A Grand Night Out

by PonyPixel

Griffon at the Gala

Gilda and Gabby looked around. The gala was the most beautiful thing they’ve ever seen. Though, since they lived in Griffonstone, that wasn’t such a high bar. They followed Rarity until they came across a nicely dressed dragon.

“Hi, girls,” Spike replied.

“Spike!” Gabby cheered. The griffon and dragon both shared a hug before Gabby started talking. “This is so amazing. I can’t believe I’m actually here.”

“I know, it’s pretty amazing. You want me to show you around?” Gabby nodded as Gilda looked towards Rarity.

“Is something wrong, Gilda?” the mare asked.

“Oh, nothing. It’s just that I have no idea how to act around ponies that are this fancy,” Gilda replied.

“Oh, don’t worry dear. I’ll be by your side for the night.” The griffon smiled. This did help the griffon feel better as they followed Spike through the room.

“The ambassadors should be over here,” Spike said. “This is also their first time here.”

“How are they then?”

“I think it’ll be best if you see them for yourselves.” They walked past a couple of ponies until they found a group of very different creatures. There was Dragon Lord Ember, Queen Novo, Prince Rutherford, and King Thorax. “Hey guys,” Spike said.

“Spike,” Thorax exclaimed. The dragon and changeling shook each other’s appendages as the king could see the griffons he met a month ago. “Hey, Gilda. How are you doing so far?”

“Meh,” Gilda responded. “We’ve only been here for about a minute. So, yeah.”

“Right then...” Thorax felt a little embarrassed and looked towards Gabby. “So, um... Gabby,… was it?”

“Yep, that’s me,” the other griffon responded.

She looked over to the rest of the ambassadors and seemed to be excited. She decided to take a good look at their wardrobes. She had already seen the suit that Thorax was wearing and Rutherford didn’t have anything aside from a few extra rings on his horns. Queen Novo wore a deep blue dress that completely covered her legs from anyone’s view while Ember’s was a bit fancier. She wore a violet dress that had a sweetheart top and a ballgown skirt. She also wore some match gloves and she didn’t seem to be enjoying herself.

“You look so great!” Gabby commented.

“Thank you,” Novo commented. “I really have to thank Rarity for this.”

“Oh, it was nothing really,” Rarity said. “I just wish I could’ve done more work on it. I had so many dresses to work on.”

“I don’t blame you. Just look at all of these ponies here.” Most of the mares in the crowd had very lovely looking dresses that had Rarity’s style. “I understand having to sacrifice quality over quantity. This is still a nice dress.”

“Yeah, good for you,” Ember grumbled. She tried walking away, having to hold up her dress just not to trip.

“So, Novo,” Thorax said, “You said you had a daughter, right?”

“Skystar? Yes,” the hippogriff replied. “Now, where did she go?” Novo looked around but her daughter seemed to have wandered off.

“Okay, so how old is Skystar?” Gilda asked.

“She’s about in her teenage years,” Spike explained. “She’s kind of like...?”

“Gilda!” called a voice. The Griffonstone ambassador looked around until she saw a rainbow maned pegasus wearing a red dress with lightning patterns on it.

“Dash?” the griffon said in shock when she turned to see her pony friend come by.

“Hey, G,” Rainbow replied. “Nice dress you have. Did Rarity make it for you?”

“Of course, darling,” the fashionista said. Dash simply rolled her eyes and focused on her griffon friend.

“So, liking the looks of this place, huh?”

“It’s good so far,” Gilda said. “Not entirely sure what I’m going to do here.”

“Oh, I could show you to the Wonderbolts.”

Gilda looked over to Gabby who didn’t seem to mind the two of them splitting up. “Yeah, you go ahead and do your thing. I wanna see what’s around here too,” she said.

“Fine by me,” Gilda responded. Gilda soon walked away with Rainbow Dash while Gabby joined with the ambassadors.

The pegasus and griffon walked with Rarity and Spike over to the Wonderbolts. Like Dash, they were all nicely dressed, which confused her. “Okay, I thought you guys wore blue jumpsuits,” Gilda spoke.

“Well, they usually do,” Dash said, “But since this is the first time we’re having creatures from other kingdoms here, Twilight thought they should look their best. Still, our suits are in the back if they want to see a show.”

“I really outdid myself here,” Rarity said. The Wonderbolts had suits and dresses that had designs that really went well with them. Like Spitfire’s dress having a firey theme.

“So, what’s life like as a Wonderbolt?” Gilda asked Rainbow Dash.

“It’s pretty sweet,” Dash answered. “Flying around at high speeds and pretty much everything I’ve dreamed of.”

“Good for you. So, where’s Twilight? Shouldn’t she be around here?”

“She said she was talking to other guests,” Spike said. “She said she was trying to expand the type of creatures that can be enrolled at the School of Friendship.” Spike looked around until he saw the alicorn princess talking to two similar-looking creatures dressed in kimonos. One was as tall as Twilight, while the other was around Celestia’s height. They both had long tails that had mane at the tip of them and they had curly horns that split at the top.

“What are those?” Gilda questioned.

“Kirins,” he answered. “Fluttershy and Applejack said there were plenty of them that could be enrolled.”

“I see.”

Spike flew over to see how the conversation was going.

“And so I think it would be good for them to interact with other creatures,” Twilight said finishing her explanation.

“Hmm,” the taller Kirin said. “It would be a smart idea since we’ve been silent for so long.”

“You’re telling me,” the shorter Kirin said.

Just then, Spike landed beside the princess. “Twilight, how’s the planning going?” he asked.

“Very well,” the taller Kirin said. Before she could continue, they could see Gilda walking over to them.

“Hi there!” the smaller Kirin said. She got a little closer than the griffon would be comfortable.

“Take it easy, Autumn,” the taller Kirin said.

“Who are you?” Gilda asked, stepping back a bit.

“My name is Rain Shine,” the taller Kirin explained, “And this is Autumn Blaze.” The smaller kirin held out her hoof short Gilda to shake. They shook hooves and talons though, at the speed that they did it, Gilda thought her arm was going to fall off. Thankfully Spike and Twilight made them stop before something bad could happen.

“Right then,” Twilight said, “I see you’ve met the ambassador of Griffonstone, Gilda.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Rain Shine said to the griffon.

“Yeah... Same to you,” Gilda replied. “So... I know that this is my first time meeting a Kirin, and I wanna ask you what they do for a living?”

“Well, if we lose our tempers we catch fire,” Autumn Blaze explained. “That’s when we turn into Niriks.”

“Wait. That’s a thing?”

“Oh, yeah,” Spike confirmed.

“But we have that under control now,” Rain Shine remarked. “The Stream of Silence was a little extreme.”

“Steam of Silence?” Gilda asked. “Show I know more about this?”

“Eh, it’s not important anymore,” Autumn Blaze shrugged. “Anyways, tell us about you. What’s Griffonstone like?”

Gilda stood quiet for a minute. This was getting too awkward enough. “I... Don’t want to talk about that,” she responded. “Um... I’m going to find something to drink.” The griffon quickly flew off, leaving Twilight and Spike worried and the kirin’s confused.

“I want to know more,” Rain Shine said, “But I feel like I would make things worse.”

"Right," Spike said. "I can show you where the ambassadors of the other kingdoms are at."

"That would be great." Spike led the kirins to another part of the gala while Twilight felt a little worried about Gilda.

The griffon wandered off to another part of the castle and sighed. She would do anything than being reminded of her home. "Why did all that responsibility have to be on me?" she muttered sadly.

"Gilda?" asked a voice. The griffon looked up and could see a yellow and pink pegasus looking down at her.

"Fluttershy?" Gilda questioned quietly.

"I didn't think I would see you here."

"Oh yeah. I'd probably just be rolling in the dumpster fire which is my home."

"So… you want to talk?"

Gilda sighed. "Sure. I haven't got anything better to do." The mare and griffon walked over to the dessert table where Fluttershy got them both slices of cake.

"It's very nice to see you again."

"Even after deafening you because you bumped into me?"

"It was a little uncalled for..." Fluttershy was interrupted by an upset sigh from the griffon. "But that doesn't mean you're unforgivable. We've all made mistakes in the past, but what's important is that we can forgive ourselves."

"Then why does that feel so hard for me?"

"Guilt can be harder for some rather than others," said a voice. Fluttershy and Gilda looked behind to see nicely dressed draconequus, which startled the latter.

"You make a fair point, Discord," Fluttershy commented.

"...He's with you?" Gilda questioned.

"I know I'm a little surprising to see at first," Discord spoke, "But once you get to know me, I'm the life of a party."

"R... Right. So, what were you saying about guilt?"

"A month ago, I decided to have a little fun at Twilight's school. Long story short, there were living painting, some quicksand and it wasn't something I would feel good about doing again."

"So, how'd you get over it?"

"Some of the students were interested in this game called Ogres and Oubliettes, great game when you have me put a spin on it. Anyways, I had them start a real-life version of the game and even though we had a bit of a rough time, they were willing to forgive me because I was trying to make things better. I then tried to get to know a couple of the other students and... Well..."

"Like Ogres and Oubliettes," Fluttershy spoke, "It could've gone better, but the students were still willing to get to know Discord more. It's better to try again rather than just give up on yourself."

Gilda thought about what they said. Then she remembers that Twilight had plans to rebuild Griffonstone. "That's Flutters," she said, "I needed this." Discord smiled as he picked up one of the plates of cake slices and snapped himself, Fluttershy, and Gilda some glasses of chocolate milk.

As they enjoy their drink and cake, Fluttershy could see a red dragon in the crowd of creatures. He had orange spines, yellow eyes, and his wings had a small hole in them. He wore a black suit that had a white undershirt and a blue bowtie. "You know, Gilda," Fluttershy said, "I think I know someone who's been in your position." The griffon was curious and looked over to the dragon Fluttershy was pointing to.

"Who's that?"

"That's Garble. He and you were both bullies once, but just like you, he's wanting to get better. You two would probably get along great with each other."

"Hmm, if you say so." Gilda took her cake and drink and flew over to Garble. The dragon was looking around as if he had lost something. Then he saw the griffon flying over to him.

“Oh, hi there.”

"Um, hi. My name's Gilda."

"I'm Garble," the dragon responded, shaking her claw. "How are you?"

"Doing good. So, are you enjoying this gala?"

"It's alright, I guess. Wish I had a good place where I could write poetry."

"You're a poet?"

"Yeah. Usually, I do it in secret with my sister. But after helping with some dragon eggs I've come out and now I don't have to worry about other dragons laughing at me. Even though their laughing is what caused the dragons to save the eggs."

"Well, that must've been something to see."

"It was. Honestly, it wouldn't have happened if my "friends" didn't drain the lava from the underground rivers."

"...That sounds pretty important. What else is there at your home?"

"Mostly rough rocks and lava. There's also a lavafall that most dragons surf on. What's life like in your home?" Gilda went silent for minute signaling to Garble that he might've reminded her of something she didn't like. "I'm... Sorry... Did I close to home?"

"...Kind of." Gilda took a sip of her milk before speaking again. "Griffonstone is a shambles. A city that has lost all of its glory and something I wouldn't wish on my greatest enemies."

"...Uh-huh. Go on."

"And you know what's worse? I was given the task to fix it up. And guess what, it's still a mess."

"Well, you're only one griffon. I'm pretty sure that Griffonstone is a big place."

"Oh, trust me it is. And if I couldn't make up for myself for being a bully."

"You too?"

"Yeah. Fluttershy said that you and I had a lot in common."

"Oh, her? Yeah, she made me tell the truth about my behavior, in front of my sister no less. She wasn't wrong, I was just awful."

"Really? How bad were you?"

"Let's see. First, I met Spike with my gang and I kept mocking him and encouraged him to smash a phoenix egg, which I knew was harsh. When I met him again, we went through the Gauntlet of Fire to see who would be the next Dragon Lord. I said before if I won, I would start a war against ponies.”

“A war? Against the ponies?”

“Yeah. I could go for one, but the thing is I only did that because I didn't want to be made fun of for liking poetry!"

"Seriously?!"

"I know." Garble brought his claws to his face and sighed. "I did all that... Because I was too scared to be made fun of. What is wrong with me?"

Gilda felt really sorry for the dragon but she thought she knew what to say. "Sorry for hearing that. Honestly, I think I know some creatures that have done far worse."

"Really?"

"You remember those three creatures that all of Equestria teamed up just to stop them. I heard that they were all given a chance to be better and they ignored it. And look where their fate led too, as a pigeon's toilet." Garble let out a small laugh at this, so does Gilda. "Yeah. I think they got what they deserve."

"Probably. So, you're saying there's a chance for me?"

"Well, you probably wouldn't have been invited here if you weren't given another chance. I mean, Discord's here." Gilda pointed over to where the said draconequus, who was having some fun with Fluttershy. Garble was a little surprised to see such a creature. "If he can be trusted after what he did, I'm pretty sure you'll be just fine."

"That's... Nice. Thanks, Gilda."

"Hey, it's what friends do. So, you said that you did poetry."

"Yeah. You wanna find someplace where we can have some peace?"

"Sure, why not? Want me to grab you some cake."

"That would be great." Gilda quickly grabbed another slice of cake for Garble before they walked through the castle to find a nice place to get some quiet time.

Comments

[Melody Song]

Great second chapter! Can't wait for the next one!

[Yoshifan30]

“Kirins,” he answered. “Fluttershy and Applejack said there were plenty of them that could be enrolled.”

Yeah they should more creatures then before right and maybe buffaloes and the crystal ponies too

[Yoshifan30]

“But we have that under control now,” Rain Shine remarked. “The Stream of Silence was a little extreme.”

Yeah you think

[Yoshifan30]

"Even after deafening you because you bumped into me?"

Yikes I remember that

[Yoshifan30]

Ok the grand galloping gala is on the go so glida and gabby Finally got there and meeting with other creatures gabby Looks like shes doing pretty well for us but glida still feels awkward and She still doesn't wanna talk about her a home land but at least the kirins are talking about Enroll some of theirs in to the school Which that awesome and hopefully more other creatures like the buffaloes and the crystal ponies anyway i did like the The interaction between glida and garble Because both of them have in common with each other so They pretty much hit it off thats good So I wonder what's going to happen next