Gabby cleared her throat. "Okay! Have to make this cool. Giselle was super--" She cut herself off, noticing the crowd was watching her expectantly. "Sorry. Okay, fire up!" She threw her hands wide, body engulfing in flames and hiding her featherless form with pinions of fire. "Ta da!"

The room exploded with cheers for both of them, with many griffons rushing forward to congratulate them both. They were almost bowled over under the force of the griffons, excitedly yammering about the miracle of it. It was only Gabby's flames that kept her safe from their eager well-wishes.

Gallus slipped away with a soft chuckle and made his way over to me. "Guess they don't have a lot of questions for me right now."

"No, they don't." I patted him on the shoulder. "Her little showing off answered all of those." I lowered my hoof to the ground. "But grats! Seriously, that was way faster. You getting the hang of teaching this?"

"You know, I think I am." He seemed surprised by his own words. "But I can't deny Gabby all the credit. She wanted to be a phoenix and she put her everything into it. It was kinda amazing."

"And you're not tired." I smiled at him. "That's a plus. So, learn to like Gabby a little?"

He rolled his eyes at that. "She's alright, I guess."

"I'm alright!" Gabby crashed to her butt next to Gallus. "That's a step up."

Gallus prodded at her. "You know, you're pretty odd looking when you don't have feathers. Glad to say, that wears off after the first ignition or two, so you should be alright, once they grow back."

"I can't wait." Gabby rubbed at her bare skin. "It's not exactly bad, but it's strange, you know?" She noticed my looking her over. "What? Is it that odd?"

"Just reminds me." I shrugged. "A world away, smooth skin was the default. You remind me of a female from there, though you are missing parts." She had no breasts. Griffons were like ponies, with no breasts. Perhaps she had udders? I didn't dare start staring down at her lower belly and crotch. That felt kinda rude.

Gabby looked at me with a little confusion. "Huh. I never thought about that. I guess I would look weird to them." She leaned in, clacking her beak. "And they'd look odd to me, fair is fair. I forgot you're from another world. That's kinda cool. You okay?"

"I'm fine." I smiled at her. "Just thinking about home. I've been here a while now, and I still miss it sometimes." I reached for her and she didn't stop me, so I felt her shoulder then down her arm casually, just examining her textures. "Hello."

"Hi!" She giggled at that greeting. "We already met and are talking. Do you always say hi to creatures you met already?"

"Sometimes." I colored faintly. "It's a, uh." Did anyone on that planet know what autism was? I doubted it. "Did I bother you?"

"How?" She shrugged at that, then turned her eyes to Gallus. "We're phoenixes!"

"Yeah, we are." He reached over to give her a friendly pat on the shoulder. "Huh, that does feel funny. Now I know why David was fascinated. It's different when you're the one dealing with it."

"You two are getting along." I smiled at that. "It's good to see. The teachers back at school will be happy to hear that."

Pinkie raised a hoof, reminding that she was there. "Hello, teacher right here, taking notes." She stuck out her tongue. "And I am impressed. So many friendship lessons being learned on this trip."

"Oh, yeah, I totally forgot you were there." Gabby waved at Pinkie. "Hey! Thanks for coming to watch me become a phoenix!"

The priest approached with a soft cough. "Speaking of that. As a phoenix, you are charged with several duties, one of which is quite pressing, if you wish to live life beyond these walls."

Gabby perked up at that. "What's that? I'm ready!" She pumped an arm, looking as ready as one could look.

The priest pointed at Gallus. "He is almost done with this task. You must raise three griffons to phoenix status. Do this, and you are a free griffon once more. Until then, you remain. You may not instruct any griffon that does not first pass the tests I administer. Do you understand?"

Gabby nodded quickly. "I do, but who would I teach? I don't know any griffons."

Gallus snorted. "That isn't true, or you phrased that oddly." He pointed at her. "There's one." He turned the finger at himself, then the priest. "Look, more griffons."

"I know that!" She swatted at him, laughing. "But I meant griffons that'd want to be phoenixes and take those tests."

The priest crossed his arms with a soft huff. "Speaking of that, that you, of all griffons, passed, is still a mystery to me. How did you manage it with your limbs still attached and mind intact, as intact as I could claim your mind is at any rate."

Gabby shrugged. "I just wanted to be a phoenix. I knew I could do it. I knew I could win. I didn't think I could lose."

Gallus howled with laughter. "Wow, the power of positive thinking, right here. Gabby, that part was pretty cool, not gonna lie."

Gabby beamed at the compliment. "So, knowing I wanted it and not letting it go, I got past the problems until I was done. That was it."

"Madness." The priest shook his head with amazed incredulity. "But the tasks remains. You must find three." He pointed to Gallus. "You must find one more." He turned his gaze on David. "You found one willing griffon, and they even passed. Will you repeat this task? I cannot force you, but griffonkind would be thankful if this is a trick you can repeat."

I looked at Pinkie, who nodded, and then at Gabby and Gallus, who were both looking at me expectantly, and then at the priest. "I'll do it, but I'm not sure how I'll find them. I don't know any griffons. I barely know these two."

It had been quite some time, but I looked inwards, to my internal spellbook. "Been a while," I thought casually to myself, dusting off the mental construct. "To know." I pulled the tab and started at that section. The mindreading spell wouldn't help me, so I brushed past that. "When man was young, knowing their neighbors meant surviving. Isolation meant death. My ancient forebares, give me the spell that might help, so your foolish child may thrive." I felt a bit silly, thinking such flowery thoughts at myself, but they felt somehow right.

The spellbook opened to a page, and I looked over the spell. It was simple, and easy, and yet, it was a spell I had never seen before, and yet, I knew it as well as I knew any other spell. I knew the magic, and I knew how to cast it. This was a spell of knowing, of finding those who could be trusted, and I knew how to use it.

I opened my eyes with such a serene smile. It was then that I realized such a spell wasn't going to just fix my problems. "I have a spell that I think will get me closer, but I'm going to have to work it myself." I rose to my hooves. "But I've been sitting here doing nothing and waiting for you, Gallus. Moving feels right."

"Make that two." Pinkie slid in next me.

"Three!" Gabby pressed in on the other side.

The priest shoved his hand between Gabby and I. "You are to remain here until you have trained three. Did you already forget?"

"Oh yeah." Gabby sank to the ground next to Gallus. "But you need three." She spotted Twinkle reading a book. "There's three."

"I am not a griffon." Twinkle closed her book. "But David is a friend, so I'd be delighted to help." She rose to her own hooves. "Which way do we begin?"

"This way." I pointed towards the door. "We go out there and I use this spell to find those who can be trusted, and then, we ask them if they want to be phoenixes."

Twinkle followed me outside, the cooler breeze of the streets making her shiver. "You have a spell for that? I don't remember you mentioning that before."

"Sounds kinda handy." Pinkie nodded softly. "Which element is that? Earth or fire?"

"It's not an element." I shrugged. "It's just a spell. I learned it from my spellbook. I've been carrying it around in my head since I was a kid, but I never had a reason to use it before now, at least here in Griffonstone." I circled there in the setting light of late afternoon. "Let's try it." I focused on the icon of the spell, a faceless crowd of people with just one smiling. To find the one that spoke no lies.

I felt the magic flow through me, and then, it was done, and I felt like I knew who I could trust, and who I couldn't, and I looked over the griffons walking past. "There. That one." I pointed at a griffon walking by, a young male, with a face that seemed far more pleasant than most of the others. "That one is trustworthy."

Twinkle perked an ear at the griffon. "You sure?" But she was advancing anyway. "Excuse me." The griffon paused in their walking. "We were hoping to ask you a question."

Pinkie bounced up towards the griffon. "Hey there! Would you like a chance to become something super duper awesomely amazing? You could help all of griffonkind!"

I caught up with them, chuckling nervously at the griffon's nervous face. "Sorry if we came on strong."

"Just a little!" He laughed with me. "Who are all of you?"

Twinkle waved a hoof. "I'm Twinkle, and this is David and Pinkie. We're trying to help Gallus and Gabby become phoenixes, and we need three more griffons to help us do that."

"Ah huh?" He tilted his head sharply, as birds could do. "I know one of those. How does that involve me?"

Pinkie grinned as wide as she could. "You could be a phoenix, all on fire and everything. Think of how cool that'd be!"

"I don't think I want to be on fire." He shook his head. "That sounds painful."

I inhaled hard, sides swelling, then let it out in a slow easy puff, letting flames lick at my lips and the air just in front of my snout. "More like this, less 'oh please put me out' kind of fire."

He hesitated. "You're a kirin." A fact he clearly hadn't noticed before. "It's kinda like that? What does that feel like? Does it hurt?"

"No, it doesn't hurt. It feels warm, but not hot." I smiled at him. "It's a little like breathing fire, but it's a lot easier to control."

"That's kind of cool." He caught himself. "Kind of hot."

Twinkle pointed a hoof at the temple we were in front of. "Ready to try for flames of your own? Every phoenix we've talked to so far has liked it."

He made unsure noises, considering the solid building. "Will they even let me in there? The guards give nasty glares to everygriffon that walks past. I usually hurry on this part, but you said hi."

"Oh, don't worry about them." Pinkie waved a hoof dismissively. "We already got past them. They didn't even blink when we came back out. You'll be fine."

I cleared my throat. "She's leaving out the part that they want griffons that want to be phoenixes right now. If you're going for that, they will let you in. They let us past because we're doing this." I wave at myself and the griffon. "Getting volunteers."

"Ah huh." He seemed to consider that. "So, if I go in there, and I say I want to be a phoenix, they'll let me in?"

"Yep." I nodded softly. "You'll have to pass some tests before you get to be a phoenix, but they will let you in, promise."

Author's Note

But will this griffon pass?

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