• Published 31st Oct 2014
  • 1,859 Views, 27 Comments

Snowbound - An-Twan Star



It’s Hearth’s Warming Eve and it’s snowing. Gilda is on the outskirts of Ponyville, unable to fly home and unwilling to go into town. What will she find when she ventures into the forests north of town instead?

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Snowmelt

Gilda paused to take another sip of her tea only to find the cup empty. She reached up to the fire and poured off another cup from the kettle. A glance at Dash showed that the pony still had most of her cup. The griffon ignored the pained expression the pegasus was wearing and curled back up under the blankets again before taking a sip.

“That’s what most of my nights were like, though that one was the worst. Most times I’d just shudder awake, Pinkie’s laughter ringing in my ears, then turn over and go back to sleep again. The days I spent walking or fishing. Thinking mostly.”

“Not flying?” Dash asked softly.

Gilda mutely shook her head. “Couldn’t find a reason to. Haven’t really had a reason to for a while now. Not a good one. Flying out here to visit you was the best I've had in a while."

The pony nibbled her lower lip, mulling over what she would say next. “I never thought you were a failure, you know,” Dash told her softly, causing Gilda to look over. “Actually, I thought you were better than most of the other griffons we knew growing up. I thought you were cool… because you liked ponies. Because you were willing to hang out with me. Because you were willing to practice stunts and pull pranks with me.” She licked her lips and gulped her tea, finishing the cup in one go. “That’s why I was so angry with you when you left here last time. I thought you were still different, I thought that you’d be just as cool with my friends as you were with me. Then you turned into just another loud, angry, irritable griffon always screeching about stupid ponies… like all the rest from back in Cloudsdale. So, yeah. That hurt me a lot, too.”

“You’re not comparing me to old Mrs… Whatsherface, from Low Town, are you?”

“Yeah, her.”

Gilda’s beak cracked in a nostalgic grin. “Hey, remember that one time we loaded up a raincloud with strawberry milk and doused her with it! Then she tried to chase us all over like half the city, shrieking and hollering that she’d pluck our hides before we lost her by diving in a dumpster!”

Dash snorted a soft laugh, her gaze still focused on the fire. “Yeah, I do.”

A few soft twitters of laughter escaped Gilda’s beak before her face slid into a frown. She turned to the cyan pegasus beside her. “Did I really remind you of her?”

Her brows were pulled up in a hurt frown when Dash looked back at her. “When you yelled at Pinkie and the rest of my friends? Yeah, you did.”

Gilda blinked and looked away; first back at the fire and then down at her cup. She tried to wriggle into the blankets or pillows more. “Damn. I never… I never thought about it like that.”

“So what did you think about it?” Dash asked. “Like, seriously, G – help a mare out here. What happened to you after I left Cloudsdale? What changed you?”

Shaking her head, Gilda wrapped her talons tighter around the cup she was holding. This was a question she had asked herself over and over, and after reflection, she had come to an answer. She hated that it was just another admission of failure on her part.

“I gave up trying, that’s what happened. I changed because it was kinda expected, y'know? Ponies kept expecting me to act all big and angry, and after a while of trying and failing to be otherwise, I figure might as well give them what they want. They won’t accept a griffon that wants to be like them? Fine. I wouldn’t be. It felt kinda good seeing them afraid and uncomfortable for once.”

“Even Fluttershy?

“Yes,” Gilda mumbled. “Unfortunately.

“Oh, G…” Rainbow sighed and fell silent as she struggled to understand this side of her old friend that had been hidden for so long but obviously caused her so much pain.

“It kinda makes you wonder, though...”

Rainbow glanced her friend’s way, silently imploring her to continue.

“I mean, do you think we were wrong? Wrong about other griffons, I mean. When I was on the receiving end of those pranks, I was so angry. Then about a week after, I slipped into depression, and I started to think. Maybe we were too harsh back then. Sure, they’re irritable and easy to provoke, but they’re my species. They have feelings, too, and we pranked them for it? We laughed at how easy they were to set off. Did that just make it worse? Is there any other griffon out there that feels this way?”

“Woah, G! Ease up on the maple syrup, okay. We were fillies, we didn’t know any better. We just wanted a life of fun. Also, I don’t think there are other griffons that feel that way.” Dash reached over and laid a warm hoof on Gilda’s shoulder. “I know so. Besides, old Whatsherface prolly had some awesome stories to tell at her bridge club or whatever after the pranks we pulled on her.”

Gilda reeled back, a look of abject horror on her beak. “B-bridge! Dude, try to remember who you’re talking about here! She’d probably use the bones of all the fillies she caught for game pieces!”

While the griffon was exclaiming her disbelief, Dash had burst into braying laughter. “Bwahaha! The look on your face! Priceless!”

“Whatever.”

Dash’s laughter died away, and she stared out the window into the nightly Ponyville sky. “Seriously though, G. Now that I know what’s been going on with you, I think we can work on it and get you flying right again. At least if you’re willing to give it one more try.”

When she looked deep into the rose-colored eyes of the cyan pegasus across from her, for the first time since they had been reunited, Gilda felt that the friendship they once had might not truly be dead. “You really mean that, Dash?”

With several rapid nods, Rainbow stood up from her pillow and fluffed her wings. “I do. And in case you don’t think I’m really serious about all this, you should know that I’m not even supposed to be here. After clearing off that blizzard I was supposed to go to a party tonight. When I found you out there, though,” she pursed her lips and shook her head, “it wasn’t even a concern. This was something much more important to me. I don’t abandon my friends. Any of them.”

“Ah, stop it,” Gilda muttered, her cheeks hot under feathers again as a smile crept over her beak. “Now who’s the one pouring on the maple syrup?”

Dash responded with her infectious, raspy laugh and flicked her chromatic tail about. “Aw, you’re right. Maple syrup is for breakfast and it’s too late for that now. We should probably be thinking about bed, get you a good sleep for once.”

Gilda put down her empty cup. “What’s the plan for that, then? Back to your place?”

Dash shrugged. “Think you can make it? That was a long flight and a really rough landing you just had.”

The griffon unfurled one of her great brown wings, wincing as she tried to stretch it to full extension. Her face further fell into a grimace as she inspected the state of her feathers. “I think I’ll have to find someplace in town then. Even if we walked out to it, I don’t know if I could make the flight up.”

That admission actually gave Dash considerable pause. As long as she had been friends with Gilda, she’d never known the griffon to admit to being unable to fly. Eventually, she nodded and licked her lips. “Alright. Since that’s the case, I suppose I can let you spend the night here. It’s warm and I don’t want you running around the streets of Ponyville in this weather, not after all the work I did already to save your frozen flank.”

“Sounds just dandy to me,” Gilda replied, ducking her head and looking towards the hearth. “I’ve spent enough nights by a fire already of late, one more won’t hurt.”

“Nah, Twilight’s got a bed upstairs that I’m sure she wouldn’t mind you using. Just don’t claw up the sheets, alright?”

That got a chuckle from the griffon as she pushed herself to her paws – much more gracefully than the last time she had to do it, she was pleased to note – and untangled herself from the blankets before joining the pegasus at the base of the stairs. “I take it I’ll see you in the morning then? Meet back up for breakfast or something? You still have that party to get to, after all.” She grinned and pointed a talon. “Though don’t expect me to bring the syrup again, clear?”

Dash grinned back but considered things longer than Gilda would have thought necessary, her large eyes flicking back and forth over the griffon’s features as she did so.

“Sounds good,” she eventually said, “but you’re not getting rid of me that easy. Bed’s big enough for both of us.” That got a look of surprise including raised eyebrows from Gilda that made Rainbow chuckle with mirth. She sidled up to her friend and tossed a blue wing over her back. “Besides, I think you’ve been alone for far too long.”