Gilda groaned and rolled over, hugging her tattered blanket closer to ward of the clammy chill of the cave. With the weather as bad as it had been lately, the gryphon had been lucky to find any shelter at all-- but this place was hardly her idea of a dream home. It was uncomfortably damp even in the chilly winter weather. It was smoky thanks to the small fire she'd had to keep going just to take the edge off the cold…
The shivering gryphon could have gone on about the cave's flaws for hours... And she had. But there was one thing the cave had to recommend it to Gilda above all others: it was out of the way, which meant no visitors. At least, none until right this moment. Now some dweeb was busy knocking at the slab of bark that served as the cave’s makeshift door.
Something was wrong with the spritely rapping at Gilda's door. It seemed… slightly out of rhythm. Knock knock… knock. Knockknockknock… knock knock… She rolled over again and tried to block the sound out, but it wasn't working. If anything, the rapping was getting more insistent. After a minute, small but significant parts of the gryphon's mind were going mad.
Gilda groaned louder than before, turning it into a low growl. The stupid visitor wasn't taking the hint. Moving quickly, the irritated gryphon struggled out of her blanket. She stomped up to the door and wrenched it aside, letting it clatter onto the rocky floor. Glaring out, she found herself squinting in the blinding light of the day after the gloom of her cave.
"WHAT THE BUCK DO YOU--Dash?!" The angry snarl caught in Gilda's throat as her eyes adjusted enough to the brilliant sunlight to make out vague shapes. She could dimly see the outline of a female pegasus pony, forehoof halted mid-knock.
Of course the motionless figure before Gilda was Rainbow Dash. She'd finally come around! Gilda knew she was making a foal of herself. She should be playing it cool-- hah, finally the great Rainbow Dash had realized how lame her new 'friends' were and had come crawling back-- but the gryphon felt her body moving of its own accord. She lurched forward, forelegs outstretched to hug the prodigal pegasus mare-- and froze.
Now that Gilda's eyes had finished adjusting, she could see what she hadn't mere seconds before. Sure, there was a pegasus mare at the door. Sure, the hair was drawn into spiky bangs at the front and seemed a bit unkempt. But the mane was golden, not technicolor. The pelt was slate gray, not sky blue. And the eyes… the eyes weren't rose, they were gold. And for that matter, slightly off-kilter somehow, looking in different directions. This wasn't Rainbow Dash at all. It was a stranger.
Derpy coughed and moved pointedly back out of hugging range. The gryphon deflated, dropping back to all fours. A moment ago the mail mare's latest customer had seemed overjoyed, just what Derpy liked to see—especially on a delivery as late as this one. Now, the surprised cave dweller was blushing so hot that her white and purple facial feathers seemed to glow pink.
As the uncomfortable pause stretched out, Derpy cleared her throat and pushed forward the small brown package that was the last parcel of her rounds. "Er... Hi. I'm Derpy Hooves. Delivery for Gilda the Gryphon...?"
Gilda reached automatically for the package, then drew her clawed hand back as though afraid the little box would bite her. If it was from that pink thing… "W- who's it from?"
Derpy shivered, wrapping her gray woolen scarf more tightly around her and fluttering her wings a bit to get back some warmth. She thrust the package at Gilda. "Don't look at me, I'm just the deliverymare. Sorry it's so late, we've had trouble finding you. Took us months to locate this… well, address. Almost went to the dead letter office and everything."
Hesitating for a moment more, Gilda finally gritted her beak and snatched the box out of Derpy's reach before the latter gave up and put it back in her saddlebags. "Fine. Whatever. Okay I took it. What are you still doing here?"
The gray pegasus fluttered her wings in a quick shrug. "Going. Just thought I'd give you a heads up… Ponyville's Winter Wrap-up starts today."
With the initial shock of her not-Dash-at-all visitor and the growing realization that she'd looked totally uncool in front of a complete stranger, Gilda felt her anger starting to rise. Who cared what ponies did? She remembered that Dash had found work as a weatherpony. Dash… The gryphon stared down at the package in her claws. That just made her angrier still. "Hmph. So?"
"…So the weather team will be pushing a lot of the extra snow clouds here. Might want a shovel handy. Just a thought. Later!~" With that, Derpy Hooves leaped into the sky in a sudden flurry of blowing snow. She beat her wings to gain altitude in the frigid atmosphere and wheeled to make her way back to Ponyville.
Gilda could have watched the pegasus pony's ascent, but she was too busy staring at the small brown parcel. She could recognize Rainbow Dash's sloppy, sprawling writing. Like everything else, the cyan mare strived to be as fast as possible at writing, and her legibility suffered accordingly. Gilda could barely make out her name-- 'Gilda the Gryphon.'
The package thumped softly in the snow as Gilda threw it down in disgust. What a dweeb, sending a walleyed mail pony to do her apologizing for her. The gryphon couldn't imagine what she ever saw in that stupid rainbow-haired foal.
Shivering, Gilda found that the heat of her anger was doing nothing at all to keep her warm. She turned on one leonine paw and went to slam the door of her cave-- then cursed. The slab of bark was lying on the floor where she'd discarded it. Picking it up, she struggled to wedge it back into place. Unfortunately it didn't seem interested in cooperating.
Several furious, profanity-filled seconds later, Gilda gave up in disgust. The bark clattered again, a few chunks breaking off as she stomped back down into the recesses of her smoke-filled shelter. The brown parcel sat where it had fallen, nestled softly in the snow.
Gilda poked at the smoldering fire, hugging herself for warmth as she tried to bring the fire back to life. It was nearly dead now, starved of fuel. It would need at least a few more logs if it were to last the rest of the day, let alone into the frigid night. Well, no problem, she had plenty of-- "Oh buck me."
The heaped pile of branches was nearly gone. And hadn't that gray pegasus dork said something about another blizzard coming soon? Swearing under her breath, Gilda trudged out into the snow-blanketed forest to gather more firewood. With nothing much to look at save for the white wilderness and the dark gnarled shapes of the tree trunks, the gryphon let her mind wander.
Mostly, Gilda's mind wandered over about how angry she still felt. Her sparking, bitter thoughts followed a well-worn groove. Stupid, lame forest. Bucking cold. Stupid snow. Lame buckin' weather ponies… Stupid Rainbow Dash…
Gilda! Ohmigosh I found you, thank Celestia, gasped an imaginary Rainbow Dash as her phantom hooves settled into the snow in front of the slowly trudging gryphon.
"Oh?" Gilda paused and picked up the first of what would hopefully be an armload of fallen branches. In her mind, she pretended to examine her claws nonchalantly as imaginary Rainbow Dash shifted nervously from hoof to hoof, wings fluttering uncertainly.
After a few seconds of silence on Gilda's part, the make-believe Dash groaned in frustration. Fine. Gilda I-- I don't… I'm sorry. I was wrong.
The second branch crackled as Gilda hoisted it into her forelegs and waded through a deep bank after a third. Her mental version of Rainbow Dash wasn't getting off that easy, oh no. "Sorry for what, Dash? Wrong about what?"
I… Gilda's fantasy pegasus hung her head contritely. You were right. I shouldn't have blown off my real friend for those lame-os just because they were new friends and you were an old one.
"Yeah, Dash. After all, who had your back in Flight Camp? Was it the other ponies like you or was it-- come ON stupid branch-- was it me?" After the third tug, Gilda managed to get another limb loose from the frigid grip of the forest. Just a few more and she'd be done… but the gryphon was getting chilled. She shifted her wings a bit for added warmth and protection against the wind in lieu of moving her half-frozen forelimbs. It was that or risk dropping the precious cargo of firewood.
With a rueful chuckle, the laden gryphon's imaginary friend gave a shake of her rainbow mane. Thanks, Gilda. You're right. I can't believe I ever sided with those stupid ponies over you.
"Got that right, Clouds-for-Brains. Come on, let's ditch this dumb forest and go flying. Just as soon as I finish up here." Heh, Gilda wished. She'd spent far too much time huddled in the dank little cave. Her wings were ratty and soot-stained from too much smoke and too little preening.
Feeling satisfied at both the chastisement of Rainbow Dash and her firewood collection, Gilda nodded and turned back to retrace her steps. She walked carefully balanced on her hind legs, her clawed forelegs full to the brim with enough wood to last her-- hopefully-- to the end of the storm. The made-up blue pegasus trotted along side, showering Gilda with praise for her generous forgiveness. You're my only real friend. You're the coolest, Gilda! Even when you stole from that merchant and roared at that yellow pegasus just because you were bigger than she was.
The phantom Rainbow Dash broke off her stream of compliments as Gilda's brain screeched to a halt. Where had that come from? She tried again.
You're my only real friend, Gilda. Sure, you could have talked to me about how you were afraid that my new friends were taking me away from you… But I think the way you blew up at me at the party was totally justified. You-- An angry swipe from Gilda's claws silenced the imaginary Rainbow Dash, banishing her from existence. The bundle of sticks and branches clattered against each other and thudded into the snow.
"What… what in Orion's name was that load of horseapples?!" Gilda stared at the spot where she'd imagined Rainbow Dash to be, now as empty and cold as the rest of the Everfree Forest. Of course, there was no answer. Her taste for fantasy soured, the panting gryphon re-gathered her armload of firewood and headed back to her cave without the companionship of made-up friends.
Gilda was still trying not to think about Rainbow Dash's-- about her mind's-- accusations when she felt the first few feather-light touches of snowflakes on her head. She looked up. Clouds were moving in the sky, apparently under their own power… but faintly on the breeze, she could hear a sickeningly cheerful song sung by scores of ponies.
"Winter Wrap-up, Winter Wrap-up… Let's finish our holiday cheer…" That song. That stupid song. Argh. It was such a pony thing to do—try something as big as manually changing the seasons and then having the gall to sing about it like it was nothing. Oh, look at us. Aren’t we cute. The thought of it turned Gilda's stomach.
The snow was falling faster now as more clouds piled up in the sky, their gray mass coming between Gilda and what little warmth the sun's rays had been providing. The gryphon swore and started moving faster.
By the time Gilda had reached the mouth of her cave, she was alternating between an awkward two-legged run and wing-assisted leaps over the deeper snowdrifts. She skidded down the narrow passage and nearly trampled on the smoldering embers of her dying fire. The bitter, smoky air made the gryphon gag as she hastily piled the bulk of the new firewood a safe distance from the fire to let it dry. She crouched and stoked the little fire back to life, adding one of the dryer branches. It hissed and popped at first, but soon caught to life with a happy yellow flame.
Whew… that was better. Gilda allowed herself a moment of relief, letting worry flow out of her burning muscles. Her feathers and fur started to dry. Now, she could just hunker down here for a bit.
A single glance back to the cave mouth told Gilda that resting was not an option just yet. She groaned at the prospect of going back into the biting cold, but she moved just the same. Fumbling for a second-hand snow shovel, its rusty blade barely clinging to a worn wooden handle, the gryphon rushed back up to the cave mouth.
The snow was really coming down, now. The air was practically white with uncountable legions of snowflakes all pouring down from the clouds. Carried on the breeze, indistinct snippets of that stupid pony song floated down to Gilda along with ton upon ton of snow. That stupid song. Looking up into the fury of the blizzard, Gilda bellowed her frustration to the sky. "SHUT UP, MORONS! YOUR SONG SUCKS AND SO DO YOU!"
Of course, the ponies were far too far away to hear the snarling roar. It would have been nice to stand there all day and shout obscenities at the interfering weatherponies, but Gilda had bigger things to worry about. With so much snow coming down, she was faced with a choice.
Rapidly accumulating flakes were already piling up on top of the old drifts around Gilda's cave. If she didn't shovel like a demon and keep the entrance relatively clear, she would have to dig her way out later… or abandon the cave now and dig her way back in after the storm had passed.
That was no choice at all. Snow crunched as the shovel bit into the nearest drift and Gilda started her seemingly impossible task. She worked as quickly as she could, pushing the clouds' bounty into tall piles around the cave mouth. The gryphon's breath smoked in the frigid air as she worked almost mechanically, her shovel creaking and bending alarmingly when she picked up particularly large loads of snow. With nothing for her mind to do, it began to drift.
Hey there, Gilda… What's up? Imaginary Rainbow Dash commented brightly as she fluttered down to alight on one of the snowdrifts.
"Buck off. Not talking to you." Gilda tossed a load of snow right through where 'Rainbow Dash' was standing. Unsurprisingly, the figment of the gryphon's imagination didn't move.
You aren't talking to me, stupid. The phantom pegasus grinned cheekily.
…Great. Now in addition to the weatherponies dumping a metric buck-ton of snow on Gilda's home, her imagination was going to start tormenting her. She sent another shovelful of snow in the figment's direction. "Busy saving home. Go away."
Blessed silence rained for a few seconds as Gilda continued to work. She was making some headway against the clouds, but the cold trickle of melting snow had already dampened the feathers on the gryphon's unprotected head and back. She shivered as some of the melt water trickled through her feathers and fur, leaving a trail of burning cold. "Augh… Stupid snow."
Crystaline white flakes failed to crunch under Dash's nonexistent hooves as she walked back into view. Heedless of the cold, the mare sat down nonchalantly on a smaller snowdrift at about Gilda's eye level. She gestured contemptuously at the cave. Hah. You don't belong in the Everfree Forest, squatting in some lame cave. Why don't you just go back to your tribe?
The look Gilda gave her imaginary friend would have done a cockatrice proud. "Are you that bucking stupid, Rainbow D-- no, I'm not even going to call you that. Are you that dumb, Imagination? You know why we can't."
'Rainbow Dash' shrugged. Try another town then? Even Cloudsdale. Why stay here? What, because you think Dash is going to come by some day and apologize like you always imagine? And you think she's being the stupid one.
"Shut up." Gilda stopped shoveling for a short breather and concentrated. As quickly as she'd come, the ersatz Rainbow Dash was gone. But her words-- Gilda's words to herself, obviously; gryphons weren't known for going insane-- lingered unpleasantly. Why was she doing this to herself? She had some bits. She had her strength and her flying abilities… so far, at least. She could go anywhere she wanted. Why was she sticking around here? Why was she shoveling snow in this lame-o forest and...?
The gryphon's stormy thoughts trailed off as she noticed the smoke cloud rising up from the cave entrance. It was looking unpleasantly wispy, even accounting for the near-whiteout of the blizzard. How long had Gilda been shoveling snow, and when had she last fed the fire..? "Oh, for the--"
Dropping her shovel, Gilda beat her aching legs into motion and hurried through the snow to her cave. She had to get to the fire and feed it back to life, or face losing her heat source completely-- she'd run out of matches the week previous getting this fire started.
The gryphon lengthened her stride and, reaching the mouth of the cave-- stepped on something unexpected and went sprawling. Fiery pain blossomed all along Gilda’s abused body as frigid flesh smashed into even colder rock and earth. For a moment, everything hurt so much she couldn't even manage to swear.
After lying for a moment and trying to assure herself that she was still breathing, Gilda pushed herself up and glared back at what had tripped her up-- the small, crumpled package that the mailmare had delivered a few hours previous. With a wordless snarl of rage, the gryphon snatched up the package. She tore at it, imagining that the paper she was rending was the flesh of a certain cyan pegasus. "Buckin'… flip-flopping… lame… stupid… RAINBOW DASH!"
Gilda threw the parcel into the cave proper. The much abused cardboard parcel thumped dully as it smacked against the rocky wall and dropped to the floor. Ignoring it for the moment, the gryphon stomped over to the fire and tended it with hard-won skill, coaxing life back into the dying flames. "Come on… come on… don't give up just yet…"
It was several minutes' tense work before Gilda felt comfortable leaving the fire again. She shivered. She hadn't been moving much as she tended the flames, and in their weakened state they weren't providing a lot of heat. Orion, but it was cold. Still, nothing for it. Rising despite the steady, insistent burn of her old fatigue and the sharp pains of more recent abrasions, the gryphon began to climb back to the surface to continue her labors.
The nearly unrecognizable package tumbled across the floor as Gilda accidentally kicked it in passing. She paused, yellow eyes staring down at the little box. Something bright and colorful was visible in a hole the gryphon's sharp claws had torn in the side.
Without thinking, Gilda bent down and picked the brown package up to investigate. At the very least, it gave her a few more moments with the relatively warm and wind-free air of the cave. A nasty thought occurred to the angry gryphon. Who knew-- maybe Rainbow had sent her something she could burn to help the fire a bit more. Heh.
Gilda's knife-sharp claws sliced open what was left of the wrapping. The parcel had obviously been put together with some care. Despite the trauma the box had suffered, its contents were somehow still dry and unmarked-- and the breath caught in her throat as the gryphon saw what they were.
The first item enclosed was a small letter in an envelope, addressed to Gilda with the same hasty script as the package's label. No. Not yet. Gilda set that aside as she continued to empty the box.
In the flickering light of the fire, Gilda drew out the second item. She slowly unfolded a black woolen scarf, long and soft and just slightly scratchy. It went around the gryphon's neck without a second thought, and she could feel the warmth spreading through her body immediately.
The third and final item in Dash's package-- and there was no question about who it had come from now-- was a knit cap. It was wool, like the scarf… but instead of black, it was brilliantly hued with every color of the spectrum. Heh. A rainbow cap from Rainbow Dash. Gilda hesitated for a moment, then pulled it on gratefully over her recently dried crest feathers.
Gilda turned back to the letter. Part of her wanted to toss it into the fire unread with a cry of, 'thanks for the clothes, dweeb...!' But she couldn't do that. Moving her claws deftly, she opened the envelope and pulled out the single ink-splotched page within.
G-- It's me, R.D. I guess you probably know that. Look, I'm no good at these stupid letter things. You know that too. But I don't think I'm ready to talk to you directly yet. I'd probably buck your stupid beak down your throat-- That last bit was crossed out-- It wouldn't end well. So this is the best way.
I haven't decided 'not to be lame any more,' but I'm giving you a call anyway. I know you were upset about something. You probably thought I was abandoning you for my 'new' friends, right? You can be so stupid sometimes. Twilight suggested I cross that last part out but it's true-- and I can be stupid too. We were both pretty mad at that party…
This isn't going well. Look. Fluttershy says her animal friends have spotted you slumming around the Everfree Forest. Don't be dumb. That's no place for anypony to live, even a flank-kicking thing like a gryphon. I apologize if you thought I was ditching you. But wrap your bird brain around the idea that a pony can have more than ONE friend. I don't value you any less because of anything you didn't do, I just don't like that you were a complete jerk to my other friends. Okay?
If you want to patch things up, I'm game. You know where to find me. Rainbow Dash doesn't leave her friends. I'm writing to you hoping that Gilda the Gryphon doesn't leave hers either.
-The Dash
P.S. It's got to be cold as buck out there. You might need these. Or not. I was going to send some food too but P.P. said she's not making food for a 'big old meaniepants.' Maybe next time.
Gilda's beak was open. She closed it. Her blank expression twisted into something… uncertain. Finally she balled up the letter and chucked it into the shadows at the far end of her cave. "Buck this. I have snow to shovel."
It was amazing what a difference the addition of a hat and scarf made. Gilda wasn't toasty by any stretch of the imagination, but she didn't feel like she was going to die of frostbite as she continued to shovel the still-falling snow away from her cave with a sour expression on her face.
What had Rainbow Dash meant by all that? Was she serious? Annoyingly, now that Gilda almost wanted an imaginary Dash to talk to about this, there was none to be found. Instead, she thought it over slowly as she settled into the monotonous work of keeping the cave mouth clear.
Rainbow had made the first contact, right? Gilda tossed another pile of flakes of to the side of the cave. The pegasus had given in first. That meant Gilda had won, right? She looked around at her cold, isolated surroundings. This didn't feel like winning.
Gilda felt bile rise in her throat at the possibility of following Rainbow Dash's suggestion. Crawling back to the pegasus and her friends seemed like such a… such a… such a pony thing to do. She wasn't a pony. She was a gryphon. Free. Feral. Proud. Right. Gilda kept shoveling, ignoring the annoying temptation to add 'alone' to the list.
Peering up at the sky again as she took another break, Gilda sighed in relief. The snow was slowing down, and the clouds were clearing. Thank Orion. She attacked the snowdrifts with new ferocity, clearing a takeoff and landing area for herself. It was nearing spring… Maybe she could finally stop shivering in the cave-- get out and stretch her wings a bit. She began to hum a random tune, quickly transitioning into quiet singing.
"Winter Wrap-up, Winter Wrap-up… Oh buck me," Gilda cursed as she realized what she'd been singing. It was… it was such a pony thing to do.
Gilda tugged off the knit cap and stared at it reflectively, eyes searching the rainbow hued apparel for some kind of answer. Should she..? No. Not yet. Setting her face determinedly, the gryphon bent back to her task. Despite her best efforts, a tune floated through her head again. "…'Cause tomorrow Spring is here… 'Cause tomorrow Spring is-- GAH!"
