Author's Note
Story takes place shortly after Gilda's initial debut in the show, back in Season One. It goes by only what was known about griffons at that point, which means 'not much'.
Also, you can pretty much expect that everything I write is going to be really gay.
I'll Love You Forever
Despite the snowy cold, Gilda had never felt warmer. She walked confidently - but not arrogantly, she was careful of the distinction - through Ponyville's emptied streets, soaking in the crisp air and the warm light of the streetlamps in the privacy of the early sunset, and balancing a small, warm box elegantly labelled Sugar Cube Corner between her wings. Few ponies really loved the cold, but griffons were born in cliffs and mountains. It had been Applejack's insistence, not necessity, that had her fitted in a thick scarf, gloves and blanket.
Gilda hmmed softly to herself, burying her beak in the scarf at the thought. Every day, every minute, she was so grateful for the farmpony for letting her have a second chance after she absolutely blew it with Rainbow Dash, and even more thankful for the fact that Gilda's dedication to improving herself had led to many quiet, companionable nights that had allowed her and Applejack to make the first steps into a very cautious attempt at an actual relationship.
She was glad that ponies preferred to stay indoors; if anyone had seen her goofy grin that thinking of Applejack always brought to her beak, she might have had to stuff them in a snowbank. In a friendly way.
Soon enough, she reached the library, fighting back the twinge of anxiety she always felt when she was about to talk to ponies who had seen her at her worst. But, no matter her regrets, the windows were lit with a gentle golden glow, and muffled speech could be heard even through the thick wood of the hollowed tree. Gilda padded up to Twilight's door, giving her usual three-tap knock, an old habit from flight camp. She heard Twilight call some muffled greeting from within, and she stepped inside quickly to keep too much heat from rushing out into the night. The smell of slightly-musty books and tree sap greeted her instantly, as did the voices of the six ponies lying in a loose circle of pillows and blankets.
Gilda greeted them all in turn, feeling Twilight magically lift the box from her shoulders, and pulled her winter clothes off as Pinkie Pie resumed the story she'd been telling to the circle of mares. Once Gilda was sure she didn't have enough snow left in her fur to leave wet tracks all over Twilight's floor, she joined the circle at Applejack's side. Her girlfriend lifted her blanket up and draped it over Gilda's back so she could share her warmth, and Gilda leaned against her in thanks. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were bundled together in the same way, while Rainbow Dash and Rarity lay to either side of Twilight, a little further away due to the currently sleeping ball of purple scales sleeping between her crossed front hooves.
"-and then I said to Twilight, what did you think was going to happen if you tried to to take a scale off of a sleeping dragon?" Pinkie Pie finished, her eyes going wide. "Spike almost started saving his claw clippings for her!"
Twilight sighed as the others laughed, rolling her eyes as though she'd tried to defend herself before but figured it wasn't worth getting frustrated over. "It's nice to see you tonight, Gilda," she said instead, acting as though she could tune out Pinkie's impressions of Spike offering to give her his toenails. "I'm glad you stopped at the bakery."
"It was no problem, really," Gilda replied, "it wasn't very busy. Just took a little longer without the party pony on hoof."
Pinkie broke her potion-making pantomime - Twilight noticed and said, "it's not potions, it's alchemy," very faintly - and grinned at Gilda. "Speedy hooves are why I'm always the employee of the month! That, and correct sprinkle dosages. Mrs. Cake always puts on too many, and Mr. Cake never puts on enough!"
Gilda couldn't disagree; she'd thought Pinkie Pie was a bit airheaded, but her work in the bakery was nothing short of exceptional.
"I'm sure your cupcakes are delightful," Fluttershy chimed in, giving a shy smile in Gilda's direction as if she knew what the griffon had been thinking. "Angel really likes the carrot ones you brought over yesterday."
"Aww, thanks, bumblebee!" Pinkie Pie snuggled into Fluttershy's side, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. Fluttershy squeaked and ducked her head, embarrassed.
"As cute as we all are," Rarity interjected, "I'd like to know what everyone's doing for Hearth's Warming so we can plan a get-together. I'm taking Sweetie Belle back to our parent's house for a week, like I do every year, so I won't be back until the new year."
"Spike and I are going to visit my parents too," Twilight said, using the lull in conversation to open the box Gilda had brought and pass out the oven-warm brownies inside. "Shining has a girlfriend he might be bringing over as well, but I can't get a name out of him, insists I have to meet her in person. If you're going to be away anyway, Rarity, I'll probably spend a few extra days catching up with Princess Celestia."
"My dad bought me tickets for the Wonderbolts' Hearth's Warming Extravaganza show in Cloudsdale, so I'll be there." Rainbow said. "Scootaloo might be coming, I just have to ask her aunts."
Applejack smiled. "I'm going to the family reunion down in Appleloosa -"
"- and I'm taking the same train on the way to the rock farm to meet up with my family!" Pinkie added.
"I'm going up to Cloudsdale with Rainbow Dash to visit my parents too," Fluttershy finished quietly.
"What about you, Gilda?" Applejack asked, snuggling into her girlfriend's feathers. "You doing anything special?"
She looked down at her claws, shuffling them awkwardly. "I, uh... haven't talked to my mom since I was a kitten. I don't even know who my dad was."
"Griffon babies are called kittens?" Pinkie whispered. "That's adorable."
"Once a griffon is old enough to leave the nest, they usually aren't allowed back and lose contact with their parents," Gilda explained, seeing the confused stares. "We're pretty territorial."
"You don't even send letters?" Twilight asked.
"Territories change, dominance changes; it's pretty hard to mark down a griffon's territory, much less mark down where one stays. Unless they had magical mail like you do with Spike, there'd be no consistent way to send anything." Gilda dismissed the idea with a wave of a claw as Twilight lifted a pencil to record the idea. She'd been roped into helping clean the library by Rainbow Dash a couple of days ago, and the amount of tiny notes scribbled on the tables, floor and shelves had been astronomical. Twilight had forced her to copy down every one on parchment before dusting. "And even if we could track them, griffons have never been... friendly."
"You've got to go somewhere for Hearth's Warming, sugarcube," Applejack said, nuzzling her neck. "You can come along with me if you'd like."
"Are you kidding? You're going to subject Gilda to that many members of the Apple family?" Rainbow laughed from her other side. "Granny Smith almost disowned you for bringing me there that one Hearth's Warming! And I'm me!"
"You told my aunt her apple pies tasted like cow pies!" Applejack snorted. "Are you really that surprised?"
Gilda shook her head, bringing their attention back. "I think I'll be fine staying here. I've never really been one for big gatherings anyway."
"You did just say griffons don't live in groups." Twilight pointed out, absently making a note about the letters anyway. "But maybe things have changed since you had to leave. Maybe your mom misses you."
"You can't be looking forward to sitting home alone while the rest of us are gone, can you?" Pinkie Pie added.
"I guess I'm not..."
"I think meeting your mom would be a great way to spend Hearth's Warming," Fluttershy added.
"And even if you don't find her, you'll have a really cool story!" Pinkie agreed.
Gilda looked down at her claws. "What... what if something's happened to her? She's been living on her own for so long, and she was so angry when I was a kitten. If I don't know, I can feel like she's fine, but if I try to seek her out..."
No other voice tried to fill the silence as Gilda trailed off. Applejack pressed her face into the feathers of Gilda's neck and muttered a gentle, "I want to talk to you about this later," but it did little to break the quiet.
Gilda looked up at the other ponies, and found Pinkie had just done much the same to Fluttershy. The lanky yellow pegasus looked unsure and worried, but with Pinkie pressed up against her she met Gilda's eyes.
"B-before I got my cutie mark," Fluttershy began, her voice so quiet that had anyone else found their words she would have been inaudible, "I told my parents that I... I told them something they didn't want to hear. They were really angry then, too, and for a long time I avoided talking to them. They knew I got my cutie mark because the flight camp counselors were obligated to tell them, but they weren't happy with it, or with me wanting to live on the ground. There was a really long time where I thought I'd be better off never seeing them again.
"But after Nightmare Moon returned, and they knew I lived in Ponyville, they wanted to know I was okay. They were able to reach Rainbow Dash through the weather teams, and she told me. They were sorry for how much they hurt me, and they realized how much they had done wrong." Fluttershy tilted her head, looking to her girlfriend for confidence, and continued. "They were scared for me, and thought I was making a mistake, and they know they showed that in the wrong ways. I'm giving them a second chance for me, because I want to be able to care about the ponies who raised me. I... I think you want to, too. I'm not a griffon, but I knew if I sent my child away in anger, I'd regret it and hope they could forgive me. I think it's worth a chance."
The silence that fell after that was softer than before. Gilda stared down at her talons, at their long, curved claws, and tried to imagine holding her mother's hand in hers. Something about Fluttershy's tone echoed the same hurt she knew, the isolation that came from it, the desire to be with others slowly blossoming from the ground left barren by betrayal. The words for it didn't come right away; she only knew then that she wanted, desperately, to find her mother. She looked up at Twilight, all too aware of the time restrictions and how short her window of opportunity would be.
Twilight smiled gently, and put out a hoof to Gilda's claws. "I'll see if Princess Celestia can fit one more griffon on the next northward train."
Gilda gave her a long, grateful look, and - having sensed the internal conflict had been eased - Pinkie set Rainbow Dash off on an incredibly in-depth play-by-play of what, exactly, the Wonderbolts' Hearth's Warming Extravaganza show would entail. Gilda dipped her head down to meet Fluttershy's downturned gaze and mouthed a 'thank you', and the shy pegasus offered a shaky smile in return.
