Gilda the griffon had been tarrying for quite a while for her somewhat-pal Gabby, short for Gabrielle, to arrive back from Ponyville to Griffinstone. She'd finished her very successful scone trade for the day, selling the last one to Greta as per usual, and was now looking forward to hearing from her friend-turned-enemy-turned-friend again Rainbow Dash. Gosh, life could be complicated sometimes.
Needing a courier to send a letter to the blue pegasus, Gabby had practically begged for the chance to deliver the mail to Gilda's old flight school buddy, because she wanted to know more about this oblique thing called 'friendship', and also for another reason she refused to disclose before she'd sped off into the distance...
In thinking about the wildly enthusiastic and somewhat irrepressible Gabby, Gilda couldn't resist chuckling to herself. The young griffon was certainly a force to be reckoned with, so very different to others of her kind. She seemed to cherish the ideals of helping others and selflessness, whereas so many other griffons were only interested in feathering their own nests, pun not intended.
Sometimes, her giddy non-stop optimism could have you ripping your own plumage out, but she was an earnest, sweet-natured creature, who was almost impossible to stay mad at for long. Even the somewhat curmudgeonly Gilda had warmed to her, while she answered the many queries the younger griffon had about life in Ponyville, what it was like to have friends of another species, how the local scones all of a sudden had gotten so gosh darn tasty...
Gilda's soliloquizing was suddenly interrupted by a rapid flapping from above her head, and she instantly glanced upwards hoping it was who she'd been waiting for. Sure enough, Gabby had made her long-delayed return, and the more senior griffon knew exactly what to expect next... a bone-crushing hug from the new arrival.
She didn't disappoint. "Gil!" squealed Gabby as she went into her landing position... right on top of the solo welcoming committee.
Gilda chafed for a second, both at the deceptively strong embrace of Gabby's clutches, and at the usage of her most hated of nicknames. Her new chums in Ponyville had softened her sour outlook on life a bit, but she was still a long way from being as open with her emotions as her companion, who was apparently now in the process of trying to pulp her to death.
"Hi Gabby, easy on the neck..." Gilda was gasping for breath at this stage, and the only way to avoid asphyxiation seemed to be to beg for mercy.
"Oh, sorry... I'm just so super-excited to be back!" The younger griffon dropped Gilda gently, just as she was about to see the inside of her eyelids. "But that's not to say I didn't have a great time in Ponyville! It was totally like you described it. I didn't spot any 'dweebs', though..."
Gilda took a lungful of that sweet, sweet air before replying. "You'll know 'em when you see 'em, so don't worry about it. Anyway, did you deliver my message? How's Dashie getting along? Last I heard, she'd just been made an official Wonderbolt..."
"All in good time, Gilly!" Gabby chuckled at yet another spontaneous moniker she'd invented for the older griffin, while Gilda only greeted the term with a double eye-roll. "Let me tell you about what I got up to in that charming provincial town. First of all, I got to meet the famous Cutie Mark Crusaders..."
"Who, what now?!" Gilda genuinely had no idea who Gabby was talking about.
"Oh, you don't have to pretend with me! We are good friends after all, right?" Gabby teased, with her beak stretched out to form a half-smirk. "Go on... admit it. You're jealous."
"Erm, no I'm not. I really, truly have never heard of..." Gilda suddenly came to a realisation, and changed the tone of her reply in an instant. "Yes, Gabby. You're absolutely right. I'm as envious as I could possibly be. Well done you, getting to spend time with these... Poopy Park Invaders. What an accomplishment" The older griffon had reached the inescapable conclusion the quicker she played along with her companion's nonsense, the faster she'd be given the letter from Rainbow Dash.
"You see how easy it is, when we're honest with each other?" Gabby let out an exaggerated sigh, and looked thoughtful for a moment. "Sometimes I wish our kind were more like those ponies, operating as a close-knit community, rather than a bunch of backstabbers fighting over a few loose bits every day."
"Sheesh, Gabby... you might as well ask Luna to raise the sun and Celestia to lower the moon..." Gilda's cynical side was showing in response to the younger griffon's naive idealism. "Greed and treachery have been programmed into the griffon's biology for years. A few platitudinous statements of hope ain't going to change a thing..."
"That's where you're wrong!" Gabby's reply was surprisingly sharp, even causing the usually unshakable Gilda to take a step backwards. "It's also part of the reason why I was down there, the bit I didn't tell you about. I wanted to get... my own special Cutie Mark!!"
"What?!" Gilda couldn't believe her ears, and began to study the other griffon carefully, looking for any other odd signs in her demeanor. "Have you been flying over those volcanoes again, taking toxic lava fumes into your system? I've warned you about that before..."
"I'm not crazy, and I have proof!" Unable to hold back 'the big reveal' any longer, Gabby pulled the feathers around her sides apart to reveal her souvenirs from the trip... a pair of clip-on accessories, emblazoned with a pattern consisting of a trophy inside a shield.
Gilda was stunned, and could only stare at this bizarre fashion statement in utter wonderment. "What exactly is that?" She finally said, shocked at how curious she actually was.
"It's what I earned for assisting every pony in Ponyville with their day-to-day life!" She said in a sing-song voice, while patting her new prizes proudly. "I washed windows, taught fillies how to dance, mended clothes..."
She began to recite a list of everything she did for the good folk in town during her all-too-short stay, and if Gilda never suspected Gabby of being a changeling masquerading as a griffon before now... well, that had changed.
"Well anyway, after I did all that, yet still hadn't earned a Cutie Mark..." Gabby sounded mournful all of a sudden. "It was really upsetting to see the Crusaders, who'd tried so hard all this time to aid me with my hopeless dream, look so downhearted at their failure. I couldn't help but feel sorry for them, hence me inventing a fake mark to make them feel better..."
"A-a f-fake m-mark?!" Gilda suddenly felt the urge to lie down.
"You got it!" Gabby revealed, somewhat oblivious to the older griffon's total confusion. "What a big mistake that turned out to be! After they'd rumbled me during my journey back, the Crusaders were nice enough to explain that it wasn't the mark that made them special, it was what they did for others that really counted! By helping out other ponies all day, I'd more than proven myself a worthy friend, and even though it would be nigh-on impossible for me to grow a Cutie Mark organically, they kindly gave me these babies as a memento of my value as the newest member of their team, thanks to a recent vacancy! They even threw me a cute cenera before I left, that almost every pony in town attended, to initiate me into the order! Now I'm back, I'll prove that one griffon can make a difference, and really shake things up around here... Just as soon as I've decided on a prime venue for the new Griffinstone Crusader base, and built it from scratch, of course. No problem, right?!"
As Gabby finally gave her voice a rest for a few seconds to scan the ruined horizons of her hometown for a passable location, Gilda was still left reeling from the younger griffon's shaggy dog tale, which was far more enjoyable than the ones Grandpa Gruff usually bored her to tears with. She'd got the impression that even though her companion had been quite thorough in her account of her time away, there were still plenty of missing gaps that needed filling in.
And, much to her complete surprise, she wanted to hear more. Especially about these 'Crusaders', who'd gone from being complete nobodies, to a conversational topic of great interest. Besides, if someone like Gabby could become a member, surely a cool customer like herself would be a shoe-in.
"Oh, I'm so sorry! I was being selfish!" Gabby's words suddenly broke through Gilda's period of introspection. "Here's me wittering on about my travels, and there's you desperate to hear news from your good friend Rainbow Dash! I think this is what you've been wanting... thanks for being so patient!"
She produced a simple brown envelope from the folds of her bag, and handed it over to Gilda, who seemed rather dispassionate in her reaction to it.
How odd the older griffon mused, as she studied the piece of paper. I've been chomping at the bit to receive this almost a week, and now that it's finally here... the only thing I can focus on is Gabby's adventures in Ponyville. Maybe the other ponies, besides Dash, aren't quite as lame as I thought...
"Uh, I'll read it later..." Gilda politely accepted the letter, and shoved it under her wing. "In the meantime, tell me again about your trip to Snoozev-I mean, Ponyville. Start from the very beginning, and don't leave anything out, please."
"Oh, okay, are you sure you don't mind waiting until later to hear from Rainbow Dash?" Gabby was somewhat perplexed at her companion's behaviour, after being so eager to hear from the blue pegasus in the first place.
"Y-yeah... yeah. She'd understand." Gilda assured the younger griffon. "She's a great penpal. That letter's not going anywhere, after all."
"Funny you should mention 'penpals'..." Gabby beamed at a good memory. "Because I made one myself while I was there. I'm supposed to write to her tonight, to inform her of how a certain statue in our town is getting along. Just by talking to her for a few minutes, I know we're going to be awesome pals, and we have a lot in common."
"Who might that that be?" Gilda pondered out loud, racking her brains.
"She's called Pinkie Pie." Gabby laughed, then stopped when she saw the look of recognition on the older griffon's face. "What, you know of her?"
"Unfortunately, yes..." Gilda gave an exasperated sigh, but there was no real malice behind it."Also, let me just state for the record I'm not surprised by your choice. At all. I think you two were always destined to connect. Just call it kismet."
"Oh, okay. But her name isn't 'Kismet', it's 'Pinkie Pie', remember?" Gabby wasn't sure how to follow on from that, so she just begun her tale anew, as her now enraptured friend sat down on a nearby rock to listen. "Anyway, back to my journey. We'll start off where things got interesting. I'd just arrived at the Cutie Mark Crusaders' ganghut. Everypony had heard of them of course, so when they gave me directions, so I knew I was in the right place. I was on the lookout for them, when..."
Author's Note
I feel I've been a trifle harsh on poor Gabby in the last episode. At first, she gave me a headache with her non-stop cheeriness and shrill voice, but after rewatching the episode, I've decided she's not that bad. It's unlikely she'll ever end up on my 'favourite characters' list, but she seems like a very nice griffon... and, after all, isn't that all that counts?
So, this little fic is written as a sort-of apology to her good self. Sorry, Gabby. 
