Gilda was on the train heading back to Griffonstone, her head on the window and watching as objects whizzed past. She was in the last car, and in the very back row. Next to her was the present she had gotten in Ponyville, at the party thrown for her that she walked out on after losing it. She turned her head to look at the present and could practically hear Chad’s voice.
"I threw this party to improve your attitude. I thought a good party might turn that frown upside down. I even did research on what griffons like to make presents for you."
"Wait. At least take your present."
Gilda rolled her eyes and looked back out the window. A few minutes go by and the train arrived in Griffonstone. She got up and began to walk off the train, attempting to leave the gift on the seat. Unfortunately, one of the ponies saw the gift.
“Excuse me ma’am. You left your gift.” A pony was heard saying. This mare was directly next to Gilda’s seat, and saw that she was sitting with the gift. Gilda stopped, groaned and walked back over, snatching it out of the seat and left. Her irritation left the mare a bit confused.
Gilda stepped off the train and began walking her way home while the gift was on her back. She walked into her house and started to open the door. Throwing the gift behind her, she opened the door and almost walked into her house, but the gift was tossed back at her, hitting her on the rump. She turned around aggressively.
“Hey! Watch it!” She exclaimed.
“Watch yourself! You hit me with that!” A voice shouted back. Gilda gritted and snatched the gift back up and walked back into her house.
She placed the gift on her table and went to her fridge, pulling out something to drink, looking back at the gift.
“Little lame-o gave me a gift. What the heck did he even think to give me?” Gilda asked as she took a sip, briefly remembering what he said.
"I threw this party to improve your attitude. I thought a good party might turn that frown upside down. I even did research on what griffons like to make presents for you."
“Did research. Pssh, what kind of research could he do?” Gilda said as she took a sip. “Did he look up what kind of things eagles like? Or things lions like? Or looked up both of them and tried to combine the two?”
She drank some more of her juice yet again before there was a knock on the door. She placed the juice down and walked over to the door. She opened it and a griffon, roughly smaller than she was looking up at her. This Griffon was part cardinal and part tiger, and his wings fluttered as Gilda opened the door.
“Gilda! You’re ba-” He tried to say before the door was closed on him. His smile dropped immediately and he took a seat at the door, looking a bit sad. A few seconds go by and Gilda opened the door and looked at the younger griffon.
“What do you want Clyde?” She asked him. He looked at her.
“I saw you just got back from ponyville and wanted to ask you how it was.” Clyde answered.
“It was terrible. Bye.” She answered without missing a beat, closing the door in his face again. Clyde turned to walk away, and as he did, Gilda realized how she could get rid of that present. She quickly opened the door with the gift in hand.
“I got you a present, little souvenir from the place.” She said, making Clyde turn around. She tossed the present to him, and he made sure to catch it. “Enjoy it, buh-bye.”
Right after she could close the door, Clyde read the to and from tag.
“From Chad, To Gilda? Hey I remember that guy.” He said, making Gilda opened the door to look at him.
“You do?”
“Yeah, I met him at the friendship games, when I was…..well I’m not sure how old I was, but I was really young.” He said. Gilda also remembered Chad saying he knew a griffon named Clyde, and even having a picture.
“Little Changeling? Often wears a red hoodie with blue sleeves?” Gilda asked.
“He might wear a hoodie now, I don’t know. Haven’t seen him since. But I know he has a brother bigger than his age.” Clyde described.
“That’s him alright.” She muttered. “Welp, enjoy your gift.” She said as she tried to close the door, but Clyde used the gift to stop it.
“Sorry Gilda, but I don’t feel comfortable keeping a gift that wasn’t specifically given to me.” Clyde said.
“But I specifically gave it to you.” She said.
“But it was given to you by someone else.” Clyde said. Gilda growled a bit and opened the door.
“Will you just take that stupid gift?” She gritted. Clyde looked at he with a tilted head, and a confused expression.
“If you want to get rid of the gift so bad, why don’t you just throw it away?” Clyde asked. Gilda was about to object to that, but realized she had multiple chances to just throw the gift away. From the moment she stepped out of Sugar Cube Corner to the moment she got into her own house, she neglected such a thought.
“I wanted the gift when he gave it to me, now I don’t.” She played off as she picked the gift back up. “Not like I’d keep that loser’s gift anyway.” She said as she walked back to the kitchen.
“Uh… Gilda, you’re forgetting something.” Clyde said. Gilda walked back over to the door, and closed it in his face for the third time.
“There we go. Okay, have a good day!” Clyde was heard saying as he soon walked away.
Back in the kitchen, Gilda got ready to throw the gift into the trash, but yet again, she heard Chad’s innocent voice.
"Wait. At least take your present."
She looked at the gift and sighed.
“I guess it wouldn’t hurt to see what he gave me.” She said as she started to unwrap it. “It’s probably some dumb cupcake. Or a trampoline.”
She started to take the top off.
“Or a version of that hoodie he wears.” She said as she took the top off. Inside the box was a stuffed elephant with a tiny crown on its head with a note attached to one of the feet. She slowly grabbed the note and looked at it.
‘Dear Gilda, I just wanted to say that I’m sorry for any misunderstandings I may have caused. We got off a bit on the wrong foot, and if it’s okay with you, I want to change that. I made you this stuffed elephant. My research told me that griffons love stuffed animals, and Rainbow Dash told me one of your favorite animals was an elephant, so I made this for you. My way of saying I’m sorry. Sincerely, Kama Ezio Clyde Arma Chad.’
Gilda looked through the note and then put it back in the box to take out the stuffed elephant. She looked at it, looked at the crown and then looked at the trash can.
She walked over and placed the box into the trash can and then put the stuffed elephant in the trash with it. She walked off.
The stuffed elephant sat on the box for only a few seconds before Gilda came back, picked it up and began to pat any debris off of it. She looked at the stuffed toy and then pulled it into a hug.
“Thanks Chad. I love it.” She said. She walked off with it and headed to her bedroom, placing the elephant onto her pillow. She then saw the tag on the stuffed animal’s ear that said;
‘Hello, my name is__________’
Seeing the blank space, Gilda took a feather off her wing, dipped it in ink and began to write on the underline. She finished writing and smiled at the name before walking out the room.
‘Hello, my name is Gifty’
Author's Note
I enjoyed writing this little slice of life story. Hope you all liked it too.
For those who need a reminder, here's a link to the episode Chad gave Gilda the gift.
