Griffon the Heave-ho
by CrowMagnon
When she said it, Gertrude had truly intended to go down and visit among her clan.
That had been twenty minutes ago, and the former queen only flew farther and farther away from the mountain.
A traitor and a liar... and now a coward, too.
"Is that your thought or mine?" she asked Gungnir.
Yes, the Windigo replied.
-----
The little bell over the Bean There, Done That's door jangled repeatedly as three mares stormed out, taking their anger and frustration outside. Inside, Rainbow Dash pulled herself out of her seat to hurry after them. "Girls, wait! Wait up!"
Soon catching up to them, Rainbow Dash pulled ahead and then spun around to block their way. "Okay... so, I know she's kinda of hard to get along with at first. Gilda's not so great at making a good first impression." Seeing the still-simmering anger in her friend's faces, she added, "Alright, she's pretty much the worst. But there's a lot more to her than you've seen at first glance. Please, she was my best friend before I met you guys. I need you to give her a chance."
The rainbow-maned pegasus looked to each of her friends, her rose-colored eyes so wide and pleading that they were taken by surprise. Rarity looked to her friends, then replied, "Rainbow, you know we all love you dearly, but it is very hard to be the bigger pony when she won't even apologize!" The other two scowled and nodded. As did Spike, though probably less in agreement than simply because everypony else was.
Rainbow Dash took a deep breath and scuffed the dirt with her hoof. "I know. Believe me, I know, but... this is really, really important to me," she said quietly before pointing to Fluttershy. "And who was it who decided to be my friend, even after I tried to scare you all out of the Everfree?"
Fluttershy looked down at the ground for a bit. "Well... I did," she admitted, and when she looked up again, she gave Dash a warm smile.
Rainbow Dash returned the smile before turning to Applejack. "And who, out of everypony here, is all about second chances?"
The businessmare sighed. "Oh, sure, use that against me," she replied, shaking her head. "But since you put it that way, I suppose that I could give her another opportunity to make a good impression."
Finally, Dash turned to Rarity, who lifted her hoof to cut her off before she could speak. "Stop... I know where this is going. Yes, I forgave you after all the years of pranks you pulled on everypony in Ponyville. That was different. You put your life on the line to save Equestria."
Rainbow Dash shot the unicorn a wry smirk. "Oh, so the only difference between a friend and a stranger is whether you've both been in mortal danger?"
Spike giggled at the rhyming pegasus while Rarity made a small frown. "Now Rainbow, you know I didn't mean it that way."
"Look, girls, I'm just saying that yeah, your first time meeting Gilda was pretty... bad-starty. Why don't we try starting fresh later? You can all come over to my cottage for a welcoming party."
The others reflexively winced at their friend's assault on innocent grammar, but they looked among each other and shrugged. Having relented to Rainbow Dash's request, Fluttershy set down on the ground beside her friend and placed a wing across her back. "Okay, Rainbow. You obviously really care about her, so I think we can all try to start over tonight. Will she be able to stick around for that, though?"
Rainbow Dash scoffed and nuzzled her friend's cheek in gratitude. "Don't you worry. If she even thinks about ducking out before making things right, I'll make her sorry."
"You mean like she's trying to do right now?" Applejack asked, pointing a hoof at the side of the Bean There, Done That, where Gilda could be seen trying to crawl out a window too small for even a pony to fit through. The griffon's attempt at stealth was further ruined when she tried to squeeze her wings through, only to let out a pained squawk as the windowframe pinched them.
-----
"What were you thinking?!"
"Ow! Watch your hooves! I just-- Ow! I thought you didn't want me giving your prissy pony pals a hard time!"
"So you figured you'd avoid 'em by climbing out a window? Have you been drinking?"
After a rescue effort that involved Twilight and Rarity using their magic to help dislodge Gilda, Rainbow Dash had insisted that the griffon come back to her cottage before she did any more damage to the tendons in her wings. Despite Gilda's protests, Dash had made it abundantly clear that refusal was not an option.
Gilda clenched her teeth as Dash massaged some sort of ointment into her wings and shoulders. Whatever it was, it smelled like an amorous weasel and made her wings feel like they were on fire and freezing at the same time. After the mixture set in, it did have the effect of numbing the pain from the strain she had put on her wings, though, so she found it hard to complain. "Huh. Guess there actually is something to this voodoo witch stuff. And I thought you'd just run off to be a hippy flower-child."
Despite her frustration with Gilda's earlier behavior, Rainbow Dash let out a snort of laughter at that. "Not in the Everfree, where half the flowers want to eat you. Nah, I'm a survivor, thanks to my teacher."
"Yeah. You're really livin' the life," Gilda replied. An awkward, pensive silence permeated the cottage before she broke it again by asking, "So, what's with the rhyming? I thought that mopey waitress was the poet."
Dash rolled her eyes. "Ugh, I know, but I just picked up the habit. My mentor's a zebra, so--" She got interrupted by an insistent tapping on her hind leg, and looked down. "What do you want, rabbit?"
The white bunny glared up at her and pointedly tapped his foot against his food bowl.
Rainbow Dash frowned. "Yeah, I don't think so, rabbit. You can wait for dinner like all the other critters."
With a predatory grin, Gilda leaned in close to the bunny and interjected, "Ah, come on, Dash. The little guy's just telling you it's snack time! I know I could go for a snack right now."
Arching an eyebrow, Dash replied, "Uh, G? You don't wanna get too--"
Unimpressed by the griffon's threatening demeanor, the bunny glared right back at her and reached for the edge of his food dish. Gilda just barely saw the dish being thrown straight at her face in time to pull her head back.
"--Close," Rainbow Dash finished, wincing when the dish cracked one of the cottage's windows.
Gilda blinked in surprise, looking at the window before turning her attention back down toward the bunny, who used his paw to make the universally recognized gesture to "bring it."
"Oh, so that's how it is, huh? Yeah..." Gilda narrowed her eyes and bared her talons at the bunny. "Let's dance, cottontail."
"Wait! Don't--" Dash shouted, but Gilda was already pouncing toward the bunny. Moments later, the cottage was filled with the sound of dishes shattering and furniture breaking apart.
-----
At the same time, Gunther found himself wandering the castle halls. Unable to think about anything but the Emperor's proposal and his grandmother's reaction to it, he paid little heed to where he went. Only that his body kept moving forward, even as his mind raced around and around in circles.
Perhaps some part of his subconscious sought out the company of his fellow warriors, as when he did look up, he found that his meandering path had taken him in the direction of the training grounds of the Equestrian Royal Guard. It was a welcome sight, particularly when he glanced across the training field and saw the purple armor of the Captain of the Guard. In the short time that Gunther had been awake in the modern era, Gunther had found Shining Armor to be a worthy peer, so the griffon Knight-Captain decided that if he were to ask any pony around for their perspective on the matter weighing upon his mind, there were none better to be found.
Before he could approach Shining Armor and hail him, though, another pony quite literally swooped down beside him. Gunther immediately recognized the pink alicorn, Cadance, who had offered to help with the negotiations, only to remain pensive and silent. Anger at the princess's earlier inaction flared in his heart, and he began to make his way toward the two ponies.
Cadance and Shining Armor were facing away from him as he drew closer, so they couldn't see him coming, but Gunther saw them exchange greetings before Cadance beckoned Shining Armor to lean in closer as she asked, "Shiny, how well do you know Emperor Buckbeak?"
The unicorn shrugged and replied, "I don't know... not very. I've met him a few times and he seemed okay. Why are you asking?"
Cadance bit her lower lip and hesitantly replied, "Well... I just got this feeling during the meeting. It was so unexpected, I couldn't say anything because I wasn't absolutely sure, but... Ugh, I'm sorry, Shiny. I don't even know how to put it. I probably shouldn't even be talking about it right now, but it's been bothering me, and..."
When the princess trailed off, Shining Armor smiled warmly and reached up to place a hoof on her shoulder. "Hey. Cadance." When she looked him in the eye, he continued, "Look... you can always tell me anything. That hasn't changed. When you figure out what you need to get off your chest, I'll be here for you. Until then, you don't have to say a thing to me if you aren't ready."
"Maybe you should say it to me," Gunther replied, startling the ponies with his presence. He cast an icy glare at Princess Cadance, though it slowly melted into concern as he beseeched her, "Please... tell me. Help me save my grandmother."