Coping To Survive

"Damn it Krelborn! You call this food?! My scones before Pinkie fixed the recipe tasted better than this!" Gilda shouted as she picked up the ceramic fine China bowl in her talons and flung it hurtling into the wall of the dinning car. The bowl of split pea and ham soup shattered with a loud crash and the shards of the bowl lay on the floor as green soup ran down the wall. Louis had scrounged up the ingredients from the thankfully still working fridge and though he wasn't the handiest cook in the kitchen, he thought he had done a good enough job making soup.

"You know, the food's actually pretty good when you don't mix it with wallpaper." He said snarkily back at her as well as he could, while crossing the room to clean up the mess. It had been three days since they last saw Twilight and Rainbow. Louis took up residence in the sleeping car that had offered a private room, not sure if it was good to hear that Gilda had taken to sleeping in the baggage car, despite their being plenty of private room cars still standing.

"Eh a little roughage never hurt, we don't know how long we'll be held up here, don't want to go soft sleeping in the cabins you know." Was her logic anyway, always had to be a show offor with how strong she was. Didn't give her the right to bad mouth Louis' cooking though.

"Still no word from Twilight and Dash, the storm's finally broke through." He told her as he helped himself to his own soup. He sat down at the marble table the dining car had with a fire cracking away. He was trying to hide some concern. The batteries providing them with electricity were running low, and once they ran out it wouldn't be long before things would go from bad to worse.

So now here the two of them were, still surrounded by cold and snow outside and making due with little they had. Louis and Gilda sat across from each other by one of the windows, the only thing either of them could see for miles around was empty vast white. A carbed ebony and ivory chess set had been set up on the table, and despite her abrassive personality Gilda was proving herself quite the player.

"So...Did you have any plans for Hearthswarming?" Louis finally asked moving a Rook in place. Gilda only made a few feathers ruffle with that soft noise most birds and bu extension giffins made. kinda a mix between a hoot and a screech.

"Griffins never really celebrated the holiday you know? we mostly kept to our own traditions and holidays...not that we were the type to celebrate anything...least not till recently...check by the way." Gilda said as she moved her "princess" or the Equestria chess equivilent to a queen. Louis looked over at her, his eyes gazing into the amber ones she had, even in a simple game if wits her eyes had constricted into that focused locking gaze a bird of prey had.

"So tell me, what holiday do you griffins celebrate this time of the year? If your not into pony ones?" He said moving his prince piece to the saftey behind his royal gaurd and bishop pices, most of the pawns where captured by Gilda.

"Aw,what do you care? no one gave a damn about us griffins and our traditions...not till recently anyways and even then it was just that map of Twilight's that even brought our lives to anyone's attention....check again by the way." She said capturing a bishop.

"Well...I don't exactly have anything to do for a while, and I'm a good listener, so you can fill me in on your holiday Gilda...oh and by the way....check...mate." He said as he blocked Gilda's prince from all sides with his last remaining pieces.

"You cheeky bastard." was all the placated but oddly sated griffin could say, "Alright I'll tell you."