Tough Love

by PonyPixel

A Simple Hangout

Griffonstone was currently in progress towards reformation, thanks to the new ambassador of Griffonstone, Gilda. Although there are a few mishaps along the way, there’ll still be hope for a bright and better future for the kingdom. For Gilda, it was just the beginning, there’s still a long way towards success. She did face different challenges before ever since she was appointed as ambassador of Griffonstone by Princess Twilight, especially last time when she and the other leaders of different kingdoms were transformed into different creatures from a magical geode and went to the mountains to find another magical geode to transform them back to normal. That was quite an adventure she got.

Her bakery is still under business though, she’s been learning to make other baked goodies aside from those scones she made before. It became a success when the customers enjoyed the taste of those delicious treats. There are, of course, a lot of blunders along the way, especially with the prices.

Gilda was just sitting in front of the wooden counter of her bakery tapping her talons on the top slab and her claw bagging onto her head. Feeling a bit bored, she looked around for a while without turning her head. She was making homemade bread, which it’ll take 20-25 minutes to be fully baked. Yes, she was waiting for it to be done. She perked up as she heard a loud ding from the timer. She quickly wore on a pair of oven mittens and opened the oven door to take out a loaf of bread on a baking tray. She placed it on another counter beside it to cool down while she placed another tray with round smooth clumps of raw dough with small bits of, what it looks like, chocolate chips into the oven before closing the door. As she started the timer again, Greta walked in with Gabby, both of them carrying some bags.

“Okay, just place them in the closet,” Greta said to Gabby. The mail griffon did as she was told and start moving the bags into the back of the bakery. Greta sniffed at the smell of freshly-baked bread. “Wow, Gilda, you weren’t kidding when this would smell good.”

“Well, if I’ve been making scones for so long, I might as well try something new,” Gilda said. “Wanna slice of it?”

Greta looked outside before answering, “I will, but just give us some help with these bags first.”

Gilda nodded before lending a claw. In these bags were ingredients perfect for a bakery. Flours, sugar, yeast, everything Gilda would need to bake a variety of pastries.

“Where did you get these anyway?” Greta asked.

“From Pinkie Pie. She offered to help get some supplies for my business. I think it’s about time I did more than just scones.”

“Oh boy! Are you going to do muffins next?” Gabby asked with excitement.

“I’m trying out cookies right now. They should be ready in about… ten minutes." The brought a smile to Gabby's face as she soon brought in the last of the groceries.

"Oh, by the way, I've got some letters for you." The mail griffon pulled two letters out from her saddlebag before she carried the last of the ingredients into the closet. Gilda took a look at the first letter, which had a purple stamp seal shaped like a star. The ambassador of Griffonstone used her talon to open the letter up and took a look at what was in the envelope.

Dear Gilda,

I’m hoping that your settling in well. As you're now an ambassador, it's very important that you must take part in monthly meetings to discuss with other leaders about the future of Equestria and other kingdoms and our relationships with different creatures like you. We'll be having other species joining us for the first time and I’m hoping you'll bring a good first impression.

Sincerely, Princess Twilight Sparkle.

"Huh, a letter from the princess," Gilda commented.

"What's the reason?" Greta asked.

"Some new creatures. I think I met a few at the Grand Galloping Gala. It shouldn't be too bad."

"Well, good luck with that." Greta walked outside to see if she and Gabby had forgotten anything. While they did that, Gilda took a look at the second letter she was given. It looked like it had a couple of scorch marks on it and felt a little heavier than it should've been. The envelope was much larger than the one from the princess.

Opening it up, Gilda was shocked to find a stone tablet inside. That explained why it weighed so much. She placed it down on the counter so she could read it.

Dear Gilda,

I enjoyed our time when spent at the Grand Galloping Gala last time. I’m glad I’m not the only creature who’s trying to make for their mistakes. I’m hoping that we could visit each other when we have the chance to. We could probably share more than just poetry. Dragon Lord Ember and my sister, Smolder, suggested it would be nice if I tried other hobbies like sculpting. Maybe could talk about how things have been doing. I’d like to get out of the Dragon Lands more often and we could have a nice chat.

Sincerely, Garble.

“Wait, Garble?” Gilda pondered. “Oh right, he was that dragon I met.”

“Who are you talking about?” Greta asked.

“Oh, it’s just someone I met at the Grand Galloping Gala last time. We became best of friends given our history of... acting like bullies,” she replied with the air quote gesture on the last phrase.

“Don’t be like that. Anyways, you said he’s a dragon?”

“Yeah. I’ve told you about Garble, right?”

“Ah, that’s who you’re talking about. Does Garble go those meetings?”

“No, aside from me, the meeting just consists of the rulers of the other kingdoms. I think Garble usually just stays in the Dragon Lands to my knowledge.”

“Well, when he decides to get out more, let me know how it goes.”

“Will do.” Gilda doubled checked Twilight’s letter and could see the date when their first meeting with the new creatures would begin. The date was written on the bottom left. It was only in a few days and it would give Gilda plenty of time to prepare. She heard the timer ding signaling that the cookies were finished baking. Putting her pair of oven mittens back on, she took out the hot tray and set the cookies out to cool.

---

Meanwhile, Garble was pulling some gems out of some stone as Ember walked over to him. He saw her and halted for a while.

“So, did she get my message?” the drake asked.

“I’m pretty sure that Gabby, I think that’s what the name was, got the slab there,” Ember answered. “She’s a really determined griffon.”

“You think that Gilda will have time to hang out?”

“From what I know about Griffonstone, she’s probably got plenty of time on her talons. Besides, you’re really similar and I think you’d have a lot to talk about.”

“Yeah. I do hope it goes well.” He then continued pulling out the gems.

“Hey, you’ve done some stupid things in the past, but you’re making up for it. You’re not the worst creature I’ve seen.”

“That’s true.” He breaks one stone and found crystals in it, knowing it as a geode. “Ooh, cool, a geode.”

“A what?!” Garble was a little confused by the Dragon Lord’s comment. “It’s nothing.” Ember decided to leave before she spilled any more information. She knew about the last time when she turned into a hippogriff by the same stone.

---

The next day, Garble was playing with baby Cinder. The baby dragon giggled as the older one tickled her. Once Garble stopped, he was a little confused by Cinder’s expression. It looked like she saw something. Garble looked behind him and could see a certain griffon flying closer to him.

“Gilda?” he said with a surprised look.

The griffon landed nearby and walked over to the drake. “Yep, that’s me,” she confirmed. She looked around at the Dragon Lands. She was pretty impressed. “So, this is your home?”

“Yep. It’s a tough place, perfect for a dragon. I’d be careful around the pools of lava though.”

“Noted. So, are there any notable things around here?”

“Well, we have some streams for lava boarding.”

“Hmm, you have anything that won’t burn me to a crisp?” Gilda then noticed the baby dragon he was holding. “Who’s that little fella you’re holding?”

“Oh, this? Meet my young sister, Cinder.” He held the baby dragon up to the griffon to which Cinder reacted out for. Gilda carefully picked her up and the baby dragon grabbed her beak.

“She is really cute.”

“Yeah. Can’t wait to see what she’s like with wings.”

“Wait, how do you get wings? I thought that was something you were born with.”

“Not really. It’s a process called Molting. Follow me and I’ll tell you more about it.” Gilda handed Cinder back to Garble and they walked off as the griffon was told about the molting process.

“Okay, so you get pimples and smell like a toilet before you turn into an explosive statue?”

“… Pretty much.”

“It’s… kind of surprising to me.”

“If it makes you feel better, that thing about dragons forced out of their homes is a bit of a myth. It’s often spoken as a way to motivate others as we are old enough to live on our own once we have wings.”

“Makes sense to me. Is there anything else unique to dragons?”

“Well, around here there are underground rivers of lava. We use that to help heat the eggs for the hatching season.”

“I’m surprised they would need them. I feel like I’m going to sweat a waterfall here. I was freezing when I was in Griffonstone.”

“Whenever you need a place to warm up, you can come here anytime.”

“You know, Garble, let me ask you something, have you ever wanted to go other places like Mount Aris, Yakyakistan, the Changelings’ Hive, have you ever been to Ponyville?”

“I don’t think so, I’ve been here for a long time. What are those places like?”

“Well, I think Yakyakistan might be out of the subject until Spring because I’m having enough of winter right now and that place is super winter. Plus, it’s a mountain village.”

“Isn’t Mount Aris one too?”

“Well, yeah, but it’s kind of interesting. I’ve heard that it’s two different kingdoms, one on land and the other in the sea.”

“I think Dragon Lord Ember told me about that. How do they survive underwater.”

“The hippogriffs have a magical pearl piece that can turn them into seaponies. I’ve only seen hippogriffs use it. I have no idea what it does to griffons or dragons like you and me.”

“And I don’t want to know. I like being a dragon.”

“And I’m good with being a griffon. Anyways, what did you want to show me?” Garble pointed to a steep slope that had a couple of boulders on it.

“I figured since lava would be too dangerous for you, I thought we’d try the next best thing; surfing down this cliff.”

“Boy, that sounds dangerous.” The two flew up to the top of the incline and Garble placed Cinder down in a safe area. As he soon got two large stone slabs big enough to be surfboards. “You know I’ve never surfed before.”

“Relax, I’ll help you on the first ride.” Garble placed one of the slabs in front of Gilda to which she stepped onto it. Garble started pushing the slab closer to the edge of the slope. Once the board started tipping, Gilda started sliding down the hill. The griffon instinctively had her wings spread in case things were to go wrong. Garble flew by her side to make sure she was safe as they are closer to the bottom.

Gilda soon slid to a stop a little shaken from her first ride but she kind of enjoyed it. “Man, I think I just got an adrenaline rush.”

“That’s good, isn’t it?”

“It is for me. Let’s have another race this time.” Garble liked the sound of that and they took the slab board back to the top.

Cinder was asleep so she didn’t take any notice of the dragon and griffon starting to race each other, they had a blast. Garble even tried pulling off a couple of tricks, impressing her. Gilda tried a couple of stunts herself, but the slab was quite heavy. That didn’t prevent the two from enjoying themselves.

When they returned to the top again, Cinder had woken up and was starting to cry. “I was afraid of this,” Garble sighed.

He picked up the baby dragon and tried cradling her. The drake flew off to find his bongos to try and play some music for the bawling baby. Gilda followed behind feeling a little concerned. “Come on, where did I leave them?”

“What are you looking for?” the griffon questioned.

“My bongos. Just... Could you hold Cinder for a minute?” Gilda agreed and the drake handed her the crying baby so Garble would have an easier time find his bongos.

“Oh, why did I agree to this? Uh... Hey little guy. Don’t cry.” Gilda tried tickling the bawling baby to little success. She tried hugging which seemed to make lessen the crying. She felt the baby dragon rubbing her claws on her soft feathers and fur. Cinder hugged Gilda tightly as it was nice to feel something soft as her in a land with jagged rocks.

Eventually, Garble flew back to them are getting his bongos back. “Okay, that took longer than I thought,” he admitted. He was quite surprised when he found Cinder hugging the griffon. “I can see that she likes you.”

“Yeah, you can say that.” Garble chuckled and sat down as he started playing a little beat to which Cinder started giggling. “Smoke and flares, lions and bears. Carry on, just beware, things tend to happen without care.” These weren’t the lyrics Gilda would think would be for a baby, but Cinder seemed to be enjoying it. The baby dragon would soon start getting tired from the poetry and fell asleep.

“Man, she is cute.”

“Yeah. Though, I think Cinder is going to cause a few issues. I have to keep watching her for the rest of the day.”

“Listen, I understand. I have a baking business to get back to in Griffonstone.” Gilda handed the baby back to Garble before she started flapping her wings. “Should we try this again soon?”

“Ugh... Yeah, that would be great. How does tomorrow sound?”

“I’ll try and make it work. See you soon, Garble.” Gilda flew off back to Griffonstone as Garble gave a bashful wave. The griffon was a little puzzled by it but she kept flying back home.

---

It was a long way back from the Dragon Lands to Griffonstone. She finally arrived back home and landed on the rocky ground, just right beside her bakery. When Gilda got into her bakery, she found Greta, with a grumpy look, holding a snowball, pressing it onto her left eye.

“What are you doing with that?” Gilda questioned, feeling a bit puzzled. Greta just placed the snowball down to reveal a black eye. “What the heck happened, Greta?!”

“Somegriff doesn’t want to pay a full price for the cookies,” Greta groaned before placing the snowball back on her bruise as her concerned friend walked over to her. “When I told them they couldn’t have it any cheaper, they couldn’t accept that and just smacked me with a bag of bits.”

“Are you sure you’re okay with that black eye?”

“I’ll be fine.”

“That’s what I thought. Maybe you should take a rest. I’ll handle the bakery for the rest of the day.”

“Hey, I’m not letting you get treated like that.”

“You can’t keep going like this, Greta.”

“Look, you know what Griffonstone is like, you either fight back or get stomped on. Period.”

“Greta, Princess Twilight wants griffons to know more about friendship. That’s not how friendship works. I think you should take a break before your anger gets the better of you.”

Gilda’s friend took a deep breath before responding. “Okay, fine. I’m getting tired anyway. Give me a call if you need help.”

“Will do.” Gilda took a look at some of the muffins that she had on display and decided to give one of them to the bruise griffon. “Here, take this.”

“What are you doing?”

“Clearly, you need this. You’ve deserved it.”

“Alright. Thank Gilda.” Greta promptly hugged her friend, much to Gilda’s shock before heading to the door. She took a bite of the muffin and it tasted terrific. “Man, Gilda, you were right to get those ingredients from that pink party pony. Tell her I said thanks.”

“Can do.” With that, Greta left the bakery leaving Gilda to her business.

A few hours and a few problematic customers later, Gilda began closing up shop. She saw Gabby returning from Ponyville. “Hi Gilda,” the mail griffon said. She gave a tired yawn.

“Long day?” Gilda asked.

“Yeah. I’ve been helping deliver mail from the Dragon Lands, Changeling Hive, Mount Aris, and Yakyakistan.”

“I thought you were just delivering mail for Griffonstone only.”

“They don’t have one for the other kingdoms, so I volunteered.”

“You sure it’s not going to be too much for you? I’m starting to feel very concerned about you.”

“I’ll let them know if I start struggling.” She then looked around for a bit. “By the way, have you seen Greta?”

“Um, she left a couple of hours ago. She should be home by now. Why’d you ask?”

“Oh, I just want to tell her about some news. I heard about an 8-year-old griffon’s being adopted in Cloudsdale.” This news made Gilda felt shocked in excitement.

“Wait, really!?”

“Yeah. You want to hear about it?”

“Sure, I’ll be there in a minute. I just have to close the bakery first.” Gabby nodded before she walked off leaving Gilda to finish up.

Later, the three griffons met up so Gabby could explain the event of the griffon adopted in Cloudsdale. “So, that kid’s got a new home? Good for him,” Greta commented.

“Yeah, it’s about time something like this happened,” Gabby commented. “How soon do you think others are going to be adopted?”

“Most likely very soon,” Gilda said. “I hope this place gets a new makeover. Look at that building, it’s falling apart.” The griffons looked over to a partially collapsed building.

“You’ve got a point, this place is very depressing.”

“Hopefully Princess Twilight will have a plan to get this place fixed up.”

“Good point,” Greta commented, and then faced Gilda. “Gilda, when do you go to that meeting?”

“In a few days,” Gilda answered. “I’ll be sure to bring up this place’s condition.”

“Please do. Honestly, I’m a little worried about my roof caving in.”

“I’ll bring it up, don’t worry.”

“Thanks, Gilda.”

“Your eye is looking a lot better.”

“It feels better. You managed the bakery?”

“Just fine. I told you I could manage on my own.”

“Well, you know I’m just worried about this place getting the better of us.”

“I understand that.”

“You know, if you have an important role such as ambassador, you should probably get to bed early,” Gabby suggested.

“Probably a good idea,” Greta commented with a chuckle. She looked towards Gilda who just rolled her eyes.

“Alright, I know it’s two against one here,” Gilda stated. “I’ve already closed the bakery.” The griffon each went back to their homes to get comfy for the night.

Since Rainbow Dash had visited Gilda and their friendship had been repaired Greta and Gilda had moved in with each other. They had some nests, which were the best things most griffons could use as beds, which Gilda and Greta lied down in. “So, how was Garble?” Greta asked.

“A nice guy. Got to listen to some more of his poetry. We weren’t able to do much because he was babysitting.”

“Ah. Oh, so he’s good with kids.”

“It seemed like.” Gilda yawned as she lay her head down. “Night, Greta.”

“Goodnight, Gilda.” The two griffons soon fell asleep to prepare themselves for the next day.

---

The next day, Garble was hanging out with his friends as they collected some more gemstones. A black and green one had decided to ask Garble a few questions. “So, you’ve met this griffon at the…”

“Grand Galloping Gala,” Garble finished.

“Sounds pretty nice,” the dragon commented. “Think you try and get me an invite?”

“It depends if you like the place where you stand around, talk, and sometimes dance.” Garble’s friends thought about it as the red drake saw something flying towards them. It was Gilda, who had some saddlebags with her. Garble waved to her and the griffon soon landed beside him.

“Told you I’d be back tomorrow,” Gilda chuckled.

“Glad you could make it.” He then turned to one of the dragons, Baff, to introduce Gilda. “Baff, I want you to meet my friend, Gilda.”

The black and green dragon shook Gilda’s talon. “Nice to meet you,” Baff greeted.

“Nice to meet you as well,” she added. Baff then noticed the saddlebags she carried beside her.

“What’s in the bags?”

“Some pastries from my bakery,” the griffon answered. This grabbed the attention of a couple of Garble’s friends, particularly one with brown scales and blue horns.

“Don’t mind if I do,” he chuckled. He was about to reach into Gilda’s bag until Garble slapped his claw.

“Clump, really?” he questioned. “She just got here.”

“Hey, I’m like a moth to a flame. I can’t help it.”

“Look, just because I want us to get along well, I’ll show you what I have,” Gilda said. She opened her bag and showed what she had. Cookie, muffins, even one of her newest pastries, banana bread. “Choose wisely guys. I’ve only got so much of this stuff.” She handed the muffin to Clump, who enjoyed the chocolate chips in it.

Gilda took notice of a purple and blonde dragon, who looked to be lacking energy. When Gilda offered him one of the cookies the drake just snatched it from the griffon. “He’s not himself at the minute,” Garble explained.

“What happened?”

“He got rejected from Prominence. He’s been trying to date her for a while.”

“That’s rough.” Spear just groaned while he munched the cookie he got. “So, what are you guys doing now?”

“We’re just collecting some gemstones. Wanna join?” Gilda agreed to join the other dragons in their gem hunting.

“So, what kind of gems do you find around here?”

“Usually rubies, sapphires, emeralds, common stuff. Some of them like amethyst or diamonds are hard to find. Good luck if you find any.”

“Hmm, I could use a couple of these to help pay off Pinkie Pie.” Gilda tried to pull off one of the gemstones from the wall, but she had a bit of trouble. She tried holding onto her paws and push harder, but it still won’t budge. “Come on.”

“Hang on, let me help.” Garble grabbed onto the gem that the griffon was struggling with and pulled it out without much issue. He then handed it to her who placed it into her bag. The next gem Gilda saw she tried to break it free by smashing it with a rock. She gave it a couple of whacks but it looked to be damaging the rock more than losing the gem.

Eventually, after a couple of whacks, the rock broke apart in Gilda’s talons. “Darn it!” Garble helped her out again and just easily yanked the gemstone out of the wall.

“I feel that dragons are some of the only creatures strong enough to do this.” He then threw it to Gilda, and she caught it with both claws.

“Yeah, I could tell.” Gilda then kept it in her bag, together with the other one she just got.

“Listen, if you’re not liking this, we can try something else.”

“Like what?”

“Well, what kind of things do you do in Griffonstone?”

“Most of the activities in Griffonstone are trying to get money out of each other, no matter how fair it is.”

“Kind of sound like old school dragons, just less physical.”

“Exactly.” Gilda found another gemstone that looked a lot bigger than the rest. “Boy, look at this gemstone right here.”

“Yeah, that’s almost twice as big as regular gemstones. I’ll try to get it some other time.”

“Say, Garble, you think we could try that cliff surfing again?”

“Yeah, sure, we can do that.” Garble then turned to his pals. “You guys want to join us?”

“I’m good,” Baff said. “I’m still going to find some gems.”

“Suit yourself.” Garble and Gilda flew off to cliffs where their stone slabs were waiting for them.

“So, where’s baby Cinder?” Gilda asked.

“My mom’s watching her today. So, it’s just you and me today.”

“Nice.”

He handed Gilda her slab which the griffon struggled a little bit before she got a good grip on it. The two soon skated down the steep incline getting to high speeds. This got Gilda thinking about what else she and Garble could do together. When they both got to the bottom, Gilda got airborne.

“I just had an idea for what we could do,” the griffon said. “How fast can you fly?”

“Not sure. Why do you ask?”

“Griffons are pretty fast. I’d like to see how fast they are compared to a dragon.”

“Sounds good to me. How’s about to that volcano and back?”

“Perfect.”

Both dragon and griffon got onto their feet and unfolded their wings. Right on the count of three, the two took off. Many of the dragons watched them soaring at high speeds. Garble struggled to keep up with Gilda at first but started keeping up thanks to his better stamina. Gilda was starting to get a little tired as she had flown quite a distance from Griffonstone.

The two were soon neck and neck as they passed the volcano. Garble gave his competitor a smug look, which caused Gilda to get angry and motivated her to go faster. The two were starting to come back to where they had started trying their best to keep in the lead, Gilda managed to pull ahead and crash-landed before Garble could land on the ground.

“Are you okay?” the drake asked.

“I’m fine,” the griffon panted. “Still... Beat you.” She let out a tired chuckle which just made Garble smile. He helped her up and the sound of a grumbling stomach could be heard. “Sorry about that. I had a light breakfast.” Gilda looked in her bag and was about to take out one of her pastries when Garble had a suggestion.

“How about some fish?” This confused the griffon a little bit but it started making sense as she was taken to the nearby river. “This place is loaded with fish. We just have to dive in and grab one of the suckers that are swimming by.”

“Don’t you use a fishing pole?”

“Yeah. Usually, we only do that one in the colder weather.” Both of them could feel a nip in the air as they were further away from the lava pools so they didn’t have much heat. Garble got a stick and some string before he dug up some dirt to get a worm and combined them into a fishing pole and tossed the bait into the water. The two waited for something to bite as the cold was starting to get to them.

“How often do you come out here?”

“More often in the summertime than now.”

“Can you take extreme coldest?”

“I honestly don’t know any dragon who was brave enough to test that out.”

“So you guys only stick around the fire and other hot things?”

“That’s true.” After a while of waiting, the two had yet to get any fish. The cold was really bothering them. “Okay, I’m going to dive in and grab one.”

“Are you sure that...” Gilda couldn’t finish as the drake leaped into the cold water and swam around until he managed to pull out two fish. He dropped them on the ground as he shivered from the cold.

“I was about to say that because it was very cold.” Gilda then grabbed the two fishes he just dropped and helped him back to the areas with lava to help warm him up.“You feel better now?”

“Yeah. Much better. Did you bring the fish?” Gilda showed the two average-sized fishes that the drake had caught. Garble grabbed one of them and used his fire breath to cook it. It only charged a few bits but other than that he managed to perfectly cook. He did the same thing to the other fish after handing the cooked one to the griffon. “What do you think?”

“Hmm, a bit bland, but still it’s nice to have some good meat. I think I could try and get some seasoning if you want to go fishing again.”

Garble chuckled. “Don’t hold your breath. I’m not going swimming in this weather again.”

“No sane creature would expect you to.” Both creatures enjoyed their fish, even though it was a little bland. Garble attempted to step out of the lava but still felt a little chilly.

“Man, you think a dip in lava would help warm you up.”

“Yeah. Do you think your fire breath was affected by the water?”

“I’m not sure that’s how it works.”

“Just what I’ve thought.” Gilda then noticed that her bag was in a worse condition than she had left it. It wasn’t exactly burned but there were a couple of rips and all the contents inside were all gone. No gems, no pastries, nothing was in there. Gilda brought her claw to her face. “Gah, I can’t believe I just left my bag unattended like that.”

“Dragons get to them?”

“Yeah.” Garble sympathized with the griffon and got out of the lava, somehow still feeling chilly. “Look, how about I help you find some more gems so you can pay off whatever those things cost.” The two walked back to where the gems were sticking out.

After a couple of tugs, the two managed to fill up Gilda’s bags with enough gems to pay off the ingredients she ordered but still light enough for her to fly home. “Thanks a lot, Garble.”

“No problem. Many dragons are still in their old ways.”

“Same with griffons. Still, hopefully, the future will be brighter. I should probably get going before my bags get messed up again.”

“Right. See you again, Gilda.” The two waved goodbye as the griffon flew off to get back home. Stay so close to hot lava heated her and moving away from the Dragon Lands caused Gilda to get hit by the cold like a brick wall. Still, she fought through the colt and carried on home.

---

Greta was managing the bakery in Gilda’s absence when the door burst open, nearly breaking off the fragile hinges. Gilda walked in with bits of snow in her feathers and fur. “Are you okay, Gilda?” Greta asked.

“I’m totally fine. Remind me to wear something heavier than a scarf,” Gilda chuckled. She placed her bags on the counter as one of the holes opened up bigger letting one of the gems slip out. Curious, Greta opened the bags to find the rest of the cargo.

“Where did you get these?”

“Dragon Lands, of course. They are like blades of grass in the Dragon Lands. Quick, help me find a spot so other griffons don’t try to steal them.” The two griffons looked around and decided to place the bags of gems behind some stale scones.

“So, how was Garble?”

“Way more fun the second time. We got to have a good race. He’s not as fast as I thought he would be, but man does his stamina make up for it.”

“That’s good to hear.” Greta’s expression and tone appeared to have gone down a touch. Gilda was a little confused as they walked back to the counter.

“Well, it wasn’t all fun. I was so excited to try new things with him, that I accidentally left my bags unattended, letting all of my stuff inside got stolen. Luckily it was only the pastries I brought to the Dragon Lands and Garble was able to help me get a couple of gemstones. They should be more than enough to pay Pinkie back.”

“Right. Anyways, the bakery’s been calmer than yesterday. No griffon is trying to attack me over prices.”

“That’s good to hear. You can take a break now.” Greta smiled as she walked off as her friend took control of the business. Gilda enjoyed the quiet time as she served some customers and baking some pastries. A little while later, Gabby entered the building, shaking off a bit of snow.

“Hi, Gilda. Could you get me anything warm?”

“Sure thing. You’ve actually got perfect timing.” There was a ding from the timer and Gilda took out a couple of freshly baked cookies. “Just give them a minute to cool.”

“Okay. So, I heard from Greta what the Dragon Lands were. She didn’t make it sound that fun.”

“...Is there something wrong?”

“I’m not sure. It kind of sounds like she’s jealous about something. Did you see anything that could’ve upset her?”

“Well, I could’ve sworn I heard her tone changing when I mentioned... Garble.” Gilda paused to think about what this meant. “You think she’s upset because I’m leaving her to do most of the work?”

“Maybe. You are Griffonstone’s ambassador, so you are going to have a lot more to do.”

“That’s true. Still, she knows I want to make this place better. Even though that isn’t that a high bar.”

“Yeah, but if she was upset about that she would’ve been acting cranky before now. You said something about Garble?”

“Yeah, we had much more of a blast this time. Actually, the other time I visited him he waved while I was leaving and seemed to have that kind of grin when you’ve just done something embarrassing.”

“I think I saw Greta have that kind of face.”

“You have?”

“Yeah. Usually, it’s when you’re walking away from you two meet.”

“I’ve never seen her with that face. I could understand it with Garble because we were both at the gala and it’s you could’ve looked at it as a da...” Gilda paused as she started piecing some things together. “Oh, man. They’ve got crushes.”

“Who?”

“Garble and Greta.”

“But... They can’t both have one on the same creature.”

“They can, it just won’t end well.” Gilda gave some of the cooled cookies to Gabby, who paid and then left. This left Gilda alone, giving her plenty of time to think about her situation.

Comments

[Yoshifan30]

“Hey, you’ve done some stupid things in the past, but you’re making up for it. You’re not the worst creature I’ve seen.”

Oh Trust Me garble you really are not no more that Title to sludge if we ever see him again I really hope he gets it punishment soon 😡

[Yoshifan30]

“A what?!” Garble was a little confused by the Dragon Lord’s comment. “It’s nothing.” Ember decided to leave before she spilled any more information. She knew about the last time when she turned into a hippogriff by the same stone.

Lol well somebody has a little PTSD the last time that happened to her 😅

[Yoshifan30]

“I’ll try and make it work. See you soon, Garble.” Gilda flew off back to Griffonstone as Garble gave a bashful wave. The griffon was a little puzzled by it but she kept flying back home.

Ohhhh something's going on between these two 😁

[Yoshifan30]

Ohhh this is a pretty interesting situation so glida is doing a lot of selling bake stuff and not only that still trying to bring griffonstone to the Glorious then she's been thinking about garble and how much she had fun with him during the grand Galloping Gala which that was really cute so she made a decision to visit him when she got there they look they were pretty excited to see each other so garble showed her around the dragonlands which. Was pretty nice of him to do that and they look like they were surfing without the lava because you know lol but she has to get home because she has to check out the bakery but when she got back it looks like Greta had some problems with the customer but thankfully things have calmed down this time so she visit to the dragonlands again and once again it is pretty sweet to see them hanging out but it looks like Gabby told Gilda about how Greta has been acting lately and somehow Gilda kind of put things together that she found out that both of them has a crush on her and oh boy she got caught in a love triangle I wonder how this will work out I guess we'll find out next time

[Melody Song]

Ooh, interesting! Looking forward to seeing how this plays out!