//------------------------------// // To the skies // Story: Dead Birds // by Stray Dog Kane //------------------------------// “Gilda….” Fluttershy’s nuzzling snapped the griffon to alertness. “You passed out and…” she sighed. “I told you not to drink all that by yourself.” Gilda looked around in surprise. She was apparently lying on a picnic blanket on a summer day with the sun in her eyes, and a bottle of rose wine---an empty bottle of rose wine in her claw. “I was drinking this?” Gilda said in confusion, as the pegasus nudged the griffon up. “This stuff is weaker than minotaur wine, way weaker. It’s like water to me.” She let the empty bottle in her claw go. Shy let out a light giggle. “I guess that’s why you drank the whole thing,” she said as she reached into the basket and pulled out a bottle of apple juice. ”You should be drinking something else.” “Ya got any tomato juice?” Gilda asked, and it seemed they had some of that too, at least a couple small bottles that the pony happily gave her. “Cool, thanks.” The griffon popped open a bottle and started drinking. Its salty flavor would snap her out of her nervousness, she hoped. As Fluttershy enjoyed her apple juice, Gilda let out a light breath, even a chuckle. That wine kick in all of a sudden? When did wine get her cheerful? “Are you feeling better now?” Shy asked, calling Gilda back to attention. “After what happened to you I was hardly able to get you to talk, let alone laugh.” “Wha?” Gilda shook her head for a moment, but then it became clear. She was dreaming again, simple as that. The scary part was how long it took for her to notice. But what was the story here? Last thing she would expect was something this--quiet. “Remember?” Fluttershy asked, getting closer to the griffon. “A week ago, I found you after that crash.” She let out a light laugh of odd nostalgia only she seemed to know, but stopped herself. “I know it was hard at first, like I needed to tie you down to treat your wings. You were so angry then too.” While a picture was starting to form, Gilda wasn’t liking it, backing away from the small pegasus. Then the pony got somber, even looking down. “Then you just shut down, not even talking to me as I helped your bones knit.” She looked to the wide eyed griffon sadly. “But I knew why. You’ve been through so much...It’s really been hard on you.” “Uh...huh,” Gilda stated, not quite caring for her part in the story and looking around the place, if only to get out of it Whatever the rest of this story Shy had about her wasn’t a concern. “Dash isn’t here, or going to be here, right?” “No, she’s in Cloudsdale,” Fluttershy answered her, causing the griffon to have a sigh of relief. “I figured you’d feel safer outside if Dash was at a Wonderbolt show.” “Good call,” Gilda said with a good humored shrug, much to the ponies confusion. At least that’s one embarrassment dodged. “So what else are we doing then?” she asked, somewhat board. “I mean, besides eating.” “We could talk,” Shy replied. “I know it’s been difficult feeling so helpless. I’ve felt that way too and…” Sadly, despite the fact things could go to some kind of soul searching, Gilda was really not interested. “Nah,” she said, and got up while cracking her wings. “Wha?” Fluttershy looked muddled. “But-” “Theres no point,” Gilda continued, as Shy looked more upset by the moment. “Dash isn’t taking me back, ever. And she the only pony I felt like hanging with.” She shrugged. “But hey, thanks for the free lunch though, I appreciate it.” With that she decided to fly off. “B-but…!” Fluttershy grabbed on to the griffon’s wing, keeping it from flapping. She was looking more desperate. “But what?” Gilda asked, annoyed by the dream pony on her wing “I said thanks, what? What’s your problem now anyway?” “I don’t want you to just wander off alone again, still feeling upset about the past,” Fluttershy said, and had a point, and the griffon hated her for it. “I just want to help so you won’t feel, er, burnt out, ok?” It was enough to make the griffon give up leaving with a sigh, much to the pegasus’s relief. “Then what?” Gilda said stoically. “That stuff never leaves me, so why should I get so invested anyway?” “Well…” Fluttershy wrapped her hooves around the griffon, holding her close. “I had an idea once.” Gilda had an idea of what that idea was, and she was not ok with that idea. The pony’s soft voice wasn’t helping. “I know it’s personal, and I know you are afraid to even consider it,” Shy continued whispering, as Gilda felt more and more tense. “But I think it will help you let go, at least for a moment.” “Uh…” Gilda uttered awkwardly. If this pony is going to do what she thought she was- “I want you to cry,” At that statement, Gilda’s tension went to shock. Fluttershy’s soft face did not seem bothered by the griffons surprised eyes. “T-that is the last thing I expected to hear today,” Gilda said awkwardly. “You want me to cry?” The pony didn’t seem to answer. “Really?” “It’s ok,” Fluttershy said, still holding the griffon tightly. “It’s just us, so you can let it go.” “Ok, that is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard now can...you...just...” Gilda replied, and tried to pull herself free from the hug. But she found Fluttershy’s legs stronger than she would have thought. “Let go of me!” she added in anger. “Just let it go,” Shy answered, rubbing her muzzle into Gilda’s neck. “You let go!” Gilda snarled, still trying to pull herself free. If any one saw her blush she was unlikely to hear the end of it. “Go ahead,” Shy kept going. “Shut up!” And Gilda kept struggling. “Go on.” Shy’s hooves were stroking the back of Gilda’s neck. “I know the past can be a painful thing.” “Shut up…” Gilda tried, but still failed to shake the pony off. “I’ve had bad days too,” Fluttershy said, still somehow keeping a firm grip. “There is never any shame in crying about it.” Gilda didn’t want to think about it, not in a sad way. Just anger, anger for ponies, for Dash, for her misfortunes. Just hate for them as they were the jerks, they were the ones who kept being so self important, and they were the ones that were so stupid and dumb. She tried and tried, but couldn't pull herself free. “Let it out, Gilda,” Fluttershy said simply. “No...I-I…” Gilda’s voice trembled. Fluttershy kept holding on to her as more things kept coming to the griffon causing her to shudder. It almost felt like barfing, painful to keep in, but burning while stuck in the throat. But it still won out, despite Gilda’s best efforts. First a trickle, then it was a flood. She cried, she cried hard. “There you go, there you go,” Fluttershy said in a soft voice, caressing the griffon’s neck. Any response or tact the griffon had was lost to the sound of near blubbering. “Shhhh. It’s ok. Just let it out for now.” In a moment, the pony was the only thing keeping Gilda from falling down as she kept crying. “Do you feel any better, Gilda?” Fluttershy whispered after a moment. It took awhile, but the griffon finally had words to answer. “No…” Gilda sniffled. “I don’t.” Shy helped the griffon back on her feet. “It won’t happen right away,” she said while looking Gilda in her tear empty eyes, still with a smile. “But letting go of that is a big step forward.” The griffon dried her eyes for a moment, trying to regain her composure and taking a few deep breaths. “More pie, Gilda?” Fluttershy thankfully moved on to a new subject, food. “I think you earned it.” While Gilda would have liked to say “Don’t mind if I do.”, her thought went to another place. A odd question to be sure. “How, um, much do you fly?” she asked, and even the pony seemed confused on that question. “Ya know, I don’t think I ever saw you fly.” Gilda added. “Like in the sky, so what’s up with that?” “Well...I’m not a good flyer,” Fluttershy said...well shyly. “I-I mean, Dash tried to give me a few lessons, but I’m not really all that good...I-I mean perfect.” Gilda didn’t know why, but she snapped her talons and her claw on Shy neck, in a friendly manner of all things. “I got this idea, you want some cool flying lessons?” she said with a kind smile. “W-well, Dash already g-gave me some...so…” Fluttershy looked down right scared as she dug her hoof into the ground. “Hey, I know about as much as she does, maybe more from that griffon flight school I went to.” Gilda launched into the air, flying up and swinging her claws in a quick slash and a spin kick. During which Fluttershy looked in slight awe. “Real commando stuff, secret stuff, awesome stuff,” she said proudly. Even so, Fluttershy seemed more worried. “W-well, t-that’s a lot of w-work for you so…Um-” “Hey, we're bonding!” Gilda said with humor. “It’s cool. Besides, I got a clear schedule these days.” “W-well, if I could get in the air…” While Shy was still trying to back out, the griffon seemed to take it as an invitation. “No prob!” With that, Gilda swooped down and grabbed Fluttershy’s midsection, carrying the pony into the air. “Gilda!” Shy shouted in sheer terror. “Wait!” The griffon stopped in the air, high above the grass field, her wings still flapping. Fluttershy needed a moment to take a few breaths, then gulp before she spoke up again. “W-what e-exactly w-w-were you thinking?” “You got gliding down, right?” Gilda asked, still airborne and clutching the pony. “Could be a good place to start,” she chuckled. “Ya know, just in case.” “K-kinda?” was Shy’s nervous response with a worried smile. “Y-you can catch me, r-right?” The griffon nodded back. “Don’t worry, you know I’m fast,” Gilda said, even with some real confidence. Kind of surprising, as a moment ago she was blubbering. “Let’s just start with a simple one? Even when a trick fouls up, a good glide can help fix it if you keep level.” Shy nodded, understanding it. “Ok, first step, get your wings out.” Then she let her go. “Eeek!” Fluttershy’s wings flapped in a panic to keep herself in the air. “I’m not ready for it!” “Just take it easy,” Gilda replied, calm as she could. “If you can fly, you can glide. If you can glide, you can swoop. If you can swoop, you can get crazy amounts of easy lift and speed. Crazy lift and speed, more air time.” Shy looked in some awe, or at least a little lost by Gilda’s explanation. “Just keep up, kay?” Both seemed to have lost track of time after that. As Fluttershy went from panic and crying to being more confident, things only felt better then on both sides. Several dives, swoops, and catching the pony when she lost her balance again followed. At any other time, Gilda would have lost patience with the pegasus, maybe calling her a waste of wings. But she never felt a reason to do so that day. After a while, the pony just seemed to get better. Better balance, stable wings, Gilda even found Fluttershy keeping up more than once. Even when the griffon wasn’t completely holding back speed. “Dude, see what I told you?” Gilda said proudly, still in the air. “You can totally do this stuff.” “Y-yeah, yeah, but can we stop,” Shy said with her wings starting to fail again from exhaustion. “Please?” “Sure,” Gilda replied, and noting the pegasus’s exhaustion asked. “Need help?” All Fluttershy had to do was nod and Gilda took hold. The griffon felt warm with how the pony looked up to her right now. She lowered the pegasus to ground before landing herself. Shy then landed on her belly letting out a big breath, still quite weak. “It helps if you build a lot of stamina, ya know?” Gilda continued, taking note her student still looked exhausted. “You walk alright, right?” “Maybe,” Fluttershy replied as she got herself up for a moment. “That...was a lot.” “Heh, I can go more rounds,” Shy giggled at Gilda comment. “What?” Then she started to laugh. “Well I can’t for now,” Fluttershy answered, then stopped to take a few more breaths. “Can we get back to the picnic?” Gilda didn’t see a reason to say no. Back at the blanket, they had some nice moments together, from talking to enjoying that pie. Then they lay back, with the night falling quietly. “Gilda?” Fluttershy said quietly, looking to griffon. “Yeah?” Gilda replied as she looked back. “Why did you insist on giving me flying lessons?” she asked. Gilda wasn’t sure at first, but gave her answer. “Well, if Dash still doesn’t forgive me...well, you want to be friends?” Gilda asked, looking somewhat nervous. “Like besties, maybe?” “Sure,” Shy answered with a happy smile. “But what does that have to do with flying?” “Maybe we could race someday?” Gilda said with some good humor. “Maybe, if we’re real lucky, you, me, and Dash could race. See who’s the fastest then.” “That...sounds really hard,” Shy said nervously. “I figure if I can train you, I’d imagine you could get pretty good, maybe even better than Dash,” Gilda reassured. “Then again, it’s hard to tell if I imagine too much.” Shy began to laugh a bit. “I would give anything to see you beat Dash. I’d still be in first though.” “And if I was first?” Shy asked coyly. “I’d eat a hay fry salad.” Shy began to laugh some more with Gilda’s answer. “But hey, it’s just some mad cool scheme that came to mind. Probably pretty stupid too.” “I think it’s a good mad cool scheme,” Fluttershy added, then they both enjoyed a laugh together followed with a cheerful sigh. “I’m glad you opened up, Gilda! Maybe we could be great best friends.” Gilda vision became white again, hazing out all vision until she couldn't see anything else. She woke up in bed feeling woozy, light, and strangely happy. Looking to the window, it told her morning was officially in a while as she got up. The griffon stumbled out of bed, with mirth trying to cling to her head and chest as she looked at the room for a moment. Then the window, then the door. Finally the thoughts and feelings were too much and she fell to the ground, feeling more than a little nauseous. “That…really….hurt,” Gilda said on the floor with a pained look, and it wasn’t from the impact---mostly. She just felt like lying there for a bit, unsure how she should feel about what she’d just experienced. Everything felt great now, but unfortunately it was just that she realized she forgot who she was. Gilda never wanted to be the cuddly sort. In fact, she’d have slugged the pony or person who would have said she could be, but now here she was. That dream with Fluttershy, and all it’s cringing cuddly cuteness, had left her feeling good. It was like she was somegriffon else, a stranger that looked and talked just like her. She tried to get her bearings, try to wake herself up from it, and tried not to feel like things will only get worse for her mind. Her head, after so much of this, wasn’t sure where it was anymore. At least when she was miserable, or even before that when she was cool, Gilda felt certain on things. Now, she had to keep thinking just to attempt to be sure she was still the griffon she was. It was hard. All this strange magic was going to make her mental at this rate. Gilda let out a groan as she tapped her claw on the wood flooring. As expected, the tap sounded like it should. “Least that’s real, right?” she said to herself. It could be worse, she could just learn goat heads produce natural light. Then she would have worse problems.