> The Third Nice Thing
>  by RadBunny
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter One: Scones, Counsels, and Progress
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A smile.

For a gryphon, it was a tricky matter; having a semi-flexible beak and all. No matter the manner though, a smile was something that Griffinstone hadn’t seen in many years.

And to think, all it took to change that was some scones.

The town was bustling with activity. The roosts and homes were under renovation, the trash in the streets had been cleaned up, and even a town hall was being constructed from the remnants of the old castle. Griffins still had a slightly sour look on their faces, but every now and again you could catch one looking around, a slight twitch at the edge of their features indicating the suppression of a smile. Old habits die hard, especially when one grew up in Griffinstone, where bits were thicker than blood.

That’s how some argued the progress; more customers and visitors meant more bits. To get that, you had to act nice, and say thank you at the very least. Some griffins meant it, but the majority said it with an almost amused expression as I handed them their ordered scones.

My small wagon had grown to a permanent shop, which had attracted a steady supply of customers. It was a simple double-story building, hardly an estate, but it was mine . A sharp turn from wanting to leave the town, but at least it was a change for the better.

The interior was originally the same old wood as the rest of the town, but stained a pleasant soft maple. Upstairs was my own room, which made for easy mid-day naps.

Not that I indulged in such, usually.

A smile that had once seemed so foreign to me now was a common appearance on my features. Of course, I’d never admit it, but it was actually nice to smile.

Eh, maybe I’d admit it. Eventually. Just not to Pinkie Pie.

“Huh. These are pretty good.” My newest customer mumbled, a male gryphon clad in what apparently passed for fashion nowadays. The multi-colored hat was probably purchased at some equestrian vendor, and strangely enough, it worked as a fashion statement.

….Ish.

The bits rattled on the wooden counter as I nodded with thanks as the store was empty once again. There was the usual early morning rush, a few individuals picking up snacks, and then the lunch and dinner regulars.

And to think I had wanted to leave this town? It was a goldmine!

I couldn’t help but let my beak turn upwards into the slightest of smiles. Making friends and feeling like I had a purpose was a pretty big motivator as well. I was still as awesome as ever, but now had a chance to branch out.

The experience of mingling with other gryphons was rather awkward though, especially since social skills had not been on my list of talents. At least I was mumbling a bit less than a few weeks ago though. Talking to Greta was helping with that, at least a bit. The other gryphoness was working at the shop every other day or so, helping with large batches, cleaning, or getting materials together.

She was paid of course; but Greta had her own things to take care of as well. Despite the on-again-off-again help, it still made things easier, especially with the town slowly starting to get back on its feet. The library even had been rebuilt, under direction of an ash-grey gryphon who seemed determined to give every book a home. I swear I had seen him grinning as someone dropped of a stack of the things.

Eh, eggheads, even among griffins. He was a steady customer though, so I couldn’t complain. Not too hard on the eyes either. It was the same griffin that had said it was nice to meet me those weeks ago, as a matter of fact. He must be one of the mountain gryphons; with ear tufts and a fan of feathers at the end of his tail. His beak was a bit more streamlined, not like the thick ones other males had. He looked more sleek than others; I could definitely get to like the look, but that was a different train of thought, and a fairly new one at that.

Taking out another batch, I prodded a scone with a talon, nodding in approval. The cooked dough sprung back at her touch, indicating it was done. Too much heat and it’d be crumbly to the point of annoyance, and too little, and it’d be mush. A bit of spring was perfect.

“Hey Gilda, I’m taking off for a late dinner. So, you know, see ya.” Greta called from the front of the stone. I finished putting the scones aside, waving to the other gryphoness as she left. As the bell that hung over the rough wooden door chimed, I couldn’t help but notice another gryphoness leave with Greta. A friend of hers? That’d be nice to see, her first gryphon friend making-

Oh. Ooooooh. That was a nuzzle. Guess that answers that question. Good for you Greta.

My talons drummed on the counter briefly before I began organizing a few wayward items in the shop; some dishware I had traded scones for, and allowing for a few other items other than foodstuffs. The odds and ends brought in a few other customers. The mantra ‘one griff’s trash is another’s treasure’ was true even here.

Such a change from a few months ago.

I finally sighed, switching the store sign to closed before heading to the rooftop as my thoughts clouded over again. It was a simple climb up the ladder in my room, and to the small partially covered balcony. It was a nice place to think, something I was doing more of, for better or worse.

The sun was beginning its downward journey of the day, and griffins flitted to and fro across the town. It was a far breath from the eyesore Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie had arrived to. Maybe they’d even get a visit from Princess Sparkle; Rainbow had mentioned something about her love of books…

My business was taking off, and I had even made amends with Dash’s friends Added to that was the stash of bits I had saved; no small accomplishment.

So why did I feel so weird? 

At least I had made amends, to avoid that hanging over my head. Not feeling guilty about past actions was a surprisingly strong motivator, something I hadn’t encountered before. Granted, it had taken a few weeks, but I had finally visited Ponyville to apologize, even to Fluttershy.

It had taken over an hour to just get the Pegasus to open the cabin door, and that’s after I had been sat on by a bear, and tied up courtesy of a malicious bunny.

That small fluffy creature still scared me, and I was supposed to be the predator!
But I had finally apologized, and even gotten her to smile. That bunny still gave me the creeps though. ‘Angel’ indeed.

What had really thrown me for a loop though, was of how she had then said she was sorry, to me, saying that she understood why I would be so stressed. In a moment that had shocked me to the core, that yellow pegasus seemed to get it, where the anger came from. 
And she was saying sorry? To me?
...or perhaps for me?

That...hadn't happened to me before, much less from a pony I had been less than kind to. 

Yet, despite it all, it was these increasingly common moments I would like the company of someone, even if it was one of Dash’s friends, just for a bit.
Only in small doses though, especially if they happened to be pink.

A soft chuckle left my beak as I settled down on a worn blanket. There was no avoiding it, especially since Dash’s visit, it had been increasingly obvious. Friendships and social stuff had never been my forte. Even so, I knew this feeling all too well. It was the same emotions that I had felt when looking up at Dash, after just arriving to the junior speedsters. The memories still brought tears to my eyes, if I dwelled on it long enough.
I missed that; but clearly Rainbow Dash didn't realize how much that had meant to me, still meant to me.

But she was a country away, and being wrapped up with her own group of friends made that distance seem even farther. I didn’t know what that was like, to have that. Did I want that?

Now I was getting a bit peeved. Thoughts were harder to deal with than idiots or bullies. I knew how to deal with physical threats or annoyances. Thoughts, not so much. They just spun around in my head endlessly.

Ever since saving Rainbow and Pinkie, my entire way of thinking had cracked. Not broken though; I wasn’t that pathetic, but everything I had grown up with and grown to be was- it didn't feel good.

No, more than that. It was mean. I had been mean, yelling at them instead of explaining it all. Sure, I had a reason, but that didn't totally make me feel better. Strangely, that bothered me a lot more than it should. Or maybe it should bother me, I wasn’t sure.

Spreading my wings, I glided down to the street, meandering this way and that to look around the town. The counsel, newly formed to take place of the long-dead king, had actually asked me to be an advisor, one step below the group of head-honchos.

Not like I was doing much else, other than baking, so I had accepted. What that meant in the future, I wasn’t sure, but at least I had a goal. All the better to keep me occupied. Grampa Gruff was one of the other members too; stuck in his ways perhaps, but at least was well-known and respected.

Or tolerated, which had come to mean similar things over the years.

My paws and claws took me to the new library, a far cry from the ruins of a few weeks ago. Most of the books had been saved by somegriff, the only casualties being a few basic copies of history books and the like. Most likely the egghead’s doing. I wasn’t even sure of his name; just referred to him as ‘Ash’ in my thoughts. Not that I was thinking about him that much. Egghead; not my type. Then again, some of the construction workers that had been hired to assist in rebuilding looked rather attractive, but most already had mates, or were dumb as bricks.

If my eyes rolled anymore at my own self-monologue, I’d go blind. What was I doing? Fretting about new friendships and lack of other things, all because I was lonely?
….
Ah, there it was, the word at the heart of it all. It sounded so childish, so weak to even think about. I didn’t need or want anyone else! I had been fine up to this point.

Even if mentally spoken, the words reeked of lies. My shoulders slumped, claws toying with a small pebble. I had been fine, and that was a truth.

But that was it. No friends, just going day to day. Nothing had seemed enjoyable until Rainbow had shown up again. Even though it was bitter at first, it had been a change from the daily drudgery.
That visit culminated with choosing Rainbow, and Pinkie, over a solid gold statue. For so long I had wanted to be the ‘cool’ one, and that statue would have solidified that statement, in more ways than one. But I chose something better...at least I thought so.

But now?

My beak grit together, and I walked over to look at the new structure being formed, most of the library’s roof completed, and the interior taking shape.

It felt like before Junior Speedsters, when I was shy and unsure of myself. What frightened me more than anything, was that I didn’t know whether I hated this feeling, or liked it. Not worrying about ‘coolness’ anymore, just being me.
But was I even happy being myself?

My thoughts carried me right into a low-hanging beam, I bit back a few nasty obscenities.

Great. I was turning into an egghead. Or…something.
“Gilda?”

Almost smacking my head on the beam again, I turned to glance towards the source of the voice.
“Oh, hey Ash, erm, dude.” I stammered, wanting to just walk into the beam again to avoid my embarrassment.
The griffin blinked, letting out a soft chuckle.

“Ash? Eh. As far as nicknames go, at least it fits.” He replied casually, glancing over his feathers. Strangely, he seemed more at ease conversing with me than others.

“It’s Gelvin, by the way.” He added, holding out a set of sharp talons.

“Oh. Huh. Nice to uh, meet you officially I guess?” Not my smoothest words ever, but considering I had made a fool of myself, not too bad.

The fact I could feel my facial feathers fluffing from a simple claw shake made me want to curl up and die. Was our race this starved for contact, verbal and otherwise? Apparently so, but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t feel nice.
“So you’re the librarian then? Or soon-to-be one?” I ventured to ask. A conversation would keep my mind from wandering, and Gelvin seemed at least capable at holding a decent back and forth, unlike many others.

No, more than that, he was willing.
Weird.

“Eventually, yes. I saved most, if not all the books that were still left. Loads of copies were ruined, but the old librarian passed his records on. Kept in the family and all that.” Gelvin explained, gesturing to the building.

“It’s just; finally I have a place to put all the books! Sure, maybe nogriff will read them, but at least they’ll be here for someone! Ah….” His words stammered off, reaching a claw to smooth down some fluffed crest feathers.
“Sorry. I like books. Not much of gryphon history or any sort of novels by our kind.” He muttered, prompting me to chuckle. I couldn’t help it. He was such an egghead, but not in a pushy way, more of in a cute and fragile sort of manner.

Totally was not going to dwell on how I just called this guy cute. Not a chance.

“Couldn’t sleep?” Gelvin asked, sitting down on a spare patch of floor, glancing up to the stars through the holes in the roof.

“Can’t blame you. This town has been through the blender.”

I was about to say something, but then couldn’t help but catch his wording.

“We don’t have many blenders around here?” I ventured to remark. Now I had my suspicions.

“Ah. Right. Adopted by ponies. Force of habit.” His words were spoken with a rather reserved demeanor, as if he expected me to lash out with sharpened words of disdain, his gaze shifting to the floor.

It almost-no, it did hurt to realize a few months ago, I might just have done that. No, I would have done that. Scoffed, and blown him off as being lame.
But, that was past Gilda.

I realized I was simply staring, and so waved a set of claws dismissively.
“Eh. That makes sense. I've got some friends who are ponies, so all cool.”

It still felt really weird to say that; my best, and only friends.
Gelvin blinked, glancing up with genuine surprise at me.

“Friends with ponies; I have to say I’m surprised.” He remarked, finally glancing up to me.

That was another thing we didn’t do around here. Eye contact. It was mostly mumbled words and be distracted by anything else other than that griffin you talked to. It was very strange for me to find somegriff else returning the gesture, simply because of the lack of such around the town.

Ooooh, green eyes? That is definitely cool.

“Anyhow, I won’t keep you.” Gelvin remarked, gesturing around to the library.

“I need to head out, so, see you later? Maybe?” He stated, or rather, asked.

I shrugged, not entirely sure what the appropriate response would be.
“Well, you seem to like my scones well enough. We’ll be open as usual, so probably.” I replied back, waving a claw as I headed to the door.

“See ya, dude.”
“Same, Gilda.”

His reply almost caused me to walk into my familiar enemy; the wooden beam of pain. I didn’t hear my name spoken much by anygriff other than Greta, so it was still an alien sound to me. Especially by a male.
It was nice though. Then again, this whole friendship business I could get used to. 
Maybe.
> Chapter Two: Curiosity, and frantic hens.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stretching out on the full length of her bed, I couldn’t help but yawn pleasantly, enjoying the few moments of snuggling with my pillows. Not exactly a dignified pose, but it felt sooooooooooo good.

Finally relenting, I rolled out of bed, rubbing my cheek with a set of claws to wake myself up. The eternal battle of the morning; a warm bed and cold room.

The day started without any fanfare or excitement. I got the ovens fired up, and had a quick meal of some preserved fish jerky and fruit.

It was bound to be a decently busy day, since school for the hatchlings was starting up soon, assuming it was repaired. Mothers would be out with their youngsters, purchasing needed items from the marketplace. The traders had sprung out of nowhere, coming from far and wide now that the town was beginning to regain a bit of life.

The beaks of the fellow griffins outside on the street were actually upturned into the semblance of smiles, hatchlings bounding at their parent’s sides with excitement. School hadn’t been going on for years, at least formally. The first few customers were these parents-hatchling pairs, eagerly munching on the first batch of scones. Greta showed up after an hour or so, just in time for the morning rush. I usually handled the front counter with sales and such, while she helped with the ovens in the back.

“So. Uh, have fun yesterday? The lunch thing?” I asked during a short lull. The other gryphoness instantly paused, and I couldn’t help but chuckle as her face feathers fluffed, wings raising slightly in a shrug, or in embarrassment. Or, perhaps both.

“I-erm-y-yes.” She managed to stammer, not meeting my gaze as she put some more scones in the ovens. I waved a set of claws, not wanting to make things awkward, or at least any more awkward.

“Hey, good for you. I’m not judging or anything. Just hope you’re both happy.” I remarked calmly. Strangely, my words caused Greta to pause, and actually meet my gaze for a split second.

“Thanks, Gilda. Really.” Her tone was surprisingly sincere, and I felt some heat rush to my face. I was definitely not used to sincere thanks, or any heartfelt stuff.

Customer to the rescue, thank goodness. 

Ash-erm, Gelvin actually came in to look at the random-junk section of the shop, as I dealt with a steady stream of youngsters and their parents. I was still getting used to interacting with griffins on a daily basis, but good heavens these kids were cute!

Noisy, and would exhaust me in under an hour, but still cute balls of feathers and exuberance.

One griffin, a rather distraught hen, with grey and brown feathers splotched over her front and side, quickly darted into the shop, looking around frantically.

“Has anyone seen them?” She squawked, looking behind the counter, feathers on her wings ragged, and eyes wide with panic.

“Whoa, slow down.” I asked, or at least tried to, holding up a set of claws. My words had no effect on the distraught hen, who continued to look around.

“Seen who?” A familiar voice spoke up, Gelvin asked calmly, putting a clawed hand on the hen’s shoulder. The contact seemed to snap her out of the panicked daze, and the gryphoness took a few deep breaths.

“My chick, and his friend. H-his name is Filk, and the friend; she’s Dena. He’s brown, white splotches on his wings and side, and she is grey, with white lines across her side. I d-don’t know where they went! They were at my side, but snuck off-we were going to shop for the new school season, but they wanted to go to the mountain caves first, but-”  A held up claw stopped the hen, Gelvin’s eyes narrowing.

“The mountain caves? You’d go with them to explore the safe sections?” He asked, and the hen nodded in reply.

“Y-yes, and I said we’d go after we were done, but n-now-what if they-”

Gelvin was out the door, bowling aside a few enduring customers. I couldn’t help but drum my claws on the counter, more than a little worried. There were safe areas to explore in the mountain caves, with carved slides amongst the stalactites and stalagmites, but there were other, more secluded areas that the rock wolves lived in.

I couldn’t help but envy those in Ponyville for that reason. The Everfree forest just spat out Timberwolves every now and again. Rock wolves were twice as mean, twice as tough, and obviously made of stone.

Two chicks would get torn to pieces.

I curled up a set of talons and smacked the counter, gesturing to the door with my free limb.

“You heard them! Shops closed. Let’s go find the chicks!” I barked, surprising even myself as I herded the ex-customers outside and flipped the sign to ‘Closed,’ Greta following me. She shot me a rather surprised look. Was it of admiration? Amusement? Surprise?

I was surprised that the other gryphons even listened to me; but I guess the whole council-member had some weight. That, and if someone acted like they had authority, you listened to them. At least that’s how things had been done.

I darted off into the sky, aiming towards the caves. The entrances were at the base of the mountain and spread across the bottom, among meadows and a thick forest. Hopefully those chicks would just be hiding somewhere. The other gryphons fanned out behind me; flying to areas around the other sides of the mountains to check.

As I flew, I couldn’t help but be a bit happy. Not at the event of course, but the fact so many griffins were actually helping each other. It felt like being a part of a really cool team again.

I spotted Gelvin out of the corner of my eye, and turned my flight path to get a better look. He was wearing something, and had what looked like a giant stick in his claws. What was he up to?

I sighed, following the other griffin along the mountainside. He was heading towards the more dangerous areas, fenced off by a large stone wall. Rock wolves knew better than try and climb it, but curious chicks, not so much.

Gelvin must have spotted something, because he folded his wings and dropped like a rock into the trees, a small clearing his target.

On getting closer, I dove as well, a lump rising in my throat. Nestled at the edge of the clearing were the two chicks. On the opposite side, six adult rock wolves slowly fanned out, stalking their helpless prey.
> Chapter Three: Rocky Realizations
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I made a snap decision to aim for the chicks, trying to land between them and the wolves. I wasn’t a lousy fighter by any means, but one on six when said enemies were made of stone though; Not great odds.

Landing with a bit more force than I intended, I struggled into a low fighting stance, glancing back to the two chicks, one of whom had a rather nasty gash on his leg.

“I take it you’re Filk and Dena?” I asked, trying to not sound too worried.

“Y-yes.” Came the reply whimper from Dena, the young gryphoness trying to help her friend up, but to no avail. The wound on Filk’s leg was deep enough to eliminate any chance of quick movement.

I turned to look back at the wolves, wracking my brain for a way to defend against their teeth. Short answer? Don’t get bitten, and try to hit them hard enough to disrupt their cohesive magic.

My thoughts ground to a halt as I tried to process what exactly I was seeing, but even once I shook myself back to reality, the sight was still absolutely crazy.

It was also absolutely awesome.

Any assumptions about Gelvin being just an egghead were tossed off a cliff. The gryphon was standing over the remains of one wolf, having landed his full weight onto its spine from the dive. The essential rocks rolled away from under Gelvin’s frame, reforming into a cracked rock wolf that sprinted away, tail between its legs. Now facing five more of the creatures, the gryphon held a long staff in one of his claws, the wood wrapped with metal every few claw lengths.

A knurled cap of metal plated the ends of the staff, clearly to add strength to strikes. An odd wooden contraption was wrapped around Gelvin’s throat, and it took me a few moments to realize why he was wearing such an ugly necklace.

It’s like armor, to stop any attacks from the wolves who go for the throat.

Whoa. 

He glanced back at me, seeming to relax ever so slightly at seeing the chicks not left alone, before turning back to the wolves.

“C’mon, let’s get back to the wall.” I muttered, scooping up the injured chick with a free set of claws, and ushering the other one along before looking backwards.

Beak parting into a hiss, Gelvin drew a line on the ground with his staff, not taking his eyes off the wolves.

What is he doing!? 

Strangely enough, the wolves seemed to understand, not moving for a few moments other than starting to spread out. Their bodies were composed of granite scale-like slabs, their eyes glowing a ghostly blue, and obsidian teeth glistening in the sunlight. As unnerving as they were, it seemed they were keeping their distance….

That didn’t last though.

I was no stranger to violence; nobody who grew up alone in this kingdom would be. That being said, I couldn’t help but feel my chest tightening. Was I about to watch this gryphon be torn to shreds, just to save these chicks?

My answer came as a wolf charged Gelvin from the side, jaws open to clamp obsidian teeth down onto his armored neck.

With a lot more grace than I ever thought possible, the male sidestepped the wolf, his eyes narrowed as a fearsome warlike screech left his beak. The lean gryphon sent the metal-wrapped staff humming through the air, and directly into the face of the wolf.

The granite stone skull was blown to pieces, shards of rock flying everywhere as the animated rocks tumbled to the ground in a pile, their attempts to reanimate crushed by another blow of the staff. The few remaining stones then skittered away, the wolf clearly injured but alive, reanimating a partial form of the wolf a short distance away as it beat a hasty retreat.

“Whoa, he’s cool!” Dena whispered, and I couldn’t think of any reason to counter such a statement.

Two of the four remaining wolves attacked, one actually managing to get its jaws clamped around the gryphon’s neck. The wood armor was torn away, but served its purpose to leave Gelvin’s throat unscathed. The wolf only had time to spit out the wooden contraption before the staff plunged itself through its eye socket, then withdrawing for a punishing blow to the neck.

That left three.

The second wolf to have charged in with its fellow managed to get its teeth around Gelvin’s arm; and the other two uninjured stone creatures began to circle.

Without weapons, what could I do against them to help Gelvin? Regardless, I might have to try- 

The rock wolf latched on the gryphon’s arm quickly found itself at odds with a stone that Gelvin began to beat against its own skull. Apparently, it loosened just enough to let him get a glancing blow in with the staff. Once free, he wasted no time in ripping through the creature’s spine with the weapon, leaving it to skitter away in pieces.

Blood trickling down from his shoulder, Gelvin stayed on his feet, lowering himself back into a basic combat stance and letting out a low growl at the remaining wolves, who quickly skidded to a stop. After barking back and forth, they turned tail and ran back into the forested area, clearly not wanting to meet the same fate as their fellows.

Gelvin nodded, making it to the edge of the clearing before slumping against a tree. A few others from the town landed nearby, having heard the commotion after scouring the other areas. The two chicks were quickly whisked away, leaving me the closest to Gelvin, or at least the only one who seemed to care enough to check on him.

Clearly our race was still working on the whole ‘empathy’ part of life. We were a prideful society, so I couldn’t blame them for not wanting to coddle the wounded gryphon, especially since it wasn’t life threatening.

I let out a huff, padding over to the woozy male to check on his wound. I couldn’t help but care. If I didn’t help others, then how could I expect anyone to ever want to do the same for me?

Huh. Being philosophical after watching a fight. That’s a first. 

Both out of a duty to my fellow gryphon, and the fact this male was clearly not the egghead I thought he was served as rather big motivational factors in making sure he was ok.
Him being rather cute was NOT a reason. Not at all.

Nope. 

“Hey, um, you alright?” I managed to ask, glancing over at his wounded shoulder. If looks could communicate sass, Gelvin’s eyes would have drowned me in it.

“Ok. Stupid question. Do you need any help?” My rephrasing prompted a simple nod, the male standing with a definite limp. His wound had stopped bleeding, but a set of bite marks on his shoulder was certainly nothing that could be ignored.

“That was awesome, by the way. Even if nobody else says it. That. Was. So. Cool!”
I couldn’t help but gush the last few words, thankfully not meeting his gaze, since my face puffed up with embarrassment.

“Thanks. Just wanted to help the chicks, but nice to be appreciated.” He replied, leaning on my shoulder for support as we walked back to the wall, and, subsequently, the gate that led to the main road into town.

Gelvin paused, stopping to lean on a tree. He examined the wrist on his wounded limb, frowning slightly.

“Sprained something too. I am out of shape.” The resulting grumble had me staring with a combination of amusement and surprise.

“Out of shape?! You just took on six rock wolves, and saved two chicks!” I couldn’t help but interject. No way was I going to let this guy downplay himself!

My words finally got a smile, a feat I was quickly becoming a fan of, whether it was him or getting anyone else to at least show some positive emotion.

“Fair enough. I’m glad you were there though. Prevented the wolves from looping around.”
It was only at the simple compliment that I became rather aware of three things.

First, Gelvin seemed rather unable to put much weight on his limb, which meant he was leaning on me.
Two, this was the closest I’d been to anygriffin in a very very long time.
Third, it was rather nice.

Like, really really nice.

We reached the edge of town without incident, and aimed towards the local doctor, not saying much else, at least until we got closer.

“So, Greta huh? I heard she found somegriff special.” He remarked offhandedly, causing me to shrug. I never was good at small talk, instigating it or replying for that matter.

“Yea, guess so. Caught me by surprise, but if it makes her happy, I’m all for it.”

I could have sworn Gelvin seemed to shrink, leaning on me a bit less.

“Ah. Well, I wish you the best of luck then.” He mumbled, seeming rather put-off. I wasn’t sure about what though.
His words did almost cause me to let him fall onto the ground.
“What?! Me- oh! I’m not-she’s-” I stammered, shaking my head.

“She found somegriffin-who isn’t me. I’m, erm, I’m not into females. Guys only.”
I explained, trying to not sound like a total doofus.
Ok, now I know Gelvin’s ears perked up at that.

“Oh! My mistake. I erm, assumed. My bad.” He replied, seeming to be a bit more embarrassed than me. Serves him right, assuming just because I worked with her…

“Really nice gryphoness, but a friend, that’s it.” I concluded, letting out a strangled squawk as an enthusiastic hen embraced both me and Gelvin around the neck.

“Thankyouthankyouthankyou!” She cried, sobbing into our feathers, then pulling away to hold both our claws briefly.

“I don’t-without you two helping-my son-and-they might have.” She stammered, trying to control more than a few tears. I waved a set of claws, nodding to Gelvin.

“No problem, but he’s the one to thank. I just moved them a distance away. He took out the wolves-” I tried to explain, but the hen was clearly too ecstatic to either listen or care, stammering a few more thanks before going off to watch over the two recovering chicks.

One of the doctors (or someone with a bit of medical experience who served as such,) waved Gelvin inside the newly constructed building, and I gestured to the door with a claw.

“Take care, and I, uh, guess I’ll see you round?”

He nodded, a rather bright smile on his beak for someone who had just been mauled by a rock wolves.

“See ya later Gilda.” He called, now being led down the halls to get the wound dressed.

I walked back to my store in a daze, sitting down at the counter to try and process what in the world had just happened.

Saved two chicks, saw a gryphon beat up rock wolves; not a bad way to spend an afternoon. It was quite a sight to say the least.

He thought Greta and I were together? Weird. I wonder why he seemed so- Once the stress of the situation wore off, and I could finally think about what had happened, I felt my face grow hot, feathers fluffing as the full weight of what exactly had transpired slammed into me.

Perky after I told him I wasn’t with Greta? Definitely happier, wait a second. Did that mean?
“Oh tailfeathers. I think he likes me.”

“Who likes you?”
I let out a groan at Greta’s voice, and promptly married me head with the wooden counter with considerable force.
> Chapter Four: It’s a specific time on a calendar, right?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I had never seen Greta giddy before. It was a blend of surprise, annoyance, and amusement on my part at seeing her sitting on one of the rough wooden stools next to the counter staring at me with a wide grin.
A counter which I swore had my forehead imprint on it.

“Sooooooooooooooo?” She asked, tail swishing back and forth.
“What? Since when are you the Gryphon Princess of Love?” I muttered back, refusing to meet her amused gaze.
“Hey, you dropped the L-word, not me.”
This conversation was going to make me age ten years in five minutes, I could feel it.

“It’s-well I can’t say it’s nothing, can I? He’s just a nice guy, alright?” I sighed, glaring at her with about as much venom as Fluttershy’s bunny.
Bad analogy actually. That bunny could kill. Probably  has  killed.

“Nope. You can’t. I am surprised though.” Greta replied calmly, causing my feathers to puff up slightly.
“What? Why?”
Ok, why am I slightly offended at that? 

“Well, you’ve never really shown interested in guys. Or girls. Or anyone for that matter.” The gryphoness stated with a shrug. “I just figured you didn’t care.”

Ah, there was the typical Griffinstone candor.
I didn’t have any reply to that. It was true after all.

“You haven’t ever really  been  super interested in anyone till now, huh? Just SURPRISE?” Greta asked, causing me to nod. What else could I do? She had me cornered and figured out. At least more than I had myself, for the most part.

“Wellllll at least he’s a looker. An egghead, but easy on the eyes. I’d snag him before another does. But I guess you’re already planning that.”
I was now certain Greta gained her life force by making my feathers fluff.

“Well. Maybe. I’ll figure it out.” It was a lame reply, even by my standards, but was the best I could do. This was completely uncharted waters for me, in more ways than one.

“Just ask him on a date. It’s a pony thing, maybe used to be a gryphon thing too. But it worked for me and um….” Now it was Greta’s turn to blush.
“A date? Like, a specific point on a calendar? Oooh. No, like-I gotcha.” I refused to think I was this dense, but this entire conversation had my brain overheating. I knew what dates were. But to put them in context with Griffinstone, with  me  was new.

Greta’s eye roll was enough punishment for my stupidity as she waved a claw towards the door.
“No, like, go have fun doing whatever. Spend time together. Get to know him. That sort of thing. See where it goes. Besides, worked well enough for me. So that’s my advice. As the Gryphon Princess of Love.” She chuckled, hopping off the stool.

“Speaking of dates, I have just that now actually. Sooooooooooo good luck!”
And with that, my personal tormentor hopped happily out the door, leaving me to stew.

Thankfully, the sign was still flipped to ‘closed,’as I sat at the counter taking stock exactly of what my options were.
Option One: Continue on as though nothing had changed. That totally had served me well in the past (not)
Option Two: Go check on Gelvin at the doctors, or his library, and ask if he wanted to have lunch. Or something.

I wanted there to be an option three, where I didn’t have to deal with this. It wasn’t unpleasant, just...
I walked upstairs slightly, a wave of emotions rising up in my throat. With having friends, and actually  caring  it seemed to have unlocked a rather sappy part of me. I still wasn’t sure if it was a good part. It was just new.

I’d never admit it to anyone but myself, but the choices in front of me, and what they signified actually was rather frightening.

Greta was partly correct; I hadn’t been too interested in anyone before. A few ‘hey lets hang out’ sort of things, but nothing past superficial or passing interest. What she had missed, was that I had never had a male be interested in  me  before.
And why would they? Past me was rude, brash, unpleasant, and generally a pill.
In other words, a typical, unlikable gryphon, just like most 'griff's I had grown up with.

Apparently now, I was ‘likeable.’ And that thought, while strangely comforting, was also rather unsettling. I was still figuring out who I was; this new-leaf Gilda.

Did I want to be liked? No, that was a stupid question. Of course I did. But how much did I want  this  kind of being liked?
I didn’t have a way of dealing with these endless thoughts; only trying to see where they led me, and then just doing whatever came up.

What made it worse, was that I knew what frightened me, the cool, apparently- confident gryphoness I was.

For whatever reason, I couldn’t help but feel that wanting to rely on someone, to open up to another gryphon as more than a friend was ‘weak.’ It was a childish view; perhaps born from the years of not wanting to rely on anyone else. But I had seen where that got me. A bitter life with a dead-end scone cart. That had only changed when I let myself be helped, when I opened up, even a little bit.

My wings slumped slightly at that thought. I did need help, in this sense at least. If Gelvin was willing to be understanding, then maybe getting to know him wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe opening up to someone wouldn’t be the worst thing. I mean, it could go wrong, true. But, then if it did, then just try again?

That’s how I think it went anyway.

The emotions in my throat culminated in a painful squeeze in my chest as I walked back downstairs. Somehow, I had come from not wanting to ever rely on anyone, to wanting to.
If I listened to that small voice buried in the back of my head, I actually wanted to, very much so.

That fact had solidified my choice from the start; but it was frightening to me as to how much appeal that idea had. To have someone like that...

As I walked down the streets, I couldn’t help but sigh. I had gone from not wanting friends, to having them. From making faces at mushy romantic couples to whatever my position was now. Ok still not a fan of the super public mushy, so I had that going for me.

I felt my face feathers fluff though, as another unbidden but not unpleasant thought settled firmly in my mind.
I wonder how it’d feel to get a hug from him?

As I stopped outside the doctor’s office, I stared at the ground, as though it was a certain shade of pink smiling back at me.
I would never. Ever. Tell Pinkie Pie that.
Or Rainbow. Definitely not her either.
I paused, actually sitting down at thinking about my friends, and how we had left things.

A hug.
The sobering thought that made my feathers lie flat again was the realization of how little friendly contact I had ever received. Hugs, or anything. Gryphons didn’t naturally have friendly contact much. Family or otherwise. Well, some did, but not mine. It was ‘hey, you’re grown up, go get the world!’ and that was it. Among some friends, sure, but those had been few and far between until recently.

Romance was as about as polar opposite to Gryphon culture as it could be, at least currently. There were past tales of how to woo females, and vice versa, back when the Empire was prospering. Tales of Gryphon knights, approaching the father to ask for permission to court his daughter.

Now, when it was barely starting again? Not much at all remained of that, other than books.
Which Gelvin probably had read, egg-headed as he is. That was a thought, and not an unpleasant one.

Finally pushing through the doors, I meandered to what I assumed was the receptionists ‘desk.’ And by desk, I meant a very rough table with some files and hastily scrawled notes.

I was saved from asking the rather bored-looking gryphon which room Gelvin was in as said gryphon walked, or rather, limped, through the door.

“Thanks doc. I left the bits on the counter- oh, hey Gilda.” He called out, green eyes looking my way as his head tilted slightly in curiosity.
Maybe I was still flustered; but that head tilt was adorable. I didn’t find things adorable. Did I?

“Erm, hey. I was-erm…” I replied, tongue promptly deciding to tie knots in my mouth.
“I wanted to see how you were doing.” There. Finally said it.
Oh, and my reward for such was a blush?

Awesome. Totally getting the hang of this.
“Really? Well, thank you, just a simple bite. Some nasty stuff on the wound to keep it clean, and a bandage, and here I am.” He added, then glancing to his wrist.

“Oh. And some sticks and tape to help the sprain heal.”
I nodded, finally gesturing to the door.
“Can we um, talk?” I asked, and I swore I saw the reception gryphon roll his eyes.
 Hey dude. I’m trying! 

Gelvin nodded, limping carefully outside with me. I didn’t want to make him walk more than necessary, so finally just sat down a short ways from the clinic. Grass had started to grow among the cobblestone streets once again, so there was a nicely placed small grassy clearing.

The other gryphon sat down as well with a huff, favoring his injured limb.
“So, talking?” He ventured to ask, that adorable inquisitive look once again returning to his features.
“Yeah. Um.” There were a dozen ways I could say this. Maybe time for Griffinstone bluntness?

“Would you like to grab lunch or something tomorrow?”
I didn’t think I’d ever seen a gryphon perk up faster. His ears flicked upright, and I could see his feathered cheeks fluff outwards a bit.
“Like just to chat, or?” He asked, seeming a bit curious and cautious.
“No- well, yes. But like, a date. Thing.”
 Smooth. As. Ice. 

A wide smile was starting to edge onto Gelvin’s features, and he was doing a very poor job of hiding exactly how happy he was right now. Not that I minded of course. It felt amazing that spending time with me would cause such a reaction.
I can do that?

“I didn’t know griffins had ‘dates.’” He added, still seeming a tad cautious.
“Well, that’s how Greta ended up with her gryphoness. So, I mean I know it’s a pony thing? Or used to be a gryphon thing? So, I thought….”
 Smooth ice is melting. Uh oh. 

Thankfully, the thoughts and nerves that had started to spin around in my mind all settled when Gelvin chuckled. His green eyes met mine as his simple words calmed them all.

“I’d love to. So, noon tomorrow? Or whenever you’re free for lunch?”
I nodded- possibly a bit too fast as something in my neck cracked.
“Noon sounds good, Greta helps cover part of tomorrow, so that’s perfect.” I managed to say without too much pausing.
The happy grin on Gelvin’s face was making me feel a bit happier than I was used to. Was that how it was supposed to go?
“Then I’ll see you tomorrow then? I have to get back to the library. And rest this shoulder.” He added, glancing at the wound with a bit of regret.

I slowly stood up, nodding briefly.
“Sure thing. I probably need to get back to the shop as well.” I added, seeing him stand up as well, probably to fly back home.
As the gryphon bunched up his frame to hop in the air, his bad wrist buckled. This promptly made him very acquainted to my shoulder once again, as he tripped onto the ground with hiss.

“Erm, sorry. Thought I’d be able to just hop off and fly away. So much for that” He grumbled, leaning heavily on me momentarily before successfully hopping into the air.
“Oh, don’t be.”

My eyes widened in horror- about the same time his did in surprise. I had not meant to say that out loud.
“Hmm. See you tomorrow Gilda.” He chuckled, slowly soaring towards the library.
My face was so hot I thought the cobblestones and grass would burst into flame.

The thought kept repeating, not helping the matter at all either.
I have a date. With a guy. Who is actually interested in  me . This was a different kind of confidence and personal boost I had never felt before.

That aside…
How in the world is this going to go?!

Thankfully, I didn’t care too much about the last part, not yet. Aside from making a fool of myself, it had been a success.
Of course, I had no idea where to go from here.

First? Defend myself against Greta when she got home with dozens of questions.
Then I’d hide under my blankets as I replayed my accidental words over and over again.
‘Oh, don’t be.’

What made it infinitely worse? I totally meant it.
> Chapter Five: A date with a destination
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I tried to not glare at Greta. I really did. But her wide grin as she leaned against the counter once again was making it very very difficult.

“Soooooo?” She asked simply.
“I don’t have to tell you anything.” I mumbled; I was going to put up a fight, inevitable defeat or not.
“Awww, you can’t keep juicy details from your friends. Just a bit?” Greta asked, making an exaggerated pouting face.
Since when did she become so invested in my love-life? But, joke or not, Greta was the only friend I had here.

I let out a sigh, plopping my head on the counter. Even her slightly-annoying questions didn’t dull the warmth that had refused to leave my chest.
“Well. I asked him. He said yes. There you go. Happy?”
Of course she wouldn’t be. But again, I had to try and put up a fight.
“Ok Gilda, that was a lame explanation even for you.” She retorted, giving me a playful and slightly annoyed glare.
“Well, I had to clarify it was a date, and you were right, it is a pony thing. I think he was checking to see if  I  knew what it was, honestly.” I explained.
“But yeah. Tooootally perked up when I asked him. It was adorable, ears up and fluffy. The genius then tried to hop into the air on his wounded wrist and ended up whacking my shoulder with his again….”
It took me a few moments, but I finally realized Greta was quiet, but looking at me with a very amused and happy smile.
“Wow. I didn’t know you liked him that much.” She murmured, not able to stop grinning.
“What? What did I-?”
“Well. First off, you got poofy, well, are  still poofy. Second, I’ve never seen you melt when describing someone, or anything for that matter. Three, when you said he whacked your shoulder, you got totally dreamy eyed. It was awesome.”

I wanted to pout. A nasty, annoyed, angry pout. But I couldn’t. Now that she had exposed every little thing that was going on, it was all I could to do  not  think about it all. Mainly how puffy I was getting.
 I wonder how his fur and feathers would feel if he was totally puffed-NO. BRAIN.

“It’s complicated. But yeah. I guess I do like him.” I muttered, a few of the thoughts from earlier buzzing back to the forefront.
“Complicated? You’re going on a date. If you like him, you go on more dates. If not, you don’t.” Greta replied candidly, raising an eyebrow.

“Ok that part isn’t. But for me it is. I’m not…I-how did you adjust so quickly? I mean, we all weren’t that social. We didn’t make friends much around here, and now?”
To her credit, Greta picked up on the general gist of what I was asking.
“Oooooh. That. Um. Well it’s super awkward at first. At least for me and Gilli it was.”

Gilli. Interesting name. But now I know at least.

“Even a hug was awkward. We were like, ‘do you wanna try this?’ And then, really glad we did.” Now it was Greta’s turn to melt into a happy puddle on the counter.
“All that from a hug?” I asked, my turn to raise a skeptical eyebrow.
“Uh huh. All that from touching shoulders?”
“Touche.”

“But yea. It’s awkward at first. But we all have to get back into that sometime. At least your guy seems understanding. If he likes you, just tell him. It’s what we’re good at. Being blunt if it hurts. Eh, usually.” Greta mused.
“Besides. Not like you can figure out adjusting without him. Doesn’t exactly work like that.” She clucked, suppressing a giggle.
“So, again. Good luck. I’ll be saying that often I think! But I mean it!” 

I stayed quiet, and something about my mood must have queued Greta in at least a bit more.
“Seriously. Just talk to him. I haven’t seen you be this happy, well, ever. Not even when your shop was going great or meeting your pony friends again. If he’s into you, then that means he wants to put forth some effort, right? So, just talk. Nothing fancy.”
“Nothing fancy, got it.” I mumbled, shaking my head before glancing up at her.
“Thanks Greta. Really. I don’t exactly have a limitless supply of friends I can ask for y’know….” I gestured in the air with a set of claws.

“Well it’s my duty as the Gryphon Princess of-”
“Please no.”
“We’re friends. It’s what friends do.”
“Better. Now I think we have to get back to work; I have a date tomorrow.”
I didn’t miss Greta’s giggle as I hopped up a bit faster as we continued to bake and fill orders. But, I didn’t care.
I had a date.
---  ---  ---  ---
Sleep didn’t come easily. Nerves or something. 
Must have been something I ate. Or if I was honest, I was totally nervous.

Thankfully, I got enough sleep to not be a total mess the next day; then getting the first orders of pastries ready as Greta walked in.
“Wow. You look tired.” She quipped, helping stir some batter as I swept off the stone baking counter.
“I feel tired.” I grumbled in reply, not in the mood for any of her poking and prodding my psyche this morning.
“Don’t sweat it. I was a wreck before my first date. Seriously. I ate like a tub of those salted seeds that corner store sells.” The gryphoness chuckled.
“Really?” I raised an eyebrow. Nervous-wreck and Greta didn’t seem to mix.
‘Totally. And honestly, what made it better, was that Gilli was even worse off. Who knows, maybe your knight in shining armor didn’t sleep at all!”
That was an amusing thought, actually.
“Well, I’m still here for a few hours, but thanks.” I replied sincerely. It still felt odd; putting ‘deeper’ emotion behind words, but it was nice.
“No prob. Let’s get this stuff made, yeah?”
-

Ok,  NOW  I was nervous.
I drummed my claws on a stone as I sat at one of two eateries in the town. I had of course not specified where to meet for lunch; stupid. But, there was only one main street, so that helped. I sat outside on a stone bench at the more widely-approved eateries, a squat basalt rectangular building that spat smoke out of a large chimney.
Thankfully, I spotted Gelvin as he limped down the street. His walk was a bit better; so that was certainly a plus. 
As he got closer, I couldn’t help but notice that despite having his features groomed and freshly-cleaned (total plus by the way,) he looked…tired?
Had he been nervous too? That’d be awesome.
“Hey Gilda.” He said, beak curling into a gentle smile.
“S-sup?”

Crud. Gilda 0. Gelvin 1. 
He simply shrugged his wings, sitting down at the same stone bench as me. There wasn’t a menu or anything, not here. A chalkboard inside where you paid listed the items, and then they’d bring it out to you. 
Fancy, for Griffinstone at least.
My thoughts distracted me from the other annoyingly-new emotion that had appeared at seeing the male gryphon make his way here. But now I couldn’t help but be aware of the warm butterflies that squirmed beneath my chest feathers.
Wait. Was he blushing?
“Want to order? Then we can chat while we wait?” He suggested, causing me to hop up in agreement.
“Sounds good.” I chirped, letting him lead as we walked inside.
Why was I so comfortable with this guy? I knew the answer of course…but I couldn’t help but be a bit afraid of what that answer entailed.

We both snagged a meat-pastry; fish wrapped with seasoned spice-bread. It was quickly becoming a favorite in the town for good reason. A heavy bit of fish mixed with spice in the flour that made your tongue tingle.
“So, how is business? I figure it’s doing pretty well, since I see so many of your creations around being eaten.” Gelvin remarked calmly. Despite his gentle tone, I could see his tail twitching, and his free claws drumming on the stone countertop. 
The nervous mannerisms actually set me at ease a bit. I wasn’t the only one possibly overthinking this whole ordeal.

Snapping back to reality where I had to actually answer his question, I nodded briefly after swallowing a bite.
“It’s been pretty good, yeah. Gretta helps a ton of course. There’s no way I’d be able to bake it all.” I replied, a strange weight in my chest lifting as we sat just talking, nothing fancy, just casual conversation.
Just like with my friends; I was being way too weird about all this. 
 Then again, kind conversation is a long-alien thing to Griffinstone. Maybe that can keep changing, bit by bit. 

“What about you? I know the library isn’t the most popular attraction yet.” I ventured to ask. I may not be the biggest reader, but the town needed a good library. 
 Especially so we can learn from the past and not repeat it. Maybe in a few years we’ll look back in distaste at how we acted. That’s a weird thought. 

His ears instantly perked up; and I felt a smile tug at my beak in response. 
“Actually, I’ve had a few regular individuals start to come by. I’m trying to renovate it, so maybe it won’t be so…ah…” The griffin waved his claws around briefly.
“Cruddy?” I suggested with a slight chuckle.
“I was going to go with rustic. But yes. That fits a bit better.” Gelwin added with a grin.
 Ok, those ears and that smile; really adorable. 

Now I knew he was nervous, because his green eyes darted to the mostly-eaten food before back at me, the griffin appearing a bit sheepish.
“After we’re done here, want to… I dunno. Walk?” He suggested, clearly apprehensive at my answer.
Not sure why. It sounded fine with me. Then again, he probably was expecting a snarky or ‘gryphon like’ response.
“Sounds good. I know they don’t like loitering here anyhow, so sounds like a plan.”
My words and the brief nod I gave him seemed to cause all his tension dissipate, Gelwin’s ears perking back up happily. 

I was becoming increasingly aware that until this point, I had not used the word ‘adorable’ in my vocabulary at all. Now, this griffin seemed to embody it.
 I’m really not sure how to feel about that. 


We both finished off the meal fairly quickly; new patrons promptly replacing the seats we just vacated. Gelvin paused to glance back to see if I was following, heading down the main street towards the edge of Griffinstone. 
“So, anywhere we’re going? Or just, y’know, walking?” I asked, perfectly comfortable with either answer. Not like I had a deadline to be back at the shop.

“Hmm. Bit of both maybe? I might have a place that would be cool.” He replied, glancing over to the nearby cloud-covered mountains briefly.

As we walked, a rather startling realization dawned on me as my claws and paws trotted over the cobblestone.
 I’m happy.
No worries. No doubts. Just…happy. 
The only time that I could relate to this was when I had hugged Pinkie and Rainbow, feeling my friends close.
This was similar to that. Not AS close, but the same sort of ‘everything is ok.’
I wasn’t sure what to make of it, but I didn’t want the pleasant warmth in my chest to go away. 

“W-well, lead on then. Or rather, keep leading. If you’ve got an idea at least.” 
 Did my voice just hitch? 
“Can do.” Was the calm reply, a pair of green eyes glancing over to me briefly.
“You alright?”
I nodded hurriedly; not a lie. I was ok. Whether I was better or worse than ‘alright’ I wasn’t sure yet.

“Yeah, I’m good. So, adopted by ponies? How does that work, if it’s not too sore a subject though.” I asked, genuinely curious. Could be a simple thing or a pretty nasty event. Maybe I was a bit too blunt or forward with that question…
Thankfully, Gelvin simply shrugged with a slight smile still on his features. The fact he looked over to me every now and again while talking still took getting used to.

 But with those eyes, I’m getting used to it preeeeetty quick. 

“Not a sore subject, not anymore.” He added with another shrug.
“Not sure if parents died or just didn’t want me. Don’t remember them; but I do remember two ponies taking me home. They raised me until I could hold a job, and then set out on my own.” 

Gelvin paused, glancing over to me with those emotion-saturated eyes of his.
“Ponies give until it hurts. That’s something griffin’s don’t do, I’ve discovered.” 
What could I say to that? I simply nodded, it was true after all.
“Raising me was taking a toll on them. Both in a financial sense, and social. So…I told them I could make it on my own, and left. I still keep in contact now and again though.”

Apparently I was staring, because the gryphon’s face fluffed slightly, looking away for a moment.
“Well. Maybe a bit sore still. But hardly a sob story.”
I shrugged my wings, still musing over his words.
“Still, thanks for telling me. Not often I get to learn about another gryphon.” 
He nodded, then glancing over to me briefly.
“Friends with ponies? How did that happen?”
Well, fair is fair.
“In a nutshell? Had a friend from when I was a chick, she helped me gain my confidence. Didn’t see her for years, but then I totally blew it when seeing her again. I was a real jerk, and didn’t talk to her for a while. Then a few months ago, they visited, and I had to choose.”

I sighed, looking down at the cobblestones as I saw Gelvin glance at me curiously.
“I could either have saved the greatest treasure Griffinstone had ever held, or save my friends. I chose them. I'm still figuring out if it helped them more, or me, to be honest.”

The fact Gelvin simply nodded filled me with relief. I wouldn’t have trusted many, if any other griffin to have such a reserved reaction.
“You chose internal wealth rather than external. That’s something gryphons are slowly learning.” He mused.

On seeing me stare, his face abruptly turned pink, feathers fluffing outwards in embarrassment.
“W-what?”
I couldn’t help but laugh softly.
“You are such an egghead.”
Seeing his feathers flatten ever so slightly, I gave his good shoulder a gentle nudge with a fist.
“Never said that was a bad thing.”
And cue the ears perking up. Awesome.
“So where are we heading to?” I continued, now that we had reached the edge of Griffinstone’s walls.

“I was wondering if you wanted to see something cool. It’s a section of caves in the nearby mines.” Gelvin explained, looking over to me briefly. He seemed rather cautious of the whole idea.
“If not, it’s cool. I get the whole ‘follow a strange griffin into a mine’ thing. Or if it’s just not interesting….”

I simply raised an eyebrow, walking over and giving his bad shoulder a very gentle poke.
“You aren’t that threatening, besides,  it sounds rather cool. I haven’t ever been to the mines.”
It took quite a bit of self-control to not laugh at the look on Gelvin’s face. The poor gryphon seemed halfway between upset at my ‘not threatening’ comment, but at the same time wanting to jump for joy.
 Did…his eye just twitch? Uh oh. I think I broke him. 
Apparently he settled on the jumping for joy half of his conflict, because a wide grin spread across Gelvin’s features.
“Really? That’s….I’m glad. Not sure if you’ll like it though.” His ears flattened ever so lightly.
I simply shrugged, following as he aimed towards a path that meandered to the nearby base of the mountain. 

“I’ve never been to the mines; so just checking out a new place sounds cool.” I replied, not wanting to douse his enthusiasm. For all I knew, it could be a pretty rock he wanted to show me, but exploring the mines sounded pretty neat. They hadn’t been used for years, ever since Griffinstone slid into the slum-like environment it had become, and was now climbing out of. Maybe now we could start mining metal and gems again, get some trade going…
Aaaaand this is why Grampa Gruff wanted me on the council. Those ‘young ideas’ he grumbled about. Smart old featherhead….

“It’s not too far away; there’s plenty of entrances, and I’ve got a pack with some supplies as well.” Gelvin explained as the path took us through a field of elbow-high golden grass.
“Supplies?” Now I was slightly curious.
“Y-yeah. I like exploring the mines, and it’s not very fun if you don’t have light or food, or water for that matter. There’s plenty of entrances, so getting lost isn’t too big a deal, but why take the chance?”
Can’t argue with that.
“Well, off to the mines we go. Pretty cool idea for a date….”
Aaaaand I said that out loud.
 
My embarrassment was wiped away instantly as the biggest smile lit up Gelvin’s features, ears perking up again with a definite blush on his cheeks.
Points for me. He’s so easily flustered…
Ooooooh that could be fun.
> Chapter Six: Many mine misfortunes
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I have to say, those fish-wraps are really good.” Gelvin remarked as we walked along a slightly-overgrown dirt path, the grassland changing to a shrubby forest.
“Hmm. They’re becoming a favorite for me as well. Have you asked for extra spice? Makes it a ton better.” I mused, imagining the pleasant burn on my tongue when I discovered that was an option.
“Oh? Never did that, is it good?”
“Sooooooooooo good. The extra burn is awesome.”

As Gelvin nodded, I couldn’t help but muse over this entire ‘thing.’ 
In short, it was nice.
I can’t remember the last time I just chatted with another gryphon other than Gretta. I think I like it, a lot. The fact this guy is so easy to talk to is weird. 
In a good way though.

“So, you show this place to anyone else?” I asked, looking at the large mountain looming in front of us.
“Erm, not really, no.” He replied, tone that of almost…sadness? Regret?

Huh. Maybe this guy was more sensitive than most. Then again, raised by ponies would do that.
I mentally gave myself a smack for that comment; it was exactly that sort of thinking that had gotten gryphons to this point of being such jerks. I hadn’t been raised by ponies and I was- well, I was working on the sensitive part. At least it was there.

That being said, seeing Gelvin’s ears flatten and something eating at him wouldn’t do. For whatever reason, seeing him clearly troubled was like a thorn in my chest, digging deeper as he refused to look me in the eye.
It’s like when Gretta had that really bad day a week ago, but ten times worse. Ugh. Well, maybe I can mess with him….

“Huh. Not even other fragile gryphoness’s such as myself?” It killed me ever so slightly to say such a thing as I flipped back some of my bangs in an exaggerated gesture. The addition of an ever-so-slightest sway of my hips completed the jest. 
Never done that before. Wonder if I can pull it off, or if I just look like an idiot.

I heard something halfway between a cough and a sneeze, and looked over to see Gelvin standing stock still as he sputtered and stared in surprise.
That was enough of an answer for me, and I couldn’t help but burst out laughing, holding my side with a set of claws at seeing a massive blush on his very-puffed up features. His usually light-grey cheeks were a lovely shade of pink, expression that of utter shock. The fact Gelvin refused to look at me for a few moments as he smoothed his feathers felt like a strange sort of victory.

“That, was not fair.” He grumbled, finally continuing along the path as I wiped a tear or two of mirth from my eyes.
“Ok, maybe not. But that was so worth it. You are adorable when you’re-” 
Now it was my turn to half-cough and sneeze, the words promptly welding my throat shut.
I did NOT just say that.

“Ah, well, you looked a bit sad. So, at least not anymore.” I managed to stammer out, ignoring the fact a certain male gryphon was now grinning ear to ear, despite a still-present blush.
“Mmmm. Well, thanks.” He chuckled, and I had a feeling my words weren’t about to be forgotten.
That’s…like Gelvin 1000, and me at -2000. I don’t think I’ve ever said that word out loud before.
First date. Going totally smooth. Both of us blushing messes. Faaaaaantastic.
So why do I still feel good? A bit embarrassed, but, good. Happy? 
How am I still happy?

I shrugged my shoulders, looking over to him briefly. He was padding along quite cheerfully ahead of me- at least slightly. For a brief second he glanced back, then turned back to watch where he was walking.

I did not miss the delighted smile still on his features.
For whatever reason, that only made me happier. I didn’t know what this warm feeling was in my chest, but it felt nicer than any number of blankets or pillows.
As we came within sight of the mine entrance, I skidded to a stop as Greta’s words flooded back.
Oh.
Oh no.  
Was she right?
Ok, she might have been right. I might be totally head over tail-

“Well, here we are!” Gelvin proclaimed, gesturing to the mine entrance.
“I’ll just snag-erm, Gilda? You alright?”

I nodded, tripping over my words as I caught up with him.
“Y-yeah. Good. Just, nevermind. So this is it?” I asked, no way I’d be able to hide the blush on my cheeks.
Karma. Pure. Simple. Karma.
The amusement in Gelvin’s green eyes was certainly the icing on the Karma cake. He seemed to be genuinely cheerful though. There was also something else in his eyes that I couldn’t quite place though. It wasn’t unsettling; if anything, it made me feel safe…weird.

“Yep! This is it!” Gelvin chirped happily, gesturing to the mine entrance. Carved directly into the mountain base, massive dark-tan stones surrounded all angles of the entrance as evidence from the excavation. No doubt explosives had been used in addition to usual excavation methods, judging from a few rotted crates labeled as such.

“So, they blasted the tunnel? Nice.” I mused, looking around briefly.
“Yeah. There’s still charges set-well, somewhere. Some of the entrances were to be closed off, but they removed the fuses when there wasn’t any gold to pay the blasters.” Gelvin explained. Most likely seeing my face, he shrugged, waving a set of claws.
“It’s fine. No way they can go off. The dirt is damp as it is.” A roll of thunder seemed to back up his statement.
“Case in point. Guess we’ll head in before getting soaked?” He added, snagging a bulky tan rucksack from behind one of the entrance rocks.

“Sure, lead on.” I replied, waiting as he fished out a flashlight. Surprisingly, it was one of the newer magically charged crystal ones that clipped onto your shoulder or head. Fancy…
Handing a second one to me, Gelvin made his way into the tunnels with me on his heels. There were sturdy wooden support beams that seemed to have not rotted in the slightest, a testament of gryphon engineering when we put our minds to it.

“I’m surprised nobody has harvested the wood from here. Anti-rot spells or similar methods are expensive nowadays.” Gelvin mused as we walked down the dark expanse. In the distance I could see a fork, the tunnel taking a left and then a right. Behind me, the storm had unleashed a wall of water, drenching everything within seconds amidst the boom of thunder.
“Glad we’re in here, nice and dry! It’s not too far.” His happy chirp echoed through the tunnels.
I let out an amused hum, looking over the expertly-excavated walls and support beams. This place was pretty sturdy, and cool.

“Well, so far, this is pretty neat. Not bad for a first date.” I quipped, seeing Gelvin’s green eyes look back at me happily.
“I’m glad, not many gryphons want to come here, for multiple reasons. Small spaces, boring, and so on.” He added with a sigh.

“Anyhow, down this left tunnel we go!”
As he led me through twisting and turning passages, I thought I’d get lost, but realized we only took two turns. The first left, and then the second right. It wasn’t that confusing at all.

“Ah. Here we go. Um. Over here.” Gelvin directed me over across a rather flat portion of stone, setting his pack down and looking at the barely-visible walls to our left and right. In front of us was a void of darkness, the ledge vanishing after about four tail-lengths. The chasm in front of us must be massive, bigger than six buildings stacked side by side or on top of one another, but that was a rough guess.

“Whoa. This place is huge…” I mused, words being swallowed up by the darkness.
“Yeah. I haven’t seen how deep it goes. But that’s not the coolest part. You’ll need to turn off your light.”

As I turned off my light, I saw his own flashlight was being set against some rocks behind us.
“Fair warning, I’ll shove you off the ledge if this is some sort of way to try and kiss me.” I stated rather flatly, causing him let out a choked half-chuckle.
“That was a joke. Mostly. You know how the idea of ‘courting’ varies with gryphons.” I added with a shrug.
Oh look. A puffy Gelvin shadow puppet.

“I-ok fair point, it does vary and I wouldn’t put that past some others I’ve met. But no, I like to think I’m a bit more of a respectful romantic than that.” He replied, still situating the flashlight.
“Respectful romantic? Huh. Didn’t know gryphons could be that. Or is that a book type interest?”
“Actually there’s a few books that are really-I’m…going to shut up now.”
Once again I was trying my hardest not to laugh, but that was another piece of the Gelvin puzzle fitted into place.
An egghead who has a library, reads some sort of romance novels, and can fight off wolves? This dude is all over the place. And how in the world can a gryphon BE romantic? We don’t really do that.
….do we?

“Aaaaanyhow. This is about set. We’ll have to close our eyes for a minute or two to get our night vision though.” He added, placing a bit of cloth over the flashlight before turning it off, then closing his own eyes.
“….Ok, really? Are you sure this isn’t a plot to kiss me or something? Because so help me-”
“No! I promise. ” 
I sighed, closing my eyes and barely picked up some indiscrete grumbling from his direction.

“Alright. Take a look.”
I opened my eyes, and promptly gasped. In front of me, filling my entire vision, was the sky. Stars twinkled in the hundreds, if not thousands. Everywhere I looked was a beautiful array of soft sparkling white light. I barely could see Gelvin, but his dark outline walked over and sat next to me as he looked up as well.
“I’ve always liked the stars. So on cloudy days, this is the next best thing.” He said softly.

I wasn’t one for gaudy or flashy things, but the spectacle in front of me was enough to render me speechless nonetheless.
“What do you think?”
For a moment I didn’t say anything, just took in the fantastic sight in front of me.
“It’s beautiful.” 
I saw his figure relax ever so slightly, no doubt having hoped I’d enjoy it. Who wouldn’t though? It was stars inside a mountain! How cool was that?!

We stared in silence for…I honestly am not sure how long. At least a few minutes of just looking at the ‘stars.’ 
As far as dates went, or just how a day could go, it was pretty awesome. I hadn’t been this happy in a very very long time.
And that warm feeling was still there, and now wanted an outlet. 
I’ve never wanted to hug someone. Ok, not true; other than Pinkie and Rainbow that one time, and Gretta.
…still not used to it. Ugh.
I settled on the intermediate option. Scooting a bit closer, I stopped when I felt Gelvin’s side brush against mine.
Whoa. This guy has super soft feathers and fur.

“Thanks for showing me this, I’ve really had fun. Pretty great first date actually.” I whispered, really not wanting to admit to myself how nice this felt. 
Like, really, really nice. The no-hugging Gilda had started to melt with my pony friends, but this guy made that view evaporate. 
I think I get Gretta’s view on hugs now. ‘Awkward but glad we did?’ Seems like it.

I felt Gelvin stiffen ever so slightly in surprise, and I certainly didn’t blame him. When it came to courting with gryphons, it was a roll of the dice. Expect the unexpected.
So this was a lesser point of that it would seem, but still a bit surprising to him-

My thoughts promptly flatlined as Gevin leaned back against my side ever so slightly. I wasn’t sure what I was more pleasantly unsettled by; the fact I now really wanted to give him a hug, or that just simply physical contact was making my brain turn to sludge. For how independent I was, there was something to be said about leaning against this strong gryphon. It was comforting in a new and odd way.

“I’m glad, I know it’s not the most traditional or normal thing. But, I’m glad you had fun. That’s all I really wanted to happen.” He replied softly, and in a rather tender way that pricked at parts of my heart I didn’t know could be touched.
“Well, I certainly did.” I replied, then stopped talking and just enjoying the view and the close companionship, which I was starting to grudgingly admit was a bigger factor.

I never thought of myself as someone who enjoyed close company like this, and maybe that was true. But right now, with this gryphon? I didn’t mind it in the slightest. 
And to think I was half-worried about this being a trick to try and kiss me or something. Now I’m the one entertaining the idea of a hug. 
Since when did I want this sort of thing? Recently? Or…
Where that train of thought let had my ears flatten slightly.
Or is it something I’ve wanted for a long time, and just shoved it deep down, like you have to do in order to survive in Griffinstone? And maybe it took Rainbow and Pinkie to bring it out again.

I took a deep breath and sighed, trying to get the thoughts to fade away. It was almost too much for me to take in, if I was being honest with myself. First accepting I was lonely, only to then have a date with an actually decent gryphon? It was quite a shift. 

And, speaking of shifting…
I decided to just shut down all the clamoring thoughts by leaning my head over slightly to rest against Gelvin’s shoulder.
“Erm, this alright?” I asked, thankful for the darkness to mask the heated blush that was radiating from my cheeks.

“Totally alright. Just a bit unexpected. In a good way.” Was the caring reply.
“…you and me both. I’m new to this whole thing.” 
I felt and heard Gelvin chuckle ever so slightly, his sides shaking briefly.
“Join the club. Not like I’ve gone on a dozen dates or anything. But I’d say we’re doing ok?”
I let out an affirmative hum, once again wondering what in the world Gelvin used to make his feathers so dang soft. 
“I’d say so. I’ve heard ponies saying that a kiss on the first date is too forward. But this feels nice.” I mused, prompting another chuckle.
“Sounds about right to me. This does feel rather good.”

I grinned, resting against his shoulder for another good minute or two and enjoying the sensation. That alone was a very new thing.
New, but definitely not a bad thing.
Finally I lifted my head with quite a bit of regret, but it was a necessary gesture. As much as I wanted to stay like that for a while, the last thing I wanted to do was come off as some sort of needy gryphoness.
I still had some shreds of my pride left.
Some.

“Anywhere else in this mine we can explore? Then maybe snag some food on the way back?” I suggested, still coming to terms as to how at-ease I was with Gelvin in general. I was getting used to it pretty quickly, but it was still an alien thing.

“Sounds good to me.” The gryphon took the cloth off the flashlight, blinking as his eyes adjusted to the brighter scene. Turning my own light on, I had to bite my tongue from laughing. Even in the dim light, I could see the tell-tale signs of Gevlin’s feathered crest standing almost straight up, and his cheeks easily doubled in size with a puffed up blush.
Somehow that never gets old. I guess both because of how cute he looks, and because….heh, well I guess I can have that effect on someone.
The last thought was enough to give my ego a rather nice boost as we walked out of the tunnels. It wasn’t often I thought of myself as attractive, especially not to males or the like. But the fact I could get Gelvin to be so flustered with simple gestures or jokes…
It’s like he sees me as, well, a gryphoness; A female, and I guess that’s a new thing. 
It felt good.


As we walked to the exit, I noticed a distinct lack of light at the end of the tunnel.
“Erm, Gelvin?” I called out as he bounded ahead and examined the piles of rocks.
“Well. Bad news is the storm caused the entrance to collapse. Good news, there’s a second one nearby.” He replied with a shrug, then actually glared at me with the slightest smirk.
“No, this is not my way of getting a second date by the way.”
“Tooootally wasn’t thinking that, but good to know though.” I quipped with a barely-suppressed laugh as we walked to the forked tunnel, taking a right this time.
Ok, I was totally thinking that.

After walking a short distance down the other tunnel and taking a few more twists and turns, Gelvin stopped up short as we rounded a corner.
“What-oh….” I muttered, seeing a distinct lack of a tunnel in front of us.
“More good and bad news. This exit is blocked too. Looks like the same landslide put too much weight on the support beams. Must have been a big one.” Gelvin muttered, shaking his head.
“The nearest exit is a pretty good walk away. I’ve got enough water and food in my pack and have a spare pack hidden in a tunnel too. But the other exits require us going deeper and under the mountain.” He explained further, clearly a tad unsettled. 
“And the good news?” I asked with a sigh, sitting on my haunches with a raised eyebrow.
“Um, a second date?” He suggested with a half-hearted grin, prompting me to smack my claws into my face rather forcefully.
> Chapter Seven: A nice thing indeed.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“You’re lost.” I grumbled, following behind Gelvin, headlamps shining through the dark rock tunnels.
“I am not!”
He totally is.

“Soooooooooooo lost.”
“Well…I know we need to take a right at some point.”
I smacked a set of claws against my face at that- pausing as the other gryphon stopped.
“Seriously? We’ve been walking for a few good hours.” I muttered, watching as he reached over and snagged something from the side of the dark rock tunnel.
“Uh huh. And here’s the other supply pack I knew would be here!” He crowed, setting it down so I could see. Inside, sealed ration bars and some canteens of water greeted my eyes, along with a small first aid kit.

“Huh. Smart gryphon.” I muttered, feeling a slight blush rise to my cheeks as Gelvin smiled, an adorable grin plastering itself on his beak.
The fact I can still cause such a reaction is pretty awesome…

“Just seemed like a good idea at the time, and now of course.” he added, gesturing to me briefly. I got the message, shrugging on the side-pack easily.
“I actually do have a general idea where we are. There should be…huh.”

The fact his words trailed off made me follow Gelvin’s gaze, noting how a trickle of water was running down the wall.
“Must be raining pretty hard to have water reach down here.” he mused, and I didn’t like how unsettled Gelvin’s demeanor was.
“We’re cool though, right?” I ventured to ask, prompting him to shrug and resumed walking.
“As long as we don’t go to the deeper sections for too long. We shouldn’t have to at least- there’s a bridge up ahead that spans a section of tunnel. Technically we could drop down and follow it out, but with this water, I’d rather not risk it.” he explained.
Huh. Makes sense.

“Y’know, as far as second dates go, this isn’t the worst time I could imagine.”
I was once again given the satisfaction of seeing Gevin’s ears perk up, the gryphon glancing back and me with a slight smile.
I don’t think getting that reaction will EVER get old!

“R-really?”
I nodded, walking forward and shrugging.
“Well yea. It stinks we’re stuck underground, but hey, it’s an adventure, and with a ‘griff I’m interested in.” I mused, not missing the blush around his feathers.
“I guess that’s not that bad. Still sorry you’re stuck here.”
“Eh. I needed a day off anyhow.” I quipped, pausing as a structure came into view.
“Ah. That’s…the bridge. Crud.”

My words echoed off the chasm, the rickety wooden structure seeming to be held together by prayers and twine. No more than some thick planks lay down and crisscrossed together, the ‘bridge’ spanned a gap easily two stories high.

“I would say ladies first, but that seems more improper than not.” Gelvin muttered, testing the bridge with a set of talons.
“Yeah, I vote the bigger gryphon goes first. If it holds you, it’ll hold me.” I added, staring at Gelvin as his ears flattened.
Did he seriously think-
“Dude, that wasn’t a fat joke. You’ve got more muscle than me.” I sighed, causing him to perk right back up.
Huh. Sensitive…that’s kind of nice.

“Mostly due to boredom.” He muttered, slowly crossing the creaking planks. 
“Boredom? Let me guess, that show with the staff and saving the hatchlings was also due to boredom? That’s still pretty awesome.” I replied, slowly crossing on the planks.
He was about to reply when I felt one of the boards underneath my right claw strain and crack. 

I barely was able to look up, meeting the horrified gaze of Gelvin as the rest of the bridge began to give way.
As the ancient wood snapped, I started to flare my wings- at least a bit. In the confined space, trying to open them completely would cause more harm than good.

What I didn’t expect though, was to land on a feathery something.
“Ow.”
Gelvin?!

I scrambled off the gryphon in shock, the male waving a set of talons.
“Oh good, that worked.” He muttered, prompting me to sigh.
“Seriously? How did you dart down here that fast?”

He gestured to the wall, and I saw a set of claw marks scoring the stone.
“As it collapsed I darted underneath. Grabbed you, flared wings, managed to slow down with talons a bit. Totally dull now t-though.” Gelvin winced, and only now I noticed something rather unsettling. While there was no sign of rainwater seeping into the area yet, my claws came away wet as I moved off Gelvin’s chest.

I then felt something very unnatural brush my talons- and I followed the claw-sized protrusion until it met a feathery barrier.
“Oh no.” I muttered, fetching my headlamp which had been knocked off in the fall.
Sure enough, a piece of wood was embedded into Gelvin’s side, the other gryphon staring at it incredulously.
“…That’s one huge splinter.” he muttered, gingerly poking at it.
“The worst part is, leaving it in may cause more damage than taking it out, at least partially.” the gryphon added.

“So…what do we do? What can I do?” I asked, fishing out the first aid kit from my pack with shivering claws. I was used to minor injuries- burns from the stove, nicking myself with a knife, but this was totally different.

“It’s outside of my ribs and near nowhere vital. But if I walk, it might dig deeper. So, out it comes. Get a ton of gauze ready, and then press it over the spot.” Gelvin instructed, and I couldn’t believe how calm he was being about all of this.
“I’ll…pull it out.” he hissed, grasping the shard as I nodded, gauze in claw.
He took a deep breath, and promptly yanked the wood out with a grunt, and I quickly mounded on the gauze and pressed down.

“GAH!”
Apparently despite being painful, it was the right thing to do, because Gelvin simply lay back and let out a shaky breath.
“Ok, hard part done.” he muttered, as I shook my head.
“How were you so calm about all that?” I asked, prompting a pained chuckle from the gryphon.
“A-are you kidding me?” he stammered, and only now did I see his wide eyes looking at mine.
“I sounded calm? That’s g-good.”
I blinked, moving closer to help Gelvin up as I bandaged the gauze to his size with some thick medical tape, also passing over some painkillers from the medical kit.

“You weren’t then?” I asked, the gryphon nodding as he heaved himself upright.
“C-calm? I just yanked a piece of wood out of my chest!” he replied, staggering forwards slightly.
“Just remembering what I read in a medical book. Not like we have much training in Griffinstone on that stuff. I…um, will need your help, Gilda.” he added, even as I provided support to his shoulder.
“I never would have guessed. But hey, you’ve got a nice shoulder.” I quipped, helping him stagger along.
This guy- all from reading books? 
Ok, I seriously have underestimated Eggheads.

“I’d love to enjoy this more, preferably when I’m not a mess.” Gelvin mused, prompting a chuckle to leave my beak.
“Well, I’d like that. I guess if getting lost was our second date, was yanking a splinter out our third? And escaping this place our forth?” I couldn’t help but run with the idea, the entire thing seeming both ludicrous, yet somehow…comforting.
I’m just comfortable with this guy; I really wouldn’t mind more dates, see where things go.
 
“I mean, I’d prefer a proper second date, or more.” Gelvin whispered as we staggered along, pausing to rest as he leaned against a rock wall.
“Oh. We just follow this tunnel out. It’ll lead us to an exit eventually.”

I nodded, helping him along as the male’s words spun around inside my head.
A second or third date? He’d like that too?

“This is so weird.” I said under my breath, prompting a hum from the gryphon on my shoulder.
“Hmm?”
“You. This. Dates. Everything.” I added, shaking my head at the thought.
“Just never really considered it. And now that I’ve found a guy who also wants to go on more dates, it’s really weird. I don’t know how to react. It’s all new…”
“Wait, you want to go on a few more?”
I said that, huh?

“Uh, duh?” I replied, prompting a happy chuckle from Gelvin.
“Really? Just, Duh? I love that answer.”
I grinned, the other gryphon falling silent as we walked. Apparently, it was becoming more difficult, because he motioned for me to stop after a time.
“Need to rest. This is hurting.” he groaned, sliding down to rest against the now-damp tunnel walls.

I sat next to him, unsure of what I could do, if anything.
“This sucks. Not being able to help.” I muttered, but somehow my words prompted a grin.
“Hey, you’re you, and you’re here, and my date. That’s plenty of help.”
Not able to resist smacking my claws to my face (again,) I couldn’t help but shake my head.
“Ok, I swear you’re laying on the sappy for my benefit.”
“Is it working?”
….crud.

My face must have betrayed my thoughts, because Gelvin chuckled, clutching his side with a wince.
“Well, glad it’s a positive at least. Never thought I’d get to know a gryphoness this well, not in Griffinstone at least.”

That had me blinking in shock, not fully understanding.
“Seriously dude? How and why? Last I checked, you beat up some ice wolves to save hatchlings, and like exploring creepy but beautiful underground caverns. That’s awesome!” I exclaimed, wings flaring for emphasis.

Gelvin’s furrowed brow dampened my enthusiasm however- the gryphon shrugging.
“The product of not having friends and reading too many books.” he whispered, and I could see a bit of the spark in his eyes fade ever so slightly.
Well. Can’t have that, and I know how to fix it.

“Training because of interest in books, and finding a cavern because I enjoy pretty things. Not exactly gryphon qualities, not ones that bring in many friends or…more.”
I paused at his words, shifting over to sit closer, leaning my head on his shoulder.
“Who says they aren’t gryphon qualities?” I asked, enjoying the contact a bit more than I cared to admit.
“Maybe they are just buried in others- you’re just one of the few to let them out. I think you’re pretty cool, whatever the reasons may be. I’m still here, aren’t I? And that’s not just because we’re stuck in a cave.”

Gelvin was quiet for a time, finally sighing as I felt his beak widen in a slight smile.
“Thanks, Gilda. I think you’re pretty cool too, among other things.” 
He seemed to wince after speaking- and I couldn’t help but pursue that bit of juicy info.
“Among other things?”
Oh he’s totally heating up…
 
“Uh….”
We started walking again- and I allowed a bit of stalling on Gelvin’s part. But I wasn’t about to let that go.
“Soooooo?”
He let out a sigh, shrugging slightly as we continued onwards.
“You say maybe I have qualities that other gryphons have hidden, I think the same is for you. Well, other than being attractive, that’s not hidden at all.” Gelvin muttered, now causing my face to heat up.

“But like, caring for others, helping out in Griffinstone. That’s really admirable, and I like that about you. You may not like being on the Griffinstone council, but you’re good at it, at least from what I understand. I didn’t ask you on a date just based on one thing- but on a few things, all which make you, you.”

I muttered something under my breath- something between ‘thanks’ and ‘ugh now I’m blushing.’
In hindsight, it probably sounded like a sneeze and an auctioneer’s blathering’s.

“Is that a ‘I’m glad I asked’ sound, or a ‘not what I was expecting’ sound?” Gelvin asked, his tone noticeably more jovial.
“It’s a ‘I have never had somegriff say that to me before,’ sound.” I muttered, prompting a thoughtful hum in reply.
“Well. I guess I should say stuff more often? Or maybe I’ll wait after a few more dates to do that.”

Nah. You can go on.
Can’t say that. Or can I?
“I mean, if you don’t want to wait….”
Now a genuine laugh left Gelvin’s beak, the sound making me smile.
“Who doesn’t like hearing such things I suppose.”

He paused, and his tone grew a bit softer and more sincere.
“I really wouldn’t mind. I think you’re a pretty incredible gryphoness. Not often I get a chance to tell somegiff that.”

At this point my brain shut down, not having expected him to pursue the topic. 
I thought he’d be too embarrassed or…I dunno, SOMETHING!
 
“I mean, there’s the physical stuff of course. Aside from being just…wow, your eyes are incredible- kind of like looking into a gem. Depending which way you look at it, can see something different. Your white feathers just make them jump out. But other stuff? Like, you’re one of the few gryphons to care about others and at least try to help. You’ve got an edge to you, but that’s matched nicely by the softer side- which isn’t a bad thing at all. I just think you’re...really…erm…”

I guess Gelvin’s words finally caught up to his brain, because the gryphon’s words drifted off, and I felt his feathers start to fluff.
Hah! Knew it would happen. 
I couldn’t shake a nagging feeling though- something I knew was born from growing up in Griffinstone.
“Hey Gelvin?” I asked, not able to meet his gaze, both due to my own blush and growing doubts.
“What do you want? I know it seems jerkish to ask, but it’s hard to not think…” I tried to explain as best I could, but a strange bit of emotion seemed to clog my through.

“I’m not used to stuff like this. Somegriff saying such things and not wanting something in return. After talking with my pony friends, I know it’s kind of messed up to always assume that, but that’s how I grew up.”
My ears then flattened, a few burning tears edging into my eyes. That surprised me, to say the least. But, maybe it shouldn’t have.
How messed up is it, that I can’t just take a gryphon at his word? No matter how much I want to.

Gelvin let out a slight huff, once again pausing to lean against a wall.
“Yeah, I figured. It’s how life is here, how it has been. Nothing is free.” he mused, then managing to catch my gaze. He smiled ever so slightly- and the complete innocence in his eyes caught me off guard. No suspicion, malice, or even ulterior motive was there. Just…him.

“Gilda, if we get out of here and don’t go on another date, I still mean my words. Of course, I’d like to spend more time with you- but even if not, I say such things freely. That’s how you let someone know you care. You tell them- hoping, but not expecting or even assuming something in return. I think you’re incredible- so I wanted you to know that. Do I want anything in return for that? No, but I hope it conveys that I do want to spend more time with you.”

I stared at the ground, taking a slow few breaths. This was so far out of my element, yet pieces just seemed to fit. From when talking to Rainbow or her friends, this just seemed to be like an aspect of friendship. Just liking someone and making them happy.
It was everything lacking from Griffinstone, yet everything it desperately needed.
What I…

“T-thanks Gelvin.” I whispered, head still shaking slightly.
Ugh. I get a griff who’s just a bit honest and I turn into a mess. Honest, nice, attractive, caring-
Ok he’s pretty great.

We started walking again, and finally I couldn’t ignore what I knew would settle part of the turmoil in my mind.
I’ll never mention this to you, Pinkie Pie…
Pausing, I carefully wrapped my arms around Gevlin’s uninjured side, and I felt him stiffen in surprise-
And then relaxed as he returned the gesture, my entire frame sagging to the ground slightly.
You don’t feel safe in Griffinstone, not often at least.
And yet…

“This helping?” he whispered, and I could only nod.
“Yeah, thanks.” I added, then let out a slight chuckle.
“You know, you’re pretty great too. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of your soft side- or the way your feathers fluff up when you’re flustered.” I whispered, prompting a happy hum from the gryphon. 

We started to walk again; Gelvin all smiles. Our headlamps started to be less effective, holes in the ceiling now occasionally providing light. We must be close by now…

“You know, asking me on a date was the third nicest thing anygriff has done for me. In a big way at least.” I said, still supporting Gelvin as we walked.
“Oh? What were the first two?” he asked, and I couldn’t help but smile.
“The first was when Greta said she liked my scones, and the second…” I paused, a few options churning through my mind. 
The one I settled on was sappy, stupid, and about the most illogically soft thing I could do.
Ugh.
I reached over and gave his talons a squeeze before then continuing to walk, clearly surprising the gryphon judging from his wide eyes and perked-up ears. 
Ok. I can see why ponies do it. It’s just a nice way to touch.
 
“The second thing, was when you said it was nice to meet me.”
Gelvin smiled, looking around as the surroundings continued to get brighter.
“You know, if you’re still up for it, I’d like to give you a forth nice thing, if a second date would count as that.”

I couldn’t help but grin in reply as we turned a corner and saw an unblocked exit- sunlight streaming down from a gap in the clouds in the distance. We were probably on the opposite side of the mountain- but an easy walk back to Griffinstone, injured or not.
“You know, I’d really like that.”

The End.