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Rainbow Unicorn: Griffon Grief

by Hopeful_Ink_Hoof

Chapter 3: Bitter Apple

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Pinning Gilda to the ground and straddling her, Applejack raised one of her front hooves and brought it down, slamming it into Gilda's beak, and eliciting a squawk from the griffon. Applejack then pulled back to punch her again. And again. And again.

"Lousy no good varmint!" she shouted as she continued to pound Gilda in the face. "Show you! Ain't a filly you can push around no more."

"Applejack!" Twilight called out, getting over the initial shock of what was happening. Jumping forward, she grabbed the other mare. "Applejack, stop!" Her wings flapped as she pulled, tugging Applejack with her to pull her off of Gilda.

"Let go a'me!" Applejack snapped as she kicked and squirmed in Twilight's grasp. "I'm finally gonna teach that no good cat-buzzard a thing 'r two. Make her into a rug."

"What in the name of Celestia is going on out here?!"

The sound of Granny Smith shouting caused the two ponies to freeze, both turning to look at the porch. There was the old mare, as well as Big Macintosh and Apple Bloom. The last was staring out from under her brother's legs, eyes wide and mouth hanging open slightly.

Twilight suddenly felt Applejack go limp in her grasp, all of the fight going out of her. Letting her go, Twilight moved over to Gilda.

"Are you okay?"

Shifting her head, Gilda looked up at Twilight Comet. One of her gold colored eyes focused on the mare easily, the other one squeezed shut as the skin around it had already started to swell. Her beak was bleeding and had some small cracks on it as she smirked. The smirk turned into a chuckle, then a full laugh.

"...Gilda?" Twilight asked, blinking in confusion.

"That was awesome," Gilda laughed out as she got back up. She turned to Applejack. "Didn't know you had it in you, girl. Way to go."

"As interestin' as all this is," Granny Smith snapped, "it don't explain what's goin' on!"

"Oh, right," Twilight said, letting out a chuckle. "This is Gilda, a griffon... acquaintance of Applejack and I from back in flight camp. Gilda, this is Applejack's family: Granny Smith, Big Macintosh, and Apple Bloom. Gilda came by to visit for a bit." She gasps. "Which reminds me, there was a collision with one of the trees and it knocked all the fruit off."

"I'll go pick 'em up," Applejack said as she got up.

"I'll help," Apple Bloom declared as she shot forward from the porch.

"No," Applejack said, holding out a wing. "Why don't you go play, or help Mac with the cart or somethin'."

"But Applejack," the filly started to whine.

"I just need some time to work alone."

Before the conversation could go any further, Applejack walked off, heading into the orchard and disappearing among the tree. Apple Bloom stood there, watching with a look of confusion on her face.

"Applejack?" Apple Bloom turned toward her grandmother and brother. "What's going on?"

"Now don't you worry none Apple Bloom," Granny said softly. "Your sister just needs some time alone to clear her head is all. Now you come on back in and help me with the dishes." She turned to look at Gilda and smiled. "I'm afraid your too late to join us for breakfast, but if you're still around this evening, maybe you can join us for supper."

"Seriously?" Gilda said as she watched the old mare hobble back into the house. "She comes out here, finds me and Butter Rum fighting, and just invites me to have dinner with them? She's not going to ask anything else about it? Not even to know why she attacked me?"

"Would you rather she did?" Twilight asked, tilting to raise an eyebrow at Gilda. "Get mad and make you tell her why Applejack was attacking you? Maybe decide to 'teach ya a thing 'er two,' as she would put it?"

"Pft," Gilda huffed with a roll of her eyes. "What could some old nag teach me?"

"Just hope you never wind up on the receiving end of one of her wooden spoons. Now come on." Getting up, Twilight started for the gate. "I can introduce you to another friend, and she should be able to patch you up."

*****

Landing in the spot near where the crash occurred, Applejack looked around. From what she knew, she could make out some of what happened. The size of the gap in the pile of apples gave a pretty good idea of where Twilight had been when they had fallen from the tree. Looking closer, she was also able to find several long, dark purple hairs in the bark.

Most of the apples were bruised, and it looked like a few at the bottom were pretty badly damaged. She could go through and look at them. The lightly bruised ones could be used for cooking, the heavily bruised ones could be juiced, and any that busted open would go to the cows and pigs. Now she just needed to start putting them in baskets and--

With a groan, Applejack smacked herself in the face with a hoof. The baskets. She had forgotten to grab any baskets when she came out here.

It was no big deal. All the others would be back to their daily routines by now. She could fly to the barn, grab some baskets, and come back to work without running into anypony else. No problem.

Except, that was not how things were going to go. As Applejack came to land by the barn, she found Big Macintosh there. He was standing next to the open doors, looking at her with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't want to hear it!" Applejack snapped as she stomped past her brother and into the barn.

Big Macintosh moved into the doorway, then shifted to lean against the jamb. Tilting his head, the eyebrow climbed higher.

"Course I didn't plan on losing my temper and attacking her like that," Applejack said. "I didn't plan it at all. Definitely not in front of Granny, and especially not in front of Apple Bloom. That girl looks up to us and we need to be good role models for her."

One of Macintosh's ears twitched.

"I don't know why I did it!" Applejack yelled as she turned to glare at him.

Macintosh's lips pursed as his eyes narrowed. This got a sigh from Applejack as she returned her attention to the baskets.

"Okay. I kinda know why. I mean, she was a real pain in the plot back in flight school. But I thought I was over it. I didn't forget about it, but every time I looked back on it, it just all seemed so stupid and foalish. Didn't even seem like it was worth gettin' upset over. If you had asked me yesterday, I woulda' told you I was fine. Forgiven and forgotten."

Grabbing two of the empty containers, she pulled them from stacks of others. Her ears drooped as she took a deep breath.

"But... when I saw her, it... it all just kinda came rushin' back. Not what she said exactly, but the anger, and fear, and even the frustration that I couldn't do anything about it. It all came flooding back, 'cept now I could do something about it. She had kind of picked on and insulted me, and I just wanted to make her hurt."

Applejack stopped as she closed her eyes. Her breath hitched in her throat and she could feel the tears starting. She was not going to cry. Not now. Not because of her. She was a big, strong, tough mare, and she swore she would never cry again.

Once the feeling had passed, she returned her attention to the baskets. Even though she was not looking, she could still feel her brother's presence at the doorway.

"Fine," Applejack huffed out. "I'll talk to Apple Bloom about it later, and try to apologize to that buz..." she coughed "...to Gilda. Just don't go thinkin' we're gonna be friends or anything. The best she's gonna get is cold civility."

Getting a hold of the baskets, she turned to the barn door and started to walk toward it.

Big Macintosh moved to stand in front of her. Before she could say anything else, he moved forward to place his neck against hers, his wings spreading wide to pull her into a hug. A smile tugged at Applejack's mouth as she leaned into it, moving to return the favor.

"A'right," Applejack said as she finally pulled away. "That's enough mush, ya big ol' softy, you. I've got work to do, and so do you."

"Eyup," Macintosh agreed as he turned to go, leaving his sister to her work.

Feeling a little better, Applejack returned to getting the baskets and heading back into the orchard.

Next Chapter: Frightened Flowershy Estimated time remaining: 43 Minutes
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