//------------------------------// // What counts as hanging out? // Story: Dead Birds // by Stray Dog Kane //------------------------------// To no ones surprise, there were very few animals to work with outside. Winter had that effect on things. Fluttershy was back in her winter wear, and Gilda was still tough enough for winter weather naked. Beyond a few squirrels, rabbits, and what few chickens decided to feel like being outside, they didn’t have much to do. Still, the hard part at first was getting the animals to go near the griffon. With Shy needing to encourage them to not run for cover from the medium-large sized predator. That, and after handing out a few acorns and seeds, Gilda was already getting tired of this. “Not as fun as advertised,” Gilda muttered looking at the pony with annoyance. “Winters a slow season, I know,” Fluttershy replied, still smiling. “You should see them during the thaw. It’s quite a busy time then!” “If I knew it was this slow, I’d have just challenged that rabbit to more games of checkers,” Gilda moaned. “Does it feel any better than just staying cooped up inside?” Shy asked, stopping to pet a rabbit. “Meh,” Gilda replied. The silly part was, it almost kinda did--almost. At least being outside like this felt different to her. Maybe it was due to the talons she had, but it seemed the chickens were more trusting of Gilda. Walking over to the griffon with seed in her claw with little prodding. Even with Gilda putting it forward to them, it didn’t seem to bother them as they pecked away at the seeds she was holding. Still, the fact she was doing well with chickens felt like some kind of insult to her. After all, she’s part eagle not chicken. At least she hopes so... “So…” Gilda couldn't believe she was starting a conversation in all this, but she was bored. “How long have you be doing this kind of thing?” she asked, looking up for the chickens she was feeding. “Seems like ever since I got my cutie mark,” Fluttershy replied as she fed the much larger crowd of animals, some squirrels and about 5 rabbits were more than happy to eat from her hooves. “How the heck do butterflies mean animal feeding?” Gilda asked with a odd look. “How’s that even work?” “No, it’s for kindness,” Shy corrected. While the griffon could have asked for what the connection was, she didn’t. “Or it’s enabling chumps,” Gilda grumbled as she snarked. “What?” Shy looked a bit taken aback by that. Clearly that struck a cord. “Oh, uh, nevermind.” Gilda stated and looked back down, avoiding any drama. Now she saw she now had a crowd of her own--of more chickens. By her guess, the first few called the others over, the flock of them seemed to take a shine to her. Clearly, they enjoyed being fed by a bigger bird. She answered that sight by dropping the rest of the feed on them. “Ugh,” she uttered with displeasure. “Gilda…” Fluttershy uttered with a low, unhappy tone. “You shouldn't do that.” “So I don’t like finding a bunch of runts eating out of my hand, so what?” Gilda answered back, indignant. “What are you getting out of this anyway?” “They love me,” Fluttershy answered, rubbing one her pets heads. “They can rely on me to be there, I can rely on them too. And because of that...” Despite the pony not hinting any smugness, it didn’t stop Gilda from doing mouth movements with her claw as she looked aside---at least until the pegasus stopped her. “Ahem!” Shy declared, and that change in tone was sudden! The griffon nearly leapt seeing a angry look from the soft pony. “W-whatever,” Gilda stammered back “It’s not like this…” While she wanted to make some point from that, she noticed a chicken was on her head. “Wha?” While Gilda looked up with some confusion, with wide eyes meeting a pair looking down from her head, Fluttershy looked with a bit of smugness. Or perhaps it was playful delight. “See, Gilda?” she said. “She feels safe around you.” While Gilda let out a groan as she looked back down in annoyance, the pony continued. “It’s not about being overly soft, it’s about others not feeling scared of you. It’s them knowing that you care about them.” “Still feels sappy to me,” Gilda said back as she found the chicken was still looking down at her face. “Get off!” With a few wing flaps, it was. “Not sure about you, but I’m not into things feeling safe to climb on me, alright?” “Does being touched bother you?” Fluttershy asked, while she asked this without implying anything Gilda cringed a bit at that question. “Uh, yeah!” she stated loudly. “Do you think us griffons want to be known for being cuddle friendly?” Still, with animals fed or at least content to sleep for winter, the job felt finished for them. While Fluttershy said a few goodbyes to her small friends, Gilda simply stood there feeling eager to leave. Shy seemed to notice. “You still don’t feel any better?” she asked, looking a bit upset. “I hoped you would have formed a connection with them, so at least you wouldn't feel so scared by yourself.” The griffon let out a pifft. “Did it help you at all?” “It’s was real enough at least,” Gilda replied, watching the sky. “Not so damn crazy like everything else has been recently.” ‘Would you like do this again sometime?” Shy asked, hopeful again. “Meh,” Gilda had to reply. Not quite crushing the pony’s hopes, but still not interested. The pegasus put a hoof on Gilda’s back, catching the griffon off guard. “I know you are worried about losing yourself.” Fluttershy continued as Gilda get let out a sigh. “I guess those pills can cause more difficulty for others.” “Whatever,” Gilda said, just content to keep shrugging. “Nothing’s ever as fun as advertised.” “Come on,” Shy said, trying to nudge the more depressed griffon. “We can play checkers, or maybe come up with more ideas for stuff you could do.” While Gilda had decide to go along, letting Fluttershy lead her home, she then had a brilliant idea. “Maybe, what harm is there in giving me flying lessons?” “I’m so not in the mood,” Gilda grumbled back. “Ok, uh, maybe some other time,” Shy answered with a nervous smile. “It could be fun to learn how a griffon flies.” “I really doubt a wimp like you could even handle it,” Gilda said a bit smugly. “You’d just faint.” “Well, Da….er.” Fluttershy decided not to use the D-word. “I got some flying lessons, and improved my wing power plenty.” She then paused to let that sink in for a bit as Gilda’s brow raised. “Did you ever take wing power tests?” While she looked a bit proud, the griffon laughed back. “Mine’s way better than yours,” Gilda answered. “That goes without saying.” Despite Gilda’s intent to see the pony drop the subject, maybe even mumble some weak defense to her wing power, Shy now looked at her determined. It caught the smug griffon off guard. She blinked at the now cocky looking pony in front of her. “Are you sure?” Fluttershy said, playfully, like she was a different pony. That change was strange to Gilda, even a bit creepy. “I’m stronger than I look G.” “Say’s who?” Gilda asked, getting her composure back and standing upright with her claws crossed. Shy took to the air, looking back at her as she hovered. “Wanna race?” she asked, and wasn’t backing down. Gilda chuckled at this. She cracked her wings and readied herself. “Your funeral dweeb,” Gilda replied. It seems the wuss had the same idea and looked up to the challenge. Or wanted to be, hard to tell. “First one to that cloud up there,” she said, pointing to a cloud high over the house. Gilda could see the wind whip up their, as the snow above swirled in little tornados. Instead of causing the yellow one to back down, she still looked determined. “I’ve weathered storms too, Gilda.” Now that was a line the griffon didn’t expect from Fluttershy. “Have you ever helped move water?” Now that caught the griffon off guard for sure. Still, Gilda took to the air, readying herself. “On three.” They had their count down, and they were off. As the griffon expected, she was far ahead of the little pegasus. While she was more than happy to say she was the unchallenged king of the skies, when she looked behind her at the loser rival behind, it her made her annoyed. Flutters was trying to catch up. She’d have called it cute, if that didn’t make her mad. Gilda pushed herself harder, her wings kicking the air with heavy blows and slicing it like a knife. She had trained for years, undergone heavy tests, and she wasn’t going to lose to any little pony. She hit the high winds without effort, and it was just like water to her. She’d have guessed Flutters would have backed down at this point, right? Seeing as she was on that home stretch, making her dad proud, it was safe enough to look--and Gilda couldn't believe it! Even with cold winds whipping away at her flank and wings, the little pony that could was still at it. Whatever, Gilda thought to herself. I still win. She flew the rest of the way and did so. Gold medal was hers as expected. The griffon was happy on her new cloud perch, she needed a good challenge and that strong storm wind she overcame was a nice one. Gilda still would have liked more though, and less of a wimp to race with, but for now Gilda was more than happy to just wait to gloat at the meek challenger that was still in the air---at least until the mare suddenly lost altitude. “What the…?” Gilda uttered with a raised with worry. Now the pegasus was falling, wings unmoving. “Aw nuts!” she said in fear. “At this height she’s pony pizza!” She took off and dived down, shooting past the wind like a bullet. It didn’t take long to catch up and grab the loser, with the hard part being stopping herself with the momentum she got. But a good gradual swoop and a twist in the air, and she carried that off with ease. “Sorry…” Fluttershy said weakly, gasping, and hard to hear over the air gusts. “Guess I...over...exerted…” “Are you nuts?!” Gilda yelled to the pegasus as she flew back down. “Why’d you even…?” she just grumbled as she lowered her altitude. The only sound the pony made was a whimper. “I...was...doing pretty good, kinda.” Shy said between breaths, not taking note of the griffon’s annoyance. “Do I have ice on my wings? Dash told me that can happen at high... altitudes.” Yep, the moron had ice on her tips, Gilda could see that. Some deeper in as well, even ponies fur was lightly frosted. “How cold was those winds?” Gilda pondered as they got to ground. “Why ain’t I shivering?” Gilda let go then, letting the pegasus stand weakly on her own hooves. Fluttershy stood there and continued catching her breath. Gilda had any number of things to yell about to the pegasus. From being a rescue party, to having her time wasted, and why somepony decided they could out fly a griffon. She just needed to chose one as she let out an agitated growl. But soon, Fluttershy finally spoke up. “Are...you ok?” she asked to a now confused griffon. Gilda needed a moment to verify what just happened, but answered in kind. “Me?!” she answered in disbelief. “You were the one that nearly nose dived several thousand feet!” She let out a sigh of frustration and grumbled. “Heck are you asking if I’m ok?!” she yelled back. “I know pushed myself more than I should have,” Fluttershy defended weakly. “I’m really sorry,” she said, having gotten less exhausted. “But, I’m ok, thanks to you.” “Why’d you even do that?” Gilda said as she shook her head. “Because I wanted to help you,” Shy answered, as Gilda looked with a raised brow. “I got you to fly again, and we even raced!” she said with some pride and that same cheerful smile. Eyes closed, bright and sunny enough to make the griffon gag. “So, do you feel better now Gilda?” Gilda hated to admit it, but she did. “Yeah, kinda,” she said, and looked away and sighed again, trying to keep herself from having her own smile. “You’re seriously going to risk your life to make me feel better?” she joked. Fluttershy laughed nervously with a sheepish smile, digging her hoof into the snow. “T-that was my m-mistake,” she said rubbing her mane with her other hoof. “I-I’m really glad you were there. Really.” She calmed herself a bit. “Maybe over lunch can we think of, um, less dangerous things we could do?” Now Gilda had that nervous smile, she felt on the spot again and the pegasus was still on this even after what just happened. That’s creepy to her enough, and yet, kinda nice too. “S-sure!” Gilda answered nervously. “If I can come up with it, sure.” The pony looked happy with that answer. While that tension she was feeling was quite a bit, Gilda did point out something. “You good? You still got all that frost on ya. That’s gonna-” “I’ll be fine when we get home,” Shy answered quickly, nodding a bit as she trotted. “I’m just going to lie down by the fire for a bit when we get home.” While the griffon would have been happy if that was the end of it, it wasn’t. “Maybe we could talk over hot cocoa?” The pair walked back to the cottage as Gilda wondered how much of a headache she was getting into later. Then again, maybe it wasn’t so bad?