In the weight room, Rainbow Dash finished her stretches and slid on her weighted vest in preparation for some more training exercises. She groaned in that strange combination of pleasure and pain. It was good to be back.
As she finished her reps, one of the assistants poked his head in. “Rainbow, there's a griffon here to see you.”
Rainbow paused. A griffon? Here? After what had happened? Intrigued (if a bit suspicious), she racked her weights and shrugged off the vest, and headed out the door.
She slowed to a stop. There was only one griffon there, and she was very familiar. “Gilda.” There was no malice in Rainbow’s voice; it was more a surprised observation.
“Rainbow Dash.”
They stared at each other for a few moments, neither saying anything, both waiting for the other to make the first move.
Finally, Gilda broke the standoff. She held out a small paper takeaway box, and Rainbow took it.
Rainbow opened it and laughed as she recognized the offering. “Chicken,” she said. She leaned down and sniffed, confirming her suspicion. A twisted smile crossed her face. “With lemon and pepper. Just like at flight camp.”
“Yeah.”
Rainbow picked the leg up and brought it to her mouth. She raised an eyebrow as she realized Gilda was still staring. “What?” Rainbow asked, a little smile playing at the edge of her lips. “You like watching things like this? Ponies eating meat?”
Gilda flinched. “No! I…”
Rainbow laughed. “You're a freak, Gilda,” she said as she took a bite.
“Says the pony chomping on chicken,” Gilda retorted, but a faint smile played at the edges of her beak.
Rainbow's flat, herbivore teeth couldn't quite get inside the crevices to tear the meat out; but her dexterous tongue worked its way in and pulled out most of it. She had gotten nearly all the meat off before she gave up and dropped the bone back into the box. “But you didn’t come this far for just a freak show. What’s up, G? For real, this time.”
Gilda glanced around, unsure what to say.
Thankfully, Rainbow always had an answer. “Hey, there’s a little place I know that serves really great desserts, and I’m really craving a milkshake after that. Wanna race there?”
Gilda smiled, her first real smile in a long time. “You’re on, dweeb.”