Leah’s pronouncement has galvanized everypony. Citrus is the first to rush to the griff, adding herself to Silver in the hug, but no less quick is North and even Cayenne. After everypony has glomped onto the griffon, Tim moves in with his longer arms, and grabs everyone as he gets down to their level. The sobs from the griffon hammer into his heart as she tries and fails miserably to keep some semblance of control. In only a few minutes, she’s full-on wailing. Citrus talks gently into her ear, letting her know everything is going to be okay while petting her head gently and chewing gently on the feathers of her head. Everyone stays together like this for a long time before the sound of footsteps in the hall interrupt.

“What the heck, why is the door…” Twilight asks. She stops abruptly as she sees them all hugging and the sounds of the sobbing griff reach her ears. Those ears perk forward in curiosity for a long moment as she takes cautious steps into the foyer, her magic chiming briefly to close the door.

Tim looks over at the alicorn. “That isn’t going to be good,” he murmurs softly.

Twilight’s reaction has even Tim flinching. Her ears pin back while her eyes widen and wings flair, her tail flagging straight out. Tim is only able to nod. Twilight blinks a few times before she leaps forward, squirming among everypony to glomp directly onto Leah, who buries her head in Twilight’s shoulder as she weeps, “Daddy kicked me out!”

After a long time crying, Leah sniffles a bit before squirming away from Twilight, breaking the hug. She ends up on all fours, though tears are still flowing. She runs a foreleg along her face, somewhat cleaning herself up. She sniffles again, looking at Twilight. “No…he did know I was with you, but that’s not why…” She stops for a long moment, steeling herself. “He apparently has decided that it’s time to get a return on his investment in me.”

Twilight’s eyes narrow. “Who is he marrying you off to?”

Citrus blinks, looking between Twilight and the griffon. “Okay, for those of us not schooled in Griff society, could you explain it?”

Twilight looks at Leah, then smiles at the small nod from the griff before clearing her throat. “What she’s saying that in griffin society, they are more money based than ponies. Chicks are an investment, effectively literally. Male chicks are trained to make money, learn to invest and work hard, to provide for a family. When they get to be the age of majority, which is usually between fifteen and twenty years old, they are figuratively booted from their homes, to thrive or not, and an amount is assessed by the parents. The chick’s responsibility is to pay back that investment. For females, it’s a little different.”

Tim looks between the two. “Wait, it’s all about money?” His gaze settles on Leah. “That’s why you talk about money, and investing and return on investment all the time?”

She nods. “Go ahead, Twilight, tell them the rest.” She puffs out her chest. “We are different than the ponies, and I won’t say our way is perfect. But it works well for us. My father, as a fledgling, was able to get in with a good and well-connected minister, he built up a good fortune, which allowed him to purchase my mother, and was able to have me and my brother and sister and have us live in prosperity. My brother is older than me. He was sent out early, but Daddy helped him set up, he’s been paying back his parents for raising him for nearly five years now.”

Citrus gasps a bit. “Purchase? Like trade goods? Paying parents back? That’s…”

“How griffons do things.” Twilight says softly before swallowing and looking up at Tim. “It’s a bit different for females. You noticed she said purchased her mom, right?” At Tim’s nod, she continues. “Well, when a young male is ready for a family, he will look for a family he wants to get a mate from. And he will approach her dad, and pay a dowry. The size of that dowry is based on not only her looks. Ahem…her physical characteristics. And also how successful her family is. As griffs go, Leah is actually quite attractive.”

Leah blushes a bit, looking down. “Thank you, Twi.”

That gets a beaming smile. “I’m just speaking facts, Leah.” She reaches forward and nuzzles the griff quickly before looking at the rest of the herd. “And also if he finds her attractive, he can ask to see some of her test scores from school, to see how smart she is, what kind of chicks she could be expected to produce. So, he bases his decision on what he’s willing to pay on how she looks, and how smart she is, so their chicks could be successful.” She stops and sighs. “How much, Leah?”

That gets a heavier blush. “Five hun…” Her voice trails off.

Twilight blinks. “I didn’t catch that, how much?”

“…”

Twilight tilts her head to the side. “Sweetie, you’ve been having hot, sweaty sex with everypony here. I don’t think you need to be shy…how much?”

“Five hundred thousand bits, if I’ve got the conversion correct.”

“Half a million bits!?” Twilight shouts. “And he’s willing to pay that much!”

“He already did!”

Tim asks “I know that’s a lot, but is that a high price?”

Citrus says, “Our house was two hundred fifty thousand bits when we bought it.”

Citrus reaches over and grabs Leah and hugging her tightly. “Oh, sweetie, you are so valuable to your family! The griff that wants you is willing to part with that kind of bits.” She pulls away. “Don’t worry, if you want to go with him. We’ll all be sad, but if you want to.”

“I said no.”

Citrus blinks. Then brings the griff close for a tighter hug. “We support your decision, no matter what it is.”

“That’s why daddy booted me out. I got stupid when he told me how much. I said I didn’t care about the bits. I didn’t care how much he invested in me. I wanted…” She stops for a long moment before looking down. “Something other than to stay with some ugly griff because he has money. I told him I didn’t want to be popping out eggs every breeding season, having to hatch them, nurture them. I told him to give the crowns back. I’m not going.”

“You don’t?” Twilight blurts out. “I know you are having fun with us. But you yourself have said this was just a bit of fun. Nothing serious.”

That gets a sniffle. “Well, it just got really serious, Twilight.” She looks around. “When daddy was telling me I didn’t have a choice. I was just thinking of you, my heard., and I knew I just couldn’t. I couldn’t see myself getting married. I couldn’t see myself staying with any griff or anypony. I don’t know if I want to get married at all.”

Citrus seems to falter a bit, Leah notices. “Don’t get me wrong, Citrus. I don’t want to stop what we have. I love spending time with your herd. I love our fun nights together. The hot sweaty sex is pretty good too.” She leans closer and nuzzles the yellow pony. “But I don’t want to be a mom. I don’t need any little chicks running around.”

Cayenne clears her throat. “Well, if you stay around here…” When Leah turns to look at her, she gestures to her belly. “We are going to be having a filly bouncing around pretty quickly, you do know that, right?”

Leah clacks her beak. “Well, of course. And I can’t wait until I can spoil that little filly of yours absolutely rotten.” She turns and looks at Twilight. “But…” She falters for a moment before firming up. “I’m saying I’m not ready to be a mom.” She shrugs. “As I said, I don’t want to join a herd on a permanent basis. I also don’t want to get married to a griff either. I’ve been learning from daddy, I’ve been learning from you, Twilight. I’m good with money, and I can make my way. If daddy wants to assess me like he did my brother, I’ll gladly pay him back.” She gets a sour look and sticks out her tongue. “But no, dropping eggs, nesting, no. Not me. Not for a while, I’m still young.”

Twilight frowns. “If that’s your choice, your father should respect that.”

Galileah laughs, “That’s not how griffons work! The closest our culture gets to a herd relationship is familial debt; ponies bond with fluids, griffs bond with money and contracts. This is as bad to a griff as adultery is to a pony. I have to handle this myself, it’s going to get even uglier.”

She’s grabbed by Citrus and hugged tightly. “Oh, you don’t need to get all independent on us. If you don’t want to sleep in bed with us, we have two spare bedrooms, well, one when Spike’s here. Don’t need to worry about a place to stay.”

To Citrus’ surprise, tears well in the griff’s eyes and she hugs Citrus back, hard. She murmurs softly into Citrus’ fur. “Thank you.”

Tim has been rubbing his chin, he looks at Leah. “I’m worried about what you said. He knew what we were doing on our trip?”

Leah looks down, scratching a claw on the marble floor. “Yeah. Turns out, he’s smarter than I thought. He knows I’ve been visiting you for a while now.” She looks up at him. “He apparently figured out what we’ve been doing. He said he knows I’m not a virgin anymore. That my deception was good, but not good enough. He suspected it was you. He called you the monkey man. He asked me if I was letting the monkey man mount me.”

Tim’s eyes widen. “And what did you tell him?”

“I didn’t say anything. Though I think he knew.” Her face was turning red.

Silver chuckles, “I don’t think you had to say anything. Your face told him everything he needed to know.”

She extends a wing and hides behind it. Twilight moves closer and nuzzles the griff. “Don’t worry, sweetie, we will figure out something to do.” She takes a step. “Let’s get you settled in and you can stay with us until we get this all sorted out.” She stops and tilts her head. “Any idea who the griff was that wanted to pay so much for you?”

Leah folds her wing, looking around at the ponies for a long moment before focusing on Twilight. “He told me his name, and who his family was. One of the richest griffs back home. Half a million bits is a lot of gold. You forget I’m an aristocrat with connections; I am valuable.”

Twilight nods and smiles as she draws Leah with her towards the stairs. “It’s not a worry, and it’s a mark of how wonderful you are that he’s willing to part with so much for you.”

“You don’t understand, Twilight, when Citrus said trade goods earlier, she was right. A griffoness when married disappears into the vault of her husband. If I were to go with him, I’d probably never leave home again. My life would be getting mounted by him and pumping out chicks.

“Oh, hush, sweetie. We aren’t going to let that happen to you. You can determine what you want in your life. If worst comes to worst, we can appeal to Celestia for an emergency petition to make you an Equestrian subject.” She glances at Tim. “Maybe some sort of deal like what handled for Tim.” She grins. Might just make you the official ambassador to the Griff homelands instead of your father.” They disappear upstairs as Citrus looks at Tim.

“Well, Cayenne was making a meat dish tonight. Let’s get some good food in her and get some rest tonight.”

***

“Citrus, where’s Twilight?”

“Don’t know, Galileah, she said she had to deal with some business when she went out this morning,” Citrus says as she’s stirring cream into her coffee. She offers a cup to the griffon, who takes it gratefully.

As they are drinking their coffee, a loud growl interrupts their peace as Twilight enters the kitchen. The purple mare’s horn lights as she pulls her day bag off and slams it onto the counter. “Of all the insufferable, bigoted, simple minded…”

“What’s going on, Twi?” Citrus asks with a bit of a laugh.

Twilight blinks a few times. “Oh, I went to the Griffon ambassador’s office this morning.” She grumbles for a long moment before looking at Leah, then back to Citrus. “I was trying to end this.”

“Twilight, you don’t need to…” Leah says as Citrus chimes in.

“You what?” The yellow mare asks.

Twilight slaps a hoof on the floor. “I was trying to make this easy. I offered to pay her dowry back, and when he refused. I doubled it. He still refused.” She huffs. “And he said that Leah having some fun and ‘sowing her oats’ with the ponies and that monkey man as she called Tim was one thing. But his daughter was an upstanding griff. That she was going to calm down her wild ways, and get married like a respectable griff.”

“Wait a moment. You offered a million bits?” Leah squawks a bit, her wings extending.

Twilight smiles. “Yeah. You know we are good for it. I mean, you say yourself I’m a one mare economy; I’d have to liquidate some of our assets, forego our next vacation, but I absolutely could, Herd Blush on the whole could, it’d be a huge pull from our accounts, but we’d be fine.”

Leah blinks. “How rich are you, Twilight?”

That gets a blush from the alicorn. She ducks her head to the side. “I could buy your father as my breeding stock.”

Citrus tilts her head. “Don’t need to be shy, Twilight. We are all family here.” She turns to Leah and names a few figures.

Leah’s eyes widen. “I had no idea.” She looks around. “Everything here should be gold plated, and you could buy this entire building.” She focuses on Twilight. “And you could probably buy the block with your pocket change, Twilight. I knew you were loaded, you are a princess. And with all those bits coming in from those phones.”

“That’s Tim’s money, not mine. I’m a minor investor.” Twilight says quickly.

“It’s all part of your family. He’s a stallion.”

Twilight shakes her head. “He doesn’t have to contribute to the family income. We are quite well off. And he deserves every bit he’s gotten with what happened to him how he came to this world, and what he brought with him.”

Citrus looks at Twilight. “He’s insisting that he contribute to the family. Even when he has to meet with financial managers to deal with the amount of bits rolling in. I don’t think he really realizes how much income there truly is.”

Leah holds up a claw. “So, what you are saying, you offered daddy a million bits. And he said no?”

Twilight blinks, before flicking her ears back and forth. “Yeah.”

Leah blinks a few times. “Okay, let me get this straight, you, Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Equestria, Princess of Magic, no less, offered my father a million bits to relieve my debt to him.” She stops and shudders. “While I have no idea how I would ever pay you back for that. But the real question is… he said no?”

Twilight’s ears fall and she ducks her head down, her tail clamping to her rear as her wings shuffle a bit. “Yeah.”

Twilight gasps as the griff tackles her, the griffs wings joining her arms as she embraces the alicorn tightly. Leah’s sobs come through after a long moment of her clinging to the alicorn. After a long moment, she sniffles and pulls back a bit. “Thank you, Twilight. I didn’t know I meant that much to you.”

Twilight reaches up a hoof, petting the griff’s head. “Oh, sweetie, I’d do it for any friend.”

Ctirus smiles as Leah finally takes a step back from the alicorn. She sniffles a few times as she moves off, going up to Cayenne in the kitchen and continuing what she had been doing before Twilight had gotten home. Citrus glances at Twilight, “Twi, could you meet me in the bedroom?”

Twilight offers a smile as she nods. Citrus turns and heads up the stairs, one ear cocked back listening as the alicorn follows her. The light tread of Twilight always amazes her, she had remembered when Twilight was a unicorn many years before, and she was smaller than average, almost Pegasus size. Becoming an alicorn had added inches to her height and she was no longer a small pony. She had said someday she’d be the size of Celestia.

As they get into the bedroom she lights her horn to close the door before whirling on the larger pony. “Twilight, that was very kind of you, but you aren’t lead mare.”

Twilight’s shock is evident. She takes a step back, raising one hoof in the air, her mouth an o of shock, even her wings half extend in surprise. “What? No, what? I don’t…”

Citrus takes an aggressive step forward. “I understand you may be Princess of Magic and your word is law in Equestria, but you are not princess of this household, you can’t just go making huge group decisions like that for us all by yourself. Unless you can’t stand my authority and would rather lead yourself.”

She’s stopped by Twilight taking a fast step of her own as the alicorn grabs Citrus and wraps her forelegs around Citrus, bringing her wings into the hug. “Oh, no. Not at all. I love you, and I love having you to look up to, the rock for our herd, to keep everypony happy.”

Citrus sniffles. “Then why did you go? You evaded when you were asked where you were going. You just said you were going to deal with something. Now, I suspected, but didn’t say anything. Then you come home and we find this out. And I ask you, why didn’t you ask me?” She pulls away, standing strong before Twilight.

“I have to ask your permission? Aren’t we past where anything has to have lead mare approval?”

Citrus groans, “I forgot, your first herd and all. Ly-ly, this isn’t some fiefdom where you must bow to your mistress, to me. But this was something big. Something that affects the entire family. At the very least it should have been run by me, not because you were doing something. But because it affected the entire herd. This was a huge group decision you tried to make for all of us all on your own.”

Twilight’s ear flick. “If it’s about the money, I’m willing to…”

“I know we have the money, and while it would be taxing for our finances without your income, it’s doable. It’s not about that. It’s that you stepped into this and made a big decision without any input from me, from your herd. Just imagine our shock when we saw our next bank statement. It makes the other ponies feel disvalued when you don’t ask them, even if they’d say yes, it’s that everypony likes to be asked, to know that their thought of and considered.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You’re not in trouble. Something this big, I would have had Tim, North, Cayenne, and Silver all at least voicing their input. It’s like we are adding a new mare to the herd. Well, since it’s technically paying a dowry, that’s exactly what it is. And that is certainly something that a mare would bring to the lead mare. So, I ask you, do you want to be lead mare of this herd? You are strong, far stronger in magic than I am. In most herds, you would rightfully challenge my lead. And given your strength, I would yield. So… Do you want that?”

Twilight blinks, her ears flicking back and forth. “No, Citrus. Not at all. In fact, being a part of this herd. Not having to deal with the day to day of being a princess of Equestria. I can be relaxed here, I can just…” She stops, trying to search for words as her emotions play about on her body, her wings shifting, her tail flicking back and forth, her ears pinning back momentarily before relaxing. “No, I love not having that extra responsibility that rests on your withers, Citrus.” She looks down. “I’m sorry, I should have told you what I wanted to do. I was just so focused. And then what he said, it made me so mad.”

Citrus moves up and nuzzles Twilight. “Okay, thank you. When you did that, I thought you were trying to show to the herd that you wanted this responsibility.”

Twilight giggles. “Oh, no, definitely not. I have enough on my plate, I deal with enough. No, not in a million years.” She stops and takes a few breaths. “Love, I will make sure that you are in on any decisions that affect the entire herd, I should have thought of the whole herd first before I jumped in with all four hooves.” She offers a smile. “And then stuffed all four in my mouth.”

Citrus smiles back. “Okay, love. There are times, where I feel like such an imposter, telling you, of all ponies, what we will be doing.”

Twilight nuzzles Citrus. “I’m happy to live by your lead, Citrus. No worries there.”

“Good. I love you, Ly-ly – do you like that nickname?”

“It’s perfect,” giggles Twilight, kissing Citrus on the lips. The other mare kisses back fiercely, pushing Twilight Sparkle towards the bed.

***

It’s not an official date. Leah has adamantly said that she’s not courting to join the herd. Yet even though she has set herself up in a small apartment across town, she still spends more than half her time with the herd. Tim smiles as the griff walks next to him.

“Now, as we are talking about political marriages within griff society. Daddy had to fight his way to earning his position. He had to buy his title before he was appointed.”

“And he’s had two other appointments as ambassador?”

She nods. “First was to Yakyakistan, I spent much of my fledgling years there. Then we moved to the Minotaur homeland. After about five years, Daddy got promoted to Equestria.”

Tim looks around. “Promoted?”

She nods, a big smile on her face. “Dealing with the ponies that literally move the sun and moon? Definitely a choice posting. Daddy had to spend a lot of money and political capital he’d built up, negotiating trade deals and gaining the favor of Prince Rutherford was a big feather in his cap. And in case you didn’t know, the minotaurs are quite good negotiators. It takes real skill to deal with them.”

Tim looks thoughtful. “I’ve only met two of them. One was a real piece of work.”

That gets a chuckle from the griff. “Oh, Twi has told me about Iron Will.” She clacks her beak. “No, he’s not typical. I’d say he’s especially bone headed for a minotaur.” She looks around. “I thought you said we were going out for food? I’m starving!”

Tim smiles. “Oh, so am I. But I wanted to take you somewhere special.”

Her eyebrows rise. “Oh? Really?”

He nods enthusiastically. “Definitely. I was with North when I found this place.” He looks around. “It’s usually in this area.”

Her brow furrows. “Huh? A restaurant that moves? How?”

He sniffs the air. “Okay, we are close.”

She looks doubtful, sniffing the air. Then it hits her and her eyes widen. “Oh, that smells good.” Then she gets a quizzical look on her face. “A restaurant you find by smell. That’s different. But you never know with the magic of the ponies. I’m surprised the staircases in Canterlot Castle don’t move around, with how much magic Celestia possesses.” She follows the human as he picks up his pace. Then they round the corner and she comes to a stop. “Wait…what?” Before them is the same cart that Tim had found, and the delicious fried food smell is a lot stronger. While there are plenty of ponies around it, primarily pegasi, though with a smattering of unicorns and earth ponies. Contentedly munching on their food. There are also quite a few griffons eating and waiting in line. Then Leah gets a glimpse of the proprietor. “Oh, Tim. Let’s find something else.”

“Why? The food is delicious.” He falls into line behind a pegasus, who is periodically wiping her mouth with a hoof to stave off the drool. He’s brought Silver to this place a couple of times too. And even Citrus, who admitted that the deep-fried mushrooms and broccoli are spectacular.

She sniffs. “It’s not the food…” Leah says before reluctantly stepping up next to the human. She shuffles a few steps forward as the line moves. She taps a claw impatiently as they slowly move forward.

The griff inside hands off a plate to another griff with a tough leather jacket and then stops and sizes up Leah before her gaze falls on Tim. “Hey, Tim! How’s my favorite human?”

“I’m only your favorite because of how many bits you make off of me.”

That gets a laugh. “Ok so you’re the only human here, but still better than being the only human and not being my favorite.” She stops and looks at Leah. “I just fed several delivery griffins, and a mail courier griffin. I even have customers in the staff at the embassy. Eating on the fly.” She blinks. “The daughter of the ambassador though, that’s a new one.” She clicks her beak. “Let me guess, slumming around today with us commoners, or just wanna see how the lower-class lives, Princess?”

Tim puts a hand on Leah’s withers as her wings extend. “Grizela, no need to be antagonistic.” He says, an edge of warning in his voice.

That gets a sigh. “Sorry, griffin nature, but” she says drawing out the word, “Bits are bits, so, what are we having today? I have some fresh sweet potato and corn clam chowder and Crab cakes with a garlic butter dipping sauce today, along with my regulars. Cod, haddock and monkfish.”

Tim looks at the claw written menu on the side and tells her his selection, the griff listens with rapt attention before looking at Leah. “And you?”

“Nothing, thanks.” Leah says acidly.

Tim looks down at Leah. “Now, now. I don’t know what bee got stuffed in your bonnet, just order some food, or I’ll order for you.”

Leah directs a glare at the human for a long moment before her gaze softens. “It’s good that you are so cute.” She stops and blows out a sigh. “Fine, fish and chips, and stuffed mushrooms.”

“Got it, thirty-five bits.”

Tim reaches for his bits but Leah is faster, she slams down the bits on the ledge. “Can’t ever say I don’t pay my debts.” She glances up at Tim. “And that I don’t rely on some stallion to pay my way.”

Grizela looks at the bits for a long moment before sweeping them into her claw and shuffling through them for a moment before putting them in the tray and turning into the interior of the cart as Tim leads Leah away.

“The fuck was that about?” He says, after making sure he’s far enough away, griffs can hear better than their lack of external ears would make him think.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Leah says primly as she picks her way over to a makeshift table and stool setup a bit away from the cart that were obviously set up by the griff for her customers to have a place to eat.

Tim eases his frame onto the stool, rocking a bit back and forth before judging that despite its rickety appearance, it can hold his weight. He looks at Leah. “Come on.” He looks around. Leah had led them to a sparsely populated part of the makeshift dining area, and most importantly, no griffs in earshot. “You went from happy to grumpy in no time flat.” He looks at the cart. “Do you know Grizela?”

“Know her? Personally? As if.” That gets an ironic laugh. “I’m used to eating in the finest establishments. Not rude street vendors.” She looks at Tim. “She has to have some skill. The food actually smells divine. So, I’m giving it a shot, for your sake, Tim.” She looks at the cart. “But some commoner, with barely a crown or two to her name isn’t a fine dining establishment.”

“Wow.” Tim says softly. “I know you lived in luxury. But this is the kind of food I grew up on. Deep fried food was a staple of mine growing up. I remember there was a time when I was young where I’d only eat corn dogs.”

That gets a blink of confusion. “Corn…dogs?” Leah sticks out her tongue. “How disgusting.”

That gets a laugh. “I don’t think the ponies or griffons have ever heard of them.” He takes a moment to explain the food, getting a small laugh from Leah.

She shakes her head. “Okay, for a moment I thought you were talking actual fried dog. And that’s just nasty.”

His eyes widen. “You’ve eaten dog?”

“Yeah, hasn’t everyone? Roast dog meat is great!”

He shakes his head emphatically. “Oh definitely not!” Tim stops for a moment, thinking. Though in a matter of moments, Grizela is shambling towards them, a platter being held high. She rears up on two legs and uses her other claw to distribute the food. Though Tim notices that there’s a back in ten minutes sign on the window of her cart and she has an extra paper tray of fried goodies which she deposits on the table before making a long stretch and setting down the tray. She hops up on the seat and settles in, offering Tim a smile.

“Thank you, you are dismissed.” Leah says primly.

“Not keeping you company, him.” She gestures to Tim with a morsel before popping it in her mouth.

“That's... a corn dog!" Tim says blinking, "You never said you had those."

"Huh? no, no dogs or corn are involved in this, it’s a breaded bacon sausage dip. Starts with a sausage, dipped in the batter then deep fried, then that’s wrapped with bacon, dipped again, and refried.” Grizela smiles. “AND, You were in luck, came at the end of a rush, and I was hungry anyway.” She looks at Leah. “I’ve heard some rumors flying around the embassy.” She tilts her head. “Dad is sore at ya?”

Leah jerks back, looking extremely offended. But after a moment, her face reddens. “You heard?”

"There are only a few things that fly faster than me, Rumors are one of them." Grizela swallows and nods. “The ambassadorial staff talks, not noticing the staff lower on the totem pole. Word gets around, Princess.”

Leah ducks her head. “I’m no princess.”

That gets a sharp bark of a laugh. “No, you aren’t an alicorn like the one in buddy boy’s herd here. Or the royal sisters. But you refusing to abide by your dowry is definitely the talk of the town. You really embarrassed your dad, you know, right?”

Leah’s face is about as red as possible. Her wings flutter, and she almost seems as though she’s ready to zoom into the sky. Tim reaches out a hand and grabs her claw, being careful on how sharp they are. “Leah. We couldn’t expect all of this to remain secret.”

Leah hides her face with a wing. “I’m so embarrassed.” Even quieter she mutters, “Fuck my life.”

“No worries, Princess. Gripthorn is a slug. Nogriff likes him very much. His most endearing quality is that he’s loaded to the gills. He treats everygriff like they are furniture. I don’t think anygriff wants to be in your feathers.” She leans forward. “You know, I don’t think anygriff will have a problem with you telling him to suck eggs in the most public way possible.”

Leah sighs heavily. “I just don’t know what to do!” She growls. “Look at me, I’m talking to a street vendor and actually listening to what she has to say.” She reaches out and grabs a piece of cod and pops it in her mouth. As she chews, her entire body relaxes a bit and she offers a smile. “Well. This is actually very good.”

That gets a smile. “Even us lower class griffs do know a thing or two.” She leans closer. “I know you don’t want my advice, Princess. But you’ve got a pony herd at your back. One with a Princess. If anyone can make your denial stick, it’s Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

Leah takes a second bite, looking at Tim a few times, smiling shyly at the human.

Tim looks up as several griffins fly by in a panic, heading for the city limits, one calls out, "Code SD!"

Blinking Tim looks at Grizela, "Huh?"

"Oh no," Grizela’s own wings flex a bit in fear.

"WE might be safe," Leah says softly, looking around furtively.

"What’s a code SD?"

Leah looks at Tim, "You live in Canterlot and have been to Ponyville, and you don’t know?"

Grizela shakes her head, "Code S, Song, D, Dance. It means there’s a pony song and dance number heading this way."

Tim looks at the two griffons. "Umm...is that bad?"

"It depends." Leah says.

"This is a P level threat!" Another griffin calls out. "I say again, this is a P level threat."

Both griffins look at each other, and in stereo, "Run?"

"What’s that mean?"

"Its a Pinky Pie parade, we need to run, NOW!" Grizela says before diving at her wagon and hurriedly working to close it up.

Leah has stuffed most of the rest of her food in her mouth. Tim looks down at his own plate, it’s been nearly emptied as they’ve talked. He’s thinking fiercely. Then his eyebrows rise a bit. “Wait a moment, Pinkie Pie? Twilight’s friend?”

“Yeah.”

Tim smiles. “Well, it’s not a date until we end up singing and dancing, right?”

“Ummm, I don’t think that’s how dates usually go.” Leah says softly.

He stands up, grabbing a claw and drawing her up. “C’mon, you’ll be with me. And I remember how that magic feels. We’ll have fun.”

She looks at her claw in his hand for a long moment before sighing softly. “The things I do for love.” She mutters before following the human towards the sound of music.

Next Chapter: Chapter 50. Estimated time remaining: 40 Minutes