To mystery writer:

I am not sure who you are, or even what you are, but if this is a real deal, and not some stupid prank then I...will consider your letters. To be fair...I don't send letters, at least not any more. It's been years since I've written of of these. Am I doing it right? I don't know!

Um...may I ask your name? Your species? Anything! Something less vague would be nice!

Scratch that, I don't think I need to know. If you are genuine...I guess it won't matter will it? It'll just be nice to know someone cares...Is that sappy? That's sappy. Forget I said that. Just...will you BE at the festival? Or will you be hiding from me the entire time? Not gonna lie, that'd be kind of annoying. I don't like hide n seek. Neither did my fellow flight school students when I played. Once.

I...I guess I look forward to more letters? Gods this is hard...what do I say?!

...A friend said I should give this a chance...so...I will.

--Gilda.

Gilda paced back and forth in her bedroom. She growled and spun around, her tail whipped back and forth anxiously. She didn't like waiting, but darn it, Gabby was late to make it home. She had a long distance delivery today and hadn't returned yet. The problem with that was that Gilda couldn't go downstairs until Gabby arrived. In reality, she could go downstairs right now, but that would be a horrible idea considering what was going on outside.

With trepidation, Gilda peeked beyond the current of her room and down to the courtyard of Griffonstone, where almost the entire town was meandering around between booths and music stands. Griffons of both genders were garbed in fancy clothes, imitation armor, or some kind of slapped together outfit made from home. Mostly the chicks had the last one, running around their parents while the adults mingled and cheered on the musicians. Each chick had an amalgamation of outfits. She was sure she spotted a chick dressed as both a carrot and a dragon in the swath of creatures.

Which is exactly what it was. a crazy horde of her kind celebrating the Festival of Life. A festival centered around one thing in particular that she had been avoiding most of her life. Her eyes caught a pair of griffons, a tom and a hen, duck into a side alley and immediately the two began the traditional courtship ritual right there. She warbled in shock, blushed furiously and tore her eyes away from the window, covering it and gripping her shoulders. Her feathers fluffed out rapidly and she shivered.

Those griffons were mating down there. There were toms down there that wanted her for her assets and she was entirely sure that wasn't what she wanted to deal with right now. She'd gone to the Festival of Life before, but made it very clear she was not wanted, nor would it be accepted if advances were made on her.

The way the griffon culture policed this, was with a multi set of colored rose shaped brooches. Green meant a hen was open for courtship, a yellow brooch meant they were in a relationship but open for discussion, a blue brooch meant they were too young, but the parents or guardians could be talked to about future arrangements, and a red brooch meant if a male tom valued his royal jewels, he'd steer clear of the hens wearing them and respect their wishes, regardless of their scent.

Gilda always wore a red brooch after her second festival of life nearly had a disastrous end with an over bearing tom. She'd been wearing a blue brooch and Grandpa Gruff, her legal guardian at the time, had tried to talk her into a courtship with a sleazy tom. She'd slashed Grandpa Gruff across his face and permanently injured his eye, telling her guardian that if he ever tried it again he'd wake up missing his valuable assets.

This was now her ninth Festival of Life and she'd never been approached afterwards. Apparently the old geezer had warned the other toms about her "disrespectful behavior." She was okay with it at the time because it meant she could enjoy the festival and life carried on normally afterwards.

In the end, the problem wasn't so much the festival, it was her body. The Festival of Life coincided with the normal breeding season of the griffons. Which meant almost every hen and tom down there...were horny. Hens would be talking nesting habits and toms would be talking about how to properly court their respective mates. There were also duels for hens, and for toms.

Duels took place later on in the evening, when the chicks had been ushered away or sent to bed. A tom or hen could use the first part of the festival to sort out who they wanted for potential mates, keeping a tally or check board for later. When the second part of the festival started, with the arrival of a musical trumpet blast, griffons of both genders would flock to the outside part of the city, shedding their fancy outfits and jewelry.

Located two miles outside of Griffonstone city was a place known in ancient times at the King's Round. A massive 25 foot ring of huge stone blocks. Rising into the air like an amphitheater, the steps had a diameter of 250 feet, each stone created seats for all the surrounding audience. One by one, a griffon hen would step into the ring and call out the name of a female they wished to gain rights to their current mate. Likewise, after the first duel finished, a tom would step into the ring and do the same. This would go well on into the night, alternating between genders, with drinking, partying, and duels.

Injuries were numerous but minimal at best, as most griffons fought until submission or first blood. It rarely had to be broken up by the nearby guards. Six were always present in the Round, and were toms and females that either wore red brooches or had completely abstained. Gilda had been a guard for a few duels, and they were always exhilarating to watch.

It was also a great place to rub elbows with other business owners. One thing about it that Gilda loved, was that while the King's Round was off limits to non-griffon folk, the festival itself was open to guests and tourists. Her fifth festival, Gilda had kept her bakery open and completely sold out, raking in bits from hundreds of patrons.

It was how she'd gotten her first apartment and her equipment for her improved bakery. She'd done so well that she had thought of doing exactly that again this year, but a single problem reared it's beak at her this year.

The love letter.

Gilda had read it perhaps a hundred times in the last week and she couldn't shake the feeling she was being duped. It said that another letter would arrive during the festival, but she could tell that half of her hoped it wouldn't. There was comfort in normalcy. Her schedule could go back to normal, she could stop worrying about potential toms looking at her in lewd ways...and she could feel safe again.

Safe is for sissies. The first time the memory had popped up, she'd nearly dropped a plate of scones for a customer. That had been annoying and stressful. The statement came from her friend Rainbow Dash. They'd been in flight school and the two had been daring each other to go higher in the air with each flap. Gilda had been contemplating going way higher than Rainbow had suggested, and had argued with the mare for twenty minutes before just shooting straight up in the air.

Gilda felt a smile smirk tug at her cheeks, and her arms loosened a little around her chest fur. "Heh, that was the first time I'd found I had an high altitude breathing advantage against Dash, crazy mare hated that." Still, she'd been right. She'd thrown caution to the wind and learned from it.

That didn't mean she could repeat it in this case, however. Being in season was like having a vice clamped in a very sensitive spot, and she was unable to remove it. Only a tom had the necessary key to unlock the vice...and she didn't want it anywhere near her lock. On top of this, males would smell...wonderful. The olfactory senses would be going crazy. Would she be bold, and go out now, or wait until the duels?

A cry from outside caught her attention, and she dared a peek, spotting the pair in the alleyway, the male was just getting off his hen, nuzzling into her neck and crying out his claim. Other toms cheered, and other females warbled their approval, helping her to her feet. The two then proudly waltzed back into the celebration, their scents driving others to utilize the same alleys and back spaces.

Gilda felt her left talon betray her need, tracing a circle around a teat farther down on her belly, her tongue escaping her beak to lick gently along the soft edges. She could go down there...maybe the tom who wrote that letter was out there...waiting for her. Her talons slid lower, gliding past her second set of teats. Just a little lower wouldn't hurt....

"Enjoying the show?"

Gilda nearly screamed, her wings shot out to their maximum length, and she spun around to find Gabby leaning against the door frame, panting lightly. She looked exhausted.

"Gabby, sweet mother of the sky, what the hell?!" She snarled. "Not cool, girl, not cool." The flustered hen flapped her wings twice and refolded them, growling and pacing back to the window. "How...How long were you standing there?"

Gabby panted for a few more minutes before walking in and flopping across Gilda's bed. "A few seconds, you were so lost in thought or worry or...whatever that was, that I called your name twice and you didn't hear me heh heh heh, sorry for spooking you."

Gilda cursed under her breath, that was awkward. She almost walked in on Gilda...doing stuff... "W-well thanks for snapping me out of it...I need that."

Gabby nodded, her eyes closed as she breathed in and out more. "Yeah...glad I could help...gods I hate heat season...."

Gilda sat down in front of her bed and grinned at Gabby, who had flopped on her back and splayed her wings out. Gilda reached out and poked Gabby's beak making her grimace and look down her nose at the appendage. "Careful, with a pose like that you mind attract unwanted attention really quick!"

Gabby blushed and slowly rolled over, curling in on her paws and tail. "Yeah...I don't need to worry about that...I took care of it a couple hours ago."

Gilda blinked in surprise. "Wait..." She look to the base of Gabby's tail, and then her shoulders, then her nape feathers, expecting to see signs of mating, or courtship nippings, but none were present. "How did you do that?" She leaned in before Gabby could back off and sniffed her nape, the fluff expanding out as she did so. Gabby froze for a split second as Gilda's beak shuffled through the fluff. She didn't smell a tom on Gabby....In fact, she couldn't smell Gabby barely at all.

"Ah...Gilda...p-please don't." Gabby gasped. Gilda warbled curiously. That was a weird reaction, were her feathers sensitive?

"What was that Gabby? All I did was touch your neck feathers."

Gabby blushed furiously and looked away, standing and hopping off the bed. She kept her rump away from Gilda, who now was seriously curious. "It's nothing, Gilda! I have my ways, and i'm sure you have yours r-right? I um, I need to go freshen up for the duels!"

Gilda nodded slowly, watching as her fellow hen slunk backwards out of the room in a low submissive posture, her tail tucked tight against her rump. Hmm, I wonder what she did...How does one remove their scent entirely?.

Shrugging, she rechecked her scarf, the only thing besides her brooch. Gilda was never one for fancy clothes. Maybe Gabby was, but she'd never actually asked.

Come to think of it...I've never seen Gabby at a Festival of Life...huh. I wonder why. Exiting her room she crossed the hall to Gabby's door, an object covered in stickers and labels the griffoness had collected from all over the place.

"So uh Gabby?" She asked, rapping her knuckles on the door. There was a light grunt, then a gasp, then Gabby's voice came through, though soft and nervous, almost shaky.

"Y-yes Gilda? hoo boy..."

Gilda questioned if she had interrupted something, and for a second she almost backed down, but then she fluffed out her feathers and sighed, trying to relax. "I uh, I just realized I've never seen you at this festival. Have you...ever been to one?"

Gabby laughed. "Oh! That's easy, most of the time I take on routes outside of town during it. I don't uh...really go to this one. Personal reasons."

Gilda frowned. "Ah. yeah that makes sense...I guess...well darn that ruins that plan I guess..."

Footsteps sounded just on the other side of the door. "Plan? Um, what plan?"

Scratching her nape feathers with a paw nervously, Gilda gently bonked her head into the door, resting her forehead on the wood. "I uh...I can't really...I need to..."

To her surprise the door creaked open, Showing her one of Gabby's large eyes looking at her. The first thing that hit Gilda was a lovely scent that wafted from Gabby's doorway. It fogged her senses and made her dizzy for a moment. "Wh-whoa...that scent...Gabby...is that you? I though you said you took care of that!" Gilda shook her head furiously and backed up, allowing Gabby to carefully slip out. Closing the door behind her, she frowned at her door.

"No, its not me. It's an herbal remedy Zecora gives me around this time of the year to...um...take away my heat." Gabby blushed and wilted under the shocked and suddenly furious expression that smacked itself onto Gilda's beak.

"IT DOES WHAT!?" She growled. Advancing on Gabby, who shrank down to her belly under Gilda's glare. "You're telling me that you've had this stuff for who knows how long and you haven't shared it with me!?"

Gabby squawked in panic as Gilda scruffed her with a pair of talons, and hoisted them both to the same height, beak to beak. "My back end is screaming at me and it hurts and I don't want it to hurt. Make with the sharing of the no heat stuff. now."

Gabby blushed furiously, warbling a little tune that seemed to be an equal mixture between fear and happiness. "I-I-I would, B-but I can't!"

Gilda hissed and let her go, kneading her talons into the carpeted floor. "Oh how convenient for you! Pray tell why not?!"

Gabby dared look up at Gilda and Gilda had to admit it looked far too cute to be fair. The smaller hen was fluffed out defensively, her wings were at mid flight pose and she was curling inwardly. She looked like a puff ball!

"I um...I ran out, tonight..."

Gilda growled, her talons dug into the carpet hard. "Then we get more, it can't be that hard to make right?"

Gabby frowned. "Actually yes. It takes a month for one batch to settle, and you have to get it customized to your um...to your..." Gabby made a frantic jab with her talon at her back end. Gilda slowly blinked in recognition and snarled. Whirling around, and nearly smacking Gabby in the chest with her tail tuft, she started going downstairs. "You have got to be kidding me!!! Stupid potions! Freaking...stupid...no good zebra...gah!!!" Gabby watched from the upper landing as Gilda furiously rubbed her body along the side walls, then the stair railing, and then ended up flopping near the door and rolling around for a bit.

"Stupid heat nnnng!"

Several seconds went by, Gilda groused and griped downstairs while Gabby slipped back to her room for a moment. She came out and carefully descended the stairs, coming up to the grumpy griffoness. "There um, is good news..."

Gilda rolled her eyes, looking up as she spoke. "Oh please, my roommate has a secret concoction that magically unwinds the vice in her rear end while I have to just deal with mine and you say there's...good...news..."

Gabby had an unmarked letter in her beak.

"Is...that?"

Gabby nodded. She gently dropped it onto Gilda's beak, who scrambled to sit up with it in her talons. "I found it waiting for me when I got back to the post office. It was on my desk."

Gilda gently slit the top, and pulled out the tri-folded letter. To her surprise, another rose petal slipped to the floor at her feet. She gently picked it up, and admired it. It too was fresh and slightly damp.

"Whoever they are, they keep giving me petals. maybe I'll get the full flower eventually." She whispered.

Gabby blinked slowly while watching the petal twirl in Gilda's talons before she shook herself and nodded with a smile. "Oh I hope so, that'd be very romantic." Gabby then scooted over next to Gilda who raised a brow at her.

Gabby shrugged. "What? I wanna know what they say too!"

Gilda sighed and nodded, flipping open the letter.

To Gilda Griffoness.

It is completely in your right to be cautious, I approve of it. It is a cruel thing to trick someone with these, I did contemplate other methods of contacting you originally, but this seemed...safest.

I do believe a griffon in a game of hide n seek with pony children is like putting a shark in bloody water with a bunch of unknowing fish! I would recommend not playing for sure, although that gained a laugh from me.

You are fine, Gilda, better than fine. Write from the heart. It is the most reliable answer to your questions. I will however abstain from giving any details of myself at this time save one. Consider it a Festival gift from me to you.

I am a griffon.

It does pain me to see you lonely on this Festival of Life, my Rose. I know not of any way we can meet at this time sadly, please keep my petals close to your heart this night, and enjoy the festival for me, I will be unable to attend. I see you struggling and I wish to quell the fire in your heart...and elsewhere.

Alas time works against me, and I must make sure you know who I am before you know me. Tonight drives me to find a remedy to my internal aches instead of you, but I shall persevere. I wish to save my first courtship for you, and to do that I will have to have loneliness as my companion this night. Every night I dream you are near me, the ghost by my side, so wonderfully clear...Yet when I awake we are miles apart, even though so close.

I will remain your hidden supporter for now. So you do not lose your way, so you have a hidden map to the places and dreams you seek. I'll be the extra pair of limbs you need when you feel like you'll stumble. I will be the stone to your foundation so you can stand firm against the struggles of life.

I believe in a month's time your birthday is coming up yes? I have good sources that say it is, I'll trust them. Worse case scenario you receive a gift early. Look forward to it, I had exhausted my connections to try and find out what would be something you'd genuinely want...but I have come up dry.

May I inquire directly as to something your mind or heart craves? I'll see if I can acquire it.

Anything for my Rose.

Gilda looked from the rose petal, to the letter, to the nearly squealing and screeching bouncy Gabby, then no where in particular.

"They're a griffon. They know my birthday...and they want to get me something...I...Gabby...GABBY!" She shrieked. Gabby stopped mid leap, seemingly frozen in mid air for a moment that made Gilda's logic brain do a flip, before the griffoness landed and tilted her head.

"Yes?"

Gilda pointed to the letter. "This...this griffon. Their genuine! They really do like me!!!"

Gabby sat and proudly nodded. "Looks like it! So what are you gonna tell em? They want to get you a gift...but." She walked up next to Gilda and pointed at the section about her birthday. "They don't know what you like...soooo?" Gabby twisted her paw in the air at Gilda until the hen sighed and started walking up the stairs, Gabby behind her.

"I...I don't know! I don't think of birthday stuff! I mean...I do but..." Gilda frowned and looked at the note once more. "Hang on...."

They reached the top of the stairs and Gilda looked at Gabby. "Gabby, it says they 'exhausted their connections trying to find out about me...did any griffon during the past week ask you stuff like this?"

Gabby hummed, and put her talon to her chin. "Hmm..."

Gilda walked into her room and placed the letter and petal with the other ones, in a jewelry box she'd scavenged a long time ago from the rubble of the castle. She then turned to see gabby still in thought. "Well?"

Gabby sighed and shrugged, putting her paws in the air. "I got nothing Gilda. Sorry. I talk to a lot of customers and the faces blur together."

Gilda sighed back and shrugged. "Ah it was worth a shot. Whoever they are, I think I like their methods."

Gilda hopped up on to the bed and groaned as her stomach flipped. "Oof I hate being in Heat...I need food."

Gabby perked up, "I could go get you something from the market!"

Gilda laughed and pointed out the door. "OUT THEN! Fetch me a morsel of foodstuffs! Your landlord is hungry and requires vittles!" The two Hens looked at each other and then burst out laughing until Gilda's groin protested and she doubled over. "Yeah okay food now, please and thank you."

In her pain she barely missed the nuzzle that Gabby gave her cheek. "No problem Gilda. Be right back, think on that gift!"

Gilda hummed as the door downstairs closed, and her eyes drifted to the note...and next to it...the ancient, damaged jewelry box. She smiled, and flipped over. "A gift huh?"

Author's Note

Gifts can be given, but never should one expect them.