//------------------------------// // Gilda x Gallus 3: I think we'll have to change this naming convention soon // Story: 2G // by Bysen //------------------------------// “Dude… we met each other yesterday. Like, not even a full day ago. And you want me to go off on some wild adventure with you… because we’re friends all of a sudden?!” the gryphon said with obvious mockery. “Not a chance!” Gilda laughed. Gallus just sat there bemused, taking it. “Wow… thanks a lot.” he said flatly. “Do you even know what you’re asking? You know what… waiter. Waiter!” she called. “How can I help this morning?” “What’s your name?” “Savoir Fare, miss.” “Cool story. Listen. We met two days ago. I got… uh… this ring, that I gotta take to the dragonlands and destroy it in the fires of Mt. Moon. Could you help me? Afterall, that’s what friends do.” she finished with a smirk. Though a bit more extreme it was still a comparable request of basically a complete stranger. “I’m afraid I can’t help you with THAT this morning.” he said without dropping his toity professional waiter routine. “You’d have to wait until 2 when I finish my shift. After that I’m free until Tuesdays and so long as I’m able to make it back by then, then I would be happy to accompany you.” “P-wha-tcha… you heard us talking didn’t you?!” “Ok, you got me. I did. But that does sound like a good weekend to me.” “You’re not getting a tip.” she stood up. But before leaving she turned to Gallus and started “Look!...” before stopping. She closed her eyes and let out a huff. Trying to not sound angry, she continued. “Look. When I head back home after this awful vacation is over, I’ll help you. But I’m not leaving early, especially after waiting two days already, just for you. So, either wait a few days or do it yourself. See ya in Gryphonstone Gallus.” She took off before he could reply. Savoir Fare however managed to get out “But you already tipped with your meal from earlier.” Gilda flew at a nominal speed. She wasn’t going slow enough that Gallus could catch her if he wanted to or fast enough to make sure he couldn’t. She was simply leaving. She’d expected some drama coming here and that’s why she’d planned, and succeeded at, avoiding Rainbow Dash’s friends, knowing there was probably going to be enough awkward talking between the two of them as it was. And yet she’d somehow found herself in this. Not too far off, Gilda stopped, landed and began to walk along the road. She’d already filled in an hour for breakfast but that still left the rest of the day. Maybe a catnap at noonish but it was still too early for that. The only place she had any idea about was that clothing store she’d almost visited yesterday. Other than that there were a ton of touristy things to do. Some of which would normally have gotten her attention if they didn’t involve that main six friends of Rainbow’s. Was it six? Five? Seven? Who knows? She could only say she had three friends. And that was counting Rainbow Dash which while they had left on… good enough terms a few years ago Gilda really had no idea where she stood with her. And definitely didn’t plan on telling her she’d been staying at her house the last few days. Of course… Gilda hadn’t counted Gallus in those three. She came to a stop "Should I?" she muttered aloud. “Please don’t.” She snapped out of her thoughts. Gilda knew that voice. Swivelling her head more like an owl than an eagle, she looked around. She couldn’t find her until, craning her neck forward, more like a crane than an eagle, she looked around a cart she was standing next to. “Fluttershy.” she said stiffly. It wasn’t so much a word as an ‘eep’ sound that came from the pegasus. Gilda thought her luck had finally run out but nothing that had happened here so far had been particularly lucky to begin with. Up until this point that was. Luckily, Fluttershy flew away. And at a decent speed at that. Gilda could easily match it of course, but from what she remembered of Fluttershy's flying ability, it was impressive. Now, there was something about what just happened that confused Gilda. Not that she’d run away, that was honestly one of the three things she’d expected to happen if they did run into each other. The other two being making small talk of ‘Oh, nice to see you again Gilda’ but with seven layers of fear on it, or the two of them standing there awkwardly saying nothing. No, what confused Gilda was that she had conflicting feelings about the mare. On the one claw she thought Fluttershy an absolute cowimp [coward/wimp] for running away like that. On the other claw she had clearly learnt how to fly properly, if not well even since flight school. And she was oddly… proud, of her old… friend. ‘Yeah, but she’s not anymore though is she?’ Gilda thought to herself. And even back then, she was probably more like what Rainbow Dash is now to her. Meanwhile, somewhere else. No, nvm, back to Gilda. Gilda continued on for some time, hoping to spot something else she could do on the way to that store. Also she wasn't entirely sure she was even heading in the right direction so looking around helped on that front too. It had been maybe five minutes before she noticed it. The end of an excessively long [and totally real] pink tail poking out from the corner of a building. Fluttershy was following her. “Oh for Gryst sake…” under her breath as she rolled her eyes. And once she was aware of it, she was completely aware of it for another sometime. Seeing a yellow feather tip or ear and pink mane poking out from a bush or over a barrel. That confusion she had from before was resolved. The pegasus didn’t have the balls to confront her and just trasped around, hiding from what wasn’t even really a problem. At least not a problem from Gilda’s point of view. Seriously, what did Fluttershy think she would do? Yell at her? Yeah… probably. But really, that’s about it. She could either call her out on it or go into the store she’d finally found. And as Gilda chose the latter, not a single moment did it occur to her that by doing so she also didn’t have the balls to confront her and hid from what wasn’t even really a problem. She entered the building and the doorbell rang. It was accompanied by… ‘Welcome to the Carousel Boutique. I, Rarity, Shall be with you in just a moment. If I do not attend to you within a suitable amount of time please ring the bell on the counter, as seen on the left. In the meantime, please browse my wares or have some tea and cookies waiting for you on the table. And of course, once again, Welcome to the Carousel Boutique! Loitering is strictly prohibited, any and all theft will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, the Carousel Boutique is not responsible for any damage to your purchases due to Ponyville related mishaps involving Rarity or any of the former Elements of Harmony in the event of another world ending threat, without the purchase of Helements of Armoury insurance which is subject to approval and denial at retailers discretion. Terms and Conditions may apply.' The audio in a way seemed familiar to her but having only heard it once before when she first went to the castle, Gilda couldn’t place it or make that connection. Only the readers could and even then this line was written to make sure that they got the joke.