Carnivore; a world-renowned word for 'meat eater', a word inspiring fear in the hearts of the ponies in Equestria. A carnivore is said to have little intelligence, but what they lack in the brain department, they make up for in hunting and capturing their prey. Sadly, there is one race known to Equestria and its inhabitants that possesses the same intellect as any pony. These are the Gryphons.

A vastly powerful race easily twice the size of a pony and ten times as ferocious. Due to their carnivorous nature, they grew to be somewhat short-tempered and prideful. Few know that their Pride is their greatest weakness, if exploited correctly.

"Come on, Dusk, I want you to meet my friend, Gilda. I told her all about how cool you were for an egghead." Rainbow Dash whined as she tried to drag the studious Unicorn by the tail from his Library.

"Egghead or not, I doubt your friend would be interested in a non-flyer, judging by the personality required to put up with you. Besides, I've no interest in making more friends than I have to I can barely stand the six I already have, one of which lives with me and Barb." he replied, flicking her off. Dash groaned and crossed her arms in annoyance, sitting in the comfy chair She tried to think of a way to move him, to convince him to meet her.

"Your brain hurting yet?" Dusk asked.

"It's been ten seconds." she replied.

"...And?"

"See, this is why I hate Stallions!" Rainbow Dash cried out in frustration.

"Damn, I owe Gleaming ten bits." Dusk said aloud.

"What?" Dash asked.

"I bet my sister ten bits that you were straight. Clearly, I was wrong and she was right. I should have known, she's got that keen 'gay-dar' thing going on." he replied. Rainbow Dash backed up in her seat.

"Woah! Woah! I am not gay! I'm straighter than a Rainbow." the pegasus tried to defend.

"Dash... you do know that rainbows have been associated with the gay community for a few decades, right? Given that like gays, they're colourful and... bent." Dusk said. Dash remained still, trying hard to think of a face-saving way out of the situation she'd wound up in.

"Your sister's gay?" she asked with slight shock in her voice. Dusk just huffed and snapped his book shut. He turned to the pegasus and leaned forward, resting his hands on the arms of her chair, effectively pinning her down.

"You got a problem with that?" he asked. Dash was quick to shake her head. "Good. Now kindly piss off, I've got a Doctor coming in to see me for some check-ups." he said. Dash's ears perked up at the mention of the word Doctor.

"Doctor? Is something wrong?" she asked. Dusk leaned away from the seat and sighed.

"It's nothing you need to worry about, just some routine check-ups on my scar, that's all." he replied. Dash seemed to relax. It was obvious to Dusk that even though he was downright mean to his friends, they still cared for him. What bothered him was why they cared. Why did they intrude upon his life and care about him? He just couldn't understand.

"So long as you're not dying." Dash spoke up.

"If I start coughing at random, then you can worry." he replied, clearing his throat afterward.

"Will you meet Gilda afterward?" she pleaded, giving Dusk her version of the puppy dog eyes. Dusk groaned and wiped his face with his hand, but eventually gave in to pressure. Dash was excited to say the least.

With the issue of Gilda out of the way, Dusk sat down in his chair and rubbed his eyes. He'd been growing tired quite a bit lately, even though he'd had plenty of sleep. He returned to his book and waited for the Doctor. An hour passed before the Doctor showed up with his medical tools in a black case.

"Doctor, come in. Have a seat." Dusk said, motioning towards the seat Dash had been in. Said doctor closed the door behind him and limped to the chair. Dusk heard the clanking of numerous tools in the bag. This was going to be one long examination.

"So this Dusk guy's an Egghead, yet you think he's cool?" Gilda asked, looking down to Rainbow Dash who casually cantered beside her friend.

"Yeah, I mean he's kind of an ass and he reads like, a lot... But when he does something cool, it's damn cool! Seriously, he took on Nightmare Moon alone and survived. Nightmare. Moon! I don't have to tell you how much trouble she was." Dash replied. Gilda raised a claw.

"Woah, back down girl, before you talk your way into his ass. Sounds to me like my old friend has gotten soft in the years." Gilda teased. Rainbow Dash viewed those words as a challenge and found herself unable to back down.

"I ain't soft! I'll show you how hard I am by kicking your ass in a race." she challenged. Gilda grinned behind her beak and chuckled.

"Well, alright then. Show me what you got!"

"No, that's not it either. I keep telling you: 'Moustache', not fricken beard." Barb said as she pointed ferociously towards the statue of a pony. Trixie groaned in annoyance and tried again. The stone beard disappeared from the statue and a goatee replaced it. Barb would have pulled her hair out if she had any.

"For the love of...VISUALISE the moustache and then enchant the stone." she yelled. The blue unicorn was beginning to get down in the dumps. It had been close to an hour and she couldn't even perform a solid transfiguration spell on an inanimate object. Displacement magic wasn't her strong suit. But that was the point of the exercise Dusk had set her for the day.

"Alright, let's try something else, think of a beard, and maybe we'll get a moustache." Barb said. Trixie visualised the beard she wanted and her horn began to glow. Suddenly, something sped past her, brushing her nose. The mare gave a startled yelp and accidentally lost her hold on the magic she'd built up. The spell ricocheted off the statue and struck Barb. The little dragon went to the ground. For a moment, Trixie was nervous, but as her foot twitched, she began to bark in amusement.

"Hah! Teach you to yell at me-why do you have balls now?" Barb looked down and started.

"Holy crap, you turned me into a dude! I didn't even know that was possible!" the young dragon paused for a moment. "Why did Rarity just pop into my head?"

"Doctor, I don't think this is it. Ponyville wasn't here a hundred years ago, it's still a fairly new town." Derpy commented, looking quizzically (or as much so as she could) at the town. A hazel coloured stallion with a green tie and a frazzled mane exited a blue box with windows near the top.

"I said ninety years ago from our last timezone. If I'm correct, we're actually back in the Ponyville you know and love. Though you said you loved the Crystal Ponyville in a billion-billion years." the Doctor said.

"Oh, right. So why are we back here?" Derpy asked.

"I thought you might wanna bring your daughter on the next trip, We're going to the Jeltarus, a planet made entirely of jelly, well with cake islands. I think you'll like Muffina." Before another word was said, Derpy shot off back home to grab her daughter. The Doctor just chuckled and turned around to observe his blue box.

"Even you like Jeltarus, don't you old girl?" Another sound of flying pegasi alerted the Doctor of another presence, when he turned around, he spotted a rainbow right in front of him. "Ooh, that's very clever. How's that work, then?" he asked himself as he pulled out a metal device with a blue tip. It made a whirring sound as he drew it along the path of the rainbow.

"Looks like you've still got it, Dash." said Gilda, clawing through the cloud she stood on. Dash just did a loop in the air, her cocky smile present at all times.

"Of course! I'm the fastest flyer in Equestria, and don't you forget it." she boasted. Gilda just chuckled and threw the cloud fragment at her.

"Don't let it go to your head. Somepony will come along in the next generation and they'll beat your records, perhaps it'll be a gryphon." she teased. Dash just scoffed.

"Doesn't matter, I'll still be a legend, especially when I become a Wonderbolt. That's my dream, ever since I was a little foal."

"Yeah, yeah. You've told me that a hundred times over back in flight school. C'mon, I wanna meet this Dusk guy you're so into." Gilda hopped off the cloud and began to freefall. Dash was close behind.

"I'm not into him. I just find him cool, despite the fact that he's an egghead." Dash defended. The gryphon just chuckled, spreading her wings and angling at a casual pace.

"You're a terrible liar, Dash. You obviously like him, or do you actually believe that you don't?" she teased again.

Dash was confused. True, she considered him cooler than most ponies she knew, but his attitude left something to be desired. "I don't like him. If anything I find him to be an ass. And I kinda wanna prove myself to him. I told him I could clear the skies in ten second flat, he pointed out it took me eleven. Since then, I've wanted to prove myself, like I said." she said, flying right next to Gilda so she could hear.

"Sounds like a strict coach. He'd be perfect for you, Dash." replied the gryphon.

"For the last time, I don't like him!" Dash growled. Gilda just laughed over the wind and began her descent towards the Library. As the pair went towards the door, they saw a doctor emerge.

"... sorry to say, Dusk, but it seems like that kind of problem can't fix itself. You'll have to find a way.. I recommend looking as soon as possible. Perhaps the Princesses will know. I wish I had better news." he said, stepping out into the porch. Dusk followed with his shirt undone, showing off the cross-scar on his chest.

"Thank you for letting me know, doctor. If anything, I consider this to be more of an embarrassment than anything else." the unicorn replied. The doctor just nodded quietly and tipped his hat before departing. "Goodbye, doctor." he said before closing the door. Dash and Gilda landed from the balcony to the porch.

"What was that all about?" said Gilda. Dash looked at the door with worrying eyes.

"I don't know." she said. Noticing Dash's concern, Gilda took her hand out from her jeans pocket and patted the pegasus' back.

"I see it takes a Gryphon for you to actually use the door instead of making holes in the walls." a voice said from above. Dusk had leaned over the balcony the girls had hidden on before and had heard every word.

"So you're the famous Dusk Shine, Dash's been tellin' me about?" Gilda spoke up.

"What are the chances of there being two Dusk Shine's in one small town?" Dusk replied, curling his finger for them to enter the Library. As he left the balcony to go inside, Gilda looked to Dash.

"You're right, he is an ass." she said. Dash just chuckled and followed her in, closing the door afterward.

"Dusk, this is Gilda, my best friend from 'Flight School'." Dash introduced Gilda to Dusk.

"I figured. It's odd that a Gryphon would choose an Equestrian flight school. Are you part of the exchange?" he asked. Gilda pocketed her hands and shrugged.

"Yeah, someone had to look good there." she replied, showing a laid back attitude. She'd planned to impress Dusk, but he had a pokerface that would make a painting jealous.

"I see why Dash thinks very highly of you." he said, crossing his arms.

"So, how'd you get the scar?" Gilda asked. Dash gulped as she knew where this was going to go. She'd forgotten to tell Gilda never to mention the scar. She gave Dusk an apologetic look before realising that his angry look was directed at her and not Gilda. Clearly, he knew this line of questioning was her fault too.

"Doing something dangerous?" he replied flatly. The room went colder, to Dash anyway.

"Fall on a table stand or something?" the Gryphon asked.

"Or something." he replied.

"Gilda, it would be best not to mention the scars." Dash said, giving Dusk the chance to button up his shirt.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because Big Macintosh, one of my friend's brothers who's like, twice as big as you, is still recovering from the hospital treatment after last month." Dash replied.

"So he's strong?" the gryphon asked. Rainbow Dash just facepalmed and groaned into her hand.

"Yes, he's strong. He fought with the Captain of the Royal guard on a daily basis before he came here." she replied. It was then that she remembered what the doctor had said before. "By the way, Dusk. Is there something wrong with your health? The doctor seemed pretty... sympathetic." she asked. Dusk's eye twitched slightly.

"Scar related problem. Say no more on the matter." he threatened. Dash raised her hands in submission.

"Alright, alright. I know better than to mess with you. You're clearly in a bad mood, so we'll just be going now. I'll come by later to check up on you. Remember we've got that playdate thing tonight." she said, pushing Gilda towards the door.

"Playdate, huh?" Gilda began to tease.

"I told you, I don't like him, it's a Royal decree that he has to make friends and me and my friends have been tasked to try and make that happen." she replied. Dusk closed the door behind them and sighed.

"Thanks for captioning my nightmare." he groaned. Looking at his archive, he began to take out the books relating to magical suppressants. He had some work to do.

Author's Note

I figured you guys would want to have a taste of the Gilda story soon, so I've decided to wrap this up in two parts. This is part 1. Part 2 might come out tomorrow... or later today given the time.

ALSO

Closest thing I could find to Gilda's clothes: