Misperceptions v2
By: Winter Quill
Adapted from the original "Misperceptions" by Arbiter Balemead
3: Stormy Weather
"Oh, come on Gilda, it wasn't that bad," Twilight commented as they walked away from the boutique. Tea had turned into lunch and more general chit chat and then the afternoon had turned into early evening, the sun was sitting low on the horizon.
"It tasted horrible, I think she tried to poison me!" Gilda replied with an exaggerated gag which turned into a laugh.
"I think her tea is pretty good," Twilight muttered. She tried not to smile but she failed. Finally she laughed herself as she paused and looked up as the sunset painted over the thick clouds. "It's too late to go see Applejack, so I guess we're free until the morning. What should we do?"
"I don't know... what did Rarity mean when she said 'just the two of them' like that?"
The purple unicorn flicked her ears back at the sudden change in subject. "I thought you knew them in flight school?"
"Junior Speedster," she corrected. "Fluttershy didn't attend, though she would visit now and then.”
Twilight smiled at the confused griffon. "They've been together since her freshmen year. Did they keep that a secret from you?"
"What... that actually lasted?" she asked as the memories came back to her. Sneaking the yellow pony around the dorm and her regular visits. She was always hiding from everyone else in the dorm, even if she didn't need to. She was such a contrast to Dash, she had no idea why they were friends and she had just learned to avoid them when they were together.
"What, didn't you think it would?" the unicorn asked, amused at Gilda's shock.
She fanned out her wings a bit. "Well...."
Twilight laughed and rocked her ears. "Yes, they are still together, and very happy too. They try to keep it private. You know; just among friends."
"Then why are you telling me?"
"I... well ... I guess I trust you..." she answered, sounding a bit unsure of herself.
"Oh... thanks..." Gilda replied, turning away as she felt the blood coming up to her cheeks, thanking the Emperor that her feathers hid the blush. A small part of her wondered why she was blushing in the first place.
They fell into silence for a few moments as they walked down the street, the wind starting to pick up around them. "So... I'm going back to the library," Twilight said, finally breaking the silence. "You can come if you like, it's going to rain tonight and you shouldn't be out..." she trailed off.
"Oh, I'll be fine," she replied, fanning her wings out and crouching down against the dirt road. "I'll see you tomorrow?"
Twilight nodded as the griffon leapt into the air while flapping her wings down to gain lift. As soon as was airborne she started flying up towards the clouds, circling in the updrafts coming off the town. As she rose up she took a moment to glance back down at the unicorn. She was still standing in the center of the road, watching her rise higher and she remained there until she vanished into the clouds.
Once above the clouds Gilda searched for a place to rest for the coming evening. She was tired from all the walking they had done. It was simply something she wasn't used to, preferring to fly any distance that she needed to travel. She picked a nice full looking cloud well away from town and clawed gently at the surface before dropping onto it, sinking down slightly into the plush surface.
She didn't want to let Twilight know, but she was worried. So far everything had come to easy, first with Pinkie Pie and then with Rarity. Neither one of them had a good reason to forgive her, yet they both did. The fashionista had even invited Gilda into her home to share a meal... and tea. Why had she done that, why had any of them done that?
Gilda held no illusions about the sort of person she was, or had been, she had attacked anyone she hadn't thought was up to her standard of 'cool' which left her with few friends. Rainbow Dash hadn't just been her closest friend in Junior Speedsters, she had been her only friend... and then she had gone and ruined it.
Even worse, she had blamed Rainbow Dash for everything that had happened. She had be willing to badmouth her old friend to anyone who would listen, at least until...
She didn't want to think about that, instead she thought back to the party. She had been such a unwarmed egg, getting angry at all the pranks and taking it out on everyone. Every person who had tried to talk with her had received a slice of her temper, they all deserved an apology from her, every last one.
Then there was Pinkie Pie, that made her head spin. There was no reason for the bubbly earth pony to have forgiven her. Gilda had been nothing but terrible to her, yet she had forgive her! Why? Why did she do that? Just because she was Rainbow's friend? Was that a good reason to accept her apology?
And Twilight, why was she so willing to help? She was being so nice to Gilda, kind in a way the griffon never had been. Was she doing it because she was Rainbow's friend, or because she took pity on her, or maybe just because she wanted to help? She just didn't know, though she was happy that the unicorn was willing to help and she was even enjoying her time with her.
It was with all of that swirling in her mind that she closed her eyes and fell into a deep dreamless sleep.
* * *
Twilight watched as Gilda flew up into the sky until she vanished into the clouds. She was left with a strange feeling now that the griffon was gone but she didn't know what it was. That bothered her a bit but then again not knowing something always bothered her.
It teased at her mind as she walked back to the library, like a name of a pony she could almost remember. It had something to do with Gilda, maybe she was just worried about her? She didn't like seeing anyone out in the rain, especially not her friends, but she didn't know how to make her stay.
Maybe she could do something for her? Even Twilight could tell that she didn't care for the tea, maybe if she found something that would be a better match for a griffon's pallet? That would allow her to join in with their tea without being disgusted by it. It would be a nice gesture and would make her feel more welcome.
With that settled she moved onto the library, a smile on her lips as she trotted along. She pushed the door open and cleared her throat. "Spike?" she called out.
The young dragon looked down at her from the top of the stairs, "Hey Twilight, how did it go with Gilda?" he asked, putting a bit of distaste in the other woman's name.
"Better than I had expected," she said with a smile as she walked into the center of the library, starting to scan over the books.
Spike nodded and started walking down the stairs. "What are you looking for?"
"The Art of Tea."
He thought for a moment, tapping his nose with a claw. "Sparkleworks checked it out, it's due next week."
Twilight's ears dropped as she sagged a bit. "Oh," that was the only book she had in the library that cataloged tea by species. She wasn't sure what else she could find the information. Maybe she should send a request to the Canterlot Library? She knew they had more than one copy so they could spare one.
"Is everything okay? You look a bit worried," Spike asked, walking up to stand in front of the purple pony,
She shook her head and put the smile back on her face. "Oh, everything is fine, I just wanted to do something nice for Gilda." She nodded to herself, pleased by that, and started walking up the stairs towards her room, leaving Spike standing in the middle of the library watching her go.
"Why would you do anything nice for Gilda?" he asked the thin air, glad Twilight didn't hear him... not realizing that she was thinking the same thing herself.
* * *
The feeling of water on her face woke Gilda with a start. She lifted her head up from her leg, feeling wind howling across her cloud and buffeting it in the sky. Rain was flying into her face, soaking her in moments as her bed started to break up under her.
She took to wing moments before the cloud dissipated, only to be grabbed by the wind and slammed into the layer of clouds below her. She struggled to right herself as the wind spun her around, forcing the rain between her feathers and her fur. Flapping her wings as hard as she could she leveled herself out and allowed the wind to take her lower.
Reaching up, she used the fur on her foreleg to wipe the water from her face, but it didn't help. Deep in rainclouds in the middle of the night meant there was no light to see by, leaving her lost. She hadn't realized that the rain that Twilight had warned her about would be a storm like this, if she had she would have stayed on the ground.
A gust of wind crashed around her, slamming her down in moments; forcing her out of the underside of the cloud and into the heavy rain. She found herself maybe a thousand feet above Ponyville and falling fast. "No, no, no," the griffon growled as she struggled to get out of the downdraft. Finally clearing it as she skimmed over the roof of a large building in the center of town.
The rain was even worse down here, the wind buffeting her all around as she skimmed along the tops of the building. She searched for a place to land, scanning the rain soaked roofs before settling on the familiar tree of the library. She banked through the air, struggling through the wind as she made her way to the tree, finally coming to land on a balcony that was half covered by the canopy.
Gilda squeezed up against the balcony door, hiding from the rain as the wind howled again. Her wings ached from fighting with the storm, her fur and feathers soaked. She shook her wings out, trying to get them dry and wrapped them around her body to stay warm. It wasn't the best place to spend the night, but it was better than being in the rain.
* * *
The thump was almost inaudible over the sound of the rain pattering against the windows of the library, but Twilight still heard it. She lifted her head up from her notes, her eyes a bit blurry from reading them for so long. She blinked in surprise that it was dark out, the heavy clouds blocking out Luna's moon. She was a bit distracted by that when she heard another thump in the distance.
Carefully she stood up and stretched out her legs as walked across her room. Spike was asleep in his basket, a half finished gem resting on his stomach. She carefully picked it up with her magic and set it to the side, where he couldn't roll over on it. An adult dragon might have had impervious scales, but that was not the case for him.
She slipped out of the room and into the library proper, looking around for the source of the sound. It was probably nothing, the storm was windy enough to knock down some small branches and there was no risk of another tree trying to tour the library.
Another thump echoed through the building, this time louder than before. She turned her head, looking at the door to the balcony, a small bit of light falling in through the window and the shadow of a person huddled against it.
Carefully she walked up to the door. She wasn't sure who would be out there so starting to gather some magic around her horn just to be safe. Bracing one hoof against the wall she pulled open the door far enough that she could peek out, letting out a yelp as a lion's tail dropped through the crack and onto the library floor.
She looked down at it for a few moments before making the connection. "Gilda?" she asked, pulling the door further open, the griffon falling through to land in a wet heap on the floor. She was shivering under her wings, and soaked to the bone.
"Hey, Twilight," she replied.
"You could have used the door," she said, using her gathered magic to pick up a large towel from her room and bring it floating down the hallway. She had meant the comment in jest, but the griffon just turned her head to look away, a frown on her beak.
“You look horrid,” Twilight added, bringing the towel down on the griffon’s back, trying to soak up some of the water, a futile gesture as the rain was still blowing in from the open door.
“I didn’t want to impose,” she said, her eyes dropping down to look at the floor.
Twilight shook her head, working the towel over the ruffled feathers, being very careful not to push them out of place. “I wouldn’t allow anyone to stay out on a night like this, it’s not fit for pony or griffon tonight.”
“Thank you,” she replied, her wings spreading out across the floor, water rolling off the dark tan feathers and collecting on the floor. She curled her tail around herself, trying to keep it out of the rain as the wind gusted behind her.
The librarian smiled, whipping the water away from Gilda’s face. “I’ll have Spike make up a bed for you, assuming you sleep in one?”
“I can nest with a couple of blankets,” she replied, fluttering her wings a bit.
That made sense to Twilight, the avian part of her nature would want something different than just a bed. She went through her mental list of everything in the library, seeing if there was something large enough she could use to sleep on but there wasn’t anything. She would have to use the floor. Luckily there was enough extra blankets in her room to make due.
“Come on, let’s get you set up. We want to be up early to catch Applejack before she gets too busy.”
“I still have a lot of people to apologize too, your friends, everyone at the party,” the griffon replied as she pulled herself up to her up to her feet, water dripping from her wings and feathers. Puddles were forming all over the floor and around the still open door.
Twilight turned and started towards her bedroom, getting only a few steps before she heard a soft gasp behind her. She turned around to see Gilda looking at her, her golden eyes catching what little light there was, a look of worry and fear on her face.
“Gilda?”
“I’m sorry,” she said, almost whispering it.
This caused the unicorn to cock her head to the side, trying to think of what she could possibly mean. “What are you sorry for? You’ve done nothing wrong, in fact you’ve been a very pleasant guest.”
Gilda shook her head, the feathers on her crown falling down over her face, dripping water across her beak. “I just realized, you were at the party too. I treated you just like everyone else, I yelled at you, I insulted you. I was angry, and jealous and I was lashing out. I shouldn’t have done it and I’m sorry.”
Her ears dropped down to rest against the side of her head, her tail drooping as she lowered her head. “Oh Gilda, you don’t have to apologize to me.”
“Of course I do, I wronged you. I wronged all of you. Not just Rainbow Dash and all of her friends, but everyone who was there. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. Can you forgive me?”
Twilight took a step closer to the griffon, lowering her head ever further so she could look her in the eyes. “I can forgive you,” she said.
Slowly the griffon lifted her head, looking the pony directly in the eyes. “You can?” she whispered.
“Of course I can,” was her whispered answered, knowing it was true. The fact that she had even been at the party had slipped her mind.
There was something in the air, something unfamiliar. It was like static electricity, or the feeling in the air after a lightning strike, but also something more. It was building by the moment as the two woman looked at each other, rising until it almost seemed like the world would shatter from the force of it.
Then it came to a sudden end as the door slammed closed behind them. Both Twilight and Gilda jumped up, pulling back from each other as Spike walked between them. “You’re letting all the warm air out,” he said with a yawn and then waddled back towards the bedroom and his basket.
The mood between them was broken, but at the same time the tension in the air had slipped away. Gilda shook out her wings, shedding most of the rain before turning to look back at Twilight.
She turned her head away, a blush burn crossing her cheeks. “Come on, I’ll get you some blankets,” she said, then started towards her room. The griffon following a few steps after.