//------------------------------// // Chapter V~The Griffin~ // Story: The Machine // by ADRNEL //------------------------------// Chapter V The Griffin Day 19 "This is going to be the best party EVER!" exclaims an excited Pinkie Pie to all her friends. She along with Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy and Rarity are sitting together in Sugarcube Corner planning the costume party they're going to hold here in two days. "Gee, I know you're eager, but tone it down Pinkie, there's still something we need to plan out." explained Twilight, trying to calm her eager pink friend down. They then hear the door to the shop open as Adam walks in. "It's starting to get a little chilly out there." commented the human, taking off his scarf. He then spots Twilight and her friends sitting at a booth and walks up to them. "Oh hello, how are you four doing today?" asked the human. "Four?" stated a confused Applejack. The four mares look around to find Fluttershy missing, only several yellow feathers provided evideance the she was there. "Now whar did that shy mare went to?" asked the farmer mare. Outside the shop, Fluttershy is nervously looking inside through a window. "Oh Fluttershy, why are you so afraid to meet to him, sure he is very tall, but he's just so kind." mumbled the shy pegasus to herself, she then flies off back to her cottage. "Anyways," explained Twilight to Adam, getting back on track. "We're just planning for the upcoming party in two days." "A party? I've never been to one in years." commented Adam, taking his seat in the booth next to Twilight. Suddenly, they hear someone burst through the enterance as a blue streak enters the room. The group then sees that it is just Rainbow Dash. "YOU WON'T BELIEVE THIS!" exclaimed Dash, rocketing towards the table. "What is it this time?" asked Rarity, hating herself for asking. "Why don't you see for yourself!" answered a smug Dash. Dash then points to the front door where a strange creature is standing, half-bird, half-lion, and walking it's walking inside. "GILDA?" all the ponies exclaim. Adam is confused and whispers into Twilight's ear. "Who?" whispered Adam. "Gilda is a griffin, she is a long time friend to Dash, although they haven't spoken to each other in a long time." explained Twilight, whispering into Adam's ear. "Well, well, well, what kind of creature are you?" pointed Gilda the griffin to Adam. "Never seen your species before." "Oh, well, my name is Adam, human. I'm the only one of my kind." answered Adam, trying to be polite to this new creature. "Gilda decided to come over and stay at my place for a few days to catch up on old times." explained an excited Dash. While Dash is talking, Adam looks at the other four ponies in the room to gague their reactions to the creature, but is surprised to see Pinkie looking sad. Adam says nothing. After an hour of introductions and catching up with the griffin, everypony, including Gilda and Dash leave to go home, but Adam decides to stay behind so he can talk to Pinkie alone. The human sees Pinkie gloomly walk into the kitchen, he quickly followers her. "Pinkie? Are you okay?" asked a concered Adam. "Of course I'm fine." mumbled Pinkie, back turned to him. "Are you sure?" continued Adam. "I SAID I WAS FINE!" yelled Pinkie, her mane now compleatly straight and her eyes wide. "NOW LEAVE ME ALONE!" Adam is completly shocked by this transformation, but decides to do so, for the sake of his and Pinkie's safety. He quickly leaves Sugarcube Corner to return back to the library. The next day... Adam is walking around Ponyville, he quickly notices that all the ponies he pass by react to him in three diffrent ways, one group is friendly towards him or looks at him with awe, another looks at him with disgust and a final group just ignores him. He never felt so alien in his entire life, but at least he has allies in Twilight and her friends. Adam stops in his tracks when he sees Gilda and Dash happily walking and talking to each other, he decides to go join them. "So, how are you two doing?" greeted Adam to the two. "We're doing fine, me and Dash are just reliving some old times." explained a happy Dash. "That's great to hear, but there's something I need to talk to you about in private Dash, if you don't mind of course." stated Adam to the pegasus. The human could see Gilda giving him a distrustful look. Dash agrees and they both step off to the side, leaving Gilda alone. "What is it that you want to talk about?" asked a courious Dash. "It's about Pinkie Pie, she was very upset after you left, and I think it might have something to do with her last encounter with Gilda." whispered Adam, hoping Gilda doesn't hear them. "I know that, so me and Gilda are buying a present for her for the party tomorrow and she's planning on apologizing to her tomorrow too." explained Dash, not appearing that worried about Pinkie. "But Pinkie should know that just because I'm hanging out with Gilda, it doesn't mean that I won't have time to hang out with her, she's one of my best friends." "Well, for all of our sakes, I hope you're right Dash." explained a skeptical Adam. "No need to worry Adam! Everything will work out!" cheerfully answered Dash with confidance. "That's when I worry the most." mumbled Adam to himself. "Adam?" asked a concerned Rarity to the human. "What's wrong?" Rarity continues with fitting the new suit Adam will wear at the party tomorrow night on him. "I don't know, ever since Gilda showed up, I've been having a strange feeling that something bad is going to happen." explained Adam, trying to hold still for Rarity. "I wouldn't be surprised if something DID happen, last time she was here, she had a very difficult time, especially after she found out it was Dash and not Pinkie that did all of those pranks." explained Rarity, thinking back to that day. "There all done! My best work yet!" mused Rarity at her latest creation. Adam is surprised, for a unicorn who previously had no knowledge of human fashions, she did a pretty decent job as he checks out the new suit he's wearing. The next night... The party is going well so far in Sugarcube Corner, as several of Ponyville's citizens have showed up to take part, with a DJ providing the entertainment. Adam finds this new "electronic" music intresting but very unsettling to his tastes, but goes along with it since all the ponies seem to be enjoying it. He then sees Twilight's friends, except for Dash, Pinkie and Fluttershy, all gathered together talking. "Hey, where's Pinkie?" asked Adam to the three mares. "I think she went outside several minutes ago." stated Twilight in deep thought. "HEY GIRLS! Great party huh?" exclaimed Dash, trotting in with Gilda. Adam uses her enterance as a cue to leave, he silently acknowledges the pair as he walks off, but not without the girffin giving him a suspicious look. Outside, Adam sees Pinkie sitting on the ground, her mane flat and straight, stareing at the moon. Adam walks up to her and takes a seat on the ground next to her. "Are you okay?" Pinkie doesn't answer. "You know, just because Dash is hanging out with Gilda, doesn't mean that she has forgotten about you." explained Adam, trying to cheer the pink pony up. "But why does it feel like it?" sadly stated Pinkie. "Oh come on! You and Dash have been through more things together than Gilda could ever imagine! I doubt Dash will ever forget the things you've done for her, the times you helped each other and the times you spent together." continued Adam. "Now I want you to march back inside and enjoy the party!" ordered the human in a playfull tone. Pinkie just smiles and quietly does as ordered, leaving Adam alone outside. Suddenly, the human begins to hear hoofsteps behind him. Adam turns around to see Fluttershy nervously standing before him. "T-that was a pretty kind thing you did." nervously stated Fluttershy, her face hiding behind her pink mane. "Oh hey Fluttershy, finally decided to face me?" asked Adam, he always knew that the reason Fluttershy avoided him was because she felt intimidated by him. Fluttershy just nervously nods yes and reluctantly sits down next to the human. "There's no need to be afraid of me you know? I have no reason to hurt you or scare you." stated Adam putting his arm around Fluttershy, to comfort her. "Sorry I have been avoiding you lately...I didn't mean to of course." quietly explained the shy pegasus. "It's just that you're so tall and strange looking...no offense of course." "That's okay, I know I must look very strange compared to all the things you have seen." stated Adam, he then decides to change the subject. "Look, the party is going on without us, let's go in and have fun, okay?" Fluttershy just silently nods in agreement and they both head back inside, side by side. Inside in the kitchen, Gilda is taking out her gift for Pinkie, a cupcake, and just puts on an evil grin on her face. "In several hours, you pink hyperactive freak, will experiance how it feels like to be at the receiveing end of a prank AND a new meaning to the word 'explosive'." chuckles Gilda to herself while closely examing the laxative-laced cupcake. "Hey Gilda, what are you doing here? Pinkie Pie is waiting for her present from you." said Dash while barging into the kitchen, she then sees Gilda holding a cupcake. "Is that a cupcake?" "Why yes it is, it's a SPECIAL cupcake I made for Pinkie, as a way to symbolize a new start." lied Gilda while showing off the cupcake. "I'm sure she'll love it! Let's go!." smiled Dash, compleatly ignorant to Gilda's intentions, as she walks out to re-join the party. Gilda puts the cupcake back into the gift box and follows the pegasus out. At the party, everypony, including Adam, is enjoying the party. Pinkie Pie is back to her old self talking to Bon Bon until she notices Gilda and Dash walking towards her. "Oh Dashie, I'm glad you came!" exclaimed an excited Pinkie, talking to Dash again. "Anything for a friend Pinkie, anyways, Gilda wants to restart her relationship with and so she decided to give you a gift." explained Dash. "A gift? Oh, what is it!?" Pinkie is even more excited and anxious. Gilda takes out the gift box and opens it to reveal a cupcake with chocolate frosting on it. "OH A CUPCAKE, I LOVE CUPCAKES!" excitedly shouted Pinkie Pie. "But I ate a lot already, so I'll eat this later." stated the pink pony. Gilda just gives Pinkie an annoyed look, wanting her to eat it right now, not later. "I suggest you eat it now." politely requested Gilda, with a slight demanding tone. "I would love to! But like I said, I'm full." politely refused Pinkie the request. "But I can guarentee you that eating this cupcake will make you empty again, and ready to eat more." stated the griffin, looking desperate. "I even suggest that you eat this while drinking a LOT of water." "I understand that you REALLY want me to eat this now, but I Pinkie Promise that I'll eat this later, I just can't right now, sorry." apologized Pinkie, seeing Gilda look desperate for some reason, trying to calm her down. Gilda is trying her best to keep her temper down and not cause a scene in front of the guests. "What's going on over here?" asked Adam walking up to see what Gilda, Dash and Pinkie were doing. His interruption causes Gilda to snap, she quickly grabs the human by the neck and flings him across the room. "LEAVE US ALONE!" yells Gilda. Adam hits the opposite wall with his back, hard, and lands on top of the snack table. "Gilda! What did you do that for?" demanded a shocked Dash. Soon everypony in the room, except Twilight and Fluttershy who are tending to Adam, are stareing at her, giving her dirty looks. Gilda just starts laughing like a maniac. "Don't you have any idea how hard it is deal with the craziness that goes on around here?!" exclaims Gilda to the entire crowd. "Not only do I have to deal with a pink party obssed fourth wall breaking hyperactive freak, but I also have to deal with that human who can't keep his snout out of my personal business!" continued the crazy-eyed griffin. "I always thought I was making a mistake in being here again, and I am right! Enjoy your pink friend, because she's the only friend you have now Dash! Goodbye forver!" and with that Gilda runs out the door and flies off into the night sky, her maniacal laugh echoing across the night sky. All the ponies in the room just stand there dumbfounded at what just happend. It room stays silent until Adam gets up from where he landed with a small cut on his forehead. "Huh...I guess she snaped." mused Adam. "Oh, you have a cut, let me take of that...if you don't mind of course." stated Fluttershy, pointing out Adam's injury, and trotts off to find a first aid kit. "Well, if you're not going to eat Gilda's cupcake, I might as well be the one to do so." explained Dash, picking up the cupcake and taking a bite out of it. "Sorry if you felt I was ignoring you, I guess I should've known that you're a better friend than Gilda could ever be." explained Dash while chewing his meal. Dash manages to eat the rest of the cupcake in several more bites. Soon the party restarts, and everypony along with Adam, enjoy the rest of the party. After several more hours, the party ends and everypony says their goodbyes and go home, except for Dash, Pinkie and Adam, who agree to stay behind and clean up. Within another hour, Sugarcube Corner is clean and spotless again, with Adam and Dash saying good night to Pinkie before leaving. Outside, Adam and Dash are happily walking side by side in the empty streets of Ponyville, until Adam hears a growling sound coming from Dash. "What was that?" asked a confused Adam. He turns to see the pegasus slouching and holding her stomach in pain. "Oh, it must be all the junk food I ate at the party, I have to get going home now, see you later!" and with that Dash takes off and quickly flies away to her home with haste. "I wonder why Gilda wanted Pinkie to eat that cupcake so badly?" pondered Adam to himself. After a minute of thinking, he decides to give up and get back to the library to catch up on his sleep, hoping tomorrow will be an almost normal day. NEXT WEEK: Chapter VI~The Duel~