphon with a large beak and a short-cropped head free of any long feathers. He looked up at the gryphon in question and asked for verification, “Name, please?”

After jotting his name underneath Fashion Plate’s, the athletic-looking gryphon looked back up at the guard and answered, “Blaze Clawston.”

“Alright, thank you.” Since it matched the name listed, the guard gave Blaze his ID back with no issues and picked up the next. Even though the face and colors itself were identical to the first gryphon, it was clear this one was a bit skinnier. He also had what looked to be heavy eyeliner in his photo, as well as a few of the longer feathers on his head braided together to hang over his face. While the grey guard stared at the gryphon with narrowed eyes, not realizing he’s seen him on some of his son’s Talon Ripper posters in his room, the other guard read the passport before asking, “Your name, sir?”

“Blade Clawston, sir,” said the gryphon in what had to be the fakest-sounding Trottingham accent the guards ever heard. Of course, given how large the three gryphons looked, neither of them snickered at the response as Blade was given his passport back. “Thanks, mate.”

Blade already wrote his name on the sheet, so the only gryphon left was the largest of the three. His head-feathers were relatively normal-length, but he also carried a gargantuan size that put him a foot over the other two. With his broad shoulders and hulking stature, the brown guard was quickly reminded of the full form of Saddle Rager from the Power Ponies comics. Nevertheless, he made sure to ask after seeing his info, “And your name?”

“Blane,” replied the gryphon with a smirk after signing under his brothers’ names. “Blane Clawston.” He then snapped his talons before pointing to a row of potted flowers behind the guards that were sitting on the back shelf. “By the way, you might want to move those dahlias to a higher spot so they’re closer to the light. Otherwise they’re gonna wilt and look all grungy.”

Neither of the guards was sure how the gryphon would know something like that, but they both turned around to see that the vase of purple flowers was drooping a little. Meanwhile, Blane followed his brothers as they went with Fashion Plate towards the elevator. The unicorn used his key card once more to open the elevator doors, and let the three brothers enter first. Fortunately, the elevator was more than spacious enough for himself and his guests when the door closed and rode them up to their floor.

The brown guard huffed with a cheeky smirk and asked his partner, “So, what do you think Fashion Plate has planned for them?”

“Who knows?” With a shrug, the grey stallion picked up his novel and opened it to the bookmark. “Just as long as we don’t get any noise complaints, I’m not gonna ask.”

When the door to the elevator opened with a small “Ding!” the three gryphons were shocked to see that there wasn’t a hallway when they reached their floor. Instead, the door opened directly to the spacious penthouse Fashion Plate owned. From the pristine kitchen packed with all the top-of-the-line amenities, to the wooden spiral staircase that lead to the upstairs loft, it was clear that the unicorn had to have spent a small fortune to afford a place this lavish. Sculptures of different eras and artists were placed in spotless glass displays along the walls, which had gorgeous framed artworks hanging between them to give the space some style. There were also several frames hung that carried distinct cover pages of Cosmare Magazine, each with its own lighting attached to the sides so they would always be illuminated and shown in the space.

Fashion Plate trotted into his apartment with a pronounced prance while pulling his latest addition from his saddlebag. “Well, don’t be shy, boys!” With his horn lit, the stallion floated the Zebrican sculpture towards an empty display case while looking over at his guests with a smile. “Come on in! Make yourselves at home!”

Blaze was the first to step out of the elevator and walk inside the gorgeous space. “Holy crap, dude!” gawked the gryphon while looking around and blinking repeatedly. “Is this seriously what you can afford by running a magazine?! That isn’t porn?!?”

Fashion Plate laughed at that remark while closing the case to his sculpture of a well-endowed zebra. With the way it was positioned, the Zebrican Fertility Idol stood prominently with a fabulous view of its new home. “Well, Cosmare Magazine is the best source for the latest and greatest in fashion! Competition is crazy sometimes, but you don’t make it to the top without making a good amount of bits!”

“I’ll say, man…” Blade and his brother Blane were already looking around the kitchen, with the skinny one grabbing an apple from the island counter. After taking a bite, Blade looked back at their host and asked, “Oi! You ever visit the Playcolt Mansion before?”

“Once,” answered the stallion as he trotted to the walk-in pantry beside the kitchen, “and I must say, that place is absolutely radiant! For me though, I don’t think I need an actual zoo in my house to have fun…” After a small bout of silence, Fashion Plate strolled out of the room with a dainty metal cart that was filled with various bottles of liquor and spirits. He waited until he was in sight of the gryphons before saying with a randy grin, “Especially when my parties get wild enough as it is!”

Blane, who was preoccupied with the contents of the fridge, popped his head out and became bug-eyed at the sight of the cart. “Ho, boy! Now we have a party!”

Blaze was the first of the three to stroll up the cart, just as Fashion Plate used his magic to pour out four shots of cinnamon whiskey. Even though most Equestrian liquor couldn’t hold a candle to Gryphon Kingdom brands due to lower alcohol content, the triplets knew better than to turn down free booze. With smiles all around, Fashion Plate lifted his shot and clinked it with the others when they picked up theirs. “A toast! To new friends!”

“To new friends!” said the gryphons in unison before downing their shots with ease. Even though the syrupy shot burned the stallion’s throat a little, he took it well enough to not cough afterward. However, his guests were already pouring themselves seconds before Fashion Plate even put his shot glass back down. Blaze poured the host another shot with a smirk, “Hey, you better not end up being a lightweight, blue-boy! We’re making sure you have a good night too!”

While being patted on the back by the masculine gryphon, Fashion Plate’s face blushed a little as he smiled up at him. “Oh, r-really?”

“Yeah!” added Blane as he poured a generous dollop of hot sauce in his shot of cinnamon whiskey. “After helping our future Brother-In-Law back at that auction, the least we can do is be good guests!”

“Besides, it’s not often we get to crash at a place this bloody nice!” Blade then snatched the hot sauce bottle from Blane’s claw so he could add it to his own shot. “Oi, give me some of that!”

Fashion Plate was a little surprised at the additions to the gryphons’ drinks, but he was more focused on the group’s enthusiasm at being here tonight. While he didn’t want to look too excited, the wide smile that grew across his face wasn’t hard to notice. “Well then!” said the unicorn with a giddy tone as his blush deepened. “It seems like tonight is my lucky night!”

After a rowdy cheer from his guests, Fashion Plate joined the three on the second of what was to be many, many drinks. Granted, the stallion knew he could hold down a bit of liquor without being too overwhelmed, but he also knew that gryphons could drink an absurd amount without feeling the slightest buzz. Even after the four took their drinking to the living room and swapped stories on the massive angled couch, it was clear that Fashion Plate was the only one growing rosy cheeks after a few rounds. While he certainly didn’t mind hearing tales of the Clawston triplets’ escapades (especially some of the tales of Blade’s groupies with his metal band, which were quite detailed~), the unicorn wanted to at least try to even the playing field a bit before moving their party forward.

Fashion Plate sat in patient wait while swirling the remaining drops of margarita mix that were at the bottom of his glass. Meanwhile, Blade was perched in the corner of the couch while recalling a particularly dirty tale alongside his brothers. “... Alright, so at that point I had her pinned up against the wall of the stall, and was absolutely poundin’ her brains out! Like, even with the ball gag she had on, you could easily hear what we were doin’ just by how hard I was rammin’ into her. But somehow, nobody tried to stop us while we were in there! To this day, I still have no idea why! Maybe they were nervous, I dunno. But just as I was about to finish, I heard this really loud crack -- and before I knew it, I managed to somehow rip the wall of the bathroom stall off the foundation! As soon as that fell, all the others came down like bloody dominos!”

While Fashion Plate giggled with a hoof over his muzzle in shock, Blade’s brothers just cackled in nostalgia of that day. “Ho boy, that was an awkward call to Mom!”

“Oi! It wasn’t my fault the school had such flimsy bathroom stalls!” After downing the rest of his glass of bourbon, the gryphon placed it back on the table (with Fashion Plate quickly floating a coaster underneath) before finishing his story. “But anyway, as soon as Coach Aiden heard what I did with his wife, he ran into the office lookin’ like he was about to kill me! But since the security staff were already there, I just sat there with a giant grin and asked him, ‘So, how’s the Missus?’”

Fashion Plate and the others roared with laughter from that punchline, leaving Blade to sit with a proud smirk while in his seat. The stallion wiped his eyes and responded with, “Wow! That’s just crazy!”

“Well, what do expect from this guy?” jeered Blane as he leaned in and gave his smaller brother a playful noogie. “He’s basically the whore of us three!”

“No I’m not!” shouted Blade in objection while pulling away from Blane. Unfortunately, his objection was quickly dismissed by a shark huff from Blaze.

“Oh, please!” said the muscled gryphon with a roll of his golden eyes. “You basically saw the Kama Sutra as a checklist! I’m pretty sure you’ve done every kinky thing under the sun!”

“Nuh-uh! I haven’t done, ummm… Well…” The skinny gryphon paused momentarily and looked away from his brothers with narrowed eyes. “Wait, give me a minute…”

While Blaze and Blane cackled like hyenas at their brother’s response, Fashion Plate hopped out of his seat to grab his secret weapon. “You know, I almost forgot about a little something I have in my bedroom! Just stay right here and I’ll go get it!”

“Is it another ‘checklist’ for Bladie-Boy?” asked Blane with a wiggled brow at the host. “Maybe he needs to double-check or someth--OOMF!!”

The sharp jab of Blade’s elbow into his gut made the largest gryphon stop his statement instantly. Meanwhile, Fashion Plate just giggled and trotted up the stairs to his loft. “Oh, believe me, boys,” he said with a teasingly flirty tone, “I think you’re all gonna like it~”

While he wasn’t sure if his own tipsiness was making him braver with his words, he hoped that he wasn’t too obvious-sounding to the triplets. Nevertheless, the stallion reached his bedroom, which looked fairly minimalist compared to the lavish designs downstairs. However, as soon as he looked around to make sure none of the gryphons were peeping, the stallion grinned and pulled a lever that was disguised as a normal candlestick holder. The back wall of the room, which held nothing but a plain bed and two nightstands, spun around like the bookcase in some cheesy mystery movie. But instead of a secret passageway, the other side of the wall spun into view to reveal something that would've made the writer of Fifty Shades of Hay blush profusely.

With the bed gone, what was in its place was a massive shelf that was lined with dozens, if not hundreds of various sex toys, tools, rope, and kinky attire. Fortunately, Fashion Plate could tell his guests were too distracted to notice anything as he heard them bickering downstairs. Because of that, the unicorn took his time as he scanned the items he wanted. Despite being tempted by a few distinct toys here and there (especially some of his Terrible Drake brand products he recently acquired), Fashion knew that he needed to gets things set up slow. So instead of picking up anything too risquè, the unicorn’s horn lit up to grab a couple of glass bottles near the bottom next to his rare wines.

After spinning the wall back around, Fashion Plate could hear the three continue to bicker while trotting down the stairs.

“Seriously, you need to quit callin’ me a bloody man-whore!”

“Well, you are!”

“No I’m not!”

"Oh? Remember when we dared you to flirt with Ms. Beakman? And you ended up almost getting a beakjob from her?"

"Well, that was a bet, for crying out loud! You know I never turn down a bet!"

“Dude, you once gave a rimjob to a blind girl! That’s pretty nasty!”

“She was clean!”

“What, after you licked her ass?”

“SHUT UP!”

Fashion Plate raised a hoof after stepping back into the living room. “Boys, boys, settle down!” Keeping a cheerful tone, the stallion floated over two large glasses to the table; one was full of a dark yellow liquid, while the other just had what looked to be water. After giving the bottle of water a strong glow of his magic, it was placed on a coaster with the glass fogged up from such a quick chill. Fashion Plate sat down in a chair across from the couch as he levitated some clean glasses, as well as some sugar cubes. “If anything is bound to spice up this night, it’ll be this!”

Even though Blaze and Blane looked interested at what their host had, Blade reeled back from the bottles like a vampire in the presence from garlic. Fashion Plate didn’t even float the sugar cubes over the glasses before hearing him go, “Oh, noooooo! No, no, no, no!” Blade put his claws up in refusal as soon as he realized what the pony had. “No way! I’ve had absinthe before, and it did NOT go well for me! I’d rather not have it again!”

“Wait, really?” asked Blaze with a baffled look towards his skinnier brother. “When did you ever have absinthe?”

“Yeah,” added Blane in equal puzzlement. “That shit’s like, super hard to get back home!”

With a skewed muzzle, Fashion Plate decided to prepare the glasses anyway just in case. After pouring a small amount of the liquor into each glass, the unicorn slowly poured cold water over each sugar cube that were levitated over the drinks. As the sugared water filled each glass to turn the liquid to a cloudy amethyst color, Blade shuddered uncomfortably and answered his brothers. “You guys remember that gig I did in Yakyakistan, right? For that Princess who wanted a private show?”

“Oh yeah,” answered Blane with a couple blinks in remembrance. He and Blaze recalled that their brother came back home a week later than expected. “So, I take it you had some there?”

“Yeah,” admitted Blade with a bitter shrug alongside his scowl. “She ended up slippin’ me the stuff after the show when we were talkin’, and the next thing I know I was chained up in her bloody cave! I had no way to reach my bandmates, so I was just stuck down there with her like a slave!”

Blade shuddered painfully again, hating even being reminded of that unfortunate week. Despite how distraught his brother sounded from that recollection, Blaze couldn’t help scoffing with a shake of his head. “Oh, come on! So you ended up with a dominant girl, how bad could she be?”

Blade just looked back at him with the strongest, most venomous glare imaginable. “VERY. BAD.”

While he didn’t want to admit some of the things that yak Princess made him do (or wear, for that matter), Blade was grateful that the tone of his answer was enough to shut Blaze up. Blane was smart enough to stay out of it and look away from them with his claws raised. Meanwhile, Fashion Plate focused on his pouring as he said in response, “Well, I can assure you that I am not like that, Blade.”

“I’m not sayin’ that,” replied Blade insistently towards the unicorn, “I’m just sayin’ it’s not somethin’ I wanna do again!”

“It’s just a drink!” said Blane with a shrug. Since Fashion Plate was already finished pouring two of the three glasses, the gryphon picked up one of them and said, “Come on, this is Equestria we’re talking about! I seriously doubt that the absinthe here is the same is what they have in Yakyakistan!”

Fashion Plate smirked as he finished preparing the third drink. Even though he knew that Blane was technically right, he refrained to mention that this absinthe was from the Gryphon Kingdom. But considering how he wanted them to be as tipsy as he was, a little omission of truth shouldn’t hurt.

“You know what?” said Blaze as he picked up a glass as well, “I’m down!”

With that, the two clinked their glasses before trying them slowly. The sweet, licorice-like flavor blended surprisingly well with the strong burn that hit both of their tongues. Blinking a couple times after downing a third of his glass, Blaze looked down at his drink wide-eyed with a grin. “Damn! That’s not half bad!”

“I’ll say!” Blane took another sip with a satisfied shrug of his head, which was then followed by a light shudder that made him grin. “Whoo! I think we found something more our strength!”

“Fantastic!” squeed Fashion Plate with a giddy grin. Even though Blade looked between his brothers with an unsure expression on his face, the unicorn lit his horn to float the third glass towards him. When the skinny gryphon glanced back at him, Fashion Plate carried a warm smile while the drink floated in front of Blade’s beak. “Well…?”

Blade looked apprehensive at best, but the sight of his brothers both enjoying the cocktail was enough to make him ignore his gut instinct. With a hesitant sigh, the gryphon picked up Fashion Plate’s glass and nodded gratefully. “A-Alright… thanks…” And with a tight clench of his eyes, Blade downed his own drink alongside Blaze and Blane.

While his smile looked fairly warm, Fashion Plate was trying his hardest not to grin in excitement. He knew that he had a bit more coaxing to do before anything special could occur, but the fact that he was able to get his guests’ palettes properly wetted was making him rather confident. After pouring himself a new glass of brandy, the unicorn sipped while pondering what he wanted to try next; after all, three drunk gryphons with a lone drunk stallion could lead to some rather… unexpected places~

“So boys,” asked Fashion Plate with a smirk as he lit his horn. “Who wants another glass?~”