Gilda tucked the pink package under her wing, wishing it could be anything but that color. So garishly pink, so obscenely bright against her darker plumage. Anypony looking would instantly see the little bit of pink sticking out. But she needed it, she needed it for her mission.

She stepped out of the shop, the tinkling of the bell announcing her departure. “Have a good day ma’am!” The shopkeep called her. 

“Dweeb.” Gilda mumbled to herself. Her wings shuffled again, pressing the package closer against the crook of her wing. She couldn’t take to the air, not until she reached the outskirts of Ponyviile. She couldn’t risk anypony seeing her package, not this close to sweet, sweet victory.

Gilda looked left and right, scanning the streets. Ponies walked up and down, but none of them looked her way and surely none of them recognized her. Cautiously, she took a small step out of the doorway, working her way down the street with a care she rarely showed. 

If she’d learned one thing from her time in the griffon empire, it was to walk as if you belonged. Gilda kept her head up, eyes facing forward, pride clearly on display. She deserved to be here, nothing strange about this griffon, nothing at all.

The first few blocks went well. No pony interrupted her and each step remained full of poise and confident. The third block hit disaster head on. A familiar chromatic mane bobbed along in the crowds, along with a pink blur that Gilda also knew from somewhere. 

But for the moment, it was still fine. Rainbow hadn’t stopped her, not yet. She just needed to take a few steps back and…

“Gilda!?”

Shit. 

Gilda turned and bolted, wing tightening around her package. Of all the ponies in this world, Rainbow could not see the most. “Gilda wait!”

The shout from behind went ignored as she sprinted through the streets. Her fur fluffed up as terror coursed through her; everything could end before it even began! She could not, would not let that happen!

On and on she ran, occasional shouts yelling, pleading for her to wait. She would need to apologize to Rainbow later, but she couldn’t stop, not now. She couldn’t let her precious cargo be revealed, even as the plastic bag crinkled under her wing, reminding her of its presence. 

Gilda dodged through alleyways and alcoves, the shouts growing dimmer in the distance. She ran until the shouts stopped entirely, heart beating fast the entire way.

Eventually, mercifully she made it back to the hovel she called her home. The journey had taken an extra hour, but she made it, made it undiscovered. A secret door lead to the fruits of her labors over the last few months.

Her pride, her treasure, her secret. The one thing she could never let another see.

Shelves lined the walls, perfect pony dolls perched precariously on each one. She had them all - the elements of harmony, the ‘background pack’, the Empress Cadance special. Yet, she had always missed just a single one, the rarest of them all: Filly Luna. 

Filly Luna had become something of a rarity among collectors such as herself. Only available for a limited time in a small run, but Gilda found her. Found her in a small collectors shop and now she was hers.

With shaking talons, she took the bag from under her wing, gently opening the package for “Luna’s playhouse”. The art on the cover perfectly depicted the smiling Luna doll, Gilda nearly salivating over the thought of having it in her fingers. 

Her talons carefully sliced opened the package, ever so gently pulling out the completed playset. She opened the top if, peering inside for her prize.

But it wasn’t there.

With wide eyes, Gilda ripped at the package, desperately searching for her miniature. Where was it? It had to be here, it needed to be here!

She held it steady, searching for some explanation on the box.

Her eyes read over the warnings on the back quickly. This had to be a nightmare, some sort of awful dream! But no, the words stared right back at her muzzle.

Rainbow had seen her, she would suspect something was wrong. And all for naught, for the words read her death knell:

“Princess not included”.