//------------------------------// // Griffon Up Too Soon // Story: My Little Titan // by Tatsurou //------------------------------// 5. Griffon Up Too Soon Gilda slowly glided into the sleepy little town of Ponyville in the early dawn light. She could tell that there wasn't all that much activity yet, as her raptor eyes could easily trace the movement of every bug on each blade of grass...if any of them were moving to track, that is. However, she could care less about most of the town. She was here to see one pony, and that was it. She wouldn't even be doing that, if not for...circumstances. 'Don't even want to think about that,' she thought to herself as she glided down to the plainly visible cloud house. 'I'll just talk with Rainbow, see what happens. Less I need to say, the better.' Approaching the door, she raised one claw to knock. As the knock echoed, she tilted her head. 'Still can't figure out how pegasi make clouds as hard as doors.' When the door opened, Gilda opened her beak to give a cool greeting, but paused when she saw no pony at eye height. "What gives?" she asked aloud in confusion. "Down here," a tomboyish voice said. Glancing down, she saw an orange Pegasus filly with purple mane and tail and small wings holding the door open. Gilda blinked. "I thought this was Rainbow Dash's house," she said bluntly. "It is," the filly replied. "Then why are you here?" "I live here." Gilda blinked again. "You just said this was Rainbow Dash's house." "That's true." "Then...why do you live here?" "Because she said so." Gilda blinked again. "And why would she do that?" "Because she's awesome!" The filly was grinning happily now. Gilda shrugged her shoulders. Then she locked eyes with the filly. "Why you?" she asked piercingly. "Because I'm awesome!" "Who says?" "She does," the filly replied, pointing over Gilda's shoulder. "HI GILDA!" Rainbow shouted practically in her ear. Gilda leapt in the air with a squawk, spinning around to face the chromatic prankster. "Rainbow Dash, what gives?" Rainbow rolled on her back laughing. "You should see your face, Gilda!" The filly was also giggling. "You got her good, Rainbow!" Gilda got herself back under control. "Yeah, you sure did..." 'Remember why you're here,' she berated herself to keep her temper in check. She decided to change the subject. "Who's the fun size?" "That's Scootaloo!" Rainbow said happily, flitting over to the filly's side and wrapping a foreleg around her before giving her a noogie. "Cut it out, Rainbow!" Scootaloo said happily. Gilda blinked. 'The squirt looks to be about ten or so, which makes her too old to be Rainbow's daughter...' "Little sister?" she asked. "Not yet," Rainbow said, smiling at the filly. "Still a bit of holdup with the paperwork. The lawyer Celestia loaned me has been seriously helping, though. I actually know what half of it means, now." Three things clicked in Gilda's head from that regarding her reason for being here. First, Rainbow was adopting a filly as a sister, which meant she did go out of her way to help others like Gilda thought, even if she couldn't understand why. Second, Rainbow Dash had a close enough personal connection to the Solar Diarch to borrow a lawyer from her, which meant she was a lot more important in pony society than Gilda had thought. Third, if Rainbow was taking in a filly, then she already had a full house. "Well, you're certainly busy then," Gilda said, trying to maintain her bravado. "I guess I'll catch you later-" "But you just got here!" Rainbow interrupted. "I haven't seen you in years! We've totally gotta hang out!" "Don't you have to watch the half-pint?" Gilda asked, indicating Scootaloo. "I can take care of myself for a day," Scootaloo said calmly. "You two go hang." Rainbow looked conflicted. "I can't just leave you alone, Scoot, no matter how well you can take care of yourself..." "I'll watch her!" a happy voice cried from the air beside Gilda. When she spun with a snarl, however, nopony was there. Then a pink Earth Pony bounced upward over the cloud edge. "That way you can hang with Gilda, Dashie!" The happy mare then dropped back downward before bouncing up again. "I love hanging with Scootaloo! We can catch up to you later!" Gilda stared in shock as Rainbow picked Scootaloo up and handed her off to the pink pony. "Thanks, Pinkie Pie! Take good care of her, alright?" "Gotcha! Bye Rainbow! Bye Gilda!" The pink pony bounced away, Scootaloo clinging to her back and waving to Rainbow. Gilda blinked. "Friend of yours?" Rainbow nodded. "Yep, that's Pinkie Pie. A bit random, but you can always count on her to help a friend." "How did she know my name? And how was she bouncing that high?" Rainbow shrugged. "As to your first question, it's Pinkie Pie. Safer not to question it. As for the second-" she glanced over the cloud edge and pointed "-trampoline." Gilda saw a trampoline set up directly below where Pinkie had been bouncing. "Okay, that makes sense." When she turned back, Rainbow was in a racing position. "So, you as fast as ever, Gilda?" she asked mockingly. Gilda grinned and assumed a similar pose. "Race you to that cloud up there! Ready set GO!" The two took off like twin rockets. ----------- They spent most of the morning racing around the sky, comparing tricks and trying to best each other. Eventually, they settled on a cloud, laughing happily together. "I haven't had a workout like that in a long while, Gilda!" Rainbow said happily. "Then I'm surprised you've still got as much spunk!" Gilda replied with a grin. Rainbow hopped to her hind hooves. "You wanna go and see?" she asked, holding up her forehooves in a fighting pose. Gilda thought about it. "Nah, maybe later. Wouldn't want you complaining when I kick your flank that it was only because you were tired!" Rainbow grinned. "I thought griffins were part eagle, not part chicken!" They glared at each other for a bit before busting out in more laughter. Once Gilda caught her breath, she steeled herself. 'Now or never,' she thought silently. "Say, Rainbow-" "It's later!" Pinkie said happily from right next to them. "Geese Louise, it took like forever for me to find you with all your whooshing and zipping and flitting and tricking about the sky - a whole five seconds!" Gilda blinked at the impossible sight before her. Pinkie Pie was glaring playfully at them as she lay on her back...on empty air. Scootaloo sat on her stomach, smiling. "Pinkie!" Rainbow demanded in shock...and what sounded like a touch of anger. "How are you doing that?" "Fairy dust, duh!" Pinkie said, rolling her eyes. GIlda blinked...three times. "Fairy dust?" "Yeppers! Fairy dust! Sprinkle it over yourself and think happy thoughts, and up you go into the air!" Pinkie giggled. "Surely you knew about that!" Rainbow facehoofed. "Yeah, I'd heard..." "It's illegal in all the Five Kingdoms to trade in products made from sentients," Gilda pointed out. "And last I checked, fairies were sentient." "Well, duh!" Pinkie said, rolling her eyes. "But there's no law that says a sentient can't sell a product of their own bodies, so it's not illegal if I buy it FROM the fairies! And they go gaga for my fairy cakes!" She giggled. "Just got a fresh batch in, and I just had to test it out, and then Scootaloo wanted to come along, and- OHMYGOSH!" Pinkie's eyes went wide. "You're new to Ponyville!" she said excitedly, pointing at Gilda. "Uhh...duh," Gilda said, rolling her eyes. Grinning widely, she waved at Gilda and Rainbow. "Laters!" she said, zipping off towards a building that resembled a giant gingerbread house, taking Scootaloo with her. Gilda blinked for a bit. "O...kay then..." Rainbow glanced around at the clouds. "Listen GIlda, I'm gonna need to jet for a bit. Got some weather issues to take care of. But I'll be back. Just...hang around here until I do, okay?" Gilda rolled her eyes. "Sure Dash, I can hang." As Rainbow jetted off into the sky, she rolled her eyes. 'Well, there went that chance to ask her.' She walked into town, glancing around at everything. 'So here I am, stuck in Lamesville,' she thought as she walked by the stands. 'Wonder how long I'll get to stay...' Seeing an incredibly old green pony, she felt her body tense. 'Why do ponies tend to those who can't contribute anymore? It's...unnatural.' She smirked. 'Let's see how she handles a surprise.' She positioned herself behind one fruit stand the older pony was approaching and extended her tail, waving it at the pony's nose from within the fruit. 'When she goes to sniff, it'll be awesome.' She watched carefully, expecting a sneeze. The old pony caught sight of the waving tail. "Gah! A rattler!" she called out, leaping away as best she could, before turning to walk haltingly away as fast as she could, many ponies around staring. Gilda blinked. 'Not what I expected. Still kinda funny.' Seeing the stallpony glaring at her, she patted a tomato with her tail. "These stuff ain't fresh, dude," she said blandly, every inch a dissatisfied customer. As she passed by another group of ponies around a fruit stand, she noticed the ripe, fresh looking apples in the bucket. Remembering the last meal she'd managed on her way here - a three day dead rat that was more skin than meat - she snagged an apple with her tail when nopony was looking. 'After all,' she thought to herself, 'if you can get away with it, you didn't do anything wrong. That's survival for you.' She stuffed the apple into her beak and chewed, continuing to walk. Pony life was so very different than life in the Griffon Kingdom. So much softer. Food was plentiful for everyone, and everyone got fed one way or another. Growing up as a griffon, she had to fight for every scrap. It was survival of the fittest, the foremost law of life as a griffon- "Hey!" she cried out as a pony bumped into her while she was woolgathering. "Oh, please excuse me," the yellow and pink Pegasus started to say. "I'm walking here!" Gilda snapped. After her memories of how harsh life back home had been, this soft pony just set her temper boiling. "I-I'm sorry," the yellow Pegasus said. "I was just-" Seriously? She seriously thought an apology was what was warranted here? Back home this would be a fight to the death! What was wrong with these ponies? "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Gilda pantomimed. "Why don’t you just watch where you're going you doofus!" "B-b-b...I...I..." The yellow pony was whimpering now. Pathetic. As her temper flared, Gilda let loose her challenge in the form of a deep throated roar. The yellow Pegasus released a sound like a frightened sheep before turning and running away in tears. As Gilda calmed down, she blinked. 'Wait...that was Fluttershy. She's Rainbow's friend...' She sighed inwardly. 'Well, I just blew my chances right out of the sky. Guess I'd better get used to carrion and whatever I can catch. At least I can maintain my image while I leave.' "Ugh, all these lame ponies are driving me buggy," she muttered under her breath. She stalked along, not really interested in flying at the moment. After a few more minutes, some force suddenly grabbed hold of her and yanked her into an alleyway. "WAH!" She managed to land on her paws and claws, flaring her wings angrily. "Who the-" "I understand you scared Fluttershy," the purple Unicorn in front of her said. "I want to know why." Rage dripped from her voice. Gilda fluffed her plumage. 'Finally, a pony who knows how to handle things like a griffon! And here I thought Dash was the only fighter in the race.' "What's it to you?" Gilda demanded, flaring her wings wider, ready to fight. "I think you misheard me," the Unicorn stated as she closed her eyes. When she opened them, they were blood red. Her coat slowly paled to white as her body stretched upwards. Her mane and tail erupted into black fire, and her shadow expanded. Dark tendrils erupted from her shadow, writhing madly. "Why did you scare Fluttershy?" she demanded once more, her voice now just removed from the crack of doom. Gilda backed up. 'S-s-s-slender...' she thought in fear, covering her head and body with her wings. 'I'm dead.' She stood there, cowering, for some time before realizing that the expected violent, bloody death wasn't happening. She carefully peeked through her wing. The Unicorn was back to her normal appearance, her horn lightly glowing, her head tilted as she stared at Gilda. "Huh," the unicorn said at last. "Didn't see that coming." Her horn stopped glowing, and she turned to walk out of the alley. Gilda collapsed to the ground. "H-hey!" she called out after the retreating Unicorn. She turned her head back. "The name's Twilight Sparkle. I'll see you later." Turning, the Unicorn headed back out onto the main road before turning to head on her way. Gilda let herself collapse, breathing heavily, putting her right claw against her abdomen. "What in Tartarus was that?" she gasped out. Once she was more sure of herself, she stood back up and shook herself. 'Only prey freeze in fear,' she reminded herself silently, thinking back on the lessons from her days in the yearling classes. As she stepped out of the alleyway, a pink blur zipped past her. "What the?" She blinked as she felt a piece of paper in her claw. Lifting her claw, she examined it. "Come to Sugar Cube Corner for Gilda the Griffon's Super Special Welcome to Ponyville Party! Cake, sweets, games, and Funfunfunfunfun!" "Huh," Gilda blinked as the card stopped talking. "A party for me?" She shrugged. "I haven't been to a party since Rainbow insisted on throwing me a Birthday Party that one time back in Junior Speedsters Flight Camp." Seeing the card had a map on it - with, disturbingly enough, her exact location marked on it in red with a note that said "You are Here!" and another note on a nearby building that read "You should be here, what's keeping you?" - she proceeded to the marked building. As she entered the building, Pinkie Pie bounced up to her and extended her hoof. "Gilda! I'm so honored to throw you one of my signature Welcome to Ponyville parties and I hope you feel super-duper welcome amongst the ponies of Ponyville!" Gilda frowned as she shook Pinkie's hoof. "Yeah, sure." She glanced around at the ponies there. While most were paying more attention to the party, she noticed a few - an orange Earth Pony, a white Unicorn, and Twilight from earlier - who were specifically watching her. She saw Fluttershy approaching. "H-hi Gilda," Fluttershy said calmly. Gilda looked from Fluttershy to where Twilight was watching her like a hawk - for some reason, she heard the pink pony in her head asking why she wasn't watching her like a griffon - and sighed. 'Looks like I get another chance after all.' "Look, Fluttershy...about earlier..." "Yes?" Fluttershy asked, smiling. "I just wanted to say...I'm...Gah! This is so uncool!" Gilda burst out. "I don't know," Fluttershy said. "Sometimes Rainbow feels she has to do things that make her look uncool, but she does them anyway because they're the right thing to do. I think that's really cool of her." "Really?" Gilda asked, confused. Then she blinked. "Wait...are you trying to reverse psychology on me to get me to apologize?" "Well, if I say no you'll assume I am, but if I say yes then you'll assume it's reverse psychology and I'm actually saying no which means I'm not, but if I'm not then yes is yes which means I am-" "Gah!" Gilda shouted, clenching her beak. "Stop it! You're hurting my brain!" "Oh, I'm sorry!" Fluttershy said calmly. She then approached Gilda's rump. "Where does it hurt?" Gilda stared, slackjawed, at the shy pony. She wasn't the only one. Finally, she got her jaw and brain working. "Did...did you just burn me?" "Well I have to prove myself equal to you somehow so you won't lose honor by apologizing. That's what's making you hesitate, right?" Fluttershy smiled happily at Gilda. Gilda blinked several times before finally bursting out laughing. "You're not bad, Shy. Sorry about earlier." Fluttershy smiled happily. "No hard feelings." She then glanced from side to side as Gilda took a drink from a punch glass, then leaned in. "However," she said in a whisper, "you see that stallion by the cake? He can't take his eyes off you and you are giving him some VERY hard feelings." Gilda spit her punch out all over a mint green pony with a lyre on her flank. "You're kidding!" she said to Fluttershy. "Yes, I am," Fluttershy responded with a smile. Gilda stared at her before bursting out laughing. "You're alright, Shy! Talk later!" She then moved into the party. The zings were starting to put her off her game. Rainbow Dash arrived in time for the cake, and Gilda actually found herself smiling along with the cheers after blowing the candles out. It was strange but, amongst griffons, she had never felt so...welcome. Then again, every other griffon looked at any other griffon they saw as a means to better their own station. It wasn't until she'd met Rainbow that she'd first learned the concept of having a friend. Reminded of that, she approached Rainbow. "Hey Dash! Some party, huh?" Rainbow grinned. "They're Pinkie's specialty." Then she frowned. "I heard you had an...altercation with Fluttershy earlier today?" Gilda winced. "Yeah, we worked that out." She chuckled. "I still can't believe she zinged me twice!" Rainbow blinked, looking like Gilda had just suggested the sky was a pleasant shade of tangerine and had asked for a side of Poe with her radishes. "Say that again?" "Shy zinged me twice! Good ones, too. You been giving her lessons? I didn't think she had it in her." Rainbow smirked. "Neither did I. Never would have seen it coming." She chuckled. "Guess you never know with the quiet ones." Gilda nodded. Then she cleared her throat. "Say, Dash..." "So how long you planning on staying, Gilda?" Rainbow interrupted. "Know where you're staying?" Gilda winced. She wanted to approach this at her own rate. "I actually haven't found a place. I was...kinda hoping you could spare your couch, until I saw you already had a full house." "Yeah," Rainbow said thoughtfully. "Don't worry, though, I'm sure we'll find you a spot. How long are you planning on staying?" "A couple of weeks," she replied evasively. "Maybe a month or so." Rainbow thought for a time. "Well...I know Fluttershy has a big couch she has for when a large animal patient has to stay overnight. That should be good for a few days until we make other arrangements. Why don't we ask her?" Gilda blinked. "I'm not sure-" "I'd be happy to host Gilda," Fluttershy said from behind her. "Gah!" Gilda said as she jumped. "How did you do that?" "Pinkie Pie's been giving me ninja lessons," Fluttershy said quietly, smiling. "Well, looks like we've got things worked out!" Rainbow said happily before Gilda could respond. "Now let's party!" ------------ The party lasted well into the evening, and by then there weren't any other options, and GIlda had to go with staying at Fluttershy's cottage. All the other ponies had gone home and there weren't any other options. Beyond that, for a pony so shy and polite, Fluttershy could be frighteningly insistent when she wanted to be, and very hard to refuse. Especially when, like Gilda, one had to stay on her good side. Although the couch - more of a bed, really - was quite comfy, Gilda had trouble getting to sleep. She kept thinking of the events that brought her here. The weakness that had given that griffon an advantage over her, her accusation, learning he was the second prince... And now here she was, dependent on the generosity of ponies to survive. How far she'd fallen. Her ancestors were probably disgusted with her. Pushing herself up, she headed towards the kitchen to get a glass of water. As she passed Fluttershy's room, she noticed the door was open and Fluttershy was sitting straight upright. As Gilda stared, Fluttershy spoke. "You won't break me." "Shy?" Gilda asked in shock, sticking her head in. "You say something?" Fluttershy's eyes were wide, unseeing. "Do as you will, to me or my friends...you won't break me. I know what you are, who you are...and I'm not afraid. You're nothing but a big, dumb bully, and I will not give in to you. Not now, not ever." Gilda stared at her, confused. "You alright?" "I will not scream. I will not cry. Not for you. Not now, not ever. Do your worst." Fluttershy's body shuddered, and she fell back into the bed, writhing in what looked like agony. "Shy!" Gilda cried out, pushing Fluttershy out of the bed. Fluttershy woke up, the shakes stopping. "Gilda? What happened?" "You...were having a nightmare, I think." Fluttershy sat up. "I was? That's weird." A white bunny hopped over to Fluttershy wearing a blue nightcap and burrowed into her chest. She stroked the bunny's head gently. "I can't remember it." "Huh," Gilda said calmly. "Well, I was just gonna grab a glass of water. Want one?" "No thanks. I'm good." She continued to pet the bunny. Heading to the kitchen, Gilda grabbed her glass of water, downed it, and headed back to bed. For some reason, the voice Fluttershy had spoken with before waking up had sounded...off. Almost...more natural than normal, despite what was said. Gilda shuddered, resting her claw against her abdomen once more. Just three months, then she could see about getting a job and her own place, where she wouldn't have to worry about crazy ponies and their night terrors. Just three months, and she could begin rebuilding what was left of her life.