9: A New Day
Misperceptions v2
By: Winter Quill
Adapted from the original "Misperceptions" by Arbiter Balemead
9: A New Day
Twilight lifted her head from her pillow, blinking the sleep from her eyes as she slowly came awake. She had slept like she hadn’t slept in a very long time and it felt wonderful. Even a late night of stargazing wasn’t enough to make her tired that morning. The room was bathed in sunlight, but not the warm glow of the morning. Instead it was the brighter light of mid afternoon. She slipped out of her bed and moved to the window, confirming how high the sun was in the sky. She had slept in, much longer then she normally would have. She suspected that Gilda had done much the same as the day before had been full for the both of them.
Using her magic, the lavender unicorn picked up her brush and started running it through her unruly mane, humming a wordless tune as she walked out of her bedroom. She wasn’t sure where the song had come from but it was a happy little thing that seemed to fit the wonderful morning. It was going to be a great day, she knew that from her hooves to her horn.
She started down the stairs, taking them carefully as she got her mane into some sort of order. As she reached the ground floor she started to call for Gilda but stopped when she spotted the griffon curled up on the window seat to bask in the sun.
Twilight carefully moved up behind the woman, planning to surprise her but instead she was the one surprised. Gilda had a small stack of books next to her and another book held in her claw. Even more surprising was what was next to her, she had a roll of parchment along with an ink well and was dipping a talon in the ink to take notes on what she was reading. The scroll was already half full.
“What are you reading?” she asked.
The griffon didn’t even start, she just fanned her wings slightly and looked up to smile at Twilight. “It’s a history of the Five Griffon-Equine wars. Though you have more interesting names for them.”
“And what are you taking notes on?”
A hint of a blush crossed under her white feathers. “Well, ponies have a different interpretation of the wars then we do, I wanted to see what they were,” she said, looking down at the book in her talon and then to the other stack.
Twilight flicked her ears back and leaned in a bit closer to Gilda. “You’re a history buff?”
“My minor was in history, I was always interested in the wars and skirmishes. I even wrote a couple papers on the tactics of the Fourth War,” she admitted, blushing a bit more, the glow turning her feathers pink.
That made the unicorn laugh softly as she nuzzled against the feathered cheek. “So, does that make you an egghead?”
“Would you like that?”
She nodded.
Gilda nuzzled the pony in return then kissed her softly on the cheek. “Then I guess I’m an egghead, though you still outrank me,” she teased.
“Well I’m the eggiest egghead in all of Equestria,” she boasted, placing a hoof against her chest and smiling at the wonderful griffon next to her. A moment later she kissed her again and smiled.
Carefully Gilda wiped her talon clean on the bottom of the parchment and closed the book. “I think it makes you very attractive,” she said before slipping off the seat and moving up to press her flank against Twilight, lifting one wing to rest over her back. They held themselves for a few more moments before breaking apart.
“I should get cleaned up,” Gilda said, brushing her dirty talon against her feathers.
“Okay, I’ll make breakfast,” the pony replied, smiling as they separated. She walked into the kitchen, each step accompanied by a fluttering in her chest. It was something she had never felt before, at least not like this. It was the same sort of feeling she got when she thought about her family but much stronger. It felt like it was lifting her off her hooves, allowing her walk along in the air… It was amazing.
“I think I’m in love,” she whispered to herself as she entered into the kitchen. It was the truth, and exactly how she had never expected it to happen. Her fantasies about finding love had involved a careful selection process of potential suitors, evaluating each one on a number of criteria: their skeletal structure, balance, strength of their family line, coat color, power of magic and even attractiveness. The list covered four pages, front and back… and every single question was meant for a stallion, not a griffoness.
This was a new experience for her, never before had anything so unplanned felt so right, at least not since she had met her friends. It was a strange and amazing feeling and she couldn’t quite find the words to describe it, they just kept slipping out of her grasp. On a normal day it would frustrate her but this wasn’t a normal day.
The kitchen was still a bit of a mess from when they had returned from their date and there was no sign of Spike. Among the clutter on the table, sitting under a dirty bowl, was a small wrapped package. She let out a cry of glee as she rushed over to it, forgetting the rest of the mess. She carefully opened the package pleased to find that it was filled with lose leaf tea. It had a strong smell to it but not quite like the tea she was used to.
Carefully she filled a kettle with water, turning on the heat while she prepared the tea pot and a pair of mugs. When the water started to whistle she poured it into the tea pot along with a measured part of the tea. After that she started to make a cold breakfast for the both of them. Everything was ready when Gilda walked in, a hint of water hang on the feathers of her face and a touch of her familiar purple makeup around her eyes.
“More tea?” she asked as Twilight used her magic to fill both mugs.
“It’s special,” the pony said, offering a mug to Gilda. The griffon sat down at the table and took the teacup, giving the dark liquid a wary look. Slowly she lifted it to her beak and took a short sip, her eyes going wide with surprise as her leonine tail thumped against the floor. She took in a longer drink of the tea, a hint of a smile on her beak.
“You like it?” Twilight asked.
“It’s good,” she said, setting the mug down and smiling. “It’s sweet as well.”
That made the unicorn smile as she started eating. “It’s a special blend for griffons, I had it sent it from Canterlot.”
“For me?”
“For you,” she replied.
That made the griffon blush again, a smile on her face as she started to eat the cold breakfast. Every few moments her amber eyes would look up at Twilight, and her beak seemed to be pulled into a perpetual smile.
Twilight couldn’t help but smile back, she was filled with such a mix of emotions, but they were all so good! She didn’t want the feelings to go away, she wanted to hold onto them as long as she could. It was strange, their two countries and species had been at war with each other for centuries. It had only come to an end two centuries before with the Summer War. Though the animosity between them had only lessoned it but had never really gone away. Yet when she looked into Gilda’s eyes she saw none of that, all she saw were two pools of amber light, pulling her in. They were the deepest eyes she had ever seen.
She decided to amend her previous comment, she knew she was in love, and it was amazing!
“What should I call you?” she asked, half to herself.
Gilda fluttered her wings slightly. “Excuse me?”
“Well, I can’t call you my Marefriend, or my Special Somepony. I want to call you something more than just Gilda.”
The griffon rocked back on her four feet, her wings fluttering out a bit wider. “There’s always ‘girlfriend’,” she suggested.
That made Twilight smile. “I know, but that just sound so pedestrian. You deserve something more special than that.”
Gilda moved around the table, leaning in to rub her cheek along the pony’s neck. “You’re my Special Somepony.”
The blush that ran over the unicorn’s face was so bright that it nearly glowed under her pelt. Her heart was fluttering in a delightful way, lifting her off her hooves almost like she had her own wings. She smiled and nuzzled Gilda in return, her ears flicking back slightly as she pressed her flank against the griffon’s side. They stood like that for a number of minutes, only breaking up when Spike came into the kitchen, though he turned around a moment later grumbling under his breath.
“I think you might want to bell the dragon,” Gilda said with a laugh. Twilight laughed in return, shaking her mane at the joke. Spike would just have to learn to accept that they were together.
A moment later Rarity walked into the kitchen. “I’m not sure that Spike is feeling well, he was looking—“ she stopped when she saw the pair of a woman, a small gasp of surprise and glee escaping her lips.
Twilight smiled and pulled away from her... well girlfriend would do until she found a better word. “Hello, Rarity.”
The white unicorn nodded and smiled between the two women. “Twilight, I was hoping I could talk to you about something.”
Gilda slipped away and gave Twilight a shy smile. “I need to get ready for Pinkie’s party,” she said then slipped quickly out of the kitchen, giving Rarity a look in passing. The unicorn returned it with a smile and a flick of her mane.
As soon as the griffon was out of the room Rarity rushed over to Twilight’s side, letting out a soft squeal of excitement. “Are you and Gilda seeing each other?”
All Twilight could do was nod.
Rarity let out another cry and hugged her friend. “You look so cute together! I’m so happy you finally found someone. I was worried that you weren’t even looking at stallions, I didn’t even suspect that you would be interested in mares, or hens... female griffons are hens right?”
“I didn’t suspect either, not until it happened. And they are hens when they are young, it would be like calling you a filly,” she explained, blushing a bit at her friends excitement.
Rarity moved to quickly hug her friend. “Well, whatever the word, I’m so happy that you found someone! I’m going to have to get her measurements, do griffons wear dresses? I would love to the challenge of making her one, the body type is so different.”
“Only for special occasions, I think,” she replied, a bit taken aback by her friends excitement.
“Well then, I’ll have to make a very special dress for her,” she replied, her ears flicking back as she got that faraway look in her eyes that meant she was thinking about a new design.
Gilda in a dress, that would be interesting to see. She could almost see it in her minds eyes, a long gown flowing down her back and over her tail. The rolling material hugging around her wings while it crossed around to her breasts. It would probably be purple and amber, to bring out the color of her eyes. She would look so wonderful elegant in such a dress.
“I see you like that idea,” the white unicorn said with a laugh.
Twilight shook her head and brought herself back to reality. “I think I do but that’s for later, for now we have a party to go to!”
* * *
Gilda wasn’t sure what to expect as she walked with the pair of unicorns to Sugar Cube Corner. She knew that there was a party waiting for her, but was sort of party would it be when everyone was there because of how she had acted at the last party? Would they even want to be there in the first place, and what would they expect from her? She knew what she had to do, but what would she say? This wasn’t going to be like apologizing to Twilight’s friends, this was far more complicated. Hopefully there wouldn’t be any pranks this time, or if there were they wouldn’t all happen to her!
Applejack was waiting in front of the split wooden door of the shop, leaning against the closed lower half. The sounds of conversation and music along with the occasional laugh echoed from the open half of the door.
“Hey there,” the earth pony said, smiling a bit as she walked over to the trio of women, her eyes flicking to Gilda for a few moments.
The griffon found herself wilting under the attention, moving slightly to press her flank to Twilight’s.
“Oh Applejack, we have the most wonderful news! Gilda and Twilight are a couple!” Rarity said, blurting out the words. The purple unicorn and the griffon both blushed a bit and leaned a bit closer together.
“Really?” the earth pony asked, her eyes going wide for a moment before turning to the couple. She flicked her ears and then reached up to adjust her hat. “Well, ain’t that beat all! Congratulations!”
“Thank you,” Twilight said with a blush, turning to nuzzle at Gilda.
Applejack turned and opened the door motioning for the three of them to step inside.
Gilda froze for a moment, looking at the wide open door. Everyone was waiting for her inside, waiting and enjoying themselves and she had to go in and apologize to everyone. She took in a deep breath and slowly let it free. “I should be better than others expect of me,” she whispered, her Grann’s words not filling her with confidence. Composing herself she stepped inside, the ponies following after her.
The main room of the shop was filled with ponies of all kinds, though the majority of them were earth ponies. The rest of Twilight’s friends were there as well as a number of other ponies from around town. Even though she said nothing everyone turned to look at her as she came in, the conversation in the room falling silent. A moment later Pinkie rushed across the room, dogging ponies left and right to get to the record player, just so she could scratch the needle across the record.
“Um... hello,” Gilda said, her confidence flying away from the party as fast as she wanted to be going.
“G! I’m glad you could make it,” Rainbow Dash said, coming through the crowd with a smile on her face. Fluttershy was following a short distance behind.
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” she replied, though the words felt fake as she spoke them. There were so many eyes on her, all of them watching to see what she would do or say. It was so intense that she could almost feeling the attention drilling into her, making the feathers on her neck ruffle out.
Slowly she took in a long breath and took a step forward, taking a moment to look back at Twilight. She was standing a few steps behind, a smile on her face, all five of her friends lined up with her. All of them watching like they were judging what she was about to say though she knew that wasn’t true.
“I would like to say something,” Gilda said, her voice catching at the last word, failing her a moment later. She took in another breath and reached up with one hand, blushing her feathers back down. “The last time I was here, at a party much like this, I acted… badly. I treated many of you in a very foul way, and there is no excuse for it. It was wrong, and I was wrong. So I would like to apologize to all of you. I’m sorry for how I acted, I’m sorry for yelling at you, and for what I said about all of you and your town. I should never have done any of it.”
Silence fell over the room for a few moments, all the ponies looking at each other but not saying anything. After a few moments an orange earth pony with a bright pink mane stepped forward, her purple eyes reflecting the smile that was on her face. “I forgive you.”
“So do I,” someone else said, and then another and another. Soon the words came like a roar across the room, all the ponies accepting her apology. Not a single pony in the room refused or rebuffed her, and every single one of them seemed sincere.
It brought a smile to the griffon’s beak as she swished her tail quickly behind her and fluttered her wings. “Thank you all, this is more then I deserve,” she said. Her head was spinning around even as she stood stock still. She had never expected them to be so forgiving, to be so welcoming. She knew she had to live up to it, to earn their forgiveness. It was on her to make it more than words.
Taking in a deep breath, she walked out into the crowd of ponies as the party started again, the music coming back on a few moments later. While the ponies were still casting her looks, they were more looks of curiosity then anger. They just wanted to know who she was.
The orange earth pony from before came up to her, her ears flicking forward through her pink mane. This time Gilda could see her cutie mark, which looked like fireworks going off. “Hello, I’m Sparkleworks,” she said.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she said, offering out one of her forepaws. The pony gave it a look, then gently tapped the soft part of her hoof against the bottom of the paw. Oddly there was a small pink heart in the fur of her left leg, just above her hoof. “Thank you for accepting my apology.”
“You were sincere, how could we do anything else?” another earth pony said, this one with a tan coat and a black mane. A pair of glasses where perched on the top of her muzzle, connected to a gold chain that hung around her neck. “I’m Thea Winters,” she offered, it was a strange name for a pony.
“Gilda Grypon,” the griffon replied, offering her family name without thinking about it, a moment later wishing she hadn’t. Maybe they wouldn’t know it?
Thea smiled and nodded to the orange pony. “I hope you have a good time in Ponyville, it’s a nice town,” she said, then together the pair of earth ponies started towards the sweets table. In passing she noticed that the tan pony had a cutie mark of a pen writing on parchment along with a small heart.
A moment later Twilight was at her side, moving up so their flanks touched. Her friends were a few steps behind. “How are you feeling?” the purple unicorn asked.
Gilda smiled at her marefriend. “I feel good, better than I have in a while,” she turned her attention to Pinkie, the earth pony had a wide smile on her face, her ears perked up and her tail swishing. “And thank you for the party.”
“It’s no problem! I’m glad you’re having fun! And totally congratulations on you and Twilight! I could hardly believe that you two would be together, what with you being a jock and her being an egghead, but here you are!”
“Thanks,” she said, the pair of them blushing a bit. Without a thought she lifted one wing and dropped it over Twilight’s back, holding her close.
Rainbow smiled at her friends and looked across Rarity to where Fluttershy stood. The fashionista was carefully placed between them, apparently not by accident. “So, how are you going to tell your Grann, you always said she wanted you to get with some hawk of a griffon.”
A flash of sadness crossed over Gilda’s face as she quickly turned away from her old friend, and Twilight pressed up closer to her, holding her close.
“Gilda?” the cyan pegasus asked, quickly realizing she had touch on something sensitive.
She let out a sigh and turned back to her friend. “Grann passed away a few months ago.”
“Oh Celestia, I’m sorry,” Rainbow said, looking shocked and saddened for a moment, then moving up to rub her head under the griffon’s chin. “How did it happen, how are you doing?”
“Her heart gave out, and I’m doing okay, but I had to get away from there,” she explained, pressing up to the pony, finding it rather comforting to be between someone she loved and her oldest friend.
“I understand,” she said, then suddenly pulled back in surprise. “Wait… did she actually—“
“She did,” she said, almost whispering it.
Rainbow’s eyes went wide as she looked at her friend. She started to say something but cut herself short, shaking her head to send her rainbow mane dancing across her neck.
They seven of them sat in silence for a few moments before Pinkie spoke up. “Then let’s have a toast to your Grann, and make this party for her as well?” she said, making it both a statement and a question.
Gilda smiled. “I would like that.”
The pink earth pony nodded and started towards the refreshment table. “I know just the thing we can use. Oh, and I’ll make sure you won’t get the dribble glass this time, but only this time!” she said with a smile and bounced off into the crowd.
She couldn’t help herself, her smile growing wider as she looked around at her new friends and to Twilight. The party was back into full swing and all the ponies seemed to be enjoying themselves. “Should we see what pranks she has in store for us?”
The purple unicorn nodded, and then they started walking through the party, flank to flank. For the moment everything was perfect for the griffon, she had taken the right steps to save her friendship with Rainbow Dash, and she felt they were going to be able to rebuilt it stronger than ever. She had apologized to all the ponies she had wronged and had found someone special in Twilight Sparkle. Someone she could care about, someone that maybe she could even love.
And all she had to do was to stop being an angry, arrogant jerk of a rotten egg. To stop just thinking about herself and throwing away anyone that didn’t live up to her impossible standards. To try and be the griffon her Grann always believed she could be. Oddly, she still felt like herself, like she was still the same person and that wasn’t something she had expected. She had always thought being better would mean being different… and she was different, but only in some ways. She was still herself, but hopefully a better version of herself. Even with her family history and her new responsibilities, she was still better then she had been before. It was a pity that it took the passing of her grandmother to help convince her to finally change.
Now wasn’t the time to dwell on her loss, that would have been the last thing her Grann would have wanted. If she had been there with her, she would tell Gilda she should go out and spend time with her newfound friends, and her new marefriend. To not worry about the bad things that were now in the past and to look towards a brighter future.
Leaning in one last time Gilda kissed Twilight deeply on the lips and allowed herself to join the party.
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Aww at least have Gilda have a meet and greet with twilight' family and celestia. Oh just imagine the situations that would bring to the couple.
why is it the end? you can do more! like Twilight taking Gilda to meat her parents, or her brother! what if Twilight's mom or Dad hates Gilda! Or maybe a anti Griffin group messing with them! it cant be over!
2420493 2420729
Well this is the end of this story, but there will be at least one follow up that will get into the issues of being a couple as well as Gilda's back story and other issues. Don't worry I'm not done with these two yet, just with this story.
2423964 ok I will be keeping an eye out for that then. DO NOT disappoint theprimochocolatepony cuz bad things happen when you do...naw nothing really happens actually.
Well this is a pairing I'd never really considered before reading this but now I think it is surprisingly adorable.
You actually make me change my OTP, I've read the v1, but your version is much better
reuploaded but still to be edited fully, I honestly wonder if you are going to add that sequel you promised?
2648336
I haven't gotten to reupload it yet but that editing is coming along. And I am working on the sequel, I just like to have it mostly written before I start posting. ;)
2648495 ah ok anyway I think one of my favorite ships is this one, now if only I could find a clop fic between them my collection will be complete, or If I actually get far enough in my story I can write the clop myself. heh
anyway good read all around.
2648690
Well... I can't comment on clop fic... though if you find any don't be afraid to share.
2652262 Oh don't worry I will share.
*Grins and applauds* Very cute fun fic. It was done very naturally and I applaud you for it. I'd suggest you find a proofreader though because there a lot of typos. Either way very cute fun.
Awesome story. Not a pair I ever really considered but it turned out really well. Good job. I can't wait for the sequel. I hope you start posting it soon.
Added to the Gilda Shipping group. The original story was there, but this one was not - it was seriously bugging me.
By the way, the story is fantastic. I am not entirely convinced that it needs a sequel, but it certainly would not hurt.
well done, I liked your version of this story better then the original, it was more thought out and seemed less rushed to be completed, also with the Gen 3 pony, very sneaky I almost didn't catch it. I read the name 4 times before I went really a gen 3 no way.....so bravo and im looking forward to your sequel
Feo review!
The good:
Brings together two very different characters without sacrificing what makes them interesting. Gilda and Twilight are surprisingly cute together, and their romantic scenes are genuinely tender.
A sad story that doesn't hit the standard tear-jerker tropes. In particular, I was thankful you went for Gilda with a guilt complex instead of Gildabuse--the latter's marginally more interesting than Scootabuse, but it's still a cheap, easy answer for why Gilda acts the way she does.
The bad:
Pardon me for asking, but are you dyslexic? I saw a lot of letters swapped around inside of words (for instance, you often wrote "could" when you meant "cloud.")
Mark Twain once said the difference between the right word and the almost-right word is like the difference between lightning and a lightning bug. This story needs an exterminator. (Seriously, "pallet" in place of "palate"?)
The verdict:
Thumbs up for shippy goodness, but get yourself another proofreader for the next one.
3786734
Well Gilda has a lot of family issues and depression that in the past she coped with by being a bully and trying to bend the world to her way of thinking. We'll see more of this not in the next story, but the one following it. If I want to be honest I'm probably projecting a quite a bit as well.
As for being dyslexic... funny you should ask that, but no I'm not. Though I've just had trouble with some spell issues all my life. To make it worse I have two editors and a lot of stuff still gets through. It makes it challenging sometimes.
5110634 you should definitely write a sequel to this
5110634
Sequel?
8536058
I've been working on one, but finding it hard to get a good plot going. Keep wanting to go deep into Gilda's past but finding that it breaks the flow of the story. Thinking I might split that into it's own story so I can flesh it out.
Luckily seeing Griffonstone and The Griffon Kingdom in the show has actually been a benefit to my plotting.
8536148
That's awesome! Can't wait to read it
I didn't understand what Rainbow was getting at there. Actually what?
9159932
I tried to find a reference and was unable to, but I've seen at least one source in the past that referred to male gryphons as "faucets", which sounds silly, but hey :D
And talons or claws would be correct. Front half of an eagle, back half of a lion. Paws would only be "back there" in such a beastie.
9160137
"Faucets", interest, I may have to look into that.
As for using talon, that wouldn't be a good name for the foot as a whole as the talons or claws are on the tip of the digits. Unfortunately a birds foot is just called a foot, no fancy name other then for the arrangement of the digits. It might be reasonable to just call them 'hands' and be done with it, but that would probably cause as much trouble as calling them paws. Calling them feet kind of sounds weird for the front limbs. As chunky as it is, fore-paws might be the clearest choice.
Whatever is chosen, this sentience has to make sense "She ran the talons of her right [...] through her feathers"
I do plan to return to this pairing sooner or later, though I have a different story with Gilda in mind that might come first.
9160355
Foreclaw? They're more similar to dragons' manipulators than, say, a tiger's paws.
9159932
In the fic Misunderstandings, the author uses tiercel for the males, as there is a type of hawk where males are called that. Roosters are sometimes called cocks- for obvious reasons -but I understand why you want to avoid that.
Fun fact: Roosters and hens can fly; farmers have to clip their wings so they don't fly off.
9160657
*hums* tiercel is a male Hawk, and digging around formel is a female Hawk.
You know, I think I like those better then hen and cock/rooster. Should be able to use them in a fashion that makes the meaning clear without having to completely explain them. And I can see hen and rooster being use as insults for griffons in this case.
really sweet story, well written
That was great and I never would of shipped twilight and gilda together but now I do ship them
11372494
Maybe they forgot