On The Wings of a Dream

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4

Chapter 1

Being a griffin isn’t that bad, the only problem is that there aren't that many other griffins around. Sure, it’s rare to see griffins in this part of Equestria, but you’ve seen a few. You’ve gotten along with all the ponies you’ve met, but some ponies still look the other way when you walk by. You’re used to it at this point.

“Hey, you’re a griffin. That’s so cool” You hear a quiet little voice say from behind. You look over to see a little pale purple filly looking up at you.

“Indeed I am. You like griffins?” You ask.

“I do now!” The filly says excitedly. You look up to see a grey, cock-eyed mare looking at you. You look down at the filly and smile.

"What's it like being a griffin?" The filly asks.

"Well, what's it like being a pony?" You reply.

"Oh well, it's pretty cool I guess." She says.

"Well, I guess I can say the same. I have never really been ask that question before." you say

"Come on Dinky, we have to go." The grey mare says to the filly.

“You two have a good day now.” You say. You take a few steps forward and stretch out your wings. With two strong downward strokes you’re in the air. You flap a few more times to gain some height and after a few more flaps, you’re in the clouds.

You glide lazily through the clouds, watching the ponies mingle below. You wonder if you’re ever see another griffin, you could easily go to back to Cloudsdale or beyond, but you stay in Ponyville.

You see a nice fluffy cloud to plop down on. Being a griffin you can walk on clouds like the pegasi can. When you land your feet on the cloud it buckles slightly. You shift your weight and the cloud stabilizes. You take a few steps forward then lie down. You swipe forward with your right claw and some of the cloud disappears.

You look down the newly formed hole gives you a peek at the Ponyville market. You lay your head across your arms and stare down the hole. You feel your eyes getting heavier, before long you’re asleep.

A few hours pass and you wake up. The cloud has gotten noticeably smaller. You decide it’s time to move. You stand and with a strong downward thrust of your wings you’re in the air. You glide through and between clouds. Not expecting to see anything or anyone. You decide to get a little higher, just so you’re above the clouds. You look up and power through a thick patch of clouds.

You float above the clouds, pumping your wings every once in a while to maintain your height. The sun was starting to go down. The sky and clouds began to change color with the sun. It was a peaceful sight.

You land on top of the clouds, you sit and watch the sunset. Suddenly the cloud beside you bursts open and a light blue pegasus with a rainbow mane flies by. You’re a little startled at that, it caught you by surprise.

“I’m going to get you!” You hear another voice call out. Out of the same hole burst a griffin. She was fast.

She gives you a quick look, then she pumps her wings. Before your brain could react, she was gone. You look over and the griffin chasing the pegasus. You stand and take off towards the two. They were fast, really fast. You pumped your wings harder to try and gain speed. You were trailing pretty far behind the two. You could hear them screaming profanities at each other.

As you get closer you could see the griffin in greater detail. The feathers on her body were brown and the feathers on her head were snow white. She had some of the feathers on her head dyed purple. She was very aggressive in her movements, but she was fast.

The blue pegasus turns and heads straight for you, fast as a bullet. You dive out of the way, going head first into a cloud. You’re now inside the cloud, all you can see is white and the sounds are muffled. You hear talking, it’s very close too.

You pop your head out of the cloud, you’re greeted by a light blue mare staring at you.

“Um… Hi?” You say. You look over and see the griffin staring at you as well. She had a very unimpressed look on her face.

“What are you doing following us?” The blue pony asks.

“I was just… Uh, I was just seeing why you two were fighting.” You stutter. You give a sheepish smile. The blue pony bursts out laughing.

“Who says we were fighting?” The griffin asks.

“No one. You two were screaming at each other, so I just assumed…” You trail off.

“We weren’t fighting, dude. We’re just having some fun.” The blue pony says. You feel yourself starting to sink through the cloud. You pump your wings and lift yourself out, landing in between the pony and the griffin.

“I’m Rainbow Dash, by the way. This is Gilda, we’re friends from Cloudsdale.” The blue pony says. Gilda gives a little nod and looks off over the horizon.

“Hey Dash, sun’s going down. We should probably go,” Gilda says, her tone slightly rushed.

“You’re right. Hey, we’ll see you around.” Rainbow Dash says to you. Gilda looks at you; she just stares for a second.

“Yeah, we’ll see you around. It’s good to see another griffin in this place. Let’s go Dash. Last one to your place pays for food tonight!” Gilda says.

“Oh you’re on.” Rainbow Dash says. She rears up then takes off, leaving a rainbow trailing behind her. Gilda looks at you one last time before she takes off after Rainbow Dash.

“What the hell,” You say to yourself as you watch as the two fly off. “Another griffin?”

The sun was just beginning to duck under the clouds, a bright pink settling among the clouds. You liked how the clouds took the color of the setting or rising sun. You sigh and take off for home.

You’ve lived in Ponyville for a year now. It’s had its ups and its downs. Very seldom did you see other griffins; you’ve only seen one, and now with this new griffin. When you moved to this town nopony knew you, and everypony was afraid of you. But with time, they opened up to you. You have lots of friends now.

When you get home, you begin something of a custom of yours, and preen your flight feathers. You duck your head under your wing and start to pluck the soft down from between your fully grown feathers.

When you have finished preening, you head up to your bedroom. Your house in Ponyville was cramped for a griffin. The houses were obviously made for ponies, but you don’t mind, it’s a roof over your head.

You walk into your room and lie down on your bed. You lay on you back and fold you wings over your chest. You mind starts to shut down, replaying the events of today. Who was that griffin? Why is she here? Is she staying here? All these questions raced through your mind.

Your eyes begin to droop, and soon, you are asleep.

Chapter 2

You awake the next day, the sun making the curtains in your room glow. You sit up and stretch your wings. You slide off the bad and plant your feet on the floor, you blink a couple times, trying to get the tired feeling out of your eyes. You walk out of your room and down the stairs, ducking as you go. Once again you remember this was a pony house, not a griffin house.

Your mind is plagued with images of the griffin from yesterday. It was strange to see another griffin, especially with a pony. Either way you were still surprised.

You look over at the clock on the wall; it was too early for the market to be open. You decide to go for another stroll.

The morning air was crisp; the sun was just passing over the buildings. Fall was fast approaching, the trees were still going strong though. The ground was soggy with the morning dew. You watched the early morning ponies do their usual routine; shop keeps went to their stores and the weather pegasi cleared some of the clouds, allowing the heat of the sun to warm the air. You look up and see a familiar rainbow maned mare clearing the skies. You fly over and greet her.

“Good morning.” You say flying up to the mare.

“Oh hey, what’s up?” She replies.

“Nothing much. I didn’t know you part of the weather corp.” You say.

“Yeah, I’ve been part of the corp for a while now.” She say while pushing a cloud out of the way.

“Huh, where’s your friend?” You ask.

“Which one?” She replies.

“The griffin.” You reply.

“Oh she’s back at home. She won’t be up for another hour or so. She always was a late sleeper.” Rainbow Dash says with a chuckle.

“You were saying?” You hear a voice say from above you. You look up and see a griffin popping her head through the cloud.

“Oh hey Gilda, you’re usually up really late, so I was just assuming you were going to be up late today.” Rainbow says.

“Well you know what they say about assuming.” Gilda said. She rolls off her cloud and pumps her wings. She’s now hovering beside you. You look over at her; the colors of her feathers intrigued you.

“Morning.” You say.

“What? Oh yeah, morning.” Gilda said, her tone very sarcastic. You roll your eyes at her sarcasm.

“So, what brings a griffin to Ponyville?” You ask.

“Visiting Dash, I haven’t seen her since we left Junior Speedster Flight Camp. What brings you here?” Gilda asks.

“I live here. I moved from here from Cloudsdale.” You reply.

“That’s cool. Hey Dash what do you want to today?” Gilda says to Rainbow Dash.

“I doubt I can hang today, the weather schedule is pretty messed today. We have to change the weather for three different cities today. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but trust me, it’s a lot.” Rainbow said. You see Gilda’s shoulders drop slightly.

“Alright Dash, I guess I’ll catch ya later.” Gilda said.

“Wait, Gilda, maybe we could hang?” You offer.

“What? You? What would we do?” She asks confused.

“Well, seeing as you’re new in town, I could show you around.” You say.

“Meh, why not,” Gilda says, she shrugs and takes off. “I’ll see ya on the ground!” She calls back. You look over and see Rainbow Dash holding in a smile.

“Are you okay?” You ask.

“Yeah, I’m just picturing your little griffin babies with their little griffin wings, and their little griffin tails.” Rainbow Dash says while chuckling.

“I’m just going to show her around town, it’s not like I like her or anything. I just know how some ponies treat griffins.” You say.

“Yeah yeah, just don’t get her to preggers.” Rainbow says, full out laughing now. You just roll your eyes and fly away.

You scan the ground below looking for Gilda; your eyes straining to see further along the road. Finally you spot her. You glide down beside her, she looks back at you.

“It’s about time.” She says.

“Dash and I had a little chat.” You reply.

“Whatever. Let’s get the ‘tour’ started.” She says, an annoyed tone in her voice.

“Alright. Well right now we’re outside Ponyville market, it’s a friendly place, and you can find lots of fresh fruit and cheap nic nacs there.” You say.

The two of you walk down the dirt path past the market. The air was growing warmer as the pegasi clear the skies. Your feathers are damp from the early morning dew; you give a little shake and you feel the dampness disappear. The gravel and dirt crunches under both of your feet as you walk. You look over at Gilda, her feathers gleaming in the sun, they still looked damp, and maybe that’s what made her shimmer. You were lost in what you saw.

It’s not very often you see another griffin, especially a female griffin, now that you’ve found one will you make a move, maybe you should get to know her first, and maybe find out how long she’s staying for.

“How long will you be in town?” You ask, breaking the silence.

“Don’t know yet, this place seems a little dry for me, not much to do for fun around here. I might just stay for a few days.” Gilda replied.

“It’s not all bad; there are a few good flying spots in town.” You say.

You look forward and see the path becoming cobble.

“We’re approaching the town square, this is where all the politics happens, you can also find the wealthy ponies living here.” You say.

“Where do you live?” Gilda asks.

“Me? I’m on the outskirts of the town.” You reply.

“I see…” Gilda trails off.

The sky was completely clear now. The sun was warm on your feathers, and now you can hear the birds start to sing. Gilda seems to be not impressed with your little “tour”. You can see the boredom welling up inside of her. You look down and sigh.

“What’s wrong with you?” Gilda asks, she almost sounds offended.

“I’m boring you.” You say.

“Everyone does, it’s nothing personal.” Gilda responds.

“I’m sorry, you can go if you want” You say with a sigh.

“Dude, it’s alright, you can continue to show me around.” Gilda says reassuringly.

“Well this is it. Ponyville is a tiny place, the only places left are Sweet Apple Acres and the school house.” You say.

“Well then… How good are you at flying?” Gilda asks with a smirk.

“Not that good. I fly, but that’s only to get above the clouds, I’ve never flown competitively.” You say with a nervous tone to your voice.

“Better than nothing, come on.” Gilda says excitedly.

Gilda begins a brisk pace forward before unfolding her wings, down stroking a couple times, and taking off. You follow her, doing the same. You fly up beside her, she looks over to you and smiles.

“Try and keep up.” She says.

Gilda flaps her wings a little harder, gaining more speed. You flap accordingly, catching up to her.

“Not bad, not everyone can keep up with me. Here, let’s kick it up a notch.” Gilda says with a smirk. She flaps harder, gaining more speed. You flap harder as well, catching up to Gilda in no time.

“That all you got? This is nothing.” You say with a very cocky tone to your voice.

“Oh yeah smart guy, try this.” Gilda says. She pumps her wings and in a blur she’s gone. You look around trying to spot her; you see a brown blur off in the distance, that’s surely her.

You pump your wings as hard as you can, trying to catch up to her, surprisingly you’re actually catching up to her. She looks back at you and picks up the pace; so do you. You easily catch up to her.

The two of you soared through the skies, you were giving it your all, and you liked it. There was something about the thrill of the chase, something you’ve never felt before, it numbed your limbs and made you think faster. You and Gilda were dodging clouds as you passed through them, the two of you were above the clouds now, she wasn’t showing any signs of slowing down, and you didn’t either. Your wings were numb and your head ached, but you didn’t slow down. This was, admittedly, more of a workout than anything you’ve done before, but you still kept close to Gilda.

The sun was shining an odd hue on the clouds; it was an off gold color, it distracted you slightly, you’ve never seen the clouds this color. You look around quickly taking in the colors, only to be taken off guard by Gilda tackling you to the clouds.

“Hey! What gives?” You ask.

“Meh,” Gilda shrugs. “I was bored.”

“Well then, can you get off me please? I can feel myself sinking.” You say, you look up into Gilda’s eyes, the golden color reflecting the light. Her eyes seemed to freeze time, it was strange, you’ve never felt feelings for another being before, but she seems to be doing something to you, casting some sort of spell over you.

“Sure thing.” Gilda said, she stepped off of you and pulled you to your feet. You regain your balance, looking along the top of the clouds.

“So… What now?” You ask.

“I dunno, we have all day to think of something.” Gilda says.

“You have a point.” You say.

The color was leaving the clouds now, the sun has risen, and it was now above the clouds completely, bathing both you and Gilda in its warmth. You look over at Gilda, the sun still making her feathers shimmer. Gilda looks over and her eyes meet yours, you quickly look away. You can feel a heat coming to your cheeks. There’s nothing but silence now.

Above the clouds you and Gilda sit in silence, until she speaks.

“I’m bored. I’ll catch ya later.” She says.

“Alright, see ya.” You reply. Gilda gives you a little nod then flies off. You watch as she flies higher then dives head first through the clouds.

You stay sitting for a few minutes, just watching the clouds form. You decide you’ve sat for long enough; you stand, stretch out your wings, and take off. You glide lazily through the clouds, looking around at the birds and other winged creatures in the air. There was really nothing to do today; hanging out with Gilda was definitely the highlight of the week. With nothing more to do you head home.

When you arrive at home you ponder today’s events, was Gilda feeling something for you? When she was on top of you she a look in her eye, a look of wanting, you couldn’t figure out what it was. You try to shake the thoughts from your head, you manage to get some out, but you can feel them lingering in the back of your mind. You move on to medial tasks; groceries, and gardening, tasks that would take you mind off Gilda.

Before you know it the sun was setting. Not another sight of Gilda. You look up at the sky you know and love, the clouds taking on the color of the setting sun. You sigh and head into your house, another boring night of nothing happening. You decide to get some early sleep, you head up the stairs and to your room; you lie on the bed and fold your wings over your chest.

Before you know it you’re asleep.

Chapter 3

You awake in your bed, your feathers a mess. You rub your eyes and stand, the sun just starting to peak through your window, meaning it was still quite early. You stand, getting a little head rush, you shake off the dizziness and head down the stairs. Your mind was still plagued with images of Gilda, why did she take an extended amount of time before helping you up? You think to yourself.

You dodge the low ceiling beams on your way down the stairs, you look out the window, the ground and the plants shimmered with the morning dew. You begin to clean yourself up, preening your feathers and flattening the feathers that were out of place.

Your routine was interrupted by a knock at the door. You look up at the door, wondering who it could be, none of your friends would be up this early, and none of the mail ponies knocked.

You slowly walk towards the door and open it a crack. You peek through the crack, all you see is feathers. You open the door a little more, only to be greeted by Gilda.

“Oh, uh, hey.” You say awkwardly.

“Sup.” Gilda says.

“I was just preening. What are you doing here?” You ask.

“Meh, Dash was asleep and I had nothing better to do.” She says with a shrug.

“Okay, come on in.” You say, you open the door for Gilda; she walks in and stands in the living room.

“It’s small.” Gilda says looking around your house.

“Yeah, but hey, it’s a roof over my head.” You say walking up beside her.

“You have a point.” Gilda says.

“How did you find me?” You ask.

“It’s not hard, just ask where the griffin lives.” Gilda says.

“I see…” You trail off.

“I’m free until noon, if you wanna hang.” Gilda says, breaking the silence.

“Sure, I have nothing better to do,” You say. You look around your house, it’s a little messy and you haven’t cleaned your preened feathers off the floor yet. “Uh, sorry about the mess. I haven’t had time to clean yet.”

“It’s no biggie. You should see Dash’s place, it’s about a hundred times worse than this. It’s almost as if she doesn’t know how to clean.” Gilda said with a chuckle. You give a light chuckle as well.

“It’s still pretty early; I doubt there will be anything for us to do for a few hours.” You say, taking another peek out the window.

“We could always test your flying abilities again.” Gilda offered.

“I guess we could.” You say with a smile.

You and Gilda head for the door, she shoves you out of the way and opens the door.

“I’ll see ya in the clouds.” Gilda says. She takes a few steps forward and takes off, headed straight up into the clouds.
You watch as she takes off. You walk, turn and lock the door. You take a few steps forward and take off for the clouds, following the same path as Gilda.

You’re quickly above the clouds. You pump your wings and hover above the clouds, scanning for any sign of Gilda, suddenly you knocked off balance be something hitting you in the shoulder. You spin around and see Gilda taking off for the horizon. You pump your wings and follow her. You see her look back over her shoulder, you swear you see a smile on her face, but she just flies faster. You also pump your wings harder and harder, you can feel a numb feeling starting in the tips of your wings, your head was also starting to ache.

You look away for a second, just to take in the scenery, when you look back she’s gone. You stop and look around. You see a lump moving in the clouds. You land silently on the cloud and tip-toe towards the lump. When you get closer you see little specs of purple sticking through the cloud, obviously some of Gilda’s feathers. You rear up and jump at the lump. The cloud was weak where she was, you break through and tackle her, but the cloud wasn’t strong enough for the two of you, you and Gilda fall through and plummet towards the ground.

“What the hell dude!” Gilda screams, she wraps her arms around you. You can feel her squeeze for safety. You open you wings and catch the air. You and Gilda are now gliding slowly towards the ground. You look down and smile at Gilda.

“My bad.” You say.

“Shut up and put me down.” Gilda says her tone violent and aggressive.

“It was just for fun.” You say defensively.

“I don’t care, you still shouldn’t have done that.” She says.

“Fine.” You retort. You land and put Gilda down. She stands and looks at you. You can see some rage filling up inside of her. She reaches out and punches you in the shoulder.

“Even though it was stupid, it was still fun. I’ll see ya around.” Gilda says. You can see the rage start to drain from her system.

“Yeah, I’ll see ya.” You say. You watch as Gilda takes off, she heads for Dash’s place. You shrug and head home, it did need some major cleaning done.

A few hours later and your house was clean. Your mind was filled with new questions. “Why did she come to me?” You ask aloud.

You take a short break after cleaning, you just sit in your living room and close your eyes, you can feel yourself starting to fall asleep. You snap yourself back to consciousness; you look outside and notice the sky is completely clear.

“I guess Gilda will be busy with Dash today.” You say.

You decide to go for a stroll, you stand, head out the door and down the path towards town. A few minutes later and you’re in the middle of town. You look around, scanning all the ponies walking about, some you recognized and some looked completely alien to you. You hear some heavy wing beats above, you look up and see Gilda chasing Rainbow Dash, you smile and notice a pink pony bouncing after them on the ground. You think nothing of it and continue on your walk.

The market was crowded today, which was strange because there was never a day where the market was overly crowded, but this was insane. All you could here was a wall of noise, roughly a hundred ponies trying to talk over each other, it was crazy. Where did all these ponies come from? You think. You take to the skies, getting a better picture of the scene. It looked like a painting, so many colors moving back and forth. It must be a massive sale of something. You think. You fly over to an empty field and land, it was a very over grown field, and it buzzed with bugs moving through it. You found a relatively clear spot to sit, it was a very peaceful spot away from the commotion of the city.

You for your wings to your sides and lie down; the grass had a strange feeling on your feathers, it was a very rough feeling, it was as if the grass didn’t get enough rain and became dry and brittle, but you digress. You fold your arms in front of you and lay your head across them. You close your eyes and let the various insects sing you their lullabies.

You wake up in the field, but this looked strange, the grass was now a bright green and the sky was a bright orange. The clouds raced across the sky, it was quite off putting at first. This was also not a true world. You are dreaming, and you’re aware of that fact, this was a lucid dream. Strange, you’ve had these lucid dreams before, but this one was different, before you dreamt of different times and places, but you’ve never dreamt of your current location. This was all new to you.

You stand and take a step forward, you stumble, but not because you were weak, but because the ground shifted under your foot. You look down and see a deep crater where your foot was. You look up and see a brown figure a few feet in front of you. You look down and take another step, the ground doesn’t move, you look forward and take another step, again nothing. You feel confident enough to take multiple steps, you start to walk normally and the ground stays still, the brown figure is getting further though. You pick up the pace, so does it. You’re in a full out gallop now, the figure getting further and further now. You unfold your wings and take off. The figure stops moving. The closer you get the more of the figure you can make out. It started to come into proper view. It’s a griffin.

You’re a little shocked at what you see, this griffin also looked familiar. You glide lower to the ground to get a better look at it. As you get closer you recognize who it was, it was Gilda.

Once again you’re shocked at what you see. You land and walk towards her, she looks back and sighs.

“Gilda?” You ask, your voice echoes strangely.

“Oh go away.” She retorts.

“What’s wrong?” You ask. You walk closer to her, you hear sniffs, almost as if she were crying.

“Nothing, go away!” She says, a more forceful tone besetting her voice.

“But Gilda, you can trust me.” You say, your voice calm and soft.

“Leave!” She shouts, her voice cracks, revealing that she is in fact crying.

“Okay, I’m going. But don’t be afraid to talk to me.” You say, you turn and start to walk away.

“Wait,” You hear a quivering voice say, “Come back… Please.” You look back at Gilda; she was hanging her head low. You walk over beside her and wrap one of your wings around her shoulders.

“What’s wrong?” You ask. Gilda looks up at you, tears welling up in her eyes.

“I don’t know,” Gilda says, her voice cracking and quivering. “I just broke down here.”

“We all need to let it out at some point.” You say.

“I know, but this isn’t normal for me.” Gilda says.

“Is there something on your mind?” You ask.

“No, not at the moment.” She says.

You look around, you feel yourself becoming a little depressed at Gilda’s state, and it’s strange to see a strong girl like her have an emotional breakdown. You wanted to help Gilda, but you couldn’t figure out how. You could feel her shake and shiver under your wing. You looked forward at this twisted dream world. Nothing looked right, and you know none of this was real, but you still wanted to help her.

A light pitter patter could be heard now. You look up at the sky and see that it’s raining, but this was an off rain, when it touched you you didn’t get wet and it wasn’t cold, it was a very warm rain. Gilda seemed to be getting wet though; you spread your wing out a little, giving her more protection from the rain.

There was a prolonged awkward silence now. Neither you nor Gilda broke it. The two of you sit in silence. You look around, just to give your mind something to do.

This place was different, massive rolling hills and monstrous trees surrounded you. It was a strange sight, the green of the grass seemed to pulsate, and the trees swayed but there was no wind. The sky was clearing up now, it revealed not a sky, but space. It was light, but there was no sun in the sky. The black sky was dotted with stars and galaxies, it was all kind of scary, to think all of this came from your mind. The rain still fell even though there were no clouds.

You feel Gilda collapse under your wing, your attention is instantly brought to her. She was lying on the ground motionless. Is she dead? You think. You lower your wing so it’s over her body, shielding her from the rain. You raise your claw and place it on her back. She was cold.

You pull your claw back in shock, you look around, the trees were swaying more violently now. The rain was falling harder now, but you could feel it. It was a freezing rain, ice formed on your wings and in your feathers. You start to panic, your head starts to ache and your heart beats faster and faster. You stand and begin to run. The ice crackling as you run, you can feel your wings becoming heavier and heavier.

You unfold your wings and flap wildly, the ice cracking and falling off as you flap. You flap harder and get off the ground, but the ice in your feathers makes you heavier than normal. You head was now pounding, a pulsating pain forms in the front of your head, you wings were numb and you breathing erratic.

A large glob of rain hits you right in face, freezing instantly. You were now blind, you vision was really obstructed by the sheet of ice on your face. You could only make you what was the ground and what was the sky. Your body was getting harder to keep in the air.

Finally you couldn’t hold it, the ice on your wings became too much for you to hold. You fall head first towards the ground. Your mind is racing. This is the end. Goodbye. You say in your head. As the large green mass gets closer and closer, you feel you mind start to shut down. Now all you can see is green, no doubt you were about to hit the ground.

You slam head first into the ground with a loud crack. You feel a sharp pain start in the top of your head, it travels down your neck and further down your back. You can’t move any of your body parts. You could feel the life leaving your body. There was a creeping coldness moving up your legs, it slowly made its way up your body and into your neck. You close your eyes and wait for the inevitable.

Your eyes shoot open, you’re gasping for breath. You look around; you’re back in the field.

“A dream, it was just a dream.” You say aloud panting. You stand and look at the sky trying to determine the time, it looked like it was a little past noon. You could feel yourself sweating. You sigh and take a few steps forward, cautiously watching the ground. You take a few more steps forward and take off for the sky; you look around, your mind still plagued with images from that dream. You decide to head home and try to forget about the dream.

When you arrive at home you notice a pink envelope taped to your front door, its sealed shut with a sticker, the sticker was small, round and had a picture of three balloons on it. You knew that mark well, it was the sign of Pinkie Pie, but you didn’t feel like attending one of her parties right now. You cast the envelope aside and step into your home.

About ten minutes after you return home you hear pounding on your door, you walk over to investigate. You open the door only to be shoved out of the way. You look at the intruder, it was Gilda.

“Uh Gilda, you alright?” You ask. Gilda looks over at you, there’s a fire in her eyes, a fire you’ve never seen before, it was almost as if she was about to burst from rage.

“No I’m not alright!” Gilda says angrily.

“What happened?” You prod.

“Dash happened. She’s such a-a-a flip-flop! One minute she’s super awesome and totally fun to hang around with, and then the next minute she’s turning her friends against me and telling me to leave.” Gilda explained.

“What? I thought you and Dash were the best of friends.” You say.

“Yeah, me too.” Gilda says, she lets out a defeated sounding sigh.

“I’m sorry.” You say.

“Why would you be? No one else is.” Gilda says.

“I don’t know what I can say, but let me tell you this. I’ll always be here for you. Always.” You say your tone serious.
You take a few steps closer to Gilda. She looks up at you, then she throws her arms around your neck and pulls you into a hug.

“Thank you.” She says, her voice much softer than normal. You feel something fall onto your chest; you look down and see tears running down your feathers.

“Gilda, are you crying?” You ask. You feel Gilda pull you closer and squeeze a little more. She sniffs and nods. You put a claw on her back and pat it.

“It’s okay Gilda, it’ll all be okay. I promise.” You say, you voice calm and soft.

“You can’t promise that.” Gilda says, her voice scratchy.

“I know I can’t, but I sure as hell can hope everything will be okay.” You say. Gilda looks up at you, her eyes red with tears. She leans up and kisses you on the cheek. You feel your cheeks becoming warm. You look down and smile at Gilda. She smiles back and lets you go.

“Can I crash here for the night?” She asks.

“Yeah, I have a spare bedroom upstairs, just watch your head on the way up, it’s a low ceiling.” You say.

“Thanks, I owe you one.” She says with a light chuckle.

“You owe me nothing.” You say.

Gilda simply smiles at you and walks into your living room. It was a small room; two chairs and a small couch. Nothing too fancy. Gilda makes her way to your couch and sits herself down on it. You follow and sit on a chair to the right of the couch.

“I can’t stay here. I’m going to have to leave tomorrow.” Gilda says.

“No, you can stay with me for as long as you need.” You offer.

“Thanks but no thanks. You see, the ponies in this town don’t want me here. Plus with Dash around, it’s bound to be awkward here.” She explains.

“I see. Well, I guess I can’t stop you but…” You’re interrupted by Gilda.

“Come with me.” She says.

“What?” You say a little shocked.

“Come with me back to Cloudsdale.” Gilda says.

“I can’t, I have a home here.” You say.

“Sell it.” Gilda insists.

“I don’t want to, I like it here.” You say.

“We can find a home in Cloudsdale, it’ll be a hell of a lot cheaper than it is here.” Gilda says.

“If you can find a cheaper home there take it, send me a letter and I’ll see what I can do. No promises though.” You reluctantly say.

“Thank you!” Gilda almost screams. She leaps of the couch and onto you, wrapping her arms around you again. You return the hug.

Gilda gets off you and yawns.

“I might hit the hay early today. Mind showing me where the room is?” Gilda asks.

“Sure, follow me.” You say. You walk up the stairs. You walk down the hall and point to a door on the left.

“This is my room and that is yours.” You say. You point to a door right across the hall on the right.

“Thanks.” Gilda says. She walks past you and opens the door on the right; she looks over and smiles at you. You smile back; she nods and walks into the room, closing the door behind her. You walk into your room and lie down on the bed. You stare up at the ceiling and feel your eyes starting to close. You drift off rather quickly, considering you had the nap today.

You’re awoken by a knocking on your bedroom door. You look over at the window, the sun was gone and the moon was shining bright. You roll off the bed and walk over to the door. You open it and see Gilda standing there.

“Problem?” You ask. Gilda looks around nervously before looking you dead in the eye.

“It’s cold in my room. I-I was wondering if I could, maybe… Sleep with you tonight?” She says, her voice laced with nervousness. You can feel a heat returning to your cheeks.

“Yeah, it’s okay with me. Come on in.” You say. You take a step to the side to let Gilda by. She nervously enters.

“Thank you.” She says, her voice shaky. You nod and close the door. She walks over and lies down on the right side of the bed. You walk over and lie down beside her, leaving a gap between you two. You want to make her feel uncomfortable. You close your eyes and try to fall asleep.

You’re woken up again, but this time you’re awoken by something touching you. You look over and see Gilda’s arm wrapped around you. You smile and lay your head back down. Your eyes were heavy; you couldn’t hold them open any more.

You close your eyes and fall asleep.

Chapter 4

The birds chirping outside wake you up, you slowly open your heavy eyes, you never liked the mornings. You notice and absent feeling, there’s nothing holding on to you. You look over and notice Gilda’s gone. You look around the room and there’s no sign of her.

You slowly stand and stumble out of the room. You give yourself a small shake, just to wake up. You blink a few times and click your tongue, the feeling of being asleep slowly leaving. You duck down and head downstairs. As you reach the bottom of the stairs you hear shuffling in your living room. You poke your head around the corner and see Gilda pacing back and forth.

“Good morning.” You say. Gilda looks over at you and gives a very faint smile.

“Morning.” She says, she continues to pace.

“Why the pacing? Something on your mind or are you trying to ware down my floor?” You ask jokingly. Gilda looks over at you, her face was calm but you could see something was wrong in her eyes.

“Just thinking.” Gilda says plainly.

“Thinking about what?” You prod.

“You.” Gilda says plainly again.

“What? Why me?” You ask a little shocked.

“Because, I’m a little confused. Why are so open with me, we’ve only known each other a few days, and now you’re letting me into your home and are willing to move out with me. Why?” Gilda asks. You’re at a loss for words, you don’t know what to say, she did have a point, you did only know her for a couple days and now you’re letting her into your life as if she were a childhood friend. You mind had trouble forming what to say, but you finally peeped something out.

“Because we’re rare, and the ponies don’t get that. Griffins are rare in these parts of Equestria, and these ponies don’t like us, I’ve been in this town a year, and only recently the ponies of this town have opened up to me living here. I know how hard it is to live amongst these bigot ponies, and I hate to see others treated like that. There’s a Zebra how comes to town from the Everfree, and when she comes every god damned pony in this town runs and hides, just because they don’t understand her. I know how it feels to be different here, and I hate seeing others treated that way. That’s why I’m helping you; I don’t want you to be treated differently because of how you look. We may have feathers instead of fur and we may have hands and feet instead of hooves, but we are the same as any pony on this god damned planet.” You explain. You were amazed at your little rant.

Gilda seemed to be amazed as well, her mouth hung agape and she stopped pacing. Gilda hung her head; she looked down at the floor.

“You don’t know why they shunned me. I lied to you.” Gilda said, a very shameful tone to her voice. You step closer to her, but she shrinks and takes a few steps back.

“What do you mean? What really happened?” You ask, keeping your tone low, try to make her more comfortable.

“I’m the reason they’re mad at me. It was all my fault, I started a fight at the party the pink pony threw for me. I was the reason for my own downfall.” Gilda says, she looks away trying to avoid your gaze. You simply look at her.

“Gilda, it’s okay. You don’t have to hide anything from me, I’ll be here for you, always.” You say, you reach out and place you talon on her shoulder to comfort her, you feel her tremble under your claw. She looks back up at you, the tears welling up in her eyes.

It hurt you to see such a strong girl have a complete breakdown like this. The days you spent with her proved that she was a strong independent griffin, something you wish you were, but now something has broken in her. Now she’s a quivering mass of tears, and that hurt you to see. You wanted to help her in any way.

“Why, why are you doing this?” Gilda asks, her voice cracking under her tears.

“There’s something you should know.” You say. Gilda looks at you confused.

“W-what?” She stammers.

“Ever since I met you and Dash, I felt something, something I can’t explain easily. I found a strange attraction to you. Why? Hell if I know, maybe it’s because you’re the first female griffin I’ve seen in years, or maybe it’s something else, but whatever it is, it’s right. I dread the moments we’re apart, I revel in joy when we’re together, and I fear I’ll never see you again. So please Gilda, stay here with me.” You say, your heart stops, you’re kicking yourself on the inside. What are you doing!? You idiot, now she’ll leave for good! Your inner voices are screaming.

Gilda looks up at you, no hint of anger in her eyes. Her eyes meet yours and time stops. You find yourself staring into her golden eyes, staring, not moving and not thinking. Silence follows. Time seemed to stand still, nothing moved, nothing made a sound.

You notice Gilda moving now, she was leaning forward towards you, you also lean in to her, she raises her head slightly to meet yours, her beak touches yours, a click could be heard on contact. She leans into you more, strengthening the kiss, you close your eyes and enjoy in what was happening, you heart was also beating a mile a minute. You could feel your cheeks becoming warmer. Gilda reaches up and places her claw on the back of your head, pulling you closer. You happily go along with it, leaning in even more.

A few seconds of holding the kiss Gilda breaks off for air, she gasps and looks at you.

“I like you too.” She says. You smile at her and pull her into a hug.

“Gilda, will you stay?” You ask again.

“I can’t, not with Dash here. That’s why I’m planning on leaving, that’s why I asked you to come with me.” She says.

“But, what of my home here, what shall do with it?” You ask, repeating what you said last night.

“Sell it.” Gilda said simply.

“I can’t, no one will buy right now.” You say.

“You don’t know that, someone could buy it right now.” Gilda says.

“It’s not that simple, it’s a legal nightmare.” You say, you see Gilda getting frustrated at your excuses.

“Well whatever you do, I can’t stay here, the ponies here hate me and Dash lives here, so I can’t stay for more than a day.” Gilda says.

“Don’t worry, I’ll think of something.” You offer.

“Okay, fine, do what you want.” Gilda said, visibly annoyed at your excuses.

You felt bad about giving half-ass excuses about why you couldn’t move, but they were all true, no one would buy right now and changing the deed is a long and annoying legal case.

“Gilda, what’s your story? When did you meet Dash?” You ask, nothing more popped into your head, so you decide to get to know Gilda a little better.

“We grew up together. We went to a flight camp called Junior Speedsters, it was an okay place, met a lot of ponies there, but only one actually tried to be my friend.” Gilda explains.

“Dash?” You interrupt. Gilda nods then continues with the story.

“She was the only one to actually take the time to talk to me and get to know me; she was a true friend, and the greatest enemy. The environment of Junior Speedsters was, tense, to say the least. The instructors pushed us harder and harder every day, it was the worst. Fortunately Dash and I were top of the class, so the instructors didn’t mess with us much. Anyway, the other kids were brutal, they didn’t like the idea of a non-pony being top of the class, and they tried everything to take me down. They rigged the flight course with obstacles to slow me down, needless to say, it didn’t work. Then one day Dash beat my record. You know the Cloudsdale raceway?” Gilda asked.

“Yeah.” You reply.

“Yeah, I set the record lap time on it. Eighteen seconds, I was very proud of that record. Then about a month after I set it, Dash beat it. A flooring fourteen seconds, I think her record has yet to be beat. Anyway, after she broke my record she began very cocky, almost too cocky. She boasted non-stop for a week afterwards, I didn’t blame her, but it was still annoying. After she shattered my record the instructors pit us against each other almost every day. They tried making us into these unstoppable machines, any sign of weakness and you were grounded for a week, it was tough and brutal, but Dash powered on through. I let my emotions get the best of me one day, I went berserk on the track, the instructors caught that and I was grounded for two weeks and confined to my quarters. But everyday Dash came and visited me, she truly is the best. In the two weeks I was grounded I taught myself to hide my emotions, from both Dash and the instructors. It was better that way.” Gilda explains.

“So they would punish you for showing emotion?” You ask.

“Yeah.” Gilda sighed.

“That’s not right.” You say.

“They don’t care; all they were concerned about was the money, my parents paid way too much for me to go to that school.” Gilda says, her tone slightly disgusted.

“Why would your parents send you to a place like that?” You ask.

“Picture perfect I guess. On the pamphlet they don’t show you conditions are truly like.” Gilda says with a shrug.

“Lying to the public, that’s not right.” You say.

“If you think about it, all of the Wonderbolts came from Junior Speedsters, so it would put a bad light on the school if the world knew the Wonderbolts were abused into being the best.” Gilda explains.

“I guess you’re right, still don’t like the idea of abusing children just because they can’t fly fast.” You say in disgust.

“Could be worse, none of died, so that’s a plus right?” Gilda says in a joking tone.

“I guess.” You say, not impressed that she would so easily pass off the abuse as a joke.

“So yeah, that’s how I met Dash, after we left the school she stayed in Cloudsdale for a year before moving here. She helped me a lot with personal demons.” Gilda says, she winces when she says demons. Almost as if she wasn’t over them.

“What kind of demons?” You ask, prodding her deeper for information on her past.

“Family stuff, nothing you need to know about.” Gilda says; her words like daggers.

“Alright,” You say in defeat. You look outside; the sun has risen all the way now. You look back over at Gilda. “We should head to Cloudsdale today and see if we can find you a place.” You offer.

“Probably a good idea, we should go now before all the ponies get outside.” Gilda says.

“Alright lets go.” You say.

You walk towards the door and reach for the handle, but before you can grab the handle you hear a knock. You freeze, your mind is racing. You look back at Gilda and she too is frozen, a look of fear on her face. You signal her to go upstairs, she nods and heads for the stairs. There is another knock, you watch Gilda as she climbs the stairs, and once she was out of sight you open the door. You’re a little surprised at who you see; a light blue mare with a rainbow mane.

“Uh, hey.” Rainbow Dash says.

“Hey, what’s up?” You reply.

“Nothing much, can I come in?” She asks.

“Uh, sure.” You say nervously, you open the door all the way and step aside to let Rainbow Dash in. She walks in and looks around.

“Nice place, seems a little small for a griffin though.” She says.

“Yeah, I might be moving out soon, I don’t know yet.” You reply.

“Oh, where to?” Rainbow asks.

“Back to Cloudsdale, more space there.” You say.

“I see,” Rainbow says. “Did you hear about Gilda?” She asks. You feel your stomach churn when she says that.

“No, what happened to Gilda?” You ask, already knowing what happened.

“She got really aggressive at a party thrown for her; she started insulting my friends, so I told her to leave if she didn’t like it.” Rainbow explains.

“Why would she get so aggressive at a party for herself?” You ask.

“I don’t know, I was hoping you knew something, you were getting pretty close to her.” Rainbow asks.

“No, I haven’t seen her since yesterday morning.” You say. Dash shrugs.

“Hopefully she went back to Cloudsdale, she seemed happier there.” Dash says with a sigh.

“What happened between you and Gilda in Cloudsdale?” You ask.

“Huh? What do you mean?” Dash asks in confusion.

“Gilda mentioned yesterday that you two were very close, she told me about Junior Speedsters and what it was like there, she also told me you helped her deal with personal issues. What kind of issues?” You ask.

“She really told you all that? Wow, you guys must have been closer than it looked like. Yeah I helped her after school. When we were let out she had changed, she changed a lot. She was more to herself and she didn’t really talk much, plus her attitude was very violent and aggressive. But I don’t blame her, I was very much the same, we had to be violent if we wanted to stay first on the board. When we left I was going to stay with her for a few days, just to make sure she didn’t kill anypony. But that’s also when we learned of the worst possible thing. When we got to her house her parents were gone.” Rainbow explained.

“They moved?” You interrupt. Rainbow shakes her head.

“No, they passed away, and the school didn’t tell Gilda. When she learned of her parents passing, she lost it. She couldn’t control her anger or her other feelings. She had a full blown mental breakdown. It was scary to see, but luckily I was there to help her. Ever since she learnt of her parents passing she’s been a little stuck up. But I think that’s a good thing, if she can move on and not think about it as much, I think that’s good.” Rainbow explains.

You were shocked, completely shocked, why would Gilda keep this from me? You think. You just stare off, lost in your thoughts, you couldn’t think of why Gilda would keep this from you.

“When I left Cloudsdale,” Rainbow started. “Gilda was devastated. I was her only friend back in Cloudsdale, and I know that for a fact, she was hard to get along with, she became snappy and even more aggressive, it was a sad transformation to see. One day she very closed off but still willing to talk, and then the next day she’s completely closed off, not willing to talk to anypony and ready to rip your head off if you crossed her path. I’m glad she found you; it seems like she’s really opened up, I’m sorry I drove her away. Anyway, I should be going. Good luck finding a place in Cloudsdale. See ya later bro.” Rainbow says.

“Yeah, I’ll see ya around.” You say, you continue to stare off into the unknown thinking about everything Rainbow Dash just said.

Rainbow walks to your front door, and looks back at you, she had an almost sad look on her face, she looks down then leaves the house. You hear fumbling at the top of the stairs. You look over and see Gilda coming down the stairs. She has tears running down her face.

“I’m sorry.” She says quietly.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” You ask.

“I didn’t want to worry you; I didn’t want to give you my burdens.” She says.

“You could have told me, I understand why you’re defensive but you still could have told me.” You say. Gilda walks closer to you.

“I know I could have told you, but I was afraid to. You have to understand, I was going to tell you, I just didn’t know how.” Gilda says, the tears now flowing down her feathers.

You stay silent, just lost in your thoughts. You didn’t know what to think, you were angry that she didn’t tell you about her family, but at the same time you could understand why she didn’t tell you. It was all just too much for you right now.

“I need some air, I’ll be out.” You say with a flat tone. You walk towards the door but you’re stopped by a tugging on your arm. You look over and see a quivering Gilda grasping onto your arm.

“Please don’t go.” She says. The look the bears on her face is devastating, it bore a broken sadness, something no one should ever experience. It really tore you apart, seeing her like this. You needed some time, time to think.

“Come on, we’re going to Cloudsdale.” You say. Gilda sniffs and nods, you can’t help but feel guilty for her sadness, you heart ached and tore itself apart thinking about her state.

You open the door and wait for Gilda to pass through; you step through behind her and close the door. Gilda takes a few steps forward and takes off; you look at the dirt path outside your house, dark blotches where her tears hit the ground. You wince, unfold your wings and head for the sky. You see Gilda flying a little far ahead; you flap your wings harder to catch up to her, you scan the skies around you, there was a fair amount of clouds and a few that looked like they were going to drop rain at any second.

“Hurry up slow poke!” Gilda calls back. You look at her and give a little smile, it made you happy to see her get a little spunk back. You catch up to her, she looks at you but you can’t read her emotions right now. You look forward and see Cloudsdale coming into view.

“Any ideas on where to look?” You ask.

“Not the heart of the city, houses are always expensive there, let’s try the outside of the city, there’s bound to be some houses there for cheap.” Gilda says.

“Good idea, the cheaper the better.” You say. Gilda nods.

Soon the two of you were in the border of the floating city, on the western side next to the rainbow falls. You haven’t been to Cloudsdale in a year now; it looked completely different, tall buildings and more ponies. Even this early in the day it buzzed with activity; weather ponies coming and going, mail ponies making their rounds and the occasional street cleaner pony, which was odd to see because Cloudsdale never had any litter. You and Gilda set down in the center of town; the clouds were hard under your feet.

You almost don’t recognize the city; a lot has changed since you left. Still, you didn’t have time to think about it, you needed to find a place for Gilda. Gilda grabs hold of your arm and drags you down one of the side streets, heading towards the Rainbow Factory, something inside of you wanted to run from that place, maybe it was all the rumors you’ve heard of that place, or maybe it was something else, either way you didn’t like it.

“This way, there are a few places for sale down here.” Gilda says. She still has a death grip on your arm; you could feel her claw cutting off circulation to your claw.

“Can loosen up a little, I can’t feel my hand.” You ask. Gilda looks back at you and chuckles.

“Yeah, sorry. Houses go fast here, wanted to get a jump on the market.” Gilda says, she loosens her grip on your arm.

“I was thinking the other side of town; I have bad memories of this place.” You say.

“Okay, wouldn’t hurt to check.” Gilda says, her tone was very rushed, she was also moving very fast.

She lets go of your arm and spins herself around and begins in the opposite direction. You stumble to catch up to her.

“Gilda, why’re you going so fast? We have all day.” You say.

“I don’t know, I just want to do this fast, the sooner the better ya know?” Gilda says over shoulder. You shrug and continue to follow her at pace.

The two of you make it through the floating city, dodging the ponies that didn’t move, the streets were crowded now, and the daily city commotion was in full swing. Now you remember why you moved to Ponyville, the noise, you couldn’t stand the noise. The business of the city seems to have increased; you don’t remember it ever being this busy.

“Come on, I see a few for sale signs down here.” Gilda says, she grabs your arm once more and pulls you down a little side street.

The way the clouds were modeled here was interesting, the street was modeled like the cobblestone streets back down in Ponyville, and the houses looked the same, but bigger of course. The prices listed on the signs were pretty low as well. It was affordable, spacious, and you could actually see yourself living here.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down there,” You think. “You’ve known her for what, three days now? Now you’re planning on moving away with her?”

“No, I mean, maybe?” You reply to yourself.

“Seriously? You’re going to leave your friends back there for some girl?” Your thoughts beat into you.

“Some girl, some girl!? No, I’m doing this for her, she’s lost everything, and now I’m the only one left in her life, I’m not letting her down.” You argue back with yourself.

“Okay lover boy, do what you want, just remember those you left behind.” You inner conscience echoes.

You were lost in your head, your inner self was telling you to stay in Ponyville, but your gut told you to stay with Gilda, you were torn. You wanted to stay with Gilda, make her feel wanted again, but you also wanted to stay with your friends back in Ponyville, whichever choice you made you’d be hurting someone. Your head began to ache the more you thought about it. You shack your head, trying to get the thoughts out, that’s when you notice Gilda was talking, you snap back to real life and look at Gilda, and she looks kinda pissed.

“Uh, pardon? I was miles away.” You say.

“This place looks good huh?” She asks. You look up at the cloud made house, it looked like yours back in Ponyville, same shape and design, only difference was this looked bigger, big enough to fit a griffin or two.

“Yeah, looks good. How much is it?” You ask.

“Two thousand bits.” Gilda says.

“Not bad, the lowest I’ve seen in this part of town was six thousand, and that was a year ago.” You say.

“Should we get it?” She asks. That’s when your thoughts come back, it’s either live with someone you’ve only known and abandon your friends, or go back to Ponyville and leave someone who has been crushed and destroyed alone. You could feel your head ache returning.

You had to think fast, you could see Gilda growing impatient. You shut off your brain and wing it.

“Yeah, put our names down.” You say. You brain comes back with a vengeance, your thoughts screaming at you.

Were you crazy? Probably, but you really didn’t care anymore, the deed was done and there was no turning back now.

Gilda screams with delight, she throws her arms around your neck and hugs you tightly. You return the hug and smile slightly; your thoughts were scolding you.

“Thank you.” Gilda whispers in your ear, she leans over and kisses you on the cheek. You release her from the hug; she looks over at you with a smile on her face.

“For you, it’s no problem.” You say. Gilda smiles at you then leans in and kisses you on the beak; she pulls back with a very, saucy, look on her face. You smile back at her.

“Well, I guess I should head back home and get started on selling my home. You should start here with the deed for this house, I’ll see you later?” You say.

“Definitely.” Gilda says, she winks at you and flies off.

You unfold your wings and take to the skies, you head for home.

“Idiot! What was I thinking; I don’t have that kind of money!” You say aloud. You were quite angry with yourself, why would you abandon the friends you worked so hard to get?

None of it mattered now, you were moving away, most likely never going to see them again, and you were moving in with someone you actually cared about. Things could be worse.

You glide through the clouds, you drop through. You flap a couple times to keep yourself just below the clouds now. You look over at Ponyville which was now coming into view. It was raining there; it was raining rather hard actually.

It looked too dangerous to fly through; you feared getting hit with lightning. You head for the ground. You feel the rain hitting you on the way down; you bring in your wings a little tighter, increasing your speed to the ground. Once you’ve landed you shake off your wings and fold them to your sides. You walk along the dirt path leading into Ponyville, it was soggy and muddy from the rain, your feet splashed and squished along.

After a few moments of walking you made it to Ponyville, you walk past your home on the way to the city hall; you went from the dirt paths to the cobblestone streets of the square. Only a few ponies were out, mostly foals and fillies playing in the puddles. You walk past it all, mind set on a single goal, selling your house as fast as possible. You walk up the stairs at the front of city hall, you wipe your muddy feet on the small straw mat they have outside the doors; you put one claw on the door and push it open.

You look around the inside, it was surprisingly bright, and it almost hurt your eyes. You look over at the front desk, there was a very bored, charcoal colored mare sitting behind it. You walk over to the desk and the mare looks up at you.

“How can I help you sir?” She asks.

“I’m looking to sell my house.” You reply.

“Alright, I’m going to need the address and the reason for selling, and then you’re going to have to fill out these forms.” The mare says. She reaches under the desk and places two forms on the desk, she slides the over to you then slides a pen over.

You look down at the papers. It was a standard selling contract, nothing to fancy or complicated.

“Thank you.” You say. You take the pen and papers; you walk over to one of the wooden benches to fill out the forms.

The bench was cold and uninviting; you sit and look down at the forms. You sigh and begin filling them out. About ten minutes later you’re done. You stand, stretch and head over to the desk to hand in your forms.

The mare takes your forms and looks them over. She looks back up at you.

“Moving to Cloudsdale huh, what for?” She asks.

“More space, my house here is getting a little small for me.” You say.

“Alright, well sir, bring this slip to the bank informing them that you have legal forfeited your property deed, they’ll pay you the amount owing, you’ll have seventy-two hours to move your belongings out.” The mare explains.

“Thank you. Take care now.” You say.

“Have a good one sir.” The mare says back.

You turn and leave city hall. You head over to the Ponyville General Bank to get your money. The rain has died down, now it’s only a light spit compared to the downpour you had to walk through to get here. You arrive at the bank; it was a big building, tight security too. You walk through the doors; it too was surprisingly bright on the inside. You approach one of the tellers, this one was a stallion, he looked shifty, but looks can be deceiving.

“Good Afternoon sir, how may I help you?” He asks.

“I sold my property.” You reply, you slide the slip over the counter to the teller. He looks at the note and looks back at you.

“Okay sir, please wait here.” He says. He turns and walks out of view. You look around, more ponies were out now that the rain had died down, and ponies were now coming and going from the bank. The teller returns with a hefty bag of bits in his mouth. He plops it down on the counter, it make a heavy clang when it hit the counter. He slides it over to you.

“There you go sir, four thousand bits. Anything else?” He asks.

“No, that’ll be all.” You say, you take the bag and tuck it under your wing; you nod at the teller and leave the bank. Wow, faster than I thought. You think.

You head home now, you needed to start packing. On your way home the rain stopped. You look up and see some weather ponies clearing the clouds away.

You finally reach your home; you push the door open and look around. You sigh thinking of all the time you spent here. You drop the bits in the living room. You head for the basement. You rummage around in the basement looking for some boxes, you find a few, and in fact they were the same ones you used a year ago when you moved here. You bring them upstairs and begin packing, a tear rolls down your cheek.

A few hours later you’re done. Your boxes are all full, now you needed to get them to Cloudsdale.

You hear a knock on the door, you walk over and open the door a crack. You peek out and see Gilda; you open the door completely to let her in. She steps in and looks at your stack of boxes.

“So this is it huh?” She says looking around.

“Yeah, this is it.” You reply.

“How much?” She asks.

“Four thousand.” You say.

“Wow, that’s a bit.” She says.

“Yeah.” You say in a monotone voice.

“I’ll help you get your stuff over.” Gilda offers.

“Okay.” You reply, not changing your tone. Gilda lowers her head and faces you.

“I know it’s not easy, but you know it’s for the better.” She says, her tone soft and caring.

“Yeah, I know. It’s just hard.” You say, your voice cracking a little. You can feel tears welling up in your eyes. Gilda leans over, kisses you on the cheek and pulls you into a hug.

“It’ll be okay, you have me… And I have you.” She says.

You close your eyes; you feel the tears running down your cheeks. You sniff and open your eyes. You hug Gilda back, you feel her rub your back. She lets go of you and looks you in the eye.

“Let’s go cry baby, we have work to do.” Gilda says in her old joking tone. It did cheer you up a little to see her with her old spunk and personality back. You wipe your nose and walk into the living room. You pick up a box and fly out the door; both you and Gilda carried one box at a time over to the new house.

An hour later you and Gilda moved all the boxes to the new house and begun unpacking. It was getting dark now, so you two only unpacked the kitchen supplies and the bedroom fixtures.

The sunset was amazing in Cloudsdale, you loved how the clouds took on the color of the sunset or rise, the city was no different. The city became as pink as the sun; it really was a sight to see.

You rummage through the kitchen and pull out an old bottle of wine, it was the gift your parents gave you when you moved out, you’ve never opened it.

“What’s that?” Gilda asks.

“A present from my parents, I’ve never opened it.” You say. Gilda opens a cupboard and pulls out two wine glasses.

“Well there’s a first time for everything.” She says while setting the glasses down on the table.

You take one of your claws and dig it into the soft cork, you twist the bottle and the cork comes right out with a delightful pop. You flick the cork onto the counter and pour the wine into the glasses. Once there is a healthy amount in each glass you stop pouring.

You pick up one glass and Gilda picks up the other. You raise your glass.

“To new beginnings.” You say.

“To new beginnings.” Gilda says, she raises her glass to yours, the glasses tink together.

You smile at Gilda and take a sip from your glass.

You look out at the setting sun. It was now a crimson color, it made the city shimmer.

Like the setting sun you forget all past transgressions, and like the rising sun you start a new chapter of your life. A new happier chapter.

So on the wings of a dream you end this chapter and move onto the next.