I've done a lot of weird things, Nyx reflected, but talking to a gryphon's butt has to take the cake.

The royal gryphons were as different from the regular gryphons as alicorns were from regular ponies. They were a size again larger, for one, and their feathers had a faint golden sheen to them, fading from gold-white at the head to dark honey over the body. They also had feathery ear-tufts on their heads, like Owlowiscious did. But the most striking difference was their tails; instead of a tufted lion's tail, they had a... well... a snake.  With scales, and eyes, and fangs, and quite apparently a brain and a mind of their own.

She had been perusing the buffet when she'd felt a nudge at her shoulder. She'd turned around and nearly jumped out of her skin; a rather large python was looking her in the eye and holding a plate out to her in its mouth. After a moment's petrification, the snake nodded in the direction of the crab salad on the table, then waggled the plate at her. Nyx got the clue and scooped some of the salad onto the plate for it. The snake repeated this with a couple more items on the buffet, dipped its head to her in a bow, and then turned around to the gryphon standing behind it.

It was then that Nyx saw the snake wasn't a snake, but a tail. At least, it was growing out of... er, the place where gryphon tails normally grew... on the gryphon in question. It nudged the gryphon, who was talking animatedly with a round, rocky looking creature, in the shoulder with the plate. "Oh, hey, thanks, bro, we were getting hungry, weren't we," he said, taking the platter from the snake's mouth. "They got any sticky buns?"

"I'll check," the snake said, in a surprisingly high and foal-like voice.

Nyx's jaw dropped. "You can talk too?" she said.

The snake grinned at her. "Yup. Little bit out of your experience?" Nyx shook her head, then nodded. "Yeah, we don't get out of the Gryphon Kingdom much." The snake looked her over, giving her a double-take. "Wait. Holy pinfeathers, are you...?"

Nyx nodded in chagrin and did a little curtsey. "Princess Nyx Sparkle, at your service," she said.

"Wow. Hi!" The snake turned and jabbed the gryphon in the shoulder with his nose. "Hey Killdeer!" The teenage gryphon twisted his head around to see what his tail wanted. "Say hello. This is the pony who did the whole moon and sun thing!"

"Whoa, really?" Killdeer looked down at Nyx and blinked. "Kewl."

Despite herself Nyx winced. "Oh, um... Princess Nyx, at your service, Prince... um, Kill...Deer?"

Killdeer waved a talon in a negative. "Oh, hey, take it easy-- it's just a type of bird," he said, laughing nervously. "Family tradition; we get named after birds. I know how it sounds, but I swear I've never hunted anything more lively than a tuna sandwich." He gestured over his shoulder at the snake. "This is Adder."

"Charmed," Adder said.

"Is that your name or the type of snake?" Nyx queried.

"Name," Adder said, rolling his eyes. "The other half of the tradition. Our full name is Killdeer-Adder. Could've been worse I suppose. We have a cousin named Asp...."

"So you're the one who stirred everything up," Killdeer said.

Nyx nodded. "The Alicorns and the Kingdom of Equestria extend their ap-apologies," she recited dolefully from memory, "and will work to resolve our dis-- um-- difficulties--"

Killdeer waved his claws. "Nah, nah, nah, save that for our old man," he said.

Nyx stumbled to a halt. "You're not upset?"

Killdeer shrugged. "Well, I'm not happy it happened," he said. "But we're not the head of the High Gryphons family, so it's sort of wasted wing-wash for us. 'Sides, it wasn't all that big a deal."

"It wasn't?"

"No more than any bad week of storms," Adder clarified. "The Gryphon Kingdom is almost entirely mountains, and it fell in the penumbra of the Endless Night."

"The, uh, edge of it, he means," Killdeer said, with the air of someone who'd had to have it explained to them.

"--Consequently we got an entire week of windstorms," Adder went on. "From the warm fronts of the sun-side swapping places with the cold fronts from the dark...

"Man, that was a bodacious week," Killdeer rhapsodized, staring off into space with a dreamy expression. "Best surfin' sky I've ever seen..."

"Skysurfing," Adder clarified once more, when he saw Nyx's puzzled expression. "You fly up and ride the winds on a big wide flying board. The goal is to stay airborne as long as you can without using your wings."

"Totally mackin' updrafts," Killdeer said. "And the vortexes, man-- totally gnarly!"

"Um... you're welcome?" Nyx said, confused.

Adder snickered. "I'd better warn you, our parents aren't as mellow about it. There was a lot of damage, and it did sort of muck up the jet streams for a while. And some of the old farts on the tribal council want the Emperor-- our grandsire-- and our leader to use it to get Celly over a barrel." He rolled his eyes. "Revenge for that war a couple centuries back."

Nyx knew what he was referring to. The Gryphon Invasion Miss Cheerilee talked about in history class. It hadn't gone well for the Gryphons. The Gryphon immortals controlled the high winds and jet streams; Celestia had, at the time, controlled both the Moon and the Sun. It had been no match. "Wait, your grandfather isn't the ruler?" she backtracked.

"Nah. The clans appoint a High King. Us Immortals are sort of a separate thing all to ourselves." Killdeer preened one wing absently. "Some sort of separation of powers thing. Grandad's the Emperor, but... meh, it's complicated."

"He means 'boring,' " Adder quipped.

Killdeer suddenly seemed to remember himself. "Oh, uh, yeah, right--I gotta speech too right---" he said. He put on a mock stern expression and fluffed out his neck ruff. "Uh, well, the uh Noble Empire of the Gryphon People will demand constipation--"

"Compensation," Adder corrected as Nyx snickered explosively.

"--Compensation for the damages and undressed--"

"Distress..."

"of our people and oh stuff it, you get the idea." Killdeer let out his breath and sort of drooped. "Man, adults and their issues can be a drag."

"Yeah," Nyx said sympathetically. She paused. "I really am sorry about what happened... and I know Celestia and Luna and my mom will figure out a way to fix everything."

"Yeah, I kinda figured," Killdeer said. He gave her a gryphonish grin. "But it's still nice to hear."

"That's nice and all," someone behind them said, "but it doesn't explain how they're going to fix it." Nyx jumped a little and turned around. She found herself facing a golden-orange filly about her age. Next to her stood one of the tubby little seal-people from Formosa, a Selkie. The two had apparently been chatting right next to them for some time. The selkie Nyx had no trouble accepting, but she was puzzled at what a normal earth pony filly was doing in this gala of strange and exotic creatures.

Then Nyx glanced down and realized it wasn't an earth pony filly.

The filly was sitting in an ornate glass fishbowl, balanced on three gilded wheels so that it could roll about the floor. The gold-trimmed lip of the bowl only came up to her waist; she sat with her forehooves resting on the rim. But through the glass Nyx could see a golden-scaled tail with fan-like fins... "Omigosh, you're a seapony?" she blurted out.

"Last time I checked," the filly in the bowl said, giggling a little. Her face fell a little. "I'm Doubloon. My father's a diplomat from Oceanica."

"I thought you were all from Atlantis?" Nyx said.

"Oceanica's one of the territories of Atlantis," Killdeer chipped in, explaining.

Nyx gave a silent "oh" and nodded.

"And I am Songhili," the selkie said, offering a stubby paw. "of the island of Formosa." Nyx extended her hoof and shook it carefully, an awkward blush rising up her neck. It was a little awkward meeting one of the creatures whose island she'd inadvertently wrecked.

"Um, pleased to meet you..." she said tentatively. Tongue tied, she turned back to the seapony. "Why are you looking so down?" Nyx asked.

Doubloon's expression soured. "Wouldn't you be down if you were stuck where I am?  A thousand miles from home, sitting in a stupid cramped little fish bowl in some stupid party all because some dum-dum mucked around with the sun again?" She pouted, her hooves crossed over her chest, her tailfin waving in the air moodily behind her. She looked at Killdeer/Adder. "What?" The gryphon prince was standing behind Nyx, making less-than-discreet pointing motions with both fingers and snake snout at the little black alicorn.

Nyx felt her ears growing hot. "That dum-dum would be me," she said sheepishly. "I'm Nyx. Princess Twilight's daughter."

Give the sea-filly credit, she didn't waste time with 'no way' or 'no really.' Her eyes went round and she put her hooves to her mouth. "Urph," she said. her orange cheeks flushed a bright red.

"Yup, that's her!" said a voice overhead. The little group looked up. Gossamer the Flutterpony fluttered down from above and hovered between them. "The newest Princess in Equestria and the reason they're having this big crazy meeting. Okay, second newest, 'cause her mom became a princess before she did, but she was an alicorn before her mom was, which makes it all weird, but--" The others stared in rapt attention as the flutterpony rattled on like a miniature Pinkie Pie. Nyx couldn't help noticing that Gossamer's face and hooves were dusted with what looked like powdered sugar.

"Ah," Songhili said. He gave a bubbly giggle. "Then it is you I have to thank for this vacation away from home." He gave a little bobbing bow.

Nyx returned it. This... she was going to need a thesaurus to find a word for 'more and more awkward.'

Doubloon was somewhere between mortification and a sulk. "Great," she said, her eyes downcast. "My parents bring me to a diplomatic thing and I insult one of the princesses of Equestria right to her face."

"notaprincess," Nyx muttered automatically. "Sokay. I wasn't exactly being smart when it happened."

Doubloon still looked mortified. "I'm still sorry," she said. "That was...I'm sorry, okay? I just...."

Adder gave her a cynical look. "Are you really sorry, or are you just afraid you said something that will get you in trouble with a princess?" he asked in his high piping voice.

Doubloon flustered, but Gossamer responded. "That's not really fair," she said. "Of course she's scared she said something that'll get her in trouble. We're all like that right now, aren't we?" A brief look of understanding went around the group. They were all children of 'very important people,' some of them with more experience at it than others. But they all knew what it was like to have to be careful of every single word they said, everywhere, all the time. And as young as they were they already knew it was going to get worse as time went by.  

"I know what you mean," Killdeer lamented. "Shoot, sometimes it's so bad at I just assume I'm already in trouble before I even arrive." The others laughed at.

"I am sorry about being so rude," Doubloon said. "I just feel... so..."

"Nervous? Scared? Hungry? Gassy?" Gossamer fired off. Nyx squinted at her suspiciously. Were there Flutterponies in the Pie family tree?

"Uncomfortable," Doubloon said. She gestured around her. "Back home, a ballroom like this would be filled to the top with ponies swimming about, free as you please.  Here, they have this great big room, and most everypony is stuck on the floor. All this open space and I'm stuck on the floor like a barnacle in this little bowl... scooting around... while all the dry-landers stare..."  She glowered at one of the ice sculptures on the buffet. It happened to be of a gaily smiling fish caught in mid-leap. "I feel like I should be up there on the table on display with the fruit salad." In a small voice, she added, "I really hate being here."

"Yeah, I guess it must feel weird," Gossamer said. She pointed up at the crystal ceiling high overhead. The evening clouds had gathered in for a scheduled rainstorm, and raindrops were pattering on the glass. "And look at that! Water in the sky, water underneath--" she pointed out to the waterfall that could be seen out the windows, spilling out from under the palace. "Water around us, water in bowls....And here we are in here, in all this empty dry space, like-- like a fish bowl turned inside out!"

The others stared at her. "That's it, I'm checking Pinkie Pie's family tree," Nyx said.

Songhili nodded. "Not an untrue assessment, though," he said.

"Homesick, huh," said a voice next to Doubloon. She let out a yeep as Bright Eyes shimmered into existence. "I know what you mean. I've been living in Equestria for months now, and sometimes I miss the Crystal Empire something awful. The shining palace, the city glittering at night like a box full of jewels...."

Killdeer-Adder looked wistful. "Yeah. I miss the Temple of the Winds,"  Killdeer said. "It's on the highest mountain in Gryphonia. Way higher than this. The snowy mountain peaks all around... you'd think the mountain range goes on forever." Adder nodded with a sigh. "The valley between Aerie Mountain and Eagle's Peak, where all the best skysurfing is..."

"I... I miss the coral reefs," Doubloon said. "All the beautiful tropical fish and the anemones waving in the tides.." She smiled and closed her eyes, hugging herself. "And the sun shining down through the water. And there's this one tiny island I know, you can swim up on the beach to lie in the sun, it's so warm..."

"Meemaw's flower garden," Gossamer said, her antennae drooping. "Great big blooms, big enough to take a midsummer nap in... and her and the other tenders singing as they herded the bees..."

"The night tides in the Starlight Lagoon," Songhili said dreamily. "The water is teeming with tiny glowing krill. It makes the whole lagoon look like it is filled with moonlight instead of water, and the beach dusted with stars..."

Nyx blinked. That was right. These other kids were the kids of diplomats and ambassadors and royalty, and they'd traveled thousands of miles--- days and days--- to be here. They were probably too homesick to tell. If they did this a lot, they were probably homesick all the time, too. "Ponyville," Nyx said, surprising the others. "The library tree. The smell of goodies baking in Sugarcube Corner. The apple trees. The Cutie Mark Crusaders clubhouse..."

"I thought you lived here," Doubloon said. "In Canterlot, I mean."

Nyx shook her head. "We lived in Ponyville until just a few weeks ago," she said. "And then Mom became an alicorn, and... well..." she shrugged.

They all shared a brief moment of melancholy.  "You can only be where you are," Songhili said, fatalistically.

"This is kind of bumming me out," Killdeer said. "I think we could use a change of pace. "

"Yeah. So let's find something here to take our minds off home. Is there anything really cool around here?" he asked Nyx.

Surprised at the question, Nyx bit her lip. She was a member of the royal family, after all, wasn't she? She was probably responsible to put Equestria's best hoof forward. "Well," she said, thinking. "There are the castle art galleries... and the museum and archives on the lower floors--"

Adder snorted and Killdeer waved a claw dismissively. "Nah, nah, not all that 'guided tour' stuff they trot out all the time," Killdeer said. He leaned in. "The cool stuff. You know, the stuff us kids know is the really interesting stuff, but grownups never talk about?"

Nyx got the idea. A grin slowly crept across her face. "I think I know a few places around the castle that are pretty cool," she said. Slowly she began to put together a mental checklist for a knee-high tour of Canterlot palace... one that would surely have given Pomp and Circumstance grey manes, had they known that one of the Princesses was about to show to the children of foreign dignitaries. "Come on, I'll go get permission to show you all around."

"Won't we get in trouble for leaving the party?" Bright Eyes said. At this, a couple of the children looked anxious. Then Doubloon snorted. She pointed at a couple of ponies circulating through the crowds. They had press passes, and moved like remoras through a school of sharks... or perhaps like lampreys through an unsuspecting school of tuna.

"Are you kidding?" she said. "We've already got grownup ponies watching like moray eels, waiting for any little mistake we make. We're probably better off if we disappear for a while."

"Yeah," Killdeer said. "Let's get out of here before one of those reporter pony guys reports that Nightmare Moon declared war on Oceanica or something." There was shared laughter at that. (1) Nyx cantered off to find her mother.

The atmosphere around the firebird was almost oppressively transcendental, even by Spike's standards-- and he'd been surrounded by nigh-cosmic magical beings since his very hatching. The glorious bird was perched on a sedan chair and was idly pecking at a bowl of fruits and seeds as dozens of wildly colored birds of every description, birds so exotic they would have demanded the center of attention by themselves anywhere else, danced attendance on it. With the firebird present, there was no other spotlight.

PeeWee, no slouch in the cosmically magical department himself, was obviously feeling the effect of being near the archetype of all things winged and wondrous. The little phoenix was sitting slack-beaked on Spike's shoulder, staring stupidly. It was getting a bit embarrassing.

The firebird raised its plumed head and looked Spike in the eye. "Yes?" it said. Spike was immediately reminded of Nyx's glass-harp voice; the firebird spoke in tones that made him think of a torrent of crystal windchimes blowing in the breeze.

It was then Spike realized that he'd been standing there at the edge of the Firebird's entourage, staring as stupidly as PeeWee. He coughed, face reddening, and cleared his throat. "Pardon me, your, um, your Grace? Your Highness?" he said clumsily. "But my phoenix, PeeWee, just wanted to make your acquaintance." PeeWee recognized his cue and hastily sketched a feathery kowtow to the shining bird.

The Firebird bowed its head genially. "Ah. Well met." The Firebird was as graceful as a swan, yet had a fierce countenance like a bird of prey. It fixed that eagle's gaze on Spike. "I have been wishing to speak to you."

"T-to me?" Spike stammered.

"To your mistress, at least," the Firebird said. "The Princess Twilight Sparkle. If you would speak to her on my behalf?"

"Oh. Uh, of course. What did you need me to say to her?"

"I have something for her." The Firebird pulled something from under its wing; a book. "She is new to these circles of power, and I suspect she is not yet fully instructed in certain things by her own tutor. This may be of considerable aid to her."

Spike took the book from its beak. "Thank you, I'll get it right to her." He read the cover, frowning in puzzlement.

"Kah ho willa higga-hooah ibba-ithuh (ehh)." The enormous stone creature spoke slowly and solemnly, its tiny arms gesturing eloquently.

"um. You don't say," Twilight said.

"Iick-weh needah habeedi-go-hugula (ehh-ehh)."

"Um hmm...." Twilight smiled politely and nodded. Ink Spot leaned in and muttered in her ear.

"Do you understand a word he's saying?" he said.

"Not a word," Twilight muttered back without moving her lips. "And I'm not even sure it's a 'he.' "

"Ah."

By hook or by crook, Twilight Sparkle had found herself deep in conversation, if it could be called such, with one of the delegates from the Eastern Islands. The creature was a lithomorph, seemingly made out of living stone. It resembled an enormous head, with a heavy brow, a long, ridged nose, and a wide flat mouth--- and tiny stubby feet, and equally stubby arms stuck to its sides where its ears should be. It also seemed oblivious to Twilight's complete incomprehension of its native tongue.

Boo-hoo-halooah iikhi gu-ii-gu-ii

Ahleenghi gubbahl aahrh

(A'Hannih-hannih-hannih!)

"Truer words were never spoken," Ink Spot ventured bravely. Twilight elbowed him. Despite the complete lack of comprehensibility, or perhaps because of it, the conversation had been marvelously civil, and she'd like to keep it that way. Of course, what was she worrying about-- the Eastern Islander apparently didn't understand a word of Equuish, either...

"Twilight! I have something for you!"

Twilight turned around, a barely smothered "oh thank the Maker" on her lips. "What is it, Spike?" she asked.

Spike came trotting up, a largish book in his hands. "It's from the Firebird," he said. "He... they said it would be important to you, now that you're a Princess."

Curious, Twilight took the volume in her magic and read the cover. It was a surprisingly utilitarian looking volume, more like a heavily oversized technical manual than any ancient tome of wisdom. Across the cover in no-nonsense block print was the title:

DOCUMENTED FUNDAMENTALS OF PLANETARY POST-ORBITAL ASTROMECHANICS

1)Equestria Daily's headline the next day: EQUESTRIA HAS ALWAYS BEEN AT WAR WITH OCEANICA.