The sun hadn’t even set yet, and already Grandpa Gruff was asleep on the sofa when Gilda arrived home. This was typical, and Gilda always suspected that Gruff was using his age as an excuse to lie about and do nothing. Today, she was glad to be left in silence. After Fluttershy had left the building site, George had been hounding her with questions.
“He’s such a worrywart,” she grumbled to herself as she stoked up the fireplace. “Who ever heard of dragonflies eating peanuts. And everyone knows dragonflies don’t talk at all.”
She paused as the fire started to grow in the grate and warm the room.
“Still, I gotta wonder what I ended up yelling.”
She shrugged it off and was just about to go make dinner when a crunching noise made her turn back to the fireplace. A few sparks came from the smoking fire, but nothing appeared to be moving. Gilda kept her eye on the fireplace, and then she saw something fall from within the chimney and land in the fire, making the same crunching noise and raising a few sparks.
“Is that stupid old chimney falling apart?” she wondered.
And she opened a window, flew out of it, and went up to the roof to inspect the chimney. It appeared to be intact, and when she inspected it, she could see no stones missing from it nor smoke leaking from anywhere but the top. Then something shoved her head into the chimney top. She was stuck, and she couldn’t breathe. She tried to call Grandpa Gruff, but all she could do was cough with a face full of smoke.
“Won’t be long and that’ll be the witness dealt with,” said the one who stuffed Gilda into the chimney.
His surveyance of his victim struggling to free herself was interrupted when George came up behind him and grabbed him.
“Alright, Bluster! Anything you want to say before me and Gilda here take your wings off?!” he demanded.
Bluster laughed derisively. “You think you can take my wings off?! You know perfectly well I’m no ordinary breezie.”
“Yes, I do know that perfectly well,” seethed George. “I also know that Gilda here picked up stuff you’ve said outside her window in her sleep and now you’re trying to keep her from saying any of it again so no one catches you in the act of… whatever sick game you’re playing.”
“There’s nothing sick about ensuring the continuation of the next stage in breezie evolution,” protested Bluster.
“I told you, you can’t build another creature like yourself,” scowled George. “It’s not possible to simply mix water, gossamer, and all that gunk and create an actual animal with, like, gelatine mould technology. I knew all along you never went back home to find a mate so you can pass on your genetics properly. Why are you so against that?”
“I won’t find anyone suitable,” Bluster insisted. “Don’t you get it? No other breezie can lift small objects, chew and digest solid foods, and not get squashed by a leaf! All breezies accept me have an appalling immune system, dismal vision, and a heart rate that could create a sonic rainboom. Not to mention how easily hypnotised they are by any swaying object. There’s no guarantee at all that any offspring I have will inherit only MY traits.”
“It’s the only way you’ll ever get your new race of superior breezies,” said George flatly. “You’re not gonna manage to bring one to life in a mixing bowl, and you won’t get away with trying. My friend Fluttershy knows there must be a breezie around, and Gabby knows about Gilda’s outburst as well, so it’s no use trying to…”
George’s heart raced when he realised Gilda had stopped moving. He leapt forward, grabbed Gilda’s tail, and yanked her free of the chimney. A huge cloud of black smoke escaped the chimney top. Gilda coughed and spluttered; her face was pitch black.
“Ah, nuts! I let Bluster go!” exclaimed George, clenching his empty fists and looking around frantically.
“What the heck are you saying?!” choked Gilda. “What just happened?!”
“Oh, sorry,” said George “Forgot I was still talking Breezian.”
“Breezian?! Why is everyone talking Breezian all of a sudden?!” demanded Gilda.
“Because there’s a breezie around, of course,” sighed George in frustration. “He’s trying to make a female clone, and I’ve been trying to catch him out. You spoke his language earlier because he was obviously outside your window while you slept hoping you had gossamer curtains he could make a pair of wings with.”
“What does this little wimp look like?” demanded Gilda hoarsely.
“He’s no wimp, I assure you,” said George. “He’s way above average for his species. He’s actually got some muscle mass.”
“Okay, okay,” groaned Gilda impatiently. “What does he look like?”
“Red, with a purple mane and tail,” said George, looking around again. “Not that it matters. He’s the only one around. He’s not interested in any of his fellow breezies. That’s why he left the swarm that last time they were gathering Equestrian pollen. He knew he was above average and wanted to build himself up even more. I caught him eating some peanuts from my field, and I quickly realised he was bulkier than normal, and so I offered to help him with his diet and exercise. But he took off yesterday. We agreed to show him off to Fluttershy, but he didn’t agree with me when I said he ought to return home afterwards to find a mate.”
Gilda looked up at the weather factory building site. “I’ll bet he’s hiding in there. No one works on it during the night.”
“Let’s go,” nodded George.
And the two griffons took off towards the building site in the sky.
Fluttershy didn’t get to Gilda’s house until several minutes after she and George left, and Grandpa Gruff’s snores drowned at her knocks on the front door. She did suspect that George was behind this though, and when she went back to the peanut farm, sure enough, she couldn’t find him there. This was when the puzzle started to come together in her mind.
“That project he wanted to show me…” she said to herself. “It wasn’t that new weather factory at all. It was something to do with breezies.”
She looked at George’s coffee table and saw an open phrase book sitting beside some quill and parchment.
“This must be one of the one George wrote himself.”
She closed the book. As she expected, the cover told her it translated Breezian words and phrases. Fluttershy looked around the living room, the various pet exercise apparati hadn’t been cleaned up. Then Fluttershy noticed a full bowls sitting beside the wall. They were full of peanut shells and skins. Her imagination began to run away with her.
“Has George been trying to create a race of breezie stronger than normal? Did he find some breezies who got separated from their swarm on a pollen hunt and convince them to live with him? I hope he didn’t push them too hard. Oh, but he must have. They must’ve escaped last night. So he couldn’t show them off to me like he wanted when he invited me here, and he wanted to catch them if they came back to his field for some food.”
If Fluttershy wasn’t so mortified by the prospect of one of her good friends mistreating some small, helpless creatures, she would have gone out to find George and find out if this was really the case. She knew first hoof how weak and dependant breezies were, and could hardly bear the thought of someone forcing them to constantly exercise and eat something high in protein day in and day out.
At the weather factory site, George and Gilda were trying to make as little noise as possible as they investigated the building. Unfortunately, Gilda had trouble controlling her coughing. After several minutes, they’d gone through all the rooms and inspected every piece of amateur-built machinery, they decided to head back outside.
“We shouldn’t go too far though,” George recommended. “He may be above average, but he’s still small enough to hide himself easily.”
“So how come you never told anyone about this?” asked Gilda. “I mean, pretty much everyone in Griffonstone knows you’re in that Equestrian rare creatures club.”
“It’s not because I was embarrassed,” said George. “I was just concerned that others would think I was toying with nature.”
“Well, you were trying to create the apex of the breezie race,” frowned Gilda.
“Bah!” George scoffed. “He was already the pinnacle of breezie evolution. Stronger, smarter, and able to fly downwind. But he wanted a boost. To make absolutely sure that he surpassed all the statistics. That’s why he was drawn to peanuts when he left the swarm. East for him to chew and digest, and full of protein.”
“Sounds like he could be a spokes model for those jars of peanut butter you sell,” sniffed Gilda.
George shrugged. “That wasn’t the point. I was just happy with the opportunity to give a boost to a species labelled by popular culture as weak, needy, and pathetic. And I still stand by the fact that if he went back home and found a…”
Gilda hushed him. “Listen.”
A whirring noise filled the corridor.
“One of the machines is running,” said Gilda.
“He is here,” seethed George.
They backtracked and ran down the hall, following the noise of the inexpertly built machinery.
Fluttershy finally managed to stop herself from dwelling on an awful thought that she didn’t even know was true or just an assumption, and stepped outside George’s house. She could make out three figures in the sky flying towards her, all of whom looked familiar.
“Is that you, Gabby?!” called Fluttershy.
“Yeah!” Gabby replied. “And I’ve brought Twilight and Rainbow Dash to help find those breezies!”
Fluttershy was delighted to see Rainbow and Twilight.
“Thank you for coming, you two,” she beamed.
“It ain’t just us two,” grinned Rainbow Dash.
“I’m gonna try and teleport Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie here,” said Twilight.
“Can you do that?” asked Fluttershy.
“I can if I know for certain where they are,” answered Twilight. “We left the three of them standing on the Map. No you guys better step back. I need to concentrate.”
She shut her eyes and took a deep breath. Her horn began to glow.
“So Fluttershy,” said Rainbow quietly as Twilight worked her magic, “have you seen Gilda at all?”
Fluttershy groaned. “A few times.”
“She still hasn’t apologised for scaring you and those ducks, has she?” Rainbow Dash frowned. “She keeps telling me she was in the right. That you were the one who bumped into her.”
“I keep doing it,” admitted Fluttershy. “I’ve done it twice since I came here.”
“It doesn’t matter,” insisted Rainbow. “Gilda’s never gonna bring friendship to Griffonstone if she thinks she doesn’t have to apologise for her abuse.”
“She’s managing just fine,” said Fluttershy. “Just look up there. That’s gonna be a weather factory. And it’s being built be volunteers. Before you and Pinkie came and gave Gilda her task, no griffon would ever have considered working on a project like this without payment.”
Rainbow Dash scratched her chin. “I guess. But I still think if she wants to completely make up for how she acted in Ponyville, she owes you an apology while you’re here.”
Twilight’s spell succeeded.
“Well done, Twilight,” congratulated Rarity.
“Alright. Let’s rustle us up some breezies,” said Applejack enthusiastically.
“Wow, Twilight. You look beat,” observed Pinkie Pie.
Twilight wiped some sweat from her forehead. “I’ll need a minute before I turn us all into breezies.”
“You’re gonna turn us into breezies again?” asked Rarity.
“I thought any actual breezies in town would be more attracted to their own kind,” panted Twilight. “I don’t need any actual breezies around to cast the spell this time since I’ve already done it before. If Gabby and maybe Gilda and George can keep watch over us while we search the town, we should have no problem drawing the breezies out.”
“I don’t think we’ll be able to get George or Gilda to help us,” said Fluttershy glumly.
They all looked to her for an explanation.
“I think George is the reason there are breezies stuck in Griffonstone.”
She told them about George’s suspicious behaviour and the items she saw in his house.
“But what does Gilda have to do with this?” asked Rainbow Dash. “She’s not interested in animals as far as I know.”
“She yelled something in breezie language today,” said Fluttershy. “There must’ve been a breezie outside her window while she slept. I think George went to ask her if she knew anything about escaped breezies.”
“So where are they now?” asked Gabby.
Fluttershy shrugged.
Gabby, being the eagle-eyed sort, hovered above the air for a minute, peering out at the city for any sign of Gilda or George.
“Looks like you six won’t be able to split up when you transform,” she said at last, returning to the ground. “I’ll have to keep watch on all of you. If they see you and mistake you for the breezies they’re looking for, I’ll stop them before they can reach you. I promise.”
“Thanks, Gabby,” smiled Pinkie Pie. “So are ready now, Twilight?”
“Yeah, I think so,” nodded Twilight. “Everypony, get in a line.”
Everyone did so.
“Not you, Gabby.”
“Oh, right. Sorry”
Gabby broke from the group, and Twilight got ready to cast her transformation spell.
In her delight and excitement that her friends had come from Ponyville to help her sort out this problem, Fluttershy hadn’t considered a pertinent question until now.
“Um, how did you all know there was a breezie infestation here in Griffonstone?” she asked Applejack, who was standing next to her.
“Y’all wrote to Twilight, didn’t ya?” asked Applejack. “I mean, Gabby popped into town with a letter form you saying you were sure there were stray breezies in Griffonstone and y’all wanted help finding them.”
Fluttershy gave Applejack a quizzical look.
“Uh, wasn’t it your idea for us to turn into breezies to make it easier to find em?” Applejack looked towards Gabby. “That is your letter, ain’t it?”
Fluttershy saw Gabby was holding a paper airplane with scribbling on it.
“But I didn’t write to you.”
Fluttershy leapt forward to take the letter from Gabby just as Twilight cast the transformation spell. In a flash of purple light, Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie had turned into breezies.
“Fluttershy,” said Twilight in a high-pitched voice, “why did you leave the line?”
Fluttershy was looking at the unfolded letter.
“I didn’t write this,” she said to her friends.
“A forgery?” squeaked Rarity. “Who would do that?”
“Come to think of it,” said Gabby, “I didn’t see who threw that paper airplane at me. I saw Fluttershy’s name on it and assumed she was in a hurry.”
“George might have done it,” suggested Pinkie Pie. “He must’ve known we’d be better at finding those breezies than him.”
The wind picked up.
“Help!” exclaimed Twilight as she, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash got caught in the draft.
Fluttershy and Gabby darted forward and caught the pony breezies. Then suddenly, Fluttershy found herself getting dragged sideways in the strong wind. She tried to beat her wings to keep herself there, whilst trying not to squeeze Applejack and Rarity in her grasp, but it was no good. The wind began to lift her off the ground.
“Grab my tail!” called Gabby over the roar of the gale.
Gabby managed to anchor herself to the ground with her claws, and Fluttershy was secure now that she’d bit down on Gabby’s tail. Then there came a horrifying sight.
“It’s a twister!” cried Applejack.
A cyclone snaked down from the unfinished weather factory above Griffonstone, and began to creep its way along the city streets. Anything that wasn’t tied, bolted, or taped down got sucked into it. And it was heading straight for Gabby, Fluttershy, and the breezie ponies.
“Hang on, everypony!” shouted Gabby, digging her claws as deep into the ground as she could.
It was extremely difficult to keep a tight enough hold on Twilight, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash to keep them from getting sucked into the cyclone, but gently enough to not harm their breezie bodies. As the cyclone drew closer, Gabby tightened her grip. Rainbow shouted in pain, and instinctively, Gabby loosened her gasp; too much. Rainbow Dash shot out of her clutched, and instinctively, Gabby leapt after her. She managed to catch Rainbow Dash by the tail, but the cyclone was now pulling her in. She couldn’t reach the ground to dig her claws into, and her wing beat wasn’t strong enough to escape.
“Oh, no!” cried Fluttershy, trying to beat her wings as well.
It was no use. She, Gabby, and the breezie ponies quickly found themselves sucked into the cyclone. They spun around and around for what felt like hours. Fluttershy, eyes shut tight, was still trying to beat her wings to freedom, as if this was the same sort of tornado she and her fellow Ponyville pegasi produced to bring water to Cloudsdale. She didn’t stop flapping her wings until she felt Applejack and Rarity slip out of her clutches. Fluttershy opened her eyes and tried to see where they went, but immediately got dizzy and lost control of her wings. The next thing she knew, she was tumbling downwards. A large black object zoomed towards her face, she felt a sharp pain in her muzzle, and out went the lights.