The air was warm, perfect weather for flying, as a tawny kitten of a griffon scanned the ground below her for food. Something of a warrior still lived in this bird, and so she hunted. Her friend thought it was disgusting, but what did she know? She had nothing of the hunter in her.
That dweeb would never be able to make it on her own. A small smirk played at Gilda's beak Lucky for her, she's got me.
The thought pleased her, of the colorful pony she'd been assigned a bunk with. One of the few kids here she hadn't had to fight. At least, not yet. Thus far, Dash had stuck with her, backing her against punks with moldy hay for brains who thought to take on a creature built for fighting. That took some serious brass.
Ah, there you are. Was wondering when lunch would show.
Movement, below in the grass, grey and small. A field mouse, out for a sniff, hunting for its own food, no doubt. Its bad luck that its timing lined up with that of a hungry griffon. The airborne predator, her eyes narrowing, would drop out of the sky, opening her wings at the last second and slipping into the grass as silently as she could. Even still, the mouse's ears twitched, and it would peer around. After a moment, it seemed to decide that it was safe, that the noise was unimportant, or perhaps misheard, or imagined.
It only barely noticed a flash of yellow, a talon slipping out of the grass and lashing at it, missing by a hair as it fled its oncoming death. It looked to its nest for safety, but to no avail. Blocking the way there was a creature, large and made up of bird, cat, and hunger. Not a good combination for the tiny rodent, who swallowed as it realized just how very edible it was to this beast.
The mouse scurried away, attempting to slip into the grass, just as Gilda lowered her front half, springing towards the timid creature and again missing by a close margin, the grey mouse having to pull down its ears to keep from being caught. A quick skid, and a scrabble for purchase in the grass, and the young griffon would prepare for another pounce, her eye already catching that spot of grey in the grass as the mouse took terrified flight. A cruel smile came to Gilda's face, as she took her time in setting herself into another pounce. She wished she could do this for a while: lunch lasted a whole hour, and she, like most cats, enjoyed playing with her food.
Unfortunately, she likely had about another five minutes at the outside before her lunch got interrupted. Better make it quick, instead of maybe losing the thing. Still, she'd eye the beast, scurrying for its life, its nearby hole, and the freedom it represented. She waited, and just as it was about to reach it... she'd pounce, letting out a victory shriek, just to put that extra bit of terror into the mouse's heart. The tiny grey creature was inches away, when one talon slammed down onto it, hiding it from view save for its tail. Up came the talon, and with it, the mouse.dangling by its tail and chittering in fear. Up and up she'd haul it, settling onto her haunches as it squirmed and wriggled, attempting to get out from its precarious position. She'd eye the thing, contemplating it for a bit, staring it down even, before she spoke.
"Life's not fair, is it?" Gilda continued dangling the mouse, who showed no signs of understanding what she was saying, not that it mattered. "You see I... I'm stuck here in Equestria, transfer student. I probably won't see Talonhassee again for another eight years." At this point she nudged the mouse with her opposed talon, pushing it up onto her knuckles and releasing the tail, allowing the rodent to run along her knuckles, toying with it by shifting her claw about, forcing it in an endless loop of escape, anticipating its moves to keep it running over that dexterous talon. A sharp eye would catch movement in the air, and she'd toss the terrified mouse up, catching it by the tail and peering upwards as she began dragging the thing to her maw.
"Just like you will never see the light of another day." The mouse would stare into her eyes, laser-sharp circles of gold on white, frozen with fear as it drew closer and closer to her beak...
"Gross." A voice from behind would cause Gilda to turn, a tail dangling from one corner of her beak. She knew that rasp anywhere, and sure enough, a filly with a permanently mussed tangle of colors atop her head was just setting down, wings snapping shut as Gilda gave her a look. She'd turn fully, making sure Dash was watching, before slurping that tail in like a stray noodle, causing the pegasus to visibly gag. A few quick chews, exaggerated for the pony's benefit, and Gilda would swallow, offering a grisly grin before leaping towards the prismatic speedster.
"Yeah, you kinda are, but I ain't gonna let it put me off my lunch, Dash" She'd clean her teeth with her tongue, before pointing towards her fellow Junior Speedster. "Ain't no one forcin' you to come watch, either. What, you bored already?"
"Shut up and race me already. Assuming you even can. I heard kittens like you get sleepy after eating. A bit says you don't even make it off the ground." Cocky as always. One of the things that made Dash tolerable among ponies...
... that, and she was a sucker for bad bets. "Easy money, dweeb. Let's go."
Author's Note
This may or may not have been written with six and a quarter shots of vodka's help.
I blame RainbowBob. And others.
Pre-read by Convoluted Diction, PartyPie, and Pearple Prose
