Griffon the Heave-ho

by CrowMagnon

Part 14 - Breaking Strain

Griffon the Heave-ho
by CrowMagnon

And how long are we going to remain here?

"I don't know... Until the sun burns down to a cinder, and the moon crumbles away into dust, perhaps?"

How disgustingly poetic, Gungnir mused. You must have finally seen fit to punish me for my crimes, dangling all of this despair and self-loathing in front of me after depriving me of the ability to enjoy it. This... this thing you put inside of me...

Gertrude smiled wanly as she looked down from the cloud she was perched upon. "Your heart, Gungnir. It belongs to you, and everything that comes with it."

But it came from you, the Windigo retorted. I was meant to be a parasite, not to possess things like sympathy or compassion.

"There was a hole in you," Gertrude replied, thinking back to what little she remembered of the time a mere week ago when she and Gungnir had both been on the receiving end of the Elements of Harmony. "All I did was offer you something to fill it with. If you hadn't wanted to accept those feelings, you could have just allowed the Elements to turn you into an ordinary Windigo."

... Yes. I could have, Gungnir conceded. But you have had a heart much longer than I have, and look at what you're doing with it, now.

Gertrude closed her eyes and let out a soft sigh. Visions of Gunther and the rest of her clan flickered through her mind. "I know. I have to return to them. They deserve to know what is going on, and..."

The albino griffoness trailed off as her sharpened senses, though dulled by the warmth of Spring, nevertheless picked up on something that felt entirely too familiar. "Gungnir, did you--?"

Yes, I felt it too.

Gertrude nodded and pushed herself off of the cloud in order to soar down toward the ground below.

-----

"Come on, Twilight, any of us could've slipped into that creek."

"She stole papers out of my saddlebags and dropped them in the water! Do you have any idea how long it'll take me to fill out replacements?"

"That was my idea in the first place! And since it's you, about twenty minutes, so don't shriek."

"I am not shrieking!" Lt. Sparkle shrilly protested. Right into Gilda's ear, in fact, as the griffoness was stuck between the two bickering ponies. A position that had been firmly established by Rainbow Dash, who had dragged her back to the cottage with a determination and strength that would have put most earth ponies to shame, just so Dash could towel her off after her spill. "But after everything she's pulled today, I don't believe it was an accident!"

Gilda would have had a more difficult time hiding her smirk at that if it weren't for Rainbow Dash practically trying to beat the water off of her with her towel. "You don't know what it's like, Twi. Having wings and not being able to use 'em... it just threw your balance off, right G? I mean, when your body's telling you to flap and you can't get the lift--"

Gilda grimaced and pushed herself to head for the door, shoving Dash out of the way. "Whatever! I'm fine, so you can stop mother-henning me like I'm some kind of cr... some kind of crybaby!"

"Don't give me that, Gilda. Winter Wrap-Up was only a week ago, and that water's still barely above freezing! You wanna go back to your pride sick and wheezing?"

"Just let her go," Twilight replied from behind Gilda. "Ever since she got here, she's done nothing but cause trouble, and hasn't even apologized once. Your other friends and I have put up with a lot today because you asked us to, but this has gone way past the point of culture clash."

Rainbow Dash's ears flattened against her head as she looked past Gilda. "Twilight, please, I just--" She was cut off, though, when Gilda turned around and whapped her pegasus friend in the face with her thrashing lion tail.

"What's the matter, Duchess Tight-plot? Don't want me in your little nerd-herd? Afraid I'll remind Dash what actually being cool is like?"

"Now hold on, G. Let's just--"

"Being a self-centered jerk isn't 'cool', and Dash knows that! She actually cares about other creatures!"

"Wait a second, Twilight, I--"

"Maybe she'd be happier if she cared about herself a little more!"

"Hey, I--"

"She was perfectly happy until you showed up! Why don't you get back on the train and--"

"SHUT UP!" Rainbow Dash's shout caused both of her arguing friends to flinch, and she followed up on it by jumping up and flapping her good wing in order to drop down between them. "Both of you, just shut up!"

Her eyes blazed like roses on fire as she jabbed a hoof against Twilight's chest. "Twi, the prank was my idea! It went bad and I'm sorry, but takin' it out on Gilda doesn't change anything!" She then spun around and reared up on her hind legs to look the griffoness straight in the eye. "And you've got no idea how awesome and radical my friends are. All of them! So shut up, sit down, and--"

A knock on the door interrupted Dash, who growled as she quickly went over and practically pulled the door off its hinges when she swung it open. "What?!"

Outside, the rest of Rainbow Dash's friends were waiting with Iron Will standing behind them, a large bowl balanced in one hand. The ponies and minotaur shared an awkward look between one another until Fluttershy asked, "Sooo... are we early for the party?"

She reached back with a hind leg to tap her husband's shin. Momentarily startled by the cue, Iron Will coughed awkwardly into his hand while using the other to hold out the bowl. "We brought fruit salad," he said, trying entirely too hard to be casual about it.

Rainbow Dash felt her face flush a light purple as she pointed her good wing back into her home. "Ah. Uh... thanks, big guy. So, yeah. Come on in." One by one, her friends shuffled their way inside while trying to pretend that they hadn't heard her blow up just moments ago.

It wasn't until Pinkamena stopped and asked, "Can he come in, too?" that Dash noticed the grey, owlish griffon who had seemed to fade into the background.

Giving her a warm smile, the griffon stepped forward and took Rainbow Dash's hoof in his talons, shaking it in greeting. "Hello, Miss Dash, it's a pleasure to finally meet you. I'm Gilda's uncle Greg, and Pinkamena said that I would most likely find her here."

"Oh. Sure, she's here. Make yourself at home. It might be a little cramped, though."

"Not to worry," Grigori good-naturedly replied. "I'll do my best not to get in the way." He stepped inside, leaving Dash and Pinkamena outside.

Before stepping inside, Pinkamena just looked Dash in the eye. Dash quickly felt uncomfortable under the still, unwavering gaze of her friend's blue eyes and reached a hoof back to nervously rub the back of her neck. "So, uh... yeah, sorry about snapping like that. It's been a great day, having Gilda back, but there've been some... pretty lousy moments. Seriously, I'm glad you guys all showed up, and..."

When Dash started to trail off, Pinkamena wrapped her forelegs around the pegasus in a tight hug. "... He told me about what happened when you left Flight Camp. I'm sorry," Pinkamena told her.

For a moment, Dash's widened in panic, but after letting it sink in, she leaned into the hug and let out a resigned sigh. "That's... really personal. Do the rest of 'em know?"

Pinkamena pulled back and shook her head. Dash nodded in reply and said, "Can we keep it that way a while longer? It was a long time ago, and... and I don't want to hurt G. any more than I already have by bringing that up in front of everypony."

"They won't hear it from me. Pinkamena promise," the poet replied before they both steeled themselves and stepped inside.

-----

And once again, we're perched on a mountain, plotting our next move.

"The irony isn't lost on me," Gertrude replied as she focused her keen vision on the small cottage that she had just seen Emperor Grigori enter. "I wouldn't call it 'plotting', though."

Of course not. Because that would imply that you know what you're going to do.

Gertrude frowned. "I'm fairly certain that you didn't get this sarcastic streak from me."

I am developing my own sense of individuality. Aren't you happy that you gave me a heart, now? When Gertrude didn't reply, Gungnir added, Also, I get cranky when a buffet is placed in front of me, and I'm not allowed to partake. So please, if you aren't going to just go down there, then fly us back to the castle.

... Of course, you aren't going to leave. You can't, can you? It's your nature to meddle in the affairs of creatures who haven't even asked for your help. If you didn't, then you wouldn't be in the position you're in now.

The corners of Gertrude's beak curved up in a small grin. "Very true."

Her smile faded slowly as she felt the chill of Winter radiating from the small house down below. "Please put up with it a little longer, Gungnir. If things continue as they seem to be, I think that you will be eating soon."

Author's Note:

Oy, this one took longer than it should have. It went through a few re-writes of the second scene when I kept writing myself into a corner. And then when I finally felt that I was on a roll, and had a good momentum... I lost a sizable chunk of what I had done, forcing me to re-write again from memory.

This is sort of the tipping point of the story, though. The next few chapters will be the climax that will tie everything together. Thanks for still reading, everyone.

Also, part of the lateness of this update was brought to you by Wasteland 2. If you don't know what I'm talking about, go look for it! And if you like what you see, buy it!

Comments

[Hopeful_Ink_Hoof]

Interesting chapter. A little more revealed about Gungnir, a little more teasing us about what happened to Rainbow Dash (which makes me want to know even more . Which I suppose is the point). One question: what is a hood wing? I ask because:

jumping up and flapping her hood wing in order to drop down between them.

[RanmaChaos]

Good

[CrowMagnon]

5037499 Bah. Her GOOD wing. I'll go fix that.

[djthomp]

Gilda just bought herself some future unpleasantness if it ever manages to come out that dropping the papers was completely intentional.

[ZealousChristian24]

I find it interesting how similar yet different Dash's behavior is with a new Element to refract herself through. And it appears we have the calm before the storm...

[Razzy]

Well, the fecal matter is about to hit the oscillating unit.

Now I really wanna know what happened to Daah, if even reminding Gilda of it hurt her.

Cya
Raziel-chan