//------------------------------// // Four Hooves and Clueless // Story: A Gilda'd Opportunity // by Ludicrous Lycan //------------------------------// Four Hooves and Clueless Gilda slammed the door to Sugarcube Corner as she stormed onto the street and away from the ponies inside. Her claws positively tore up the dirt path of the lousy backwater town on her way out. Rainbow Dash’s voice followed from back in the bakery saying, “Not. Cool.” Gilda almost tripped at hearing it. She snarled, seething in anger, and nearly turned around to go back inside to give her traitor of a former friend a reality check. Instead, she leaped into the sky in one smooth motion. Right away her wings tilted and she began to race towards the edge of town to get away. Annoyingly enough, the initial direction she headed was that of Dash’s cloud home. Gilda’s face screwed up in frustration when she realized her heading, and swiftly banked off in the near opposite direction. The Everfree Forest stretched out on the horizon in her new view. Gilda landed just outside the long dark tree line. She began to pace back and forth while replaying what had just happened in her mind. Stupid pink fuzz-wad! Dumb Dash! Lame ponies everywhere! With talons balled into fists, she slammed again and again on the ground. Despite this, she couldn’t stem her anger. Her head whipped towards the forest and scanned the outskirts for something, anything she could get her claws on or rip apart. Her eyes landed on a bed of blue flowers. Rainbow Dash’s last words played through her mind. Not. Cool. The familiar color of the stupid flowers almost seemed to laugh at her. “Not cool!?” Gilda screamed at the flowers as she approached them. “I’ll show you who’s ‘not cool’!” She curled one of her talons into a tight fist and pounded a single flower—an infuriating match to Rainbow Dash's coat—into the ground. When she pulled her fist away, the flower was a smashed heap. At first, she smirked in satisfaction. She looked over her claw and found some of the flower's blue pollen, annoyingly powdering it. “Oh! You… you flip flop!” Gilda snarled as before, then dove upon the flower bed and began thrashing at every blue flower in sight. She stomped, slashed, tore, and even chomped down on a few with her beak. When she was done, her anger now vented, the entire bed of flora was reduced to mulch. Gilda panted lightly as she made her way out of the carnage from her rage. “That will teach that lame Dash…” she muttered to herself. She surveyed herself briefly and found much more of the blue pollen was now coating her entirely. “Great… I'm gonna need a bath now. I hate those.” She heaved a heavy groan and stretched out her wings. A few powerful flaps sent her airborne and she made a beeline for the mountains. And from there, home. There was nothing left for her in Ponyville, and there was no point in staying. One Year Later Gilda sighed plaintively while her drooping eyes swept back and forth over the landscape. Her wings pumped slowly, more gliding than actively flying over the breezy, calm winds that prevailed throughout most of Equestria. Her homeland was far fiercer, wilder, and coming to Equestria was always calming; for other griffins that is, but not her. The surrounding foliage was green and Equestria was in the high point of spring. In the distance was Canterlot, and hanging in the sky beyond that lay Cloudsdale. Both were good signs that the town Gilda was looking for was somewhere near. She continued flying lazily, having been in the air for days on end over the last week; she was almost finished, though. Minutes later, Gilda’s attention settled on a dark forest that stretched on for miles. Dipping, then banking along the side, she followed the tree line until it let out to a clearing with a dirt road. That was where she wanted to be, alright. Her wing beats kicked up dirt just before she touched down onto the path. A sign on her right read: “Welcome to Ponyville.” Beyond that was the sight of numerous cottages with thatched roofs, indicative of the detestable village she was trying to reach. “Finally,” she sighed in relief. Gilda was ready to lie down where she stood and pass out right there, but forced herself to continue on. I can't believe I'm doing this, I can't believe I'm this desperate... Her left front leg stepped forward, shivering with fatigue. She scowled down at her limbs for a moment, only to groan in frustration at the sight of them. Shaking her head, Gilda forced herself into a painful trot into Ponyville. Before she even reached the edge she could see the hustle and bustle of dozens of townsponies going about their day. Gilda groaned aloud, walking down the wide avenue. She began receiving a few curious sidelong looks from ponies she was passing. It was mid-afternoon and the town was certainly lively. Ponies were plentiful and cheery going about their day to day lives. It made sense then that she stood out like a sore claw amongst all of them. “What the heck you think you’re lookin' at, hay brain!” Gilda roared at a couple of earth ponies that stared a bit too long for her taste. But, rather than roar, her voice broke slightly when she attempted to access a part of her that just wasn’t present. So, rather than an animalistic,  fear inducing shout, she sounded a bit like a singer who had choked on a high note. The ponies she yelled at scowled, then snickered at her respectively, smirking. Gilda narrowed her eyes angrily, then grumbled to herself and just increased her pace. She trotted on, searching the town for the pony she was after. The tiredness was getting to her though; her head was sunk low to the ground in exhaustion, eyes barely wide enough to make out the pebbles in the road. “Oof!” Still trotting tiredly along, barely paying attention to anything but her own depression, Gilda slammed into a stray pony. “Hey-!” she began but was cut off by the yellow pegasus that had gone into a string of apologies of her own. “Oh my, I am so sorry about that!” Fluttershy squeaked loudly, then moved back behind her mane. “I guess I wasn’t watching where I was going. Oh dear.” She reappeared from inside her mane again, stretching out her neck. “Are you alright? Did I hurt you?” “Hurt me!?” Gilda blinked angrily at the mare, then after a moment just blinked tiredly. “I-I’m fine…” she lied, swaying slightly where she stood. “Oh dear, are you sure?” Fluttershy was now staring wide eyed at Gilda, much to her discomfort. “You really don’t look so good…” she said. Her head tilted to the side thoughtfully, then. “Have we met? I’m sure I’ve seen you somewhere before.” Gilda grimaced, recalling her last run in with Fluttershy after some effort. “Uhh... nope,” she lied again. She gave an idea some thought, then decided to roll with her apparent anonymity. “Anyway, I just flew into town, and boy are my wings tired… I’m looking for a friend of mine. Rainbow Dash?” She picked her head up a little, but couldn’t manage an easy smile; she was too tired, too angry. “You're Dash’s friend too?” Fluttershy smiled a little and relaxed, probably at the discovery of common ground. “Well, I think she’s home right now, unless she’s practicing. The weather’s nice today, so I doubt she’s working. That is, unless she’s napping through her shift.” Fluttershy began tittering to herself, a hoof covering her muzzle, while Gilda tried to hide her own annoyed eye twitch. Fluttershy looked up again. “You see, that’s a joke, because Rainbow likes to sleep so much. Oh, but don’t misunderstand! I don’t mean to say anything mean. She's a very hard worker and really appreciates good jokes. Actually, I’ve been practici-” Gilda groaned loudly and began to push past Fluttershy, except the mare stepped back in front of her. “Oh, wait! Uhm…” Fluttershy sheepishly looked around a moment before speaking up again. “Would you like something to eat? It’s the least I can do after bumping into you like that. You look awfully hungry is all, not to say you look skinny, I mean, I think you look very fit. O-Oh that is to say, uhm… Pinkie should be-” “No!” Gilda had been calm, mostly from sheer tiredness, but yelled at the first mention of… of Pinkie Pie. Fluttershy shrank back in shock, causing Gilda to recoil somewhat herself. She gritted her teeth and looked away. “I mean, no, it’s fine. I just need to see Dash as soon as possible.” Fluttershy didn’t return eye contact and only stared off to the side. “Okay...” she squeaked timidly. Gilda looked up. She was surprised to see the disapproving glares of several other ponies around her. “Geez…” she groaned and shook her head, then looked at Fluttershy again. “Look, umm…?” “Fluttershy,” Fluttershy choked out, one eye glancing at Gilda from behind her mane. “Yeah… Look, Fluttershy, I just had a long flight here from the griffin kingdom. Several days, in fact...” She muttered the last part, eyes looking anywhere but at the other mare facing her. “So... sorry for yelling at you…” She had gritted her teeth, nearly mumbling the whole apology. Fluttershy stood up and looked Gilda in the face, wearing a renewed friendly smile. “Oh, it’s okay, I was probably being awkward… But, yes, I-I’ll go now.” With that, she cantered off, briefly glancing over shoulder just once. The surrounding ponies also moved on. Eventually, Gilda realized she’d just been standing there, staring in an exhausted daze. “Uggh.” She started moving again and fought to stay awake, pressing through town towards Rainbow Dash’s house, where she hoped to find her old, former friend. This time, she also tried to take care to look out for pony road blocks. The trot was barely worth mention compared to the flight Gilda had made from her home in the griffin kingdom, but still felt like it took a lifetime in her current state. Eventually, she found herself in a wide, peaceful looking field of grass, above which hovered her goal. Rainbow Dash’s cloud home floated just overhead. Gilda had to summon all of her remaining strength for the fifteen or so strides between her and the front door. But she made it, and heaved out a breath after touching her hooves down on the soft terrace of Dash's cloud-porch. Her side leaned against the frame a moment, just to work out one last yawn. With a hoof she rapped against the door several times, eliciting a call from inside. “What the- Yeah, okay, be there in a sec! Hold your ponies, would you!” Rainbow Dash's unmistakable voice called from inside the cloud door. Finally… Might get some… help… now… Gilda stood there, leaning against the door in a daze, and nearly drifted off to sleep. She wasn’t remotely prepared for the door to open, and fell in, almost on top of who was standing just inside the doorway. “Hey!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she leaped out of the way. “What's the big idea? And who the hay are you?” She stared down at the lump of pony, now laying in her house and… snoring, it sounded like. The stranger had an odd coat; brown from the shoulders back, but bright white above that. She'd never seen such a weirdly patterned coat like that before. On the floor, Gilda mumbled something unintelligible in answer as she laid there, sprawled out. “Oumf oh uu aye mmm.” Rainbow Dash stared a moment longer, then cocked her head to the side quizzically. “What?” was all she managed. Gilda heaved a heavy sigh into the clouded floor before lifting her head to the pony before her. “You know who I am.” Her voice was completely flat. Rainbow Dash eyed the mare on her floor for a few more seconds. Oddly enough, she felt that the stranger was familiar, but couldn’t quite make out a name. "Uuuh, are you somepony from Cloudsdale...?" “Of course you wouldn’t recognize me... I’m a freaking pony now...” Gilda mumbled. “Think hard, hay-brain. Who do I sound like?” Finished, she slumped her head back onto the floor and released another heavy groan. The outburst shook away any lingering confusion Rainbow Dash had, recognizing that tone of voice and many similar outbursts from the past. She looked over the brown pegasus, her white head, and the purple highlights in her white mane. Rainbow's gaze came to a halt on the strange mare's cutie mark of a griffin's head. “Gi-Gilda!?” she stammered. A look of disbelief spread over her face. Gilda grunted again, and nodded. "Pfft-ahahahaha!” Rainbow Dash opened her eyes wide, then collapsed onto the floor, suddenly laughing uncontrollably. Gilda managed to twist her head to the side and scowl at her friend as she rolled about the floor, kicking her hooves in the air. “Laugh it up, Dash. It’s all your stupid pony magic’s fault.” Hearing this, Rainbow Dash rolled back over and stood up, suppressing her uproarious laughter down to a chuckle. “I can't believe it's you! And hey, what is that supposed to mean?” “That’s what I want to know!” Gilda growled from the ground. She made a strained attempt to get to her hooves, but only collapsed under her own weight. Her legs felt like lead weights from days without rest. “Oh, what's the use. You probably couldn’t help me either.” Rainbow Dash shook the last of the giggles from her system and sat down next to her old flying friend. She wore a serious look and had a tone of voice to match. “Look, I know things didn’t end well the last time we saw each other, but I can still hear you out.” A grin crossed her muzzle. “For old time's sake.” It may have been the total exhaustion, but Gilda was actually touched somewhat by her old friend’s words. “Seriously? Wow, uhh… Thanks..." They stared at each other quietly for almost an entire minute before Gilda spoke up again. “Hey, Dash?” Gilda began sheepishly. “Yeah, Gilda?” Dash returned. “Can I crash here for a while?” Gilda broke eye contact to look around the room, her cheeks flushed in embarrassment. “I kinda flew here all the way from home and well…” “And…?” Rainbow Dash cocked an eyebrow. Gilda laid her head down against the cushy floor. “I can’t move.” She closed her eyes, and before Dash could object, was out cold. Rainbow Dash smiled and repressed a snicker. She left the room for a moment, returning with a spare blanket that she draped over Gilda’s sleeping pony form. The front door shut quietly behind her as she left her home. “Guess I should go see Twilight, then.” Rainbow Dash sighed, but still wore a smirk. Her wings spread out, and with a powerful leap and a single flap, was sent soaring through the air in the direction of the old Ponyville library. It was late in the evening when Gilda roused herself from sleep. “Ugh, my head,” Gilda whined softly. She could hear hushed voices coming from another room. Slowly, she pulled herself onto her tired hooves. Her muscles felt even worse than before from overuse, and she was still a far cry from well rested, but her curiosity got the better of her. Gilda slowly cantered through the cloud home's living room and rounded a corner to the opening of the kitchen. What she found was a purple unicorn mare having a cup of tea and chatting with her friend, Rainbow Dash. The unicorn noticed Gilda step into the room and smiled. “Well good morning,” she greeted her.   “Hey, Gilda, we didn’t wake you up did we?” Rainbow Dash asked casually.   Gilda aimed a shrug at Dash and gingerly took a seat at the kitchen's table. “So who the hay are you?” she asked the unicorn with a flat look.   The purple mare looked between Gilda and Rainbow Dash for a moment. When the latter offered a shrug of her own, she decided to speak. “My name is Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight looked at Gilda expectantly, but only received the same look as before.   “Ahem…” Twilight cleared her throat awkwardly under Gilda’s scrutinizing stare. “Dash told me about your condition. You used to be a griffin?”   Gilda blinked several times at Twilight, unsure of what to make of the mare. Rather than answer her question, she turned to Rainbow Dash and cocked her head to the side. “Okay, what gives, Dash? Who is this and why did you tell her about me?”   “Relax, Twilight is a total egghead.” Rainbow Dash paused for a moment while Twilight groaned and complained at the mention of the word, all the while giving Gilda a subtle smirk. “She’s the smartest mare I know when it comes to magic. If anypony can fix you, she can.”   Gilda managed a snicker at Rainbow Dash’s jab to her friend. She turned to the purple mare and gave her a sly grin. “Okay, egghead, I’ll give you a shot.”   Twilight groaned again, but offered a strained smile to Gilda and a glare to Rainbow Dash for snickering. “I’m going to assume that means you really were a griffin before.” She nodded to herself thoughtfully. “Okay then... I guess for starters, tell me about the first time you noticed the change.” A quill and notepad levitated from out from Twilight’s saddle bags and she motioned for Gilda to begin with her hoof.   Gilda shot Rainbow Dash an uncertain look, to which she received an assuring nod.   After an exaggerated sigh, Gilda began recalling the events of her unfortunate experience. “Okay then. Guess it started the day after I left Ponyville about a year ago. I- Dash you got anything to drink?” Gilda let out a weak cough. “Haven’t had anything to drink all day.” Rainbow Dash nodded. “Yeah sure, gimme a sec.” She cantered over to her sink and began filling a cup of water. Twilight blinked a few times in confusion before groaning and scratching out the notes she had just taken. “Hehe,” she chuckled. “I wrote down your request…” Gilda snorted and took the cup from Rainbow Dash readily. She was clumsy however and spilled just as much water on her coat as she drank. “Darn it!” Gilda snarled as she dropped the cup entirely. She moaned and let her head smack the table. “I would kill for my claws back…” Twilight took an uncomfortable scooch away from Gilda on her side of the table while Rainbow Dash moved around and placed a hoof on the former griffin. “Hey, don’t sweat it. Whatever this is, I’m sure we can help.” Rainbow Dash put on her most confident smile. “Right, Twilight?” Twilight nodded vigorously to Gilda upon receiving her gaze. “Certainly! It's all just a matter of putting the puzzle pieces together. Now, I first need to know what happened, before we can begin. Or, at least what you know.” Gilda rubbed her despised hooves together thoughtfully and sat up. “Alright, it was the day after I left Ponyville.” Gilda briefly considered bringing up her outburst after the events at the party, but decided mentioning that she started attacking random plant life just because its color vaguely reminded her of her best friend wasn’t going to win her any popularity contests. “I was flying home and stopped up in the mountains to rest for the night. There wasn't anything weird about the place that I could see. I even went back there a couple times...” Gilda stared down at her hooves in deep thought. “But when I woke up the next morning… I was like this.” Twilight stopped her scribbling and looked up. “That’s it? It just happened? Why didn't you come back for help?” In response, the former griffin just stared dully at Rainbow Dash for a few moments before speaking. “Guess I figured I wasn’t welcome. Plus, I was pretty sure I could get better help from some actual griffins and not some lame hay-brained—” Gilda trailed off and her eyes widened slightly. “Err…” She stumbled over what to say under the expressions of the ponies in the room for her. “No offense?” Rainbow Dash facehooved while Twilight shook her head in disappointment. “Just tell us what you did instead,” the unicorn mare harrumphed. Chuckling sheepishly, Gilda continued. “I kinda flipped out and did the first thing any griffin would do in my situation.” Both of the other mares in the room with Gilda replied in tandem. “And?” Gilda shrugged indifferently. “Slammed my skull into a few rocks trying to wake up.” She smirked at the wince she earned from Twilight and the eye roll from Rainbow Dash. “When that didn’t work, I spent the next two days flying home.” “And how did that work out?” Rainbow Dash asked, despite already guessing the answer herself. Gilda gave her a flat look. “How do you think? My folks were… understanding after some convincing I was who I said I was.” She slumped her head in one hoof thoughtfully. “We went to see dozens of griffin specialists, but most of them were whack jobs. More than just a few of them blamed it on my visit to ponyland though. And after the last year of… this, can’t say I disagree.” Twilight spoke up from behind her notes. “So you came back thinking we could help?” “Kind of? I mean…” Gilda's tone became sullen. “I also came here because I was tired of home.” This only earned her a couple of confused looks, so she continued. “At first everyone was okay about my situation. But the longer I stayed like this, the more everyone started treating me differently. Sometimes pity, sometimes being overly nice. Sometimes a jerk. Whatever it was, it was different than normal.” She glared down at the table with her brow furrowed in anger. “Guess the breaking point was when my dad actually called me a pony to my face after a fight, not that he was wrong.” “You really don’t like us do you?” Twilight asked, surprising everyone in the room. “I— I guess not, but can you blame me?” Gilda asked indignantly. Twilight shook her head, paused in thought. “Whatever the problem is, I’ll do my best to help you. No matter what your opinion of us is. I can’t force you to like ponies, but I can at least be an example of why you shouldn't dislike us. Besides, weren’t you and Dash friends before?” Gilda stared at Rainbow Dash as she spoke. “Dash was… is different.” Rainbow Dash smiled and held out a hoof. There was a brief pause while Gilda considered the gesture. She soon smiled and bumped her hoof against her friend’s with a resounding clop. “So, we cool?” Gilda asked hesitantly. “Not quite," Dash replied, narrowing her eyes slightly, but still smiling. “You still gotta make it up to my other friends before it’s all old times again!” Gilda rolled her eyes. “Only for you, Dash. But I guess that’s fair.” “Excellent!” cried an excited Twilight that shook the two other mares from their moment. “As for your predicament, we can start on the research first thing tomorrow!” Gilda tilted her head to the side. “Why not now?” Twilight chuckled. “Because it’s almost midnight.” Gilda ventured a look out the window and saw the moon high in the sky. “Oh…” she mumbled. “We all need our rest, especially you.” Twilight seemed concerned as she scanned over Gilda’s features. “You really look terrible. Maybe you should accompany Fluttershy and I to the spa tomorrow.” “Whoa, hold your pony feathers there. Dash and I would never be caught dead in a place like that. Ain’t that right, Dash?” Gilda turned to her friend with a grin that melted at the sight of Rainbow Dash’s guilty smile. “No… Dash, you didn’t...” “Hehe…” Rainbow Dash chuckled. “Noooo, never.” She got up and started walking Twilight to the front door of the house. Gilda facehoofed. “I don’t even know you anymore…” Despite herself, she chuckled at the idea of Rainbow Dash squirming through a hooficure, and made to follow the two other mares. Twilight had made it to the door and opened it when Gilda’s sudden call caught her attention. “Hey Egghe— I mean Twilight!” Gilda called out. Twilight turned her head back into the cloud home. “Yes, Gilda?” Gilda swallowed hard. “Tha… Thank you.” Twilight smiled brightly at the bashful show before her. “Don’t mention it, that’s what friends do.” With a few steps and a light click from the door, Twilight was gone.