The gentle sound of purring next to Gilda's head was what woke her the next morning. Her body was relaxed and relieved of stress from the previous day's events. Her mind was calm, and her comfort at it's maximum limits. She felt warm, safe, and cozy in the bedding of the suite the pair had slept in that night.

Of course, they'd made sure to use all the special amenities the room had to offer as well. The bathroom had been their favorite thus far. The large space had a bathtub big enough for Celestia, with multiple angled shower heads that landed water on them from all sides. The hens were able to relax in the hot water for almost two hours before having to extricate their limp but happy forms from the pool. They'd spent some time preening and cuddling on the bed, the massive king sized sleeping area was perfect for two rowdy excited hens. Their nesting habits might have clashed a little, but eventually they managed to make one together out of the bedding and excess pillows, and Gilda hadn't realized how intimate doing so could be.

The simple act of moving a pillow or shifting a blanket together with their beaks brushing against each other's sides or necks as they worked was a wonderful bonding exercise. It triggered something genuinely primal in the two griffons, that they couldn't–and most definitely didn't want to– hold back.

Chirping, hissing, and the clicking of beaks sounded as the two hens worked to perfect their nest. Then came the even more intimate actions. Preening, nuzzling, kissing, and quite a bit of mounting took place. Gilda and Gabby lost themselves in each other's scents and touches, taking time only to bathe once more before they got all the lovely-dovey stuff out of their systems.

In Gabby's case, there was a lot to get out!

From there they'd simply flopped back into the nest, and fallen asleep once more. For several hours the room fell silent save for their purring, snoring, and gentle warbling as the two dreamed. THe storm outside had pelted the windows with rain, lashed the balcony with wind and debris, and the sky roared in contrasting flashes of light.

The two had slept through it all.

Gilda slowly dragged an eyelid open to lay her sight on Gabby, or more specifically Gabby's beak and eyebrow ridge which were the closest things to Gilda's face. Gabby was purring so firmly in her sleep that Gilda had no worries about her mate's level of content. She was nestled snugly against Gilda, their belly fur and teats subtly blending together, tickling the awake Hen. Reaching her claws out, Gilda sifted her talons softly through Gabby's chest feathers and fur. Curling her talons in tenderly, She kneaded the muscles, loving how strong they felt under Gabby's pelt.

All that flying and deliveries has made you a strong hen, Gabby, mmm very strong. Gilda thought as she let her claws explore Gabby's arms and shoulders. Slipping and shuffling closer, Gilda began preening Gabby atop her head, taking a full minute or so to slip her arm carefully under Gabby's head so she could cradle her mate in her arms.

Gabby barely seemed to notice, shuffling a little closer and murmuring in her sleep but nothing more, as Gilda slipped the darker hen's nape feathers into her beak and began shifting them around, plucking the occasional damaged feather and then licking the area to remove the itchiness.

As the sun split through the haze of morning fog, the petrichor smell of the outside drifted to Gida's beak nares. She sighed, genuinely content. As the sun rose higher into the sky, reaching eleven am or so, Gabby eventually opened her eyes, and yawned wide. she went to sit up, only to have Gilda hiss into her ear, she blinked several times, feeling Gilda peck and nip at her neck, before a gentle but assertive lick was dragged across the top of her head.

"Mmm G-Gilda? That's...ooh I like waking up like this." She mumbled, burrowing her beak into Gilda's chest fluff and trilling out some avian notes, before she began her own nibbling.

Gilda purred, feeling her eyes flutter shut for a moment at the grooming, sighing as Gabby found a feather out of alignment. "I couldn't agree more, Gabs." She whispered.

Gabby was silent a moment before she started giggling lightly. Gilda quirked her brow as she looked down at the hen. Gabby playfully burrowed her face into Gilda's floof and giggled more.

"Care to explain why my chest fluff is so humorous?" Gilda asked, nipping Gabby's nape. Gabby "eeped" and giggled more.

Her talons reached up and calmly sifted through Gilda's chest feathers as Gabby pulled her head back, her voice fragile and soft. Removing her head a scant few inches from Gilda's ruffled chest fluff, she let her head flop to the pillow and she simply held her gaze with the golden hen across from her. Their eyes shifted back and forth as each lover looked from one eye to the next and then back.

"I just...I just never expected to really be here...like this..." She lowered her vision to admire their situation, their tails entwined underneath the bedding, and Gabby felt her cheeks warm. She then lifted her eyes back up to Gilda and smiled purely. "With you. I'm happier than i thought i could be. My dreams of this situation always fell short of how...physical it would be." Her talons lifted and slowly clasped tenderly with Gilda's. "Sorry if that's sappy, but...its true." She whispered.

Gilda warbled lightly and shared a beak kiss with Gabby, loving how their claws flexed into each other's hands at the sensation of the kiss. Gilda purred loudly into Gabby's mouth and Gabby reciprocated, sending shudders and shivers down their spines as a single movement.

Breaking the kiss, Gilda bumped her beak against Gabby's with a grin and growled. "Well good, cause now that I've gotten a taste I don't wanna give you up."

Gabby giggled louder and Gilda chuckled softly before gently rolling over on top of Gabby, taking care to do so slowly. Gabby sighed longingly in content as her hen dominantly mounted her, straddling her hips. She gasped as Gilda ground their teats together in a gentle dry humping session. No words were said as they did so, their breathing, moans, and trills of pleasure danced with one other around the two.

"Mmm and I wanna do this with you every day." Gilda whispered, leaning in to bite Gabby's shoulder as she thrust against her lover firmly. A thrill of arousal went down the darker hen's spine as Gabby felt their vulva's clap together. She gasped and sucked in her breath.

"G-gah...Gilda we are g-going to need new sh-sheets at this rate!" Gabby huskily rasped. Her claws gripped Gilda around her back as the bigger hen held her close. Gilda growled lustfully and went to keep thrusting, when, of the sounds she could hear in the room, one stood out painfully.

A knocking at their door.

In the moment Gilda ignored it, forcing herself not to give a fuck to whoever was at the door bothering them, but as she tried to stay in the moment, the knocking grew more persistent. Gabby, finally pulling out of her pleasure heard the knocking as well and they both groaned, bonking beaks together. Their brows knitted almost together as the hens shared a loud hiss of displeasure.

"If it's not one thing..." Gabby muttered, with a low grumble, watching as Gilda snarled and slipped off her mate. Growling in fury at being interrupted, Gilda let her paws and claws slap the floor as she hopped off the bed and stormed towards the door.

"Then it's another." Gilda replied sourly.

The door squeaked loudly in protest as Gilda wrenched it open violently. Closing her eyes and rearing up so she was towering over whoever had interrupted their session, she leaning out roared into the pony's face. "WHAT The FUCK DO YOU WANT!?"

The pony, a tall armored unicorn guard pony, pinned his ears back and leaned away from her, albeit holding a grim determined expression. "W-whoa jeez, s-sorry to disturb you ma'am, but I was sent to inform you that Captain Gallus has a letter for–"

The letter was snatched from the top of his outstretched hoof, and the door promptly slammed in his face. "FUCKING GALLUS!!" Gilda roared through the door. "IMMA KILL HIM!"

The guard blinked for a few seconds, and shook his head as he walked off. "Yikes...If that was how his siblings were when he was young, no wonder royal guard training was easy for the Captain."

The castle grounds were a place of constant movement, and for Gallus, that worked just fine. It gave his bored eyes something to latch on to, anything to keep his mind off the pressing stress of his predicament. Being on legal leave of his station left him listless. He was constantly doing something while acting as Captain, but with the temporary break from the investigations, well, it left him with more time than he knew what to do with! Still, it could have been worse really.

Twilight could have me combing the library for legal documents from the pre-unification era...no thanks. He currently stood atop one of the castle walls that overlooked the training fields behind Canterlot castle. His blue pelt devoid of armor, and instead of it's steady weight to ease his stress, he'd donned a simple vest with his rank and file on the chest patch.

Reared up on his hind paws, he dropped his wings a bit, and rest his chin in one set of talons, watching the new recruits as they did drills, and learned marching formations. Some of the ponies were out of sync, and a couple were too in sync, making the whole march discombobulated. On either side of the formation were drill sergeants, yelling and flailing to get the marching ponies back in order.

He felt a smile grace his beak as he thought of his time down there. Not one drill sergeant I had could top Grandpa Gruff's yelling, or Gilda for that matter.

He sighed as the memories of his time in basic training came up like old friends. He'd worked hard, ignored the judgments of the elite guard, and their opinions of interspecies armies. He'd played his cards well, with some help, and rose to the rank of Captain off determination, hard work ethic, and willpower.

Shining armor had told him many things about Captaincy, some that made him worry, others that made him feel good, but even then... Being a Captain is not all that grand as Shining Armor said it would be...especially given my particular circumstances.

His elbow bent ever so slightly to the right, as his eyes landed on the castle. Somewhere within it's walls was Princess Twilight Sparkle...a mare he had aspired to be with for a long while. She'd grown on him over the years, first as a mentor, then as a leader, along the way somewhere she became potential partner material in his minds eye.

His beak ground together as he thought of the words being slandered across both hers and his backs by the nobles of the Canterlot Court.

A princess and a griffon? Canterlot really has fallen low.

Oh it's dreadful, really. I cannot believe she'd lay with such a...a creature, like that. He's not even of lesser griffon nobility!

Do you think he blackmailed her into it? She was always rather naïve when it came to real political maneuvers.

I think she just is too...unprincess like to be ruling our fair kingdom, perhaps a change is in order?

His talons balled into a fist, a growl letting loose from his beak. A nearby Guards-mare glanced back at him as she did her rounds, but then kept going on her way. He watched her leave, and then relaxed his grip.

"They know nothing," He whispered, closing his eyes and sitting. "And their words are powerless. I need to remember that their opinions don't mean a damn thing." He said it once more, and then thrice, trying to clear the anger from his mind, but in the end all it did was ruffle his neck feathers and wings in agitation.

"Dammit, I'll walk it off then." He growled again and went to stalk the same way as the patrols, but wing beats behind him made him stop. He could tell just by their length of stroke, and the heaviness of each flap that these two were not pegasi. Even without turning around fully, he could tell fellow griffons were landing nearby.

He pivoted and found two faces he didn't realize he needed to see so badly. "Gabby, Gilda." He simply said, more out of surprise than anything else. The two hens landed, folded their wings, and then to Gallus's humor, Gabby immediately bolted towards him.

He grinned and braced as her panther-like form sprung at him from ten feet away, and easily closed the gap. He slid a foot or so as she tackle hugged her brother, and then the two cooed and purred as each gave nuzzles to one another. He smiled down at her as she nuzzled his neck.

"Hiya Gabby, I take it you got my letter?"

Liquid soaked into his chest feathers and he blinked down at his pseudo-sibling. Confusion etched itself onto his features as he found not a frown as he expected, but a smile gracing Gabby's beak. She looked so happy–even while sniffling– and when he looked to Gilda for answers, he was flabbergasted to find her smiling a weird...very happy smile at him as well.

Before he could ask anything, Gabby crushed him in a firmer grip, hugging him as close as she could and whispered. "I did it. I finally did it, Gallus."

He blinked. He looked at the back of Gabby's head while she hugged him, and then to Gilda, who gave no further reply and simply sat, still smiling. He gently stroked her back, raising a brow. "Uh, did what Gabs?" He whispered back.

Gabby laughed, choked back a sob, and kept holding him. "I am finally hers. I'm Gilda's mate."

Gallus felt his beak open, then close, and then he simply said with a wide eyed stare. "...Oh."

Gilda snorted, "Oh? that's its? Gee thanks for the raving compliments, bro." She snarked, walking up and nuzzling Gabby's nape. "Also So I don't forget," Before Gallus could fully react, Gilda slugged him in the shoulder, hard.

Gallus yelped and hissed at her, backing away as he rubbed his sore shoulder. "OW! Wh–what gives!?" He watched as she grumbled and put her wing around Gabby, pulling the flustered hen into her side.

"That was for ruining our mating session this morning. Your stupid letter arrived at the worst moment possible so thanks for that." Gilda said with a growl.

Gallus blinked at the two, dared glance down for the briefest of moments, to see that yes in fact the two hens were very much in season, and blushed violently red before turning his beak back up and warbling nervously. "A-ah! You are...that is, um, great? Sorry! I mean sorry! That letter was supposed to be delivered quietly, I didn't mean to–"

Then he blinked. "Wait you mated? But thats– How the hell do two hens even–"

Gabby quickly reached out and clamped his beak shut. "Yeah no. Not having that talk with my little brother, on a castle wall in the middle of a city."

Gallus gave her a dead pan stare, brushed off her talons and rolled his eyes. "One, we aren't related by blood, so not actually your little brother, also I'm the Captain of the guard, not some hatchling Gabby." Then he rapidly shook his talons in front of himself.

"Never mind that horribly gross inquiry, congratulations!" He said walking forward and nuzzling the two of them. The three held each other for several moments, simply basking in each other's company, before he pulled back, dodging a nip from Gilda's beak. "Well this is great news! Why don't we get some breakfast? Talk stuff over, catch up and whatnot?"

He looked around the castle grounds and rubbed the back of his nape. "To be honest, being on leave is boring as hell and I wanna do something other then dawdle around the grounds all day like some aimless idiot."

Gilda snorted. "Afraid we can't help much with the idiot part but we could certainly go for some food." She chuckled as Gabby nipped her shoulder.

"Be nice to Gallus!" She hissed.

Gallus Ignored the playful comment and started walking with them back towards the main gate. "Great! What ya feeling like? Because Canterlot has some nice interspecies restaurants down on the main thoroughfare now. You ever had caramelized bacon pancakes before?" He said with a wide grin and a raised eyebrow.

Gabby opened her mouth and gasped, and Gilda licked her lips. "Yeah, lets do that. Lead the way, bro."

The Gravity Grill-house was unique in it's design. Half cloud structure, half genuine brick and mortar. It catered to species of every type it seemed. Simply standing in the lobby to get a table was a fascinating experience to the two hens. In the first ten minutes alone they'd seen nearly every known species occupy the area. Minotaurs, Hippogriffs, Griffons, Changelings, a couple Diamond Dogs too!

Gallus seemed unfazed by it, having been her before. He was however certainly happy. "The diversity has really picked up a lot since Twilight made some legal changes to the ruling of other species occupying the capital. It's a lot nicer here because of it. Did you know that nearly four hundred years ago, Diamond Dogs weren't even considered sapient enough by ponies, to have rights?"

Gilda nipped him in the shoulder, making him hiss at her. "You're learning too much, stop being an egghead."

Gabby looked around and smiled. "Honestly though, it feels more like a real city now, not just snooty unicorns ignoring each other as they shop." She chirped in greeting to a fellow griffon, only to frown when he hissed at her and kept walking. "Well, at least somethings are still the same."

Gilda glared after the male tom before looking back to Gallus. "I imagine it didn't go perfectly to Purple Princess's plans though yeah?" A young pegasus mare approached them, wearing clothing that Gilda realized made the mare look like she was ready for a backyard grill party. At the same time she was clearly their waitress. "Any road bumps on the way of note?"

Gallus chuckled lightly and nodded, before requesting a cloud table, and then the three followed the mare up into the building. The smells of cooking food, both fresh veggies, and meats danced across their beak nares, and if not accustomed to the reaction, the pegasus waitress might have chuckled as the two hens stopped for a second and simply took in the scents around them.

Apparently it was a very common reaction from their predatory customers.

Gallus waited to continue the conversation after the waitress got them to their booth, set up their drink orders and left them alone. "Oh yeah, the biggest one was pretty hilarious. On the day of Twilight's signing the new reforms, some of the nobles were desperate enough to keep things as they were. So desperate in fact, that they tried to magically bar her from the court room and do the proceedings without her."

Gabby snorted as she stirred her drink. "Did they forget she knows practically every spell to pony kind? Or that she's the literal element of Magic itself?" Gabby took a sip, humming in delight as the flavors danced across her tongue. "Mmmm that's good, but yeah, she's like the Princess of Magic at this point."

Gilda nodded, taking a couple generous gulps of her drink. "That I agree with, the 'too much magic' part, so what did she do?"

Gallus smirked. "She calmly walked up, teleported past their barrier, sat down on the throne, reinforced their own barrier with out them noticing and then proceeded to charge each of them with legal crimes against the crown. You should have seen it, girls." He said chuckling. "First they tried to tell her she had no power to do so, and that got a couple nobles stripped entirely of their rank and status, then when the lot of em realized they weren't going to win, they simply tried to leave."

He stabbed his claw into the table lightly. "But because Twilight refused to drop the barrier, and they weren't strong enough to remove it, the louts were stuck in there. I heard she gave them a full on power point presentation about how to properly use their status as nobles."

Gilda and Gabby looked at one another. Gabby spoke with humor in her voice. "Ouch, knowing Twilight, she kept it short right?"

"It lasted all day." Gallus Deadpanned.

"Twilight kept getting sidetracked with more legal stuff to throw at them. I looked in on em one time and watched a noble mare with mascera running down her cheeks flailing at me through the barrier, begging me to take her to jail instead. The mare practically threw her life savings at me as an offer."

Gilda hissed and set her drink down. "Yikes. That was only one of the problems that happened right?"

Gallus nodded and went to speak further but their waiter arrived to take their orders. The pegasus mare dipped her head, whipped out a note pad and smiled. "Hi folks, what can I get ya for this fine afternoon?"

After looking the menu over, Gallus spoke up. "Is it too late to maybe order breakfast menu items? These two are visiting from out of town and i wanted to let em try the bacon pancakes."

The waitress frowned, "Oh sorry, sir. It's afternoon,so i'm afraid I can't do that."

"Welp, there goes my day, completely ruined." Gilda grumbled, before bonking her head onto the table. Gabby playfully nosed her back into a sitting position.

A general muttering of grumbles was made as they reanalyzed their option, The mare sadly fidgeted nervously while they did so. "S-sorry, should I give you some more time?"

Gilda shook her head, "Nah we'll come by another time for those then, I'll have the three pork combo, extra bacon on the side, please."

Gabby tapped her menu. "I guess I'll have...two chili cheese samplers, ooh and a basket of liver and onion rings please!"

Gallus smiled at Gabby's choice. "I've had that its good, I'll have a catch of the day, but can I have a side of steak too?"

The mare jotted that all down and nodded. After accepting Gallus's payment she walked away, hollering to the cooks. "OI! I need three oinkers wearing pants, a plate of hot air, one basket of grandma's breakfast, and the bull needs to swim with a trout!"

Gallus smirked, and watched Gilda and Gabbys expressions screw up in confusion.

"They are certainly interesting here." Gilda murmured.

Gallus nodded, "SO..." He looked between the two of them, before angling his gaze to Gabby. "Ya did it. You succeeded." His smile was warm and gentle as he spoke. Gabby simply purred, leaning on Gilda, who blushed and fluffed up as Gallus grinned at her.

"Yeah, I did." Gabby whispered. Her head lifted off Gilda and she clasped her claws onto the table in an attempt to stem her anxiety. "It was really hard, Gallus, I was so afraid. I had to share stuff, with Gilda that I've only ever told you and Grandpa Gruff."

"Stuff that made me wanna punch some one's light out something fierce." Gilda growled. "Thank fully that wasn't necessary." Gilda draped a wing over Gabby and returned her own subtle little purr of affection.

Gallus's smile didn't quite reach his eyes though as he sat back and looked at them. "Good, Im happy for ya, both of you." He amended, pointing at Gilda. "Gilda you've worked really hard to make you shop successful, and Gabby is the hardest working hen I've ever known, you two deserve this, no need to be lonely in a world with so many wonderful opportunities."

Before Gilda could stop herself, she spoke. "So do you."

Gallus's smile immediately fell away, not into a frown, but his face went neutral rather quick. He waved at her. "Oh, of course, of course." He tried to play it off with a smirk. "Ah don't worry about me, eventually it'll all work out, you'll see."

"Will we, Gallus?" Gabby murmured. Her eyes looked at him sadly. "We spoke with her you know, with Twi–"

"Y-yeah, I know." He nearly growled. His eyes cast down. "You didn't need to, I appreciate it but, it was not necessary. I can take care of myself."

Gilda put her palms up, "Whoa, okay, touchy subject it may be, but just how you supported us, we're trying to do the same."

Gabby reached across the table and clasped her claws with Gallus's, warbling gently. "We aren't saying you can't take care of yourself....we're worried she can't take care of you."

Reaching across the table as well, Gilda tried to clasp his other hand, "I mean come on Gallus, the mare can't even take care of–" Gilda was silenced as Gallus wrenched his claws from Gabby's and slapped the table loudly. Both hens flinched back.

"Just stop it, okay!?" His snarl was more tinged with pain than anger, and his weak anxiety filled hiss at the end made Gabby and Gilda look away from him for a few seconds.

The restaurant fell quiet as several folks looked over, and Gallus quickly waved them away with a smile. before his claws lowered under the table. "I...I can't...look, girls." He looked to them and frowned. "I want this to be a happy moment, for you! We don't need to worry about me right now, okay? Whatever happens between me and twilight, well I'll weather it, just as you Gabby, weathered your fears, and came out on top."

Gabby slowly angled her eyes back to him, and he smiled gently. "You fought so hard to achieve this moment, don't let it be ruined with sourness and negative crap, okay?"

He turned to Gilda, finding her glaring at him. "And, sorry for shouting, but.. this is my battle, Gilda. Just as you fought to get your business going, I need to fight this fight myself." He reached out his talons again, palms up, and when they both slowly took one each he smiled. "It'll mean nothing if I let others do the fighting for me, okay?"

Gilda and Gabby frowned, but nodded at once. Gilda let go first, grumbling. "I am practically your big sister, Gallus, I will not stop fighting for you, it's my damn right to do so. But fine, Ill back off for now."

Gabby spared a warm smile to Gilda who had folded her arms and looked away with a huff. She squeezed Gallus's talons, and trilled quietly. "And I'm your little sister, basically. I will always try to make you smile, and I will hope for you to find happiness too."

"Technically n-none of us are even related." He said with a wry smile. When both hens glared daggers at him simultaneously he balked, putting his claws up. "Okay! Okay, I mean, that being said, we are...we are family, aren't we?" He said it more as a statement to himself, but the hens nodded all the same.

"Family looks out for each other, and we are no different. Like it or not, you're part of our nest, and that means we got your back, Gallus." Gilda said.

Gallus blushed and looked at Gilda with a sort of awe for a few seconds, until he felt his feathers ruffle, making Gilda blink in confusion. "Part of your..."

Before the conversation could go further, a pile of food was wheeled over to their table on a trolley. The mountain of treats was so heavy in scent it derailed Gilda's thoughts, and the other two griffon's as well as they all greedily eyed the trolley's content. The pegasus mare peeked out from behind the food and warily glanced between them. "Um, who ordered what again?"

While Gallus and Gabby made grabby claws at the food, one thought did enter Gilda's mind as she fought Gabby for an onion ring.

Gallus definitely had their support...but would Griffonstone give Gilda and Gabby the same?

Author's Note

LONG TIME COMING but finally i have another chapter out. This story will have an ending. NO it is not dead. I am merely an artist for my job and have very little time to write at all.

I have decided something however.

This story might flow a different direction from now on, and it is gonna go places I want it to go. You as the reader may not like where it goes, and that is fine, but I realized that writing is not for the the views, its not for the upvotes or the downvotes, its to write and enjoy the creation of the story.

Simply that. If i wanna write a smutty romance, i will, neigh sayers be damned. I wanna write a gritty war novel, im going to. if i wanna write a story that no one else likes. that's fine.

Im writing for ME, I realized. Because it is something i enjoy doing for myself. So future stories, they might be random as heck. They might be porn, or war, or horror, or even comedy, and imma write em cause I want to.