There were days when Fluttershy was truly grateful for her purpose in life. Taking care of animals might seem like a pain to many ponies, but for the young caretaker wouldn’t trade it for anything else in the world. Waking up early to feed her critters, cleaning them, washing them, playing with them and more. It was a day full of excitement and joy that awaited her with each new day. . Of course, she always made sure to have time for herself to do things like reading a new book, hanging out with her friends, or going on long walks to clear her mind.
And then there were her very busy days, such as the one today. A nasty flu had gotten around town and many ponies were infected with it, along with their pets. Fluttershy had had to work overtime for the past three days to take care of the sick animals while also babysitting them until their owners were better too. It broke her heart to see so many animals sick and missing their owners, but things were turning around thankfully.
Twilight and Zecora had teamed up find a cure and now most of the population was recovering. Best of all, the potion worked on animals too.
Fluttershy added a few drops of the potion into the food of the town carpenter's pet walrus. He gave a thankful arf before digging into the oysters. Fluttershy smiled and patted him on the head. “Now be a good boy and eat up. Not too fast though! We don’t want you getting a tummy ache.”
The walrus nodded in agreement before going back to his meal. Fluttershy smiled and turned around, checking all the other animals near the pond before flying back to her cottage. All of her critter friends and the other ponies’ pet’s waved or gave a cry of hello in their own animal tongues. She giggled as a few humming birds flew by and placed some lovely flowers on her head. “Thank you.”
She landed on her front porch and opened the door, only to get a carrot thrown at her face. Rubbing her forehead, she glanced at her favorite—admittedly sometimes rude—bunny named Angel. The scowling rabbit had his paws crossed while thumping his foot on the ground impatiently. He then pointed to the clock and Fluttershy gasped. “Oh, it’s time to brush your tail. I’m sorry, Angel. I lost track of time. Tell you what, I’ll give it some extra brushing to make it look really cute, okay?”
Angel nodded in satisfaction and made his way to the living room couch where his favorite brush was waiting. Fluttershy was about to make her way towards him when the door slammed open so hard it shook the house. Yelping in a panic, Fluttershy shot up and wrapped her legs around her chandelier, shaking like a scared mouse.
“Hey! Shy pony or whatever your name is, where are you?!” roared the intruder.
Fluttershy slowly looked down and saw who it was that had caused her present state. “G-Gilda?!”
It had been a long time since she had last seen the griffin, but it was indeed her. It was hard to forget a mean, scary, half eagle, half lion bully who yelled in your face with a temper that could rival a dragon. After her fight with Rainbow Dash, most had assumed they would never see Gilda again, but here she was.
“Yeah. Get down here, now!” shouted Gilda, spit practically flying out of her beak.
Fluttershy didn’t even hesitate, not wanting to make the hybrid mad. When she landed, she closed her eyes, ready for more yelling. Instead, she heard something that made her freeze up.
“You have to help me, please!”
Opening her eyes, Fluttershy gasped in horror at what she saw. In Gilda’s claws was a mock turtle. It was about the same size as Rainbow Dash’s, and it had a cow like head with long ears and horns. What really alerted Fluttershy was that it was red in the face and its eyes were glazed over while its tongue hung over the side of his mouth. If not for being able to tell he was still breathing, Fluttershy would have feared the turtle was dead already. Her veterinary instincts kicked in and Fluttershy took him gently from Gilda to begin to coddling him. “Oh my goodness, what happened to him?”
“I don’t know!He got out of the house and I found him like this. You’ve gotta save him,” begged Gilda, who looked to be doing her best to avoid crying.
Fluttershy nodded with a look of determination and turned to Angel. “Sorry, Angel. Momma has to work.”
Angel sighed but nodded in understanding as Fluttershy gently laid the turtle in an empty dog’s bed. She grabbed some blankets to cover him up and a nearby thermometer to take his temperature with. She then checked his pulse and gulped as it pushed against her hoof weakly . Worse the thermometer was far past what most would call healthy.
Fluttershy had her suspicions on what was going on.. “Has he been out in the sun a lot? Has he had any water?”
“He got out of my house and was out in the sun for I don’t know how long. Seven hours? Eight? I spent all day looking for him,” answered Gilda. “Why?”
“I think he might have heatstroke! I need you to get into my freezer, get all the ice packs you can, and bring it up to my room upstairs.” Fluttershy grabbed the turtle and headed for the stairs. Gilda wasted no time heading into the kitchen before following Fluttershy.
Slamming her door open, Fluttershy laid the sick turtle on her bed while turning on her nearby air conditioner at full blast. She also made sure to close the windows so the cool air couldn’t escape. Gilda came up not too long after with a bunch of ice packs in her claws. Taking some, she told Glida to help her put the ice packs in the right areas so the ice packs could be used to maximum effect.
“I’ll get some water and rags. You make sure he stays still and doesn’t move,” ordered Fluttershy.
“Okay...” whispered Gilda, who gently stroked the turtle’s forebrow.
Fluttershy started at them with sympathy before she made her way downstairs. She was still finding it a surprise to see Gilda concerned over a pet. She didn’t even know she had one. Then again, she only had known Gilda for one day and, despite it being a bad experience, there must have been something that made her and Rainbow Dash friends to begin with. Plus, Fluttershy had a personal philosophy about pet owners. If you cared about your pet, there was a good side to you. She had known and even heard of ponies who were cruel or uncaring towards their pets and more often than not, they turned out to be horrible ponies.
Gilda had shown nothing but love and concern for her own pet.
A knock on the door, alerted Fluttershy that more company had arrived. Hoping she could get them to leave quickly, she opened the door only to nearly gasp.
“Hey, Fluttershy. Want to hang out today?” asked Rainbow Dash, smiling at her.
Fluttershy did her best to stay calm, but she could feel the sweat dripping down her brow. If Dash and Gilda knew the other was here, there was no telling what was going to happen. She could still recall the horrible fight they’d had at Sugarcube Corner years ago that ended their friendship. Many years had past since then, perhaps their feelings had changed? If Trixie and Discord were any indication that bad can become good, surely Gilda couldn’t be the exception?
“Fluttershy?” asked Rainbow Dash, raising an eyebrow. “Are you okay?”
“O-oh, yes. I’m sorry,” replied Fluttershy, blushing. “ I can’t hang out with you today, Rainbow Dash. I have a sick patient who really needs my help.”
Despite a brief look of annoyance, Rainbow Dash nodded. “Okay, I get that. Need any help?”
“N-no! I’m fine. Thanks for asking.”
Dash nodded again, but just before she was about to take off for parts unknown a thought occurred to Fluttershy. “Um, Rainbow. Not to be a bother, but have you heard from Gilda at all since... she last visited?”
Raising an eyebrow, Dash asked, “Why do you want to know?”
“Um, well the owner of the turtle I’m taking care of is a griffin and...” She gulped. “I guess I was just curious. If you don’t want to answer you don’t have too.”
To her surprised, Rainbow Dash lowered her head a bit as her ears folded downward. With a heavy sigh, Dash answered, “No... but I wish I had.” Fluttershy stayed quiet as Dash continued. “I haven’t heard from her, and I guess I’d be lying if I said I don’t think of her sometimes. I mean we were best friends until that stupid fight. I was just so angry by how she was acting... I guess I should have had a cooler head and talk things out with her before shutting her out like that.”
“Oh, Rainbow Dash,” said Fluttershy, walking over and putting a comforting hoof on her shoulder. “It wasn’t your fault. Gilda was being mean and you were only defending us.”
“Yeah, but Gilda never was like that. Rude, sure. Going too far with pranks? I can easily say I’m the same. But not an outright bully. Hay, the two of us hated them growing up,” Dash smirked. “That’s how we got to be friends. She got picked on for being different while I got made fun of for being short. Outcasts kinda coming together, you know?”
Personally, Fluttershy always thought her friend was cute by being so small when they were growing up. Not that she would ever tell Dash that since she hated being a shrimp.
“Do you think you would make up with her?” asked Fluttershy, hopefully. If she could get the two to be friends again it would be a wonderful experience. Plus, they both love turtles. They could easily bond together while having a pet play date!
“I guess, but she would have to make the first move. I’m not going to apologize for defending you and the others that day, but I will apologize for not fixing things when I had the chance,” said Rainbow Dash, turning her back towards Fluttershy. “Anyway, see ya later.”
Fluttershy waved goodbye as Dash flew away. Closing the door, she made her way towards the kitchen but nearly jumped when Gilda, hiding behind a corner, said, “You didn’t have to ask that.” Fluttershy turned around, expecting to see an angry griffin, but instead she was staring at a remorseful one. Gilda, eyes closed, whispered, “But thanks...”
Gilda walked over to the sink and started wetting some rags. It took Fluttershy a few seconds before she remembered why she came down and joined the griffin. The two gathered the rags in silence before returning to the sick turtle.
For a while, they did nothing but pat the wet rags on the turtle as he slept peacefully. Occasionally, Fluttershy would check his temperature again and to her relief found that it was slowly going down. Still, they had some measure of effort to go before they were out of the woods. She turned her attention to Gilda who was currently hovering over her pet like a mother hawk and its egg.
Deciding it would be best to break the ice, Fluttershy asked, “What’s his name?”
“Mochrie,” answered Gilda. “Don’t know why I picked it, but he seemed to like it a lot.”
Fluttershy giggled, earning her a raised eyebrow from the curious griffin. “Oh, sorry. I just thought you’d pick something a bit cooler and not as... cute.”
Turning away to hide her blush, Gilda stammered, “W-well, some cute names can be cool.”
“How did you two meet?” asked Fluttershy, feeling braver to inch forward. “If you don’t mind me asking.”
Gilda sighed and patted her turtle a bit before saying, “It wasn’t too long after Dash and I...” she frowned, “I didn’t have anybody around. My folks were back home in Birdtania, and most of my co-workers are too nervous to really talk to me.” She turned to the mock turtle and nuzzled him. “One day while I was flying home from work, I saw a bunch of brats kicking Mochrie around like a soccer ball. Pissed me off so much that I scared them away with a good old fashioned griffin battle roar.”
Fluttershy shivered at the memory of that happening to her awhile ago. She almost felt sorry for the colts until she remembered they were kicking around a poor defenceless turtle. Almost.
“Good thing his shell kept him safe from getting injured. I took him home to let him stay awhile before planning to leave him off somewhere in a pet store.” Just as Gilda was finishing, Mochrie opened his eyes and began to nuzzle his head against Gilda’s talon. The hybrid smiled and scratched his neck. “But the guy won my affection you could say. He listened to me and kind of became my new best friend. He was...cool. Mock turtles are cool.”
“I’ve never seen one so far away from the shore before. Are they popular in Birdtania?” asked Fluttershy.
“Yeah, we’re surrounded by water as an island nation, so it’s pretty easy to find one in a town. I used to head to the beach with my pop all the time to watch them migrate during mating season.” Gilda chuckled as a blush decorated her cheeks. “I’ve always wanted one as a pet, but my folks weren’t keen on owning an animal. So I spent as much time at the beaches, watching them, feeding them, playing with them. Having Mochrie around kinda gives me a reminder of what home is like. Plus, it’s nice having a friend to talk to who isn’t nervous because you can rip them in half with your beak alone. Wish he could talk back though.”
“You don’t have any other friends?” asked Fluttershy, tilting her head. “Not even griffin ones?”
Gilda shook her head. “Nah, most ponies are afraid of me. Plus, most Griffins live up on the northeast coast while I’m down northwest. Kinda the only griffin where I live,” commented Gilda, a sad tone hidden behind her voice.
Fluttershy was now close enough to wrap a wing around Gilda, making her nearly jump. “If you want, I could be your friend.”
“Y-you? But last time I was here, I sent you home crying!” said Gilda.
“Well, it wasn’t as bad as the time one of my other friends turned me into a grey colored meany pants, but I forgive you either way,” replied Fluttershy with a smile. “Everypony deserves another chance. And seeing you care about Mochrie so much means there must be some good in you. Besides, you came to me for help. Even after everything you’ve done, that takes a lot of courage.” A thought dawned on Fluttershy before she asked, “Why did you come to me anyway?”
Gilda rubbed the back of her neck. “W-well, I remember Rainbow Dash talking about you last time and how great you were with animals. There aren’t any vets where I live so I high tailed it here. I had to ask a few ponies where you were and... well, the rest his history.”
“I’m surprised you even asked for help. You seem like a very stubborn person,” replied Fluttershy, before covering her mouth. “W-wait, I didn’t mean it like that... sorry...”
To her surprise, Gilda shook her head. “Relax, I don’t blame you. I was pretty lame last time I came here...”
“O-oh, okay...”
Fluttershy turned away, hooves rubbing against each other as she decided to keep her mouth shut. A part of her really wanted to learn more about what made this Gilda so different from the Gilda she met years ago. A rumble in her tummy alerted her and she turned her attention to a nearby clock that indicated it was past dinner time. She got up and turned her head back towards Gilda. “Would you like something to eat?”
“Uh, sure. I take it you don’t have any meat, right?” asked Gilda.
“Actually, I have some fish I keep around for some of my animals. Will that be okay?”
Gilda licked her lips. “Sounds great, but I’m gonna use your bathroom first. All that flying and worrying makes me want to piss more than a dragon.”
Fluttershy blushed at the crude analogy and instead guided Gilda to her restroom downstairs. As she set up her guest’s fish on a pan, Fluttershy started making herself a nice, little salad. She thought about Gilda and wondered if there was any chance of having her and Rainbow Dash make up. It was clear that Dash did regret ending her friendship with Gilda, and despiting having a pet, the griffin sounded like she was lonely.
But how could I get them to talk to each other? thought Fluttershy as she started cutting tomatoes.
A knock on her door nearly made her cut herself from the distraction. “C-coming,” cried out Fluttershy as she hurried to her door and opened it. “R-Rainbow Dash?!”
Walking in Rainbow Dash, eyes narrowed, looked around a bit before turning to Fluttershy. “I overheard a few ponies in town say they heard Gilda was asking about you. Just awhile ago you asked me about her.”
“I... I...”
“Fluttershy, if she is here, please tell me.” Rainbow Dash stomped her hoof on the floor.
Just as Fluttershy was about to answer, Gilda came in through the other hallway sighing in relaxation. “Ah, that was refreshing, so what kind of... fish... are we...”
Gilda and Dash’s eyes widened upon seeing each other after so long. Fluttershy only whimpered as she tried to move forward, but she was too scared to do so. For the longest time, they stood there, the three of them, none daring to move a muscle.
And then all three of their stomachs growled.
Blushing Fluttershy rubbed the back of her head and said, “Um, maybe we should eat first?”
***
Thankfully, the prospect of food had calmed the tense situation down and soon all three were eating at the table. That didn’t mean the awkwardness was completely gone, as both Dash and Gilda kept picking at their food without eating. They also avoided each other’s gaze, either glancing towards Fluttershy or at their plates. Fluttershy, stuck in the middle, tried to think of a way to get rid of this silence.
I wish Rarity was here. This is the sort of thing she’s good at doing.
“...So, Rainbow Dash,” said Fluttershy, deciding to just wing it. “How is the weather patrol job going?”
“Huh? Oh, it’s going well...” commented Dash.
“That’s good... and is Mochrie sleeping well?” asked Fluttershy, turning to Gilda.
“Yeah, he’s resting. His temperature’s back to normal too,” said Gilda.
“Who’s Mochrie?” asked Dash raising an eyebrow.
“My pet mock turtle,” answered Gilda, looking at Dash in the face for the first time since they sat down.
Rainbow Dash leaned back a bit in surprise before asking, “You have a pet turtle? Huh... I have one too.”
“Really? Small world I guess. What’s his name?”
“Tank. Plus he can fly thanks to a contraption Twilight made,” said Rainbow Dash with a smirk. “Fastest turtle around I tell ya.”
“Huh, maybe I should get one of those for Mochrie. Dude could see what its like to fly without me carrying him,” said Gilda, rubbing her chin.
Rainbow Dash, rubbing the back of her neck, replied, “W-w-well, I could ask Twilight. She’d be happy to give you one if I asked her to.”
The two former friends turned away again and Fluttershy gave a small sigh of disappointment. However, she soon jumped when both of them turned back towards the other and shouted, “I’m sorry!”
“No! I am!” shouted Dash and Gilda at the same time. “Stop saying what I’m saying!”
“Um, girls?” said Fluttershy, getting between them. “Maybe you should both say what you want to say to the other?”
“Fine. You go first,” they both said to each other. Upon realizing they did it again, they shouted, “Seriously?”
“Okay, l’ll go first,” said Dash, taking a deep breath. “I’m sorry I yelled at you Gilda, and called you a jerk. I mean, you were acting mean to my friends and I couldn’t take that, but I shouldn’t have thrown away our friendship like that without trying to fix it. I don’t even known what happened I just... I just want to know why? Why did you act like that… poser?”
Both ponies looked at Gilda who was blushing and keeping her head down. Closing her eyes, she replied, “I was jealous.”
“Jealous?” both ponies said in surprise.
Scowling, Gilda cross her arm and replied, “Yeah, jealous. All you ever talked about in your letters was how you had new friends and how much fun you were having. When I came by to visit, all you ever did was tell me stories you had made with them. And when I saw Pinkie Pie, trying to mooch in on our fun time, I got... I got upset. I felt like your friends were replacing me. Especially since they were ponies and I was a griffin. I thought you were wanting to be more with your own kind.”
“Woah! Woah! Woah!” shouted Dash, holding her forelegs out. “You thought I was replacing you? Gilda, I could never replace you! You and I have been through so much together. The reason I was talking about my friends so much was because I wanted you to get to know them before I introduced you. I wanted you to join the gang!”
Gilda’s mouth dropped. “R-really?”
“Yeah, Gilda. I wanted you to be part of us. I never meant to make you think I was ignoring you,” replied Dash with a smile. “I’m sorry that I made you think that way.”
Gilda’s only response was to rush over and hug her friend, a hug Dash gave back in full. A tear of happiness escaped Fluttershy’s eye at the sight of seeing two old friends come back together. It made her heart swell with pride over what she had done and resolved to add this to the journal she and her friends shared. After all, if this isn’t a perfect story about friendship. I don’t know what it is.
“Still, how am I going to fix what I did to your friends? I was a jerk to them last time.” asked Gilda.
Rainbow Dash replied with a smirk. “Oh, I think I know how.”
***
Fluttershy stood with the rest of their friends and their pets on their weekly pet play date. Each of them was staring at a nervous looking Gilda and a smirking Rainbow Dash, both of their turtles side by side on the ground. Rarity stepped forward and said, “Let me get this straight. You two have settled your differences and you want Gilda to take part in our play date?”
“That’s the gist of it,” said Rainbow, putting a wing across her griffin friend. “Look, I know Gilda didn’t leave the best of impressions when she was here last time. But she’s changed. Trust me, she wants to be our friend.”
“Y-yeah, what Dash said.” Gilda nervously waved her claw as everypony but Fluttershy stared at her with a neutral expression.
Pinkie Pie then walked up to Gilda and glared at her. “So, you want to be friends, huh?”
“Um, yes?” asked Gilda with a nervous smile.
Pinkie Pie slowly raised her hoof and bopped it on Gilda’s beak. With a big smile, she shouted, “Then tag! You’re it!”
And just like that, Pinkie Pie dashed away, laughing. It took the others a moment to realize what happened and before they knew it, them and the pets were running away from Gilda who did her best to try to catch them.