CHAPTER 2

Twilight trotted down the streets of Canterlot carrying some scrolls hovering around her with her magic as she began organizing them.  She still had one hour left before her speech at the Equestrian Royal Summit and wanted to be sure she had everything ready.

“Alright, I have these documents, yes, I have those.  And these ones are ready too.  I guess there’s nothing to worry about at all, looks like Spike and I really did get everything double-checked.  Well, we’re all good then.  Looks like this summit is going to be just-“

Suddenly Twilight felt herself bump into another pony and her papers began fluttering downward as she fell back to the ground.

“AGH!  I’m so sorry, Miss!  I wasn’t looking!” said the voice in front of her.

The male pegasus she bumped into had yellow eyes, a greyish coat and dark, navy blue hair with aqua highlights.  His left wing had one ruffled feather and his cutie mark was a musical note with an infinity symbol next to it.  He wore a small black wrist-band on one of his hooves with a symbol that appeared to be in the shape of a gryphon’s head.

He started to brush himself off and then reached to help Twilight up until his eyes focused on her face as he saw her moving in slow motion.  Twilight got up and whipped her head around.  The pegasus stallion saw sparkles all over her and the environment around her turned pink as sweet, romantic music could be heard playing in his head.  He was instantly taken back by how beautiful she looked.  Her mane was long and flowing.  Her velvet coat was a nice shade of lilac.  She looked majestic and graceful.  She opened her lovely purple eyes and exchanged glances with him for a moment and began to smile.  She was truly the fairest mare he had laid eyes on.

On Twilight’s end, she was shaking her head around from the slight pain of bumping into someone and couldn’t help but laugh a little at her clumsiness.

“No, really, sir, it’s alright, it was totally my fault.  I should have been looking where I was going.  How clumsy of me.” she said picking up all her papers.

The pegasus stallion continued staring and then gave her a friendly smile.  She smiled back and introduced herself.

“Sorry.  I’m Twilight.  Princess Twilight.  You know, the Princess of Friendship.  You’ve probably heard of me before.  Hehe.”

“Princess Twilight?  Oh, so you’re the new young princess from not too long ago who got her wings and then was crowned.  Wow.  I’ve heard of you before…… though, to be honest, I have to admit, the newspaper photos don’t do you nearly enough justice.  You look a lot prettier in person.” he said to her with a rather suave voice.  Twilight smiled and blushed.  

“Well, anyways, where are my manners?  The name’s Black Gryphon.  You can call me Gryph for short.”  said the handsome pegasus as he put his head to the side letting his hair wave in the wind.

“Gryphon?  Your name is Black Gryphon?” Twilight asked, confused.

“Yeah, my parents thought gryphons were cool animals and I was born a pegasus so they decided to name me after one.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Black Gryphon.” Twilight said, politely shaking his hoof.  “So are you from around here?”

“I actually live in Vanhoover, but I travel all over Equestria.  I’m a singer and a voice actor so I find myself traveling from place to place doing concerts and getting called to audition for all sorts of productions.”

“You’re a singer?  Gosh.  I feel bad, I haven’t actually heard of you before.”

“It’s okay.  I’m not, like, super well-known like Countess Coloratura or Sapphire Shores or anypony, but I do have quite a fan-base.  I got my big break from doing my own vocal work in my spare time while I was finishing serving in the Royal Navy and, well, the rest is history.”

“Wow, you even served in the Navy?  You sound pretty talented!”

“Well, besides doing things like scuba-diving, mountain climbing, animating, drawing, dancing, launching homemade rockets, flying drones and all that stuff, yeah, I guess you could say that.”

“Gosh, that’s a lot of things to be good at!”

Twilight ran out of compliments and they shared glances for a few moments.  Gryph had a rather welcoming and friendly smile and he appeared to very much enjoy her company.  With the trouble she had had talking with Flash recently, she felt she wasn’t really good at talking to handsome stallions.  Her social awkwardness from the old days seemed to just kick right in and she felt scared to say anything more to him.  She wanted to keep talking to him since he seemed so friendly and had much to discuss but then she remembered the summit and had to speak up.

“Well, I really hate to say it but I’m kinda busy, but I hope to see you again, Gryph.  I’m sure it won’t be difficult for either of us to find each other considering we’re both kinda famous.  Hehe…”

“Oh, um……well I understand.  Princesses have a lot to do.” said Gryph, looking somewhat disappointed.  He hoped he would have more time to talk to her.

“Yeah, it’s the Equestrian Royal Summit and I should probably get going before I miss it.  Least after I do my duty today I can let them take care of the rest while I head back to Ponyville.  See ya, Gryph!”

Twilight took off flying but then Gryph’s ears perked up after hearing what she said about Ponyville.

“Ponyville?  Oh, Twilight, hold up!”  he said as he spread his wings and flew off to catch up with her in midair.  “You said you’re heading to Ponyville after this?”

“Um, yeah, that’s where I live actually.” she responded.

“Oh, well that’s perfect!  I have a concert coming up in Ponyville in three days!  Perhaps you’d be interested in coming down to see it?”

“You have a concert in Ponyville?  So that’s what all the equipment is that they’re putting over in at one field!  Of course I’d love to come see it, Gryph!”

“Awesome!  I’m so glad you can make it!  Oh, and before you leave, here, how about you take this: your first Black Gryphon merchandise.  They’re usually being sold at my concerts during autograph session but here’s a free wrist-band for the Princess of Friendship.”

Gryph pulled off the band around his hoof and gave it to Twilight.  Twilight stared briefly at the band and then used her magic to wrap it around one of her hooves.

“Thank you very much, Gryph.  This is a nice gift!” she said as she smiled warmly before giving him a hug.

Gryph’s eyes closed halfway and he looked more content than ever before.  He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back.

“Well hey, I can’t wait to see your concert in a few days and it was great to make a new friend!” said Twilight as she fluttered on and flew up to a nearby castle to begin her duties for the day.  “I’ll be seeing ya!”

“Any time, Twilight Sparkle!” said Gryph waving back.

He watched Twilight fly away gracefully with her hair waving around from the wind.  He continued to stare at her until she disappeared behind the castle to find the entrance on the other side.  With hearts floating out of his head and his smile reaching to each corner of his cheeks, he slowly floated down to the ground till he landed on all four hooves.

“She’s just so beautiful.  Golly, where has she been all my life and how did I not just learn more about her after hearing about the Princess of Friendship?  Well I’m glad I met her now and I’m lucky I’ll see her again.  I gotta find a way to win her heart……wait, I know what I’ll do!  Yes, I’m sure she’d love that!  Alright…...um, so many stories……no…a hundred thousand stories…have filled my head……yeah, that sounds good for the opening lines…”

Gryph flew off, thinking hard to himself; planning something special to give to Twilight for the next time he would meet her.  He could already tell Twilight seemed fond of him; he just had to find a way to truly make her love him back.



Later, at the opening of the Equestrian Royal Summit held in Celestia’s palace, Twilight stood in front of a multitude of ponies who had gathered for the event.  She was just finishing her speech.

“So it is with great honor, that I, Princess Twilight Sparkle, welcome all of you to the annual Equestrian Royal Summit, held in the capital city of Canterlot.  Everyone enjoy your stay!”

The crowd cheered loudly for Twilight’s speech and she bowed courteously to them.  The applause was then followed by the ambience of a murmuring audience as everyone began to get ready for the day.  Twilight had already done her part for the morning and only had a few more things to help with before sundown.  Princess Celestia came up to the platform she was standing on to congratulate her former protégé.

“Well done, Twilight!” she said.  “These ponies were very pleased with that speech you gave.”

“Thank you, Princess.” Twilight replied.  “I wasn’t even that nervous this time around either!  Hehe!”

Twilight reached up with her hoof to scratch the back of her head and Princess Celestia gasped as she noticed the band Twilight had around the bottom of her left front leg.

“Oh!  Twilight, I didn’t know you were a fan of Black Gryphon!” Celestia said.

“Huh?  Oh, you noticed my band!  Yeah, I actually met him earlier and he gave me this.” Twilight replied

“You MET him?!?” said Celestia with excitement in her voice.  “Ooooh, Twilight, that’s great news!  He’s got amazing music!”

“I haven’t heard him yet but he’s got a concert coming up in Ponyville in a few days and he invited me to it.”

“OH MY GOODNESS!” Celestia squealed before putting her hoof over her mouth so she wouldn’t look too childish to the other ponies around.  “Sorry.  But really Twilight, you’re a lucky mare to have bumped into him!  And he even gave you this wrist-band!”

“Yeah, he seems like quite a nice guy and I can’t wait to hear what his music sounds like.”

“I hear he’s also pretty good with mares.” said Celestia, wiggling her eyebrows at Twilight.

“Oh……well I mean yeah, he kinda does seem to be…” Twilight replied, bashfully.  “He, uh……he kinda seems to be fond of me…well sorta…hehe…”

“Aw, Twilight, that’s rather sweet!  You should talk to him more.  I’m sure you’d have easier access since you’re royalty.”

“Yeah, I’m sure I would.  Well anyways, I’m still going to go to that concert.  Think you might make it too, Princess?” she asked Celestia.

“I sadly won’t be able to since I will be incredibly busy with the summit, but if it’s not asking for too much, would you mind getting an autograph for me?” she said with a smile.

“Of course I will!  What would you like me to have him autograph for you?”

“How about a picture of the two of you together?”

“Oh…hehe, well that would be a good idea I guess.” Twilight said blushing.  “Alright, Celestia, I’ll get you that picture with his autograph.  I’m sure he’d be very happy to do it for me.”

Twilight began thinking a lot about Gryph after talking with Celestia.  She almost had a feeling he liked her though she couldn’t tell if he was just being really friendly and social.  What Celestia said about how she should talk to him more almost made her want to or, if anything, get to know him better as a friend since she was so good at making friendships and learning valuable lessons from them.  She nearly forgot about what had happened with her and Flash a few days ago and how she was so nervous trying to socialize with him, but she did remember she wanted to wait to see if a stallion would come along for her.  Perhaps Gryph was the one?  Then again, it would be best to not jump too quickly to that conclusion.  She wanted to be sure she could be a good friend to Gryph.



A few days after Twilight’s encounter with Black Gryphon, she had invited her friends over to her castle to have brunch.  They had all gathered around in the room with the friendship map and had just been served by Spike who brought out daisy sandwiches, homemade oatmeal, and some freshly-squeezed orange juice.  Twilight was finishing up something important for the royal summit and was late but Spike had told them she would be there soon.

“So is Twilight gonna join us or what?” asked an impatient Rainbow Dash who had been told earlier by Applejack to wait to eat when Twilight came in.

“Now darling, one must never rush a lady.  If Twilight is taking a while, I’m sure she has a good excuse.” Rarity pointed out.

“I dunno, Rarity.” said Applejack. “She said we’d start at this exact time.  Hope she makes it eventually or this here oatmeal’s gonna get mighty cold.”

“Maybe Twilight’s super-duper busy with even MORE food for us!” Pinkie started rambling. “Maybe she’s got a huge tower of pancakes with blueberries, and strawberries, and raspberries, and every other berry you could possibly imagine inside of them with lots of maple syrup and a whole lotta whip cream and she’s going to treat us all for desert after this course is done!  Ooooooh, that would be delicious!!”

“Gosh, I don’t know, Pinkie.  That sounds like an awful lot for brunch.” Fluttershy said, cautiously.

“Pfffffft!  Naaaaw, that ain’t nothing!” Pinkie replied before sticking her long tongue out to try and swallow the sandwich in front of her.  Applejack leaned in and nodded her head back and forth to remind her to wait and Pinkie set the sandwich back down while whimpering like a dog.

Suddenly, Twilight came in looking like she had just finished a lot of hard work.

“SORRY!  I got caught up with some paperwork I had to do for the summit!  I’m done now.  You guys ready to eat?”

“Ready?!  I was BORN ready!” said Pinkie reaching back out with her tongue to take in the sandwich.

“Alright, let’s dig into this……whoa…” said Rainbow Dash dropping the spoon she had grasped with her feathers.  She just noticed the band around Twilight’s hoof.  “Pi-Pi-Pi-Pinkie…”

Pinkie stopped munching on her food and looked at what Rainbow Dash was pointing at and suddenly spat everything out of her mouth.

“Blehehehe!  OH MY GOODNESS, TWILIGHT!!!” she screeched.

“Um…is there a problem?”  Twilight said, cocking her head to the side.

“TWILIGHT, WHERE DID YOU GET THAT BAND?!” Rainbow Dash asked, excitedly.

“Oh, this little thing?  Well, I was walking around in Canterlot the other day and I bumped into this really friendly stallion named Black Gryphon and he gave-“

“OMIGOSH OMIGOSH OMIGOSH!!!” said Rainbow Dash as she and Pinkie exchanged excited glances.

Pinkie jumped in midair, ignoring gravity while her legs and arms wiggled around at high speeds.

“TWILIGHT MET BLACK GRYPHON!!  THIS IS THE COOLEST THING TO HAPPEN IN FOREVER!!!!!”

“Black Gryphon?!  Wait what?!” said Spike, rushing over while still wearing an apron.  “TWILIGHT, THAT’S AWESOME!!!”

“Wait, you guys know about him?!” Twilight asked with her eyes bouncing back and forth.

“Know him?!  He’s only, like, the coolest singing stallion in all of Equestria!  Are we there yet, a-a-are we there yet?!  You’ve done it all from A to Z…” Spike said before breaking into random song and dancing like no one was watching.

“Oh my.  I haven’t heard of this stallion but he does sound good from what you all are saying.” said Fluttershy.

“I haven’t heard of him either, darling.  Twilight, you said you met him in person in Canterlot?  What was he like?” Rarity asked.

“Well, he was awfully nice to me.  I guess he was a little starstruck to meet a princess but he didn’t really seem that nervous.  He seemed quite confident and…oh yeah, he invited me to the concert he’s having in Ponyville tonight.  I’m guessing he was included in the lineup for the Annual Young Musicians Celebration.”

“That’s what we wanted to have you come do with us tonight, Twilight!” Rainbow Dash said.  “Pinkie, Spike and I just found out about him recently and when we heard he was having a concert here, we knew we had to invite the rest of you!”

“EEEEH!  Yes, we have totally got to do it!  That concert is going to be fantabulous!  Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, will you girls come to?!?” said Pinkie zooming in front of the other three ponies with her face up close to them and her grin so wide it almost went beyond her face.

“Well I wouldn’t mind a little concert I suppose.  I mean I hope the music’s good and all.  I ain’t much of a fan of most of these confangled modern tunes nowadays……if ya’ll can call it that.” Applejack told Pinkie.

“CONFANGLED?!  Pfffft!  AJ, are you for real, girl?!” Rainbow Dash said hovering over Applejack and poking her in the nose.  “Black Gryphon’s got an amazing voice and his music is great!  It’s not like the kind of stuff Rara used to sing before she ditched Svengallop after you came to her rescue, it’s waaaaay better!”

Suddenly Spike slid in through the door with a boombox on his shoulder while wearing sunglasses, a shirt and hat that had the Black Gryphon emblem on them.  He turned on the boombox and put this other hand up in the air while banging his head around to the song that was playing.

You are so young and you are so free,
But you’re aimless and I can’t help but see
That you don’t know what you really need!
Are we there yet?!   A-A-Are we there yet?!

You’ve done it all from A to Z
Are you trying to find your destiny?
One day you’ll know who you want to be!
Are we there yet?!   A-A-Are we there yet?!

Pinkie and Rainbow Dash got out of their seats and started dancing around and singing to the music Spike was playing but Applejack came over and pushed down on the power button of the boom box since the music was too loud for her.

“Alright, alright, we get it!  The music ain’t too shabby.” she said.

“That sounded wonderful…” Twilight said putting her hoof over her heart and looking down at her wrist-band.  “His music’s as sweet as he is!”

Pinkie slowly moved up next to Twilight’s throne with a big grin on her face as if she knew what Twilight was thinking.  Twilight glared at her and Pinkie trotted off giggling to herself.

“Alright, everypony, tonight we’ll all attend the concert.  I’m anxious to see how he performs after having met him and I’m sure he’d be a great friend to us all.” Twilight told them all.

“OMIGOSH!  Twilight, since you already met him, do you think you’d be able to introduce us all to him?!  PLEEEEASE?!” said Rainbow Dash, grinning widely.

“OOOOOH, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE SAY YES, TWLIGHT!!!” Pinkie chimed in.

Twilight used her magic to gently place them back in their seats while nodding her head back and forth with a grin on her face.

“I’m sure Gryph would love to meet you all.  I’ll see what I can do.”

“Pffft!  She gave him a nickname!  That’s cute!” Rainbow Dash snickered as Pinkie joined in with her.

Twilight gave them a stern look and rolled her eyes but then calmed herself down and turned back to Spike who still had on his Black Gryphon clothes and the boombox on his shoulder.

“Spike, why don’t you play us all some more of Gryph’s music.  Keep the volume down though, please.” she told him.

“Okay, Twilight.  Hehe…”

Spike then pushed the power button again without following her orders to turn the volume down and let the song Are We There Yet? blast throughout the entire room.  Pinkie and Rainbow Dash got up and started dancing on the map while Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy covered their ears.  They started to uncover their ears though and quickly adjusted to the music and slowly started bobbing their heads to it.  Twilight, meanwhile appeared unamused but a smile started to form on her face.

“He does have some great music.” she said to herself as she began to blush.