Through the Feathers and the Flames
The Equestrian mountain range was as vast as it was wild. Many peaks and caves housed dangerous creatures that forced ponies to stay far away, lest they become dinner. For a lone female griffon, this was her new home, as she woke up from her sleep. She gazed at the view, content at where she was, away from all those dweebs.
“Nothing like a good stretch to get those bones cracking,” Gilda said to herself, happy no one was in hearing range. “Time to see what’s for lunch.”
She walked towards the end of the cave where a small pile of fish laid in a basket. She grumbled as she began starting a fire. “Damn it, I’m running out of food here. I need to kill something big before it gets too dark,” she groaned. “Should’ve gotten a bigger haul yesterday.”
Several minutes later her meal was fully cooked and she started chewing on what little fish she got from yesterday. It was alright; definitely didn’t beat the food back at Griffonstone though. If only she could go back home and grab some quality meat, maybe make a few scones and say hello to those...
She immediately shook her head. “What are you thinking,” she adamantly interrupted herself, “leaving that dump was the best idea you had! Who’d ever want to live with those dweebs when I can just take care of myself like this?” She took a big bite out of her meal, then after only two more bites she realized that there was nothing left but bone.
She frowned. “But I guess it does get pretty boring around here...”
She sighed as she threw away the bones, clattering loudly on a rock as it echoed through the cave. The noise almost startled her, but not as much as the even louder noise outside. The griffon stood up as she recognized the sound of wings flapping. Very large wings flapping.
“I swear if those assholes found me…!” She searched around for some kind of way to defend herself, finding a large knife she’d use to kill prey. “Hey dickhead! Why don’t come right in so I can give you a warm welcome!” There was a silent moment where Gilda brandished her knife and took a small step forward. “Don’t make me say the same thing twice, come out now!”
“Alright, alright, no need to be hostile.”
The voice was way deeper than she anticipated, but the tone definitely didn’t match. It was like a giant monster was apologizing for bumping into someone. Before she could react, a large figure that looked like a rectangle with legs slowly came into view with his hands up. A purple teenage dragon twice her size wearing a large backpack with supplies.
“Uh...hey there, what’s up?” The dragon asked cautiously. “Mind not pointing that thing at me?”
It took a moment for Gilda to register what she was looking at, but she still kept her knife pointed at him. “Interesting seeing a dragon with manners for once. Mind telling me what you're doing here?”
“I could ask you the same thing,” he responded more calmly, “you’re pretty far away from Griffonstone, and these mountains aren't exactly a resort.”
“That’s none of your business. Griffons aren't known for being friendly faces, so I wanna know why you thought snooping around was a good idea.”
The dragon could’ve sworn he recognized the female griffon, the rude demeanor and chalkboard screeching voice was a dead giveaway, but he realized this was not the time to remember. “Look, I didn’t mean to sneak up all suspiciously. I’m looking for a cave to stay in before it gets dark. Been traveling a lot and I don’t want to share with any monsters.” He steadied his arms, hoping the situation would get less tense. “I don’t mean any harm, see?”
Gilda groaned. This dragon was being annoyingly nice to her. “Whatever. I’m not in the mood to talk or look at your ugly mug, so how about you leave me alone and hit the road!” She then barred her knife once more. “Don’t make me say it again.”
The dragon looked at her with only a bit of worry, then backed towards the light of the outside. “Alright, I understand, sorry I barged in like this. I’ll just look around some more.” He then turned around and took off to the sky, leaving the griffon by herself once more.
Gilda growled as she threw the knife to the ground. “Yeah and stay lost you dweeb!” She returned to her makeshift chair and sat down, the whole mess making her feel worse than before. She sighed. “Damn does it suck here.”
Several hours passed, and Gilda was way more agitated than before. All that time looking for food and avoiding wild monsters, and she couldn’t even find enough to last the night. Making matters worse, she could tell that it was about to storm pretty hard, and now food would be more trouble than it was worth. When she got back to her cave, she growled like a beast as her frustrations got the better of her. Throwing what little prey she was able to get to the corner, she trudged her way toward her fire pit and laid down on the cold ground. “Wow, that was a fucking disaster. I wonder how things can get worse?”
A loud crack of thunder flashed outside. “Fucking nature...”
With the rain being the only noise, she was able to hear the sound of falling rocks much easier. Following the direction from where it came from, she saw the dragon from earlier, now soaking wet from the rain outside, giving her a dumb smile and wave. She squinted. “What are you doing back here dweeb? I thought I told you never to come back.”
The dragon shrugged. “You did. I spent the last couple of hours trying to find a place to stay around here. All these caves were either too small or some wild creature was staying in them. Believe it or not, you have the only good cave I could go to.”
She sighed, annoyed, as she faced away from him. “Whatever, I don’t have the energy to deal with bullshit. If you’re staying in my cave though, you follow my rules: Don’t come near me, don’t talk to me, and most importantly, don’t give me a reason to kick your ass! Understand?”
“...Yeah, I got it,” he responded hesitantly. As she got closer, dragging a large brown backpack filled to the brim with tools, his eyes were focused on his new surroundings. It was rather primitive with tools, bones, and weapons laid all over the floor. Most of it was broken. There was a bag of clothes and a small tub of water, and to the right of it was a makeshift bed next to a wall covered in tally marks. He managed to count about two hundred before...
“THIS IS YAK SHIT!!!”
His math was interrupted by the griffin's sudden outrage, throwing sticks at the wall and stomping the fire pit and huffing at the wall. The dragon shook his head. “Hey...do you…?”
Gilda quickly responded. “Didn’t I tell you not to talk to me dweeb?”
“You did, and will you stop calling me dweeb? That insult’s getting old.”
She smirked. “Alright, how about little bitch then? I think that suits you better, don’t you think?”
“Like a glove...” he responded unenthusiastically. “Look, I know you’re not in a talking mood, but maybe I could at least help you with that fire. Or lack thereof.”
Gilda gave the dragon a sour look, she’s been able to look after herself for over a year. Why accept help from some random dragon? Then again, he’s offering to do something rather than freeload. She got up and moved away from the fire pit. “Fine, but don’t burn my stuff.”
The dragon grinned as he stepped closer to the pit, he then breathed a small stream of green flame which grew into a larger flame that burned brightly on the floor. Gilda stood there speechless at the now smirking dragon. “I also have some extra firewood.”
For a moment, Gilda was actually impressed by the five second fire that would’ve taken her seven minutes. “Thanks for the fire, dragon, but don’t think this means we’re gonna start singing dumb friendship songs.”
“Good, because I was starving. Also, I guess I’m ‘dragon’ now?” He smirked, reaching into his backpack and pulling out a bloodied blanket. Unwrapping it, he revealed a large dead deer with several deep claw marks and stab wounds. They appeared to be very careful and precisely aimed for a quick and painless death. “Had some deer meat still fresh from earlier. You’re welcome to have half if you want.”
Gilda’s jaw was just recovering from having hit the floor at the sight of this. The deer was larger than any animal she got her talons on. “Woah, gotta hand it to you little bitch, you caught yourself a pretty big haul here.This thing must’ve been like 200 lbs when you killed it.”
“Oh, so we’re back to ‘little bitch’ again...ok. Yeah, this bad boy would have put up a good fight, but it was no match for pure dragon power.” Another thought suddenly came to him and a dreaded chill crawled up his spine. “Uh...if you ever see Fluttershy, do me a solid and never mention this to her. Please?”
“Bring me another kill like this and you got yourself a deal. Now quit talking and chow down.”
The two quietly started eating their meals as the rain loudly continued outside. Gilda stifled a groan before scarfing down her meat. Spike took notice of her, and took the time to look at her. He could tell the past year definitely took its toll on her. Her demeanor was rough and unhinged, obviously from being in this forest for an extended period of time. Scars covered her arms and legs; some were fresh. Her clothes were even torn up with small patches, doing a bad job of covering up her breasts.
“What are ya starin’ at creep!?”
The purple dragon yelled in fright, nearly dropping his food, before he saw an angry griffon. He took a moment to get back any bearings he could. “Uh...n-nothing!”
Gilda narrowed her eyes and grinned. “Come on little bitch, I know you were ogling my assets! I know I’m hot, but I ain’t interested. So, keep looking and your asskicking will last as long as your starin’.”
“Wait! I’m sorry, alright! It’s just that…well...” Spike actually did have a thought, but it was hard to get your thoughts straight when a hot and angry griffon was threatening you. He took a breath before continuing, “I was...just wondering what you were doing out here in the wild.”
Gilda clicked her teeth. “I told you it’s none of your business little bitch! Besides, I don’t really like telling my secrets to perverts like you.”
The dragon furrowed his brow as he scooted closer to the gruff woman. “You know, they say talking about your feelings to friends is a great way to feel better about yourself. As Twilight’s Number One Assistant, I request that you explain yourself?”
“Twilight’s dragon assistant, eh? I think Dash mentioned you when I was in Ponyville…” Gilda did a double take as the wires in her brain connected, and then she realised who she was talking to. “Oh shit...I called the Princess's dragon a bitch.”
Spike’s smile got bigger. “Nice to know how famous I’ve become lately. And you’re Gilda I presume? Rainbow Dash told me how you saved her and Pinkie way back when they visited you in Griffonstone.”
Gilda groaned as she gave a small smile. “Heh, that was a long time ago, dragon. What’s it to you?”
“Three times actually, but hey, I guess that’s a charm, right? Look, believe it or not, your business is my business. As the second-hoof to the Princess of Friendship, it’s my job to make sure the citizens of Equestria aren’t hating each other, and you’re certainly not being friendly right now.”
“So what, are you some kind of friendship cop? Not like I’m doing anything illegal, am I?”
“No, but I can tell when someone could use a friend to talk to. C’mon, I’m sure a little heart-to-heart would soothe that attitude of yours.”
“I ain’t got an attitude, and I ain’t gotta share shit, dragon! There’s no tragic backstory or any bullshit like that, I just want to be here alone!” Gilda turned away to stare at the fire. “Besides, why do you care anyways? I barely know you and you’re saying you wanna listen to my issues? Get real dweeb!”
“Just because I’m a stranger to you doesn't mean I shouldn’t show any kindness,” the griffon looked at him as he continued, “Twilight wanted everypony to know that they can be friends to each other. If you need a dragon who’s willing to listen to your problems,” he pointed his thumbs to himself, “I’m right here.”
Gilda gave a lowly growl, then sighed as she glanced back at the dragon. “Listen, ‘cause I’m only saying this once. I wanted to get away from those idiots back home. Ever since we helped you ponies save Equestria, things in Griffonstone changed...” Gilda stared at the ceiling, seemingly in thought. “We started cleaning up the place and doing things for others without expecting anything back. We even cleaned up the joint.”
When she stopped talking, Spike waited for the part when she would say something like “but everything changed when…” and he would see why she had to leave, but nothing came, which forced him to ask the underlying question, “So...what’s the problem? To me, it sounds like everything was peaceful.”
“It was peaceful...and it sucked.”
Spike raised an eyebrow. “Uh...context?”
“It sucks because we should’ve been like this years ago!” She yelled with a screeching voice. “Some magical pony rises to the throne and we choose now to be all friendly? All they care about is looking good in front of the Princess so we don’t get smited or whatever.”
“I don’t think Twilight is the type to smite a city.”
“That’s not the point! We should have been like this from the start!” Gilda actually got up and started walking around. “I mean, do you know how great our lives could’ve been if we weren't such shitheads living in a shithole! I couldn’t stand living in a place where all they cared about was being in the Princess’s favors. So...I wanted to get away from it all. I told Gabby to convince the others I was on vacation, then got whatever I could carry and left. Been living here for about a year...all by myself.”
Spike’s demeanor turned blue as he heard the griffon’s tale. He wondered why Gabby was so adamant about not mentioning her. “I’m sorry to hear. Now I want to know why you didn’t just come to Ponyville. Rainbow and the others would’ve totally let you stay with us.”
“Oh yeah, cause that’s what I need. To awkwardly room with an old friend because I don’t want to go home. Listen shortstack. It sucks living here, but I just...can’t see myself living with those guys. It’d be so...weird.”
“Being with ponies who care about you is weird?”
“You know what I mean…”
“Not really, and I don’t think you know either,” Spike said, shaking his head. “If you came to Rainbow, Pinkie, or the others, I bet they’d happily invite you in. They wouldn’t leave you out like I bet some of those bad griffons you once knew.”
Gilda groaned as she thought about what the dragon said. So much time spent hating Rainbow and her friends. And for what? Because she didn’t think they were cool enough? Was running away really solving the problem? She looked up towards the cave ceiling and groaned. “You know what’s worse? Ever since Pinkie and Rainbow came to Griffonstone, I tried so hard to get the other griffons to be friendlier. I may have convinced my old friend Greta, but that was it. Gabby was already a ray-of-sunshine and Princess Twilight took care of Gallus better than I ever could. It...frustrated me, you know? I mean, all my effort and she just manages to do it like it was foal’s play?”
“Yeah...I think I understand. It sucks that you feel that way. Like you don’t belong, or that all your efforts are for nothing,” he then got a little bit closer to the griffon, “but is being out here alone in the wilderness really what you want? Is it going to fix anything?”
“It ain’t,” she said without hesitation, “but what do you want me to do? Go back and patch things up?”
“Of course not!” Spike said matter-of-factly. “Buuut, since we’re here right now and we don’t want to go home...you wanna hear the story about how I stopped a war between diamond dogs and abyssinians?
The griffon gave a snide smile. “Sounds like a riot. Pass another one of those legs to me and I’ll listen.”
The morning rays beamed right into Gilda’s eyes, bugging her to wake up. She got up and stretched her arms with a yawn. Giving herself a hard scratch, she took a step before bumping into a soft lump. Looking down she saw the large purple dragon sleeping soundly, then immediately jumped back. “What the fuck!?”
Spike woke up in an instant, getting into a stance ready to fight off any monsters, when he suddenly remembered where he was. He turned towards Gilda in concern. “What happened? Monsters? Thieves? Please tell me it’s one of those and not Fluttershy seeking revenge!”
“Dude, were you spooning me?”
Spike felt like a surprise pop quiz was announced. “Wha…”
“I thought we agreed that you’d stay on your side. You’re lucky no one was here to think we were some sort of married couple!”
Spike grinned as he stretched his arms. “You say that like it’ll ruin your life. Sure hope all that talking about your feelings last night didn’t ruin your style.”
Gilda clicked her teeth. “You certainly grew some balls last night. Confident I’m not gonna kick your ass right now?”
“That’d be bad, but it probably wouldn’t hurt as much as that manticore you fought off with a stick that one time. Cool story by the way.”
“Hmph…” Gilda gave a small grin. She stood up straight and stretched her arms before looking at Spike. “So, what now dragon? Rain’s gone and I still ain’t going back to Griffonstone anytime soon.”
Spike cracked his neck as he looked outside to the sunny and calm wilderness. “Well, I’m sure the Princess won’t mind if I stay here for another day. Plus, I have a hankering for some more deer. Wanna get some together? Could be fun.”
Gilda looked at the dragon in curiosity. This dragon knew she wasn’t the nicest, yet was acting like they were palling it out. Not like she minded it that much. Sure, he can be a bitch, but he’s the nicest person she met in a year. Plus, he didn’t look half bad.
“Sure dweeb...let’s go kill some breakfast.”
Author's Note
Well I did it, I finally wrote that Spilda fanfic you wanted. It took some time but I finally wrote a story about OTP that you are insistent in convincing me that it can actually happen. You only want this because griffon/dragon hybrids are cool. (which is something I will agree with)
Anyways, this story was commissioned by my generous friend. And if anyone else liked what they saw and would like a story written, feel free to shoot me an email and we'll sort it out.
I hope you enjoyed, feel free to tell me what you think in the comments, and I'll see you next time. :)
