> Dead Birds
>  by Stray Dog Kane
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Everything begins with hatred
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gilda never wanted to go back there, but here she was again.  It was that stupid party again!  Good ol’ Dash had told her off hard, and all those ponies were giving her that glare. Just like before, she was out of friends.

She was no longer wanted, no longer their problem, and could go off and drop dead for all they cared.  Even Rainbow Dash, her best friend, had that same rejecting look.  Quite a turnaround from the only pony she considered a friend.

The griffon briefly considered storming off into that roaring blizzard outside the house when a better idea came to mind.

"You know what?!"  Gilda yelled at the crowd in a low growl.  "I bet you enjoyed putting me through this, thought it was real funny too!"  The ponies didn't even blink, still giving her a cold stare.  Gilda gave her own as she roared back.  "If that's what's funny, I bet this is hilarious!"  She then smashed the table next to her.  Now they weren't staring, the were furious.

The windows blew in, with a raging wind blowing fiercely, sending the storm into the house.  Cold air and snow began filling the party space as the ponies formed a line in front of Dash.  They would not let her through, stomping their hooves into the ground, but Gilda didn't care.  She charged the line with all her anger.  

In her rage, Gilda took some orange pony’s head clean off with a swing of her claws.   Despite the surprise of the party ponies, the griffon didn’t flinch.  Her next strike was at a white pony, stabbing her right in the gut and then turning to a shocked purple pony and pecking a hole in her skull.  

It was fast and vicious, faster than she knew she was able to move.

The only pause she felt was a hard blow to her back as she pulled her beak out.  It was that stupid, manipulative pink pony!  She and that yellow pegasus.  They stood there, battle armed with armor and a pair of bows.  

"You're a thorn in my side pink-o!"  Gilda shouted as she charged forward, her wings beat the air  faster than she knew they could.  She was at the pony in an instant.

Before the pink pony could react, she had a claw in her chest bypassing her armor plating.  Blood trickled from her mouth as she looked back in shock.  Gilda smiled as she tossed the annoyance at the yellow one, the impact was strong enough to pin the pegasus to a tree.

Now it was just her and Dash in those dark snowy woods.  Rainbow dash's eyes were wide with shock and terror with some specks of blood on her fur.

"Oh sweet Celestia no..."  she said, falling on to her hind knees.  Her sobs meant nothing to the griffon.

"This is all your fault,"  Gilda growled in a low tone as she walked to her next victim.  

"Please, I never meant any of this,"  we’re the broken pegasus' last words as Gilda picked her up by her neck.

"Make them suffer, HURT THEM!"  was the shout of a unseen watcher.  “It’s all you’re ever good for!”  The griffon didn't see any reason to disagree.  

She dug her claw into Dash’s leg and wrenched it off, the screams made her smile with delight.  Gilda looked at the pain and fear in those eyes, but felt her blood boil to listening to Rainbow’s whimpering.

"I bet you wouldn't care if I had that look, would you? No,"  Gilda dug her claw into Dash's chest twisting it once she felt the warmth of organs.  "You would just call me out again.  I know you would!"  Another twist.  "You wouldn't feel a damn thing if I was in trouble, would you?!"  And another twist.

“What...?”  the Dash choked weakly.  “What...kind of...monster are you?”  Despite the pegasus’ strength fading, her eyes glared with some hateful resistance.  Gilda’s only response was to smile.  

“The coolest!”  the griffon replied with a chilling voice.  Her voice felt raspy, like her throat was dry and unmoving.  She sounded like death and she loved it.

“We’ll...stop...you…”  Dash uttered back with a gasp, and looked like she wanted to say more.  However, now she’d never betray Gilda again.

Rainbow dash's eyes were now hollow, dead.  The griffon pulled out her claw and let the limp pony fall into the snow.  Gilda looked at her claws, the blood was icy on them with crimson icicles dangling from her talons.  Her only regret was that there was nothing more she could take from Rainbow Dash’s corpse.

She could hear movement from nearby.  More ponies were coming for her, to avenge their good friends.  She would make them suffer too, but then she saw something.  In a frozen lake she saw her reflection, something that caused her to gasp at the sight of it.  Her wrath died, much like any sound in her throat.

In the ice of a lake she saw her reflection; her face was all wrong!  Her lower beak was missing, as were her eyes.  In their place, blue tendrils writhed and squirmed.

“We burn!"  Shrieked a piercing voice in her head.  

And then she screamed.

> You all wake up in an asylum
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gilda was up with a shout and a yelp.  She barely got a breath in before seeing a gray pony, a cane on his leg, looking at her oddly with black eyes.  Another yelp came from her as she fell out of the bed.  

After a pregnant pause, as the doctor just stood there looking expectant, Gilda caught her breath.

"Hi doc,"  she deadpanned back.  "You make a habit of standing over your patients or something?"  She held her head as she got up.

"Pardon me miss Gilda, I was just going to check on you,"  Doctor Larch said, attempting  to apologize.  "I was surprised to hear you had gone to sleep for so long.  At least with your record here."

"You see why I drink coffee, dork?"  the griffon snapped back to Doctor Larch,  "Go report I’m just peachy for all I care.  Not like I'm getting out of here soon."  

She knew she was right.  After she apparently took on a group of guard ponies while drunk, she had been placed in some asylum in Canterlot, far as she could tell.  Then again, maybe this is what they do to people that get stuck in horrible stuff?  At least it felt horrible to her, that bar fight was just one more thing to happen to her.

"You would be surprised, miss,”  Larch said as he adjusted his cane and bad leg.  Gilda had never seen a pony with a leg brace before Larch.  “For one, you slept until lunch.  The nurse who gave you that sleep aid thought you would be out of it until at least breakfast."  

The doctor smiled, though seeing the griffon’s angry look make him more nervous.  

"I would believe it’s due to all those nights you spend pacing in circles in the halls or your room.”  He added.  “You do need rest."

"Like I need a hole dug into my head,"  Gilda groaned.  "Please tell me you refilled the coffee machine."

"We have,"  Dr. Larch said, making his way towards the door.  "You can enjoy a cup or two as you eat lunch."  He adjusted his cane again.  "I also need you in my office after lunch, just a reminder.  And please, enjoy the rest of your day."  

He left, hobbling as he walked.  How many lame pony jokes had she thought up at his expense?  Gilda lost count.

She was glad he left, after nearly a month of this she wanted to strangle somepony.  Then again, it could have been the dungeon with her.  Her room was bare enough to be a cell,  just a bed, no window, and a mirror.  It was big enough for her to pace in at night, that was something at least.  The griffon decided to take a look in the mirror and breathed a sigh of relief.  Her face looked better than it did in that dream, that’s for sure.  

If she had the energy, she would have done some cool poses.  At present, she had to wonder how she looked so well despite lack of sleep.  That, and not having any meat for an extended period of time.  Every part of her felt exhausted with what she’d been through.

After giving up on vanity, she headed out for the commons.  Outside the room was the main hallway with some nice barred windows and a bench.  She stopped caring about looking outside after the first week, so she didn’t bother with more than a glance.  

Gilda had lost track of time, but her perception of time seemed to be in phases.

Phase one was when she first woke up in a hospital wondering what ale-induced madness she had gotten into this time.  Phase two was realizing whatever it was had her under guard for some reasons.  Three, coming to the asylum, followed closely by four---rage.  

She did have to back down, being strapped up was not her thing after all, and at last phase five, despair.  Now she just grumbled in her bitterness and helplessness, only thing she could do.  Just another lousy, miserable day for Gilda griffon.  Long lost and long forgotten.  

Again, her bitterness had made time easy to lose.  She figured if she had ever found time again it might just get worse knowing her luck.

Gilda looked down with a grumble, like so many times before, and went down the hall to reach her goal in the common room.  Tables here and there, chairs and comfy chairs, and her best friend---the coffee machine.  

She ignored everything else as she poured herself a cup and downed it in a flash, and then filled it up again.  It was poor, bitter, and boiling hot.  She normally wouldn't drink this kind of coffee, but this stuff kept her awake and that's what counted in her mind.

"Hello, pretty bird!"  said a voice behind her.  Gilda’s day now felt longer.  The griffon groaned with annoyance.

"I'm not in the mood, Sunshine,"  Gilda said as she downed her second cup.  

The griffon sighed as yet another annoyance of being in the asylum was now here: Sunshine, the worlds dumbest diamond dog.  From what she knew he was at that frozen mountain path her party went to.  They likely rescued him by mistake.

"You was screaming.  You ok?"  Sunshine asked in an aloof voice.  She groaned, not even turning.

"Look, if only you heard it, keep it to yourself,"  Gilda dismissed coldly as she put the cup back in the machine.

"They heard down the hall, pretty bird.  Three ponies jumped out of chairs."  was Sunshine’s response.

Gilda felt her day get even longer.  Her eyes widened as she could feel the amount of laughs at her expense that could come of it.  Regardless, she filled the cup again.

"Great!"  Gilda declared in sarcasm, lifting the cup.  "Now I bet it was real funny to them."  she looked at the ponies, sitting at tables.  "You enjoying this, you lame’os?"  she shouted.  She didn't get much of a response.  Most ponies tried to ignore her, while a few just looked creeped out.  

It didn't matter, they were all a bunch of losers anyway.  Not even all there, not even much for conversation.  After a while of her telling them to buzz off, they did.  Only Sunshine stuck around, but that was due to him being dumber than the rest.  Stupid dog.

As Gilda sat down at a table by herself with her coffee, she was promptly joined by Sunshine.  She face-clawed.

"They having oatloaf today!"  he said with enthusiasm and a goofy smile.  "It's good."

"Yeah, whatever,"  was the Gilda’s tired response.  She didn't have the energy, nor did she feel like getting the orderlies on her case by hitting him---again.  "Were you just dropped on your head a lot?”  He shrugged with an off noise at that comment as usual.  “Why the heck is lunch so important to you?"  she added.

"But it oatloaf!"  Sunshine defended, with a bit of a whiny sound to his voice.  "It bread, with little oat clusters, and honey."  He wore a simple, stupid look of concern.  "Why you no like oatloaf?"

"I’d rather have a dried fish sandwich,"  Gilda replied, taking a drink.  "Maybe a roast pig on a spit, maybe.  Or, ya know, outside this nut house?"  She grit her teeth on that part.  "Why doesn't this place bother you?"  she growled at Sunshine.

"Cause it don't?"  he responded, scratching his neck and looking partly nervous.  "Came here..."  he began, but she didn’t let him finish.  She already knew the story he was telling.

"About the same time, I know,”  Gilda moaned and she looked at her cup.  “I have heard it for weeks now, so just shut up,"  she muttered with her eyes on the table.  

"Oh, ok..."  Sunshine replied and he went quiet. 

Gilda drank her coffee and looked at the clock.  Lunch was in a few.  She waited in silence with Sunshine looking like he wished to say something.   It was then a new wrinkle came to her day, with the last pony she expected showed up appeared in the commons.

"Holy, Deal?"  Gilda said in a low voice.  Brought to attention as well, Sunshine looked up and followed her gaze.  

There, in a special uniform with rings on its sides, was a dark green pony with sharp brown eyes and a sneer.  What had them both unnerved was how he looked at them.  It was like he saw past them or something.

"You can eat here, but don't let us see you cause any trouble,”  said the escort in armor, leading him to a table.  “Deal?"  the guard asked seriously.  

Package Deal simply nodded quietly and sat by himself with one orderly pony standing next to him as the other left.  Still smiling, he gave a brief nod to Gilda.  

She gulped.  “What the heck happened to him?”  GIlda wondered aloud.

"Was he scary?"  Sunshine asked in a low, scared voice.  

Gilda felt the dog was being a child with that talk.  Then again, even she felt a bit scared by Deal’s off look.  Not that she’d admit that.

"We worked with a caravan,"  Gilda said without looking away.  "I didn't even know he was here.  Is he in a padded cell or what?"  she asked no one,  even so, Sunshine shrugged. 

Last she could remember, he was telling her off for delays or some crud.  Now, here he was looking like they only just let him enter the commons.  

She got up and walked over.  "Uh, Package Deal?  Boss?”  Gilda began.

His eyes lit up as she came closer.  "Ah, Gilda!”  Deal said as if she was expected, his creepiness leaving his features for the moment.  “I've been meaning to have a word with you!"  he added with a cheerful look.  It was then the orderly came in, getting between Gilda and where Deal was sitting.

"Hold on you two, I'm under orders..."  Soft Touch, the orderly, was about to say.  But Gilda wasn’t listening to him.

"Wait, I can't talk to him?"  Gilda shouted back.  "What for?"  She couldn't believe the mess of things.  It was enough that she was stuck there, now this had come out of nowhere.

"Oh, don't mind it,"  Package said calmly, despite the tension growing.  "They are just a bit jumpy.  Things they worry about, you know.  Anyway-"  But the orderly cut him off.

"Gilda, just return to you table,”  Soft tried to calm the griffon’s anger.  “We'll explain..."

"Look my good sir!”  Package Deal put his hoof on the table as she spoke.  “It's a simple matter..." Package’s tone got serious sounding.

"And the heck is this?"  Gilda shouted, quite tired of feeling jerked around.  "You keep me with some loonies, now I can't talk to someone I know?  What is your deal?!"

"Gilda, I am warning you!”  Soft now pointed a hoof, pushing the griffon back.  “Get back to your table or--"  but he did not get to finish that sentence.  

While he was shouting back to the griffon, Package Deal had got up and bit into the ponies face.  He pulled a bloody chunk out of it and the orderly fell, clutching his cheek with his hooves.  Soft let out a croaking, weak sound in pain.  

It was then everything snapped.  Gilda felt a sudden jolt and backed away from her former employer.  

This wasn’t Deal, right?  Or, maybe she was asleep again?  Ready to start screaming as she got up again from bed, soaked with sweat.  Her feathers stood on end as she felt a near palpable static coming off her former boss.  It made her shiver.

Why she felt it, she didn’t get.

"You see this, Gilda?"  Deal said with a new, menacing tone, looking her in the eye.  His still near calm features making it worse.  If it weren't for the blood on his face, he have looked like a parent, telling his child that they were in for it, not even gritting his teeth.  "I've had a lot to work on after what you did to me,"  she kept backing away as he spoke.  “Now it’s time for your punishment.”

"The heck got into you?!"  Gilda said, trembling.  “What’s all this about?”  Despite all the times she would tell about how she could just totally cream somepony like this, she was too scared to ball her claws.  They could only hold her up in fear, as any fight in her drained out in dread.

"I got a taste of you back in the hills,"  Deal replied, not even acknowledging her question.  His calm left, now replaced with a sadistic smile.  "And I want the rest of it.  Now be a good chicken and get eaten!"  

With that bloodied smile, he lunged forward at the paralyzed griffon.  He was now on top of her, pinning her to the ground on her back.  Gilda could barely keep him away as he snapped his muzzle, trying to sink his teeth in.  

His new, sharp teeth into her.  Why the heck did he have sharp teeth?  The griffon lost it then.

"Help!”  Gilda screamed as panic took over.  “For the love a---somebody?!    Looking at the other ponies, she could see them fleeing the scene.  Others were ducking behind stuff, and one was on the floor curled into a ball and sobbing.  

The orderly Soft Touch was still clutching his face, a bit of blood trickled under his hooves as he moaned.  No help was coming, nopony was there for her.

Looking back was a mistake, as Package Deal’s teeth were close and about to sink in when she saw them again.

"WHAT IS YOUR DEAL?!"  Gilda yelled at the vicious pony still trying to bite into her, pushing a claw against his neck to push his muzzle away.  With the orderly down and the patents content to cower, she figured she would never get a answer.  The griffon felt like she could cry, she didn’t want to die here.  “This sucks,”  she whimpered in dread.

"NO!"  was a sudden shout, however it wasn’t Gilda.  

With that shout from someone, a chair swung into Package Deal's head, stunning him as it splintered across his face.  Using the opportunity, Gilda gave the pony a swift kick with her hind leg, knocking him off.  She stumbled away a few feet, still on her back.  

To her surprise, he savior was the Sunshine.  The dog looked at the now-broken chair with a shaken look.  It looked like he was more surprised he did that than she was.  

However Package was still undeterred.  "You, won't get away!"  he snarled.  He was getting himself up, with splinters falling off his face and his expression unwavering and cold.  "I'll dig those eyes out again, then I eat your heart!"  

He ignored the simpleton not far from him, which was to his mistake.

"NO!"  Sunshine shouted again, with a table in his paws this time.  With it, he smashed Deal into the floor.  The dog growled, dropping the table and throttling the pony with his paws from on top.  "LEAVE.HER.ALONE!"  he roared, and with that he delivered punches from atop Deal.  Practically pummeling him pulverized.  Where did that come from?

Finally, somepony showed up, three orderlies worth in fact.  They were in shock to the scene before them, however.  Standing there in fear for a moment as Sunshine continued to pummel Package Deal into the floor, looking quite unsure how to stop the now frenzied dog.

"Sunshine!"  one yelled loudly.  Sunshine looked up then, his eyes filled with tears like a child told to put the cookie jar back.  He got off Deal without a word and sat down on the floor, his paws across his chest.  

The large dog trembled as one orderly went near him, looking like they were about to charge their horn as the other two moved to pick up what was left of Deal.  Deal’s face looking as flat as the floor.  

Gilda wasn't sure what was going to happen, but what did surprise her  

“Hey, hey,”  said the formerly downed Soft Touch.  He was now up again, with a bit of bandage on his bite wound.  “I got this, so ease up.  He’s as scared as you are.”  

The unicorn orderly shrugged, but still looked tense like he doubted it would work.  Still, the pony Deal had took a bite out of seemed confident.

"Shhh,”  Touch said as he trotted over to the shaken Sunshine.  “It's ok, shhh."  he calmly put a hoof on the dog’s shoulder, calling his attention.  "I just need to take you to your room now, ok?"  the blubbering dog nodded and Soft helped him up.  "You can have your lunch there, ok?  After you’ve had time to calm down."  Sunshine whimpered a little as he was carted off with no resistance.

It looked all sad and pathetic to Gilda, the griffon just shook her head and groaned.

"I needed this today?"  she muttered to herself.  "First I'm stuck here, and now this?"  She held her claw to her head as she mulled on the current trainwreck things were at.  

From Dash dropping her, to her drinking, to the caravan job,  to an asylum, to her old boss trying to eat her.  Equestria itself wanted her for a chew toy for the rest of her life.  Like some power decided she deserved it, forever.  One heck of a long time that’s for sure.

"Uh, pretty, er, Gilda?"  Gilda looked up to see a patent, a shaky teal earth pony with trembling knees, trotting over to the griffon nervously.  "Are you alright?”  she asked.  “T-that pony, h-he just snapped and..."   But Gilda gave a dismissive wave back.

"I noticed, alright?"  Gilda growled back angrily to the trembling pony, causing her to jump back.  "I don't know why he did, so just buzz off!"  

The griffon resumed her brooding as the pony looked a little hurt, now trotting back to its herd.  In the meantime Gilda got off the floor and got back to her chair at her table.  Alone as usual, which she was more comfortable with.

It didn't matter to her, despite the pony's hurt feelings, at least that pony's best friend didn't turn on her.  Let alone the whole herd doing so too.

Gilda’s cup was empty now, but that didn't matter much now seeing as she was now wide awake from what just happened.  To her, it seemed now she was always in a nightmare.  

Lunch was delayed for about half an hour, but that didn't matter much to her at this point.
> Golden ticket
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lunch came and went without incident, after that Gilda went to see Dr. Larch.  Being a doctor, he'd been asking how she felt enough times she wanted to slap him.  By now, he should be able to tell that she was better off outside, but she was still here.  

Plus with what just happened at lunch, she was keen to rip him a new one today.  He had better have some answers for this.  The griffon entered his office, finding Larch looking at some papers at a file cabinet.  

"Yo!"  Gilda said, tapping a claw against the door frame loudly.  "We need to talk doc,"  she growled at him.

Larch nearly jumped up at that and, judging by that wince, had hurt his leg.  

"Y-yes, I just heard and-"  Dr. Larch started while still grimacing, but Gilda interrupted him.

"What was he doing here and why didn't anyone tell me?"  she demanded, glaring at him.

"It's a private matter,"  he replied with a hoof up, hoping it would calm things with a worried look.  "He won't try it again, he's back in intensive care and won't be..."  but she cut him off again.

"Private?!"  Gilda yelled as she walked up to him.  The doctor shrank back, cringing a bit when his leg got off put further.  "He's the only face I know, and he just tried to eat me!  Explain, you dip!"

"Please!"  Dr. Larch said, gesturing her to the seat in front of his desk.  "It's a complicated matter.  I know you are upset by this miss, but he isn't in my case files,”  he paused, breathing a bit as he readjusted his leg brace and cane, it looked like he got his leg ok again as he relaxed.  “I can't tell you anything but..."  be began.

"But what?"  Gilda said, and wasn’t yet sitting down.

"I have a way you can get out of here."  Dr Larch said simply.  The next thing he knew the griffon had sat down, dropped her anger, and had enthusiasm for something.  Even he looked in a bit of shock as he hobbled to his desk.

"Finally I'm outta this place,”  Gilda said with a big smile and sigh relief.  “When?"  

"Don't get too far ahead of yourself,"  Larch said as he pulled out a drawer.  "It's only a transfer."  her joy then sunk.  "It's a rural option that we've had for a while.  A miss Fluttershy started practice some time ago you see..."

"Who?"  Gilda asked, no bells rung in her head.  She simply shrugged and looked up at the ceiling in frustration.  “Geeze---really?  Can’t I just ditch this crud?”

"I hear she's kind,”  Larch added as he kept looking through papers.  “Regardless, she was recommended.  And after some communication, she said she was interested in your case.  I also think she could help you as a therapist, so to speak."

"Pifft!"  Gilda huffed, now she had her questions about this new turn of events.  Even going back to facing the doctor again.  “And you never thought to mention this until now?”

"She's had a few before you, but then they were mostly left a bit worse for it after.”  he replied to the griffon.  Larch’s eyes lit up as he found the papers he’d been looking for, pulling them out with his teeth.  “But, she has good intentions, I know that for a fact.  Even one of the princesses recommended this action.”  he continued as he looked to her with a smile.  “And I am sure you are eager to be out of here.  Change could be good, you see?"

Gilda pulled her head back again and sighed in annoyance.  Not as much still, but she was sick of being around ponies at this point.  Even so, it was a change from being stuck in once place for much longer.

"So, I just go meet some therapist?”  Gilda said with a shrug, regaining a bit of coolness.  “Whatever.  Least I'm-"  But Larch cut her off.

"It’s not so simple,"  he said, and he put a form with a line for a signature.  "First a waiver.  Plus, you aren't exactly free to go,"  The griffon flinched at that.  "You are just released into her custody.”  Another flinch.  “She will be looking after you, and what she tells you goes,”  his black eyes looked her in the eye seriously.  “Otherwise, it's back here again.  Understand?"

"Sheesh!"  Gilda said as she shook her head in disbelief.  "Now I'm stuck in a house?"

Larch paused for a moment, sadly, looking down and letting out a sigh.  He looked back up with a weak smile.

"It's a very nice house,"  he said sheepishly as he scratched his also black, flat, mane and coughed.  He could still see the griffons unhappiness and tried to work past it.  "Besides, she’s a very nice pony, so if you are on your best behavior you won't have any problems.  You might even feel calmer there and not so on edge as you are here."  

Gilda rolled her eyes, but regardless of how she felt she already knew what she was going to do.

"Where is your stupid quill?"  she said, now resigned to her fate.

"It's right here,"  Dr. Larch answered as he pulled it from another drawer and hoofed it over to the griffon.  "You'll keep a copy, and we'll have you out tomorrow morning."  

Gilda signed it with a sigh.  Rural or no, it couldn't be any crazier than where she was.  Maybe she could get a decent meal out there too that wasn’t just bread and fruit--or worse, hayfries.

"Ok....”  Gilda said, pushing the paper back to the doctor.  “So, we done here?"  she asked, pointing a tallon at the door.  “Or you got more letdowns for me?”

"Just one,"  Larch said with a raised a hoof as he took the paper away.  "I know you may be in a bit of a shock about the other events today, but if you could..."  Larch looked like the next part was hard to say.  "...not tell Miss Shy about the events involving Mr Deal?"

"Why?"  Gilda asked, as she figured she could smell a rat in this.

"Well, it’s not just that fact his file is private, but also I would imagine telling her about his, er... condition could be detrimental to matters."  Larch said, but he could see the "are you kidding me" look on Gilda’s face, and apparently knew why with another sad look.  

"I know you are thinking something is wrong, and there is with him,”  he added and sighed as he leaned back in his chair, looking to the window in the back of the office.  “His doctor thought he could be let out of his wing, as he'd been making good progress,”  he said sadly.  “I'm not even sure anypony knows what's wrong with him,”  he looked back to her.  “Off the record, of course.  But you should know that even I don’t have the facts."

"But what's his beef with me?"  Gilda asked, pointing to herself.  "I mean, sure I butted heads with him over how he ran things...maybe called him a cud eater, but geeze..."  She shook her head.  “That a declaration of war here or something?”

“I wouldn't know,”  replied Doctor Larch, turning his chair back from the window.  “For now I’m sure you could feel much better if you tried not to let that event bother you.  It’s unlikely you will have to face him again, so don’t worry.”

Gilda looked away from a moment.  “Think he’s seeing these nightmares too?”  she asked in a low voice.  “Maybe I am going crazy.”  While she was about to let that sink in, Dr. Larch coughed, pulling her out of it.

"Maybe, we'll find out at some point.”  he said as he hoofed her the papers for her to take.  “For now, I'd advise you to pack a few things for the trip and I wish you good luck with Dr Fluttershy,”  Gilda took her copy as Larch tried to be encouraging.  “She's bound to have a successful patient, it might even be you!"  

He had a light laugh at that point, on his attempt at humor.  Gilda let out a groan as she got up and left, with Larch looking nervous that he might have pushed the wrong button.

The rest of the day was uneventful.  While Gilda felt clearly more than a little energetic, the other ponies did not seem to notice.  As for her packing, she didn't have much to pack.  After all, she traveled with that caravan and before that she’d been drifting.  

A toothbrush, some cuttlebones, a brush and what not.  She’d been missing a few bones though, but that didn’t matter to her.  After all, she was leaving this place.

Then it was just that waiting game, the waiting game and coffee.  

Then dinner came, walnut fig dough surprise with a side of an apple and hay fries.  The hay fries found the trash as usual, as no self respecting griffon would ever eat those as far as Gilda was concerned.

As the griffon ate her last meal in relative peace something sat next to her.  She didn't need to look up, only one person ever did that.  

"When they let you out?"  Gilda said as she took a bite of her apple.

"Dr. Larch gave me a talk about my anger, but said I shouldn't blame meself,"  Sunshine said calmly.  In an instant, the apple on his tray entered his mouth and never returned.  After a light burp, he continued.  "Is pretty bird ok?  Chilly pony was scary too."

"Until you showed up, yeah,"  Gilda deadpanned back and kept eating.  “I was fine.”

"Oh,"  Sunshine didn’t seem to understand her annoyance, as usual.  “Doctor said he knew I just wanted to help.”  The griffon said nothing and resumed eating.  “You ever scared when you get angry?”

“Just shut up,”  was Gilda’s muttered response with a sigh.

There was a pause in words as both ate.  While Gilda was not a fan of talking to things she saw of a lower intelligence, she still felt the need to spread the news.

"I'm getting out of this nut house tomorrow,"  she said with some glee.

"Oh,"  was about the best response Sunshine had for a few seconds, uttered in low surprise.  "Is it safe out there?"

"Is what safe?"  Gilda asked, looking with a raised eyebrow.

"Outside,”  he replied ceriously.  “Know stuff happens outside, but here I can know what lunch is and stuff."

Gilda blinked a few times, as she wondered if this dog could sound any dumber.  "Least I can have someone smarter to talk too,"  she grumbled as she looked back to her meal.

"But, isn’t it cold outside?”  Sunshine asked her with a dumb, but worried look.  “This place has heaters to heat things, but outside has snow and that’s cold."

It was then that Gilda’s eyes widened.  She had lost track of time, being annoyed did that and this whole asylum thing had done a number.  It was winter, or had been winter for sometime now.  Why didn’t notice the gray sky?

"What day is it?"  Gilda asked with an air of shock, her eyes wide.

"Oat loaf wednesday?"  Sunshine replied simply, not exactly fazed.

"Number goofus,"  she deadpanned as she held her beak.

"18th day,"  he answered back calmly.

"Least you're good for something,"  Gilda snarked with a light laugh.

"Calendar told me,"  Sunshine replied, and was back to his meal as Gilda paused in some surprise.  

Looking behind her, there was indeed a calendar that anyone could have looked at.  It was about a week till Hearth’s Warming Eve.  The fact she had not paid attention to it until now was not lost on her.

"Shut up!"  Gilda added, as if anticipating someones remark on her bird brain.  None really came through.

“Er, kay,”  Sunshine uttered without argument.  He just looked down sadly.

Despite the new revelations, the griffon didn’t let it get her down.  After her dinner, for lack of anything better, she checked on things.  Her stuff was still ready to go, the papers were on her bed, and now it was a matter of counting down the hours.  After some more waiting and some more coffee, a better part of her brain decided to finally read the paperwork, if only to relieve the boredom.  

The first part was what she already knew, judged mentally deficient, blah blah--legal guardianship by one Dr. Fluttershy, blah blah--practice set in the outskirts of Ponyville, blah blah!?!?  

Her beak dropped first, then she dropped the papers in her claw, then she let out a off sound on par with a scratch on glass.  

After her shock settled however she wasn’t happy.  

“You gotta be..!”  Gilda uttered, now doing a quick run to Larch’s office found that he had already gone home for the day.  Her prior elation for getting out of this place had just been replaced by a cold feeling of shock, fear and even dread.  “Aw snap….”  she moaned to no one as all the air left her, filling her with coldness.  “...This freaking bites.”

Now what’s the worst nightmare?  Gilda thought to herself.  Awake or asleep?  

Despite the chill, despite the disappointment, she wouldn’t allow herself to sleep.  She would spent her night pacing again.  At least that was the plan.  

While she was pacing in her room, late that night, she heard a sound.  Gilda looked up, but saw no one there in her room.  With a sigh, looked back to the floor as she continued to pace.

“Hello,”  Gilda heard.  While most ponies sleep, even the orderlies doze off at their post, and now weirdos seem to wander in shadows apparently.  “Does coffee exist where you go to?”  It was Sunshine again, the voice and poor grammar gave away any mystery.

“Don’t start with me you goof,”  Gilda said, not looking up from the floor she kept pacing on.   In time she noticed that Sunshine wasn’t in the room, he was in the vent looking thru the grate with his eyes glowing in the darkness.  “Ok, that is beyond creepy, dweeb!”  she snarled as her eyes narrowed.  “Get lost.”

“Just can’t sleep, know how it is,”  he said from the shadows.  Despite his eyes, he looked like a child asking about grown up problems.  “Started thinking, so I start wandering.”  He looked like he expected her to respond, maybe even start a conversation.  “Me wonder about you.”

Gilda laughed and resumed pacing, doing her best to ignore the dog looking in.  After a while, she started to feel annoyed that she didn’t hear him leaving.  She looked back at him and growled at him, but despite seeing she was hostile he spoke again.

“Other ponies scared when I come near, but you don’t,”  Sunshine said as he scratched his ear.  Gilda blew some air out of her beak, blowing her head feathers up.  “Maybe, you scared to be alone?”

“Pffft, geeze,”  Gilda stated with mock concern.  “You getting all teary eyed, goofus?”  She was quite annoyed by all this.

“But you look sad back at Larch office.”  he added as he cocked his head to the side.  “Me gonna miss you too.”  

While the diamond dog was trying to be heartfelt with his good bye, Gilda wasn’t interested.  Quite the opposite really.

“I’m not going to miss you, weirdo,”  Gilda dismissed coldly.

The griffon resumed ignoring him, and after a bit, he finally left.  She was finally alone again and it was quiet, almost too quiet.  She did her best not to mind, not to feel so discouraged.  After a while she found herself mumbling to herself.

“I hate all this stupid crud,”  she grumbled bitterly.  “Just ticks me off.”

> Your new best friend
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

5 days remain to doomsday.

Gilda had lost track of time again as hours went by alone.  Pacing, pondering, re-reading the papers, and getting more coffee as time went by.  

In her weaker moments, she would humor the idea of things being at least more engaging at Ponyville.  At least until she remembered who lived there and what happened there, giving her a good chill to her spine and nerves.  She at least hoped that this Fluttershy pony had meat on the menu.

Paper wise, she got a few more facts straight.  

Apparently one of the princesses had been following her case, strangely enough.  Also apparently after the “Incident in the north”, she’d been designated as some strange mental case.  Aside from some gobbledygook involving questions about discrepancies and what to do about her, it didn’t make much sense they’d be so interested---at least to Gilda anyway.

Then again, she remembered getting into a bar fight up north, and part of that incident involved guard ponies showing up when that fight got crazy.  At least that’s what she heard anyway.  The rest was a blur, like the time she had green fae, right down to waking up with no idea how she got there.  

Well, beyond blurry images she may well know aren’t real.  

Package Deal must have gone ahead after said fight to go crazy in the woods.  Even so, it was still awesome she was able to beat down some guards, even while drunk on goat ale and minotaur wine.

Strangely, from what she read, the nightmares she was having seemed to concern those royal ponies more.  They even cited it more than a few times as an issue they were curious about.

“What is up with that?”  Gilda wondered aloud.  They weren’t fun for her either, that’s for sure, but the fact some royal pony had interest in it was a new thing to know.  

The next part was about Dr. Fluttershy implying to a princess Twilight Sparkle that she had a way to help the griffon sealed the deal, making the recommendation and offer to care for her.  This same Princess Twilight was the one who made the order for Gilda’s departure.

“What the heck?”  Gilda muttered to herself as she read.  “Don’t they have some ‘Yay, pony friendship good!’ celebration to attend or something?  What do they got to do with me?”

Before she noticed it, it was morning outside and her ride was there asking if she was ready to go.  After Soft Touch managed to snap Gilda to attention to that, she got her gear together and got going.  

It was a ground carriage that was taking her away, with the unexpected part being how the minute she was out of the asylum building she was flanked by a pair of guard ponies. The look on them gave her the feeling they weren’t up for much humor.  Plus, they looked pretty cold due to the weather.  

But she figured, screw em.

“Aw, still grumpy you couldn't take on a griffon toe to hoof?”  was Gilda’s comment, with a cud eating grin.  The guard ponies didn’t even flinch at that.

“Uh, could you not make them mad, please?”  was the carriage drivers quick comment back to her.  The griffon shrugged and rolled her eyes.  

After she got in, she noticed the guards were getting in as well.  As they now sat across from her, she realized that this was going to be a long trip.

“Get us moving driver,”  one guard commanded, and they were off with a fast gallop.  Gilda wished she was flying, at least in a way to leave these thing behind.  

The trip was quiet as they left the city, and seeing as she had no intention to dig herself deeper without some plan to dig herself out, Gilda kept to herself.  

The guards didn’t have much to contribute either.  Both looked on in a serious, no-nonsense way.  So she looked out the window of the carriage.  Not like a snowy road was any fun to look at, so she figured she’d just watch the skies for the trip.

“Don’t even think on running, miss,”  the other guard stated in a clear voice as they left town.  “You try slipping away and we'll drag you kicking and screaming back to a cell.”

“Charming,”  Gilda said back, and trying not let them shock her.  “Could you wait till I get a few drinks in?”  she snarked.  “I could make an awesome last stand then if that bar fight was any indication.”  The guards narrowed their eyes in annoyance to her jabs.  “Not that I remember it,”  she chuckled. “The guys I fought must have sucked.”

The low grumble she heard from the other guard told her to stop, she wasn't going to blow this just yet.  So she sighed and went back to ignoring them.  

It was after awhile she noticed she was dozing off.  With no coffee and unable to do anything but sit, she couldn't fight it off.  Soon she slipped under it, her head slumping against the window.

This dream felt more vivid, if it was one.  She was still in the carriage and it was still moving in the snow.  Only their was one other passenger.  

A white pony with a dark mane sat across from her, nuzzling into the unarmored belly of one of the guard ponies. At first she wondered what that wet sound was, then she realized that was chewing.

“Uh…”  was Gilda’s first word on it.  The white pony didn’t turn, but he did speak.

“In a moment sweetie, I just need a bit of num nums,”  he said, and the pony resumed that chewing as the griffon gulped.  

A cannibal dream was going to be a new one, or had she been there?  Or was it her eating ponies, or the other way around?  These dreams were always trying to get to her even if she couldn't remember them.

The new passenger then pulled his muzzle free with a refreshed “Ah”.  Despite the wet chewing, the belly was bare of any marks, and despite even that the pony’s mouth was still bloody looking.  Red fluids staining his muzzle as he smiled back to her.  

She let out a groan as she put a claw on her forehead.  Vampires, maybe?  Even so, he looked delighted as his eyes looked at her with blue and white irises.  At least her nightmare wasn’t bad enough yet.

“Morning!”  the new pony said in a jovial manner.  “How are things, hm?”  Gilda didn’t answer him, but he kept going on.  “Oh, don’t tell me, I know this.”  He then looked ponderous, still with a smile on his red soaked lips.

“What the heck are you?”  Gilda sighed, quite was tired of this.  Sure, at least this nightmare didn’t seem so bad, just stupid.  

Still, if she let it, some parts did seem uncanny.  Like, despite the lack of gore, that one guard’s eyes were distant.  Like they didn’t see or even feel anything, like as if they weren’t really there.  The pair of them just sat there, blissfully unaware of the conversation next to them.

“Excuse me G, my card.”  was the pony creatures answer, as he snapped Gilda out of her complacency.  He grabbed the griffon, hoisting her up by her neck, and looking her right in the eye.  

“I’m the Snark,”  he said.  “People want me, and I get to enjoy them too,”  he added in that same jovial manner and a big smile as Gilda looked back with certain dread.  “And your name?  It’s... GILDA!”  the sudden shout in her face caused her to wince.  

He then dropped her just as abruptly, trotting back to his seat between the guards.  Gilda let out a cough, and waited to see what the creep had in store next.  However, he now just sat there.

She grumbled and groaned a bit as she got back to her seat.  This was going to be a doozy now.  Gilda shuddered, trying to anticipate what the Snark was going to do next.  

“Ok…”  Gilda said as tapped her talons for a moment, feeling more than a little nervous.  That Snark’s smile was not helping.  “And you are here for…?”  She tried not to dread the answer.

“I’m on a business trip!”  was the Snark’s gleeful answered with a hoof in the air.  “Same place even, what are the odds, eh?”  He laughed a bit, but then moved to an almost serious posture.  “We’re going to be playing a game, little bird.”  He flashed his teeth, back to a smile.  Strangely without even a trace of red on them now.  “You like games right?”

“And, uh, what kind of game is it?”  Gilda asked, now wide eyed and tense.  She wasn’t sure she was going to like where this was going, she just knew it.

“The one where, in the end, you get a prize!”  the Snark pony said as he gestured to her with his hoof.  Said hoof then broke away, now with him pointing a claw like shard in her direction.  “A fun game where, you do a few things for me,”  He shrugged, looking amused as he spoke. “Things you’d likely do for free, but for me regardless.  And I can help you too!”  he stated as his hoof reformed to normal.

“Help?”  Gilda said, a bit surprised.  She was curious at least.  “Say, what?”

“I can help you Gilda,”  the Snark said with enjoyment.  “I can give you control.  I can help you feel well, but only if you really want it,”  he continued with a calm voice.  “It’s just, I need to see if you can show me you can earn it.”  He scratched his claw from his hoof across his face, still grinning as the griffon looked aside.

This was new for her, but even so she smelled a rat.  For a moment, maybe Gilda might have humored the idea that she had a choice, but that thought didn’t last long.  

“First, we need some ground rules,”  the Snark added.  With that she saw his claw glow, like some kind of spectral claws emerged from them, closing shut.  Gilda then felt a painful jolt in her chest.  Her heart, it had to be her heart.  She was now clutching her chest, gasping for air.  

“This,”  the Snark said, with much less humor. “Is what happens if you tell anyone about me.”  He must have let it go, because she no longer felt like crying out.  The griffon looked down, trying to stop shaking as she breathed.  “Just keep that beak shut, and we’re fine and dandy,”  he laughed.

As the griffon tried to get her composure back, she noticed he was no longer with the guards.  He was seated next to her, brushing a intact hoof across her trembling face gently.  It felt soft and cool to her.

“And the second rule, is just to have fun,”  the Snark said as he caressed her.  “Easy!”  With that last line his mood went back to gleeful, his cat like eyes shining with joy.

“Why?”  Gilda uttered, being more sore than shocked.  She took a few more breaths as the Snark put a foreleg around her.  She was not liking this attention.  “Why are you just messing with me for?”  she whimpered.

“Because you sit there, a sad and angry bird, that no one will care for,”  he said as he pointed to the guards, still in that trance and still not there.  “Then, there’s me,”  he said, tapping his chest. “A little something with a hoof on your shoulder, and a smile on my face.”  the Snark said sincerely.  “Am I not a good friend?”  Gilda didn’t answer, she just gulped.  “Oh don’t tell me, I can guess,”  He cackled a bit more.

The griffon continued not answer, even looking away from the thing next to her.  Any moment she’d wake up, with a chill in her system and a desire to never sleep again as usual.  

It was creepy enough, as this “The Snark” character seemed intent on being all buddy buddy with her.  Gilda was only called to attention when his soft form was nuzzling her neck.  He was cold, but it also didn’t feel like skin.  Too soft, but the chill felt inviting.  She let out a yelp from that.

“Come, come now,”  the Snark said with disappointment, waggling a hoof claw in front of her.  “Don’t be sad and retreat into yourself, cowering in those denied tears,”  he said sounding sympathetic.  “Get even!”  He then flicked a claw in the direction of the guard ponies, somehow hitting one in the nose.  The guard responded with a look of panic, looking distressed.  

Gilda was unsure how to react, beyond the fact she enjoyed to see that stuffy guard look so shaken for once.  Now he was the person getting messed with instead of her.  She had to admit, maybe this odd creep of a pony could be onto something.

“So, what the heck are you then?”  Gilda asked, feeling no longer afraid.  This Snark seemed alright to her now.  “I mean, I can tell you’re some kind of weirdo.”

“Like I said, hoof on the shoulder.”  the Snark said, his hoof going down her back and giving it a gentle pat.  Now he was back to being creepy enough that the griffon wanted to slug him.  Despite her baring her teeth and sharp beak, he smiled back.  “And a smile on my face, little bird.”  He wasn’t oblivious to her anger, he seemed to get off on it.

Still, she felt like he was on the level, or wanted to hope he was.  It looked like he knew what she was about to ask.  

“You already know you can rely on me, little bird,”  he stated calmly as he lifted his hoof off.  “I won’t abandon you.” He got up, letting her go and standing between her and the guards.  
“When the chips are down, I’ll pop right in.  You say the word,”  He snapped his hoof, with a arc of something coming forth with power. “And I’ll be there, just for you.”  

He looked back with that devious smile he kept having as Gilda blinked.  “I’ll be in touch little bird, we got a lot to discuss in the next few days.”  Before Gilda could give any response she was jolted up, awake in a panic.  

Awake with a guard pony in her face.  

“Hey!”  the guard said, practically on top of her and jabbing her wing.  He looked frustrated for some reason.  “Were almost there, so get your things in order miss.”  

Gilda got herself up, checked her bag, and let out another groan.  While she was about to go back to sulking on her misery when she found she wasn’t the only one groaning now.

That one of the guard pony was holding his face, whimpering for a bit as he felt his hoof across his muzzle.  He couldn't tell what hit him, but she knew.  As far as Gilda could guess “The Snark” was real.  She smiled for a bit, feeling a bit good something was on her side.

Or maybe she was sliding further down to crazy town?

“What’s next?”  she mumbled to herself.

> Home, sweet home
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The carriage finally got the a pretty big cottage tree like thing outside the forest.  Seeing as they were slowing down, and it was the only thing out there, this was the place the griffon was headed.  

Thankfully being this far in the outskirts, and away from town, helped Gilda’s mood.  Rainbow Dash shouldn't be anywhere near here, or so she hoped.  When she got out with her luggage her, escorts following as usual, she felt things might not be as bad.  One guard went ahead and knocked on the door.  It opened to reveal…

“Oh, you are kidding me…”  was Gilda’s response with eyes wide and another old memory playing back.  So much for that hope she had.

“Doctor Fluttershy?”  the guard pony asked the yellow pegasus, not even acknowledging the griffons shock.

“Yes, that’s me.”  said Fluttershy.  Notably, not as tense or humorless as the guard pony.  Her voice as soft as it was from herding ducks in a row.

Still, true to Dr Larch’s word, she was being friendly.  Then again, the pony raised ducks if Gilda recalled right.

“We’re here to drop off your patent,”  the guard said as he gestured back to Gilda, still in shock.  “Are you sure you don’t need any help with her?”

“It’s ok,”  Fluttershy said with a smile and a nod.  “I’ve spoken with Twilight, and I told her what’s going on.  She also explained a few other things in some of the papers, so I’ll be fine.”

“Alright,”  the guard finished, and then turned to the Gilda.  “You, get inside!”  He pointed his hoof to the door.  “And don’t forget you're on thin ice here.”

Still in a bit of shock, and now some agitation, the griffon wordlessly walked through the door as the two continued talking about a few other things.  

The house she was in looked plain, even boring, but it was warm seeing as it had a fireplace.  The only other thing that stood out was how cheerful it looked, which annoyed the griffon.

Gilda figured she needed a sit down, and the living room had a cozy couch at least.  After that: her next move was find out what she was in for here, as well as try to keep the absurdity of the situation from causing her to scream.  If she read the papers she had right, this wimp held her freedom in her hooves and that wasn’t setting well with her.  

The whistle of a tea kettle caught her off guard, being a quick jolt to the griffon at this point.

With whatever conversation outside finished, Dr. Shy came inside, closing the door behind her.  Without a word, but with a smile, the pony walked past Gilda to the kitchen.  After another moment she came back with the tea and a pair of cups on her back.  She placed the tea set onto the table in front of the couch as though it was nothing new to her.

“We won’t have a session today, Gilda”  Fluttershy said as she poured herself and Gilda a cup.  “I want you to settle in first for today, so you’ll feel more comfortable.”  She looked the griffon in the eye.  “Is that’s ok for you?”

“You raise ducks,”  Gilda stated without blinking, still not able to get past that fact.  The funny look the pony gave her was almost comical.  “You raise ducks, and now you're a doctor...”  She raised a claw and asked,  “Why?”

“Well, it started when…”  While it looked like Fluttershy was excited to tell, it told Gilda everything she needed to know.

“This going to be some “nice” story, isn’t it?”  Gilda replied with talon quotes.  “The ones people talk about learning stuff from about ‘you always win where you are good’ things?”

“Well, maybe?”  was Shy’s unsure answer.

“Not interested then,”  Gilda said as she drank her tea.  While the pony put some sugar in hers, she took it bitter as she continued.  “Those kind of stories are stupid, not even real to me.”

“Oh…”  Shy looked saddened on that, still holding her cup.  “Even if it’s, um, awesome?”  While she was hoping for some breakthrough, she wasn’t getting it.

“If any awesome I can be isn’t worth a damn to the “awesome” you ponies seem to think ya got, then bite me,”  Gilda said with a grumble.  “So why should I care?”

“It’s not quite the way you…”  Shy tried to interject, still holding her cup.

“Not interested.”  Gilda ended in a dull tone.  Fluttershy looked a little disappointed.  She shook her head and took a sip finally.

“You're here to get better, and not to talk like there isn’t a point,”  Fluttershy said seriously.

“Whatever,”  Gilda stated with disinterest with another sip of tea.  “I want to be here because that asylum was ticking me off,”  she sighed.  “If I knew I’d show up here…”  Fluttershy was looking more and more upset by this, so Gilda stopped while she figured she was still ahead.  “Well whatever, I’m here.  So, now what?”

“Well, first I have some few ground rules,”  Shy answered, and Gilda flinched at at recalling the last pair of rules she got.  Apparently Fluttershy noticed the griffon’s jarred look, and instead of looking more disappointed, she looked concerned.  “Y-you are still my guest here, Gilda,”  she added, having that silly hopeful look on her.  “It’s nothing too bad!  

“Just lay into me,”  Gilda said with no energy.

“First, no loud music…”  Fluttershy began.

“I don’t even got a stereo,”  Gilda interrupted with a grumble.

“...Don’t bully my animals…”  Shy continued.

“That reminds me, you got fish or meat?”  Gilda pondered aloud.

“...Don’t cause any messes…”  Fluttershy still continued.

While filling her cup, Gilda had overfilled it on accident.  “Uh...”  was the griffons joke to it.  

This set of gags seemed to have the pony much less hopeful looking than she was before, if at least now looking annoyed.

“And…”  Fluttershy said, a bit exasperated. “...bedtime is at 9.”  She let out her own sigh then.  “You also can’t leave here without my permission or me being with you.”

“Not even just to be outside?”  Gilda asked, pointing to a window.  “That just bites!”

“Maybe latter, but will see,”  was Shy’s way of answering with a soft smile.  While Gilda would have been glad to be out, she’d be more happy just able to fly freestyle again.  “For now,”  she continued.  “I want you to get settled in, and I have gotten my guest room ready upstairs.”  She was now back to that kind of optimism the griffon was quite sick of.  “Then maybe we could play a board game?”

“Board games suck,”  Gilda grumbled as she finished her second cup of tea.  

Without any further words, she picked up her luggage and headed upstairs.  The griffon pushed open a bedroom door, dumping her bags and letting out a sigh.  

“Least this place is more than four walls,”  She said, letting herself smile for a moment.  “Not all bland...”  It was then that she took in the rooms sheer cuteness.  The amount of cuteness around her was going to make her gag.  “Aw….man.”  she groaned.

“Um, Gilda…”  Gilda turned to find Fluttershy in the doorway, with a nervous look.  Even so, the pony still let out a small giggle.  “...This is my room,”  she said.

“Who says?”  Gilda asked back with a shrug.  

Fluttershy’s response was to run off to another door in the hallway, coming back with a sign that clearly read “Guest” on it.  If the griffon was still drinking tea, she’d have done a spit take.  Still, the sound was still there.  

“Seriously?!”  Gilda yelled in anger.  Fluttershy let out a nervous laugh as Gilda face clawed.  She picked her stuff back up again, stormed past the pegasus, and went to the guest room.

“Maybe I should have given-”  Shy tried to speak as the griffon went past, but Gilda cut her off.

“Just stuff it!”  Gilda snarled back.   “I’m not in the mood for this.”   She stopped just before entering the “guest” room.  “Not like there's anything else to do to fix this,”  she continued to grumble, mostly to herself.

Fluttershy’s answer was to trot up to her giving the griffon a look.  Normally, Gilda would expect a look of anger and frustration to her anger.  The kind of look that said “Why are you making MY life so hard?”.  Instead, it was a look of pity the pegasus had.  

Somehow, that just caused Gilda’s own eyes to narrow.  The heck is this?  she pondered.

“I can understand how you feel,”  Shy said softly.  “You were in that asylum for weeks and they still weren't sure what was wrong with you.”  She scratched the floor with her hoof as she continued.  “I think if it were Dash, she’d have begged for a rescue.”  Now, Gilda teeth were gritted.  That name was the last thing she wanted to hear now.  

The pegasus seemed to realize her mistake as Gilda looked like she was going to roar at her a second time.

“I-I-I’m so sorry.”  Fluttershy stuttered back, even stepping away.  “I-I don’t want y-you to f-feel  worse and I know you are frustrated.”  Her head was all but bowed in front of the angry griffon, whom was still breathing heavily.  “Please, I want to help you.”

“How?!”  Gilda shouted as she shoved the door open.  “I’ve had enough of this crud a long time ago!  I’m beyond ticked with all this.”

“Well…”  Shy muttered looking away, still digging her hoof into the floor.  “I can get you some nice fish for lunch, a-and we can talk about it.”  She looked back to the griffon.  “I guess you’ve had a lot bottled up.  A-and i-it won’t be a session, just a chat.  OK?”  

The friendly smile at the end was either calming, disarming, or creepy.  It was just a matter of perspective, or in Gilda’s case depressing.

“Fine,”  Gilda said as she hung her head with a sigh, finally entering her room without looking back.  “Just, why don’t you just give me a bit of space, alright?”  she added and Shy nodded before she headed back downstairs.  Gilda let out another sigh as she dropped her stuff on the bed.  

She unpacked and sat down for a moment on what was likely intended to be a reading chair.  She cracked her neck and stretched her wings, letting out a moan of some relief.  It felt like she had been cooped up for too long in Canterlot.  Still, the current situation was still a downer. 

“Heck's up with her in all this?”  Gilda muttered while scratching her beak.  “What other dumb surprises are there for today?”  

It was then she heard a tapping on a window she didn’t know was there.

The griffon froze in a silent panic.  Second floor, Ponyville, Rainbow Dash lives there, so she knows she’s there now.  Right?   Plenty of reasons she was afraid to look.  She didn’t want to face the pegasus at this point, but the tapping persisted.  So, finally Gilda looked outside.  

She turned to see that white pony, “The Snark”, smiling at her.  His crimson lips pressed on the window glass and cat like eyes shining through.  

“Boo!”  he mouthed with white eyes.

That was enough of a shock to knock Gilda from her seat, landing with a loud thud.  She stumbled behind the bed for cover and looked again.  He wasn’t there now, even that red on his mouth wasn’t there.  The fact she had been awake the whole time only made it worse.  

She was cracking, she was cracking up.

“Ok, me going crazy isn’t much of a surprise now,”  Gilda uttered to herself in annoyance.  “It’s just ticking me off more!”  As she tried to control her fast heart beat a shout came up from downstairs.

“Gilda!”  Fluttershy yelled.  It almost seemed like an instant, but the next sound of her voice came from outside the door.  “What happened?  Are you ok?”  The pony nearly shouted as she spoke.

“I’m ok, alright?”  Gilda shouted back, sounding a bit more shaken than she’d like to be.  She propped the chair back up, letting out a heavy sigh.  “It’s just nerves, I guess.”

“I’m here if you need me, ok?”  Shy added.  After a moment of silence, Gilda could hear hoofsteps going back downstairs.

For a moment, Gilda held her head as she weighed her options.  Right now, she just wanted to be as far from ponykind as her wings could take her.  She felt stuck around them enough, but it wasn’t an option, it never is.  Even still, that thing she saw still creeped her out.  

Or worse, what if Dash does show up?

In the end the griffon decided she’d just go deal with the duck pony for now.  At least she didn’t seem to be a hallucination. All she just needed to was something about her gag reflex.  If things got too cute she was going to be sick.  Then again, likely she’d get used to listening to annoying droning about stuff the griffon didn’t want to care for either.

Besides, maybe she could get something to eat out of this?

> Getting to know each other
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lunch had been a nice snack of sardines.  While Gilda would normally say no to such puny fish she ate them anyway.  She missed meat that much for such a long time.  Then she got the biggest questions out of the way, with Fluttershy being more than eager to answer them.  

No, Dash didn’t know she was there.  No, Dash was not going to come here; having been told by Dr. Shy that her new patient is easily startled and quite sensitive to strangers, so it was for the best she didn’t go to her cottage for now.  And lastly no, there wasn’t much more for entertainment beyond board games and reading.  

“Do no ponies have cooler stuff to do around here?”  Gilda sighed at that third one.

Despite Fluttershy’s wishes, the griffon had nothing more to say now.  She was more interested in finding something else to do than talk to the pegasus.  Gilda did find a card deck, and several rounds of solitaire were had on the coffee table in front of the living room couch.  

Sometimes, she looked up from her games, usually from the sound of movement the pony made as she trotted around from one task to another.  

Despite the fact Fluttershy had trotted past where she sat, Gilda did not feel up for having any interaction with her.  Still, compared to the idea of another jump scare today for the griffon, the pony’s presence was almost welcome.  So Gilda simply camped out in the living room until the pegasus called her for dinner.

Soon it came, much to Gilda’s delight.  “So, what’s for dinner?”  she asked when she sat at the table.  

Instead of any meat, there was that tofu junk the griffon heard about.  Gilda had heard about some griffons and minotaurs actually ate that stuff.  She didn’t though, and she looked at it like the pony had given her pet food.

“I’m sorry, but I haven’t gotten any more fish yet,”  Fluttershy said, apologetic to Gilda’s bitterness.  “I’ll see about getting that tomorrow, so don’t worry.”  While she was sorry, the griffon was still eating tofu.

Gilda let out a sigh, bitter and lacking the energy to argue.  She ate it, not like she had much else she could do.  There was a side salad, but she wasn’t much of a salad eater.  Even so, Gilda still ate it too in defeat.  At least it wasn’t hayfries again.  

It was quiet as Fluttershy ate her salad meal, which suited the griffon’s mood enough.

“So…”  Shy eventually tried to break the silence Gilda had enforced after lunch.  While the griffon did let out a growl about it, Fluttershy seemed undeterred.  “Bed time is in bit, so I think it’s time to tell you about the medicine I have for you.”

“What?”  Gilda said in surprise.  She had not read about this.  Maybe, how far did she read again?  She couldn't recall any of it.

“It’s nothing too major!”  Fluttershy said, waving her hooves in front of her.  “I read about you having vivid nightmares.  And it’s part of the reasons I wanted you here, because I have a way to help you with them.”

“Like what?”   Gilda asked with sarcasm, rolling her eyes as she rubbed her head. “Pills that give good dreams or something?”

“Exactly!”  Shy said with joy as Gilda jolted in surprise.  “They already told you?”

The griffon nearly head tabled, but just stated the obvious.  

“No, they just sent me here,”  Gilda said bitterly to the pony.  “Do you really think I will believe in some stuff that causes dreams?”

“Yes?”  Fluttershy replied and seemed immune to irony.  “Just take it you are ready to go to sleep.  But, don’t take it too soon.  It…”  She seemed unable to find whatever words to describe the rest, so the griffon finished it for her.

“Knocks me out, like some sleep aid,”  Gilda moaned at the obviousness of it.  “I know, I’ve seen it before.”

“Well…”  Shy paused for a bit. “It’s more….”  

While Gilda was more than unhappy to listen to the pony’s drivel, something impacted her face.  The fact some moron had hit the side of her head with a uneaten vegetable had Gilda more muddled than angry.  

While it caused her to blink, Fluttershy seemed to be more upset by it.  “Angel…” her tone almost felt unsettling, like she had some restrained anger.  

Looking around the griffon saw a white rabbit.  At least it wasn’t as bad as the last white thing she’d seen.  It still looked at them both with a grumpy look, but Shy wasn’t giving into it.

“I already told you, I’ll be by later,”  she said, like she was talking to her disobedient child.  “Right now, I’m trying to help someone, and I did tell you what would happen if you scared off another patient.”  For whatever reason, whatever she was talking about caused rabbits mood to change.  He looked more nervous, even terrified before nodding quickly and hopping off.

“Uh, what’s his problem?”  Gilda asked, pointing a talon at the retreating rabbit.

“He really doesn’t like strangers a-and he’s…”  Fluttershy tone returned to normal as she tried to find the words, but Gilda saw the comedy gold there.

“That rabbit scared ponies off?”  Gilda said in disbelief and a laugh.  “Really?”

Shy looked down and shook her head.  “They were already troubled before they came here, Gilda,”  she said sadly.  “Eventually, they left for different care.”  

The pony stopped for a moment, brushing her hoof on her muzzle as Gilda shrugged.  It was then she rose her head with a “I got it!” look.  It was quite abrupt, enough to worry the griffon. 

“Maybe if he got to know you?”  Fluttershy said with some excitement, and Gilda still looked shocked.  “If you two were able to become friends, he won’t feel like he was being left out!”

Unfortunately, Gilda did not share that enthusiasm.  “I eat rabbits, dork,”  she said plainly.

“Please?”  Shy pleaded with the griffon.  “It could help your mood.  And he will do better with a new friend, so he won’t cause any problems for you.”  She had her hooves together, like she was begging.

“I don’t even speak his language,”  Gilda dismissed again.

“I can help,”  Shy continued.

“Heh heh heh, no,”  Gilda laughed dryly as she looked away and drank from her glass.

“Please?”  Shy still pleaded.

“I said no,”  Gilda replied, now this was getting more annoying.

“Pretty please?”  and Fluttershy, the duck pony, kept going.

“Please don’t drag me into some kind of longer and longer versions of please stuff,”  Gilda closed the argument, or tried too.  “Like some kind of stupid kids story …”

While Fluttershy didn’t drag her into such, that pleading look was still there.  Gilda frowned for a moment as she looked aside.  Not so much from guilt, but more from feeling dragged into this “friendship” business.  Even so, after a moment she rolled her eyes and sighed in defeat.  She just didn’t have the energy for this.

“Fine, geez!”  Gilda groaned back.  “But if he throws rocks at me, I’m eating his ears.”  She put a claw on the back of her neck as she wondered how was she even going to start with this.  Though by the look of the pony, the mare already had an idea.

“I’m glad,”  Fluttershy said with a happy look.  All eyes closed, head to the side with glee.  Like one of those weird happy people Gilda had made a point to keep away from.  

In time the meal was finished.  

“Do you want to help me with dishes or…”  Shy asked, but could read the look being given to her by the griffon.  “I-I guess not.”  she finished as they got up.  Gilda to leave, and Fluttershy to do dishes.  “Well talk more after I’m done, ok?”  she called after as Gilda left.

“Whatever.”  Gilda muttered as she walked past the living room and, not interested in playing another game by herself, went upstairs.  She paced for a bit in her room for a bit, sharpened her beak with cuttlefish bone, and cracked her claws.  

In short time, she noticed she had a guest when the door opened.  A short, unhappy guest that somehow got a door bigger than he was open by himself.  Angel, the rabbit, looked displeased just being there.

“You ain’t too happy about this either huh?”  Gilda said, only briefly looking at the bunny as she put her bones away.  Her answer from him was another carrot end to the face.  “Well aren’t you friendly,”  she said through gritted teeth.  “Didn’t your mom tell you to be nice?”  She looked back at the rabbit, who just tapped his foot with an annoyed look of it’s own.  “Hey, I ain’t too excited either.  So what?”  she added grimly.

Fluttershy showed up about then, as usual looking to try to break the tension carrying a saddle bag.  

“So how you doing this, duck-pony?”  Gilda asked the pegasus.  She could imagine the brief chuckle from the rabbit, just a small one.  Still, Fluttershy seemed optimistic about this.

“First, I want you to shake hands.”  Shy pushed the rabbit up to Gilda, who just then acted like any small creature before something that might eat it.  Namely looking a bit worried as he got closer to those talons.  “It’s ok Angel.  She doesn’t want to hurt you, right Gilda?”  Fluttershy added.  

While the big, sharp beaked, meat eating griffon was more than happy to disagree with the pony, Gilda still played along.  If a little reluctant.

“Give me your paw…”  Gilda moaned, moving her claw forward.  “Let’s just get this over with.”  

The Angel rabbit’s face returned to it’s unpleasant expression, but he still gave her his paw.  They shook, no fireworks, no nothing.  Both just about as excited as the other, that is to say not at all.

“That’s the spirit!”  Fluttershy clapped her hooves with a smile, at least before she saw the unhappy looks of the rabbit and griffon gave her, then her smile was mostly sheepish.  “Well, ok, mostly.  I’ll see about getting you two more acquainted later.”  She then patted Angel on the head.  “I’m proud of you, Angel,”  she said supportivly to the bunny.  “If we can work together on this, we can all get along.”  

Angel’s expression told a different story, but at least Gilda didn’t need to worry about the worst that rabbit could cook up, whatever that was at least.  Regardless of the bunnies displeasure, Fluttershy gave it a hug telling it she had something to take care of and wishing him goodnight as he left.

“Now, Gilda?”  Fluttershy turned back to the griffon.  “This is the medicine I want you to take.”  She revealed a small bottle from the bag, and took from it something strange.

“The heck is that?”  Gilda said with a weirded out expression, her brow raised and eyes wide when she saw the object the pony now held.  

The thing in Fluttershy’s hoof looked less like a pill and more like something made of gold with a green glint to it.  If Gilda didn’t know any better, she’d think it was a bit of gold dust or pea sized nugget.  But that glow told her it wasn’t any gold she had ever seen, and it’s luster made it near reflective, almost transparent.

“All you need to do is take it before bed,” Shy explained, holding the pill out with her hoof to the griffon as Gilda was still wondering what to make of it.   “But only when you're ready, because it will work in a few minutes.”  The griffon still just stood there.  “OK?”  she added, if a bit more worried.

Without a word, the griffon took the pill into her claw, still looking at it in confusion.  

“Where did you get these?”  Gilda asked, her brow hadn’t lowered as she looked at the pill.

“It something I got from a dear friend,”  Fluttershy answered back as she put the bottle away.  “Maybe I can introduce you to them, if that’s ok with you?”  Despite the her eagerness with Angel, she looked more nervous on this one.  “He’s more difficult to be around though, so it will have to wait til later.  After you’ve had some time to settle in and I’ve had some sessions with you.”

“Meh,”  was Gilda’s two gold pieces.  “Whatever.”

The pegasus seemed to know the griffon wasn’t going to give much of a answer, so she left for a moment with Gilda putting the odd pill on the nightstand.  Soon Fluttershy came back with a glass of water, placing it on the nightstand next to the pill.

“It's safe, so don't worry,”  Fluttershy said with that soft look of hers.  “Just, please, keep your eyes shut, ok?"  Gilda's eyebrow raised.

"Wha huh?"  Gilda muttered in confusion, shaking her head.  “Why?  Thought this was some sleep pill or something.””

"You, um..."  Fluttershy looked like she wasn't sure for a bit how to word it again.  "It will cause you to be, um, disoriented."  She looked more and more nervous then, like she was trying to be a cautious as she could be with her words.  "Y-yeah i-it can make you c-confused so shut your eyes when you take it…”  There was a pause.  “Please?"  Gilda just sighed from annoyance.

“Confused?”  Gilda huffed.  “Really?  Last I checked, that’s when you start to dream.”

“It’s magic based, Gilda.”  Shy added with a sudden stern tone, catching the griffon off guard.  It seemed the first time the soft pony wasn’t all soft sounding to her.  “And I’m serious, keep your eyes closed,”  she added with a firm look.  Even as the griffon’s brow raised, slightly unnerved, the pony’s serious look didn’t waver.

“Okaaaaayyy…”  Gilda replied, feeling a bit uncomfortable as she scratched the floor.  “Got it.  Fine.”

Shy seemed to think Gilda got the message and softened up.  “There’s a sleeping mask in the top drawer if you need it.”   She could see that Gilda was still eying her like she was being nutty.  "You will be ok if you do that, I promise,"  she added, trotting up to the griffon. “And if you’re still scared or need help, I’ll be in my room, so don’t worry.   And we’ll see each other in the morning, ok?”  

She had her hoof up, reaching at the griffon.  Fluttershy looked at her usual soft concern as Gilda figured a way to respond.  Gilda’s best response was a shrug and a sigh.  So the pony trotted to the door, and was about to close it behind her, but stopped and looked back to to the griffon.

“Also, I hope you have a good night's sleep,”  Shy finished.  “Good night Gilda.”  She said with that soft, kind smile of hers and closed the door.  

With Fluttershy gone, Gilda muttered under her breath about how sappy this all was.  She looked at the glass on the nightstand and continued to roll the pill in her claw.  It was the price for a good night's sleep after all and a bitter pill to swallow too.

“Magic, eh?”  Gilda muttered to herself.  “Figures this is some bizarro magic medicine then.”  She laid back in the bed and let out a sigh.  “Take it and you won’t have to worry about nightmares when you sleep.  Big woop!”  she uttered.

The bed was soft though, much more comfortable than the last bed she slept in.  The frills and what not were still too girly to her.  But it was so soft and-

Unfortunately for her, as she pondered about these things, she began to nod off.  With the pill slipping from her claw.

> Is this hell?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Gilda!”  The griffon jolted up when she heard her name and was up with a start from that shout.  It took a moment to take in her surroundings, but when she did it gave her much to worry about.  

She was in the asylum, like she never left it, and that pony at the door was clearly was ticked off.  He looked at her with clear anger.

“Get up you lazy bird, were having lunch soon!”  the orderly pony shouted and he trotted off without another word.

“What the heck is this?”  Gilda said to herself, looking puzzled around the room.  It was the same room, same place,  and the same bed and mirror.  The only thing off was the fact the orderly seemed nastier than she remembered.  “This another nightmare?”  she uttered.  “Great..”  She got up, and against any better judgement, she walked outside.  

Things were the same, but still felt off.  While she was never on best terms with orderlies, they now just seemed hateful toward her.  Like they couldn't wait to use those sticks on her just for fun.  Even the other nutballs just gave her not just dirty, but downright contempt looks.

They hated her, they hated the fact she even existed.  She could feel it.

“This can’t end well…”  was her words on that matter.

“Can’t is right!”  said a familiar voice, as a abrupt shove knocked her over.  “You're just a loon here bird,”  said Soft Touch as he coldly stood over her.  “You just keep causing problems for all of us.”  She struggled to get up when another orderly pinned her back down.  “Why can’t you be a better person like we want?”  he added with a smug voice, looking down at her.  “Cause I don’t learn nothing, dweeb,”  he said in his mock impression of her own voice.  

It was enough to make her angry.  She wanted to throw the other orderly off her and rip that smug pony's face off.

“That’s how you are, and wasting our time,”  Touch continued, gesturing to the other orderlies.  They lifted her up by her wings and pushed her to the commons area.  “Now you sit down in your chair, and if you're a good little bird then maybe we won’t have to strap you down.”  Then they let go and the griffon scrambled away, even enjoying a good laugh at her weakness as they trotted off.

Shock was a simple feeling, like despair and anger.  Gilda thought she had been getting used to it, but at the same time she wasn’t. She clutched her foreleg and shivered.  She needed someone right now, even “The Snark” would have been a good friend to have now.  Wordlessly, she got to her lone table and sat down.  

Another doozy was hitting her, wasn’t it?  No, it was already here now and she was helpless.  Soft had just made that point clear, and the fact he and the other orderlies were nodding to each other, and it could only see it getting worse.

Gilda pinched her neck, nothing.  Paw?  Nothing.  Beak?  Still nothing.  

Any number of bad things were going to happen soon, she knew it.  Here she was with no way out.  Alone, hated, and about to get messed up hard while someone gets to gloat at her predicament.  Her blood chilled, as her body felt weaker and weaker.

It was as she started to let it get to her that someone showed up without a sound or warning.

“Hello, pretty bird,”  Sunshine said with usual friendliness.  “You ok?”  The griffon turned to face him with surprise, nearly jumping out of her chair.  The dumb dog looked perplexed, like this didn’t bother him at all.  It just confused him.

“You’re normal?!”  Gilda said a bit more loud than she intended.  She glanced to the ponies now looking for an excuse to move in, but they thankfully weren’t moving.  “What the heck is going on here?”  she asked in a lower voice.  “What with this place?  How’d you get here?”

“Don’t know,”  Sunshine answered the questions with a shrug.  “See this place when asleep.  They mean, but how it goes here,”  he said with a sad detachment.   “Then I wake up, and it nice again.”

“This place is messed up,”  Gilda stated the obvious.  “Are you too dumb to see how bad this is?”

“I see it,”  he replied, still with a sad look.  “Try to ignore, makes my teeth clatter, chilly.”  Sunshine looked, for once, uncomfortable.  Even scared as he looked at her before working to calm himself.  “But, it not real pretty bird.  Larch told me...”

“Stupid dog!”  said the nightmare version of Dr. Larch as he hobbled grimly past them.

The diamond dog paused for a moment, but continued.  

“It’s not really there,”  he whispered to the Gilda.  “Nasty place is just in the head, so when you wake up, you be ok.”  He nodded at the griffon, like he was hoping she got it.  “It can’t get you if you don’t believe it can.”

“Ok….”  Gilda muttered, feeling the last thing she needed was more nonsense.  “And if I can’t wake up?  Maybe because I’ll freak out in a few minutes?”  she asked with worry as her eyes looked around.  “Cause I don’t want to stick around here.”  That question seemed to cause the simpleton to look pretty worried.  

“Can’t wake up?”  Sunshine asked with, for once, wide eyes.  “But, can’t you…?”

“Look, I don’t feel like being tortured right now alright?”  Gilda added finding herself shivering.  “I can’t take anymore of this...”

She looked again, the ponies in the commons looked more and more like they were about to come after her.  She had no idea if she could fight that many.

“It won’t leave you alone until you do it,”  Sunshine said out of nowhere, now looking deathly serious.

“What?”  was Gilda’s flat answer answer.

Despite her looking to the dog for an answer, he instead seemed to ponder, looking up as he shifted his head.  Then he gave her an odd look, patting her wing with a silly kind of hopeful look like he actually knew something.

“Don’t worry, pretty bird,”  Sunshine said as he nodded to her.  “I got the plan!”  he added with a smile and pointed his paw to the hall.  “Follow me, hurry!”  With that, he ran off down that hall.  

The ponies looked just as shocked as she did.  Regardless, she ran after him.

“This is stupid,”  Gilda muttered, now running and hearing the shouts from behind her.  If Sunshine’s stupidity got her a beating and strapped down, she was going to kill him.

“Stop her, there she goes, stop her!”  the orderlies yelled in anger.  “You can’t escape.  We’re going to take you away and you have nowhere to run!”  they yelled as she kept going.  The griffon could hear the sound of several running hooves behind her, and that only made her move faster.

She followed Sunshine to his room, where his paws in the process of unscrewing the vent cover above him.  The way he was doing it said he had some experience.  While that did raise a few questions, she had more pressing ones.  They did have a mob coming after them.

“Unless you can…!”  Gilda stated as she pointed down the hall to the nasty ponies coming, the dog cut her off.

“Put bed against door!”  Sunshine stated with a serious tone, not looking away from his task.  “Hold it there, take a moment.  Almost there.”  He kept working as she did as instructed, slamming the door closed and pushing the bed in place.  With in a second, angry hooves were pushing back.  

“Bit more, done!”  Sunshine finished as the vent cover came off and he leaped up into it.  His forearm then came down, his paw grasping.  “Give me claw!  Now!”  Gilda didn’t think twice.  The makeshift barricade fell, as he pulled her up into the vents.

“Follow now, pretty bird, follow,”  he said as he crawled through the vents with Gilda crawling after.  It was cramped, and how a diamond dog could move through them boggled the griffon’s mind.  For Gilda, she had to endure her wings pressing into her back as she moved.

“There in the vents, get them!”  yelled voices outside as the crawled off.  

While Gilda had wondered if it was a good idea to ask, she REALLY hoped this dog knew where he was going.  After a few turns and climbing up a shaft, to her surprise, he did.

“Vent cover lead outside, pretty bird,”  Sunshine said, as he got his paw pushing on said cover.  “Got wings, so you fly away.  You can make it pretty bird.”  He kicked the cover off and they got out.  

They were on a roof now.  The sky was blue, the grass was green, and the sun was bright.  It was in contrast to how the asylum felt, and unlike what Gilda was expecting for someplace in her own nightmares.

While her first thought was just doing that, flying away and not even looking back, she had to ask.  

“How’d you know all this?”  Gilda asked the simple dog.  “I mean, I saw you being creepy in that one vent, but did you always know how to get out of here?”  Sunshine just nodded back, and she couldn't believe it.  “Seriously?  Then, why did you stick around if you could leave anytime?”

The dog seemed to look unsure how to respond to that, but tried to.  

“It’s free out there,”  Sunshine said, pointing out to the horizon.  “But free is alone.  Alone is scary.”  He put his paw down.  “Or even suffering from things that’s out there.”  Despite how scared he sounded, he tried to smile.  “Here, when I wake up, know what is there.  Not free, but not alone, they take care of me.  Not hurt me.”

“And this nightmare crud?”  Gilda asked as she pointed back the way they came.  “How come you know all of this?

“Larch talks to me, he nice,”  he replied, but not really answering the question.  When he saw that she still looked confused, even rolling her eyes to it, he seemed to take as a sign of confusion.  “Place not real, pretty bird.  See it, but it only kinda real.  Don’t know it all, pretty bird, just bits and pieces, but…”  He tapped his head, like he was trying to think again.  

Gilda sighed, not sure what he was on about.

“They say lots, but they just mean.  Want you to know them too, so you think they real,”  he continued as he shook his head.  “B-but, they powerless if you keep away from them.  They not real, but you are.”  He looked to her, as serious as his muddled look allowed.  “You make reality, pretty bird!”  he said the last part with some excitement, like it was the answer to everything.

“Or maybe,”  Gilda added, not completely following the odd rant the dog had given.  “You’ve gone nuts and I need to get out of here before I do too.”  The sudden sound of metal clanging told her she better get moving.  “If you don’t escape, they're going to…!”

“I wake up,”  Sunshine said calmly.  “Won’t be scared no more when up,”  he said matter of factly.  The griffon let out a “pifft” as she flew away.  “Fly away, pretty bird, don’t look back!”  he called out as she flew.

“Guess he deserves to be here,”  Gilda muttered as she soared through the skies.  She could feel bad for him, but he wasn’t trying to get out of this place.  

Her next plan was to find some place safe, maybe wait out this storm.  The oddest thing was the asylum was the only building in the grass plain.  But hey, it’s not real right?

As she pondered this, a arrow pierced her wing, jamming itself into her joints and rendering it unable to move.

“No!”  Gilda shouted as she struggled for her wing to move.  “Nononononononon!”  she screamed, and she fell down.  

She couldn't glide,  she couldn't even right herself, all she could do is keep falling.  All she could think then was how powerless she was to avoid these problems.  Or worse, she never was.

“Escape is an illusion, little bird,”  said a mocking voice in her head.  “Freedom is what you do with what’s been done to you, and even that’s gone now.”  

Gilda continued to scream as she fell, and then she woke up back at Fluttershy’s on impact.  The griffon promptly jumped from her bed and ran from her room.  Her first goal was the kitchen.

Fluttershy had to have coffee, right?

> Fun had by all
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gilda was still in a panicked haze as she sat at the table.  She tried to keep her mind active, mentally taking stock of her status.  After she got out of bed with the shakes, she had gone downstairs and headed for the kitchen.  While she had the plan to just wait till morning, drinking something to keep her up, her actions had someone else trotting down as well.

“Gilda, is that you?”  Fluttershy asked with a tired look on her face.  The griffon guessed it was the kettle going off that woke the pony.  Even so, she was still jittery despite the company.

“Y-yeah,”  was Gilda’s reply, drinking her third cup with a nervous look.  Shy’s look didn’t change, still weary.  “Just, uh, made something so…”

“You didn’t take your medicine,”  Fluttershy stated clearly, as she blinked and rubbed her eyes.  She trotted to the table and took stock of the scene.  “How…”  she blinked a few more times.  “How many tea bags is that?”  she asked, now wide eyed with surprise.

“I-I don’t know,”  was Gilda answer to the odd question, staring into space and taking another sip.  “I just got to checking your cupboards looking for some coffee.”  Said cupboards were still open.  “But I found all you had was tea, lots of bags of it.”  

Gilda poured herself another cup of the mash.  “Soooo, I just figured I’d put a bunch into a kettle and boil it,”  Gilda continued as she took another sip.  “I didn’t count, but I think it’s enough to get me through the night.  I mean, this stuff tastes bad, but I think it will keep me up.”

The griffon was likely to keep drinking her bitter creation, but the pegasus wasn’t having any of it.  Without a word, she lifted Gilda’s foreleg over her back and pulled her out of her chair, causing it to fall over.  

“Go to bed, Gilda,”  Fluttershy said in a monotone voice.  “I know you are scared, but you need this.”

“Can’t I just-”  Gilda started, dropping her cup on the table.  While she was attempting to give her excuses, the unhappy look on the pegasus shut it out.

“Now!”  Fluttershy interrupted as continued pulling Gilda along.  Despite her size, she was somehow able to lift the griffons side enough to get leverage.

“When did she get all tough?”  Gilda said to herself.  

Last she knew, this pony looked like she could barely lift.  She let out a nervous gulp and went along with the unhappy pony, seeing as she was still trembling a bit from her last shock.

It was quiet on the way upstairs, with Fluttershy still looking tired and Gilda still feeling shaken from that nightmare she had a moment ago.  After getting to her bedroom, the griffon was helped into bed by the pony.

“Now where is…?  Shy stated as she looked around the room.

“I, um, dropped it?”  Gilda replied sheepishly.  The pegasus gave a disapproving look for a moment, but kept looking.  “Uh, sorry?”  she apologized and tried to smile, if only to hope this wouldn't get worse.  

After a moment, the pony had found the pill and hoofed it back to the griffon.  She then picked up the water.  

“Swallow it, please,”  was Fluttershy’s command.  Gilda let out a sigh as she put the pill in her mouth, and took the glass to take a drink, it went down.

In almost seemed instant, as Fluttershy expression went from an exhausted look to a weak, but proud smile.  

“That a girl,”  she said as her hoof caressed Gilda’s head and a muzzle kissed it.  “Sweet dreams.”  With that, she trotted away as the griffon felt the absurdity of what just happened.

“It’s not like I’m two…”  Gilda grumbled to herself.  “Geeze.”  After rolling her eyes, she decided to just lay in bed.  

She knew what was coming, and soon she would smell blue as her vision blurred any moment now.  At least that’s what she thought would happen.

The first warning was when the door started lowering into the floor.  She blinked with surprise, unsure how to react as her gaze followed the door, now clearly melting with it’s puddle seeping into the floor.  

“Uh, Fluttershy?”  Gilda said as she watched.  As the puddle vanished, the rest of the room started to go away in kind.  

The window near the bed just seemed to stop existing as an odd fog rolled in where it once was.  Then the walls fell, breaking apart and falling away like glass shards, then splintering again and again to dust.  Beyond it all wasn’t the night sky out side however, just a void of black emptiness.

“Yo, duck pony!”  Gilda yelled to no avail.  “What the heck is this!?”  She tried to get up, only to realize she couldn't move as her body was immobile.  Her neck was the only thing that she could move well as well as her eyes as she saw the floorboard flying away as well.  

As the bed and blanket drifted into ash from under her as well it was clear reality had clearly left awhile ago.

The other bits of furniture floated there for a moment, with the chair and nightstand fizzling away.  The bookshelf emptied its contents in the air as the books melted away into blobs of color.  That soon rejoined the shelf in its mass before it became a cloud of vapor.  

Soon there was no real evidence of the room Gilda was in.  It was just her drifting in an abyss.
Now she was floating, or falling, she couldn't tell now.  Her body felt no sensations as she drifted to who knows where to the sounds of blowing leaves.  

It was then she could see then that the void wasn’t completely empty.  Lights of many colors flashed, both near and far away as she traveled.  That aside, it was still all empty.  It was like she was now the last thing in the universe, and for some reason that scared her to her very core.

She didn’t know how long it she had been in that void when a flash put her out.  Gilda had no idea what happened next, but when she opened her eyes she found she was back in the real again.  

She felt the tell tale fluffyness of a cloud under her back, with a soft breeze on her fur and feathers.  Her wings could move again, and with a few quick flaps she felt balance again.  Even her tail felt like a limb that she was glad to know it existed.  

It didn’t take long for the griffon to find that Ponyville was nearby her cloud, that it was morning, and for a moment things felt good.  Nice even, like whatever gloominess she’d known was a bad dream.

Gilda still shook her head, it was a dream, just like that  pill she took would do.  Something told her where she was could not exist.  Nothing could feel this good in her real life.

“This ain’t real,”  Gilda said with wide eyes from her cloud perch.  “This a dream or some trip?”  She let her eyes wander.  “And if it a trip, where’s it going?”  

At any moment, she expected something to pop out at her.  Like a monster or a tiger leaping from some tree.  It started a dread, before lowering to anticipation.  Gilda had to wonder what was coming.

Or perhaps her trip on green fae would return?  Fun and strange visions of her soaring with dragon wings and having long conversations with everyday objects, all ending with confusion and embarrassment.

Gilda found herself going from nervous to calm and back again as she awaited her next surprise.  How was she meant to feel on this?

“Gilda!”  That shout and the voice had her fear leap up, nearly chilling her blood to ice.  That was when she was knocked over by a swift force with a pair of hooves around her.  Gilda nearly panicked.  “I’m so sorry!”  the voice cried.  “I shouldn't have abandoned you!”  

It was Dash, her old friend Rainbow Dash, crying into the griffon back.  Now Gilda knew it wasn’t real.  

“I never should have left, I shouldn't have been such a flip flop to you.”  Dash looked to Gilda’s shocked eyes with tears in her own.

“Uh...”  was all Gilda uttered.  

Despite how many times she had wanted Dash to come crawling back, even thinking of some “kind” words for that moment, those words seemed to escape her now.  

“I guess?”  was the best response Gilda could find.  

So many times she wanted to say that in a smug “I told you so” tone, but at best it sounded awkward when she said it, not cool at all.  The griffon eventually pried the pony off of her.

“I so sorry G, can you ever forgive me?”  Rainbow Dash asked with pleading voice, her hooves in front of her as she begged.

Maybe it was that, or how far the griffon could go with it, but at last she felt like she could go with this reality.  The griffon smiled at what they could do now.

“Maybe…”  Gilda said with a bit of playfulness.  “If you want to team up a prank some of those lame ponies, I guess I can find it in my heart to forgive you.”  Dash looked overjoyed at this.  
Dream or no dream, this felt like a wish come true.

The rest of the day felt like a blur then.  Water balloons, tricks, traps, the good old pranks they’d known from back when they were best friends.  From any random pony, to Dash’s lame pony friends.  Even Fluttershy found herself on the receiving end of their surprises.  

After leaving quite a mess behind them, they then flew to a cloud and had a great laugh together just like old times.  Then some racing, then more laughs and jabbing each other.  Gilda hadn’t felt so good in a long time.  

As her vision whited out, being a reminder of what she was seeing was never real, she honestly didn’t want to wake up.

> The morning after
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

4 days remain until Ragnarok.

Gilda’s eyes opened to find it was morning.  The sun was shining in the window and she was up in the best mood she ever knew.  Things looked good for once---great even.  Even while getting up from the bed, she felt almost light as a feather, like she was walking on air.  

At first, maybe she felt it was from getting the first good night's sleep.  But why did the sunlight seem much brighter to her?  Not blinding, just better.  Even the smell of the breakfast Fluttershy was making downstairs smelled heavenly.  At least for a moment…

As her mind wandered, past things came back to her.  From Dash, to how other things turned out for real.  Her quitting advanced flying classes in apathy, that lousy caravan job, that asylum.  

Gilda let out a sigh as her smile faded.  Her lightness turned heavy, and she faceclawed for being so foolish.  Life still bites and that was the end of it, no more joy.

While she could muse it was good while it lasted, she didn’t feel like it.  She just decided to go downstairs and deal with the rest of her day in misery.

Fluttershy was there, as to be expected.  From what Gilda could tell, there was a halibut on the kitchen counter.  It was bigger than a sardine at least.  Despite the the pony having her flank to the griffon, the Shy seemed to know the griffon was there.  

“Good morning Gilda!”  Fluttershy said with a cheerful tone as she turned to face the awake griffon.  “You must have slept well, this is lunch.”

“Yeah, about that…”  Gilda said as she scratched her head.  “That pill thing?”  she asked.  “Is it supposed to make it look like the universe went crazy?”  The pony looked at her with some concern, her jaw lowering.  “Well, yeah ok---I looked.  Got something out of it, but what the heck was that?”  she pointed a talon as she spoke.

“I only peeked....”  Shy replied as she trotted over.  “I know it can be scary, but you really shouldn't look.  It has you dream that you are awake, so to help with the lucid dreaming.  I think?”  Even while she explained the pony looked unsure.

“Lucid?”  Gilda replied.  That was a word she wasn’t expecting, as she continued scratching her head.  “How’s that even work?”

“You should eat first,”  Shy dismissed the question, gesturing the griffon to the table.  “Maybe I can tell you more about it during your session in a hour, ok?”  Gilda sighed, but still nodded.  

The fish wasn’t seasoned well, but it was good.  Heck, Gilda even had the salad with it without grumbling.  Maybe she could find a way to talk the pony into roasting a chicken, then again maybe not.  Fluttershy seemed the sort to be unhappy about cooking things with wings, if her duck herding was of any evidence.

After the meal, and making a note to be sure the tea slurry she made the night before was disposed of, Gilda figured she’d just twiddle her claws for awhile.

She could nap, but what will she see then?  Especially with what she had seen?  Cards were boring now, still no electronic games, and still no where to fly to.  

She looked over to the rabbit giving her a the dirty look.  He sure wasn’t interested in doing much either.  But, hey?  Let’s ask.

“So, you do pranks?”  Gilda asked the bunny.  “Like to other ponies?  Or do you just not like people?”

Angel looked at her with a “Are you kidding me?” look as she realized the exercise she was doing was futile.  

“Right….”  Gilda groaned, putting a claw on her head as she sat back at the table.  She decided to just wait there now.  

Finally, Fluttershy appeared and gestured for her to follow her.  The pegasus opened a door that lead farther downstairs.  

The basement was lit with a few lights, with more than a few larger shadows in dark corners and a shelf full of boxes.  In the light, however, was a few chairs, a couch and a desk.  

In those shadows, Gilda could see a few more things, including something ducking behind a crate in the corner, but she decided to give it no mind.  Even if she figured she may well regret it it was clear it wasn’t the Snark.  At least she hoped it wasn’t.

“Please, take a seat,”  Dr. Shy said, as she sat down in a chair behind the desk.  Gilda blinked for a moment, as if to ponder.  “I-I mean sit down, I know the joke you’re thinking off, Gilda,”  she giggled.

“Kill joy,”  Gilda grumbled as she sat down on the couch.

“First, in your own words, what brought you here,”   Dr. Shy started, as she pulled out some papers from the desk.

“Some ponies in armor,”  was Gilda’s answer.  Fluttershy rolled her eyes, but smiled at the humor of the answer.  “Fine, after some stuff I got a job,”  she summarized.  “More stuff happened, and I was in a that asylum.”

“Do you know why?”  Shy asked, gesturing a hoof.

“Nope,”  Gilda said with a shrug.  “Just know that job was scouting a new route somewhere.  I know I got drunk, then I can remember a fight but that’s it,”  she figured she could lay back for a bit, this couch felt comfy.

“Ooook,”  Dr. Shy seemed to wonder what to ask next.  “How about things you felt after you left Ponyville?”

“Like, what?”  Gilda asked, now not so comfortable.  She knew she wasn’t going to like this part.  Despite laying back, she was not relaxed now.

“How did you feel back then?”  Fluttershy asked, putting on a pair of glasses.  A pair of simple half frames.  Now Gilda knew she really wasn’t going to like this, so she added how she felt on things.

“Like you dumb ponies are the most stupid, over glorified, self important bunch of losers I’ve ever seen!”  Gilda said with anger.  It was as loud as it was cathartic.  It even got her out of the slouch she was in, now standing herself upright again.  

“And you don’t give a damn about anyone, so you just make yourselves awesome by calling yourself that.  Just so us non ponies can never be as “cool” as you are!  You losers don’t even…”  Gilda paused for breath.  “Who even said you guys have adventures beyond some stupid books?”  

By the end of it, she was up and pointing an angry tallon at the pegasus.  It felt good for her to say it, but even so, Dr. Fluttershy wasn’t cowed over.  The pony looked unfazed, so Gilda let out a sigh as she went back to her slouch.  Ending with letting out a grumble as the griffon felt like just looking at the ceiling.

The pony endured the flurry of insults, and at most, she blinked as she wrote a few things down.  

“I’m sorry to hear that,”  Dr. Shy said, trying to sound impartial.  “But how many friends do you have other than Rainbow Dash?  Do you know anyone else from Jr Speedsters?”

“Nope,”  was Gilda’s short answer.  Not even looking at the pony, now more concerned to keep looking at the ceiling above.

“Is it because of Dash?”  Fluttershy continued, but Gilda didn’t answer.  “How important was she to you?  Did you two have…?”  while Dr. Shy asked this innocently, the griffon knew the question and she knew the answer.

“Why do you ponies keep thinking I wanted Dash that way?”  Gilda grumbled in a low voice and a tired sigh.  “Like, really?”  she looked to Shy with a look of annoyance.  “Just because some ponies are like that doesn’t mean I am.  I don’t chase mares, alright?”

“So why were you so focused on her?”    Fluttershy asked, looking back to her.  She crossed her hooves under her head as she leaned on her desk.  “Why was it just her with you?”

“You wouldn't even get it,”  Gilda replied back as she closed her eyes, and laid back again.

“I could try, talk to me,”  Shy pleaded.  “Help me understand.  It could help...”  Dr. Shy continued to try to get an answer, but she wasn’t going to get one.

Gilda let out a annoyed huff.  “Just go to the next stupid question,”  she said.

“Is if due to something in your childhood?”  Dr. Shy asked a new question, but the same answer still.

“Next,”  Gilda dismissed again.

“Ok…”  Fluttershy now sounded a bit more uncertain.  “Do you have any non pony friends?”

“Define “friend”,”  Gilda asked finally, opening her eyes and now with attention.  “I know you ponies are more…”  she paused to think on how to describe it. “Cuddle happy than us griffons are.”

“Someone you bonded with, like a person you trust or can rely on when things go wrong,”  was Dr Shy’s long answer.  “People you “hang out”  with maybe?”  Now she was doing the air quotes.

Gilda sighed, rubbing her face. “Had a guy called Edward,”  was her answer.  “He was a dork, and even his dad called him a giant chicken.  He’s pretty much a loser anyway.”  

“Did you know anyone else?”  Shy kept prodding, and looked happy now.  It seemed they were now making some kind of progress.

Gilda hesitated for a moment, tapping her beak.  “Some too dumb to live dog named Sunshine,”  she said with a shrug.  “But, I guess he just wanted to be one.  I think he’s some kind of weirdo or a nut.”

“How much did you know about them?”  Fluttershy asked with a bit of hope.  “I mean, if they were-”

“Meh,”  Gilda answered back with disinterest, those details didn’t matter much to her.  “Who cares?  Not like it mattered how much I knew them about them.”  

“Well…”  Dr. Shy said with some near smugness.  “How much did you know about your old best friend?”  

The pegasus treaded on thin ice there.  Gilda was up now, looking the pony in the eye.  It was now silent anger vs someone trying to pry.  Still, even with an unhappy griffon staring her down the Shy was still looking like she was trying to get some magic answer to fix something.  

“If these were the people you hung out with, even if it was for awhile, why did you once talk about her so fondly?”  Dr. Fluttershy added as she adjusted her glasses.

Gilda just said one word that didn’t matter much to her at this point.  That memory was too long ago for her now to remember it fondly anymore.

“...Rainboom,”  she simply replied. If Doctor Fluttershy was going to ask for more, she wasn’t getting more than that.  

Judging by the meek look she got from the pony at the low, growling, and clearly unhappy voice Gilda had used the pony understood that and moved on.

“Have you ever thought that maybe you haven’t tried to be…”  Fluttershy looked like the was pondering for a moment, rubbing her muzzle and looking for the right thing to say.  ”Approachable?”  She could see the look Gilda was still giving her, but kept going despite it.  

“Even ponies can step down, er, I-I mean try to compare themselves to weaker., um people,”  Shy said as she looked like she might be stumbling at the griffon’s stare.  “J-just because s-somepony or someone isn’t, er, a-awesome, doesn’t mean you can’t relate to them, Gilda.”  

The griffon sighed as the pony kept going, losing her anger to the sight of weakness.  The pegasus seemed to relax as well.

“If you only made friends with others who were exactly like you were, would it really be all that nice?”  Fluttershy asked with new confidence.

“And how am I supposed to relate?”  Gilda asked with annoyance at the question.  “I hate ponies that are full of hot air.  So far that’s all of em.”

“I, um, don’t know?”  Dr. Shy answered.  “It’s hard to...”  Finally, Gilda leap up from her couch.  The griffon has had enough of these circles things were now flying in.  “Wait, just sit...”  Fluttershy was now up, flying up to Gilda.  “I can understand what you might be going through,”  she added with hooves out.  “Please, I want to help you.”  

“How?”  Gilda yelled at the small pony in front of her.  “It’s not like you got a magic undo button for all this.  So why should I care about this?!”

“Well, who’s to say a undo will fix anything?”  Fluttershy countered in a serious tone, even despite the griffon roaring in her face.  “What if you don’t learn something because of it?”  She was now trying to push Gilda back onto the couch with her head.  

It was as sad and futile as it sounds to see a yellow pegasus try to push a big, unpleasant griffon who now stood there with an aside glance.  The griffon couldn't believe how stupid things had gotten.

“This head game stuff is stupid and going nowhere, bumble fly,”  was Gilda’s bitter retort.  “So don’t try to say you got all the answers!”

“What if someone really wants to be your friend?”  Fluttershy asked with a bit of strain, still trying to push.  “Have you ever considered that?  What if it was you?”

“I-I don’t know,”  Gilda said, now sounding a bit more down.  Her anger lost it’s air.  She hardly thought much on that for awhile now, but that old memory was kicking in, trying to return a portion of her bitterness.  “What’s this stuff even worth anyway?  It just ticks me off in the end.  So just-”  

That last bit must have got the griffon’s spirit down, or at least her feet got off balance which was all Fluttershy needed, or more than that as her next push was enough to knock them both onto the couch with the pegasus on top of the griffon.  
It was a shock for them.  Both sides were staring at the other, then one of them started to blush.

“Um,”  Fluttershy sounded awkward, and her blush didn’t help matters.  “I didn’t…”

“Off!”  was Gilda’s opinion on the matter as she pushed the pony off of her.  “Like I need more of this stuff being asked about me!”

After getting back on her hooves, the Shy backed away, trotting back to her desk.  The blush was still there for a moment.  Only then did Dr. Shy notice Gilda still had the glasses on her chest.

“S-sorry.  I-I mean, well…”   Dr. Shy nervously muttered and let out a cough.  “I think we made some progress today,”  

Gilda put a claw to her face and sighed.  The whole thing felt ridiculous, but the pony still kept being hopeful on it.  

“But, maybe if you could open up a bit more?”  Fluttershy added.  “I’d like to know why things got as bad for you as they did, but that can wait until later.”  

She got up from her desk and Gilda figured she’d get up as well.  Warily, handing the glasses back.  It was quiet as they headed back up the stairs.

“So, you got anything better for me to do here?”  Gilda asked when they were back on the main floor, still feeling tired of all the waiting around.  “Like flying, or someplace fun to go to?”

“Maybe…”  Fluttershy replied, as she closed the basement door.  “I had the idea of you helping me with the animals later, but not just yet,”  she dug her hoof as she spoke, but giggled softly a bit.  “You might scare them off right now.”  

After getting back to the living room the pony snapped her hoof---somehow.  Gilda was aware of snapping one’s claws, but a hoof?  Maybe she was cracking again?  

“Just, um, hang around upstairs,”  Fluttershy said with enthusiasm. “Maybe I can think of a nice, er, surprise for you.”

Gilda shrugged and went to the second floor.  The unsubtle hints she was given told her that duck pony was going to try bonding her to that short rabbit again, at least she hoped that was the idea.  The alternative was bonding with the blushing pegasus.  The last thing she needed was being part of some kind of pony ride.

> The best kind of prize is a surprize
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back upstairs, as Gilda now waited on dinner, she figured a bath was in order.  After a nice soak and a wash off, she dried herself off and took a look in the bathroom mirror.  For once, her appearance looked healthy.  Or at the very least not so low looking.

“Least I’m looking good for once,”  Gilda said as she let herself smirk for a moment.  She figured that good nights sleep had to be why.  She even found the energy to flex her forelimbs, and let out a playful growl.  It wasn’t silly, it was cool to her.

But that was when she noticed something.  It was in the mirror, or behind it.  She didn’t know what it was, but she felt it in there.  The thing she saw in the basement in there!  It’s odd presence felt like a sharp glint in the corner of her mind.  

She reached to open it, but relented for a moment.  The last thing she needed was some white pony jump scare.  What if it was that “The Snark” creep?  Or something just like him?

But, after looking at the mirror with a claw out for a moment, Gilda steeled herself.  The griffon was tired of running around, so she opened it like a door to reveal---

Oh no!  was her first thought on seeing it.  It was the worst thing she could imagine.

“HI GILD-!”  was the sound that came before mirror cabinet it was slammed back shut.  

Gilda ran from the bathroom back to her bedroom, but even then it was there too.  Just under her bed she could see it looking at her with bright blue eyes.

“How did…!”  Gilda stated in surprise.  “Get out of there, you little...!”  She pulled her annoyance out from under the bed in a quick motion with her anger building, and it just kept talking.

“Hi Gilda!”  Pinkie Pie proclaimed, not understanding the trouble she was in.  “Anyway, I was hoping we could…”  As she spoke, Gilda pulled her by her hair to the rooms door, growling all the way.

“Save it!”  Gilda yelled back as she opened the door and threw the pink annoyance out, shutting the door promptly.   She let out a sigh of relief, but only to notice the nightstand drawer.  “Why...?”  she said with a groan, her eyes rolled again.  That feeling was there, lurking inside in.

With a sigh, Gilda walked over and pulled the drawer out.  Somehow, the pink pony popped her head out from it.

“...maybe talk.”  Pinkie continued.  “I mean…”  And Gilda shut the drawer closed again, with the head popping back down as the drawer closed.  Then after a pause, the griffon opened it again.  “...I don’t want to have any hard…”  shut, open.  “...feelings!”  and shut again as Pinkie tried to keep a sentence going.

Gilda felt her eye twitch.  If she wasn’t dreaming, what was causing this?  

That pink pony can’t fit in a nightstand drawer! she thought in anger.  How the heck is she doing this!

Then, when Gilda noticed what was behind her, she lowered her head.  She muttered, as she put a claw on her scalp,  letting out a despaired laugh.  

“Why me?”  Gilda uttered grimly.

“Wow,”  Pinkie said with a bit of shock from behind the griffon.  “That a sad laugh you have!”  

While the pony was sounding worried, the griffon didn’t care.

“Why are you tormenting me?”  Gilda said without looking up, her voice strained.  “Just go away!”

“Me?”  Pinkie said putting a hoof to her chest with a gasp.  “I don’t want to torment you.”  She promptly lifted Gilda head to look her in the eye.  “Does this look like a face that intends to do you harm?”  she said as she did her best soft, but dementedly energetic smile.

“...You’d be surprised,”  Gilda said, now looking away and giving the pony a quick shove.  The pink pony landed on her rump.

“...I might…”  Pinkie said with a less enthusiastic tone, but then went back to jolly as she bounded back up.  “But that doesn’t matter because I just want to bury the hatchet.”  

Then she paused for a moment, with a sudden terrified look, only causing Gilda to look at the pony awkwardly.

“What now?”  Gilda muttered.

“Just---not in whatever way some people keep thinking,”  Pinkie Pie said, waving her hooves in front of her and smiling.  “Not in the head, or face, or belly, or leg, or…”  

As she recited this she counted on invisible to anyone but her: notches, or fingers or---Gilda noticed the pink pony now got her doing it!

Gilda shook her head and growled in annoyance. “Will you just---and how’s this going to fix things?!”  she said with a angry look and gritted teeth.  “Your little party cost me a LOT, pink-o!”

“I thought it was free…”  Pinkie said, innocently missing the point.  “I could give you another party, also free too!”  But she could then see how that wasn’t helping, with the griffon still looking angry, and the pink pony now looked deflated.  “Can’t we all just get along?”  she asked, with a hopeful look and a smile.

“Not with you…”  Gilda uttered grimly as she turned to leave the room.  “You’re just another weirdo, and one that still ticks me off, so if...”  As she reached the door, she knew the pony was behind it.

She looked back to where Pinkie was, finding she was no longer there.  And, now abandoning normal logic, Gilda peeked through the keyhole.  She could see the pink pony waving back to her from the other side.  

“Just get lost you wacko!”  Gilda yelled at what she saw.  But as she pulled her head away, she already knew what was behind her now.  Without missing a beat, she turned to glare at the pony again.  “I hate you!  I hate you so much, so just buzz off already!”  she shouted Pinkie.

“But, that doesn’t have to be forever,”  Pinkie Pie said with a look of terror.  “Forever is such a long time!  Do you really want that?  I don’t!!”  There was a pregnant pause as Gilda looked in a bit of shock. “I DON’T!!”  It was then a loud quacking noise sounded, following that serious sounding statement.  

Both sides now were staring in shock.  The dramatic tension fell out with neither side speaking for a moment.

“Wha….?”  was Gilda word on things, having not blinked since the start of the pony’s outburst.  Though that quack sound had her back away a bit.

“Oh, sorry.”  Pinkie said, somewhat embarrassed.  She had noticed her sound horn on the floor, with her hoof having just stepped on it.  From her embarrassment, she went back to mirthful again.  “Guess I stepped on it!  Silly me huh?”  

The pony then scratched the back of her head with her hoof, her tongue to the side, trying to ponderous or something.  Gilda couldn't tell with this pony.  

“Maybe if you could do stuff?”  Pinkie said.  “Fun stuff, stuff that is fun and makes you less of a…”

Gilda was quite tired at this point and raised a talon as she let out a cough.  “Insane weirdness aside,”  she said flatly with a tired look to the pony.  “You got nothing, now get lost.”

“Well…”  Pinkie said with a gleeful look as she rubbed her hooves together, not taking in the griffons unhappiness.  “I know I can’t throw you a party now, but I can bake you a cake and it even won’t explode either!”  

Then she was back to that counting thing:  “...Or have candles that don’t go out, or have frosting made of salt, or have Granny Apple in a swimsuit and a soft cloth hat…”  Pinkie continued, but could see the look on the griffons face.  It was only getting less pleasant as the pony went on.  “....I’m not selling this am I?”  she added in a low voice.

“No,”  Gilda added with a stoic, blank expression.  “You’re not.”  

The two looked at each other.  One looking nervous, the other looking like she was going to throw a pony out a window.  

But it didn’t come to that, Gilda still had something to say.  

“How do I even know you ain’t here to prank me?”  She demanded.  “Just so Dash can laugh at me again?”  she asked as that was still a pressing issue to her.  One she would never let go.

“That’s easy, G!”  Pinkie started gleefully and simply.  “For one, she’s never mentioned you, not even once.   And she still doesn’t know you came back yet!”  She then gave the griffon a hug.  “But I won’t tell, that’s a Pinkie promise.”

“You don’t have pinkies…”  Gilda said without changing her expression, and despite the pony hug.  Taking the opportunity, she flicked the pony’s nose with her talon.  “Now let go of me.”  Not quite tweaking a beak, but the griffon knew it still stings.

“...I know.”  Pinkie said with disappointment, letting go and trying not to let the sting bother her.  “I’ll still try to sneak you in a cake though.”  She was back to friendly.  “I’ve listened in, you’ve been a trooper with stuff.”

“Knew something was there…”  Gilda muttered to herself, looking aside.  “But why’d it have to be you?”  she asked with a sigh.

“Think we could hang out then?”  Pinkie asked, being hopeful.  “Maybe share that cake?”

“And do what?”  Gilda mumbled back as she looked down.  “Get reminded about the stuff that annoy me?  Heck no.”

“No silly,”  Pinkie said, apparently not getting the point of the statement.  “I want us to move forward.”  She grabbed Gilda’s neck, wrapping a foreleg around her as she pointed her other hoof to the sky.  The griffon could only look in confusion as Pinkie spoke with some kind of purpose with her hoof in the air.

“I, and many others like me, envision a world were at last, you, Rainbow Dash, and the spirit of friendship come together,”  Pinkie Pie said with certain strength.  “With it helping us all mend together…”  

Gilda simply looked to the side as this speech continued, doing a mouth movement with her claw as the pony went on and on for what felt like minutes.

“Dear Celestia, it will be beautiful!”  Pinkie finished, her hoof  in the air still, then slowly lowering for attempted dramatic effect.  

Gilda still wasn’t getting it, and she really didn’t want too.

“Ok…”  was her only word on it.  “So you are mental, and I’m going to go nuts too soon too, right?”  The pink pony let her go, spinning away.  “Had enough of this silly stuff.”

“It’s not just about being silly, silly!”  Pinkie said with her regular mirth.  “It’s about knowing the meaning of Hearth’s Warming, so keep your chin up!”  She patted Gilda’s chin in an upward way.  “Maybe then we can talk, maybe share stories and learn stuff about each other too!”  

The pink pony’s leg rang, and Gilda wondered if it was just her that could hear those bells in her ears.

“Oh,break’sover.seeyoulater.bye!”  Pinkie Pie leaped under the bed after that word jumble, and in an eye blink the pink pony was gone.

With the rush over, the griffon figured it was a good time to let her legs give out, landing on her belly.  She let out a depressed sigh, as she put her claws over her lowered head.  

“Why is it only the freaks that never leave me alone?”  Gilda groaned to no one.

> There was a door
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

While Fluttershy would have been a welcome return to some form of sanity, Gilda had found the pegasus was already gone.  Good news: the note on the kitchen table said the pony was going to be back for dinner.  Bad news: the griffon saw that rabbit was eying her from the  table.

“What?”  Gilda said with her claws out, annoyed.  “She’s coming back, so what are you getting so ticked about?”  The rabbit huffed, pointing to a dish, an empty one.  “She’s-coming-back.”  She groaned slowly, but the bunny answered by picking up the dish and shoving it into her claws.  “Hey, if can wait you can too fluffy,”  she added.

Angel just tapped his foot, not moving from it’s position.  Eventually, the griffon rolled her eyes and let out another groan.  

“Fine…”  Gilda said, and looked into Fluttershy’s fridge.  She grabbed some random carrots, tossed them in the dish, and put it down in front of Angel.  “There, eat,”  she muttered grimly.  “Now quit bugging me.”

But Angel didn’t, instead he just pointed at other things in the fridge.  

“Don’t-push-me!”  Gilda growled back as she shut said fridge.  

The bunny rabbit looked upset by that, but she paid him no mind, deciding to go back upstairs---well until the dish hit the griffon’s back with uneaten carrots flying everywhere.  

That little bunny woke the wrong griffon, that’s for sure.

“That’s it!”  Gilda’s roar made that clear, and Angel just realized who and what he just angered.  He quickly ran as fast as he could.  “Come back here you little furball!”  she yelled after him.

After a delightful chase, with Gilda knocking over the kitchen table and Angel dodging his own dish, the rabbit's luck finally ran.  The griffon had him by the ears with a sadistic grin.  

“I gotcha now…!”  she playfully growled at the terrified bunny.  But the sound of the door opening cut her off with a loud creak.  “Whoa, uh, Shy, he just….oh...”  As Gilda stammered, she noticed that there was indeed a pegasus in the doorway, it’s just  the wrong one as her voice died in her throat.  

She still dropped the rabbit anyway and gulped seeing as her blood went cold by the pony now in the house.

“What the heck are you doing back here?”  Rainbow Dash said coldly.  She wasn’t shouting it, but that anger was clear enough.  Gilda could feel it.

“Uh, hey…”  was the most she could come up with, as well as a nervous smile to her most hateful looking old friend.  It wasn’t able to keep herself calm, and Dash’s eyes only got more narrow.  “I’m just here for, uh, therapy.  Huh?”  But Gilda’s cud eating grin fell off as the pony drew near.

“It doesn’t look like it to me,”  Dash dismissed as she came closer, never letting her eyes waver.  “You’re still doing the same thing I called you out on, aren’t you?”

“It’s was that stupid rabbit!”  was Gilda’s quick defense.  “He started it.”

“Really?”  Dash was still not wavering, trotting closer and still angry.  “Next you’ll go around blaming other people when you get mad, just like last time.  You just never take any responsibility for what you do.”

“Says you!”  Gilda shouted back, finally back to standing her ground with her own outrage.  “You think I’m enjoying this?”

“I do!”  Dash replied and gave the griffon a shove, pushing her back.  “You keep wanting to be “cool”, and when things don’t go your way you just cause problems for everypony.”  She looked even more angry at Gilda.  “I don’t even know why we were friends.”  Another shove came.  “My friends are more ‘cool’  than you’ll ever be and you can’t take that!”    

Gilda didn’t have much to defend herself with there.  Her idea of reason did not exist here, and the cyan pegasus wasn’t giving an inch.  Dash wasn’t getting any less angry, still coldly staring her down and uninterested in any argument the Gilda had.  

Right now, Gilda was angry, even more so than Dash.  Her teeth and beak grit tightly as she glared back at her old friend.  Now neither side was giving any more ground.

“Bite me you flip flop!”  Gilda roared back her old friend, even blowing the pegasus’s mane with force.  “Like you’re even much of a friend to me anyway!”  But despite that, the pony didn’t flinch.

“You can’t take that and you just want to blame others for how you are,”  Dash said as she looked on with intensity.  

The anger and rage were clear.  Gilda would have stormed out, but right now she felt something new.  Something just seems to arc through her now, something that made her strong.  Her claw clenched fast.

“Get back...”  Gilda’s voice was now low enough to sound like death, but Dash was not moved.

“Make me!”  was Dash’s own growl back to her.  

What happened next was fast that even Rainbow Dash’s look of surprise was registered as she  flew backwards after Gilda delivered a quick punch.  The pegasus flew right through the front door, splintering it on impact, and landing herself in the snow outside hard enough to bounce once or twice.  With enough left to roll the rest of the way.

Gilda looked at her own claw with some shock.  That was quite a punch!  she thought.  That felt awesome!  

Without missing a beat, she lept to the doorway, snapping some bits of door from the bent hinges.  

“I said get back, floppy!”  Gilda said with a bit of smugness.  Despite the cold winds outside she felt good.  “Now who’s cool, Rainbow Crash?”  She even let out a laugh.  “It ain’t you, that’s for sure!”

Dash got up with a strained groan, but still gave another sharp look.  The wind was kicking up faster, blowing the snow around her.  But despite that, the pony didn’t even blink.

“I-don’t-forgive-you!”  Dash coldly shouted back, holding her side with a wince.  “This is all your fault, and you’ll never admit to it!  Now go disappoint someone else!”  She trotted off limply, unaware she hit a new nerve in the griffon’s mind, with Gilda crushing her claw on the bit of wood she was holding.

Her rage was there, still running cool in her veins.  But despite it, she felt good for herself herself.  Or at least she did until that nerve was hit, now it was just bitter anger and feeling sad again.

“Fine!”  Gilda yelled after, now trembling.  “Blame me for being some stupid jerk!  It’s not like you’re so squeaky clean either, Dash!”  The pony didn’t turn.  She just kept going, not looking back to her.  

Gilda, despite herself, simply shrugged limply and went back inside.  Even if she really did want to just tackle the pony down and bash her face in with her claws, it wouldn't help how empty it all felt.  She already knew that feeling: that desire to sulk at how pointless things had gotten.

But some things couldn't be ignored anymore.  

Angel was pointing at those facts in shock and awe, his eyes saying it all.  

“Look what you did!”  The bunny could have said.  “I can’t believe what you did!”  The griffon did a double take, seeing the full weight of her handy work.  On the bright side, it got her out of her sad mood.  If only to go into a panic.

Fluttershy’s door was busted and now snow was getting into the house from the storm outside.  Gilda face was now more wide eyed as her teeth clenched with a pinch of panic.

“Aw snap!”  Gilda uttered loudly.  “Shy’s gonna kill me!  I’m so dead!”  she stated in terror.  She then looked to the rabbit, still staring at her. “You got any ideas, little buddy?”  she asked, and Angel took that moment to point to itself with a look of confusion.  “Just something to plug up that hole.  Flat like, wide.  Maybe a big table?  Anything?”  

He tilted his head for a moment, with the griffon feeling more and more silly as she was asking for help from this rabbity thing that couldn't talk.  

“We need to keep the wind out so…”  as Gilda continued, the bunny was off again.  He only stopped once to wave it’s paw for her to follow.

They hopped downstairs, and there Angel pointed out his solution.  

“She’d kill us both then…”  was Gilda’s dry joke on the matter with a worried look.  “...Least it’s something, I guess.”

“You got any better idea’s, birdy?”  Angel could have said, at least with the look he was giving her.  The griffon sighed, her worry became a bit of determination as she got to her task.  

Dr. Shy’s desk was big, heavy, and hard to take up stairs, but it worked!  It covered the door so they wouldn't freeze to death, nor ruin more of the pony’s home.  Aside from some small bits of snow Gilda could clear out in her sleep.  For that moment, the griffon let herself smile.

“That’s settled, great!”  Gilda said with a sigh of relief, looking at their handy work proudly.  “So---who’s telling her what happened?”

At this, she heard the sound of Angel zip past his food dish, fast enough to make it spin with a resounding clatter.  He was now taking refuge in a hidey hole, far from his owners eventual wrath.

“Yeah, you go---do that...”  Gilda said with her head low.  She could have sighed, but simply moaned.  “I better get my story in order...”

She headed back upstairs and twiddled her claws, even humming a bit.  She was waiting for her end with a form of grim humor.  

“The rock cried out, I can’t hide you…”  she mumbled, trying to get her mind off the situation.  But old songs weren't going to get her mind off how dead she was going to be now.

With that beat down of Rainbow Dash she did, Fluttershy was going to roast her alive.  At least she didn’t put much investment into this plan, Gilda thought, for what that was worth anyway.

At least that is what she tried to tell herself, but it didn’t work.

Before long, Gilda wasn’t humming and was back to pacing like a trapped lion in a cage, unaware of it’s fate.  While she did get her story straight, it never stopped looking flimsy in the thin ice situation she was in.

No matter how she told the story of “Dash pushed the right buttons” it all ended the same way in her head.  The empty, unhappy return to the asylum with ponies more than likely to gloat about it.  She growled at that thought every time it went to that thought.  

Ponies seemed to make a point to laugh at how sucky things had gotten for her, and were more than happy to say she deserved it.  She should have listened to her dad and greeted Dash the same way any “good” pony should have been, by telling the cyan pegasus to get bent.

As she thought and thought, she noticed the chill in the air.  The griffon would have checked the window if she wasn’t so wrapped up her her grim memories.  

It was Dash’s fault again, as usual, and the griffon was taking the fall for it again.  Her best friend was a bigger flip flop than she could even imagine, her own life in miserable shambles---and with a new best friend with a hand on her back.  

The cool sensation was sudden, causing her to jerk forward and away from whatever that was.  And with a quick turn, she found herself alone again breathing heavily.

“I outta tear her...:”  Gilda muttered, but that is when she heard a door slam downstairs, ending that thought.  Maybe it was to distance herself from the murder intent, but her next thought was simple.  “She had a back door or something?”

It was quiet for a moment until hoofsteps were heard on the stairs.  Then there was another pause, which the griffon took to catch her breath as she attempted to get her head on right.

“Gilda...”  It was Fluttershy outside her door.  “Open this door---now!”  And she sounded upset.

The tone was firm, like the door itself would have bowed and opened itself if it could.  Also worrying, as Shy sounded like she was trying not to get any angrier herself.  Which by Gilda’s experience wasn’t going to end well anyway.  Still, she opened the door to face the music.

“Hey...”  was Gilda’s answer to a stone faced pegasus with a cud eating grin, injecting some horrible humor into this.  Might as well fail in style, she thought.  “How much do you already know?”

Oh, the yellow pegasus’s eye twitched.  Who’d have thought?

“Dash is in the hospital, and my front door is my desk,”  Shy said tensely.  The anger became more clear, as she pushed her head forward into the griffon’s.  “Why?”  The look she was giving the griffon look mental, crazy even.  The fact those eyes were only a few inches away didn’t help.

While smarter creatures would have plead for mercy, or said sorry more than 50 times, Gilda didn’t feel like being that smart.  After all, what would that do for her anyway?

“She hit the right switches,”  she replied, her grin now replaced with a look frustration.  “She got in my face and didn’t listen when I told her to back off.”  Even so, the pegasus wasn’t budging and she could feel her feathers stand on end like something ran through them.  “What?”  she added.  “So it’s ok to keep siding with her cause I’m the bad guy?”  After a pause, with the pony not speaking, Gilda shrugged.  

“What?”  she continued with the Fluttershy still eying her.  “I hit her once.”  Shy’s eyes were still narrow.  “She ticked me off, ok?  Would you be happy if she hit me or what?”  Gilda ended, scratching her neck feeling more and more unsettled.  

For whatever reason, the pony was starting to back down.  

“Why don’t you go yell at her?”  Gilda sighed, looking away.

Shy’s face relaxed, only after she let out a long sigh.  

“I know you’re angry at her, but that’s still not excusable,”  Fluttershy said slowly.  She still looked upset though, but not as angry.

“Oh, so it’s excusable if she pushes me around then?”  Gilda grumbled back, shaking her head.  “I told her so---oh just buzz off then!”  She was about to close the door, but a hoof got in the way of it.

“My door,”  Shy said plainly, looking through the door crack at the griffon.  “You are helping me get a new door.”  The tone told the Gilda that Fluttershy was willing to drag her by her tail on this, kicking and screaming if she had too.  

So why not?  It’s better than the alternative.

“Whatever.”  Gilda answered, pushing the door back open with a claw on her head.  “Let’s get this over with then.”  While the pony still looked stoic, she gestured for the griffon to follow.

> Just a face in the crowd
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The walk the pair had to town was a quiet one, if but for one question.  

“Soooo, who’s paying for it?”  Gilda’s line was classy, just classy.  To be fair, she hoped it wasn’t coming out of her pockets---not that she had any.

Fluttershy was looking less angry, maybe even calm now despite that.  But she still sighed like a champ at Gilda’s question.  

Shy’s scarf and jacket kept her warm for the winter weather as they walked.  While Gilda was going commando.  Cold weather couldn't get the griffon down anyway as far as she was concerned.

The town about looked the same as the griffon had left it so long ago, only with the snow added.  Even the locals were the same and painful to look at.  All bright, cheery, then looking down their long noses at her.  

As Fluttershy and Gilda walked down the main road this seemed to happen more and more, or at least enough to give the griffon that chill again.  Everypony looked completely ticked at her.

“Is everyone this joyful when I’m around?”  Gilda whispered to the yellow pegasus in a low voice, uneasily.  “Or is it me?”

Shy let out another sigh.  “She collapsed in the middle of town Gilda, they know what happened,”  she whispered back as she continued to trot.

Gilda all but faceclawd as she grumbled.  “Just great, that’s just great,”  she muttered.  Her eyes rolled as she could see most locals making a point to avoid her.  She then was swatting a snowball one pony tossed out of the air.  “Oh yeah?!”  Gilda shouted back to the thrower.  “Keep going pony boy, make me really mad!  You like it when I’m angry, HUH?!”  Her claws were up, as were her wings.  

The smile she had gave her a enjoyable tingle as the offending pony ran into a door at full speed.  Not through it, just into it with a heavy crash as he seemed to forget a step.  She even felt a good laugh coming, at least until someone bit her wing.  

“Yowch!”  Gilda jolted up in pain.

“Come---on!”  Fluttershy said, muffled with a wing in her mouth.  The griffon pulled it free and returned to moving along with the pony.  “You aren’t helping things, Gilda,”  she added stoically.  “Stop making it worse.”

“Why?”  Gilda asked, folding her wing back after a few flaps.  “It’s not like they’d care.  They didn’t like me anyway.”

“Don’t make it worse for yourself,”  was Shy’s unhappy answer back.  “If it happens again, I’ll handle it.”

Like you would…  Gilda thought to herself grimly.

As they went further into town, the weather just seemed to get worse.  At first, it just looked clear but still cold.  Now, after a long walk deeper into town, it was like the snowfall intensified quickly.  It felt good for Gilda though.   Soon the weather had most ponies indoors, so less problems for her to deal with.

After a tense walk, they now stood before what Gilda figured was a carpentry store.  

“Just stay here, ok?”  Fluttershy said, and before the griffon could say a word of whatever Shy drew a circle around her with a hoof in the snow.  Gilda saw the circle around her as she looked on in confusion.  “If you cross this line there won’t be dinner for you,”  Shy added with a smile.  Not exactly a cocky one, but getting there.  

While Gilda was about to protest, Fluttershy beat her to it.  “Don’t worry, I won’t take long,”  she said with a raised hoof.  “Just be patient and don’t cause anymore trouble.  I’ll be right back.”  With that she went inside, seeming to not hear the loud growl the griffon let out at the new rules she’d been given.

“Or there won’t be dinner for you…”  Gilda said with a mock voice.  “Now you be a good widdle gryphon, and stay in the-!”  But a snowball hit her side, breaking her mockery of the flutter pony.  A quick turnaround revealed a orange pegasus foal, just as unhappy as she was.  

“What?”  Gilda demanded as she was dusting off snow in annoyance and glaring back at the kid.  “If you want to join the “Grrr, Gilda big meany club” get in line you little dork!”  The kid continued giving her an angry look, all while scooping up more snow in her hooves.

The girl griffon weighed her options.  Chase the kid off and lose dinner, or likely get pelted more waiting for Fluttershy?  She grit her teeth on those choices with her rage building.  She wasn’t going to lose her dinner to this crud.

Another thrown snowball was deflected with a quick claw, then another, then another.  

“You’re just a big, mean bully!”  Scootaloo yelled at the griffon.  “You’re just jealous of how much cooler Dash is!”  

Gilda let out a scoff, even giving a laugh to it.  This felt rich.

“She sure does looks good flying through doors, that’s for sure!”  she countered with a wise crack.  “Now go buzz off kid, I ain’t in the mood.”  Another ball was thrown at her and she was losing patience.  “Buzz...’  she tried to say as she got hit by another.  “Cut it out you twerp!”  Gilda roared at the foal, but the kid still looked like she was enjoying this.  “Or do you want me to teach you how to fly off REAL EASY?”  

The griffon’s breathing was intense, but it was then she heard someone call the kid’s name.  Not only did the filly pegasus run off, but she could hear some shouting from around the corner.

“Wha’er ya thinking?”  a voice said loudly from out of view.  “Don’t cha think she’s mad enough right now?”

“Yeah, and she’s only getting madder too,”  said another.  Gilda could then hear them quickly trot away.  

One strained groan, and shaking bits of snow off later, Gilda was now sick of this standing around business.  So was the weather apparently, the snow was now blowing with even more snow falling too.

“Piff, madder?”  Gilda muttered as she struck her claw into the snow.  “That’s a stupid word for it.”  Her tallon tapped the snow covered ground.  “I deserve crab meat for this crud!  Now where the heck is that stupid door?  Are they making her one or what?”  Gilda said angrily.

“And yet he still cried, my belly was still not full,”  That voice had her eyes now darting around.  “Up here!”  the voice shouted, and looking up the griffon had a whole three words prepared.

“Not you again,”  she strained in displeasure.  “I’m not in the mood, alright?”

“Hey G!”  the Snark said, hanging upside down from the roof by his legs somehow.  His little smile was filled with enjoyment and fangs, messy and blue.  His muzzle was still wet with red, smeared across the white pony’s muzzle as usual.  “So, how’s it feel to you little bird?”  he asked.

“Wha?”  Gilda’s brow razed.  “How’s what feel?”

“These ponies disappointing you, of course,”  the Snark laughed back to her.  “All that anger, that rage, justifying of old prejudices without thinking,”  he listed them off his misshapen hoof, now slivers of jagged claws as he licked his lips.  “I just want you word on it, from genuine concern and courtesy you know my dear.”  

Despite  his slick looking  tongue, and the fact the red was still there, she had to wonder why it never dripped off.  Still the griffon sunk her head still, none of it really mattered anyway.   Whatever that freak was, he was right.

“It sucks,”  was Gilda’s two words on the matter with her head down sadly.

“Sucks what?”  the Snark asked annoyingly with  playful curiosity, his tone getting more grating to the griffon.  “What does it suck?  Suck is a matter of using one's mouth to draw, or suck as you may, a substance from a location.  Like juice from a straw, crab from a shell, poison from a wound.  Fun things suck!”

“Just buzz off, alright?!”  Gilda yelled at the white pony, getting her head back up in anger.  His brand of humor was getting to her, but his bright off blue eyes lit up more as she glared in rage.

“Oh, oh!”  the Snark began to swing with a cackle.  “Make me!  Make me!  Boy oh boy!”  His laughter was causing Gilda to dig her claws into the ground, digging beyond the snow to the dirt beneath.

Window shutters slammed from side to side, as the griffon glared at the white weirdo.  The wind growing in intensity, and the snow looking like a swirling wild mist around her. The scene was perfect for some kind of showdown, and beat down---if only that door didn’t open.  

It ruined it, it ruined everything.

“Gilda, door, help!”  Fluttershy cried out with some effort, as her little legs trembled under the weight of things on her back.  She was holding two big bits of wood on her back in the building's doorway.  

Things had so abruptly shifted, Gilda could only blink for a moment.  She just stood there as one of the wood bits fell off the pony’s back, it being the top of a door.

“Two door?”  Gilda said without moving, even kind of dumbstruck.  

The griffon then looked back up to find that “The Snark” freak had left his roost, not even leaving a sign he had ever been there.  Even the storm’s fury seemed to become absent, beyond a slight cold breeze and sleet.  The weather had changed a quickly as the mood.

“They’re haves,”  Shy’s voice and legs still were still a bit shaky.  “Help me, Gilda.  Please?”  she said with a groan.

“Alright, alright!”  Gilda moved to action, losing the shock and taking the fallen door half to her back.  Fluttershy let out a sigh of relief seeing her help out.  “Please tell me were heading back.  This town’s getting to me now,”  Gilda added nervously.

The pony nodded, and they were off.  

Though Gilda still had to wonder where that white freak went off to, she really didn’t want to think about it.  With the weather calmed down ponies were coming out again, and soon there were crowds again in the streets.  Simply put, she was going to have other problems to deal with anyway.  

For one, the ring from before was buried in snow.  Then again, Fluttershy never brought it up.  She didn’t mention it once on the way back.

As the pair walked back past the market square though, Gilda saw another surprise.  It was another griffon with a brown sock cap covering his head in the market crowd.  He had the same looks and color as Gilda was like a mirror image except for his green eyes.

“Ed?”  Gilda said, if mostly to herself.

Either he heard her, or just happened to look in her direction, but he saw her for a moment.  The look of shock mirrored that pony from a while back as the other griffon flew off like someone was after him.  She just watched as the dimwit flew away, only noting how lucky he was the wind stopped blowing.

Fluttershy seemed to notice the spectacle with curiosity.  “Did you know that griffon Gilda?”  she asked.

“I’m having a really, really bad history with old friends right now,”  Gilda muttered as she just walked on.  “So can you just not ask?”

“He’s Edward, isn’t he?”  Shy continued, looking happy as if she figured something out.  The girl griffon replied with an angry look to the pegasus, cutting off any further conversation on that matter.  Shy looked a bit unnerved, but still kept the smile.  

The rest of the walk was quiet as usual.

When they got back to the outskirts, away from town, Gilda felt like a weight was off of her.  Or something, it was almost hard to pin down for her.  Either way, she felt glad to be gone from Ponyville for now.  She felt like she could relax again.

Even the weather had completely cleared up, with the snow having stopped as they reached the house.

Now at the front door of Fluttershy’s home, the desk still wedged in it, she finally spoke up.  “First we need to-”  But the griffon knew what it was.

“Take what’s left off the hinges, get the new door on those hinges, and then get the desk out,”  Gilda said, rubbing her talons with some confidence.  “Maybe not in that order, but yeah.  So where is-”  

Have no fear, Angel is here.  Pushing a tool box twice his size---somehow.  Gilda tilted her head for a moment, as to contemplate how such things could be.  Maybe it’s what duck pony feeds him or something was her guess.  

“Okay…”  Gilda added with a nervous smile.  “Let’s just get this over with.”

She undid the door hinge as Fluttershy and Angel went inside via the back door.  As she was putting in the lower half, the desk was pulled out from the doorway.  How Shy did that would just have to be a mystery.  The good news was the pegasus could now help hold the upper half in place.

With the task completed, and with a new psychoanalyst desk in the living room, they took a break.  Angel got his wish of dinner first, now eating some decidedly different carrots and some other plants.  While Gilda just sat at the table, trying to relax after a job well done.

“Least it all worked out,”  she said offhandedly with a smile.  “Huh?”  

Fluttershy didn’t respond, only digging in the fridge quietly.  Likely for the griffon’s dinner, hopefully.  The pulling out of what Gilda figured may be salmon or at least chunks of one was a good answer.  

Still that silence she was being given was getting to the griffon.  

“Uh…”  Gilda rose a talon, about to say something, but the pegasus turned to give her a smile.  A bit a creepy one, and a look that just seemed to dominate the room.

“Why don’t you help me with dinner, Gilda?”  Shy said with a glint in her eye.  The smile, the eye twinkle like some kind of evil---thing could be felt by the griffon.  Gilda figured she was in for some fun now.  “After all, maybe we could talk as we cook?”  she added in a friendly voice.  

Gilda sighed despite that creepy stare she was being given.  She really wasn’t in the mood for this.

“Now you’re more mental than I am, great...”  she replied as she looked to the side, tapping her claw on the table.  “Do you hear those voices too?  Maybe ya see some kind of shadows beyond the screaming nightmare, huh?”  Fluttershy dropped the scary look routine and went back to sad looking.  “I’ve seen enough of this horror stuff, ok?  Geeze…”

“You hurt a friend of mine, Gilda.”  Fluttershy sighed back, returning to her task somberly.  “I know she was pushing you, but all you’ve done is making it worse.”

“I stayed in that dumb circle,”  Gilda replied answered in defense, with some humor.  Hearing Shy groan slowly made it clear that was the wrong answer.  “Fiiiine….”  she groaned back.  “I’m ticked that it seems no one taking my side on this, alright?  Sure, Dash didn’t---maybe deserve that but…”   Then she realized something.  “Wait, how bad was it anyway?”  she asked.  

She wasn’t sure if it was concern, or just curiosity.  Still, the pegasus was eager to tell her about it.

“4 bone fractures, but nothing too bad,”  Fluttershy answered, she even sounded less upset at least.  “I think she was too proud to check her injuries at first, and she also got a bad cold while she outside.”  As she gave the story, she was putting the salmon patties in the oven.  “She’s going to be fine in a few days.”

“Uh huh,”  Gilda said with some interest.  “So, you’re still taking her side on this then?  Seeing as she’s all beat up?”

“I’m not taking sides with this, Gilda.”  Fluttershy turned to give the griffon a unhappy look.  While Gilda let out a pifft, Shy continued.  “Neither of you were right to do what you did.”

“Whatever,”  Gilda replied with a grumble.  “So, you still want me to help or what?”

“Not really,”  Fluttershy replied with a weak smile, causing the griffon’s brow to raise.  “But, thanks for asking.”  She went to work on that fish, briefly turning it.  “After all, we’re talking right now.”  

While the pony’s back was turned, Gilda looked to Angel.

“She always like this?”  she whispered to the rabbit.  

The look Angel game more or less said “Yep.”.  And then seeing the sigh forming in Gilda’s look added with a humored shrug. “You get used to it.”  It might have said.

“Awww, man”  Gilda lowered her beak in agony, well kind off to that answer.  This Hearth’s Warming was going to be fun in a bad way.  

At least the meal was quiet, for the most part.  Putting things at ease for once, even the fish was seasoned better at least.

“And one more thing,”  Fluttershy added with a raised hoof, just as Gilda was about finished with her eating.  “Get my desk back downstairs when you are done.”  

The griffon let out another groan, that thing’s heavy.

> More wilder, and more serene
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Some salmon patties latter and Gilda was in the process of moving a whole a desk again.  

While she really did want to put it off until tomorrow, she didn’t need Fluttershy acting more creepy right now.  And while the griffon intended to just go to bed after, to her disappointment, she found the pegasus behind her when she got the desk back in place.

Gilda did her best to not let it faze her and shrugged.

“Getting real creepy there doc,”  was her response as she was about to leave, but a pony leg got in her way, and the serious looking pony’s face didn’t waver.

“Please, sit,”  was the Fluttershy’s firm answer.  Gilda muttered something under her breath as she sat down on the couch again.

“What?”  Gilda said grimly, as the pegasus got to her chair at her desk.  “What do you want from me now?”  she asked her couch.

“I just wanted to talk to you before you go upstairs,”  Dr. Shy answered calmly.  “I want to make something clear to you right now.”

“Uh huh,”  Gilda replied.  She figured this wouldn't end well.  Most likely a lecture on how to threaten someone with how easy it would be to just have her locked up again.  She wasn’t going to like this one bit.

“First, I was worried something like this would happen,”  Shy said stoically.

“Yeah?”  Gilda snarked briefly.  “And?”

“I was afraid she would be like this and, and I didn’t want that to affect your treatment,”  Shy continued, still sounding impartle.

“Yep...”  Gilda said with sigh.  “And she did, so now what?  So, what are you gonna do about it?”

“So, tomorrow I’m going to tell Dash to stay away from here,”  Fluttershy said with a sad sigh.  “At least for now, so you won’t feel so upset.”

“Huh, what are you...?!”  Gilda was in shock, and apparently the pony was afraid she’d got her upset now.

“W-well, she did cause a problem,”  Fluttershy stammered for a moment, but calmed down a bit after.  “Also, I don’t think either of you are really going to improve on your mutual dislike of each other.  At least not right now…”  

While the pony wasn’t somber then, Gilda sure felt like it.

“Yeah…”  Gilda said with a sad tone.  “So, you ain’t mad at me still?”

“Just don’t worry about her, ok?”  Dr. Shy said with reassurance, changing the subject and getting up from her desk.  “Just concentrate on dealing with your bad dreams, and then well see what happens after that.”

“Whatever,”  Gilda mumbled, about to get up.  But the pony let out a sudden cough getting her attention back.

“Whatever, what?”  Fluttershy asked, and GIlda knew what the game she was playing, judging by that look the pony gave her.

“Whatever, Dr. Fluttershy,”  Gilda said matter of factually, with a bit of a groan.  “You going to insist on that from now on, aren’t you?”

“Not really!”  Dr. Fluttershy giggled with some innocent humor.  “I just wanted you to know I was being serious on this.”  As she gestured to Gilda from the stairs, the griffon figured it was safe to do so as well.

“Ok....”  Gilda added as she got up, walking to the stairs.  “You got anything else to say then?”  The pony followed next to her and they walked a trotted up.

“Please don’t cause more problems for anyone else, ok?”  Shy said with a smile.  “I don’t want to watch you throw what you have left away.”  While Gilda could have taken some hope from that she was still feeling crummy.

Too many ponies talk a big game about that “throwing your life away” stuff.  Then it just went to how easy it was for others to throw it away for them, which was Gilda’s feelings on that matter. She kept grumbling as she went to her room to wait for bedtime, and there was that cake there.

“EH?!”  was Gilda’s word on it.  

In her room, on the floor, was a cake.  Two layers, pink frosting, yellow bread, and a strawberry on top.  It smelled pretty good even.  Still, it being here was a reason to worry.  Much like that card on the floor with the words.  

“Not a trick.”  It read.

Only one pony would do that which the griffon could think of, and Gilda prided herself in deductions as usual.  This was that pink pony’s handiwork and things were bad enough right now.  So, she decided on the best course of action by putting that cake outside and finding a good taste tester.

“Yo!”  Gilda tried to keep her voice down as she called.  “Fluffy butt!  I got something here for ya.”  

After a moment of wondering if he’d show, Angel’s head popped up from the staircase.  While looking suspicious, and a bit annoyed at the name she used, his eyes lit up.  The moment he saw that cake he hopped/ran like his tail was on fire.  

“You can have it, just….”  but Gilda’s words failed to stop what actions followed.

That while rabbit dug into the cake with enough force and speed that the frosting flew in the air.  In 5 seconds flat there was no cake, only just the memory of one to live in one's heart and belly.  

Though Angel now looked ill--then he burped and patted his full stomach.  

He waved as if to say “Thanks for the cake, sucka.”  He hopped back downstairs with glee.  

In some mental absence, Gilda sampled one of the frosting globs that managed to get on her fur and feathers.  Sticking a tallon full of it into her beak.

“Hm, that is pretty good,”  she said with a claw in her mouth, not a trick indeed it seemed.  Shame that rabbit got it, and now that cake must give some kind of suger rush of power.  “Guess I miss out…again.”  

The griffon sighed and just went back to her bedroom, not needing to feel any worse right now.  She got the glass on the nightstand filled via the bathroom sink and waited on her bed.

Sure enough, Fluttershy was there with her a dream pill in tow in her wing.  “Did...you do something to Angel?”  she asked the griffon.

“I gave him a cake,”  Gilda answered simply, not wanting to give more detail.

“Where did you…?”  Shy just began to ask, but then looked like she decide it was better not to, she just handed the griffon her medicine.  Then she didn’t leave.

“What?”  Gilda asked, after a pause.  “I’ll take it when I’m ready.”  Another pause and the pegasus still wasn’t budging.  “Look, this thing makes me think my brains completely melted, so can you just give me a moment?”

“It really helps if you close your eyes,”  Fluttershy replied.  “I-I’ve taken this too Gilda, so I know that it’s scary there, b-but if you can’t see it...”  The griffon now looked almost awestruck on that revelation.  “If you don’t see what’s in there, it can’t hurt you.”

“You...how’s that even work?”  Gilda asked as held her head.  “How does what you can’t see not hurt you?”  She crossed her claws now, mostly irritated.  “That’s just stupid!”

“It’s...kind of a mental...world...thing,”  Fluttershy poorly explained to the annoyed griffon.  “If you don’t just fixate on the other, you will be fine.  You don’t need to see everything, because in time, you will see your dream.”

“And who the heck told you all that gobbly gook?”  Gilda demanded, claws still crossed.

“A friend I trust,”  Shy replied honestly, but Gilda was still not satisfied.  “Maybe he could tell you more, but trust me.  You won’t get better by trying to look into that place.”

Gilda might have taken heart in that, if she wanted too.  Instead she grumbled to herself.  “Fine.”  She flicked the pill into her mouth and took a drink.

“Do you need…”  Fluttershy started to ask, but the griffon wasn’t interested in anything else.

“I’m good,”  Gilda replied, closing her eyes.  “Just keep em closed and whatever.”

“It will be ok that way, I promise,”  Fluttershy added, sounding more distant.  “Good night GIlda.”  The griffon felt a hoof pat her on the head.  “Sweet dreams.”  She finally trotted out of the room, closing the door behind her.

“I’m still not two,”  Gilda grumbled back.

At first, she was going to go that smart route of keeping her eyes closed and deciding to wait till things were safe.  But then Gilda got to thinking, why is she taking the wimpy way out?  

A tough griffon is able to weather the maelstrom of a storm, not pitifully seek shelter from it!  So she opened them again, just about after the walls were gone and the fog rolled in.  

Well, fog or clouds in that abyss of black and bright colors.  The bed was still there, if only until it finishes crumbling into ash in an upward draft.  Like before, she couldn't move.

“Heh,”  Gilda let out a cocky laugh.  “It’s not so bad when you get used to it.”  So she drifted, likely to whatever dream she was going to see.  

The sound of blown leaves was still there, as colors flashed and blinked like stars of many hues.  Some stayed there, while some were out as quick as they came.  

While one could marvel at the concept of the multiverse, or something close to such, the griffon let out a yawn.  

“Least there isn’t anything trying to eat me,”  she joked to herself, and it was then that she saw something that made her regret her choice of words.

It was a mass, at least that’s what her eyes told her.  Maybe they were tentacles, or hands, or claws, or hooves.  But what sealed that deal was the eyes.  

Blue and off white globes that seemed to look at her and anywhere from it’s shapeless body of jelly smoke flesh that smelled like water to her beak.  Those globes just floated in that translucent mass of white and gray.  It seemed to drift over to her, it’s body barely moving more than it’s odd body rippling like fluid.

“I, uh, stand corrected?”  Gilda said nervously at the sight.  “Uh, hi?”  She had a nervous laugh as that thing just looked at her.  She then felt something brush past her leg, then it was around her leg, grabbing it with something else grabbing her midsection.  “Aw nuts!”  she shouted.

“yourmeatwillgoodhatesufferdreamdecayminetearmissno.”  If that was it talking, it felt like it was boiling her head from the inside.  It’s feelers were pulling her into it’s mass, and those messy ramblings now digging into her mind with a chilly sensation going through her body.  Unable to struggle all she could do was be devoured by the thing.  

While that looked like the end for her, something else came up with another of whatever that was tearing the globes out of the first one.  

For a moment she heard a scream, but as it let go her head stopped ringing.  No screams, only that sound of blown leaves now.  

As she kept drifting, more of those things just seemed to pile onto each other.  Like rapid animals without limbs or teeth, tearing each other apart without any sounds.  But enough violent movements to make it clear what they were doing.  Those things were killing each other.

Worse, she could now see more things in that void.  Some bony, some skinless, other looked like bodies of limbs and mouths.  Either drawn to the silent commotion, or maybe to her, she wasn’t sure.  One near mummified, wind furred creature with a sunken face now looked at her with it’s eyes unblinking and it’s jaw unhinged.

Smartly, Gilda kept her eyes and beak shut then, not even to breath.  If she could tremble, she might well have.  

As the things went on in near silence, she felt her brain cool.  Even daring to feel serene, like the boil for a moment was inviting to her.   It felt inviting, calling into her, telling her to listen to it’s call to reason.  She did her best not to think about it, things were strange enough right now.

Even if it could help her cope with how big things were, it still freaked her out.  It was like a voice in her head that wouldn't go away.

“You can not escape what I bring about!”  an unpleasant shout came, jolting her.  But still, she kept her eyes shut, at least until something else touched her wings.

“Aaaaaahhhhhh!”  and Gilda got to swinging as she screamed.

> The light before we land
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Gilda, knock it off!  Geeze!”  That was the words of the someone that now batted the griffon’s claws away.  

Now, Gilda’s eyes were open as her head looked around in a panic.  She was up in a cold sweat, and ready to tear something apart.  

And she could see Rainbow Dash was looking worried about it, hooves out and looking just as scared as she was.  Why were they on a cloud?

The griffon let it sink in for a moment.  Her and Dash were on a cloud, Ponyville was in distance, and now the pony was trotting closer to her, if uneasy.  

“Hey, hey.”  Dash put a hoof  to Gilda’s back.  “Guess you had quite a nightmare, huh?”  She still looked in good humor.  Even so, Gilda was tense, even shaky right now.

She took a deep breath before speaking.  Last thing she needed was to sound like a scared child right now.

“Yeah…”  Gilda said scratching her neck and shaking off that old fear she remembered.  “It was nasty, worse than anything you’ve ever seen.”

“Try me!”  Dash said jokingly back.  “I bet I’ve seen things thing that would turn your head white.”  

Gilda jabbed at Dash for her bad joke.  But couldn't help but find herself laughing at it as well.  Things looked pretty good for once, just like old times.

“So you're still coming back to town today, right?”  Dash asked the griffon when she stopped laughing.  While she looked expectant, Gilda was confused.  “Like you promised?”

“What?”  was Gilda take on the matter.  What was going on again?

“Don’t tell me you forgot?”  Dash face hoofed with some annoyance.  “After I forgave you, I told you to come to town today.  Remember?”

While Gilda couldn't really recall that, she just wrote it off.  “Heh,”  she muttered for a moment.  “Guess I’m not quite awake yet.”  She shrugged innocently. “Why did I come back after you brushed me off?”  Even she couldn't believe it worked out so well.

“Well, first…” Rainbow Dash began with a kind smile. “You had the backbone to say you were sorry about what happened at the party.”  

She stopped at that point to give the griffon a pat on the back.  “That was cool of you G, don’t forget that,”  she added.  “Then we got to talking, so then I had the idea to invite you to a new party.”  

While Gilda felt a reason to worry, Dash seems to read her mind.  

“It’s not a prank!”  she continued with a groan.  “I want to have you meet my friends, for real this time.  There pretty cool too, ya know, in there own way.”

“Yeah…”  Gilda said looking away for a moment, trying to get her bearings.  “So, who were they again?”  While Dash did roll her eyes, she still tried to be upbeat.

“Applejack, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Spike,”  she answered.

“Who’s Spike?”  Gilda asked briefly.

“He’s a dragon,”  Dash replied with a smile.  “But he’s cool, and can be a lot of fun to hang around with too.”

“Ok...”  Gilda said, trying to recall what was there the last time.  If it was that small purple dinosaur she might have seen, she was asking for her money back.

“So come on,”  Rainbow Dash said, now airborne and waving an inviting hoof.  “Once you get to know them, you’ll see why they’re my friends.”  Dash’s smile seemed to say it all, things were going to be alright.  “It going to be sooo cool!”

“S-sure,”  Gilda replied as she took flight as well with her own smile.  

Soon they were soaring through the skies to the city square.  After landing, things still looked good, well kind of at least.  

The spring weather, the bright sun, and ponies with bright colors were walking around.  While Gilda was feeling like she was going to regret coming there again, it was then she noticed something.

First a pony waved to her, then another did.  

“Uh, Dash?”  Gilda asked as she looked around feeling uncomfortable.  “What with all this?”

“Welllll…”  Dash sounded playful on that, and that can’t be good, or at least Gilda felt that way.  “Me and Pinkie had this idea,”   Now that can’t be good at all.  “We were thinking that the problem was you weren’t able to connect with anyone so…”

“Uh…” Gilda  tried not be annoyed,or at least not creeped out.  It’s was good to finally have her best friend back, but still this was making her nervous.

“So come on, my friends are waiting for us.”  Dash gestured to her and trotted off.  “We’re just inviting you back, no biggie.”

They walked and trotted through town, even having a bit of time to chat about.  Jobs, misadventures, bugs--Dash had been through a lot it sounds like.  Gilda couldn't recall what was being said, but it was still a shame she wasn’t there.  It would have been fun to see it for herself.  

Where was she with all this stuff happening?  The more she thought about it, the more her head hurt,  and the more sick of those other ponies she got as well.  They were still trying to be friendly to her, but it just made it worse.  It just felt too perfect to her.

At last, they were at their destination, and the party was there too.  A banner was there to welcome Gilda back.  Punch and cookies were by the door, everything looked cool.  

And a group of five ponies were wanting to meet with her.  For anyone else, this was a dream come true.  But for the griffon, however, she was feeling some kind of panic building inside her body.

“I...Don’t…”  Gilda started, slowly backing away.  This had gotten weird fast, to downright sappy at this point.  Creepy, even freakish, and all this niceness had her feathers on end.  But Dash was still at her side.

“Hey, it’s okay,”  Dash said with a hoof on her wing, pushing the griffon forward.  “Go ahead, they don’t bite.”  While she was trying to be encouraging, it wasn’t working.  Eventually, Gilda got to walking into it, joining the party despite herself.

“Hey Gilda, hey!”  Yelled Pinkie Pie to her.  “I’m so glad you came back!”

“Um, yeah….”  Gilda answered with a nervous tone.  “So...um...sorry?”  No amount of words could properly display how out of her element she felt right now.

“Don’t y’all worry bout it now.”  Applejack said.  “Dash here’s been telling us all about how ya changed after all this time,”  she added proudly.  “Good ta know ya got off that high horse.”

“Um…”  Gilda replied, she had no idea what they were on about.

“And quite delighted you learned how to humble yourself as well dear,”  said Rarity next.

“That’s what ah just said Rare.”  Applejack added with a facehoof.

“No you didn’t, you just said about some kind of high horses.”  Comically, Rarity didn’t get the meaning yet either.

“It just a figure of speech Rarity,”  said Twilight Sparkle, ending the argument.  “Getting off your high horse means humbling yourself to relate better with ponies you saw as beneath you.”  She pointed to Rarity.  “I imagine you could say it like …”  

While the purple princess pony went on, Gilda slowly backed away from the crowd to where the punch and cookies were.  They weren’t cake or lemon drops, but they would do for now.  

As she got a nice, not dribbling drink, she saw a short lizard.

“Hi!”  he said with enthusiasm.  “Is it true you're moving here?”  The griffon felt like a twig snapped in her mind.

Her wings and tail were now up as her eyes shot wide.  Then a near spit take, then it happening, with the purple lizard soaked in punch.

“Wha…?”  Gilda said with surprise and a still dripping beak.  “WHAT’D YOU SAY?!”

“Holy guacamole!”  said the now wet Spike.  “What was that for?”

“When did I…”  While Gilda was about to ask, but other concerns came.  “I-I mean, I didn’t, I just…”  Her stumblings seemed to get some attention, which would have made it worse if she didn’t realize the answer that came to her. 

This was a dream, she was dreaming and she let herself forget it was.  Then there was the other problem: this wasn’t something she’d have asked for.

“Whoa!”  the Princess Twilight said as she trotted over.  “Spike, what just happened?”  she asked with concern.

“She punched me…”  Spike replied jokingly, waving his lizard claws and still dripping.  He was oddly not upset at all, or not as much a the griffon expected.  More bemused than upset as he explained what happened.  “Guess I kinda startled her!”  he added with some humor.

“I...um…”  Gilda added, still unsure what to say.

“Hey, don’t worry about it,”  Twilight said as she smiled to the girl griffon, she levitated some paper towels over to her wet dragon.  “It was an accident.  Don’t worry about it, Gilda.”  

As the purple pair walked away to clean up, Gilda refilled her cup and hoped that it would relieve her nerves.

“Ok, so it’s not real, got that,”  she muttered to herself.  “Just got to find out what the heck is going on with all of it, wake up and…”  She took a few breaths then took a drink, then refilled the cup again.  As she looked back to the crowd, they still all looked like they were very friendly, or could be.  It was getting hard to tell as the griffon only felt more bitter.

Sure, they gave a friendly wave her way, that was for sure.  But it was all an illusion, make believe.  More of that stupid hot air she was beyond sick of.  What was the little dragon talking about her moving here anyway?  After what happened last time?  The idea of it told her more reason to get out while she could, before it got ugly for her again.

“Hey…”  A hoof on her shoulder caught her off guard, and Gilda turned her head to she Dash looking worried about her.  “Gilda, what’s wrong?  What’s got you so nervous?”

“It’s a lie,”  Gilda answered back suddenly, swatting the hoof away.  “It’s all a lie!”

In a rush, the griffon ran, then flew as fast as she could.  She could hear a “comeback!” being yelled after her, but she kept going.  She hoped Dash wasn’t chasing after, if she caught up with her things would get worse.  

Finding the forest, she landed, ran inside, and kept running.  After some distance, she slowed down, taking a few deep breaths now feeling exhausted.  Gilda finally sat down by a tree.  It was there she wept.

She knew this was a dream, pills and what not, and Rainbow Dash wouldn't do this or anypony else either.  The griffon knew that from experience, and they weren’t friends anyway.  If they don’t care enough to get off their own high horse, why was she going to for them?

All those pills did was make her forget who she was, making her confused.  The ponies were just messing with her now, fooling her into a sense of security, then pulling the rug from under her claws when she woke up.

All Fluttershy was doing was outright lying to her face about things, and when she woke she would just be back where she was.  She would still be in a place that doesn’t want her anyway but loved to pretend it did.

“Now that’s the most sensible thought you ever had, little bird,”  said a notable voice.  “Now you’re getting it!”  the Snark added.

“Leave me alone, freak!”  Gilda yelled to her visitor.  “Just leave me alone!!!.”  Regardless, that white pony popped in, sitting on a tree branch.

“Why?”  the Snark said with mock sadness.  “I have so much love to give to you.”  Gilda hit the tree letting out a childish grunt, but all it did was make him smile.  “You're sick of this false dream land too, am I right?  I’ve been thinking the same thing…”

“What about it?”  Gilda said with grumpy groan.  “It’s not like you got any answers.”  The pony lept from the branch, landing next to her.

“What if I did?”  he said, lifting Gilda’s head to face him.  “What if I could wake you up from this nightmare?”  the Snark added as he put a claw on her shoulder, it was cold and reassuring.

“Which one?”  Gilda said without energy, still feeling sad.

“Those nightmares that are the same awake or asleep,”  he explained as he rubbed her shoulder earnestly.  “It's that old friendship issue.  From her burning you, to you needing to give her a knuckle sandwich, to the fact you can’t even trust these ponies for anything.”  He smiled as he looked her in the eye.  

“Either or, it never left your mind, weighing you down like they want it too,”  the Snark said looking seriously as Gilda’s still drooping eyes.  “Now, I can promise you one thing...”  he added, pointing a hoof under her chin.  “I can help you get that pony to regret ever turning on you."

“H-how?”  was Gilda’s answer, now wide eyed and and not as shaken.  It was then she heard some movement nearby.

“Gilda, are ok you in there?”  said an odd voice not far from her tree.

“Well, first we’re going to need some privacy for this.”  With no warning, “The Snark” grabbed Gilda’s head.  “Wakey, wakey!”  

The griffon’s felt her head fill with electricity.  Her body tried to convulse, but couldn't.  The shocks were so painful that her head was feeling like it was being pulled apart in several directions.  

“Eggs and bakey!”  the Snark yelled with enjoyment.

> Cold bit of porridge
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gilda was up with a shot, only to tumble back down onto the bed feeling exhausted.  She blinked a few times, putting a claw to her face.  Despite her head spinning, she quickly remembered where she was.

This was Fluttershy’s house again.  Despite feeling shaken, she got herself up, still holding her head.  

“I’m sick of these nights…”  she said to no one.

“I know, because I was there.”  When she heard that, Gilda let out a sigh, not even looking to see the speaker.  She just shook her head, with “The Snark” was now in the room with her.  

“What do you want?”  Gilda moaned to the white, red stained pony.

“I’m sure they are still sleeping, so lets talk.  Like the normal people do, huh?”  the Snark explained as the griffon just sighed again, looking down.  “Come on, be a sport!”  She still wasn’t looking at him.  “Oh don’t be like those deniers.  Like those stupid little upstart ponies you hate.”  

The p word had Gilda’s attention, she looked to him at last.  The Snark had somehow moved, he now sat in that reading chair with a serious look.  

“You will never believe, little bird, just how many thoughts creatures will deny having,”  he added as he looked back at her.  “If only to feel they are the better person then everypony else.  It’s all so...illusionary, not even real as you put it.”  He paused to smile, showing his blackened teeth, not as blue as before.  

Gilda said nothing, she only moaned at that.

“Yeah, whatever…”  was the best she came up with as she just sat on her bed.

“But you already knew that, right?”  the Snark said as he got up, walking over to her without a sound.  “A good pony cannot be wrong, that just what they believe after all.  And if it could be wrong, it was a bad pony after all.  It’s so hard to admit for them, but they were so honest back in my day,”  he sighed with an air of nostalgia, but went back to the matter at hand.  “So, what went wrong?”

He next sat next to Gilda on her bed.  While the griffon just looked away again, and he again put a hoof on her shoulder.  “They lie to themselves more than you do little bird, and that’s saying something!”  He pointed a joking hoof at her chin with a chuckle.

“So?”  Gilda muttered with a depressed look, and feeling more heavy.  “What of it?  You are just repeating stuff I already knew, so what?”  He pulled her head up with a grin.

“So why should you accept this?”  he said with a shrug to Gilda’s shaken face.  “You’ve had enough ideas for things to do, and I’d like to help.  Simple as that.”

“And what?”  Gilda replied, promptly pushing his hoof away.  “I heard enough stories to know this stuff isn’t free.”  

The Snark got up, and began trotting a circle by the bed.

“You were already forfeit, you’ve been around long enough to know that,”  he said, looking to her as he trotted.  “And besides…”  He was now in front of her, pointing a claw back, now without humor.  “The game is already on little bird, no backing out now.”  While GIlda just remembered that game, it didn’t help her mood.  “Besides, remember what happens when you lose.”  

She quickly knew what he was talking about, with or without that feeling of a claw around her heart.  The glow coming off the white pony made it more clear.

“If you know what I’m thinking, then you already know I’m sick of being jerked around…”  Gilda grimly noted.  Despite real fear, she was still angry.

The Snark gave her a playful nudge and a chuckle.  “I got powers!”  he said like a someone with free candy.  “Enough to fix all your problems easy like!”

“Like what?”  Gilda seemed more interested, even kind of hopeful for a bit.  “How are you fixing this then?”

“First things first, let’s head outside,”  the Snark uttered, and in a flash he was at the window, lifting it open.  “And lets get to that second rule of our little game, the fun one  It’s a simple dare, so just follow my lead and things will go smoothly.”  

“And what…”  While Gilda had a concern, he knew already what she was going to ask.

“The little ponies are asleep, G.”  he reassured.  “They won’t find you if you go this way,”  he then added, slipping outside.  “I’ll see you at the orchard.”  

With a “whatever” shrug, Gilda left out the window.  Soon she was well into the sky.

The town was quiet to fly over, all the ponies at home asleep.  But the best part, for Gilda, was that she felt she was flying free again.  After being stuck indoors for months, or it felt that way to her, the griffon realized she had missed flight.  

Gilda did a few tricks with a smile on her face.  She even found herself laughing with joy for a moment, not even minding the light snow and cold breeze in her face at the moment.

“Get to these damn apple trees!”  wherever “The Snark” was, that yell gave the griffon a jolt.

Gilda let out a grumble.  No matter what, she was still playing by some rules.  In a flash she flew to the orchard where her “friend” was waiting, being a bit of a killjoy now.  

“Glad you could make it.”  was his sarcastic response, stepping out from behind a tree.  Quickly his unpleasantness left, going back to his gleeful self.  “Now, let’s get a starter going for you.”  While Gilda had to wonder what this meant, she felt a sudden chill in her blood.  

“The heck?”  Gilda muttered back, feeling the first sharp pain in her paws and claws.  Soon even her guts felt frozen in ice.

“Ah, right, I skipped a bit!”  the Snark said, rubbing his head absent laugh.  His smile was absent to the griffon’s displeasure  “I know you’ve felt it though, that chill in you.  When you just want to see red, or black, and just let it go.”  He trotted to her, not even crushing the snow he walked upon.

“What is with you creeps and trying to get into my head?”  Gilda replied with a pained moan, clutching at her arm in an attempt to get it warm again.

“Like with stinkey pie, and the firm but fair dictatorship of bumble fly?”  the Snark mocked back, flicking his now sharp muzzle with his now clawed hoof.  “Now my game is all a matter of goals, progression, and getting strong enough to fight back against all your enemies.”

“Sounds fun...”  Gilda added with a grim outlook.  She now couldn't feel the cold, like it left her body.  Now she just felt hot.  “Except for the part with you sounding like a looney.”  Despite Gilda’s mockery, the Snark still looked gleeful, causing her to face claw.  “How are you going to get me that powerful anyway?”  she asked.

“Like I said…”  the Snark was now next to her again, catching her off guard.  “I can help you, give you control.  But first…”  He jabbed a hoof into her chest.  “You have to show me!  Give it a go for me would you?”

“How the heck do you…?!”  was Gilda’s word on it before she choked.  She didn’t feel off, she felt something else.

“Just let go,”  he said then with a rare serious tone with a claw in the air, arcing with energies.  “Let that truth flow out!”  Gilda could feel her flesh expand with power as he spoke.  “The ponies lie to each other, to keep that one simple thing away.”  The griffon let out a mighty roar that shook the trees.  “And now, you know it well,”  he added.

Things got weird for Gilda.  But everything looked so breakable, frail to her.  She slammed her claw into the ground, sending snow and even topsoil flying skyward.  Even the winds seemed to move with her, bowing to he will.  All she needed was a reason now.

“See that tree over there?”  the Snark said, now out of view but the only clear sound she could hear.  The weather was storming, even worse that last time, as the wind drowned out any other sound.  “Hit it like it had my face on it.” 

Gilda saw that her claws were now covered with ice, sharp and spiked.  She saw that tree in question, the Snark leaping behind it, and took a fast swing at it.  It exploded, much of it in splinters.  

“Good, good, now we’re making real progress!”  the Snarks voice said with pride, now next to her again.  Her next swing was at him directly, or where he wasn’t now.  “Oh, that’s the spirit, G!”  the Snark added with joy, and in an instant his form was beyond several more trees.  “Now come here, let nothing stand in your way!”  

She didn’t, and the weather seemed to follow her rampage.  The wind blew fast enough to break of the weaker branches of what still stood as snow fell rapidly around her.

Everything was in a clear view with nothing distracting her.  More broken trees later, crashed through or blown over by the force.  She could see the Snark drift off into a barn in the middle of those trees.  He looked delighted to the sound of breaking lumber.

“This way now, you’ll love this next part,”  he said, still in her head.  

Gilda got there, faster than she knew how, like she had the wind at her back.  

Within that barn was several baskets, barrels, and big containers of apples.  Enough to feed a town and it’s parties, parties she would never see.  She snarled at that thought.

“Now, let it all free,”  the Snark said with that smile again,  his body wavy and arms to his sides, inches from the storm brewing from within her.  “Every ounce of that fury, now!  Like the force of a storm, let me have it.”  

And so she did.  

The blast shook the barn, even leaving an impression in the dirt floor, and blowing the doors off behind her.  Gilda stood there breathing heavily, looking at her actions.  Everything around her was covered with a sheet of black colored ice.

“How…?”  she wheezed with surprise.  Gilda felt like her mind skipped a beat, and her senses muddled.  “That was…”  she added as she took a few more breaths.  The rush she had felt had left her for now, and she already missed it.  

“Now you be careful with that power,”  said the Snark, unhurt, and of normal pony size.  “Good things can only last so long.”  

Gilda felt her legs about to fall out from under her, but was wide awake with a quick jab.  The white pony looked serious, even adding an extra hoof to keep her up.  

“Come, come now,”  he said.  “We have one last dare to do for the night.  And even you know not to stay for long after a prank, right?”  Gilda got herself movie, not looking long at her handy work as she flew away.  

“Now,”  Much to the griffon’s surprise, the Snark was flying as well.  Soaring without wings attached beside her.  “We just need to go to that carrot patch not far away.”

“And then what?”  Gilda asked, still feeling some of that adrenaline kick in her body still, she felt ready for anything.

“Oh, you’ll see.”  The Snark faded out of view, vanishing like smoke.

Gilda took off, following with interest, and she was soon at said carrot farm.  

“That ice you just lay down was a good piece of work ,”  the Snark said, appearing out of nowhere near Gilda after she landed.  “Black ice, it’s colder than cold.  You could encase a tree in that, and it would die of frostbite in minutes.”  He began to chuckle again, giving Gilda another playful jab.  “You’d have to set it on fire to save it.  It’s a riot!”

Regardless, and despite the power trip, Gilda was feeling annoyed again.  “So, you want me to rush you again?”  she asked.

“Oh, no no no,”  the white pony said calmly, patting her back in a friendly way.  “That takes up way too much of our, I mean your strength.”

“So what do you want me to do then?”  the griffon said with a shrug.  “This is your stupid game.”

“I know that they have a nice storage shed, full of nice carrots here,”  the Snark said.  “We just need to ruin it.”  He pointed to a shack not far away.

“How?”  Gilda asked as she held up a claw.  “I’m already kinda spent from icing that barn.”  

“Well, let’s take a look see.”  He led her to the shack, gesturing her to the door.  “Just remember your victory is needed.  Life or death after all, you know?”  The griffon pushed the door open.  “Seem we got some of the fireworks for that little party at the end of the week here.”  He looked back to her with glee, his smile enough to make Gilda wonder what kind of jaw he had.  “Let’s get the matches.”

“Woah, we’re setting that place on fire?!”  Gilda said with worry.  Arson was a bit new, even for her.

“It’s not like you haven’t ruined anything before,”  the Snark said, motioning to a small cart in the shack.  “Why stop now?”  He could see the griffon still looked unsure.  “Oh, I know, first time jitters.  It always starts that way, but in time it gets as natural as breathing.”

It was then Gilda felt that kick wear off, taking stock of the fact she had just smashed an orchard and iced over a barn.  Things sunk in, and the griffon was now in a panic.

“How would this be natural?”  she said with some shock.  “This feels nuts!”

“Why would it not, little bird?”  the pony said with a wave of his withering claw, the talons thin as ribs.  “It’s not like you had a choice, with or without heart failure to worry about consequences.”  

Gilda still felt hesitant, so he guided her to the cart with a gentle cold nudge.

“Believe me when I tell you, some things never change,”  the Snark said as he guided the griffon.  “Even if it meant the ruination of someone, it won't.”  Glida still felt down as he guided her.  “It just stays stagnant, lying when it says it cares about people they never cared for in the first place.”

“They have established their rules of fate and favor, what they choose to believe can say a lot on what they won't compromise,”  he continued.  “What they think of for evil for instance, perhaps?”  He gestured her to push the cart as he continued alongside the griffon.  Gilda, feeling no choice, began to push.  

“You think you already know what it means to be someone's enemy?”  the Snark kept talking, as Gilda felt less and less will to argue.  “To be hated so hard?  They can invalidate any belief of good you could ever have?  Then you become an object then, an undesirable to be rid of forever.   Just thrown away like filth.”  

Gilda shivered as he kept going.  At some point, she struggled to push the cart.  She didn’t want to let herself cry, it never helped.

“Your victories will burn for them, and your suffering deserved time and again.”  His tone became more cutting.   “It’s what they want out of you now and you are sick of it.”  The griffon stopped, glancing over to the smirking white pony, as she was tired of this talk.  He knew it, but went on.  “Even I know how good it feels to have someone to unite against, but is it unite or gang up little bird?”  

“So what are you getting at?”  Gilda asked, weak, angry, and feeling depleted.  “So I’m freaking miserable from these ponies and the crud they do to me.  AND?!”  she yelled back.

“Because it doesn't really doesn’t matter to them, after all they only think they are the good guys!”  the Snark yelled back.  “And I’m here, as the best friend you could ever have.  The friend that’s going to really help you, and not just give a mountain of false promises that they want to help.”  

The white pony was in her face now, his calm blue eyes looking into her trembling yellow ones.  

“What we do from now on?”  he said, his voice clear and cheerful. “Is that we take them down every peg we can find they have.  Then see how funny they find it, hum?”

The griffon stood there for a moment, the freak had a point.  These ponies had it coming now.
She pushed the cart, now feeling much better.  It was like a new fire had been lit inside, keeping her warm in the cold night.  The ponies weren't going to hold her down anymore.

“Now that’s when you really get a chance to take stock on things to a larger level,”  the Snark continued with Gilda no longer feeling upset with his rant.  “We realize, in an objective way, that they only got in our way.  Like a wall, that won’t allow you to move it.”

“For sorts like you and me, it's a simple riddle,”  he finished, with Gilda only feeling more of a cheerful grin to her beak.  “Do you want to writhe on the ground as they kick you?  Or hurt them?  Take what they enjoy, like they did with you?  And make them suffer for every nasty thing they ever put you through.  They will know, only then, you were the wrong bird to cross.”

That did it, Gilda felt much better, better than she ever knew.  The confidence that had been fizzled out for so long lit back up.  

“Where do I find a match?”  she said with a happy growl.  

The Snark looked overjoyed, happily throwing the festive fire starters into the cart, and more than happy to help her as she pushed the cart load back to the farm’s carrot storage shed.

Gilda struck the match and watched it burn in her claw.  “Here’s to a happy partnership, G,” the Snark said with pride.  “Now this is the cool stuff!”

Somepony is going to hate to see the aftermath of this, Gilda thought.  That apple barn was a foggy, frozen mess, and now the carrot shed was a fireball.  The pair quickly returned back to Fluttershy’s home, but the night was still young though for the griffon.

“There,”  Gilda said with some relief.  “I did it, so what now?”

“You should take a breather, after all you did good, very good job indeed,”  the Snark said with a low chuckle.  “You should rest as we ponder our next move.”

“How?”  she asked, cracking her neck and claws.  “I’m already on edge for all this.  So why stop now?”

“Well, we’ve made a mark that’s for sure. little bird,”  the Snark replied with a smile.  “But even you know when to lay low right?”

“I’m near town, so how do I hide?”  Gilda asked, her claw up.  “Or you got a plan for that too?”

“Indeed,”  he added.  “I do.”

It was then Gilda saw his body begin to drift, no longer feeling like being solid again.  His hooves were only simple shapes of such and his black mane now became more white, much like his eyes now.  

“Love’s funny that way.”  Gilda could hear, distorted in her ears.  

And that was when a loud wail sounded.

Gilda felt like she was hearing a piercing shriek echoing from inside her head.  She looked pleadingly at the Snark, who no longer even had a face or even a body.  

A shapely mass that looked like a pony’s shape made from the air stood there. It looked in her direction as that sound still played.  Mist swirled off it’s form as the griffon held her head, only then finding it was in vain.  

The pain was disorienting and her body crumbled, writhing on the floor.  She couldn't even tell she was screaming now as the griffon soon passed out from the suffering.


> Two in the morning, to feel nice and calm all day long
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

3 days remain until laughter vanishes from the world...well, most of it

Gilda woke to find her eyes were very heavy, and the sun was too bright and blinding.  She let out a moan, closing her eyes as she tried to move, only finding her body feeling heavy like a stone.  

Despite feeling a heavy blanket on her, she felt like she was freezing in the winter air with a chilling breeze in her ribs.  It was then something touched her head calling her back to reality.  

“Shhhh,”  said a voice.  “It’s ok.  You're awake now, and nothing's going to hurt you.”

“Shy?”  Gilda moned in a pathetic cry.  “What..what going...?”  Her head swam in some empty sea, making it hard to focus.  Even with the pony next to her, she felt miles away.  Her moans became a sudden yelp when she felt a burning sensation on her scalp.  

“Shhhh.”  Fluttershy said as her hoof went across Gilda’s head.  Despite it being a gentle rub of some warm cloth, the heat of it had the griffon writhing in hot pain.  “Easy...easy…”  Shy let her hoof rest there, still hot, waiting for the griffon to settle down.  “I’m here Gilda, it’s going to be fine.”  

Fluttershy sat there for a moment as Gilda’s yellow eyes lazily looked past her.  

“It hurts…”  Gilda muttered in a weak tone.  “It hurts…”  The burning on her head, the chill in her body, both left her in terrible pain that felt unbearable.  “Make it stop,”  she whimpered.

“I-ill see if I can get you another pill that might help.”  Fluttershy replied, and with quick speed she left the room yelling.  “Mr Discord!  Mr Discord!”  

Gilda wasn't having any of it, despite falling out of the bed when she got up.  She wanted this to stop, and the pony was part of that problem in her head.

“No...”  she said with a moan.  “No more...”  She stumble after the pegasus with her head feeling like webs were in it, her thoughts sluggish on a razor sharp point.  She went past the open door and into a wall on the other side from it.  “The pills won’t solve this, no one changes ponies!  They’re…”  she said her thought aloud as she stumbled down the hall.

Thankfully, despite her stumbling, she got a good grip on the stair railing--at least at first.  The griffon found herself falling the rest of the way down.  

As Gilda lay on the floor, she could feel how locked up her joints felt.  The only part of her working with reliable effort being her eyes and mouth.

“Fluttershy, it’s freezing,”  Gilda said with a shaky voice, that coldness was still present in her bones the whole time.  “It’s all stupid….”

“Stupid?”  said a snooty voice just out of view.  Gilda took a look to see what that was as she tried to get up.  That thing looked strange to her with a long tooth.  “And what is so stupid about it?”

“Why’s there a walrus at that dinner table?”  was Gilda reply as she wobbled, barely able to even attempt standing up.

“Well, goo goo g’joob to you too then,”  That snooty creature seemed to take that well, even letting out a chuckle.  “Fluttershy?  You patient believes me to be a walrus, did you hear?”

“I’m sorry, she’s really delirious right now.”  Fluttershy said, and just seemed to show up next to the stricken griffon.  “Gilda?”  A yellow thing waved in front of the griffons face, her vision foggy.  “Gilda?”  Now the griffon felt she could hear hoof snapping.  “Gilda, can you hear me?”

“Are we still in Kansas?”  Gilda said absently, as she started to attempt a stumble up.  “There's a little….augh!”  While the little pony had no ill intent, the hug she was giving made Gilda feel like her body was aflame.  “I’m melting...melting…”  she cried out as Fluttershy kept her grip.  “It’s so hot!”

“Oh my!”  said the walrus named Paul, but really Discord.  Apparently that got some response the griffon could only guess at, namely an unhappy one.  “Pardon me, ma'am,”  he added softly.

“Shhhh, it’s ok,”  Fluttershy said.  “It’s ok, Gilda.”  Even so Gilda’s body kept trembling.  Fluttershy being the only thing keeping the griffon from falling over again.  “Can you please lend me a hand please, Mr Discord?”

“Aces and eights?”  he replied.  Gilda knew there was the sound of playing cards in the air, but it looked more and more like a blur as her world still felt hot and hazy.

“Just help me get her to bed, ok?”  Fluttershy asked again.

“Oh, my!”  Discord added again.  It ended like the last, letting out a sheepish laugh.  “As you wish, Fluttershy.”

Before Gilda knew it a flipper was on her as well, well maybe not a flipper, she really couldn't tell.  Half to a quarter awake, Gilda felt like she had just left the living room, and was back in the bed where she started from in an instant.  

Gilda still struggled with a sudden clatter of her own teeth.  Why was she still freezing?

“Now, now Gilda,”  said that snooty thing called Discord, still not much more visible than a shadow to the griffon.  “Fluttershy only wants to help you.”

“It’s not real, just a bunch of stupid hopes and dreams,”  Gilda said weakly as she shook her head.  “No ones really there.”

“Oh dear,”  was the Discord’s two words of vague concern, turning his body to the pony in the room.  “Fluttershy, what has she been dreaming about?”

‘I...forgot to ask?”  was her sheepish reply.  After a pause she let out a sad sigh.  “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, even ponies make mistakes,”  he replied as he scratched his tooth, then snapped his gnarled fingers.  “I got an idea!  One brain freeze defrost coming right up!”  

Something then tapped Gilda’s head and things were a much more blurry for a moment.  

She didn’t feel clouded as much in the next second, the cold webs swept up away and her eyes re-adjusted.  She could now see the worry in Fluttershy’s eyes, and the off smile of an odd snake chimera...thing there as well.  But that wasn’t the scary part to her.

“W-what came over me?”  Gilda said, trembling in fear.  “I-I just...”  She then found herself starting to hyperventilate before Fluttershy calmed her down.

“Shhhh...it’s ok,”  she said as she rubbed the griffons neck, apparently doing the trick.  “You’re going to be fine Gilda.”  

The griffon felt glad and safe then and, for whatever reason, she grabbed a hold of the pegasus. Gilda let out a sigh of relief.  

“Um, Discord, what have you...?”   Fluttershy whispered, and sounded more than a bit unhappy as she looked to the creature.

“Not to worry, she’ll be back to her more grouchy self again,”  Discord replied, not letting the bothered look bother it.  “Cross my heart.”  And as if to make it clear, said heart appeared, which he then drew lines across.  “For now, perhaps, you can enjoy a more cheerful griffon.”

“You're so warm!”  added Gilda with some delight.  “It feels like I just got out of a freezer,”  she chuckled as she let go, noticing the a smile of the blushing pony in front of her.  “Are we having breakfast soon?  I could go with something to eat right now!”  

Thankfully, for a griffon, some things never change.  Still with a blush, Fluttershy giggled, and Gilda found herself giggling as well.

“S-sure,”  Shy nodded as she spoke, no longer bothered by the griffon’s change of mood.

Before she knew it, as though Gilda had awoke from some kind of dream, she was in the kitchen sitting next to Fluttershy.  She had even helped with lunch with enjoyment it seemed, and had given the pony a joyful hug at some point as well.  

Also, the apron she was still wearing was an adorable eyesore.

“How…!”  Gilda said with a jump, only just now realizing what had happened.  Or she certainly felt that way.  “Get this stupid thing off me!”  was her snarl to no one in particular.  With a snap of fingers, she was now in a maid outfit with a little frilly hat.  “Not cool, you freak!”  she yelled at Discord.

“It’s a step up at least,”  Discord said with disinterest and a low chuckle, and with another snap Gilda was naked again.  “But, I’d say it worked.  The proof is in the pudding, which I could go for some!”  He turned to Fluttershy, still sitting at the table.  “I’ll leave the rest to you, Fluttershy dear.  But I’ll be back later to check up.”  

In a flash the creature was gone.  All while Gilda still stood flabbergasted.

“Did I eat?”  Gilda asked cautiously, not sure she wanted the answer.  “Stuff...got...weird...”  She blinked, trying to take in the room.  Just in case she missed something else.

“Of course!”  Shy replied, doing her best to calm the griffon down.  “You were pretty down, so I got you some fatty tuna.  Don’t worry, you enjoyed it!”  she said with a smile.

Gilda blinked for a moment, only noting one part of that statement.  “You...got me fatty tuna...because I looked down?”  

She remembered eating it.  It was even seasoned pretty well, the proof being that plate on the table with only crumbs left.  The griffon didn’t expect that, that stuff is hard to find where she was.  

“Ok….now what?”  she sighed, still trying to get her bearings.  “And what just happened?  This another dream I’m in?”

“He…just affected your mind for a moment,”  Fluttershy said nervously.  Then, seeing Gilda eyes wide with anger, she began to tremble.  

Well, until all Gilda did was put a claw to her head with a groan.  

“You’re fine for now, and that’s what matters,”  Shy continued.  The griffon let out a sigh and got up from the  table, still quite down.  “Are you okay for a session right now, or do you need some rest first?”

“Can I get some straight answer for once?”  Gilda said in frustration.  

Shy nodded, and that was all that was needed.  The pair went downstairs, Gilda lay on the couch, and didn’t have to wait long for Dr Shy to get ready.

> Still miles away dear
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dr Shy was now at her desk.  It was less moist from the snow that had been on it the night before now.  Gilda guessed Angel had been made to help clean it, unless she was going to remember helping during the bit she was all nice minded.  

That snake walrus thing was on her bad side right now, that’s for sure.

“Well, first things first,”  Dr. Shy began, putting her glasses back on.  “How are you feeling today?”

Did she even need to ask?

“Confused and angry,”  Gilda answered with a bitter groan.  “Duh!”

“I’m sorry to hear that,”  Dr. Shy said.  She was about to say something else, But Gilda cut her off.

“The heck just happened to me?”  Gilda asked.  “It’s like my heads a mess.  Like more than usual or something.”

“I think Mr Discord could tell you more, but he thinks you met something while you were..um, wandering...”  Dr. Shy replied, writing a few notes.  She was looking more worried than Gilda was on what “something” meant.

“I thought you said I was dreaming,”  Gilda said with a raised eyebrow.  “Like, with the pills?”

“You were, but it’s before that,” Shy explained.  “But in that...void you were in, you can find things.”  Shy looked a bit scared, as spoke.  “Like terrors, windigos, manitous…”

“Wha?”  Gilda looked a bit surprised on this, and might have asked if Dr. Shy didn’t continue.

“It’s ok for the first time, as they won’t know what you are at first,”  she added seriously.  “But please, from now on,  keep your eyes shut.  They can’t see you if you can’t.”

“But this still all sounds like a kids story…”  Gilda said with dismissal.  “Like that going to work on something like that!”  

She was exhausted by what she was now knee deep into, and even more so to find it looked like it was only dragging her further down.  

“Discord will tell you more,”  Fluttershy said, moving things along.  While Gilda just rolled her eyes, Dr. Fluttershy got herself busy, pushing her chair from her desk.  Soon it was by the couch, so she could sit closer to the tried griffon.  “In the meantime, tell me about your dreams?”

While the griffon wasn’t interested, the pony looked pleadingly.  While Gilda didn’t feel like going into such details, she knew the pony would try to pry.  

Then again, who else would she talk too?

“Well, ok,”  Gilda began.  “The first one was awesome.”  She felt enjoyment with that part.  “Dash  practically begged for me to forgive her, and then we went on a mad pranking scheme.”

“I see,”  Dr. Fluttershy responded without as much excitement.  “And the second one?”

“That time...Dash said she forgave me that time.”  Gilda felt a bit more guarded on this one.  “She was chill even, then we went to town with her telling me I was welcome and wanting me to meet all her friends, and...”

“Was it awesome?”  Shy innocently asked.

“I...freaked out,”  Gilda said with disappointment.  “Everything seemed too friendly, too nice.  It got under my skin and I just freaked.”

“Why?”  Fluttershy asked with concern.

“I just said, they were being weird and…”  Gilda was looking away, as this was making her nervous.  “It was all stupid anyway.”

“And?”  Dr. Shy kept at it, despite the griffon’s evasiveness.  “How was it stupid to you?”

Gilda let out a sigh.  “I kind of wish it was just another dream about me and Dash hanging.  None of that other stuff.”

“Why is that?”  Fluttershy asked, looking from her notes to the depressed griffon.  “Why just Rainbow Dash?  Why not any other ponies?”

Gilda let out another sigh.  “Do you know anything about us griffons?”  she asked as she was holding her claws to her chest.

“Well, I know that part about them...er, not l-letting go of a m-mate.”  Despite Fluttershy not trying to insinuate something, Gilda thought it was.

“Not that part geek!”  she roared back at the pony.

“Eeek!”  Dr. Shy ducked behind her own chair.  While still hiding, she put her head above her hiding spot and asked another question.  “S-sorry.  W-what p-part of being a g-griffon is it you would like to b-bring up?”

“Well one, we don’t normally like horses much,”  Gilda said matter of factly.  The pony’s terror gave her a amount of joy, ending her moping for a moment.  “Something about mounts, or wars, or gold claims.  Old cool stuff, before you little ponies started running around everywhere.  Playing games and having fun,”  she laughed.  “Besides, you guys are wimps anyway.”

“O-ok.”  Fluttershy got herself out of hiding, sitting back down in her chair.

“Besides, griffons only bond mate with other griffons,”  Gilda continued.  “So far, they haven’t even had any success with you ponies anyway.”

“R-really?”  This fact had Dr. Shy surprised, and to Gilda proved she didn’t know much.  “Do you know why that is?”

“Some of the males, when they are young and stupid, make attempts to find a mare on occasion,”  Gilda said with some humor.  “You ever hear about a hippogriff?”  Fluttershy shook her head.  “Those things sound like the most awesome thing ever, like something that could go five rounds with one of the princesses...blindfolded.”

“I’ve heard...a bit,”  Fluttershy mused with curiosity.  “So what happens to them?”

“Well, mares don’t take to well to a male griffons just wanting a kid out of a relationship,”  Gilda went on.  “Say what you will, but those guys are stupid.  By the time they can make a better case for being romantic, they already gave up on it.  So they just settle with a griffon gal to have some eggs.”

“Can’t a female…”  And Gilda knew what the question Fluttershy was asking next.

“Nope, has to be a mare, and it has to be due to a union or something,”  Gilda finished her myth lesson with some pride.  “Not just some griffon that wants a cool kid,”  she added.  “Otherwise, it just won’t work.  Like nothing happens or something, so it’s still a myth among myths.”

While Fluttershy did seem interested, musing more and more on that little story, Gilda went back to her original point.

“Anyway, us griffons don’t do so well with you ponies half the time,”  she continued.  “Either due to that or other reasons.  So I think I was the only griffon who even bothered with joining Junior Speedsters in years,”  Gilda said with her claws behind her head, almost relaxed.  Somehow, the hard questions were feeling like a chat.  Or maybe she was losing it again, becoming friendly despite herself.

“And even then, that was because they looked more fun than all the same boring griffon military fight training,”  Gilda added with a shrug  “I had that in done in weeks!  Way too easy for me!”  she said with pride.

“So, why did you choose Dash for a friend?”  Dr. Shy asked with caution.  

She gulped nervously as the griffon looked back at her, making it clear it was a thin ice issue.  While the pegasus could see Gilda had bit of anger in her eyes, she answered it with a friendly look.  

“If what you said is true, griffons only abide ponies most of the time,”  Fluttershy added.  “What made her special to you?”  

Gilda looked away and said the same thing from the day before.  “Rainboom,”  she said.

“Please,”  Shy pleaded, holding a hoof out gently.  “I know there’s more.  Otherwise it wouldn't hurt you so much.  Maybe it could help with letting go of that anger.”

“I wished I could do that,”  Gilda said simply, feeling tired of the exercise the pony kept insisting on.

“Were you jel- ”  Shy was about to ask, but the griffon cut her off.  While Gilda wanted to give her another angry ramble, it felt more like telling a story to her.

“I’d been used to ponies that talked a big game, but were total losers like the rest of them,”  Gilda explained more on that memory, with hope Fluttershy would stop asking.  “They were dumb as rocks, not all that as usual.  And I could fly circles around their dumb faces, laughing as they ate my dust.”  

The griffon sighed for a moment.  She was feeling nostalgic now, even if she tried not to be.  

“Then there she was, and even I knew rainbooms were rare to nonexistent with you guys,”  she continued.  “No one else, nopony else could do something that cool.”

“I see,”  Dr. Shy replied writing a few more notes.  She mostly kept silent, not wanting to ruin Gilda’s story.

“I was best flyer in Imperiu Rece,”  Gilda added with pride.  “I even got a royal scholarship from our empress,”  She was feeling good, and Shy seemed to notice with some of her own pride.  “Then that cool griffon meets the first only cool pony in Equestria.  Maybe they’d have awesome adventures?”  But her nostalgia fell into sad past memories.  “I mean, why wouldn't that be cool if it happened?”

“Did you idolize her?”  Fluttershy asked with interest.  “I see how she meant a lot to you.”

“Maybe,”  Gilda answered with a shrug, energy now draining.  “Like I said, ponies are losers.  So she was the only one I could relate to.  She was way cooler than the rest.”

“How so?”  Doctor Fluttershy looked happy with the progress she was making, and Gilda didn’t seem to mind, despite herself.  “What was she like back then that make her that cool?”

“I remember this one time at flight camp,  there was this wild storm front that rolled in,”  Gilda told that story like it was just yesterday.  “It was the kind you get told to go nowhere near, right?”  she began with enjoyment.  “Us griffons aren’t afraid of anything, but most ponies just huddle is safety like wusses.  I could see that when I tried to dare the other pegasus ponies to come with me to fly in it.”  she told her story a smile.  

“Only Dash was bad enough to come with me,”  she continued, and Gilda’s smile got bigger then.  “We flew through the storm, the rain, even dodged the lightning bolts.  It was so awesome!  I remember mocking those storm clouds for missing so badly while Dash tried so hard not to laugh.”

Shy even let out a laugh of her own as Gilda did.  “Heh, or maybe she was crying in panic at times, that storm was something fierce,”  Gilda said as she enjoyed a light laughed.  “ It was like lightning all over the place.   And we were back at camp an hour later, when the counselors saw we were gone and came after us.”

Even as the story winded down, Shy still took interest.  “Did you two get in trouble?”  she asked.

“Sure, we got a detention outta it, but  we rode the storm!”  Gilda said with pride.  “Totally bad!”  

Gilda found herself doing the horns with her talons.  Somehow, Shy missed the point of it.  She only blinked at the gesture.

“Um, bad good or bad bad?”  Fluttershy asked, unsure what that meant.  “um, never mind.”  She shook her head.  “So why did things go so badly later on?”  she asked the somber griffon.  “Is it because you couldn't stand her having friends that were...uncool to you?.”

Gilda let out sigh, her enjoyment for talking was gone now.  Now it was back to this mess she hated to be in.  

“The junior speedsters were a bunch of dorks, not even worth mentioning,”  she said.  “And you guys were just as much of third wheels as they were!  Then that stupid party…”  Gilda just stopped then.  The full memory of if it made her cold, angry.

“Do you still blame Pinkie?”  Dr. Shy asked, a bit afraid of the answer.  “Or Dash?”

“I blame all of you,”  Gilda said coldly, catching the pony off guard.  “You made me some loser to call out on!  And it doesn't matter who set those pranks.  I should have just known Dash was just as much of a dork as you all where.”

“Why?”  Fluttershy asked, but Gilda didn’t answer her.  

The griffon just sat there, unsure if she would cry or dig her claws into the sofa or both.  Gilda clenched her claws and teeth, letting out a growl as she didn’t even want to be near this pony anymore.

Fluttershy seemed to notice, her face softening. “Please, talk to me.”  she said quietly.  “I don’t want you to feel unhappy with ponies.  Or anyone else for that matter.”

“I gave up on that crud,”  Gilda said bitterly.  “Jr Speedsters, advanced flying lessons, all of it.”  Her tone only got more grim.  “I sent my trophies back home, so I didn’t have any reminders of it.   Then I just wanted to give up on all this friendship crud!  So I wandered around for awhile.”

“Why did you give up, Gilda?”  Dr. Shy asked a bit off hoof.  “Couldn't you find anyone then?”

“Like you asked, I did kinda idolize her or whatever,”  Gilda said with a claw on her head, letting out a sigh.  Her anger wasn’t working out, all she felt was depression.  “The only pony I thought was worth meeting with and not just another pegasus that talked about how cool they were.  But she ends up being lame as usual.”  She shrugged.  “Why should I try to be cool with all these lame ponies around me?”

“And how did your wandering go, Gilda?”  Dr. Shy asked, going back to her neutral base.  Apparently seeing Gilda was only going to get more upset on the issue.  “What did you do back then?  I know you mentioned a job.”

“Drinking, fighting, got a job for a caravan…”  Gilda trailed off with that memory, to her it was a blur.  “Stuff.”

“Drinking?”  Like usual, ponies were not into drinking as Fluttershy showed.  

Gilda about face clawed, knowing the pony probably didn’t even know what pipe weed was either.

“You guys got salt lick,”  Gilda said simply.  “Us griffons got frothy mugs of griffon whiskey, minotaur wine flagons, goat ale, changeling brewed green fae….”

“Um…”  Dr. Shy seemed surprised by that long list, but got Gilda back on track  “How long was this time you were drifting?”

“Maybe a year, maybe two?”  she said with another shrug.  “I lost count, didn’t care even.  I don’t think anyone else counted either, seeing as it didn’t matter to them either.”  Gilda sighed as she got up from the couch.  “It won’t matter anyway.”

“Why?”  Dr. Shy said, also getting up from her seat.  Unlike the last session, she didn’t try to rush to stop the unhappy griffon.

“Becauses my life doesn’t have a reset button,”  Gilda said, going back upstairs.  “And I’m just that bad guy ponies get to point at.  So it don’t matter what I do now.”  

If Fluttershy had any further words on that matter, Gilda wasn’t in the mood to hear them.  The griffon just wanted to go sulk or break something in half, maybe both.

> All a matter of perspective
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“So, I figure, what’s next?”  Gilda said, moving a checker piece.  “I hardly understand this magic crud, and now it’s trying to drive me crazy.  Best move is to stop caring, I think.”  

As Gilda prattled, her opponent Angel the bunny, moved his piece.  

“I mean, it’s not like it matters,”  she added  I’m still going to lose,”  and she moved her piece again.  Angel then moved his promptly, jumping over four of hers and scooping them off the board.  

He made the mistake of blowing a raspberry at the losing griffon, cue the board and remaining pieces flying with the sweep of her claw.  

While Angel ducked, Gilda let herself smile.  

“Damn, that felt good,”  she said to herself.  Sure she was picking up later, but that was cathartic.  Angel, however, looked upset by her actions.  “Yeah, yeah you were winning,”  Gilda said smugly.  “I got that.  Bite me, I don’t care.”

“You always seem to be that sore loser, Gilda,”  A voice behind her said.  As the griffon had been getting used to this, she didn’t even turn to face the weirdo.  

Good news: it was someone new.

“What is it?”  Gilda asked with a checker pieces in her claw, still not turning to face Discord.  “You doing that check up now?”

“Indeed,”  he said.  In not even a snap of it’s fingers, both him and her were now in chairs facing each other.  "And I'm not a walrus,"  He waved his arms. "Note the lack of flippers."  He showed his claw and paw.  “Clearly not flippers, don’t you see?”

"And that stupid tooth?"  Gilda deadpanned, pointing that detail out.

"As a cigar is a cigar, a tooth is a tooth, but enough about that G,”  Discord said whimsically as he put his fingers together.  “We've got a few things to discuss."

"Uh huh?"  Gilda said cautiously.  She knew this wasn’t going to be fun.  Well, fun for her any way.  That snake walrus looked like he was going to enjoy hearing her groan.  “What it about?”

“You did give Fluttershy and I quite a fright this morning,”  said Discord.  “She called upon me after she found you.  And from what she had told me I’ve had some doubts that you followed the good doctor's orders.”  He rose his eyebrow...thing.  “Do you understand why?”

“Took that pill,”  Gilda answered with a shrug.  “So?”

“Yes you did,”  Discord said with that eyebrow now lowered and his eyes more narrow than possible.  “And I’m guessing you didn’t keep either your eyes or beak shut while you traversed, am I right?”

“So what?”  Gilda said dismissively.  “So, I saw some freak--things with eyes and tentacles.”  She grimaced then, just the memory was unpleasant enough, but she shook it off.  “One even got me for a sec before the others jumped him.”  She let her usual smugness cover it, or tried too.  “Freaky, but meh.  Just more stupid weird stuff.”

“If I told you some were windigos in a more natural habitat, would you believe me?”  Discord’s face was now normal, aside from that silly grin as Gilda looked back unblinking.  “I know, quite a stretch!”  he mocked briefly.

“Those stupid winter things?”  Gilda replied with some surprise.  “Every Hearth's Warming those things feel like a bigger joke.”  She let herself chuckle at the absurdness.  “I bet those losers ain’t so dangerous as they say they are.”  She could see Mr. Discord only looked less pleasant as she went on.  

His smugness was now a frown.  “Do you wish to tell me no griffons fear them?”  he asked.

“Guess those things like ponies, what can I say?”  Gilda still chuckled, leaning back in her chair.  “More flavorful, huh?”

“You can say not to joke about them,”  Discord sighed.  The lack of humor in his voice seemed abrupt, even killing Gilda humor for a moment.  Her own smug humor dropping as he bent his head closer to her.  “They can only manifest in Equestria to a limited degree to feed.  Back where they live, they can do much worse as they prey on each other.  Or other white meat, as they wait for another opportunity.”

“Opportunity?”  Gilda asked, wide eyed.

“Being things that feed on hate and cold, they look for sources,”  he continued.  “Places they know the way to, consistent places that are common enough knowledge to them.”  as Discord continued, his chair disappeared and he began pointing to a small graphy--thing that had not been there before.  

It had the monster she saw, shapely and all, causing the griffon to cringe a little.  Beneath the picture was some writing, a simple caption of “do not want”.  

“Equestria is being just one of the places they go to from that void,”  he added as Gilda looked on.  “But they can go near anywhere.”

“That void?”  Gilda asked, now quite curious.  “That the place I go when the world...um, melted?”

“It’s something like a dimension, or even a dream.”  Discord said.  “A bit of a hard concept for your griffon mind to handle,”  he explained as the graph-thing flipped over to reveal a mass of black with a new caption.  

“You just keep thinking until you go insane to make sense.  It’s all that big.”  It read, and the griffon only scoffed back.

“Try me,”  Gilda said with crossed arms.  “I just saw some lights and wind noises.  So what’s so big about it?”

“And if I told you that Fluttershy told me it looked like something else to her?”  Discord’s smugness was back again.  “If only before she shut her eyes again in fear.”

“Something else?”  Gilda raised a brow.  “Then again, what doesn’t scare that pony?”

Discord chuckled as he turned another page, revealing another picture, a blank page with a dot calling itself a map.  The dot being marked as “Perceived reality here (except when otherwise).”  

Gilda let out a grumble.  “Well that just stupid.”

“The minds of most sentient creatures see things like that in different ways,”  Discord replied, but could see Gilda head shaking.  She didn’t believe any of this.  “Imagine, if you will, a dimension that your own eyes couldn't see.  Or could see, but it was beyond the mind's own ability to comprehend.”  

He looked more smug on this, and even as Gilda was more annoyed he carried on.  She grumbled as she faceclawed.

“I’ve seen people who saw such places such as great battles there.  Or a road, or an empty city…”  Then Discord’s features looked unimpressed, but still had a laugh.  “...and one fool who saw that beyond as a bunch of ladies with handbags in a muddy field.”

“Hand bags?”  Gilda asked, eyes wide by the absurdity of the mental image.

“Are you part eagle or parrot, Gilda?”  he joked, but the griffon huffed at that.

“Like you got anything cool, dork,”  with Gilda’s snarkiness, her beak fell off.  

For a moment she was shocked and beak-less, but soon had an angry look.  She simply picked up her beak to put back on her face.  The snake walrus had a chuckle as Gilda checked to see if it worked, opening and closing her mouth before speaking.  

“That magic is overpowered, dweeb,”  Gilda added angrily.  “You trying to be cute now?”

“No, this is cute.”  To Gilda, Discord’s smile and the eyes just said so much wrong now.  The same for his tone, as well the petals and sparkles the now circled him.  “Perhaps a bit too cute, G?”  he said in a suggestive voice.  “Or would you like something as delightful?”  

His now misty eyed features were smooth and creepy inviting, and the griffon shrank back with horror of a different kind.

“Oh, heck no!”  she yelled.

Discord let out another laugh at Gilda’s response as he changed back.  But despite Discord’s enjoyment, he still sighed and went to a more humorless tone.

“Still, I believe the fact Fluttershy found you screaming, and the fact your skin was cold to the touch does give reason for you to be worried.”  He wasn’t being smug on this, just direct.  The griffon blinked and gulped.  “Even you wouldn't want to see the gates of delirium, and the thoughts that dwell there.”

“The wha...?”  Gilda was taken aback a bit, even with all this drivel.   “What the heck is the gates of delirium?”  she asked, wishing for a straight answer.

He instead answered by flipping to a page with the simple words “A reality is just what we tell each other it is.”  Gilda piffed, lost for words or patience either.  

“Except when otherwise,”  Discord added.  “Reality's little more than walls, and with enough magic walls do break down. And with reality, so to do minds.”

“Lame,”  was Gilda opinion on that statement.  “What’s with you and all this big talk?  Are you going to tell me what’s up with this ‘gates of delirium’ crud or what?”  

He then flipped to another page, it was covered with stuff...lots of stuff.  

The textures were on a page, that was the clear part.  But at the same time, despite being in two dimensions, it was well past that to Gilda’s eyes.

Looking at it, the griffon felt like she was losing herself.  Her mind was there, so was her angry conscious when she could find it, but for that moment she felt so small now.  Insignificant to anything she could see.  

Then, if not before, she knew how little her actions would impact anything beyond a desire to scream about how insignificant she was.  With all the trials and triumphs of her past reduced to the prattlings of a child to it’s much older, colder parents.

That sobering instinct faded to a growing anger.  Against the horror of a lack of meaning, she was ready to challenge that abyss and what dwelled in it with righteous anger.  Griffon kind had already built itself on fighting back, even to battle things as old as adult dragons.  She wasn’t going to be that exception, to flee from such challenge.

Then suddenly, from that emptiness, a face and claws came forth from within it.  Roaring as it gazed at Gilda and swiping it’s claws with a venomous howl from sabertoothed fangs.  

She knew that creature, and every part of it horrific history from griffon history books.  Now it was there to cut her life short.  To never be known for her greatness, only her meat.  

If Gilda had let out a shriek it would have been involuntarily, as her only recalled action was to fall back from her chair in a scampering, blind panic.  Only knowing a desire to get herself away from that creature she saw before it got her.

Only then, realizing there was no sound anymore, the griffon knew that it wasn’t there.  She turned back to see the page was blank except for a simple “See?”  

Gilda didn’t speak, still shaken from what just hit her.

“Discord?”  Gilda’s head quickly looked to see Fluttershy looking almost as scared as she was.  The griffon moved her beak, trying to find words, but couldn't while her legs were clenched together in terror.  “Oh my!”  Shy yelped.  “Discord, what have you…?”

“Oh, she only saw the most horrifying thing she could imagine,”  he said simply.  “At least for the next five minutes…or so.”

“Discord…”  Fluttershy’s eyes were narrow, upset by the creatures dismissal of Gilda’s state.   Despite what that thing could do, it yielded.

“I’ll tone it down, miss….”  Discord surrendered, clearly nervous and apologetic.  Shy simply nodded, still with a frown, and trotted to the stricken griffon.  “It’s ok, Gilda,”  she said softly as she nuzzled her.  “You don’t have to be…”  That was as far as the cooing could get before Gilda snapped herself out of it.

“Gah!”  Gilda yelled as she rolled away from the pony.  “I’m alright, I’m alright!  Geeze!”  she said, not entirely happy.  Fluttershy looked pleased for whatever reason though.

“You two play nice from now on, ok?”  Fluttershy added, looking back to the other creature in the room.

“No problem,”  Discord replied, and the pegasus left.

“Really...really lame dweeb,”  Gilda said between breaths.  As she got to controlling her trembling, she had to hope she didn’t wet herself just then.  “Don’t...do that,”  Gilda added with a angry talon in the walrus thing’s direction.  “What in the heck did that...stuff you had me look at do to me?

“I would strongly recommend you take Fluttershy's advice and keep your eyes closed next time,”  Discord said, not even answering for it to her.  “It would reduce such ugly encounters, and then you can dream safely.”  While Gilda simply looked back with an unhappy look, he nicely smiled back.  “It would do well for your sanity score, even if sanity is a one trick pony at times,”  he added.

“Oh whatever!”  was the Gilda’s answer, still annoyed by the lack of clear answers to her situation.  “Lousy...geeze,”  she sighed as she got back to her chair with one other question.  “So, what are these dream pills anyway?”

“It’s a concoction of my own design,”  Discord said with pride.  “It’s like Luna’s dreamlike abilities, but on a new scale even she cannot do.”  He gave her a wink and a nudge.  “But don’t tell her.  Princess ego and all that.”

“So what was Fluttershy taking them for?”  Gilda asked, pointing in the pony’s direction.  “She got nightmares this bad too?”

“She had a spot of...bother some time ago,”  Discord said, stroking his chin thing while looking aside.  “I found her so afraid to sleep it was heart breaking, so I whipped them up just for her.  Little Fluttershy was sleeping soundly ever since.”

“Why?”  Gilda asked, quite interested to know that story.  “What was she so scared of?”

“Cross my heart, hope to...”  Discord added, as he made some hand gestures.  But Gilda face clawed, she knew she wasn’t going to get an answer again.

“Really?”  she groaned back.

“Sorry, it’s all quite personal,”  Discord said with a good natured smile.  “So please, don’t ask about it.  As a genuine courtesy, if you please?”  He rolled his eye, as if to remember who he was talking to.  “I know that is a difficult thing to do, but do try hard miss.”

“Ok,”  Gilda shrugged it off sigh.  “So what are these pills doing to me then?”

“Did anyone ever tell you a dream is a wish that the heart makes?”  Discord asked, his features curious.

“Whose heart?”  Gilda asked.  Truth be told, she never heard that one before.

“Exactly,”  was the answer he gave.  While the creature looked gleeful, like the griffon now knew, Gilda rolled her eyes to that cryptic answer.

“Really?”  she said with mock surprise.  “Again, not one straight answer from you dorks?”

“There is just one more thing. Gilda...”  Discord held up it’s hand to stop what further rant the griffon was about to give.  “Fluttershy told me you did have a dream, so how did a windigo get it’s will into you?”

Gilda felt a bit worried then, and a tug at the heart strings made it worse.  She could feel a claw around the rest of her heart.  The Snark had already been made clear to her how she couldn't speak of it.  Her death was quite final among other things.

“Guess I ran into it,”  she said simply, if a bit nervous and hoping Discord didn’t second guess.  “That dream was stupid anyway!  Besides, when that thing grabbed me it got my head feeling like it was frying.  So what was that about?”

“Well, prolonged contact can cause some damage, both mental and physical,”  Discord said, now rubbing Gilda’s head gently.  Odd, with his legs and waist in front with his head and arms coming from behind where she sat.  

“It’s like a mind being affected by sonic wavelengths,”  Discord continued, his rubbing annoying more than confusing.  “At first you see something, then you want to be there, then pop go the mind.”  

Gilda’s pifft was to be expected, and it just seems to get the walrus angry.

“You don’t get to joke about them,”  Discord said stoically, even strikingly serious as he looked the griffon in the eye.  “Your eyes were white this morning, and even you have to remember how you felt.”

“White?”  Gilda seemed to understand the severity of this.  “Like, totally?”  she gulped.  “I-I know my head wasn’t on straight, but am I going crazy then?  Or was I dying or something?”

“Let’s just say you had a bad brain freeze,”  Discord answered calmly, for whatever reason now assuring.  “A very bad freeze that no one wants to experience.  That aside, things looked well enough when you were much nicer.”

Gilda faceclawing had the creature laugh again.

The chairs were gone, and they were standing on the floor again.  Normal as could be.  

“You do well by your doctors orders from now on, Gilda,”  Discord added.  “She does have your best interests in mind.”  He shrugged with a smile.  “Do no harm and all.”  He then pulled the string on the multi paged graph stand, rolling it up for easy storage.  

“Lovely,”  Gilda deadpanned.  This absurdity was getting old.

“And, in the mean time I’ve got damage control,”  Discord said with little enthusiasm.

“Damage control?”  Gilda already knew the answer.  She did it after all.

“Didn’t you hear?”  he said with with a look.  “A pair of farms suffered heavy damage last night,  but you wouldn't know anything about that?”  

That look he gave was telling, but Gilda figured he was only bluffing.  Maybe, the griffon couldn't tell if anyone knew what really happened.  Maybe even herself...

“Get bent,”  she countered, and cue him bending himself in several angles causing her to let out a sigh.  “If I say buzz off…”  He then made buzzing sounds with a wave his fingers as he left the room in an eye blink.  “...Yeah.”  Gilda left a talon up, hoping to come up with a better comment, but failed.  She simply put her claw down.  

Pinkie had felt tame compared to this guy.  

For a moment, she was going to get that checker board she tossed picked up.  Then maybe see if the bunny was up for another game.  But only then saw that Angel and a goldfish had started a game.  How it moved it’s pieces was a mystery the griffon did not wish to think too hard on.  The fact the pair looked back to her like she was the weirdo didn’t help.

“I’m just...going to my room,”  Gilda said, pointing a thumb talon away from the madness.  “Maybe rock back and forth for a bit.  You guys good?”  Angel and the goldfish shrugged.  “Things are loopy enough for me already...”  She shook her head left.

Gilda figured if Fluttershy needs her she’ll call.  Maybe a bath might help her, water’s still real right?

> And now for someone compleatly different
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The day was the same, kinda.  Rose croissants and fried hay still left an odd taste in his mouth, but the side salad was good.  At least before he realized onions that made him sick were in it.  Didn’t Dr. Larch tell them about that?  

The big dog raised his paw, calling a orderly over.  Said pony shook his head, leaving,  then returning with a new salad.  

Soon, with lunch over, Sunshine didn’t have much else to do but go to his room.

With pretty bird gone, Sunshine didn’t have much to do with anyone.  Ponies still backed away from him, but Dr. Larch gave him that crafting idea, and that filled time when it could.  

The basket he wanted to gift somepony was still unfinished in his room, and it would be awhile before he could get back to the art room to finish that whittling he’d been doing as well.  

Larch could use a new cane, he thought.

His attempt at weaving in his room ended when his ears perked up to the sound of a shout from down the hall.  Knowing the voice, so he poked his head out to see what was wrong.

“Oh, not again…”  said Dr. Larch in a weary voice with his head down.

“Hey doc, what’s up?”  asked Soft Touch, stopping to take a drink of mint tea as the trotted up.  

Dr Larch tapped the door once with his hoof and shook his head.  “I locked my keys in again…”  he said in defeat.

“You sure?”  Soft asked.  “Last time we found them in the rec room when…”

“No, I’m sure,”  Dr. Larch replied, looking back with a sad smile.  “I even left them on the desk so I…wouldn't forget it….”  Lartch let out a sigh as his head lowed again.

“Hold on doc, I’ll get the master.”  Soft left down the hall, heading to the janitor closet that the diamond dog knew was some distance away.  However Sunshine had another idea, a good one too.

The dog hopped up onto his bed, and with his paw’s claw, undid the vent’s screws.  It was a talent he had learned well from experience over the time he’d been there.  From him using the screwdrivers in the art room, to seeing how his claw could undo screws the same way.  The vents were some fun to explore inside when he became bored at night.  

With the maze well in his memory it wasn’t long until he had crawled to the vent of the doctors office.

The other step was popping the other cover off.  He heard about the word “Crafty” and he felt like that.  While he wandered to vents late at night when he couldn't sleep, he always pondered entering some rooms.  However, with no way to put covers back on from inside saw it as a poor idea.  But this was an emergency.

The office was the same as usual, desk, chairs and filing cabinet.  The key was on the desk, amid some folders and papers.  

Popping the key ring in his jaws, Sunshine moved to pick up the vent cover on his way out.  And that was when Soft Touch unlocked the door from outside.

“Um?”  Sunshine said with notable tension.  He had to hope they weren’t going to be angry.

The door opened with Dr. Larch and Soft Touch next to each other.  Them seeing the dog in the room had both wide eyed.  

“Uh, hello Doctor Larch,”  Sunshine said, key ring still in his mouth.

“How….Sunshine you….?”  Soft said, and looked like he wasn’t sure how to react as Dr. Larch just blinked.  

They still looked upset, but Dr. Larch seemed less though.  Even partly finding humor in it.

“Are those my keys?”  Larch asked, beckoning the dog over with his hoof.  Sunshine nodded as he walked over, spitting out the keys and gave them over.  Sunshine was a bit nervous, but Larch looked amused.  “You were trying to get my keys for me,”  he giggled.  “That’s kind of….”

“Doc...”  Soft Touch said with a serious tone, that scar on his features made him look more unhappy.  It had only healed a day ago after the attack.  “You know he’s kind of a security risk now ,Larch,”  he said.  “These vents go through the entire complex.”

“I am aware of that Soft, but he doesn’t seem to mean harm in it,”  Doctor Larch said.  He then looked Sunshine in the eye.  “Right, Sunshine?  You haven’t been causing trouble with this, have you?”  Sunshine nodded back.

“No trouble, just wandering,”  he said as he nodded back.

“There are rules doc, and this is kind of worrying,”  Soft countered.  “From possible theft to him potentially breaking into rooms at after hours.  So I really got to report this on this.”  The diamond dog gulped.  “Sorry Sunshine, but we got rules for a reason.”

“Well, if it help, could you search his room?”  Dr. Larch asked the orderly.  “You haven’t taken anything, have you Sunshine?”

“Borrowed some fish bone from pretty bird.  They chewy,”  Sunshine replied.  He had forgotten to tell pretty bird he’d borrowed them.  She’s going to be mad at him and his poor memory, even Dr. Larch put his hoof onto his face and sighed. “Am I in trouble now?”  he asked.

“Kind of, yes,”  Dr. Larch replied, putting his hoof down.  “I can see you mean no harm in it, but I can’t allow you to use the vents.  Ok?”

“Why?”  Sunshine asked, confused.  “Don’t want to escape or hurt no one.”

“I know, I know,”  Larch replied, putting a hoof on the dog’s side.  “But Mr. Soft Touch has a point on this.”  He gestured for Sunshine to leave the office.  As Sunshine walked back into the hall, Soft left for the dogs room as Dr. Larch continued.  “Many ponies are already nervous about you, Sunshine.  And I know you do this because you are bored.”

“Why they always scared of me?”  Sunshine asked, a bit saddened.  “Don’t mean harm to them.”  He stood there for a bit, until the doctor put a hoof on his back, pointing to a table in the rec hall.

“But they don’t know that Sunshine,”  Larch answered softly, nudging the dog to walk with him.  “And I’m afraid that if they knew you were in the vents more than a few of the other patients would panic.”  While Sunshine wasn’t completely sure why, the doctor continued.  “Ponies tend to be scared of things they don’t understand.  To you, it seems to be just wandering.  But to them, they think of it as lurking, maybe even plotting.  Do you understand?”

“Not really?”  Sunshine really didn’t.  After he met Eddy and pretty bird Gilda he had to wonder why so many found him so scary.  

Larch shook his head as he helped guide the dog.  Having reached their destination, the pony pulled the dog a chair at a table.

“Can you stay here while Soft Touch does his search?”  Larch asked, and Sunshine nodded back.  “That’s good.  I’ll have him come back for you when he is done, and we’ll talk more about this later, ok?”  Sunshine nodded again.  “There’s a good boy.”  

Larch patted the large dog on the head, with some difficulty, but thankfully the diamond dog was already sitting down.  With a smile, the doctor hobbled back to his office.

Sunshine waited for a bit, tapping his paws on the table.  Pretty bird would drink coffee about now, if she was there, but she wasn’t.  While they were already out of juice in the fridge, water worked out well for a drink.  Even so, he still had nothing to do while he waited.

Shouter, Trembles, and Chubby were sitting at another table.  Two playing a game of checkers as the Trembles read a book.  
Sunshine kept forgetting their names, much like pretty bird, so he named them after what he saw them do. 

Shouter, who kept shouting, was talking a lot as usual.  While Chubby, who looked full, mostly grunted.  Giggles was laughing with Grumpy Wing in the corner table.  With grumpy staring stoically back to the laughing pony.  While Cozy, comfortable in his place, was content to read a book by himself in a far corner.  

Then again, Trembles was reading a book at the same table as Chubby and Shouter for some reason too.  He had to wonder why she didn’t just sit alone like Cozy did.  And why did she keep trembling?

He did read some about woodwork and weaving some time ago.  It got him to ask about the craft stuff in the art room.  

Then again, Cozy’s book about some yellow king that didn’t make much sense to him.  The cozy pony just kept saying he wouldn't understand it’s complexity like he did.  He still didn’t, seeing as he wasn’t able to read that book.  Cozy never shares his book with anyone.

Teal Trembles read about looking glasses, as far as he could tell from the title.  He never got that either.  Maybe about eyeglasses?  

She had them on as she read, flinching as Shouter declared the coming victory he had coming to Chubby again.  Their game seemed likely to be something he could share in, and he also never asked Trembles about her book.  Maybe she would share?

“No way!”  said Shouter, seeing how Chubby had gotten a checker piece across the board.  “How’d ya do that?!”

“Maybe if you looked at the board, Sylvester Stallion,”  Chubby said mockingly back to the shocked pony.  “Instead of all your blabbing.  Now king me.”

“Can I play?”  Sunshine asked the pair.  It was then that they noticed him, like they never heard him coming.  

Trembles gulped as she covered her face with her book, and Shouter and Chubby just looked at him stoically.  

“Um, next game?”  Sunshine added with his own nervousness.

“Were in the middle of it, dog boy!”  Shouter said as he looked back at the board.  “Go bother that yellow pony worshiper again.”  He then notice how Trembles was still into her book.  “What is it with you book ponies?  You're just shutting themselves outta stuff anyway?”

“But Cozy said I don’t know what he talking about,”  Sunshine replied.  “Why king yellow, but that king black?”  He pointed to the piece on the board.  “Different crowns?”

“It’s a mask and tatters, you stupid dog,”  Cozy yelled from his corner.

“King in tatters?”  Sunshine asked.  But Cozy just went back to his reading, shutting him out and not interested in telling the dog anything else.  

Then again, so did Shouter and Chubby.  They were  back to their game as Sunshine stood there a moment, wondering if they would say anything more.  But they were silent as Sunshine pondered for a bit.

“Is tatters what that princess pony wears?”  he asked.  “Thought that was jewel stuff.”  Nether gaming pony looked up.  Trembles did, if reluctant, ducking behind her book again when the dog looked.  

Sunshine went back to his chair feeling a bit dejected as ponies seemed to go well enough without him.  Getting a drink of water, he wondered when the search Soft Touch was doing was going to be done.  

Then the lights in the room flickered.

He was unnerved by that, as lights out wasn’t for a while yet.  Trembles let out a yelp as she hid under that game table.  But Giggles seemed more amused but the sudden darkness.  

“Storms taking that lights out,”  he said jokingly.  “Then those nasty, scary night monsters will come from those shadows.”  He waved his hooves for a bit with a bit of a wind noise, an “Oooh” noise.  

Trembles yelped again from her hiding place.  Night monsters are bad news, Sunshine guessed.

“Do chairs work on night monsters?”  he pondered seriously aloud.  They worked well on that mad pony, he recalled.

Dr. Larch and Soft Touch entered the rec room with a fast gallop as the lights flickered more.  Both of them looked frantic, as Soft put a hoof in his mouth and whistled.  It hurt the dog’s ears, but it called all the other ponies to attention.

“Everyone, we need you to return to your rooms!”  said Larch in a nervous, but controlled voice.
Though most other ponies shrugged and got up to leave, Trembles still hid and Cozy was still  un-interested.  Sunshine still wondered if that search was done.

“What’s with the lights, Larch?”  Cozy asked in an uninterested voice.  “I’m trying to read here.”

“We have an emergency in the other wing,”  Dr. Larch answered back to him.  “Now please, get to your room.  It’s for your own safety.”  Despite the fact the doctor looked like this was serious, the other pony didn’t seem too concerned.

“Meh,”  said Cozy as he went back to his book.  “It’s my rec time doc, and some emergency isn’t my problem.”

“Nero, this is serious!”  Soft said with anger.  “Things are…”  

He was cut off when the doors to the next wing burst open with an orderly and a armor pony running through it.  The armor shut it after, and was now holding it shut.  Soft didn’t seem much more worried, but Dr. Larch looked like he was shaken.  

“How bad is…?”  Soft was about to ask.  But Flask, the other orderly pony, interrupted him.

“He’s frozen half the wing!”  he yelled loudly as he shivered.  “Anypony that comes near him gets  frozen!”

“Oh dear…”  Dr. Larch said as he backed away.  “Oh no…”  The doctor began to tremble before Soft Touch put a hoof on him.

“Doc, get to your office and lock the door,”  he said carefully, then turning back Sunshine and other patients.  Neither Trembles, nor Cozy had moved.  “You three, get to your rooms, NOW!”  He pointed to them and then the hallway with a frantic gesture as Dr Larch hobbled as quick as he could away to his office.  

But no one else moved.

“If I was him, I’d just escape,”  Cozy said without lowering his book.  “Like he’d just stick around…”

“This isn’t a debate!”  the Flask orderly said angrily.  “Now move!”  

Cozy seemed content to sit there as Trembles still hid, she whimpered more and more.  Sunshine just stood there as well, he knew that feeling that was coming.  He felt it when the mad pony first bared his teeth.  It was a chill that hit him sharply, putting him on edge.

Soft was about to yell again, but the armor pony looked to him horrified.

“He’s at the door!”  she said, turning her head away from the door for a moment.  “I’ll draw his….”  

That’s when the doors blew up.  

Where once was just some walls and a door, there was now a lot of ice.  Armor pony didn’t get a chance to fight back before she was frozen, same for Soft Touch and Flask.  

A chilly, angry looking green pony stood there.  With freezing wind and bits of frost around his grim form.

“Where is Dr. Larch?”  demanded the shark tooth, mad pony in a cold voice.  

It was silent as no one spoke up.  Soft, Flask, and Armor were still trying to get free.  But the only sound was Tremble’s crying in the background.  “Where is he?”  Package Deal’s voice was scary, even when it didn’t yell.  Sunshine felt its force in his bones.

“In his office, mad pony,”  Cozy replied with a dismissing hoof.  “Now go awa…”  His eyes opened in shock as his legs froze out from under him, causing him to drop his book.  His forelegs were still free, but couldn't reach where his book had landed.

The mad pony, instead of leaving, walked up to Sunshine.  Despite being taller, the dog gulped as the chilling pony trotted to him.  Despite saying nothing, Package Deal gave him a glare for a moment until the dog spoke up.

“You chilly,”  Sunshine said looking back at the pony.  “W-why you chilly?”  Deal said nothing as he faded into a foggy mist that went down the hall, blown by an unknown wind.  “Not right, not right,”  Sunshine muttered as he held his freezing paw.  

He knew that feeling, he just knew it.

“Is he gone?”  shouted Cozy, still stuck in ice and snapping the dog out of his fear.  “Will someone get me out of this?”  

Sunshine did exactly that, if only to lower his tension.  He needed something blunt, so he got a chair to smash the ice off.

“What!”  Cozy’s eyes were scared when the large dog stood over him.  “What are you?  Mad?”  Sunshine readied the chair.  “Yes, yes you are.”  Was Cozy’s words as he covered his head with his fore hooves.  

After a few blows, the ice was off.

Cozy was still yelling at him as Sunshine went to free the orderlies and guard.  Armor pony helped free the last one before all could hear the screams from down that hall.  Sunshine knew who it was.

“Doctor!”  Sunshine yelled.  Chair in mouth and running on all paws, he ran down that hall with haste.  He ran as fast as he could as the screaming soon stopped.  

When he reached the office, seeing that the door was gone with more ice on the floor and walls, Deal was there.  He stepped out of the door with a tense grin on his face.  

Despite making no sound, Deal saw him and the chair was knocked out of his jaws by a sudden wind.  But the pony didn’t attack him, he just looked at him with that cold look as Sunshine tried to get his paws up.

“You don’t even know why you are here, do you dog?”  Deal said in a warped tone.  

Sunshine didn’t know how to answer.  He was silent, before the pony morphed into a cloud that rushed into him. It became solid again as a hoof grabbed the dog by his ear, causing Sunshine to yelp to yelp.  

“You are ignorant of what you’ve done.”  Deal growled as Sunshine whimpered.  “And yet, here you are in blissful ignorance.”  The pony took an unnerving breath.  “Why would that pony ever forgive you for what you’ve done to him?”

Sunshine had no idea what Package Deal was talking about, but he did know one thing.  

“But you chilly!”  Sunshine said with what determination he had.  “Y-you enjoy hurting things you don’t like!”  he yelled back.  “You no better than me!”  

That got him thrown down the hall, knocking the incoming armor pony over.  

He still got up, with Soft’s help and looked back at the mad pony defiantly.  He did all he could not to growl, that anger make his teeth clatter.

“I have no time for you,”  Deal answered, uninterested in the scene.  “Go wander like a child and be glad I am not after you.”  He became mist and air again, and vanished from sight.  

Armor pony and the orderlies just stood there as all could hear more crashing far away, but that wasn’t Sunshine’s concern.

“Doctor!”  he shouted as he dashed into Larch’s office  “Doctor!”  Sunshine looked and found the doctor engulfed in ice.  With frantic paws, he smashed at it.  “Doctor!  You ok Doctor?!”  To his relief, Larch weakly answered him.

“Pull...the ice...off,”  said the Dr. Larch, breathing heavily.  “It’s cracked….”  

Putting his paws into the cracks, the dog broke loose the ice plates.  Freed, Larch collapsed onto the floor shivering.

“You ok?”  Sunshine nudged the Doctor's body, finding it was cold to the touch.  Behind him, the other three from the hall looked on.  With Soft and Flask moving forward.

Dr. Larch, still gasping, managed to speak.  “Cold,”  he said softly.  “The others?”

“Soft, Flask, and Armor was frozen.”  Sunshine answered, gesturing to the three.  “But they free now!”  The doctor struggled to get up, with Soft Touch helping him stand.

“You...need to stop him,”  Dr. Larch said, either aware or unaware of who was carrying him.  “Someone needs to stop Deal.”

“Me not leave you,”  Sunshine said, helping Soft with the stricken doctor.  

As they moved the pony, they could feel that chill.  Larch’s skin was still as cold as that ice had been, but neither minded.  

The armor pony and Flask kept an eye out as Larch was gotten back to the rec room, the doctor was put onto the lounge couch with a warm blanket.  Cozy even looked up for a moment with some surprise, but went back to his reading regardless.  The others breathed a sigh of relief, with Trembles still content to hide.

Soft went over to Dr. Larch’s side, while Armor pony spoke to them.  

“Where did he go?”  she asked him, but Soft could only shrug.  Larch was in no shape to answer either.

“Dr. Larch said he need to be stopped,”  Sunshine said to armor pony.  “Think he left though.”  The pony shook her head, annoyed at how obvious that was.  

Still, she looked determined.  “Is he ok, Soft?”  she asked the orderly.  He sighed as he felt the weak doctors head.

“Doc’s passed out, but he’ll live,”  Soft replied as held Dr. Larch’s hoof.  Flask got around to using his horn to use his magic.  Whatever spells were used Sunshine had no idea, but at least Larch stopped shivering.

“I’m going to call for backup,”  said Armor pony quickly, readying her wings and hooves.  “Can you guys hold the fort in the mean time?  I won’t be long.”

“Yeah,”  Soft Touch said with a nod.  He looked soft to Sunshine, as he somewhat cradled the doctor who still moaned.  “Just tell those guard ponies to hurry, ok?”  The armor pony nodded and flew off on her wings.

“Do I still go to room?”  Sunshine asked, as he never got an answer on that.  “Is search done?”  While Flask facehooved, Soft began to laugh.

“Nah,”  Soft replied, letting out a soft chuckle as he did.  “You're ok here for now.”  He paused for a moment, noticing that Trembles was still cowering.  “Can you go help her up?”  

He gestured to where Trembles was hiding, still curled up in a ball and sobbing.  So, Sunshine walked over and gave her a nudge, and she started to scream in response.  

“Easy, Easy!”  Soft shouted back.  “Don’t worry.  He’s not gonna hurt you, he just wants to help.”  Trembles looked up with tears in her red eyes, so Sunshine offered his paw to her.  

Maybe it was due to him not moving it closer, but she looked less scared.  Eventually, she reached forward and took it.

Sunshine helped Trembles up, getting her to a chair so she could sit down.  The dog even picked up her book and put it on the table for her, before sitting down as well.  Even with the lights flickering, he could see the unfinished game was still on the board.

“Play game?”  he asked her, only to realize that Trembles was still trying to calm herself.  “Um, maybe?”

“Was that a boogie man?”  Trembles asked, still shivering with tears still on her face.  “Like that night monster Nero kept talking about?”

“Don’t know,”  Sunshine answered looking down at the table.  Cozy didn’t seem to wish to answer her question, so it was quiet for a moment.  ”Don’t think he coming back.”  he assured.  “Other ponies gonna stop him.”  There was another pause between them, with neither side speaking. “Maybe, play game now?”  

Trembles looked about unsure, but then she spoke.

“I’m…I’m more of a chess pony,”  she said scratching grey mane.  “They only got the checkers set out.”

“What chess?”  Sunshine asked, scratching his ear.

“Chess set is in the cupboard,”  said Soft Touch from where he was.  “Third from the left.”  

So Sunshine went to pull it out.  

It was a box with a bunch of shaped pieces in it, which he didn’t understand.  But he knew Trembles did, so he got it out for her.

“How play?”  he asked Trembles, putting the box on the table.

“You don’t know, so...”  Trembles said slowly, opening the box.  Sunshine shrugged and she rolled her eyes and sighed.  “Can you learn how?  Like, how much do you know?”

“Learned how to weave basket cases,”  Sunshine replied with a proud nod.  Trembles blinked, not yet knowing Sunshine was a bit proud on his crafting.  “Me can learn.”

“That….works I guess,”  Trembles said as she set up the board.  Then she pointed out how how knight and rooks work.  

Then pawns and bishops, kings and queens.  It didn’t seem too hard for Sunshine.  It looked fun, more fun than being by himself anyway.  

He still lost though, and checks were an odd concept to learn.  Mainly as other games he knew were about getting rid of the other player’s pieces.  The king being unable to move was a serious problem.

More armor ponies arrived in time.  Soft had them get Dr. Larch to a hospital, and they carried the doctor off.  

One of them then asked why anyone would play chess with the things that happened.  

Sunshine didn’t mind it though.  Maybe now Trembles could be his friend.  He soon wondered if pretty bird would like her too.

> Another crazy night
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

While Gilda would have been more happy to just lay back for a bit after her bath, she still felt at ill ease.  She thought she could maybe try to make sense of what was going on--or more likely find new ways to gripe about it, either way was fine right now.

As she lay back, wishing for better answers, she found that big cake in her room had other ideas.  The griffon just seemed to notice it after she turned over in her bed.  This cake was like the last one, it too labeled “Not a trick”.

“Oh no,”  Gilda said with wide eyes, then looking up to find Pinkie Pie on top of the bed’s headboard.  The pony’s forelegs were across it as she looked down at her.  “Not you again,”  she moaned.

“Aw,”  Pinkie Pie looked disappointed.  “You peeked!”

“Get off my bed!”  However Gilda didn’t care what the pony was thinking at this point.  “I already feel like I’m losing it,”  she yelled.  

With a leap and a cartwheel Pinkie was on the floor by her tail, limbs out in a proud pose.  The griffon only face clawed.  

“Good point,”  Gilda said absently, giving up on the logic as usual.  This felt old already to her.  “And what’s with the cake?  I figured you’d be as ticked as the other ponies in town.”

“Kinda,”  Pinkie said sadly as she went back to her feet.  “But you seemed sad enough too with what’s going on.”

“Eh?”  Gilda replied with a bit of shock.  “What’s that supposed mean?”

“Even I’m surprised how much she hates you,”  Pinkie said, looking sympathetic.  “Did you two have your own kind of Pinkie Promise?  Didn’t you know...”

“It don’t matter, alright?”  Gilda cut the pony off.  At first she just wanted to leave, getting up from her bed with hope the pony would leave her alone.  

At least before deciding to just sit down with a groan, remembering what happened last time.  Why run from the weirdness?  She thought.  It just going to find me anyway.  

“I made her mad enough, end of story,”  Gilda sighed in defeat.  “So what are you trying to do anyway?”

“Why do you make ponies so mad so much, Gilda?”  Pinkie asked with her head tilted, trotting over.  “Have you ever tried being nice, or friendly, or inclusive, or polite, or…”  

Gilda leapt out of bed and put her claw over the pony’s mouth to shut her up, not interested in a lecture.  But, somehow, the lecture still happened.

Gilda’s beak popped open to continue, moving as Pinkie spoke through her.  “...and not being a tough chick all the time.  I mean, sure you are part bird but…”  Horrified, Gilda let go of Pinkie Pie.  “...You don’t always have something to prove,”  she continued like nothing happened to the upset griffon.  Not even missing a beat.

“Don’t...do...that!”  Gilda said, low and slow in agitation as she backed away.  “Geeze, how’d you even do that?”

“Give advice?”  Pinkie missed the point and the griffon sighed again.

“You got advice beyond self improvement crud?”  Gilda asked with another grumble and a claw on her face.

“Nope,”  Pinkie said simply.  But, as Gilda was about to growl, the pony gestured the griffon to the cake still in the room.  “I just got a cake, if that helps.”

“It’s a start,”  Gilda said with a sigh, putting her claw down.  “So, you got a knife?”  

Without a word, Pinkie Pie handed her a sharp one, and with it Gilda got to cutting a slice of the cake.  As she cut, she heard movement and saw the cake pop open to to reveal--a toothless gator with a white, tied soft cloth hat.  For a moment, the griffon stared at it, at least until it bit down on her beak.  Pinkie, for whatever reason, was humming an odd tune as the griffon pulled the creature off.  

Gilda was at least glad it had no teeth.

The griffon didn’t let it phase her, she just cut herself another slice and sat down.  She wordlessly handed Pinkie, who was now next to her, the knife and the pony then hopped out off to the cake.  Pinkie did as expected for once and got herself a few slices as well.  All while she was still wearing her own cloth hat.

While Gilda just wanted to eat, the pink one had other ideas.  

“So, I know you gave that first cake to Angel,”  Pinkie said as Gilda ate.

“And?”  she replied while still chewing.  “You making something of it?”  Gilda took another bite.

“Well, I know why you’d give it away,”  Pinkie said looking down, then up again cheerful as usual.  “But I also kind of thought you’d be more mad when you found out you missed out.”  She paused.  “Then again, I did kinda plan for you to try to share it with someone!  I knew you wouldn't eat it alone with how paranoid you are!”

“And?”  Gilda took another bite as she tried not to let the pony get to her.  “So the rabbit got it?  So what?”

“Did ya ever have the idea that you became friends with him?”  Pinkie answered, and Gilda looked a bit shocked at that fact.  “I mean, how many ponies can play checkers with him?  Well, Fluttershy sure, but who else?”  

The griffon didn’t answer, she just got up to cut another slice or two.  After she sat back down, she found Pinkie had already downed the slices she had on her plate, before putting a hoof on the griffon’s back.

“Few ponies know, but down in Ponyville they say, that Gilda’s heart grew…”  Pinkie’s rhyme was cut off by Gilda flicking the pony’s nose with her claw.  While she was clearly upset, Gilda sighed on how little it helped.

“Most ponies aren’t too happy with me, Pink,”  Gilda deadpanned.  “And last I checked I can jump into a lake.  Probably freeze to death too.”  She now looked at the cake she had, but just didn’t feel the appetite for it.

“I said some!”  Pinkie said in unhappy defense.  “And that stings too!”

“Yeah, yeah…”  Gilda said to calm things down.  “So, why aren’t you?  Even that Fluttershy pony seemed pretty ticked after that fight.”  She chowed down of one of the cake pieces she had now.  

Somehow, during that moment, Pinkie had already gotten back with more slices and already digging into them.  After putting two in her mouth at the same time as the griffon watched, the pony spoke up.

“Things change, G!”  Pinkie said with a shrug, her still mouth full.  “At least I hope so, things aren’t as much fun otherwise.”  She swallowed.  “Maybe you still can too!  And it’s not like Fluttershy was angry at you forever!”  she added happily.  ”She’s ok to forgive you if you know what you did wrong.”

“Yeah…”  Gilda added as she kept eating.  “...right.”

It was quiet for a moment, likely as Pinkie had filled her plate and was eating two pieces at once as Gilda looked down.  While part of her saw this as a challenge the pony’s statement, she shrugged.  She didn’t have the energy right now.  

Unfortunately, after the pony’s plate was licked clean, Pinky was back to chatty mode again.

“Were you one of those griffons that celebrate holiday nights alone?  And what do you guys celebrate?”  Pinkie asked with interest.  “What did you do last year?”  Despite a dislike to 20 questions, the griffon felt she may as well answer.

“Well, last Hearth’s Warming or two had me spend them drinking dragon bowls…”  Gilda said as she finished her last piece of cake.  Somehow, part of that story had the pony next to her holding her face in shock and horror.

“Made from real dragons?!”  Pinkie Pie shouted back.

“No, heck no,”  Gilda answered as she shook her head.  “Why would….It’s a cocktail, just a drink mix with alcohol,”  she explained.

Pinkie calmed down, letting out a “phew”.  

“Next you’ll panic about fried dragon rolls…”  Gilda added, and realized her mistake.

Oh snap, Gilda thought as Pinkie Pie looked scared again.  “It’s just fish, vegetables, rice, in a roll, with fried bits and sauce.  Geeze!”  Gilda sighed after her long explanation.  “Will you stop doing that?  This is why I get sick of ponies.”

“Heh,”  Pinkie said with humor, now slightly more calm.  Or as calm as she gets at times.  Even so, ignoring Gilda’s protest.  “So why don’t they call them something else?  Like fried fish balls?  Or liquid dragon fire?”  

Gilda shrugged.  “Less cool sounding I guess,” was her answer.  “How should I know?”

“I still don’t think I’d drink those, even with a cool name,”  Pinkie said looking disgusted, her tongue out.  “Those kind of drinks aren’t sweet at all.  There all just bitter and icky.”

“It dulls the pain,”  Gilda said off hand.

“Really?”  Pinkie Pie asked as she tilted her head, curious.

“Nope,”  Gilda’s answer let the air fall out of the pink pony’s hair with the sound of a deflated balloon. “Oh, go eat more cake you big crybaby,”  Gilda dismissed with her claw.

“But the cake is all gone,”  Pinkie replied, and when the griffon looked, she found this was true.  Despite the situation, Pinkie’s smile countered Gilda’s frown.

“I had like four pieces…” Gilda moaned sadly.  “How many did you have?”

“The rest?”  Pinkie answered.  Gilda face clawed at that answer.

“Guess it was good while it lasted,”  Gilda muttered looking aside.  “You still sticking around, or you got other ideas?”

“I think we had a good talk,”  Pinkie said with a smile.  “I think you should hug more!”

“Whatever.”  Gilda rolled her eyes.  “Next you’ll be saying I’ve gone soft,”  she muttered.  “Seeing as I haven’t yelled at you enough today…”

At first, it looked like Pinkie would make a softy joke but decided to do something else.  

“You're a mean one, Gilda bird, you’ve got…”  Pinkie sang and Gilda gave her a playful jab at that grim tone the song had.  

The griffon even she got a crack out of that, having a good laugh for once.  

“That’s the spirit G!”  Pinkie Pie said with glee, jabbing back.  “See ya latter, after all it’s time for dinner.”

“What?”  Gilda asked as the door to her room was knocked on, causing her to turn around to the sound.

“Um, Gilda?”  She could hear Fluttershy say.   “Dinners ready.”  Gilda didn’t need to look to know Pinkie had already left the room.  Somehow she just knew.

“The sick part is I’m getting used to this…”  Gilda said to herself as she opened the door.

“Used to what?”  Shy asked without knowing any context of the griffon’s words.

“Forget it,”  Gilda sighed with an off smile.  “So, what’s for dinner?  I’m starved.”

> Fly like an eagle
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dinner was mostly quiet.  Fluttershy had insisted that Gilda have some kind of salad with the tuna bits in it.  Even some griffons in the old empire would have been uninterested in such a mix, but Gilda didn't mind.  Shy looked surprised by that lack of argument, as normally the griffon eyed non-meat with annoyance.  

Still, hay fries are worse, Gilda thought.  She had to wonder why ponies even ate that crud.

“You seem different, Gilda,”  Fluttershy noted aloud as Gilda ate.  “After that session, you were looking worse, but now you look ok.  Did something happen?”

“I had a nice laugh,”  GIlda answered, hoping the pegasus didn’t ask about it.  She figured the details would have lead to more confusion.

“You’re getting along with Pinkie then?”  Fluttershy’s question caused an unpleasant answer, as Gilda gulped and nearly choked.  She did notice it with terrified concern, patting a hoof on the griffon’s back until it was clear.

“Y-you knew?”  Gilda said with surprise after a gasp.  “How did...how’d you know?”

“How else would you have given Angel a cake?”  Shy replied simply with a coy smile.

“Right…”  Gilda said, letting out a sigh.  Where was her mind again?

“Is she bothering you at all?”  Fluttershy asked, taking a bite of her own dinner.

“Ya know…”  Gilda replied, looking her in the eye.  “I can’t tell anymore.  This place has me feeling more wierd than usual.”  While the pony enjoyed her meal for a bit, the griffon had stopped for a moment to ponder.  “Are you sure those pills aren't doing...something to my head?”

“How so?”  Shy asked.  

She continued eating as Gilda tried to think of how to explain.

“It’s like it’s...I don’t know….”  Gilda said, unsure on her answer.  “Making me do stuff.  Like it’s making me enjoy it, that kind of thing,”  as she pondered aloud on the idea, it kinda of scared her.  “What if those things are trying to brainwash me?”  The pony shook her head.  “Maybe it was that...stuff this morning…”

“They are just dreams, Gilda,”  Shy said with a sympathetic, reassuring look.  “They can only affect you as much as you let them.  You did tell me you didn’t like that party dream.”

“Yeah, I didn’t,”  Gilda said with a sigh.  “But this other stuff feels like it’s getting to me.  I’m...pretty sure I normally would avoid Pinkie.  No offense.”

“It’s ok, none taken,”  Shy said patting the griffon’s claw.  “You are starting to feel better, right?”

“Yeah, I guess, maybe,”  Gilda replied looking to the side.  “For now anyway.”

They finished their meals, and Fluttershy got to washing the dishes.  Gilda found it weird that she was hanging around in the room still, instead of just going to her room as usual.  When she realized that, the griffon felt more nervous.  

Was she here due to those pills, or due to the shocks she’d been being hit by recently?

“Well,”  Shy said after she was done, oddly cheerful despite the griffon’s inaction.  “Bedtimes not for a few hours...”

“What of it?”  Gilda replied, not sure where the pegasus was going with this.

“Anything you’d like to do?”  Fluttershy asked with a hopeful look.

“Like what?”  Gilda asked with a claw up and a shrug.  “I can’t go to town, remember?.”

“Why?”  Fluttershy asked back as she sat back down.  “I’m sure things have calmed down.”

“I feel uneasy enough, alright?”  Gilda replied, looking down.  “I just know it won’t end well.”

“What do you mean?”  Shy looked more worried.

“I don’t think I’d do well with the town ponies right not,”  Gilda answered.  “If Dash can hold a grudge that badly…”  Shy tried to end what would have been Gilda putting herself down again by giving the griffon a kind nudge.

“Maybe we could play a game together?”  Fluttershy suggested.  “I know you’ve been playing checkers, maybe a card game?  I do a good game of poker!”  Despite her eagerness to this, Gilda wasn’t interested.

“Nah,”  Gilda replied off hand as she rubbed her neck.  “Luck and me aren’t on speaking terms.”

“Flying?”  Gilda had to pause then for a moment with Fluttershy’s suggestion.  Even she didn’t want to shoot that down, but still the desire to try wasn’t there right now.

“Nah, I got no where to fly to anyway,”  she replied without much joy.

“Early bed time, maybe?”  Fluttershy said, and might have been joking when she asked.  But either Gilda didn’t get it or went along.

“Sure, whatever,”  she said.  Shy looked a bit disappointed by that, but Gilda tried to defend it.  “If that’s ok with you, I just got a lot on my mind right now.”  The pony looked better about it now at least now.  

“We can talk about it in our next session, so don’t worry about it,”  Shy added.  “I wouldn't want you to feel uncomfortable.”

With that sorted out, the griffon went upstairs to her room and filled that same glass on the nightstand. Like clockwork, Fluttershy was there with her pill.  Gilda let out a brief sigh, took her pill, and took a drink to swallow.  To her surprise, or perhaps not, Fluttershy wasn’t moving again.

“What are you sticking around for?”  Gilda asked with suspicion.

“I just want to make sure you’re ok,”  Shy answered calmly.

“Won’t you get weird when this stuff kicks in,”  Gilda said as she waited, feeling a bit more nervous.

“Maybe,”  Shy  said as reached for something in the nightstand.  “It’s a idea I had.  Just don’t be afraid, okey?  It’s going to be alright.”

“Afraid of what?”  Gilda eyed the room, still nervous.  

Then, as expected, the drug kicked in.

Reality began to fall apart as usual.  From the window falling off the wall like a picture frame, to the sound of that dry wind and that fog.  Even Fluttershy wasn’t immune to the effect, as she turned into birds and then into butterflies.  With a flock of them that just kept fluttering around the bed, as the bed itself began drifting away.

“I’m sorry Gilda,”  said a distorted voice as something covered Gilda’s eyes.  

It was a sleeping mask, the same one the pegasus pointed out before!  Now all Gilda could see was darkness as her ears could hear the world fall apart.

“Hey!” Gilda protested. “What are you doing?”  

“Just….safe,”  Shy’s voice was distant, sounding like she was calling from the other side of a field.  “......’m here.  S….calm.” The voice got farther away every second.

Without the ability to see, let alone move, all Gilda could do was feel what she imagined drifting was.  Across a landless world filled with unknown creatures, blind.  It clearly didn’t sit well with her.

“Not...cool,”  she growled to no answer.  

That dry wind sound was all she could hear, and for all she knew those terror things from beyond lurked from outside her vision.  This helplessness was not her style and it was ticking her off.  

Unable to move, and with anger having no effect, the next stage came in--panic!

“Get this thing off me!”  Gilda yelled, again to no response.  “Please!”  

For some reason, maybe due to the last thing she saw when her vision was lost, she felt something on her giving her the feeling of lift.  Thousands of little wings were beneath her now, and while enchanting, it didn’t help her mood.  

“Oh, come on!”  she shouted.  

Apparently, the butterflies Fluttershy dissolved into were around her, clinging to her body and refusing to leave.  While the griffon struggled in now less than fearful annoyance, something suddenly groped her face.

Then the sound of something breathing came, something like radio static with a slow rhythm that gave her pause.  The griffon felt like her face was tasted by something breathing on it, it breath chilling.  She tried not to whimper as she felt something across her fur.  

Gilda could feel it move across her chest with unknown feelers drifting across her wings.  It wasn’t hurting, but her blood felt cold.  Eventually, it seemed to give up, moving away maybe.  She couldn't tell in her blindness, she could only sense it leave.

Thought this stuff was meant to help me sleep!  Gilda thought in fear.  At this point, I just want a I.V of pure mule coffee.  Despite her locked body, she really wanted to tremble and shiver at this experience.  

Those butterflies were still there though, now distracting her from that unpleasantness.  Almost tickling her with near warmth as they pressed against her fur.  Even if they weren’t trying to tick her off they were doing a crummy job of it.  As she kept struggling, those things started to fly around her frozen body.  

“H-hey!”  Gilda struggled to keep her voice down as she spoke.  “W-what are you doing?”  Letting out a low growl didn’t faze the flying bugs as some settled on her while others began feeling around her face.  “Just get off me!”  she let out another growl as it felt like the ones on her face were now a mass.  

Her eyes opened to a shocked look as this mass began nuzzling her.

> To the skies
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Gilda….”  Fluttershy’s nuzzling snapped the griffon to alertness.  “You passed out and…”  she sighed.  “I told you not to drink all that by yourself.”  

Gilda looked around in surprise.  She was apparently lying on a picnic blanket on a summer day with the sun in her eyes, and a bottle of rose wine---an empty bottle of rose wine in her claw.

“I was drinking this?”  Gilda said in confusion, as the pegasus nudged the griffon up.  “This stuff is weaker than minotaur wine, way weaker.  It’s like water to me.”  She let the empty bottle in her claw go.

Shy let out a light giggle.  “I guess that’s why you drank the whole thing,”  she said as she reached into the basket and pulled out a bottle of apple juice. ”You should be drinking something else.”

“Ya got any tomato juice?”  Gilda asked, and it seemed they had some of that too, at least a couple small bottles that the pony happily gave her.  “Cool, thanks.”  

The griffon popped open a bottle and started drinking.  Its salty flavor would snap her out of her nervousness, she hoped.  As Fluttershy enjoyed her apple juice, Gilda let out a light breath, even a chuckle.  

That wine kick in all of a sudden?  When did wine get her cheerful?

“Are you feeling better now?”  Shy asked, calling Gilda back to attention.  “After what happened to you I was hardly able to get you to talk, let alone laugh.”

“Wha?”  Gilda shook her head for a moment, but then it became clear.  

She was dreaming again, simple as that.  The scary part was how long it took for her to notice.   But what was the story here?  Last thing she would expect was something this--quiet.

“Remember?”  Fluttershy asked, getting closer to the griffon.  “A week ago, I found you after that crash.”  She let out a light laugh of odd nostalgia only she seemed to know, but stopped herself.  “I know it was hard at first, like I needed to tie you down to treat your wings.  You were so angry then too.”  

While a picture was starting to form, Gilda wasn’t liking it, backing away from the small pegasus. Then the pony got somber, even looking down.  

“Then you just shut down, not even talking to me as I helped your bones knit.”  She looked to the wide eyed griffon sadly.  “But I knew why.  You’ve been through so much...It’s really been hard on you.”

“Uh...huh,”  Gilda stated, not quite caring for her part in the story and looking around the place, if only to get out of it  Whatever the rest of this story Shy had about her wasn’t a concern.  “Dash isn’t here, or going to be here, right?”

“No, she’s in Cloudsdale,”  Fluttershy answered her, causing the griffon to have a sigh of relief.  “I figured you’d feel safer outside if Dash was at a Wonderbolt show.”

“Good call,”  Gilda said with a good humored shrug, much to the ponies confusion.  At least that’s one embarrassment dodged.  “So what else are we doing then?”  she asked, somewhat board.  “I mean, besides eating.”

“We could talk,”  Shy replied.  “I know it’s been difficult feeling so helpless.  I’ve felt that way too and…”  Sadly, despite the fact things could go to some kind of soul searching, Gilda was really not interested.

“Nah,”  she said, and got up while cracking her wings.  

“Wha?”  Fluttershy looked muddled.  “But-”

“Theres no point,”  Gilda continued, as Shy looked more upset by the moment. “Dash isn’t taking me back, ever.  And she the only pony I felt like hanging with.”  She shrugged.  “But hey, thanks for the free lunch though, I appreciate it.”  With that she decided to fly off.

“B-but…!”  Fluttershy grabbed on to the griffon’s wing, keeping it from flapping.  She was looking more desperate.

“But what?”  Gilda asked, annoyed by the dream pony on her wing  “I said thanks, what?  What’s your problem now anyway?”

“I don’t want you to just wander off alone again, still feeling upset about the past,”  Fluttershy said, and had a point, and the griffon hated her for it.  “I just want to help so you won’t feel, er, burnt out, ok?”

It was enough to make the griffon give up leaving with a sigh, much to the pegasus’s relief.

“Then what?”  Gilda said stoically.  “That stuff never leaves me, so why should I get so invested anyway?”

“Well…”  Fluttershy wrapped her hooves around the griffon, holding her close.  “I had an idea once.”

Gilda had an idea of what that idea was, and she was not ok with that idea.  The pony’s soft voice wasn’t helping.

“I know it’s personal, and I know you are afraid to even consider it,”  Shy continued whispering, as Gilda felt more and more tense.  “But I think it will help you let go, at least for a moment.”

“Uh…”  Gilda uttered awkwardly.  If this pony is going to do what she thought she was-

“I want you to cry,”  At that statement, Gilda’s tension went to shock.  Fluttershy’s soft face did not seem bothered by the griffons surprised eyes.

“T-that is the last thing I expected to hear today,”  Gilda said awkwardly.  “You want me to cry?”  The pony didn’t seem to answer.  “Really?”

“It’s ok,”  Fluttershy said, still holding the griffon tightly.  “It’s just us, so you can let it go.”

“Ok, that is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard now can...you...just...”  Gilda replied, and tried to pull herself free from the hug.  But she found Fluttershy’s legs stronger than she would have thought.  “Let go of me!”  she added in anger.

“Just let it go,”  Shy answered, rubbing her muzzle into Gilda’s neck.

“You let go!”  Gilda snarled, still trying to pull herself free.  If any one saw her blush she was unlikely to hear the end of it.

“Go ahead,”  Shy kept going.

“Shut up!”  And Gilda kept struggling.

“Go on.”  Shy’s hooves were stroking the back of Gilda’s neck.  “I know the past can be a painful thing.”

“Shut up…”  Gilda tried, but still failed to shake the pony off.

“I’ve had bad days too,”  Fluttershy said, still somehow keeping a firm grip.  “There is never any shame in crying about it.”

Gilda didn’t want to think about it, not in a sad way.  Just anger, anger for ponies, for Dash, for her misfortunes.  Just hate for them as they were the jerks, they were the ones who kept being so self important, and they were the ones that were so stupid and dumb.  She tried and tried, but couldn't pull herself free.  

“Let it out, Gilda,”  Fluttershy said simply.

“No...I-I…”  Gilda’s voice trembled.  Fluttershy kept holding on to her as more things kept coming to the griffon causing her to shudder.

It almost felt like barfing, painful to keep in, but burning while stuck in the throat.  But it still won out, despite Gilda’s best efforts.  

First a trickle, then it was a flood.  She cried, she cried hard.

“There you go, there you go,”  Fluttershy said in a soft voice, caressing the griffon’s neck.  Any response or tact the griffon had was lost to the sound of near blubbering.  “Shhhh.  It’s ok.  Just let it out for now.”  

In a moment, the pony was the only thing keeping Gilda from falling down as she kept crying.

“Do you feel any better, Gilda?”  Fluttershy whispered after a moment.  It took awhile, but the griffon finally had words to answer.

“No…”  Gilda sniffled.  “I don’t.”  Shy helped the griffon back on her feet.

“It won’t happen right away,”  she said while looking Gilda in her tear empty eyes, still with a smile.  “But letting go of that is a big step forward.”  

The griffon dried her eyes for a moment, trying to regain her composure and taking a few deep breaths.

“More pie, Gilda?”  Fluttershy thankfully moved on to a new subject, food.  “I think you earned it.”

While Gilda would have liked to say “Don’t mind if I do.”, her thought went to another place.  A odd question to be sure.

“How, um, much do you fly?”  she asked, and even the pony seemed confused on that question.  “Ya know, I don’t think I ever saw you fly.”  Gilda added.  “Like in the sky, so what’s up with that?”

“Well...I’m not a good flyer,”  Fluttershy said...well shyly.  “I-I mean, Dash tried to give me a few lessons, but I’m not really all that good...I-I mean perfect.”

Gilda didn’t know why, but she snapped her talons and her claw on Shy neck, in a friendly manner of all things.

“I got this idea, you want some cool flying lessons?” she said with a kind smile.

“W-well, Dash already g-gave me some...so…”  Fluttershy looked down right scared as she dug her hoof into the ground.

“Hey, I know about as much as she does, maybe more from that griffon flight school I went to.”  Gilda launched into the air, flying up and swinging her claws in a quick slash and a spin kick.  During which Fluttershy looked in slight awe. “Real commando stuff, secret stuff, awesome stuff,”  she said proudly.

Even so, Fluttershy seemed more worried.  “W-well, t-that’s a lot of w-work for you so…Um-”

“Hey, we're bonding!”  Gilda said with humor.  “It’s cool.  Besides, I got a clear schedule these days.”

“W-well, if I could get in the air…”  While Shy was still trying to back out, the griffon seemed to take it as an invitation.

“No prob!”  With that, Gilda swooped down and grabbed Fluttershy’s midsection, carrying the pony into the air.

“Gilda!”  Shy shouted in sheer terror.  “Wait!”  The griffon stopped in the air, high above the grass field,  her wings still flapping.  Fluttershy needed a moment to take a few breaths, then gulp before she spoke up again.  “W-what e-exactly w-w-were you thinking?”

“You got gliding down, right?”  Gilda asked, still airborne and clutching the pony.  “Could be a good place to start,”  she chuckled.  “Ya know, just in case.”

“K-kinda?”  was Shy’s nervous response with a worried smile.  “Y-you can catch me, r-right?”  The griffon nodded back.

“Don’t worry, you know I’m fast,”  Gilda said, even with some real confidence.  Kind of surprising, as a moment ago she was blubbering.   “Let’s just start with a simple one?  Even when a trick fouls up, a good glide can help fix it if you keep level.”  Shy nodded, understanding it.  “Ok, first step, get your wings out.”  Then she let her go.

“Eeek!”  Fluttershy’s wings flapped in a panic to keep herself in the air.  “I’m not ready for it!”

“Just take it easy,”  Gilda replied, calm as she could.  “If you can fly, you can glide.  If you can glide, you can swoop.  If you can swoop, you can get crazy amounts of easy lift and speed.  Crazy lift and speed, more air time.”  Shy looked in some awe, or at least a little lost by Gilda’s explanation.  “Just keep up, kay?”

Both seemed to have lost track of time after that.  As Fluttershy went from panic and crying to being more confident, things only felt better then on both sides. 

Several dives, swoops, and catching the pony when she lost her balance again followed.  At any other time, Gilda would have lost patience with the pegasus, maybe calling her a waste of wings.  But she never felt a reason to do so that day.  

After a while, the pony just seemed to get better.  Better balance, stable wings, Gilda even found Fluttershy keeping up more than once.  Even when the griffon wasn’t completely holding back speed.

“Dude, see what I told you?”  Gilda said proudly, still in the air.  “You can totally do this stuff.”

“Y-yeah, yeah, but can we stop,”  Shy said with her wings starting to fail again from exhaustion.  “Please?”

“Sure,”  Gilda replied, and noting the pegasus’s exhaustion asked.  “Need help?”  

All Fluttershy had to do was nod and Gilda took hold.  The griffon felt warm with how the pony looked up to her right now.  She lowered the pegasus to ground before landing herself.  

Shy then landed on her belly letting out a big breath, still quite weak.  

“It helps if you build a lot of stamina, ya know?”  Gilda continued, taking note her student still looked exhausted. “You walk alright, right?”

“Maybe,”  Fluttershy replied as she got herself up for a moment.  “That...was a lot.”

“Heh, I can go more rounds,”  Shy giggled at Gilda comment.  “What?”  Then she started to laugh.

“Well I can’t for now,”  Fluttershy answered, then stopped to take a few more breaths.  “Can we get back to the picnic?”  

Gilda didn’t see a reason to say no.  Back at the blanket, they had some nice moments together, from talking to enjoying that pie.  Then they lay back, with the night falling quietly.

“Gilda?”  Fluttershy said quietly, looking to griffon.

“Yeah?”  Gilda replied as she looked back.

“Why did you insist on giving me flying lessons?”  she asked.

Gilda wasn’t sure at first, but gave her answer.  

“Well, if Dash still doesn’t forgive me...well, you want to be friends?”  Gilda asked, looking somewhat nervous.  “Like besties, maybe?”

“Sure,”  Shy answered with a happy smile.  “But what does that have to do with flying?”

“Maybe we could race someday?”  Gilda said with some good humor.  “Maybe, if we’re real lucky, you, me, and Dash could race.  See who’s the fastest then.”

“That...sounds really hard,”  Shy said nervously.

“I figure if I can train you, I’d imagine you could get pretty good, maybe even better than Dash,”  Gilda reassured.  “Then again, it’s hard to tell if I imagine too much.”  Shy began to laugh a bit.  “I would give anything to see you beat Dash.  I’d still be in first though.”

“And if I was first?”  Shy asked coyly.

“I’d eat a hay fry salad.”  Shy began to laugh some more with Gilda’s answer.  “But hey, it’s just some mad cool scheme that came to mind.  Probably pretty stupid too.”

“I think it’s a good mad cool scheme,”  Fluttershy added, then they both enjoyed a laugh together followed with a cheerful sigh.  “I’m glad you opened up, Gilda!  Maybe we could be great best friends.”

Gilda vision became white again, hazing out all vision until she couldn't see anything else.

She woke up in bed feeling woozy, light, and strangely happy.  Looking to the window, it told her morning was officially in a while as she got up.  

The griffon stumbled out of bed, with mirth trying to cling to her head and chest as she looked at the room for a moment.  Then the window, then the door.  Finally the thoughts and feelings were too much and she fell to the ground, feeling more than a little nauseous.

“That…really….hurt,”  Gilda said on the floor with a pained look, and it wasn’t from the impact---mostly.  

She just felt like lying there for a bit, unsure how she should feel about what she’d just experienced.  Everything felt great now, but unfortunately it was just that she realized she forgot who she was.

Gilda never wanted to be the cuddly sort.  In fact, she’d have slugged the pony or person who would have said she could be, but now here she was.  That dream with Fluttershy, and all it’s cringing cuddly cuteness, had left her feeling good.  It was like she was somegriffon else, a stranger that looked and talked just like her.

She tried to get her bearings, try to wake herself up from it, and tried not to feel like things will only get worse for her mind.  Her head, after so much of this, wasn’t sure where it was anymore.  

At least when she was miserable, or even before that when she was cool, Gilda felt certain on things.  Now, she had to keep thinking just to attempt to be sure she was still the griffon she was.  It was hard.  All this strange magic was going to make her mental at this rate.  

Gilda let out a groan as she tapped her claw on the wood flooring.  As expected, the tap sounded like it should.

“Least that’s real, right?”  she said to herself.  It could be worse, she could just learn goat heads produce natural light.  Then she would have worse problems.

> What counts as real?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

2 days remain until peace has comes at last.

After a while, with Gilda having lost track of time, Fluttershy opened the guestroom door.  It ruined a good sulk as usual, with the griffon still on the floor with an unhappy look.

“Gilda?”  Shy said slowly and with some fear.  The fact Gilda looked so out of it on the floor was something for concern at least.  “Are you ok?”

“Can we not talk about this, and you just get breakfast going?”  was Gilda’s grumble back, not even looking up.  “Please?”

“S-sure, just come downstairs when you are ready,”  Fluttershy nodded, and the pony left, heading back downstairs.  

The griffon got up finally, took a breath, and tried to keep some form of composure on her features.  

With what she remembered from that dream, she really didn’t want to face Fluttershy right now anyway.  But, inevitably, one of the lesser known weakness of a griffon would pull her into meeting.  

Namely eating.  

But when she looked at her reflection in the mirror, she found she wasn’t alone.  The griffon starred in quite terror with who now stood behind her.

“Are we done feeling bad for ourselves yet?”  asked “The Snark” in the mirror, looking quite annoyed as he lay on his hooves next to her.  Gilda could see his reflection behind her, but when she looked he was he wasn’t there.

“Bite me,”  Gilda replied bitterly at the mirror.  “I already feel sick enough.”

“Then maybe…”  the Snark said, putting had claw on Gilda’s head, causing her to tremble with the cold touch being placed on her.  “...you need a second opinion, eh?  Just ask me, and I’ll  help.”

“Don’t need my...head ringing,”  Gilda said tensely.  That bad memory played in her head as she could see the growing smile on the Snark’s face, but all the claw did was rub her scalp.

“Remember what I said about how nothing changes, little bird?”  cooed the Snark.  “You’ll never escape your past, these ponies will make a point to that…every time you will meet.”  

His smile faded away as his body did, his blue eyes never wavering from her.  Gilda was glad he left, taking a few breaths to calm herself.  But now she had two reasons to get downstairs, food and fear.

Even so it still took awhile to get her to the table.  It felt awkward getting there, and she dreaded Fluttershy asking what she dreamt about.  Thankfully, the pony was busy doing her kitchen work for now.

“Tuna?”  Fluttershy asked with half a smile as the griffon came to the table.

“Please,”  Gilda answered with a frown, and a sigh as she sat down.

After a moment of silence, as she cooked, Fluttershy spoke up.  

“I’m sorry I put that mask on you,”  she said, not turning around.  “It was for you own good, really.”  On one hand, it wasn’t the worst question to ask.  On the other, it was still something the griffon wasn’t happy about.

“It still freaked me out,”  Gilda said with a chill at that memory.  “Do you even know how horrible that felt for me?”  Her tone was low and grim, just over a growl.

“I know,”  Shy said, sounding sincere as she worked.  “You were shouting until you finally went to sleep.”  Gilda was silent, just tapping the table as she heard that.  “I was with you until you calmed down.”  

The griffon had an awkward blush at that, and had to hope the pony wasn’t blushing as well.  Regardless, Gilda still felt bitter.

“The less you can perceive the creatures there the less they can perceive you.”  Fluttershy just seemed to know the griffons was still unhappy looking, as so she continued.  “They can’t hurt you if you can’t see them, I...just wanted you to be safe,”  Shy ended as she turned around with a concerned look.

“And the butterflies?”  Gilda asked with a brow raised.  “How did I perceive those things on me?”

Fluttershy looked a bit surprised, looking back from the fish she was cooking with shock.  “Butterflies?”  she asked in a low voice.

“Now who’s the parrot….”  Gilda added as she rolled her eyes.

“Why were there butterfly…?”  Shy began, then she snapped a hoof.  Gilda really needed to know how that works without fingers.  “Oh yeah!”  Shy said with joy.  “You were thinking of them, right?  Maybe that’s why...”

“You turned into them before I couldn't see anything,”  Gilda interrupted stoically.  While she could have spoken about how the bunch of them held her close with several flapping wings, Gilda knew that would have made things more awkward for both of them.  So, she went for the simple question.  “Are you even sure this drug is safe?  Like for your mind?””

“You didn’t quite...hallucinate that…”  Fluttershy said, as she dug her hoof into the floor, looking at the griffon with a blush.  To Gilda, it said it all before she answered.  “I was...holding onto you.”  The griffon faceclawed.  “I was just trying to help!”  she squealed.

Thankfully, like the pony read the griffon’s mind, she got back to cooking.  This moment wasn’t going well.

Gilda sighed after a moment.  “Why are you doing this stuff to me?”  she asked as she still held her head.  “Either these pills made you mental, or something....”

“It worked for me, don’t worry about it,”  Shy said with a smile, coming to the table with the fish.  “You’ll be fine.”

“Case in point…”  Gilda muttered, looking aside.  

Ponies, to her, are inherently mad in this place.  The loony kind that didn’t seem so bothered by these things.  Gilda sighed in her annoyance as usual.  

Eventually, Fluttershy put the tuna fish on that plate and the griffon ate.  Soon, Shy was eating her own breakfast at the table.  

It was quiet for a moment as the griffon stuffed the whole fish into her beak, except for the fins she held onto.  At least the tuna was good, even if she was still nonplussed on how everything else was.

“Are you sure you are ok?”  Fluttershy asked, noting Gilda’s mood had not changed, much to the griffon’s displeasure as usual.  “We can have early session if you want to talk.”

“I’m not even sure I want to talk about,”  Gilda replied, pulling a fish skeleton from her beak.  “With all that just happened…sheesh.”  She shook her head.  “Freaking mental stuff gives me a headache, and that’s kinda scaring me.”

“We could try,”  Shy encouraged, but the griffon just looked at the table, her eyes narrow.  “I can get everything ready for you right now.”  Gilda sighed, wishing the pony would just eat.  “Maybe after that, we could go outside later, maybe hang out?”  

Gilda looked up, a bit surprised.  Not happy, just surprised.  

“W-well, most of my animals are hibernating, but a few are still around,”  Fluttershy stammered back.  “It would be something to do for you, so you won’t feel so isolated.  I know it helps to be outside, and not cooped up.”

Gilda sighed again putting a claw on her beak.  “Session, sure,”  she grumbled.  “Animals, why not?”  she said without energy.  While the pegasus looked happy with that answer, Gilda sighed as she got up and walked downstairs to wait.  

At least the pony will stop asking stuff, for now. 

In short time, Dr. Fluttershy was down in the basement too, at her desk with papers.  Gilda was on the couch with a bleak expression.

“How are you holding up?”  Dr. Shy asked, putting her glasses back on.  “I can tell you feel upset right now.”

“These pills are getting painful for one,”  Gilda said with a grumble.  “That whole scene last night, it’s all kinda…”  She felt a lack of words.  That whole scene she saw was still strange, cute, and out of any reason she knew.

“I see,”  Dr. Shy said, a bit impartial.  “Do you want to talk about it?”  The griffon shook her head quickly.  “Well, how about the other things on your mind?”

“I don’t know,”  Gilda said, back to looking at the ceiling.  “Like what?”

“What about Pinkie?”  Fluttershy asked.  “Isn’t she nice to you?”

“She’s silly and annoying,”  Gilda started simply.  “And yet…”  she sighed, she may as well admit it.  “...One of the few friendly faces I’ve seen in the last few days,”  she groaned.  “How’d that just happen anyway?”

“I tried asking her after you were asleep,”  Dr. Shy answered, scribbling some notes.  “She wants you to get better too, and she…”  She paused for a moment, letting out a cough.  “N-never mind, what’s important is she wants to be your friend if you want her to be.”

“And the other ponies?”  Gilda asked, pointing her claw up.  “You know, ones in town?”

“They’re...still mad...”  Fluttershy looked disappointed by her statement.  “Dash is...kinda famous here.”

“Pfft, saw that coming,”  Gilda added as she rolled her eyes.

“Gilda…”  Shy looked annoyed at that comment.

“Your reality is that people can understand and get better, mine is Dash and this town hate my guts,”  Gilda stated with a sigh.  “That doesn’t change and I think I can understand them pretty well.”

“I can see why you feel that way,”  Fluttershy said with some understanding.  “I know I tried to explain things to Dash, but-”  She looked more down, and the griffon knew why.

“Guess I’m really not the only one living in the past,”  Gilda cut her off as she grit her teeth.  “Just like I thought.”

“What do you mean?”  Dr. Shy looked worried.

“I can’t escape it,”  Gilda said with defeat.  “No matter what those dream pills do to me.”

“I…I can see this weighs heavily on you, Gilda,”  said Dr.Fluttershy, being impartial again.  Though to the griffon, if felt like she was brushing it aside.  “I wish Dash wasn’t so angry about this too.”

“Meh,”  was Gilda’s comment on it.  “Creepy thing is, those dreams keep being so nice to look at compared to this.”  She held her head.  “At least until they were about stuff that’s making me feel like I’m mental.”

“Do….you wish those dreams were real to you?”  Dr. Fluttershy’s question was answered with a sharp and quite angry look from the griffon on the couch.  She gulped at that.  “N-n-nevermind!  S-sorry!”  Gilda grumbled a bit as she looked more nervous.  “S-so how do you feel about them?”

“That stuffs never real and fake as heck,”  Gilda continued with a claw pointing at Shy.  “Don’t matter what’s in them if it isn’t real.  And then I wake up and…”  She sighed, putting her claw down.  “I don’t know, I just feel worse later.”

“Do they scare you?”  Dr. Shy asked, nervously.  “Worse that what nightmares you had before?”

“I don’t know,”  Gilda said and shrugged, looking back at the ceiling.  “I saw some nasty stuff in those, yeah.  But…”  She had to think on it.  “It just feels like a lie to me.”

“A lie?”  Dr. Flutters leaned forward.  “What do you mean?”

“It was awesome sometimes, I mean it felt that way to me for a moment,”  Gilda said with some joy, rubbing her neck.  “Me and Dash or….me and….um, you.”  

Gilda realized she said that last part with some dread.  Glancing at the pony behind the desk proved her worst fears.  Not that blush again!  

“Will you stop that!”  Gilda growled at the flush pony.

“W-what did w-we do?”  Fluttershy said with some jitters.  She then shook her head, trying to regain her calmer form.  “I mean, in the dream you had?  I remember you and Dash pranking, so…”

“We...flew,”  Gilda said simply, not wanting to get into detail about the hug that had come before that part.  “I just gave you some flying lessons, then we laughed for a bit and ate food at a picnic.”

“I...see.”  Shy replied The jitters and red were gone, but now she was just smiling.  It was big and proud.  “That sounds really nice Gilda.”

“It was all weird to me when I woke up,”  Gilda sighed.  “I mean, really, really weird.”

“So, why were you so upset by it?”  Fluttershy sounded sympathetic, despite still smiling.  “It sounded like a pleasant experience for you, even if we haven’t done that in real life.”

“It just doesn't feel like me, like I’m someone else or something...”  Gilda said, and could see Shy silently urging her to continue.  She just huffed, figuring she could come up with something better.  Still, she continued.  

“Besides, you’d have fainted after a few flights,”  Gilda jabbed at the pony.  “Totally unreal!”  Fluttershy let out a sigh, apparently unsure if she should be upset by that, or perhaps laugh it off.  Still, that felt good, so Gilda let herself chuckle a bit.

“Is that why you were so down this morning?”  Dr. Shy asked trying to be impartial again.  “You’re worried that you aren’t being yourself in these dreams?”

“I guess?”  Gilda replied with another shrug.  “Plus I keep thinking it’s all going to be useless anyway.”

“What about you getting better?”  Dr. Shy said with a serious look.  “Getting better is a change, Gilda.   You should know that.”

“I came here due to stupid nightmares, can’t say it changed,”  Gilda replied with a bit of sarcasm.  Shy looked more than a little disappointed, and for whatever reason she felt defensive.  “The cake and fish are nice…”  she said, sheepishly.  

That didn’t cut it, and her doctor looked about ready to facehoof.  

Gilda sighed in defeat.  “Things just keep feeling more off for me, okay?”  She had to hope that worked.  “And I’m not sure what to do about it, or even if it’s going to matter in the end.”

Fluttershy looked like she was pondering something.  “Do...do you ever have fear about where your place is in the scheme of things?”  the pegasus asked.  “Like your purpose in life?”

“I figured I’d be getting an awesome one,”  Gilda said waving her claw like it didn’t matter.  “Like I’d be able to bring down some big dragons, take the loot and glory, then go down in history books for it.”

“Do you see things differently now?”  Dr. Shy asked.

“Maybe it won’t matter if I’m just going to be ‘big bad buddy bird’ to people,”  Gilda replied back bitterly.  “All that hoping for better being just a dream you get, it’s like being lied to some more.”  She felt more than a bit venomous for a bit.  “And if me dying some bad guy death is all I get outta this?  To heck with all of them then, I’ll just take them all down!”

“Gilda!”  Fluttershy’s yell caused the griffon to jump from the couch.  

Both sides were now glaring at each other, one bitter and the other upset.  But one side seemed to notice the impasse and calmed herself down.  The griffon was still tense as Fluttershy closed her eyes and took a breath.  

“That not a sane way to do things,”  Fluttershy declared.

“Sane?”  Gilda muttered with annoyance.  “Seems sanity isn’t so nifty to me.  I’m pretty sure the other ponies and Dash see themselves as sane too for hating me,”  Gilda roared.  “So which is worse, huh?”  

The griffon grit her teeth in anger and then just groaned, feeling saddened.  She guessed her frustration wasn’t enough to roar more about it.  Still, the pony got up from her desk, putting her glasses down.

The griffon waited for Fluttershy to come up with some retort, or question, or something she didn’t care much for.  She felt cold enough with how things were right now.  But, to her surprise, the pony stood up to her, looking her in the face, and then pointed a hoof at the griffons face.

“What?”  Gilda sighed at the serious looking pony.  “What’s your problem now?”

“You’ve...got something in your eye,”  Shy said stoically.  The griffon felt it with her talon, and brushed the tear off.

“So what?”  Gilda shrugged, just as stoic, or trying to be.  “How’s that help anything?”

“Do you want to help me with animals until lunch?”  Fluttershy asked with a half a smile on.  “I don’t want things to feel too hard on you.”  While the griffon now looked away, she continued.  “I’ll help introduce you to them, so you won’t feel so uncomfortable when you meet them.”

The cheerful pony seemed to counter the grim faced griffon now holding it’s face, feeling more and more odd with how this had turned out.  Removing her claw, Gilda could see Fluttershy still looked hopeful.

She groaned, but still accepted it.  “Why not?”  Gilda said with reluctance.

> What counts as hanging out?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

To no ones surprise, there were very few animals to work with outside.  Winter had that effect on things.  Fluttershy was back in her winter wear, and Gilda was still tough enough for winter weather naked.  Beyond a few squirrels, rabbits, and what few chickens decided to feel like being outside, they didn’t have much to do.

Still, the hard part at first was getting the animals to go near the griffon.  With Shy needing to encourage them to not run for cover from the medium-large sized predator.  

That, and after handing out a few acorns and seeds, Gilda was already getting tired of this.

“Not as fun as advertised,”  Gilda muttered looking at the pony with annoyance.

“Winters a slow season, I know,” Fluttershy replied, still smiling.  “You should see them during the thaw.  It’s quite a busy time then!”

“If I knew it was this slow, I’d have just challenged that rabbit to more games of checkers,”  Gilda moaned.

“Does it feel any better than just staying cooped up inside?”  Shy asked, stopping to pet a rabbit.

“Meh,”  Gilda replied.  The silly part was, it almost kinda did--almost.  At least being outside like this felt different to her.

Maybe it was due to the talons she had, but it seemed the chickens were more trusting of Gilda.  Walking over to the griffon with seed in her claw with little prodding.  Even with Gilda putting it forward to them, it didn’t seem to bother them as they pecked away at the seeds she was holding.  

Still, the fact she was doing well with chickens felt like some kind of insult to her.  After all, she’s part eagle not chicken.  At least she hopes so...

“So…”  Gilda couldn't believe she was starting a conversation in all this, but she was bored.  “How long have you be doing this kind of thing?”  she asked, looking up for the chickens she was feeding.

“Seems like ever since I got my cutie mark,”  Fluttershy replied as she fed the much larger crowd of animals, some squirrels and about 5 rabbits were more than happy to eat from her hooves.

“How the heck do butterflies mean animal feeding?”  Gilda asked with a odd look.  “How’s that even work?”

“No, it’s for kindness,”  Shy corrected.  While the griffon could have asked for what the connection was, she didn’t.

“Or it’s enabling chumps,”  Gilda grumbled as she snarked.

“What?”  Shy looked a bit taken aback by that.  Clearly that struck a cord.

“Oh, uh, nevermind.”  Gilda stated and looked back down, avoiding any drama.  Now she saw she now had a crowd of her own--of more chickens.  

By her guess, the first few called the others over, the flock of them seemed to take a shine to her.  Clearly, they enjoyed being fed by a bigger bird.  

She answered that sight by dropping the rest of the feed on them.  “Ugh,”  she uttered with displeasure.

“Gilda…”  Fluttershy uttered with a low, unhappy tone.  “You shouldn't do that.”

“So I don’t like finding a bunch of runts eating out of my hand, so what?”  Gilda answered back, indignant.  “What are you getting out of this anyway?”

“They love me,”  Fluttershy answered, rubbing one her pets heads.  “They can rely on me to be there, I can rely on them too.  And because of that...”  

Despite the pony not hinting any smugness, it didn’t stop Gilda from doing mouth movements with her claw as she looked aside---at least until the pegasus stopped her.  

“Ahem!”  Shy declared, and that change in tone was sudden!  The griffon nearly leapt seeing a angry look from the soft pony.

“W-whatever,”  Gilda stammered back  “It’s not like this…”  While she wanted to make some point from that, she noticed a chicken was on her head.  “Wha?”  

While Gilda looked up with some confusion, with wide eyes meeting a pair looking down from her head, Fluttershy looked with a bit of smugness.  Or perhaps it was playful delight.

“See, Gilda?”  she said.  “She feels safe around you.”  While Gilda let out a groan as she looked back down in annoyance, the pony continued.  “It’s not about being overly soft, it’s about others not feeling scared of you.  It’s them knowing that you care about them.”

“Still feels sappy to me,”  Gilda said back as she found the chicken was still looking down at her face.  “Get off!”  With a few wing flaps, it was.  “Not sure about you, but I’m not into things feeling safe to climb on me, alright?”

“Does being touched bother you?”  Fluttershy asked, while she asked this without implying anything Gilda cringed a bit at that question.

“Uh, yeah!”  she stated loudly.  “Do you think us griffons want to be known for being cuddle friendly?”

Still, with animals fed or at least content to sleep for winter, the job felt finished for them.  While Fluttershy said a few goodbyes to her small friends, Gilda simply stood there feeling eager to leave.  

Shy seemed to notice.

“You still don’t feel any better?”  she asked, looking a bit upset.  “I hoped you would have formed a connection with them, so at least you wouldn't feel so scared by yourself.”  The griffon let out a pifft.  “Did it help you at all?”

“It’s was real enough at least,”  Gilda replied, watching the sky.  “Not so damn crazy like everything else has been recently.”

‘Would you like do this again sometime?”  Shy asked, hopeful again.

“Meh,”  Gilda had to reply.  Not quite crushing the pony’s hopes, but still not interested.

The pegasus put a hoof on Gilda’s back, catching the griffon off guard.  

“I know you are worried about losing yourself.”  Fluttershy continued as Gilda get let out a sigh.  “I guess those pills can cause more difficulty for others.”

“Whatever,”  Gilda said, just content to keep shrugging.  “Nothing’s ever as fun as advertised.”

“Come on,”  Shy said, trying to nudge the more depressed griffon.  “We can play checkers, or maybe come up with more ideas for stuff you could do.”  While Gilda had decide to go along, letting Fluttershy lead her home, she then had a brilliant idea.  “Maybe, what harm is there in giving me flying lessons?”

“I’m so not in the mood,”  Gilda grumbled back.

“Ok, uh, maybe some other time,”  Shy answered with a nervous smile.  “It could be fun to learn how a griffon flies.”

“I really doubt a wimp like you could even handle it,”  Gilda said a bit smugly.  “You’d just faint.”

“Well, Da….er.”  Fluttershy decided not to use the D-word.  “I got some flying lessons, and improved my wing power plenty.”  She then paused to let that sink in for a bit as Gilda’s brow raised.  “Did you ever take wing power tests?”  While she looked a bit proud, the griffon laughed back.

“Mine’s way better than yours,”  Gilda answered.  “That goes without saying.”  

Despite Gilda’s intent to see the pony drop the subject, maybe even mumble some weak defense to her wing power, Shy now looked at her determined.  

It caught the smug griffon off guard.  She blinked at the now cocky looking pony in front of her.

“Are you sure?”  Fluttershy said, playfully, like she was a different pony.  That change was strange to Gilda, even a bit creepy.  “I’m stronger than I look G.”

“Say’s who?”  Gilda asked, getting her composure back and standing upright with her claws crossed.

Shy took to the air, looking back at her as she hovered.  “Wanna race?”  she asked, and wasn’t backing down.  Gilda chuckled at this.  She cracked her wings and readied herself.  

“Your funeral dweeb,”  Gilda replied.  It seems the wuss had the same idea and looked up to the challenge.  Or wanted to be, hard to tell.  “First one to that cloud up there,”  she said, pointing to a cloud high over the house.  

Gilda could see the wind whip up their, as the snow above swirled in little tornados.  Instead of causing the yellow one to back down, she still looked determined.

“I’ve weathered storms too, Gilda.”  Now that was a line the griffon didn’t expect from Fluttershy.  “Have you ever helped move water?”  Now that caught the griffon off guard for sure.

Still, Gilda took to the air, readying herself.  “On three.”  

They had their count down, and they were off.

As the griffon expected, she was far ahead of the little pegasus.  While she was more than happy to say she was the unchallenged king of the skies, when she looked behind her at the  loser rival behind, it her made her annoyed.  

Flutters was trying to catch up.  
She’d have called it cute, if that didn’t make her mad.  Gilda pushed herself harder, her wings kicking the air with heavy blows and slicing it like a knife.

She had trained for years, undergone heavy tests, and she wasn’t going to lose to any little pony.  She hit the high winds without effort, and it was just like water to her.  She’d have guessed Flutters would have backed down at this point, right?

Seeing as she was on that home stretch, making her dad proud, it was safe enough to look--and Gilda couldn't believe it!  Even with cold winds whipping away at her flank and wings, the little pony that could was still at it.  

Whatever,  Gilda thought to herself.  I still win.  She flew the rest of the way and did so.  Gold medal was hers as expected.

The griffon was happy on her new cloud perch, she needed a good challenge and that strong storm wind she overcame was a nice one.  Gilda still would have liked more though, and less of a wimp to race with, but for now Gilda was more than happy to just wait to gloat at the meek challenger that was still in the air---at least until the mare suddenly lost altitude.

“What the…?”  Gilda uttered with a raised with worry.  Now the pegasus was falling, wings unmoving.  “Aw nuts!”  she said in fear.  “At this height she’s pony pizza!”  

She took off and dived down, shooting past the wind like a bullet.  It didn’t take long to catch up and grab the loser, with the hard part being stopping herself with the momentum she got.  But a good gradual swoop and a twist in the air, and she carried that off with ease.

“Sorry…”  Fluttershy said weakly, gasping, and hard to hear over the air gusts.  “Guess I...over...exerted…”

“Are you nuts?!”  Gilda yelled to the pegasus as she flew back down.  “Why’d you even…?”  she just grumbled as she lowered her altitude.  The only sound the pony made was a whimper.

“I...was...doing pretty good, kinda.”  Shy said between breaths, not taking note of the griffon’s annoyance.  “Do I have ice on my wings?  Dash told me that can happen at high... altitudes.”  

Yep, the moron had ice on her tips, Gilda could see that.  Some deeper in as well, even ponies fur was lightly frosted.

“How cold was those winds?”  Gilda pondered as they got to ground.  “Why ain’t I shivering?”

Gilda let go then, letting the pegasus stand weakly on her own hooves.  Fluttershy stood there  and continued catching her breath.

Gilda had any number of things to yell about to the pegasus.  From being a rescue party, to having her time wasted, and why somepony decided they could out fly a griffon.  She just needed to chose one as she let out an agitated growl.  But soon, Fluttershy finally spoke up.

“Are...you ok?”  she asked to a now confused griffon.  Gilda needed a moment to verify what just happened, but answered in kind.

“Me?!”  she answered in disbelief.  “You were the one that nearly nose dived several thousand feet!”  She let out a sigh of frustration and grumbled.  “Heck are you asking if I’m ok?!”  she yelled back.

“I know pushed myself more than I should have,”  Fluttershy defended weakly.  “I’m really sorry,”  she said, having gotten less exhausted.  “But, I’m ok, thanks to you.”

“Why’d you even do that?”  Gilda said as she shook her head.

“Because I wanted to help you,”  Shy answered, as Gilda looked with a raised brow.  “I got you to fly again, and we even raced!”  she said with some pride and that same cheerful smile.  Eyes closed, bright and sunny enough to make the griffon gag.  “So, do you feel better now Gilda?”

Gilda hated to admit it, but she did.  “Yeah, kinda,”  she said, and looked away and sighed again, trying to keep herself from having her own smile.  “You’re seriously going to risk your life to make me feel better?”  she joked.

Fluttershy laughed nervously with a sheepish smile, digging her hoof into the snow.  “T-that was my m-mistake,”  she said rubbing her mane with her other hoof.  “I-I’m really glad you were there.  Really.”  She calmed herself a bit.  “Maybe over lunch can we think of, um, less dangerous things we could do?”

Now Gilda had that nervous smile, she felt on the spot again and the pegasus was still on this even after what just happened.  That’s creepy to her enough, and yet, kinda nice too.

“S-sure!”  Gilda answered nervously.  “If I can come up with it, sure.”  The pony looked happy with that answer.  While that tension she was feeling was quite a bit, Gilda did point out something.  “You good?  You still got all that frost on ya.  That’s gonna-”

“I’ll be fine when we get home,”  Shy answered quickly, nodding a bit as she trotted.  “I’m just going to lie down by the fire for a bit when we get home.”  While the griffon would have been happy if that was the end of it, it wasn’t.  “Maybe we could talk over hot cocoa?”

The pair walked back to the cottage as Gilda wondered how much of a headache she was getting into later.  Then again, maybe it wasn’t so bad?

> Going back a bit
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lunch had been over for a while and Gilda was still trying to think of something as she lay back in her bed.  Sure, Fluttershy was pushing her into this, but even she was sick of the situation she figured she was in.  As she laid there, he thought wandered.

In that asylum, the excuse to go nowhere was made of walls and bars.  Here, it was a huge pool of ponies she didn’t want to deal with and vise versa.

Still, point of the matter was, she felt like she was going to crack under the weight of things she knew she couldn't do.  Most anything she could think of wasn't available to do in this town.  

That flight she did was nice, if downright crazy.  But beyond that, what was there?

There were no parties for her to go to, and no invites to such either, and that only had her more upset when she thought about it.  She'd grown to hate Hearth's Warming Eve for some time now.  If only for her own reasons, Gilda wished the holiday would buzz off.

The old empire never had something like that. They did have some gift giving, sure,and even expected ones.  But when Dash was telling her about it, and the sheer amount of "warmness" she knew it was going to be new to her, and downright strange too.

It was, but her and Dash did a lot of hanging out on that day too.  Well, why not?  They weren't that far from Jr. Speedsters yet either, and sure other ponies were there but they were lame.  Just there to be there being all huggy-muggy like the losers they were.  It was still one of her best memories--and that sucked, it sucked a lot.

Each Hearth's Warming after her brush off made her more bitter, more angry at that event.  All that well wishing and joy, but none of it for her anymore, and ponies only became lamer then.  One light perk of her old job was Deal never wanted to celebrate it either, he was more interested in his business to worry about holidays.  Silver Bell tried to do something about it, but she never got far.

As for Edward, he was just too nervous to try, the wimp.  The best he had was the pair having a less crazy drink at the pub, when applicable.  Then singing, then her telling him how she hates it when he keep talking her into singing while drunk---usually the day after with her holding him up by his neck.  Drinking was to get the edge off, not get goofy enough to do stupid things she won’t hear the end off.

Still, the dork got her a job back when she was content to give herself to the tigers.  They could still have her at times; she felt dead enough anyway.

The silence as she reminisced was palpable, even as Gilda sighed and held her head.  But it all ended when Fluttershy showed up.

“Gilda?”  While Shy wasn’t that loud, the griffon almost would have leapt at a voice other than her own at that point.  Still, it had her annoyed though.  Her brief surprise that had her tail and wings up, soon lowered into usual grumpiness.

“What?”  Gilda replied with a sigh.  “I still can’t think of anything, alright?”

“Well, I was thinking…”  Fluttershy said looking a bit unsure, but hopeful as usual.  “Do you remember when we went to town a couple days ago?”

“Said I was sorry….”  Gilda said with a groan.  Break one door and you pay for it for life it seemed.  Then again…”I did apologize when I was all weird, right?”  she added.

“No, not that,”  Shy said with her own annoyance, despite the griffon’s relief.  “There was a griffon you called Ed.  Is that the Edward you told me about?”  

“Yeah, so?”  Gilda replied.  

“How well did you know him?”  While it was an innocent sounding question, it was going somewhere, and Gilda could tell where she was going with this.  Seeing her silly hopeful look again.

“We worked together, so what?”  Gilda added as she got up.  “He already flew off so…”

“I think I saw him a few times in town,”  Fluttershy added, giving the griffon pause.  “He has that hat…”

“The one he never takes off, yeah,”  Gilda recalled, and then came to attention at last.  “He’s still here?!”  she said more loudly than she intended as she stared in surprise.

“Y-yeah,”  Fluttershy said, hoping back a bit.  “I thought, well….”  She looked unsure again, rubbing her hooves together.  “Would you feel like talking to him?”

Gilda blinked, then scratched her chin.  It was going to be odd seeing the doofus after so much time.  Then there was the other facts she recalled.

“Well, maybe we...oh man!”  Gilda faceclawed, how did she forget?.  She only just then realized how many questions she could get answered as he’d been there.  “I forgot!  He’d know about what happened to my boss.”

The pegasus looked confused at the outburst, not getting what Gilda was on about.  

“What?”  she said quietly with wide eyes..

Gilda tried her best to not look suspicious, by which she looked so suspicious she may as well start whistling near a cart accident she caused.  Fluttershy looked like she was going to ask, but Gilda asked first.

“Can you get him here?” she said with a nervous smile.  “It could work, maybe we can talk about old times or something.”

“I could, yes,”  Shy answered, looking a bit wary.  “You...you weren't a bully to him, were you?”  Shy had that kind of look that said she could see something was there.  Thankfully, it was the simple stuff.

“I might have pushed him around,”  Gilda replied as she scratched her neck, but the pegasus still looked skeptical.  “A bit.  Hey, I wasn’t the only griffon that laughed at him.”  Fluttershy still didn’t seem fazed.  “Look, I knew him.  Not sure why he ran off without a word either.  Last I can remember was drinking with him.”  While the pony looked satisfied, she didn’t seem to be moving.  

“So, maybe you could ask for me?” Gilda finished.  There was a pause.  “Please?”

Fluttershy let out a light giggle.  “Oh course,”  she said as she nodded.  “I can ask him in town.   Maybe we could all have a nice dinner together.  How does that sound?”

“Yeah…”  Gilda said and looked a bit to the side.  “The sounds great.”  A pleasant dinner was the last thing on her mind though.

Edward had a few answers she needed, she was sure of it.  Maybe an answer to those nightmares, or at least knowing what Package’s deal was.  Maybe even, somehow, knowing what that Snark she had been seeing was.  

It was just a matter of getting those answers from him.

“I’ll head into town soon,”  Fluttershy said, pleased as can be.  “So, please don’t break anything else while I’m gone, ok?”

“No prob,”  Gilda replied, and didn’t feel like dwelling on that fact.  “Scout’s honor or whatever.”

The pegasus excused herself and left the room as Gilda looked through her things.  

It had not been awhile, seeing as she just put them in a few drawers a few days ago.  Back working with Deal she just kept a small travel pack.  Some essentials and what not, and a bell with its clapper was still missing.  

For a moment, she thought more about some past events that didn’t get a unfriendly knee jerk like her best friend.  It was just a long drag of time passage to her though.

She had joined up with Package Deal’s little caravan gig as a scout.  That’s how she bumped into Edward again, who was already working for the pony.  Ed was surprised to see her too, a skilled griffon nursing a hangover in a tree.  Job-less, bitter, and sad.  

Despite that, all he had to do was explain her flight abilities to Deal and the pony gave her a job on the spot.  She had guessed Edward’s wings had never gotten stronger despite the years she hadn't seen him since she was little.

The gig was great pay wise, and all Deal did was move goods and supplies to made a good profit.  He had only delivered to the frontier places, and the worked well for her.  Ponyville was always far away from her---physically anyway.

Her, Ed, Deal, and Bell.  Ed did himself proud on using his numbers skills, with Deal doing business stuffs she hardly listened to, and Silver Bell mostly just cooked and crafted her hobby of bells.  

The unicorn made some nice bells for the wagon, that had a soft ringing that didn’t worsen her headaches in life, sometimes they were even soothing a hangover.  How she never knew, nor felt like asking.  Package Deal had the hots of that pony, how far or whatever Gilda never cared for either.  During that time she didn’t care for anything.

Maybe she worked with them for a year or two, she lost count.  It could have been several months.  After all, she had lost most of her time from sulking.

Thing was, that last job was a blur even by that comparison, even when drunk.  With her last memory being getting drunk at the bar, despite Deal telling her not to, again.  After that, a fight, maybe a big one too.  All at some outpost in the cold, frozen north so far away.

After that, who knows?  The griffon certainly didn’t.  

Some guard ponies must have got dragged into the brawl and she got dragged off to Canterlot.  Then the nightmares and Deal turning all crazy.  She did tick off a minotaur before things got blank for what that meant.  But, how long had it been after that?  

All this thinking had her more depressed, she had more than likely drank several flagons of wine on the last Hearth's Warming.  At least enough to not notice until two days later.

Gilda could hear the door downstairs close.  Fluttershy was on her way to town and Edward had better not run off again.  

Gilda put the silent bell back in the drawer with a sigh.  She had some time to kill and was in dire need to find something else to do.  So she left her room and headed to the living room downstairs.

Yo!”  Gilda called out.  “Angel?  Where are ya?”  After a moment, she spotted him with his arms crossed.  “Up for checkers?”  He rolled his eyes and shook his head.  “You got any better ideas to pass the time, fluffy bun?”  

She dodged a thrown book, as the bunny was not taking well to his new nickname.  It’s not checkers, but it was something.

After Angel exhausted his anger, by his expression, he was up for some poker at least.  Now if only Gilda could fix her telltale tail.  Good thing she didn’t bet anything.

> Have a good time
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gilda was waiting at the kitchen table when she heard the door open.  Judging by the nervous male voice, Edward was here now.  

He had better be up for clearing up a few things,  She thought.

“So...is she asleep right now or what?”  Edward said, likely with his eyes darting in the living room.  He was still a wimp, like he always was.

“Well she was awake the last time I saw her.”  Fluttershy was much calmer than he was, that’s for sure.  “Don’t worry so much.”

“Yeah.”  he cleared his throat to call out.  “Gilda, ma’am?  G?  Si….”

“In her you dip!”  Gilda shouted back to him from the kitchen, and she could hear him jump too.  After a pause, the pair came in.  “Been awhile, huh Ed?”  she said to the guy griffon. 

Edward looked about a well as he ever did, namely shaky and somewhat nervous.  Clearly some things don’t change.

“H-hey Gilda!”  Edward said tensely with a wave.  “Y-you lookin good.”  He forced a laugh.  “Healthy, stable, and not even a drop of blood on you.  That’s great.”  He then gave a nervous thumbs up.

“She’s been recovering,”  Shy said, pulling him a chair at the table.  Despite her being upbeat at the moment, the griffon still took pause.  “I think she’s more relaxed than she was before.”

“That’s sounds great,”  Edward added, not taking the seat yet, nor looking away from Gilda.  “So, you're better now?  Like, really better?  Because…”

“Just sit down Ed, will talk,”  Gilda said simply with a firm tone.  Edward gulped and sat down.  Fluttershy went to cooking, which the female griffon saw as a good opportunity.

“So, how long have you been in this place, ma’am?”  Ed said in an attempt to break the ice.  “Only just saw you the other day.”

“A couple days, you?”  Gilda replied back, tilting her chair back a bit.

“Got here on the same day I saw you,”  Edward started, likely going into detail.  “I was kinda hoping to find some R&R, ya know?”  He had a nervous laugh.  "Well, what I can get anyway this far from home."

“You ever think to head back to the empire?”  Gilda asked.

“Do you even know how much it costs to take a trip back home?”  Edward seemed more sure for a moment, if upset.  “Even if you try a land and sea route, it’s still too much for what I got,"  he sighed with some defeat.  

“Guess neither of us have checked with the folks…”  Gilda added with a somber feeling.  “Could be dead for all we know…so how’s work?”  She didn’t want to dwell of family any more than the sibling did.

"After that last job blew up, I’ve been trying to find some steady work,”  Edward sighed sadly.  “It...didn’t work out so well...”  he sighed again with a low laugh.  “Got part time in town though!  It’s a start.”  he joked.  “Then I can get to doing some real stuff again.”

“Then how were-”  Gilda was about to ask, but the other griffon had other ideas.

“Details, details,"  he cut her off.  Sometimes, the loser gets passionate enough not to fear her.  "I also figured I could find more work here.  Somepony needs an accountant in this town, right?”  

“I never checked…”  Gilda gave her two gold pieces.

“And why do only ponies do banking jobs in most places?”  Edward added before a pause.  “It due to the cutie marks, isn’t it?”

“Right…”  Gilda replied, quite sick of his rant.  “You do remember that old job?”

“Y-yeah.”  Edward said, and looked more afraid at that question.  “That didn’t end so well, even you know that.  So lets just-”

“I don’t,”  Gilda said, eyes narrowed.

“Eh?”  Edward’s eyes widened and he looked uncomfortable.  The verbal jolt was enough to have Fluttershy briefly look up from the stove.

“I got this blank after I hit that bar,”  Gilda said as she tapped her head. “The one near the north route Deal was trying to plot out.  Remember?”  She gave him an expectant look.

“Yep, yep,”  Edward replied with a quick nod.  “But you were out when that fight started.”

“F-fight?” Fluttershy interrupted the story.

“Bar fight,”  Gilda said with some humor.  “Those things happen at outposts all the time.  It’s that time I must have fought guard ponies and….”

“But…”  Edward interrupted with a talon up.

“But what?”  Gilda growled back with a smug smile, no longer leaning in her chair.  “I was told I might have fought some guard ponies, and they were at that bar right?  So...”

“There were no guard ponies at the bar!”  Edward yelled back.  While the other griffon was ready to deck him, she was aware how bad it could get with Shy being right there.  So she let him continue.  “It was just those minotaurs, that horned griffon and some regular ponies.”

“Say what?!”  Gilda was in disbelief.  Now her eyes were wide, more than a little dumbfounded by that fact.

“I guess after you got that one mad enough, he smashed that bottle on you…”  Ed tried to get back to the story, but was interrupted again.

“I decked him good, right?”  Gilda asked with a humored grin and a smile.

“No, you were on the floor, knocked out,”  Edward explained.  “He...hit hard.”

Gilda’s beak dropped to that part.  Somehow Edward looked more sheepish, though that was due to what he knew was coming next.  He covered his face with the edge of his hat.

“What!”  the now Gilda said with some outrage after her shock.  “I was out that easy?  Argh!”

Shy tried not to laugh.  “Take it easy, Gilda,”  she said firmly.  “It’s in the past.”  This caused Edward to calm down a bit as well, seeing as he lifted his hat again.

“Get on with it!”  Gilda said, dejected.  “What happens next?”

“Well, Package Deal found out you had left the campsite, so me and him went to that bar when we heard the ruckus,"  Ed continued.  "I went in while Deal stayed outside.”  He looked a bit concerned, gulping a bit.  “You were already on the floor, and that minotaur was talking smack about you.  Then it got worse.”  

“Guards?”  Gilda asked.

“See, this other griffon called out the bartender, saying he’d been given pet food instead of a decent meal,”  Edward added with a shrug.  “And this other minotaur went all berserker too.”

“Too many flagons….”  Gilda muttered with some humor.  “You'll never find harder core wine drinkers than minotaurs...or angrier.”

“Yeah, yeah,”  Edward continued, scratching his neck with a sigh.  “Things got violent pretty quick, so I dragged you under a table so you wouldn't get stomped.  Then I was waiting for any lulls in the action to get you closer to the exit, hoping Deal had Silver Bell call some guards to the fight.”

“Didn’t I do anything at all?”  Gilda asked, feeling left out of her own story.

“Well…”  he began.  Edward now had a funny look on his face, despite Gilda sad look.  “You started mumbling ‘Sure I’m indecent, hate is such a exciting emotion.’ or something like that.”  

The girl griffon only looked more embarrassed.

“Oh, come on!”  she said angrily, not exactly from rage.   Now Fluttershy was giggling, and even Edward was trying hard not to himself.  Likely only stopped by the griffon next to him.

“Sorry, miss Gilda.”  Ed took a breath to calm himself.  “It wasn’t all fun though, Deal spent that whole night shouting at both of us, and had me take up scouting duty for you.  And you know how bad my flying is….”  He looked painful at that part.

“Like how father called you a adult chick for most of your life?”  Gilda added, Edward nodded back.  “So, why’d I wake up in a asylum?”  Edward looked surprised at that question.

“You don’t remember?!”  he yelled in disbelief.  The sudden shift, even for Edward, caused the shy pegasus to duck instinctively.  “When Deal lost it?  When Bell died?  Any of it?”

“Woah!”  Gilda was wide eyed too now.  “She’s dead?  Oh man...”  She felt a bit of a pause. H-how’d...when…?”  She wanted to ask how, but was unable to at the moment.  She just held her head.

“U-um…”  Fluttershy chimed in to break this tense moment.  “Maybe we should have dinner first, if that…”

“I’m good for eating!”  Edward said promptly, doing his best to get out of the story he was telling.  “Foods sounds like a good thing!  I’m so hungry I could eat a leng spider like a big lobster!”  

Gilda faceclawed, how long ago did he start to wonder if giant spiders taste like crab?  She wasn’t getting her questions answered now, but then again, she may as well roll with it.

“Fine…”  Gilda groaned back.  “But we’re getting back to that later, alright?  Stuffs been weird...”
Edward quickly nodded but said nothing.

Gilda hadn't taken notice of the groceries in her bit of excitement.  Fluttershy was apparently quite serious about that dinner plan she had.  Fish, some chips, side salad, fruit.  This pegasus could do well for parties, at least the quiet kind.  

Somehow things got to small talk, despite where Gilda mind was with the past questions.  Mostly it was Edward’s sad misadventures--what a pain.

“...And after I hitched a ride here, I first tried to find some work,”  Edward went on, recounting how he’d even got to Ponyville.  “You know, what with that economics degree I got back when?”  he asked Gilda.

“The one you got when you decided to avoid advanced flight training?”   she replied while taking a drink of the juice provided, tomato.

“The same one!”  Edward said without any sense of irony.  “Sure, sure I could have just taken a prospecting job, maybe even make myself a manager, but I figured I’d see better opportunities in the pony kingdoms.”

“Less people to laugh at you,”  Gilda remarked, taking more air out of the male griffon’s sails.

“Welllllll, yeah!”  Ed said as he scratched the back of his head with a grimace.  “Still nothing big yet, but I did find someone to put me up for a while though.  Also, I saw this cute white mare too.”

Fluttershy looked a bit surprised, Gilda was not.  “You?”  she laughed.  “Trying for a hippogriff?”  Edward looked panicked, as he knew what she was getting at.

“W-well, not now, maybe?”  he stammered nervously.  “I mean, I can make a plan, or work around it.”  He only seemed to get worse as he could see both girls in the room were looking at him.  “I-I mean, she’s got business cred and stuff!  Ya know?  A-and m-maybe, somehow, maybe we could, well not too fast, I mean I only tried to talk this one time and…”  He was going to keep talking, so Gilda stopped it.

“Edward,”  Gilda deadpanned with a claw up.  “Settle.”

Ed’s rant came to a quick halt.  “Yes ma’am.”  Fluttershy looked surprised, looking between the two griffons for a moment.

“Um…”  she began.  “Are you sure...I mean how well do you know her?”

“Well, with all the gems this mare has around she must dig a lot!”  Ed replied, now less flustered.  “And she’s plenty organized, I’d think it could work.  Er, maybe I mean, I’m not sure how to talk to her and she seems about the same so…”  

There was a pause as the male griffon caught his breath.  While Gilda just took this time to keep chewing as she ate, Fluttershy seems downright entranced by his devotion.  Or maybe she just humored him.

“So, got any dating tips?”  Edward asked.  Shy looked at Gilda and vice versa.

“You asking me or her?”  Gilda asked pointing between the two.  Edward just shrugged.  “Geeze…” She rolled her eyes.  Despite this, Fluttershy stayed supportive.

“Try to follow your heart,”  she told him earnestly.  “Is it hard for you to be assertive?”

“Kinda?”  Ed replied with a groan.  “Guess I’ve been used to being told what to do.”  Gilda knew why he was giving her that look.  

While Fluttershy continued to give him a few tip of dating, the girl griffon just ate in silence.  She’d have to wait for her answers for now.  

Also, where did Fluttershy get this lemon butter?  More fish need this, and some crab meat and--as Gilda mind wandered into a field of dreams of good sea food, one question ruined her good mood.

"How long have you two known each other?"  Fluttershy asked.  “Did you grow up together?”  

Aw crud, Gilda thought, Shy asked the worst kind of question.

"Um, well...."  Edward seemed to know it too.  He now looked like he was asked to hunt a tiger all by himself, and he was going to wet himself from the terror of it.  So, Gilda cut it herself.

"From back in the old empire, we went to the same school,"  she said simply and hoped to move on, but it didn't work.  Fluttershy must have been more serious to know than expected.

"We're you close?"  she added, and now the second worst question was asked.  

To be fair, Edward also looked more scared to talk further, looking like he was about to duck.  But, Gilda was more embarrassed as that mockturtle story came to her mind.  But she knew the pony was unlikely to drop this question.   So, she may as well throw the runt a bone.

"He's my older brother, alright?"  Gilda said with a sigh. 

Fluttershy looked shocked at this revelation, and Edward was more so.  He nearly went slack enough to slam his beak into the table with his body about falling over.  But he snapped out of it, calming his nerves by returning to his eating.  He likely prefered if his sister would explain to the confused pegasus.

"You are..."  Fluttershy said and blinked for a moment, still in shock.  "Then why were you...?"

"Dad’s ashamed of him and he annoys me,"  Gilda answered quietly.  "Mom seemed to coddle him though, when she wasn't busy.  And she made me promise not to let older guys take his lunch money."

"I've been used to being hen pecked for a while..."  Edward said off hand, and resumed eating.  The pegasus looked upset by all this, for obvious reasons.

"Why would you treat your own brother like this?"  she said with a bit of outrage.

"Hey, I wasn''t always mean,"  Gilda defended herself as best she could.  "I mean, I hung out with him."

"Mom asked,"  Edward piped in, he was starting to enjoy this as the girl griffon let out a groan.

"Yeah, she asked, whatever."  she said and shrugged.  "Dad was a lot meaner to him than I ever was."

"Oh my!"  Fluttershy said with concern, putting a hoof on the male griffon shoulder.  "Was he abusive?"  Edward didn’t quite answer, still chewing.  He seemed to enjoy the attention though.

"To him, duh,"  Gilda replied, and could see why Shy looked more upset.  "Me?  Dad told me I was going places, even wanting me to join the Tiger Jager squads.”  She looked aside.  “But, ya know, I'm not interested in some lousy jungle hunts,"  She chucked a bit.

"Tiger Jager?"  Fluttershy asked.

"Tiger hunters,"  Edward answered after swallowing. He looked to the pony with a bit of humor.  "Think of the one thing griffons truly dread..."

"Meh,"  was Gilda two cents on it.  "I'm more for the skies and leaving schmucks to eat my dust!"

"So you went to match wits with pegasi,"  Ed added with a bit of mockery.  "Don't think that..."

"Zip it!"  Gilda snapped back, shutting him up.  She wasn’t sure when she told him that story, or how sober she was at the time.  Either way, she didn't need his version of her story.

"Gilda, please,"  Fluttershy said with a sigh, holding her hooves up.  "Have you two been able get along?"

"Well..."  Edward began with a bit of a smirk that filled Gilda with dread.  "With the right tempering, sis here is a real friendly drunk."  The girl griffon had a look of agony on her as he said that.  "Remember that one place with the karaoke?"

"I'd rather not..."  Gilda said, holding her beak with her eyes closed.  "Do you realize how stupid that was?"

"But you got this tremendous singing voice, despite your faults,"  Edward said with a smile.  "It’s the closest thing to kind words that came from you back then.  It helped you mellow out, ya know?"

"It still looks embarrassing to me,"  Gilda replied grimly.  "I felt like a joke..."

"Are you happy...with your work...."  Edward sang from memory.

"Stop,"  Gilda said cautiously.

"One night she started to, shim and shake..."  And another song came from him.

"Stop it,"  she deadpanned.

"...Let's go to the ocean, we can be free.  Live your life, just go through to motions...."  Edward sang.  Oh, that last song did it.

"ED!"  Gilda roared at him.  Now Edward ducking for cover.  Fluttershy gave her a dirty look for a moment.  "I ain't a song bird, alright?"  she sighed, calming herself.  "And ‘I love U’ is a stupid, sappy song for little girls."

Edward seemed to take that as an all clear.  "Didn't mean it wasn't cute sis,"  he said, getting his head up.  "Seemed better to me then you drinking alone and angry as usual."

"Just can it,"  Was Gilda’s answer with a grumble.  “Least I didn’t dance on a table.”  Edward sighed and moved on.

"So on a different topic, you got any plans for the coming holidays sis?"  Edward asked calmly.  "I mean, sure we got issues, but between you and mom you're still the only family I have."

"Meh,"  Gilda answered him.  "I got nothing.  And besides, I hate the holidays remember?"

"Heh, I forgot..."  he replied, scratching his neck and looking down.  "Still, no reason to keep being bitter all the time right?"  Edward added, looking back up.

The conversation went on, Fluttershy asking about griffon stuffs from a eager guy who liked talking about them.  It all struck Gilda as silly, so she just enjoyed her meal in silence.  At least they didn’t got back to family matters again, she wasn’t in the mood for it.

After the meal ended, Edward being the sap he was, helped with cleaning up.  His sister sat patiently as this went on.  After he was done she asked the big question.

“So…”  Gilda began when the boy griffon left the sink.  By the hairs on Ed’s neck, he knew the question was about

“Um, are you sure you want to ask about...that stuff?”  Edward said with a look of terror.  “I-I mean, that could give you nightmares and…”

“I’m there,”  Gilda stated seriously.  “I’ve had nightmares for a while.”

“Well, I know you were sent to Canterlot asylum…”  Ed replied, slowly walking up to the table.

“So was Deal,”  Gilda said matter of factly.  “I met him there too.”

Edward looked surprised, but kept his nervous smile.  “So, uh, he doing better I take it?  he asked.

“He tried to eat me.”  Gilda said.  She wasn’t letting him get out of this, she was quite serious.  Even as Edward gulped a lump in his throat.

“Your boss tried to eat you?”  Fluttershy said in a slow, scared tone, trembling where she stood.

Ed looked a bit defeated, sitting down with a nervous jitter and tried to collect himself.  Shy, despite looking like she was just terrified, sat down as well.

“You wanna tell me why?”  Gilda said with narrow eyes.

“Well, after you were out of it, I had to scout.  And we were running short of our deadline so-”  Edward continued the story where he left off.

"When'd I wake up?"  Gilda cut to the chase.  "Did I wake up?"

"You were in a bit of a stupor still,"  Edward said.  "You weren't up until after things got worse.  By then we lost the road and the weather changed for the worst."  He looked chilled.  "And this thing was stalking us, like some wolf that could fly…

“W-what?”  Fluttershy asked like a child.  “I’ve haven’t heard of flying wolves.

“Neither did I,”  Ed added seriously.  “The thing smashed the wagon's wheels and ran off.  It had these creepy black eyes...."  He started to tremble.  “It even blew snow at us until Silver managed to scare it off with a few ringing bells.”  He had a bit of a soft laugh.  “Who’d of thought, huh?”

“Ok...”  Gilda said, looking aside.  “...and the others?”  That got him out of his trembling, now he was still, if only looking away.  “How’d stuff get worse?

Edward continued as he looked to the side and he rubbed his neck.  “Well, we were still stuck in that snowstorm,”  he said.  “Deal blamed you, seeing as you were out of it for several hours.  You know, drunk with a blow to the head, sis?”  While Gilda might have felt annoyed by that comment, she didn’t speak up.  “So, when Bell got sick, you were up and made a run for for help.  Good news was, your head was clear then.”

“Yeah…”  Gilda said, trying to remember, it was still a blank and hazy.  “Did I come back at least?”

“Yeah, you did.”  Ed’s tone didn’t get better, he scratched his talon into the table.  “But, Silver Bell was dead by then.”  That hit a bit of a cord, both mare and griffon looked on in silence.  “Deal just stood there after that.”  Things felt pretty somber then, Edward let out a sigh as both Gilda and Fluttershy looked saddened.  “I tried to bury her, but he seemed against it.  Guess he needed time, ya know?”  Edward scratched his beak a bit.  “Least I hoped that was it.”  

“Guess I know why he went nuts now,”  Gilda muttered without humor.  “Didn’t know it got that screwed up.”

“I flew off for a bit, give him some space, ya know?  But when I came back….well….”  Edward’s eyes trembled with fear, much like his talon on the table.  He looked down and shook his head.  “He was eating her,”  he muttered quietly.

“SAY WHAT?!”  Gilda yelled.  Fluttershy seemed to duck under the table, like a kid hearing a horror story.  Edward about ducked as well, but Gilda was now holding him in place.  “How?  Why?”  she said with a bit of her own shock.  “Why would he even do that?”

“I don’t know!”  Edward shouted as he shook his head, not wavering from his sister.  “I guess he snapped, I don’t think he was starving!”

“So, he wants the other white meat now, huh?”  Gilda added a bit of grim humor to it, but Edward looked much worse for it, a lot worse.

He looked her in the eye as he said it.  “He...already had it…”  While Gilda gave him wild look, figuring he’d go on, he still paused.  She was about to yell again, but a quiet pony prevailed.

“Take it easy,”  said the Fluttershy with a firm but soft voice.  Gilda glared back, she didn’t waver.  “Please, put him down.”  She wasn’t being loud, but if felt that way right then.

Gilda took a breath and let him go.  

“I know this parts going to sound crazy, but...when you came back he saw you and took a fruit knife,”  Edward continued in a tense voice.  “H-he hadn't seen me a-and I watched so….”  He looked more and more shaken.  “He got on you back and started stabbing, biting...you were screaming and…”  As he spoke, something broke.

Somehow, Edwards story just faded into the background as Gilda’s head felt like it was going to pop with her brains coating the walls and her face dangling on tendon thread.  

She could see a few pictures going by:  Package Deal yelling, Edward whimpering in the snow, then finding Bell’s guts hanging out of her half buried body.  

It was all downhill from there.

She remembered screaming, trying to get him off.  Then Deal digging her eyes out with white hot pain as she lost balance.  He kept on cutting, never going for the neck or the organs, just giving a new slice to her sides as she frantically tried to run without the use of her eyes, consumed by darkness.  

He didn’t laugh, just muttering under his breath with each new cut.  

After so much of it, she collapsed into the cold snow.  She was crying out for anyone to help her, while her life was flashing by.  It was then her thoughts went to the party, the worst moment of her life that was leading her to much worse now.  

She hated Rainbow Dash for doing this to her.  She hated her new friends too for the joke they made her into.  Why can’t they die in some cold forsaken forest?  She just wanted to rip Dash’s wings off and eat them in front of her, just to watch the pain and suffering in her old friends eyes.  Then it became a blur, and a memory.

She was up to kill those party ponies and Dash, but they weren't the same.  

The guard ponies in armor were drawing the line in the snow, yelling for her to stay back.  Then that faltered as they cried out in terror.  

“Stay back.”  “Don’t come any closer!”  “NO!!!!”  were among to shouts as her icy claws got ready.  Then the rest was a mess of gore and broken plates of armor as the image hazed, from party to forest and back again.  

She shrieked in a horrific voice her insults that they couldn't even tell why she said them.  It was enjoyable, fun, every part of her grief and anger had an outlet then.  They all died without a clue why and she felt, even then, her delight at the power she had.  

She felt safe, that no pony was going to ruin her day again. That was because she was going to ruin the heck out of theirs.  Months or more of bitterness came forth in that rush and, despite the blood and screams, she enjoyed every moment of it.  Each second of that vision delighted Gilda as she could feel her stomach turn in disgust.  But in an instant, even that sickness was past.

At the end of that spree and eager to have another she saw her face, or what was left of it then.  

It was all messed up, with shapeless tendrils writhing where parts of her head were not.  Blood-soaked feathers. fur, and beak.  She looked like a dead bird, a torn up bird one you would see on a road side.  All grey and bony, she could even see her ribs through her skin.  

That’s when the wail came, like something stirring a spoon in the top of her head.  It hurt until she felt nothing else.

While Edwards’ little story would have illuminated a few good points, his sister didn’t hear it anymore.  Edward and Fluttershy may well have panicked when Gilda’s eyes rolled back in her head as she fell out of her chair.

> Ties that bind us
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gilda awoke in bed again with a headache again.  

She didn’t feel woozy this time, just twitchy.  With what she just saw in her head, she wasn’t sure what to feel anymore.  That wonderful horror made her blood dance in her veins while the rest of her shuddered in instinctive fear. 

Regardless, she was still a bit too shocked to move.  She simply blinked at the ceiling for a moment before letting out a groan.  Things were going to get worse again it seemed.

“You back, sis?”  She heard Edward’s voice next to her.  “I guess that...whatever that was must have you for a loop, huh?”

She turned to see her brother sitting next to the bed she was in.  “You could say that…”  Gilda muttered as she got herself up, sitting on the bed.  "Where’s Fluttershy at?"  she added nervously.

“She headed to town for a bit, my guess to report what happened,”  Edward said with a shrug.  He then saw the look of worry Gilda now had, so he waved his claws with the best smile he could muster.  “Hey, don’t worry about it so much.  Unlike what you said about Deal, you don’t seem so crazy to me right now.”  Despite this she groaned.

“You have no idea…”  Gilda replied weakly.  

“About what?”  Ed asked.  Despite his curiosity, the girl griffon had no desire to explain.

“Just...forget it,”  she dismissed grimly.  “This whole thing bites!”

“Um, you're not mad about it, are you?”  Edward began, strangely moving to a new topic.  “About her knowing….”

“Whatever, alright,”  Gilda grumbled as she felt her head.  “I figure her knowing about me having a loser brother wouldn't hurt me that much at this point right now.”

“Heh, could be worse,”  Edward joked, even mock cuddling one of her wings with his beak.  “What if she knew the time you got drunk enough to call me your little mock turtle?”

“I’d bite your tail off,”  Gilda coldly deadpanned.  “That was one of those things you bury.”

“Y-yeah, eh heh,”  Edward laughed with a nervous smile, letting her wing go.  "Guess that's one for the grave…so how's the head?  First you looked zoned out, then you just fell over."

"It’s better, I guess?"  Gilda replied as she still rubbed it.  "How much of that story did I miss out on?”

Edward looked grim again.  "Oh...well..."  He looked aside for a moment and his tail nervously twitched.  "Miss Shy…she asked that I don't go into much detail so..."  He saw how displeasing that was to her.  "She's just worried it will cause a breakdown or something, so I'll just sum up.  That cool at least?"

Gilda sighed.  "Whatever, just how did I end up in a asylum then?"  She would take what she could get.  “And also, why am I not dead?”

"I'll admit, I kinda..."  Ed started.

"Wimped out?"  she said for him.

"Yeah,"  Edward replied with displeasure and a bit of gallows humor.  "Seeing Deal go nuts had me run for it, calling for help.  The good news was a passing patrol was in the area."  Edward smiled a bit.  "Guess we weren't the only lost ones out there, huh?"  That smile faded though.  "We got back to a...bad scene.”  While he did look like he wanted to tell her, he kept his beak sealed on it.  “I'll spare you the details, but you were out of it.  Rescue pony said you were catatonic."

"Uh huh."  Gilda wasn't too happy with this story, despite her survival.

"You weren't hurt though, that was a miracle I think.”  And seeing how the girl griffon now looked at him in disbelief, Edward clarified.  “They didn’t find any injuries on you, so maybe I just freaked out or someone was smiling on you.”  He still had to wonder why his sister only looked more upset by that.  “The guards even got Deal, he was just laughing and sobbing as they dragged him away.  Then there was this diamond dog we found..."

"Sunshine?"  Gilda grumbled the thought, already knowing what was coming.  "You met that idiot?"

"Heh, I named him,"  Edward said with a silly smile, that only got more humorous as he saw his sisters look of shock.  "He scared the ponies and me when he showed up, but then he asked why it was cold.  The doc said he must have bumped his head or something, but he seemed nice enough.  I got to know him on the cart ride back."

"Figured you two would get along..."  Gilda said offhand with as she looked aside.

"He couldn't remember anything, so we chatted,”  Ed continued.  “When he told me he didn't have a name I said Sunshine would make a nice one, seeing as that storm had cleared by then.  He liked it."

Gilda looked at him with narrow eyes.  "Are you the reason he wanted to be friends with me?"  she asked coldly.

"N-no, n-not really,"  he nervously replied, backing away a bit.  "I...may have told him a lot of stories though. Guess he thought griffons looked cool too."  Gilda face clawed again.  "Um, sorry?"

"If you told him the mock turtle story...I swear to the storm eagle..."  she added, now moving her claws.

"Nonononon, just those bits of nice childhood and the singing,"  he said, and Gilda cracked her claw at that.  "And that you hated it, told him not to bring it up!"  he said in a panic, fearful of getting hit.

"You still had that goofus deciding I was his special friend, Ed,"  Gilda grumbled back.

"He just wants to be friendly, sis,”  Edward reassured her.  “Even those guards were surprised he meant no harm."  He looked serious for a moment.  "Did he ever get his memory back?"

"Nope,"  Gilda answered simply.  “”He doesn’t seem to be all there either.”

"Guess he got hit with something fierce too, huh?"  Edward said, and got up from his sitting.  “You good?  I got to get back to the mayor's office.”

“Woah, they the ones that put you up?”  Gilda said with a bit of surprise, pointing a talon.  “How’d that happen?”

“Being broke for one,”  Edward said with a sheepish look.  “Got some temp work for rent so I’m doing pretty good.  Once I find something better, I wonder how I’ll thank her?”

“Get her a block of salt lick?”  Gilda answered, and figured she’d take a jab at him.  It worked, seeing as Edward was annoyed.

“Like I have the money for that!”  he replied with an unhappy grimace.  “That stuff isn't cheap and besides, why do you want the mayor inebriated?”

“Humor,”  Gilda simply said with a grin.  Edward rolled his eyes.  

“Geeze…”  he added, rubbing his head.

“You remember how you burnt the top of your head?”  That question got Gilda a dirty look.  “Not on being funny, just...something that came to mind.”

“The hat helps hide that bald spot...still, that was a good memory when we were little.”  Edward replied, and took his hat off for a moment, briefly tapping his still burnt scalp.  “We should work on a project like that again."  He had a nervous laugh on that memory.  "Just with less magnesium sulfide next time, alright?”  

He seemed to notice the odd look his sister was giving her.  “Uh, G?”  he asked, wondering why the girl griffon was looking so wide eyed.

“Uh, nevermind,”  Gilda said as she rubbed her own scalp.  “Some things change, some things don’t, huh?”

“Just keep getting better, kay?”  Edward said with a nod, putting his hat back on.  “Least this Hearth’s Warming will have you doing something other than sulking by yourself.”

“Whatever,”  Gilda replied, as she still wasn't excited for it.  Edward walked to the door and gave her a wave as he left.

“I’ll see ya later sis, I’ll visit again sometime,”  he said, and Edward left.  

Gilda let out a sigh.  While she would have just gone back to laying back in bed, waiting for the arrival of Dr. Shy for her diagnosis, there was one bit of business to attend to.  She promptly looked under her bed.

“How much of that did you hear?”  she said to the pony under it.

“How do you keep knowing I’m there?”  questioned Pinkie Pie.

Gilda looked up, well down a bit.  “Don’t ask me,”  she said to the pink intruder.  “Why do you think I keep worrying I’m going crazy?”

”Maybe if you embrace the jolly parts, you won’t keep worrying all the time!”  Pinkie replied, being cheerful as usual.

“Can we talk about this not under the bed at least?”  Gilda said pulling herself up, and finding Pinkie on the bed already.  “That’s better,”  she said without missing a beat with a bit of deadpan.

“Did ja know everypony’s worried about you?”  Pinkie said with worry.  “Even Twilight wonders what happened to you!”

‘Great…”  Gilda said with a groan.  “I’m not headed back to that asylum now, am I?”

“Nuh huh!”  Pinkie Pie replied, shaking her head.  “Fluttershy insisted you're ok where you are…”  Then she snapped her hoof, some how as usual.  “...Oh, and that asylum had a big escape thing happen.”

“Escape thing?”  Gilda asked with a raised brow.  “When?”

“Last night!”  Pinkie replied, tilting her head .  “Don’t you read a newspaper?  Or listen to ponies who read them?”

“Like I would,”  Gilda said with less excitement. “I got enough of a headache as is.”

“Oh!”  Pinkie jolted suddenly.  “Fluttershy’s home, see ya later!”  

The pink pony ran for the door, opened it, gave a wave back and closed it behind her.  Said door lead to the closet.  Pinkie Pie  was likely home by now--and how would the griffon guess this?  The logic both made, and didn’t make sense.

Gilda rolled her eyes and let out a sigh.  “Wish I could do that,”  she said to herself.  

She’d ask, but the answer would likely have her bouncing around as well with a playful giggle.  And she doesn’t do bouncing, same for giggling.  

The griffon also didn’t feel like waiting for Fluttershy to come upstairs.  She needed to talk to her, now!

> Bad memory
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now Gilda was back in the basement, and this was going to be a long talk.  

Dr. Fluttershy wasn’t at her desk, insisting on sitting next to the griffon on the couch.  Not next to by way of in her chair next to, but as in on the same couch.  While the closeness was intent to help Gilda feel less shaken, it still made her nervous in a new way instead.  

Maybe an improvement on some scale, who knows?  It didn’t matter much to the griffon feeling more than a little scared either way.

“Are you ok now?”  Dr. Shy asked with concern, next to the wide eyed griffon.  “Both me and Edward were worried when we saw you faint.  Also, you were moving your beak a lot...like you were saying something.”

“I…I saw stuff,”  Gilda replied nervously, still a bit fidgety with the pony next to her.  “Guess that’s was when you and Edward realized I wasn’t all there.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”  Shy asked, putting a hoof on Gilda’s wing.  It was in easy access as the griffon wasn’t laying down.   “What you saw then?”

“It was something out of my nightmares,”  Gilda said, feeling she had drifted into a horror story and was not being particularly happy with it.  “That kind of stuff that would keep you up at night.  Sure did for me..”

“I see,”  Fluttershy said, rubbing the wing softly and no this wasn’t helping...well ok kinda...was.  “It can’t hurt you now, Gilda, you're safe here.

“Maybe I’m still in shock, I guess?”  Gilda said, getting annoyed at this scene, and pondering if she should pull her wing away.  “Maybe a few other things have come to light for me, but even I’m starting to think I lost it from this.”

“If Edward’s story was true though, you would have been....”  Gilda could guess what Shy was about to say.

“Then why are we here, talking about it?”  Gilda asked the pony as she shook her head.  “I’d be dead if that’s how it went down.”

“I know, he even told me he wasn’t able to believe it...um, and he fainted when he saw you after  he got help,”  Fluttershy added.

“Chicken wuss….”  Gilda snarked.

“Gilda…”  Fluttershy said with disappointment, but thankfully the rubbing stopped.

“Sheesh,”  Gilda grumbled back.  “I remember him stabbing me, just like Ed said  The rest...even I’m not sure on the rest.”  She shivered when she recalled the vision she saw.

“Do you think that maybe you repressed it?”  Dr. Shy asked tilting her head.  It seemed like just then, the pony’s glasses were threatening to fall off her nose, prompting her to adjust them.  “Are you able to recall anything clearly?”

“Uh…”  Even Gilda could find no good ways to say she “I may have killed more than a few ponies in a fit of rage”.  She simply sighed.  After some pondering, she just described part of it.  

“...I remember violent stuff, and I definitely remember seeing...my face….”  Gilda whispered, shaking her head and shivering again.  Having seen herself like some kind walking death, why did she remember looking like that?.

Fluttershy resumed trying to be supportive, rubbing the griffons back much to Gilda mounting annoyance.  She really considered pushing the pony away.  Anypony who would have thought she would be into soft, cuddly stuff should still be punched.  Still, despite the pony rubbing a hoof on the griffon, she did give her answers.

“Edward told me a few things, and it was...graphic,” Shy said slowly.  “And I can tell how this has caused you trama,”  Fluttershy said softly.  “I think it’s why you were in shock.”

Gilda gave the pegasus a sharp look.  “You trying to say I’m the bigger wuss?!”  she shouted.

“N-no, of course not,”  Fluttershy said as she shook her head, countering the sharp look with a serious one.  “No person should be expected to just shrug something like that off.”  she said with a firm tone

“Then what?”  Gilda asked back with a huff.  “Something bad happens to me, then it just...what?  I get to feel worse?”

“I know you want some kind of answer to it, and I wish I had one to help you through this,”  Fluttershy whispered softly.  The hoof now on the griffons neck caused her wings to stand on end by sheer awkwardness.

“Uh, how much detail did Ed give you?”  Gilda asked, very flustered and wishing to end this sympathy speak.  “And don’t touch my neck…go it?”  The pegasus let out a cough, but remover her hoof.

“He said he saw Deal attack you, then he ran for help, then...he said he heard a shriek.”  Fluttershy let out a sigh as even she was not wanting to talk too much about it.  “He said he found you, and you were alive but...catatonic.  The other ponies weren't able to get you to respond to even physical contact.  And...then there were the dead ones….”  Shy trailed off when she got to that point.  “Let’s not go there for now, ok?”

“I remember that part, just a bit of it,”  Gilda poorly hinted as she looked down.  “Even Bell…”

For a moment it was quiet.  Shy was likely thinking of a way to reassure the griffon, while Gilda was pondering how this fit into things.  

The Snark that she saw, was this in part his doing?  It had to be.  A shame she remembered his warning just some time ago.  Then again, what would she say?  That she might be dead?  Or that something was keeping her alive?  Something she knew was worse than horrible.

“So, what’s gonna happen now?”  Gilda finally asked nervously.  “What are they going to do?”

Dr. Shy looked worried, but stayed calm.  “Twilight and Celestia are trying to figure that out,”  she said.  “The princess is worried about what might be the reason for your condition.”  

Gilda was worried too, getting locked away for any reason made her uneasy.  

“But I argued that you had been ok with your treatment where you are,”  Fluttershy reassured, apparently trying to keep the griffon from sulking.  “You’ve gotten along well here!  Kinda, more or less….”  While Shy sounded like she was giving a compliment, she did remember who she was complimenting.  “Still, sending you back there would do more harm than good to you.  It doesn’t help that most ponies are in a bit of a hurry right now.”

“Hurry?”  Gilda looked a bit confused, then remembered why, slapping her face.  “Doi!”  She face clawed.  “Hearth’s Warming, I’ve been getting dragged around so much I…”

“I know,”  Fluttershy commented, pulling the griffon claw down.  “I also said that you spending it here could help also and...did you hear about and escape from Canterlot asylum?”

“A little,”  Gilda replied.  So help her if Shy asks how, then again the pony knew about the cake.

“An earth pony with ice magic escaped,”  Shy answered back.  “Now it on a state of lock-down, and I don’t want you to be put in the middle of it.”

“Uh, thanks,”  Gilda replied and rubbed her neck, unsure how to answer to the sentiment.  “I guess I’ll just try to stay out of trouble.”

Shy nodded.  “That’s good.”  While Gilda would have called it a night then, Dr. Shy had one more thing.  “Gilda?”

“Yeah?”  Gilda said as she was getting up.

“I’m...going to let you chose if you take your dream pill,”  Fluttershy said, and must have realized that sounded a bit weird seeing as she rubbed her hooves.  “I-I mean, because you’ve been worried about the effects of them on your...um... mind I think you should have a choice.”

“And if I wake up screaming?”  Gilda asked the obvious question.

“Then I can help you.”  Shy looked a bit nervous, even a bit red.  “Maybe we could share my bed, it could help…um, right?”

Gilda just blinked, then scratched her head.  “Right…”  she groaned, and left the basement promptly.

So, now here Gilda was, later still.  She wasn’t sure how much time had passed, rolling a pill in her claw, lying in bed awake.  

She was unsure which was worse, nightmares or dreams that might also be nightmares to her?  Violent horror, or kind horror?  She let out a sigh as she lay in bed.  

That’s when a tap was heard, and when she looked she then knew that was the trick.

“Hello, little bird,”  said the Snark in a low voice behind her.  While some would worry, or cry out, Gilda was quite unafraid right now.

“You again?”  she said with a huff, not even turning to face the pony.  “What do you want?”

“Another round for our...little game of amusement.”  the Snark said, trotting into view with his red smile.  “Remember?”

Gilda got up and looked him in his blackened eye coldly.  “Yeah,”  she said with anger.  “I do.”  the Snark gave a laugh.

“So, you think you figured it out, little bird?”  he already knew what she was about to say, finding it funny.  “What’s wrong?”

“You did something to me at the trip, what did you do to me?”  Gilda demanded with a snarl, the Snark looked offended.  

“Why dear, dear little bird!”  he said with a shocked voice.  “I merely helped your little heart keep beating, your mind from from becoming iner cold meat!”  He then held her beak and smiled. “The dear, dashing fellow that you owe you little bird life to!”  He tweaked her beak, leaving it sore.  “An do ya forgits it, chomma!”  He let out a giggle as Gilda held her sore beak.

“And those killings?  GIlda said, undeterred and even hateful.  “That “brain freeze”?  Heck is that for?”

“Little things,”  the Snark stated with a shrug.  “Necessary cruelty, losses.  I mean, so many ponies!  Can’t we stand to lose a few now and then?”  he chuckled.  “And that freeze?  Helps for an alibi.  Even that little silly gnome god of ponykind couldn't see the whole picture.”  He let out a playful sigh, despite the griffon seeing her torment being brushed aside.  “Don’t you just hate it?”

“So you are a windigo?”  Gilda muttered, without surprise.  “And you’re messing with me for fun?”

“Guilty and guilty!”  the Snark shouted annoyingly with glee.  “Tell her what she’s won!”  Gilda would have slapped him, provided her heart was safe to do so.  “Oh, but don’t let that stop you.  Go on,”  he added like her read her mind.

“What?”  she said, confused at the statement.

“Hit me, let it out,”  the Snark answered, pointing at his muzzle.  “It will be fun!   It will feel good for you too!”

Gilda pifft at that.  “Go hit yourself freak, I’m not interested.”  She crossed her claws.

“Are you letting that butterfly take your teeth out again?”  he mocked, flicking a claw in her direction.  “Don’t you want to chew, or did you get all gummy like that gator?”

“So?”  Gilda replied defiantly.  “She’s keeping me safe from this crud, now buzz off!”  

Then came the pain, with her on the floor clutching herself.

“See, I can take that little rhythm away from you,”  the Snark said was contempt to her agony.  
“After all, I kept it going when otherwise it would have failed.”  He knelled down to look her in the eye.  His blue teeth bared and white eyes glaring.  “And some little pony would have been eating your guts!  So, DON'T YOU DARE THINK I’LL JUST BUZZ OFF!”  he shouted.

Gilda’s heart started again, with the griffon letting out a gasp.  “Besides….”  his tone was back to that cheerful, mocking tone again as he helped her up.  “We’ve still got work to do!”

Gilda let out a cough.  “What, more breaking stuff?”  she gasped.  She took a few more breaths as the giddly pony stood there with good, if horrible humor.

“It not a matter of just breaking stuff, but what you break...and…”  he said, and gave her a cold hug, both chilling and nice.  “Do excuse my little outburst, you are not the only one with a lot on their mind.”  Gilda sighed in defeat.

“So what do you want from me?”  she asked with a grumble.  “To be some servant to you?”

“A bit,”  the Snark stated, as he went to pull the rooms window open again.  “But we have fun right?”  The griffon crossed her arms, looking away.  “While you sulk, I listen.  While you ponder all this rubbish that even those little ponies can’t give a clear answer to, who do you turn for certainty?”  There was a pause as Gilda just looked back.  “Me!  Of course!”

“Seriously?”  She shook her head in disbelief.

“Ponies will abandon, they will drive to limits they decide on arbitrary, and even won’t gave a clear answer.”  the Snark said.  “Me?  I don’t abandon my friends.”  He gestured her to the window, his smile wider, even going beyond the capacity for a normal ponies muzzle.  “Who can say hate abandoned you, Gilda?   Even when everypony else did?”  

Gilda sighed, the odd pony was right.

Then again, the Snark isn’t a normal pony.  That is to say, not a pony.  To make clear, his wingless body drifted out the open window.

“I guess nobody,”  Gilda said, annoyed at this logic.  “So what’s your two bits on Flutters and the others?  If you're so smart...”  she uttered back poorly.

“Even you worry they will neuter you, leave you weak,”  the Snark answered simply as he floated outside.  “Besides, when did you accept all that hollow niceness?  Lest you forget the lie of someone being your best friend.”

“So, where we headed?”  Gilda said in acceptance, and she headed to the window and readied her wings..

“The town, of course!”  the Snark said with glee at the griffon’s acceptance.  “And if you are a good little bird, we can get through tonight with no pony the wiser.  It’s one big step to helping you with that one problem that never goes away in your mind.”  He paused, his blue eyes looking into her.  “And you know what that problem is, right?”

Gilda looked down and sighed.  “Let’s go, we got some things to wreck.”

“There’s a good sport,”  he chuckled.

> Bad habbits
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gilda was flying in the air outside again.  From above, she could see the lights were off across Ponyville.   All the little ponies were snoozing.  Good for her at least, less trouble and less guilt,  and the last thing she needed was getting caught.

“Now I was thinking…”  the Snark began in her head.  “We’d try the town square, eh?  Make the mess less able to ignore and what not?  Hm?”  Gilda piffed and went for a landing, just going through the motions for now.  

The square was bright despite the indoor lights being out.  With festive banners hanging above it, and a bright tree overlooking it as well.  Ornaments hanging here and there and the festive tables were out, with clear evidence ponies flocked there some hours ago.  You could get the feeling of mirth and joy, and a bit of a holiday spirit too from the image.  

If only one was in the mood for it, and if the party didn’t go on without you.  Gilda kicked some snow up at that thought.  To her, it was another joke at her expense.  The ponies were happier without her as usual.

“That’s it, get in the spirit of it,”  the Snark said, proud of her scowl.  But it just made her more annoyed.  “You can only carve your joy out of the wreckage of your enemies, it’s how it works for the unwanted.”

“Oh shut up,”  Gilda replied, shaking her head.  “Just tell me what you want me to do, alright?”

“Aw, are the pretty ponies making you tired?”  He ate a snowball for that, the white dust impacted and vanished into his body.  He then responded with a chuckle.  “Hee, hee!  They would, always mouthy on lessons that go nowhere for you.  Seeing as you didn’t matter to them anyway, but still…”  

The Snark sat himself at one of the tables, putting his legs up as he spoke.  “We just need to leave a huge mess here.  Nothing too fancy, maybe even make it look like an accident, but whose is the question they’ll wonder?”

“Ok,”  Gilda replied, leaning on the table with her back, not looking away from her spectral tormenter.  “You got an idea or what?”

“Well, it not too hard,”  the Snark shrugged with mirth.  He did notice Gilda was still looking for him to expand on it.  “I mean, not to hard for someone with with some vision.  See that ice statue over yonder?”  He pointed a hoof that ended with a talon point.

“Hard not to miss it,”  Gilda replied, seeing what was likely the image of a alicorn from ice.  Smooth, elegant, and in dire need of a nasty chipping she found herself thinking.

“Lots of work goes into that, just like that steam carriage some local made not to far from it,” the Snark continued.

“How much you got this planned out?”  Gilda said with dull surprise.

“I can see through their eyes you know, here and there from time to time,”  he replied, and Gilda felt worried about that concept, he noticed.  Not with usual glee, but more somber.  “Oh, oh don’t worry my little bird dear!  I might only see what they see at times, but I’ll always have eyes for you and vice versa.”  She cringed at that thought.

“But enough on day dreams, we got business to attend,”  the Snark continued, hopping up from his seat.  “They got more fireworks, locked away near the festive grounds.  Major hazard if the kids got into them!  And that steam carriage is just waiting to move forward into that ice sculpture.  That tree isn’t aflame yet…”

“That all?”  Gilda stated, with some humor.  Crazy, sure.  But this idea was sounding like fun for once, despite the situation anyway.  She found herself smiling even.

“Well…”  the Snark flew and ran to the tree.  “You could use a big stick.”  A whole branch came off, with his tail taking a razor-like slice through the wood.  “Still got that hand to eye thing down, Eagle Scout girl?”  He threw it over to her.

“Shut up,”  1st striker Gilda answered, catching the stick with ease.  “Those girls were dorks from grade school.”

“But that branch, now, will break down the other festive stuffs they have dangling about,”  the Snark giggled back.  “Now we just need a plan for these tables.”  He looked to the griffon.  “You got anything?”

“Maybe…”  Gilda said and pondered on that, then smirked.  “Have the tree...fall on them?  Could work.  If it’s on fire, it will light em up after it crashes down on top of em.”

“You're a nutter G, I love it!”  the Snark said with enjoyment.  “That’s the way little bird!”

“You realize…”  she was about to ask.

“Sound, yes.”  the Snark sighed, he stopped it excitement for a moment, holding his muzzle as he thought.  “Hmmm, we just light a few fuses, those fireworks will cover you nicely...and the crashing ice sculpture...”  

“Fireworks and that steam engine,”  Gilda repeated the plan in summary.  “Then it’s smash and fly?  That it?”

“And be home for a good, long laugh,”  the Snark finished with glee.  “Take the ponies down a peg by removing the things they enjoy, but clearly you can’t.  What do ya say, G?”  He finished with a grin.

“Where’s the stuff at?”  Gilda snarked back.

“Walk this way.”  With that, “The Snark” trotted, lept, and cartwheeled away.  Gilda just followed with a claw on her head.  The Snark would just keeps being grating, even when she’s working with him.

The steam carriage was in an open shed and, with some elbow grease, it was now poised to run forth into the ice alicorn.  Then it came the fireworks, sitting out in the open, with nothing but a tarp and a “Keep out, this means you CMC!”  sign to keep it defended.  

Ok, a chain lock too.  But a quick talon did away with that.

“They got rockets!”  Gilda said with a look of joy.  “Even the multi bottle rocket ones!  Sweet!”  She hadn't seen things like these in years, and giggled with glee on how big she recalled they blew up.

“I know, it like several celebrations, an attack item, and a good fire disaster all in one,”  the Snark said as he gleefully examined one as well with his cool claws.  “Just like the old rocket racing karts, oh time does fly...”

While the story about rocket carts sounded like fun, it was a story for another day. They carried them back to the square.  The fuses were ready.  But what next?

“Rockets hit the tree…”  Gilda began as she conceptualized.  Looking past her claws at the scene in front of her.

“...cart with it’s engine running moves forward, get a good speed…”  the Snark conceptualized next to her.

“That banner might fall with the tree, but only if it’s tall enough.”  she added.

“Still gets knocked down, still lights up with the tables.  A fine burn for them I’d say.”  he chimed back.

“Kay,”  Gilda continued, lowering her claws.  “Now, how we going to smash the other hanging stuff?  That can be tricky...”

“Be fleet of wing little bird,”  the Snark answered with assurance, looking with a kind look.  “With the crashing and smashing and blasting, several quick whacks will be missed.  And so will you, if you take to the rooftops.  Then you fly away, with the ponies staring down at those flames.  Easy, huh?”

“Sounds like it,”  Gilda agreed with a big talon up.  “I cool with it.”

“Ain’t it great?”  the Snark said proudly as the griffon set it up.  “Back to your old, confident, self.  Not afraid, not sad, you're the bird they cannot change!” He hummed a bit, drifting along side her as she walked back to the steam cart.  “I’m so happy to see you got better.”  He paused  “And breaking things too, mind you.  But, boy!”  he laughed.

“Don’t ruin this,”  Gilda deadpanned, annoyed with his incessant glee.  “Do you ever shut up?”.

“Then let’s get that engine running,”  he replied with a giggle.  “That will shut me up.”

The multi rocket was in place to hit the tree, with the other bits around the tables.  That steam engine was prepped and ready to go.  Gilda lit the fuse and the carriage lurched, it’s engine sound giving a dull rumble as it moved forward to its date with the pretty ice alicorn.  All while the  fire on the rocket burned closer to blast off.

She was back in the square, in the air.  Gilda beat the club against her claw, ready to break more.  Her and the Snark were smiling, eager to see the show they had made.  Oh, this was going to be good.

The rockets fired off first.  After a second of being one rocket, they became eight.  The tree didn’t stand a chance and burst into flames with several loud bangs.  Several fast detonations and the thing fell to explosive lumber jacking.  True to form, it came down on the festive tables.  That was the signal.

In a quick dash, Gilda smashed the hanging stuffs and ornaments.  The banner wishing a happy holiday fell into the flames, as did several cheap balls and stars.  She was in the zone again.  Able to clear this square in 10 seconds flat.  Even with the weather picking up with sudden winds.

“I’m glad we can be on such good terms now.”  She could “The Snark” hear over it.  “After all, I am a friend that will never leave you,”  his words were ruining it.  “We get along like two peas in a pod, two…”  She batted a star made of plastic at him, which he ducked.  “...well actions speak better,”  he stuffed it then with a sheepish look.

Sure enough, lights were coming on with the lough crashes and blasts.  The town ponies were spooked, and would get around to looking outside soon.  Gilda was up on the roofs quick to enjoy the view of the disaster of Hearths Warming Eve.  

Best part, she got a good view to see that crash.  The little steam cart that could, made by somepony as part of a long term project, was now reduced to a clunky missile as its full speed hit the target.

The blow was enough to bring the sculpture on to it, causing limbs and wings to break off the sides.  Gilda was about to laugh, but then it blew up...

Metal, a shock wave, and more fire launched forth.  Even she had to wonder how she didn’t fall over when the house she stood on shook from the blast.

“Dude…”  she said wide eyed in awe.  “How the…”  

The whole steam thing was scrapped.  More fires, windows were blown out in the square, and the locals weren't just yelling now--they started screaming in terror, with more than a few crying for help.

“And that ice just went and punctured that tank,”  the Snark said next to her, nodding and seeing the clear humor in the picture they saw.  “Hot and cold just don’t mix well, hm?”  

Gilda just looked on at the site of the punchline of that joke.  Ponies below ran about all in a panic, some trying to put those fires out.  Fear, noise, anger, all from below.  It was uncomfortable, but it was kind of cool.  For a race on top of everything since forever, they were losing it fast.  All a bunch of hot air...

“And to think, all you had to do was give up on these ponies,”  the Snark said smugly.  “Aren’t we glad?”  She didn’t answer him.  “At last, Gilda was happy again.”  Sometimes, she kind of was.  “You can truly see what’s really funny when only you get to laugh at it now.”

“Why…”  Gilda said, and was doing her best not to enjoy that laugh.  

A few would be mortified on what she just did, even if others expected it fully.  Dr. Shy being among them, the same pony that kept trying to make her a softy.  The mental, softy pegasus that had been trying, and kind of failing, to keep the griffon form just agreeing with her dad that ponies would be better seen packaged in tin cans.

Then again, this was the most power she’s had over her life since she had given it up to sulk alone.  Ponyville’s power over her and her emotional state felt weakened as it trembled at her actions.  She just did that, and after all she felt dragged through, those results were something that gave part of her a smile.  

Even with another part of her demanding of  she answer to it.

“...is this fun?”  Gilda finally said stoically, unable to be sure how to feel.

She flew off, back to Fluttershy’s home leaving the mess behind her for someone else to clean up.  The weather only got worse as she was leaving, threatening a small blizzard to come.  It might help with the fires, or cover her escape at least.

“Aw, now you’re down again,”  the Snark said, disappointed in her head.  

She kind of was disappointed, that’s for sure.

> Escapism
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gilda snuck in through the same window.  No one the wiser, but letting out a sigh she sat down on the floor.  She felt like a monster for what she did, no matter how much she just wanted to ruin Ponyville’s day.

“Having doubts, little bird?”  the Snark said, already next to her, and not even needing to use the window.  “Hm?  Letting those little things hold you down?”

“This feels nuts,”  Gilda replied, still stoic.  She still couldn't figure how she should feel with what she had done.

“What kind?”  the Snark purposely missed the point.  “Peanuts?  Walnuts?”

“We coulda killed somepony!”  she shouted back, angry at the white cloud pony.  “What the heck's up with you?”

“But it was in good fun,”  the Snark defended calmly.  “Why put such value in others’ lives?  What did they ever do for you?”  He looked coy to her anger.  “I mean, they did make you their monster first...”

“Don’t mean I want them dead...maybe….”  Gilda looked away, back to that nervous uncertainty.  

That town had something coming to it, she felt that clearly.  Then again some ponies were trying.  Then again, again, most ponies were just as happy to see her rot alone.  That logic train was starting to hurt again and all she could do was hold her head.

“Do you really think they think this hard?”  the Snark said clearly.  “For a freak like you?”

“Shut up!”  Gilda yelled back.

“They drove you to that point, little bird,”  the Snark said, notably without that humor of his.  “Don’t you forget!”  She looked at him with a cold look.  “You remember it, I know you do.”  She did, Gilda couldn't help but chatter her teeth at it.  “It never leaves you, so live with it!”

“I still didn’t want this!”  Gilda defended back.  “Why would I just opt to just be a monster?”

“Really?”  said The Snark, unconvinced.  “I’m in you head, and I look in there too.  Now, why won’t you admit how much you wanted to take from your old best friend, hm?”  The griffon looked on tensely.  “As much as you could, leaving nothing but a ghost story of horror behind?”  Gilda didn’t have an answer, she just looked down to the floor.  “Hint: more than 5.”  he clarified.  

“Shut up,”  Gilda weakly demanded.  She couldn't fight back against this as she held her claw in some shame.

“And now you feel sad,”  the Snark added.  “Because of that nothing of a pony you talk to, that you allow to lead you around like her little frightened child.  Always promising to repair what she tells you are clearly broken, because she believes so.  And you hated her for it.”

“Bite me,”  Gilda growled.

“Oh, I do that a lot,”  the Snark’s odd humor came back for a bit, briefly licking his lips.  “But with all they took from you, hate was all you had.  That fire kept you warm at night, and with me, alive.”  The griffon let out a sigh.  “And all that pony will do is remind you of the walls around you, like an apologetic failure.”

“So what?”  Gilda said, looking down.  If it wasn’t anger, it was despair she felt.  “We just keep mulling this over?  I got fragging years of this crud on me...”  she shivered as she spoke.

“We play, we have fun,” the Snark said, now next to her.  He lifted a soft claw to her chin, raising her head to see his soft face.  “We teach a race of know-it-alls what happens when you push some bird too far and they won’t take it anymore.  No more excuses, no more lies.”  Gilda was more than a bit nervous as he looked at her with black eyes as his tone became raspy as his new voice.  

“The time will come, when what they think they know will be proven wrong, and the suffering we all feel inside will be known in the ravaging of their people.”  His eyes changed back to blue, and his tone much smoother.  “It’s why we’re friends after all.  Good friends!”  he said smiling at her.

“And if I don’t like this divine retribution crud you're selling?”  Gilda said when she found her voice, her tone hoping it was firm enough.

“And just let some flutter-pony take what power you have away again?”  the Snark cackled at the griffons attempt to counter.  “No, you know they would rather die first than admit and fix the faults they say are on you.  And while they keep refusing to fix their own.”

“And if I take that bet?”  Gilda challenged, pulling his claw away from her.  “I’m sick and tired of this crud…and if all you got my heart, you can keep it when I’m dead.”

“Aw, don’t get angsty,”  he said. “Get even,”  the Snark retorted, waving on of his wispy talons.  “It’s the best goal where you are in life!”

“I don’t want to play this game,”  Gilda said as she got up, getting as much distance between her and the Snark as she could.  

“What’s harder, G?”  the Snark asked with blackened teeth in a grin.  “Admitting to your hate of ponies, or to hating yourself?  Because they both are why you would tempt death like this, like a failure to her own idea of bravery.”  Gilda clenched a claw.  “Oh, yes,”  he continued.  “You became a decayed griffon, just like he dreaded.”

Apparently, that hit the right button.  Gilda wrapped her claws around the Snark’s neck, hoisting him up and pinning him to the bed.  All the while he laughed at her rage.

“You’re just sad you couldn't be powerful like dad was,”  Gilda hit him as he mocked.  “He prized you to fill in those footsteps, strong and mighty, not a wimp!  You're just like his lousy son!”

Pow!  

“And you did so well, until…”  he continued.

Socko!  

“Tigers!”  he cackled.  “They scared you little feathers off!  So you ran to be a flight champion!  Less tigers here, HUH?”

Whack! 

“So scared of dying before meeting that glory you desired, you fled from death like a little chicken.”  he wouldn't stop.

Bagdoon!  

“Just like that dumb brother who ran off to seek a wusses fortune!”  he said with a smile.  “Raging on you smallness in fear, LIKE A BOSS!”

With a roar, Gilda threw him across the room, slamming him into a wall.  The Snark didn’t seem too bothered by all the impacts he had taken.  His face looked messed up, with bits of blue seeping from the many dents.  But no bruise blemished his white features, nor was the smile on his face disturbed.  He loved all of this.

“I think it’s about time we took this to bed…”  the Snark answered Gilda’s new look of fear.  “I’ll forgive, and you can…”  

She knew what was coming, and as fast as she could, she bolted for the bedroom door.  Gilda slammed it closed behind her in the hallway as she looked at her options.  

Running, calling Fluttershy, maybe just trembling there.  Why did it have to be three?

“My little bird,”  the Snark said in a sing song voice, now down the hall, next to Fluttershy’s door.  “Do you really just want to cuddle with a mare now?  For shame!  What would they say?”

Gilda tore like heck, the Snark behind her.  She knew she couldn't hide, not physically anyway, not if he was in her head.  The best she could think of was running from the bloodied pony and then do her best not to think of it.  If what Shy and snake boy said made sense, the less she can think she can see him the less he could.

From downstairs, to the kitchen, to the basement.  Maybe she could hide in the dark?  

She tried her best to not imagine him following her, believing this might help.  If what she knew was still true about those things on the other side was, the less she thought about it the safer she was as well.  The griffon kept repeating this mentally, quite panicked.

But to be fair, this is close to impossible when you panic.  Please note, thinking about not thinking about it is a bit--thinking about it.   Funny that.

The Snark just kept calling after her.  “Come on!”  he sarcastically reassured the frightful griffon.  “Don’t be like that, it’s for your own good after all!  And those ponies could do worse...much worse you know!”  

She passed through the kitchen as he called, opening the basement door, and went down the stairs into darkness a terrified blur.  

“Bak-bak-bak-bak, chicken,”  the Snark continued.  “Little chicken.  Like a little chicken running from a real alpha predator.  A saber tiger maybe?”

She made sure the lights were off, and hid under the desk.  Sure, her limited dark vision was a wrinkle in her plan, but that’s why she closed her eyes.  “You’re not here,”  she said to herself. “I’m not hearing you.  I’m just thinking about….”

“What if I pulled wings off a fly-shy?”  Gilda felt a jolt when the Snark said that.  “Oh, good to have your attention!  Like I could, but it’s a nice thought.  Sure, I’m not there, but I am for you!”  She could hear his hoofsteps going down the stairs slowly as he hummed a simple, playful tune.  

“You’ll wake up again, don’t worry,”  he added in a mock reassuring voice.  “Just a matter that simple numbness, you understand right?  You’ll live!”  He had a laugh.  “You’ll always live!”

Gilda, however, did not like waking up numb.  Just the thought of that “brain freeze” made her tremble at the memory of her eyes white and body weak in bed.  Her breathing quickened as she got frantic, digging into the desk drawers, hoping for something to help.  

Some papers, some books, but that bottle she recognized.  He eyes lit up with it’s contents when she opened it.  It was full of those pills for dreams!  She popped one into her mouth.

“Let’s see you smile now,”  Gilda said with the bitter pill in her mouth.

“Why?”  To her cockiness, she got out of hiding behind the desk seeing the Snark on the other side of it.  “You really think that will work?”  he said, and she responded by swallowing the pill dry.  “Oh no.”  the Snark dead panned with mock shock.  “How unexpected…”

While Gilda would have been content to close her eyes and wait it out, the Snark wasn’t letting her off that easy.  She felt cold claws grab her sides.  

“You think your little dreams will stop me?”  the Snark yelled, cold breath was hitting her face.  “Did we forget where you go before you dream?  Eh, little bird?”  

It was then Gilda realized she just messed up again.  Even though she couldn't see it, she could feel those icy claws melting into her body, forming around her like a cold sludge.

Gotta think!  Gilda thought, trying to shake herself free with panic racing faster and keeping her eyes shut.  “How do I get out of this?  There has got to be a way…!”

“You can’t ignore me forever,”  the Snark said playfully.  

He was right.  She could feel that chill covering her entire form, her bones, her organs, chilling like ice inside her body.  It hurt, and that slime was now closing on her neck, slowly reaching for her head.  She was going to drown in it.

Gilda decided to face him, being one of her dumber moves she could imagine.  It didn’t matter, she figured she was lost.  She opened her eyes and that beyond was there, that void surrounding into infinity.  

So was that mass that had engulfed her.  Glowing eyes, like bits of ice, seemed to drift in “The Snark” creature’s body as she could see the parts of her own already trapped in him.  

“Get off me!”  she yelled as she struggled.  It was then she realized that he wasn’t moving.  He had stopped, the burning chill was now caressing her neck as she felt a growing reason to gag fill her guts from how ill it made her feel.

“Did you really think I was gonna?”  said a distorted voice burning in her head.  “You just took a step out of my day!  Not only are you beneath suspicion, but now have a lot to explain when you wake.  It hilarious!”  The Snark’s laughter scratched her skin.  “Just look at your face!”

“T-then what are…”  Despite the warped humor in it, Gilda was still in some shock.

“Go on!”  he said loudly, his pseudo form letting go of her.  The icy mass of slime pulling away from her body, leading to a rush of sensation that likely would have made her puke otherwise.  “Dream you pissant little dream, cry at it, let yourself feel broken again.  But when you wake…”  
His laughter echoed in her head as her body trembled at the memory of the still consuming chill,  even as her body warmed.

Gilda was left to drift again, helpless and unable to move.  On the bright side, she wasn’t worth killing, and that fact made her skin crawl and blood boil.  She really was worthless to anyone.

She could see more of them, the other windigos and other strange shapes that wandered around her, just watching as she drifted by.  Cold eyes and cold forms that followed her slow movement with disinterest.

Not an action, just open contempt, or so she thought in her mind.  The blowing sound of dry leaves was all she could hear now.  Even the Snark seemed far away and she felt more alone from it.

She didn’t feel like feeling anything when the light shifted.

> The best possible outcome?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gilda was still as she let her eyes adjust to what was in front of her, not even blinking as it became apparent what she saw.  It was a tv set in a living room she was looking at.  She felt like she was sitting on a couch, with a blanket over her and next to someone.  

Taking a look, she saw Rainbow Dash still snoozing next to her.  The cyan pegasus was oblivious to the still shaken griffon.  They had apparently dozed off watching something some time ago.  

The griffon let out a sigh as she got up, though being nice enough to leave Dash asleep with covers.  She wanted to humor she had woke up from a nightmare, that things were great, but she knew better.  The best she could do now was try to shake off the coldness she felt all over and in her body.

“So, what’s the story here then?”  Gilda whispered to herself, still uneasy.  

It looked like Fluttershy’s place, but the yellow pegasus never had a TV before.  At least, last she knew of anyway.  She heard a sound from the kitchen, and that’s where she found Flutters cleaning a few things.  

“Hey, Fluttershy,”  Gilda said in a low voice.

“Ah, Gilda!”  Fluttershy said in surprise, only then realizing her voice was a bit high and going back to a whisper herself.  “I didn’t know you were awake.  I was about to go to bed myself.”

“Yeah, neither did I…”  Gilda said with slight disinterest.  “What was I doing here again?”  She figured she may as well know that story she was now in.

But Fluttershy looked obviously dumbfounded by that question.  “You invited Dash to watch a few movies, remember?”  she replied.  “Are you feeling ok?”

“So when did she forgive me?”  Gilda asked.  Dream as it was, she just wrote her own script to it, much to the confusion of the actors.  

Now, the shy pegasus looked more confused, even worried.  “Forgive what, Gilda?”  she asked back.

“That party way back when?”  Gilda clarified.  “Ya know?  The one where I blew up at Dash, got real angry?”  The yellow pegasus looked like she needed to think, but then realized what was being asked.

“Oh, that party...”  Shy said with a happy voice and a nod.  “I know you yelled at her, and she yelled back, and well…”  She rubbed her hooves with anxiety, causing the griffon’s eye brow to rise.  “We all learned something about each other after you managed to calm down.”

“Eh?”  Gilda added.  “Then why...?”  As she tried to figure out what to how ask next, the pegasus pony continued.

“I know it’s all a surprise things went so well back then, despite both of your tempers.”  Fluttershy said with a delighted smile.  “Before the end of the day, we were all friends then.  You even moved in after….”  Gilda could see a light  blush on the pony, with her now feeling more than a little afraid to ask why.  “You’ve been staying here for a while now...but it’s fine, I don’t mind.  You're welcome to stay here!”  she said as she smiled warmly.

“Yeah…”  Gilda added and rubbed her neck, not wishing for more details.  That blush, that fidget, more questions came to her that she didn’t want to know the answers to.  So in the end she just got some distance from it.  “I’m...just going to go my room now.”

Fluttershy nodded back.  “Ok, good night Gilda,”  she said with a smile and a wave.

So Gilda went back upstairs to the guest room, weighing what she had been told in her mind.  

On one hand, she was still stuck in Ponyville again.  On the other, her and Dash were still best friends, like they never stopped it seemed.  It still was just a dream anyway though, pure fantasy.

But, it was when she opened the door to the guest room that she saw the thing which made her worried to question what kind of dream she was seeing.

“No way!”  she mouthed in a low voice, not wanting to cause much noise.  

There was a small crib next to the bed in the room.  In silence, the griffon walked closer to it without blinking.  A little griffon lay there under its covers there.  Little claws, little beak, the little thing slept with a notable snore.  It could be either cute or annoying.

But then Gilda found the real shocker to everything.  A leg was out from under those covers.  Instead of a paw there was a hoof.  A baby hippogriff lay asleep next to her bed with more than a little pink hair on its head.  

Now, the griffon recalled the extent of the hippogriff myth and only felt more awe.  At least before it became facts that made her nervous as to it’s parents.

That bit of pink was causing her to ask those questions she didn’t want to know the answers too, lest she go to gibbering madness.  Namely how it got there, it had to come from a mare and a griffon after all.  

She just simply sat down on her bed and let out another low groan.  It was quiet for a moment, with the little hippogriffs breath being the only sound in the room.

But it was then Gilda felt a tug on her paw, coming from under the bed, this being weird as her paws were on top of it.  It made no sense, but she knew who it was nearby.

“What is it, Pinkie?”  Gilda said stoically, not even looking.

“Psst!”  Asked the pink intruder, Pinkie Pie from under the bed.  She did not notice the griffons weariness, it seemed.  “Hey, Gilda?  Are you up for a late night snack and a chat?”

“Maybe,”  the out of it Gilda replied without much energy.  “Kid’s asleep, I guess.”  If it weren't for doubt, she might have been in awe still of what was in the crib.

“Then come on, let’s get to the kitchen,”  Pinkie whispered back.  With that a pink hoof gestured from under the bed.  

The griffon let out a sigh and went under it as well.  Crawling her way to a kitchen doorway somewhere else.  

“I’m glad you came over!”  Pinkie Pie said with her usual giddiness, as though the traversing was nothing.  “You know, we should talk about him too!  It’s kind of a funny story!”

“Who’s the lucky mare?”  Gilda said with a still stoic tone, feeling she may as well ask.

“Me silly!”  Pinkie said with a bounce, even having a playful blush.  “You wondered if it could work out, and it did, and you thought the name Gwendolyn was a funny name for a boy, and…”

Gilda was feeling something similar to something nightmarish.  The kind where her skin crawls and she felt things could not get lower.

“How…?”  she wished she didn’t ask, it just came out of her beak.

“Well, when a mare loves a griffon, and the mare has this BFF that know all this magic stuff.  She makes the griffon that potion and….”  Pinkie said before Gilda covered her mouth to stop the rest of the story.  The rest of it wrote itself in the girl griffon’s mind

“No, I’m fine thanks!”  Gilda said loudly with a tense smile as the feeling of madness came in.  “No more for me, I’m the driver and...o-o-ooh no-o-o-o!”  She darkly chuckled as she felt sanity leave.

She kept that look as she let go of the pony, doing her best not to tremble as she felt her mind fall apart.  Thankfully, even strangely, the pink pony knew what to do then.  She splashed water on the crazed griffon.  As Gilda spat fluid from her beak, the pony got a cloth to help dry her off.

“Ok, now you’re wet and and hysterical.”  Pinkie added as she hoofed the cloth over.  “Kind of a upgrade.”  Despite the joke of it, she at least looked sympathetic as the griffon dried herself off.  “Just a suggestion!  It’s kinda scary when you get like this.”

“I’m fine, thanks,”  Gilda said offhandedly with some bitterness.  “Just glad this is a dream I’m having.  This is nuts!”

“I know!”  Pinkie said without any irony.  “I’m not even sure Twilight even has magic like that!”  She then looked ponderous.  “I mean, maybe she could!”  she added with a hopeful smile.  “And Gwendolyn is a nice name so….”  Gilda was out of her first shock and into a new one.  At least a shock that wasn’t her having a child with this mare, one less horrific.

“Wait!”  Gilda said as she stared on.  “You know it’s a dream?!”  She pointed a claw as her beak just seemed to drop.

“Sure!”  Pinkie said, not quite picking up on the surprise the griffon was feeling.  “I guess I could see why it’s all a blow to you, we never got to first base even!”  Gilda just gagged at that.  “Would it help if we just held hands?”  More gagging came.  “I mean, it’s a shock to find I laid an egg that big, huh?”  Gilda wanted to reltch then.  As a result, Pinkie looked a little guilty at her prodding.  “I’m sorry, I’ll stop now,”  she finished with much less humor.

While the pink pony did have good intentions when she offered a hoof to stop Gilda from falling down further, it was slapped away.  She looked at the griffon with a sad expression as Gilda took a few deep breaths.

“Just give me a moment, alright?”  she said as she held her chest for a moment.  “And get back.”  The pony nodded and let Gilda catch her breath, not even bouncing around for a moment.  “So much no….”  she added in a low, desperate tone.

“And yet…” Pinkie said, her voice trying to cut into the griffon groaning with some lightness.  “You know someone would like to see it.”  The griffon went back to looking sick again.  “Sorry, sorry!”  She waved her hooves quickly as Gilda looked like she might collapse.  “How about that snack?  I’ve got cookies, cakes, and larger cakes.”  

While Pinkie Pie was back to her usual enthusiasm, Gilda was still crestfallen, even as the mare’s hoof gestured to the amount of tasty snacks.

“I think I lost my appetite forever….”  Gilda replied sadly.

“But forever is a long time!”  Pinkie stated with a moan, causing Gilda to faceclaw.  “Besides, it’s a dream.  And it’s not that scary even.”

“Who’s dream?”  Gilda asked, but knew the answer.

“Exactly!”  Pinkie replied, and there it was.

“Ask a stupid question….”  Gilda grumbled as she held her head.  “Also, IF this is our kid why am I at Fluttershy house?”

“Well, one I’m kinda sharing a home with the other Cakes,”  Pinkie listed happily. “Two, I’m already helping the Cakes with their foals at home.  Three, Fluttershy is more than happy to let you and him stay.  Four…..”  She paused for a moment, then letting out a giggle.  “I don’t have a four.”

“Kindness and all that?”  Gilda shrugged as she asked.  “Because she likes animals and stuff?”

“And she’s around a dragon, a phoenix, and a hippogriff,”  Pinkie beamed as she spoke.  “It’s like, the coolest animals to be around!”

“Right…”  Gilda rolled her eyes, as she excused herself from the scene.  “I going to kill time till I wake up….”

“Wait!”  Pinkie shouted, zipping in front of the griffon.  “Think of the children, er child.”  While that pause was funny, the griffon wasn’t having it.

“He’ll be gone when I wake up,”  Gilda replied, exhausted.  “Besides, he’s asleep.”

“Have you checked the children?”  Pinkie said with an ominous look in her eyes.  At first Gilda looked unnerved, then she played with it.

“No, the real question is, have you checked the children?”  she said with mock seriousness and a scary voice.

“OMIGOSH!”  Pinkie yelped and ran from the kitchen, she could be heard running up the stairs.  Gilda felt clever for a moment at how she managed that.  “They're fine!”  she added, her voice coming from behind the griffon.  “They’re sleeping soundly too!”

Gilda looked aside, nearly chuckling, if a bit dry.  “What kept her?”  she said to no one as she turned around..

“Hey, I’ve keep wondering…”  Pinkie said trotting around Gilda with a serious look.  “How come you’ve been able to be so…”

“Used to this crazy stuff?”  Gilda shrugged.

“Yeah!”  Pinkie said with a nod.  “How’d you keep doing that?”

“I really stopped following logic a while ago,”  Gilda said like it was nothing.  “I’m not even letting it faze me.”

“Is it more fun that way?”  Pinkie tilted her head as she asked.

“Meh,”  GIlda replied with disinterest.  “Just another thing.”

“Are you like that king?”  Pinkie started another aside.  “The one who was so focused on knowing everything, that he did all a sudden?  Can you call a coin flip too?”

“Nah, I just gave up,”  Gilda answered with a sigh.  “Things happen, I’m there, I don’t care.  I should really stop caring about this stuff or I’ll go nuts.”

”But you do care, Gilda!!”  Pinkie said with due seriousness.

“Also, this going place to place...thing you do?”  Gilda said pointing a talon.  “I think I was doing that when I got some bootlegged green fae.”

“Green fae?”  “Pinkie asked with curiosity.

“I thought I was the dread dragon, Gildiss,”  Gilda recalled with some humor.  “Burninating losers and villages, and crushing dorks under my iron tail.”  Now it was Pinkies turn to look weirded out.  “I forget the rest, but it was awesome.  I remember it ended with me waking up on a boat, with this sea pony yelling at me.”  The pony chuckled as the griffon shrugged.  “Somehow, I was in a bag of hot spices with my beak on fire.  I wasn’t even near water...”

“Did you swore it off then?”  said the delighted Pinkie.

“Yep.”  Gilda replied tensely.  “Had enough problems with figuring where I was without finding myself on the other side of Equestria from where I started.”  

“Maybe you just flew really fast?”  Pinkie asked, trying to get past the guarded griffon.  “Unless quantum linear superposition made sense to you...”

“Yeah!”  Gilda snapped a talon at that.  “That’s what he called it,”  she continued with a spark of insight.  “When this talking gumball machine told me about realigning my point of origin in visible space and…”  She then held and shook her head then as the pink pony enjoyed a laugh while Gilda groaned.  “Talking gumball machine…”  Gilda began, cracking up herself at her own story.

“It’s just physics, Gilda!”  Pinkie giggled.  “No biggy, it’s simple.  It’s all about knowing time is just a factor, rather than a immutable forward progression.”

“Gotta wonder what other things I was talking to…”  Gilda laughed to herself.  “Pretty sure I argued with a road sign about me yielding to it in my imaginary rampage.”

It was then Pinkie looked worried, started having some of those twitches again with--was that chirping Gilda heard?  The pony looked back to the griffon with that worried look.  

“Gwendolyn’s crying!”  she said with excited terror, holding her face with her hooves.  “We got to get back to him!”  She fled from the room, as Gilda shook her head and went after.

“Still don’t know how this works though….”  With that Gilda went from the doorway to the store front to the guest room at Fluttershy’s home again, where Gwendolyn was indeed crying.  

Pinkie Pie was in the process of calming him down, rocking the little creature as she sat on the bed.  Then she stuck her tongue out, causing it to giggle back to it’s mother.  

“Why is his name Gwendolyn anyway?”  Gilda asked as she watched this strangeness.  “Just kinda wondering…”

“What cha mean, Gilda?”  Pinkie stated coyly.  “Besides, didn’t you say you didn’t care anymore?”

“Uh, that’s a girls name for one?”  Gilda replied back, feeling a bit awkward.  “Plus, I don’t care because it’s not real to me, alright?”

“Well, I think it’s a good name for a griffon called G, don’t you?”  Pinkie replied as she rocked the little baby hippogriff.  “Like a secret agent name, ya know?  The last thing anyone would expect.”  Pinkie’s answer caused Gilda a moan in annoyance.  “Well, someone thought it was funny,”  she said quietly.  While the griffon could just continue to stand there, the pink pony gestured her over.

“You...aren’t expecting me to hold him, are you?”  Gilda asked as she walked over cautiously.

“Nah,”  Pinkie said softly.  “Just figured you’d like to talk.”

“Why?”  Gilda asked back.  While she felt things were strange enough for her, things just suddenly got somber.

“Did you ever think that “don’t care” attitude is how you defend yourself in life?”  Pinkie asked as the griffon sat down on the floor nearby.

“Ok, so why do you care so much?”  Gilda rolled her eyes.  “Seeing as you know this stuff...”

“Well, he so cudlie for one!”  Pinkie said as she nuzzled the little hippogriff in her arms, resulting in it cooing softly.  “And….”  She turned back to Gilda with a soft, but serious look. “Do you think that whole ‘Don’t care’ thing is a simple matter of deciding to be a, unscrupulous rebel?”  she asked.  “Like, when you don’t even think about tomorrow, for you or anyone, you can’t lose anything?  So you just stay all huffy, telling others to bite you?”  

All that delivered to the griffon as she rocked the little one gently, not even raising her voice.  Gilda looked a bit shocked at the sudden serious tone, but got over it.  She just shook her head.  

“When did you become Dr. Fluttershy?”  she asked with a bit of a chuckle.

“Well, someone has to be the mother here,”  Pinkie said with some humor.

“Right….”  Gilda looked aside as she tapped her talon.  “And Dash in this...dream thing?  Do you know about that?”

“You want to know why you two never stopped being friends, right?”  Pinkie Pie replied knowingly.

“Yeah, that would have been handy,”  Gilda added with a sad sigh.  “It’s probably stupid anyway…”  she mumbled.

“I think Twilight and me stepped in,”  Pinkie explained as the griffon listened.  “After Dash let you have it, Twilight asked why you were friends in the first place...maybe that was it?”  While Gilda looked a bit ponderous, the pony continued.  “Then you said some stuff, then she said more stuff.  Then she asked you admit to your faults if Rainbow Dash could admit hers.  I guess we could forgive you if you forgave her.”  

Gilda raised an eyebrow at this as the pony smiled.  “Then I guess you worked past those jerk moments, even got nicer too!”  she added.  “I guess me, you, and Dash hanged out a lot...and then more stuff came from it.”

“Stuff I don’t want to know,”  Gilda added with a shudder, still tapping her talon.  “That stuffs going to haunt me…”

“Are you sure?”  Pinkie asked seriously.  Despite the fact it was intended to be friendly, the girl griffon nudged away slowly.  Pinkie just giggled at that.  “Not about that, the other parts.  Can you really say you were better off the way you were before you first came to Ponyville?”

“I was a heck of a lot more confident for one…”  Gilda answered with a sigh.  “And I still had a best friend too...”

“Did you learn anything afterward?”  “Pinkie asked.

“Like how to get more bitter?”  “Gilda snarked back.

“No,”  Pinkie said with a tone of seriousness.  “The other things you thought about while you were here.  Like for one, have you realized that you stopped wishing for Dash to beg you for forgiveness?  Well…”  she paused for a moment, like she remember who she was talking too.  “Not as much anyway.”

“So?”  Gilda said with disinterest, even looking away.  “Next you’ll bring up how I’m talking to you and Fluttershy...”  While she said that with disinterest, the pony’s eyes lit up.

“That’s right!”  Pinkie said with joy, the hippogriff seemed to laugh a bit as well.  “If you know that, why do you keep being like this?”  She got up, putting her little Gwendolyn in his crib.  Pausing momentarily to kiss him goodnight.

Gilda had to pause for a bit then, still tapping her talon as she looked away.  

“I got reasons,”  she muttered sadly, it was the best she could come up with.

“Everyone has reasons, ya know?”  Pinkie Pie said as she trotted up and sat next to Gilda.  “But, not everyone has good ones.”

While the griffon would have liked to argue that point, she felt her scalp wiggle and left wing tingle.  

“I’m waking up?”  Gilda said absently, not sure how she knew that.   

“Yep!”  Pinkie said, likely knowing why.  “Good morning Gilda!”

> Can't ignore the mess
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

1 day remain until they are all rabbits


Gilda's eyes opened and then quickly shut again, what with that light from the window shining in her face.  She was back in bed, and apparently Fluttershy must have put her there after the mess last night. 

That meant the pegasus was going to be asking more than a few things when she found out Gilda was up.  The griffon let out a groan, today was going to suck hard.

This was one of those days where it isn't worth getting out of bed, so she wasn't going to.  At some point Fluttershy was going to come up for her, sure, and that was going to be a can of worms when it came.  But for now she wanted to forget it, lay down, and just sleep.  

Good news, Ruzka was there, and in her current mood she gave him a hug for the first time in ages.  Nuzzling him like she used to when she was---where was she again?  He was back at home far away, where she left him, several years ago...

While that was a nice thought of her bear being there, Ruzka didn't breathe either.  Gilda’s eyes shot open, finally taking in the fact she was hugging a still asleep Fluttershy.  At least she hoped she was still sleeping, or she could hope this was a dream as well.  

But that wasn’t so, this was reality.  Gilda did her best not to freak out.

"Mmm,"  Shy wasn't helping matters.  Doubly on the fact that her hooves were now caressing the claws that were around her.  

The griffon gulped and while she did try to pull herself away, nice as she could, to avoid waking Fluttershy up.  It didn't take.

"Mm?"  Now Gilda was doomed as Fluttershy was roused.  "Gilda?  Are you awake?"  The griffon clenched her teeth in mute terror to her question.  “Um, Gilda?”  

Maybe it helped, or maybe it didn’t, but even the mare sounded a bit tense right now.  Maybe as much as the griffon was.

"Uh, yeah,"  Gilda soon answered and let the pegasus go promptly, quickly scooting herself as far from the pony as she could.  Or off the bed, that worked well enough aside from the drop.
"Argh!"  She yelled before the thud.  “Stupid fregging…”  she grumbled after.

Letting out a groan, Gilda just lay there as the flutter pony was now up.  She looked off the bed at the fallen griffon.

"Are you ok?"  Fluttershy asked, looking sympathetic to the griffon’s plight.

"No worries,"  Gilda muttered back grimly.  "The impact has done wonders for
the tension I'm feeling."  the pony shook her head at that answer.  "What just happened to me anyway?"

"I heard you screaming last night,"  Fluttershy answered.  "I wasn't sure a first,
but then I heard you running through my house..."  She reached out with a
hoof, offering to help the griffon up.  "But it’s ok, you’re awake and it’s safe here."  While the soft scene would beg that Gilda to give the pony her claw, that didn’t happen.

"How much trouble am I in?"  she asked as she got herself up and dusted herself
off.

"Don't worry about it."  Shy's smile didn't seem too worrying to the griffon at least.  "At
least you didn't use several tea bags this time."  She rubbed her neck, even having a giggle.
"You did make a mess in my desk again, but that's ok."

Good news: was at least this wasn't more dreaming, Gilda let out a sigh of relief to that.

"But, why did you go down there, Gilda?"  Fluttershy asked, and there went that relief with one question.  The griffon needed a good lie, now.

"Uh, panic?"  Gilda answered, hoping the pony would buy it. "I freaked out hard, and it was a dark house, ya know?"  At least part of it wasn’t made up.  “Guess even I didn’t know where I was going, huh?”

"And the pill bottle?"  Shy seemed coy, and hopefully didn’t smell fear.

"Lucky guess?"  Shy seemed to get a light laugh from that, likely from the Gilda’s delivery.  "Uh, why was I in bed with you again?"  she moved the topic away from her incident, wishing the pegasus would as well.

"Do you remember when..."  Shy answered, and Gilda recalled the conversation last night, cutting her off by groan.  It made it more than clear her displeasure on the Shy’s plain to help.   “I...hoped you would have felt more safe if someone was there.”  Fluttershy added.

"Yeah..."  Gilda moaned as that odd sounding promise the night before came to mind.  "Ah man..."

"I’m sorry, I didn't mean to make things more awkward between us,"  Shy said in defense.

"Too late,"  Gilda replied, not yet removing her claw from her face.

"I’m really sorry,"  Fluttershy said as she got out of bed.  "I'll go get breakfast ready, and give you some space too, ok?"  Judging by the pleading look, she might have wanted this awkward moment to be quickly behind them as well.

Gilda simply nodded and Shy left the room.  For a moment, the griffon rubbed her head letting out another groan.  At least Fluttershy's face wasn't as red this time.  But Gilda was unsure about her own though, lacking a mirror.

It seemed Ponyville was actively trying to top that silly cuddle hug she gave her brother once.  To which Gilda had two words for that situation.

"Shoot me,"  she grimly muttered in annoyance to no one.  

She sighed and finally left for her room, if only to get into a less awkward place.  

Returning to the room, she noted any evidence of her brief fight with “The Snark” wasn’t there.  After noting which she decided to collapse onto her own bed.  She felt safe in the knowledge he wasn't there, letting out a sigh as she lay for a moment.

Despite it, despite that bad memory of the night before she felt better now.  Kind of, hugging a mare pony in bed aide.  Maybe it was due to the Snark being so distant at the moment, or perhaps she was just feeling safer about this stuff perhaps?  

Gilda grumbled to herself as she tossed and turned a bit.

“Where the heck's my mind at?”  she muttered to herself.  “This ain’t me…”  

Maybe the pills were doing something to her mind, making her more agreeable to this pony loopyness.  

It still didn’t undo the past, but for some short moments that past felt much further away than it ever had ever been.  Either it was numbing the pain or, more creepily, changing her.  Still, somehow Gilda the Good Griffon (GGG) made her gag.  

Not happening if I got anything to say about it dweebs.  She added to her thoughts.

Eventually she got over it, at least over feeling she was going mental and forgetting who she was.  Breakfast was likely ready now and the last thing she needed was Fluttershy deciding the griffon wanted breakfast in bed, that idea made her cringe. She headed downstairs and found the house quiet.  No breakfast, no hoofsteps, just all deathly quiet.

“Ok,”  Gilda said, looking around in an unsure voice.  “Either I’m in trouble or she is.”  It was then some white rabbit tugged her tail.  After a flinch, she looked to see Angel with a concerned look on his face, and not exactly himself for one.  “What do I look like, a bell?  Do I ring or something to you?”

He hopped over to a window and pointed outside, and the griffon walked over and took a look.  Outside was the chicken coop with Fluttershy just standing there outside with a pair of chickens next to her.  While Angel seemed to think it was important by how he looked, she didn’t.

“So?”  Gilda said to the rabbit with a sigh.  “What do you want me to do?”  

His answer had the griffon finding herself being thrown out Fluttershy’s new door with a muddled expression on her face.  All she could do was simply dust the snow off her feathers.  

“How the…oh forget it,”  Gilda stated as she shook her head.  Regardless, she walked over to where Fluttershy stood--- and then knew why she was just standing there.

The coop was a mess, a nasty one too.  Parts of it were broken apart and a few icy patches of red did not bode well at all.  

The chickens the pony was with were clearly spooked, running little circles around the pegasus and clucking.  They froze for a moment as the griffon drew near, but then seemed to calm down a bit when they saw who it was.

“Hey…”  Gilda started in a low voice.  Fluttershy looked back at her with tears in her eyes.  “What happened here, Fluttershy?”  The pegasus only seemed to tremble as she pointed to the coop.  “Yeah, I can see that,”  she said with a bit of a annoyed tone, but even so looked with worry at the mess.

“Henretta and Tweety were scratching on the front door,”  Shy said, still teary eyed.  “They said a monster came last night...they hid in my shed and...”  She stopped then, trying to stabilize herself.  Her surviving chickens barely clucked as well.  “It’s horrible.”

“Yeah…”  Gilda agreed quietly.  “This does suck.”  She would have faceclawed at her poor choice of words.  “Um…”  She couldn't believe she was going to ask, but she did.  ”Are you ok?”  she said to the shaken pegasus.

Somehow, Fluttershy seemed less taken aback from the question the griffon asking it was.

“They suffered the worst of it,”  Shy answered sadly.  “They hid all night, fearing what would happen to them.”  She hugged the hens, comforting them with a soft voice.  “But don’t worry, we’re here now.  It’s going to be ok.”  

While Gilda might have wondered where the “we’re” had come from, but that question was bogged down by the amount of awkwardness she felt by that statement.  So instead she just looked at the ruined coop, somehow the gore felt less cringe worthy at the moment.

“Ok,”  Gilda said with some uncertainty.  “Can I have a look inside?”  Shy quietly nodded, and looking inside the coop it didn’t get much better.  

More blood for one, and what she figured was the rest of the chickens--give or take.  Whatever came through there had torn them apart, some parts were missing, some intact but clearly left to bleed to death.  But what did stand out was whatever it was didn’t intend to eat what it killed.  

What a waste of good poultry!  Gilda thought, well, before she flicked her head with her own talon.  Now wasn’t the time for food ideas.  Too much death was in the air.

“Ok, so it a slaughter house here,”  Gilda simply muttered to herself.  She looked back the other winged ones.  “Guess you can write off other survivors.”  

Despite her obvious report, the pegasus seemed uninterested in answering for the moment.  She was apparently still coddling the chickens that had survived, so it was quiet for a moment.  

“Er…”  Gilda felt like repeating herself, but the pony shook her head.

“I know,”  Fluttershy finally answered with a sad, but unfazed voice when she looked back up.  “I already looked inside.”

Sure, at this point even, Gilda was getting used to some pretty nasty things.  Even wondering how Fluttershy was taking it so bad when she showed up at first.  But despite the fact she’d already looked at that carnage, the pony seemed to be more interested in the living then the visceral horror of the dead.  Which to the griffon was a strange thing indeed.

“So... gonna do something about it?”  Gilda asked, scratching the back of her head as she looked down.

“I...was thinking of giving them burial.”  Fluttershy wasn’t quite smiling, but less trembling.  She then gestured to the chickens near her legs.  “They’ll be staying with us at my house for now, so I hope that’s ok.”

“Um, sure,”  Gilda replied, and the fact the chickens seemed as glad as Fluttershy was at her acceptance only made her feel more uncomfortable.  One of them even left the pony’s leg and went to one of hers, giving it a hug much to the griffons growing dismay.  

“Um, er, ah…”  Gilda stuttered in reaction, awkward with a chicken on her leg.

“It’s ok,”  Fluttershy said softly at the worried looking griffon.  “Can you escort them to the house?  I need to get something from my shed before I head back.” While Gilda would have felt better to ask if she could go to Fluttershy’s shed, the chickens seemed to plead with the griffon.

Gilda sighed.  “...Alright, come on.”  She said, and gestured for the little birds to follow her.  She walked a bit before she noticed the chickens were still where they were standing.  “What?”  The pair still looked at her.  “What?”  she shouted back.

“Is it ok if...um…”  Shy dug her hoof in the snow as she asked.  “Can they...ride you?”  The griffon grit her teeth at that.  “It’s just to the house, and they could use the body heat, so please?”  she pleaded.

Gilda grumbled as she walked back to the chickens.  “Alright…”  she said reluctantly.  “Just get on, alright?”  

While she just wanted to get through this odd bit, the pair leapt on to her back with some delight.  As if to say “Well if you insist.  Onward G and don’t spare the horsepower!”.  That statement alone gave her enough reason to feel a bit used. 

At least her walk back was uneventful, but annoying with small riders on her.  The griffon felt she couldn't reach the house fast enough, but there it was.  When she got to the door she pushed it open and let her riders off.

“There, you’re here,”  Gilda said with no joy.  But the chickens looked at her for a moment.  “What now?”  she groaned.  “What’s it now?”

That was when both of them leapt up and hugged her neck with their wings.  Not strangling though.  It was soft, nice even.  When the pair let go and landed back on the ground they looked at her with relief, one even waving as it went inside.  The weirded out griffon could only look on as she shut the door.

With that task done, Gilda walked back to the ruined chicken coop.  Her mind was still trying to make sense of of what just happened.  Awkward though it was, even as she saw this beneath her--and recalling more than a few chicken dinners she enjoyed back at home--it all felt good to her.

It was then some of that craziness made sense at last, from all that prattling she had felt dragged by.  It really had gotten to her.  Not the Snark, he had gotten to her enough already as is.  It was what Pie and Shy had been going on about.  Annoying, whiny, and childish as it all sounded she could see a point for a moment.

Or maybe it was just the dreams.  She liked that story and she was sticking to it!

“What do you think did this?”  Shy asked the griffon as she arrived at the ruins.  A cardboard box on the pony’s back.

“No clue,”  Gilda replied, glad to be brought out of her current mental monologue.  “Whatever it was, it wasn’t hungry.  It just came and wrecked the place.”

“It also didn’t leave any footprints,”  Fluttershy added, putting a box down in the snow.  “Maybe it  flew?”  The question had a knee jerk reaction.

“You ain’t thinking I…”  Gilda was about to ask.

“No,”  Shy interrupted, shaking her head and looking serious.  “I never thought you did this.”

“T-that’s a r-relief.”  Gilda stated as she looked down with a sigh of such.  She just had to hope the pony never knew of her nightly escapades, but still--“You’re gonna bury them in that box?”

“It’s to collect them,”  Fluttershy said somberly.  “Burying them will have to wait for now, but we can still get their bodies to a safe place till then.”

“So you want me to…”  the pony nodded back as Gilda began to ask, and she didn’t sigh for once.  “Alright, so how are we doing this?”

The griffon made the effort to gather the bits and pieces, handing them to the pony who then quietly and gently put them into the box.  Despite what the griffon would have expected, the pegasus wasn’t squeamish to her task.  At least not as much as she’d have thought.    

“Ya know, I thought this stuff…how much does this get to you anyway?”  Gilda asked with a bit of confusion to this as she handed the last body over.  “You were all crying and stuff, now it’s like it doesn’t faze you.  What’s up with that?”

“I never saw so many...die at one time,”  Shy replied as she laid the last one to rest.  “That part was a shock to me.”  She paused for a bit.  “I’ve raised carnivores, ya know?”  Fluttershy added a bit of humor with a stupid smile.  “I know and understand meat eating creatures.”

“Raised carnivores, right…”  Gilda uttered with a sigh and a bit of a laugh.

Though, with the bodies boxed it was Fluttershy that needed a moment to herself.  She put her hooves on the box as she looked down on it.

“Um, Gilda?”  she said, not looking back up.  “Can you please get Angel for me?”  

“Uh, sure,”  Gilda answered back, feeling a bit concerned.  “Any reason why?”

“I need to talk to him,”  Fluttershy uttered, as she looked up with a sad look.

“Uh, what about me?”  Gilda asked feeling worried.  Maybe being a third wheel, maybe something else.

“You can head inside for now,”  Fluttershy said as she looked to the griffon with a sad smile.  “It’s ok.  I just need him to tell the others the bad news, and you need your rest too.”

“Kay.”  Gilda nodded back and headed back to the house.  Everything felt quiet, not even the wind seemed to make a sound as the griffon returned.

Stepping inside, she could see Angel, Heneretta, and Tweety quietly mingling.  The bunny seemed to know why she was looking at him, putting on a vest and hat.  She moved to the side, holding the door open as he hopped outside without a word--so to speak.

Thing were officially heavy right now, so the griffon decided to sit back and watch how it worked out.

Eventually, the chickens dozed off in the living room near the fire.  Likely as the two had been awake all the night before.  In time Fluttershy and Angel were back, the pony petting the rabbit on the head before he hopped away.

This kind of grief had been alien to Gilda, ever since she had only been grieving for herself before gathering even she wasn’t worth it.  Then it was just her griping about why anything else was.  As she let herself get lost in thought in her sad recent past, she found the pegasus had put a wing on her side as she was now sitting next to her.

“I’m sorry, breakfast is going to be late,”  Fluttershy said calmly, as though the events of a moment ago were that much farther away than half an hour.

“I...kinda forgot,”  Gilda replied back awkwardly.  Apparently even Shy knew how funny it was for a griffon to forget to eat.  “Can you get it started at least?”  she added with a sheepish grin at the pony’s humor.

“Sure,”  Shy said with a soft smile.  She got up and trotted to the kitchen as Gilda had to wonder.

How did something with a yellow pony and a bunch of small animals get so emotional?  Also, why the heck did she want to be part of it too?

> Tough love
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The snow was flattened under hoof as a dark green pony walked through town.  The locals were friendly, willing to accept him with open arms.  They smiled at him and he gently nodded to them back, even giving a soft hello to a few of them.  

Despite this, they did seem on edge.  The broken ornaments being cleaned up were a good hint things were bad.  The burnt mess that was once a festive tree told him someone had been causing trouble.  Something wicked came through here, someone like Gilda

“Deal…”  spoke a voice from within Package Deal’s mind, giving the pony pause.

“Yes?”  he replied, none the stranger in a calm voice.  Nice as he was though, even he knew how odd it would seem to the a pony talk to himself.

“What leaves you to wander here?”  it asked.  The pony continued his trot looking at the ponies that were still cleaning up.

“I will have my vengeance, don’t worry,”  Package Deal answered to the creature flying next to him.  “I just felt like this town could use my help.”

“Our help, Deal?”  the leather winged bird creature landed next to him, walking along side.  The ponies couldn't see him, only Deal did.  It’s feet didn’t even bother the snow it walked upon.

“Oh course, Jabberwock,”  Deal said to his odd toothed companion.  He stopped then, knowing how long this talk would be.  Leaving the crowd, and opting to find a nice quiet place of little traffic.  “You can see how the ponies are afraid, can’t you?”  he said out of any earshot.

“And what could be more wicked than your prey?”  the Jabberwock said, and sounded a bit upset, but the pony knew why.  He knew the oath he made so long ago.

“You recall when we met that pony, Lightning Dust, do you not?”  Deal replied calmly to the point.  “That mare who was plotting to shift the clouds out of schedule?”

“I was,”  the Jabberwock replied with some humor, rubbing on of it’s whiskers.  “You did well, quite well!  Her wings frozen in a block of ice, to slowly degrade from frostbite.”

“She even dared to excuse her actions, to say she did not deserve what we gave her.”  Deal added and knew what was so funny, having a light chuckle as well.

“Proving how wrong she was to do as she did,”  the Jabberwock finished.  The memory was brief, but good.  

That vile pegasus’ pride seemed to mirror Gilda’s even.  Both were creatures that didn’t deserve their wings as far as he cared.  

“And who is to say, even in a place like Ponyville, that there are none like her here?”  Deal asked, knowing what the answer was.  The winged, dragon like bird was quiet then, pondering for a moment.  

“That is...true, but I do detect doubt in you.”  While Package Deal felt somewhat unhappy to be called as such, his caring friend put a cold claw on to his back.  “Your conviction is solid, I know that,”  the Jabberwock spoke and reassured the pony.

“We slew several random chickens though,”  Deal said sadly, despite the reassuring rub.  “I know what you told me, how the griffon was pulling them to her side…”  He let out a sad sigh.  “But they were also that other pegasus pony’s as well.”

“That is why we must be vigilant, stopping the corruptions when it begins,”  the Jabberwock explained.  “She may still be saved once Gilda is slain...once she understands what can be lost by aiding such filth with any kindness.”

“Indeed,”  Package Deal agreed completely.  “We should work to save her too.”

“Perhaps a moment of lax and these other efforts could help you in your thoughts?”  the Jabberwock said, and seemed to see through to him, but knew how to help.  “Helping a few good ponies by hunting the bad can aid you, help you with your motivations.”  With that it faded away as it’s voice drifted.  “I will allow you such time.”

It suited Deal just as well, he really didn’t like talking to the creature he made that pact with.  For a moment, he just wanted to enjoy the pleasant town he was in instead of the constant battle he had to do to keep it safe from that rotted decay he’d come to hate.

The bits he had taken from Dust got him some good food he enjoyed, as he thought and agreed to his mindset from then. He still enjoyed the worth of his actions.  

Evil as it seemed, him and the Jabberwock had the same goal.  Their actions kept the ponies safe and happy, harmony itself, and it gave him purpose again with his life.  It helped sooth what he had lost from Gilda’s actions.

Hearth’s Warming was near, and while things were hectic with the delays, the ponies still wanted to celebrate it on time.  He could have wished them well from where he was, even if the Jabberwock didn’t.  It still seems so hollow to him now, even mostly from when he once was a busy man with work to do.  

But now, it just made him sad, perhaps as he could no longer enjoy it ever again.

He still had Gilda to thank for it though.  These ponies didn’t need to fear the windigos, they needed to fear her.  Something much worse in his mind.  After his meal, he trotted again, prepared to be vigilant for such evil.

As Package Deal walked among the weak herd, doing his best to enjoy what he could never touch, his duty called to him in the form of a down cast foal.  The gift the Jabberwock had given him allowed his way to tell what was wrong.  The little filly had met that worst kind he knew of. 

“Is something wrong dear?”  Deal said softly to the little one.  The child jumped, as she didn’t know he was there.

“Who….who are ya?”  the foal said with a scared look, backing away from his kind one.  It felt bad to see her tremble, innocent as she was.

“A friend,”  Package Deal replied,  but she didn’t seem too convinced.

“Ma sister told me not ta talk to stranger and weird ponies that weren’t pink.”  Apple Bloom said, ever tensely still.

Deal smiled despite this.  “Very smart of your big sister,”  he agreed as he trotted slowly over.  “We all live in an uncertain world, but I couldn't help but see how down you are.”  The filly didn’t speak still, looking away even.  “Someone bullying you, aren’t they?”  She tensed up, but he knew why.

“W-wha makes ya say that?”  Bloom asked, still looking away.  But he knew why again, it was sad to see someone so battered like this in their feelings.  So uncertain that Deal pitied her.

“Because I know what it’s like,”  he said, lowering to his knees.  “To have someone ruin your day and suffer no consequences for it.  And the hopelessness that comes from it.”  Deal then had to note the kid looking a bit lost, so he made it clear.  “I don’t like it when people get away with bad things,”  he laughed softly.  “I think it’s unfair too, just like you.”  

She seemed to understand that, she even smiled back to him.

“So, why ya askin mister?”  Apple Bloom asked, not as scared as before.  Even at peace to have him to talk to.  “Ya don’t look from around here, are ya?”

“I’m visiting, child,”  Deal answered with a soft smile.  “And I figured I’d have a look at this town, maybe help a few ponies while I’m here.”

“Ya sure ya can help?”  Bloom asked, still a bit nervous on that.  “Cus, I’m not sure…”

“It just feels bad for me to see someone unpunished,”  Package Deal added, and she looked worried again.  But he slowly nodded as he spoke.  “Don’t worry, they won’t know it was you who told me,”  he whispered, trying to reassure the filly.  “I promise, it’s going to be fine.”  The foal nodded back.

“A pair ah fillies named Diamond Tiara an her friend Silver Spoon.”  she explained in her own whisper.  Deal could see the filly was still nervous on the topic.  “You’d think ah time like Hearth’s Warming woud be a good time fer em to be a bit nicer.”  she looked down for a bit.  “But they ain’t,”  Apple Bloom uttered sadly.

“Did your sister ever have a word with their parents?”  Deal asked, his eyes never wavering.

“It don’t change nothing,”  Bloom lowered her head as she said that.

“I see,”  Deal said as he put a hoof to her head softly rubbing her red mane gently.  “Why don’t you head home, dear?”  The filly rose her head to see his soft eyes.  “I’ll have a word with both of them, they won’t hurt you again.  I promise you.”

“A good word with them,”  said Jabberwock, now next to him, but out of the foal’s vision.  Deal knew why he was there, the pair of them were going to be busy.

The filly seemed relieved though, she nodded and headed home like he asked and he gave a friendly wave as she trotted off.  

Such a good little girl  He thought.  It would be nice to meet her sister sometime, but alas I have something to do now.

“How would you go about it, Deal?”  the Jabberwock asked, putting a scaled talon to it’s owl face.

“A nice talk about town, lord,”  Package Deal replied with a smile, somewhat happy to have something to do.  “They won’t be hard to find if we look.  These ponies will know where they are.”

They pair really weren't.  These bullies were the rich kind, enjoying a nice “before celebration” celebration for themselves.  Flaunting what they had over those who did not.  The kind Package Deal abides business with once upon a time.  Even the locals seemed only able to abide them, if a bit unhappy to be around the pair.

He followed them from a distance, and with the power of the Jabberwock he was able to be anywhere he chose to be.  If he didn’t want to be seen, he wasn’t.  He could be clear as the air if he felt like it.

When one of the pair seemed to feel they were being watched, all he had to do was go behind a tree and all that could be found was the wind.  

It wasn’t hard to find the house of one of the two, and that’s when the first part of his plan came into action.  It was time to get his hooves dirty again, just like with his escape.

Deal didn’t want to feel ill will to the asylum, but his work was important.  More than any of their feelings on the matter.  They only coddled, but he intended to save!  Dr. Larch would have to just get by with his case of hypothermia.

When the pair did leave again, complaining about silly things, all he needed to do now was get inside.  The windows were shut, as were the doors, but the sight of a random servant taking out the trash gave hope to and entrance.  

He shared a good word with the servant and wishing each other a good day as the other pony smiled to know such a friendly face.  But when the servant turned his flank, he was gone.  A breeze went through the open door, unseen.  As he went through the home the other servants and maids complained about that cold draft they felt, but would be unable to know it’s origin.

From the rather poor choice of art, he figured this was the Diamond ones house.  He let his hooves touch the floor, solid again, as he wandered the upper floors.  Finding himself just outside an ornate door, he figured it was to the little brats room.  

Opening it, he saw a room of fine cloth, expensive books, and crowns of precious metals.  It’s contents did not interest him, despite the glitters of rich things.  This would be where his first warning to her would start.

He summoned a storm in the room.  Winds ripped the cloth, while blowing the books and crowns around as they froze.  The ice and snow ruined the colors and fine wood furniture.  Finally, even he could not contain his rage.  Package Deal smashed the frozen items with ferocity and his hooves.  

This foal didn’t deserve such nice things as far as her would make sure of!

The girl’s many things were smashed and broken, and that was just the start of his wrath.  Her and her friend had more than a few toys that needed to be taken away.  Until they knew better, until they knew what was right.  But his actions had gotten some attention though, the fast sound of hooves came from outside.

“What is the meaning of this?”  yelled a pony in the hall.  Deal looked the pony over and knew who he was, as he was in those pictures he’d seen.

“You are Diamond’s father?”  Package Deal’s voice wasn’t calm then, it was stern.  Scolding the failure he saw in front of him.

“Who….”  Filthy Rich slowly backed away as he spoke, he could see the black eyes staring back at him.  “Why are you…Why are you doing this?”  He looked chilled in fear, as he should be.

“Because you won’t,”  Deal said simply and coldly.  “You are aware of her misdeeds, and yet do nothing to discipline her.”

“How dare you!”  Rich shouted back.  “Do you realize what you’ve…!”  But, Deal had already lost his patience with him.  

In a rush of cold wind he had the pony in his hooves, with a glare to his eyes that shut the fool pony up.

“You enable her!”  Deal yelled in anger to the pony.  “Shirking your responsibilities!”  he coldly uttered in a growling tone.  “It is your fault she builds herself this way!”  The pony trembled in the air as Deal went on.  “And it comes to me to act!  With you as just another thing, a toy!  That must be taken away!”

The poor rich stallion found himself slammed into the floor and walls by a strong storm wind.  He screamed and yelped, but found Package Deal had no mercy to give him.

Deal lifted the rich pony into the air and froze his body in ice.  As he spied a window, a smile crossed his angry face as he tossed the pony out it.  Rich’s screams came to many ears as he fell to a crash landing.  The servants came by, but backed away as the dark green pony walked past them chillingly.  

But one spoke up from behind him.

“Why?”  a butler asked, horrified by what had happened.

“I do what should be done,”  Package Deal replied simply, not even looking back.  “This is what she deserves.”  With that he was like wind, leaving a mess in his wake and no one to follow him.  

The servants panicked as the gail wind blew past them, then shattered another window as Deal left the manor.  

Outside, ponies were also in a panic as they crowded around the broken child's toy the empowered earth pony had taken.  By Filthy’s unconscious look, Taira would not be playing with him soon.

“Even you know a child needs strict discipline, take what she does not deserve as you see fit,”  said the Jabberwock with a smirk on it’s beak.  “It will help break her down, make her more malleable.”

“But of course, I am aware,”  Deal replied happily.  “I do as you had taught me.”

He knew well that Lightning Dust’s toy was her wings.  Wings she did not deserve with her attitude.  As she was left, a frozen and near paralyzed pegasus, she begged for forgiveness.

It was just a shame he had none, but now she knows how wrong it was to act the way she did.  Just a vile creature that should be stomped out with no mercy.  To do otherwise is foolish, as he knew they would never know any better.  

It was that certainly made him happy.

Package Deal trotted away from the scene as more ponies came to it, walking by without notice as he did his best not to smile.  He still was not finished with the pair yet, but now it was a matter of finding a trail. 

Still, he decided to sit in a park and plan his next move.  As he sat there, watching the little foals play happily in the snow, he felt that heartache again.

“How do you ponder, Deal?”  asked the Jabberwock, now sitting next to him on the bench.

“The path that brought us here, my friend.”  Deal answered, still watching the foals.  “We did come for Gilda, and now a pair of disobedient children.”  He paused.  “It makes me...sad to her memory.”

“Silver Bell lives on with you, in your crusade.”  the Jabberwock reassured the pony, it’s claw on his shoulder.  “If that one griffons pettiness would kill, would you not honor her by stopping another from the same?”  Deal looked to his ally with a tear.  “We must prevent this…you know that.”

“Yes...”  Deal replied seriously.  “I ate her flesh and it fuels me.  Just like you told me to do.”

“And it does fuel you,”  the Jabberwock replied with a nod.  “It was a needed act, to prove your devotion and how far you would go to avenge what has gone wrong with this world for us.”

“I know,”  Deal said softly, looking back down.  “She will rest at peace as we seek the guilty, one vile weed at a time.”

“I’m glad we had this talk,”  the Jabberwock said with a kind smile.  “Seek them, and let ponykind know that what you to them, you do for love.”

Deal’s moment of lax was of some refreshment it seemed.  It was good to know Bell’s memory would go on with his actions, and in time he would inflict worse on to Gilda for causing the mare's  death.  

While Gilda was but a unpleasant visitor in his life, these foals were unpleasant to their neighbors on such a regular basis.  He was going to hurt them for what they were.  

He trotted about town, chatting with the simple ponies.  Few had such time to chat now, and others would speak of hopes the holidays would be on time still.  So many things were going wrong now for them.  Still the foals he was hunting took priority.

When he did ask about where Diamond and Silver could be found, even calming the panic one pony who had heard news about Filthy Rich being in the hospital had begun to spread.  

He found they were at the Silver ones home and there they hoped would be safe from some mad pony that had appeared in to quiet town.

They were not safe, not if he had anything he could do about it.

Some guard ponies seemed to be on alert there.  They were watching for intruders like the loyal dogs of corrupt masters, Deal felt sad that such ponies would be so foolish.  But still, the Jabberwocks gift to him was more than enough to get in.  

As a pony opened the front door, he rushed past with a rush of cold wind.  No pony knew what had gone by as his wind-like form drifted as cold air in the ornate corridors.  

As his new form drifted around the home, he heard the servants complain of the foals constant demands as they played in the lounge.  Now, all that he needed to do was find a means to remove them from this place.  Then he could give them a lesson on what was funny.

Package Deal drifted to a closet door, and after his hooves hit the floor, opened it.  Within, he found a good sack that would fit the both of the foals.  It was now a simple matter of getting the two in it.  

But as he trotted out, bag in hoof, he found someone was there.

“Sir?”  a maid asked, trotting up with a concerned look.  “What is your business here?”

“To remove naughty children.”  Deal said simply and coldly.

The maid looked confused for a moment, but then had a look of horror.  “Hel…!”  and ice covered her muzzle before she got much further.  Her hooves groped at the shell, trying to get it off.

“Go, run!”  the angry Deal shouted to her.  “I have no business with you!”  She did, running with a muffled scream.  

Deal then turned his head to his destination to see the two naughty fouls looking out towards him, not yet knowing what the commotion was.  He could have smiled, but he didn’t.  He hoisted his bag and ran to them.

“Yikes!”  shouted the Diamond one and they both ducked back into the lounge, slamming the door shut.  Deal simply broke through it like gale force.  With the door splintered, and both foals knocked to the floor by the force.  They could barely react as he lifted them up.

“Lemme go!”  Diamond Tiara shouted.  “Lemme go you big...”  her comment did not interest him, and into the bag she went.  Silver Spoon just whimpered as she went in too.

With the bag tied closed, all he needed to do was escape to do his work.  The rush of hooves told Deal the guards were coming.  Simple guards, whom did not understand what was needed to be done.  He did not wish to fight them, for they were merely ignorant.  Instead, a broken window would be his exit and a sleet of snow to cover his tracks.

The locals looked too frightened to react as pony with a bag now ran through the streets.  Lucky, none sought to stop him with amount the snow that was blowing past as he galloped by.  Most ponies ducked from the storms fury rather than confront the determined pony that fled past them.  

With his escape finished, all that was left for Deal to do was to find a place out of the way to begin his punishments.  A windmill in the outskirts looked promising, and finding it uninhabited, he dropped the bag on the floor inside and left again.  He needed a few things first.

Package Deal went back to town to find a general store.  Things had calmed down by then, but now ponies scared.  They had none to fear from him, they should know that.  Meanwhile, his saddle bag of items Lightning’s remaining bits had bought was much more valuable than the pony ever was.  

The mare would have only sided with these trouble makes, allied with them.  The tools would assist assist in fixing them.   The pair would not grow up to be so rotten if he could help it.

When he returned, the bag on the floor did not writhe as much as it did when he first dropped it.  The fillies knew it was hopeless now.  

Package Deal let Diamond out first and tied her down.  She squirmed as much as she could, shouting angrily at him, but he paid it no mind.   Next Silver, she didn’t fight back a much as the foal was simply terrified.  

Each had their hooves tied together like little pigs and forced to face each other with that look of doom.  It did not please him, but perhaps if they shared their punishment they might learn faster.

“W-what the heck is this?”  Diamond demanded with what defiant anger she had.  “Why’d you drag us out here?  Do you realize who I am?”

“You perverse existence is a problem,”  Deal said simply as he pulled another item from his saddle bag, a whip.  “And I intend to correct it, with a great love.”

“What?!”  Diamond shouted, her eyes wide when she saw the whip.  “Are you nuts?!  You just  kidnapped us you freak!”

“Yeah, let us go!”  said the Silver Spoon, no longer whimpering and just as angry.  Even taking the same tone as Diamond did.  “You…”  her tone left when she saw Deal’s rage filled gaze.  Unflinching, and quite driven.

“Silence!”  he roared back at them.  “You are here for your refusal to be good!  You wouldn't be like the better ponies are and must suffer the consequences!”  

Diamond Tiara only huffed in defiance, she was going to make herself hard to break. But Silver Spoon wasn’t looking as sturdy, she had returned to her cowering.  

“And I won’t tolerate a bully anymore more than a murderer,”  Package Deal concluded.  “You should be taught a proper lesson,”  he said as he started cracking the whip.  “You should be grateful, for I came here before you could cause much more harm to others.  Perhaps, when you learn from this…”  He readied the whip.  “...you will know better.”  

He began whipping their flanks not caring when he would stop.

The silver pony cried out immediately, but the diamond pony bit into her lip.  She did not even let out a whimper.  Strike after strike came, until even Tiara teared up in silence.  

As he whipped, Deal grew more angry with each lash.  He had to pause for a moment, trying to get a hold on it, and even then they defied him.

“You’re going to pay for this you jerk!”  Diamond Tiara said with a trembling voice.  “When they get you…”  she trailed off, taking a few breaths.

“Y-yeah, you won’t g-get away...with…”  Silver Spoon  tried to agree, but found it hard to speak.  She was more content to sob in pain.  “J-just s-stop.”  

“This is your own fault,”  Package Deal said stoically, gritting his teeth. “You only cause troubles, and expect others to help you when it becomes too hard for you slothful hooves.”  He gave an extra whack to Diamond as she said that.  “No one should care about you!”  

Another round of whippings followed and his rage only boiled further as he struck them.  Tiara was shuddering now, even before the blows, and Spoon was now crying in pain constantly.  He didn’t care, he wasn’t going too.  It was their fault he was doing this to them.

“All you can do it hurt ponies, IT’S ALL YOU'RE EVER GOOD FOR!”  he yelled as he delivered another nasty whack to Diamond.  “You little monsters, you misbegotten creatures.”  his voice cracked more and more.  “Another freakish sub creature that should have known better, and now it’s too late!”  

Even Diamond began to crack at last from the assault.  Her yelps came to no effect to Deal, he long ago stopped caring to listen to her voice.  

“And I’m just going to keep doing thing until you get it through you miserable skull what you should have known to do in the first place!”  he continued to yell.

“I’M SORRY, ALRIGHT?!”  Diamond Tiara finally cried out.  Package Deal stopped his attacks for a moment.  “Just, please stop it, please...”  the badly wiped foal continued to sob.

“Please...”  Silver Spoon added with a trembling tone.  “...stop.”

“Why?”  Deal said without any pity.  “How can I know you will learn anything?  That you’ll know better?”  He glared at them despite the tears in their eyes.  “You will just insist on your refusal, I know you will.”  No sadism was in that voice, only cold certainty.  “No, you won’t change.  Not until I know you will.” 

They wouldn't repent, the wrath filled pony knew that.  They were like lepers in a community of health.  A diseased part to be cut away and forgotten.  They couldn't prove themselves otherwise to him.  

Deal knew that, he always knew that with the Jabberwock.

He was about to whip again, but Deal saw little point now.  The pair of foals had looks of terror and despair of him.  Something else had to give, and as he looked between to two he found it.  He could tell something from the pleadful look in the silver pony’ eyes as she looked to Diamond, and he had his answer.

“So, she just another toy then?”  Deal’s voice had the two jump to attention.  “Another thing you will go play with, and ignore what you cause?  Just like your father was.”

“W-wha...w-what do you...?”  Diamond’s voice trembled as she seems to only now know that fact.  No one told her it seemed, or perhaps she never listened.  “What do you mean?!”

“I’ve taken him away already,”  Deal explained calmly to the horrified foal.  “A failure to do a father's duty, he now pays for your insolence...and perhaps with this next loss, you will know how to do right by others.”  

He trotted over to the silver foal, who trembled more with each step.  The other pink pony only began to beg more and more, but he did not care for it.  He had not intention to listen to her, he wasn’t here to barter.  

He struck the Silver’s head with his hoof, and again and again, and again.

Diamond’s voice was all but unheard as he continued to break her favorite toy.  In time, Silver Spoon didn’t even flinch with the next blow.  He did not intend to kill her, her death would do little more anyway.  But her broken, unconscious body would do wonders.  When he turned back to the other child, her eyes filled with tears.

“This is your own fault, you caused these things to happen to you!”  Deal’s voice biting and guttural.  “Your pissant trouble making has a price and you shall have nothing if I can help it!”  he coldly growled to her face.  “No cost to high for the real monsters to pay.”

He cared little for the tears or trembling of one such as this pony.  She could continue to remain in this windmill until she starved, but the sounds outside told him company was coming.  Soon he was like wind again, going to the rafters.  From there to the window, he looked from the cold air, seeing  the rescue of such unworthy ponies.

As he drifted amid the winds outside, he could hear the calm of the Jabberwock’s voice.  It’s leather wings beating softly near.

“You have done well!”  he congratulated him.  “You know what it means to be a good pony!”

“I know,”  Deal replied with pride, his body still like fog.  At a safe distance, he let himself land upon the snow and let his solid hooves to the ground again.  “She is broken and has no choices left.  She will do good as we make her.”

“And if she turns her grief into anger?”  the Jabberwock asked curiously, but happily.

“Then we shall beat her worse,”  Package Deal answered with the same joy.  “It is mad certainty, just as you said.”

“Then were are in agreement,”  the Jabberwock said as his beak smiled happily.  “That is good.”  It then was back to the task at hand.  “And our fugitive Gilda?”

“She will be ours,”  Deal added and nodded with respect.  “As we agreed.  But, now...”  Despite this pause, the Jabberwock seemed more delighted.  “This town must be saved, these ponies must be educated.  Perhaps we can save both?”

“Yes…”  the Jabberwock smiled back.  “This town of ponies need to know what is at stake for them, and I can help.  As I always have.”

“Of course!”  Package Deal answered back.

“Remember, Deal,”  the Jabberwock said, now deathly serious.  “When we have her, and him, his black heart is mine.”  Deal nodded respectfully.  “After that, the bird creatures body is your to act upon.  Flesh, bone, and eyes.”

They trotted away calmly from the scene of the windmill.  With two naughty fillies sorted, he thoughts went back to what he could take from Gilda.  More importantly, how to drag the black heart of “The Snark” from her rancid body.

> Breaking the silence by slipping on it
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

To Gilda, things had been quiet mostly, even despite the chickens in the house.  After lunch and that late breakfast, Fluttershy had been mostly keeping to herself.  While Angel seemed to have some form of silent conversation with her, the pegasus had mostly been quiet all day compared to others.

While normally the griffon would not have noticed these things, and she was for once.  That realization just made her feel more depressed.  Still, the fact that she was the one to remember those stupid sessions they had gave her reason to smile.  As stupid as it was to her, it was still something.

“Yo, uh, doc?”  Gilda asked, tapping on a wall behind the pony, causing her to turn.  “We having a session today?”  Shy looked generally surprised.

“Oh!”  Fluttershy said with a jump.  “I forgot….”  Her surprised look went to a timid one.  “I’m sorry, Gilda, really.  I’ve had a lot on my mind and so….um, are you ready now?  I-I can be down in a moment, ok?”   

Gilda nodded and headed downstairs.  She took her place on the couch and wondered what to talk about.  So help her if the pegasus asked about what dream she had the night before--words still failed to describe it.

After a while, Dr. Shy came down and sat behind her desk.  Fumbling a bit, she got her glasses on.  

“How are you doing today, Gilda?”  she asked to begin.

“What about you?”  Gilda asked back, maybe being a bit smug.  “Normally, you’d have tried to get some kind of conversation going during meal time.”  

“Oh…”  Shy replied, downcast.  “I’m...I guess I’m still in shock.  But what about you?  Are you ok?”

“Meh,”  Gilda replied and waved her claw.  “I had a bad night, a freaky morning, and well...didn’t expect the coop...”

“Neither did I,”  Shy sighed sadly.  “I was more worried that I accidentally made a wedge between us...until I heard the scratching.”  She took a deep breath.  “Are you still nervous from that experience?”

“Kinda, yeah,”  Gilda answered, holding her head.  “Ya know, that whole sharing a bed thing?  That’s all kinds of weird to me.”  She let her head go.  “I mean, you hear stories...”

“There’s no shame in it,”  Fluttershy said nicely.  “I’m sure my friends have been ok sleeping with each other...er, I mean in the same bed.”  Shy blushed, apparently realizing what that sounded like.  “I know Twilight had a sleepover once!”  she added quickly.

“No comment,”  Gilda stated, rolling her eyes.  Shy seemed to know this topic was one to avoid for now and moved on after clearing her throat.  

“Can you tell me what you were running from?”  Shy asked, and the griffon went from deadpan to shaken in a second.  “With how loud you were, I know you felt like something was there.”

“Uh, something that doesn’t go away?”  Gilda safely replied with no harm.  “Kind of like that stuff that walrus was talking about the other day.  Like that, what was it?  That “Gates of Delirium” thing?”

“In your nightmare?”  Shy missed the point, and Gilda sighed in annoyance.  “Sorry.”

“I just freaked out, ok?”  she answered with a groan.  “Then this morning, well yeah...but it’s not there now.”

“What would scare you that badly, Gilda?”  Dr. Shy asked, but the griffon didn’t answer.  She instead looked at the ceiling for a moment.  “I know it wasn’t...her.”  Shy avoided using the D word.  “And I know she’s one of the harder topics for you...”

“Part of it,”  Gilda shrugged as she spoke.  “Maybe?  I don’t know, not really,”  she muttered for a bit, unsure how to answer.  Looking to Dr. Shy, it was clear the pony wanted to help.  Now if only she really could.  “It’s just something I saw that scared the crud outta me.”

“I’ve been scared a lot in my life, Gilda,”  Dr. Shy added.  “I...think you would know that, with our history.”  The griffon groaned at that.  “My point is, we’ve been scared of things.”

“Well duh,”  Gilda muttered, annoyed by how obvious that was.

“But, when you know what you were scared of, it’s like turning on a light!”  Fluttershy said, looking hopeful the griffon followed.  “Then you can know that what you were scared of wasn’t so scary after all.  Do you understand?”

“What if it makes it worse?”  Gilda asked back with a sad voice.  “Like the more you looked, the worse it got?”

“How do you mean?”  Fluttershy leaned forward in her chair.

“Maybe…”  Gilda rolled her beak around, trying to find the words.  “Maybe I’m just a dead bird right now?  Maybe right now, maybe after things get to me?”  Despite the griffon feeling like the air had been let out of her, Dr. Shy looked intrigued.

“Are you used to the concept of death?”  Dr. Shy asked softly.

“Duh, I eat,”  Gilda replied, a bit annoyed on how dumb a question it was.  “Sometimes I even get to see the…”  She decided to stop her description and moved on, shaking her head.  “But yeah, things die.  Sure.”

“What about your own death?”  Shy pointed out with her hoof as she asked.  “What if you died?”

“I’d be ticked,”  Gilda scoffed back.

“Does it scare you at all?”  Dr. Shy then cleared her throat, seeing the griffons growing displeasure at these questions.  “I-I mean, are there parts of it that scare you?”

“Why are you asking?”  Gilda asked, losing patience.

“Well, it just came to me...”  Shy replied, rubbing her hooves on her desk.  “You were running from something, something that scared you so badly.  But, this morning you were calm.”  The griffon gave her a unhappy look.  “Er, mostly.”  Fluttershy rubbed her mane, looking away for a moment.

“What about you?”  Gilda countered.  “You trying to say you don’t fear this kind of stuff?”

“I’m used to animals eating meat,”  Dr. Shy replied with a nod.  “But, even I’m scared to see something just wanted to murder without reason.  Or worse...”

“That makes two of us.”  Gilda joked aside.

“Hm?”  Shy raised an eyebrow.  For whatever reason, the griffon didn’t want to get yelled at for a “Too soon” slip.

“Nevermind,”  Gilda stated to avoid pressing things.  “But yeah, getting killed sucks.”

“Does it bother you?”  Dr. Shy said seriously.

“Being killed bothers me, sure,”  Gilda mostly joked.

“Why?”  Dr. Shy asked with a curious look.  “Can you say why it bothers you?”

“Because it sucks,”  Gilda said simply with a shrug.  “Duh.”

“But, didn’t you tell me it “sucks.” Shy even did the air quotes with her hooves. “To be here.”  The ponies tone was almost playful, as if to point out a few things.

“So?”  Gilda replied, getting up and getting the teeth in her beak with a look of cold anger.  “You calling me a flip flop?”  Calling Gilda unhappy with this title was a understatement.

“There’s nothing wrong with finding death scary, Gilda.”  Dr. Shy said, waving her hooves as if that would calm things.  “I’m sorry, really!  I just...I really want to know what you saw that had you running.”  

Gilda huffed and sat back down as the pegasus looked sad at how she was pressing the griffon.  It was quiet as Gilda laid back and Dr. Fluttershy scratched her chin.  

“I can tell it was something bad,”  Fluttershy smiled to the griffon in a friendly way.  “I can tell that you would joke about death, but whatever it was...well…”  Her smile faded.  “I used to think only...Rainbow Dash would get you this defensive.”  She continued without any coy humor.  “Please, can you tell me about that nightmare you must have had?”

“I figure, it has something to do with what that Discord guy was babbling about.”  Gilda stated with a sigh.  “Don’t you know about that stuff that walrus was talking about?”

“It’s just a thing I heard about as well, Gilda.”  Dr. Shy said, wishing she had more answers.  “Discord would know more about it, but even he’s hard to understand on that topic.”  It was then she felt some insight.  “Is that what scared you Gilda, the unknown?”

“Well, known unknowns anyway,”  Gilda replied feeling a bit less pressed, but still uncomfortable as she looked away again.  “I don’t have a clue what that walrus was talking about either, but I think I got part of it now.”  She sighed.  “Then again, next thing I know, I start seeing things in weird ways.  Like just accepting that “can’t seen, can’t be seen” thing.”

“I see,”  Doctor Shy replied.

“Next thing I know, after some dream I had, I’m accepting other stuff too,”  Gilda continued.  “Guess I…”  She tried to find the words.  “Guess I got worried about you.”

“Oh!”  Fluttershy looked pleasantly surprised at that. “That’s very nice of you ,Gilda”  While the griffon had to wonder why the pegasus was so excited, the pony continued.  “You said it was due to a dream, right?  What did you see this time?”

“It was weird,”  Gilda replied, a bit at ease. “But it helped with how shaken up I was from that Snark...”  She then realized she had just messed up in a royal.  Gilda could feel her heart in her chest stop for a moment as her eyes grew wide and wild.

“The Snark?”  Dr. Fluttershy added, and did not notice the look of terror at first.  She quickly did, as the griffon let out a cry from her beak.  

That sound got the pony up from her desk, as she flew over faster that Gilda ever thought she would see the pegasus move.  

“Hey, hey!”  Fluttershy yelped.  “It’s ok, it’s ok.”  She put her hooves on the shaking griffon, lifting the laying creature up as it only stuttered.  “I’m sorry if it’s too hard for you!”  

Gilda was normally not up for being coddled like this, then again she was surprised she wasn’t struck dead.

“J-just, j-ust...G-give me a moment.”  Gilda answered the pegasus, still shaken.  The pony let go after she secured her upright in the couch.

“I can get you some water and…”  Fluttershy about asked and the griffon quickly nodded.  “I’ll be right back, just take a few deep breaths, ok?”  She went upstairs for a moment, and soon after the griffon did a few breathing exercises, she was back down with a glass.  

Gilda drank and gasped a bit, and let out a sigh for a moment, then gave an answer.  

“It’s a thing, a friend, an imaginary friend, something I read in a book!”  Gilda uttered in muddled jibbering. The look Fluttershy had was one of her own confusion that didn’t blink, which helped Gilda realize she had just rambled near nonsense.  “It’s something…you don’t want I guess?”  By then she found she was still stammering nonsense and face clawed.

“Um, are you sure ok?”  Dr. Shy asked, now holding the griffon’s claw.  “We can stop for now and…”

“No, I mean yes, I mean….”  Gilda started, and took a few more breaths, only then finally noting her heart was still going normally.  Not stopped, nor quaking.  “I’m good, maybe, I guess.?”  she added as her breathing slowed.

Fluttershy had caught on quick just then.  “Was that what you were running from Gilda?”  she asked with genuine concern.  “This Snark you saw?”

“Kinda,”  Gilda replied with clenched teeth, still uneasy.  “I’m surprised it didn’t kill me.”

“And that scares you?”  Dr. Shy asked.  Gilda didn’t answer that question, only just looking odd at the pony.  “Why?”  The griffon still didn’t answer.  “I know why death is scary. Gilda, you know that.”  Her hoof was on Gilda shoulder and her other hoof on the griffon chest.  “It’s ok,”  she said with genuine kindness.

“Y-yeah...yeah,”  Gilda then spoke, trying to feel some relief for a moment.  “I-I know.”  It still made her embarrassed, finding herself shivering like this in a mare's hooves.  “And let go of me, alright?”  she added bitterly, at last feeling firm again.

“Are you sure?”  Fluttershy asked, the griffon nodded.  “Ok,”  she replied softly, and the pony removed her hooves, but she still stayed next to her.

“I’m doomed anyway…”  Gilda said grimly.  “Things won’t improve.”

“You’ve been talking about how doomed you are for a while now, Gilda,”  Dr. Shy counted sofly.
“But when you talk about how doomed you are, and if you accepted it, why do you fear it?”  The griffon had to stop then, looking down for a moment, trying to find and answer that question.

She knew what it was to give up, then “The Snark” came to give her hope again.  Then ponies started talking about hope as well.  Then she got to know the Snark’s true cruelty and the ponies lack of clear answers to her problems.  Gilda felt hopeless again as usual.  

Still, there was one thing that both hope arguments had given her.

“Guess a stupid part of me thinks I can still come out on top despite all this,”  Gilda finally replied, not even sure she believed it either.  “It don’t make it true.  Just another crazy, moronic thing like the rest of this stuff.”

“Belief can be a strong thing, Gilda,”  Shy said softly, trying to reassure the griffon.  “Sometimes, the hope for a better world is better than having it.”

“How?”  Gilda asked, somewhat indignant.  “That’s just cliche!”

“Well….” While Fluttershy might have gone into some kind of explanation, the loud sound of a few knocks on Shy’s new door upstairs interrupted them.  “Can you excuse me, Gilda?”  She got up from the couch.  “I’ll be right back, ok?”

“Fine,”  Gilda sighed back as she laid back down.  “Whatever.”  To be fair, it was kind of a relief.

Fluttershy went upstairs as the griffon continued to sit.  She was calm again, less shaken too seeing at she was still alive despite using that name.  She still needed to be careful though, the Snark is only part of how things had gotten bad.  A really horrible part as well.

After several sounds of hoofsteps above, Shy came back down looking more than a little nervous.  Gilda raised an eyebrow, now what was up today?

“Um, Gilda?”  Fluttershy said with a sheepish smile on, down right cud eating one too.  “We need to talk.”  

Even Gilda knew by that look things had gone wrong again.

“Oh no,”  she said with annoyed despair for the upteenth time.  “What now?”

> Unexpected company
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Ohhhhh no, no!”  Gilda said, now seeing the new situation upstairs in her guest room.  “Do you have another guest room you can put them in?”  

“I’m sorry Gilda, really,”  Fluttershy replied with some regret.  “But I only have that one,”  she said,  before returning to hopeful again.    “But don’t worry, they’re really good little foals!”  She turned to the new houseguests. “Right girls?”

While the redhead and the white foals seemed to agree with a cheerful nod, the orange one just huffed unpleasantly, and the pink one just lay on the bed looking unpleasant in a sad way.  Gilda could already tell this was going to suck soon, it was only a matter of when it got worse.

“Just don’t make a mess, you all got that?.”  Gilda groaned, and decidedly excused herself from the room with a defeated sigh.  

While Fluttershy continued to give what was likely ground rules for the children, the griffon went downstairs to the living room.  At least Angle shared her thoughts on this, seeing as he was now scarce to find after the foals showed up.  Sadly, she had no rabbit hole to go down herself.   So she’d just sit on the living room sofa for now.

After a while, Shy came down from upstairs.  As per usual, the pegasus was in better spirits than the griffon was.  While she was likely to walk past, likely to start tea or something, Gilda had the same question she asked moments before..

“Again, why?”  she asked.  “Don’t they got any other place else to go?”  While Fluttershy gave her a slight dirty look for a moment, at least causing Gilda to at least back a bit down from her agitation, the point still stood.  “Honest question, alright?”  she sighed finally.

“I’m really sorry, but things have really gotten bad in town lately,”  Fluttershy replied back, staying firm.   “And their sisters are busy with Hearth’s Warming duties, so I need to watch over them.  First the vandalism now there’s a mad pony…”  Shy trailed off looking unnerved at that part.  “Things are-”

“Bad?”  Gilda finished, trying not to hint any guilt she had.  She might not have, except for the sudden interest and that look in her eyes.  That surprised look of realization.  “Like, how bad is it right now?”

“Pretty bad.”  Fluttershy replied with a sad sigh, looking down.  “With so many delays, we might not see a Hearth's Warming Eve in Ponyville.”  She rubbed her leg, unaware of the griffon in the room looking away with a guilty look.  Gilda got it off her before she looked up again.  “They’re safer here for now,”  she finished.  “Twilight doesn’t think the mad pony left town and the guard ponies are looking for him.”

“Ok, I got it,”  Gilda said with a bit sadly, knowing her part in things.  Thankfully, the pegasus figured the guilt was from something else.

“I’m sorry I got upset at you, Gilda, but maybe we can look on the bright side,”  Fluttershy said with a smile.  “Maybe it could be therapeutic?”

“Or a nightmare…”  Gilda added her two GP.  “I’ve seen enough shows to know any peace of mind we got now won’t last.”  Fluttershy shook her head at that.  “Any bits I ought to know about?”  she asked the pegasus.  “I already know the little orange kid hates me, guess she got a soft spot for Dash…”

“The mad pony attacked Diamond Tiara's family and her friend,”  Fluttershy added.  She took a seat on the living room couch, lucky for the griffon not right next to her.  “She’s really shaken up from it too and hasn’t said a word since it happened.”

“So, what?”  Gilda asked scratching her head.  “You want me to be like extra nice to her or something?”

“Just leave her be for now,”  Shy replied with a serious look.  “I’m going to talk to her later, before  dinner.  I’ve seen Apple Bloom’s trying to help, but Diamond’s...not answering her.”  She had that somber look again, rubbing her hooves.  

Gilda could tell why, rare as that once was once.  Not being able to do anything helpful, even after the event, sucked royal.  At least there was nothing she could do,  or nothing expected.

“So, what now?”  Gilda began with a shrug.  “You got anything else going?”  

“Just let them settle for now,”  Fluttershy replied with a soft smile.  “The Cutie Mark Crusaders can be a hoof-full, but they mean well.  Don’t worry so much.”

“And who gets the bed?”  Gilda’s question had Shy’s attention, her eyes were wide like little plates.  Apparently she didn’t think as far on things as she thought she did.

“Er, I didn’t think about that…?”  Shy responded and the griffon faceclawd as she let out a nervous giggle with a sad smile.  “Can you share the same bed with them?”

“Four fillies and a griffon,”  Gilda replied, still holding her head.  “That’s a sitcom, Fluttershy, not a sleeping arrangement.”

“Well, we have a hour or two before dinner.”  Fluttershy got up and trotted off.  “I’ll ask my friends,”  She added as she got her winter wear on.  “I know Applejack will have some sleeping straw.

“Yeah, you go do that,”  Gilda mumbled with a sigh.

Even under the best conditions, the griffon was not much for children.  While Fluttershy seemed good with them, Gilda would have felt better to avoid them.  That Scootaloo pony was going to be the worst though, seeing as last time was a miserable meeting that had her cold.  The other three wouldn't be more than an annoyance, but at least they could keep scooter off her case.  

One odd worry did come to mind, if random.  If Fluttershy became birds and butterflies she did not want to know what they would become.  Her eyes were going to be closed tonight, as if she didn’t need more reason too...

“Can I trust you and Angel to keep things calm while I’m gone?”  Shy’s voice got Gilda out of her monologue as she was now dressed and at the door.

“Sure, if I can find him,”  Gilda replied back nervously.  “Just hurry back, ok?”  

Fluttershy nodded.  “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”  she said and smiled back to her.  “Don’t worry!”  She headed out, as Gilda hoped she would be back soon..

It was now mostly quiet for then, aside from the voices upstairs.  With nothing better to do, Gilda found herself back to pacing again.  As annoying or tiring as it was, she sighed as she notice she was back to basics on things.  

“You would think if they were having a sleepover…” she muttered to herself.  “Does anypony have a stupid video game device in this town?”  Gilda grimly muttered.  “Argh!”  She continued to circle until she felt a sudden weight on her back.

“Get off, fluffy bun!”  she growled at Angel.  “I’m not anyone's mount right now!”  Despite her warning, the rabbit seemed content to stay, causing her to turn her head.  “I said get off my back!”  she now roared, and Angel hopped to the coffee table with a dirty look.  

“Look...”  Gilda stopped her pacing and looked at the bunny.  “If you are that bored, go play with the kids.”  The bunny shook his head, for once nervous.  “What?  You guys are about the same size, right?”  He shook his head again, just as scared.  “Hey, what the worst they can do?”

Apparently, that comment was enough to tempt fate's cruel appendage.  With fate, like more than a few things, hating the griffon’s guts.  From a heavy, audible thud and some shouting above it was clear things had gotten longer for her.  With a quick and careful beak, the griffon put the bunny on the stairs.  

“You check Angel, I’ll check the kitchen,”  Gilda said before going to get a snack.

But as she walked in the other direction, the fact that something was now holding her tail, even to the point it was dragging behind her, told the griffon Angel’s answer to that statement.  Gilda turned her head around to see the bunny holding on her tail with a frightened look. 

“We check together then?”  she replied with funny, if annoyed, look.

The rabbit holding on to her tail nodded as if to say “That’s better.”, and hopped upstairs.  Gilda sighed and walked up as well.  The bunny stood next to the guest room door, giving her a nod to open it.

Pushing it open, the griffon found the room was ok...  

Well, beyond the fact the CMC managed to not only topple the nightstand, but were now they were in the process of moving the rooms bookshelf.  Right now, the tall thing was making silent threats to fall over and hit the floor like the nightstand had.  It was enough that the griffon charge over fast before the shelf took a foal down with it.

She thankfully braced it back up before it fell.  Holding it up as the trio of foals were still in the process of pushing it.  

“What the heck are you doing?”  Gilda demanded of the small three in a annoyed, but trying to be “oh so calm” voice.  The last thing she needed was Fluttershy getting mad about her getting mad again.

”We’re making a barricade!”  said Sweetie Bell with enthusiasm,  clearly unaware how close she was to being flattened.

“A barricade?”  Gilda asked with a confused look.  “Why the heck are you doing that?”

“Cutie Mark Crusaders: Home Defense Force!”  the three strange foals shouted in unison and glee.  

Oh boy, this was going to be grating, Gilda thought.  

The griffon shooed them away with her claws, clearly seeing the three as a bigger danger than what the were defending against.  She sighed as the three gave her a unhappy look next to the bed.  

“Right, next you four are…”  Gilda paused and gave a look to the fourth one, still sitting on the bed.  That pink foal hadn't moved at least, not even paying attention to the spectacle nearby.  “What are you surviving again?”  she demanded.  “Zombies?  You guys are upstairs for cripes sakes!”

“Were gonna help block the entrances to that nasty mad pony can’t come af’ta us up here,”  Apple Bloom explained.  “Jus in case he uses the windows.”

“What...?”  Gilda uttered in a low voice.

“A bad guy can’t come in if he doesn’t have a way in,”  stated Sweetie with confidence.
It took a moment for the random facts to sink in, but they did for the griffon.  

“You guys...are trying to barricade yourselves in...due to that mad pony?”  Gilda asked them and the trio nodded, causing her to roll her eyes.  “Seriously?”  she deadpanned.

“Yep!”  Bloom said with another nod.  “That’s ta plan!”  The griffon let out another groan, at least the loons were committed to this.  It was cute in a screwed up kind of way.

“Why don’t I help?”  Gilda asked the trio.  “Shy’s out right now and it me and….”  She then realized who wasn’t there, Angel had booked it while she wasn’t looking.  “....me...”  she added as she looked aside with narrowed eyes.  “So I got to make sure you little idiots hurt yourselves.”

“Hey!”  Scootaloo yelled angrily at that line.

“Can ya?”  Apple Bloom said, not at all bothered by the griffons blunt concern.  “I figures, that shelf there can fit over that window there.  An’ Keep it covered so he can’t get in.”

“Then we just need to find some boards to nail on the insides of the other windows,”  said  Sweetie next.

“Nuh uh, we nail the boards outside,”  Scooter countered getting a dirty look from the white one.  “It’s stupid to just put the boards on the inside of the house.”

The two started to bicker as the griffon wordlessly moved the shelf to the window, like the foals had planned.  At least the three won’t try to move it from there, mitigating any damage they could cause next. 

She did her best to ignore the argument unfolding.  As the pair went to hooves with the redhead trying to keep them apart.  Gilda, in the meantime, reset the nightstand upright.

“That mad pony would just push the board in, and we’d be stuck putting board back up!”  said Scootaloo with a hoof holding her back.  “Then we’d have to keep galloping between windows all night!”

“And I’m saying he won’t get past them in here, and it’s cold outside!”  said Sweetie Bell with another hoof doing the same.

“And I’m sayin, he’d just find ah nother way in if we jus argue like this!”  Apple Bloom said with her hooves out, keeping the other two out of a hoof fight.  “So let’s not fight ah bout the windows, ah right?”

“Wait, you mean like the front door?”  Gilda mentioned off hand as she walked back to them.  

The three dropped the argument and just stared at the griffon for a moment.

“Yeah!”  the three said in unison with a look of delight.  They trotted to Gilda, as if expecting her to have more “sage” advice.  The griffon realized she really needed to keep her beak shut.

“Do we need ta nail the door shut?”  Apple Bloom asked Gilda.  On one hand, it might have been fun to watch, on the other she saw stuff breaking or ponies getting hurt.

“Um, look, kid…”  Gilda only managed to get those three words out before the next foal spoke up. 

“Do you know where Fluttershy keeps her boards and nails?”  asked Sweetie Bell.  “Are they in that shed she has outside?  I mean, I hope not.”

“Can you hammer too?”  Scootaloo added, and she sounded less unpleasant for a moment, excited to be building on the CMC new project.  “It could help us make it this place really secure!”

“Say…”  Bloom said as she rubbed her chin.  “Where is ta hammer, miss G?”

However, Gilda had enough of this.  

“Will you three weirdos cut it out!”  she shouted to the small crowd.  They stopped their running about with two of them looking hurt, and the third one looking angry.  “If there’s some mad pony near here I’ll handle him, alright?”

“Like you could,”  Scooter answered, looking away with her little hooves crossed.  Gilda rolled her eyes at that.

“Don’t bother me kid,”  she dismissed, resisting an urge to jab the kid.  “And you two, er three or whatever, if you're so scared of him why don’t you just hide someplace?”

“Naw, we should make ah perimeter!”  Apple Bloom countered.  “Like circling tha waggons ya know?”

“You know, why don’t you guys just…”  Gilda stopped to come up with some answer, one that could keep them out of trouble.  Or better, just out of her sight.  “Maybe, you could hide in the basement?  There’s a desk to hide under down there,”  she said.

“Yeah!”  Sweetie Bell beamed, nodding with excitement on the new plan.  “We can just barricade the one door instead of all of them!”

“But, then we’d have just the one door…”  Scootaloo said aside.  “How would we escape?”  Despite that vote, the three ran from the room with a speed that nearly knocked the griffon off balance.  

At least, Gilda thought, all that’s down there is a desk, a couch, and hopefully nothing they can hurt themselves with.  

She let out a sigh of relief, and was about to leave before she noted the fourth one was still sitting there.  Still on the bed, hardly moving.

It was then that she made note of how much white was on the light pink pony.  The filly had a bunch of bandages on her flank and back.  While the kid was awake, eyes open and staring at a wall, she seemed miles away from where she was.  Despite the ruckus that was going on just a moment ago the kid looked unfazed, even deeply detached.

“Aren’t you with those weirdos?”  Gilda asked, but the foal didn’t answer her.  She didn’t see the harm in walking in to view of the foal, even waving a claw in front of the child's face. “Yo, they went downstairs, you want to go too?”  The pink foal still wasn’t answering, even turning away from her with a grumble.  “Seeing as-”  But Gilda was cut off by the foal growling at her

“Shut up,”  Diamond Tiara said in a low, angry voice.  She sounded bitter, even trembling.  Her breathing sounded like she was shivering, but she didn’t look cold, just hateful.

“Guess you're the traumatized one,”  Gilda muttered to herself.  She was about to back away, as it wasn’t her business anyway.  Fluttershy was going to talk with the foal and it’s not like she knew how to comfort kids like this.

While the griffon was about to leave, she felt a bit of insight.  This kid was miserable, and was going to for who knows how long, and for some reason, that made her feel down as well.  Looking back, Gilda could see the foal was mostly clutching herself, but still wanted nothing to do with anyone.  She figured even Fluttershy might have a problem with this.

It was like some kind of silly idea came to mind that would have caused her to let out another groan, but she smirked instead.  Sure, it wasn’t like her, but why not?  This was a stupid idea, but crazy enough to work.

Gilda remembered that dream she had, like it might help somehow.  That silly one with Fluttershy and it’s effect on her.  So she walked up to the little foal, still curled up in a ball, and without warning picked her up to give her a hug.

“W-what, what are…”  Diamond jolted to some movement as the griffon lifted her.  “Leave me alone you stupid...!”

“Easy kid,”  Gilda said, trying to sound friendly.  “I just thought...”

“I don’t care what you think!”  Tiara yelled as Gilda, who against any better judgement, tried a hug with the kid’s hooves angrily flailing at her all the while.  “Let go of me you dumb bird brain!”

“I’m, ah, trying to, oof, help,”  Gilda stuttered as little hooves were hitting her chest.  “I got this idea so...stop hitting me!”  she finally shouted back.

“Make me,”  Diamond uttered bleakly.  “I’ve got nothing left anyway!” 

Gilda could see her stupid plan was floundering badly.

“Hey, I’ve had sucky moments too, alright?”  she said as she gave the kid less room to move, at least to soften the blows.  “I wanna help you, so just talk to me, alright?...ow!”  That stung.

“Shut up!”  Tiara yelled back as she was still fighting back.  “Just shut up and leave me alone!”  She kept hitting as Gilda struggled to keep hold.  “I’ve lost my friend, my daddy, I don’t care anymore!  Get away from me!  Just get away!”  By this point she had started crying, and had now resorted to digging her teeth into the griffon’s side, which stung a lot!

“Just let yourself cry kid!”  Gilda yelled with a strain from the pain.  “Let it out and...ow ow ow.”  Her teeth were grit with pain as she hopped the kid would wear herself out.  She let out a sigh of relief when Diamond had stopped her biting.

It was quiet for a moment, as pink filly struggled for a bit more, then just lost it.  The little pony just cried then.  It seemed instinctive at that point for Gilda to rub the kid’s mane and back as she sobbed, even if it did feel weird.  

“There ya go kid, just let it out,”  Gilda said softly.  “It’s just us here, it’s just us.”  The kid continued to do so, shivering into her chest.  

Heartwarming as it could be, Gilda was quite glad she wasn’t being bit into right now.  She let out a breath of relief, maybe her silly sounding insight fixed something.

“You feel better yet?”  Gilda tried to smile as she spoke.  The kid wasn't trembling anymore, just breathing heavily into her.

“No….”  Diamond said with a sniffle.  “I’m just some loser now…”

“Yeah, it didn’t work much for me either, so don’t feel too bad about it,”  Gilda added as she let go.  The kid wasn’t though, keeping her hooves around her, the foal’s head still buried in her chest.  “I remember it being a first step or something.  Guess I, uh...forgot the rest.”  Gilda rubbed her own head at that part.

“You're a stupid bird,”  Diamond snarked, even with a bit of a soft laugh.  Gilda didn’t feel too bad about it, Tiara felt less venomous than before.  Like her anger had gone back to grief or something.  

But she was talking now and not just sitting there like a ghost.

“You aren’t so burnt out now, right?”  Gilda asked, still with a bit of a smile as she pulled the kid off.  She could see the moist face the kid had, but even so she had a bit of a smirk at the jab she made at Gilda’s expense.  “Fluttershy’s probably going to try something later on, so try to keep your chin up, alright?”

“Why?”  Diamond said sadly looking down, still a bit teary eyed.  “Silver spoon is still unconscious in the hospital, my rooms trashed, my dad hurt, that monster…”  She shivered.  “He just wants to punish me!  Like I’m some kind of…!”  She clenched herself and grit her teeth as she froze up trembling.  “What if....what if…!”

“Hey, hey, hey!”  Gilda said softly but firm, as she put her claws on the kid shoulders.  “Easy, take it slow.”  She could see the kid was still trembling.  “Maybe take a few deep breaths?”  She couldn't believe she said that, and struggled to think of something to say to stop the kid for losing it.  

Then an idea came to her.  

“I’ve been through stuff too,”  Gilda added.  “Guess...I’m kind of a loser like you?”  That had an effect, as Diamond Tiara now looked up at her, still teary eyed with an odd look.  At least the pink foal wasn’t muttering to herself now.

“L-loser, seriously?”  Diamond added with little breath.  “Yeah, did...kinda...lose my best friend.”  She was still shivering, but at least not a trembling mess.

“But your friend, she’s alive right?”  Gilda said, while trying to figure what to do next.  She opted to rub the kids mane a bit.  “Besides, I lost a friend too ya know?”  She had to hope the tone didn’t sound stupid.  “So I know that bites, totally.”

“R-really?”  Tiara asked back, looking less scared and more curious.  She stopped her shivering, looking to the griffon with full attention.

“Y-yeah, long time ago,”  Gilda said, and felt sad at the memory herself.  Still, she tried to help it. “But you still got yours, right?  Even if she’s in a hospital.”  The filly nodded back.  “See, maybe it’s not as bad as all that kid?  When some miserable griffon can find some hope in things, maybe it’s not as hopeless.”

“Y-yeah…maybe,”  Diamond sniffled again, not exactly convinced but still even finding a bit to smile at.  “What happened to yours, miss G?”  she asked in an almost innocent sounding tone.

“Made them mad,”  Gilda added with a grim chuckle.  “Guess it’s not a nasty sounding, but it was someone I really, kinda connected with once,”  she muttered in a low voice, not wishing to dwell on it.  “She’s not dead or anything, but I don’t think mine’s ever going to get better.”  she answered in a somber tone.  “No matter what I do, I know it’s never going to get better.”

“Oh…”  Diamond replied rubbing tears from her eyes.  “Why that?”

“Reasons, I guess,”  Gilda replied as she put her claw on the kids back, doing her best to avoid any tender spots the bandages were over.  “You don’t have to be in a coma to have reasons not to get better kid.  It’s been a grim...dark...whatever things for a while for me.  Like it just gets worse the more you try.”

The kid sniffled a bit more, but Gilda still wanted to be reassuring.  “I’ll bet when your friend wakes up, she’ll be glad to see ya again,”  she added.  “Mine probably wishes she never knew me…”

“What do you mean by that?  Tiara asked, a bit confused at that answer.  “Now you’re the one that sounds crazy.”  She rubbed her eyes a bit, at least trying to dry them now.

“I’ve got a bad history with friends, I guess.”  Gilda lifted the foal back onto the bed.  “How bout you get some sleep for now?  Maybe, it could help ya.”  

While some would have wanted this heartwarming moment between the pair to continue, the griffon part wanted it to end, if only from how odd things had gotten.  

“Even I know how tiring feeling miserable is from experience, so you could probably use the rest,”  Gilda finished.  The kid nodded back.  

“T-thanks…”  Diamond replied, more than a bit awkwardly.  Clearly she was feeling more embarrassed than the griffon was.  Then again said foal gave Gilda another hug around the neck.  “I’m glad you were here for me, miss G.”

Gilda only hoped she would not be asked to tuck anyone in, and was quite glad when she wasn’t.  The foal crawled into bed by herself as the griffon watched.  All that was missing was a teddy bear or something as the kid closed her eyes under the covers, looking much better than she was several minutes ago.

With the Diamond Tiara snoozing, even looking peaceful, Gilda figured it was a good time as any to step out.  Already seeing how her mind felt like a complete stranger to her from what she had just done.  Even if it was because she had felt bad for the shaken foal due to her own feelings, it all felt alien.  

Again, the idea had come from one of those dreams that pull at her mind and the sense of who she was.  She scratched her head and looked at her claw, it was real as usual.  And she did remember who she was, that good and the bad.  But still, she sighed and how different she felt she was from who she used to be.

The griffon knew she could snap herself out of it, or hoped she could.  She was still herself, and right now she needed something to do to keep her mind occupied.  Maybe she could check on the new local survivalists in the basement?  

But opening the door, she found Fluttershy looking at her.  The pony was looking just as unsure about what was going on as Gilda was.  

Both sides stared at each other for a moment in real shock.

“Uh…”  Gilda began, eye wide.  She now dreaded how long that pony had been there.

“Um….” Fluttershy replied, her eyes also wide.  She quickly looked away, going back to digging her hoof into the floor.

“So, Tiara sleeping….and…”  Gilda pointed out the obvious.  “W-well, if that’s ok with you?”

“Y-yeah…”  Shy could see that, looking up and past the griffon.  “It’s fine for now.  I’d like her to get some rest too.  I-I’ll check on her latter, s-so i-its fine.”

“You saw nothing,”  Gilda ended dryly.  “Provided you did see something.”

“O-oh, ok!”  Fluttershy promptly nodded.

They went downstairs in an awkward silence for a moment, notably for both sides.  It ended when Gilda finally came up with something that didn’t involve what they weren’t not talking about.

“Did you get anything?”  she asked, hoping to end this tension.  “Like, from your friends for bedding?”

“O-oh, oh!”  That snapped Fluttershy out of it. “I got sleeping straw for them!”  she replied with a bit more loud than she expected, but calmed herself a bit.  “I have some spare blankets too, so you all won’t be in the same bed.”

“Ok, that’s...something,”  Gilda said as she scratched her neck.  “At least that’s sorted.”

“Oh, um, and why is my basement door stuck?”  Fluttershy asked as the griffon nervously gulped.  “Angel called me to it and…”  Gilda knew the answer, gritting her teeth in a comical look.

“Crud!”  she hit her claw on the floor as she yelled in annoyance, causing Fluttershy to jump in surprise.

“We got a breach, crusaders!”  a voice yelled from below.  “To your positions!” 

> Treading familiar territory
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dinner was a bit late,  or it just felt that way.  Gilda and Fluttershy had to band together to get the desk holding the basement door shut out of the way, and that was after they got the CMC to finally realize they weren’t monsters.  The foals even had the chickens take shelter with them down there.  

After that, there was a lot of hoof pointing, but it was all sorted out.  Fluttershy was good at her job as she dismantled the arguments.

Gilda could see how the pegasus was good with kids, seeing as the pony was able to follow the near mile a minute conversations the CMC were having over the meal.  Meanwhile, her and Diamond Tiara were content to eat as a silent audience.  

The foals talked about several things, Hearth’s Warming gifts, ideas for misadventures, stuff she didn’t see a reason to follow right now.

Apple Bloom seemed to try to get Diamond into the conversations, but the kid said she wasn’t interested.  At least she said so, frankly the pink foal still looked shaken again.  And by the sound of it, Tiara had a unpopular history too.  

Funny that, Gilda thought.

“So, me and Dash are totally going to spend Hearth’s Warming Eve together!”  Scootaloo said, with no consideration for the griffon at the table.

“Wah!”  Sweetie Bell looked shocked as she spoke.  “Why can we just get together for Hearth’s Warming?”  she asked.

“Yah, whal’ ya an Dash will be on the clouds, we’d still be on tha ground,”  said Bloom just as surprised and upset.

“You could hang with your new friend there,”  Scootaloo replied with some snark.  Though her tone did change to sheepish when she didn’t just get Diamond’s ire, but Bloom’s as well.  “Uh, just a thought,”  she laughed nervously for a moment.

“She’s better then, huh?”  Gilda muttered absently.  It seemed like a while ago, Dash met the door--at least she left no lasting damage beyond the obvious.  Good thing Fluttershy told Dash to keep her distance.

“My house is trashed, blank flank,”  Diamond deadpanned to the others as she kept eating.  “You aren’t going there.”

“Ya can spend it at mah house, DT!”  said Apple Bloom with a friendly smile.  “We’d be glad ta have ya.”

“Whatever,”  Tiara said without interest.

“Come on, DT!”  Bloom continued.  “Ah’m trying ta be nice here”  

Diamond Tiara just sighed.  “Whatever,”  she continued to grumble.

“Why can’t you just, ya know, accept our good intentions?”  asked Sweetie Bell, more upset than annoyed.

“Because I’d rather be spending it with Silver Spoon, that’s why,”  Tiara replied with another grumble.  While Belle and Bloom looked quite upset by things, Scoots more or less shrugged.

“Even now you think you are still better than us, DT?”  Scootaloo added.  “You're alone, and you still keep doing this.  Who said you are entitled to have friends?”

That hit a nerve somewhere.  Seeing as Diamond Tiara not only glared back with such hate it looked like she was going to throw a plate at the offender, but she also struck her hoof loudly to the table.  Thankfully, cooler heads prevailed, or at least Fluttershy’s did.

“Girls!”  she said in a firm tone.  The CMC looked a bit scared then, but Tiara simply groaned.  “She’s our guest right now, and I don’t want you to bully her!”  Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom clearly weren’t challenging that, Scootaloo did.

“She wouldn't do the same…”  she added.  “She’d just be mean.”

“That doesn’t matter,”  Fluttershy said with a bit more anger with that look that seemed to weaken most resolves.  The little pegasus didn’t just back down, she practically shrank back in fear from Shy.  “It’s her choice, and I don’t want you guilt tripping her now!”

“Ah jus wanted ta help…”  Apple Bloom said sadly with her head down.

“I know,”  Shy said with a gentle mane rub to the red headed foal.  “But you can’t force her to do this, ok?”

“Ok,”  said Apple Bloom as she nodded.

While she was just a quiet witness, Gilda had found it hard not to follow this.  What started to creep her out was how familiar this started to sound like.  It made her uncomfortable when she thought about it, and it didn’t help that Diamond’s response to this drama was to give up and return to her meal, not bothering to follow any further conversation.

After the meal, and with Fluttershy unintentionally flaunting her kid herding skills, Gilda figured she could use some alone time now.  While she wanted to chill for a moment alone in the guest room, without any kids to bother her, things just didn’t work out that way.  

While that feeling of being followed was something she just made herself used to, this tag along was a bit new.  At least the rabbit could be relied on to buzz off when she wanted to be alone, and the Snark just didn’t care.  Pinkie simply just showed up and left just as quickly.  But this new one seemed to look desperate for someone to be around.

“What is it, kid?”  Gilda asked without turning around as she climbed upstairs.

“Can we talk?”  Diamond Tiara said with some nervousness.  “Maybe hang out?”

“Can’t you talk to Fluttershy?”  Gilda asked, finally turning and seeing how nervous the kid looked.  “Seeing as she kind of, I don’t know, a doctor in this kind of thing?”

“But she’s a quack!”  Diamond said, annoyed.  The fact this reminded the griffon of her first line about duck pony had her laugh a bit.  “What?”  she added.

“Seriously?”  Gilda said with a bit of a chuckle.  “That’s a good one, I got to remember that!”

“I’m being totally serious here!”  Tiara stomped a hoof lightly.  “Like, three patients ran from here in the past month.”

“The real reason is funnier if you ask me,”  Gilda stated with humor.  Someday, she needed to ask that bunny how he did it.  “But, seriously,”  she said, ending the bit of comic musing. “What do you expect from me?”

“Well….”  Diamond rubbed her hooves together on the floor.  She was scared, but even so, she still wanted to be here.

It was then Gilda realized why the kid was struggling to find the words.  The griffon let out a sigh, finding another weirdo who thinks they are now friends with her.  Apparently, leaving her usual comfort zone had consequences.  Still, at least the griffon knew better than to make things worse for either of them right now.

“Alright, come on,"  Gilda said, and figured they could talk upstairs.  

The hallway would do.  Fluttershy and the CMC would be downstairs, maybe hanging up decorations or something.  

"So, what is it?"  Gilda asked as they both climbed up, then that kid started talking.

“W-well, I never met a griffon up close before,”  Tiara awkwardly stammered.  “I-I mean you guys never come to Ponyville so…”  Gilda was already rolling her eyes at the sudden childlike fandom she now had.  “Are the stories they tell true?”


“Which ones?”  Gilda said off hand.  “Stupid stuff?  Someponies still think we dig with our beaks.”

“What?”  Diamond looked about as unhappy with that rumor as the griffon was.  “Not something that stupid!  The other stuff.”

“Then what?”  Gilda asked as she tapped her talon on the floor.

“I read in a book that someponies tell legends of you guys being good goldsmiths,”  Tiara began.  “How much do you know about that?”

“Meh,”  Gilda uttered back.  She never had as much interest in that stuff, even if the old empire was built on it.  “So we dig up gold, fill bins with gold, make planks out of gold…”  she trailed off at the last one.  “I thought ponies were more into gems and stuff.  I saw that one pony with a stupid looking dress with enough gems to to look…”

“Tacky?”  Diamond Tiara added with some enjoyment.

“Does tacky mean “who the heck thought this was a dress design?”,”  Gilda replied.  “Or why would anyone wear that?”  The pink foal started to laugh at that comment.  “What?  What’d I say?”

Diamond put a hoof to her mouth, still chuckling.  “It’s nothing,”  she said.  But after a bit, she looked a bit more serious.  “If that’s true, is the stories about you guys being good guardians true too?”

Now Gilda was a bit shocked anypony would even read into that, especially some random pony kid.  It was practically part of the empire's pride in history books.  

“How do you even know that, kid?”  Gilda asked back.  “That from back during the wars we were in.”

“I’m not as dumb as those blank flanks downstairs, alright?”  Tiara replied, as though it had been obvious.  “But it’s true, right?”

“So what?”  Gilda said with a shrug.  “Awesome as were are, you ponies seem to be the “heroes” of this place,”  she said, somewhat indignant.  “We import orichalcum for you guys, and we invented that too,”  she sighed a bit, feeling she had to ask.   “You did know about that as well, right?”

“I thought it was just gold…”  Diamond Tiara said, looking aside, but looked back with confidence.  “But dad told me it’s a mix of copper, gold, even pyrite.”  She then notice the rather shocked look the griffon had looking at her, but Gilda got her composure back soon though.

“Well, when you don’t got magic you gotta figure a way around it,”  she said simply.  “But that’s ancient history these days.”  She had a bit of a smile then, this stuff was her childhood after all.  “My dad would go on and on about it too.  Even telling me stories about how griffons could take on dragons while most ponies were stuck with mithril and fighting over dirt.”

“Seriously?”  Tiara eyed the griffon with doubt.  “You fought dragons?”

“Meh, dad said us griffons used to seek out large monsters and…”  Gilda noticed Diamond was unfazed, still not convinced.  “Yeah, that might be bunko, whatever,”  she ended that possible argument.  “But it’s pretty sweet if you ask me!”  she said with some disappointment.  “So, why are you bringing up that whole “Gryphon guard” business anyway?”

Diamond Tiara looked away for a moment.  “It’s that mad pony,”  she said with a shudder.  “He came after me, and I’m...I’m scared of him coming back for me again.”  she spoke fast, even stuttering a bit.  “Y-you griffons are good at defending against t-these kind of things, right?”

“So, what?”  Gilda said as she scratched her head.  “He hasn’t shown up yet.  Besides, those other fillies…”  Diamond apparently lost her strength, and either fell or sat down on the floor harder than expected.  “Uh...you ok?”

“No,”  said Tiara, lying on the floor with a sad look.  “Just that memory, just that…”  She tensed up in fear.  While Gilda was content to look on, she could see Diamond looked like she was pleading for her to do something.

The griffon grumbled a bit in defeat.  Maybe it was those stupid dreams affecting her mind, getting her to suddenly think on these things.  Before all that stuff had happened, if some little filly asked her to be supportive she would have told them to go back to their herd.  

Besides, the other foals downstairs weren’t going to get through to this kid.  Gilda felt some guilt in knowing this from experience.

“Ok, so he’s got that effect on you,”  Gilda answered with a sigh and a shrug as she walked over to the shaken filly.  She sat next to her and even putting a wing over the foal.  “Alright, tell aunt Gilda all about it.”  She couldn't believe she was saying that.

“That mad pony…”  Diamond Tiara said.  “He said some stuff, and Scootaloo...she reminded me of it.”

“What do ya mean?”  Gilda asked.

“He said I don’t deserve anything,”  Diamond said trembling.  “That it’s all my fault things happened to me and stuff!  That I don’t deserve my friend or anything if he could say anything about it.”

“Yeah,”  Gilda replied scratching her neck.  “I’ve had that feeling from stuff too.”  The kid looked at her a bit confused.  “It’s a long story…”  she brushed it aside.  “So, what about it?  He’s already some mad pony.  Just one crazy jerk if you ask me.”

“What if those blank flanks agree with him?”  Tiara said as she looked down the hall and away.  “Like they want to…do the same thing to me,”  she muttered.

“Blank...what?”  Gilda didn’t quite understand the term, but put it aside.  “I know scoot-head was being a dweeb about it, but Fluttershy sees that apple girl really cares.  I can see why...”  The kid gave her a sharp, angry look at that and Gilda looked sheepish.  “Ok, maybe she does, alright?  That kid did offer an invite to that party her family is having.  Maybe she feels sorry for you too?”

“I don’t want her sympathy…”  Diamond Tiara hung her head as she spoke.  “She’s some loser blank flank.”

“Why?”  Gilda asked without much surprise.  “Your life sucks right now!”  the blue eyed filly just looked aside, not answering.  “You got reasons too, huh?”

“Yeah…”  Tiara lay her head in her hooves.  “I just don’t want to be near her right now.”

“So there a bunch of stupid goodie goods,”  Gilda shrugged, still trying to help.  “It’s a free meal, right?”

“How am I supposed to talk to them?”  Diamond asked, and while the mathematician answer was clear, the real one was something else at the moment.

“So far, for me, it’s been playing a few board games and some simple conversation,”  Gilda replied to the depressed foal.  “Ya think these fillies sound stupid, you should have seen this diamond dog I knew.”  

Diamond sighed at that.  “I don’t want to “have” to be their friend,”  she said with hoof quotes.

“I’ve spent enough Hearth’s Warming Eves alone to know it’s sucks, kid,”  Gilda added with a wing rub.  “If I were you, and I’m not, but if I was I’d take that invite.  At worst, it will just be a quiet meal or something.”  While Diamond Tiara could have taken that answer, but she gave Gilda a pretty hard question too.

“What would you do if your old friend did this?”  Tiara asked, and the griffon felt a jolt from it.  “Just suddenly all bygones be bygones and stuff?”

“I…..”  Gilda’s eyes were wide with more than shock as she struggled for a good answer.  “I don’t know….”  She scratched her leg, more than a bit anxious.  “I think about it sometimes, but that ain’t going to happen.”

“But what if it did?”  Diamond pressured.

“We’re you two that badly off?”  Gilda counted, hoping to shift this away from her and Dash for a moment.  “Last I checked, you weren’t friends before this.  Double that, she isn’t yelling about how everything's your fault...well, outside your head right now.”  

The answer took Diamond Tiara off balance a bit, kinda like it looked like it hurt.  So Gilda decided to close it.  

“Just, keep it in mind, ok?”  she finished.  “Unlike the friend I know, it’s clear the apple kid is making an effort for you.  She’s one of those sickeningly friendly ponies, not a prankster, so you know she won’t pull something.”

“Ok,”  Tiara finally looked up from the floor with a smile for once.  “So, maybe she won’t rub it in.  Do ya think?”  It was quiet for a moment, neither side knowing what to say.

“Yeah, I doubt it...anything else kid?”  Gilda asked with a bit of a smile.  “That mad pony still scare ya?”  

“N-not as much,”  Diamond answered, taken a bit off guard on that.  “Um, thanks?”

“If you believe that whole “griffons best defenders” thing, I’m guessing me being here got you feeling safer at least, right?”  Gilda would have been lying if she said that she felt no pride in that.

“Yeah!”  Diamond finally got up, still with a wing on her back.  “It does!”  She smiled to the griffon.  “It’s kind of silly, but after that hug…”  She scratched her mane, looking embarrassed.  “...um, well?.  It’s, like, weird.  Like, some of that stuff that got to me just looked less...scary.”  Clearly the kid was finding all this about as hard to describe as the griffon did.

“Yeah…”  Gilda rubbed her claw.  “I’m not usually the cuddling type, so…”  She had to think of a way to off awkward this.  “Glad I could help?”

“Totally did!”  Diamond said happily.  “I bet you could take that mad pony down even.”

“Do they know who to look for at least?”  Gilda asked.  Maybe it was her ego feeling stroked, but the idea of fighting down something made the griffon feel energized.  “Just in case, ya know?”

“Dark green with brown eyes.”  Tiara answered.    Gilda felt her wings stand on end, no longer with a hold on the filly.  It was not a form of excitement that caused that.

“Sharp teeth….?”  Gilda asked without thinking, her eyes staring into space.

“Yeah, like a monster!”  Tiara added, not noting the clear terror on the griffon’s face.  “How did...Gilda?”  Gilda didn’t even blink, her eyes were open too wide as she clattered the teeth she had.  “Gilda?”  While Tiara seemed to see the horror on the griffons face, she could only glimpse the tip of the iceberg of what was wrong.

“This is gonna suck…”  Gilda added to that, because it was going to.

> How do you sleep at night?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fluttershy didn’t leave the house to deliver the news when it was given to her.  She quickly handed Angel a note, told him to be extra careful as he went to town and to come back only with another pony with him.  To be on the safe side, if that wasn’t possible, she told him to stay with Twilight for the night just as long as her friends knew what they were dealing with.  

While the pegasus had been calm even to a point, with some angry tones here and there, this was different.  Gilda tried to appreciate the fact she wasn’t the only one scared to death right now.

The kids went to the bedroom and were told to stay there, the chickens too.  Meanwhile Fluttershy and Gilda would stand watch downstairs.  For some humor, Gilda put the nightstand against the bookshelf against the window.  Those kids had a point now, silly as it was once.  They seemed impressed though.

The griffon came back downstairs, finding Shy having herself a cup of tea.  Most likely to keep her calm than to keep her up.

“The rabbit back yet?”  Gilda asked.

“Uh...Gilda remember…?”  Fluttershy began, and Gilda face clawed.  

They were in the outskirts, and it had only been a few minutes after Angel left.  Where was she again?  This kind of tension was messing with her ability to tell time as usual.

“You got another cup?”  Gilda said, not taking her claw off her face.

“I got you one,”  Shy hoofed one over.  “Here.”

Gilda took no time in filling the cup from the kettle on the table, downing it, and filling it again like she done before.

“How’d he find me here?”  Gilda asked as she sat down, shivering, but not too bad.

“I don’t know,”  Fluttershy replied taking a sip.  “I know the escape was the other day.  He must have moved fast to get here from Canterlot, even in this weather….”

“Yeah,”  Gilda said with a bit of humor.  “Guess he’s driven.  It’d be pretty cool if he wasn't after me.”  Her cud eating grin said it all, and she was lucky she hadn't freaked out yet.

“I’m sure Twilight has an idea to help stop him,”  Fluttershy replied.  She seemed to have noticed Gilda’s unease, much to the griffons annoyance, putting a hoof on her shoulder..  “Take it easy, Gilda.”

“And if she doesn’t?”  Gilda asked, but Shy didn’t give a answer, the pony rubbed a hoof and let go.  “Can ya, I don’t know, call a bear or something?”

“Harry’s hibernating,”  Shy answered, taking another sip from her cup.  Gilda had only just now realized she had been just holding the cup in her claw for awhile now.  “For now, we have to wait.”

“You, ah, realize if he is nearly…”  Gilda really didn’t want to finish that sentence as she looked around.

“I know,”  Fluttershy said in a low tone.  “But, don’t worry.  He may not know where you are now.”  She then cocked her head.  “Um, Gilda?  Your tea?”  The griffon responded by downing the full cup in a second.  “Take it slow, ok?”  she added the Gilda took a few breaths.

While the griffon wasn’t too happy for that direction things were, even finding it painful to just sit there,  the idea of facing Package Deal was still too scary to imagine.  From his new teeth to the fact he--got her already once before.  
They were quiet as they sipped their tea.  The griffon looked out the windows from time to time, expecting Package Deal to be out there.  With blood on his muzzle and a fanged smile on his face like before.  Her wings wouldn't stay still, nor did her tail.

“Ya know….?”  Gilda had figured a conversation might help, so she started one.

“Hm?”  Fluttershy had the same idea as she listened.

“Remember that time, when I was talking about the storm?”  Gilda reminisced.

“Kinda,”  Shy answered.  “Oh, the one you and Dash braved?”  she recalled.

“Yeah, that one,”  Gilda felt like sharing this irony she had in her mind.  “I wasn’t scared of nothing back then, ya know?”  She let out a sigh.  “Lightning, heavy rain, gale winds, I’d laugh at that.  Now, here I am, feeling like whimpering over one crazy pony that’s after me.  Kinda makes me feel lame.”

“I told you it was ok to be scared, right?”  Fluttershy said with a smile.  “Do you remember how you dealt with it back then?”

“Pretty sure I just kept insulting that storm,”   Gilda replied with some humor.  “It was fun, even so exciting that I didn’t even notice a bolt burt my wing tip while I called the maelstrom a big stupid…”  The rest wasn’t family friendly so she moved on.  “I spat a lot of insults at it and I felt invincible.”

Fluttershy gasped.  “A bolt grazed you wing?”  she said with shock.

“Uh…”  Gilda muttered as she rubbed her neck.  “Even a graze would have been enough to blow a wing off.”  Now it was Fluttershy who looked shaken.  “Counselor told me how lucky I was to have been just out of range of the force from that bolt.  I think I just laughed back at him.”

“Thought you were too cool to be hit?”  Fluttershy kind of jabbed.

“Yeah...”  Gilda said as she refilled her cup with a bit of humor, even having a bit of a laugh at herself.  That bit of a enjoyment on self deprecation ended with a sigh, as the griffon was now back to looking at her tea.  “Guess this all ends with me knowing I don’t take being hit well for real then, huh?”

“It’s ok.”  Gilda  raised and eyebrow as Flutters put a hoof on the griffon’s chin when she spoke.  “I’ve been hit more than a few times, so I know you can make it.”

“Uh.”  Gilda said, not quite convinced.  “What do you mean by that line?”

“Remember those adventures you made a point not to ask about?”  Fluttershy said with a coy smirk, that caused a groan from the griffon.  “Sorry.” she added softly.

“This isn’t going to turn into some “My friends are my strength” kind of thing is it?”  Gilda sighed.  “I think I’ve been hearing enough of that crud from ponies.”

“There’s more to it than that, Gilda.”  Fluttershy said as she shook her head, but still smiled.  “It’s not just a matter of a cool sounding line that solves everything.  There’s more to it than that.”

“Hasn’t solved me yet…”  Gilda mumbled back.  “So how do you deal with “being hit” thing with you being frail?”

“Well, I think you could understand your limits and work past them,”  Fluttershy replied.  She then looked sheepish as she continued.  “Of course, you were the one who saved me when I forgot mine.”

Gilda sighed.  “Limits suck.”  Shy laughed at that.  “What?  What’s up with you?”

“I think we can both agree on that,”  Shy said with a chuckle.  “Maybe, some day.”  She said seriously, but friendly.  “We could tell you about a few things.  You’re not alone in this, Gilda.  No one is.”

“Yeah…”  Gilda added as the conversation felt finished.  Bright side was both felt less tense, almost.  Then the sound of wood creaking had them both jump in the air with wings flapping.

“Eeek!”  was Shy’s sound as she darted her eyes around the room.  “Uh, oh, hi…”  she added as she held her chest in between breaths, fluttering back down from the ceiling.  “H-hi Diamond, c-c-can’t sleep?”  The griffon looked and, true to advertising, Diamond Tiara was on the top of the stairs.

“Yeah,”  Diamond said with a sad look.  “The bla...others are asleep though, but I’m...”  she muttered a bit under her breath.   Fluttershy seemed to take the initiative, trotting up to the foal and talking to her, even guiding the little pony to the living room for a talk.  

At first, Gilda was going to the kitchen to get the kid a cup, but then she had her own idea.  After a brief trip downstairs, she came back to get that cup.  All while carrying a pill in her feathers.

“...I know you insisted on having the bed alone, but you might feel safer if you slept with them,”  Shy was explaining to the earth pony filly.

“That would be...weird, ok?”  Tiara replied with a bit of exhaustion.  “It would be enough to be sleeping in hay, but sleeping right next to them…”  While there were a few things to say on this, the griffon stated the most obvious to her.

“If you took the bed,”  Gilda asked.  “Where am I sleeping then?”

Diamond looked a bit perplexed.  “Oh…”  She looked away for a moment, more than a bit nervous.  “The floor, I guess?”  Gilda faceclawed.  “Uh, sorry?”  she added sheepishly.

“Fine, whatever,”  Gilda replied as she rolled her eyes in defeat.  “Not like I’m sleeping right now anyway.”  It worked for her plan anyway as well though.  She handed Shy the cup, and the pegasus filled it, hoofing it to the kid.

“Do you need more help sleeping?”  Fluttershy asked the foal.  “Maybe a lullaby?”  Diamond shrugged back and drank her tea.

“I got a idea, uh, can I?”  Gilda asked, hoping Shy didn’t question what it was.  

“Sure,”  Shy replied with a nod.  “I’ll wait here.”  She seemed to trust the griffon on this.

“Come on,”  Gilda lifted Diamond up again with her beak, putting the foal on her back.  “Let’s get you to bed so we can resume our cowering, kay?”  She hoped that was funny.  Tiara continued to drink her tea in peace during this ride upstairs.  

The guest room was as quiet as expected, with the blank CMC sleeping soundly on the sleeping hay.  The free ranged chickens were with them, huddling close to Sweetie Bell of all ponies.  Gilda let Diamond off on the bed.

“You know anything about pills that cause dreams?”  Gilda asked in a low voice, hoping Fluttershy didn’t hear.

“Nope,”  Diamond Tiara answered in her own whisper.

Gilda pulled out the pill.  “This thing was helping me with my nightmares, so I figure it can help you with yours.”

“So, I just take it and dream...right?”  Tiara answered, the good news being she wasn’t doubting this.

“Well…”  As Gilda spoke, she looked for that sleeping mask.  She then cursed to herself when she found Bell was wearing it.  This was going to be hard.  “Eventually.”  she continued.  “First you go to this weird place, which was why I need you to close your eyes.”

“Why?”  Tiara asked back, now suspicious.

“It’s a place scares me even, so it’s going to scare the crud out of you,”  Gilda admitted.  “And I think you have enough problems right now.”

Diamond Tiara was the one who rolled her eyes then.  Still, she shut them.  Gilda handed her the pill and DT put it in her mouth.  When handed her tea cup she drank and swallowed it.

“Now…”  Gilda was trying her best to remember her last trips.  “Try to think about stuff you are safe around.  Nice stuff.  Family, things you enjoyed.”  Diamond kept her eyes closed with a frown for a moment, but then spoke.

“Give me a lullaby,”  she said.  Gilda felt a jolt for a moment on that demand.

“Are you….?”  Gilda began, but sighed when the filly sternly nodded.  

“Yes.”  Diamond Tiara replied.

Gilda needed an idea quick.  What was the least embarrassing song Edward got her to sing?  One came to mind, but she really didn’t want to sing again.

“You know, you could-”  Gilda was about to say, but Tiara wasn’t hearing it.

“Sing!”  Tiara demanded.  

Oh well, Gilda thought, least no one else will hear  it.  So, she began to sing a bit.

Amado mio
Love me forever
And let forever begin tonight

Amado mio
When we're together
I'm in a dream world
Of sweet delight

Many times I've whispered
Amado mio
It was just a phrase
That I heard in plays
I was acting a part

But now when I whisper
Amado mio
Can't you tell I care
By the feeling there
'Cause it comes from my heart

Gilda was hoping Diamond was sleeping now, before this got creepy.  Luckily, by the peaceful smile and light giggle, the kid looked relaxed.  Maybe even past the weird place and completely asleep then.  She was seeing stuff that was better than her life was at last.  

The griffon let out a sigh of relief as she turned to leave, then finding an unintended audience was behind her.  Two weirded out foals and one silently clapping, eager for her to continue.

“Bite me,”  Gilda said simply to the crowd.  The confused two rolled their eyes, Bell looked disappointed.  “I’m not a songbird, alright?  Sheesh.”  

The CMC would have little trouble getting back to sleep, so she left and hoped they wouldn't advertise yet another moment in the griffon’s life she was going to regret latter.

Back downstairs, things were about the same.  Fluttershy had poured herself another cup and the cavalry had not arrived yet.  

Gilda picked up her cup from the table, the tea was cold but drank it anyway.

“How long’s he been gone for?”  Gilda asked Shy.

“More than a hour now,”  Shy replied, not much more shaken.  “And…..”  She then looked alerted to something.  

The griffon followed the pony’s gaze to the window next to the door.  Gilda was about to ready herself for, hopefully, a fight.  But instead there was a knock at the door.  The griffon’s tension left her as she looked down and sighed,  she let Fluttershy get it.

The gang was all there, it seemed, at least part of it anyway.  Pinkie and Sweety’s sister Rarity were at the door.  Both had a worried expression on their faces.

“Where’s Angel?”  Fluttershy asked, moving her head and noting one more missing part to the crowd.

“Fluttershy, dear?”  said Rarity, putting a hoof on Shy’s wing like she was going to deliver bad news.  “I’m afraid the situation in town has…”  Dramatic pause.  “Become untenable.”  While the meaning of that wasn’t quite clear, Pinkie Pie made it easy to explain.

“Deal took hostages!”  she shouted.  Sadly, that was enough to cause the other ponies present to faint.  The unicorn more artfully styled than the pegasus.

“Aw nuts,”  was Gilda reply to the situation, as Pinkie tried to revive her friends.

> This is going to suck
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Despite what Gilda would have imagined, things were quiet as they went to town.  She had expected more running and screaming, maybe some evil laughter, and maybe even an explosion or two, something.  Maybe the town ponies were just hiding for now.  The weather looked bad enough after all right now.

While the griffon was unsure rather or not she wanted to come along for this trip, Gilda had no choice in the matter.  Package Deal was demanding her to come out or he would “apply needed pressure” to get his point across.  

Some ponies, she heard, were stuck in ice.  As was the clear threat was them freezing to death as the weather got colder.  The closer they got, the worse the snow and wind became.

Gilda saw the rest of the pony pack all behind cover.  Rainbow Dash was there as well, with some bandages on her body.  Several blocks away stood Deal like a short looming terror, near him were the really unlucky ponies frozen in ice.

The purple alicorn was the one in charge, likely Twilight she figured.  Gilda hadn’t been to good with names at the time she came by.  

“Gilda, good you are here!”  Twilight said.  “Here’s the plan….”

“Aren’t you like...an alicorn?”  Gilda stated the obvious.  “Can’t you take him out from here?”
Her stating the obvious wasn't helping, at least the facehoof the princess indicated that.  

“We can’t do that!”  Twilight yelled back.  She then pointed to a upside down pony in armor, his legs and head being the only parts free from ice.  “He did that in an instant, and he chased the others off with shards of ice he made from thin air.”  Then the tone went from unsettled to oddly descriptive.  “Well, actually he caused water molecules in the air, already present, to cool enough too….”

“Twi!”  yelled Applejack with an upset look.  “This ain’t the time fer a science lesson!”

Despite being the biggest pony there, Twilight Sparkle looked a bit embarrassed.  “...We need to get those hostages out of the way, and we can’t be sure the full extent of his power,”  she simplified.  “I need you to distract him, Gilda.  That should give us an opportunity to get those ponies out of harms way.”

“So, I’m bait here?”  Gilda said, more than a bit annoyed.  “You serious?”  she added in disbelief.

“Yep,”  said a certain cyan pony who would remain nameless for awhile.  She was not at all fazed by the griffon’s death glare back to her.

“Besides…”  Twilight continued calmly.  “He said he would only talk to you, so just keep him distracted and we’ll do the rest.”  While Gilda could have rolled her eyes, maybe even grumbled, this got her tense enough that she just nodded.  

She went forward to certain suckage.  

Gilda walked past the cover, past that frozen guard with his hooves still flailing in the air, and kept going until her old boss noticed her.  

It didn’t take long, when Deal’s eyes looked at her and had gone from his normal brown to straight up black.  Black and glowing with a worrying power.

“Gilda,”  Package Deal said with a calm voice.  He had been sitting on the snow, and got up as she drew close.  The way he moved was strange, like he had no bones in him.  He swayed as he spoke  “I’ve been expecting you.  Are you now ready to face the consequences of you actions?”

“What about you?”  Gilda countered with some anger.  “You just ran around freezing and kicking around ponies here.  What’s your deal?”  

She looked at the frozen crowd.  She didn’t recognize any of the ponies, but she found Angel, with a pleading look.  He’ll live--hopefully.

“I do what needs to be done,”  Deal said calmly, not even acknowledging her anger.  “The guilty need to be punished, coddlers need to be shown that means need to be taken.  That force needs to be applied, and these events forced me to do this.”

“Like what?”  Gilda asked in an attempted cool way.  Part of her felt like this was out of some movie, and she was hoping she was doing it right.  “I remember what happened to Silver Bell, ok?  I’m sorry.  She….”

“Don’t you dare speak her name!”  Package Deal’s calm had been replaced by a violent roar, blowing at Gilda’s fur and feathers.  “Your dirty presence only sullies her memory, and I intend to wipe that clean!”

“So, what are you waiting for?”  Gilda yelled, trying not to let that force faze her.  She really hoped the princess pony squad behind her were doing something now.  “What do you want from me anyway?  You gonna try and kill me again?”  she held her claws out as she spoke.  “Don’t you realize how messed up things are right now?”

“His black heart,”  Deal replied, simply pointing a hoof only answering one question.  “Then your suffering.”

“His black heart?”  Gilda was confused for a moment, but the answer came out fast.

“Me?”  said the Snark, now standing next to the griffon.  “You're coming for me?  After all I’ve done, how shameful!”  Despite his statement he still looked like it was a joke as he chuckled.

From behind Package Deal came another form.  What Gilda figured was a large bird--dragon thing made of stone and ice, with gravel and bits of ice falling underneath.  The fact it’s eyes were polished stone was uncanny, with her and the Snark’s reflection being visible in them.

“You have come this far, Snark, but I will have the honor of bathing in the gloom age to come.”  the owl dragon Jabberwock said gently.  “You wouldn't deny this pony his goals in life, would you Snark?”

“Aw, I hate it when we fight,”  the Snark--well, snarked with a smile.  “Come on, have a heart that isn’t mine.  I did the work, the hard parts anyway.”  He then patted Gilda’s back, giving her a chill.  “And she’s been a trooper ya know?”

“I, nor the Jabberwock, intend to let Gilda go.”  Deal and Jabberwock said simply, Deal’s eyes narrow.

“She’s just a miserable, burnt out bird Snark,”  the Jabberwock stated clearly with no emotion.  “Her life is many times more forfeit than his ever was.”

“And that’s the beauty of it!”  the Snark playfully spun as he spoke.  “Hatred coming, hatred going.  A simple feast for me of anger!”  His smile lowered into a bloody frown.  “Besides, you and that avenging dork night you have are waaaayyyyy too short sighted I think.”

“And your’s too far!”  replied the Jabberwock as though talking to a disobedient child.  “Your silly idea to conquer the gates of delirium is too far the beyond.   You are losing all vision of what exists before you.”

“I’m much better at empowering this meek doofus!”  was the Snark’s childlike response.  “And the best you can do is make a moron think he’s a hero.  Pah!  You're more childish if you ask me!”

That was it then, as the snow blew up into the air and Package Deal and the Jabberwock had enough of this.  The cold bird lizard looked to Deal.  

“Break her again, but don’t kill her.”  he explained.  “Savor it, so she feels the guilt for everything she’s caused.”

“I will,”  Deal said in a low, serious tone.  The Jabberwock vanished as Deal’s body shook and spasmed.  The snow around him seemed to blow about with a wind that came from within him.  

Gilda now saw another good reason to start backing away.  

“I am so devouring you when this is over!”  the Snark yelled over the coming storm.

“I know your kind Gilda,”  Package Deal uttered in a voice no longer his own.  “I watched as you were content to just drag others down with you.  Unable to take even the most remote effort to think about anyone but yourself!”  He pointed an accusing hoof that seemed to melt off.  “You never intended to change, you dread it!  I know you are content to be a monster, so I will have to save others from your influence!”

“Well, don’t just stand there!”  the Snark called Gilda’s attention from a rooftop, notably above the coming fray.  “Fight back, kill, go crazy!  Like a duck to water!”  

Gilda looked back, and nearly got hit by thrown ice.  She began to wonder how.

“I am the face of hate,”  Deal said in a distorted tone with cold air and ice coming off him.  In a wild swirl that even broke window shutters off, freezing them as well in ice.  “I am the denied justice of revenge and cruelty to the wicked that you cannot, and will never accept.”

Gilda was quite scared then, even letting out a yell.  “Yikes!”  she yelped as she dodged more flying debris.

She saw Deal’s body writhe and wither, like his bones were pushing against his skin until it was a leather bag pulled taut.  As his body warped, the griffon’s gaze went to his jaw line.  

His already scary mouth of teeth just unhinged, widening his smile, and letting out a loud roar in her direction.  Notably now with a mouth that could that could eat whole limbs off and bellowing F2 winds.

Gilda could gauge that from experience.

That distraction plan Twilight had just blew away as far as Gilda was concerned, and chances were she would too with that wind she felt coming to her.  She took to the air and flew away fast.

“You can not run!”  the Deal like thing roared behind her.  “None shall escape their guilt!”

While Gilda was doing her best to prove him wrong on that point, as far as flying at least, she was also trying to come up with a plan to fight him.  From the air, she could see the local heroes moving quickly, breaking the hostages free and even carrying them to safety.  

But no sign of Deal could be seen.

“Where’d he go?”  Gilda asked as a cold draft was felt blowing past her.  The draft didn’t bother her, but the sudden weight on her back did.  

To say nothing of the fresh, cold stabbing on her side.

The griffon screamed as she did a barrel roll.  It did get Deal of her back, and she watched him fall.  He looked back at her without expression, as his bony body became fog and then nothing before her eyes.

“I think it’s safe to say, he can fly too, huh?”  added the Snark in her head with a humor she was not at all happy with.

“Shut up!”  Gilda yelled back.  

Flight was getting painful with those cuts, so she dropped altitude.  She didn’t care where she landed, she just needed to get to ground and hope her injuries weren’t bad.

“Ok, so he can just vanish into thin air, huh?”  Gilda muttered tensely as she landed.  “Maybe that’s all he’s got?”  She was shaken, and quite glad to find the cut wasn’t deep.  The griffon took a few breaths as she clutched her side.

“Like a one trick pony G?”  the Snark snarked.  “And here you though his bite was bigger than his bark!”  His laughter didn’t relieve the tension Gilda felt as her legs hit the ground.

This street was clear and the hero’s weren’t in sight, still doing rescues elsewhere.  Gilda looked around, eyes darting in as many directions she could turn her head.  No lights were on, the storm was still going above, and a cart just stood there on the street.  The griffon tried to buck some courage, standing up again.

“Come on!”  Gilda yelled to the sky.  “I’m right here, you big freak!  Come and get me, wuss!”  She poised herself for battle, ignoring the low pain she had.  At least the wound wasn’t serious.  

The wind blew around her and the snow on the ground flew about, nearly obscuring her vision.  She really wasn’t sure how to do this, she just had to hope she did.  Really, really hope she did.

After turning a bit in place she saw the Deal monster for a moment, only for it to vanish.  Then again, at another angle, with her only seeing his black eyes for a moment.  Then he just appeared in front of her, she couldn't tell if that was a shark smile or a dragon's maw he now had as he grinned back.  

In her smarter moment, Gilda blew a raspberry to the monster.  Good news: he didn’t vanish.  Bad news: he was throwing ice at her.  The griffon ducked and dodged the thrown shards, until he went for a low blow and iced her wing solid with frost leaving it numb and heavy.

“Hax!”  Gilda shouted as she ran for cover.  She got behind that wagon and flipped it on it’s side. The sound of impacts told her how much icy death the wood was stopping.  

Still, it was temporary.  Deal would either go to mist or just break the thing down.  Then, Gilda had an idea.

With a firm grip and a pull, she pulled one of the carts wheels off, and after a pause threw it at Deal.  As she expected, he iced the thing solid.  The griffon used the opportunity to quickly blindsided him.  

Gilda dug her claws into his side for a change.  Even going as far as digging her beak, in desperation, into Deal’s neck.  She just didn’t expect the sudden blast of cold air that threw her into a wall though, ironically knocking the wind out of her.

“I will not be stopped,”  the horror uttered back in a scathing voice that had the griffon shiver on the ground.  “I cannot be stopped.”  Deal continued as he trotted to Gilda’s now prone form, even letting out a low growl.  “I am hate!”  

As Gilda tried to catch her breath, she saw how bad things were for her again.  The monster Deal was wasn’t losing blood for one, and the bluish writhing shapes that were in those wounds she gave him told her why.  His side soon no longer had visible injuries, and his neck was slowly closing.  Worse, he didn’t even look like he felt any of that.

“Nuts!”  Gilda cried out as she flailed and the ground.  “Just nuts!”  She tried to get up but failed.  “How do ya stop…” she added with wide, shocked eyes.  

The griffon needed to get away from the creature,  this monster that chilled her blood just looking at it.  Any amount of gallows humor didn’t waver the fact that this--creature was intended to be her end.  All she could see was visions of him ripping her apart in the name of his idea of good.

“Do you like dying?”  said the Snark in a sarcastic tone.  “Does it delight you, sad little bird?”

“No…”  Gilda replied with a bit of a tremble, her body shivered from more than just the cold.  “I ain’t going out like this.”  her voice broke.  “Help me....”

“Good,”  the Snark replied with a giggle, and her Gilda’s body lurched up with a sudden force inside.  “Let’s rip his legs off,”  he continued in a delighted voice.  “It never really mattered, he’s dead anyway!”

It wouldn't leave her alone until she did it.  Gilda was up as she roared at the horrific monster, and she kept roaring as her roar became a distorted shriek that cracked the windows of surrounding buildings.  The griffon’s body felt alien for a moment, like she was only just a controller of it.  She was numb, but could see her body shift and change.

Sharp ice grew on her claws, those cuts she had trembled too once were a memory.  Her view was clear, and the most pleasant thought she had was involving Deal’s curb stomping.  Her skin pulled itself tight, lean and built for combat as fat was trimmed.  

Gilda felt she could take a dragon like this, heck ten dragons plus two!   She could take him on easy.  

It felt like every part of her had missed this tranquility.  This was mad certainty, the truth, the happiness.  Gilda charged forward as Deal threw more ice, swatting past the sharp chunks and sweeping her claws into him.  She had only partly dug into him when he vanished into air.  

The griffon creature may had been thinking clearly or just guessing as she grabbed the cart, and with great strength, spun that thing in fast circles.  The vortex she made was now affecting the air, as Deal form became solid for a moment and that’s all she needed.

Gilda slammed the cart into him, breaking it apart on impact.  Now he was on the ground and she pounced with no mercy.  Her talons shredded the heck out of him, and going with Snark’s suggestion, she tore his left foreleg off.  Then his right leg was bitten off by her beak in an instant.  

That earned her another blast, landing herself on a wall again, which she bounced off and landed on her feet with ease.  Her beak had fangs in a grin at the how simple it was.

“Too easy,”  Gilda’s voice was raspy as she smiled.  “Now who can’t be stopped, dork?!”

Deal seemed to finally crack a bit, his forelegs legs were stumps and his other wounds were a mass of azure.  What fluid drained from his body blackened the snow it landed on.  

He let out a howl, guttural and shrieking, as mist poured out that from his stumps.  The mist swirled around where his legs had been, and in an instant, the spirals merged and took shape becoming new legs.  Package Deal had his limbs back again as though they had never been removed.

Gilda watched this horrific and cool display of power with glee.  Now this was a fight!  The griffon creature pondered what would happen if Deal lost his head.  He may well grow a new one too, so she could tear it off as well.  

Then she could, she could-- nearly fall over.

Gilda’s head felt sparks burning in it, threatening to white out with pain.  She had to let it go then, like she’d been moving too fast, about to lose balance and fall apart as her head exploded.  Soon, it felt like all the air had to leave her body or she was going to blow like a balloon.  

A growl left her beak that became a groan, and she quickly felt like she was hit by that cart as she fell to the snowy ground.  The griffon felt like she was going to puke with how sick she now felt.  Like, somehow, she had forgot she died and her body was angry she forgot.  

Her body writhed as her original shape returned.  Gilda was back to being herself again, but right now in a bad way.

“Get up, now!”  the Snark’s voice yelled like a razor in her brain, and not helping the pain she was in.  “Kill!  Get angry!  It’s the only way to win!”  The most she could do was hold her head as she got up.  

“My head hurts...”  Gilda moaned over the winds whipping her now.  “How…?”  

Seeing more ice in the air she instinctively tried to scramble out of the way.  The shards missed, and lucky for her Deal’s game was off.  It was good thing, if she could just use it.  The griffon got up again after stumbling on shaky legs and talons, still breathing heavy.

“That all ya got?”  Gilda muttered weakly, trying to pep herself up.  “I can take…whatever you can…”  She needed to take more breaths as she shook her head.  It was then, she let her vision gaze to what was now behind the monster.  ”Are you kidding me?”  Gilda added as her beak dropped.

The pony girl hero squad had arrived to save the day.  Package Deal, for good reason, was more upset by this as her turned to see them.  Gilda was less so, her sigh was more partial to relief than annoyance then.

“It’s over!”  Princess Twilight Sparkle yelled with a echo, her allies close behind her.  Unlike the griffon, said princess seemed more disgusted than scared of the monster before her.  “You’ve lost!”

“Never!”  a was the nightmarish screech uttered from Deal’s body.  The black in his eyes dribbled fluid across his head like black veins.  “I will have my vengeance!”  

While Deal’s messed up form worked it’s way over to fight more, a quick magic blast had him down on the ground.  That ice power of his wasn’t so sturdy now.  His breath as he growled was raspy, slow, and in that tense pause Gilda noted one thing.  

His breath wasn’t steaming, like he was as cold on the inside as the weather.

“Surrender!”  Twilight said in a non echo voice.  “You can’t win now and I won’t let you won’t harm anyone else.”

“Miserable...weak host,”  uttered a voice only Gilda seemed to hear.  “Clearly my faith was mistaken.”

“Hurt?!”  the malformed Deal’s voice squealed.  “All that I cared for was destroyed by that griffon.  No justice came for me!”  His voice’s tone became more off, like it’s frequency was messed up.  “With my loss, it’s all I have.  To ensure...no more….to crush the guilty until they do right and stay that way!”  Package Deal’s body writhed in pain as he spoke.

“Just give up,”  Twilight replied slowly.  “That doesn’t excuse what you’ve done, but it doesn’t have to be like this.  Just surrender, and we can stop all of this.”

“I…”  Package’s eyes were wild as his body trembled with movement, struggling to get up.  But when his eyes saw Gilda again it didn’t end well.  “From hell’s heart, I stab at thee!”  he roared at her.  “For hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee!”  His body fell back to the ground and began to spasm violently.  At first, no one was quite sure what to make of it.  

But at least one pony did, she was doing her own spasms.

“He’s gonna blow!”  Pinkie Pie said with all due seriousness.  “First to cover wins!”

Gilda hobbled as best she could to a safe place before the blast knocked her off her feet, and knocked her out.  Everything went black

“...Ice off her!”  Gilda woke to hear voices outside, though it sounded hazy now.  

She grunted as she pushed her limbs to move.  Whatever ice this was took a lot of effort to crack.  But with a bit more force, the griffon broke free of that shell.

“Woah!”  said at least one pony as Gilda shook off shards and bits off.  The griffon’s vision was wobbly after letting off a breath outside her icy prison.  

“She’s ok!”  said Pinkie Pie with glee.

“Came out on top!”  Gilda said to herself with a smile.  Well, just before slipping on the ice under her feet.  “Argh!”  Her bravado ended with a whimper of pain.

“Easy, easy!”  Fluttershy said as she helped the griffon back up.  “Come on.”  She was pulling the griffon away from the scene of the recent blast.

“Is everypony alright?”  Twilight Sparkle said, but Gilda couldn't tell with what she could see.  

Either from one impact or another, she was finding it hard to keep focus.  She could see that purple pony pointing around here and there, but most of what she said felt distant.  If her eyes could spin in place, this was likely be doing so.  They would feel like this as they did.

“Were fine!”  yelled Dash, who turned out to be not more than a few feet away from Gilda.
That helped the griffon with a jolt, pulling her out of her weakness.  Well, that and a second jolt when she felt her wing.

YOW!”  Gilda yelped and was back on her feet.  Awake and looking around, she realized she had an icicle in her wing.  It was straight thru even, stuck inside.  If she was anymore awake, she might have started screaming.  “That’s….gonna hurt in the morning, or now, somepony get that out…”  she muttered in a muddled voice.

Fluttershy put the griffon down, taking a look at the wound.  “Oh my!”  was her word on it.  “Are you really, really sure you want that out, Gilda?”  the griffon nodded back, and she might have heard Shy gulp as she nodded back.  “It will hurt a bit,”  added said softly.   “Try to stay still, ok?.”  

Gilda nodded, and decided to take her mind off the feeling of something being pulled from inside her wing by looking around her.  The fact she was mostly numb did wonders for the pain.  As the pegasus went to work, the griffon looked at the aftermath.

The road, the buildings, all were covered in black ice.  It was cold enough to fog up even as the nights winter weather stood firm.  It was pretty cold, in fact very cold.  The snow didn’t so much as land on it but freeze into it.  Even Twilight’s attempts at magical fire didn’t seem to dent it.  The fires only went out when it met the ice.

“What just happened?”  Gilda asked, still kind of delirious.

“Package Deal’s gone,”  Fluttershy replied simply.  She had got to wrapping some bandages on the wing now.  “Please take it easy.”

“How long was I out?”  Gilda asked.

“Only a minute,”  Shy added as she finished her work.  “We saw you after the explosion.  You were frozen in ice.”  she said quickly.

It was quiet for a moment, as Gilda caught her breath.  Princess Twilight seemed to be managing her other friends to do what they could.  To check for any other injured, check the houses that have ice on them, see if ponies are alright, the usual it seemed.  The griffon guessed disaster response was pretty regular here--maybe.

Then she saw the Snark skating on the ice with enjoyment, with all the ponies oblivious to his presence.  Even the purple pony princess didn’t see him as she skated by, waving his hooves with a horrific black toothed sneer.  That’s when Gilda knew she needed out of here before it got worse.

“Please tell me were going home soon,”  Gilda asked quickly, shaking her head.  “I need outta here.”  Despite a moment ago, or what she usually wanted to stand for, the griffon just wanted to be away from the action as much as possible.

“Can you walk?”  Fluttershy asked, still at the griffon’s side.  

Thankfully, despite the numbness, Gilda could tell the pony was helping her stand.  For once, she was quite glad for it.

“Yeah, yeah.”  Gilda said absently as she moved forward.  “I can walk.”

“Twilight!”  Shy shouted over to the alicorn nearby.  “I need to get Gilda home!”  Judging by the gesture, Twilight was in agreement.  The griffon’s legs were shaky, but she was walking.  “We need to get you inside,”  Fluttershy added as she walked along with the griffon.  “Do you need some soup?  The others we released from ice were closes to hypothermia when they got out.”  

In time, she was practically asking questions one after the other on Gilda’s wellness as they were leaving to town.

“I’m good, really,”  Gilda more or less answered to the ongoing inquiries.  “Just kinda shook up is all, okey?”   

“But you were frozen today, Gilda,”  Fluttershy said back with worry.  “And you should stay off your wing for a few days.”  She continued on with her advice as the the griffon let out a sigh, half relief, half weariness.  “And you should get some hot soup or you’re going to catch cold.”

That word struck a cord in Gilda.  Only then, she just noticed that despite coming out of a block of ice she wasn’t freezing.  She couldn't even feel the cold right now.

“Uh, could the other ponies walk?”  Gilda asked for clear reasons.

“No, they couldn't,”  Shy replied as she shook her head.  “We’ve had to rush many of them to shelter so…”

“Wait, what about Angel?”  Gilda then realized who wasn’t there right now, even looking around for the rabbit..

“We already saved him,”  Fluttershy replied, looking calm as usual.  “Spike is keeping him warm right now, and I’ll check on him when we….”  She stopped for a moment, so did Gilda.  

Something was on the path out of Ponyville, it was a sleigh pulled by seals.

”Um….”  was the best either of them had as the seals barked into the air, slapping their flippers together.  The pegasus and the griffon looked on in some surprise.

“Walrus?”  Gilda said with a sigh.  “That you?”

“I have a name,”  Discord said in annoyance, now next to them.  “And I only have one long tooth.”

“Oh, Mr Discord,”  Fluttershy said with relief.  “Why are you here?”

“Maybe I’ll just take everyone's favorite reason and say….reasons?”  he said with some humor.  
“I imagined you could use a ride home.”  While Gilda just kind of stood there at the absurdity of it, the pegasus got into the sleigh.

“Can you bring me back to Twilight’s, after we drop GIlda off?”  Shy asked with no problem with the strange ride home.

“But of course,”  Discord answered like a gentleman.  “Do hop in Gilda, we have so much time and so little to do.

Shy was also gesturing to the griffon, and after a sigh Gilda was aboard.  

Into the air they flew in a sled pulled by sea mammals.   It was a strange thing indeed, but Fluttershy squeed in delight.  Even Gilda found herself enjoying the odd right with a chuckle as the seals fins were out like wings.

For a moment, the griffon could forget that Package Deal was dead.  But only for a moment, and by the end of the ride she felt pretty bad again.

> A mind bears a great pain
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gilda sat at the table alone with the soup in front of her still warm.  Despite her insistence that she didn’t need any, Fluttershy and Discord had made it for her.  Then, they were on their way back to town.  To check on Angel, check on the others, what not.  But at the moment, even sometime later, the griffon still wasn’t hungry.

Package Deal was dead.  It was good though, right?  That mad pony needed to be stopped, and he was.  Still, the bad parts of the aftermath was digging into her head.  Not enough to cry or even do more than mope at the moment, but enough to feel not so hungry.  After all, it was all her fault.  

Deal wouldn't have been this way if Silver Bell was alive.  Silver Bell wouldn't be dead if Gilda hadn't done the same old thing in her own little tantrum against how her life had turned out.  Her little tantrum spiral had done a doozy on not just her, but an entire town now.

That was enough reason not to want to eat a bowl of clam chowder she had in front of her.  Maybe even a whole rock lobster, or maybe even a haggis with--ew.  She was thinking too hard on this.  

Gilda sighed and shook her head,  she was thinking hard on a lot right now.  Her success over Deal made something clear, something was happening to her.

“Are you gonna eat that?”  said a gleeful voice behind her.  There was no hiding from “The Snark” as usual.

“Shut up,”  Gilda said without looking away from the soup.

“Aw, and we were bonding so well….”  he replied with that same gleefulness, now across the table from her.

“You think I care?!”  Gilda looked at the Snark in anger.  “Everything's messed up!”

“Oh, lighten up,”  the Snark said as he put his hooves on his hips after he got up, swaying them with a smile.  It was much more red than it was a few days ago. “Didn’t you feel that piece of mind you had for a moment?”  The griffon tried to ignore that fact, looking away.  “Or perhaps that he would likely be having you meat cold if it weren't for that?  Best served that way for him if you get my drift.”  He then gave her a nudge.  “Wink wink, nudge….”

“What the heck did you do to me?”  Gilda demanded from the smirking near pony.  “My body...first I’m never cold, now it’s like…”

“Being awesome?”  the Snark added.  “Like the last time, I kept you up and going.  Stronger, much more durable too.”  He put a claw on her.  “Little by little, you’re losing that weakness you have as you become something more.”

“Something that does this like it was nothing?”  Gilda shook her head as she spoke.

“I know, ain’t it cool?”  the Snark said with joy.

“I feel like I’m losing my mind from this,”  Gilda countered.  “I didn’t care for anything, then next I can tell I’ve got blood on my claws!  What’s so cool about that?!”

“Easy!”  he declared back to her.  “You just stop caring about these losers, just like you did before.  Just give in, you already know you enjoy this change.”

“I hate you, freak!”  Gilda said with quiet, toxic fury.

“You do hate me, don’t you, Gilda?”  the Snark asked, still standing next to her.

“You have no idea at this point,”  she replied to the windigo cloud pony.

“You hate me so much, you want me to die from it?”  the Snark added as he brushed his mane with a hoofclaw.  “But I only feel better for it!”  Gilda sighed and still tried to ignore him.  “Why can’t you accept the greatest gift I can bestow you?”

“Ponies are dead,”  Gilda said dryly as she rested her head with her claws on the table.  “Silver was me being stupid.  The others…”  she sighed again.  “That was my claws, and you egging me on.”

“But didn’t you feel peace in that fact?”  said the Snark to her.  “Even amid that violence, you weren't scared in the least.  Build that strength a bit and…”

“Don’t you even care what happens as a result?”  Gilda snapped back at him.  “You got me doing your dirty work.  If Fluttershy and…”

“Those ponies find out you have several kills, and quite a bit of property damage on your tab?”  the Snark took the words out of her mouth.  “They will throw you away into the deepest pit, of course!” he added as he put a claw on Gilda’s shoulder.  “The results are...unpleasant if you think of it that way.  But it’s nothing we can’t handle.”  Gilda rose her eyebrow, but “The Snark” only laughed.

“You were dead to them, even before this,”  he continued with glee.  “And I’ll help you return the favor to your, so to speak, killers.  Because I’m a good friend, don’t cha know?”

“And if I tell them, then what?”  Gilda asked, with a grumble as she looked away again.  “You didn’t kill me when I said your name.”

“Well one, you stammered in a way that had me laugh so hard,”  the Snark replied with a giggle.  “And two, what were you going to tell them?  To stop me after all?”  Gilda knew where this was going to go.  “Exactly, it won’t matter to them that I may have given you a nudge or two.  It’s all the same,  the results that come with it frightens you to no end.”

“It’s still your fault,”  Gilda stated weakly.

“Our fault,”  the Snark corrected.  “We act as one on this!  And when we are done, this won’t be something to worry about.”  Gilda just sighed and looked back to her soup.  “Don’t be like that.”  he said, added with a rub on her back.  “All sad again?  Powerful sorts have no need for the sad, you know that.  Gregor, for one.”

“Bite me,”  Gilda didn’t look up as she spoke.

“You felt you disappointed him, just gave up too,”  the Snark replied to her sadness.  “And Dash as well, two good reasons to quit on things.  Even with that lump of bird meat brother of yours prodding, you couldn't care about yourself now or ever.”  Gilda only felt worse as she covered her head.  “Dear old dad won’t take you back, nor will little Dashie.  What use is a weak griffon nobody wants, that even herself hates her?  Taxidermy comes to mind….”

“Shut up,”  she replied feeling lower.

“Hate yourself, hate ponies, hate family, we’re just made for each other,”  the Snark said with shining eyes.  “Such sweet music we can make together.  A song of acceptance of being, and crushing things that get in our way like a mace.”

“Deal went down, so did his thing,”  Gilda corrected, desperately, if only to shut him up.  Even managing to get that claw off of her as she finally turned to face the monster in the room.  “Who said you won’t?”

“Let...me…”  he drew closer with a smile, raising his hooves as they became glowing claws.  ”Educate you.”  

Before Gilda could get back, her head was in his claws and the world went mad.

She was that abyss again, with lights in directions.  Or it could have been, but things were everywhere.  Burning eyes, shapeless forms, more and more of them were idling there in one place with more coming behind them.

“This is my plan,”  the Snark said, his voice distorted.  “On that little holiday everyone's been waiting for, those little big guys are going to crush pony kind in ways that have me giddy to think about.”

“What?!”  Gilda stated looking on, her body trembling.  “How are you…?”

“Simple!”  the Snark answered with glee.  “All simple!  See, how it’s amazing!”  He pointed a pseudo-claw to the army.  “With my power, and more than a bit of persuasion, I’ve gathered other windigo to one place with the same goal.  Instead of going to random towns, we just go to one.  And me, I mean us, softening the town up only sweetens things.  They just can’t wait to eat them all up!”  he cackled.  “Yum yum.”

“You're going to kill them all, huh?”  Gilda said, taken aback a bit.  Heck more than a bit by that!  The mass of masses, shapeless and horse shaped when it suited them, stood ready to dig into the meal she had, in part, made.

“Now, I know…”  the Snark said in a mock understanding tone.  “You’ve been getting attached to them.  But, even you know that attachment is faulty with faults.  They already wait for the chance to throw you away again!”

“The usual stuff and reasons, huh?”  Gilda replied and knew where this was going, again and again.  “Why is it always like that with you?”

“All Shy and pals need to do is think for a bit more and come to blame you, and only you,”  the Snark replied simply.  “Then where would you be?  In some magic cell?  Facing more rejection again?  Even you know you can’t undo the past, and I give you a way out.”

“By killing everyone!”  Gilda said, stressing that point again.  “What do you have to offer to tell me I won’t just suffer more as a result?”

“Power,”  the Snark said simply.  “Lots, and lots of power.  Enough to ensure you won’t go sad again.  That blissful calm can be yours, just let it!”  He held Gilda in a cold, but gentle grip.  “Freedom from your pain and closer to our unfolding arms.  And we will have the veils kneel to us!”

“Veils?!”  Gilda yelled in confusion as she shivered.  “The heck are…?”

“With mad certainty, we will rip the gates of delirium off it’s hinges!”  the Snark yelled with a booming voice.  “And it will be AWESOME!”  

His loud laughter echoed across the emptiness of the void as Gilda now knew just how bad things had gotten.  Now, all she could do is struggle to think of a way to stop it.

“Gilda?”  a voice called.

The sound of a quiet voice had the griffon jump from her chair, causing her to fall out of it.  
She was back in the house again, on her back, and on her wounded wing.  Gilda winced as she turned her head to see Fluttershy looking more than a bit sheepish.  

“Sorry,”  Shy uttered as she rubbed a hoof at her leg nervously.  “Are you ok?”

“You got any coffee?”  Gilda said absently, but still shaken.

“No, why?”  Fluttershy replied as she trotted over carefully.

“I could use some,”  Gilda sighed.

She struggled to get up, now with fresh pain in her wing.  But Fluttershy was nice enough to offer a hoof pull her up and, despite feeling begrudged, the griffon took it for once.  The pony helped her back to her chair, pushing the bowl back over to the the griffon as she trotted to the stove.

No coffee as usual, just tea or another kettle of it.  Either way, it was something.  Fluttershy insisted on checking on the wing again, noting the griffons wincing after the fall.  Afterward, the griffon was still at the kitchen table with the pegasus sitting next to her, holding her claw and trying to help as usual.

The soup was still there, still uneaten.

“I know you are still shaken,”  Shy said as she patted the griffon’s claw.  “But it’s over now, he can’t hurt you or anyone.”

“Deal can’t, yeah,”  Gilda replied without much energy.  “It’s the stuff that comes after I’m scared of.”  She looked aside as she sighed.  “Maybe even before…”

“Do you want to talk about this in a morning session tomorrow?”  Fluttershy asked, but Gilda just shrugged.  “Edward told me about him.  I know he wasn’t always like this.”

“It’s still my fault,”  Gilda said simply as she looked down.  “I messed it all up...”

“I know you didn’t mean to, Gilda,”  Shy reassured as she rubbed the griffon’s claw.  “And he wasn’t just angry at you, he hated everyone at that point.”

“It’s still my fault,”  Gilda repeated.  “I got ex-friends after me, ex-bosses after me.  I’m glad I never started dating.  That might end the world…”  She exacted a bit of humor from that part, or tried to.

Shy didn’t think it was funny either.  “It’s not that simple, Gilda,”  she said.

“Seems simple enough,”  Gilda counted.  “I mean, sure, Dash didn’t-”  But Shy cut her off from her coming rant.

“He attacked other ponies and went on a rampage, Gilda!”  Fluttershy countered the griffon.  “You didn’t make him do that!”  While Gilda was about to ask, Shy continued.  “He could have stopped, he could have understood that Silver Bell wouldn't have wanted this!”

“She’s still dead,”  Gilda said, still feeling horrible.  “After all the crud I did…”

“I didn’t say you were blameless, Gilda,”  Shy stated softly.  “All you can do now, when you look back, is to try and learn from it.”  

It was quiet for a moment as the pegasus stopped to sip her tea.  Gilda just looked at her cup.  On one hand, she could have just left for bed.  On the other, how would she even get to the worst part.  You know, seeing as ponies will die soon from a monster they didn’t know was even there.

“What if I went on a rampage?”  Gilda asked seriously, it wasn’t as much a hint as she thought it was.  “Would I still be on the “learn from it” camp then?”  The yellow pegasus honestly looked shocked for a moment, nearly spitting her tea.  Shy struggled a bit, but was able to swallow it down.

Oh boy, that didn’t look good to the griffon.  She lowered her head again.

“Uh, too much?”  Gilda asked, looking nervously away from the now blinking pony.

“I...why would you say that?”  Fluttershy asked as she put her cup down.  

Gilda did her best to think of what to say.

“Maybe...since I’m meant to turn out like him?”  she tried that explanation.  “He wasn’t able to get beyond the past, who says I can?”

“Would it help if I said I would?”  Shy replied, looking to the griffon hopefully.  

Gilda wasn’t sure if she should feel creeped out, warmed up, or question how far that vote of confidence was.  The best she could do was thus.

“Ok,”  She said as she rubbed her neck.  “Why is that?”

“Why don’t we talk about it in the morning?”  Fluttershy said as she helped the griffon up.  “We can cover it then.”  She even helped Gilda walk to her room upstairs.  “You should rest first, okey?”  she added.

“Whatever,”  Gilda replied with some disappointment.  

She was still worried how tomorrow would turn out now.  As the pegasus helped her to the guest room door, she apparently notice how still down Gilda was.  

Before the downtrodden griffon opened the door grimly, the pony gave her a hug and a nuzzle from the neck up.  

Gilda was understandably wide eyed as expected.

“I still believe in you,”  Fluttershy said softly as she trotted away, going back downstairs.  Likely to fetch a dream pill.  

Gilda, of all things, was hoping she wasn’t blushing.  She shook her head and went to--bed.  

Diamond was still there, in her bed.  The blanks were in their bed of sleeping straw on the other end of the room.  The griffon looked between the two for a moment and groaned as she rolled her eyes.

“Guess I still got the floor…”  Gilda deadpanned.  Laying down on wood was an annoyance she didn’t like, but at least could handle.  “Can’t get much worse than that, huh?”  she said to herself.

She would need to ask Shy for another blanket and the griffon waited for a bit.  In time, Fluttershy came back, somehow as usual, balancing a plate with a glass on it.  Not weird at all by any description by this point.

“Need a blanket?”  Fluttershy knew what to ask.

“Yep,”  Gilda replied, not letting it all faze her.

“You gave her the bed?”  Shy added with some surprise as she winged over the pill.

“She insisted,”  Gilda answered, hoping the pony wouldn’t ask much further on that topic.  She simply took her medicine and drank the glass.  “Night.”

As hoped for, or expected, Shy didn’t ask and just let Gilda rest as promised.  The griffon closed her eyes and could hear the pegasus leave the room.  In a moment, it would be just that place again.  Even if she was scared of it, she kept her eyes shut.

Gilda already knew what she would likely see if she opined her eyes.  As the sounds of the house went from some wind blowing and wood creeking, to dry leaves sounds.  

She tried not to think about the other shapes on the other side.  Not to think about the Snark’s little big army, or his power deal he kept pushing.

There had to be another way, there had to be in her mind.  Maybe the windigos were there, maybe it was just her and that dry leaf emptiness.  Any moment, she’d be in some other place, a dream.  None of this crud or a monstrous thing that seem to lurks in her head.  

Speaking of which, she felt something on her back.

“It’s the waiting, always the waiting,”  the Snark said, next to her with sarcasm.  Gilda didn’t answer him.  “You can’t pretend me away, anymore than Deal could pretend you dead!  Just give in, please?  For me?”  She still didn’t answer.  “What would I take, that won’t already be took from you?  Ponies are quite efficient at that, don’t cha know?”  His icy hot breath could be felt on her face.  “We both exist because of them.”

It fazed out then, at least she hoped it did.  She really didn’t like this pressure.  When she saw a clear light, she felt much safer.

> Sweet delights
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Gilda figured it was safe to open them, her eyes opened to see a lake before her.  A big one she had to strain her eye’s to see the other side of at least.  The sky was blue and it was spring again.  

While she would have been happy to just sit down for a bit longer, somepony called her attention.

“Hey, Gilda?”  said a voice not far away.  “You up?”  Looking in the direction of the voice, she found two fillies near by.  One of the pair she recognized.

“What is it?”  Gilda asked with a groan.  The pair didn’t seem to note her displeasure though.

“Can you give us a ride into town?”  asked Diamond Tiara.

“Yeah.”  asked the gray foal next to her, Silver Spoon.  “We’d get there faster with you!”

“I’m not going to fly into town with two fillies riding me the whole time, alright?”  Gilda refused.  “What do I look like?  A cool mount or something?”

“Kinda,”  Diamond said with a smile.

“Yep,”  Spoon agreed.

Gilda grumbled.  “This dream sucks…”  she said.

“Wait, this dream?”  Diamond said with a bit of surprise.  “This is mine!”  This caused Gilda to blink.

Now things were really confused.

“What?”  Gilda and the Silver replied at the same time.  

This was new.  Pinkie pulling something like this seemed reasonable.  Diamond Tiara doing the same was not, however.  Fluttershy and Discord really needed to tell the griffon what “exactly” means at this point, but she simply groaned again.

“Ok, if that’s how it is, what is it then?”  Gilda said as she got up from sitting on, what she found was, a nice lounge chair.  “Why do you need to get back to town anyway?”

“We’re out of snacks, Gilda, so I was hoping you could get us to the sweet shop in town,”  Tiara replied to her, playing along without skipping a beat.  “Duh,”  she added.

“Yeah, duh,”  Silver agreed again, and Gilda was now quite tired of this.

“Get your own snacks,”  she answered back to them as she was about to lay back down.  “If this is your dream, you can do it.”

“Is something wrong, my dear?”  said another pony the griffon hadn't noticed.  Gilda looked and noticed him, he’d been resting up to this point in another chair by the water.

“Nothing daddy, were just out of snacks!”  Diamond called back to the other earth pony.

“Ah,”  The daddy, Filthy Rich replied.  “Gilda, dear, could you help?  You're faster than I am you know.”

“They aren’t riding me!”  was Gilda word on that.

“Hmmm, I see,”   Filthy said with a hoof to his mouth and a funny look.  “Can you walk with them at least, dear?  I need my rest for now.”  He got up onto his hooves, pulling out a saddle purse.  “Here.  Er, can you get something for me too?”  He smiled as he spoke, pleadingly.  “Please?”

“Oh, whatever,”  Gilda sighed as she took the purse, and then looked to Diamond.  “We need to talk later,”  she told the foal in a low voice.  

The foal nodded, and while she was about to say something more, Gilda already knew what it was.

“You can walk, it’s exercise,”  Gilda answered preemptively.  Diamond looked annoyed and stomped a hoof in a huff.  “Besides, if we flew you’d fall off and….”  In a stroke of irony, when she looked in the town’s direction to find it wasn’t much more than a few feet away.  

Gilda rolled her eyes, this dream was pushing it.  Or the fillies next to her saw themselves above a short walk, either way she was annoyed.

They walked and trotted there, but the griffon didn’t know this place she was at.  Thing’s looked overly fancy for one.  Even the old empire didn’t try to look this pretty with it’s architecture.  The frilly-ness gave her reason to cringe as they walked by odd dressed ponies with hats. 

Next that music, oh that music that seemed to play everywhere.  There was sickeningly cheerful, and then there was what played in her ears right now.  If those birds--no the birds were whistling along to it too.  Why?  Why is it like this?  Right now, the happy picture she was seeing is getting sickening.

“Where is this?”  Gilda asked with nervous tone, as a pony on a bike rode by and she could see a clown pony juggling.

“It’s Prance,”  Diamond Tiara replied to her with a happy tone.

“Yeah, it’s a center of art and culture,”  said Silver Spoon said after, just as cheerful.  “Everyone knows that!”  

“No wonder I never heard of it…”  Gilda muttered with some sarcasm.  Tiara seemed to hear that and looked at her funny.  “I know that name at least.  So, that thing the Pieful Tower?”  she asked pointing at said tower in the distance.

“No,”  Said Diamond with a face hoof.  “Pieful….why would you think that?”  She looked at the griffon with humor, even enjoying a bit of a chuckle.  

“This place have good eating at least?”  Gilda asked with a shrug.  After all, the idea of pie did sound like something to her.

“Yeah, huh!”  the foal pair said in unison.  

That wasn’t creepy at all, the griffon thought as she looked aside.

“Eclairs,”  said one.

“Mille-feuille,”  said the other.

“Croissants,” Diamond added.

“Chocolate Mousse,”  Silver added.

“Salmon terrine?”  Gilda piped in.

“What?”  they said in unison and confusion.  Gilda rolled her eyes and sighed.

“This place better have meat…”  she grumbled to herself.  “So where we going to?  Can you read the language?”  she asked, after seeing more than a few signs she couldn't read.

“Of course she does!”  said Silver with a nod and a haughty smile.  “She learned it before the trip, after you and-”

“Don’t worry Gilda, it’s not that far away,”  Diamond interrupted, pointing a hoof in a direction.  The silver foal looked a bit annoyed by being cut off, but still shrugged.

Sure enough, there was a store for snacks in that direction.  They had cakes, bigger cakes, but no gingerbread.  The pair of kids seemed to know a lot more about what these kinds of desserts there, so Gilda just let them pick things out.  Chances were, the Mr. money bags pony was able to afford it.

It was then the dread came to Gilda of what she had to carry back--before she saw something that caught her eye.

“Woah, whipped lemon frosting!”  Gilda said, as her mind sidetracked.  “Now that’s tasteful!”  So she got her share of it too.  It was still about 2 cakes worth, with a bunch of smaller cake-bread style things she didn’t feel like knowing the names of.  

While the foals did carry the small stuff, the griffon still was the carrying of said larger cakes back to the park they started at.

“Next time, we get a cart,”  Gilda muttered angrily to herself, but then a clerk popped in.

“Pardonnez-moi, mademoiselle oiseau,”  said the bakery clerk pony, with Gilda unable to understand a word of anything.  “Si vous avez besoin, nous avons un panier pour vous aider à réaliser ceux-ci.”

“Wha?”  was Gilda’s answer as she stared back.

“Oui. Oui,”  Diamond replied to the clerk, knowing the language.  “S'il vous plaît.  Elle est très fatiguée en ce moment.”  

The clerk nodded and pulled out a small cart, which Gilda was quite happy to put the cake load onto.  Even if it was tempered by the fact she was likely pulling the thing.  She still shrugged, and got to moving the thing.  

Diamond and Silver at least were carrying their own saddle bags as well.

“Vous êtes les bienvenus mon cher!”  the clerk said, waving happily.  “S'il vous plaît donner mes meilleures salutations à votre mari chanceux.”  he added respectfully.

“What the heck is he saying?”  Gilda asked, annoyed by the clerks cheerfulness.

“I wouldn't worry about it,”  Diamond Tiara replied, trying to looking innocent.  “Let’s just get back to daddy, then we’ll talk?  Kay?”

”Hopefully in a way that doesn’t sound crazy…”  Gilda muttered to herself with a sigh.  

The griffon could hear the pair whisper from time to time, but she paid it no mind.  Some “totally” this, and “so cool” that, it sounded like those two were talking about accessories instead of actions.  Well, except that part about lording over the blank flanks.  Time to gloat was still precious it seemed.

Meanwhile, Gilda hoped that cake tasted good, and more importantly find out why she ended up in somepony else's dream.

Filthy Rich was up when they got back.  He was overjoyed, giving them all a hug--and Gilda a hug and a kiss on the cheek.  That told her something, and that something wasn’t good.  Luckily things mellowed out between them after.

They had a bit of a party then, and the cake was had.  As Gilda expected, that lemon cake was beyond awesome.  Diamond was talking, mostly on those boring things.  Pretty gems, fine looks, her plan to help her dad with business stuffs.  With Rich being proud of his daughters incentive.  

Being a griffon, Gilda was more into gold and wishing for some adventure stories.  That and looks were boring to her as well.  This kind of thing was going to lull her to sleep before too long.

At least she would have, if Rich didn’t keep her awake.  As she was expecting, he did his best to carry some kind of conversation with her.  How she was feeling, her eyes, how he was glad her and Diamond were getting along so well.  The griffon wasn’t sure if she was more tired from this or just bothered.

When the cake was gone, the party was over.  They all walked to a hotel, or Gilda was going to keep telling herself that despite the size of it, where Rich already had a room.  She would have been worried a bit on that, but he said he had some work to do before he was going to bed.  He happily bid them adieu and left saying he will be back.

Now all she had to do was wait for Silver Spoon to tire herself out and then Diamond Tiara has a lot to answer for.  Thankfully, that was done for her, Diamond asked Silver to go ready some tea for them, leaving them in the same room alone.

“So, Gilda, what do you want to talk about?”  Diamond Tiara asked with a smile on her face.

“I’m some trophy wife here, aren’t I?”  Gilda said with a straight face, and that took the filly’s smile away.  “I’ve seen enough ritzy griffons where I was like that.”

“Um, is it good?”  Diamond asked nervously.

“No,”  Gilda said stoically through her teeth.  “It isn’t!”

“Come on!”  Diamond said, indigent.  “My daddies got everything, and you would be the coolest mother.”

“Coolest mother…right.”  Gilda repeated, rolling her eyes and holding her head.  “And I’m guessing you're the pretty little princess, huh?”

“And why not?”  Diamond replied without irony.  “It’s a cool life.”

“Because I’m annoyed enough already by it,”  Gilda replied to that as she got ready to go.

“W-wait, where are you going?”  Tiara looked fearful on that.

“I”m not being part of your stupid fantasy, kid,”  Gilda said as she opened the window.

“But, but…”  Diamond whimpered back.

“He spoils you, and you are going to expect the same,”  Gilda added.  “So no.  Bye.”  She got her wings ready and took off.

“NOOOOOOOO!”  Diamond Tiara yelled as she came after the griffon.  While Gilda knew herself for taking off fast, somehow the kid was on one of her legs.  Dangling on her hind paw by her hooves as she flew in the air.

“Cut it out!.”  Gilda yelled as she flew, annoyed by the baggage.  “Are you nuts?”

“Don’t leave me!”  Diamond cried out, but still holding on.

“I’m not your mom, this is a dream and….whoa!”  Gilda stopped herself, as she nearly ran into a airship when she wasn’t looking.  

The name “Notre dame de diamant” read along it’s side.

While a quick stop was easy for her, it was enough to cause her little stowaway to lose her grip and the foal fell screaming---at least, until she got to flying herself.  

Gilda looked in brief confusion at the, now flying, pink pony for the moment it took for the kid to fly into her.  Tiara knocked the wind out of the griffon and was clutching her tightly.

“How did you….”  Gilda tried to ask breathlessly, but Diamond interrupted fast.

“Please….”  she said, sobbing into the griffon’s chest.  “Don’t go…”  She kept crying into Gilda for a moment as the griffon kept in the air.

“What is your deal?”  Gilda asked in some attempt for getting answers, but Diamond just kept sobbing.  The griffon sighed, seeing no harm in landing on a cloud nearby.  After the landing, she pried the sad filly off of her.  “Ok, just….try to explain, alright?”  she asked softly.

“Ok…”  Tiara replied, still moist with tears.

“Why am I your mom now?”  Gilda asked quietly.  “This is waaay past what I do, kid.”

“Because,”  the, now pegasus, Tiara whimpered.  “You gave me that hug, and that other stuff.”  Despite her smugness mere moments ago, the kids vocabulary had took as much of a nose dive like her ego did.

“Ok,”  Gilda said slowly, trying to be impartial.  The last thing she needed was the kid screaming again.  “Don’t you have those other ponies for that?  Your dad, your little friend?”  She knew what would be brought up.  “I know they are out for now, but they will get better, so lighten up.”  The kid nodded but shook her head.

“It’s just….”  Tiara tried to speak.  “What’s wrong with it?”  she asked sadly.

“Answer me honestly, ok kid?”  the kid nodded as Gilda asked.  “Do you expect me to be like him?  All joyful, and giving you stuff when you ask for it?”  The filly nodded again.  “I don’t do that.”

“Why?”  Tiara asked back.

“I’m a bird you cannot change,”  Gilda said pointing to herself.  “I’m not interested in that setting down crud.  And besides, why should I care for that kind of stuff anyway?”

“But, I thought you did,”  Tiara said softly and sadly.  

Crud, Gilda thought, the waterworks were starting again.  Still, instead of annoyance she felt a bit of pity.

“Hey, if it’s about that hug that was weird for me too,”  Gilda replied nervously as she rubbed her neck.  “I mean, with what happened to you and stuff, I felt bad for you.  OK?”  She then had to figure out the next part as the kid just sat on that cloud expectantly.  “What happened to you sucks, but that doesn’t mean I’m someone who wants to stick around doing everything you ask.  Ya know?”  

Diamond nodded.  “But, can’t you at least stay?”   she asked pleadingly.  “Please?”

“Maybe I could stay for…”  Gilda started to say, looking away and feeling awkward as she spoke it.  But it was still enough to have the little foal hugging her without crying.  “I know the ponies you have are out of it, and that sucks, but why do you only have just them?”  she asked the less sad pony.

“I don’t know about my mom anymore, and Silver’s my only real friend.”  Diamond replied simply, letting go for a moment to look up at the griffon.

“Why is that?”  Gilda asked seriously.  “And don’t say reasons.  It’s kind of getting old.”

“Because she was the only other pony that wasn’t just some loser who thought they were cool,”  Diamond Tiara answered.  Gilda tried not to think about how resembling that sounded.  She tried her best, but couldn't.

“Maybe...how uncool are the blanks?”  Gilda said cautiously.

“Totally uncool,”  Diamond said simply with a smirk.  On a good note, the kid wasn’t a sobbing mess now with her ego back.  “Thinking they’re so much cooler than everyone else cuz they got a little group.”

“How unlike anyone I know…”  Gilda added as an aside.  The kid seemed to notice that, giving her an unhappy look.  “Don’t worry about it kid, I’m not one to judge.”  the griffon replied back with a smirk.   Still, there was just one other thing she was meaning to ask.  “Why the heck do you have wings now?”  Gilda asked the winged, former earth pony.

“Hey!”  It seemed, only now did Diamond Tiara noticed that.  She hopped to another part of the cloud and her smile was wide at the realization.  “I do! That’s so…”  She was quite delighted as she looked at her wings.

“It was how you were flying, yeah.”  Gilda continued, nowhere near as excited as the filly.  “But how did that happen?”  While she would have wanted a quick answer, it didn’t come.  The filly simply squealed with glee as she flew circles around the cloud.   

Diamond Tiara finally got the rest of her usual composure back, though blushing quite a bit.

“I guess, if I just thought about it hard enough about it, it comes true,”  Diamond said with an embarrassed shrug.  “Pretty cool, huh?”

“You think that can be done with other stuff?”  Gilda asked as she watched the delighted filly.

“Maybe...”  Diamond answered with a smirk.  She then put a hoof to her head, and from her head came a horn.

“Great, now you're a double princess!”  Gilda added, and even Tiara had a bit of a laugh as well to that.

“Guess dreams work like that, huh?”  the double princess Diamond Tiara said, gleeful.  “You can get anything you want if you try enough.”  The kid landed back on the cloud next to the griffon, nowhere near as sad as she had been before.

“Yeah, in dreams sure,”  Gilda said, looking aside, and trying to think of something to get out of more pink princess prancing.  At least, unlike Diamond, she remembered they had to wake up soon.  “Hey, in the real world, that one blank earth pony, the apple kid right?”  Gilda asked the filly.  “The one that offered you a place for Hearth’s Warming?”

“She just some lowly farm pony, digging in dirt and…”  Princess Diamond replied with haughty humor, but the griffon didn’t let the princesses ego ruin what she was about to advise again.

“Take her up on it,”  Gilda said seriously.  Maybe it was how strange things had gotten, but only vaguely did she notice she was a griffon interrupting an alicorn.  “Seriously.”

“But why, she’s….”  Tiara looked upset on being told this.

“Kid, listen,”  Gilda stated back, but the little princess didn’t look like she wanted too, even looking defiantly away.  So, the griffon caught hold, stopping the little one’s flying.  “Listen to your imaginary mom, alright?”  Gilda added with a sigh.  That’s a strange line, even Diamond Tiara eyed her like that was loopy.

“But I don’t like her,”  Diamond answered in a low tone, still looking away from the griffon holding her.

“I know, and I know why,”  Gilda replied as she turned the filly towards her.  “Maybe more than you know.”

“What do you mean by that?”  Tiara asked back.

“Let’s just say, we got similar problems on things, okay?”  Gilda answered, unsure how she would even start to explain.  “Just, kinda older I guess.”

“What if they just gloat because I went to their level?”  Diamond asked as she looked back.  Despite being a pink princess, she looked scared by this.

“I’ll pluck out their eyes,”  Gilda answered, if jokingly.  The fact the kid hugged her tightly for that statement was a bit funny.  Or scary, it can be hard to tell sometimes.

“I love you mom!”  Diamond Tiara said as she hugged the griffon.

“Gah!”  Gilda yelped as she woke up, off the floor wide awake.  She let out a sigh as she held her head for a moment.  She did pause to notice her jolt left her blanket on her head now.

She could see the blanks were still a snooze.  But Diamond Tiara was also up now, looking at her.  Both looked more than a bit surprised when they saw each other.

“Don’t...get...weird, ok?”  Gilda said with a grumble, looking the kid in the eye.  Tiara quietly nodded with a nervous look and a nervous giggle.  “Stuffs weird enough as is.”

> Things get weirder
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It is the witching hour, my friend


Despite Gilda’s wish, neither her or the filly were getting back to sleep anytime soon.  That, and breakfast wasn’t for a while either, so it was just them for now.  So the griffon figured, why not?  On the bright side, Diamond Tiara did offer to make some tea so that’s something at least.

Thankfully for the Gilda, it seemed the filly was more embarrassed from that “being a griffons daughter” thing.  She still felt awkward enough though.

“Sorry again, really,”  Tiara said as she put the kettle on the coffee table in the Fluttershy’s living room.  Gilda was on the couch, wishing the filly would drop the subject.  “I’m mean, that was totally bizarro.  I know, right?”  She paused to see the griffon was filling her cup.  “Um, sugar?”

“I’m good with bitter,”  Gilda replied as she filled.  The kid nodded and filled her own afterward and sat down on the couch as well.

“So, um, we're cool, right?”  Diamond added to her embarrassing story.  “You won’t tell anyone about that dream thing if I don’t, right?”

“Whatever,”  Gilda said with a sigh.  “You seriously don’t have a mom, kid?”  she asked.

“Long story…”  Tiara answered as she looked down.  “But since then it’s been just me, my dad, and Silver Spoon.”

“You know?”  Gilda began, as she lifted a cup again.  “I just realized this, but how’s your dad doing exactly?”  She figured she may as well ask.

“He’s still conscious, just really hurt,” Diamond said somberly as she drank.  “They told me he won’t be out for a while.”  She paused for a moment.  “I really wanted to talk to him, but they said he needed his rest.”

“You got plans to visit him?”  Gilda asked.

“Yeah, duh,”  Diamond Tiara said, annoyed on the stupid question.  “Plus, I don’t want to spend my Hearth's Warming is some hospital.”  she sighed.  “And...I want him to get his rest too.”  Tiara held her cup for a bit, looking a bit down.  She then looked back to Gilda.  “How about you?  What’s up your family?  Anything cool, miss G?”

“Mom’s a high court griffon, dear to the empress,”  Gilda answered in summary.  “Dad’s an elite general, and my brother’s kind of a failure.”  She shrugged.  “Pretty simple, I guess.”

“Your mom’s a noble?!”  Diamond said with wide eyed surprise.  “Seriously?  You?”  She pointed a hoof, about laughed in surprise.

“Yep,”  Gilda continued, enjoying the shock she caused immensely.  “They were pretty busy, so it was just me and Ed most of the time when we were little.”  She shrugged a bit with a smile.  Unlike her recent history, Gilda’s past felt much more fun.  “Then again, he seemed to wimp out a bunch, even back then.  So dad just seemed to faceclaw whenever he was around.  Remember mom was...girly I guess.”

“Girly you guess?”  Tiara chuckled back as she drank.

“I was closer to my dad,”  Gilda replied with a sheepish grin.  “He was awesome to me!  I saw him break solid iron with his beak!”  That memory was a fun one.  “He even told me the crocodile lord, Gustave, wishes he could bite that hard!”

“Gustave?”  Diamond asked with an odd look.  “The baker?”

“It’s a common name,”  Gilda said with a chuckle.  “Kind of funny, huh?”

“Did your dad have more to him than breaking stuff and war stories?”  Diamond rolled her eyes.  “Maybe some war treaty signing, or some epic speech?”

“Nope,”  Gilda explained, as the foal listened drinking her tea.  “He made it cool though.  He once told me how he beat a tiger, claw to paw by himself.  Freaking awesome!”

“You sure he wasn’t a nut?”  Tiara asked, pouring another cup for herself.  

“What’s that supposed to mean?”  Gilda asked back, just a bit offended.

“You just told me he broke iron in his beak,”  Diamond Tiara explained.  “Did ya dare him to or something?  Why’d he even do that?”

“Nah, did it himself,”  Gilda answered, then she took a drink from her cup.  “Some other griffon called him an old war hawk, so he just did that.  Even called the other guy a weenie, before telling him one of his war stories.”

“I read something about some of the older military griffin's tend to be...off.”  said Tiara cautiously.  “Even daddy told me how somethings…”

“Cause people to break down?”  Gilda said.  Judging by the look of shock on the kids face, the filly may well have seen it somewhere herself.  “Yeah, I remember times he seemed really in that hunting stuff…like it was all he thought about.”  Gilda looked back and her cup, then back at Diamond.  “Guess he wanted those glory days of old, huh?  Last war was before I was even born.”

“W-well…”  Tiara muttered, snapping herself out of something she seemed to recall.  Then adding sugar to her tea again.  “Maybe he was trying too hard?”  

“Could be,”  Gilda said as she reminisced.  “He was even trying to bring back worship of the Storm Eagle, an old griffon war god.”

“War god?”  Diamond said with a groan.  “Seriously?  He’s way into that war stuff.  Like it’s all he thinks about.”

“Well, it was worshiped back in the day.”  Gilda continued.  “They even reported a few miracles from it in the history books.”  She shrugged.  “But after we met with ponykind, I guess a lot of other griffons just figured a war god wasn’t so cool anymore.”

“Duh,”  Tiara added like it was clear as day.  “What’s it going to do when there isn’t wars to fight?  Just like you dad it….um…”  She stopped when she saw Gilda looked ponderous with a frown.  “Uh….”  she said nervously.  “Just saying?”

“I got the point.”  Gilda grumbled and sighed.  “But what’s a griffon got to do when there isn’t any battles?”

It was quiet for a moment, seeing as the foal might have been scared she pressed the wrong button, but the griffon remembered something.  

Gilda figured now was a safe time to ask as the kid was drinking her sweet tea.

“Did you think anymore on that party thing today?”  Gilda asked the filly, hoping to stop the foal from prying about more of her past.

“Why were you friends with Rainbow Dash?”   Diamond Tiara changed the subject back.  “She’s been getting along lame enough with Scootaloo.”  The griffon tried not to get mad.  She just put her cup on the table, re-filled it, and sighed.  

“One, we were friends with me thinking she was the only awesome pony in Equestria,”  Gilda held up a talon as she spoke.  “Two, we stopped being friends long before I socked her through a door.”  Another talon.  “And three, what’s that got to do with anything?”  she finished with a third talon.

“So you agree she’s lame, right?”  Diamond added looking stoic, and Gilda grumbled and grit her teeth.  “The Apples are lame too for your information.”

“Maybe,”  Gilda replied offhand.  “But it’s still not cool.”

“What isn’t cool?”  Tiara asked back.

“Being like this, duh,”  Gilda answered, moving her claw.  “Being miserable, and talking about how great things were before things got crummy stuck by ourselves.”

“But you're a griffon,”  Diamond stated the obvious.  “You got all kinds of stuff, so what does Dash matter anyway?  Daddy even told me that griffons have the best gold mines and an army that even Equestria’s elites find intriguing.  So what’s your problem?”

“Ok,”  Gilda decided to play this game.  “First you ponies are a race with stupid magical powers, and apparently all the cool adventures now.”

“And you griffons are a bunch of greedy, angry birds,”  Diamond said with a sarcastic look.  “With inflated egos.”  Now Diamond was playing it.

“While ponies are a bunch mental cases, and worshiped by people just as crazy as them.”  Gilda contributed.

The two of them were looking each other in the eye with a angry look for that moment, before bursting into laughter.  Few would know why, maybe they were just sick of their own people?

Gilda let out a deep breath.  “It still don’t mean we feel happy at the end of the day, huh?”  she added with a groan.

Diamond let out a breath of her own.  “Yeah, you got a point,”  she sighed looking down.  “I don’t want to be stuck alone on Hearth’s Warming either.”

“Can you at least take her up on it?"  Gilda asked as she returned to drinking her tea.  “You don’t need to be more miserable right now by yourself.”

“What about you?”  Diamond asked back to the griffon.  "What will you do for Hearth's Warming?"

“I’m not even sure about me right now,”  Gilda replied with a sad shrug.  “From stuff feeling better, then worse, then better, then even more worse...I got doubts about lots of stuff.”  Gilda took another drink with a sigh.  “You ever feel like other ponies are just jerking you around?”

“Totally,”  Tiara said, taking her own drink.  “Are Griffons better than that?”

“Heh,”  Gilda had a bit of a laugh.  “Maybe not.  Then again, they seem more direct on crud for one.  Less wordy, hard core too.  They’d call Cloudsdale a bunch of horse flies without spines.”  Diamond had a laugh and Gilda smiled for a bit as well.  “Don’t get your hopes up kid.  They’d just as likely call you a ground walker.”

Diamond huffed.  “So, what?”  she said.  “That make you different, better maybe?”

“Ground walker,”  Gilda replied jokingly.  The filly, despite her angry look, found it hard not to laugh.  “Let’s just say I’ve had too much time to think on stuff.  I got sick of it all, ya know?”

“Is that why you came back here?”  Tiara asked as she refilled her cup again.  “Because you got sick of things where you were?”

“Nah, something worse,”  Gilda replied with a painful look.  “Like, a lot worse.”

“Like that mad pony?”  Tiara asked quietly.

“Part of it.”  Gilda replied.

There was a pause as they just drank.  Diamond looked like she still wanted to speak, and likely unsure what to say.  Gilda, for obvious reasons, knew this was going to get old to her.  This casual stuff was annoying.  Plus, she didn’t want to get attached to a girly pony that couldn't fly.

“How about your brother?”  Diamond asked next.  “I never had siblings.  How lame was he?”

“As far as dad knew, a lot.”  Gilda answered the filly.  “He was a wuss who ran from danger,”  she added.  “He was cool, I guess, in the end.  Kind of supportive to me when I was down in some crud.”

“Really?”  Tiara said with some surprise.  “Was he younger or older?”

“Older, and that annoyed dad.”  Gilda replied with a sigh.  “Old Gregor wanted a son to make a mark on the world, ‘not some money bin swimmer’ he said.”  The kid seemed to understand what that meant, hopefully.  “Me, he had high hopes for me.  And they were safe bet too!  I was kicking butt and takin names back in the day.  Well, for a while at least…”  Gilda mumbled the last bit.

“My dad so real supportive to me too!”  Tiara said, her enjoyment to saying it didn’t notice the griffon’s growing grumpiness.  “And I can’t wait to show him what I can do with my business sense.”  She paused for a bit.  “Do you feel, like we're kind of alike in a cool way?”

“That what annoys me,”  Gilda said under her breath.

“What?”  Diamond Tiara said as if she didn’t hear that.  

“Nevermind,”  Gilda added, as she absently filled her cup again.  Then, from the corner of her eye, she saw movement upstairs.  Three little ponies ducked away as she turned her head.

“What is…?”  Tiara noticed them too and was clearly not happy about it.  “Get lost, blank flanks!  This isn’t any of your business!”  she yelled up to them.  

Gilda did not want to ponder the doom coming if those three started getting mouthy about this “buddy buddy” thing that was going on here.

“Makes sense she’d be friends with a jerk like you!”  yelled Scootaloo from hiding.

“Na ya’ll stop it Scootaloo,“  said Apple Bloom next.  “I reckon she means well.”

Gilda, however was having none of it.  “Go back to bed!”  she told them.  “It too early for…”

The griffon then saw Fluttershy was behind the foals, and she had been there for awhile too it seemed.  

The lot of them trotted down as Gilda looked on in shocked silence.  

“I’m…really glad you two are bonding so well!”  Shy said with somewhat shocked pride.

Gilda had a frown now, she looked to Diamond Tiara who gave a soft smile to her.  Gilda looked back to Fluttershy, still with a frown.  

“When’s breakfast?”  she asked.

> Things get quieter
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gilda didn’t speak much at breakfast and was more happy to just eat and leave.  Then, maybe, she could go back to the guest room and get her story straight for later on.  Hopefully alone, and hopefully with Diamond Tiara talking to Apple Bloom about taking that party invite.  At least that’d be one problem solved.

After all the things happening now, the griffon needed a moment to think.  Well, a moment to ponder the doom approaching for both her and the town.  Maybe then she could find how to stop it if she is lucky, or at least somehow warn someone.

Sadly, that was not to be, any part of it.  

Despite Apple Bloom trying to at least have Tiara humor the idea of it, the other filly didn’t want to talk about it.  For a while she, like Gilda, was content to just eat as Bloom was pulled back to her friends who talked about their own Hearth’s Warming plans.  

Scootaloo and Dash, Sweetie Belle with her sister, Apple Bloom and her family.  

If this trend was going to keep going it was likely Gilda and Diamond who were going to be spending more time together.  

On one hand: the griffon wouldn't be alone for the holidays.  On the other: this kid made her uncomfortable, and she had her own problems to deal with.  That and the kid may be dead tomorrow, she couldn't forget that detail.

Gilda really needed to tell Fluttershy at some point.  But first, she needed check on something.

“Aren’t ya…”  she whispered over to Diamond quietly.  “Gonna ask?”

“Maybe later,”  Diamond whispered back and went back to eating.

Well, she tried.  

Gilda finished her meal and got up.  Tiara was still eating, and she was unlikely to go after her for now, so the griffon excused herself and headed up  to her room.  She lay down on the bed, then groaned.  

She just realized how hard this was going to be.

What happens to her after she tells Fluttershy?  How was the pony going to just go and fix this anyway?  A bunch of windigos might be a problem for ponykind, seeing as this time it was a army.  That, and just mentioning “The Snark” could end very badly.  From the threat of death to worse.  

Worse: there was the fact her and Snark did bust up a lot of stuff...and those guard ponies too.  That would end in tears, as the griffon shuddered at the thought of how that would turn out.

“It was fun,”  the Snark said from under the bed, but Gilda ignored him.

The way she could see it, she was a dead bird either way.  The ponies were going to let her have it good when they learned she was the one who caused them trouble.

“I can help you with that,”  the Snark spoke again.  Gilda still ignored him, or tried her best too.

And what happens after?  Even if the mess was cleared up, where was she going to go?  She started this misadventure a mess, and she still was one, and she would likely be one for the foreseeable future.

“And I can help with that too, I’m very resourceful,”  the Snark didn’t shut up as Gilda continued to try to think.

“Then why am I miserable, geek?”  Gilda finally answered him, getting up and holding her head.

“Because you won’t accept it fully,”  he replied, popping his head up from under the bed.  
“You enjoy it, but you keep saying you don’t.  Once you accept it freely, you’ll feel right as rain.”

“Accept what?”  Gilda asked the obvious question.  “That I’m a monster now?”

“That you are the wolf among lambs,”  the Snark replied with glee.  “The power from the outside will crush them while you get the last laugh.  I know you want it!”

Gilda sighed and went back to trying to ignore him.  She just lay back again for a while, as she could hear the Snark hum some annoying tune.  If what he told her was true, he was more than excited today.

“Jingle bell, ponies smell, the town is quite a mess,”  he sang loudly.  “My kin will dine, and the’re out of time, which means they’ll soon be dead.”

Gilda had a realization, if a small one.  “Dead people don’t hate, freak,”  she said, not looking down from the ceiling.  “What are you gonna do about that?”

“Did you know?”  the Snark said, rising from under fully as mist and looking down at her like a cloud.  “That it’s the living that envy the dead?  Seeing as what lives tends to be culpable, and blame flies and bitter grudges grow.  One of these days, we'll talk about this and laugh on how simple it all is.”

Whatever little rant he was about to give was interrupted with a knock on the door.  He was gone again, like he was never there as usual.  Gilda knew that knock was too low to be Fluttershy.  It was a kid knocking at the door.

“Not now kid, I got a headache,”  Gilda called out, still laying on the bed.

“Can’t we talk a bit, miss Gilda?”  said a voice that wasn’t Tiara’s.  “Ah jus’ wanted to clear tha air an’ all.”  The griffon now knew it was the redhead apple kid.

Gilda still rolled her eyes as she got up.  Maybe she could scare her off or something?  Still, she opened the door to find Apple Bloom doing her best to look cheerful…and the feeling was mutual.  Gilda figured she didn’t need more trouble today.

“What?”  she asked with a sigh of annoyance.  “What is it?”

“Ah’ know ya’ll trying to help Diamond Tiara,”  Bloom replied with a serious look.  “Yer even trying to help convince her ta accept that invite ah gave ‘er.”

“How…?”  Gilda said as she held her head with a grumble.  “How much of that talk did you hear, kid?”

“Well….”  Apple Bloom rubbed her hoof into the floor timidly.  “We woke up wit’ that kettle whistle an…”  She could see Gilda’s mood was not improving.  “Much ah it, an ah ain’t here to accuse ya or nothin,”  she admitted.

“So what?”  Gilda asked as she still rubbed her head. “You trying to make something of it?”

“Well…”  Apple Bloom looked unsure how to answer, and Gilda was about to just shut the door to go back to brooding, but Bloome seemed to notice.  "Ah just wanted to know why?”  she said quickly.  “Ah mean, it’s nice of ya to try ta help an all, an I appreciate that.”

“She reminds me of how miserable I am,”  Gilda deadpanned.

Bloom looked at the griffon wide eyed.  “Wha’s that supposed ta mean?”  she asked with surprise.

“Meh,”  Gilda said, as she didn’t feel like answering.  It would take too long, she thought.  “It don’t matter, but that kid needs someone.  And, seeing as you offered it, I think your party could help her.”

“Ya really think so, miss G?”  Apple Bloom looked excited to know that fact.

“Yeah,”  Gilda answered as she rubbed her claw.  “That kid seems to get along with me, but I got enough issues right now to deal with so-.”  It was then the little foal looked inspired by something.

“Maybe if you came?”  Bloom quickly added with a smile.

“What?”  Gilda uttered, wide eyed and wings up.

“Ah mean, I might haf ta talk to ma sister a bit on that,”  Apple Bloom continued as she looked aside.  “But if’n it can get DT outta that funk, ah don’t see why not invite ya.”

The griffon was still wide eyed, and curious, and a bit creeped out.  

“Why are you so dead set on getting her to this party anyway?”  Gilda had to ask.  “She doesn’t like you guys from what she keeps telling me.”

“Caus….”  Apple Bloom looked a bit sad on that fact.  “Ah think it’s mah fault.”

“The heck?”  Gilda uttered in response.

“If’n it weren’t fer me talking ta that mad pony, she’d…”  Bloom began to tremble as she spoke.

“Hey, if you didn’t know what he was, it’s not….”  Gilda tried to keep this from getting more dramatic, as she needed less of that right now.

“Ah know, he did all that,”  Bloom hung her head.  “I jus wanna help her not haff ta spend Herat’s Warming alone, ya know?”    She looked back to the griffon with the sad look she had.

“Yeah, I do,”  Gilda replied looking away for a bit.  “So, maybe you feel like you ruined her holiday?  Wish to fix it and stuff?”

“Yeah!”  Apple said with surprise.  “How’d yall…?”

“Lucky guess,”  Gilda face clawed.  “I can tell this is going to be a long day.”  she sighed as she looked down.

“Wha’s wrong?”  Apple Bloom asked then.  “Wha’s it gonna be long?”

“Stuff,”  Gilda replied simply.  “Lots of stuff I need to figure out.”

“That’s why yer here, right?”  Apple Bloom asked with a kind smile.  Said smile started to melt down as she saw Gilda wasn’t agreeing.  “Ya wanna be left alone now?”  she added awkwardly.  Ya said ya had a headache…”

While a yes was the first response, Gilda mind wandered to the thing that wouldn't leave her alone in her head.  She needed to tell someone after all about what was coming soon.

“Can you ask Fluttershy if she can get me a early session?”  she asked the foal.  “I got a lot to talk about right now.”

“Sure!”  Apple Bloom said as she nodded quickly.  “Ah’ll tell her right naw.”  She left, heading downstairs.  

Gilda shut the door and went back to her sulking.  Her mind went to something new, or perhaps old, feeling this could all be Dash’s fault.  In a long, drawn out way for all of her misery.   

She was sick of it continuing to go that way.

“Then do something about it,”  the Snark stated in her mind.  “You really should.”

“Shut up,”  Gilda snarled back at the creature in her head.

> Sure walked into that one
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

GIlda did her best to pass the time, trying not to think about the thing lurking around.  She even tried to look into some of those books on the shelf that was still against the window.

At some point, someone should move it back.  Just, not right now.   Even so, the griffon figured it’s contents might get her mind off what was pulling away at her.

It was still slim pickings though, nothing she’d like any way.  

“Natural medicine”, “How to be a mommy”, “Iron Will’s new assertive course: Revised edition”, “Pattycakes to Cupcakes”, “How To Train Your Manticore”, and “The Adventure’s of Grand Papillion: The Legend Continues in the Ring”.

The griffon paused, who’d a thought Fluttershy was into wrestling?  Not this bird she thought, chuckling as she looked for more of these books.  Sure enough, the soft pegasus had a collection.

“The Adventures of Grand Papillion: Papillion vs. The Minotaur lord.”  “The Adventures of Grand Papillion: Float like a butterfly, sting like a folding table.”  “Grand Papillion vs. The King of Dragons.”  Gilda started to laugh then at the titles.  “Papillion vs. Mask de Smith.”  “Grand Papillion meets Jaguar Javier:  The return of Calaca”,  “Grand Papillion vs. The Aztec Mummy…”

She did remember Rainbow Dash had a Daring Do thing going, and Fluttershy apparently has something going for some stud wrestler.  Wonders never cease.  But it was something, and would get her mind off this thing in her head.

She read the description.  

“Blah blah, flying the world.”  Gilda muttered as she read.  “Blah, they know who’s strongest, blah blah.  Studs love him too?”  Her eyebrow raised.  “Seriously?  Champion of the stud festival...oh that just sounds so wrong.”  Gilda paused, that idea of such a thing made her cringe for some reason.  But she continued.  “Blah blah, a stallions path, blah.”  

Gilda was so into her skimming, she only noted the door opening after she had someone behind her.

“Um, Gilda are you…?”  Fluttershy interrupted, and the griffon turned and saw the pony look like she was about to drop her jaw.  “Are you a fan of Grand Papillion too?”  Gilda blinked for a bit, and quickly put the book back on the shelf.

“Nope,”  she answered simply.  “Why are you?”

“Well…”  Shy said with rare excited enthusiasm, and Gilda just then noticed she opened the fan girl gates and flinched. 

Oh why did she ask?  

“First off, he’s a bat pony pegasus.”  Fluttershy said quickly.  “And he’s on this quest to be a hero, despite the fact he can’t fly so well,”  she explained with enjoyment.  “Then he uses these amazing moves to fight his foes.  I even try to practice a few of them too!  Can you believe it?”

“Nuh uh,”  Gilda got a word in edgewise.

“And he’s really great with kids too!”  Fluttershy continued with delight.  “With his battle with Mask De Smith, he realized that the pony he was fighting was a changeling in disguise.  And he  wanted to battle Grand Papillion to bring kids to it’s side to feed off of.  But when Papillion saved the real Mask De Smith, they team up to fight the evil changeling, Garcian.  But it’s then they find it was all a plot by by king Kun…”

“Ok, enough with the fan...stuff!”  Gilda said, waving her claws in horror to the flood of fandom.  “Enough!  Stop!”

“Heh, sorry,”  Fluttershy said with a blush.  “I just really enjoy that series so much!”  She let out a cough, getting herself back to a less fan girl mode.  “Apple Bloom said you wanted to talk to me?  About an early session?”  she asked.

“Yeah, I did,”  Gilda replied, also trying to get some composure back.  “I need an early session.  Ya see something's come up and I need to talk about it.”

“I don’t see why not,”  Shy replied with a smile.  “My friends will be by later, though.  Would you mind?”

“Mind what?”  Asked Gilda

“A pause in the session?”  Shy answered back.  “It will be a short one, if that’s ok with you?”

“Sure, yeah, whatever,”  Gilda replied, trying to move this along.  “Can we start now?”

“Sure!”  Fluttershy said, gesturing her hoof to the guest room door.  “Just come downstairs.”  Gilda calmly nodded, best as she could, and left the room.  

She went down stairs, walking past the CMC lot.  They were doing something--she wasn’t quite paying attention.  She did take note of Diamond Tiara was at least closer to them though.  

Silly enough, the griffon was worried the kid was just going to be alone if weren't for the fact she tried to help.   Even if the filly looked like she would rather be somewhere else with other company.  Still, Gilda had other things to worry about as she went down to the basement.  

The place was not much worse for the wear, despite the desk having more than a few scuff marks due to so much abuse it had got in the last week.  That, and the seemingly random stacks of things around the basement floor.  Thankfully, none on the couch.  The terrible trio had left that alone.

Gilda sat down and waited for Dr. Fluttershy, and in time she was down there as well.  At least after first telling Apple Bloom to call down when her sister arrives.  Then it to business with doctor Shy at her desk.  

A bit, she wasn’t putting on her glasses today.

“OK,”  she said, leaning her hooves on her desk.  “What’s wrong, Gilda?  Did something else happen, or do you feel worse?”

“All the above?”  Gilda answered with a nervous smile.  Explaining this was going to be hard.

“Er…”  Now Shy looked nervous.  “Can...you...um, expand on that?”

“Well…”  Gilda had to figure how to break the important part, and failed.  “What if I said everypony in town was going to die tonight?”  Fluttershy looked back at her with wide eyes, not giving an answer.  “Yeah, that’s pretty bad, I know,”  Gilda answered for her.

“Why...?”  Fluttershy asked after a pause.  “Why would you ask that?”  She sounded more upset than anything.

“Remember that Snark thing I told you about?”  Gilda asked, and hoped she wasn’t struck dead yet.

“A bit,”  Shy replied, rubbing her chin.  “What about it?”

“He’s got a army of windigos coming to crush the town.”  Gilda explained poorly.  “Not sure the exacts, but he told me as much.”  Despite the fact she was expecting Fluttershy to do something, maybe warn the town, the pony just sat there with a muddled look.

“I don’t think that….no.”  Shy said as she shook her head.  “Mr. Discord told me windigos don’t work like that.”

“What?”  Gilda said wide eyed.  “What do you mean?”

“They don’t organize like that,”  Shy explained softly.  “He told me that they are more likely to prey on each other than work together on a single goal.”

“And you believe him?”  Gilda added.

“Yes,”  Fluttershy said with a nod.  “Don’t worry.

Gilda let out a sigh, feeling like all air had been let out.  The pegasus didn’t believe her, and apparently that was noticed.

“I’m not calling you a liar, Gilda,”  Shy replied in a subtle tone.  “I’m just saying maybe you imagined it.  There was a worry that the dream pills could have...unintended effects.”

“Speaking of which…”  Gilda remembered another thing she was going to ask at some point, and she was able to ask it well.  “Can I ask who’s heart made those wishes?”

“Whose heart?”  Dr. Shy asked back.

“That walrus, he told me a dream is a wish the heart makes.”  Gilda explained.  “First, I could guess they were mine, sure, then things got weird.  Pretty sure I don’t….”  Gilda stopped for a moment.  That next part was embarrassing and creepy.

“Don’t…?”  Shy asked.  She noticed Gilda looked more than a bit awkward on this.  “It’s ok, it’s just us.”  she said.  “And also, legally I can’t divulge what you tell me without a signed paper.  Signed by you, telling me that you are ok with me sharing such information.”  Gilda looked surprised by the explanation.  “I needed to know this.”

“Right,”  Gilda said, mentally backing away from this.  “Let’s say, I had a couple dreams I wouldn't have wished for.  Like someone else wished for them instead.”

“I see,”  Shy said as made a note of it.  “That makes sense.”

“You...had that happen before?”  Gilda said with surprise.

“Kind of,”  Shy replied with a bit of a blush.  “I remember asking about it too.  Mr. Discord told me he’d look into it, and then he told me what he found out a few nights later.”

“And?”  Gilda said, as she wanted this explained.  “How does he explain finding yourself in some relationship with somepony?”  This question caused Shy to not just blush, but become a bright red pony from the neck up.  “Why is that always the first thought you have?”  she sighed at the pony’s non verbal response.

Fluttershy simply nodded, and did her best to get herself less embarrassed.  

“W-well, sometimes it’s a matter of being affected by others wishes, like other ponies wishes,”  she said.  “Then, there is the factor that maybe a small…”  She looked at Gilda, likely hoping she was following.  “Er, small part of you wished for it too, despite the rest of you not wanting it.  Do you understand?”

“All greek to me,”  Gilda replied with a shrug.  “I can get some of this mental stuff, and it still gives me a headache.”  She shook her head.  “Can we get back to that whole, end of the world thing, please?”

“Are you sure it’s real?”  Dr. Shy asked as she rubbed her mane.  “I could be another nightmare you had.”

“Pretty sure it wasn’t, doc,”  Gilda replied, feeling strained.  “You were the person who pointed out how I ran through the house the other night.  Remember?”

“I do,”  Shy replied with a nod.  “I also remember how a windigo, er, brain freezed you.”

“That was the Snark,”  Gilda said, getting up and walking to the desk.  “You know, the someone who’s going to wreck the town?”

“Um, I see,”  Shy noted that as well.  “Are you sure it isn’t bluffing?”  she added with some concern.

“Why?”  Gilda was feeling annoyed by this answer.  She was now practically on the other side of the desk with an angry grimace, but still Fluttershy kept her calm.  

“It’s a windigo,”  Dr. Fluttershy pointed out clearly.  “It may be trying to get under your skin, to make you more frustrated and angry.  So it can feed on you.”  She paused, likely to see if the griffon understood that.  “It could be taunting you, until you are so mad that you make a mistake.”

“Like what?”  Gilda grumbled back.  “Worry the world will end?”

“Part of it,” Shy replied, trying to be impartial despite the upset griffon.  “If he’s the only one telling you this he could be lying.”

“And if I saw it?”  Gilda added.

“That unlikely,”  Fluttershy replied as she shook her head.  “If you saw several windigos we wouldn't be having this conversation.”  Before Gilda asked, Shy continued.  “You’d be in a hospital, hopefully still able to breathe.”  The griffon faceclawed, getting more frustrated.  “I’d visit,”  she said softly as she tried to support Gilda’s mood.

“Why won’t…”  Gilda about roared.

“I can look into it lat….”  Dr. Shy about said, but a knock on the basement door cut her off.  “Excuse me, I….”

“Miss Fluttershy!”  called a voice from above.  “Ma sister is here!”

“Yeah, yeah, just go…”  Gilda huffed, as she walked back to the couch.  Fluttershy nodded and went upstairs.  

Gilda could hear a lot of talking and several hoofsteps.  As she waited, she knew what was in the shadows nearby, and it wasn’t Pinkie Pie.

“What?”  she said with anger.

“You can’t win this way, chicken little,”  the Snark said from behind the couch.  “You do see that, right?”

“Then what?”  Gilda growled back to him.  “You’re gonna taunt me more then?”

“Oh yes!”  said “The Snark” with glee.  “The shy pony has a point or two, even when she misses the big one.  It’s all kinds of funny, let me tell you.”

“She said you could be bluffing….”   Gilda weakly defended, and that only made him laugh more.

“Oh, I could,”  the Snark nodded as he continued.  “But you know I’m not.”  He shook his head with a sneer.  “You know so much, and can do so little.  Just accept it!  Why would a bunch of stupid ponies listen to a freak like you?  They trust themselves more, you know.”

The griffon though as hard as she could for a option, any option.  Something she could use to prove “The Snark” was a real threat and something that would destroy everything.  A terror from beyond that had been underestimated.  

Then she had an idea  A awful, terrible idea.

“Oh, you wouldn't,”  he replied was calm mockery.  “You can’t!  I know the guts for that don’t exist in you body.  Let alone others, you know.”  She didn’t answer as she looked down.  “And what about that bit the good doctor said?  They WILL come to hate you for it, and I WILL get stronger.”

Gilda held her arm as she looked more than a bit frightened.  Even so, she still wasn’t going to encourage the cloud pony next to her.

“Think about that!”  the Snark growled at her.  “Or don’t, I don’t care,”  he then laughed.  “I could be funny.  For me, not you.”  He darkly chuckled as he left the basement.  

Gilda could then hear Fluttershy coming back.

How did that noir movie say it?  This could only end in pain and suffering?  It was something like that she could recall from a movie, or something like it.  It really bites, no matter how cool they say it.  And last Gilda had checked, she wasn’t in a movie.

> Two sixteen ton safes to drop
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fluttershy looked a bit less worried when she came down, much unlike Gilda was.  

“I’m sorry to keep you waiting.”  Shy said as she got back to her desk.

“Yeah…”  Gilda simply agreed with a sigh.

“I know this might seem kind of sudden, but can I ask you about something?”  Fluttershy could see the clear depression in the griffon’s eyes.  “Please?”  she asked kindly.

“What?”  Gilda pulled a claw down her face with a grumble.

“Can I ask about your connection to Diamond Tiara?”  Shy asked, and Gilda grit her teeth for a moment, saying nothing.  She seemed oblivious, but gave her time.  “I’m just curious, that’s all.  I’m glad you are helping her, that is nice of you to…”  she added carefully.

“Stop,”  Gilda said stoically.

“Is this a difficult subject?”  Dr. Shy caught on.

“Kinda, yeah,”  Gilda answered back.

“Ok…”  Fluttershy said as she nodded, looking like she still wanted to ask.  “Um, is there a reason?”  A pause.  “Maybe why it’s difficult?”

“The kid is a pampered pony who thinks she’s all that,”  Gilda replied simply.  “That bothers me.  It bothers me, a lot.”

“I see,”  Dr. Shy noted again.  “She’s lived in Ponyville for much of her life, and from one of the richer families.  She’s kinda difficult, and has more than once...caused trouble.”

“So?”  Gilda shrugged.

“Well…”  Shy began, looking like she was treading ice.  “I’m just wondering why you wanted to help her.”

Gilda felt like she was repeating herself.  “Because her life sucks, the kid was a wreck, and well….I felt bad for her, ok?”  she said, feeling strained.  “Next thing is she’s all clingy.  And...she sounds like a lamer version of me…”  She looked down at that part.

“Um, oh….”  Fluttershy looked a bit shocked at that statement.  “That’s an interesting point,”  She had a nervous smile, which wasn’t helping the upset griffon.

“More painful to me,”  Gilda added.  “At least with the other stuff going on.”

“Is that why you want her to…”  Shy was about to ask the obvious question, so Gilda cut her off

“If it’s about that invite thing….”  she grumbled back.  “I know she’s not in the same pit I’m in, and she doesn’t have a ex-friend weighing her down, ok?  So, just drop it.”

“O-oh ok,”  Dr. Shy replied, a bit shaken by Gilda’s anger on the subject.  “But, it’s not about that.  It’s more…”  Fluttershy tried to find the wording.  “Do you want her to be happy?”

“Define happy,”  Gilda replied looking at her claw.  “I found out she wanted me for a mom.”  Fluttershy looked downright flabbergasted by that, not even blinking as she dropped her pen in shock  “That’s kind of how I took it too, yeah.”  Gilda added with some enjoyment to the shock she caused.

Shy shook it off, or at least tried too.  “I-I guess you m-made quite an impact on her.”  she said.  “That’s something to-”

“Be proud about, yeah,”  Gilda finished for the pony.  “Can we stop this now?”

“Er, ok,”  Fluttershy replied.  “Believe it or not, she has few friends she hold to that degree.  More or less, and…”

Gilda, again interrupted.  “You suddenly want me to be excited to be some kind of BFF or something?”  Dr. Shy looked like she was unsure what to say on that.  “Besides, can we go back a bit?  That whole windigo thing?”

“I said I’d look into it later so….”  Shy said clearly, and Dr. Fluttershy was likely to dodge it again.   More than likely asking about other things the griffon did not feel like talking about.  

So, Gilda dropped the thing.  She dropped it hard.

“He had me mess up the town,”  she said as direct as she could.

“What?”  Fluttershy said in a surprised, low voice.

“He had me-mess up-the town,”  Gilda answered again, much slower.  “I burnt the tree, smashed the tables, and ruined the apples.”  She let out a deep breath as she finished.  “There I said it, now do something.”

Dr. Shy just sat there in shock again, not even blinking for a moment.  That shock then became a rumble, a rumble the griffon could feel in her feathers, causing a few to stand upright like they just started arcing electricity.  

Fluttershy’s eyes narrowed and her teeth clenched as a hoof met the desk with a thump.  Gilda figured she was about to be yelled at, and braced herself for the coming fury.  But, notably, didn’t come in the way she expected.

Shy let out a breath, calm as could be in an impartial voice.  “Explain,”  she asked, her voice still low.  “Please tell me about this, Gilda.”

“I’ll tell you the parts I can, ok?”  Gilda replied quickly.  Shy just looked at her, not saying anything.  “I saw the guy, but I didn’t know what he was.  He told me about a game, even showed me he could stop my heart.”  

She paused to see if the pony was at least understanding this.  But Fluttershy still had that serious look, not even moving.  Still not speaking, with her hooves crossed and an angry look.

“He showed up at times, mocking me and being annoying,”  Gilda continued nervously.  “Then he had me do some stuff, that’s when I got to breaking things in town.  He kept telling me why I should so…”

“Did he kept telling you he would kill you?”  Fluttershy asked in a serious tone, not even raising her voice.  

Gilda signed, as this really wasn’t going to end well.  

“That, and…remember that thing you said about getting under skin?”  Gilda asked and Dr. Shy only nodded.  “He know’s me, what’s going on in my head.”  She wasn’t even sure how to word the rest, but she tried.  “He kept telling me I’m just…”  She needed a word.  “...Lame to you guys.  Like you guys would never really accept me.  He told me you guys deserve what I did because you wanted only to punish me.”

Shy’s face seemed to soften a bit.  At least enough to give Gilda the feeling she wasn’t going to fight another angry pegasus this week, and likely breaking the desk next.  

“Do you regret it?”  Fluttershy asked suddenly, catching the griffon off guard.  “Not fear the consequences of this, Gilda.  Do you regret it?”

“Can’t it be both?”  Gilda answered with a question, with a poor bit of humor that the pony was unimpressed by, causing her to gulp from that look she was being given.  “I got to the really good regret stage when that steam carriage blew up,”  Gilda continued, and Shy just noted things down as she spoke.  “With all the screams I heard, this stuff has me freaked out, ok?  And from what he tells me, he’s going to do worse.”

The griffon paused then.  She knew one other part, and even she was scared to speak of that.  But somehow, that pegasus’ gaze was making her feel like telling it.

“How do you know, Gilda?”  Fluttershy asked in monotone.

“He…”  Gilda about whimpered, and gulped again.  “He was there back in the north,”  she said with a scared look.  “The guard ponies…”  she tried to say, but she trembled and was unable to speak.

“Other ponies reported what happened was from a wild animal attack,”  Dr. Shy replied.  “Are you saying he caused it?”  

At that point the griffon broke.

“He used my body,”  Gilda cried out as she broke down.  “He’s a killer!”  Fluttershy’s eyes leapt up from being narrow for a moment, looking fearful.  “I don’t wanna be a monster!”  she sobbed.  “I wanted to be cool!  I wanted to be awesome, not some monster that...”  

Gilda couldn't find her way to finish that sentence, she just cried then.

“How will he destroy the town, Gilda?”  Dr. Shy asked as she wrote quickly, looking back to the crying griffon with worry.  But Gilda was unable to answer, her claws were over her face as she continued to sob.

The pegasus got up from her chair, quickly making her way to the couch Gilda was in.  A bit without warning, she gave the griffon a hug which caused Gilda to yelp.

“You're not a monster, Gilda,”  Fluttershy said soft and firmly as she held on.  “You are a griffon.”
It was quiet for a moment as the griffon calmed down.  “If you were a monster you wouldn't feel regret for any of this.”  Shy used a hoof, to help the teary griffon look her in the eye.  “So remember, you aren’t a monster, ok?”

“Y-yeah, s-sure,”  was Gilda’s best reply.

“Can you tell me how he planned to destroy the town, Gilda?”  Shy asked again.

“He told me we softened the town up, then his army rolls in today,”  Gilda ended breathlessly.  

Shy returned to that business look, jotting down more info on her desk and not saying anything else.  

“You believe me at all?”  Gilda asked, holding her head.  “Or am I just in more trouble?”

“I don’t know right now,”  Fluttershy replied, not looking up from her desk.  “I need to get Discord here and tell him about this.”  

The griffon sighed sadly then.  The good news was something might be done to stop the coming storm.  Bad news was everything else that came from her confession.  

For obvious reasons, she felt like putting her claws back on her face.  She might cry more, seeing how dead she was now.  But she knew that wouldn't help, it never did.

“I guess I’ll still be the monster in the end,”  Gilda muttered.

The pegasus had gotten back up, leaving her desk while the griffon wasn’t looking.  

“I know one thing you didn’t couldn't have made up though…”  Fluttershy said suddenly as she trotted over.  “You did change, Gilda.”

“W-wha?”  Gilda had looked up to see the pegasus had a soft smile.  To be fair, this was likely the part to cause the griffon a natural heart attack.  She gulped again.  “W-what d-do you…?”

“You would have never have taken responsibility like this,”  Fluttershy continued, sitting next to the trembling griffon.  “Not after all you’ve tried to do, not unless it made you look good.   You wouldn't be telling me this it you were just a monster.”  Shy continued with Gilda wide eyed.  “Not if it endangered yourself to the consequences.”  She rubbed the griffon’s head.  “You cared about others more than yourself, something other ponies thought you could never do.”

“The heck are you talking about?”  Gilda wasn’t quite following.

Rather than answer immediately, the pegasus put a wing in Gilda’s shoulder, gently helping Gilda off the couch.  

“We’ll talk about what will happen to you after we find out how to stop this.”  she said as Gilda looked at her a bit confused.  “I can tell you feel bad enough about this so let’s just head upstairs now, ok?”

The sun was still shining upstairs as the storm was not yet there still.  In her current mood, Gilda had forgotten it was about lunch time now.

Fluttershy remembered though.

> Eye of the storm
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

In spite of herself, Gilda felt things had gone smoothly.  

At least as far as she could tell Fluttershy was not going after her or straight up screaming at her for past actions.  Let alone her returning to the asylum.  Things never went that well for her, last she checked, when things got that bad.  She couldn't decide to be relieved or tense for what came next.

The pegasus left after lunch, likely to go to town where Discord was likely at.  As far as Gilda could tell anyway.  

It was then the griffon noticed the weather had changed, the snow was getting thicker now.  The night before the weather was choppy, some light parts first, then it got heavy later.  Though she figured that was from Package Deal doing.  

Windigos were windigos though, and that weather had her worried.

Then again, the pony brigade had seen worse...right?  She thought.

Distracted by that, and other musings, the griffon only just then noticed the small foal next to her.

“Huh?,”  Gilda said, somewhat surprised.  “Oh, hey kid.”  she said awkwardly.  “I thought you would have left with the others.”

“My home is still a mess, miss G,”  Diamond Tiara answered, with a bit of humor.  “Plus the celebration isn’t for a while so…”  She shrugged her shoulders with a bit of a grin.  “Guess I’m still here for now.”

“Whatever,”  Gilda replied with a sigh.  While she more then felt like just being by herself, she decided differently.  “You wanna talk or something?”  she added, looking aside.  “No one else is here anyway, even that silly rabbit I played checkers with.”

“You played checkers with Angel?”  Diamond said with surprise.  “Did you win?”

“Two out of three, kinda,”  Gilda replied, and really didn’t feel like mentioning how she kept losing to something shorter than she was.  “You play checkers kid?”

“Chess is better,”  Tiara said smugly.  “Smarter too.”

“Chess isn’t about smashing your opponent's army,”  Gilda replied with a shrug.  “So, where’s the fun in chess?”

“Maybe wowing over someone who didn’t see it coming?”  Diamond stated with a smile.  “It’s awesome to watch somepony only just realize you beat em,”  she giggled.  “Think about it.  They think they got you beat, you lost a bunch of your pieces, and they so proud of themselves,”  Tiara explained.  “Then they see that pawn you had, but they were too dumb to notice.”

“Say what?”  Gilda added, though to be fair she never played chess.

“Do it right and the pawn can put the king in checkmate.”  Diamond answered, somewhat annoyed.  “Duh.”

Gilda smirked.  “That does sound like a fun way to ruin someones day,”  she said as she scratched her head.  “Too bad I don’t play well.”

“I know, right?”  Diamond said as she rubbed her mane.  “But do other griffons play it?”

“Maybe the empress court?”  Gilda said, still scratching.  “Ol’ dad wasn’t the only griffon who thought that kind of stuff was stupid.  I bet the overseers might even see griffons as all pieces on a board.  Remember dad called them pompous.”

“Maybe he was jealous?”  Diamond Tiara said in a sly tone.

“Oh, yeah,”  Gilda replied with a self deprecating laugh.  “Pretty sure of that at this point.”

“What’s the mean?”  Diamond asked curiously.

“He kept saying power came from claws or from one of those powder arms,”  Gilda clarified. She had gotten tired of watching the snow and sat down on the living room couch, where the filly promptly joined her.  “All this, talking about other stuff?  He’d call it a bunch of noise that’s less than worthless.”

“Wow,”  Diamond said with wide eyes.  “Your dad’s really was into smashing stuff.”

“Took me awhile to realize that, but yeah,”  Gilda replied, rolling her eyes after a bitter sigh. 
“Got anything to pass the time that isn’t chess, though?”  she added.  “I’m not in the mood to think too much right now.”

“What have you done to pass the time?”  Tiara asked.  “Do you at least read interesting books?”

“I used to practice flying skills, shadow box, listen to metal, drink…”  Gilda trailed off on the last one.

“You mean electric guitar metal?”  Tiara asked.  “Like rock?”

“Not sure if you ponies got that, but it’s pretty awesome where I used to live,”  Gilda said proudly.  “Think the heaviest sounds.”

“Sounds annoying if you ask me,”  Diamond said as she rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue.

“Meh, it grows on ya,”  Gilda replied, surprising herself on taking that comment so well.  “You got good music you listen to?”

“Classical,”  Tiara answered with a smile.  Gilda guffawed as Diamond’s eyes narrowed.  “It easy to listen to, intellectual and totally ponderous.”  She huffed when she saw the griffon wasn’t quickly agreeing.  “It’s better than just a bunch of musical pounding!”

Gilda stopped her chuckling.  “Heh, sure,”  she said.  “Guess I was never into easy.”

“Ever enjoyed your singing, miss G?”  Diamond Tiara innocently asked, and then saw the notable chill in Gilda’s face.  She did noticed Gilda unease at least.  “Um…I was good, ya know?”

“I remember some karaoke at some ritzy drinking places,”  Gilda blushed as she spoke about that odd bunch of experiences.  “Usually had a few drinks in me, and seemed to be the times me and Eddy really got along well.”  She tried not to be nostalgic, but she was.  “As for that attempt at a lullaby?  It was something I heard a few times.”

“You should sing more,”  Diamond complimented.  “It’s was really good!”

“I’m not a songbird,”  Gilda groaned.  “That stuff’s embarrassing to me.”

“Just something to keep in mind,”  Tiara said with a friendly smile.  “Just in case that “bird you cannot change “ thing doesn’t work out.”

“How about you?”  Gilda changed the subject.  “You ever accept the invite?”

“Yeah…”  Diamond replied, now looking nervous.  “I did, and Apple Bloom looked way too happy about it too! She gave me a hug after I agreed…just out of nowhere too.  Weird...”  She then looked a bit more nervous as she gulped.  “...Also, I kinda asked if you could come and she said it was ok.”

“Oh, boy,”  Gilda said. and this statement was not delivered in a joyful tone.  More the tone of “this will suck”.

“Please?”  Diamond Tiara asked seriously.  “It’s hard enough for me to do this already!”

“Yeah, I got that,”  Gilda added, and thankfully for them she did know.  “Thing is, I’m already in the middle of something and…”  She scratched the back of her neck.  “I’d like to avoid any more pony based anger.  You do remember that Dash bit, right?”

“Yeah, I do,”  Diamond replied, just a bit nervous.  “Her sister is one of Rainbow Dash’s close friends too.”  Gilda faceclawed at that.  “Um, Bloom said she’d do something, um, about that.”

“Really gonna suck,”  Gilda replied to that answer, still holding her face.  Through her claw, she could still see the sad look the kid now had.  “Alright,”  she moaned as the removed her claw from her face.  “I’ll ask Fluttershy about going there.”

“Thanks,”  said Diamond, looking glad.  “I don’t want to face this alone.”

“Yeah,”  Gilda said as she rubbed her head feathers.  “I can tell it sucks to do stuff you’re not used to.”

“When do you think she’ll be back?”  Tiara said to change the subject.

“No clue, I’m not even sure when that walrus is getting here,”  Gilda replied.  “I really need to talk to him too.”

“Would it help if that tooth didn’t distract you so much?”  said a voice sitting in a chair next to them.  They turned to find Discord.  

Diamond Tiara seemed pretty creeped out and, had she been a more weirder sort, Gilda might have given the kid a reassuring claw.  But for now she just scoffed at him.

“Why do you even have that tooth?”  Gilda asked, as she raised her claw.  “It’s so stupid!  What do you even do with it?”

“Enjoy a fine kebab, but enough about that!”  Discord said as he put his fingers together.  “Little Fluttershy told me you had something we needed to talk about?”

Gilda put a claw on Diamond Tiara’s head, calling the kids attention.  “Can you go upstairs, kid?”  she asked with an attempted comforting smile.  “This is going to be one of those “grown up” talks.  Okay?”

“Whatever,”  Diamond replied as she rolled her eyes again and pushed the claw off.  

She trotted upstairs as Gilda shrugged, while the griffon hoped she did that right.

> Hitting the storm wall
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Where’s Fluttershy?”  Gilda asked, noting the absence of the pony in this meeting.  “Figured she’d be here too.”

“She’s visiting friends,”  Discord said with a smile.  “Tis the season, after all.”

“Yeah, I’ll bet,” Gilda replied with a sigh.  “So how much did she tell you about the Snark?”

“A little,”  Discord answered, using his claw to give that small visual with a bug between his fingers.  “Have to say, it would be quite something if you really did all that you said.”  Gilda was now in a chair across from him.  “And even then, you’d still need...well, that is the question, isn’t it?  What is “The Snark”, Gilda?”

“Way I can tell, a windigo that’s in my head,”  Gilda explained to the snake walrus.  “I’ve seen him in that...other place too.  That, like some other things I told Flutters, seems impossible.”

“Like your brothers story on how you were alive and unharmed in a horror story?”  Discord asked as he typed away on a invisible typewriter.  Gilda felt another groan coming on.

“He told me he’s the reason for it,”  Gilda added as she tapped on the chair she sat in.  “And, you know, destroy us all?  That part feels pretty pressing, don’t cha think?”

“Indeed,”  Discord replied, as a ding indicated him to reset the invisible page roller.  “That part does concern me as well.  Normally those creatures from beyond can’t organize beyond a small group, maybe two.”  He looked to her with a raised eyebrow.  “And you tell me an army of them is coming then?”

“You don’t believe it either?”  Gilda deadpanned back.

“I do at this point, with a simple look outside,”  Discord said as a pile of snow fell on the griffon, from above, indoors.  Her beak out like a snowman nose and her eyes wide.  Despite his jest, he snapped his fingers and the snow was gone.  “They aren’t even in this plain yet, but there it is.  I have a personal dread how bad it can be if they all came at once.”

“Uh, can they?”  Gilda asked, even if she knew she’d dread the answer.

“Thankfully no,”  Discord said with a, for once, nervous smile.  “Only so many at a time, like a long line or a fuse burning down.  I’d have to say this would have been better to know some time earlier.”

“Hey, don’t blame this all on me,”  Gilda countered, quite upset.  “I didn’t even know about most of this crud.”

“That does not make you blameless, dear,”  Discord also countered.  “Though it would have been nice to know from Luna about your nightmares as well.”

“She can’t see them, not with me knowing her bits and pieces,”  said a voice familiar to Gilda.

“The Snark I presume?”  Discord replied to the voice, as he could hear it too.

“In the flesh, or not,”  the Snark said, now next to Gilda, and thankfully not seated.  “After I enjoyed a taste of her hate, I came to know a few things.  Like her little power of dreams.”

“You fed on Nightmare…”  Discord was about to say, but “The Snark” went first.

“Oh yes,”  he replied, with a red smile.  “And she was quite a dish!  Not that it matters to you.”

“And I would say it does,”  Discord said in a stern tone.  “You are clearly out of your league you know.”

“You can’t even touch me, you old stone face,”  the Snark said, mockingly.  “After all, I’m not even here.”  He jabbed Gilda’s side.  “Oh, I’m real enough, like all the others.  But even you can’t just magic us away, like you would if you could.”  He nodded with a sneer.

“Hum, like I would,”  Discord said stoically as he nodded back.  “I should say the jig is up Mr. Snark.  Even Twilight knows about what your scheme is, and even I can push back this storm you’re brewing.”

“Oh, you could,”  the Snark cackled back.  “But you can’t stop all of it, not with so many of us coming in.”  The more the Snark trotted around with that smirk, the more the snake man looked displeased.  “And some...other little surprises I can muster, just little bits here and there.”  He looked at Discord’s unhappy face and suddenly had a cruel grin as the gore on his muzzle dripped to water on the floor.

“Oh, I see,”  he added after a pause.  “You’re thinking on how stoppable I can be?  I’ll give you a freebie, because I’m such a swell guy, hm?”  Discord didn’t flinch at the Snark’s jests.  “If you killed the bird,”  he said as he pointed to Gilda.  “Well, I’d lose my beacon, so to speak.  I can tell you, and her, but don’t tell Fluttershy.  Oh no!  I want it to be a surprise when she find little bird’s body at your feet.”  

Now that got a reaction.

“I won’t!”  Discord yelled at the still grinning windigo.

“Or, what if my power are even more unknown to you?”  the snark added, rubbing Gilda’s head.  “Imagine, calm and collected, more or less.  Then POW!”  His hoof became an icy spike in Discord’s direction.  “A claw in someone!  With no problematic trauma or fear, she won’t even remember it!  Could even be her doctor…”  he said playfully.

“Stop!”  Discord was looking even more upset, but staying in relative control of his anger.

“See, this is what happens my little bird,”  the Snark whispered to Gilda.  “They always think they are better than that.  Like you can’t get to them.”  He softly laughed as he turned back to Discord.  “It’s for a limited time only, operator is still alive.  And only a few hours to go.  Kill now for life savings!”  The snake walrus was shaking with suppressed anger.  “Save the friends you won’t have when after-”

“I’m not playing you little game Snark!”  Discord snarled.  And despite the angry gaze, the Snark laughed.  “I make the game here.”

“As if!”  the Snark chuckled, only raising the snake creatures anger.  “You mortals will always be able to perceive us!  The scent of hate from your every thought attracts our gaze, and we can see with your corporeal eyes!”  the Snark’s white pony body split and separated as he continued.  “All that is left is for you is to know us!  And you were never a lord of chaos!  Only the pretender to the empty throne!”  cried the shapely blue windigo that now stood in the room.

“Enough!”  Discord shouted in full rage.  The sudden force was enough to shake the house, even sending some furniture flying.  Even Gilda was knocked for a loop and Diamond Tiara could be heard shrieking upstairs.

“Oh, back to basics, good man!”  the Snark said, gleefully unfazed why the force and delighted.  “First the children, then the world!  Just like last time.”  Discord shook his head and grit his teeth.  “And when you next dangle them over volcanos…”

“Get….”  the room rumbled as Discord spoke in a shuddering growl.

“Why not drop some, for a laugh?”  the Snark finished with a laugh.

“...Out!”  Discord finished, and the room stopped shaking.

“Make me, pony boy!”  the Snark said as he blew a raspberry.  

Discord looked wrathful, breathing heavy as he flinched.  He walked up to Gilda, who wondered why he legs weren’t moving and raised a hand in the air.  

“Oh, you are a poor sport…”  the Snark mocked as Discord poked Gilda’s head.

For Gilda, this was a surprise.  

She nearly forgot “Ruzka the Wonder Bear”, her favorite teddy, and she giggled until she thought she was going to be late for school.  Her mom said the next ruler should be more educated, even remembering the royal protector rumor she heard once.  Or was that a story she told her?  It was like she never left home, or even childhood, but couldn't remember who she was or what was so scary a moment ago.

Then the griffon blinked, and her vision became clear.

Discord was sitting down rubbing his head and not looking particularly funny or silly now.  As for herself, she was on the floor nuzzling a teddy bear.  

Being mortified doesn’t fully describe the feeling she had as she pushed it away.  She didn’t need someone else knowing this fact.

“That...mind poke thing….”  Gilda said, as she shook her head.  “Don’t.  It’s like you put a thing in there and did...stuff,”  she picked herself up off the floor as she spoke.

“It’s a bit rough, and a bit messy, but it’s something I can do when desperate,”  Discord replied with very little excitement, but managing to smirk at the end.  “It did get him to leave though.  Nasty fellow,”  he sighed.  “I’d prefer not to reduce myself to his crude level, though it’s just as likely he wanted me to get angry.”

“Remind me not to get on your bad side…”  Gilda added as she saw the lopsided fireplace and the knocked down, and lopsided, vertical shelves.  Even the doors were knocked over, lying on the floor, still in the doorway.  “Ah crud, is Diamond….”

Discord seemed to answer this with a snap and a boing sound.  Suddenly the filly, wet and damp, was clinging to the griffon’s back.

“How the…”  Gilda was about to ask before seeing the small waterfall on the staircase.  “Where did all the water come from?”

“It’s...not water,”  Discord said sadly, but he quickly composed himself.  

Maybe from the already messy logic she’d seen from that point, but Gilda had the an idea.  Was it tears or sweat flooding upstairs?  Also, is she getting too used to this?  She shook her head at that thought.

“So, what now?”  Gilda said as she got the wet Tiara of her back.  “Any ideas?”

“Getting dry?”  was Diamond’s two bits.  Next the foal knew she was dry and puffy with her fur and mane sticking out.  By the look on her face, this was not an improvement.

“You’ll be glad to know I won’t play his game,”  Discord said as he patted Gilda’s head.  “But he does seem to have his own scheme, as well as getting stronger from it.”

“And the magic pony plan of the day is…”  Gilda asked, hoping he would know.

“Well, with a bit of work they can get Hearth’s Warming back on track,”  Discord said as he rubbed his chin...thing.  “But now I’m worried.  He’s just as likely to go find more power, escalating this matter.”

“A clear yes or no doc,”  Gilda asked, now a bit nervous.

“At present, yes we do Gilda,”  Discord said with confidence.  “These little ponies have weathered some storms quite similar to this.”

“I hope so,”  Gilda added, and with that hopefully settled.  “Ya need a comb kid?”  she asked the fluffy foal.

“Please,”  Diamond Tiara said, rolling her eyes.

“Yo, you got a…”  Gilda was about to ask, but it was already in her claw.  “...comb?”

“I’ll take my leave for now,”  Discord said with a bow.  “In the mean time, try not to get too upset.  We don’t need you to feed him more than he already has been.”

Gilda turned away, about to hand the comb to Diamond, when she needed to ask.  “And how am…?”  But when she turned back, he was gone.  At least the room was back in order, doors on the wall and what not.  

Still, more than “try not to be mad” would have been good advice at this point.

“You giving that to me or what?”  Tiara got Gilda out of her worrying.

“Sure, right,”  she replied.  Once in hoof, the pink filly got to getting her new fluffy look under control.  “You know, when did you say this party was?”

“Apple Bloom said her and her sister would come for me when they were ready…”  Diamond answered back.  “And can I ask why the house moved?”

“Just the world ending, no biggie,”  Gilda joked, then noted Tiara looking annoyed again.  “Lizard boy got mad, and I can guess why.”

“Can he do something about this storm outside?”  Diamond added, as she got the last of the puffiness tamed.

“He’s getting to it,”  Gilda answered reassuringly.  “He won’t let it ruin the festivities.”

“Awesome sauce!”  Diamond said with some excitement.

“Seriously?”  Gilda chucked.  “That had to be the dumbest sounding catchphrase!”

“I don’t see you coming up with cool catchphrases either,”  Tiara quickly countered.

“Heh, good point,”  Gilda said as she rubbed the bottom of her beak.  “I”m am totally slouching here.  Geeze.”  She pondered as she tapped her beak.  “If I told you that over the course of a week I’ve gone through a lot of changes, what would you say?”  she asked the foal.

“How?”  was Diamonds word on that.  “Weren't you the one who described herself as ‘the bird you cannot change’?”

“Been lot’s of weird stuff, mostly.”  Gilda answered with a shrug.  “Kind of like I lost my grip.”

“Weird stuff, right….”  was Diamonds word on that too, as she looked indifferent.  “Pretty sure I liked it better when things were less nutty.“

“Guess it grows on ya,”  Gilda said with a smile.  “So, you good?”

“If by less wet and less puffy, yeah.”  was Tiara’s answer back.

“Cool,”  Gilda said as she headed to the kitchen.  She could go for a snack right now anyway.

The griffon figured it would be a good idea to raid the fridge, however on the kitchen table was a nice surprise.  Finding a cake there didn’t elicit much of a response to her.  Maybe Pinkie, maybe Discord.  The “Eat me” note just next to it didn’t clear that up either.

Diamond Tiara however seemed more surprised than she was.  “Is that a cake?”  she asked as she pointed a hoof.

“Want some?”  Gilda answered with an innocent smile.  “Pretty sure it’s safe.”

“Pretty sure it’s safe?”  Diamond added with wide eyes, not quite understanding how the griffon wasn’t bothered by this.  “So that cake just…”  She blinked, still with that weirded out look.  

Regardless, she rolled her eyes and sat down as well as Gilda got to cutting them a slice.


> So much cake
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Doesn’t this bother you?”  Diamond Tiara asked as Gilda cut into the cake with the knife next to it.  “Like, at all?”

“Sometimes, sometimes a lot more,”  Gilda replied with a serious tone as she handed Tiara a slice.  “You ever get annoyed at other ponies yourself?”

“Duh, some ponies can be real bizarre with getting all whiny over stupid stuff,”  Diamond answered, moaning.  “I could run this place sooooo much better than those ponies, but they just side with those losers in the end.  It so stupid.”

“Yeah,”  Gilda added as she got her own slices.  “I’ve seen how that is at times, I mean right?”

“So you do anything about it, oh cool griffon?”  Diamond asked. She bit into her cake, and judging by the look, the cake was good.  So that’s one mystery solved for the griffon.

“Heh, most I’ve been doing was to sulk on stuff,”  Gilda sighed.  “Maybe do a few things differently.”  She bit into her slice.  “

“How’d that turn out?”  Tiara asked as she ate.

“I’ll admit, I did try a few things,”  Gilda replied with her mouth full.  “Stuff got weird, and I kinda wished I was just back to flying.  Guess it was the only thing I felt the best at.”  She swallowed.

“But you guys were rich,”  Diamond mentioned.  “Didn’t you care about that?”

“I just wanted those glory days, like my dad did.”  Gilda replied as she cut another slice.  “You know, those the griffon guard myth you were talking about last night?”

“Back when I was freaked, yeah,”  Tiara said with discomfort.  “I’m just glad I didn’t start crying…”  A pause.  “Again.  So, what about it?  What were these cool sounding glory days like?”

“It was mostly us fighting back stuff...dragons, saber tigers…”  Gilda listed.

“Again with the dragons,”  Diamond said as she rolled her eyes in disbelief again.

“Hey, when you got that much gold, dragons just come ok?”  Gilda stated with annoyance as she took another bite.  “It’s easy to hoard gold anyway, and us griffons had to stand up to em.  No magic or nothing.”

“You guys actually have proof of this?”  Diamond asked, still not convinced, but who could blame her?

“Frescos, years in history books, they even have a memorial or two to some of those battles,”  Gilda answered with some pride.  “Truth be told, griffons...did die to them.”  She rubbed her chin feeling a bit sad at that fact.  “Guess after a while, all we read about was how cool it was to fight them.”

“Even your dad?”  Tiara added.

“Yep,”  Gilda replied with a nod.  “Even him,”  she sighed.  “It looked pretty cool to me too, if that other part didn’t scare me when I thought about it.  Kinda of like those saber tigers…”  She winced on that part.

“So what’s a saber tiger?”  Diamond Tiara asked innocently.  Sadly, Gilda was more than a bit nervous answering, and the kid noticed.  “What’s wrong?”

“Well, aside from being a limber, fast, angry monster that could cut apart a big timberwolf with axes for tinder to burn…”  Gilda said tensely.  “It’s nothing but a big cat with swords.”

“Can it beat a diamond dog?”  Tiara challenged

“Those runts would run from them.”  Gilda concluded.  “The empire beat them back though, now the only thing left to do is just be rich like some loser.”

“Ahem!”  Diamond Tiara did not approve of that.

“Ok, rich loser that once was a symbol to great power,”  Gilda sighed as she explained.  “Lot’s of griffons are ok with it, and you should see the stuff they get into.  My dad blamed the ponies for softening them up.”

“Piff, seriously?”  Tiara huffed back.

“Heh, you could ask him,”  Gilda said with a chuckle.  “He’d probably just growl at you.”

“Geeze, you dad is a complete killjoy,”  Tiara said as she rolled her eyes and shook her head.

“Meh, guess we’re just sick of feeling second best to ponies,”  Gilda added.  “Way back was the only time we felt like the best.”

“Pretty sure, most ponies are totally second best to you, G,”  Tiara said with a smile.  “You ever notice that?”

“What about those grand battles I wanted to be part of?”   Gilda countered as she held her claw.  “Ponies seem to be better known for the cool stuff now, even without epic wars!  My dad can hunt a saber tiger pack like it was nothing, but what am I doing?”

“Hey, excuse me for bring up my knowledge of a dictionary…”  Diamond said firmly.  “But those old days you dad is fighting for?  Those involved defending, like protecting stuff.”  She held up a hoof.  “Like, what’s he defending now anyway?”

“Guess, no point in being awesome if no one thinks you're awesome I guess,”  Gilda cut another slice, one for her, one for the foal.  “Maybe his ego?”

“Ok…”  Diamond said as she pondered.  “Did you have ideas for you being awesome, other than that physical stuff?  Like I said, you have presage on stuff.  Can’t you do something with it?”

“Nope,”  Gilda replied as she ate, and Diamond facehoofed.

“Do you ever think?”  Diamond asked as she rubbed her hoof on her head.  “I mean, beyond after blundering into things?”  She let her hoof down.  “That’s just not cool.”

“Hard to tell,”  Gilda added as she shrugged, then she cut each of them another piece.  The cake still good.  “How bout you kiddo, what’s your dad like?  He cool?”

"He's so awesome!"  Tiara said proudly.  "My daddys got the biggest business in Ponyville, and I bet he can do profit margins in his head!"  She smiled as she spoke.  "He'd be able to outwit your dad in all sorts of stuff."

"Short of my dad beating him up..."  Gilda muttered briefly back, upsetting the kid.  "Nevermind, whatever.  So your dad is going places while my did isn't, I can see that.  So...what?"  Unlike usual, this wasn't her being sarcastic when she asked.

"Well, if you don't want to live in the past like he is..."  Diamond answered, before pointing to the cake.  "Can I get another slice?"  Gilda handed one over.  "First thing, I think you should do is try more new stuff."

“Lot’s of stuff comes to mind, sure. but it’s all been new to me,”  Gilda answered back.  “But it’s all been new to me, I don’t even know where to start.”

“Maybe you just need somepony to help you with that?”  Diamond replied with some glee.  The griffon could read that smile on her face.

“Pardon me mamousle, but that’s still off the table,”  she said, and the filly gulped at that comment.  

“I-i-i-i…”  Diamond Tiara was about as awkward as she could be on this, so Gilda closed it.

“Like you said, you were scared,”  she said to calm things.  “So, whatever, ok?”

“Right…”  Diamond responded nervously.  “How about how the other ponies you’ve been stuck with?  You do any stuff with them?”

“Fluttershy’s trying, and kind of failing on things,”  Gilda counted on her claw.  “But we talk.  Then Pinkie’s weird, but also trying and was even more creepy at times.”  She cringed at the memory from that dream she had back when.  “That rabbit was kind of fun, still kinda annoys me.”  She chuckled at a few moments in the past she recalled.  

“And let me guess, you’ve been told a bunch about how people feel?”  Diamond summarized with a chuckle.  “And how it’s all important?”

“Long and short of it, yeah,”  Gilda replied with a shrug.  “Kinda...why I did that hug…”  she added as she looked aside.

There was a quiet pause as they ate, neither side being all too sure how to follow that.

“What if I told you…”  Gilda said to break the silence after a bit.  “You remind me of myself?”  she said offhandedly, not sure how to tone it.  “For better or worse, kinda?  All confident, thinking I was better than those other stupid people, before the crummy stuff happens?”

“This from the same griffon who told me stuff is new to her?”  Diamond Tiara remarked with mock surprise.  “I’m shocked.”

“So it’s a matter of you being smarter it seems, and me being cooler,”  Gilda said with a shrug.  “It’s just that that bothers me that were alike at all.”

“Why?”  Diamond asked, with a bit of real shock.  “Why would that be bad?  I’m mean, we...”

“Hey, it’s not your fault,”  Gilda said as she tried to calm things down again.  “I’m not blaming you or nothing.”

“Then what?”  Tiara demanded.  “What about that bothers you?”

“It’s that kind of thing that caused me to lose Dash…”  Gilda’s face saddened as she said that.  “Among other things.”

“Whatever, I’d have just wrote her off,”  Diamond said with no sympathy.  “If you’re cooler, you can just find better friends.”

“I did that too, at first,”  Gilda said in a cautious tone. “Figured, her loss and all that crud.  Then I just got to doubting it, then I fought that off with anger.”  Her tone got more grim, remembering that rough patch.  “Then it wasn’t her loss, it was me thinking she didn’t want me for a friend anyway.  Like she wrote me off first.  And….”  Gilda felt a loss for words but looked to the kid.  “You seriously think, you could just drop a friend?”

“You said I was the smart one,”  said Diamond Tiara smugly as she got another piece.  “I can figure it out.”

“And if Silver Spoon dropped you in the same way?”  Gilda asked.  The filly’s eyes were wide and her teeth clenched when she said that.  With the cake in her hoof hitting the floor as she glared at the griffon in outrage and anger.  “What did some loser say?  Don’t know what you have, or something?”

“Tread carefully!”  Diamond growled with her teeth clenched.

“We ain’t bulletproof ok?”  Gilda summarized, hoping that explained it.  “And you remind me of how I was back before that.”  Gilda rubbed her cheek.  “And a bit after, and it just kinda bums me out, ya know?”

“So, you got some plan to help me with that?”  Diamond huffed back.  “If you know so much about it.”

“I couldn't save myself,”  Gilda replied with a sigh.  “Best I could do for ya was keep you from just giving up after what happened to you.”  A pause.  “More cake?”

“Yeah…”  Diamond said off hoof and got another piece.  She still looked upset.

“Still want me at that party?”  Gilda added with a half smile.  “Seeing as I’m already ticking you off.”

“Duh,”  Diamond answered, even giving a bit of a light smile herself.  “It’d suck to feel like it’s just me and the lousy farm ponies.”

“Cool, I guess,”  was Gilda’s answer.  

They ate quietly for a bit.

“You guess, really?”  Tiara eventually joked.  “Do you even got good party etiquette?”

“Eating,”  Gilda replied, doing that as she spoke too.  “I just hope they got better than pin the tail on the pony for fun.”

“You certainly aren’t going to wow people over with that charming personality of yours,”  Diamond added as she chuckled a bit.

Yep,”  Gilda said, knowing the irony.  “Well, maybe.  They got zap cider?”

“That’s…practically moonshine.”  Diamond replied as she blinked.  “Daddy told me a story about some ponies trying to make that.  He said it ate through the still’s metal tubing.”  She looked weirded out again.  “You can drink that?”

“Trick question,”  Gilda laughed. “I just hope they got something strong.”

“Try wine,”  Tiara answered with a smile.  “Then again, like they’d have it,”  she added with a shrug.

“Your dad talk about minotaur vineyards?”  Gilda asked, curious to know what other stories the filly knew.  “Seeing as you are the smart one.”

“Kinda,”  Diamond replied with a smug look.  “I doubt anypony here would think some of those big guys are sommeliers at times.  I think daddy might have done business with them from time to time.”  She paused.  “Do you seriously need to drink to enjoy a party?”

“Might keep the edge off,”  Gilda said as she got more cake.  “You drink their cider at all?  It any good?”

Diamond looked away for a moment, with a bit of an embarrassed blush.  “It’s ok,”  she replied quietly.  “Do you have anything else?”  The griffon shrugged again.  “Yeah, you really need to discover better things in life Gilda.”

“If it’s about the accessorizing and non metal music, I don’t think I want to know,”  G replied with a smirk.  “I left the soft, girly stuff with I stopped being little.”

“I think it could grow on you,”  DT said coyly.   “Maybe, after all this, you, me, and Silver could hang out.  You know, not in a weird way.  It could be cool.”

“You serious?”  Gilda asked.

“Duh,”  Tiara answered with a smirk.  “Why not?”

For a moment Gilda had to ponder.  How much of an impact did she have on this kid?

“Maybe...”  Gilda said as she got another slice of cake, only to then notice something that made her forget what she was about to ask.  “Does this cake run out?”  she now asked.

“I...how many slices have we had?”  Diamond noted that with surprise as well.

By the look of it, the cake had only lost a quarter of itself, and they had eaten more than that.  

Discord, it had to be Discord.  At least the cake was good.


> If only it was that easy
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gilda guessed Fluttershy was back home, at least from the sound of the front door opening and closing instead of someone just showing up.  

Not that her, nor Diamond Tiara, could get up to see.  They both decided to try and put a dent into the ever-cake.  It now stood triumphant above them, as they had both been eaten themselves under the table with a bad stomach ache.

Fluttershy looked surprised to see the two of them on the ground looking more than full.  “Um, how much did you eat?”  she asked from above the pair.

“Ugh,”  was Gilda’s answer, lying on her back.  A similar groan came from the filly next to her.  

Fluttershy sighed at the scene.

“Even Mr. Discord didn’t think you would eat that much,”  She said as she struggled and got Gilda back on her feet.  As she got to helping Diamond, the kid let out unpleasant sound.

“Ah crud…”  Gilda chimed in.  

“Oh my!”  Shy was quick at getting the kid to the sink.  After the sound of some thrown chunks latter, Tiara was up for speaking again.

“That was a stupid, stupid, stupid idea Gilda,”  she groaned weakly.

“Cake still tasted good,”  Gilda replied back, and she then let out a loud belch.  “It still there?”  
The foal groaned again as the she looked.  Sadly, the cake wasn’t there and the table was empty.  “Awwwww,”  she groaned.

“You suck as a mom….”  Diamond groaned at her.  Shy looked on with a bit of shock, raising an eyebrow at that comment.

“I know,”  Gilda nicely replied as she picked the kid up from the pegasus and putting her on her back.  “Need a nap?”  The kid didn’t respond verbally, but hugged Gilda’s back, which she saw as a yes.

Carrying Diamond Tiara, Gilda walked past the still kind of shocked Fluttershy that wordlessly watched as the griffon got the pink filly upstairs.  

She put the kid to bed, and did her best not to laugh when the filly let out her own unlady like belch.

Heading back down, she could see Dr. Shy reading a book.  

“What cha reading?”  Gilda asked in good spirits.

“Uh, a psychology manual?”  was Dr. Fluttershy’s nervous response.  “Just...checking a few things.”

“It’s over rated,”  Gilda added and the pegasus apparently agreed, closing the book with a look of annoyance and defeat.  She got up and trotted up to her.

“I heard from mister Discord, it sounds horrible,”  Shy said with concern.  “Are you two ok?”  She rubbed her mane looking aside.  “I mean, aside from all that cake…”

“Kinda shook up, but yeah,”  Gilda replied, looking down.  “That thing wants under everyone's skin I guess.”

“I know,”  Fluttershy sighed.

“Walrus also said you guys were doing something about it,”  Gilda added.  “Is it working?”  

Despite the griffon hoping for some matter of a sure thing, the pegasus pony looked down.  Still scratching her hoof into the floor.

“Kinda…”  Shy said as she looked back to Gilda.  “I’ve never saw Twilight working so fast on so many things.”  She looked ponderous.  “Well…recently anyway.”

“The ponies in town calm down?”  Gilda asked, but knew was going to dread the answer.  She just knew it.

“Um, no?”  Fluttershy answered.  She could see Gilda’s nervousness at that, so she trotted over before the griffon fell over with dread.  “It’s just after what’s already happened everything is last minute.”

“Can they do it without the bells and whistles, boxes or bags?”  Gilda asked, feeling a bit distant.  “Is that a option?”

“It could be,”  Fluttershy said with a hoof to her chin.  “I hope it comes to Twilight soon.”  She then guided Gilda to the living room couch where they both sat down.  

“I’m also a bit surprised,”  Shy added.  While the griffon was feeling exhausted enough to want to just sit, she continued to speak.  “I know what you told me about that dream you had, but then I saw how you reacted when Tiara spoke to you.”  

Even if the pegasus saw this as a thing to be proud of, she could see the look the griffon was giving her.  

“Uh...yeah?”  Gilda said with a raised eyebrow.  This was going to get awkward wasn’t it?  

The griffon could almost feel a reason to cringe right now.  Fluttershy seemed to realize it, and attempted to put a reassuring hoof on her.  Now it was awkward.

“I’m really glad you’ve been able to bond with somepony like that,”  Fluttershy said to the awkward griffon.  “It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”  She then fidgeted a bit as she noticed the hoof wasn’t helping.  “I’m still a bit surprised on how far it went.”  She gave Gilda a serious look, like this was some kind of test.  “Did you ever wonder why?”

Gilda sighed, but at least she knew that part.  “Kid told me it’s been nerves,”  she stated like it was obvious.  “I mean Package Deal scared the crud out of her, then I showed up.”  Then that next part, the part she liked.  “Apparently, she was one of those ponies who thinks griffons are awesome.  Then we got to talking and…”  While she felt pride in this, that enthusiasm only lasted so long as she shook her head.  

“It’s mostly kids stuff, ya know?”  Gilda said.  “Me keeping the monsters away and stuff.”

“It still mean something to her, Gilda,”  Fluttershy said, using her hoof to brush Gilda head feathers.  “And she saw you as someone who deeply cares about her.”

“Still pretty sure I make a crummy mom…”  Gilda added.

“I know,”  Shy giggled.  “But you tried, I know you’ve tried.”

“Uh...on being a mom?”  Gilda asked and missed the point.  Seeing as the pony was still giggling, it was pretty clear.  She looked aside, now uncomfortable.  “Ok.  Soooo, what?  Me being a kid then?”

“You’ve been empathizing with other ponies,”  Fluttershy said with a smile.  “It’s how you’ve changed.”

“Oh…”  Gilda replied, somewhat off.  “I didn’t expect a lot from all this stuff.  Anyway…”  She twiddled her talons.  “I got invited to that party Diamond was going to.”

“You were?”  Shy answered with a smile.  “Does Apple Bloom know?”

“Yeah, it was kind of her idea and the kid said she’d feel better if I came with,”  Gilda said as she scratched her neck nervously.  “Don’t know about how the sister she talked about feels though…”

“I’m sure it will be fine,”  Fluttershy replied softly.  “It’s Hearth’s Warming eve, isn’t it?”

“Yeah…”  Gilda said as she continued to scratch her neck.  “This season has had me bond with the last ponies I would have expected.”  She let out a sigh.  “Still no clue on Dash…”

“Time can change, you know that,”  Shy said as she rubbed the griffons shoulder briefly.  “Don’t worry.”

“Still pretty vague,”  Gilda said, but still couldn't relax on it  “For all I know, Apple-whatever is going to outright make me unwelcome too regardless, and Dash...”

“It’s dwelling on that which caused much of this, Gilda,”  Fluttershy added, shaking her head.  “Mr. Discord told me that windigo had been feeding on you because of that.”

“I know,”  Gilda replied sadly.  She sighed, putting her head on the couch.  “What if you guys can’t stop what's coming because of me?”  Shy looked a bit worried on that.  “Not doubting you guys and what you do, just...what if?”

“Have you had faith in others?”  Fluttershy asked.

“I lost the element of loyalty, remember?”  was the Gilda’s word on that.  The hopeful pegasus was at a loss for words, the mares jaw even dropped.  Gilda herself didn’t feel good that her counterpoint was the powerful.  “Guess it’s all a trick question at this point, sorry.”

“I remember someone said that friendship wasn’t easy, but it was worth fighting for.”  Fluttershy finally said after a pause.  “That means something to me.”

“It also means when it really screws up like it has with me, what do you do?”  Gilda replied feeling hopeless.  She already knew what Shy was about to add, so she added it herself.  “After I lost Dash, and all this, I got to know this new stuff.   I even got better from it, sure.  I wouldn't even be talking to most ponies if it weren’t for that.”

“So why are you afraid?”  Fluttershy asked the griffon.  “You’ve learned a lot.”

“What if it doesn’t matter in the end?”  Gilda sighed and just lay on the couch as the pegasus looked sadly at her.  

After a moment of it, she promptly helped the griffon up off of it.

“It does Gilda, it does,”  Fluttershy said firmly, and she could see the griffon was a bit teary eyed now.  “It make you a better person.“  She then nuzzled Gilda’s face.  

Despite the fact a griffons beak is quite sharp or hard, it budged softly like lips would.  Much like hooves snapping or Pinkie, this mystery of logic was lost on Gilda’s mind.  She was currently too wide eyed and shocked to notice either.  Even if the pony wanted to help the griffons mood, Gilda’s face was now beet red.

“It’s why you aren’t as bad as it keeps saying you are,”  Shy continued after pulling herself away.  “Also, did you know your brother has high hopes for you?”  she added with a smile.

“Buw wha?!”  Gilda said mostly to herself.  She couldn't believe she heard that.  What had that runt been saying?  “Oh no, not the mock turtle story!”  she yelled.

“What?”  Fluttershy said with low shock.

“Nothing!”  Gilda said as she tried to calm herself before saying anything more.  “J-just a thing.”  Despite being taken off the couch, she still felt a lack of energy.  Opting to sit back down again.  “Besides, I’m a bit too tense for any more surprises right now.”

“...Do you think a wing massage might help?”  Fluttershy innocently asked.  Gilda’s wings popped up in surprise much like her eyes did.

“Uh, no?”  Gilda answered, now more than nervous.

“Maybe a belly rub?”  was Shy’s second idea, with Gilda’s wings were still in the air from the first suggestion as she looked at Fluttershy with an look of some outrage.  “I-I mean if you're ok w-with…”  she looked down, scratching her leg.  “M-maybe to c-calm you down, because…”

Gilda sighed again.  “It’s the air in this town that makes you ponies like this, isn’t it?”  she said with a groan.

Fluttershy had a funny, if coy, smile.  “The air here isn’t that bad, Gilda, if you're ok with it.”

Gilda grumbled and mumbled for a moment.  “A wing massage is fine…”  she groaned.  She then laid on the couch as Fluttershy got on top.  ”Eeek!!”  she now yelped loudly at the first bit of pressure.

“Sorry, sorry.”  Fluttershy said as she stopped her hooves.  “How long have you been-”

“A long time,”  Gilda cut her off.  Even she had no idea how long, just that she now knew her wings hadn't been touched in some time.  “Just be gentle, alright?”  

As she lay there, somehow hearing the sound of hooves cracking, somehow, before the shy pony put her hooves back to the gryphon's wings, Gilda let her eyes wander the room.  Still, the silence was a bit much for her.  

“So, what has Edward been doing?”  Gilda asked as she felt her wings relax.

“He’s helping take care of the mayor after she was frozen yesterday,”  Shy answered, keeping a relative pace.  “I told him about how you’ve been doing, and he told me about how you used to be around him.”  She paused, looking away from her work, looking to Gilda’s face for a moment.  “He’s happy you became less….um, unfriendly.”

“He would,”  Gilda replied as she rolled her eyes.  “Who’s the mayor here anyway?”

“Mayor Mare,”  Fluttershy said as she resumed her task.

“That’s a stupid name,”  Gilda stated the obvious.  “Eeeeee!”  And another sore spot was felt.

“Sorry, sorry!”  Fluttershy yelped as she moved to a better topic.  “Anyway, are you ready for that party you're going to?”  

“Nope,”  Gilda said honestly.  “How long do I got?”

“Might still be awhile yet,”  Shy answered back.  “Applejack and Big Mac are still helping with the town.”

“Just wondering, but what’s gonna happen to me later on?”  Gilda asked the big question.  One that still loomed since her confession some time ago.

“Twilight and the others have been too busy for me to ask,”  Fluttershy replied, but she still tried to reassure.  “Don’t worry about it, they know about “The Snark”.  They won’t be too hard on you.”

“Dream on!”  said a voice out of nowhere in Gilda’s head.  Shy didn’t hear it, so the pegasus was surprised to she Gilda looking around in a panic.

“Hey, hey,”  Fluttershy used her weight to keep the griffon from getting up.  “It’s going to be fine!”  Dr. Shy mode was back, already with a hoof on the shaken griffon’s shoulder.  “We’ve been over this, you aren’t just a villain.  At least, not to me.”

“Then...what?”  Gilda added, and felt scared of what the answer was going to be.  Especially with the fact it was going to come from a soft pony working on her wings with soft hooves.

“A griffon with insecurities,”  she stated.  “Being unsure how or what your place in life it, you react with aggression to keep an illusion of control.  You’re afraid that if you aren’t, things around you will overwhelm you.  With that control being something you cling to even to the point it begins to cause problems to other people around you.”

“...Uh…”  was Gilda’s reaction to that long description.

“A doctor need to know these things,”  Dr. Fluttershy clarified.  “That was the initial part though.”

“I’m going to hate the rest, won’t I?”  Gilda groaned back.

“You won’t,”  Fluttershy answered with hope.  Finally, she took her hooves of Gilda’s wings.  “How do your wings feel now?”  The griffon tried a few wing flaps, accidentally bopping the pony in the head.

“Heh, sorry,”  Gilda said with a sheepish look.  “But aside from that hole in my left wing, everything feels loose.  Not half bad.”

“That’s good!”  Shy said, still holding her head with a smile.

As Gilda enjoyed the limber feeling in her, she made the mistake of looking out the window.  It was dark outside, with snow falling and the wind outside she could hear blowing heavily.  

She gulped, something just told her that darkness was from the clouds blocking the sky.  

“It still doctors orders to do nothing,”  Gilda asked as she looked on uneased.

“No, not nothing,”  Fluttershy corrected, trotting next to her.  “There’s a lot you can do.”

“I mean about the thing,”  and Gilda hoped Shy knew what she was talking about as she pointed to the window.  “What if I could fight that thing?”

“Oh no,”  Shy said as she shook her head.  “There is nothing you can do about it here, and you might just make it stronger.”

“What...if I got an idea?”  Gilda added.  She had one, a crazy one.

“I wouldn't advise it,”  Fluttershy replied as she shook her head.    “Please don’t do anything drastic, ok?”  She put a hoof on Gilda’s claw for a moment.  “I don’t want to lose you.”

“You think you can tell this Twilight princess about that minimalist idea?”  Gilda said and changed the subject.  “Like the spirit of the thing, or something?”

“I guess I could,”  Shy said with a nod.  “Are you sure you are ok?  You still look shaken.”

“Yeah, yeah I’m good,”  Gilda answered, hoping it was truthful sounding.  “Maybe that weird idea I had could help, that whole spirit and all that.  Go tell her.”

“Um, Gilda?”  Fluttershy asked with a funny look.  “When was the last time you mentioned the spirit of things?  That’s kind of new for you.”

“It’s been an odd week,”  Gilda replied, holding her head.  “Were pals now, right?”  She looked to Fluttershy, somewhat hopeful before giving her a hug.  “Just don’t let this guy win, alright?”

“S-sure.”  Fluttershy replied, somewhat taken aback by that sudden hug.  “I’ll be right back, so don’t worry.”  The griffon nodded and let go, and without much more ceremony the pony left again.  

Gilda was alone now, and she looked outside again.  It was getting darker and the snow was still looking heavy.  She could guess why, heck she knew why.  While she could have just sat back down, and put her hopes in the others, she only felt more ill.

“She will share Ponyville’s fate, don’t worry,”  The griffon turned to glare at the cloudy form of the Snark.  He looked like a pony still, but his body shifted ever so slightly, bending at odd angles with not solid form.  But his main remained black even as his eyes were now white.  “Oh, that wasn’t what you were worried about.  My mistake…”  His laugh was more distorted now, she guessed it was due to the fact he wasn’t trying to be subtle now.

“Her and the others are working to stop you,”  Gilda said, looking away.  “Now stop bothering me.”

“Really now?”  was all the Snark answered from behind her.  “After all that’s happened and will happen, do you really think things will work out for you?”

Gilda still found herself feeling more and more anxious.  She knew the stakes, how she was part of them.  All she was in it was a small cog that was going to end the world, and a bunch of little ponies were going to pay the price for it.  Even as she tried to figure there was reason to hope, the uncertainty still ate at her.  But what she did know, knew for certain, scared her.

She found herself pacing again.  Maybe it was “The Snark” behind her, but her ears could hear the whispers.  His kin were standing room only and filing into town one by one, and it all hinged on her again.  

She knew the price of failure, the price of defiance, and the price of success.  How was she going to save pony kind if in the end most would see her as a bad guy for her actions?

She wanted to save them, they didn’t deserve to be ruined by her.  Likely, if she fought back, the Snark would find new ways to hurt her.  

And if she won?  How was she going to live with what she had done?  Not just what was on her own mind, but the minds of the ponies were an issue she couldn't avoid.  She could hear “The Snark” silently whisper to her the anger of the town ponies, of Dash.  It wasn’t going to end well for her either way.

So she headed down to the basement.  If it wasn’t going to end well for her, she go down swinging.

“What cha doing?”  asked the Snark as she left the living room.

“Had a thought,”  Gilda said simply, not even looking back to the now cloud like pony.  As she walked down the steps “The Snark” still spoke to her.

“A dangerous pastime, did it hurt?”  The griffon didn’t answer him as she just kept going down.  She got to Dr. Shy’s desk and opened the drawer.  The pills were still there.  “You honestly think you can fight me?”  he asked, drifting in front of her.  “You?”

“Why not?”  Gilda dismissed the comment, popping the bottle open.

“Oh really, wow,”  the Snark replied with sarcasm.  “And you think some bitter griffon will stop some creature that’s powered by hatred.  I mean, really?”  He had the logic down, that’s for sure.
Gilda looked at the contents of the bottle.  Several of them were there.  If one gave a good dream, what would several at once do?  

“Die horribly?”  the Snark added, but Gilda still ignored him.  She got three, maybe four, it didn’t matter.  She carried them by wing and went back up for a glass of water.  

“You realize, there is no way back if you do that, right?”  the Snark said with no fear, nor uncertainty to its voice as the griffon filled a glass.  As she looked at her options of where to lay down she figured, again in the spirit of things, to lay herself near to the fireplace hearth.  It could help.

“You already know how I feel,”  Gilda said as she popped the pills and drank.  “You won’t win and I won’t give in.”

“We’ll make a day of it,”  the Snark said happily, patting her head.  “You, me, and the gates beyond.”

Gilda wasn’t sure how long till the effect came, especially with her gamble.  She had gambled that effects of these pills could stack, maybe make a more happy dream too.  But there was just one more thing.  She grabbed “The Snark” by his neck in a headlock and pulled him close to her.

“Oh, and what will that do?”  he asked her with some comical insight.

“I keep thinking of you as a stupid pony who can’t escape my claws,”  Gilda replied.  

“Oh, so I don’t just shift into something else!”  the Snark mock gasped.  “Clever!  Then what?  Make me cry uncle?”

“We’ll see,”  Gilda said.  

And the world melted, where Fluttershy’s living room was there was now that yawning void.  Everything broke apart faster than she had expected with everything dissolving into mist and fog in an instant.  It was then she could see the other windigos.  They looked restless, eager to tear into something.  

“Let me guess, if you were gone, they’d eat each other?”  Gilda asked.

“Oh, did you think of that on your own?”  the Snark cackled, still unafraid.  “You deserve a fish, shame I don’t have one!”  She didn’t answer his joke as she waited for her stop, keeping a grip on him.  “You are really banking on some happy dream to be my undoing, aren’t you?”

“Yep.”  was all Gilda said.

“Don’t you want to be my friend?”  the Snark asked with a mock sad voice.  “We could make beautiful music together, get a little house with a little while porch and…”  He paused and smiled wider, wide enough to split his head.  “Certainty, I can get you that and more.  But well talk on that later.”

The light came.  Now it was just her, him, and a happy dream-scape. 

> This is really going to suck
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

While Gilda’s original plan was that the Snark was going to be in her claws when she arrived, she found that he wasn’t.  That little wrinkle had her looking frantically in the crowd she was now in.  

While she wasn’t sure what Hearth’s Warming Eve looked like outside of flight camp, the mixture of a large party with carnival rides, games, and much more was likely more than the usual.  By a lot.  

Now that’s a stack effect!  She thought.

“Yo, Gilda!”  The griffon turned to see a cheerful Rainbow Dash.  “Come on, you don’t want to miss this.”  Not far from her was Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, they were waving to her.  

The other three pony squad members were ahead of her, joining in the festival.  Beyond that, a sea of ponies of all shapes and colors enjoyed themselves.  She couldn't recognize much of any of them,  names and faces were hard to remember.

“This is new,”  Gilda muttered to herself, still looking through the crowd.  With all the shapes and color on display, even she had doubts she could find a white pony with spots of red.

“Hey, hey Gilda!  Pinkie chimed in, bouncing up to her  “Why ya just standing there?”  The other two, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, had trotted to her when she wasn’t looking.  “Weren't cha looking forward to this?  There’s candy, and rides, and all kinds of neat stuff!”  her smile widened as she spoke, holding a balloon up.  “And balloon too.”

“I take it they float?”  Gilda remarked, still trying to look.

“Ohhhh yes, they float Gilda!”  Pinky replied with a low voice.  “They float.”  The low tone was either creepy or perverse.  Can it be both?

“It’s just that I’m looking for something and-”  Gilda stated and was still trying to look as Fluttershy cut her off.

“Who are you looking for Gilda?”  Shy asked.  “Can we help?”

“White pony, kinda dark mane, lots of red on his muzzle.”  Gilda described.  “Blue eyes.”

“That’s a weird clown!”  Pinkie replied at the description.

“Judging by the happy world land feel, I guess he’s nowhere near here.”  Gilda muttered as she saw her plans were floundering again.

“Why would a clown not be here?”  Pinkie asked wit her head tilted.  “Is he a sad clown G?”

“Angry clown,”  Gilda answered stoically.  “A really angry clown and I gotta go find him.”  She readied for takeoff.

“Wait, what about the festival?”  Dash asked in a pleading voice, looking her in the eye.  “Don’t you want to come with?”

The griffon stopped for a moment.  Even if she knew what was going on, it felt hard to do now.  Dash and the others really wanted her to enjoy this festival, she could feel it.  It felt painful to say no, or even good bye.

But still, she walked to Rainbow Dash and gave her a hug.  

“I’m sorry Dash,”  Gilda said softly.  “I can see this is important and all, but I got to save your life right now.”  The griffon let go of the now shocked looking pony and flew off as fast she could, not looking back.

Gilda could hear the cyan pegasus shouting after her, she reminded herself it was still a dream.  The real Dash was just as likely bitter towards her still anyway.  

Still, how would she find the Snark?

“Dawwww, you’re going to make widdle Dash cwy,”  he said, ending her search.  “I hear you were looking for me?”  

In some snowy plain, away from the merriment and warm weather, the Snark sat on a icy chair.  With a icy table and icy tea to drink.

“Party too happy for you?”  Gilda joked as she landed.

“I could ask you the same,”  the Snark counted as he drank from his cup.  “If your grand plan was for me the land in the middle of it, you are dumber than that dog you knew.”

“How bout I pummel you down, and drag you there?”  Gilda added, cracking her claws.  The Snark was unafraid, even looking glad.  “How’s that for a day of it?”

“So you won’t change your ways, huh Gilda?!”  Gilda paused at that voice, that wasn’t the Snark.  She looked to her left and found Dash was there, and she looked pretty angry.  “If you can’t lord over it, you just beat it up until you can!”  she growled.

“Hey, he’s the bad guy here!”  Gilda counted as she pointed to the cloud pony.

“Says you!”  Rainbow Dash shouted back, trotting up to the griffon.  “You're the reason he exists!  And now you think it makes everything good if you can stop him, huh?!”  Gilda wasn’t sure how to answer that.  “Well it doesn’t!  You messed with my friends, ruined Ponyville, I bet you didn’t learn a thing!  Why would you, if it didn’t “magically”  make us friends again!”  she added with hoof quotes.

Gilda tried hard not to let this get to her, this wasn’t real after all.  It was “The Snark” getting to her using Dash’s voice.  Still, this Dash was getting in her face, not even giving the her a break.

“What have you got to say for yourself, ‘bird you cannot change’?”  Dash said coldly at the griffon, prompting her to back away, faltering even further.  “I can’t believe we….”

“Dude, what!”  said another Rainbow Dash.  Dash looked about as surprised as Dash was.  

Apparently, the pegasus had followed Gilda from the celebration, and the Snark’s Dash was standing in shock for a bit as well.  But that shock ended, replaced with another smile from the creature.

“Oh, we’re in for some fun now kiddies!”  the Snark said with a gleeful laugh, clapping his hooves.

“Why are you bullying Gilda?”  Dash demanded from her reflection.  “Do you realize how much of a jerk you are being?”

“ME?”  Angry Dash shouted back at her other.  “Are you even aware of how bad this griffon is for a best friend?”  she jabbed her doppelganger chest at she stated it.  “You did yourself a favor when you got rid of her!”

“That doesn’t mean you can be just keep blaming her!”  Dream Dash defended, pushing the hoof away.  “Unlike the Gilda you are talking about, this Gilda was able to talk to my friends.”  Each of Dashes were now staring the other down, only inches away from each other.  “And if she a good friend to my friends, what Gilda griffon are you talking about?”

“If you weren't me, I’d hit you right in the muzzle!”  Angry Dash said with grit teeth.

“Don’t let that stop ya, poser!”  Dream Dash replied, raising her hooves.

The Snark was laughing now, causing both Dashes to give him an angry glare for a moment.  Gilda felt equal parts awkward and nervous.  She could try stopping this, but she wasn’t sure how.

“Heck, old G here just wants the glory of taking that creep down,”  Angry Dash said as she pointed a hoof at the griffon.  “Probably thinks that make things good, win back that trust she lost.”

“That’s not….”  Gilda was about to say.

“So what?”  Dream Dash dismissed as looked to the griffon.  “The way I see it, she doesn’t need to win it back.”  Gilda stood in shock now.  “She got over herself.”

“Say’s you!”  Angry Dash cut in.  “If she’s so over herself, why is she so scared of REALITY?”  Angry Dash’s body began to give, losing its solid nature.  “You’re just an illusion, making her feel better about herself.”  Her voice changed to the Snarks tone of voice.  “Then she can dread being awake and hearing the real you.  The one that doesn’t forgive or forget!”

Dream Dash looked with wide eyes as Angry Dash was reduced to a cloud.  She continued to stare in confusion as the cloud formed of leg that promptly kicked her away into the distance.

“Board now!”  the Snark said as the dream Dash became a speck in the sky.  “Didn’t feel like letting this slip into more “nice/jerk” banter.  I got things to do, you know!”  He shrugged as Gilda gave him an angry look as she cracked her claws again.  As she walked up to him his smile only widened.  “Even they get sick of it you-”  

His own banter was cut off as Gilda lifted him by his neck and hit him with a clenched claw.

He laughed, so she hit him again, and again.  “You really…”  Pow!  “...Think this makes…”  Socko!  “...A difference?”  The griffon paused for a moment, letting him talk.  “I mean, I could be making a cloud kicked her joke right now!”  He hit back with a gale of wind, blowing her back.  But with a few wing flaps, Gilda managed to stand her ground.

“Shut up,”  she said in a low tone, before loudly rushing into him like a bolt and slamming him up with a uppercut.  She didn’t wait for him to land before delivering a more focused punch and sending him up several feet.  “That all you got?”  Gilda shouted after.  “I’m just getting warmed up!”

“How bout this?”  the Snark declared, closer than she thought.

Somehow, she was pounced on from behind.  Her wings flapped in a panic as she tried to get that weight off of her.  After getting a grip on one arm, she threw her attacker off.  Then, she saw something that caused her pause as panic drove into her.

“Surprised?”  said the saber tiger in front of her.  It was the Snark again, hitting another button.  “Remember the real reason you didn’t take to tiger hunting?”  Gilda grit her teeth in fear.  Then the Snark screamed at her with a toothy, fanged maw.  “EH, GILDA?!”  The griffon scrambled back.  “Remember those tales about the Saber Tigers, little bird?”  

He had the form of one of the few creatures that griffons truly feared.  Even an adult griffon can vanish into a forest, only to be found the next day as tiger chow.  She backed away, trying to fight back that terrified feeling.  

“Maybe we can have that conversation now?”  the Snark said with a fanged smile.  “Or do you just want to keep fighting?  It won’t matter, but you can choose.”

“Argh!!!!”  Gilda roared as she charged at him, only for him to dodge aside and raked his claws across her side.  He’d have done more if Gilda didn’t ignore the pain and did a dodge to avoid his heavy swings of his paws.

“That’s the reason, you just keep running into things,”  the Snark said, knowing what was going on in her head.  “Then mister tiger, waiting in the brush can just get mister, or miss to be fair, griffon while his, or her again, flank is exposed.”  He looked on at Gilda as she caught her breath.  “And that’s why you need things like me.”

“We ain’t friends,”  Gilda replied as she held her cuts.  “It’s not real…”  she muttered, trying to will away her injuries.  She just had to remember they weren’t real.

“Like that’s going to help,”  the Snark added, he wasn’t shutting up so she flew at him again.  

He feinted, so she countered by blinding him with a heavy wing blow.  Now, having been swatted in his face and being knocked off balance, she lay into him.  A left, a right, another left, another uppercut.  

She struck him in the air, flew up after him, struck him higher, and then gave a powerful blow with her beak, sending him hurtling down fast.  She flew above her handiwork as it crash landed into a crater deep crater.  

What do you know?  Will is a powerful thing!  She thought.

“Oh, that smarted me, eh hehehe,”  the Snark said as he pulled himself back up, then began hopping up after, not even able to get up that high.  “No fairs,”  he whined. “You flying like that, I wish tigers could fly too…”  Then he grinned.  “...hey, they can!”  And he flew up, claws out, baring his fangs.  Gilda descended to meet him in the middle.

They traded blows, punches, and scratches in mid air.  It ended with another beak blow to the Snark’s grinning face and Gilda charging him into the ground with a crash.  The Snark seemed unfazed still, seeing as he responded by putting a claw to the griffon’s gut.  

Now that hurt, she had tears from that.  Gilda lept back, hoping it would heal too as she stared defiantly at the tiger.

“I won’t let you…”  she said, still struggling.  “...I gonna….”

“What?”  the Snark said, sounding offended.  “Feed me more?”  He pointed his paw to the sky.  Look what you’ve done!  A fine play, I’d say.”  Gilda turned her head and looked.  

Where once there was clear weather, there was now an ice storm above them.  Even with some flying chunks of ice spinning in the air like jagged stones!  

“What was your plan here little bird?”  he asked, curious.  “I figured you, of all people, remembered this isn’t a good play.’

“Keep you distracted,”  Gilda said simply as she felt the wound in her gut go away.  “Nothing major.”  The tiger blinked.  “That army you got still gonna need you, or they’ll just tune out.”

The Snark look surprised for one moment.  “Oh!”  he said, knocking at his head with his paw.  “Guess that bird brain was made for something, huh?  Let’s look at the score!”

From the sky, Gilda could see what was happening.  Images appeared in the clouds, and she could see the first waves were hitting ponyville.  They still looked like they weren't gaining ground though, Discord was holding them at bay.

“Got to say, having some old one on their side is a bit cheating, sure,”  the Snark said calmly as he pointed to the vision, even like it was a compliment.  A mocking one at least.  “But they haven’t even seen the tip yet, and there’s more when that came from.”  He looked back to Gilda.  I’m afraid you played your hand too early little bird,”  he said, waving a paw at her at her.

“I can still knock you into next week to stop this!”  Gilda said with defiance.  She pointed back to the festive grounds some distance away.  “And the parties still on, and you’re invited creep.”

“No, you can’t,”  the Snark corrected.  “Let me tell you, what you wanted to tell good old Dash.”  He had a wry smile again.  “You under bid that lawn gnome.  You knew he’d never reduce himself to what I offered him, and you just didn’t want to be miserable anymore.”

“That….”  Gilda was about to say something, but her thoughts were more “Uh oh”.

“So, why lie to ourselves?”  he continued.  “You're just letting that self misery, that uncertainty pull you into being some silly martyr.”  The Snark’s claw pointed at her.  “You already want to give up on acceptance, so scary that change is to you.  So just accept it!  You don’t want what they have.”

“I don’t want what you got either,”  was the best retort the Gilda had, pointing back.  “Even if it kills me, I’m not going to let you make me a monster.”

“You could die, yes,”  the Snark replied slowly.  “Let me show you...”  His fanged jaw opened, warping into a larger maw, pulling the storm they made together into himself.  

In the meantime, the griffon dug her claws into the ground as the pull threatened to drag her in as well.  When the force abated, she saw how bad it was going to be.

Before her now saw a writhing ball of black ice.  Ice normally wouldn't do that, nor breath either.  Waves rolled across the solid frozen surface like skin, as large icy claws and spikes emerged from it’s sides.  No, not ice, solid snow and wind!  The mist itself were now claws and if it weren’t for the ice cold cloud claw digging up the ground below, she could have scoffed about that razor wind crud.

Then the bad part came: Gilda could see forms emerging from the solid ice.  Heads, hooves, and claws appeared across it as if the dark ice was a tar pit with bodies trying to claw their way out.  The faces were frenzied, hateful and blank.  The limbs were either trying to escape or dragging others back under.  

She could hear them in her mind, growling and snarling like blind beasts as part of her looked at it like a mass of the suffering and pain.  All of them unable to escape all that anger that had trapped them as they pulled each other back down.  

The fact she recognized at least two griffon heads, claws swiping in the same fervor as the rest, ate what little hope she had.  Her dad, and her own reflection.

“I am the face of hate!”  the Snark yelled from within the ice.  “I am that which cannot, and will never be accepted.  We are those who have no place in this world, the dreaded other!  The creature we all wanted to feel better about ourselves in rejection!”

“Nuts,”  Gilda said to herself in tears.  Looking up at the monster before her, eyes wide with terror.  “Just nuts!”  she said as her legs gave out from under her.

“Worry not, little bird,”  the Snark said the low distorted tone.  “We still have time for us.”  he said it gently with a voice like scratching nails.  His normal enough cloud pony form came forth, drifting to her now collapsed body.

“It’s doesn’t make sense!”  Gilda cried out.  “Why does it…?”  she whimpered at the sight, looking away.

“Oh, but it does,”  the Snark replied as he lifted Gilda’s teary face to meet his.  “You have no idea how far this game has been, do you?”  

The griffon didn’t even mutter a word, but he went on.  

“After tasting the divine hate of that mare so long ago, I started wondering,” he said as he tapped his fang.  “Then, I just found these birds flying about, all under siege by those bad ol’ puddy tats called the saber tigers.”  He tussled her head feathers.  “All scared for their lives and all that.  You know the feeling, right?”

“That…!”  Gilda nearly spoke.

“I didn’t need to do anything to the tigers, that hated you griffons enough already, and everything else for that matter!”  the Snark continued with humor.  “Fun guys, but what if I helped the griffons with a nudge every now and then?  Feed on that conflict?  Give them hope and power in battle, but still save some of it for something bigger?”

“You’re...no!”  Gilda knew who he was now, and the Snark only made it clearer when he changed his shape again.  

It was the form of an eagle, with wings bending the storm around it and manipulating it’s rage to blow at its enemies. He was all white, from beak to legs, just like the visions found in old tomes had told.  

Emblems of that shape and color could be found on old pieces of armor.  Griffon soldiers prayed to him, that their rage would help them endure even the worst Dragons and tigers could throw at them.  That every threat to griffon kind was crushed without mercy.  

Gilda knew all of this, what with her dad was trying to bring the worship of the old god back.  Plus, the fact she found this once god of wrath to be the only cool one to believe in.  The Snark’s tale went back, way back.

“The storm eagle, yes!”  he laughed with joy.  “The reason your little empire grew as big as it did!”  Gilda trembled as The Snark gently rubbed her face.  

“It’s hard, isn’t it?”  he whispered.  “That hate for others kept you safe and strong when you had foes to fight, right?”  He rubbed a cloud claw down his face, soft and cold.  “But what do you do when the enemies aren’t at the gate anymore?  Well, you find new ones!”  he laughed.

“It doesn’t have to work that way!”  Gilda yelled back.

“But it does, don’t you see?”  the Snark answered with annoyance.  “That hate kept you secure!  And after you beat back the hoard of tigers, and dragons too, you needed something!  But…”  His eyes lit up with some sadness.  “You didn’t have it, and were lost without purpose,”  he said as he looked sorrowfully at her.  

“A whole breed of dead birds with nothing worth fighting for beyond wealth and personal pride, with petty myths of days gone by keeping you breathing,”  he said.  “Nothing to focus that hate to with no great threats left, you find what other you can...and if not that….”  He grinned at Gilda.  “You begin to hate themselves, see a pattern yet?”

“S-so what.”  Gilda weakly countered.  “I’ll never join you freak!  Now get out of my head!”

“Like I said, I will never leave, nor desert you,”  the Snark replied to her.  “I am the thing you always wanted after all!  You only knew a taste of that power, but take a look at the main course!”  

With that came a sound.  It didn’t echo, nor screech, or burn.  It didn’t even rupture Gilda’s ears or hurt her head.  It was different entirely to what she expected.  

It...felt...good, and a razor smile came back to her beak.

It was peace at last!  She didn’t need to fear anyone anymore, the others had to fear her now.

> The sweet song of the bird of Malal
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

She stood alone in the crowd, no one was dead yet. Everypony was just kind of there, but not really there.  

Gilda walked among them and they looked back.  She was unwelcome as usual, no kindness, none to care, just a disgusting freak to them.  Then she showed them what they were mistaken.  

Not that she was no monster, as that would never be proven to them after all.  Not with who they were to her. But that she was a monster they had grossly underestimated.

That’s when the screaming began.  

Her icy claws gutted the nearest pony to her, then came the panic and fighting.  She called a storm down upon the lot of them, and the ponies in the air were blown about.  Some impacting city walls with a wet crunch.  

There was going to be no mercy for them.  After all, they were really just a bunch of high minded, stupid, overblown animals.  No one is really there, not really alive.  

That was the truth she had found in the gates of delirium.  Equestria had never seen a beast like her before, one that had understood so much now.  From nightmares, to Discord, to the happy gods, Gilda was something new.  

While those pitiful ones would seek a world of their own, she did not.  She was content to ruin theirs, as Gilda had no such weak desires.  

A sweet song in her ear and a calm heart was now hers forever, her smile was genuine.  It was all for her to ruin now.

Her simplicity was in the hurting of both sides.  Empires of order and chaos fell at her claws and so did their armies.  If they fought for a side, they died for that side.  It didn’t matter for her anymore, such discrimination annoyed her.  

All that mattered was that they suffer to desperation, unable to ever unify for any common goal forever.  As she exposed their frailty and tore them to bits.  That was second nature to her now, and first as well too.

She fed from the run off of their miseries.  As order crumbled, and chaos turned onto itself, that sweet hate flowed like a tasty river.  Its nectar flowed in her veins, telling her who the next target was.  

Hate, rage, anger--lesser mortals build stupid beliefs on that crud, but she knew better than them now.  That certainly gave her purpose, and losers something to fail at.

As the world she walked on crumbled, but was never permitted to die, she became stronger.  

The three tribes were separated again to fight for what was left; and that constant, violent, war was a plus she enjoyed eternally.  The sight would have had someone like Rainbow Dash flee in terror like a little chicken.  But to her, it gave peace to her heart.  Nothing was--

Gilda blinked, her jaw snapping as a moaning howl came from her mouth.  She felt given pause, and she didn’t like it.  Her calm heart was now shaken as she tried to pull herself forward.

Dash?  That name stung a bit in her mind.  It played with the song, but ruined the tune for but a moment.  She did stumble a bit, as some opportunistic earth ponies charged at her moment of weakness.  She cleaved them into the air to reward their efforts, as the losers had it coming.

That void had told her of these unending conflicts.  She would let the others justify actions weakly, like the morons they were.  That they had thought they were better than her was foolish.  

It was always hate, about it, using it, forging it, declaring it.  Justice, revenge, honor, even friendships were just in defense of the dislike of certain things and people.  Just giving a silly positive light to it.  It made her sick how they had tricked her with otherwise.  Just for their own laugh.

They wonder why she got upset?  They were flip flops, too stupid to even know they were.  They lied, not just to her but to themselves.  Anything they could do to keep what they believed truth was used without mercy to the outsiders.  Enforcing it, shoving down her throat and demonizing her.  All because she was something they couldn't swallow.

Her day had come, just like “The Snark” promised.  What the ponies thought they knew was proven wrong, and they couldn't take it.  As they splintered and ran, she went after them like they did to her all that time ago.

She had thought this again and again, as she dug her claws into the next batch of foes.  Her pain, her anger, every bitter moment played in her as she tore the ponies around her.  Her gaze as she tore them limb from limb were enough to chill the blood of the live ones.  The weaker ponies fell first and died alone in frost  

She was their monster, playing it role the way they wanted.  Only better!  Cooler!  Colder than they ever wanted.

Fear didn’t exist to her now, nothing got her off her game.  The cries and screams weren’t part of the song, and were mute in her mind.  The results, the death from her actions were mute as well.  Nothing of value was ever lost to her.  No one is really there after all, just things to cut down.  She knew, in her mind, that the ponies she fought would do the same.  She knew it.

The earth ponies were finished, running for their lives as the storm continued to raze their homes.  Her scathing laugh followed them like a cold gale.  The anger they felt, the desire to stop her, and that blame to the other ponies for failing in unity glowed out from their bodies.  She could feel it as the ran and filled her, delighted her.  She stood alone in the frozen wastes and...

Alone?  Isolated?  Another sour note that hurt her head.  Her standing alone seemed nice enough at first, then it just got worse.  Her bitterness was starting to fall to sadness.  Gilda now just stared at the red snow and torn parts as her delight felt interrupted, jolting in her guts.  She was feeling sick.

It was all a lie, right?  She shivered as the violent blur she had been seeing slowed, revealing the frozen wastes of horrors she walked across.  Near lifeless, with what lives isolated and in pain.  Angry and foraging for what they could form what was left from the ruin she had made.

She grit her teeth, letting her rage return, and for the song to return her enjoyment.  Soon, the gore and pain no longer bothered her.  She slammed her claws together, and walked through the ruin she had made.

Gilda enjoyed her walks among the ruins.  That beauty of destroyed plans was pretty to her mind.  The better cities loathed her, and she them.  They still indulged in that memory of past happiness, nostalgic of the unity that had wrecked her life.  

Their happiness, their plenty, their hope, she would take it all away.  She would burn their children's laughter all to hell, and show them who was right in the end.  The gloom age was one of suffering for the wanted creatures, like those miserable ponies.  

As the unwanted, the wolves among lambs like her, it was the best life to have.  No more lies about good hopes.

As Gilda walked farther into that city of hope she just wanted to carve more of it out.  That happiness they wanted stung her eyes and throat.  Some unicorns fought with powerful magics as she blew them to icy bits.  Frozen ponies shattered just like their hopes.  Harmony and friends were a bad joke.  And soon--

Friends?  That was another dropped note in the song, and it hurt again.  She gripped that pain, held onto it, beat at it again and again as the ice was screaming around her.  

Gilda tried to find it out.  Why?  Why did her memories hurt her now?  The more she struggled, the louder the ice got.  The ice hurt, it hurt a lot.  

Gilda’s body now shuddered as it felt like her ribs were being cooked from inside her body.  Her heart now writhed in her chest, struggling to beat faster and faster.

The ponies could hear that screaming too, panicking from how abrupt the sound was.  Some ran, others held their ears, and a few just fainted.  

Gilda now walked among the pain and screams that had been mute for so long in her mind.  Her legs stumbling as she held her head.  That panic took to her too as she ducked for cover to catch her breath.  

Only now had she realized how bad it had gotten.  All the bodies become sobering visions, and the hate--all of that hate and ruin was clear to her.  Her shivering stopped as her body felt froze up again.

The heck is all this?  Gilda thought to herself with what clarity she had.  This is a nightmare!

She tried to control her breathing as she could hear the suffering from all around her.  The world was covered with snow and ice, and the blowing snow only now just stopped as she calmed herself.  But every whisper of anger she heard excited her body again and again, threatening to pull her away to that horrific bliss.

Now, Gilda was afraid of what it was.  Of what it was driving her to do.

On that thought, she looked to see the ponies she was facing.  They were still running for their lives, calling for reinforcements.  Good news, she guessed, but not for long.  The former griffon clutched herself, feeling her body waver again, but feel numb.  

What manner of unspeakable horror was crawling in her flesh that gave her such chills?  She could feel her body drift in and out of touch, even noting the lack of crunch in the snow she walked.  She was cold, but her body struggled to shiver.  

The moment she could feel it, her skin felt like it was made of water.  Rippling with every thought, and vibrating in pleasure when another drop of hate came to her.

“This is power,”  said the Snark voice, causing Gilda to yelp.  “You stand above the weak, as all have done before.  Only now, you have no low desire as they did.”  She looked around, but couldn’t see him.  “This is the secret of the gate of delirium!  No one is ever really there, just delusions, all of it.  All that’s left is to destroy it!”

“I gotta...keep...going…”  Gilda said as she got up on shaking legs.  “Has to be a way outta this...”  She caught her breath and readied herself to run past the madness she was part off.  

She ran under a ruined sky, past the bodies being picked clean by some opportunistic beasts.  

The monsters, she didn’t recognize, but the moment she was seen by them the the beasts ran without a fight.  She would have taken pride from that, but that fact told her she had became a bigger monster.

It couldn't be real, her memories told her that.  But, even if Gilda told herself it was a nightmare, how was she to escape it?

“None can escape it, G,”  the Snark said as she ran from the carnage.  “It’s always with them, even with those goodie goodies,”  he continued in her mind while she flew off.  “And in those wars, lesser things die.  Alone, unwanted, forsaken.  They do not care for them anyway, and that is a truth even they will deny.  It's always a war to them, good and evil and what not.  And even when it's not...that’s the other we know and hate so well.”

“Shut up!”  Gilda cried out as she stopped in the sky.  Looking down, she could see the ponies below shaking their hooves at her, some even throwing things.    “This isn’t how it should be!”

“Then why are you here, Gilda?”  the Snark commented.  “After all, you’re the bad guy here.”

She wanted to flee back to anger.  She always knew it was better to hide her sweat than for someone to see it.  As she tried her best to not listen to that song, calling her back to it's calm, she knew that wasn’t an option.  

That violent calm.  It was like the happiest thing she felt, her blood dancing despite the rest of her trying to shut her mind to it.  The clarity that didn't give empty oaths, that gave and would keep giving to her.  

She started to cry, it wouldn't stop.  It never stopped.

Gilda put as much distance between her and that crowd as she could.  Thankfully, some pegasi were more intent on stopping the looting of the city in the chaos.  She wasn’t going to be chased.  But still, some screams followed in her mind.  

After clearing some distance from the ruins she went to ground, ducking behind a tree.  

The screams, the hate, part of her just wanted to dig into it.  To consume more of it, to drink deep of it, she wanted it all.

It wanted her back as much as she wanted it back.  That power danced across her skin, urging her to feel better, to embrace it again.  She wouldn't have to feel lonely then.  

Her long suffering kept her away from others, and now it was her closest friend.  It hugged her chest, playing cool fingers across her neck.  It only wanted her to be happy.

Only Gilda didn’t want that joy anymore.  Even if she wanted to reach out to it with nearly every fiber of her being.

She dug her claws into her face.  It would heal, it had to.  That pain kept her from that calm song, but it kept her shaken as well, and her face moist with tears.  She could now see her claws, withered and desiccated, near boney.  

For what she could tell from that glance at her body, she wouldn't have the guts to look at the rest of herself.  She didn’t want to know what her horrific form looked like. 

The world she walked was on wasn't nice to look at still.  She could see it all in her head, that hopelessness it now had.  Everyone fought, each saying they were right to do so!  No one cared for what the other believed either.  Only that the other had to be wrong because they wasn’t them.

It was that calm, direct method.  She had prized it just like her dad did.  Then a bunch of ponies came along and said how wrong it was, then just decided it was good to do anyway for themselves.  Only they had some high ground to lord from now.

Gilda shivered when she realized it was winning again in her mind.   She hated it, she wanted it.

The cold in her guts felt filling again.  She grit her teeth and clenched her talons as a sublime pain dug about in her.  Caressing her features from within and without as she shivered with delight, she looked back at her own claws.  They were malformed, but sharp and strong despite looking dessicated.  Memory told her how a pony could be torn in two with those.  She had power, despite her warped form.  It was her destiny now.

She was dammed, that was the end of it.  All that was left was to be the icy ruin, dragging all ponies to her misery.

She dug around in her head for anything she could think of to keep herself together that wasn’t the song.  

“Someone?”  Gilda said to herself.  “Got to...make it stop…”  

She got up from hiding, walking along the snowy plain.  Even as the wintry winds whipped at her form, she felt nothing.  She wasn’t cold, like this was normal for her and the wind just went through her.

Hope fell more and more out of her.  The whispers that came from afar never left her mind.  The ponies were alive, maybe even healthy if they were lucky.  It was just she never could stand to go near them.  Angry or distant, far away.

She didn't see reason to have faith in them, they were there, then they weren't.  That experience with Dash gave her that lesson ages ago.  The song already asked her why, why she believed in what ponies kept saying even when they just abandon her.  

And the answer wasn't good.  She couldn't argue it, it just was the same thing...again...and again.

Gilda simply let herself fall over then, and her likely warped form fell into the snow.  What kindness she could fathom then was that she was unable to know what she now looked like after the Snark was done with her.  

She lay there as the snow began to cover her, as Gilda’s thoughts went to it suffocating her.  Her wings seemed to instinctively flail about, trying to save the rest of the body from being buried, even if she didn’t want it now.

She felt content to die there, like so many times before then when she got like this. She’d be gone at last.  Her mind felt melted and sparked as she trembled.  It sucks to die like this, she knew from experience.  Package Deal was a distant, but fresh memory.

“Just accept it, little bird,”  said the Snark softly into her mind, almost cooing to her.  “It doesn’t get better than this for you after all.”  A cold shiver went through her limbs as hope to escape faded.  “Be certain, be mad, you can barely move without it G.  The weight of it will just keep crushing...”  The snow piled higher.  “And crushing.”  Her beak was now submerged.  “...until you lose it again.  And then who will save you?”

The coldness dug into Gilda, denying her any freedom.  She couldn't move anymore, the snow had her well buried.  

“No pony is going to remove that burden, so why keep fighting it?”  she could hear and Gilda said nothing to counter it, the energy wasn’t there.  She knew that feeling of hopelessness, like it never left her in all the time she’d been in Ponyville.  No one was there when she needed them.

“Maybe, you scared to be alone?”  Gilda thought she heard.  It was the last voice she would have expected.  

Her eagle eyes shot open and she forced the snow off of herself, excited to hear any voice that wasn’t hers or “The Snark”.  Despite her sudden eagerness to see something, nothing was there.  Anyone alive to speak off anyway.

“Hey!”  Gilda cried out.  “Where...where are you?”  She didn’t get an answer, but she did notice the sound of someone crying though.  She walked cautiously to it, worried she was might be losing it again.  

“What if someone really wants to be your friend?”  said another voice, causing the griffons to turn her head again trying to find the where it came from.  

Gilda found herself shivering now, the cold felt painful in her skin.  It was like thousands of tiny needles were in her body, running through her blood.  Maybe it was how alien things had gotten, but she forgot she could feel that.  Somehow, it reminded her she was alive.  Even if it hurt a lot, somehow, hope seemed to come back.

“Look,”  Gilda said, trembling.  “it’s already a mad house here already, so…”  Her body only shuddered harder.  “Who are you?”  She felt weak, but still wandered to the sound.  Her body felt cold, with an odd burning coming to it now.  That sensation made her gag for a moment.

“I still believe in you,”  Gilda could tell that was Fluttershy’s voice she heard.

“How’d you get her?”  Gilda yelled after.  “Get me outta here!”  No answer came, Fluttershy was clearly not there and she was feeling more of a mess as it went on.  

Still, she could swear something was there.  Either from insanity, or worse hope.

Gilda felt like she was treading on thin ice, nearly about to fall again. But that’s when she noticed where the sounds came from.  

That kid was there, the last thing she'd have thought of in who knows how long.  Suffering tended to do a lot to ruin how to tell time, like it always did.   The kid was alive, but still a mess amid the wreckage of things.  How long had she been wandering in this mess?  

She cried alone, just like Gilda never wanted to ever admit she could ever feel like.  Neither of them wanted too.  It made them sick, it made them similar, it made Gilda give the the kid a hug.

Gilda lifted up the crying Diamond Tiara, feeling pretty good for what felt like ages.  Her fear was forgotten, maybe her pain was shared, all that stupid stuff the griffon would have laughed at if someone told her of such before now.   

All tears and grins. Their breathing slowed and her head felt clear again.  But it wasn't the songs doing, that lousy song was mute now.

“You had to have the last word on it, didn’t you Sunshine?”  she said to herself as she hugged the foal tightly, with the kid nuzzling back.  “It sucks,”  she uttered, finding herself crying as well.  “It really does suck to be alone.  All that power, that wasn't happiness.  With nothing, or nobody you can even believe in...”  she trailed off, just content to hold her stupid, weak, flightless, and good friend.

“Thanks you,”  Tiara said softly as she hugged back.  “Thanks for being there for me, Gilda.”

Even after her angry misery, even after witnessing the terrors from beyond the vale and knowing their power, Gilda knew the truth.  

They were all dead, first from mortality, then from memory and forgotten.  

She once had wanted greatness just like her father for much of her life.  Fiercely defending what little glory she thought she had in the thought it would make her immortal.  Then she lost it all in something stupid and just gave up.  But that didn’t matter anymore.

What mattered was what she now had.  Things that the creatures saw as a weakness or playful hobby in the beyond.

Mercy, compassion, kindness had no real value and that was that--at least it was.  From Gilda’s recent experiences, to her desire to help someone just as miserable as she was, she now knew how precious that lack of value was.  Even in that cold abyss of isolated savagery, Fluttershy’s odd kindness now had a place in her heart forever.  And forever was a long time.  

Even in that hopelessness that kindness gave her hope, that her suffering had mattered.  And furthermore, she now cared about the suffering of others by knowing they cared for her's too.

It would keep her sane, having value in things weaker than she was.  

There is nothing mightier than the meek!  Gilda pondered for a moment, as she cuddled with the sad bully.  Tiara cuddled back, not so haughty for the moment.  Even if it was an odd dream.

Though the beast had power, both ruthless and unimagined, it’s power came from it’s isolation.  

Ever hungry, it’s misery and it’s victims were needed to keep it sustained.  An eternity of hunting and horror, immortal on infamy, and not one real friend.  In the visions of it's true horrific power she saw only it's own hopelessness.  Immortal and unable to find happiness in anything beyond it's cruel, uncompromising domain.

To Gilda’s humor, she felt she might now know what a real flip flop was.

That song was a lie, giving her false confidence and keeping her in this cycle of unending pain.  That song was stupid, just like that wish for it’s power.  

She could even see her claws now.  Her talons were no longer bony and malformed, but healthy looking again.  Whatever walking death she might have been was just an unhappy memory.  To herself and Diamond she was not a monster of hate, nor vice versa.

“Thanks for saving me,”  Diamond Tiara said, taking Gilda out of her monologue.  “I was so scared!”

"Guess I do what I can,"  Gilda answered softer than she ever thought she was able too.  
"Someone has to give a damn about us losers, right?."  Even the kid had to chuckle at that.  That line was corny as crud.  Then again, so was her realization a moment ago.

"Let's just get out of here then,"  Tiara said, chuckling.  "This place is totally depressing!"

“No prob,”  Gilda replied as she clutched the foal in her claws.  “Even I know it bites.”

The griffon had the strength to pull herself out of now.  She took off and flew away, charging at that bleak sky line.  With a roar she smashed through it, letting the bad air out.  Shards of the horrid thing fell below as the weather changed back, warming back up again. 

The Snark had nothing now, just letting out a scream of pain as she broke through.  He was just some powerful monster that confused itself for a god after all.  Things only felt warmer past that.

“No, no, no!”  yelled the Snark from somewhere far away in echo.  “Wrong!  Wrong!  I send you to be the wolf among lambs, and you go having compassion for those lambs?  Really?!”  he said in angry disbelief.  “The same lambs that would just as likely take this offer?  Just to tear that chicken meat from you agonized wings?”

“Says you,”  Gilda counted as she kept flying.

“You were meant to understand that peace of mind, know the score, learn how little empathy even matters to these ponies for those they don’t like,”  the Snark yelled back.  “All that they offer  is arbitrary, poorly written, not even real to you.”  He sounded more and more frustrated as she kept focused on her escape.

“I don’t believe in you anymore,”  Gilda answered to him.  “You not real!”

“Well, if that’s how it is little bird…”  the Snark said more calmly, now more chilling  “If you are going to identify with your victims, it’s only fair that you join them.  I’ll empty you head out like that dog I met and wear your skin like a suit.”

Gilda eyes opened and got out of the way of the creatures first real attack.

> Becoming something your not
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gilda was back on the field, facing the Snark.  It felt good for her to see that she left a mark on him for once, even if he still has that super form...thing going for him still.  Considering he was still screaming at her, her distraction was working better than she hoped.  

And aside from needing to dodge large, sharp claws made of cold mist she was doing great.  Then again, this was still looking like her last stand.

“Come on little birdy!”  the Snark shrieked in an echoing voice.  “Let’s have a look at that brain!”  Gilda dodged again as he took another swing.  “I’ll have you, then I can get to my feast.”

The griffon still needed a new plan, what with him playing for keeps now.  While she understood why her use of Diamond Tiara to escape his will hurt him, being able to care about others, she had no idea how to use that as a weapon.  

How did Dash and pals do this kind of thing?  She thought.

“Sad you aren’t a magic pony right now?”  stated the Snark with glee.  “But hey, no griffons are!”

For better or worse judgment, Gilda flew away as fast she could.  There was no way to fight him, and she could evade him at the fairgrounds easily at least.  Even as he gloated after her, she knew that monster would keep his distance from that much niceness.  The fair was too cheerful for it to stand, with a level of brightness that felt all consuming.

But the, the Snark knew she’d be back.  Ponyville was still in danger, so Gilda needed a way to stop this.  She just needed a plan, ponies, or both.  All hopefully in one place.

She could see that happy place, and just seeing it felt and looked pretty to her.  After landing quickly, Gilda looked for any familiar faces, doing her best not to fall into the festive mood.

She found Fluttershy first near what may well be a food court of the place.  If it weren't for the crisis, she might have seen if they had corn dogs-- then again, cornbread sucks.

“Gilda, you back!”  Shy said with surprise when the she saw her.  “We were worried you were going to miss out on the celebration.”

“Just left for a while,”  Gilda said, doing her best not to hint anything was wrong.  “How are things here?  Still good?”

“It’s really nice here!”  Fluttershy started with a happy smile.  

It was then the griffon noticed the pony had cotton candy, sweet lemon flavored.  

“Want some?”  Fluttershy asked.  Gilda couldn't say no.  After it was hoofed over, the griffon scarfed it in an instant.  “Wow, I thought only Angel could eat that fast!”  Shy giggled at the sight.

“You seen the others?”  Gilda asked the pegasus, feeling better already.  “I need to talk to them.”

“Bout’ what?”  Rainbow Dash said, now next to the griffon.  That caused Gilda to jump.  

Much to Gilda’s surprise, the she was unharmed despite being cloud kicked.

“Oh geeze, you ok?”  Gilda said, as she look at the pegasus, checking for injuries.  “After that cloud thing?”

“What cloud thing?”  Dash asked, she looked worried about the griffon’s concerned look.  “You feeling alright, G?”  

Gilda faceclawed, she forgot she was still dreaming again.  She shook her head and grumbled.

“Chill out, G.”  Dash said with a playful head rub to the shaken griffon.  “Stay awhile, it can help!”

“Yeah...”  Gilda had to agree somewhat.  “Say, do you remember how you beat back that nightmare...thing?”  Rainbow Dash seemed to chuckle a bit.  “Yeah, I’m bad with names…”  
she said as she rubbed her neck.

“It was Nightmare Moon, Gilda, and that was totally an awesome moment!”  Dash said with pride.  “Me and my friends used the element of harmony to stop her.”  She smile at the griffon’s curiosity about the story.  “Ya, wanna hear the whole story of it?”

“Uh, you got them on hoof?”  Gilda asked with a cud eating grin, and the pegasus looked pretty muddled at that question.  “You know?  Just in case?”

“No, why?”  Dash replied to the griffon’s question.  Then Gilda’s nervous smile betrayed the fact she was about to panic.  Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy seemed to notice and looked pretty concerned.

“Gilda, are you sure you are ok?”  Shy asked as she guided Gilda to a nearby bench.  “You look really worn out.”

“It’s nothing,”  Gilda lied.  “Just under the weather, ya know?.”  

Oh man, that could make a good joke about the situation.  Well, if she could laugh at it anyway.

“On the cool day like this?”  Dash said with disbelief.  “I think stuffs getting to ya, G.”  she said with another jab. “Wanna play darts?  They got a stall just over there.”  

Sure as the pegasus said, there was a dart game.  Points for prizes, all that stuff.  If she let it, Gilda could enjoy that festive mood of all this.  Then more than likely eat enough to make herself sick.

Still, she was dreaming, and elsewhere things were in danger and she still needed a plan.  You know, for the storm was coming.  

Even if she wanted to forget it, she needed to do something.

“Maybe later Dash,”  Gilda answered, and Dash looked a bit hurt.  “Just, how did that story work out?  That one with Nightmare Moon, I mean?”  The pegasus seemed to lighten up on that question.  “How’d those elements work, like some kind of good magic...thing?”  And Dash found that question kind of funny.  

Still, she looked excited to tell the story as she sat next to the griffon.

“It’s just six elements.”  Dash answered Gilda.  “Laughter, and loyalty.  Honesty, and Generosity.  Kindness and Magic.”  She smiled.  “Simple enough, G?  Got it?”

“Concentrated good huh?”  Gilda summarized.  “So how'd ya get them to work?”

“By working?”  Dash answered with a bit of uncertainty and a sheepish smile.  “Twilight would know more, but it was awesome when it did though.  You should have seen it!”

“Maybe I’ll see it some time,”  Gilda replied, when she suddenly had an idea.  A wonderful, strange, and unlikely to work idea.  But it was the best she had.    “Thanks Dash, that will help me a lot!”  she said with joy.

“Um, for what?”  Dash looked caught off guard by the griffon’s words.  “I mean, there was more to the story than that and…”  She was stopped when Gilda gave her a hug.

But she was unaware why, but Gilda understood.

The plan worked well enough as she planed it too, seeing as that feeling of mirth came into her.  Like the griffon had absorbed some kind of warmth like energy into her body.  

Still, the rainbow pony seemed more than a bit in shock.  

“Uh, Gilda?”  Dash uttered, wide eyed with her wings up.   “What was…?”

“Um, I got more cotton candy so-”  Fluttershy began, quite wide eyed to the scene she now saw, but was interrupted when Gilda gave her a hug as well.  “Uh….”  was the most she could say as she passed out in the griffon’s arms.

Gilda hoped that when the flutter pony fainted it was from surprise, not just swooning.  

Still, she needed her plan to work, as things were going to get weird quick.  That warmth was already making her feel odd.

“I’m going to fly around the park to clear my head, Dash.”  Gilda said as the pegasus was trying to get Shy back on her hooves.  “I’ll be right back, kay? We’ll can play darts then.”  

“I’ll hold you to it!”  Dash said with a wave, and Gilda was off.  

She flew around the park, looking for the others.  Twilight was easy enough, so was Applejack.  As for Pinkie….

“Combination powers hug, go!”  said the Pinkie as she caught the griffon off guard for once, glomping her before she knew she was there.  

If it weren’t for what was flowing into the griffon, she might have snapped at that pony for that.

“Do you…?”  Gilda was about to ask, but it seemed Pinkie did.

“Follow me!”  Pinkie Pie preemptively answered, and they went behind a tree to elsewhere.  Gilda didn’t mind, she only needed to be lead to Rarity.

After Rarity was left looking confused that Gilda had popped out of a flower arrangement for a quick hug, the griffon stopped to take stock.

“Ok, that’s all of them,”  she said to herself, a bit more giddy than expected.  “And I’ll admit, I feel pretty good right now.  But is it enough?”

“Maybe you’ll feel even more good if you hugged more ponies?” Pinkie added, now next to her again.  “Like, more ounces, or gallons, or…”

“How’s Hearth's Warming doing in Ponyville?”  Gilda asked, with no clear context.  “They still breathing?”

“Discord’s still keeping the storm clouds back,”  Pinkie answered with that same lack of context to this world.  “Thanks for that idea you gave Fluttershy!  I was afraid we’d see Twilight break down again!”

“Cool, thanks!”  With that, Gilda was off again.  

After that, she was the hug bunny.  Hugging close ponies she never met before and enjoying it.  

Some were weirded out, while others were in the spirit of the thing and didn’t mind.  Some waving good bye with a happy, if nervous, laugh.  After a few she was feeling warmer, and after several more warmer still.  

She felt drunk with delight, inebriated with mirth, and they joy made her dizzy.  For once, in a good way.  If she wasn’t careful, she might stop to giggle with happiness like she never thought she could again.

Even so, she made a point to find Diamond Tiara again, and she was with Silver Spoon as always.  She hugged them both, even if they didn’t know why in this dream world.

“Ok…”  Gilda told herself in a funny voice.  “...that will do.  Time to save the world!”  

She flew back, moving as fast as she could back to the eye of the storm.  The Snark was still there, gloating, like he always does.

“So, what are you going to do about it?”  he asked the same question she had herself.  “Going around, getting that positive energy?  Now how do you use it?”  He smiled under that writhing ice mass of horror.  “Lasers?  Breathing rainbows like dragon fire?”

“I got something,”  Gilda answered back, still feeling goofy.  “Last thing you’d expect, so even you wouldn't see it coming.”  Her smile was as silly as the idea she had.  It was messy, but it would let every bit of it out.

“Oh, use yourself as a goodie bomb?”  the Snark comically guessed.

“Nope.”  Gilda replied as she controlled her breathing.

“Oh, tell me, tell me,”  the Snark replied like an impatient child.  “I need a good laugh from more of your mistakes.”

“Something my mom showed me, when you weren't around…”  she answered him with a hint.  
“Something you’d probably laugh at anyway, but it’s still a surprise.”  She took a breath as she tensed her toes and claws.  “Dragon stance,”  she muttered.

“You mom breathed fire?”  the Snark mocked and missed the point.

Her mom told her how to do this, and the good news was she remembered it.  Even if it only helped with her drinking once.  She let out a “urk” sound as her face quickly bloated.  

Here it comes.  She thought

“Eh?”  the Snark’s eyes, or what counted as them, looked on in surprise.  His smile more nervous as the griffon let out a sound and unleashed what was inside her guts.

It flowed forth from her beak as she threw up a rainbow.  Bright, and made of many colors, the mess of fluid was regurgitated onto the icy shell.  It burned hot enough to cause steam to rise as the cold ice melted.  The cloud claws were overwhelmed, evaporating away to nothing.  The loud crack that followed was proof enough it was working.  

Even the violent mass on the surface of the ice was in shock, stopping it’s wrath in brief awe before melting off, their fluid forms evaporating into the air.  As the shell became liquid, Gilda could see “The Snark” covered in the black stuff as it melted away.

“Stop!”  he cried out in agony.  “Stop, it burns!  Ow ow ow ow ow!”  But she kept regurgitating until she felt emptied.  The oily black fluid evaporated like the suffering forms in it did, and when the last of it vanished the Snark just stood there.  For once at a loss for words.

Gilda was about the breath a sigh of relief, maybe even about make a joke on what had happened, if it weren't for that tiger flying into her.  

The two of them tumbled down to the ground with the Snark on top of her.

“You stupid, stupid, stupid bird!”  the Snark yelled with more anger than he’d shown for the entire time she knew him, glaring with black eyes from his saber tiger form.  “You miserable spawn of a big chicken and a fat cat, do you realize what you’ve done?!”  he screamed into her face.

“Cheesed you off?”  Gilda said breathlessly.  He jabbed a claw into her for that, and she retorted by spitting a bit of rainbow she had still in her mouth.  “How’s the army?”  She said as winced from the pain.

“They’re….fine!”  the Snark said tensely.  “Let’s take a look!”  He was back to his whimsy as the looked above, then his smile melted off with what he saw.  

Gilda had done more than enough and he now knew it.  The cloud tiger form he had shook and danced like a wind blew past him.

He’d lost much of his power due to that rainbow burst and his control of the others was now lost.  Without his leadership, and with the situation on the ground changing, the windigos in the beyond were now uninterested in the plan he had made.  Either then turning on one another, or seeking easier folly in other towns.  The lack of believing in his purpose left them divided as they had always had been.  

The Snark would never be able to destroy Ponyville now.

He looked back at Gilda, his sharp teeth grinding with anger on his tiger features.  “This isn’t over!”  he yelled in defiance.  “My kin have no beginning, and we have no end.  I can just bide my time again.”  He dug his transparent claw into Gilda’s chest, wrapping it around her heart.  “I just need a better host, one that works out better.  Ya know?”  he added with a attempted sadistic grin.

Gilda could feel her heart stop, and hurt, a lot.  Then again, she didn’t expect to survive this.

“I can wait, I mean, what’s a century of two?”  the Snark said, his features calm again as he watched the griffon cry out in pain.  “Someone will seek me again, understand my power.  And my black heart can burn so cold forever.”  

Gilda’s answer, however, was grabbing hold of his arm.

“How bout, no?”  she answered between breaths.

“You are a dead bird and I’m still quite alive”  the Snark replied with a fanged smile. “You’ve got nothing left to harm me with.”

The griffon tried to ignore the pain, push it away as she tried to focus.  It didn’t take much to pull her mind back to the carnival, the hard part was getting there.  Or maybe it wasn’t?  

She closed her eyes and kept a firm grip on “The Snarks” arm as she kept her mind to that task, if she could get back there, this monster was going to be toast.

“What?!”  the Snark said in shock.  “HOW?!”

Gilda was there, she could hear it around her  She opened her eyes to see the ponies were still in merriment.  Though, a few were now surprise to see a saber tiger and a griffon in mortal combat.  Even while they were in shock, the rest were still celebrating, and the windigo could feel it.  

The griffon could swear she could smell him cooking now.

“Let go!”  the Snark said in agony, with panic coming over him.  “LET GO!!!”  He looked more and more harried as he frantically pulled, too weak to free himself.  

Despite how much he used perception as a weapon on her, gloating as he did it, he now had it used in the reverse.   Gilda had pulled him to this place, and it horrified him.

“You...aren’t…”  Gilda said as she tried to stay conscious.  “...escaping...this…”

She felt her body convulse more, it wouldn't be long now.  

It took all her strength to keep the Snark where he was.  Maybe it was her vision fading, but she could see him lighting up.  His new tiger form was burning off, revealing his cloud pony body.  Worse for him, ashes were burning off that as well, flying away to nothing.  

He felt it too, looking at his burning away paw with a look of despair.  The Snark let out a horrific roar that became an agonized scream.  He was finally able to pull himself free when his arm burned off.  As he ran about, burning away to nothing, Gilda’s body lurched again.  Maybe for the last time as the hateful monster fell to the ground, soon only a pile of ash was remained.  

The festive ponies seemed in shock from the show.   At least one pair seemed to tap the ashes in curiosity, unsure if they could believe their eyes.

The griffon let out a light breath, it was finished.  Gilda lay back, awaiting her own end.  She closed her eyes and felt herself drift.  

She could see it, or thought she could see, what was happening outside the dream.  In Ponyville, the celebration of Hearth’s Warming was as it always been, harmonious.  Ponies were happy as they looked to the next season with good cheer, as a god of her own anger died.

Maybe Diamond was at the Apples, or maybe she was turning over in her sleep with that tummy ache she got?  Gilda couldn't tell from where she was, breathing her last.  

Awesome way to go she thought, spitting in the face of hate.  It was quiet now, everything was at peace.

“Yo, G, you ok?”  Rainbow Dash said above her, breaking the griffon’s inner monologue.  Gilda opened her eyes without effort, looking in surprise.  “That was quite a show, sure, but…”  Dash offered a hoof to help the griffon up.  “Tragic deaths aren’t exactly cool, ya know?”

“Uh…”  was Gilda’s word on it.  She looked at the crowed that had gathered.  Some ponies look concerned, others shrugged, and some were clapping.  She was confused.  “I’m not dead?”  she asked.

“No, duh,”  Said a voice.  Gilda sighed as she got to her feet, feeling more than a bit embarrassed for herself.  She knew that voice.

“Hey kid,”  Gilda replied.  “How long you been there?”  she said as turned to Diamond Tiara.

“How’d you do that?”  Tiara asked back.  “Suddenly you and a tiger got here, then it catches fire and…you never said griffons were magic.”

“Maybe enough to fool the casual observer?”  Gilda joked to the foal.  Diamond, and Silver Spoon, looked at each other in mutual confusion.  “You guys any good at darts?”  Gilda asked to break the tension.

“And why would we play darts?”  Silver Spoon asked with a humored voice.

“Heh, promised I’d play with Dash,”  Gilda answered, pointing to her old friend.  “You guys can come too, if you want.”

“Sound cool, sure.”  Diamond answered with a shrug, and the pair came with.  

Gilda figured she’d enjoy this dream she was seeing.  She was probably dead to the world right now, and seeing a light soon too.  She may as well enjoy what moments she had for now.

> Dying is easy, life is hard
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

(the doomsday clock now has an “out of order” sign)


Gilda awoke to find herself in a bed in a room.  It was white, sure, just not quite the one she expected, and that beeping next to her told her enough to know she was alive.  

She was still too weak to move though, she just moved her eyes to see if anyone is there.  Then tried to speak.

“Ugh,”  was the most she got out.  It was enough for her doctor to notice.  Well, Dr. Fluttershy anyway.  How long that pegasus been here?

“Gilda, you're ok!”  Shy shouted, overjoyed, and even grabbing Gilda’s claw.  “We were afraid we lost you!”  She soon calmed herself down, or at least remembered how the griffon had got herself into this.  “Why did you do that?  I told you to…”  She was stern for a bit, but calmed down again.  “Well, talk about this later, ok?”  Shy said with a smile as she let Gilda’s claw go.

“How...long?”  Gilda managed to utter out.

“It’s been a few days, Gilda,”  Fluttershy said softly.  “Don’t worry about it, ok?  Just get some rest for now.”  

The griffon nodded, or tried too, and let herself nod off again.  Rather she dreaded it or not.  

As she let her senses slip away again, Gilda realized Shy was still there.  The odd pony was likely going to do something, maybe rub her head or kiss it after she began sleeping.  It was embarrassing to be sure.  Still, knowing someone was still there helped her a lot as she drifted off again.

Her dreams weren’t much to look at now, just like they were before all this.  No cold sweat, no awkward feeling, just that kind of random she would have expected.  

When she woke up, she felt better, at least enough to get up again.  Being rested was like a new feeling to her, and Gilda now felt more awake than she had in a while.  It was a relief to be sure.  The griffon flexed her wings while letting out a sigh of relief with a nice grin.  Life felt good.

“What’s up with you?”  said another voice in the room.  Gilda turned her head to see an unpleasant looking pegasus in the bed next to her.  “Why is some big bad griffon getting nuzzled in her sleep by somepony less than half her wing power?”  The greenish, blonde pony gave a mocking smile.  “Don’t you got shame?”

“Meh,”  Gilda replied.  “You get used to it.  Or gag.  Who knows?”  She shrugged as the pony rolled her eyes.  By the look of it, she’d been through a lot herself.  “What the heck happened to you?”

“Some freak froze my wings, then I nearly froze to death, then get rescued by some cross eyes loon.”  Lightning Dust ranted.  “I nearly lose my wings to frostbite, and I had to do a ton of physical therapy…”  She paused in her rant to take a breath.  “So I’m just peachy griffon!  Just peachy!”  she yelled.

“Could be worse, I guess?”  Gilda answered, and she got a raspberry back for it.  She simply shook her head.  She got up to looked out the window, hoping to clear her head.  

The weather was calm outside.  There was snow piles here and there of big sizes, some notably with foals and even adults playing in them.  They all looked happy.

It was as if the storms rage was never there with how they were acting.  Things were clear, easy.  The griffon felt glad seeing as the world didn’t end, even if it looked silly despite the near doomsday.

While Gilda was about to go lie back down, and maybe ponder the next problem that was coming, she turned to noticed she had visitors now.  She recognized both of them, but only knew one of them.  

Diamond Tiara was there with, who was likely, her father.

“Hey kid,”  Gilda said, a bit more weakly than she wanted.  “That your dad next to you?”

“Duh, do ya have to ask?”  Tiara replied, rolling her eyes.  “Is it really that hard to tell?”

“Sorry, guess I’m still kinda goofy right now.”  Gilda said as she put a claw on her head, sitting herself down onto her bed.  “And you are?”

“Filthy Rich, miss!”  Tiara’s father said as he extended happy a hoof and a smile.  Gilda simply looked at him with a bit of a muddled look, not sure how to respond.  He seemed to notice her reluctance, and smiled sheepishly as he pulled his hoof back.  

“I hear you helped my poor Diamond with her problems and I wanted to thank you,”  Rich continued as he rubbed his daughters mane.  “It’s quite a surprise for someone with your reputation.”

“I might find more than a few ponies saying that,”  Gilda said with a shrug and a bit of a laugh.  “But, what are ya gonna do, huh?”  she joked.

“Will, I’d imagine I would have to thank you,”  Filthy Rich replied happily and without issue, missing the point.  “I’m glad you were able be there for her when she needed someone.”  he added with a proud voice.

Gilda would have rolled her eye before to something like this, but she didn’t.  She felt a bit proud of the softy-ness for once.

“Just remembered, but how’d things turn out on your end, kid?”  Gilda asked Diamond Tiara.  “I kinda missed that party.”

“So did I,”  Diamond replied with a laugh.  “Remember all that cake we ate?  I was way too sick to party…”

“Uh, sorry?”  Gilda said as she rubbed her head.  Despite that let down, Rich seemed still in good spirits.

“But the Apple family were nice enough to save us a few pies and some nice turnovers,”  Filthy added, looking to his daughter.  “I was so happy to find you and their daughter were able to put aside your differences.  Ah, I would have been there if I could!”  he said with a delighted sigh

Diamond blushed a bit at that.  “Uh, thanks dad,” she said, scratching at the floor.  “I-I mean, she was the one who invited me and, well…yeah...”

“I was hoping to have our own celebration,”  Filthy Rich continued.  “Like a family feast!”  he excitable noted.  “We could invite them into our home, like they were….”  as he continued his daydreams, Diamond Tiara looked more and more uncomfortable.  Mostly due to the fact the farm ponies were going to her house this time, so Gilda decided change the subject.

“How’s your friend doing?”  she asked the foal.  “Is she getting better too?”

“Y-yeah!”  Diamond said, and was glad for that change.  It also got Filthy out of his odd ideas as well for the moment.  “She came to last night, and she was so glad to see me too!”  She sounded a bit excited, but calmed down.  “She still won’t be out for awhile though, but she’s totally good.  Thanks!  You?”

“I’m glad I don’t have a hole where my heart should be?”  Gilda tried to joke.  Filthy Rich and Diamond Tiara looked weirded out by it though.  “I’m good.  Really.”  she decided to add.  

As cool as her last stand could have been seen as, how the heck was she going to try to explain it to anyone?

“When do you think you’ll be doing stuff again?”  Diamond asked the griffon, ending that train of thought.  “You’re are ok enough to do stuff, right?”

“I guess,”  Gilda answered, as she stretched a bit and let out a sigh.  “I’m mostly just tried.”

“Wanna hang out in Silver’s room later?”  Tiara asked.

“Sure,”  Gilda answered.  “Don’t see why not?”

“Awesome!”  Diamond replied, then just seemed to realize what she just said.  She looked a bit shocked by that enthusiasm she had.  “W-well, I’ll see ya then. Bye!”  

Filthy Rich kindly nodded back to the griffon.  “I’m glad you two have bonded so well,”  he said, and the pair left.  

Gilda let herself lay down, letting out a calm sigh.  She’d be meeting another pony, likely not as cool as she was again, and just as likely needed someone too.  It was still going to be awkward though, for both sides.

“You really get along with these losers, don’t you?”  Lightning Dust asked mockingly.

“Keeps me sane,”  Gilda replied, jokingly, somewhat at least.  “I don’t like to imagine what I’d be like otherwise…”  she added.  As expected, Dust figured that was corny sounding.  At least by her rolled eyes.

The griffon figured she could go for a nap, laying herself down on the bed.  While nodding off was her first though to pass the time again, a new pair of ponies came in interrupting it.  

Fluttershy was there with what Gilda figured was a nurse.

“Hey Dr. Shy,”  Gilda said to the pegasus.  “It lecture time now?”

“Soon,”  Shy said as she nodded back.  “Nurse Redheart needs to do a check up first.”

As mentioned, the nurse did a few tests.  Blood pressure, checking the eyes, that kind of thing followed.  

“I see you’ve recovered nicely, Gilda,”  Redheart said after checking the griffon’s pulse.  “Despite that heart attack you suffered while unconscious, plus the hypothermia, you seem quite healthy.”

“Oh, is that all?”  Gilda asked.  While it was more joking, the nurse and Fluttershy took it seriously.

“You heart stopped, Gilda,”  Shy answered for the nurse.  “We managed too-”  But the nurse interrupted her.

“Dr. Fluttershy and miss Rainbow Dash needed to give you CPR,”  she said as she moved through her check up kit.  “Our princess Twilight Sparkle even applied defibrillation to you as well.”

“Defib…?”  Gilda was about to ask, but knew the answer.  “No wonder I remember jolts.  I thought I was dying...”

“You nearly did miss,”  Redheart continued seriously.  “But they managed to stabilize you.”  She briefly checked Gilda’s wing.  “Any pain, tingling?”  Gilda shook her head she went on.  “Fluttershy might know better about this than I do, but you wing healed fully while you were out.”  

The griffon only noticed then that her wing was no longer bandaged, like the wound was never there.

“Whatever,”  Was Gilda’s two bits, those details didn’t matter to her.  “So, what happens next?”

“I’d say you're healthy enough to leave her soon in a few days, but I’ll take my leave for now,”  Nurse Redheart finished and she turned to the pegasus.  “I’ll send the papers to you, Dr. Shy.”

“Thank you,”  Fluttershy said as she nodded.  The nurse nodded back and trotted to her next patient.  Namely the other pegasus in the room.

“Are you feeling much better, miss Dust?”  Redheart asked Gilda’s roommate.  The pony replied by facehoofing with a groan.

“I’m sick of being in bed,”  was Dust’s response as the nurse closed the curtain.  “How’s that for ya?” 

Guess things got private now  Gilda thought.

“...Did she say I had hypothermia?”  Gilda asked Fluttershy.  “I thought I lay next to the fire when I tried to fight the guy.”

“You did,”  Shy replied.  “But when I got home I found you shivering.  And when you stopped, you were cold to the touch.”

“Oh…”  Gilda said with a sigh.  Maybe it was her new knowledge for things, but the griffon knew where she was when that happens.  “What did you do?”  She was almost afraid to ask.  “Pretty sure you had to warm me up first…”

“I got you a warm blanket, some hot water…”  Fluttershy listed for a moment, before a bit of a blush came.  “I...even held on to you...to make sure your body heat came back.”  Gilda let out an aside cough, and apparently Shy knew why.  “When you were shivering again, I knew you were stable enough for me to go find help.”

“Thanks, I’m pretty sure I nearly lost it then.”  Gilda said, more than a bit awkward.  “Practically about gave up then too.”

“Are you ok right now?”  Fluttershy asked while looking at Gilda with a serious look.  “Because this might get rough…”

“Lecture time?”  Gilda said as she knew the answer.

“Yep,”  Fluttershy added, and there it was.

“Guess so,”  Gilda sighed, aware of what was coming.  “Lay into me.”

“Why did you do that Gilda?”  Shy asked with some anger. “Mr. Discord told me you took more then one of those pills.  And when I came home to find you on the floor, you then...started shaking and you skin was cold and...”  She went to detail that was not technically clinical, as she went on.  Then pausing for breath.  “I thought you were going to die.  You made me and the other ponies really worried.”

“I...I thought I could stop the Snark.”  Gilda answered honestly, looking down.  “Maybe beat him, using that happy dream effect....stuff.”  She could see Shy looked a bit upset on that.  “I kept thinking you guys were screwed because of me, and maybe I could fix it...maybe...”  Gilda was feeling more and more ashamed as she explained herself.

“You could have died Gilda,”  Fluttershy added.  “How would that help anyone?”

“Uh, It worked?”  Gilda replied simply with a grin.  Shy put a hoof on her head she could tell that was the wrong answer.  “Sorry, guess I lost it again...”  She rubbed her arm as Fluttershy sighed.

“I told you to avoid anything drastic…”  Shy said in a disappointed tone.  “What if you failed?  What then?”

“I’d be dead, maybe taking him with me,”  Gilda replied without excitement, looking away again.  “You guys would be safe.  And me?”  she sighed.  “Well, not much of value would be lost if...”  Shy looked more disappointed at that.  “That guy kept going under my skin with that.  I mean, considering…”  

The pegasus responded with raised her hooves, gripping Gilda’s head and forcing her to look her in the eye.

“What about me?”  Fluttershy said in a serious tone.  “Diamond, even Rainbow Dash would be crushed if it turned out that way.”

“You serious?”  Gilda asked, wide eyed.  “Her too?”

“Dash was there…”  Shy said slowly.  “She even told you if you died on her she’d never be able speak to you again.”  Shy kept her tone.  “All this was a shock to her too.  She hugged you when you started breathing again, glad you were alive.”

“Even after all the bad stuff I did?”  Gilda asked, still shocked.

“She still wanted to save you,”  Fluttershy answered, finally letting the griffon go.  She went back from that serious look to her soft one.  “It’s what it means to care about others.  You aren’t alone here, G.”

“I...kinda learned that too…”  Gilda stated with a bit of a smile.  Still, there was one burning question.  “You think she’ll visit at all?”  She could not measure the amount of how awkward feelings she felt right now.  For all she could tell, she was blushing as she looked down and twiddling her talons.

“It’s a tough subject…”  Fluttershy said as she looked uncertain.  “She hasn’t said anything.  I guess it’s still hard.”

“For both of us,”  Gilda said as she let out a sigh.  “Maybe we’ll be on speaking terms again someday, huh?”  She let herself smile there, if only for a moment at that odd hope.

“What did you see there?”  Dr. Fluttershy changed the subject.  “In that dream you had?”

“Stuff,”  Gilda poorly summarized.  “Think a huge carnival, like a town full of it.  Pinkie must have loved to see it.”

“Er, you mean would have loved to, right?”  Shy asked with a confused voice.  

Gilda knew what strangeness would have been caused if she tried to explain that line, and simply moved on.

“Beyond that, everything was...nice,”  she continued with some enjoyment.  “You and the others were there, everything was sweet too.  Sometime, when I let it, I kinda just wanted to stay there.  Enjoy it all.”  She shook her head.  “Still, I knew what I had to do.  So I faced that guy”

Dr. Shy drew closer as she asked.  “Was it scary?”  she asked.  “Facing him alone?”

“Uh, yeah,”  Gilda replied, realizing how not excited she was to tell .  “He tried scaring me, and then I struck back, then he pulled out the huge form and…”  She trailed off at the memory the Snark gave her, the shape of it.  Doctor Shy looked like she was about to ask why she had paused, but Gilda continued.

“That...when he dug into my head and...well, that part was...bad,”  Gilda said with a pained look.  “Like your worst nightmare, ya know?”

“It’s ok if you don’t want to talk about it,”  Fluttershy reassured.

“I remember it was talking about that gate of delirium thing too,”   Gilda went on.  “What is that thing anyway?”

“Something that gives me pause,”  Discord was now there too, sitting in a folding chair nearby.  “If only a little bit.”

“Because it starts ripping your brain apart?”  Gilda asked him with a shrug.  While the memory itself felt physically draining, by the look of the thing sitting there he’d seen it.  Or at least understood it.

“Think monsters within and without, Gilda.”  Discord said, again without being completely clear.  
“I’ve...never ventured too far into it.  Nasty place.”  he said as he gestured to the griffon.  “What did you think you saw in it Gilda?”

“I...thought I saw happiness,”  Gilda answered without enjoyment.  “It felt cool and...terrifying at the same time.  I snapped out of it, and it only got worse.”  It was draining her the more she remembered it.  

Fluttershy put a hoof on the griffon’s back, her to realize she had started to tremble from what she’d seen.  

“Guess, that was the part where you saw me shivering…”  Gilda said to the pegasus.  “I was way over my head then…”

“That does tend to happen when you go head first, dear,”  Discord stated as if it was most obvious thing in the world.  “You were in luck the lovely life guards were available.”  He brushed Shy’s mane on that statement, and she back smiled at him.

“Do ya know what’s beyond it?”  Gilda asked, even if the answer was going to be more strangeness.  “The Snark kept talking about how something he was after being past it.”

“I can guess, at times,”  Discord said as he tapped his noggin.  “Maybe he thought ultimate power was there?”  he said with a shrug.  “Maybe worlds beyond?  But sometimes, I see other words there, not just dreams that fade away.  And other times…”  He had a rare soft smile now.  “I see a light, telling me the reason for where I am.”

“Sounds special,”  Gilda surmised.

“Of it is!”  Discord replied.  “It’s just a matter of how deep you go, or how much of you comes back.  It’s just as likely to fly over your head though.”

“Or drive me insane…”  Gilda muttered grimly.

“That too,”  Discord said with a smile.  “Are we rid of the Snark now?”  Gilda blinked at that question.  “Let’s say I noticed the storm lost it fury all of a sudden.”

“He burned up,”  Gilda replied with some excitement.  “Nothing was left either, I didn’t even let him get away.”  She scratched her head as she explained.  “Still, I’ve heard enough to know I was lucky.”

“Well, if it’s some consolation, you slew a nigh immortal creature.”  Discord added, now behind her with an arm around her shoulder.  “How does that to cheer you up?”  he said as he poked her beak.

“Do I get something honoring it?”  Gilda asked proudly with some optimism.  “Like a metal?  Maybe, one of those stained glass windows showing my awesomeness in the face of bad stuff or whatever?”

“In honor of you great feats!”  Discord suddenly said proudly, now across from her.  “Here a sandwich!”  

And Gilda was now holding said sandwich.  She lifted the top slice and saw grilled chicken, fatty tuna, tomato, and lemon butter!

“Awesome!”  was Gilda’s response.  While she was about to eat, the sandwich disappeared just before her beak bit into it.  Ending with her biting into nothing.  “Hey!”  she yelled back at the snake walrus.

“Sorry!”  Discord said with a playful tone.  “No foreign food or drink, outside designated areas!”  

Gilda sighed as Fluttershy gave the lizard thing an upset look, but still looked like she found some humor to it.

“Don’t worry about it,”  Shy said.

“Whatever, I’m not hungry anyway…”  Gilda grumbled as looked back to the pony.  “So, what now?  What are the other ponies planning to do with me after all this?”

“I spoke with Twilight, who spoke with the other princesses.”  Shy replied as Gilda felt tense  “No, you aren’t going to the dungeon.”  The griffon felt relieved then.  “But…you are expected to pay for the damages though.”  Now the griffon’s eyes shot open as her beak dropped.

“How the heck do I pay that back?”  Gilda yelled.  “I don’t even got a job!”  Fluttershy had quickly gone back to the “duck and cover” position.

“Um, Twilight will fill you in,”  Shy answered, still covering her head.  “Please don’t be upset.”

Gilda sighed.  “Sorry,”  she said.  The pegasus got back up as she asked a question that now had some extreme importance.  “...Am I still crashing at your place?”

“We'll see,”  Fluttershy replied with some confidence.  “Technically, you seem well enough to be back on you own, so I may need to get a new patient in.”

“You got anyone in mind?”  Gilda asked.

“No one right now,”  Fluttershy said as she rubbed her mane, looking aside.  “Do you know anyone?”  she asked, looking back.

“I might,”  Gilda said off handed.  “A name came to mind awhile ago.”

“That’s great!”  Shy said with a bit of excitement.  “Who is it?”

“Got to wonder…”  Gilda began, asking a question she had forgotten to ask for the longest time.  “...Why are you working as a shrink anyway?  Never had much reason to ask before.”

“She did wonders for me,”  Discord answered for Shy with a smile.

“I can tell…”  Gilda replied as she faceclawed and groaned.  

Things are still quite silly, but hey?  It was ok though.  At least now she could have fun in it, right?

> Giving up on caffine
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Even if Gilda did agree to this, it was uncomfortable.  The pediatrics ward was bad enough with the odd sound of shrill shrieking of other foals playing there.  Plus, Gilda wasn’t much for kids to begin with.  

Still, here she is, being introduced by a kid to another kid.  With said kid sounding like a mess with some bandages and bruises still present.  Diamond Tiara had filled her in a bit, while carrying that box on her back with care.  

“Just saying...but tea parties aren’t really my thing kid,”  Gilda stated as the walked down the hall.

“Like, don’t worry so much G.”  Tiara replied confidently.  “It’s super easy!  It’s just like hanging out.”

The foal did just miss one detail though, seeing as Silver Spoon just hid under her blanket when she saw the guest.  Apparently, she wasn’t told who was coming. Gilda gave Tiara a look as she raised as claw with a shrug.  

“Hey, Silver?”  Diamond said as she trotted over to the shaking lump in the bed.  “It’s ok, she’s with me.”  

Gilda raised an eyebrow.  She’s a sidekick now?  Then again, why’s that matter?

“I’m cool, alright?”  she added in a calm voice, and trying her best smile.  “I ain’t dangerous, see?”

“Eh?”  Silver briefly pulled her head up from under.  “She’s….is she cool Tia?”  she asked with a nervous voice.

“She’s cool.”  Tiara replied, uncovering her friend fully.  “We’re all cool here.”  The other foal calmed down at that as Taira put the box she had down on the floor.  The pair shared a hug.  “How do you feel?”  Tiara asked.

“Sore, really sore,”  Spoon replied, sadly.  “And where’s my stuff?  When is my daddy getting it here?”  she whined.

“I asked,”  Diamond answered as she let go.  “He just said it’d be soon”

Silver sighed.  “They said I’m going to be here for more than a week, and I’m going to be sooo bored!”  She might have groaned a bit more on that fact, but Tiara chimed in.

“That’s why we're here,”  Diamond said with a smile.  She got to opening that box as Silver reached for the glasses on her bed stand.  A shiny new pair of glasses though, they were in better shape than the last pair.  

Thankfully, for someone at least, was that the box did not have a cake.  Just a tea set, which gave another Gilda another reason to faceclaw.

“Something wrong, G?”  Tiara asked, still unpacking.

“Just wondering if I miss coffee…”  Gilda replied with a sigh.  “Guess I’ve been drinking a lot of tea.”

“You could have something else if you’d like, miss,”  said a aid coming in with some kind of thermos, likely with the tea in it.

While she could ask for a soda, maybe several, Gilda shrugged. “Got tomato juice?”  she asked.

“We can get that for you,”  The aid said as he poured the tea into the kettle.  “Do either of you two need anything right now?  The snacks are still being prepared.”

“We’re fine,”  Diamond Tiara answered with a smile.

“How much did you plan on this?”  Gilda asked  the kid as the aid left.  “Didn’t know you could just ask a hospital to brew tea on demand.”

“Plenty,”  was Tiara short answer with a smug smile.  She then turned to her friend.  “Can you sit Spoony?”

“Sorry…”  Silver Spoon replied.  “I can’t really get up.”

“Eh, not a prob,”  Gilda replied as handed her a cup.  Silver put it on the nightstand next to her.  “So, there much else to this then a tea party kid?”

“Conversation helps,”  Diamond snarked to the griffon.

“Duh,”  Silver followed up, and even Gilda laughed at how obvious that was..  “What do you expect from a tea party?”

“I don’t know, a board game?”  Gilda answered.  “Some kind of stuff, unless you want stories or something.”

“Stick around,”  Diamond said as she handed Gilda her cup.  “Maybe you’ll learn something about socializing.”  The griffon rolled her eyes, but let out a chuckle.

“Why not?”  Gilda said.

They prattled on for awhile, kids stuff and what not.  Normally, Gilda would have just sat to the side, enjoy a drink and all.  Yet, here she was being part of it.  She felt a good sense of nostalgia, kind of funny to recall a time she was that small.  

Funny enough Silver Spoon seemed excited about metal music...who knew?  Just as long the CMC didn’t make it, but from what Gilda heard it was worst than most.  Spoony even knew some of the bands the griffon was a fan of, like the Howling Iron Griffons.

As usual, unexpected or not, Gilda felt like they were bonding.

Then came that part where Diamond Tiara mentioned the song “I love U” and the pair tried remembering the words.  It ended with Gilda, guiltily, telling them she knew the lyrics by heart...more or less.  

Next thing they knew, the trio of them were singing it.  

The aid, who had arrived with the snacks, just put the tray down and backed away.  The sight was an odd one.  An adult griffon and two foals singing a song from some kids show.

In the end they were laughing.  Ironically, this tea party had become awesome.

Things calmed down again, and it was back to chatting, and while talking about some book Silvers spoon’s things arrived.  Some books, three stuffed toys, and a heart shaped pillow with a pair of initials on it…DT&SS.  

Maybe it’s the air around here?  It still had Gilda laugh.

”Seriously?”  Gilda asked upon seeing it.  The pair gave her a dirty look.  “What?  I didn’t ask for something like that, even when I was little.”  The pair seemed unfazed by the explanation.  “Yes, even when I was into girly stuff once.  But it wasn’t that girly.”

“Did you have a best friend back then?”  Silver asked, thankfully not too angry.  Gilda stood for a moment, her beak open and about to say something.  Before lowering her head in failure.

“Guess not,”  she said with a sad laugh.  “All I had was a silly brother.”

“Did you put any effort in other griffons?”  Diamond asked with a light chuckle.

“No need to remind me,”  Gilda added.  Looking back up, however, she could see Silver whispering something to Taira.  Which made the griffon nervous.  

Still, the conversation went until the sun went down.  They said their goodbyes then.  Gilda helped Diamond pack her tea set up, and the pair left as Silver Spoon waved good bye happily.

“See?”  Diamond Tiara said to the griffon as they walked back down the hall.  “Pretty easy, huh?”

“I’ll admit, yeah,”  Gilda replied off hand.  “Kinda was.  Maybe do this again sometime, ya think?”

“Duh,”  Diamond answered with a chuckle.  “Dads already got you on the guest list for that party he’s inviting the Apples to.”  They stopped at the intersection to the exit hall.  “You aren’t getting out of that, I’m going to make sure you show up if I have to drag you.”

Gilda enjoyed a bit of a laugh at that.  “Oh no, not that,”  she joked, but still gave a serious answer.  “Don’t worry, I’ll still be in town.”  she added with a smile.

“See ya latter, miss G,”  Tiara said with a mock, sinister grin.  “If I have to suffer through this so do you.”  

They had another laugh as the foal left.  Gilda took a deep breath and let it out.  She still felt a bit of that good cheer.  It was kind of annoying, but kind of nice.  After heading back to her room, the griffon let out a sigh of relief.  Sure, she was friends with a pair of ponies that can’t fly, but that wasn’t bad.  

“Enjoyed the company of small children?”  asked Lightning Dust.  She lay in her bed on her belly, flexing her wings.

“Better than nothing,”  Gilda shrugged as she spoke.  While she got ready to likely endure a few rounds of insults, she noticed a muffin on pony’s nightstand.  “Uh, where’d you get that from?”  She pointed her talon to it.

“Hm?”  Dust looked to it, and blinked with a look of confusion.  “Thought I ate that...it was there at lunch and…”  Her eyes bugged out, like a horrible realization had come over her.  “Is that mare….?”  She shook her head and just lay face down into her pillow.  “Why is it the freaks that won’t leave me alone?”  she muttered into her pillow.

“Welcome to the club!”  Gilda snarked with a grin.  The pegasus responded by roaring into the pillow.  “...You get used to.”  She added as she scratched her neck.  She then decided to go to bed as the pegasus grumbled angrily.

A few days past with some observation stuff.  A near death experiences makes doctors nervous, Gilda gathered.  

During a brief meeting, Gilda gave her suggestion to Fluttershy as she waited for the rest of the mystery punishment the princess had for her.  

Still, the griffon had a light chuckle to find Lightning had yet another muffin on her nightstand each day.  Pinkie must have given another pony lessons, much to Dust annoyance.

It’s was on that third day Gilda got a package.  She looked at it with curiosity as Lightning Dust looked scornfully at her muffin.  The griffon looked up from her gift, as she had to ask.  

“Are those any good?”  Gilda asked Lighting.

Dust looked aside and sighed.  “They’re….fine,”  she said with a groan.  “I just don’t want that...pity she’s insisting on,”  Dust said the word like it was something disgusting to her.  “I’ll get well when my wings work like they should.  Or they are going too.”

“When’s that?”  asked an odd voice in the room.

“When do….agh!!!!”  Lightning Dust lept off her bed in terror from the grey, odd eyed pony in the room.  “Where did you come from?!?!”  she yelled.

“Did Pinkie tell you how?”  Gilda asked like it was no surprise to see this.

“Yup,”  The grey mare replied.  “It’s kind of like quantum-liner stuff!”

“Heck does that mean?”  Dust shouted, as she looked at the pair like they were both insane.  

Gilda decided to let the pair of particular pegasusi ponder their problems as the opened her present.  The contents of it caused her eyes to shrink with some shock.

The box had a heart pillow in it.  Same pair of initials on it, and a G.  Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, and Gilda.  DT, SS, G.  On a simple hand, this was one of those gifts that come with a friendship.  On the other…

”You are sooo going in hiding with Runzaka...”  Gilda said a cynical look.  She still lifted it up and gave a bit of a nudge though.  She smiled at how soft it was.  “Heh, still pretty soft though.  What’s this made of?”  

By now, the other ponies in the room were now in a one sided disagreement.  With one side telling the other one her annoyance of being doted on, then the other blissfully unaware of why that would be a problem.

“But it will help get your strength up!”  the bubbly mare, Ditzy Doo, said to defend her actions with her hooves up as the green, blond mare glared daggers back.  

As Gilda now sat down to enjoy the show, it stopped suddenly with the grey one giving a quick wave in her direction.  

“Hey ya, Dash!”  Ditzy said, as if the argument she was in had not happened.

“Hey,”  said a voice behind the griffon.  

Gilda froze for a moment.  But after mustering some strength, turned around to the pony at the doorway that could see the surprise on her beak.  

“Um, this a bad time, G?”  asked Rainbow dash.  

Only then did the griffon realize the cyan pegasus could see that pillow she neglected to put back in the box.  She even remembered that time Dash first raised that eyebrow of hers ages ago.  Well as the odd story that caused it.

“It’s just a bit embarrassing,”  Gilda replied, not exactly nervous.  “Just like that teddy bear I had, remember?”  Dash went from awkward to a big laugh in an instant.  No mocking, she was laughing with the griffon.

“Oh, come on!”  was Lightning Dust’s two bits on it.  “You had a teddy bear too?”  Everyone in the room just kind of stopped to look at her.  It was then she realized what she said with a look of doom and horror.  “Not...like I have one, or needed….uh….”  she added as she shook her head and back glared at them.  “A pony of my wing power wouldn't have one!”

“Mine was called Ruzka: The wonder bear.”  Gilda said with humor.  “What was yours named?”  Oh, that sound that pony made as she covered her head with her hooves.  

Maybe, things didn’t change too much for the her?  At least Rainbow Dash didn’t seem to mind.

> A few loose ends
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

(The clock with the “out of order” sign is now gathering dust)


The last couple weeks had gone by in a strange blur for Edward.  

First, starting with him helping out on things, before ending up being around to keep the mayor well after she got sick.  But the last part was something even he couldn't believe happened.

Despite that, he did check now and then on his little sister.  Gilda was now was working odd jobs as a "town assistant".  It was a bit of a shock to find she had been responsible for the vandalism in the last week, but thankfully the princess pardoned her.  Which was good, the little griffon didn't need more enemies, nor more reasons to sulk.  

Plus, seeing her run from task to task reminded him of his own days.  What did they say, "walk in another ponies shoes"?

Then again, weren't those nailed?  He pondered.

He shook his head and looked on the bright side.  The local Ponyville post office gave Gilda a commemoration, as she had helped them go a full week with no accident. The even gave her a raise too.

He still had a message to deliver, and after kissing his marefriend goodbye, he sought out his sister Gilda.  Right about then the griffon was at the end of her mail route, assisting the local mail mare.  

On arrival, he saw his sister on the job.  Which from what he could see involved stopping the other pony from crashing into a chimney.  Judging by the look of the townsfolk this was a normal thing to happen.  So many griffons would faceclaw at this, but griffons like him would enjoy these little moments.  Nonsense can be fun to watch.

"Are you wings on super backwards or something?"  Gilda shouted after helping the grey pegasus avoid the collision course she was on, still keeping a grip so the mare didn't hit another roof.

"Nah, just in a rush!"  Ditzy Doo replied cheerfully and unshaken.  "Mail doesn't deliver itself."

Gilda sighed.  "No need to remind me, but just remember solid objects are solid for a reason."  she said calmly.

"Will do!"  Doo replied with a salute.  

The griffon released the mare and shook her head.

While Edward would have enjoyed this double act, he did have something to say.  "Hey, sis!"  he yelled over.  More than a week ago, saying that would have ended badly.

"Hey bro!"  Gilda said as she waved back, and he knew that change is good.  "What's up?"  she asked.

"When does your shift end?"  Edward said.  "I've got to talk to you."

"No problemo!"  Added Ditzy.  "I can deliver the rest on my own!"  She turned to Gilda.  "You can have the rest of the day off, kittyhawk."  she said with a nod.  "If it's your brother, it must be real important!"  

With that the pony was off with a flash.

"Woah!"  Gilda yelled after, waving her claws.  "Watch out for that..."  The sound of timber being hit with a powerful force could be heard in the distance.  "...tree."  she sighed after.

"I'm ok!"  Ditzy yelled back.

"So much for two weeks without accidents,"  Gilda muttered to herself.  She descended to the ground next to Edward.  "So what's up?  Also, why the heck didn't you visit?"  She lightly jabbed him with a talon and pulled him into a playful headlock.  "I was in the hospital for cripes sake!"

"S-sorry, really!"  Edward answered sheepishly, eventually getting his head free.  "Just...a lot of stuff happened on my side of things, between me and the mayor.  Anyway..."

"So you got her salt lick after all?"  Gilda joked from the mention of the mayor.

"N-no, I didn't get it,"  Edward stammered back.  "It wasn't my...a-anyway..."  He took a breath.  "Something, kinda happened and I wanted to tell you before I send a letter back home.  Maybe you could give advice?"  he asked, hopeful.

"You need my advice?"  Gilda asked back with some surprise.  "What did you get into?"

The guy griffon looked down a bit, not in shame or terror like he was used too.  He was mostly awkward on the subject and how fast it came.

"...Marriage proposal?"  he finally said.

"Your...g-getting...m-m-married?"  Gilda was taking it about as well as he guessed, even he needed a moment when his marefriend asked about it.  She snapped back to normal, kind of.  "How?  When did that happen?  Who are…?"  She then held her neck and sighed, feeling annoyed at her sudden jabbering.  "Who'd you get engaged too?"

"Mayor Mare,"  Edward answered.

"She must have really liked that salt lick..."  Gilda said with a laugh.

"Sis..."  Edward held his head.  "It wasn't like that."  He paused as he put his talons together.  "...not exactly anyway,"  He muttered.

"Heh, sorry,"  Gilda said, as she helped her brothers head up.  "Congrats I guess.  Thought you had your eyes on Rarity."

"Well, yeah,"  Edward said as he scratched his head.  "It's just, after a while of working there I got to know her.  When I was helping her with her cold...I made an impression, I guess."

"She really likes ya?"  Gilda asked, and he nodded.

"Anyway, one thing led to another and...well...looks like I'm getting wed to a town mayor,"  Ed said as he blushed.  “So...yeah.”

"Dad would faint,"  Gilda smiled as she spoke.

"Mom'll be proud though,"  Edward said with some pride.

"Yeah."  Gilda agreed somberly.

With that, the message was delivered.

"I hope you don't expect a dowery from me, Ed,"  Gilda added with a pat on Ed's back.  "Kinda got problems of my own right now."

"I know, sis,"  Edward replied with a smile.  "Also, I heard something that's got me curious...is Sunshine really in town?"

"Yep,"  Gilda answered him.  "I figured Dr. Fluttershy could help him with his problems, he even insisted on bringing someone else with him.  Guess while I was gone he got a friend."

"Jealous?"  Ed joked to her.

"I’m more glad he's got other people to talk to,"  Gilda corrected with a smile.  "Seems I was the only person he'd have conversations with."

"Maybe I'll go see him and..."  Edward began, but the pair of griffons  were interrupted when a pony tapped Gilda's shoulder.

"Miss Gilda?"  asked the earth pony.

"That's my name,"  Gilda replied.

"The mail mare is stuck in my roof."  The fact the pony was telling this as though it was a regular occurrence had Edward giggle a bit.

"Breaks over, I guess,"  Gilda said with a shrug, not at all bothered by her days off ending.  "See ya later bro, I got a few things to sort out."  She flew off with Edward smiling after her.  

“Glad you stopped trying to be like dad, sis”  Ed said mostly to himself.  “Life’s happier this way.”

If this kind of crazy is what he could expect in this town, he was going to enjoy settling down here.  He nodded goodbye to the other pony and headed to Fluttershy's cottage.

Sunshine was easy to spot, he was trying to fish in a lake not far from the pegasus pony’s house.

"Hey Sunshine!"  Edward called out.  The diamond dog’s tail and ears perked as he hopped in surprise, nearly dropping the rod he was holding.

"Er, huh?"  Sunshine turned around to see the griffon.  "Eddy?  That you?"  he asked.

"Yep,"  Edward said as he lept forward.  "How goes it?"

"It good,"  stated Sunshine with a nod.  "Shy and Trembles get along real well."

"How about you?"  Edward asked with interest.  “You doing good?”

"Me good too."  Sunshine answered.  "Dr. Shy nice!  Told me, she worked with other people that are big and..."  He tapped his head for a moment.  "...make ponies nervous she said."

"Yeah..."  Edward rubbed the dogs head as he fluttered above.  "Don't worry, you're in good hands, Sunshine."

"Me know!"  Sunshine replied, nodding his head with enthusiasm.

"Just wondering…but why are you fishing?"  Edward asked as he pointed to the pond.  "You caught anything yet?"

"Not caught anything,"  Sunshine added with a shrug, looking back to the pond.  "Try to catch cuttlefish."

"Why cuttlefish?"  Ed asked.

"Give pretty bird bones back,"  Was Sunshine’s answer.  

The guy griffon stood there for a moment, not sure what the dog was on about.  He shook his head, Gilda would know more about this he hoped.  

"Haven't seen her in while, she ok now?"  Sunshine asked back.

"Yep, she's ok,"  Edward said and saw this as a good time to sit next to the dog, watching him go back to his fishing.  "She's doing great!  Maybe one of these days we can play cards or something."

“That sound fun.”  Sunshine said with a smile.  

For a moment, Edward had to wonder what to do next.  Reminisce?  Ask about that breakout some time ago?  Maybe a tell the nice dog cuttlefish are in the sea, not a pond?  

The last one had him chuckle.

"Um, h-hi?"  a voice cut Edwards thought off, and he turned to see a teal pony who seemed to tremble when he saw her.  "Wait, y-your’re not G-Gilda."

"Names Edward, hi."  Ed said with a friendly wave.

"Hello Trembles,"  Sunshine added happily.  "He a nice griffon."  The pony had a silly look on her for a moment, likely due to what the dog had described him as.

"O-oh,"  Trembles said as she calmed herself, trotting over to them and sitting down.  "Fluttershy said lunch is in a hour, and she wanted to know you wanted anything other than the salad,"  she asked the large dog without any fear.

"Me good, just no onion,"  Sunshine answered back.  "Do cuttlefish taste good?"  The pony looked at the dog for a moment, and rubbed a hoof on her neck.

"...I don't think you will catch any in that pond."  Trembles added, slightly nervous.

"Let him dream,"  Edward added with some humor.  "He might catch something though, right?"  The dog nodded.  "So, who named you Trembles?"  he asked the pony

"It's just a nickname he gave me,"  Trembles giggled.  "My real name is..."

Unfortunately, the pony was interrupted when Sunshine recast his line with the hook catching on to Edward’s hat, pulling it into the lake.

"MY HAT!!!"  he yelled, instinctively covering his head.  "Sunshine!"

"Sorry sorry sorry,"  Sunshine said as he practically cowered, despite being the tallest one there.  "Get hat back, get hat back,"  he repeated as he pulled his line back.

"Um...you..."  Trembles started, pointing a hoof, but Edward cut her off.

"I know, bald spot, don't need to rub it in,"  he stated as he put his claws down.

"It’s not that,"  Trembles said as she shook her head.  "You have horns!"  she said with surprise.

Edward was now wide eyed, quickly feeling his scalp.  As he already knew the fur had not suddenly grown back there, but the tusk like horns were a new compliment.  

Despite Sunshine handing his hat back, all the griffon could do was realise what the mayor's joke was from a few days ago was about involving horns.  Though to be fair, he did have other thought at the time with a mares forelegs around him then…and he couldn't help but blush.

"Um, hi?"  Trembles waved her hoof in front of his beak to snap him out of it.  "You're blushing and..."

"No, no, I'm fine, fine, ok."  Edward stammered, taking his wet hat back.  He took a moment to wring some water out of it before putting it back on.  "It's just something that male griffons will have grow on them.  Dad said it was a symbol of great strength."

"Eddly fight monsters?"  asked Sunshine without irony.

"Not really, just...when did those go in?"  Edward asked, more or less to himself.

With how long he'd been used to wearing that hat, out of personal shame, those horns could have come in at any time and he wouldn't have noticed.  

He then had to wonder about that odd look his sister gave him several days ago.  Did she notice this first and couldn't believe it either?

"Guess old Gregor won't just faint, I think he'd owe me an apology.” Edward ended his inner monologue with a smile.

“Mean Gregor apologize to Eddy, me proud!"  Sunshine said with his own joy, giving the griffon a hug.  And, just like the last time, the dog forgot how strong his forelegs were.

"Can't...breath..."  Edward gasped as Trembles did her best to tell the dog to let go.

After that event, and some conversation, at least Edward walked away knowing Trembles name.

> Some things never go away
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

(The note on the clock changed to a poem and a song)


"Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Gyre and gimble in the wabe;
And mimsy are the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

Beware the Jab-Jab-Jabberwock.
The Jubjub and the Bandersnatch!
Oh manxome and frumious
With the big claws that catch.

"Beware the Jab-Jab-Jabberwock,
That burbles in the tulgey wood!
With eyes of flame he whiffles up
Little girl who won't be good.

"He's here, he's there, he's everywhere,
So don't go out so uffishly
Look out! He may be hiding there:
Behind the Tumtum tree.

"He's in, he's out, he's all about,
He'll get you if you don't look out.
That whiffling, burbling Jabberwock
Beware the Jabberwock.

(And with that, the clock exploded.  It’s hands falling to the ground as gears flew from the face.)
(Only mustard with fix that, but even hatters know that’s too silly!)

The end.