//------------------------------// // Home, sweet home // Story: Dead Birds // by Stray Dog Kane //------------------------------// The carriage finally got the a pretty big cottage tree like thing outside the forest. Seeing as they were slowing down, and it was the only thing out there, this was the place the griffon was headed. Thankfully being this far in the outskirts, and away from town, helped Gilda’s mood. Rainbow Dash shouldn't be anywhere near here, or so she hoped. When she got out with her luggage her, escorts following as usual, she felt things might not be as bad. One guard went ahead and knocked on the door. It opened to reveal… “Oh, you are kidding me…” was Gilda’s response with eyes wide and another old memory playing back. So much for that hope she had. “Doctor Fluttershy?” the guard pony asked the yellow pegasus, not even acknowledging the griffons shock. “Yes, that’s me.” said Fluttershy. Notably, not as tense or humorless as the guard pony. Her voice as soft as it was from herding ducks in a row. Still, true to Dr Larch’s word, she was being friendly. Then again, the pony raised ducks if Gilda recalled right. “We’re here to drop off your patent,” the guard said as he gestured back to Gilda, still in shock. “Are you sure you don’t need any help with her?” “It’s ok,” Fluttershy said with a smile and a nod. “I’ve spoken with Twilight, and I told her what’s going on. She also explained a few other things in some of the papers, so I’ll be fine.” “Alright,” the guard finished, and then turned to the Gilda. “You, get inside!” He pointed his hoof to the door. “And don’t forget you're on thin ice here.” Still in a bit of shock, and now some agitation, the griffon wordlessly walked through the door as the two continued talking about a few other things. The house she was in looked plain, even boring, but it was warm seeing as it had a fireplace. The only other thing that stood out was how cheerful it looked, which annoyed the griffon. Gilda figured she needed a sit down, and the living room had a cozy couch at least. After that: her next move was find out what she was in for here, as well as try to keep the absurdity of the situation from causing her to scream. If she read the papers she had right, this wimp held her freedom in her hooves and that wasn’t setting well with her. The whistle of a tea kettle caught her off guard, being a quick jolt to the griffon at this point. With whatever conversation outside finished, Dr. Shy came inside, closing the door behind her. Without a word, but with a smile, the pony walked past Gilda to the kitchen. After another moment she came back with the tea and a pair of cups on her back. She placed the tea set onto the table in front of the couch as though it was nothing new to her. “We won’t have a session today, Gilda” Fluttershy said as she poured herself and Gilda a cup. “I want you to settle in first for today, so you’ll feel more comfortable.” She looked the griffon in the eye. “Is that’s ok for you?” “You raise ducks,” Gilda stated without blinking, still not able to get past that fact. The funny look the pony gave her was almost comical. “You raise ducks, and now you're a doctor...” She raised a claw and asked, “Why?” “Well, it started when…” While it looked like Fluttershy was excited to tell, it told Gilda everything she needed to know. “This going to be some “nice” story, isn’t it?” Gilda replied with talon quotes. “The ones people talk about learning stuff from about ‘you always win where you are good’ things?” “Well, maybe?” was Shy’s unsure answer. “Not interested then,” Gilda said as she drank her tea. While the pony put some sugar in hers, she took it bitter as she continued. “Those kind of stories are stupid, not even real to me.” “Oh…” Shy looked saddened on that, still holding her cup. “Even if it’s, um, awesome?” While she was hoping for some breakthrough, she wasn’t getting it. “If any awesome I can be isn’t worth a damn to the “awesome” you ponies seem to think ya got, then bite me,” Gilda said with a grumble. “So why should I care?” “It’s not quite the way you…” Shy tried to interject, still holding her cup. “Not interested.” Gilda ended in a dull tone. Fluttershy looked a little disappointed. She shook her head and took a sip finally. “You're here to get better, and not to talk like there isn’t a point,” Fluttershy said seriously. “Whatever,” Gilda stated with disinterest with another sip of tea. “I want to be here because that asylum was ticking me off,” she sighed. “If I knew I’d show up here…” Fluttershy was looking more and more upset by this, so Gilda stopped while she figured she was still ahead. “Well whatever, I’m here. So, now what?” “Well, first I have some few ground rules,” Shy answered, and Gilda flinched at at recalling the last pair of rules she got. Apparently Fluttershy noticed the griffon’s jarred look, and instead of looking more disappointed, she looked concerned. “Y-you are still my guest here, Gilda,” she added, having that silly hopeful look on her. “It’s nothing too bad! “Just lay into me,” Gilda said with no energy. “First, no loud music…” Fluttershy began. “I don’t even got a stereo,” Gilda interrupted with a grumble. “...Don’t bully my animals…” Shy continued. “That reminds me, you got fish or meat?” Gilda pondered aloud. “...Don’t cause any messes…” Fluttershy still continued. While filling her cup, Gilda had overfilled it on accident. “Uh...” was the griffons joke to it. This set of gags seemed to have the pony much less hopeful looking than she was before, if at least now looking annoyed. “And…” Fluttershy said, a bit exasperated. “...bedtime is at 9.” She let out her own sigh then. “You also can’t leave here without my permission or me being with you.” “Not even just to be outside?” Gilda asked, pointing to a window. “That just bites!” “Maybe latter, but will see,” was Shy’s way of answering with a soft smile. While Gilda would have been glad to be out, she’d be more happy just able to fly freestyle again. “For now,” she continued. “I want you to get settled in, and I have gotten my guest room ready upstairs.” She was now back to that kind of optimism the griffon was quite sick of. “Then maybe we could play a board game?” “Board games suck,” Gilda grumbled as she finished her second cup of tea. Without any further words, she picked up her luggage and headed upstairs. The griffon pushed open a bedroom door, dumping her bags and letting out a sigh. “Least this place is more than four walls,” She said, letting herself smile for a moment. “Not all bland...” It was then that she took in the rooms sheer cuteness. The amount of cuteness around her was going to make her gag. “Aw….man.” she groaned. “Um, Gilda…” Gilda turned to find Fluttershy in the doorway, with a nervous look. Even so, the pony still let out a small giggle. “...This is my room,” she said. “Who says?” Gilda asked back with a shrug. Fluttershy’s response was to run off to another door in the hallway, coming back with a sign that clearly read “Guest” on it. If the griffon was still drinking tea, she’d have done a spit take. Still, the sound was still there. “Seriously?!” Gilda yelled in anger. Fluttershy let out a nervous laugh as Gilda face clawed. She picked her stuff back up again, stormed past the pegasus, and went to the guest room. “Maybe I should have given-” Shy tried to speak as the griffon went past, but Gilda cut her off. “Just stuff it!” Gilda snarled back. “I’m not in the mood for this.” She stopped just before entering the “guest” room. “Not like there's anything else to do to fix this,” she continued to grumble, mostly to herself. Fluttershy’s answer was to trot up to her giving the griffon a look. Normally, Gilda would expect a look of anger and frustration to her anger. The kind of look that said “Why are you making MY life so hard?”. Instead, it was a look of pity the pegasus had. Somehow, that just caused Gilda’s own eyes to narrow. The heck is this? she pondered. “I can understand how you feel,” Shy said softly. “You were in that asylum for weeks and they still weren't sure what was wrong with you.” She scratched the floor with her hoof as she continued. “I think if it were Dash, she’d have begged for a rescue.” Now, Gilda teeth were gritted. That name was the last thing she wanted to hear now. The pegasus seemed to realize her mistake as Gilda looked like she was going to roar at her a second time. “I-I-I’m so sorry.” Fluttershy stuttered back, even stepping away. “I-I don’t want y-you to f-feel worse and I know you are frustrated.” Her head was all but bowed in front of the angry griffon, whom was still breathing heavily. “Please, I want to help you.” “How?!” Gilda shouted as she shoved the door open. “I’ve had enough of this crud a long time ago! I’m beyond ticked with all this.” “Well…” Shy muttered looking away, still digging her hoof into the floor. “I can get you some nice fish for lunch, a-and we can talk about it.” She looked back to the griffon. “I guess you’ve had a lot bottled up. A-and i-it won’t be a session, just a chat. OK?” The friendly smile at the end was either calming, disarming, or creepy. It was just a matter of perspective, or in Gilda’s case depressing. “Fine,” Gilda said as she hung her head with a sigh, finally entering her room without looking back. “Just, why don’t you just give me a bit of space, alright?” she added and Shy nodded before she headed back downstairs. Gilda let out another sigh as she dropped her stuff on the bed. She unpacked and sat down for a moment on what was likely intended to be a reading chair. She cracked her neck and stretched her wings, letting out a moan of some relief. It felt like she had been cooped up for too long in Canterlot. Still, the current situation was still a downer. “Heck's up with her in all this?” Gilda muttered while scratching her beak. “What other dumb surprises are there for today?” It was then she heard a tapping on a window she didn’t know was there. The griffon froze in a silent panic. Second floor, Ponyville, Rainbow Dash lives there, so she knows she’s there now. Right? Plenty of reasons she was afraid to look. She didn’t want to face the pegasus at this point, but the tapping persisted. So, finally Gilda looked outside. She turned to see that white pony, “The Snark”, smiling at her. His crimson lips pressed on the window glass and cat like eyes shining through. “Boo!” he mouthed with white eyes. That was enough of a shock to knock Gilda from her seat, landing with a loud thud. She stumbled behind the bed for cover and looked again. He wasn’t there now, even that red on his mouth wasn’t there. The fact she had been awake the whole time only made it worse. She was cracking, she was cracking up. “Ok, me going crazy isn’t much of a surprise now,” Gilda uttered to herself in annoyance. “It’s just ticking me off more!” As she tried to control her fast heart beat a shout came up from downstairs. “Gilda!” Fluttershy yelled. It almost seemed like an instant, but the next sound of her voice came from outside the door. “What happened? Are you ok?” The pony nearly shouted as she spoke. “I’m ok, alright?” Gilda shouted back, sounding a bit more shaken than she’d like to be. She propped the chair back up, letting out a heavy sigh. “It’s just nerves, I guess.” “I’m here if you need me, ok?” Shy added. After a moment of silence, Gilda could hear hoofsteps going back downstairs. For a moment, Gilda held her head as she weighed her options. Right now, she just wanted to be as far from ponykind as her wings could take her. She felt stuck around them enough, but it wasn’t an option, it never is. Even still, that thing she saw still creeped her out. Or worse, what if Dash does show up? In the end the griffon decided she’d just go deal with the duck pony for now. At least she didn’t seem to be a hallucination. All she just needed to was something about her gag reflex. If things got too cute she was going to be sick. Then again, likely she’d get used to listening to annoying droning about stuff the griffon didn’t want to care for either. Besides, maybe she could get something to eat out of this?