The God of Sleep Has Made His House

Quick Author's Note: Hey guys, to clear something up, this chapter is kinda of like a bonus chapter, that goes into detail about what Gilda and Lucifer talk about before chapter 10 opens in the garden. This was suggested to me by a reader who felt that the conversation between the two revolving around Gilda and Dash's friendship, as well as their falling out, should be a bit more detailed. Since this is an alternate Equestria, events that happened in the show won't necessarily happen in the story, while other events that did happen might have a different result. The point is, this conversation needed detail that I felt didn't belong in chapter 10 (due to the bombshell at the end). So, enjoy this bonus/side chapter. Cheers!

I could hear my door creaking open, followed by the pitter patter of claws against the floor.They weren't bipedal, like Ellie's, nor were they the cloppy sound of hooves.

I could only assume that it was a griffin.

"You awake, Lou?"

And I was right.

Gilda has such a lovely voice, you know. It may not be the most feminine, or the sweetest, but it was a voice that I grew up listening to and conversing with. A voice that I grew to love.

I smiled as I rose a hand, beckoning her forward.

"I'm awake, babe. Come on over."

I could hear her shuffling over to my bedside, as I lowered my hand, resting it against the soft covers of the bed. I truly didn't want to open my eyes, enjoying the rest that they were receiving, thanks in part to last night's sleep deprivation.

At least I had Ellie to keep me company.

Now I have Gilda.

"Room on that bed for one,"I heard Gilda ask, playfully.

Chuckling a bit, I patted the space on my left.

"Go ahead and jump in. Just watch the IV, love, I don't want 'em coming loose and poking you, or anything."

Gilda merely giggled in response before climbing onto the bed and laying down next me.

I could feel her shuffling her body close to mine, moving her head to lie on my chest.

"Am I making you uncomfortable, dude? I could always just lie on the pillow."

I took her claw into my hand.

"You're fine just where you are," I replied, stroking it with my thumb.

I could here her sigh dreamily, before nuzzling into my chest.

We drifted off into a comfortable silence, just enjoying the feeling of being near to each other. It's moments like these that I always enjoyed the most when we were together. Even when we were children, when we'd sit out in the gardens and joke about and laugh, we'd almost always end up in this same position.

Two beings, lying side by side, happy in the company of one another.

"I'm sorry, Louie," I heard Gilda pipe up.

My eyes opened, shifting them down towards her, while I continued stroking her claw.

I raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Sorry about what, babe?" I asked.

If anything, I knew that I'm the one who should be sorry. I nearly died, which should have put a severe damper on our wedding day. What good's a wedding if the groom is dead?

I felt her nuzzle me a bit more, her face bearing a distraught expression.

"I'm sorry for not being here as much as I could. By your side and shit, you know?"

I shook my head, smirking.

Gilda sure did have a way with words.

"Gil, I just woke up yesterday, and you saw me for awhile. I don't see-"

I felt her get up, looking me in the eye with a sharp glare.

"But I should've been here the whole time, like what other lovers do! I should've stayed by your side, waiting for you to get up, stroking your hair, nuzzling your face, showing some kind of gods damned emotion while you lied there, dying for all I knew!"

She panted a bit, losing her breath slightly.

Once Gilda yells, boy does she yell.

I just continued to stroke her claw.

"Babe, it doesn't matter, I know that you-"

I was cut off again.

"It does matter! It matters to me! In all those stories, and books and plays, when one lover gets sick, the other is by their side, showing as much support as they could. Just by being there. And I wasn't."

She turned her head away from.

"I could barely look at you without crying. I.....I just couldn't comprehend what happened to you, what they did to you. And with Dash being here and all, I just felt so....so...so torn apart about what I should do. And I'm sorry, Lucifer! I'm sorry for abandoning you. Sorry for-"

"Shut up."

I narrowed my eyes, ceasing the stroking of her claw.

She stared at me with surprise from sudden my outburst.

"You stop that talk right now. You never abandoned me. Not once. If you did, would you be here now, apologizing? Or would you be else where, frolicking around the city?No matter what you say-"

I lashed my hand behind the back of her neck, pulling her forward, pressing her forehead against mine.

"-I know that you care about me, love."

I pressed my lips against her beak, closing my eyes once again.

Her eyes shot wide open, before slowly fluttering shut, as she eagerly returned the kiss.

Passionately.

Lovingly.

Most creatures think that kissing a griffin would be painful, due to their hard and sharp beaks.

They're softer than you think.

We broke the kiss, peering into each other's eyes.

A smile upon both of our faces.

A felt a slap against my face.

"Ow! What the hell, Gil?!"

Gilda smirked at me, before lying her head back down against my chest.

"For telling me to shut up, no matter how sweet the message was that you said after."

I felt a peck against my chest, as she nuzzled her head back and forth.

I just shook my head again, before lying it back down against one of the pillows behind me, resuming the soft stroking of Gilda's claw.

"How'd you meet her?" I asked, closing my eyes again.

"Hm? Who, Louie?"

"Dash," I replied,"You are apparently the friend that she came to make up with. How'd you meet her?"

I could feel Gilda shift nervously around my chest.

"It's kind of a complicated story, dude. I wouldn't want to bore you."

"Bore me?"I chuckled,"I'm stuck in bed with nothing to do but lie here and rot. A story would be nice."

I was answered with silence.

Oh man, I think I may have made her upset.

Feeling bad, I kissed the back of her head, her soft feathers brushing against my face.

"I'm sorry, babe. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

I felt Gilda shake her head, before giving my chest another peck.

"No, Lou, it's alright. You do have a right to know. Hell, you saved her life, so you deserve to know a little bit about what's happened. But, like I said, it's kind of complicated. So pay attention, alright dweeb?"

I laughed a bit.

"I thought we over the whole 'dweeb' thing, babe."

"Want me to slap you again?"

"Shutting up, ma'am."

"Good," she replied, her head refusing to leave the spot on my chest,"Well, you remember how I told you I was born in the Southern Griffin Empire?"

"Yeah, I remember that. You and your family left when the Empire's economy crashed, causing lots of griffins to end up jobless."

She nodded her head from her apparently comfy spot.

"Well, I guess I never told where I moved to next, huh?"

I looked at her, perplexed.

"You didn't move to Allerseen before that?"

I could feel her shaking her head.

"Nope, before looking elsewhere that far north, my parents decided to make for the closest country to us. Equestria. We had to stay sort of local, due to the fact that I was only a couple of days old at the time, and my mom was still recovering from giving birth. When daddy lost his job, he felt that safest bet would have to be Equestria, what with plague out west and Allerseen being way too far make it with a newborn. So, my dad, using the last of what money we owned, rented us a house up in the city of Cloudsdale. And that's where I first moved to."

I heard Gilda sigh a bit, as I stroked her claw reassuringly.

"It was weird at first, you know? I never really knew griffins, besides my mom and dad, and yet still felt isolated amongst all these ponies flying around. I didn't understand griffins, and didn't understand ponies, either. It was.....confusing, to say the least for the first year living up there in Cloudsdale."

I nodded my head.

"I know that feeling, babe. That sense of not truly belonging anywhere. Sometimes, I still feel that way."

Gilda rose her head up, kissing me gently upon the lips.

"You had me, though, who always had your back."

I rubbed my forehead against hers.

"And I'll always appreciate that, love. Now, tell me how Dash figures into all of this."

Gilda placed her head back down before continuing.

"Anyway, when I was about one, my mom and dad placed me in a daycare, while they went to work as weather griffins for the Cloudsdale chapter of Weather Patrol. At first, I remember feeling lonely, as a lot of the foals seemed to be afraid of me. I guess many of them had never seen a griffin before, you know? So I spent the first few days in a sort of quiet solitude. Only the nanny that worked there, a sweet old pegasus named Morning Dew, didn't seem to mind playing with me. That is, until Dash came along."

She rolled her head over, lying it on the pillow next to mine, as she still firmly held my hand in her claw.

Her eyes closed, as she exhaled a deep breath, her head moving closer to mine, until our sides nearly touched.

"I remember when I first met her, Lou. While the other foals were outside playing on the jungle gym in the courtyard, I was off by myself, experimenting with my wings. I could feel the sky calling to me, the wind crying out for my touch. It was my first real urge to fly. It was then that I heard a buzzing sound, as a blue filly with a rainbow mane came hovering my me, her wings moving as fast as a hummingbirds.

She had to been only a couple of months old, and here she was, hovering. I would've been truly awed if she hadn't crashed into me. Then again, if she didn't, then we would have never met. After that, we became the best of friends, slowly building our flight capabilities together, always by one another's side. We even hung out with each other after daycare, practicing and playing until the sun would sink behind the clouds, where we'd lay down until or mom's would come and carry us home."

I could see Gilda smiling a sad smile, a lone tear slowly crawling down the side of her cheek.

Moving carefully, I placed an arm under her, wrapping it around her body, bring her closer to me.

She nuzzled into my chest again, our legs intertwining with each other's.

"Those were the best days, Louie,"She said, softly,"Days when time didn't matter. When the only thing I had to worry about was when lunch was and when I'd see Dash. I never felt so free, so happy. It was like a dream that would never end. I wished for nothing greater than for it to continue like this forever...... But, like all good things, it had to come to stop at some point, and that day broke my heart in two."

Gilda squeezed my hand a bit tighter.

"I remember right around my ninth birthday, I over heard my parents reading a letter that an old friend had sent them. He told them that two stewarding positions opened up in the court of King Braig, and that he could get them, if they were interested. The pay was far better than weather griffin pay, and we would get rooms in the palace. A palace! Almost like we were royalty, ourselves.

"But I didn't hear good news. I knew if my parents took the job, I'd have to leave my closest friend behind. I didn't want that. I didn't want to move miles and miles to the north, I wanted to stay here, and fly with Dash until the world ended. But, looking back at it, my parents did the right thing. They wanted to give me the best life they possibly could, and for that, I'll forever be grateful. But at the time, I hated them more than ice hates fire, and......let's just say, I didn't make the trip up north easy for them. Then I met you, and I take it you know the rest from there."

I nodded my head, rubbing her shoulder as our heads touched.

"Yeah," I replied to her," You made life growing up here so much easier when I was first adopted. Remember how we first met?"

She smiled.

"Of course I do! I was wandering around the palace gardens, when I spotted you, standing in front of that big, marble fountain in the center. You were playing with that lame little wooden sword, flinging it around like a mad hawk."

"Hey!" I retorted," I wasn't swinging it madly around! I was practicing techniques that my father had shown me that morning!"

Gilda giggled.

"You still looked like a complete dork," she replied with a smile, before a distant look washed over her face,"And you looked so lonely, too. I could see it all over your face. And I was lonely, too. So I-"

"So you stole my sword, and forced me to chase you around the palace for hours," I finished, causing us both to chuckle.

"Do you regret it?" She asked, her eyes gazing into mine,"Do you regret me ever taking that sword?"

I brought her into another deep kiss.

"Does that answer your question?" I smirked, before lying my head back down, "I may not have acted like it then, but it was one of the best days of my life, the day I met you. Making a new friend always feels like that."

I squeezed her close again.

"So no, Gilda, I don't and will never regret that day."

"Even after I kinda accidentally broke it?"

I chuckled.

"Even after you 'accidentally' broke it."

She chuckled as well.

"Now, you gonna finish that story, babe?"

Her chuckling soon died down, until she once again put her head beside me.

"Yeah, I was getting to that," she replied before clearing her throat," Remember when the war broke out and you sent me away?"

I felt butterflies fluttering around in my chest, as I nodded in reply.

"Yeah, I remember that. How could I forget it?"

"I never told you where I went, did I?"

Now that she mentioned, I never did recall asking her where she went. I assumed that she and her family went to Dis or some other northern city.

"No, you never did," I replied.

Gilda sighed, once again.

"My parents went to Dis, while I went back down to Equestria."

I cocked an eyebrow.

"You went that far south?"

"Yeah....," she replied, distantly,"To see an old friend."

I reached down and grabbed hold of her claw again, wrapping my fingers around her talons.

"I was so mad at you for sending me away, when all I wanted was to just by your side. I mean, we just became a couple, Lucifer, and Civil War or not, I wanted to be with you, to stand by your side. I even contemplated joining the army, just so I could be near you. And you forbade it. You sent me away...."

I squeezed her claw, stroking it softly.

"It was for that same reason I sent you away, love. I wanted to be with you, oh God, did I ever. But not at the risk of you dying, Gilda. If you died........I don't even want to think of what I'd do...."

"And the same goes for me, Lucifer!" She cried,"How do you think I felt, knowing you could've been killed at any time? Throdos, you made me so angry!"

I continued stroking her, giving her time to compose herself.

"And that's why I went back to Equestria. I was so angry that I wanted to get as far away from you as possible, but at the same time, no matter how far south I went, I couldn't escape the feelings of loneliness that followed, that need to see you again. To be happy again. So, I went to the land that housed the pegasus that had made me happiest before I met you. Just seeing Dash would've probably put the biggest smile upon my face. And when I found her.........I found that she moved on, made other friends....

Don't get me wrong, when I first came back, she was thrilled to see me, and we were as happy as two long lost friends reunited could be, but no matter how hard I tried to hide it, I just couldn't shrug off those angry, depressing feelings that followed me from up north. You try keeping composed when your home is divided by a war, that your friends and lover are fighting in, who could die at anytime!"

I gave her peck on her cheek, trying my best to soothe her.

After a few moments, Gilda once again began to compose her self, lying limply in my arms.

"Better?" I asked.

She nodded her head.

I gave her another quick kiss.

"What happened, then?"

She gulped nervously before continuing.

"You see, Dash had this pink friend of her's. Hyperactive and loud, and very, very annoying. She was always trying to butt in during Dash and mine's quality time, to the point where I was nearly losing my temper. The breaking point came when I had told Dash why I was here. She let it slip in front of the pink one, who began getting in my face about it, asking me dozens and dozens of annoying questions. She finally hit a nerve when she asked if anyone I knew was dead up north. I snapped. Thoughts of you dying on the battlefield were just running through my mind. So, I cussed her out. Big time. Dash, at once, went to her friends side, yelling at me. Unfriendly words were said. We even got into a little fight, where we exchanged a few blows with each other. I left that day for home, my heart full of regret."

I heard Gilda sniff as I held her close.

"It wasn't suppose to be like that, Louie. It was suppose to be like the old times, with flying, tricks, pranking and sunsets. Not bad words and fist fights."

Her claw rose up, wiping away a stray tear.

"I took the long way around, heading back to Allerseen, before arriving in Dis, to wait out the war with my parents. When it ended, and you came back home, I rushed back to the palace."

"And gave me the ass kicking of a lifetime, might I add."

Gilda gave me a light punch.

"You deserved it, dummy," She giggled before kissing me again.

We held each other in silence, again, with the only sounds around being the beeps of the medical equipment and our breathing.

"I never thought I'd see Dash, again, you know," Gilda piped up again,"After the war, I wrote her dozens of letters telling her how sorry I was, but she never responded to them."

She looked back at me, tears welling up in her eyes.

"And then, two days ago, you sent her back with Rush. It was like I saw a ghost when she approached the throne room with Rush and the little filly. When she saw me, she galloped over to me and hugged me and cried. And I cried. There were apologies and hugs galore, Louie! She came all this way to say she was sorry, and I couldn't believe what I heard. It was I that should've been sorry. I started this mess. So I told her everything, about me and you, about how the thought of you dying stressed me out to no end. How I lost my composure. And we forgave each other, and it was wonderful, Louie! Just wonderful! Just....wonderful......"

She began to drift off.

"And then Ellie brought you back in her arms, crying her eyes out. You looked......oh, Throdos, Louie.....you looked you would die any moment. We were all distraught, Ellie and I the most, as we saw them rush your body to the medical wing, to try and save your life. And Dash was by my side the whole time, telling me about how you saved her and the filly. Telling me that you were a hero. Telling me that you'd be just fine. And I never felt more proud of you, Lucifer. You not only saved the lives of two innocent creatures, but my childhood best friend. Which made the time I spent away from you feel like I was betraying you. That I abandoned you...."

I put a hand to her beak, closing it, as she looked at me with sad eyes.

"I can give a hundred reasons why you never abandoned me," I said, removing my hand,"But I only need to say one thing, and one thing only."

I held both of her claws in my hands, bringing them to her chest.

"I love you. Always have. Always will. And nothing you could do can ever change that."

She wiped away another tear, before lunging forward, bringing me into a violent kiss.

Violent and Passionate.

With that kiss, I could almost feel all her worries and fears wash away, surging throughout my being.

It felt nice.

it felt right.

After what seemed like forever and a day, she broke our lips apart, before she dove back to my chest, nuzzling it softly.

"Lucifer?"

"Yeah, babe?"

"I love you, too."

I smiled, squeezing her against me.

"I know you do, Gilda, I know."

We lie there silence, as the doors to my room opened, followed by the medical team, in hopes of patching me up and getting me out of this bed, soon.

I had a feeling that today was going to be a great day.

Then again, any day with Gilda classifies as a great day.